Diary~♥

a little bit of everything

Sunday, March 28, 2010 |8:37 PM

This weekend is like a "little of everything". The week has been a quiet and busy one. Quiet one at home because my brother is having his ICT (and its for 3 whole weeks) while my future sis-in-law is in Japan on a business trip (so I don't get to see her, else she comes over like 3-4 times a week). Work has been busy due to our financial year closing and have been busy meeting deadlines. Thank God that I managed to close my books on time and now its time to complete all the reports and manage the auditors. Amidst all the busy-ness, I am glad there was some sweetness :)

On Friday night, after unit prayer meet and sending a brother back and after I settled my stuff which was about 1am, I wanted to watch my Cantonese show which I'm currently chasing. But the unimaginable thing happened--> My dvd player REFUSED to allow me to eject out my current disc. After trying for like 20 mins, I got so irritated and I was thinking "Maybe God wants me to go to sleep liao." So, I finally gave up and went to grab some sleep.

Woke up early on Sat, thanks to my brother's friend (talked so loud) who came over because he had to help in my brother's 过大礼. Anyway, I had to head back to office yesterday but the stubborn me wanted to see if my dvd player is really not functioning or is it because God wanted to me go and sleep because it was late and guess what--> I pressed the eject button and out came the disc!!!! And i knew: it must be God and He's telling me its late and its time I go grab some sleep. :p. Some photos of my brother's 过大礼 cake-->

the couple and the day they are getting married

Nice anot? I personally think this is cute. He ordered this from a cake shop at Marine Parade

about $10+ for a box of cakes. Nice! My dad was smiling and grinning when he was eating the cakes. My mum was just as happy as well.

Remember my renovation woes? With the painting and installation of the door, the renovation is finally completed.

After a tiring saturday, working, accompanying my mum for house viewing and chasing after my cantonese shows->Sunday came. As usual, had service in the morning and I headed off to accompany a friend who is having a flea market at Orchard Central. I was just glad I was able to be there to help/accompany and spend some time with her. Well, the traffic flow wasn't that good and out of the boredom, I took a picture of my new shoe (I've been looking for this kind of shoes for ages).

simply love flats!

After about a 2.5 hours stay, headed off with Liyi to meet another of our friend at Paragon. This friend is someone which both of us have the desire to reach out to and I am glad that today, we did manage to not only catch up with her but also to "touch" on spiritual things with her. We had a fruitful time of sharing, laughing and catching up and I realised these are the things which I may not be able to do if I have to attend to something else. Personally, I really appreciate this period of "time off" whereby I need not attend anything, no commitment, no pressure and just being able to meet up/ spend time and even just to accompany a friend when she's alone mending her stall.

Some pictures of the meetup with Liyi, Kelly and Myself. And we met at Canele at Paragon. They didn't have a cake menu. But I had a camera with me. So Liyi and Kelly, lovingly asked me to go take photos of the cake and showed them so that they can see what they want.

yummy!

realised that all the cakes are made of dark chocolate. Ain't really a fan of dark chocolate.

the norm-> new york cheesecake

hungry?

guess who had what?

kelly had the tiramisu, liyi had the chocolate and mine is of coz the one in pink-> raspberry

I was telling liyi, aiyo..yours is so dark!

my favourite, mushroom soup. Was deciding between clam chowder and mushroom and the boring me just sticked with the norm.

Kelly and Liyi.

before we left, took a picture and both of them were asking me "why take near the toilet??"

Amazing

Monday, March 22, 2010 |9:58 PM

i mentioned in my previous post that just last Sat, I attended a brother-in-christ wedding and met quite a number of ex-Hope people some of them were people who were taking care of me in my earlier days when I first came to Hope. Coming to Hope have been a good (and sometimes not so good) 7 years. In these 7 years, I have seen some of my leaders and close peers leave the church one by one. To be frank, when I see/ hear of people leaving, I do feel sad. Well, some people tell me they leave because the vision that God give them is different and many others I know leave because of busy-ness in their work and the most common reason-> they can't find someone in the church.

While talking to a brother today on facebook chat, i was telling him that I think God is very amazing. The reason being when I first joined Hope I had another 2 very good friends who joined Hope with me. They were actually my friends during my uni days and also from the church I was attending in Perth. We were in Hope together for about a year plus and it took an incident to "tear" the cg which I was in then apart leaving only 3 people (Andrew, Hazel & Me). After the incident, I had alot of bitterness towards people and it took me a 4 years to release forgiveness for these 2 friends who somehow I felt betrayed me. In fact, at the very time they left the church, the idea of leaving also crossed my mind. But at that time, I didn't make this move. Not that I didn't know where to go, after all Singapore have so many churches. But I didn't move because before I joined Hope, I actually visited quite a few churches over a period of time. They were mega churches, famous ones but I didn't stay cause besides teaching, there isn't really the kind of "warmth" you find in Hope. Another reason which I think God is amazing because probably from the beginning, I always felt I was perceived as a "hopeless case", Christian but not very Christian-like. I gave attitude to my ex shepherds, fellowship, shepherding, reading the bible, obedience to God, devotion etc was like the last things on my mind and I think no one and I really mean NO ONE will ever use the word meek on me! The most probable thing that why I still attend church that time was because I have a mother and a very naggy one who will remind me and will ask why I don't go church. But God didn't give up on me, neither did my 2 ex shepherds and some of my leaders who took care of me in the past whereby they showed me lots of grace.

To add on to why I say God is amazing after 2 hurt incidents (1 being the 1 I mentioned in the para before and another the Jan one that I went through) I am still in the church. I guess probably in the past, if I have to go through the one that I went through in Jan, I would have left No doubts about it. I don't deny when the saga happened in Jan, I also thought of leaving but there were much more considerations.

Another pt to add is that I mentioned earlier, quite a number of my peers left the church because they couldn't find a possible life partner in the church. I don't deny many times I feel this way as well. Afterall, I've been in the church for 7 years but look still nobody! I do have frustrations at certain times as well and I was telling my ul just last week "haiz..the person I like either don't know that I like him or not interested in me." Of course these times get me and also while at the wedding on Sat, 1 of my ex leaders who is now in another church asked me:

He: "so, are you attached?"

Me: "no"

Shireen happened to be next to me and she said "she's still choosing"

He:" don't take too long to choose."

I looked at me and was thinking "Not I choosy. Its the person I like either don't know I like him or not interested in me."

Certainly, these times do get me but I guess compared to what I was in the past, they don't get the better of me. :)

2nd wedding of the year & A green wedding

Sunday, March 21, 2010 |3:24 PM

It was the 2nd wedding of 2010 and the 1st wedding of the year of the "Tiger" which I attended yesterday. A day whereby I caught up with loads of ex-Hope people and also people whom have contributed to my life when I first joined Hope Singapore and of coz a day whereby I have to sit at the same table as my nemesis for the whole dinner. It was like a 火星撞地球.

Ignoring the :not enough food" to eat because of our "walk in" at our table and that the auntie serving us have to take from another table, it was special as it was also the Big Day of a brother (i think he is the 1st brother I know in Hope) who took care of me for like 3-4 years when I was under his care. I felt happy for him because in the past, we will always be joking about him having the "gift of celibacy" and how now that he's finally MARRIED! Can really see the gleaming joy on his face and I am so glad that he finally found someone whom he can commit and settle down his life with. So, to the couple, congrats!

Exchanging of the rings. Andrew wearing the ring for his bride.

the officiating pastor was praying for them

the moment that Andrew have been waiting for

their 1st holy communion as a couple

and its now Mr & Mrs Andrew Ong!

Sharmaine saying her "thank-you" speech

He sings 月亮代表我的心. The best thing is-> Andrew chinese is...

Venue for the wedding dinner - The Grand Marquee @ The Legends

Table 15! our allocated table

SMS your wedding wishes to 9118980

Double boiled chicken soup in place of shark's fins

Most of these people here are Dinosaurs which includes Qiuyan, Lindy, Shireen, Myself, Hazel, Celine, Boon Liong, Xuqing, Sharmaine, Andrew, YX, Boon Yeong and Raymond. Oh ya..my Nemesis is in this photo as well.

with the lovely couple and gosh I am so short. Fortunately, I was wearing heels else even shorter.

How can Daniel escape me? smile =)

random

Friday, March 19, 2010 |5:09 PM

Don't really have a title to this post because it just consist of random thoughts...

1) It's been more than a week since I was back from Bangkok bringing back my sickness. I am on the road to recovery but the bad news is 1) 1 by 1, my family member fell sick and 2) don't know for what apparent reason, I've got cold sores! Oh yes, cold sores is very painful and because of it, I can't really open my mouth wide and it make eating very difficult. To make life even more difficult for me, I can't really talk. I told someone of it and she said "maybe its a time you learn to be a good listener." Perhaps its true. :)

2) Have been considering to cut my hair since a few weeks back and well the lazy me have never really gotten down to doing it. But this week, I finally got down to it. Considering that the peak season of my work starts next week and I'll be spending countless late nights once again. Probably by the time I get home, shower and wait for my hair to dry would be a chore. So..after researching for which salon can help girls "chop" off their long hair nicely, I decided on Icon by Shunji Matsuo. . I didn't really have an idea in mind how drastic I wanted to "chop" off my hair and ended up, it was slightly off the shoulders abit. Most people say no difference, but seriously-> this is the shortest hair I have in years!

Just before I left for work, the next day I cut my hair. Thanks to Eric from Icon by Shunji Matsuo. Oh yes, I am also wearing a new dress which I bought from BKK. Only 160 Baht.

3) On Wed evening, I met SQ for some ice cream action at Island Creamery which is located at Serene centre. Its the 2nd time of the month I'm there and once again, I ate the same thing. Yes I am kinda boring when it comes to food. Not that adventurous. In fact, I wanted to try the Alaska bomb but to my disappointment, the flavour inside is "Vanilla & Strawberry" both of which I don't really like. So ended up with the same thing. SQ ordered Mango with Apple Pie and it tastes fantastic. Time with SQ was rather good, ok. I was telling her my frustrations in BGR because "the person I am interested in don't know that I am interested in him but the people whom I totally have no interest in irritates me all the time.". Actually the main reason that she wanted to meet me was also to talk to me on this topic of BGR. I am kind of glad at the end of the session, it was somehow fruitful and I am upset that Serene Centre parking charges are so EXPENSIVE! Just about 2.5 hours parking came up to $6.12. I thought over 5pm parking should be charged on a per entry basis. Boo!!!

Just before we started tucking in

my favourite, ice cream pie with Oreo

Apple pie with Mango. Mango ice cream is good coz the flavour is really strong

4) Lastly, this is thought which I am so proud of and I really must write it down. I think probably many people won't think much of it but personally it's a breakthrough for me. For some, you would probably know I went through some saga back in January and for the month of January I've not been attending care group. I did attend service back then but I don't sit with my care group. In Feb, there was some reconciliation work done but I also haven't really been attending care group. Reason: I didn't really want to see someone in the CG. So...whenever I know she's going to be there, I will come up with all sorts of stupid excuse not to go and when I know she's not there, then I will appear.

Today, there was care group officially and I knew she was going to be there. In fact, throughout the day, I've been thinking "Go or don't go". Even @ around 4+, someone asked if I was going and i just ignore the question. Then, I had a last min con-call at 630pm and it ended at 730pm. In fact, I have the best excuse not to go. Because knowing that my office is at some 鸟不生蛋 place and my office policy is cab charges are only claimable after 830pm. I could have just waited until 830pm then get off. But knowing myself, if I were to leave at 830pm, I will be too lazy to even go for care group. So I left office at 730pm. Hopped onto 183 (which surprisingly came the min I got to the bus stop) and reached Clementi in 10 mins time. That's kind of amazing. While at Clementi, I was hoping for a cab and I was like 'God if you want me to go, then give me a cab.' (knowing that rainy days, its so hard to get a cab) and yes I did that. Goes without saying,a cab came in less than a min and I got home and drove to care group. By the time I reached the destination, it was 830pm.

I guess what's more amazing in this whole thing was not the cab came in time. But the breakthrough was that "knowing that the person is going to be there and yet I chose to go." In itself was a breakthrough. I could have came up with excuses of not going like 1) i knock off very late 2) cold sores, mouth pain so very tired. All these which I seriously think are very legitimate excuses but somehow I am kind of PROUD of myself that I didn't make such excuses for myself :)

I took this with my newly purchase Panasonic Lumix FP-8 Camera! I always love to see 2 Marchies side by side. Of coz mine is always the nicer one. :p

29 and counting..

Sunday, March 14, 2010 |5:15 PM

Wow! 29...somehow the number seems kinda of scary. But many of my friends in their 30s say "oh well, 29 is still young." Seriously, in my heart it was like "yeah right. bleh". 1 more year before I join the big 3 club. I was telling everyone, now officially I declare I am in my late 20s and I mean real late 20s. But luckily, I don't look like 1. I think I can pass off as someone around 26-27. *hiaks hiaks*. I can't imagine if I hadn't been doing audit in my early 20s, I think I would have looked younger. But truth to be told-> audit and long hours make people age.

As I entered into this new age bracket, many things run through my mind...As usual, people ask "what's your wish?" I ain't someone with alot of wishes, but I do have hopes. So allow me to share abit or at least 2.

1) I hope to know where I am heading in terms of my career. After being in the finance sector for a number of years. (about 6 years in audit and a year plus in commercial), I am rethinking this: Do I want to stay in this line in the long run? As I told some, in the short term, finance is where I am going to stay. I still do enjoy looking at figures, passing double entries, doing consolidation and doing analytics. But what about long run? Sometimes, I really feel its kind of mundane cause I do all these things on a monthly basis. So being at this age right now, I really hope that God will show me where I am heading...

2) Another thing is in the area of a life partner. I am still hoping for "the one" to appear. Most of my life, I've encountered countless JERKS. I do meet some good ones but many just stay as friends... Well, recently as I was talking to some of my friends who are of the same age as me or even older and they are single. They do tell me its scary. Many of them ask me "why no right one appear?" My reply " I don't know!".1 girlfriend recently told me how she felt it was her problem and whether it was because she was too picky and i told her this -> 我不觉得我们很差只是他们没有眼光. Yes, what arrogance but that's what I felt. We somehow concluded that its hard for most local men to appreciate women with Gusto (or what I term as GUTS!) because the men themselves don't have it. My thoughts is this local men nowadays not only lack guts but they have also become less witty. That's why i tell my female friends-> don't be so troubled coz its not you that is no good! It's just that takes a man who's very confident, gusty, secure and someone with a 'drive' in his life to know how to appreciate you (women who are courageous, witty and adventurous). So women, don't freak coz its the men who 走宝 when they fail to appreciate you.

Enough of my hopes! I am thankful for those who remembered my birthday and special thanks to wishes that came in all the way from London & Canada. Friends who live in a different time zone and busy with their work yet they cared enough. :))) My birthday this year was much simplier without much fanfare but with as as much pictures :p

I always love hand made cards from liyi. For those who love hand made cards as well, please do patronise her. Can refer to my link at the left.

While waiting for Shireen and hanging around at Vivo, I saw this warrior and it caught my attention

and so we ended up here. Apparently, this restaurant took over Hog's breath.

The food tastes ok. Above average and as usual, I ordered Mushroom soup. I am so glad the mushroom soup ain't Campbells.

Following the sumptuous lunch, I proceeded for a manicure & subsequently met Joel. She was late but for a valid reason and she brought me to this place which I've always wanted to visit. Its the "Mint Museum of Toys". I've always wanted to visit the place but most people will feel 'huh, see toys nice meh?" But I am an avid lover of toys and finally..It was a dream come true. Too bad, they don't have a storey dedicated to Japanese Anime. :(

Astro boy! He looks very cocky ah?

For the very first time in my life, I got to know there's an Astro Girl as well. o_O?

Astro Boy in a tanker! Time to fight!

Is this Casper? I like the expression on his face.

The nottiboy!

Olive. We saw alot of these in the museum but we don't know what is it for..see a string that comes out from her mouth?

Popeye the sailor man!!

Joel with Popeye. I love Popeye because he's very man, heroic but abit bad boy. whahaha

different versions of popeye and olive

detailing of how popeye came about.

Life size Tin Tin!

Batman and Robin! No catwoman around and we couldn't see Batman's car as well.

I told joel, this is the ugliest superman I've seen with ultra red cheeks.

Not forgetting 龙的传人. Bruce Lee!

I always thought ultraman is fat. But this ultra man is skinny. So which is which?

this is how i usually look on bad days

once again, the ugliest snow white I've seen but she's like the 1 and only snow white in the museum as well.

and on other occassions, sometimes i do look like this as well. *pouts*

betty boop!

the green costume one.

and 1 in little black dress

hey mickey! People you know something, there's very few mickey mouse displayed inside the museum as well. I wonder why?

Guess what game she's playing. It local girls all time favourite in the primary school days

lalala..The Beatles!

The a-gogo hairstyle. cool man!

4 of them and all the collectibles

just before we got out. 3 cheers!

hanging out just outside the museum.hot day it has been

flowers with shirley temple and some lychee with mint

and we met zing, proceeded to Chijmes, Hog's Breath for dinner. No mushroom soup so we settled for onion soup and potato soup. *i wished there was clam chowder*

3 portions, fish & chips, steak and chicken.

er..this was so-so only. I don't recommend this. The steak with much better.

on the house.

finally...3 of us

with compliments-> Hog's Breath

After dinner and some sharing, I had another birthday cake awaiting for me @ home. Special thanks to my brother who lovingly bought this @ Royals.

cake from Royals. My dad loved it

my 3rd cake for the year. Cheers to 29!

Of couse before I sign off, a few more things to share..When I thought it was all over after being back from BKK. I continued to receive some gifts & cards from friends today. A very special friend who holds an important place in my heart because of the uniqueness of how we started as friends (its quite unimaginable that we started off as enemies) till now that I am truly convinced that she loves me whenever she tells me truth in my life. I am ever so thankful to her that she always manages to see the blindspots in my life and with her gusty nature, she will tell me readily about it.

kimmidoll handbag hanger which reads 'Tomomi' meaning Friend.

kimmidoll pen! which reads 'Mizuki' meaning Precious. Put both gifts together and you get "precious friend"

For more info about kimmidolls, you can refer to this link-> http://www.kimmidoll.com/

not forgetting the card that she gave me. cat but not hello kitty. But its Kitty power! *meow*

a be-lated card from the cg.

Lastly...a mini card from xiaoli which came as a surprise :))))