Joy!

Who wants to watch UP?!

2009-07-24T01:00:00.001+08:00

Open the eyes of my heart Lord

2009-06-06T23:59:00.001+08:00

Photo Booth2

2009-05-23T14:11:00.003+08:00

Photobooth!

2009-05-23T14:11:00.001+08:00

Nick Vujicic (life without limbs)

2009-05-16T22:36:00.001+08:00

Nick Vujicic

2009-05-16T22:25:00.001+08:00

WATCH THIS!

last day of exams!

2009-05-04T18:31:00.001+08:00

hopefully i won't miss galileo too much tomorrow!

Everlasting God (Chris Tomlin)

2009-04-20T23:16:00.001+08:00

To die is gain

2009-03-10T00:39:00.002+08:00

I ate noodles and meefen at 2 for lunch; odeh odeh for tea at 4; mee rubus and nasi goreng for dinner at 5; bread and eggs for supper at 11. my most irregular day ever.

This week had been pretty good. A lovely time of rest after the mid terms were over.. no deadlines near enough to give me stress, no lab reports due, no tests. wow, incredible! Lately, I've observed that more people seem to be passing away, not sure why; maybe it's indeed so; maybe i've become more aware of death then i used to be. Death - it's a funny thing. Some people mourn and dwell in sadness all the days of their lives; yet others, though sad, celebrate another's passing / reunion with his Savior. To me, i don't think i've yet to truly understand what Death might be; nor have i completely absorbed what has happened so far - all i know is that to live is Christ, and to die is gain (Philippians 1:21) - who are we to curse God and swear? who are we to determine what our lives might be? As so far, with all that i've been through, i'd say that it's been hard accepting the truth, really difficult being optimistic all the way, and even more tiring to live life as i did before; yet I am placing all my hope in God because Jesus is the only way. I know that with all the ups and downs of life, Jesus is in control. Hallelujah!

On a less moanful note, i'm really enjoying lab work! :)

2009-03-06T15:43:00.002+08:00

My friend from CUHK is coming for exchange next year - my last semester in NUS.
My room and hall mates are also coming for summer break this year.

Exchange really influences the way people make decisions.
These are by bff! :) How nice

Romance of their own!

2009-02-24T15:11:00.001+08:00

Mamma Mia! I Have A Dream

2009-02-15T20:05:00.001+08:00

On the brighter side of things

2009-01-12T11:05:00.005+08:00

Dorcas and Mint-Mint came to play with Billy and I.

They're so adorable!

Brokeback cowdogs!

In memory of my dad

2009-01-06T00:16:00.005+08:00

In memory of my dad:

I loved the smile on his face.. it was a radiant one, i knew it was from God. For 7 years, my dad lived a changed life, with us, he enjoyed every moment of this new found life in Jesus. He loved reading God's word and sharing it with me. Though i sometimes ignore him, i'd try my very best to listen. Often, i'd think that his Bible knowledge isn't very good, but as the years go by, I'd admire his deep understanding of the word. I knew that it was from God. Mom and I would always encourage him to facilitate a class since he was so enthusiastic with the word. Every morning, i'd hear him pray in the toilet and sometimes i'd accidentally see him kneeling down and praying so earnestly it puts me to shame. He'd always tell me how much he'd enjoy his cold bath in the mornings, it proved that at 71 years old, he was healthy. Every night, he'd lie in bed and listen to sermons or he'd blast hymns on our old set and fall asleep. He loved our company - TV, lights and chatterings.. it made him feel more secure, he said, and then he'll sleep soundly till the morning. Recently, all 3 of us would squeeze and fall asleep in the same room. I'll miss those times. He'd request for a family prayer and I love it because it brought us so much closer together. I don't quite remember my dad proper before the 7 years, but in Christ, I knew my dad almost inside out, and I love him dearly. On the 24th of December, Christmas eve, I had just arrived in the train station of Bejing from another Chinese city. My professor told me my dad was in hospital - that broke me into pieces. But when he said my dad had passed away, my world collapsed. Although i didn't get to see dad one last time, I did say a prayer for him that night.. i prayed that he'll have a good night's rest and that all the pain would go away. I have no regrets, dad and i had a good time together. Even though I miss him dearly, every second of the day, and I don't know what the future holds... i know that God would not leave me nor forsake me (Deut 31:6), and i know that God has wonderful plans for my mom and I (For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." - Jeremiah 29:11). I believe that God, our heavenly father, will never leave me fatherless. I trust that my dad is rejoicing in heaven, whenever i look to the skies, i'd know that dad is looking down at us, cheering us on. This is my dad.

Pray for us.

"And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from the eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." Revelation 21:3-4

China's a day away

2008-12-09T00:17:00.002+08:00

China winter getaway is a day away, and i'm pretty excited about it all. Mostly because it's going to be my first snow experience. And also because i'm spending it with the majority of my chem pals!

We'll be landing in Beijing on the afternoon of 10th and will settle in a 宾馆 (i think it's something less classy than a hotel) which is quite near beijing university and tsing hua university. A week of Beijing will see us having fun at Tiananmen square, forbidden city, tsinghua university, peking university, the great wall, beijing normal university and of course the shopping malls and yummy places.

On the 16th, we'll be leaving Beijing for Tianjin to visit Nankai university, Tianjin normal university and Tianjin university. After a night in Tianjin, we'll head to Dalian on the 17th to see Dalian university of Science and tech, and the institute of chemical physics, before heading to Changchun on the 19th.

Chang chun will be a freezing -20 degrees celcius!!!! And it's just next to haerbin!!! woo goodness. Anyway, we'll hopefully have a ski trip followed by visits to Changchun institute of applied chemistry and Jinlin University. On the 23rd, we'll head back to Beijing and visit the summer palace, Beijing Institute of Chemsitry, its industries, temple of heaven and some free and easy time. We'll return on the 30th of december, just in time for the new year :)

Wee.. sounds really fun. Lots of chemistry. and chinese. and snow (hopefully). Praying for God to make it a meaningful and blessed time.. that He'll grant me a heart than sincerely desires to be his disciple (Matthew 28: 18-20).

the old chinese man within

2008-12-01T09:57:00.002+08:00

Can't wait for another china experience - trains bursting at its seams.. old women munching on broken peanuts.. old men playing with smoke dragons.. and me enjoying my time with friends.

More than phil

2008-11-25T10:41:00.000+08:00

byron, the philhellenist, is a lover of greeks
philip, well, he's in love with horses
and as for us, phileo-ists, we love our friends
but God? He's Agape.

He

2008-11-15T20:52:00.000+08:00

Who changes day into night?

Who brings forth the sun every morning?

Who carries the moon by night?

The Morning Sun.

2008-10-01T21:20:00.000+08:00

The morning light peeked between the curtains and woke March up. March wanted to see rainbows, and she longed to hear the buzz of a random bee or the flap of a robin bird's wings. She tumbled around the grass and felt a searing pain pierce through her heart. Not long after, a pile of dirt, swift as a butcher's knife, came cutting through the sky, right onto little March's face. It made her sneeze so badly her throat became sore and tired. March wanted so badly to see the rainbows forming above her, she longed to hear the buzz of a random bee or the flap of a robin bird's wings. Yet, all she could do was sneeze because the dirt had taken a foothold deep down in her throat. It even felt as if it might stay there forever.

But little March drew in a deep breath of crisp air and looked at the Sun for some comfort. It was good. The Sun always made March feel warm and fuzzy inside. She jumped up and ran as fast and as far as she could. So fast, her shadow could not even catch up. Gone were the ominous grey clouds; in their place, sprightly summer clouds glowered over her, like an angel bringing good tidings. March knew that all was fine and good and lovely. She peered into the morning sky and gave the Sun a great big smile.

The korean challenge

2008-07-19T23:37:00.000+08:00

I really love hanging out with my mom and my aunts - love hearing them talk those womenly talks, haggle like no body's business and eat as if they owned the eateries. haha. Anyway, we tried Miss Clarity Cafe at purvis street today. Don't be fooled by its outer appearance, gawdily kiddy as it may be, it serves serious food in seriously large portions. Not bad :)

My mom and aunt enjoying their banana tart!

We also visited arab street to look for textile! Walked for 2+ hours but found nothing suitable. Then we headed for people's park and found fabric that were finally suitable!

Then we went for the korean challenge - super spicy korean food. I particularly like the bi bim bab and the peach mochi! yum yum. This restaurant is located on mosque street in chinatown.

Bi Bim Bab

Chilli overload!

And here's all praise and thanks to God for family and relatives! And for His good providence - for food, shelter, and a time for happiness :)

Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly

2008-07-10T11:57:00.001+08:00

I take a glance at my reflection in the mirror, and i ask myself. Am i ready?

Crusade camp was more than i expected it to be. I went for it, not knowing what to expect. But at the end of it, I realised that firstly, God placed me there to re-affirm and confess my promise to Him. No more stagnant moments, but a constant desire to love Him more each day. Secondly, to be there for a new friend whom i met in my CG, to pray and help her in her journey with God. Thirdly, to be part of the body of Christ in NUS, where I'd be spending most of my time in.

On another note, i've been thinking much about the body of Christ. What community essentially means. To me, I think it's about unity, committment (or rather committment that comes from ownership), cooperation (because the body is not made up of hands only, but head, and limbs of various kinds, etc.), and of course accountability.

To walk in God's light seems easy. Read the Bible everyday. Pray. But it requires constant determination which has to be renewed each and everyday, such that we can run the race and claim the prize for God's glory.

Are we ready?

Made by God

2008-07-05T23:36:00.000+08:00

I'm a slacker! Been slacking ever since summer school ended. BUT i've learnt how to iron office shirts AND cook and bake as well. Under stressful timing and my mom's eagle eyes. Recieved some housewifey injuries on my hands too! An iron burn and a blade slice. Ouch!

Beware! Gruesome picture for your viewing pleasure:

HAHA. i can't stop laughing.

ANYWAY, on another note, it's been long since I've gotten involved in Church activities. Exchange in HK was difficult, because my church was super far away and the chapel in my school is in cantonese. So, at times, I just wake up late and miss church; wake up early to a heavy morning rain and miss church again; wake up and conduct my own service in my room (with worship, sermon and all. haha!). Upon returning, I started helping out at sunday school (though i'm not much of a help, cause i haven't started teaching yet), the little kiddies sunday school (of which i had no control of, but i had fun screaming along with them), and cell of course. :)

Last night, my friends reminded me, or rather, encouraged me, to be inspired by God again. To come to him as Mary did. No more lukewarmness, no more spiritual dead ends, no more apathy. And I've decided once and for all, no more hesitation, that this is the moment I'd surrender totally, and let Him lead my life as He pleases. Can you imagine the freedom we'd have if we could just share Jesus like nobody's business? Out of our own willingness and love, and not out of must? Wouldn't it be wonderful if praising God in every situation, speaking about Him in every conversation, and sharing Him with every friend, comes straight from the bottom of our hearts? Out of our love and charity for the people around us?

Indeed it would!

Wooof!

Naojiro Hayashi - Hikari

2008-06-30T01:41:00.001+08:00

from Lemon no koro

~Lemon No Koro~

2008-06-30T01:24:00.001+08:00

A touching movie cast around students from a rural school in japan. Lemon no koro is subtle yet moving at the same time, bringing to light the significance and intensity of actions and objects that are simple yet full of life.

A fine week

2008-06-24T23:22:00.000+08:00

Today was such a fine day it made me want to take random pictures. My dog, Billy, the cutest dog on earth, went for a hair cut today. Doesn't he look the cutest? And no.. he's not from men in black. haha. though he does talk sometimes. My dog is really spoiled. A brat! Unlike other dogs who munch on their food like hungry animals, my dog is refined. He's fed. By me. On the sofa. All he does is sniff his food, and look away. haha. Sometimes, I have to add some dried chicken jerkey or fish on top of his daily meal, like sprinkles on a cupcake, to make him eat. sigh. what a dog.

Mom and I have been busy making fruit cakes and brownies for a wedding this saturday morning. About 500 boxes in total! And we're still now done. 100 more to go! Here's a snapshot of the brownies we made:

And the fruit cakes in the boxes:

Last sunday, Justina, a girl who went to CUHK for exchange the semester before I did, came to visit barker! We had lunch with tatt at fareast after sunday school. I think God planned it such that we would meet! I heard from my room mate in hong kong, Emily, about Justina, and how much fun they had together. She's from NUS and a Christian too! And she used to come to barker. Haha. how cool is that!

Hallelujah

2008-06-19T20:47:00.001+08:00

When a father gives good gifts to his children, you'd know he is a good father.

The NUS system requires us to get approval for modules we intend to take on exchange, and I did, for all the modules i took in CUHK. However, just yesterday, the admin officer emailed me saying that one of the modules (a major module), was not approved! She even showed me the scanned form with the signature on the rejection column.

It was really unfair because they did not inform me about this rejection. If I knew that it was not approved at the beginning, i would not have taken it on exchange, furthermore, it made me worry because i'd have to repeat that module this coming semester. What's more, it's a year 2 module, and i'm already in year 3. Sigh. I was anxious and very angry because I was at a lost of what to do. The only thing i did was to email the department coordinator, who said that she'd help me check with the previous coordinator (who signed the form).

On the trip to the fish market, i kept thinking and worrying. Worried about the number of core modules I'd have to take next semester. Thinking about what to do with the module I took on SEP.

Then Mom reminded me of God's goodness. God is a good God, He'll look after my every need. The music from the car sang "hallelujah" and I realised that the battle was already won, because God is with me, I need not have to worry about anything. He is a father who gives good gifts. He will not leave me in the dumps. So, at that moment, i stopped worrying.

Then, just now, the department coordinator emailed me, saying that the module which was rejected at the start is now accepted as a special case for me. Hallelujah! :)

Exactly Exakta

2008-06-19T17:49:00.000+08:00

My dad just dugged out an Exakta! For old times sake. Love my dad.

I'm excited.

Wantons of God's goodness

2008-06-17T21:50:00.000+08:00

My aunt came over to make wantons with us today :)

Here a bowl of a day's hard work plus some nice fragrant "猪油渣" or pork lard as you would call it. Yummy! We spoke about how we became Christians over dinner. Everytime my parents tell our testimony, there's always a certain excitement and freshness to it. It doesn't get boring. God is so good! I'm really so glad that God saved our family. If it wasn't for Him, this family would not have lived to see this day.

Kungfu Hustle

2008-06-15T22:28:00.000+08:00

rocks my socks! especially if its in canto :) Terribly entertaining! Go watch!

I love the scene where chou xin chi (stephen chow) tried his hand at kungfu but failed to do so. Super duper funny!!!

Pictures taken from:

http://www.starpulse.com/Movies/Kung_Fu_Hustle/gallery/SPC004/
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/kung_fu_hustle/pictures/3.php#highlighted_picture

Splash!!

2008-06-07T21:28:00.000+08:00

Went for PAH - Paint A Home today! Despite having to step on wet paint and getting newspaper stuck all over you feet, it was quite an enjoyable experience.. especially the smell of paint.. mwahaha.. just kidding. I'm not a paint-smell-addict.

Started off with white washing.. then measured out the half way mark, then painted one half pink, stencilled flowers on the walls, painted flowers, painted doors and gate... Fun eh?

We were in-charged of the corridor

The walls with stencilling done

Painting the doors with oil paint! so sticky!

And this gate.

The children's home!

Wai (who introduced me to this) and I! I accidentally painted on her hair.. oops..

Yummy

2008-05-30T10:39:00.000+08:00

God is goood!

Quake aftermath

2008-05-28T23:27:00.000+08:00

蟾蜍群出、井水混浊、蟑螂涌现广东也将大地震？
● 杨永欣（广州特派员）

　　先是福建省，再是深圳，近日轮到广州：蟾蜍成群出现，井水混浊，大批蟑螂从下水道涌出来甚至集体死亡……很多华南地区的民众担心，这些现象都是地震的前兆。
巴西“预言家”：南宁和海南之间将发生9.1级强震
　　此外，中国网上最近也流传所谓巴西“预言家”朱瑟里诺的“惊天大预言”：“2008年9月13日中国将发生9.1级巨大地震，震源在南宁和海南之间，并引发30米高的海啸，造成数百万人死亡，并可能冲击到日本”。
　　种种真假难分的谣言、信息满天飞之际，记者观察到，在广州，无论是德士上或餐桌上，除了汶川大地震外，另一个热议话题就是大地震是否也会来到广东省。
　　不少当地媒体近日报道了“疑似地震前兆”的新闻，让广东民众心情越来越凝重。在这种氛围下，广东省地震局的两名副局长这两天先后站出来澄清，广东一带的地质活动正常，没有地震的征兆。
　　据本报向专家了解，虽然说地震来临前，可能会有动物、水井等出现异常反应，但这种反应也与动物的特性、季节、地质等因素有关，不一定就是地震前兆。
　　广东省地震局副局长吕金水在接受广东电视台访问时更说：“要做成预测的话，我们也得根据其他方面（的资料），例如地球物理场的改变、地震的小震活动等等，综合地判别才能作出预测。”
据了解，福建省的蟾蜍大量出现、井水变黄等现象，经证实后与春季繁殖期、四川地震后所引发的地质反应等有关，并不是地震前兆。
200观察站密切注意
广东地震活动正常
　　吕金水说，广东省地震局最近也接到很多类似现象的报告，但经调查后，也发现它们与地震无关，目前广东一带的地震活动正常。
　　广东省地震局另一名副局长梁干在接受广州《南方都市报》访问时明确表示，目前没有任何迹象显示广东会有地震，民众大可放心。
　　他进一步解释说，引起动物异常的情况很多，地震前兆一般会有多种异常现象集中出现，仅凭一两个现象就判断是地震前兆很不科学。
　　他也强调，地震前兆分为微观和宏观两个方面。其中微观异常包括有小地震活动、地壳形变、地球磁场电场发生异常等，这些均需要通过科学仪器来监测：“我们一直加强此方面的监测，目前为止没有一项指标出现异常。”
　　据了解，广东省地震局在广东全省境内安置了近200个观察站，密切注意地震活动情况。该局强调，民众无需过度惊慌，平时可以多了解防震、自救等知识。

抗震专家周福霖：
官方也不能太麻痹
另一方面，中国工程院院士、广州大学工程抗震中心主任周福霖认为，动物异常由多种原因造成，市民不用草木皆兵，但也不能麻痹大意。他认为是否是地震前兆要综合分析，市民的有相关信息应向地震部门反映，地震部门也不能太过麻痹，应积极应对，加强监测。
　　华南濒危动物研究所从事两栖爬行动物研究的龚诗平博士则认为，因为近来广州大雨不断，且十雨九酸，这造成蟾蜍大规模迁徙。此外，在下水道生活的蟑螂也可能因酸雨而从原栖息地逃跑出来，向更干燥的地方逃生。
　　至于朱瑟里诺的“惊天大预言”，海南省地震局之前也作出了正面回应，其研究员沈繁銮表示，“海南将发生9.1级大地震”的预言没有任何科学依据和观测事实。目前，海南和华南地区的地震活动水平和前兆异常情况均远低于1994年（发生了台湾海峡7.3级地震）之前的情况，中国大陆的地震活动也处于低水平，南宁与海南岛之间不可能会发生大地震和海啸。
　　目前中国共有四个地震带，包括天山地震带、南北地震带、华北地震带和东南沿海地震带(pray for these areas)。广东处于东南沿海地震带上，地震发生比较多的都是沿海一带，上个世纪初期，南澳岛就发生过一次7.3级的大地震。越往广东内陆去，地震活动就越少。目前来说，广东境内地震活动较多的，是河源和阳江一带，但这些地震强度都不大。
　　据了解，广东东部沿海多个市县的建筑物抗震设防标准要求较高，达地震烈度8度，珠江口是7度，而广州市的要求则是6至7度。

Exodus 8
The Plague of Frogs
"1 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and say to him, 'This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. 2 If you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs. 3 The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and on your people, and into your ovens and kneading troughs. 4 The frogs will go up on you and your people and all your officials.' "
5 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, 'Stretch out your hand with your staff over the streams and canals and ponds, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.' "
6 So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land. 7 But the magicians did the same things by their secret arts; they also made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.
8 Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Pray to the LORD to take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to the LORD."
9 Moses said to Pharaoh, "I leave to you the honor of setting the time for me to pray for you and your officials and your people that you and your houses may be rid of the frogs, except for those that remain in the Nile."
10 "Tomorrow," Pharaoh said. Moses replied, "It will be as you say, so that you may know there is no one like the LORD our God. 11 The frogs will leave you and your houses, your officials and your people; they will remain only in the Nile."
12 After Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh, Moses cried out to the LORD about the frogs he had brought on Pharaoh. 13 And the LORD did what Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the courtyards and in the fields. 14 They were piled into heaps, and the land reeked of them."

Exodus 10
The Plague of Locusts
"13 So Moses stretched out his staff over Egypt, and the LORD made an east wind blow across the land all that day and all that night. By morning the wind had brought the locusts; 14 they invaded all Egypt and settled down in every area of the country in great numbers. Never before had there been such a plague of locusts, nor will there ever be again. 15 They covered all the ground until it was black. They devoured all that was left after the hail—everything growing in the fields and the fruit on the trees. Nothing green remained on tree or plant in all the land of Egypt.
16 Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you. 17 Now forgive my sin once more and pray to the LORD your God to take this deadly plague away from me."
18 Moses then left Pharaoh and prayed to the LORD. 19 And the LORD changed the wind to a very strong west wind, which caught up the locusts and carried them into the Red Sea. Not a locust was left anywhere in Egypt."

Article from: http://www.zaobao.com/zg/zg080528_504_2.shtml and the Bible.

Picture from: 美联社 ; 联合早报网; 编辑：王婉瑗

we're old

2008-05-28T01:24:00.000+08:00

cause we're 5sc3

time flies!

Prayers needed

2008-05-23T14:34:00.000+08:00

More than 80,000 people were left dead or missing by the magnitude-8.0 earthquake that struck Sichuan province on May 12, with more than 5.47 million others left homeless. -- AFP

Let's keep the Sichuan victims and their families in our prayers everyday.

Sichuan quake

2008-05-14T10:45:00.000+08:00

I'm supposed to be in Sichuan and Yunnan right now, but by the grace of God, there were change of plans, and i'm home safe and sound.

Death toll from China quake soars past 13,000
* Tens of thousands unaccounted for
* First deaths confirmed in epicentre Wenchuan
* More than 18,000 buried in city of Mianyang, Sichuan
* Confirmed deaths in Mianzhu, Sichuan, rise to 3,000

DUJIANGYAN (China) - THE death toll in China's earthquake climbed past 13,000 on Tuesday and looked likely to rise much higher after media said some 19,000 people were buried in rubble in just one area.

Rain and severed roads hampered rescuers in the mountainous area near the epicentre of Monday's 7.9-magnitude quake in the southwestern province of Sichuan, China's worst earthquake in over three decades.
State media reported devastation as troops reached stricken villages near the epicentre in Wenchuan, a remote county cut off by landslides about 100km northwest of the provincial capital, Chengdu.

Officials announced late on Tuesday that 500 Wenchuan residents were confirmed dead, the Xinhua news agency reported.

But the toll there and elsewhere is likely to soar.

Search continues

Thirty People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops arrived at Wenchuan's Yingxiu township and rescued 300 residents, Xinhua said. But only 2,000 were found alive in the town of 12,000, according to a local official.

'They could hear people under the debris calling for help but no one could, because there were no professional rescue teams,' state television quoted the official He Biao as saying.

About 60,000 people were unaccounted for across Wenchuan.
'What we most need is medicine. There is no medicine, there are no doctors and after such a long time, no food,' He said.

Attempts to find survivors have become a race against time and bad weather. Premier Wen Jiabao, who has thrown himself into the task of running these efforts, told officials not to slacken.

'The disaster situation is worse than expected, and the rescue sites are quite complex,' Mr Wen said, according to Xinhua.

He ordered 3,000 medical staff to travel to Sichuan.

Toll likely to rise

But official reports have presented a grim litany of rising death, suggesting that crumpled homes, schools and factories will yield many more bodies than survivors.

In Mianzhu, Sichuan, rescuers said the death toll had risen to 3,000. About 500 people were pulled out alive from crushed buildings. An earlier report said 10,000 people there had been buried under rubble.

A further 18,645 people were buried under debris in Mianyang, a city that also covers much farmland, Xinhua said.

In hard-hit Beichuan County in Mianyang, at least 1,000 students and teachers were buried under a seven-storey school building, and rows of apartment buildings in the town collapsed.

Locals told Xinhua that up to 8,000 residents may have died.

'People escaped from the buildings but were only devoured by the landslides,' one survivor, Lei Xiaoying, told Xinhua. 'There was no way to escape.' Over 320 deaths from the quake have so far been confirmed in provinces apart from Sichuan.

---

The following is a detailed list of casualties reported from different regions of China, based on the latest government statistics.

1. SICHUAN PROVINCE - The death toll has reached 12,012. Another 26,206 people were injured and 9,404 buried in debris. Some 7,841 people are missing.
Wenchuan County: At least 500 people confirmed dead at the quake epicentre.
Mianyang City: 7,395 dead. (Up to 5,000 dead and 80 per cent of buildings collapsed in Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County)
Mianzhu City: 3,000 killed and more than 10,000 injured.
Chengdu City: 959 dead.
Qingchuan County: At least 1,000 killed, 5,000 injured and 300 buried in the rubble; 80 per cent of buildings collapsed. At the Muyu Township Middle School, 94 students killed, 120 injured and 191 missing.

2. GANSU PROVINCE - 206 killed, 2,179 injured and 21,100 evacuated.
Longnan City: 173 killed and 2,027 injured.

3. SHAANXI PROVINCE - 103 killed, 893 injured and 9 million evacuated.

4. CHONGQING MUNICIPALITY - 11 killed, including five pupils, and more than 2.13 million people affected.

5. YUNNAN PROVINCE - One confirmed dead.

6. HENAN PROVINCE - One confirmed dead.

7. HUBEI PROVINCE - One confirmed dead.

Information taken from http://www.straitstimes.com

Amazing friends

2008-04-29T17:48:00.000+08:00

It's almost the end of my exchange already... less than two weeks before i'm back in good ol' singapore. I think what makes my exchange in hk so amazing is the friends I've made - whom I feel, is the essence of my stay here. When i first applied for SEP, I didn't feel that it would be reality. But it really did come true. And I'm happy to say that I enjoyed every moment of hk. At first, I was scared and doubtful because I applied to hk alone, afraid I wouldn't be able to adapt to life alone, etc.. But God is so amazing. He blessed me with a great room mate, Emily, whom I've been able to share most of my life with, whom I've managed to learn so much from. Managed to make many many friends in hall: Yusa who's really funny and serious at the same time, Ceci who pokes my pat pat and offers me siew mai and ice cream all the time, Mancy who brought me out to sham shui po to shop for earring accessories, Rachel who often come in and offer us cookies to eat, Tracy who's really steady and helpful, Rabbit who lives opposite me and chats with me about fish and Singapore politics, Natalie who borrows my thumbdrive haha, Laura whom I've had many fun times with, her roomie who cooks really well, Fiona (HK) who always smile at me, Rice a nice girl, Bean the chem major who taught me how to do assignments, Jimmy who invited us to his home for dinner, and whom I helped sell milk tea at the carnival, William who offered me the sugared strawberry then, Kenson who takes soci class with emily and I a seriously funny boy, Ko ka yin Roy's room mate who's really funny and whom I believe makes a really good and trusting friend and who takes great pictures, Gin zhe the matron who's very personal, King zhe who's really sweet, the aunty who complains every morning who's very hardworking, Kwong shok and hong shok the two nice uncles, and the uncle who stays on our floor who cooks dessert for us every day during the study week, Lion who's very caring and friendly and often dates me for cycling, her room mate who bought the salted fish for me, Mimosa whom i first met when she came to borrow rock sugar, and all of my friends here are just from Grace tien alone! Really thankful because living in Grace tien feels so much like home. Everytime I cook, I'd have people to talk to.. even when I'm in my room studying, my friends would just budge in, chit chat and play around. Even in the wee hours of the morning.. I'd get to play around with them. It's really a whole new experience, something that I know I'd never get to experience when I'm back home in Singapore. Really thankful also to have made many good friends, both international and Singaporeans.. especially my good friend Roy whom I've learnt so much from - whom i think is the most significant person that has helped me grow - both in my thoughts and of course physically horizontal (because we always eat alot together) :) and whom I've spent most of my exchange life with, besides Emily! Really thank God for sending so many lovely people into my life.

It's a skinny world... woo hooo...

2008-04-27T17:33:00.000+08:00

this is what u get when you study too much chemistry

and the picture of the year goes to...

2008-04-27T00:49:00.000+08:00

me and my baby

New Asia's amazing view

2008-04-26T23:30:00.000+08:00

* click for larger view :)

Fun in 志文

2008-04-25T19:56:00.000+08:00

Sharing my study burdens with my trusty blog

2008-04-24T23:48:00.000+08:00

WHAT?! Molecule Optomechanical Machine: Force Measured by AFM Cantilever? S-Au bond to the AFM tip? Amide bond to the amino functionalized glass? Exposing an azobenzene polymer attached to a cantilever to 420nm light puts the polymer in tis lengthened trans state. Exposure to 365nm light causes the backbone to contract, pulling on the cantilever. Length difference = 2.8nm. HUH?! WHAT?!

ARGHHHH! *pull my hair*

Spur me on Langmuir!

Tyranny! Tycoon! Typhoon!

2008-04-19T00:19:00.000+08:00

* Hong Kong

Tropical Cyclone Bulletin
Here is the latest Tropical Cyclone Bulletin issued by the Hong Kong Observatory.
The Strong Wind Signal, No. 3 is in force.
This means that winds with mean speeds of 41 to 62 kilometres per hour are expected.
At midnight, Typhoon Neoguri was estimated to be about 420 kilometres southwest of Hong Kong (near 19.5 degrees north 111.4 degrees east) and is forecast to move north at about 14 kilometres per hour crossing the seas east of Hainan Island towards western Guandong.

Information taken from: http://www.hko.gov.hk/contente.htm

*The wind was super powerful when I went out just now.. no kidding!

This marks the end

2008-04-18T10:12:00.000+08:00

of my lectures in CUHK

... till the exams.

Something to boast about

2008-04-18T01:00:00.000+08:00

20大最多好評餐廳 on http://www.openrice.com !!!

1 澳門翠苑茶餐廳(旺角)
2 澳洲牛奶公司(佐敦)
3 維記咖啡粉麵(深水步)
4 肥媽小食店(旺角)
5 時新快餐店(紅磡)
6 金寶小食店 (越南...(旺角)

I've tried it all.

深水步

2008-04-15T23:41:00.000+08:00

Food adventure for the day:

維記咖啡粉麵

I ordered 蛋牛面.. Doesn't look nice right, but taste wonderful! Hot soup with maggie noodles, lots of beef fillets and a sunny side up with goey egg yolk. HK$21.

Kayan toast!!! Is it Kaya? who knows. Not very oily, freshly made. Only HK$7!

三姐松記糖水 - wrong one!

I made a poo poo and brought us to the wrong 松記糖水! haaa.

松記糖水

(The real one)

Famous dessert called "hello" or 哈囖. Coconut milk, mango syrup, coconut jelly, ching chao jelly, nuts (chick peas, long bean, etc), Q-Q balls, sago balls.. NICCEE!!!

Presenting the royal food tasters:

Roy Chia

Robyn Hay

My lunch today - It's arrowfish fillet seasoned with onions, brocolli and tomato and special japanese powder, wrapped in Al foil and boiled in water. Delicato!

Sweet pleasures

2008-04-14T12:33:00.000+08:00

Life's most beautiful pleasures are in enjoying its simplest moments -
you don't have to pay a hefty sum to enjoy good food
friendship is like honey which binds people together and
makes these moments so much sweeter
Growing up seems a heavy load to carry
but the joys of it outweighs it all
Trips I'd never ever thought would be fun-
to a computer centre
or a wet market
or even school
seems like life's most wonderful pleasures
because of this-
I'm treasuring every moment that God gives me.

No longer a virgin backpacker

2008-04-11T22:47:00.000+08:00

After leaving school for Shen zhen (which is only about 20 minutes away), we bought tickets for Guang Zhou. Took the very crowded metro to Guang Zhou dong where there is a railway station to go to various provinces in China. Arrived there on a rainy night and was timely disappointed by the lady in the speakers who kept repeating that the day's tickets were all sold out. We finally managed to get tickets for the next day, after some testing of patience.

At Guang Zhou bar street for dinner.

Just before we boarded the train to Sanya the next day!

Waiting for the train in the railway station.

In the triple deckered, 6 bedded cabin.

Sunrise.. signified our almost arrival in Sanya! hurray!

Sanya Railway station. I can never forget what tatt mentioned:

he said the reason why the floor was so reflective was because there were too many spits on the ground :\

In Blue Sky International Youth Hostel!

One of the dishes in our first meal in Sanya. It's beancurd with fatty pork, and lots of chilli - yum!

At 南山 - not bad but not as interesting as expected, it's a 4 star tourist attraction, you see.

Enjoyed this place the most - 天涯海角. Beautiful scenary and sea breeze.

Kodak moments!

Closed bridge to nowhere.

Beautiful sunset!

Taking the exciting and thrilling toot-toot to seafood place.

Yay to our hostel!

Found a great restaurant selling 饺子- only like RMB$10-13 for 20 of them! YUMMY!!!

Another place I enjoyed - sun, sea and sand - 亚龙 bay!

Yay to Hainan - Sanya!

Thank you Lord for making this trip so enjoyable!!!

禱告良辰歌

2008-04-10T00:46:00.000+08:00

歌曲 : 禱告良辰歌
作詞 : 聖徒詩歌552首
作曲 : William Batchelder Bradbur
演唱 : 陶喆

禱告之時甘甜之時
使我離開煩惱之事
來到神的座前發表
所有意願所有需要
當我遇到重壓憂愁
我靈卻常得著自由
不陷惡者所有佈置
因為有你禱告之時

禱告之時甘甜之時
如有只翼載我願辭
來祂寶座向祂求懇
祂是信實祂是全真
祂既命我尋求祂面
信祂話語靠祂恩典
我要將我重擔卸釋
在於你前甘甜之時

望著天

2008-04-09T00:36:00.000+08:00

手牽手　
一步兩步三步四步　望著天

看星星　
一顆兩顆三顆四顆　連成線

背著背默默許下心愿　
看遠方的星
如果聽的見　

它一定實現

桂林山水甲天下, 阳朔风光美如画

2008-04-01T14:37:00.000+08:00

Our plane was delayed for 3 hours due to heavy rain and lightning in Guilin. After arriving in Guilin airport, we managed to reach our hotel at 2am or so.

The next day, we took a 4hour boat ride along 漓江. The boat ride was pretty enjoyable I felt. Even though the basement was stuffy and had many old people who spent most of their time spitting 瓜子 seeds and chatting loudly, and the fact that we had nothing much to do except to sit and wait for lunch.. I felt that the time spent on the deck was amazing! The scenary was breathtaking and the air was clean and fresh. Phototaking was never so enjoyable. We signed up for a professional to take photographs of us, and we had a fun and relaxing time posing. haaa. Money well spent.

On arrival at 阳朔 (yangshuo), we were met with these ugly birds who were amazingly obedient - they're fish catchers of the 漓江, I'm told. At the entrance of yangshuo, we were greeted with small stalls selling handicrafts and 土产 (stuff made by people in yangshuo).. Vibrant and alive. Then we took the main means of transport - a sentosa like vehicle that took us to our hotel.

Our hotel 桂福大酒店, was very convenient. Just 5 minutes stroll to the famous 西街, where many 老外 hang out. There we met up with 4 other CUHK peeps who were there on 自由行 - free & easy. So surprised and happy! Amazing how we can actually meet them without prior contact - in this part of guilin, in this part of yang shuo, at that particular time an place. cool eh!

Then we took one of the most exciting bicycle rides I ever had in my life. Even though it was a doublet, we had to maneuver way through the busy streets of yangshuo, together with the locals and the reckless vehicles, and it was quite strenuous but fun at the same time! wooo.

The next day, we visited two caves - 岩... which had all these amazing rocks that people imagine they look like something or another. 银子岩 is a more preferred choiced compared to 丰鱼岩 according to my friends, but prefer the latter. Even though the 2 hour tour was cut short to just 1 hour, because of high tide in the cave, and we couldn't take the internal boat ride, I felt more comfortable there compared to the silver cave. The air was fresher and it felt less claustrophobic.

That's us - outside the cave! :D

The river rafting experience was the highlight of the trip. We sat on these rafts, called 竹棑 or 鸟棑 ... And someone would row it along 遇龙河 for us. Tranquil and utterly beautiful!

The massiveness of the mountains in guilin amaze me. God is great eh? Whenever I look up and see the greatness of the rocks, it constantly reminds me of the vastness of God's love for us all. If God can create such beautiful and amazing rocks, what more can He do?! Everything!

Haa.. Then we visited 世外桃园 - supposedly a beautiful place beyound our imagination. I felt that it was not bad, but was too commodified. Not as beautiful as I expected it to be. However, I did enjoy the boat ride, especially the scary "wild people" who kept wooing at us; the handicrafts, and the display of skills - from sewing in the old-fashioned way, making paper from fibre, to printing using those huge chops. I also did enjoy the peaceful and relaxed atmosphere it had.. and really had a great time with my friends there.

Us with the tribal people.

Another highlight of the trip - 印象刘三姐! Directed by Zhang Yimou, with 12 REAL mountains as the backdrop, and 600 actors and actresses! WOW! What a blast!

Those small lights at the bottom of the picture are people! :) Amazing! Enjoyed it to the tiniest bit! And not forgetting the amazing backdrop.. just jaw dropping! And the myriads of stars in the sky! No wonder this show enjoys a 3000 audience every time; and there's 2 shows every night!

主对我们真好!

2008-03-29T10:30:00.000+08:00

去了桂林后,我更认为主对我们真好!

在我们抵达深圳飞机场的时候, 发现飞机不能起飞. 原因是桂林有雷雨! 我那时,真的很担心 - 担心不能开开心心的游玩桂林..那时,我下定决心,努力的祈祷,希望主啊.. 能帮助我们, 让飞机起飞! :) 不久, 他们宣布飞机能起飞了! 我好高兴啊! 真的.. 主对我们真好!

担忧不停在这儿哦... 到了桂林我担心旅游活动可能不能那么顺利. 可是奇妙的是, 在桂林与阳朔, 总共四天都没有一滴雨!!! 你说奇妙不奇妙! :) 我们都玩得太高兴了! 谢谢主!

照片我等一下才放! :p

追 ~ 張國榮 (電影 "金枝玉葉" 插曲)

2008-03-25T22:02:00.000+08:00

作詞:林夕作曲:李迪文編曲:George Leong

這一生　也在進取這分鐘　卻掛念誰
我會說　是唯獨你不可失去

好風光　似幻似虛　說明人生樂趣
我會說　為情為愛　仍然是對

誰比你重要　成功了敗了也完全無重要
誰比你重要　狂風與暴雨都因你燃燒

一追再追　只想追趕生命裡一分一秒　原來多麼可笑　你是真正目標
一追再追　追蹤一些生活最基本需要　原來早不缺少　oh...
有了你　即使平凡卻最重要

好光陰　縱沒太多一分鐘　那又如何
會與你　共同渡過　都不枉過

瘋戀多　錯誤更多　如能從新做過
我會說　願能為你　提前做錯

誰比你重要　成功了敗了也完全無重要
誰比你重要　狂風與暴雨都因你燃燒

一追再追　只想追趕生命裡一分一秒　原來多麼可笑　你是真正目標
一追再追　追蹤一些生活最基本需要　原來早不缺少　Oh...
有了你　即使平凡卻最重要

一追再追　只想追趕生命裡一分一秒　原來多麼可笑　你是真正目標
一追再追　追蹤一些生活最基本需要　原來早不缺少　Oh... 只得你
會叫我彷彿人群裡最重要
有了你　即使沈睡了　也在笑

Just got back from 桂林 and 阳朔 this afternoon...

Thank God for good weather, an amazingly fun and interesting tour and great friends! Blog later :)

遇到 (汪東城、唐禹哲) 恶作剧之吻的插曲

2008-03-25T05:26:00.001+08:00

《惡作劇之吻》方雅賢 - 遇到

2008-03-25T05:24:00.001+08:00

i love her voice :)

《惡作劇之吻》方雅賢 - 遇到

2008-03-25T05:23:00.001+08:00

i love her voice :)

恶作剧之吻

2008-03-19T01:53:00.001+08:00

专属天使 by TANK 花样少年少女

2008-03-18T01:43:00.001+08:00

傻傻的勇氣

2008-03-18T01:42:00.001+08:00

Another song from 花样少年少女!

Rainie Yang - 暧昧

2008-03-18T01:05:00.001+08:00

杨丞琳 - 暧昧 (from 恶魔在身旁)

2008-03-18T00:47:00.000+08:00

暧昧让人受尽委屈
找不到相爱的证据
何时该前进何时该放弃
连拥抱都没有勇气

暧昧让人变得贪心
直到等待失去意义
无奈我和你写不出结局
放遗憾的美丽

只能陪你到这里
毕竟有些事不可以
超过了友情还不到爱情
远方就要下雨的风景

到底该不该哭泣
想太多是我还想你
我很不服气
也开始怀疑
眼前的人是不是同
一个真实的你

Theme song from devil beside you - ultra romantics.. go watch the show!

Weekend adventures

2008-03-14T01:19:00.000+08:00

Went to Guang Zhou over the weekend with mom and uncle! Visited my grand uncle and family, ate 五宝 wanton noodles, rushed to get stuff from the wholesale centres, and hurried back to Hong Kong. The bus ride (直通车) from the airport to GZ was terrible - had to get off the bus twice and fight with people to queue up at the customs. But the train ride to HK was good - no need to get off and it only took 1 hour 40 minutes compared to the 4 hours we took by bus!

Mom and I stayed at Shatin (just 2 stops away from 大学), such a convenient place - although far from city, it has a bus interchange with buses straight to the airport (just 1/2 hour and HK$20, compared to the 45mins and HK$300 by taxi!), and its hotels has much larger room sizes compared to the Mong Kok ones (maybe 5 times bigger!). Thank God my mother could come to visit me - really miss her alot! On the first day I went to the airport to meet her and my uncle and we went straight to guangzhou by bus. The next day (sunday), we came back by train and arrived at our hotel late at night. On Monday, we took the airbus to the airport to send my uncle off and then took the airport express to kowloon's element for shopping! Then I took her to Causeway bay where we went to fashion walk and some other small shopping centres and supermarkets! Went to Sogo (i think my mom enjoyed that the most), where we got some Japanese food stuff for home and for me to bring back to dorm. The next day, we met up with Roy to eat at 澳洲牛奶公司. After eating, we went to my school, and my mom cleaned up my room for me (:p).. haaha - so blessed! We met some of my dorm mates too! Then we headed to 九龙堂 and then to 旺角 for 一寿司 (people start queuing at 8.30pm for the 10pm half price offer!), where we had creative sushi for dinner! We then headed to shatin's new town plaza III, where I brought mom to see a Christian book shop, 突破, selling Chinese books and Cantonese Christian music. And then to City'super supermarket, left just before it closed. The next day, we took the airbus to the airport again, ate some dimsum and then said our "seeyouagain"s. Going to miss my family dearly...

Mom in CUHK

Anyway, I'm going to Shantou to teach little kids tomorrow (Friday)! Will come back on Sunday! Got to endure 6 hours of bus ride! aaaaaaah! Pray and hope that I'll be a blessing to everyone around me, and that God will use me to do mighty works for Him. So thankful for God in my life - i think this exchange has really taught me to depend on Him - not only for big things (like missing my test :p and the influenza outbreak) but also for small things (like making new friends and cooking a nice meal). Everyday seems to be a new testimony of His love for me. Thank you Lord!

I just had a

2008-03-08T03:38:00.000+08:00

Massive culture clash
...

or was it personal?

Anyway, to anyone who's feeling down... here's something to BRIGHTEN up your day!! --- a view no words can describe - thank you Lord for painting something so beautiful for us to see!

btw, it's the view from my window! I see it almost every morning when i get up :)

Being a 珍珠牛奶茶 seller for the night @ our college 春街 (i think) ...

"来啊! ... 一杯$6!!!"

Stalls at the 春街

珍珠奶茶

章鱼小丸子 - takopachi :)

冰糖葫芦

and guess what?! I missed my chemistry mid term exam! I thought it was to be held on friday because it said so on the lecture notes.. but to my utmost horror, during my bubble tea stint, my classmate said he just took the test (that was thursday)!!! arGH! i was so afraid, i ran back to my room (after selling the tea) and cried and of course, emailed my professor immediately. Was praying so hard for God to work a miracle for me. and He did! The next morning, during lecture, the professor's secretary called to say i can take the test! Thank God!! :D all praise and honor and glory to God in the highest! thank You!

Feeling so very

2008-03-03T23:57:00.000+08:00

Blessed.

because I have a wonderful room mate and floor mates! :) I really enjoy sharing our personal walks with God! :D

because of the people he brought into my life! (these pictures do not represent everyone; just recent shots)

Dinner at grace tien :)

Dinner @ Jimmy's house

and thankful because i have wonderful supportive family and friends.

because I have YOU!

CHM5642

2008-02-27T17:14:00.001+08:00

I have a test on SUPRAMOLECULAR CHEMISTRY in an hour's time!!!!

just the start

2008-02-26T18:51:00.000+08:00

of a new semester. Although it's been 1 and a half months already. Been busy getting my hands full with wavenumbers and macrocycles, i hardly have time to get up and walk around! I know.. "i'm on exchange" right?! Exchange students don't study, remember? but i won't be able to pass if i don't study, and if i don't pass, this exchange will go down the drain! Last weekend was spent partially on lessons ( 7 hours!!!) at HKUST, seafood at Sai Kung, Church and mugging again. When I look back at what I want to gain from this journey, I think one of my utmost significant objective is to really in Clare's words "discover myself" and "who the Lord is fashioning me to be". Comforting to know that as I continue to discover who I am (the girl who's going to be an adult this year!!! boooo :( ), that He who began a good work in me, will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus our Lord (Phil 1:6)! There are times when I feel an emotional wreck, and there are other times when I feel plain, and still others when I feel satisfied. I guess the most important thing I wish of myself is to stand strong in Christ, with unwavering faith (no compromisation!), and a heart wholly devoted to Him. That explains why i feel what i feel at times when for the sake of convenience and company, i forsake His love for me. so sorry Lord! I need to stay focused on Him :) Always and forever.

Significant moments of the past week:

Dinner at Grace Tien! (we cooked)

Seafood at Sai Kung! CU and UST.

New Asia (my college) graduation photo day!

Gospel rally - Amazing love with Emily (roomie!) and Yusa!

Munch munch

2008-02-20T00:16:00.000+08:00

Lunch 1

Lunch 2

Grace Tien cook-out (cooking competition)!

Level 3

Level 1

Level 5 (my level)

Unloading

2008-02-19T23:50:00.000+08:00

Warrr!

Rations

Protective gear

Ammunition

I'm loving the Hong Kong weather - free air con wherever you go! I was freezing my buttocks off in January - 7 layers for 7 degrees! don't laugh :D It's 18 degrees now! and no.. I don't have 18 layers on. haha. Thank God for the safe ride back, although I had to abandon my extra 10kg of overweight luggage with mom :(

God has been good to me.

robyn's back!

2008-02-18T01:28:00.000+08:00

hk sweet hk~

新年快乐! 主赐平安!!

2008-02-09T11:58:00.000+08:00

Click picture for larger view

My weekend

2008-01-27T21:36:00.000+08:00

On Sunday, we had lunch at a mega toilet place. Very interesting..
Can you see the lighted urinals and the pangsai lamps?

The eating area. I think they should allow us to wear their bathrobes!

Pearl and her toilet bowl full of ... food.

Angus and his flourishing "business".

Sue and I with our delectable hotpot of assorted food.

The gang
Observe the toilet bowls we're sitting on! and the bathtubs and washbasins as our tables!!

On saturday night, I met a Singaporean during one of my chemistry classes (Pharmaceutical Chem). Realised that it was a post grad class!!! Anyway, he's a masters student who was from acs(b) and acjc! cool eh. He's quite a food addic. So brought us to eat dai pai dong at Java Road in North Point.

Wanton with creamy cheese inside!

Wai Zin, an NUS girl I met on exchange in HKUST. She's a math's major my year!

That's the masters guy - cheong sin and jiahuan!

Haha. Random. But on sunday morning, we had yumcha at 9am in the morning! at Hk's famous Maxim's palace. wooohooo. (yumcha before church. can you beat that!)
I realised that HK allows freedom of speech. This is a Filippino pastor preaching on the streets at central. Along the way, I also met an angmoh man holding a healing session. To my surprise, many people were there to recieve healing! On the streets!

That's roy and jang with a table-full of dim sum!

小笼包

forgot the name!

糖虾

炸wanton

Yupp. After yumcha, Sue and I left for Church service at ICA.
One of the church member's father/husband passed away recently. Don't know them. But felt their sorrow. Maybe because it reminded me of what happened to my Dad. Thank God for His faithfulness and love.

This will be my 4th week in Hong Kong. Then can I safely say that I have spent a month in HK! cool eh! ~
Coming back in a week's time! Can't wait. Miss home miss family miss church.

And Guess what. it's 7 - 9 °C in Hong Kong now! Freezing! brrrrrrr!!!!

My dorm

2008-01-26T00:15:00.001+08:00

Tried walking from my hall to the train station the other day. Guess what? I climbed down so many stairs, it made me dizzy! haaah. This is alumni park, which leads from nearby the Science centre to the college chapel! Nice park. Wouldn't want to go there alone at night though.

These amazing flowers by the road near the Science Centre. It becomes redder every day! Blessedly, I got them on picture, pink! :) I think they're roses. But they're way too huge!

Silly, but I went running with Jia huan on a cold night one day. Nice eh? The track! We have 2 tracks in CU. This one is at Chung Chi college, near the train station.

I'm sure Dorcas would like running here. There's HK std chart here btw! so cold! can't imagine anyone running... brrr.

My first time at the laundry downstairs. That's ceci from my floor! She's really cute! :) It only cost $1+ to wash clothes for 40 minutes. There's even a dryer!

And that's the kitchen on my floor.
I'm attempted to cook everyday this week! And I did! except for 2 meals :P

That's my adorable dad on skype. I have no idea what he's doing! I told him to smile :)

And my mom and dad during one family msn video session!
Praise God it worked!

And this is the stairs i have to climb up everyday to the bus stop or to the science centre or to anywhere else.
Today's cold, rainy and really foggy!

My floor and the decorative umbrellas ellas ellas.. :)
That's my room on the left hand side, with the red CNY sticker on the door!

Foggy Day - not good for going out!

Alrighty, have a 10-5.30pm class tmr :( booohooo. I hope i survive.

Morning view

2008-01-21T17:36:00.001+08:00

"Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters."
Genesis 1:2

Sunday Morning!

2008-01-17T13:36:00.001+08:00

By God's grace, Sue and I managed to find our way, 45minutes on the MTR later, to North Point, and to ICA (international Christian Assembly). Andrew (guano's cousin) introduced me to it! And it was good! God really blessed sue and i.. the opening song was sung by a Korean homegroup (look above); and guess what!? the visiting pastor was... none other than...

Pastor Benny Ho! hohoho! He preached on Ezekiel - will the dry bones live? Indeed they will - with the spirit of God! The only way to defeat lifelessness is through the Spirit of God.

That's the book i'm using for Theology Class (introducing the Hebrew Scriptures). Ordered on amazon.. but it has yet to arrive! argh. The class is so-so i feel.. not taught from a Christian point of view, but from a neutral one. However, the class is full of divinity school students (old aunties and uncles). haaa.

After church, Sue and I met up with Roy to go to Ngong Ping for some sight seeing. The rest went to shen zhen.
Ate at food republic - sue had laksa with a '5cm' thick layer of oil, I had Hokkien prawn mee fried HK style :p, and roy had chicken rice - the safest bet.

Later, we trekked up the 2nd highest mountain in HK...

Just Kidding.

Mango pancake from the dessert stall at ngong ping. By the time we got there, the durian ones were sold out. aiya!

Just for fun!

On our way up, we bought some "ping tang hu lu" - i think these are special ones. It's frozen strawberry, coated with malted sugar and rice paper. Delicious!

As far as the heavens are above the earth, so is God's love for u.
Our Lord God almighty, is Lord over all!

I liked how the flags were swaying with the wind. Couldn't capture it nicely on photograph though. It was beautiful!

ahhh. ahh. ahh.. halfway up there! *pant*
There's so many stairs in HK! especially in CUHK. Everywhere i go, i have to climb stairs! I can see some leaner thighs on the way.. yumyum.

Poinsettas in the temple.

hey, I know i'm handsome, but who said u could take pictures of me.. ruff!

roy from smu. haaaa. i think he's pretending to be cold.

On the cable car ride down ngong ping.. the wind thru the slits on the seats were freezing our butts!

2008-01-15T17:50:00.000+08:00

Lord, you're my help in times of trouble. My Grace in times of need. My Hope in times of sadness. My Love when I am lost and sad. Lord, I need your wisdom, your power and your confidence. I want to love your children - every single one of them. Help me Lord! My strength, my redeemer, my friend.

My week in Hong Kong

2008-01-08T18:37:00.001+08:00

It's rather cold at night.. Here's us (roomie Emily and I) at the bus stop outside our dorm. Brrr...

And that's Jia Huan and I and Emily :) We were waiting for Jia Huan's bus back to her dorm.

At my college canteen, we met some other grace tieners. That's Ceci on the right.. she's so adorable! and Ayumi a jap student studing anthropology full time at CU. and there's a teacher who also stays at our hall occasionally.
I ate po lo gu lou gai fan! - sweet and sour chicken rice!!! yum ~

Creative publicity by some council. This is a rice cooker if you can't tell.

This one can light up when you press the button!
Speaking of publicity, in CU, there's always some groups of shouting students doing cheers all around the campus. I don't really understand what they're saying.. i try to make some sense out of it. Sometimes I only hear them shouting "UCBA" in different forms. And today, during chemistry lecture, whilst the lecturer was putting on this mini microphone, we heard a thumping like that of a heart beat. And the lecturer was like "is that my heart?". haah. naturally, it wasn't. It was the shouting students thumping just above our lecture theatre. And in the middle of class, they were all crowding outside our theatre The lecturer had to let them in and they made one big hoo-haa out of their publicity. Quite chaotic. I didn't make any sense out of it. haaaha.

My pretty roomie all dressed up for her friend's graduation phototaking session. He travelled all the way to CU to take photos with her although it's his graduation. so sweet!

Everytime I have chemistry class, I have to go down a building called "mong man wai", take the lift from the 7th to 1st floor and make my way to the science centre. It's about 15 mins away. On my first class, I didn't realise there was a lift, so i took the stairs down. And this is the view! I think the flight of stairs was never-ending.

Jia Huan and I on our way to OAL (Overseas Admissions something. hmmm. maybe i'm wrong)..

At the heart of CU. Beside the science centre and the university library! As you can tell, I'm cooolld.

Can you make out what that structure is? It's kungfu! haaa. can you see two people kicking?

On Friday night (i think), Jia Huan and I met up with her neighbour's good friend, who's hubby is an actor in "jing zhen tou" - the bad guy. The aunty's real nice. Treated us to yummy piping hot noodles and soup and a walk around avenue of stars.

Another view of some building at CU. As you can see, CU is so mountainous! Going to classes is like treking the mountains. Daily!

That's the harbour just next to CU. The view from my window overlooks the ocean. That's why its so cold at night.

A group of asians i met on exchange. That's us after I bought some lan cable for my internet from "pi'chiu building". From left: Me and my buttoks, aya (jap! who drinks alot), Juki (Indonesian who studies in SIM in singapore!), Sue (korean who went to church with me on Sunday, she's a Bible study teacher btw!), i forgot his name (another korean. He's quite nice! i just can't recall his name), Jia Huan (my Singaporean buddy whom i met on the plane! we went running last night, and she ran 10 rounds non stop! whoa! i think i ran 2, rested, ran 2, sat, walked 1...haaa.), Hyojin (korean, who lives on my block!)

The view from my window

2nd from left and 1st from right - HC and lili from Singapore - NTU.

Middle: ABC (she studies in pennstate!)

Far left - roy from smu! and 2nd from right, ting ting from NUS computing.

Far left: Kevin from ntu, he really doesn't drink.

Seth Hays (notice his surname) from Hawaii university- could be my long lost brother. Just kidding. He's a postgrad who speaks mandarin, cantonese, japanese and korean and of course english. That's us after a night out at lan kwai fung (famous place where people, especially angmohs, go to drink in the wee hours of the morning).

2nd from right: Konstantin from Germany. He's a post grad in computer science. Getting married soon! That's us on our walk back to our hostel.

3rd from right: fiona - NTU chemistry 3rd year student! yay. she's taking 2 chem modules with me. So cool! At least i won't be lonely. That's us on the KCR to kowloon tong. on the way to lan kwai fung.

Aya who drinks alot. and who splashes (her version of weeweeing on the streets).

We ate at a temple on the city tour on Saturday. That's vegetarian food. The angmohs had a hard time using the communal chopsticks. I had a hard time too.. Have to use these red chopsticks to transfer food to our spoons, put down the communal chopsticks, pick up your spoon with food in it, and eat. arghh. no wonder we didn't finish the food. It was quite fun though, had an interesting time explaining Chinese customs to the angmoh boy beside me.

Far right: That's alaykia (sp?) from US :)

Our table. Steve is the 6 footer angmoh boy next to me. He insists that the way he holds his chopsticks are correct. nooot.

At the avenue of stars!

That's Miss HK, whom my roomie informed me that people think she looks like william hung. -_^

Kung fu fighting!

All God's creation.
May His light shine upon us!

Me at the peak! cooold! brrrr.... Fear not. i wear long johns, white long sleeved turtle neck and jacket. Equipped with hot packet that turns hot when shooked.

Ice cream man on the freezing cold peak.

Hot dinner with fish skin (chinese chips) at a road side stall.

Famous Mango dessert / drinks!

That's sugar shower for krispy kreme doughnuts.

On Saturday, I made arrangements to meet with my SHIYEP (the HK trip I went for in January) friends - Stephanie, Emmy and Julia! :) They're so sweet! Arranged dim sum for our lunch, brought us out for shopping!

Then at night, I met up with Jasmine, Uncle and Auntie Foo who just arrived in HK for a week of holiday. They were so kind to bring up an electric blanket plus jeans plus jackets for me from my mom. They insisted on bringing them up for me because they knew how much I needed them. On the first night in HK, i was so cold in my bed, I trembled non stop till I cried. Really cannot stand. then I realised that silly me actually put the woollen blanket under my bed for extra comfort, so i took it out and covered myself, much better. But really thank God for this family. U. Foo carried my luggage all around till we (jia huan came too!) ate dinner (at shanghai food place), desserts (at mango place), and reached the mtr. I was so touched by their kindness. That's what being in God's family feels like. :)

Uncle Foo's Mango dessert.

Aunty Foo's red bean and carrot cake dessert.

My lunch on the previous day. Club sandwich from the canteen and campbell packet soup.

My dinner. Too tired to go Shatin with the rest.
The cheese smells so cheesy it smells like buttocks.

2008-01-03T00:14:00.000+08:00

Welcome to Hong Kong!

US-Amsterdam-Singapore!

Quite amazing how I was on the plane and a girl and boy were sitting next to me, and at touch down, I geared up my courage to ask them what they were doing in HK.. and the girl's going to CU too! (sorry my english isn't that good. it's too cold to think!)

The Urinals at her college :p

My beautiful toilet.

Together with cold wind when you bathe!

I'm staying at New Asia College, Grace tien hall!

Before:

After:

The people i met on the plane! Thank God for them! :)

Having dinner at warufu in shatin.

My roomie!!! Emily's a really nice girl! :) And she's a Christian too!

Hope we'll have plentiful of fun times together.

haaa. owe her this blog update - using her internet connection!

Thank God for letting me reach HK safely!

Getting all my luggage!

Though the limit was 20kg, and mine was 35kg, they allowed me in!

Getting a good roomie!

And a good friend too! :)

Sleepy time!

Thank you Lord

2007-12-31T13:50:00.000+08:00

God, thank you for this year!

Shine Forth - Bukit batok Christmas celebrations

Shine Forth Christmas Celebrations

J4s going on J5s

2007-12-19T22:32:00.000+08:00

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

2007-12-12T21:57:00.000+08:00

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

2007-12-11T13:57:00.000+08:00

Finally, Macarons to call my own!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

2007-12-03T18:31:00.000+08:00

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

Macaroons!!! ARGHHH

God' gift!!

2007-11-27T11:15:00.001+08:00

rolly polly

2007-11-20T01:42:00.000+08:00

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

2007-10-27T11:53:00.000+08:00

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

2007-08-27T22:27:00.000+08:00

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

2007-07-06T12:31:00.000+08:00

Never lose the wonder of our God.

Happy father's day

2007-06-18T11:57:00.000+08:00

"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!

2007-06-16T23:16:00.000+08:00

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!

2007-06-15T11:33:00.000+08:00

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

2007-06-13T00:34:00.001+08:00

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

2007-06-07T11:57:00.000+08:00

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

2007-06-04T17:01:00.000+08:00

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

2007-05-15T23:37:00.000+08:00

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

2007-05-10T18:13:00.000+08:00

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

2007-05-08T11:58:00.000+08:00

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!

2007-05-04T15:52:00.000+08:00

new blog.. :)