Happy Birthday

(yea.. chocolate cake... GRINS)

Cal! The best Leader in Daniel!!! I'm sure everyone agrees, cos there's only one leader in Daniel ma. hahaa.. no la. Seriously, our group is super blessed to have you as our leader... Thank God for giving you wisdom and the courage to take up this huge responsibility everyone in Daniel. It's your first time only, but doing a great job so far! Continue to persevere with a heart of amibition for this group! May we all (esp core group!) learn to be great leaders for God's kingdom together...

1 Timothy 3:1 Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task.

and even though we sometimes joke about what you say.. don't take it to heart k? we see the passion you have for the group!

1 Corinthians 2:1-5 When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.

And just more random pictures!

FRU aka Fire Rescue Unit

Today is no more work day! Sigh. Kinda saddd... Miss my colleagues lots. But I wanna change job le. Need to earn more money!
I've been working at MOE for 5 months with the people in Foreign Recruitment Unit (FRU - aka Fire Rescue Unit cos there's so much crazy work to do, or as Serene puts it, fun and relaxing unit. LOL. Just that little bit more comforting..) Everyone's just soooo nice!
Just some memories about them... like to thank them for making these days enjoyable.
Lixin! My poor unit couldn't find any temp staff to replace both me and lixin. So when lixin left the previous friday, i was bombed with work to do. And work got abit boring and quiet. Cos i'm don't know how to hype up the office atmosphere. I miss her so much! She always gets high and makes it so fun to do work all day long.. Haha. And she always introduces me to GOOD FOOD! Like... Sweet stone paradise at Golden Mile Food Centre! Marvellous waffles. My bro and i are quite hooked.
And the BEST bread shop - Provence at Holland V! Pleeease go try... We tried their wassants! The tiny breads that come in chocolate and cream flavours are always sold out within 1-2 hours after they're baked! We only managed to get some after calling to reserve. Cos they only bake it once a day at around 11am+. And the chocolate loaf, sesame cheese bread, milk bread, an pan.. aiya. all nice la.
And Vibez restaurant. Which I haven't tried, but from what eeling blogged and lixin said, it's tried and certified good!
And this really cool local food website called www.hungrygowhere.com. You can search for good food around Singapore. Check out the ratings, the map, and then go try!
And... teach you one cheer she taught me k? *chuckles*
我这只手臂有只老鼠
你们的肥肉长在屁股
Muscle muscle就是力量
Muscle muscle就是力量
Muscle muscle就是力量
Muscle就是力量!
haha.. must do with actions then funny... if you're lucky then i'll show you next time.. :)
(she really looks like maggie q when she was skinny last time! don't give up winnie! 减肥大计划! stop snacking le! and start eating your breakfast...) WINNIE! She likes to bully me.. Like tickle me and make me go to the fridge to take yoghurt for her, or take the printed paper from the printer for her. Haha.. But she's my bestest cosmetics consultant ever. She has TONS of good advice cos i think she has tried practically every kind of cosmetic and skin care.. haha. She knows the best deals and brands for each type.. and helps us get discounts! YAY. Like body shop 20% off! She told us which were the gd stuff there, and me and donggua just couldn't resist buying... haha. In addition to my favourite passion fruit body scrub, i got the blue corn deep cleansing mask (BEST deep cleansing mask i've ever tried. comparable to the Kose black mask!) and the blackcurrent reviving mask (REALLY freshens you up like aircon on your face and quite moisturizing too!). I LOVE SKIN CARE. Esp the Kose - Jinkisui range my mum buys for me... It has done wonders. :) Winnie's really cute too.. Likes to crack jokes and make fun of ppl.. Haha. lotsa charisma! :)
(still looks so young right?) JEANNIE! my boss. she's witty and quite a health freak! yea.. goes to the gym, dances alot and scrapes off all the cream from cake and fats and skin from meat..
(crying cos he ate chili padi in an attempt to make me stay longer.. haha. one chili padi in exchange for a day) JARRED! the gentleman aka "uncle toh"! and who likes to eat the turtle soup at my place.
JOYI! my assistant boss.. her face totally lights up and her eyes sparkle when she thanks me for helping her do stuff. can melt ahh.. haha.
Jyh Yun and Pui Yee! sweeties. and smarties just graduated from NUS! first class honours i think.
SERENE! she's like my "mentor" too. haha. just like Serene from church. She teaches me the ropes and guides me along throughout my stay in FRU. Also very caring and always concerned for me!
JOEL! Thank you so much Joel... Even though you're from Teaching Scholarships Unit (TSU), you've become like my spiritual confidant. Always taking every opportunity to build me up in the word and lending me these two christian books about BGR and the Holy Spirit which really answered alot of the questions i had that time.


I love MOE. Lotsa sales everyday with the 2 different shops. Spent alot of money.. ahha. Cos it's so cheap! And ahh~ the gym to run every few times a week with donggua or lixin! I feel toned and fit! Yea... Jiayou FRU + TSU! Everyone is really lots of fun and there seems to be no such thing as office politics at all.. :) Seeing the way everyone usually stays till like 10+ to do work, and being so responsible, i'm touched and inspired! But.. please get enough rest too lo. Must keep in touch! luvs ya all... *sniff* maybe i'll be back one day! haha..

South Koreans Kidnapped

Pray for the 23 kidnapped South Koreans... One of them, a 42-year old pastor has just been killed...
BBC News: S Korean hostage pleads for help

Grouchy

Today is "be a grouch" day. This happens when I don't get enough sleep! Tireddd... Must introduce my favourite Sesame Street character! Oscar the Grouch! How I love him so!!!

This is why I like him so much.

1. I know how he feels when he is grouchy. Like.. "Go away and LEAVE ME ALONE!!"--His trademark phrase. Haha. Although I don't agree with his meaness. I don't think I have ever used that phrase. And I want people to care. It's just that sometimes, I just want to sleep... Haha.
2. He cares so much for his cute little worm, Slimey! Slimey brings out the goodness in him. it's so heartwarming to know that even the meanest creature has it's soft side, and shows his love so tenderly to even the smallest creature in Sesame Street! Only 7cm long. (kinda like God's love for us eh?)
3. He's just cute.


Pictures from left: An oscar puppet, at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington D.C.; Oscar reading to his pet worm, Slimey; Oscar peeping out of his trash can

No, I'm lacking sleep not because I stayed up to watch Yang1 Zong1 Wei3 sing again. Haha. I decided after Calvin's invite to BSF on tuesday that I'll stay away from sad songs for a while. Not that we can't listen to sad songs, (cos lots of sad songs are sung by really good singers and have nice music) it's just that I'm letting the lyrics get to me abit. We studied Philippians 4 that night, and I would base my application on the verse below.

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Had a long long chat with Bernard when I got home... We discussed many fundamental questions to the Christian faith. Stuff like "How to deal with people nicely even though we can't really stand them", "How do we know the bible is true?", "Why did God create us if he doesn't need us to exist?", "How do we hear from God?", "If we can receive salvation and God's love anytime, why not wait till just before we die?" Glad you asked! Cos these are questions we should not just shove away... Don't stop searching for your answers... Press on and find your personal conviction!

Anyways, just encourage you with a song I just got from my colleague today k? It's not a christian song, but I really like it cos I guess this kinda describes somewhat the way I feel when I have this relationship with God. I've got version by Vonda Shepard. But I couldn't find it on youtube. The 2 good versions I found instead were fantastic. By another 3 singers I greatly admire - Tony Benett, Stevie Wonder and Ella Fitzgerald. Enjoy!

Various singers - For Once In My Life





Then just yesterday, I finally met up with my St John squadmates again! *feels guilty* since I haven't seen them since forever. Haha.. busy la. busy... (my lousy excuse. lol) Everyone looks prettier! Haha.. But after chatting for a while, realised that everyone's way of talking is like exactly the same. Got to find out where's everyone going to study.. In no time, we'll be meeting to talk about our careers and salaries and families already. Time passes so fast! We meet up again before uni starts kkk? It's my last week at MOE le! I'm freeee to slack for a while! ya. just a while. haha.

Though I reached home like at 10+pm. I still had to do something impt. Heh. Can you guess what it is? It's for you know who for you know what for you know when! Lol. The answer will be unveiled soon. No prizes for guessing right! But you still have the privilege to guess. haha. Anyways.. slept at like almost 1am. WAY pass my bed time.

*GROUCHY*

Meaningless!

Meaningless! Meaningless!
Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.

It's weird.
Sunday was kinda fun.
The sermon really taught me alot.
Church spring cleaning was cool. We cleaned Cana Hall with the air-con switched on! nice... Lotsa water splashing from Jackin! (how do you spell his name?) Haha.. He kinda smacked the chairs with his dripping wet rag and voila. insists that they're clean! A competition to see who can throw their filthy rag into the far away water pail. Manage to sneak in some drumming practice. With Isaac teaching me abit.. Yummy refreshments! We love church welfare! Haha.. My brother missed out on the powerful homemade glutinous rice!!! By the time he came down, there was none left for him. So much toppings! mushrooms, onions, shrimps... the wonderful person who made it didn't hold back at all!
Then Yanling, Yuxi, the 3 ducklings and I went to galilee to watch band practice and have some tuition. *Eunice!!! You must practise math! Keep doing and doing and doing till you're a pro. Don't be scared k? Juuuuust try. The more you try, the more confident you will be because you will learn how to do those you previously don't! Never give up.*

But just at that point of time... I sank into depression. Boo... everything under the sun is meaningless. I wonder what got into me! Maybe I suddenly realised I didn't have any specific / strict goals for myself. Nothing that I needed to work towards to if I didn't take the initiative. Or maybe I just felt empty... Or maybe I was listening to too many sad songs.

DIGRESS! Must intro everyone Yang Zong Wei! He is this new guy from Taiwan who sings those sad, painful, heartbroken songs really REALLY well. Kinda got hooked because Dong Gua introduced me to Chao1 Ji2 Xin1 Guang1 Da4 Dao4. Thank you DG! And for going let me have the whole season... hehs... It's like the Taiwan version of American Idol. Only many times better. Check out the 2 songs which have become famous ya? I'm like listening to them everyday. Oopss. haha.





ANTI-DIGRESS! Yup. So I went home to read the whole of Ecclesiates and like totally agreed, (well, i can't disagree witht the bible) ok.. maybe more like.. could understand what Solomon was feeling at that point in time. Agree that everything is meaningless. Haha.. But of cos that this referred to the things of this world. God's plan isn't meaningless. God's gifts to eat, drink and find satisfaction in work is goooood. But there's more!!! MORE. I know what I've got to do during this season. I'm just not satisfied cos there's so much more to be done...

So anyway... When I highlighted the important lessons to be learnt after everything being meaningless, (yes. please don't just read the first part of Ecclesiastes. There's many nuggets of wisdom scattered throughout the back as well) I decided to enjoy God's gifts and indulge myself with Meiji's hot chocolate... Awww... It's so heavenly. Just the packet of powder and hot water. MARVELLOUS! I even made myself a tiny sip amount of milo to taste the difference. Even though we all think that Milo is already very chocolatey.. It just pales in comparison! Then read abit more of my chocolate book and before going to sleep. Shall give some snippets of it next time! It's non-fiction and I learnt loads about this delightful brown thing. I think the phenyl-ethylamine and setotonin worked. Hehs. At least for the night. :)

Happy Birthday Shumin!

Yun Hui and I baked a pandan fudge cake on wed for shu!!! It was really pretty and deeeee-licious. I'm proud to announce that it has my healthier choice symbol. haha. Cos we reduced the 200g sugar to only 150g! Yea.. So it tasted really good. Like a natural sweetness oozing from the fudge, and the sponge cake smelt sooo pandan-ish that it screamed "EAT ME!" Pandan is not the first flavour that comes to mind when i think about cakes, but this one was oh~ so flavourful! Hope Joseph cell enjoyed eating it. :)
Thank you, Yun Hui, for baking with me! It's so fun to bake with someone else. If I'm alone, I'll just be stressed trying to bake the perfect cake for the next precious person. Hope you manage to make nice sponge cakes from now on! Yayyy. Stick to the traditional method k? Sponge cake mix has lots weird chemicals and it doesn't taste as good as doing it from scratch and folding in the flour by hand... :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHUMIN! May you grow lovelier everyday and keep having that random madness, bursting with humour and insane laughter sorta personality. It's impossible for me to keep up, but an inspiration to all to stop being dull. :) p.s. thanks for the compliment!

Rampage the durian

Even though it's like a month after the outing already, but I still want to put this up!
As from the group DANIEL blog, (which i am so very proud of... ) 06/07/07 outing rampaging the durian was great! Listened to rock bands at esplanade and just chilled out with the group.
So... to start my new blog, here's my favourite song that night. (Click on the title to listen to the song!)

West Grand Boulevard - Flights Of Fancy
Sit with me
Come and play
I need you so near
Stay awhile for a day
Maybe two have no fear
What I am is not all good
It's not all bad it's okay
Time has come wish we could
Get it back it's too late

And I miss you the most
And I miss you the most

Sing to me once again
In your room like old days
Speak to me it depends
On how you do it all ways
Bring me back little smiles
Funny ways you speak to me
Bring me back all your wiles
Whimsical fancies

And I miss you the most
And I miss you the most

And I miss you the most
And I miss you the most

I will BLOG

Ahh... Somehow, i will try to keep blogging this time. :)