Roller Blading @ ECP! Join the gang... :)

When blading farrrr and fast brings back memories
Matt appears outa-nowhere, runs toward us and booms, "ArggggggGHHHH!!!"
Scaring all the emotions away
Replacing them with ridiculous laughter

Blue's the colour of my soul
Orange for the other?
Doesn't matter
We must be happy ever after

The 1st day

I think my mum is the greatest. She has survived working in the bank for so many years!!!

I did just one day in the finance department and i got so giddy, i felt like puking. I stared at one stack of invoices and reimbursements and another 3 stacks of data to somewhat match against. Aghhhh... It was horrible. I didn't really understand the difference and i was very blur at what i had to do as well... Numbers, figures, and more numbers. Help.

It was so bad i kinda lost my appetite for lunch. Only managed to eat some of the healthy yong tau hoo. Then mid afternoon i felt so hungry i became giddy again. I was too cowardly to ask my super busy colleagues if i could go down to buy some food, so i went to the vending machine to buy some milo. Only to find out that i only had 25cents worth of coins and the milo was 30cents!!! ARGH. So i went back to my desk to keep working. But feeling really terrible. Sigh. Thank God like 10 secs later, 1 colleague came around offering home made sweet tapioca cakes!!! She saved my life...

Well... as more work came in at the later part of the day... i really fought hard to continue... Managed to escape at 7pm, starving and about to faint. At least i get OT. Sigh.

It is evening, and it will be morning. The 1st day. :(

And i'm supposed to use pain as material for endurance. Gambate!!! :x

Tofu

What's wrong with being a tofu? This one still very pretty ah~

work work work

SNIFF. I'm having withdrawal symptoms. I start work tmr......................

Nothing is irredeemable

Philip Yancey writes in his book - Prayer. Does it make any difference?

In all my prayers, whether I get any answers I want or not, I can count on this one fact: God can make use of whatever happens. Nothing is irredeemable.
'Teach me, O God, so to use all the circumstances of my life today that they may bring forth in me the fruits of holiness rather than the fruits of sin,' prayerd the author John Baillie:

Let me use disappointment as material for patience.
Let me use success as material for thankfulness.
Let me use trouble as material for perseverance.
Let me use danger as material for courage.
Let me use reproach as material for long suffering.
Let me use praise as material for humility.
Let me use pleasures as material for temperance.
Let me use pain as material for endurance.

I'm lovin' it

I am starting to fall in love with drums... :)
I am recently inspired by... "the groovy beat that makes you wanna move", Eugene-who can play the 'feel' of a song so quickly yet so effectively even though he's a guitarist, and just how the drums can make such a difference into leading ppl into worship!!!
I got the lowest for confidence during drums session though. I must JIAYOU!

Someone teach me how to like Chicken Essence!!! It is most disgusting... But i wanna learn to like it.

Haha. And dunno why, with the recent topic of relationships and with da Bro introducing me to this really funny comic, here's a few laughs! It's plain nonsense la. Don't learn hor.. haha.

2nd broken slipper :(

My favourite nude slippers broke just after i alighted from the bus!!! SNIFF. (yup. The shoe shop VNC really named it 'nude' cos it's beige and the strap makes it seem as though i'm not wearing any footwear... )

The sole came out, and so the vertical strap gave way along with it.. Argh! Luckily i alighted at the 48 bus stop nearest to bugis and not the one nearer to home... I literally had to drag my foot along with the leftovers to search bugis junction for footwear. After a while, i was smart enough to take a rubber band and at least put it over my foot and the leftover slipper parts so that it lasted a while longer while i shopped! (Shucks. But still not very smart la. I should've went straight to parkway to buy since i found out my slipper was going to fall apart) sighs. But because i'm really fussy, none of the shoe shops had anything nice...! :(

sighs. I was pondering if i should just continue dragging all the way home, or walk barefoot, or drag myself to perhaps bugis village or further to keep finding something. But, i couldn't stand walking like a half lame zombie anymore. So i figured that maybe I might have missed out some nice footwear along the way. So i prayed & searched level 1 & 2 again.
THANK GOD i found cute pumps in one of the clothes shops! Even though i would've preferred pretty slippers, and the pumps are not superbly glamorous, but they're so cute and Super Comfy! I love'em!!! Haha. I survived another pair of broken slippers! Yet again! (Oh well, no one to help me this time...)

My bag like also gonna spoil le.. hahaa.. It's peeling.
Ok! I wanna go shopping.. Anyone? Haha..

And...

Yay. After making up my mind to take the risk, and after falling down many times, I think I learnt a new stunt at blading yesterday! Thank you matt! :)
And.. congrats to gideon who actually almost bladed all the way to the lagoon! 1st time blading and you persevered so far!!! :)
And.. was really encouraged by pamela, (can i call you pammy?) who shared her most ingenious way of sharing the gospel to whoever she meets. a pocket full of gospel tracts always ready to be given away! :)
And.. impressed by yunz who is so hyper about teaching. Your students are blessed to have you! Jiayouuu! :)

And.. grateful to doyle who helped me seek permission to crash tung ling bible sch today. Ppl at School of Ministry are really nice. Those i talked to were passionate and humourous. The rest I didn't know just smiled very widely if we had eye contact! It's a blessing to listen to Pastor Benny Ho's sharing about Answering our call to our Destiny. Very comforted to know i'm somewhere on the right track and spurred to pray for more direction from God!

Here's the cycle that he used to define living:
Live life -> Events accumulate (Keep reflecting and waiting upon the Lord) -> Listening point -> Detour if you disobey and go back to 'events accumulate' step/ Answer the call if you obey -> Soul awakened -> God's pleasure -> Live life and so on...

"The more yielded we are, the faster we get to our destiny"

And.. looking forward to see how life in NTU is like! Thanks leney and patrick for that cute conference call! I'm coming with home-made cookies... heh :)

And.. hopefully i get the job i just interviewed for. I'm becoming a tofu, nua-ing too much. It's fun. But my IQ is dropping... (yes. I actually check!)

Quotes!

Pursue what you love. Protect what you own. Treasure what you have. :)

For Serene: Friendship is a treasured gift, and every time I talk with you I feel as if I'm getting richer and richer.

For Matthew: Be a good cheer. Do not think of today’s failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. You have set yourselves a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere; and you will find a joy in overcoming obstacles. Remember, no effort that we make to attain something beautiful is ever lost. - Helen Keller

For you who called to share your rough time: Search for the seed of good in every adversity. Master that principle and you will own a precious shield that will guard you well through all the darkest valleys you must traverse. Stars may be seen from the bottom of a deep well, when they cannot be discerned from the mountaintop. So will you learn things in adversity that you would never have discovered without trouble. There is always a seed of good. Find it and prosper. - Og Mandino

For Leney: Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. Christopher Robin to Pooh

For Patrick: Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so you shall become. Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil. - James Allen

For Donggua: I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution. - Albert Einstein

For the Brother: Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius. - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

For J: Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget. - G. Randolf

For Emo-elmo: I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be; for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances. -Martha Washington

For Pinky: How beautiful a day can be when kindness touches it! - George Elliston

For my Ex-classmates: Good friends are like stars.... You don't always see them, but you know they are always there

For Yangxiang: Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. - Addison

For Doyle: The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. - Eleanor Roosevelt

For Cooper: Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall. - Confucius

For you whom I still remember: This is my wish for you: Comfort on difficult days, smiles when sadness intrudes, rainbows to follow the clouds, laughter to kiss your lips, sunsets to warm your heart, hugs when spirits sag, beauty for your eyes to see, friendships to brighten your being, faith so that you can believe, confidence for when you doubt, courage to know yourself, patience to accept the truth. Love to complete your life. - Clayton Adams

And for myself: The art of love... is largely the art of persistence. - Albert Ellis

It is good to slack

Slacking is a wonderful way to spend time... Haha. I've been jobless for 3 weeks and glad to be that way! (tho i needa get back to work soon. haha. growing fat slacking all day) Anyway, when i'm all alone at home, slacking allows me to chat, think, read, listen and watch online shows. Which is a good thing! So far, i'm not bored yet!

Went out with C and V on tues to eat Waraku Pasta at Marina Square. It's a new place that sells Japanese Pasta. Haha. Quite interesting eh? The only japanese part about my experience was the waiters who kept shouting jap phrases and we ate our pasta with chopsticks. Haa. Even though it was a lil' pricey, the meat sauce pasta that all 3 of us ordered was... oooooh. SO TASTY! I think it was pork, cos beef would have been abit tough after simmering for a long time. I wonder how it was healthy though. Haha.. I could see lotsa oil remains on my plate from the sauce. Maybe it was the free salad they gave us for appetizer. It has a nice zesty spice dressing which i was quite impressed. :)
Then, we carried out our evil plan. So V claims it to be. Haha. Went to a cafe, gave V a book and forced made V read chapter 1! Then both of us started to read also. Haha. Sounds really like a trap eh? But i thought it was good ambience, with a good book (Drawing Near by John Bevere) and good friends to read with. We were there for a few hours, and YEA! V finally finished the 9 pages of chapter 1. Haha.. At least we did alot of catch up while he was distracted most of the time. Quite interesting la. Hope it wasn't that torturous la huh? YOU must read finish horr.. not in 10 years la! Make it like.. a month. You're so bored now jobless anyway. :)

I remember my favourite GP teacher from HCI, Ms Heng, once advised me on what i should get as a present for a friend. She asked if my friend reads. And i replied no. She then recommended me to buy a good book to inspire him/her because that person would never take the initiative to buy one him/herself. Ahh.. I miss her intelligence. Like what Glenn said, when you meet intelligent people, you'll just be inspired when they talk. It's hard to deny their wisdom. Haha.. I remember how i used to write down quotes of the day everytime i had GP lessons with her. She's our very own local poet! *applause* Really grateful to her for being so inspiring. I started reading the newspapers cos of her. HAhaa..
Some of her poems! http://www.othervoicespoetry.org/vol16/tian/index.html

We should all read... There's is so much knowlege to be gained.

As i was talking to more ppl, a question that Serene once posed to me a long time ago came up into my head again. "Why do people like to talk about relationships so much?" Haha.. We didn't really come up with an answer that time. But have you ever realised that we all get excited if we see a possibility of the ppl around us maybe liking someone else or maybe being wooed by someone else? Then we start to talk about it and speculate the chances and prob how wonderful it would be if they ended up together? Have right?? Haha. I'm also guilty of it. Well, what do you think it's like that?

J introduced me to Ravi Zacharias, this Christian apologist who is, i think, a genius. (He shall be another way I try to learn more.) So just yesterday, I heard 2 of his online sermons. "I, Isaac, take thee Rebekah" and "The top 5 questions that students ask". And it came to me that maybe it's because we all want to feel loved. This was part of Zacharias answer to the question "What is the meaning of life - What gives us meaning to life?" And it only makes sense because this is the way that we were created. Emotional beings who desire love because we were planned to be in a relationship! With God and man. :)

I extract from his sermon:

4 components that a person must have in order to say “my life is meaningful”:

In our infancy, it’s the sense of wonder. In our youth, it’s the understanding of truth. In our middle years, it’s the experience of love, acceptance and belongingness. In our old age, it’s the confidence of security.

The older you get, the more it takes to fill your heart with wonder. And only God is big enough to fill it. Meaning comes from wonder, truth, love and security. And God who’s the perpetual novelty, who gave us the son, who’s the way, the truth and the life, who loved you and gave himself for you on the cross, and says, “because I live, you shall live also”, that’s when meaning comes in. When these 4 components deal with the questions of origin, meaning, morality and destiny and bring that coherence into your life.

Well, the 5 questions that Ravi Zacharias and Dr William Lane Craig attempted to answer were these:

1. The meaning of life
2. The existence of God
3. The problem of evil. How God would allow evil to occur if he is all good and all powerful
4. The historicity of the resurrection of Christ. How do we know that the resurrection is a historical fact?
5. The exclusive claims of the Christian gospel. That if only those who place their faith in Jesus will attain salvation, then how about the good people who believe in other religions? What is God’s justice to this?

When he talked about the problem of evil, he gave a very logical answer to it, which you should listen yourself to fully understand. Was quite funny actually! But one song he brought up really is very encouraging. Hope it reaches everyone who's reading...

He Giveth More Grace | Annie J. Flint

He giveth more grace as our burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength as our labors increase;
To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials He multiplies peace.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
Our Father’s full giving is only begun.

Fear not that thy need shall exceed His provision,
Our God ever yearns His resources to share;
Lean hard on the arm everlasting, availing;
The Father both thee and thy load will upbear.

His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.

You can listen to those sermons here: http://www.rzim.org/radio/archives.php?p=LMPT&o=200&i=50

The "I, Isaac, Take Thee Rebekah" is about bgr. And as i have never stopped pondering about certain stuff.. i think this sermon taught me alot. So for those who applies, or will one day apply, check it out too.

Anyways, with all learning, i think that's why i looked so happy to go roller blading Matt! Haha.. When you feel you've learnt something impt, you'll be happy too right? Yea.. Blading every wed seems like the best look-forward-and-keeps-you-going thing to do. For those who are studying and working.. mid week sometimes seem the worst right? Haha.. Then join us!! I think blading is good stuff cos when you're blading, you can talk loads to your fellow bladers. Provided you're not too stressed on how to not fall down la. haha. Fun sport to do with friends... :) Even if you have exams coming up soon, and you need to take a break, you can make use of it too. Hor cooper? Haha. Was fun singing with yunhui, learning from becky and her friend Jasmine, laughing and being stunned at matt who can do so many stunts but never fall down, inspired by Cooper's tenacity and interesting talking to Huan Kai and Brian. I also liked the blade shop beside Burger King!! They played nice Chinese Orchestra sorta music and even slow jazz, which i danced lindy with Yun, in my blades! Hahaa.. Lucky i didnt blade over her toes. She's a graceful lead. *claps!*

Yeah.. Looking forward to saturday's event! Very hopeful!!! :)

Top 10 Trivia Tips

This is just plain nonsense that i found through Charis's blog. HAHAHA.

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Melissa!

1. Owls cannot move their eyes, because their eyeballs are shaped like melissa.
2. About 100 people choke to death on melissa each year!
3. Pacman was originally called melissaman!
4. Melissa is the world's smallest mammal.
5. Ancient Chinese artists would never paint pictures of melissa.
6. Melissa was invented in China in the eleventh century, but was only used for fireworks, never for weapons.
7. In 1982 Time Magazine named melissa its 'Man of the Year'!
8. Only one person in two billion will live to be melissa!
9. Melissa was originally called Cheerioats!
10. Devoid of her cells and proteins, melissa has the same chemical makeup as sea water.

I am interested in - do tell me aboutherhimitthem

Why blog?

I heard this year's National Day song by Jimmy Ye and sung by Kit Chan. And I cried!!! I guess it hit me hard that I'm so going to miss Singapore when I go over to aussie... Family, YPMers, friends, FOOD and... just the whole comfortable surroundings. Then it'll be like.. keeping in contact with most ppl at the start, but slowly as time passes, there's no more 'Life together' feeling anymore. And everyone will forget who i am when i return. Haha.. 'Who's Melissa?' they'll ask.

There's No Place I'd Rather Be

Music and Lyrics: Jimmy Ye

Artiste: Kit Chan

I've walked the streets of Cairo and Bombay

I've seen the neon signs on ole Broadway

I've climbed the Eiffel Tower

The Great Wall in one hour

Experienced sweet and sour but that's okay

Seen Hollywood, the sunsets in LA

The London Bridge, Big Ben, the Thames, UK

I've crossed the River Kwai

Yet still I don't know why

I think of you each night and every day

There's no place I'd rather be

You'll always be a part of me

And even though I've roamed the world

It's still my home I long to see

This is where my family

And my friends grew up with me

So I'll cross the skies and sails the seas

To be where I wanna be

Cos there's no place I'd rather be!

Well.. this is the first reason why i created this blog in the first place.. haha. Get ready to stay connected when i go over. Easy access to blogs of ppl i know, and hopefully ppl will keep chatting with me on my gigantic, chat-and-user-friendly tagbox, other than on msn.

Secondly, i realised one of my weakness! I don't really share much about myself to ppl. Must learn to be more open and vulnerable. That's when we can really be concerned for others right? I always wanna know what's happening to others, but hide myself away from them. Not fair for true friends. I think i'm an introvert. Haha. I think maybe some disagree. But we all have our 'emo elmo' times la. I want to come out from behind my 'mask' (hahaa.. chapter 2!) and get real. Along with that is that I somehow believe that I am special. Hahaa.. God's masterpiece! Altho i'm just some other normal plain person, I somehow wanna be more sure of my own talents. No matter how little or small they are. So this place will be my own affirmation for myself. All that things that rouse my emotions make me the mel that I am! The people that influence me, the many things that make me laugh, or cry, or excited, the memories... Hopefully, after sharing about the many events that happen in my blog, i'll be more willing to start going deeper and past the superficial me. :)

Thirdly, i think i can do much better than my old blog la. Haha. One or two entries a year really CMI. I also never managed to keep a diary for longer than a few months. So maybe a blog with more interaction would work better. One day when i'm old and bored, i can read this all over. haha.

Anyway, even though pinky told me i should not update so quickly cos she feels like she's lagging behind in her own posts, i shall talk abit about leaders' retreat! Haha. Just abit la k? Can't help it. One of the icebreakers we played was 'talk about the last time someone encouraged you'! Haha.. Shucks. I realised i haven't been very encouraging... I know how such little words, once spoken, becomes a significant driving force for an individual even though the one who said it doesn't really feel that way... So, I shall start to encourage more! Have you been encouraging lately? :)

Proverbs 15:4 The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.

I love food...

I have been a pig. Haha... Eating too much lately, on the excuse that I've been running and therefore my metabolism rate has increased...

You Are a Hot Fudge Sundae

Classic, simple, and divine. Why mess with perfection?

What Kind of Sundae Are You?

First there was the lovely bbq at Calvin's place with mostly above 19 YPMers and tons of much higher standard than the normal bbq food. Lovingly prepared by SERENE! YAY! There was like mashed potato with tuna and corn, various breads with balsalmic vinegar, olive oil and mixed seeds, sambal sotong, (even the plainly grilled one was so sweet too!) heineken drunken prawns, exotic beef with lots of garlic, mango salsa fish, porky pork, mushrooms, sweet potato, brinjal and mohito (is this how you spell it? the great concoction of ice cream soda, freshly squeezed lime juice and aromatic mint leaves)!!! And of cos, not to forget MANGO PUDDING! haha.. Gosh. Serene works wonders... My next goal will be to learn to prepare such good food.

Other than the great food and company, the atmosphere was so romantic too! Full moon, at the poolside and with music in the background... Aww. Can melt right? I likes. Here's one stylish picture courtesy of isaac low! So professionally done, he should be our photographer for every event that ypm has.. haha. The rest are in his blog! (linked at the right column)

Hehs. So anyway, i think it worked up such an appetite that i'm still eating alot. Starting with lotsa mango and mango pudding! Of cos i have extras at home even after everyone has eaten... :) The Taiwan mango is gigantic and cheap! Like 3 for $10! The sweetness is just right too. Usually we would use Thai honey mangoes. But it's more expensive even thought its sweetness is to die for. We tried using the King of Mangoes once. Indian Alfonso mangoes. Haha.. $$$! I think no need so posh la. And that one has abit too much fibre for a pudding. My favourite kind is sweet pudding with slightly sour mango cube toppings. SHIOK.
[Food fact! Mangoes are rich in caroteniods esp beta-carotein which is a powerful anti-oxidant. Has vitamins A, B, C and E. Great source of dietary fibre. Has enzymes that stimulate metabolism and purifies the intestinal tract. Has high iron content which is good for ladies and anaemics. Also a good source of potassium and magnesium! Plus, IT TASTES GOOD. :) ]

After the mango attack, I went on to eating the stuff I bought during my last few days at MOE. 'Strong Man' brand spicy tapioca chips and dark chocolate with almond nuts inside, PLUS all the Meiji chocolate that we bought at the Meiji Factory!!! Hahaa.. Super cheap! Go check it out ya? Every friday from 12pm to 3pm. Ok. I'm not so guilty la. Haha.. I eat for so long still haven't finish yet. *giggles*

Then just on friday, helu brought eeling, stell, amandia, aaron, samson, my bro and i to the dimsum buffet at mirama hotel! Oooh.. Interesting dimsum. I think i liked the fried chicken wings the best. Haha! Which is actually not dimsum. Their food was quite unique cos it's all done slightly differently from the norm. For example, the charsiew sou is not the usual long rectangular kind, but looks more like a big fried wanton (1st pict). The har gow has more soup than the xiaolongbao. Haha.. They have this big fried prawn thing (2nd pict) which looks like those dustballs that roll around in the desert. But that was really good. haha. So crispy and fresh! Yay! Eeling took lotsa pictures for us! So have you practised how to fling your wet tissue at ppl already? Haha..

Anyway, after we were all super stuffed, we went to the ktv at katong shopping mall to sing abit. Haha.. I found out that i'm really bad at it compared to like stell and amandia who had angelic voices... Then we bought the chocolate tarts at the basement! Simple and simply marvellous! Even though it's 70cents for such a tiny bite sized dessert, it was worth it! One day.. i'll bake something like that. Haha.

Then there were the doughnuts that lenee bought, and soon i will drink up the Swiss Premium chocolate drink that Amandia gave me! It looks even better than the Meiji Hot Cocoa. Then go for another bbq and bake more stuff! haha.. so.. i think i better go run again le.

Doughnut craving satisfied

YAY! This entry is devoted to Charlene!!! You brought doughnuts back from Krispy Kremes from Hong Kong! Aiya.. super sweet though.. It's just icing!!! I could only eat abit. Haha.. But nvm. It's like a craving instantly satisfied... Just when i watched the simpsons and wanted to eat some... luv ya leney!

I really enjoyed the time just you, me and patrick hanging out at Simply Bread. Great bread to eat and just sitting down to chat for like 3 hrs+? Simple and sweet... Soon we're all going to start school! Then it'll be hard to meet... but, we will still right?! :)

The Simpsons

The Simpsons is hilarious... GO WATCH!
I laughed throughout the show... And I really like the posters cos of the deee-licious looking doughnut. :) I wanna eat one now... Just in case you want to treat me to one, without queueing, did you know you can buy it online? Just order and collect! For Me! Hahaa..
http://donutsonline.zlhub.com/