Dang this elephant is more artistic than me!
Monday, March 31, 2008
Now why can't I paint like that?!
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Chinese Sunday
I've been under the weather the last few days with an irritating cold. Spending two days resting in the flat makes me feel restless! So I was very glad I could go to church this morning.
At 2am this morning, we lost an hour due to the adjustment to British Summer Time (BST). Good thing EugeneKueh sent an email to remind on the change or I might have been completely late for the morning service.
I, however, the ever prompt and punctual person that I am, despite having woken up nice and early, still managed to find myself late for service. When I walked in, I noticed AC, Chris and Martin sitting in the last row of chairs, which meant all three of them came in late together because they would usually head to the front of the church. I sat at the pews beside the entrance behind them because I was afraid I might need to get water from the kitchen.
5 minutes later, Anna A, a German girl I'm close with, walked in and we snickered at each other for being tardy. 20 minutes later, Ako, a French girl who I'm also close with walked in whispering fiercely about how she didn't know the time changed and the three of us sat at the back of the church snickering at each other. Somehow, as I sat between the two of them, I felt a warm glow in me, because being there in that moment, among friends where time and effort was invested in and the harvest of it is the bond shared, is irreplaceable.
And I don't think it's just something I'm contriving in my mind, because at the end of the service, Emmanuelle walked towards us, saw the three of us sitting at the back of the church and she paused for a while, smiled, and made a gesture of taking a picture of us.
It's funny, there are some Sundays when it feels as if there is a race between different families to 'snap up' lunch guests to the point that there is 'pre-booking' (where they invite the lunch guests days ahead of Sunday). And then there are some Sundays when quite a number of us aren't invited for anything and we're left with an empty Sunday. It was such a Sunday for a lot of us today.
I wasn't feeling altogether well, so already made up my mind to decline any invitation before I went to church. When I found out that a few of us were lunchless, I suggested for them to accompany me to the Chinese supermarket because I wanted to get some stuff from there. So 5 of us got into Marianne's car and happily headed to the supermarket. After that, Martin had the brilliant idea of buying frozen dumplings and have a Chinese banquet at his flat.
It was quite fun, as everyone bought different types of food and I attempted to explain what they were.
In the Chinese supermarket...
German Anna & French Fred: EW!! What's this!?! *Holding out a tin*
Sick thus not very bright EW: RaMBuTaN!!
German Anna & French Fred: -_- We can read that. What is it?!
Sick thus not very bright EW: Err... fruit with hair??
Later...
German Anna: What do you call this again? Ran dan dan???
French Fred: Rambadandandan...
After lunch, seeing the promise of summer finally on us with nice, warm sunny skies today, a few of us went to a park for a walk.
I've learnt that even in our lives, we undergo different seasons. No matter how dark and cold or bright and sunny the season that besets us, it passes. The trick is to appreciate what each season brings into our lives in its appointed time, make the most of it and when the season passes and a new one comes along, we roll with it. Moaning or spending our time wishing for a better season to come is wasteful energy.
At 2am this morning, we lost an hour due to the adjustment to British Summer Time (BST). Good thing EugeneKueh sent an email to remind on the change or I might have been completely late for the morning service.
I, however, the ever prompt and punctual person that I am, despite having woken up nice and early, still managed to find myself late for service. When I walked in, I noticed AC, Chris and Martin sitting in the last row of chairs, which meant all three of them came in late together because they would usually head to the front of the church. I sat at the pews beside the entrance behind them because I was afraid I might need to get water from the kitchen.
5 minutes later, Anna A, a German girl I'm close with, walked in and we snickered at each other for being tardy. 20 minutes later, Ako, a French girl who I'm also close with walked in whispering fiercely about how she didn't know the time changed and the three of us sat at the back of the church snickering at each other. Somehow, as I sat between the two of them, I felt a warm glow in me, because being there in that moment, among friends where time and effort was invested in and the harvest of it is the bond shared, is irreplaceable.
And I don't think it's just something I'm contriving in my mind, because at the end of the service, Emmanuelle walked towards us, saw the three of us sitting at the back of the church and she paused for a while, smiled, and made a gesture of taking a picture of us.
It's funny, there are some Sundays when it feels as if there is a race between different families to 'snap up' lunch guests to the point that there is 'pre-booking' (where they invite the lunch guests days ahead of Sunday). And then there are some Sundays when quite a number of us aren't invited for anything and we're left with an empty Sunday. It was such a Sunday for a lot of us today.
I wasn't feeling altogether well, so already made up my mind to decline any invitation before I went to church. When I found out that a few of us were lunchless, I suggested for them to accompany me to the Chinese supermarket because I wanted to get some stuff from there. So 5 of us got into Marianne's car and happily headed to the supermarket. After that, Martin had the brilliant idea of buying frozen dumplings and have a Chinese banquet at his flat.
It was quite fun, as everyone bought different types of food and I attempted to explain what they were.
In the Chinese supermarket...
German Anna & French Fred: EW!! What's this!?! *Holding out a tin*
Sick thus not very bright EW: RaMBuTaN!!
German Anna & French Fred: -_- We can read that. What is it?!
Sick thus not very bright EW: Err... fruit with hair??
Later...
German Anna: What do you call this again? Ran dan dan???
French Fred: Rambadandandan...
After lunch, seeing the promise of summer finally on us with nice, warm sunny skies today, a few of us went to a park for a walk.
I've learnt that even in our lives, we undergo different seasons. No matter how dark and cold or bright and sunny the season that besets us, it passes. The trick is to appreciate what each season brings into our lives in its appointed time, make the most of it and when the season passes and a new one comes along, we roll with it. Moaning or spending our time wishing for a better season to come is wasteful energy.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Psalm 88
I love how the Bible doesn't mince on the reality of pain and darkness. That it isn't about superheroes who never made mistakes in their lives. It isn't about over-glorified human beings, it's about the constant glory of God throughout all ages and time to come.
O LORD, the God who saves me,
day and night I cry out before you.
day and night I cry out before you.
May my prayer come before you;
turn your ear to my cry.
For my soul is full of trouble
and my life draws near the grave.
I am counted among those who go down to the pit;
I am like a man without strength.
I am set apart with the dead,
like the slain who lie in the grave,
whom you remember no more,
who are cut off from your care.
You have put me in the lowest pit,
in the darkest depths.
Your wrath lies heavily upon me;
you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.
You have taken from me my closest friends
and have made me repulsive to them.
I am confined and cannot escape;
my eyes are dim with grief.
I call to you, O LORD, every day;
I spread out my hands to you.
Do you show your wonders to the dead?
Do those who are dead rise up and praise you?
Is your love declared in the grave,
your faithfulness in Destruction?
Are your wonders known in the place of darkness,
or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?
But I cry to you for help, O LORD;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
Why, O LORD, do you reject me
and hide your face from me?
From my youth I have been afflicted and close to death;
I have suffered your terrors and am in despair.
Your wrath has swept over me;
your terrors have destroyed me.
All day long they surround me like a flood;
they have completely engulfed me.
You have taken my companions and loved ones from me;
the darkness is my closest friend.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Forever young
I woke up late this morning and got to the service late. Have been quite tired. But after service, the kids in church completely perked me up. Every week, I spend the most time with the kids (I think).
After the evening service, the Rae children are usually the only kids in church, and I was playing with Jessica. We were pitting our weight against each other to shove the other and can you believe it, I couldn't move her!?! And she's only 7!!! She IS strong! And super competitive. She definitely inherited that from her parents.
After having to admit that she is strong and I couldn't beat her, I went to get a cup of tea and walked away from her saying, "I'm a dignified adult. I don't play with kids."
Which I thought I saw Graham W, one of the older church elders, who was standing nearby, snicker.
-_-"
After the evening service, the Rae children are usually the only kids in church, and I was playing with Jessica. We were pitting our weight against each other to shove the other and can you believe it, I couldn't move her!?! And she's only 7!!! She IS strong! And super competitive. She definitely inherited that from her parents.
After having to admit that she is strong and I couldn't beat her, I went to get a cup of tea and walked away from her saying, "I'm a dignified adult. I don't play with kids."
Which I thought I saw Graham W, one of the older church elders, who was standing nearby, snicker.
-_-"
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Girls' night out
THE WEATHER IS SO COLD TODAY and fickle-minded -_-!
It started out cloudy and raining.
Then sun.
Then rain.
Then sun again.
Then a small hail.
Then rain.
Then snow!
It snowed! But because it was so light it disappeared as soon as it fell on the ground. It was pretty interesting actually. And unusual for London. Especially since it's end of March and spring has been peeking through.
I woke up at 6am in the morning to meet Lekha as she made her return trip from Malaysia back to Canada at Heathrow airport as this time she was only in transit for 5 hours. I met at 7am to have breakfast with her and chat as we didn't know when we would meet each other again next.
By the time I got back to my flat, cleaned a bit, cooked a little and was out again to meet a girl who is the friend of a friend. She's from Malaysia and is here on a working holidaymaker visa as well and was keen on meeting and making new friends, so I invited her to spend some time in boring Ealing, for a proper local English experience.
A lot of people, Asians and Europeans a like, when they come to London, tend to say the same things about how for a city this large, it's very easy to feel lonely. And though not all British people are uppity and snobbish folks, that isn't necessarily an over-exaggeration, and they are not the easiest people to understand much less befriend. I'm just very blessed to happen to meet the nicer ones.
I brought her back to my flat and cooked her lunch, after that spent the afternoon getting to know each other. By 4pm, I was desperate for bed, because the night before I only had 4 hours sleep. So I took a nap while I left her to entertain herself with her book and TV.
At 7, Marianne came to pick us up to go to Alison H's house for fondue dinner. Marianne and I had decided to organise an all girls' night out, and had quite a good number of ladies from church join us. It was a really fun and satisfying night. Especially since the boys have their morning men's prayer meeting while the girls never did anything together much, I was particularly pleased that tonight, it wasn't just the girls around my age group who joined, but some of the middle-aged ladies.
It was so nice to be able to chit-chat and there were moments when we screamed with laughter. Unfortunately, we were laughing over the men from church... hehe. We just have such incredible individual characters that it's so easy to laugh over some particular trait, all in good nature of course.
Again, just a very lovely night spent.
It started out cloudy and raining.
Then sun.
Then rain.
Then sun again.
Then a small hail.
Then rain.
Then snow!
It snowed! But because it was so light it disappeared as soon as it fell on the ground. It was pretty interesting actually. And unusual for London. Especially since it's end of March and spring has been peeking through.
I woke up at 6am in the morning to meet Lekha as she made her return trip from Malaysia back to Canada at Heathrow airport as this time she was only in transit for 5 hours. I met at 7am to have breakfast with her and chat as we didn't know when we would meet each other again next.
By the time I got back to my flat, cleaned a bit, cooked a little and was out again to meet a girl who is the friend of a friend. She's from Malaysia and is here on a working holidaymaker visa as well and was keen on meeting and making new friends, so I invited her to spend some time in boring Ealing, for a proper local English experience.
A lot of people, Asians and Europeans a like, when they come to London, tend to say the same things about how for a city this large, it's very easy to feel lonely. And though not all British people are uppity and snobbish folks, that isn't necessarily an over-exaggeration, and they are not the easiest people to understand much less befriend. I'm just very blessed to happen to meet the nicer ones.
I brought her back to my flat and cooked her lunch, after that spent the afternoon getting to know each other. By 4pm, I was desperate for bed, because the night before I only had 4 hours sleep. So I took a nap while I left her to entertain herself with her book and TV.
At 7, Marianne came to pick us up to go to Alison H's house for fondue dinner. Marianne and I had decided to organise an all girls' night out, and had quite a good number of ladies from church join us. It was a really fun and satisfying night. Especially since the boys have their morning men's prayer meeting while the girls never did anything together much, I was particularly pleased that tonight, it wasn't just the girls around my age group who joined, but some of the middle-aged ladies.
It was so nice to be able to chit-chat and there were moments when we screamed with laughter. Unfortunately, we were laughing over the men from church... hehe. We just have such incredible individual characters that it's so easy to laugh over some particular trait, all in good nature of course.
Again, just a very lovely night spent.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
I've stopped counting my age, but good birthday!
I was thinking of photoshopping my pictures to make it look more snazzy to post it up on my blog, but I would probably take too long a time and then forget about putting them up completely (much like my emailing habits these days). So I thought I should just post them up quickly while I have the window of opportunity.
Like Sarah, I usually keep my birthdays on low profile. But when my birthday came closer, and I have a tendency to talk a lot and most times say whatever's on my mind, I did admit to one or two people my birthday was up. That and some people did actually remember my birthday on their own accord and left me some wishes on Facebook, eventually a few more people caught on that it was my birthday.
I guess God's gift for me was a week of peace and joy, and respite from some thoughts that has been bugging me. On Thursday evening, after the youth work at church, I had supper with AC, Chris and Rupert, where they bought me a beautiful mini cupcake as a birthday cake. It was a lovely night with friends.
On Friday, I was at Jess L's house, the mother of Hannah and Naomi who AC and I spent a day with during the early days of my time in church. She has been fantastic in being my unofficial mentor and friend.
On Saturday, I was helping in spring-cleaning the church, and in the afternoon AC made me go to the park opposite the church to play with some of the girls living around the neighbourhood. It was surprisingly very fun in being a big sister, and for the first time felt strongly what a difference I was making with my presence. Even though I only met them for a few hours, their craving for a role model was that strong and palpable!
Then in the evening, I went over to 52 for what I organised and called a "Games Night" rather than a birthday party. Because I didn't allow certain individuals to cook (because someone was over-passionate with cooking that he's a bit of a monster in the kitchen) another guy came up with the idea of making mini pizzas together. So everyone (with exception of me) helped in the meal preparation because I'm a firm believer of too many cooks spoil the broth (read: lazy :P).
After dinner, I was having so much fun just sitting and chatting with friends, I laughed when Chris placed a big knife in front of me and asked why on earth did we need that since we were waiting for desserts. That was when they shut the lights, brought in a lit cake and sang Happy Birthday. I was actually surprised! A Scottish girl, Marianne, baked the cake for me, which was really sweet.
I had such a busy week that by the time Sunday came, I was quite happy to disappear after service to take a nap rather than wait to be invited for Sunday lunch (a number of church people regularly invite different people to their houses for meals). Was on my way out when Jess L was asking me who she should be inviting to her house, because she didn't know the international people as well as I did. So she made me invite them on her behalf, and because of that, we both felt mutually obliged for me to be there as well.
By the time I got back to my flat, it was 5pm and I was too tired to go for evening service, but still went to church after the service, because a few of us were supposed to have a girls' night watching DVD. Some of the guys decided to crash anyway, so a group of us ended up watching Shrek 3 while having Pringles and ice-cream.
It was a lovely end to a brilliant week. Today, it's back to the serious and not so fun matters. :)
Like Sarah, I usually keep my birthdays on low profile. But when my birthday came closer, and I have a tendency to talk a lot and most times say whatever's on my mind, I did admit to one or two people my birthday was up. That and some people did actually remember my birthday on their own accord and left me some wishes on Facebook, eventually a few more people caught on that it was my birthday.
I guess God's gift for me was a week of peace and joy, and respite from some thoughts that has been bugging me. On Thursday evening, after the youth work at church, I had supper with AC, Chris and Rupert, where they bought me a beautiful mini cupcake as a birthday cake. It was a lovely night with friends.
On Friday, I was at Jess L's house, the mother of Hannah and Naomi who AC and I spent a day with during the early days of my time in church. She has been fantastic in being my unofficial mentor and friend.
On Saturday, I was helping in spring-cleaning the church, and in the afternoon AC made me go to the park opposite the church to play with some of the girls living around the neighbourhood. It was surprisingly very fun in being a big sister, and for the first time felt strongly what a difference I was making with my presence. Even though I only met them for a few hours, their craving for a role model was that strong and palpable!
Then in the evening, I went over to 52 for what I organised and called a "Games Night" rather than a birthday party. Because I didn't allow certain individuals to cook (because someone was over-passionate with cooking that he's a bit of a monster in the kitchen) another guy came up with the idea of making mini pizzas together. So everyone (with exception of me) helped in the meal preparation because I'm a firm believer of too many cooks spoil the broth (read: lazy :P).
After dinner, I was having so much fun just sitting and chatting with friends, I laughed when Chris placed a big knife in front of me and asked why on earth did we need that since we were waiting for desserts. That was when they shut the lights, brought in a lit cake and sang Happy Birthday. I was actually surprised! A Scottish girl, Marianne, baked the cake for me, which was really sweet.
I had such a busy week that by the time Sunday came, I was quite happy to disappear after service to take a nap rather than wait to be invited for Sunday lunch (a number of church people regularly invite different people to their houses for meals). Was on my way out when Jess L was asking me who she should be inviting to her house, because she didn't know the international people as well as I did. So she made me invite them on her behalf, and because of that, we both felt mutually obliged for me to be there as well.
By the time I got back to my flat, it was 5pm and I was too tired to go for evening service, but still went to church after the service, because a few of us were supposed to have a girls' night watching DVD. Some of the guys decided to crash anyway, so a group of us ended up watching Shrek 3 while having Pringles and ice-cream.
It was a lovely end to a brilliant week. Today, it's back to the serious and not so fun matters. :)
Rupert, Chi, Jowon and Rachel helping prepare the mini pizzas
Chris being in charge of the olives in the mini pizzas
The pizzas were good
Omar in charge of slicing olives and mushrooms
My absolute necessity in food - colours!
Finished product.
My beautiful beautiful birthday cake! Which I only had a bit because I stuffed myself too much with pizzas
Marianne, the sweetheart, who baked the cake for me
Mmmmm...I miss seeing men in aprons with their hands busy. Soooo sexy!!! Happy birthday, sweetie! Think your friends (esp. the guys) must really love you to celebrate with a home cook meal, yah? Grow old and wise.
haha... thank you! well, they didn't have altogether that much choice since I organised the night and it was slightly evangelistic in nature. so there was an underlying prerogative for them to be there! but it meant a lot more to me that the girls who were there were there, since the guys are always hanging around anyway. it's usually harder to get to see the girls! but it was super nice to just spend the time with all of them
Saturday, March 15, 2008
The difference between you and I
I think I've mentioned before about how I interact very little with Chinese people here in London. The other two Chinese ladies in church are from Hong Kong and the context of our interaction is fairly anglicised at any rate.
I've come to be grateful for the ability to watch, learn and absorb things around me fairly quickly, and it has been interesting to see how my environment is slowly changing my thoughts, attitude and behaviour. So much so that it makes me think that if spending 1 year in Newcastle changed me in subtle ways that made it hard to initially readjust back into Malaysian community and culture, I wonder how much more difficult after this second time round.
Among some of the differences between a English mentality and a Malaysian-Chinese (just to be politically correct) mentality is how an English person would be deliberate with their words while Malaysian-Chinese would mince their words and get straight to the point with no bother for false (or even genuine) pleasantries.
For example:
English salesperson would say: Good morning there. How are you? Is there anything I could help you with today?
Malaysian-Chinese salesperson: Can I help?
English customer: Oooh... thank you dear, but no, I'm fine. I'm just looking.
Malaysian-Chinese customer: *Shakes head with a leave-me-alone-idiot look*
Being in a developed country, I think the English people have had more opportunity in developing interest in arts, like plays, poetry, and dances. I was with Jess L, a lady from church, and her youngest daughter, Hannah, today and Hannah brought out her homework. Her homework was to compose a limerick. Hannah's probably about 8-10 years old.
In my head I was thinking why on earth does a kid need to know how to compose limericks? I do remember learning how to write pantun and haiku, but also remember not being terribly impressed with them. I doubt this is solely down to my Malaysian-Chinese practical sensibilities but also because I'm just not very poetic that way. But Malaysians in general don't sit around the table with books of poetry and poring over them.
Well, Hannah was kind enough to compose a limerick for me:
Hannah: There was once a young lady called Eewii, who ate a whole lot of kiwi...
Me: It's not Eewii... it's Eewei.
Hannah: I know! But it's easier to rhyme with Eewii!
Me: -_-
I've come to be grateful for the ability to watch, learn and absorb things around me fairly quickly, and it has been interesting to see how my environment is slowly changing my thoughts, attitude and behaviour. So much so that it makes me think that if spending 1 year in Newcastle changed me in subtle ways that made it hard to initially readjust back into Malaysian community and culture, I wonder how much more difficult after this second time round.
Among some of the differences between a English mentality and a Malaysian-Chinese (just to be politically correct) mentality is how an English person would be deliberate with their words while Malaysian-Chinese would mince their words and get straight to the point with no bother for false (or even genuine) pleasantries.
For example:
English salesperson would say: Good morning there. How are you? Is there anything I could help you with today?
Malaysian-Chinese salesperson: Can I help?
English customer: Oooh... thank you dear, but no, I'm fine. I'm just looking.
Malaysian-Chinese customer: *Shakes head with a leave-me-alone-idiot look*
Being in a developed country, I think the English people have had more opportunity in developing interest in arts, like plays, poetry, and dances. I was with Jess L, a lady from church, and her youngest daughter, Hannah, today and Hannah brought out her homework. Her homework was to compose a limerick. Hannah's probably about 8-10 years old.
In my head I was thinking why on earth does a kid need to know how to compose limericks? I do remember learning how to write pantun and haiku, but also remember not being terribly impressed with them. I doubt this is solely down to my Malaysian-Chinese practical sensibilities but also because I'm just not very poetic that way. But Malaysians in general don't sit around the table with books of poetry and poring over them.
Well, Hannah was kind enough to compose a limerick for me:
Hannah: There was once a young lady called Eewii, who ate a whole lot of kiwi...
Me: It's not Eewii... it's Eewei.
Hannah: I know! But it's easier to rhyme with Eewii!
Me: -_-
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Ceilidh dancing is a must-experience!
Last night, a few of us from church went to Sloane Street where a ceilidh dance was held, which is basically Scottish country dancing.
It was such good fun!!
I'm not one for dancing to be honest. I've gone for salsa dancing with some friends, but didn't fancy it. But ceilidh dancing is so much fun! You've got no room to feel self-conscious because everyone else isn't very good for it, but everyone's just laughing and just giving it a go. And it's very inclusive, so everyone just gets into it.
By the time we called it a night for ourselves, Marianne, Emma and I got into the tube, sat down, and all three of us went, "Aaaahhhh..."
I woke up the next day with my body aching everywhere. I don't remember ever feeling that sore from exercising!
It was such good fun!!
I'm not one for dancing to be honest. I've gone for salsa dancing with some friends, but didn't fancy it. But ceilidh dancing is so much fun! You've got no room to feel self-conscious because everyone else isn't very good for it, but everyone's just laughing and just giving it a go. And it's very inclusive, so everyone just gets into it.
By the time we called it a night for ourselves, Marianne, Emma and I got into the tube, sat down, and all three of us went, "Aaaahhhh..."
I woke up the next day with my body aching everywhere. I don't remember ever feeling that sore from exercising!
Sunday, March 09, 2008
A better Saturday than most
After a week of not being in the happy-bouncy-bounciest of moods, I was a little relieved the weekend came, and gave myself a break from thoughts that were bringing me down.
I woke up on Saturday with the most zealous mood I've had, spent a bit of time in prayer, cleaned up the kitchen, bath, went to church to have some lunch with church members and then headed out on the streets to do a little bit of street evangelism by giving out some tracts to strangers. Not the funnest thing to do, but if we profess to believe in a God that mankind from second death in hell, we should really be going out telling people about Him right?
May not be the most effective way, but until I can come up with a more effective idea, I'll do with whatever ways we can.
Anyway, after that, went back to my flat and napped. When I woke up, got on the Internet and was reminded by YangJerng that elections came and passed and results were trickling in! Malaysiakini and Malaysia Today's server was down, probably from high traffic (because obviously, you want to catch the real independent news), while Jeff Ooi's site was down for a bit as well, but is now up. I think it's awesome he won, because this guy really talks the talk and walks the walk.
But the results were phenomenal, and the exuberance reverberating from different sites is very exciting. I only wish I could have gotten a little more live feed from CNN or BBC on it, but I guess the Iron Lady being sick and hospitalised for a night was more important than the politics of Malaysia and its effect on the economy across SE Asia.
With elation on the results of the election, I headed over to 52, to disturb the tenants there, though not many of them are disturbable lots. Not fun when you can't wind people up -_-
Bugged Paul H to play Phase 10 with Martin and I who joined me in disturbing the peace of 52, and capped a relatively happy day with winning the game! Woooooo Hoooooo! This is the second time I beat him at card games and because he somehow garnered a reputation to be good at card games, me beating him twice in a row meant I'm BETTER!!
What? I'm not thaaat competitive.
AC: You're so competitive it makes me sick.
Me: I am not! I... just... find joy in winning...
AC: Well... we can definitely see that...
This was after I kept throwing my hands in the air declaring, "YES!!!! HAH!!! I WON! I WON! YOU LOST!!!"
And... I might have been gloating for over 15 minutes... and reminded everyone I also beat him at poker... and did a little jig... and asked Martin to declare who beat him...
I woke up on Saturday with the most zealous mood I've had, spent a bit of time in prayer, cleaned up the kitchen, bath, went to church to have some lunch with church members and then headed out on the streets to do a little bit of street evangelism by giving out some tracts to strangers. Not the funnest thing to do, but if we profess to believe in a God that mankind from second death in hell, we should really be going out telling people about Him right?
May not be the most effective way, but until I can come up with a more effective idea, I'll do with whatever ways we can.
Anyway, after that, went back to my flat and napped. When I woke up, got on the Internet and was reminded by YangJerng that elections came and passed and results were trickling in! Malaysiakini and Malaysia Today's server was down, probably from high traffic (because obviously, you want to catch the real independent news), while Jeff Ooi's site was down for a bit as well, but is now up. I think it's awesome he won, because this guy really talks the talk and walks the walk.
But the results were phenomenal, and the exuberance reverberating from different sites is very exciting. I only wish I could have gotten a little more live feed from CNN or BBC on it, but I guess the Iron Lady being sick and hospitalised for a night was more important than the politics of Malaysia and its effect on the economy across SE Asia.
With elation on the results of the election, I headed over to 52, to disturb the tenants there, though not many of them are disturbable lots. Not fun when you can't wind people up -_-
Bugged Paul H to play Phase 10 with Martin and I who joined me in disturbing the peace of 52, and capped a relatively happy day with winning the game! Woooooo Hoooooo! This is the second time I beat him at card games and because he somehow garnered a reputation to be good at card games, me beating him twice in a row meant I'm BETTER!!
What? I'm not thaaat competitive.
AC: You're so competitive it makes me sick.
Me: I am not! I... just... find joy in winning...
AC: Well... we can definitely see that...
This was after I kept throwing my hands in the air declaring, "YES!!!! HAH!!! I WON! I WON! YOU LOST!!!"
And... I might have been gloating for over 15 minutes... and reminded everyone I also beat him at poker... and did a little jig... and asked Martin to declare who beat him...
happy birthday. don't worry, god will work everything out. i pray for clarity, direction, and wisdom for you.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Weddings and babies
Oh no... it has all started... Lou and Apple are married, Eugene and FangFang are married, Tricia and CK are getting married, HuiMin and Leo are getting married, some people are planning to get into pre-marriage counseling, Xiao Yen has a baby boy, YeeKiat and Michelle has Emma, LeoLau has got another girl added to the family... everyone's growing up!
With all this peer pressure, shan't be shy in saying... I also wanna get married!
Hehe... of course being in Newcastle last weekend and catching up with HuiMin on her wedding plans in August has got me thinking of how I'd like my wedding (if I ever have one). If I do, it'll definitely be a small affair, and no reception in some fancy hotel. I'll probably compete with HuiMin to see who can have the cheapest wedding.
In fact, I'm thinking, I might end up asking the church to participate in my wedding actively and instead of having catered food in some fancy place... have a potluck wedding dinner in the garden of the church! :D
While I'm at that, might as well just wear a white cloth as a wedding dress also... kekeke... Aiyah. Find husband then only think lah. I mean, find boyfriend first then only think!
The picture above is Xiao Yen and her 6 months old baby, Ethan. Sooooooo faaaaat!!! But sooooooo cuuuuuteee!!! When you hold him you can feel the lovely baby fat all around him that makes you want to hug him reeeally tight. And when he laughs, he's a mirror to his dad. And he's such a good kid, never cries or makes a fuss. And when he is hungry, all he does is smack his lips together. So adowable!
I think it'll take a few more years before I catch up on the maternal instincts though, thank God!