Thank you Lord

God, thank you for this year!

Shine Forth - Bukit batok Christmas celebrations

Shine Forth Christmas Celebrations

J4s going on J5s

Pre-departure meeting today was quite informative. There are 20 people from NUS heading to the land of many people this coming semester, but only 6 came for the meeting! More male counterparts than ladies. That's good huh, at least the girls will always have a priority. haaah. Should i go travelling? To the land of many cheenas.. The international relations lady said that many do. Hmmm. Wonder if my parents allow :p Anyway, module registration will be out tomorrow! Quite anxious but i know that God is in control.

On another note, hope the lil' bird got the worm!

Made icing flowers with mom. (She's been so iky these few days. Maybe because she's starting to miss me already. God please guard her heart!)

Lazy billy on top of the armrest. He ate too much fish he became a cat.

Highlight of the week! :) or was it last week. yah last week. My sec 3 class held a farewell party for meee! aiyor. love my class and Dawn!!

tis the season to be happy

Another 22 days before I leave for the city of many people. Parent's have been pouring advice on me for the past few weeks.. "Don't wash your hair at night or in the morning ok? Even if it's really oily and dirty. If not you'll catch a cold!" , "Don't go out of your school too often ok? Must adapt to the air pollution first before you head of to the city area." , "Don't be too friendly with boys okay? If not they'll start off on the wrong foot!" , "Call your father everyday okay? If not he'll feel lonely." , "Don't come back too late ok? Always have company with you!" ... My parents are so sweet. On one night, my mom came into my room and told me she couldn't sleep because she's already missing me. She's even bought all my essentials weeks before today. haaa. Love my mom. and my dad too. Should get a webcam for my dad soon, so that he can see me while working in his office. haaa. Anyway, it's really my first time away from home for so long (5mths), first time taking an airplane alone too! wheee. Not that afraid YET, but I guess if God is with me, and his love is within me, perfect love drives out all fear! so no fear. no fear. Really hope to pick up some fluent cantonese and be more independent after my SEP! Come to think of it, i don't think the weather there would be that cold, it's packed with people, how can it be cold?? Their ozone layer's probably more ruined than ours. Argh. Anyway, mom's been telling me to pack so much jackets! and long johns! and she even suggested a heater! haaaa. Haiyor. Thank God for parents man!

MCYC Christmas event is on this saturday! I think it'll be really fun. We'd be having 3 games stalls. The names are pretty quirky. "Mr. Buzz" - a contraption that allows you to manouver through a circuit using a wire. Those that you see in the movies.. where it beeps when you touch the circuit. "Hay-wire" (and no... it's not after me) - one of our guys are making names out of wires! how cool is that! "Box me up, robbie" - my stall! Competitors compete for the fastest timing in solving certain patterns on a rubiks cube. such an intelligent game hor. Mom and I baked some beautiful gingerbread cookies too! yumyummmm.

Almost Christmas

Finally, Macarons to call my own!

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Christmas is coming! I'd be selling "made-to-order" earrings this Christmas season. Made of swarovski crystals, these earrings are perfect for your girlly friends. If you'd like to make an order or an enquiry, please email me at robyn87@singnet.com.sg with your name, contact number, and what your friend's like, i.e her character, favorite colour, etc, and i'll specialize the earrings for her! Costs vary from $20 onwards.

so beautiful

*http://ardeur-tries.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/

Macaroons!!! ARGHHH

God' gift!!

rolly polly

photo from marthastewart.com. Anyway, i want to make macaroons! They look so adorable. and taste good too. So round!!

:)

Exams are on the way! But exchange preps are so time consuming..

This dark world

Exorcism Trial

Priests' account of the "prayer" session
-- By Selena Lum & Carolyn Quek

Father Jacob Ong said Madam Amutha's son, Jairaj Jeyabal, 28, had approached him while he was at the Pastoral Centre asking if he was a priest.

He wanted a priest to pray over his mother, who was possessed by the spirit of a dead soldier and behaving suicidally.

They had just come from a restaurant where she acted hysterically and caused a commotion. So they brought her to the church.

In the church, Madam Valli was creeping on the floor, slithering like a snake. Her daughter, Subashini Jeyabel, 22, and "brother" Resham Singh, 37, were standing by. When Resham said "Soldier, stand up" and "soldier march", she would obey before getting down on the floor again.
Fr Ong got hold of Fr Simon Tan to help pray over her. Both priests picked up their prayer books and holy water.

When they next saw her, she was already in the Pastoral Centre. She had "marched" in, according to others.

When Fr Tan sprinkled holy water round the room, she started behaving wildly and shouting incoherently. She was pinned down by her daughter and Resham for 15 minutes.
As she was behaving aggressively, Fr Ong asked other church-goers who were attending a farewell party on the grounds for help. Five men and two women responded.

The family was told to wait outside while the prayer session took place. They moved in and out of the room anyway and could see through a glass window what was happening inside.
Some people did restrain her, holding her hands and legs. But it was done to prevent her from hurting herself.

She had even tried strangling herself twice.
The two priests read or sang words of prayer. Outside the room, other Catholics had gathered to pray.

When she asked to use the toilet, two women and her daughter accompanied her.
The priests were nowhere near the toilet. They were in the room clearing up and shifting furniture back in place.

On her return, Madam Amutha turned abusive, levelling vulgar words and threatening to sue everyone. She also scolded her family members for bringing her to church.

Neither she nor her family members had objected to any part of proceedings at any time. Nor did they ask for the police or an ambulance.

Fr Tan suggested that the family return home. They did, but not before thanking him for his help.


I drank Adrian Lim's blood: Madam Valli's medical case notes

She was an alcoholic, took drugs and had been suffering from a whole host of psychiatric problems since 1989.

But Madam Amutha Valli, 50, kept mum about her medical history, and had even implored her past doctors not to reveal the truth, the High Court was told on Wednesday, at the start of the hearing into the exorcism rites she had alleged were forced on her by priests of Novena Church three years ago.

In their opening statements, defence lawyers for the two priests and seven other defendants who are being sued by Madam Valli, presented hospital records of National University Hospital, Tan Tock Seng Hospital and Institute of Mental Health where she had been receiving treatment for her mental disorders.

Senior Counsel Jimmy Yim from Drew & Napier, who is defending Father Jacob Ong, with Mr Darrell Low, told the court that Madam Valli was found to be in a "dissociative state" as far back as December 1986.

Dissociative trance disorder, to a lay person, clergyman or priest, is a state akin to possession.
Madam Valli was diagnosed as suffering from "hysterical dissociative neurosis" in January 1987, according to her medicals records kept by NUH, which treated her from 1986 to 1989.

The NUH case notes also detailed her history of entering into trances, including one where she had glided on the floor like a snake.

Excerpts of the case notes were presented in court on Wednesday:

One of them, dated Dec 26, 1986, states: "glides on floor, hissing like a snake last 1-3 minutes slumps onto ground and regain normal consciousness. unable to recall events during trance."
Another, dated Jan 6, 1987, said she went to see the notorious medium Adrian Lim sometime in 1984 to get a cure for her trances.

Lim, 41, his wife Tan Mui Choo, 28, and mistress Hoe Kah Hong, 27, murdered two schoolchildren, aged nine and 10, in early 1981. All three were hanged in 1988.

Excerpts of the case notes said she saw Lim twice and drank his blood and went into a trance together with him. She added that Lim gave her shock treatment by electrocution.

She stopped seeing after she found out about the murders he had committed from newspaper reports. She felt "guilty and embarrassed," she told the NUH doctors.

A Jan 21, 1987 case note gave a glimpse into her personal history.

The excerpts read: "started going into trances for religious purposes at age 12. Trances at religious ceremonies at home - encouraged by mother, family and neighbour. Becomes incarnation of snake god and predicts and foretells fortune, past, present."

The court also heard that she told her doctor at Flame Tree Clinic on Oct 21, 2005, which she had asked for a medical report on her mental state, not to mention any of her family problems, alcoholism and depression.

Her doctor, apparently told her that suppression of information would not be right as it would be "a great omission of the truth".

On Nov 10, 2006, Madam Valli, in a sworn statement, insisted that the only psychiatric condition which she had suffered from was stress and alcohol dependency and she had been hospitalised at the IMH. Yet, in IHM's case notes dated Oct 30, 2006, she called an IMH doctor and told him that she "never had treatment at NUH before."

Madam Valli was also seen by psychhiatrists, Prof Ong Thiew Chai of Tan Tock Seng Hospital and Dr Angelina Chan of Changi General Hospital in on Sept 3 and April 15, 2005 respectively, but their medical reports of her condition make no mention her psychiatric history prior to the Aug 10, 2004 incident at Novena Church.

It was later revealed that she did not bring her past history in NUH to their attention.
"It is submitted that all these omissions of past medical/psychiatric history deprived both Prof Ong and Dr Chan from arriving at a true and complete evaluation of the plaintiff's actual psychiatric condition," said Mr Yim. - The Straits Times

http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2BNews/Courts%2Band%2BCrime/STIStory_170033.html?vgnmr=1

Ephesians 6:12 "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

The combat is not against human enemies, nor against our own corrupt nature only; we have to do with an enemy who has a thousand ways of beguiling unstable souls. The devils assault us in the things that belong to our souls, and labour to deface the heavenly image in our hearts. We must resolve by God's grace, not to yield to Satan. James 4:7 "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

1 John 4:1-4 "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. "

verses and commentaries taken from biblegateway.com

ice cream and His word

I've been eating ice cream this whole entire week! Sunday, monday, tuesday, wednesday, friday, sunday!!! ARGH! but how can you resist this! I'd be happy to have desserts as meals! :) yum yum.

mudcake from island creamery

romanoff, ice passion tea and mocha from coffee club.

Anyway, I have come to realize the realness and loveliness of God once again. Just last Sunday, my friend recieved Christ - knew her for only a week or so... but God moves and He moves swiftly! Angels in heaven must be singing hallelujah! and just this week, Pastor benny ho reminded us that we cannot be our own High priest for we have one who is greater than anyone else in this world, and He is our High Priest! :) the healing service was a blessing indeed... with Rev. Dr magaret seaward.. hee such an energetic and high-spirited lady of Christ! wish i can just have a quarter of her enthusiasm. and then she preached at upper room this sunday too.. wow. Fear not! for the one who is in us in greater than the one in the world! :) yeah man!

To have faith in Christ is like falling into a never-ending ocean but knowing that He's always there waiting to catch hold of you.

How amazing is His grace!

My wonderous Saviour

Never lose the wonder of our God.

Happy father's day

"He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children,

and the hearts of the children to their fathers;

or else I will come and strike the land with a curse."

Malachi 4:6

Open my ears Lord!

Love my cell. :) had cell in malaysia today.. oops! i mean Delia's cosy home.

What spoke to me the most was when Willard talked about us living in a world much too obsessed by practical concerns. one governed by a fallen ideology. I.e. our minds are shaped such that we do not included God in the physicality of life.. we don't see God as a reason for scientific experiments, if you get what i mean.

What matters most is that we have a genuine, living relationship with God. He quoted from 2 Kings.. The king of Syria was at war with Israel. Eeverytime he laid his battle plans, Elisha would tell them to the king of Israel. One day the king of Syria went right to the heart of the problem. He went to capture Elisha. When Elisha's young helper stepped outside one morning he found they were completely surrounded by Syrian troops.

"When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. "Oh, my lord, what shall we do?" the servant asked.

"Don't be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them."

And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha." --- 2 Kings 6:15-17

Spiritual reality is a type of reality that does not necessarily reveal itself to good eyesight. Every working of visible reality is a movement within the encompassing Logos, the Word of God, and it rests on nothing else but God through his Son (Heb 1:1-3). God CAN speak to us! and He should! and He does! and He would!

yay.

o Hallelujah!

o Hallelujah.. There is much rejoicing in heaven as a lost sheep is found. One of my unimates has finally allowed God to fill his heart :) Yay!

Was eating dinner with them <-- when he suddenly bowed his head and say grace. I was like, "huh!? YAY!".. i felt so happy, really really happy! hurray!

Pray and hope that God will continue to shine His light on my friend's life as well as the lives of all those who have yet to acknowlege and respond to His call.

wife training

I have no work. and unhappily so. and classifieds has become my new best friend. and the email too. Really do hope that one of the 12 job applications i sent out will respond postively.

hee.

Have decided to enter the most wanted training camp for potential wifeies (sp?)! the commandant's none other than my mother... okok. just joking. seriously speaking, i have a personal baking cum cooking teacher whom i haven't been vigorously learning from. hope it's not too late!

presenting ze' cheezecake! yummm. japanese cheesecake btw.

and say hello to Miss. green tea cum red bean cake! another loyal citizen of japonaise.

as you can see, Miss. GTRB is 2 layers green tea sponge and 2 layers red bean cream. :)

she looks prettier in light.

dedicated to the super cool wifey.. my mom, who even takes time to clean Billy (who was actually my responsibility)

Really thankful for a mom like my mom. Sometimes, I take her for granted (so sorry mama!); but really, she's wonderful. Thank God for blessing me with someone who's so dedicated to God and family; one who not only cooks and bakes so well but handles the home so beautifully; and gives excellent advice. Shortcomings yah.. but don't we all have? Anyway, Thank you God!

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bought these white school shoes and decided to paint them (& nooo... not with highlighters) :)

i fly

yummm... this says it all. haha. new york new york was crowded yet again but the food was good and we managed to charm ourselves out of the queue to the plush green seats, which according to my friend meryl (above) are really hard. ahh.. but the food was yummy and the fellowship was fun.

my dinner. roasted chicken sandwich which costs a bomb.

that's alina balina. my fellow sc red cross mate! :) heh.. we flew all the way to new york to eat sandwich. cool eh.. see even the scenary is so beautiful

and that's weiting and meryl :) the cool dudes.. i mean dudettes.

a lil' bird left this on my window sill yesterday morning..

Have been thinking about 2 things lately: Growing up isn't like what i expected it to be. Perhaps the one thing that disgruntles me the most is that I don't seem to be growing up.. I see how people can manage and administrate things so well, yet I can't seem to get my brain moving. Maybe it's motivation. maybe it's not. but I'd really really like to prove myself wrong.. I'd like to try initiating and admistrating for once. Maybe it's not my raw material (haha. according to ortberg, we are to honor our raw material and listen to the voice of God, inorder to discern our "calling"). but maybe it's got to do with stepping out of the boat and walking on water. maybe God wants me to step out of my sampan at the point of my fears and frustrations in order to overcome them. haiyah. i also dunno.

the second thing is not much of a bother to me but just a thought.. you know when Peter stepped out of the boat and walked on water? He actually lost his focus on Jesus and turned his attention to the looming storm which finally made him sink. Ortberg gave a really interesting point that drew my attention.. Resilient people find meaning and purpose in the storm. Sometimes, God comes, not in those moments when we are most lifted up, but when we are down lowest in the place of vulnerability and fear. Sometimes he comes, not on the mountaintop, but in the storm. So yeah, it's comforting to know that God is everywhere - wherever he wants us to be and not to be.

Church Camp: 29 May - 2 June

Surprisingly, i managed to get up early and pray with the comm and other enthusiastic early birds :) Really refreshing to start the day with God on the right foot, though sometimes (well, most of the time), i feel like dozing off whenever i shut my eyes to pray. :) Oh well..

Here's the rising sun in the early Putrajaya sky :) beautiful ain't it? The sky always remind me of the power of of our creator who covers each and everyone of us with his love and assures us with His presence.

This is what happens when you're bored in a 5-6hours bus ride from Singapore to Putrajaya. YAWNNNNNN...

My adorable roomie :) zaneta

Dorcas and oily me :) haha

efrem my partner in crime - just kidding!

Tada! Marriot Putrajaya... and her majestic curvy wurvy swimming pool which dorcas insists that it's not useful for swimming. haha. don't know. never tried! :) maybe next time.

Ballroom where worship was held :)
God is so awesome! Really thankful that God has given us an opportunity to have a life Holy and pleasing to Him!

Photo taking time... just look at the sea of people. haha I am so sure that God was with us all the time. imagine a couple of youths handling 450++ people (adults and children)... God 's grace man.

The leagues (Games) - notice the shrek ears? heaheahea.

Wee!!! From Left : robyn, dan, chang, jac, deb, efrem, claire

Smu shot. from left: fat robyn, dan, chang, yado, jac, deb, efrem

loving people

God reminded me that even as I am powerless and inadequate, even as I am tired and weary, or even when I feel at a loss, confused, in despair, God is ever present. I shall not dwell too much on work again (hee) but though it seems insignicant, work taught me the meaning of what truly depending on God means. It is indeed difficult and hard to surrender all my pride for the purpose of being humble and to actually truly love my neighbour.

A daily devotional from Words of Hope which i found apt:

External pressures abound in our world: job changes, financial stress, medical conditions . . . the list is endless. David had more than his share of troubles, too. Hadn't Samuel promised he would be king? Where was his palace, his wealth, his royal robes? Instead, David is hiding in caves with a ragtag bunch of outlaws. His territory is a barren desert, and his enemies are hot on his trail. Some kingdom, huh?

Despite the outward and obvious opposition, in many ways David's worst enemy was himself. Throughout his life, David—this giant of faith!—falls prey to just about every conceivable human frailty. But David's all-too-real and obvious sins are what make him all the easier for us, who are likewise weak and flawed creatures, to identify with. What temptations do you secretly battle? What inward challenges cause you to falter or stumble in your attempt to follow Jesus?

What begins as a psalm of praise ends in petitionary prayer. Here is what truly makes David a giant of faith and a model of hope for us. In the hour of deepest need, when "human help is worthless" (v. 12), it is God "who will tread down our foes"—whether those foes are external enemies or the inner demons of our own nature. God alone is the ultimate deliverer. Put your trust in him!

trust trust trust

work again

I came home yesterday bawling before my front door. haha. what a scene man! my feet were screaming "SAVE US!!! if not we'll just fall apart".. for the first time in my entire pampered life, i stood for 12 hours non-stop. 12 CRAZY hours. wowee.. 7-7 shift was more difficult than i thought it was. what was worse was that i think because i'm new, they won't let me do stuff. but i really do want to learn! especially those beautiful set ups, like the ones i saw yesterday. but ahh.. nevermind, i think the supervisors are all too busy. thankfully, i did manage to learn a tea cup arrangement and a UN look-a-like fork arrangement. haha! cool yah. by the way, my chinese is really pro now... don't be suprised if i speak to you in chinese. hahaha...

Thank God that He has carried me through all things big and small! : ) wowee.. He's really a good God! i mean i'm really really blessed for the good relationships built with everyone in my workplace, if not, i'd probably want to quit... hehh. ahh well, a good and learning experience each and everyday. not excluding my pay (which i collected today! woohoooo!), which is pretty rewarding. hah.

first day of work

My first day at work was a humbling experience! : ) i think brats like most of us should really try Hotel Banqueting once in a while... made me realise how blessed I am.. and how important education is! wow. I'm so thankful for my life now that i've seen a bit of what society really is, outside my sheltered zone.

Polished goblets, set tables, brought dishes for washing, skirt tables, cleared dirty cups, refilled coffee breaks, stood for 10 hours non stop, ate for 5 minutes, wow... i tell you, if given a choice, i'd rather not work there.. but you know, i'll never ever get to try such a job again, so why not? Met so many people... people who quite school at 17 to work, those who drop out of school and had not other choice but to go to shatec, those who have been working since 15 years old, and many who wow at my educational level.. weee... i guess now that my eye has seen a bit of the world, i won't take things for granted and would always be thankful for what i have!

hee. and thank God too! managed to tell 2 people about how I came to Christ. realised that many of them are interested to know more! wow... fertile ground!

argh!!! my legs are aching! hope i won't waddle like a duck today...

hello!

new blog.. :)