OUT AND ABOUT IN TOWN ON CNY EVE for some last min shopping.

best time to shop. no crowd whatsoever.

damien, the sis and me camwhored. this was the most normal shot.

2 spastic faces & a ghost. lol. i look scary. someone should pay me to act in some blockbuster ghost flick. i'll make a darn good ghost.

i'll give the ghost boy in Jap horror flick "Ju-On" a run for his money :p

Best shot of the day because... i took it! yes! credit goes to me. muhaha. i am just sooo talented ;)

sister love. i Y my sis

even though sometimes she has a VERY BIG MOUTH (!!!)

and it's back to home after a tiring day of shopping...

makan time! our annual reunion dinner and the traditional steamboat!

my health conscious family eats healthy steamboat...look at all the vege! no meat except for beef and fish.



my bee hoon. haha, it doesn't look very appealing, but it's quite tasty :) my family doesn't really have much fancy for strong flavours so the food we cook are mostly on the blander (but still tasty) side.


after dinner at home, it was on to ah goong's place for more FOOODD!!! gonna get fat this new year!

my one true love.....

PINEAPPLE TARTS!!!!!

cousin intro-ed me to a new concoction --> milk and honey.

*licks lips* i never knew milk could taste good.

gonna get magnolia fresh milk & honey the next time i head to the supermart!

overnight prayer meeting

[cindy took this shot & made it all vintage-y.]

i Y it.

YS is shivering in the picture, he was super nervous (i think) but he sang awesome.

he's like the next andy lau. seriously. what awesome vocals ;)

it was fun singing with the gang. thanks brenda for composing the harmony & kudos to kelvin & YS!

i flopped in the song, sang out of tune in the last bit but oh well, it was still a good experience and we only had that lil' time to practice!

AND as for the prayer meeting, yay, i think i deserve a pat on my back or lasting till 3am! lolx. it's been a long while since i've gone all the way.

i feel all committed again to run for the vision of God.

it's time to step out of the boat, step out in faith & do great things! let's not stay in our comfort zone anymore & begin to push ourselves.

I was telling someone the other day...

"You don't experience happiness until you know what sadness/disappointments mean"

Don't let obstacles/tribulations scare you. Be willing to take risk. Even if you don't do well, get up & try again. Persevere for there is nothing impossible with God. And when all things seem against you, focus on God. For He will provide like the way He provided Abraham with Issac at a ripe old age and how He provided the multitudes plentifold food from just 5 loaves & 2 fish.

Everything he does, the pain/suffering that you experience is for a purpose. At the end of the day, your character is moulded & it helps us grow as a person and also in our spiritual walk with God. it's only those who have experienced certain disappointments in their lives who later on experience greater breakthroughs with God.

when i look back at some of my disappointments in life, i realise everything had a purpose and it's amazing how God works:

1. i used to score really badly for chemistry in JC and hardly understood a word my chemistry teacher said. He was so frustrated with me, he made me summarize 2 chapters for him (no one in class had to do it except me). that was no joke because i remember one chapt had like close to 20+pages, and the words weren't exactly large in any sense of that word. in fact, it was quite a darn right puny. he tormented me in laboratory lessons as well, constantly standing right in front of my table, going "ah...ah...see! so clumsy" when i fumbled.

i was so angry and upset that i pushed myself hard. i got tuition for chemistry & when i got back my A level result slip, guess what...i got an A (with a smirk on my face). My only A in A level. lol.

and that eventually got me into a good faculty in NTU.

what made it such a sweet victory was the fact that i had done so miserably for the subject before....because of the disappointments, the happiness i felt from just getting an A for the subject was exceptionally great.

2. i used to have really bad horrid stage fright back in secondary school and JC. i remember a time when i had to stand in front of the entire class for a debate session & my hands were shivering so badly, my friend had to hold up my script for me. it was embarrassing. there were countless of times when i struggled with the fear of facing the crowd. But because of this fear, i push myself harder, i literally force myself into situations where i have no choice but to stand in front & sing/speak/play for the audience.

and now i guess i've grown more confident of myself, in a way i never knew i could be when i was young. of course i still get the jitters when i go on stage but i'm much less scared than i used to be, at least my hands don't tremble so much that i can't read the words on a script held in my hand!

3. all the while i felt like i should have gone to architecture or done some design course instead of going into Accountancy. i hated the subject. like cats to dogs.

but it hit me recently that if i had gone to archi or some design school, i would have continued being ignorant of the world or how markets work. i live a very sheltered life and for me, i never felt the desire to know about practical things like managing my finance, knowing how the economy works & what not. I realised that maybe God wanted to put me in an environment where i will learn to be aware of what makes the world tick, how economies run...or to be it bluntly, God probably wanted me to be a little less ignorant. He wanted to put me in a place where i have to train myself to keep abreast of current issues, surround me with people who have a mind for numerics & current affairs.

today i believe that i'm less ignorant and more aware of how money works. i'm still a dreamer (it's something that will always be part of me) but i'm now more equipped with the practicality that comes with living in a city runned by so many financial institutions.

God is truly amazing i think. i had this realization not long ago and after all the years of hating the course, i come to realise God's intentions. And i'm thankful now for being placed where i am.

"So for those who think that they're in the wrong place at the wrong time, think again. You just might be in the right place at the right time, you just don't know it yet."

FLOORBALL FACEOFF

the self-proclaim floorball champs. lol.




Dan na, one of our prc friends that day. she has good ball sense!
much more than me :S but then again, that's not exactly very hard! haha. i suck at every kind of ball game, well....except for pool, if you count that as a sport! haha.

i know i've said these tons of times, but i love this picture so much! both yh & lilian look so cute and the colour contrast of their shirts against the background is so outstanding :)

haha, i have no idea what they're posing as, looks like "chang er" pose though!

yay! Blue Team WON!!! lol. well....at least that was before the final round where we lost 26 by 25! SHUCKS!

pretty lilian :)

score chart! we were team 6 btw....haha, opps, maybe i shouldn't have told ya cause the picture shows our lousy score for 1 of the rounds :S

power to team 6!

GROUP SHOT!!!

wow. what a huge turnout huh?!

i enjoyed myself today, running around like a crazy person, drinking God knows how many 100 plus to keep myself hydrated & just surrounding myself with all these young people! Reminds me of the days when i was young & energetic too! it's amazing seeing all these teenagers with all the strength & youth in them. They never tire out and are constantly cheering on for their team mates. it's infectious.

i wana forever have a youthful heart & energy just bursting to be released. i should really do this more often:)

Dinner at Pietrasanta

portobello mushrooms that costed a crazy 18.90bucks. i will never touch another portobello mushroom from that place ever again. half a piece of mushroom cost 6 bucks!!! my poor, poor pockets are slowly being ripped apart :(

e bread was so yummy, i had to have 2. and as a result, i couldn't finish my main course. lol.when the waitress was clearing my plate of pasta, she asked " How's the food mam?"

me: "not bad....but i kinda ate too much bread, i can't finish my pasta"

waitress: "then next time i'll hafta give you a smaller piece of bread!"

so pai seh.

Meet Mr Takamine. He is about 1 year and 1 month old now.

走過了春夏 秋天雨季的漫長
終於也來到 冬季的嚴寒
生命的無常 只要有你的陪伴
就會感到溫暖

窗外風雨雖然大 我們從來都不怕
只要有彼此在身旁 就是我的家
完美可以很簡單 只要過得沒遺憾
我們肩并著肩 再艱難的路都不怕


故事再平凡 也有美麗的篇章
每一頁寫下 快樂的片段
單純的樂章 只要能有你分享
感覺幸福飛揚

窗外風雨雖然大 我們從來都不怕
只要有彼此在身旁 就是我的家
完美可以很簡單 只要過得沒遺憾
我們肩并著肩 再艱難的路都不怕

窗外風雨雖然大 我們從來都不怕
只要有彼此在身旁 就是我的家
完美可以很簡單 只要過得沒遺憾
我們肩并著肩 再艱難的路都不怕

i'm not normally the type who listens to chinese music but this song is one of my fave chinese songs ever.

i remember first hearing it on a channel 8 programme "不凡的爱”which tells of a dad who has AIDS. It depicted how the entire family struggled to accept the betrayal, while learning to support him & eventually, love him wholeheartedly & unconditionally despite his disease and public's disdain.

it was such a sad show and the song's lyrics has so much meaning to it too.

" Despite the storm outside, we're not afraid,

As long as we have each other side by side, this is my home,

A complete life is simple, just don't look back with regrets,

Let's stay together side by side, however terrible the storm ahead, we will be able to brave through".

(pardon the poor translation)