Kia ora!

Just came back frm NZ the day before, and we all feel sick becos of the drastic weather change. But other than being a little under the weather, THE TRIP WAS SMASHING!! Awesome scenery, nice Kiwis we met, fantastic weather (we were sooo blessed to hv good weather for almost everyday where we planned our extreme sports), wonderful travelling buddies (we had 2 amazing cooks who came up with sumptuous food from simple items purchased frm the supermkts), and of course my Dearie!

Everything was soo good that I wish the 2wks there would last forever.. =D

Well, I'll be posting photos on my usual travel blog (cldn't do it during the trip becos we didn't manage to get free internet access) when we manage to consolidate our many many many photos. Hahah, I'm soo gonna relive the memories by looking at the pictures and videos we took.

Cherios!

Feeding my Jason Mraz craze right now
:::

:::

Boo hoo hoo.. I waited for my bro to finish Dota-ing the whole night so that I could log onto ICA website to apply for the passport, only to realise that both scanners at home didn't seem to start up. And I've gotta wait another day to get my mom scan the photo for me. Sigh..

Super tired lately. Never sleep well or sleep enough. Probably also makes me cranky. I just space out almost all the time. Running on auto-pilot mode, so I've been also saying things which I never really process in my head well. Hmmm...

Gonna concuss soon.. Another long day tmr, even though it's Fri..

Let me sleep without dreams or nightmares!!

My careless words has caused much hurt again. Bleah. Think I'm really not careful in my choice of words and how certain things should not be taken in the public domain. Irritated and angry at myself for being so wilful then do once again do things without going through my brain.

Sorry Dear.. Forgive me?

Was randomly surfing Youtube when I decided to check out Corrine May's videos.. Must say she really blows ppl away with that voice. I doubt anyone can sound so nice acoustic. Although this video was meant as a Christmas hymn, somehow I feel so moved listening to it. Guess it's also the setting; a nice little coffee joint, singing for a close bunch of ppl instead of a large concert hall, there's a person in wheelchair being ministered by this hymn. Almost perfect - haha only that I wasn't there to listen to her live. I'd probably have teared.

Here you go:

In the bleak midwinter

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,

Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;

Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

Our God, heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;

Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.

In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed

The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, Whom cherubim, worship night and day,

Breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay;

Enough for Him, Whom angels fall before,

The ox and ass and camel which adore.

Angels and archangels may have gathered there,

Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;

But His mother only, in her maiden bliss,

Worshipped the beloved with a kiss.

What can I give Him, poor as I am?

If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;

If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;

Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.

Anyway onto more serious stuff. The wkend break was wonderful. To take half-days on both Thurs and Fri is absolutely wondeful!

Of course the highlight was spending time with Dearie at Sentosa. Strolling along the beach, wondering around Sentosa, snoozing by the sea. Heavenly! Wished the day didn't end and we could just slack around Sentosa. Or even better, somewhere in Bali! Get stuck there and never get back into city life. Hahah.. It was lovely!!

Oh gawd, I just caught the 5min explanation for the ending to Little Nyonya. It's ridiculous. Only local TV would go to such extent to explain their drama serials. It's all abt pleasing the audience. So crappy...

Grr, Dora Dora the Explorer just said her cousin gave her the $145 Jason Marz tickets for her bday. I wanna rob her now!!! Hahahah... Dora, you better be careful this Saturday. LOL

We all go through different phases in our lives. With each phase comes a different life lesson. Some phases are easy to go through, some are less so. But I suppose at each phase, there's something to remember; both the good and bad.

A close friend recently told me how she was thankful for the people who stood by her during her down time. It was a rough patch, but I'm glad she survived it and became more independent and stronger. Nevermind if she asked me a couple of times if I'd do the same as her, cos everyone's different and would've made different decisions. Glad to hear that she's really ok and can even look back at that time with knowing that it was a good life lesson, even saying she'll support her daughter if she had to go through the same.

Hmm, I wonder if everyone can survive the same as this friend. I'm not sure if I would have. But I know that people need those close friends and family for support when things turn grey. Don't wish I'd have to go through the same. Nonetheless, it's comforting to know that people you've known for years would definitely stand by you. Cheers to long time friends..

Thanks to EVERYONE who celebrated and sent their wishes over the past couple of days! Am truly blessed by God to have friends and loved ones like all of you. Really appreciate everyone's well wishes and blessings over all these years.

Of course the fact that I stand before you in this world is because of God's mercy. All glory be to God. Looking back, God has indeed been very gracious towards me. Life has been rather smooth sailing all these while; any so called set back was small as compared to what Job might have experienced. He has been there to provide me with a way out for all things and surrounded me with loved ones who have always protected me from all harm and showered me with much love.

Thanks Dear for being my ahmad on my birthday, picking me up and sending me home all the time. It's the simple things and the very thought that I treasure most. The most precious things are the purest and everlasting ones. Thank you!!

As I sit back and look at the world and people around me, God has once again proven to be ever present. We may not see Him physically as Adam and Eve have, but His spirit and presence is ever around us. He comes as the Holy Spirit, in the form of love extended from people all around us. Such is the manifestation of Christ.

While I'm still far from the being that Christ might want me to be, I hope to be able to praise the Father and the Son all though my life whatever things might be.
========================================================================

PRAISE THE FATHER, PRAISE THE SON

O sov'reign God, O matchless King

The saints adore, the angels sing

And fall before the throne on grace

To You belongs the highest praise

These sufferings, this passing tide

Under Your wings I will abide,

And every enemy shall flee;

You are my hope and victory.

Praise the Father, Praise the Son.

Praise the Spirit, Three in One.

Clothed in power and in grace

The Name above all other names

To the valley, for my soul;

Thy great descent has made me whole!

Your word my heart has welcomed home;

Now peace like water ever flows.

Yours is the kingdom,

Yours is the power.

Yours is the glory forever.

Somehow our local public transport has not, even after years of efforts, reached world standards. And this is for both our train and bus services.

Trains are not sufficiently frequent to cope with peak hour demands, resulting in overly crowded carriages where people are squashed like sardines. Sometimes I even wonder if MRT staff would one day start pushing passengers into carriages before the door closes on them - just like how we see it from videos of Japan and China's train services. Imagine not being able to get up the trains, enduring this both on your way to work and back home. Sucks big time.

Buses are equally bad. Frequency of bus services somehow do not match up to demand. I was totally irritated when I had to wait 30mins for bus185 tonite. I had waited sooo long that I was on the verge of calling SBS to ask if 185 was still in service (I did actually call Chris to check if he knew it was operational).

Ack, my entire journey home just from Clementi to Jurong took one and a half hour. Puke blood!

Stuff from my recent youtube addiction. Hah!

Hmm quite overdue, but here's some of the photos frm the Hard Rock pre-Halloween dinner!

Lucky
(Jason Mraz feat. Colbie Caillat)

Do you hear me,
I'm talking to you
Across the water across the deep blue ocean
Under the open sky, oh my, baby I'm trying
Boy I hear you in my dreams
I feel your whisper across the sea
I keep you with me in my heart
You make it easier when life gets hard

I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again
Ooohh ooooh oooh oooh ooh ooh ooh ooh

They don't know how long it takes
Waiting for a love like this
Every time we say goodbye
I wish we had one more kiss
I'll wait for you I promise you, I will

I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again
Lucky we're in love every way
Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed
Lucky to be coming home someday

And so I'm sailing through the sea
To an island where we'll meet
You'll hear the music fill the air
I'll put a flower in your hair
Though the breezes through trees
Move so pretty you're all I see
As the world keeps spinning round
You hold me right here right now

I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again
I'm lucky we're in love every way
Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed
Lucky to be coming home someday

My new feel-good song that makes my day. Also makes me wanna fly off for another backpacking trip (one that's more than 1 month!!!)
::::::::::
NEXT PLANE HOME - DANIEL POWTER
I woke up early to baby blue eyes from afar
And when the sun comes through, lights you like the angel you are

I know I do you wrong
When I’m with you I’ve been gone

With every season change it looks the same
November to June
And on these empty streets I skip a beat the flowers don’t bloom

I can’t believe I missed your birthday again
And I want to come back but I just don’t know when

And I’m so lonely, you’re not here with me
That’s why I’m gonna be on the next plane home

The road that never ends round the bend I see you smile
I’d swim across the sea to be with you for awhile

Cause I made a life of being gone
Now the way that I feel is that I just don’t belong here

I stand around trying to make every moment and be somebody yeah anybody
It seems the whole world is taking me over I need somebody to help me get back to you

And I’ve always been a million miles away
But things are gonna change I just wanna come home

And you’re, you’re the only place I wanna see
That’s why I’m gonna be on the next plane home
Yeah I’m taking the next plane home
Now I’m getting the next plane home
Now I’m taking the next plane home

Real or camera tricks? Whatever it is, entertaining..

Really wonder how hosts of food shows can always be so chirpy and excited over food. It's just food.. Had a peek at Japan Hour a while ago and was so amused at how the Jap ladies were going goo goo ga ga over some food which looked so plain and unappetizing. They kept going "ooooiiiiissshhhiiii", "oooooo". Wah lau, it's just food lah. Dn need to get so high over food. Worse still, it was only bamboo shoots. Not even shashimi or some rare delicacy. The kind of responses they have after tasting those food is really bizarre to me. Cannot imagine myself getting to excited over food. Haha, I guess Pete wld know after I tried Relish's char siew burger. Of course it tasted fantastic, but I just can't get so excited like those Japanese girls. Haha.. I just savor it in my mouth and smile. No fireworks-or-sparkles-around-my-face type of manga effect. Haha!

Quite sian always doing serious stuff, hanging around serious ppl, reading serious news, holding a serious talk. And now I end up doing stupid things like checking out facebook. At least I stop short of randomly surfing youtube. Doing all this darn bimbo things cos I refuse to read reuters/bloomberg/FT etc news. It's so gloomy..

Well I'll just sleep cos lalaland is less serious. There are totally random and weird dreams, and can just stay there for quite a while (even tho it makes me tired the next morning). Haha so escapist. Hmm, at least it's sth less serious. Sometimes I wonder if there are any wacky ppl at work. Only Nic is the crappiest one ard. Meiyi's gone so there's only Nic left. Bleah..

God's angels must have been with us today on the expressway.. We were travelling on AYE to church when some car e-braked and caused the car in front of us to hit onto it. Luckily Pete was sharp enough to brake and we had enough braking distance before coming to a stop just inches behind the car in front of us. The car behind us was also amazingly able to brake and not hit us. But 2 other cars hit onto that car behind us because of the brake.

So there it was - 6 cars stopping in the middle of the most extreme right lane of AYE on a busy Saturday afternoon. Everyone got hit except for us. No scratches nothing. God's hand must have held both the cars in front and behind us such that we were surrounded by some space.

Also thank God that everyone was safe. Of the 6 cars involved, no one seemed injured or in trauma. Which was good, cos I remembered the car in front of us looked like a family. Thank God no one was injured.

Thankfully we also managed to leave the scene shortly becos Pete's car wasn't hit, and we were able to make our way safely to church.

Lesson: Pray for journey mercy before starting the engine to hit the roads. Thank God for bringing us back safely in a piece when we return home.

News about the Chinese manufacturer making terrible milk formula that caused the babies to hv kidney stones is appalling. Can't imagine how anyone wld even think of using those chemicals just to make the formula appear high in protein when actually it's just fluffed up with more water and unsafe chemicals! Seriously, I think we all know who are the ones who cld even set their hearts out to do this. Talk abt earning quick bucks w/o bothering if these are safe..

After so many episodes of food/product scandals, I wonder if we're still comfortable with buying things from China. Whatever we choose, even the big retailers wld continue to manufacturer their goods in China. "made in china" - stamped in practically everything we use. Oh goodness..

Interesting show which is quite funny. Then again, a girls-only movie. Think my brothers wld've pucked blood watching this with me. Heh. Hmm.. what shall I watch next?