1+1=3

I have decided to move

2010-06-13T23:07:00.003+08:00

I decided to have a whiff of fresh air from another blogging host - Wordpress.

You can find me blogging next at www.estherwritesat.wordpress.com

When you separate them, it's ESTHER WRITES AT . WORDPRESS . COM

Join them together, it's www.estherwritesat.wordpress.com.

Creative, right? =P

Do re-link me if you have a blog and feel free to read my updates there at Wordpress from now on. Byebye toilet paper blog and hello happy-looking blog!

Knowing what's in your heart

2010-06-03T23:56:00.003+08:00

If you haven't caught "Prince of Persia", go catch it! I personally like it for its effects, story line and great ending. There were some quote-worthy moments too.

Though Jake Gyllenhaal was the star, I think Ben Kingsley, who acted as his uncle in the movie, stole the show with his convincing acting.

In one of the scenes, Jake Gyllenhaal's character was speaking to his elder brother, and his older brother related this line to him when the truth is revealed. I try to paraphrase because I can't remember the whole line.

"A king can seek counsel from many, but he knows what to do in his heart."

The gist of the quote, as I remember, is that we can seek advice from many, but in his heart, he should know what is the right course to pursue.

After I graduate, I hear so many people advising me about what to do.

"Perhaps, you should try applying a job at XXX organisation? The pay is not bad."

"You should continue your studies while you are still young"

"How about coming in to XXX organisation? It should be beneficial to you."

"What do you want to do in life ultimately? Oh... this? Then, you should start doing it now."

Do I know what is in my heart then? I prayerfully say, I do. (:

Following the education system throughout the whole of my life, it has always been one stage after another, with a fair bit of certainty. However, my university graduation reminds me that it is no longer about travelling on the road most taken anymore. It's time to carve out my own road and shape my own destiny for the Lord!

Is this work life?

2010-06-01T23:16:00.002+08:00

I am soooo dead tired. Busy, busy, super-packed June!
And it's not even my official work life. I doubt work life is going to be like THAT.

But I won't let this lethargy sacrifice my time with the Lord. God's word will be my strength and joy.

God's grace is sufficient for me!

2010-05-27T00:53:00.005+08:00

Euphoric - that's the best word that can describe my moment right now!
You know, before I checked my final semester results, I already started praying to God last week for them. Persistent prayers was the key thing that I learned last week in church and in my QT, so yes, I prayed every day, until this Tuesday. I told God that I really REALLY want to have good grades, especially since it's my final semester. The moment before I clicked on the website to check my grades, I told God that if I get disappointing results, I will choose to praise Him and asked Him for strength to help me carry on.

And so, I clicked, and the following screen appeared!

Note the SECOND CLASS HONOURS (UPPER DIVISION)! You know how grateful to the Lord I am? Because, first of all, my CGPA is actually 3.97 and thus, this semester will determine if I get a second lower or second upper honours. God gave me a jump of 0.3 for my final semester and in the end, my CGPA became 4.00, which is just right for a second upper honours! HOW PERFECT. You know, this showed me that God's grace is just right, just right - just sufficient =)

Pigging out at Penang - the full version!

2010-05-23T23:27:00.008+08:00

As I am posting these photos of my trip to Penang, I am salivating. If you all want a short getaway where you can eat a lot of cheap and yummy food, just fly to Penang! But don't visit a really famous hawker stretch (don't know whether it is Love Lane or New Lane?) on Wednesday night as the stalls will be closed.

Oh my... this is like the best prawn mee ever!! It is spicy and the prawn broth... Indescribably rich! We were saying it's better than the one at BLOCK 3! Plus point: It costs only RM$3 per bowl and that's less than SGD$1.50!

Clearing up our plates on our first dinner at Penang! It is super good because you can see how clean our plates are. We shared everything!

Check it out! Peace and Joy coffeeshop! Hahaha! Wouldn't be surprised if the owner is a Christian (:

*cue 小娘惹主题曲* This is the Peranankan Museum where they filmed Channel 8's "Little Nonya"

Yours truly on the Peranakan Thinking Chair. They even have a Kissing/Couple Chair! Haha... the Peranakans are such interesting people.

We're the nonyas and babas... check out the intricate carvings on the doors! This is their dining hall

My favourite authentic Penang chendol revisited. HAPPY!!!

Check out the A&W at Gurney Plaza! We had curly fries, waffles and root beer float. Really, please A&W, can you please come back. If Dunkin' Donuts can make a comeback, why not yoooooooo.

We also went to watch a movie - Ip Man 2 in Cantonese! But anyway, they have English, Malay and Chinese subtitles, so no worries about not understanding Canto. We were queuing for popcorn. Guess how much's the movie tickets? Only RM$6 which is a mere SGD$2.60 (approx) for a ticket. CRAZY INSANE!!!!

Apparently this hotel located near Gurney Drive, called G Hotel is 6-star. We went to crash their hotel lobby. Hahaha

A very angry car - note the cursing and swearing on the car plate. We laughed our heads off!

Piping hot bak kut teh after our Gurney Drive dinner (which in my humble opinion, wasn't the most most fantastic). Five of us had this big claypot of soup to share whilst the guys ordered a bowl of rice each. It costs less than RM$30 if I never remember wrongly.

A unique 3-layer drink JM ordered which I will one day hope to replicate. The bottom-most layer is sticky gula melaka, the middle - condensed milk and the topmost layer - milk tea. It screams THOUSANDS OF CALORIES! But when you're in Penang, my suggestion is to forget about calories and just eat!

The very expensive breakfast at a beehoon place near our hotel - Sunway Georgetown on our last day. The big big prawn is pretty good but I wouldn't suggest anyone coming here if they are only left with less than RM$50 on their last day.

The view from our hotel room. Pretty impressive ah?

Here ends my entry on my Penang trip. It is truly a foodie's paradise! I'll definitely go back again when I feel like pigging out again. Yummilicious. Slurp slurp.

Don't judge a book by its cover

2010-05-19T20:29:00.003+08:00

Don't judge a book by its cover!

Yawns. So now you think I'm going to talk about something boring, something that has been said over and over again, something cliché. But have you considered? It's a cliché only because this saying has been tested and proven to be true, that's why it has been repeated and repeated again!

So yes, I am here to talk about not judging a book by its cover.

Have you noticed that we tend to ascribe certain qualities to a person before we even know the person well? For instance, when we see a stranger who always talks loudly and attracts attention, wouldn't we immediately label him/her a bimbo/loudmouth/showoff?

Or how about you hear something negative about someone, you would assume that person is like that - engaging in what we would say, static evaluation, presuming that the person will FOREVER be like that. What's the worst thing is that you don't know this person personally, you haven't heard the person's side of the story and then you evaluate the person negatively.

That's why I hate gossip (ie. talking bad about someone behind one's back). You can justify that it is just a casual talk, but unwittingly, the person whom you are gossiping with will begin to put inaccurate labels on that someone you are talking about.

So, what I've learned is, if I do not know the person well, I should suspend my judgment. So yep, don't come with gossips for me because I will hate to listen to them. I will not fully believe you unless I've seen it happening before my own eyes. I have also learned not to judge a person by his/her appearance. A person who dresses very elaborately doesn't mean he/she is snobbish, neither is a person who dresses very shabbily, lazy and stupid.

I guess it's a hard lesson but I'm trying to suspend my own judgments nowadays, because I've seen how premature judgments affect communication processes, obstructing us from fully understanding and enjoying the other party. It is a pity.

Pigging out at Penang

2010-05-18T00:41:00.005+08:00

I thank you God for a great 3day2night Penang trip!
Company was fabulous, (partly because I won quite a few rounds of Monopoly Deal with them! Heh.), itinerary was relaxed, food was cheap and most importantly, very delicious!

I had so much to eat every single day. There was one day I was eating every other hour. Indigestion!! Hmm, not much time to update about the whole trip. I've been a little busy since after exams. Stay tuned to the full update of this trip!

Last exam paper in university

2010-05-05T23:36:00.004+08:00

I completed my last exam paper today. Surprisingly, unlike what other people tell me, I don't feel lost at all. In fact, I am elated! Probably because my friends were with me, that's why I felt good and not alone. I anticipate what is to come after my exams! I started clapping loudly in my exam hall after they announced we could leave. Hahaha! *not paiseh*After that, I proceeded to walk around school to reminisce about the good times in NTU with Ching, Denise and Van.

Wow. Can you believe it? After 16 years of formal education (I didn't include kindergarden because that's like playing, not studying), at 23 years old this year, I can finally stop taking examinations!

WOW.

Wow...

Time to be more disciplined. Really!

Blocked nose!!! URGH

2010-05-01T22:36:00.003+08:00

My nose is ~~runny~~....~~~~

It is terribly blocked and I'm breathing in dust, fur, smoke, all the terribly whatnots in the air... all through my mouth. What a thing to have when I am about to have my last 2 papers for uni. God, I want to get well!!

Breakfast Cravings at 1.54am

2010-04-28T01:53:00.005+08:00

AHHHHHHH.

At an unearthly time of 1.54am, in between studying for Organizational Communication and reading reviews for Wild Honey, AND with Chris Tomlin's songs playing in my media player, I am craving for BREAKFAST!

Not just a normal breakfast... an extravagant one! With homemade waffles with blueberries & maple syrup, eggs benedict, tomato stew and beef/pork sausages... -.-"

My angmoh food blood is beckoning me to salivate uncontrollably while my kiasu Asian study mentality says that I should stop thinking about this and focus on the "serious hints" the lecturer for Organizational Comm has sent to us via email. My friends and I suspect these "serious hints" are the exam questions itself, considering how terrible this lecturer. You'll be wondering, if he gives exam hints, why would I say that he is terrible, right? Well, that's another long story for another time.

I will make a hearty breakfast one day for DR and my family because I am inspired by Wild Honey's breakfasts =D Hope no one gets poisoned. Muahahaha

2010 Shanghai World Expo Theme Song... Copycat from Mayo Okamoto

2010-04-24T00:42:00.001+08:00

Erm... China did it again.

Imitation milk powder, imitation branded goods, imitation everything, including their recent Shanghai 2010 World Expo theme song.

Who has forgotten about the time during the Beijing Olympics where a little girl was caught lip-syncing to a song on stage. Turns out the real singer was a little girl who looks "not as good".

This time round, the World Expo theme song is found to be a big rip-off from a song by popular Japanese artiste Mayo Okamoto. Seriously, music also can plagiarize? What's new right? They can plagiarize software and concepts, so honestly, this is nothing new. Check out the video and you'll understand why...

China, you have some explaining to do...

The Cakes Post

2010-04-21T16:06:00.005+08:00

This is the cakes post I've been wanting to write. But technically, it isn't exactly all about cakes. The sweet things featured are all cakes, except for a couple of them. But I have to talk about them because they look vaguely like cakes. Okay, enough of justifications, I shall move on.

Here are the cakes/sweet things I like (not in order of merit):

1) Chocolate Souffle from Laurent Bernard Chocolatier
Apparently, to order this, people have to wait for 30min for the souffle to be baked. Freshness, in this case, is guaranteed! When I had this with Yue, Prisci, ZX and Char last year, I doubt we waited for 30min. At most 15 - 20 min? The raspberry sorbet was an immaculate accompaniment and good palette cleanser for the fluffy but at the same time, dense chocolate souffle.

2) Chocolate Raspberry Cake from Han's (Novena Square)
Don't belittle this simple cake because it's very good. I like the tangy raspberry bits encased in the within the chocolate layers. It has body, not just a typical sponge cake.

3) Coco Exotic from Four Leaves
This is my birthday cake. It is affordable and good. Ever since Yue brought it for us to eat on her birthday during our junior college days, I fell in love with it. The hazelnut/chocolate crispy base makes it a luscious eating experience because your mouth will feel the textures. YUMMY!

4)Carrot Cake from Cedele
Carrot cakes... my favourite cake of all time. To me, the important factor to carrot cakes is that they have to be moist inside and the cream cheese must be subtle yet smooth enough to give me the oomph! Cedele's version wins hands down (but I must say Coffee Bean's is a close second).

5)Apple Crumble by Epicurious (Robertson Quay)
Last year (or was it the year before?), Esther Neo (HAPPY that I finally met up with her recently to catch up! ;))brought a few of us to this quaint and quiet strip at Robertson Quay where Epicurious is located. Apparently, this Apple Crumble is homemade. With the vanilla ice-cream, it makes the apple crumble a joy to savour. I like the bits of fresh crumble =)

Here ends my post about my favourite cakes (or sweet things)! Ask me out for them any time...

Laptop screwed. What now?

2010-04-21T01:11:00.002+08:00

I know I haven't been blogging for about more than 1 week, and I wanted to write a post on my favourite cakes in Singapore, but my laptop crashed on me last Friday. Bye bye to my latest photos and the articles I need for my final term paper. URGH. So, I spent a frantic Friday night thinking about what to do and whining on the phone to DR.

Honestly, I haven't had a smooth last week. Screw-ups, rejections and laptops crashing - what more can I ask for? Ha. I was angry with myself that I cracked my own laptop screen and after a while, the whole system crashed. Considering that I paid $2100 for the laptop (Yes, it was THAT expensive) with a loan 4 years ago, I would have wished to use this lousy laptop for another, say, half a year. I really don't want and can't afford to spend extra money to repair that laptop.

So, on Saturday morning, I was frustrated when I sat down to play the piano. But on my piano, there is a decorative piece on which the verse from Romans 8:28 is inscribed - "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

What a timely verse. On Saturday, as I reflect on my not-very-smooth week on the train to church, I realise that I have been holding on too tightly to old things, when God is eager to lavish on me new and better things. I keep thinking about how good, how worth it if I were to have that lousy old thing for a longer time, obstructing my full capacity to welcome new things. Then this phrase came to my mind: 旧的不去，新的不来. Next, I saw the imagery of new wine skins. New wine cannot be poured into old wine skins... I believe God is telling me something.

My conclusion is: I still thank God in all circumstances. Bad week for me doesn't mean I worship a bad God. It is a learning process...

That Saturday, I received a new netbook (from DR)!! He specially chose and bought it for me, so I can use it for my school work just this weekend. He is not super rich okay... and this new netbook cost him a significant hole in his bank account. Therefore, this gift is too big. Yet, I don't want to reject his loving goodwill too. DR's generous giving tells me that this is how much Jesus loves me and you, a love too big that we absolutely do not deserve it since we did nothing to earn it.

You may say I earn this laptop because I am his girlfriend and this is precisely the reason why. It's not because I shower him with a lot gifts/words of encouragement and that's why he is reciprocating. No, no, definitely not like that.

In the same way, we can receive God's love because of the fact that we are God's dearly loved ones, not because we give a lot to Him.

I believe that God is good and my future is sure in His hands! Yes to a new and brighter future after graduation!

The picture of "Jesus" and the lizard caught

2010-04-10T01:49:00.006+08:00

These are the 2 pictures that Prisci specially took for me while travelling on the streets of Sydney. She spotted it in the sky, snapped it and sent it to me via email. Sweet! My friend is the best!! The Aussie people actually made the word "Jesus" in the sky! Guess it's for Good Friday? Isn't that cool? Yue, these pictures are dedicated to you too!

And this:

IS NOT FOR THE FAINT-HEARTED. Check out my mummy's home-made lizard trap, made with a big used envelope, masking tapes and some meat-looking bait (which I don't know whether it is raw or cooked), which managed to successfully capture a lizard ALIVE! I was daring enough to go closer and take a picture of it. I was afraid the flash from the camera might cause the lizard to scramble away but nope, it was still firmly stuck there after my blinding flash.

All hail masking tapes! And MUMMY! And that meat-looking bait! And big envelopes!

The 11 Resolutions of Clyde Kilby

2010-04-07T01:28:00.006+08:00

I have been wanting to share this with you all ever since I stumbled into one of Clyde Kilby's resolutions during one QT session I had with God. Decided to research more on it online and found the full 11 resolutions that Clyde Kilby, an English professor from Wheaton College had made. John Piper, a famous theologian, was one of his English students in Wheaton. COOL.

These resolutions spoke depths about life. So instead of making resolutions, such as "I want to cut down my weight by 5kg within 2 weeks", which we will seldom or never even accomplish, why not consider these resolutions which will make our everyday a joy to be in?

These 11 Resolutions may seem a bit cheem, but trust me, it is worth the read.
Presenting the 11 Resolutions, by Clyde Kilby:

1) At least once every day I shall look steadily up at the sky and remember that I, a consciousness with a conscience, am on a planet traveling in space with wonderfully mysterious things above and about me.

2) Instead of the accustomed idea of a mindless and endless evolutionary change to which we can neither add nor subtract, I shall suppose the universe guided by an Intelligence which, as Aristotle said of Greek drama, requires a beginning, a middle, and an end. I think this will save me from the cynicism expressed by Bertrand Russell before his death, when he said: “There is darkness without, and when I die there will be darkness within. There is no splendour, no vastness anywhere, only triviality for a moment, and then nothing.”

3) I shall not fall into the falsehood that this day, or any day, is merely another ambiguous and plodding twenty-four hours, but rather a unique event, filled, if I so wish, with worthy potentialities. I shall not be fool enough to suppose that trouble and pain are wholly evil parentheses in my existence but, just as likely, ladders to be climbed toward moral and spiritual manhood.

4) I shall not turn my life into a thin straight line which prefers abstractions to reality. I shall know what I am doing when I abstract, which of course I shall often have to do.

5) I shall not demean my own uniqueness by envy of others. I shall stop boring into myself to discover what psychological or social categories I might belong to. Mostly I shall simply forget about myself and do my work.

6) I shall open my eyes and ears. Once every day I shall simply stare at a tree, a flower, a cloud or a person. I shall not then be concerned at all to ask what they are, but simply be glad that they are. I shall joyfully allow them the mystery of what Lewis calls their “divine, magical, terrifying, and ecstatic” existence.

7) I shall follow Darwin’s advice and turn frequently to imaginative things such as good literature and good music, preferably, as Lewis suggests, an old book and timeless music.

8) I shall not allow the devilish onrush of this century to usurp all my energies but will instead, as Charles Williams suggested, “fulfill the moment as the moment.” I shall try to live well just now because the only time that exists is now.

9) If for nothing more than the sake of a change of view, I shall assume my ancestry to be from the heavens rather than from the caves.

10) Even if I turn out to be wrong, I shall bet my life on the assumption that this world is not idiotic, neither run by an absentee landlord, but that today, this veryday, some stroke is being added to the cosmic canvas that in due course I shall understand with joy as a stroke made by the Architect who calls Himself Alpha and Omega.

11) I shall sometimes look back at the freshness of vision I had in childhood and try, at least for a little while, to be, in the words of Lewis Carroll, the “child of thepure unclouded brow, and dreaming eyes of wonder.
****

Hope you have been inspired. I was and still am.

One of the best Mondays

2010-04-05T18:53:00.010+08:00

In a twinkling of an eye, I've reached the last week of school. Interesting that I don't feel reluctant whatsoever. Probably because my exams is only in the beginning of May and that is why I don't feel school life ending.

Anyway, today is my last lecture for COM254 and my last Discipleship Group (DG) session in NTU. I thank God for bringing me through this semester, giving me exceptionally meaningful and fun Mondays. With my DG mates and Monopoly Deal kakis (we are all reigning queens!), Mondays are never mundane.

Janice's rabbit and bear hard-boiled eggs. Too cute to eat. I had the rabbit...

Kris', my DG leader's yummy 爱心炒饭!

My DG mates. Guess where we were.

MONOPOLY DEAL after Prof Bo's lecture every Monday (except for the 3 intensive weeks of rushing for FYP report)

Vanessa and Denise with a pile of our shuffled cards

Me and Cecilia (my primary school classmate and now my fellow classmate for COM254 again in NTU!)

The scheming "Star Alliance". HAHA

My winning set *beams*

Indeed, today is one of my best Mondays in NTU :D

Spiritual realisation

2010-04-02T02:00:00.003+08:00

As I was standing in the many hundreds of people around me, worshipping the Lord during my church's Maundy Thursday's night service, deep within my soul, I was overwhelmed with immense thanksgiving. I have never known a god that can be so loving and giving... Many gods in the world demand people to offer them something before they bless them. My God does not seek benefits for Himself. He gives when we believe in Him, expecting no tangible things from us except for a heart for Him.

With Jesus on the cross, people see it as foolishness or madness but to God, he sees it as a precious love gift to the imperfect me, the imperfect you, even if it means going through isolation, ridicule, pain and ultimately, death.

Another thing I realise was that I could cry a lot and get all emotional during worship (when I sing songs with the church to God). But in daily life, we don't get to enjoy such worshipful environments. We live in a life that does not have emotional music or soundtrack to get us all inspired, repentant or certain about what we are going to do in life. It boils down to me listening to the prompts of the Holy Spirit as I take each step each day.

Thanks to a sister who shared Proverbs 16:19 on Facebook: In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.

May the Lord guide me each and every day the steps to take, even as I plan my course in life.

PSSSTT. I am officially attached for ONE YEAR. HAHAHAHAHA. :D

For God so loved me...

2010-04-01T01:48:00.005+08:00

The Reason behind Good Friday

"For God so loved the world (me) that he gave his one and only Son,that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

When my sin is all that I can see
Your grace remains the shelter that I seek
And when my weakness is all I can give
Your gentle Spirit gives me strength again
And oh, the beauty of Your majesty
On the cross You showed Your love for me

Beautiful Lord, by Leeland

My faith is meant to be shared and I sincerely pray that whoever reads this post will be blessed, that one day, you will come and receive Jesus Christ - the one who gives meaning to everything that we go through in life and the one who will bring us to eternal life.

Before Good Friday is Maundy Thursday. Blessed Maundy Thursday everyone!

Grown-up tastebuds

2010-03-30T22:35:00.001+08:00

As I grow up, somehow, surprisingly, my tastebuds become more mature and I learn to eat more food that I find disgusting when I was younger. I realise, my threshold for bitterness has increased. One of the signs of being older?

Presenting the list of "disgusting" food I now eat/drink
1) Bittergourd - I hated it when I was younger. Now I get my mom to cook it in soup. It's yummy!!
2) Herbal Jelly (not the canned one, the really authentic, bitter one)
3) Carrot juice
4) Salmon skin
5) Sea cucumber
6) Olives

Food I STILL can't muster the courage to eat them willingly:
1) Half-boiled eggs (I know many people like to eat this... but I think I was traumatised by the weirdly-prepared ones my mom forced me to eat when I was around 10 years old)
2) Lady's fingers
3) Brinjal/Eggplant
4) Pork with visible pieces of lard (but I'm learning)
5) White chicken skin

So much different kinds of food in the world... I'm sure I won't miss out anything if I were not to eat these 4 things I don't have the courage to eat!

Can't believe it!

2010-03-25T00:45:00.003+08:00

I can't believe it!

I spent the whole day in Woodlands Civic Centre McDonald's together with Denise, Van and Cecilia... just to do up a less than 20 slides presentation!!!

We sat there from 1045am to 630pm! Like seriously. Blame it on having to look for scenes that features communication using the computer (ie, chatrooms, emails...blahblahblah). We need to find links to these clips that feature such scenes. So imagine having to watch the whole movie just to catch this particular scene. After getting home, I had my dinner, went on to search for clips, then we had discussions online from 9pm to 1130pm! How do I put the FRUSTRATED EMOTICON?

After rushing my FYP report for the last 3 weeks, this presentation is not very welcomed.

God loves me overwhelmingly

2010-03-24T00:48:00.003+08:00

For 3 weeks, I didn't attend prayer meeting due to my FYP report but when I went today, feeling like a non-eloquent and timid Moses, God rained down His love on me, more than what I've asked.

As I was praying in worship, our Senior Pastor suddenly said we could request for pastors to pray for us by raising our hands. I wanted to raise my hand but I was too proud (or maybe reluctant) to do so. How I wished someone could come over to pray for me because deep inside, I knew I needed someone to pray for me.

Midway, I felt a hand touching my back warmly, and I teared (teared is an understatement. Hmm... maybe you can say I cried, with mucus flowing and no tissue paper! HAHA) because I know God has sent someone to pray for me, telling me how God's love is beyond my parents' or anyone's love.

Then, came another hand came over me, touched my head with assurance, and the voice began to pray for my future, for the boldness to run towards the calling that God has given me and blessed me, saying that wherever I go, I will make a difference in that place. Again,the mucus and tears flowed freely. Wished I had a packet of tissue paper to blow my nose and wipe away the trail of mucus above my lips which was threatening to seep into my mouth!! OKAY, it's eewwwwww. But I convinced myself that no one was looking... Ha.

But genuinely, I am just immensely thankful to God for sending these angels to pray for me even when I didn't raise my hand to request for one. God knows my desires. He loves me too much to ignore me. *happily sighs* Thank you Lord!

When life slips away

2010-03-21T22:39:00.006+08:00

I like to read blogs and nowadays, I read of lives slipping away... the bleakness and frustration were unbearable. The helplessness, the loneliness, the exclusion, the isolation, the major decisions in life where you have no clue what to do, the disappointments, the many times of trying but still failing.. oh, they are such pains.

I can feel it and I can't help but feel unsettled and terrible for these people. I truly feel it, in my mind especially. My heart is still not as active as my mind, so I don't cry for them. But yes, my mind is overwhelmed with these thoughts of bleakness as I read their blogs.

The full life, innocence, heart-to-heart talks and laughter that once surrounded us seem to be replaced by monotony, lies, superficial talks and tears as we grow older and become more aware of us having to fight for ourselves, our dreams.

Christians are not always happy (or deluded) people. We have our fair share of struggles and stress.

So whenever, I feel such negative thoughts looming over my mind, I remember the song my mom used to sing when she cooks in the kitchen in the morning, and I will have the strength to carry on. This song has helped me through my FYP journey and disappointing times. It is a church hymn written in the 19th century. Who says hymns are boring and dry?

Please read the lyrics of this hymn "What A Friend We Have in Jesus" and be blessed.

What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!
Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
Oh, what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer!

Are we weak and heavy-laden,
Cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge—Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In His arms He’ll take and shield thee,
Thou wilt find a solace there.

P/S Thank you God the busy weekend is over!!! FYP report-rushing and James127 Camp are over and I can rest the whole day at home today. Yay....

Bloody Bangkok

2010-03-20T00:19:00.002+08:00

Bloody Bangkok! Ewww. And I mean it in the literal way, not in the swearing way, if you know what I mean.

I have been seeing Bangkok in the news because of the literally, bloody Red-Shirt protests against the current government. They want Thaksin back. Why? The current Prime Minister Abhisit is very handsome what... And he is well-educated, so why do they want the corrupted Thaksin back? But I remember that they say Abhisit is more popular with the well-to-do but Thaksin can connect better with the rural poor.

At first I thought the blood they splashed on the government house were containers of animal blood. But after looking more into the news, I realised that they drew a teaspoon of blood with syringes from each of the Red-Shirt protesters... meaning, it's HUMAN blood they splashed! Who knows who has AIDS! Honestly, have they considered their hygiene when they decided to go for this protest?

EWWW. Bloody Bangkok... I hope these protesters wake up their idea because it is tarnishing the image of Bangkok as a holiday destination and pushing all businesses away. I wonder how this whole thing will end.

ANYWAY! FYP report is submitted and done!!! WHEEEEEE. I wrote 9,774 words! I am amazed! I am submitting everything to God, no matter what grades I get, I will still praise the Lord. I am not going to worry about anything already.

So now, I can concentrate on other presentations and an essay assignment from my two other modules! (: (:

James 127 Camp tomorrow... Got to wake up early!

Guess the country/capital

2010-03-16T00:54:00.004+08:00

Sarah showed me a quiz she did during her module on news writing and reporting. I had fun attempting the questions because I like these kind of general knowledge.

They were asked to give the capital of the countries mentioned in the piece of paper. You can test yourself!

1. Australia: ____ (Sarah put Melbourne! I was like -.-" YOU DIDN'T KNOW?)
2. Taiwan: _____
3. United States of America: ____
4. Pakistan: ____
5. Brazil: _____

Next question: Give the country of the capitals provided below:

1. Port-au-Prince: ____ (no points for guessing it right since it has appeared so many times in newspaper the previous month)
2. Cairo: _____
3. Santiago: _____
4. Riyadh: _____ (I got this right!)
5. Ottawa: _____ (you know what Sarah wrote? She put JAPAN. I was -.-" again! Anyway the right answer is Canada)

I like quizzes like that! Some people may think it's boring/weird/无聊 but I guess it is just me.
Bring on the General Knowledge quizzes, but please don't test me on history because I don't remember numbers. I only remember one significant event with its date - the French Revolution (answer: 1789).

Jack Neo and my thoughts

2010-03-12T22:38:00.010+08:00

Long hiatus because of my Graduation Project thesis. It is really no joke. Now you tell me to write any random 800-word essay (which I have to, for another module), I will be able to churn out quite quickly considering I've already written more than 9500 words. It's not over yet, I still need to fine tune my arguments but at least the main structure is already out.

So the latest news is Jack Neo's infidelity (I am still in touch with the world okay).

When news of Jack Neo's infidelity broke out, I was first disgusted, then enraged - isn't he a Christian? Haven't I read somewhere he is Christian? I was super sian.

I slapped my forehead in frustration. Great. Infidelity... and of all things, he is a Christian.
In my mind, I wanted to throw stones at him.

Firstly, I was angry that he is Christian. What sort of example are you setting and telling everyone as someone famous?

Secondly, I am angry his wife will be hurt. Women really lose out in such matters. As a woman myself, I doubt I can tolerate it if I find out that my husband have been cheating. I will definitely do something violent towards him... then, cry my guts out.

But I said no, who am I to judge him? Who am I to pick up the stones? Who am I to say there's a speck of sawdust in his eye when I have a plank in mine?

Read this short account of Jesus and a woman who committed adultery from the Bible and you will understand:

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?"

They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.

When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"

"No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."

Sometimes, I think Jesus is a bit idiosyncratic. We want to punish a man according to what he deserves. Jesus did not disagree, instead he turn and question us... "Do you not have sins yourself"?

So probably Jack Neo committed infidelity which seems big because it is exposed. If we were to expose our own lives, we will probably discover that we are filled with greed, lust, envy, or have done "little things" that do not seem to matter (for eg. taking something in the office/school that does not belong to you, closing your eyes to the elderly man who needed a seat).

LOW sin doesn't mean no sin.

I'm not trying to say I accept such behaviour. I detest it. I loathe men, who justisfy that they have "needs", and go out and fool around. I LOATHE men who have sex with women they don't intend to have commitments with. If you still want to commit with other women when you're already married, I HATE YOU EVEN MORE!

I only have my rights to be angry, but not to judge.

I guess for Jack Neo now, one advice for you: "Go now and leave your life of sin.", just like what Jesus told the woman who committed adultery.

Now, this is the reason why Jesus came to save. Imperfect, we all are.

Shave that unibrow!

2010-02-21T18:20:00.005+08:00

Copied this from Yue's blog:

Made me laugh real hard!

The MrBrown Show's version of MCYS's Funeral

2010-02-18T16:00:00.002+08:00

Just had to share this. If you have seen the original advertisement of MCYS's Funeral, you would love this!

Listen to the Podcast by clicking down there!

the mrbrown show: funeral too

My personality test

2010-02-18T00:40:00.008+08:00

A few hours ago, I did a personality test which my COM254 professor has given us during our class. In this class, I always get interesting lessons, videos and quizzes as I learn about interpersonal communication.

So, yes, I did the personality test which consists of 40 questions, and found out that my top 2 personalities were Peaceful Phelgmatic (15 points) and Popular Sanguine (12 points). The other personalities that one can possibly have are Perfect Melancholy (I scored only 2 points for this!) and Powerful Choleric (I scored 10 points).

At the end of the quiz, they offered descriptions of people with such personalities.

A Peaceful Phelgmatic (why does it remind me of phlegm - the sticky thing you get in your throat when you are sick?) is the introvert, the watcher, the pessimist.

A Peaceful Phlegmatic has the tendency to have the following emotions:
- Low key personality
- Easy going and relaxed
- Patient, well balanced
- Quiet but witty
- Sympathetic and kind
- Keeps emotions hidden
- Happily reconciled to life

Peaceful Phelegmatic as a parent:
- Makes a good parent
- Takes time for children
- Is not in a hurry
- Can take the good with the bad
- Doesn't get upset easily (when I told Deren about this, he was doubtful. Hrmph!)

Peaceful Phelgmatic at work:
- Competent and steady
- Avoids conflicts
- Has administrative ability
- Good listener (Deren didn't agree with this too and I kinda agree with him. I tend to get easily distracted after listening for a while)
(and a lot more which I am too lazy to type)

Peaceful Phelgmatic as a Friend:
- Easy to get along with
- Pleasant and enjoyable
- Inoffensive
- Enjoys watching people
- Has many friends
- Has compassion and concern
(etctec... too lazy to type more)

So does the above descriptions reflect me?

I would say my personality has been pretty stable ever since I was in JC. In JC, I did a personality test too called DISC. I am a SI person, meaning I am both Steady and Influential, though I am veered more towards the Steady part. And this coincides with the latest personality test that I have done too.

Yawns. It's late now. Should probably go to sleep now instead of typing all these...

Should I move?

2010-02-17T12:30:00.001+08:00

Recently, I discovered a new blog host site - Wordpress!

I am contemplating the move to have a Wordpress address because it seems more interesting. They help you track blog statistics, allow for polls and have really neat and simple templates. Plus, if you are in China, you can still blog. When I was in China, I couldn't read blogs with Blogspot addresses.

But one thing I don't like is that they don't allow for interactive chatterbox, only comments. I don't exactly like comments because the comments are hidden and are not interactive for people.

I have been blogging ever since I entered university. I remember my first blog post was something about my school's orientation camp. So yea, now that I am soon about to graduate, maybe it's time for a brand new start for my blog too.

Hmm. Perhaps I might just move to Wordpress!

Not excited about Chinese New Year

2010-02-10T18:47:00.003+08:00

Chinese New Year is fast approaching.

The only signs of festivity is the increasing amount of new year titbits around my house and the increasing roundness of my tummy as a result of consumption of these titbits. DIE.

I eat so much every single day. Every day, I will munch on some bak gua or some almond biscuits, ginger snaps, or some peanut thingy while sitting down typing my graduation project interview transcripts and writing up the drafts... Man, at this rate, I think running 258359 rounds around the stadium will still not be able to save me.

Honestly, I'm not keen about Chinese New Year. Because once it's over, it means I have only about a month to complete my 10,000-word thesis!!!! WHOA. This is reality.

So tell me, what is fun about CNY, besides the ang baos, the feasts, the feelings of togetherness, and the endless rounds of exciting card games (no gambling involved)? TELL ME. What else is fun?

Okay, maybe I just said all the fun things. Maybe it's just me. I'm just not that excited about CNY, like many others are because of my looming-like-a-huge-shadow Graduation Project.

Talking about that.. another thing which I dread about CNY? I have no new clothes yet. For the sake of my own comfort, I will try and buy something new to wear tomorrow, lest I get asked "hey, didn't you wear this like 2-3 years ago?"

Okay, to sum up, no matter what, I will make the best out of everything. Maybe I'm just too occupied with my academic stuff and other miscellaneous problems that I have failed to look up to the sky and breathe the fresh air.

So there, I will make the best out of everything.. And the first step will be to get new clothes and my eyebrows trimmed. Hahaha!

What is Ah Ma thinking

2010-02-08T23:00:00.005+08:00

This is my Ah Ma. She is 80 years old this year but she often likes to say that she is 81. This picture shows her plucking beansprouts early in the morning.

After suffering a fall about 4 or 5 years ago, her memory has been failing her. She tends to repeat her words and she finds it hard to remember names. Doubt she remembers my name. She just calls me Ah Girl, or recognise me by asking my mother if I am her (my mom's) daughter.

But one thing she never fails to do is to bless me with her words. I tried talking to her in my terrible Teochew but all I can do is to ask her whether she wants to watch TV or sleep, or bathe, or go to the toilet.

In the past year, she has been dropping by my house for one or a couple nights' stay. I see her sitting quietly sometimes in the morning, folding clothes or just sitting there, as if waiting for something. When we talk, she just sits there to listen and occasionally quips at the most awkward time.

Our family thinks she may be suffering from dementia and she doesn't know or recognise a lot of things. But I look her staring into blank space, I imagine her to be in her own world, yet not detached from the real world.
She probably knows a lot of things that's going on around her. She is aware. She must be thinking.

Maybe, her staring into space, her quiet waiting is an ingenious way to gain the unspoken peace amidst the many family problems and idle chatter around her.

Naming babies

2010-02-01T16:35:00.003+08:00

My professor talked about verbal communication last week and mentioned that even names can make an impression on others.

He showed us the top 10 most popular girls' and boys' names in Singapore.

Surprisingly, "Esther" was in the top 10!

I thought Esther was a very traditional name... Nobody exactly wants to be associated with traditional. Many parents want funky names like Chloe, Tessa or _____ (insert own made-up name that sounds really cheem/exotic/cool) So was really pleasantly surprised that Singaporean parents want to name their girls Esther.

10 most popular girls' names (from babycenter.com.sg)
1. Chloe
2. Ashley
3. Faith
4. Nicole
5. Isabelle
6. Megan
7. Alyssa
8. Emma
9. Esther
10. Sara

The Thank Yous for now

2010-01-30T00:57:00.005+08:00

Just scored another interview with another MP! Yay!

Phew. Need like a few more... Probably 5 or 6? But I am confident it is possible.

But 10,000 words for Graduation Project still loom ahead. 7 more weeks. Need to get interviews in before CNY!

May the Lord hold my hand, and that I will not let go of His, as I walk through this last lap of my education life. I will not worry about tomorrow for I know the Lord holds everything of tomorrow!

On a side note, I thank you Lord for the miracles for those Haiti survivors which I read on The Straits Times today. Amazing how tenacious humans can be when it comes to fighting for their very weak life.

P.S Something random: The new iPad... it really sounds like a sanitary napkin, doesn't it?

Before and After - Dentist Ad

2010-01-28T01:05:00.005+08:00

I was looking through my old pictures and found this interesting old picture of mine in the computer. This was me when I just entered secondary school, I think 10 years ago, before I had my braces...

I showed my mom this picture and she laughed heartily. She realised how *ahem* I looked then. But you know what she told me? At that point of time, she told me she never thought of me as second best or ugly. In her eyes, I was beautiful. (:

P/S I think I can have this picture as before and after ad for my orthodontist, Dr. Arthur Lim!

The Starfish Story... and then some

2010-01-20T17:37:00.003+08:00

Deren and I were discussing the frustration of being stuck in a system, that no matter what you say or do, people are not willing to take into consideration what you said and are still doing the same old things, as if what you said or do is futile.

So I shared the inspirational Starfish Story with him...

The Starfish Story Original Story by: Loren Eisley

One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean. Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?” The youth replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”

“Son,” the man said, “don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make a difference!”

After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it back into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said… "I made a difference for that one."

After I briefly shared the story, here goes our conversation.

Me: So you know, whenever I feel frustrated about being stuck in some place where I can't do much, I'll just do whatever I can within my individual capacity.

Deren: Why must the guy pick up the starfishes one by one? Why can't he just use the bulldozer to pick the starfishes and throw them back into the sea?

Me: ........

This inspirational story just officially got massacred with his response :/

你 QT 了吗?

2010-01-19T00:59:00.000+08:00

Shanghai cast a dry spell on me - spiritually.

I confess, I didn't do my Quiet Time (QT) over there as I forgot to bring my devotional booklet "Our Daily Journey" (okay, I know it is a lame excuse considering that I have the Bible in my mobile phone). Rather than spend time with God, I spent time slowly taking off my thick layers of winter clothes and lying on bed after a tiring day on the tour bus.

I was so spiritually dry that I got impatient, easily agitated and spoke with no wisdom.
I felt horrid too. Can't really explain how lah.

Then I realised how important Christian fellowship was to me when I went to church for service and prayer meeting. I was able to focus my energies on knowing God and His word. And I got back my momentum to do QT and I was once again refreshed by His word. It is like drinking a cup of sparkling 100Plus after a long run without water!

My nainai, while on the Shanghai trip, told me that her pots of plants withered when she was away for about 10 days once. Interestingly, these plants only withered on one side. On the other side, where the plants get exposed to the outside, dew managed to sustain the plant, so it survived. The plants were hanging on for their lives with the dew provided by nature.

But after my nainai returned from her 10-day trip, despite the plants being half-withered, she continued to water the plants faithfully. Amazingly, they grew healthy and flowered once again!

When she told me this incident, I was like... WOW!

When I came back to Singapore, only did I understand God's purpose for her telling me about her half-withered plants.

These plants were like my spiritual life. Withered... but only on one side. On the other side, God was providing the dew to sustain me through, giving me the desire to hang on. And after the real watering comes, when QT comes, I am restored fully once again (:

So, in the words of my church's 2010 Back-to-Basics focus - 你QT了吗?

I feel appreciated (:

2010-01-12T14:00:00.004+08:00

Last Saturday, after our RYM gathering, our girls secretly had their dinner late at the kitchen and didn't allow Chuanyan and I to see them. And they presented something for us! Thank you very much girls! We feel appreciated (: I do, really!

5 reasons why you should never follow a tour group

2010-01-10T23:00:00.001+08:00

Having recently gone for a tour in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Wuxi and Nanjing, I've decided that one should avoid all tour packages as far as possible.

Here are 5 reasons why.

#1 You have to stare stupidly into blank space, as if preoccupied with something, after you are done with your meal with 7 other strangers at a round table. Awkward! Trick is, eat slowly during mealtime and stare more at your bowl.

#2 You will be pressured to give tips to the tour guide even if you don't find him/her that worthy of those tips.

#3 The tour people bring you to touristy places (ie. pearl/silk/tea/statues/medicine factories) to rip you off your money!

#4 You have to holiday with strange/anal/boring/quiet/rowdy/overenthusiastic/kaypoh people. You get the drift? Basically, people whom you may not be comfortable with.

#5 And last but not least, is when your tour guide forces you to listen to her talk about things like fengshui when you are totally lethargic and uninterested!

Then again, I do not dismiss my recent China trip as not fruitful. I did learn a little bit about China's culture.

For example, do you know that apparently, China implemented its 3 long holidays (CNY, May Day and their National Day) around late 1990s to allow more time for their people to spend money during the Asian Financial Crisis, thus boosting their economy?

Also, do you know that their civil servants are allowed to take naps for 2 hours (12 - 2pm) after their lunch so as to ensure productivity? It is apparently initiated by Deng Xiaoping. Therefore, nap after lunch is called 邓小平时间.
Wish Singapore had that too!

Anyway, it's already 10 days into the new year. I'm still a bit lost... I need time to recuperate from my cold trip to Shanghai. The cold has frozen some part of my mind and heart.

2010... It's definitely going to be a different, more uplifting and inspiring year - if I make it to be.

Anticipating 2010?

2009-12-29T01:18:00.006+08:00

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.

I am a friend of God!

2009-12-23T23:01:00.001+08:00

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.

Before my teeth drops

2009-12-22T01:23:00.003+08:00

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.

Dirty Old Man spotted

2009-12-16T23:33:00.004+08:00

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.

The Singapore Flyer experience

2009-12-11T23:45:00.000+08:00

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!

Moving on to a new season

2009-12-11T01:03:00.005+08:00

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.

Some December updates

2009-12-10T01:03:00.005+08:00

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.

The story behind my name

2009-12-03T00:49:00.006+08:00

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! ;)

Not only results

2009-12-01T00:40:00.004+08:00

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?"

Schadenfreude

2009-11-29T23:00:00.003+08:00

Schadenfreude - shameful joy

"To have envy is human, to have shameful joy, devilish."

Schadenfreude is about pleasure that is derived from the misfortunes of others. The likelihood of you feeling schadenfreude is when you compare with people around you who are about the same as you in age, social background and exposure.

I hope to never feel like that. But we can never say. Have you secretly had a twinge of pleasure when you see your classmate doing not as well in a test/exam? I have. I guess you feel that when you compare.

If we have no basis for comparisons, schadenfreude will not occur. Like for example, when someone's favourite grandmother passes away, will you derive pleasure? No. Because you may not even have a favourite grandmother. Moreover, it is a death! If you gloat, you are seriously off centre.

When you see an adult friend losing a huge sum of money in the financial meltdown, do you derive pleasure? No. Because she is an adult and you are still a student. So there is no basis for comparison. So, what you will feel for her is immense sympathy and helplessness.

But face it, we see so many people who are so similar to us. They are clad in jeans and tee, have the same hairstyle, share almost the same opportunities as you (or at least this is what our meritocratic system is making us think). There are endless platforms to compare.

Comparison is inevitable.... Unless you know who you are.

If you know you are unique, one-of-a-kind, would you bother comparing?
Because you are already the pinnacle, the best.

Sadly, a lot of us always forget about this intangible truth when we see the tangible entities and listen to what other people say.

Fact is, we are all unique, the best.

Someone asked, how can God create everyone to be the best? I am the best? That means there must be someone out there who is "better" and maybe just a "good"?

Now if we think like that, we are bounded by our human intelligence, looking at yourself according to human measurement.

In the supernatural realm, why isn't it impossible for everyone to be the best?

So quit having schdenfreude. To say it nicely, it is human nature, but if ever such a thought creep in to me again, may the Lord chide me and renew my heart!

I feel good about this exam period!

2009-11-27T00:36:00.005+08:00

My exams are over! After sitting for 3 papers in 3 consecutive days (this is my tightest schedule ever in uni), I feel so tired, so boy, do I feel good.

I think I really do work better under stress!

I spent my last couple of weeks to study and study... I restrained myself from blogging even when my thoughts are exploding about the Philippines massacre, MM Lee Kuan Yew admitting that he was WRONG to pursue the bilingualism policy (ahhahahaha, finally), and the many other things I've read.

I was really motivated since it's my second last official exam period. It helps that I am only taking 4 subjects this semester too! Also, De Ren dropped by my house one evening with strudels and donuts for me and my family, specially to encourage me on! Happy! With good, sweet stuff, I am always happy!

This is really one exam period that I feel good after handing up my papers. I finished my essays well on time. :) by God's grace! No matter what results I get, I know I have done my best in all my papers.

Shall let down my hair and enjoy this moment!

Rejoice with me~~ Wheeee~

Currently grooving to Kris Allen's cover of The Script's "Live Lke We're Dying"! It's on repeat mode everytime I come online!

Treats Day

2009-11-17T00:18:00.005+08:00

Presenting the MP for Keat Hong, Mr. Zaqy Mohamad... and me!
Finally done with the interview with him. (:
He was an amicable and sincere man, who occasionally peppered his words some close-to-heart Singlish.

Credits to ZX for taking this picture for me. I think I need a haircut. Ha.

Eh, the background is a bit funny but this is the room I interviewed him in! Hahaha..

Before I interviewed him, I met up with the girls for lunch and tea because Prisci just got back from Sydney.

Today is Treats Day.

We went to TWG at Ion for tea and actually bumped into Huiching's mom just when she was able to leave. She left but then she returned again while we were seated comfortably having our tea, and offered to foot our bill! It was really gracious of her. When I start to officially earn my keep, I will learn how to do just that!

This time round, I had crème brulée tea. I really like it because it is white tea and not too heavy on the palate. Besides, it smells really like crème brulée! Didn't have their pretty pastries though because I was really full from the chicken rice we had at Far East Plaza (thanks Prisci for the treat!) and the Yami Yogurt topped with granola.

Eh, not sure why my gorgeous LX3 pictures are so grainy when it is uploaded to Blogger -.-

Pity Yue can't join us because she is rushing a paper that is due on this day itself :(

But well, we'll all meet up again after our exams, I hope! Because with clashing schedules, we might only be able to meet during mid December!

God to the rescue!

2009-11-14T00:11:00.002+08:00

What a difference a night of reading the Bible made.

Last night, I wrote slightly depressing stuff about my life.
But not willing to succumb to the pressurizing thoughts, I read the Bible before I slept.

And how faithful is my God!

He spoke to me through this in Exodus 14:14

"The Lord will fight for you, you need only to be still"

This is said by Moses and its context is set when the Israelites were running away from the Egyptians, who were pressing against them very closely, and before them was a huge sea that they couldn't cross.

They were in a pressurizing situation. They probably were panicking and were filled with anxiety, just like how I felt last night.

So, I was still before the Lord. And He granted me a good night's sleep, with no anxious or depressing thoughts.

Now, I am okay!

I am now looking forward to watching "Whose Line Is It Anyway" later :P

Could life have been easier?

2009-11-12T23:49:00.006+08:00

I wonder how is it like to further my studies in Biology or Chemistry. They were the only non-Arts I enjoyed in secondary school and I had pretty good grades for them in O's.

Or, perhaps, I could have studied Business, find a nice job in HR or marketing or accountancy, and earn a good living.

You know, sometimes, I wish I wasn't an Arts student.

Don't get me wrong. I am enjoying what I am studying but it's just that the content is making me so cynical, critical and helpless.

Because as an Arts student, I have so many ideas exploding in my mind all the time, ideas that aspire to break free from the system of things, ideas that would challenge dominant beliefs in society.

Yet, I find myself unwittingly sucked into THE SYSTEM, the norms and practices of the society.
And the worse thing is, I can't do much about it.

Would life have been easier if I were to stop having these ideas which results from a lot of reading about ideals from philosphers, sociologists?

And probably, studied something that just allowed me to discover the wonders of nature, instead of the gross inequalities of the world?

I am looking back, and wondering, if I had chosen the alternative path, would life have been easier?

Life would probably be simpler. I would be satisfied with The System, since I am part of it and it is rewarding me well. Ideas to change it would not exist.

The Arts student is placed in a position where we look at The System from the third-person point of view, which is deeply disengaging, as if I don't belong to it. The more I know how The System works, the more I detest its practices.

Sigh. I don't like it when I get into these serious contemplation modes.
Blame it on the dreary weather.

Okay, back to studying.

But before that, think I ought to seek God first. He has the answers about what I should do with my deep thoughts.

The true value in each of us

2009-11-07T23:40:00.004+08:00

A Sociology course mate recently posted this video of TEDtalks on Facebook featuring Alain de Botton, a philosopher from UK. TED is an academic organization dedicated to "Ideas Worth Spreading", and they have invited many famous personalities to give talks to an by-invitation-only audience on global issues, entertainment, technology...blahblahblah.

To get to the point, in this video, Alain de Botton discusses candidly about why we are suffering from career anxiety, meritocracy, how envy stems from the sense of equality and espouses an alternative philosophy of success.

If you take just some time to view it, you'll be convinced to find your true value as a person and determine your own yardstick of success.

Very inspiring.

Some interesting excerpts from the video...

"Snobbery is a global phenomenon... What is a snob? A snob is anybody who takes a small part of you and uses that to come to a complete vision of who you are."

"The opposite of a snob is your mother."

"It'll be very unsual for anyone of you who would be envious of the Queen of England, even though she's much richer than anyone of you are, she has a very large house... the reason why we don't envy her is because she is too weird, simply too strange."

Mad crazy month is here

2009-11-05T23:15:00.003+08:00

These couple of weeks have been frenzied.
A flurry of deadlines for research, interviews and getting 1500-3000 words essays written.

Today is the last essay I am submitting for this term!
Yay!

But rest doesn't come now. Exams are in 2 weeks' time and it's time to revise.
Deadline for Graduation Project data collection is looming too... on 24 Nov, same day as another of my exam! :~(

Still, I am thankful because this week, I managed to secure a face-to-face interview with a MP, Zaqy Mohammad for my Graduation Project! (: Wow! When I emailed him, I whispered a simple prayer for God to open paths and there, got it!

I need to come up with interview questions that can help me guide my Grad Proj thesis. So I have to start reading up old materials from my "Power, State, and Politics" module... which is buried in my storeroom for 3 semesters.
So yea, another two weeks of frenzy again!

I don't know how I can do it. Seriously, I am contemplating paying someone to transcribe my interviews. Transcribing interviews is mad crazy I tell you!

I look forward to December... or maybe not. I don't know. I'm actually kind of happy that I am busy now.

I mean, this will be my last few moments of studying so I'll make these last 2 weeks count!

This is Survivor:NTU.

My best picture so far

2009-10-27T00:06:00.004+08:00

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.

Testing out Demand & Suppy

2009-10-26T15:28:00.002+08:00

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!

A brand new discovery

2009-10-25T00:07:00.005+08:00

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.

Lost my handphone again!

2009-10-23T01:05:00.002+08:00

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!

Mundane days

2009-10-21T13:22:00.003+08:00

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

2009-10-19T21:06:00.005+08:00

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!

Honestly, stop being pissed about Singlish!

2009-10-17T00:14:00.003+08:00

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 ;)

Some hearty laughters there

2009-10-10T01:17:00.005+08:00

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!

I have politicians as friends

2009-10-09T00:16:00.002+08:00

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!

Time to exercise!

2009-10-04T22:32:00.004+08:00

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.

Rebellion?

2009-10-01T01:15:00.006+08:00

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

I wish everyone was communist

2009-10-01T00:47:00.005+08:00

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.

Bureaucracy and the Church

2009-09-30T00:34:00.008+08:00

Bureaucracy and the Church.

It can be a potential threat to the church community, if we get bogged down by its pitfalls.

Bureaucracy is an organisational model rationally designed to perform complex tasks efficiently.

There are five key elements:
1. Specialisation
2. Authority is structure by hierarchy, lies with position not person.
3. Rules and regulations- operation is guided by rationally enacted rules and regulations
4. Technical competence -
5. Impersonality- rules take precedence over personal whim, formality and uniform treatment for each client and workers.
(adopted from http://www.sociologyntu.blogspot.com/)

If used wisely, bureucracy is helpful as the church expands. We need a hierarchy, to get information transmitted quickly to the ground level. So one leader is made to supervise a few people and these few people would then supervise some others under them. This is hierarchy.

It is also efficient for the church to carry out activities when everyone adheres strictly to black and white rules. It makes things easier to carry out, rather than judge situations on a case-by-case basis.

In the Bible, division of labour/hierarchy was not a bad thing. Remember the advice of Jethro to his son-in-law, Moses? "Appoint men for thousands, and men over ten thousands..." and so on? This was so, that Moses can rest without having to deal with every minute conflict.

So yes, it is efficient, but is it effective in maintaining a loving church community in today's context?

In a hierarchy, there is an obvious distancing from the one at the top. So say, if a normal church member wants to speak to the Senior Pastor, can he/she do it? Or do you have to be a leader before you can speak to the Senior Pastor? And in the Catholic church, can a devout, normal believer speak directly to the Pope, treating him as a fellow brother?

If the person within the bureacracy gets too engrossed in his position, he may develop what Robert Merton (another Sociologist) would call Bureaucratic Personality.

A bureaucratic personality entails strict adherence to positions. So much so that the person becomes impersonal and refuse to do things out of the stated rules.

In other words, law by law. No personal relations allowed.

Well, is this what God wants? Impersonality? Strict adherence to rules and regulations? A church organization in which the workers just have to perform their tasks and that's it?
A cold, cold organization, instead of a family?

I am not here to point fingers.

But as a Sociology student and a Christian, I just hope to remind expanding churches that a church is meant to be a family, not an impersonal organization, like the government.

I am not advocating that we dump bureaucracy altogether within the church. We can follow this model for administrative matters.

But when it comes to relationships and serving in church, dispense with the bureaucratic red tape and let's be flexible. Do we really have to be very technically competent before we can serve? Moses sure wasn't that competent when he served the Lord by leading the Israelites out of Egypt.

After all, we are a family and a family is characterized by genuine, sincere relationships, not by people bent on following the rules all the time.

Rather than extreme efficiency and competence, let the church be a community for mistakes, love and acceptance.

Effortless

2009-09-25T23:50:00.002+08:00

I was surfing in Youtube for a piano arrangement of this song Hillsong's "With All I Am", and I found a really good one.

I am going to serve on the piano this Sunday, playing this song. But of course, it'll be sang in Mandarin!

He makes it look so effortless.

Dreams and nightmares

2009-09-25T18:57:00.003+08:00

For the past three mornings, I've woken up, startled.

The first morning, on Wednesday, I woke up from a dream in which I was lost in Malaysia.

The second morning, on Thursday, I woke up from a nightmare of being ranked last in my Sociology cohort for my Graduation Project proposal. In the dream, I saw a list of names and saw my name with one of the lowest grades. AHHHHH!
What an unfortunate dream, or should I say, nightmare. This came probably from studying too much for my mid-term quiz the night before.
I call this academic anxiety.

And this morning, I dreamt of something, I can't really remember what, but it wasn't something nice for sure.

I just know that I woke up with a jump, and wondered if I was late for school as the sun was shining so brightly!
Ok, turned out I wasn't late. Phew.

Too many bad dreams in a row...

To ease jumpy nerves, let's have a good laugh at this video. TGIF!

I didn't know eyebrows could move like that! HAHAHA!

TWG Tea Salon & Boutique

2009-09-19T00:11:00.007+08:00

I am a sucker for pretty, aesthetically pleasing sweets. Not those candies that you suck, but sweets, as in desserts or pastries.

That's why one of my favourite birthday gifts last year was from my dear cousin Angie - a box full of colourful cupcakes, topped with immaculate icing.

I decided to choose a cosy place which has pretty sweets for a catch-up session with Yue. So, the both of us headed to TWG Tea Salon & Boutique at Republic Plaza for tea, which is a secret gem amidst the fast and furious CBD.

Heard about this place from Huiching, who recommended us their macarons. Online reviews were pretty favourable too. Plus, they have pretty tea-infused patesserie like tarts, cakes... :)

When we stepped in, we were greeted by rows and rows of tea canisters. I felt like I was in the set of Oscar Wilde's play "Importance of Being Earnest", very Victorian, surrounded by mahogany chairs and cupboards.

TWG Tea Salon's specialty, as the name implies, is in tea. They have a really extensive list of tea blends with names like Happy Birthday Tea, Paris-Singapore Tea and Timeless Tea. Interesting names eh?

Spoilt for choice, we decided to ask their in-house tea specialist for recommendations. She asked us patiently for our preference and even brought down canisters of tea leaves for us to smell and choose.

Being a tea noob (unlike Yue, who at least, has a little knowledge on teas), I tried to follow what she was saying about black, white and green tea. One thing I learned was that black/green tea is refreshing (ie. energising) whilst white tea makes one relax. And to truly taste white tea, one must drink it before drinking black tea. If not, the black tea would overpower the lightness of white tea on the palate.

After smelling their tea leaves from the canisters the tea specialist brought down, Yue chose Golden Rose which is a black tea, which is a blend of black tea, roses from Southern France and gold leaves (!!!). As for me, I decided to try White House Tea, which is a white tea. Like duh~

We had 4 macarons - 1837 Black (the purple one. It is black tea-infused), Lemon Bush (the yellow one. It has a very funny name, I know), Camelot (the black one. It has a rich caramel filling - my favourite)and Grand Wedding (the pink one, which is tropical fruit macaron)

Another picture of their macarons and its fillings!

And also their fruit tart, generously topped with a berries and a zesty passion fruit custard-thingy. It had a good base which wasn't too hard.

This is Yue who is admiring the beautiful surroundings of the tea salon.

Behind me are columns and rows of canisters. In each canister are different tea leaves.

I enjoyed the time Yue and I spent together, talking about almost everything under the sun, catching up with lost time, and listening to her rants about me being hard to meet :X
Pity Char couldn't make it because her bf is in town.

In the end, Yue paid for everything as she wanted to give me a birthday treat.
Thank you muchies Yue! :D

We decided that we would come back to this place again. Even though this place looks very atas, the service crew entertaining us that afternoon were anything but.

Good service, good ambience, good tea, good pastries, good company... What more can you really ask for? :)

What recession?!

2009-09-16T00:14:00.003+08:00

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that the current recession is 'very likely over'. - Yahoo news.

Yay! Good news!

But wait, what recession?

The recent Comex held at Suntec Convention Centre apparently generated the highest record of $63 million in total spending on gadgets, computers, electronics... the sorts!

$63 million! Like hello? What recession?

This year's NATAS Fair was also kept really busy with many Singaporeans signing up for short trips to places like Malaysia and Korea.

Like hello, what recession?

Every weekend, you still see restaurants in towns and heartland malls packed with people, long queues even, for popular ones.

WHAT RECESSION?!

So you see, I have no idea why the government keeps saying we're in a recession when I still see so many people spending on these "wants". I really don't feel like it is a recession, unlike the 1998 Asian Financial Crisis, when I remember my parents were quite affected. Then, we had to dig coins, yes, coins, from a purse to buy a frozen chicken for dinner. Sigh. Those were the days.

But as Chuanyan wisely pointed out, in Singapore, we have the middle class, which keeps many Singaporeans cushioned from the full impact of the recession.

Even though I don't feel the full heat of recession (probably because I am still a student), we still have to remember the working class. They are the ones who feel the heat as they earn little, with no ability to save up (I once overheard a supervisor asking about the salary of a Chinese MRT cleaner - the pay was only $700).

As for me, I still need to really be more prudent in my spending. Hmm. University fees repayment will start next year!

Destiny Music Festival is overrrr!

2009-09-13T00:37:00.002+08:00

Thank God that Destiny Music Awards 2009 is finally over and I would say it has been a great success for both nights!

For the two nights, after the event, I always felt so drained and terribly ravenous. Probably used too much brain juice and was slightly anxious about certain things, so made me hungry easily.

As a stage manager in the show, though there were moments that made me go "URRRGGH. NOOOO. $%^&*#^$ (or at least almost near to swearing), I would say that were still enjoyable moments when the people (some contestants, the JT Band and backstage crew) were very supportive, kind and generous in their cooperation.

I enjoyed the show throughout and was especially impressed with this group, Gen & Friends which has such an amazing self-taught guitarist (Rendra), a cute and entertaining percusionist (Hisham) as well as a strong lead singer (Genevieve). Shall post a video of them, if possible.

I am most mesmerized by the guitarist! I would definitely pay to see them perform if they were to have their own show!

Thank God and thank everyone who made my job as a stage manager more manageable!
And now, I can rest. Phew!

The Annoying List

2009-09-09T17:22:00.001+08:00

This week, 8 Days came up with their THE ANNOYING LIST issue, listing 43 things that annoy them.

Albeit a shorter list, I have my own version.

1. Discounts that carry conditions (especially those conditions printed in tiny fonts)
50% off with minimum $100 spent on the ala carte menu. 40% off on the 2nd item, WITH minimum spending of $200
Why can't a discount just be a discount without cumbersome conditions?

2. Over-enthusiastic toilet bowls
For the 10th time, can the sensor stop activating the flushing system of the toilet bowl with every little butt movement?!

3. The time when you suddenly wake up in the morning in shock, thinking you are late school but actually it is a public holiday.

4. Extremely talkative cab drivers
It gets worse when your journey is from Changi to Woodlands.

5. Inconsiderate men who refuse to aim properly in toilets that are used both for men and women. ie. HSS library toilet

6. Neighbours who blast their stereos as if they are deaf.

7. Getting 5 cents for change. I hate 5 cents in my wallet!

8. Falling sick while overseas
How do you say paracetemol in Korean?

9. People who obviously saw you and refuse to say hello or even give a little smile, when you are already smiling WIDELY at them, making you look like an idiot. Sigh. So much for friendliness.

10. Hot, silent farts in enclosed areas.
NOOOOOOOOOO. I need an oxygen tank.

Hype-less birthdays - my type

2009-09-08T01:01:00.006+08:00

From this year on, my birthday shall be discreet. My 21st birthday party last year was a huge one. Too huge for my liking maybe. No more big parties, big spread, big planning... until I am 70.

By then, I won't be planning. I will kick back, relax and the young people (my children probably?) will celebrate my turning of 70.

Ok, so for the next 48 years, I will be quietly spending my birthdays. I really don't like the fanfare, the dressing up and the elaborated planning of a 21st party.

So, for a start, on my 22nd (which was just this Sunday), I did just that.

I went for Sunday service after meeting Teresa. After that, spent an afternoon chilling with church girlfriends over TCC cakes and drinks at Novena.. And in the evening, it's dinner with my family at a pretty decent zi char place, with my sis and I footing the bill (:

I thank God that He cheered me up on my birthday when the stressful times are here.

This year, I spent more time on church-related matters as a youth worker. Investing time in the lives of others is satisfying because I felt so appreciated when the little sisters in my church gave me their hand-made birthday cards. The cards were simple.

One particular card was just a white paper folded into half, with just coloured words "Happy Birthday" at the front of the card. But the words inside made me sure of why I am serving as a Teens Mentor. It came with a block of Cadbury chocolate :D Now that's from Jojo (:

Minmin, a dear sister in Christ also gave me a handmade card, with encouraging words, just like her sister, Jojo!

I received two soft toys too. One which is that of Chip/Dale(?), came from 2 of the loveliest little sisters - Alice and Huijuan. I really appreciate it as they braved the rain to buy it. Hugs.

The other came early, on 5 Sep evening. After I came back from my cell group, I saw a huge package sitting on my bed. It was a Forever Friends Graduation teddy bear from De Ren! My favourite bear from Precious Moments... I was like pointing to him how cute and cuddly the bear was a few months ago.

So, he personally delivered it all the way to my house! I was thinking he would get it during my graduation and would get the smaller version but well, he bought the bigger version and it came early. He also made me a cool little book with our pictures and his thoughts inside (:

Another card came from a little sister whom I would not expect. It was a small little card but inside were big blessings of God's word and a slowly-but-surely blossoming relationship.. Thank you Szehui!

Plus, there were many many to sent birthday smses and Facebook wishes on my day. My long-time primary school classmate also called me just to wish me! She remembered all these years. Really appreciate such friendships. Technology, for this once, has served me well!

Oh yes, and not forgetting Little Aimee, Nellis and Priscilla's big birthday hugs as well as Nellis' gift of two Polaroid pictures. Good way to remember how I spent the day.

Let's not forget the generous angbaos from my loving aunties and nainai!

This has been a long post but the more I write, the more blessed I feel.

Turning 22 has been waaaaaay better than turning 21.

So cheers to 48 years of discreet birthdays. No to big parties until I am 70.

Overwhelmed!

2009-09-04T00:56:00.002+08:00

Right, the heat is on as the school term progresses.

Up next week!

Film review, project proposal, preparation for Destiny Music Festival, ministry work/serving, arranging common timeslots with girlfriends/The Boyfriend to meet, research for Graduation Project, sourcing for interviews (it's tough! sobsob), framing my Graduation Project outline...

And I thought that this semester was going to be my most relaxed.
Hmm. On second thought, maybe not, at least for now.

Big sigh.

God... how?

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6

My future businesses - Verses-inspired!

2009-09-03T00:15:00.002+08:00

There is this photo supplies shop at Funan. It's named after this impactful verse in the Bible, John 3:16.

In John 3:16, it is said "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that whoever believes in Him will not die but have eternal life".
(I memorised this from my head. It's the Good News Bible version. Mum taught me to do this when I was younger. Surprised I could still remember!)

I was wondering, why name a shop after a Bible verse? Guess what, I realise it is pretty effective! The shop was always buzzing with people and business whilst the other shops were nearly empty.

I am not being superstitious here. What I meant to say is that when you sell things like cameras and photography supplies, one needs to be reliable. As Christians, we strive to do things honestly and reliably (is there such a word??). People expect greater responsibility and greater integrity from Christians, if you realise.

That's why, when the person's shop is named John 3:16, people naturally would trust it more.

So a few of us got it figured out, we shall name our future businesses after recognisable Bible verses or famous Bible parables. It will be more effective if it is named after really really famous verses (like John 3:16).

1) Jeremiah 33:3 - It will sell things handphones/telecommunications stuff.
verse: "Call to me (God) and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." --> thought of by me.

2) Philippians 4:13 - It will be a gym.
verse: "I can do everything through him (God) who gives me strength" --> thought of by Zhenhua

3) Five loaves and two fishes - It will be a buffet restaurant.
If you don't know the miracle that Jesus performed, try goggling it. Heehee. --> thought of by Cindy

4) And we all agreed that Angie's idea was the best. Psalm 23 - It will be a spa house.
verse: "The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul..."

Wow, you can almost imagine Psalm 23 as the most relaxing place when you hear this verse spoken.. God will lead me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul... Great spa business name!

Hahahaha. Anyway, everything is done in jest.

But don't be surprised if you see any shop names that is listed above in the future!

Floo joo anyone?

2009-08-25T00:37:00.003+08:00

Deren related to me this funny conversation The Muttons (a radio duo on 987fm) had with this catering aunty.
Shall share with you all. I laughed out loud when he told me (with the necessary dramatic effects, of course!). I may not narrate every single thing correctly but here's the gist.

The Muttons: Aunty, we have a party and we would like to order food. What do you have?
[READ OUT LOUD FOR THIS LINE] Aunty: Oh, we have fly lice, black fly lice... And drinks, we have pear-seee, floo joo and cock.
If you have more people, we can upsize your medium cock to large cock.
The Muttons: HAHAHAHAHA

If you don't get it,
fly lice=fried rice
pear-see= Pepsi
floo joo= fruit juice
cock= Coke

Funny, right?! Deren is a good actor, with an aunty accent. When he said it, I really had a hearty laugh :D

Let the words sink in

2009-08-21T16:36:00.004+08:00

Let His words sink in - that's essential to regain a meaningful and inspiring walk with my Lord daily.

Last night, I suddenly remembered I needed to teach for Teens Service on Saturday. That precise moment, before I slept, I panicked! What a moment to have.

How can I prepare when I have my Graduation Project proposal due next Monday?

I haven't started writing my proposal yet and I need to do tedious research... When it comes to undergraduate papers, one needs to research about works that have been done in the field, make references to other scholars, before one writes about the signifance of one's research paper.

So 麻烦 right? But this helps to protect other scholars' intellectual property.

Anyway, yes, I panicked about this but I later thought: "Aiya just go and sleep. Let tomorrow's worries come and I'll handle them step by step."

So today, as I sat down to prepare for my lesson, I felt a kind of peace within me. I wasn't thinking about my graduation project proposal too. I know all will be well in the end.

As I read Purpose-Driven Life to prepare for my lesson on servanthood, I myself was reminded about my serving! That's why I like teaching. It leads you to experience the lessons first so that you can teach with conviction.

I allowed the words to sink in. I allowed the words from Purpose-Driven life and the Bible to sink in and I regained my inspiration.

After a past week of uninspiring QT, I realise the problem is I didn't allow the words of truth to sink in, so that it may be embedded in my heart, and eventually, in my life.

It's hard work keeping up.... but who says life is easy? The narrow road. Oh dreadful.
But my eyes are on Him.

My prayer?
Lord, I don't look at my problems anymore. I don't pray that you control me and my bad habits. My only prayer is that You, my Lord, increase Your capacity within my heart and life.

Okay, back to preparation!

On a random note, right now, I can smell the grass-like stench of 霸王, that herbal shampoo that Jackie Chan endorses. Mummy's washing her hair now. She wants hair like Jackie Chan.

What do you see?

2009-08-20T11:37:00.002+08:00

BLAH. Stuck in school now because my morning lecture ended early.
So I have a loooong break before my next 3-hour seminar.

Since I have nothing much to do (Okay, actually I have a lot of things to do like reading my materials/research for my graduation project, but my sleepy brain only wants to do brainless things like blogging), I shall blog about what have been through my mind recently.

You know...

Sometimes, I wonder, how do YOU (yes, you who know me as Esther, not some random blog reader) see me?

Do you see me as a church enthusiast? Religious zealot? Mature/wonderful/responsible/serious/great/lovely elder sister?
Good friend? So-so friend?
Serious friend? Funny friend who is serious about religion and family?
A passionate student?

What do you see?
What am I to you?
How do I portray myself to you?

The word "portray" is tricky because it is hinting that I may have a "real" self somewhere which you haven't seen it.

I seriously don't know.

Maybe my drowsy brain isn't thinking much now.

Kamsa hamnida God!

2009-08-15T23:31:00.006+08:00

It wasn't like a trip that I saw God in a grand pillar of clouds or hear him in the mighty rumble of thunder.

The trip to Korea from 19 - 26 July 09 was where I rested and found Him in the gentle whispers of the wind.

I came back with heightened discernment for God's voice, a conviction in my serving/calling, a brand new relationship with God and wisdom to on how to shop at Dongdaemun (the Orchard Road of Seoul).

Well, for the last part, let's just say, if I were to go back to Dongdaemun, I wouldn't be so stupid to go to the desolated, pasar malam side again. I can't believe I only discovered the bustling part of Dongdaemun at the last 10 minutes of my time there -.-"

Anyway, I was back to Korea for the second time (the first in 2007), this time, more eager and focused. It is my last year in university and I wanted to go there to pray for my life after graduation, my family, my friends..

This is the place where we have our conferences/seminars/worship sessions. When you're in a place packed with people, thirsty for God, you would just catch the wave and desire more and more of Him. Look at the number of raised hands. These people come from countries like Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and even Indonesia.

On the second day of the conference, our church was invited to lead worship for the thousands of people. I was on the first keyboard this time round! Ahhh. Exciting. As you see from the viewpoint of the piano I was playing on, you can see countless people in front of me.

God loved me so much that He gave me the opportunity to serve Him on piano in such a big conference. Piano playing isn't my forte and not my ultimate calling, but I know my Lord has blessed me with this extra ability to let me learn many lessons of faith as I serve Him with this instrument.

Oh this is the prayer hole I went to pray in. Not suitable for claustrophobics though. I actually fell asleep in there while praying! What the... I felt like the disciples who fell asleep while praying together with Jesus in Gethsemane!

But after a while, right after I woke up, more alert, God took away my guilt and spoke to me immediately about Mummy. Wow.

The white-haired man on the left is Stephen Hah, the man who fronts All Nations Worship & Praise ministry. During this session, when Pastor Zhang Han Ye shared a short message, I teared when he said this particular line (I translate) - "There is a difference between believing in God and loving Him wholeheartedly".

Having realised how much I only knew God through beliefs (head) but have not loved Him totally(heart), I was liberated. I want to love my Lord! How?
He taught me how... He revealed to me John 21-15-18, where Jesus reinstated Peter :)

Ok, this is the 炒黏糕 I had at Dongdaemun during our last day of R&R in Seoul. Very yummy! The first time I had it in 2007 at a stall near Yoido Full Gospel church, it was quite bad but this stall cooked it very well!

That's the only highlight of Dongdaemun I experienced this time round. Sigh.

Well, let's just say this Korea trip is worth giving thanks even though I came back sick and nauseous. Meanwhile, no more KIMCHI! I've had enough of their preserved veggies! :P

What a hoot!

2009-08-09T00:00:00.003+08:00

Eh you know right, I was at NTUC queuing up to buy this drink. This ah ma in front of me turned around super random ask me call her ah ma.
I just call.

Later she turned again call me granddaughter and hugged me.

I was like -.-

When her turn to pay, she ran away! :/

Then the cashier charge her things to my bill.
I stand there dunno what to do.

Aiya just chase her. I ran after her.
I saw her entering the lift. I chiong through before the lift door closed.

I managed to pull her leg, just like how I'm pulling your leg now!

Heehee... I received this sms from Huijuan. I was shocked at first, then when I realised it was a prank, I burst out laughing. Funny, right?

The Mane Problem

2009-08-06T23:46:00.004+08:00

When I was in secondary school, there were a few gorgeous heartthrobs that many girls in my class would go gaga over.

Before swimmer Michael Phelps came along, there was Ian Thorpe!
Oh and also Ashton Kutcher (he was cute, until he married Demi Moore)..
Who can also forget F4's Jerry Yan?

But the most beautiful of all boys, I think would be a real prince and a very charming one at that- PRINCE WILLIAM!

WAHHHHH so suave, right? Who wants to be a princess? I want!

But recently, I stumbled onto a recent picture of Prince William. In June, he just turned 27.
He's now like that.

AHHHH tell me this picture is not real!

I was taken aback, appalled. He looks like he is 37, not 27!

Well, yes, he looks old now but he still has the same charming smile. Pity about his hair though.

Hmm there's always Beijing 101 here in Singapore!
Prince William, we welcome you!

Faith+Democracy

2009-08-03T21:19:00.002+08:00

I had my first experience in voting.
My first democratic experience! Wow... But nope, it's not for Singapore's elections but to express interest to re-build my church.

Like many political elections, questions came rapidly and emotions ran high during the Extraordinary General Meeting (EOGM).

I sat there to listen and like many responsible voters, tried my very best to not allow emotions or attachments cloud my objective decision.

As I was sitting there in the church's EOGM, I began to think of the government's stance to only allow citizens who are 21 years old and above to participate in elections. I know some young people have been fighting for their rights to vote when they turn 18. At 18, some are ready to give their say in certain decision-making and are eager to be politically active.

When I read that some young people are requesting to vote at 18, I was like, yes, we should allow that!

But having gone through that voting process just this Sunday, I realised that if I were to given the right to vote at 18, I would probably be overwhelmed with all the emotions, tried to be idealistic or rebellious, just so to stand out.

I believe that at 18, when you are still relatively fresh out of secondary school, you are still not inculcated by Singapore's education to vote responsibly. Most of the time, you just learn how to be exams-savvy during your secondary school education and not on how to be a politcally active with the right motives.

At 21, I would say that I am more knowledgeable about elections and certainly more mature to make a responsible vote. I do not go with the flow, nor do I try to be rebellious just to be different. All I want is to make an informed decision in my voting.

Then again, I know at 21, not everyone is still mature to make a responsible vote. Think about it, even those who are 60, may not be able to do that as well.

However, delaying the right to vote would probably do more good than to have a whole bunch of idealistic 18 year-old young people, still fresh out of secondary school, upsetting a responsible democracy.

Well, moving away from that, I feel that voting in a church is slightly different from say, voting in a corporation or in the public arena. For one, voting in church requires faith.

We do not vote just because we are convinced by what the human authorities say is good/right.

For me, I vote because I hear God telling me what to do. It requires an element of faith and what I call, a godly rebellion.

Just when everyone tells you that you ought to do this and do that, I choose not to follow what they say and thus, go with the flow, but to follow only what God says.

Some say democracy can be a curse because only the most popular choice is selected but it may not be the BEST choice.

But I say, a democracy in a church, if it has godly, active members, can select the BEST choice that a church ought to make.

National Day Song very Coldplay

2009-07-30T12:01:00.002+08:00

Before I left for Korea, I read in the newspapers how some readers wrote in to lament about this year's National Day theme song sang by Electrico, claiming that it was a difficult tune to sing along, that it lacked the feeling of patriotism...

Entitled "What Do You See", I must say it is a really different one compared to classics like "Home", "Where I Belong" or "Count on me, Singapore".

Having heard the song one day on TV, I've concluded that like all advertisements, this new national day song is targetting a niche audience - the new emo music generation.

LOL.

If you listen to the song, you will realise it sounds like some song from Coldplay or the Killers, but with a strange family-infused MTV.

Obviously, obviously... this new national day theme song is meant to attract the new generation of young people, to get all of us young people to dream big for Singapore.

And personally, I quite like the song.

But I don't like the MTV. The lighting's a tad too dark throughout the whole video. Very emo.
The lead singer was just walking and walking, ignorant to the families and couples he is walking past. I think the video makes me feel detached rather than patriotic. Only towards the end did the pictures brighten up.

Well, for the true Singaporean song, maybe you can try Mr Brown's spoof of "What Do You See". Mr Brown's entitled "Lekuasimi", loosely translated "you see what see" in Singlish.
It's hilarious!

Lekuasimi by Mr Brown and his band, Electrician

Introducing lulucherry!

2009-07-17T15:56:00.004+08:00

Advertorial

Hello my friends... If you are trying to get a fix of retail therapy, getting a present for a girlfriend or trying to get a casual dress for school, here's another fun and cool blogshop you can shop in - lulucherry!

You can find them at http://www.lulucherry.com/.

My friend is the photographer of the blogshop ;)

Durians, durians everywhere

2009-07-17T00:52:00.003+08:00

Ever since the durian season began, many stalls have been spotted selling really cheap durians.
Why cheap?

For those who don't know, it's simple economics. When the supply of durians is high, the price (value of it) will drop. So ya, because of the durian season, there are many many durians available, so prices are definitely low.

I am not a big fan of durians. I don't specially travel to Geylang and squat down at the roadside to savour that yellow fleshy thing. It's not that I hate durians. It's just that I don't like the strong smell that often penetrate through your clothes, your fridge, your food... So in the end, everyone smells like durian even after 100 sprays of perfume.

My family don't go to Geylang specially to have durians as well but my parents are big fans of durians.

They would not hesitate to wolf down nice durians if they have a chance and when it's convenient for them.

Then one fine day, my dad, lured by the cut-throat prices of durians (1 for $1!), bought a few home. My mummy would then take a bite from my dad's treasured box of cheap durians (he doesn't really share :P) and after eating them, complain about how watery (ie. LOUSY) the one particular durian was. The day after, he went out to buy a few more (maybe to prove that cheap durians are not equal to bad durians?).

Today, when I got home and opened the fridge, I smelt durian. I saw a big yogurt container and thought that Mummy bought another tub of yogurt to replace the one that we finished.
But lo and behold.... when I opened the lid, thinking that it was yummy Strawberry yogurt, what I saw were overwhelming durians!!!

At another compartment of the fridge, I spotted another container of durians! Whoa.

SIGH.

I resign already lah.

I think there will just be this one particular time during the year when my whole house will smell of durians.

I hope it won't last too long...

Prisci's 22nd Birthday!

2009-07-14T00:43:00.012+08:00

I think this is a long overdue blog post about my girlfriend, Prisci's 22nd birthday.
She celebrated it at Udders, a nice little ice-cream shop at Thomson Road about three weeks ago. Even though udders is a mammary organ of a cow, Udders serves nothing to do with cow innards or mammary organs.

Interestingly, before Prisci came back from Oz and told us about her birthday, Char, Yue and I actually went to Udders to have a look one night, because I have heard reviews about it and wanted to sneak a peak.

And when she was back in Singapore, she chose that place to hold her party! It must be telepathy! So on a Sunday morning, we went for this brunch party. It was an ice-cream buffet. Basically, it's free flow ice-cream and everything drinkable!

Now here's the exterior of the ice-cream parlour. The two of them were so excited, holding on to the balloons. This was before all the guests came. We were very early!

Before the guests came in, with the balloons and make-up still fresh, I took a nice nice picture of her with my Panasonic LX3!

This is the first ice-cream waffle we had. Rum & Raisin and Tiramisu (the one dusted with cocoa powder). The ice-cream had such strong rum, I really thought I was going to be drunk. The tiramisu was strong too! I think they were too 'liquorish' that I couldn't taste the flavour at all.

Char, Yue and I didn't like them. We're non-alcoholics yea. But the waffle was a delight. With a slight crisp on the outside, the inside was subtlely sweet, fluffy and best of all, warm.

Our next waffle came with Chocmarsh (chocolate with marshmallows) and Snickers Mars Honeycomb Vanilla. I have tasted better chocolate ice-cream elsewhere but the Snickers Mars one was great, especially when I sensed the Honeycomb's crunch in my mouth!

This is my favourite. I had Strawberry Fields and Cookies&Cream on a cone, all by myself! *claps* I love the strawberry one. It was creamy enough but it still retained the slight hint of strawberry sourness. I like sour stuff lah. The cookies and cream one was quite heavy in texture, which showed its quality. I like it as well!

This is me licking my ice-cream cone.

Yue had this cuppuccinno after ice-cream

Balloon sculpting can be fun with ice-cream, but not for Char. Haha

That's Prisci giving her birthday speech. It's almost like a wedding :P

After the party, when all the guests left, we took a parting shot outside Udders, with Prisci's hands full of gifts. She gave away all her balloons and kept this one small bunch. The balloons are really pretty eh?

Well, it has been a great party. The food was fun (ice-cream!) and the girls entertaining.

Most importantly, I am proud of say that Prisci made a very good speech towards the end of her party, thanking everyone. It was touching. Prisci, I'm sure your mummy is proud of you, not only because you are going to pursue your Masters now, but from the moment she saw you as a baby. (:

Bon voyage for now... and till November, we'll see each other again!

Raindrops keep falling

2009-07-09T14:03:00.002+08:00

Weather forecast for the next few days in Singapore: Thunderstorms!

The rain - so foreboding, so dark.
It makes the days so gloomy.

But one thing's for sure, that after the rain, all things will be clean and new again.

The skies will be clearer and the air will be fresh, like apples and strawberries.

The rain doesn't fall forever. One day, the sun will shine and we'll all smile again.

Meanwhile, make the best out of the rainy days!
Have a warm bowl of soup and curl up in your bed for a wonderful movie or read an exciting book. If you are working, try to curl up in your pantry's couch for a few moments. You may get stared at for a bit. But come on, risk it!

The seasonal flu that refuses to budge

2009-07-07T13:39:00.004+08:00

I haven't been blogging for quite some time because I was busy...

MCQ Question
a) dating
b) meeting friends
c) going to church/my grandma's house
d) nursing a flu/recovering from flu
e) peeling potatoes

Take your time to guess.

Okay?

The answer is... D!
If you guessed A, you are very cheeky.
If you guessed B, you wouldn't be my friend.
If C, I would say, good try.
If E, you are as senseless as a potato.

The whole of last week was a weak week. WEAK WEEK!
I felt so frail because I was plagued with an on-and-off fever, together with a splitting, throbbing headache.

Every time I sit up from bed, my blood drains down from my head to the body. So my head basically feels floaty and I become dizzy. When I sit and then stand up, I have the same horrid sensation. It's a torture.

I miss out on so many outings with my friends! I missed a photography exhibition with my church mates. An outing with my P6 girls (which I need to make up... I hate to disappoint again). A Sentosa trip with my JC girl pals... :(

I was begging God to take the pain and aches from me. Why? For the whole week? Have I done anything wrong? I was afraid it was H1N1 but when I saw the doctor, he said I was just having a seasonal flu. It's a flu that lasted for too long, I'd say.

Incidentally, I read the book of Job. Job praised God for His greatness and lordship despite having painful/bloody sores on his whole body. If he is able to do it, why not me?
I feel so ashamed of myself. When I was sick, all I could do was whine, beg God to heal me and whine more.

So I decided to praise God for who He is, despite the circumstances and to remain positive. When I was having a crazy headache, I praised God for His strength.

I will be completely well soon! Yes I will!

Anyway, I have a very very nice birthday party to blog about.. Prisci's 22nd birthday! But I shall leave it for another time when I can post more pictures about it. (:

Don't miss me too much!

P.S It has been one week but Michael Jackson's music is still hogging the radio airwaves. But it's ok. I don't mind. I like many of his songs. Seems like I was wrong about forgetting him within 5 days! -_-"

Michael Jackson's dead!

2009-06-26T21:01:00.003+08:00

When I heard news that Michael Jackson has passed away, I stopped my tracks and took a double take at the TV screen which was reporting it.

Michael Jackson aka Wacko Jacko (for his eccentric ways including bleaching himself white and touching little children in his fairyland-inspired house) died?!!

Whoa. So now he is gone. Do you think he can be a legend? After all, he popularised the moonwalk, garnered so many die-hard fans/copycats and sang the very touching song, "Heal The World".

Probably his death is for good.
People are kinder to dead people, for some strange reason, and I think his skeletons will be stashed quietly in the closet during his funeral wake.

Let's not remember the times when he was sued in court for his paedophilic actions or when his crooked nose began to disintegrate before our eyes.

I prefer to remember a person with good memories.

Then again, I think I will forget about him 5 days later.
He is not Mother Theresa.

True legends are those who personally change someone's life with his/her lives, just like Mother Theresa.

Happy Belated Father's Day dedication

2009-06-25T00:47:00.005+08:00

It's not a new thing to many people when we talk about father-daughter tensions.

There's always this image of a strict Asian father, together with this hot-headed liberal daughter, struggling to upkeep their strained relationship due to different perspectives.

I have my fair share of father-daughter tensions but my version doesn't fit the stereotypical image.
For me, my dad is not a strict father but a sure hot-headed one, whereas I was the "5%rebellious-95% good" daughter. There were never really overt conflicts between me and him.

However, the occasional fiery and unreasonable outbursts from my hot-tempered dad are enough to make me feel detached from and angry with him, hence our tension.
I don't understand why he always make a big fuss out of something small. In the end, the family will become his outlet of anger release.

I remember when I was younger, if we quarrelled, I would not greet him when I enter the house (which I usually do) and would slam my bedroom door hard just so to spite him. When I was in my bedroom, I would lament about my dad.
Why can't he be a nice dad like everybody else's? Why can't he change?!!

When I was in primary school, I would write inspirational quotes on nice papers and paste them on my cupboard. One of them goes like this:
Everybody thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself

Only when I was older, probably in upper secondary/JC, did I realise the value of this quote.

So I decided, if God is in me, I should be full of love and thankfully God did fill me with more love. I decided to change my attitude towards him instead of want him to change.
I would try to calm him down if his tempers began to flare. I wanted to be a good and loving daughter so if we were to quarrel, I would take the initiative to talk to him first.

After years of attitudinal change towards him, in recent times, he really became better!
He would not flare up so often and he would sometimes initiate to ask about my day. You can say that age has mellowed him but I believe that our family's patience and prayers helped as well.

Perhaps, your father is not like that but I write this so that we can quit trying to make a person you want to change, change.

Instead, we ought to look at how we can adjust our attitude towards him/her. We never know, we may see that person changing for the better.

Today, my sis and I bought him a brand new electronic shaver as his belated father's day present. Definitely not a norm, but both of us decided to be different this year.

His reaction?
Both his grin and gratitude were huge (:

Happy Belated Father's Day, dad.

Easy happiness

2009-06-22T23:48:00.005+08:00

I have been pretty packed this holiday.

Busy busy busy. Have been leaving home early and returning late for many many days.
It's like having one-night stands with my house.
I sleep and then leave quickly the next day.

Imagine, when finally, I can sleep till 11am today, I was so happy!

You know, sometimes, happiness is not about having loads of moolah.
The simplest things in life can make you so happy and satisfied, and they don't involve money.

Here I have a list of simple things that make me really happy.

1) To be able to sleep in late without having to worry what to do next
2) To be able to sleep in late, in an airconditioned room.
(FYI, my aircon has gone berserk so now, I'm sleeping with just the fan every night, without a single hour of aircon. Usually, I switch on the aircon for a couple of hours before switching it off before I sleep)
3) Sorry if I am a bit crude here, but every time I can pee comfortably, I feel happy!
4) When I learn of new perspectives from the Bible and I can apply them in my life
5) When I look at the pictures of my childhood
6) When I reminisce of the good old times of childhood with my friends
7) When I can spend time with Mommy after not seeing her AWAKE (definition: when both her eyes are open) for a long, long time
8) When I am able to play the piano beyond my limitations
9) When I hear my p6 girls, discipleship girls and previous cell girls share their lives with me
10) When I receive an sms from long-lost friends (which I just did. Gosh. It is divine intervention!)

I look at the most basic things in life (even from the toilet) and I feel that having happiness can be so easy.
We just have to be more aware and learn to be appreciative.

The LOL new social media

2009-06-17T12:17:00.002+08:00

Youtube, Twitter and Facebook are really phenomenal new social media that have changed the face of networking and communication..

I've read somewhere in 8 Days mag that someone is expecting a much newer social media, which will be the combination of these 3 powerful ones.

It'll be called YouTwitFace.

*ROFL*

Preparing for rain

2009-06-15T23:15:00.003+08:00

It feels like eons since I last saw my mom even though I was only away for 4 days 3 nights for my church's youth camp. But anyway, glad to see my mom once again when I came home. Even my dad seems to be in good spirits when I stepped into my own house today. Maybe he misses my presence? Hahaha...

The camp in one short sentence?
It is total awesomeness!

I miss my comfortable bed at home.

But I'm so extremely inspired and refreshed in spirit during this camp, so much so that I don't care if I had to tolerate those 3 nights of sleeping on the floor.

For the first time in my life, our youth ministry worshipped our Lord until 1.10am. It happened last night. Some younger ones didn't believe that it was so late becuase we had such an awesome time, that time seemed so short.

I've witnessed youths and teens opening up with their hopes and fears. Tears flowed. Healing came. Faith poured.

Before this camp, I told myself that if we expect to see a revival of passion and faith in our youth ministry, we have to get ready.

Was I ready for a huge number of youths desiring to serve God? Does our youth ministry have enough leaders to groom them all into passionate, influential and dynamic youths, be it in church or in their schools?

This is when faith comes in.

There was a drought in the land.
And two farmers were desperate for rain so that they may prepare for the harvest of crops.
God then told the two of them, "I'll send rain in due's time".
One farmer began to patiently wait at home.
One the other hand, the other farmer went quickly to prepare his fields for the rain.

Which farmer had more faith?

Faith without action is dead.

For me, I can't wait to be the farmer who is going to prepare for rain.
Renewal Youth Ministry is going to be awesome for God! Yay!

Stopped by an "N"

2009-06-05T21:58:00.007+08:00

Got miss me?

I miss blogging.
But I simply didn't have the time to spare to go to update you guys.

I'm considering having a Twitter board here but I shall see... because I feel Twittering is damaging our ability to express ourselves in beautiful sentences.
Then again, I want to update my friends quickly, especially if you don't have a Facebook account to keep updated about my whereabouts (ahem, Yue, it's you. Hahaha).

Anyway, I'm back from my Hong Kong trip.
See the picture below? Remember the Youtube clip about this Chinese lady kicking up a ruckus when she missed her flight?
Ahhh...I almost ended up like that.

Because of my carelessness, I failed to check my boarding pass and the lady typed my name wrongly. They typed CHIN WEN, instead of CHIN WEI. Although I would like my name to be 静文, I would so not want it at a time like this! So, when I was at the custom, the dude didn't allow me to go in.
The one of the perils of budget airlines is the lack of convenience.

So I had to go and change my name at the boarding pass... when I only had 20 minutes left before the gate closes. Thing is, Jetstar's counter was at Terminal 1 and I was at Terminal 2's customs.

With swift legs and without hesitation, I ran. From Terminal 2 at HK International Airport to Terminal 1. It's no joke. Then the people at Jetstar were so flustered when I told them my problem, they sent someone to quickly change the name on my boarding pass and to run with me to the customs at Terminal 1.

BUT WAIT! My bags are at Terminal 2 because Uncle Wai Loon was patiently waiting for me to return to enter the customs together. The guys tell me I have to check in there because I would miss the flight if I ran back to Terminal 2. BUT I HAVE TO RUN BACK, DUDE! MY BAGS ARE AT TERMINAL 2 and Uncle Wai Loon is waiting for meeeee!

So, I did. I ran back again. It was 10.45am when I was at Terminal 1. I had to run back to Terminal 1 within FIVE FREAKING minutes. The gates would close at 10.50am!

As I ran, I prayed. I was so scared. My legs were turning jello and my shoes were slipping as my feet muscles no longer have the strength to grip my shoes.

Okay, I flew there. Now imagine. It's Jetstar. Budget.
You think the gates are soooooo near to the customs? You have to walk a long, long way before you can get to the gates. And at the gates, you need to take a bus to get to airplane.

It's crazy. So poor Uncle Wai Loon had to race with me, whilst pulling his luggage bag and carrying my heavy 5.5kg backpack (It's BUDGET! So we cannot check in our luggage and had to hand-carry) to get to the gate which was very far. I was panting like I ran 34920km.

My God's grace, we made it. 2 people were even later than us... WHAT THE.

When I boarded the plane, I heaved a big, big sigh of relief.

I was soooo thirsty after all the running across terminals at the HK International Airport.

Alas, it's BUDGET airline! I had to buy a small bottled drink at HKD$20 (which is around S$4)and sweet, sweet Uncle Wai Loon bought it for me. I was so shocked. He didn't complain about having to run crazy routes with me, and he even bought me the drink when I complained I was thirsty and panting like crazy.

I really saw in Uncle Wai Loon a humble and sincere kindness. He's my God-sent angel throughout my Hong Kong trip too. I shall share more about my amazingly inspiring HK trip soon.

For now, I just thank God for sending me back to Singapore safely. He listened to my prayers! Uncle Wai Loon is really my kind angel! His wife is sooo blessed to have him (:

If not for him, I could have ended up in a Youtube clip entitled, "Singaporean lady goes crazy over a missed flight"!

Humorous conversations with a 4 year-old

2009-05-23T01:30:00.002+08:00

Today (Friday), I was with little Aimee for almost half a day because I was helping Teacher Anne and Teacher Job a little bit for Destiny Music Festival at a secondary school.

Naturally, Aimee and I would talk a lot and I tell you, this little 4 year-old is the cutest little thing ever. The things she say can be so endearing and sometimes, amusing.

Here are the 2 things she said which put a smile to my face:

1) We were within a secondary school compound
Me: Aimee, do you like this school? It's so big!
Aimee: I'm too young...
Me: Ohhhh.

2) We were sitting in the car, on our way home
Aimee: I am a pink ballerina.
Me: How about your da-ge (big brother)?
Aimee: Da-ge is a cowboy.
Me: How about your er-ge (second brother) then?
Aimee: My er-ge is a cow.
Me: ...... HAHAHAHA!

We girls just like to yak

2009-05-19T00:27:00.006+08:00

I had a great Monday!
The rainy morning made it so comfortable to sleep in (I feel ashamed to mention this, especially to my friends who are working... :P Well, if this is any comfort, I'm working too, just that my hours are flexible).

We then walked to Si Hui's house for a spaghetti aglio olio cookout, prepared everything from scratch. Boy, it was a filling and delicious lunch! We watched Forrest Gump on VCD as we ate and while watching, we also poked and patted Dolly and Belle, the cute little hammie hamsters.
They are sooooooo nice to touch, like my teddy bear. It was a really casual gathering but it just feels good.

In the evening, I met up with my jc girlies Char and Yue for dinner.
It has been quite some time since we last met. We just had to meet up because Char is leaving for Hong Kong this week.

Char wanted something healthy so I suggested Sizzler's salad bar but she gave me a big no-no. So off we went to Novena Square's Ichiban Boshi for Japanese food so that she can have her fish.

As we were waiting for Char, I was telling Yue that the few of us girls have yet to catch a movie together. We never watched a single movie together in our 5 years of friendship! Nada. Zilch.
We always met up to eat, shop, eat, shop, eat, eat and eat.

Yue reasoned that we like to talk and in the movie theatre, we have to shut up so it is no fun.
I told Char after that and she agreed that we like to yak over some meal. We just have so many things to catch up and talk about. Moreover, we meet up so infrequently, so all the more we would want to do something that involves more talking.

I guess that's us girls.
We probably won't catch a movie together in the near future.

Next time, I'll bring them to an arcade, my latest favourite place. Muahahaha...

If life was... A dedication to all things delicious

2009-05-17T00:33:00.003+08:00

I like food. I really do, trust me.
Maybe it's the Singaporean thing. Singapore just offers me a myriad of food, even Lebanese, which I had with Ching, Denise, Van and SK a couple of weeks ago. I like Indian. Myanmarese is not bad too. Mexican burritos are yummy as well (I only had them once at Cafe Iguana but I still remember how delicious it was).

And so, to celebrate my love of food, I have decided to come up with a few life maxims. Life and food... Ahhhh they go well together!

If life was a box of chocolates, I would want more of the liquor ones - they may look tame on the outside but on the inside, YEAAAA, EXCITING.

If life was a plate of Char Kway Teow, I would want to be the dark sauce and add a dash of perfection by sweetening up other people's lives.

If life was a Japanese Californian roll, I would want to be the avocado - always smooth and awfully rich.

If life was a Popeye's Fried Chicken meal, I would savour and enjoy every delicious episode, lick up every ugly fat that comes in the way, and live life such that undesirable consequences would be the last thing in my mind.

If life was a plate of kway chap, I would be the pig intestine - springy.

Some girls go for retail therapy. For me, it's food. Give me food, and I'll be alright. (:

My Facebook Quiz

2009-05-13T23:48:00.003+08:00

I have been wanting to make a Facebook quiz, like "Which NTU Sociology professor are you" or "Which RCC Pastor are you" sort of quiz. You know, it can be fun!

I know FB quizzes' results are not very accurate depictions of who you are as a person. I personally feel that most quizzes are very limiting. You are being categorized into very broad groups which seem to describe you as person which you may not totally be. Moreover, you don't know what are the factors that FB use to decide what sort of person you are. The questions are brief and they are just not enough to determine the person.

But in the end, I stumbled into "How Well Do You Know Me" quizzes which some teens posted on FB.
In the name of good, light-hearted fun, I did mine as well!
Some people did them and I was especially surprised by some of their scores. Like how Angie and Aunty Susan scored 100%! WHOA.
Sihui scored a very good 87% (Only one question wrong!).

In general, I thought the questions to my quiz were a bit tricky. So for those who passed, you are not bad.

But as I said, these quizzes do not fully indicate how well you know me. The questions I posed were mostly about my history and my personal likes. But I didn't ask my questions about my personality.

To say that you are truly know me, you must know my character, my personality (my inside), other than my history and personal likes (the outside).

Still, this FB quiz, as I said, is in the name of good fun.

The following is the quiz (they came with multiple choices but I'm too lazy to put the choices here):
1) Which primary school(s) did I attend?
2) I had a lot of money, where would I like to buy more clothes from?
3) How many cousins do I have at my mother's side (excluding my sis & me)?
4) What is one thing I don't mind eating for lunch every single day?
5) What is the name of my teddy bear that sleeps with me?
6)What is my favourite subject in Secondary School?
7) I used to have 2 hamsters when I was 10. What were their names?
8) Who is my all-time favourite singer/musician?

How to sleep like a pig

2009-05-06T11:40:00.002+08:00

Last week, 8 Days featured a book on how to sleep. It's entitled "I Can Make You Sleep" by British self-help guru Paul McKenna (McKenna?! Lol. He would always kenna teased here if he lived in Singapore!).
His book includes a 21-min hypnosis CD that can help to relax you.
I hope that hypnosis CD is not of him reading some weird chants.

Anyway, here are the 14 Golden Rules of Sleep that he suggested. Let me, the ocassional insomniac, evaluate some of his methods for sleeping.

1) Get up regularly half an hour earlier than usual.
My say: I find it difficult.

2) Go to bed only when you are sleepy.
My say: Duh~!

3) Don't take any naps during the day.
My say: Okay... what happened to the strong advocates for short power naps? I think it's okay to take short naps still. He probably means "Don't take any 3-hour naps during the day".

4) At least three times a week, exercise for at least 20 minutes.
My say: I will feel very tired, definitely.

5) Stop eating at least three hours before bedtime.
My say: Not true. I myself feel the most drowsy after I eat.

6) Don't have any caffeine after 2pm.
My say: I don't have the habit of taking coffee, tea or Coke anyway.

7) Cut out on alcohol
My say: I don't drink frequently.

8) Switch off the TV one hour before you go to bed
My say: I do it! Yea, it helps.

9) Do only three things in bed: Sleep, make love or use this book or CD.
My say: I eat, read, play my laptop and use my handphone on my bed. But I still can sleep!

10) If you are awake in bed for more than 20 minutes, get up and do something boring.
My say: There was one night I did just that because I can't get to sleep at all! I sat up and read the newspapers and got even more energetic (-_-") Maybe reading the newspaper is not boring enough for me.

11) Keep your bedroom dark at night
My say: This really helps! When it's near bedtime, I would switch my room's lights to a dim orange glow, and I would really feel sleepier! Apparently it's biological. Lights can simulate daytime/nightime which would send signals to our body whether to rest or get up.

12) Have a warm, comfortable bed in a room that is not too hot.
My say: Doesn't apply to hot and humid Singapore!

13) Don't watch the clock.

14) Use the CD.
My say: Tsk tsk tsk. Blatant marketing.

Okay. He has some good ideas.
For myself, I do some other things to get myself to sleep...

1) I would read and read, until my eyes get very tired and dry. So I just close them and sleep.
2) I would pick a particular part of my teddy bear's butt and poke it until I feel relaxed to sleep.
3) I would pray desperately to God.
4) I would try to empty my mind of cluttered thoughts and think of a big, blank, white canvas.

Having said that, sometimes, these things that I do also do not guarantee me sleep. Human efforts are often futile.

So ultimately, the solution to this problem would be this.
In vain you rise early
and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat—
for he (our Lord) grants sleep to those he loves.
Psalm 127:2