Tuesday

I love the cool weather. Singapore's "snow" for the December season... hahaha. The wind's been blowing all day and it feels like about 24 degrees celsius. The colourful windmill that Elaine gave me for Christmas has come in handy. Actually, it's meant to be stuck in the plant pots but it makes do as a nice decoration as well. :) Looking forward to the New Year. I like this year much better than last year, well... mostly. :) The experiential learning in NP has made learning new subjects interesting, applicable and fun. I remember that I didn't want to go to NP initially because of the stereotypes about poly and all but I'm SO thankful and glad that God placed me in NP, if not I wouldn't have joined the Navs also. :)

Top 10 things I'm thankful to God for...

In line with thanksgiving on Sunday, here are my top 10 things that I'm thankful to God for. Actually thanks also to S.M. who reminded me to think of my top 10 thanksgiving items to God. :)

I thank God for...

1. Bringing me through 1 1/2 semesters of my first year in poly.
2. Sustaining the family 
3. Navigators!
4. Refining me 
5. That I didn't fall sick often, especially during times when I felt like I was falling sick
6. His Strength and Comfort
7. a balanced and more hands-on curriculum in PCS compared to last year
8. sorrow, despair, trials and discouragement through which I've drawn closer to God and learned to run to Him.
9. Awesome parents 
10. an unchanging, unfailing, loving Father :)  

Multi-tasking

At the adolescent stage, I'm supposedly able to multi-task quite well. But, I'm quite a single-task person... hahaha. I realise that I'm unable to listen to music while I do my work. Instead of focusing on the task I need to do, I would drift off to listen to the works of the music, especially Classical music.

Right now, I think I've only ascended 1/7 of the hill of assignments. 4 group projects due in January next year and 3 more individual essays, with one due this week, one next week and another due on the Christmas break week. Well, as the Bible says, I don't want to worry over all these assignments but just care about the worries of each day.


As the 1st stanza of Lina Sandall's hymn goes, "Day by day, and with each passing moment, strength I find to meet my trials here, trusting in my Father's wise bestowment, I've nothing to worry or for fear."

Wednesday

Right now, I'm feeling queerly tired to be nervous for tomorrow's speech and also submission of social psych essay. Perhaps, it's a blessing in disguise. LORD, please grant me the strength and energy to present tomorrow and speak, remembering all that I need to remember, for Your Glory. Amen.

Tuesday

It's raining cats and dogs right now. I love it when it pours so.:) The house is pretty quiet now, with Frans in Hong Kong...hope he enjoys himself there and is safe. Speech communications today was interesting and terrifying at the same time. No, I didn't present at all but the atmosphere was crazily flustering and nervous. But I really enjoyed listening to the speeches... especially to the MacDonald speech and how laughter is the best medicine. After the 2 hours, I feel quite informed with knowledge about different things... hahaha. It'll be my turn this coming Thursday. I hope that my audience won't be too bored and that I'll be able to connect with them. :) The past few days, I've been feeling extremely tired. Flat out. It must be that I haven't been resting well. There are 3 essays to complete. I think I'm only just embarking the hill, at the foot of the hill of assignments. Today during quiet time, I was encouraged by David's hope in God and how he turns to God before he turns to anything else. In 1 Samuel 30:6 I read that although David was in distressed, he was encouraged by God and drew strength from God. As for me, despite feeling distressed, I'm reminded that I can draw strength from God during this time. :) Phil. 4:6-7

Meanwhile, it's back to doing my Prejudice and Discrimination essay...

Rollercoaster ride

"God has not promised skies always blue,

flower-strewn pathways all our lives through;

God has not promised sun without rain,

joy without sorrow, peace without pain.

But God has promised strength for the day,

rest for the labour, light for the way,

grace for the trials, help from above,

unfailing sympathy, undying love."

- Kristone

I really love this little poem. My sunday school teacher gave me a postcard with this poem, through which I felt really encouraged. School has been a rollercoaster ride. New lessons seems to be taught at breakneck speed. I want to shout, "SLOW DOWN!" but the rollercoaster, being one, doesn't. Now, I'm learning to hang on and simply enjoy the thrills. Living by faith... day by day.

The Steadfast Love of the LORD never ceases

Sunset view from my kitchen window

Each day comes and goes. It has its challenges, its fun, joy, woe. But the steadfast love of the LORD never ceases. This week has been quite hectic but an enriching and interesting one with fun-filled and content-filled new modules. There's a lot to absorb. I've also been attending QT fellowship in the morning before classes start. I love spending time with HIM everyday and it definitely is an important start to my day! Thank you LORD for today.

Young Change Maker Conference! :)

The Young Change Maker Conference just ended today after two days. It was an enriching and interesting experience where we got to be involved in project-planning for the organisation we were attached to. Our group was attached to the Silver Ribbon, which seeks to stamp out the stigma of mental illnesses and also help in treating patients suffering from mental illnesses. It was cool to hear from a man who is a recovered patient of Schizophrenia first-hand. Currently, he has written poems which have been published, is an ambassador of IMH and also a tuition teacher. I think that stigma against people suffering from mental illnesses is very real and can be a great hindrance to the person's recovery and ability to function in society. So, it is important to stamp out the stigma. :)

What I like about the conference is initiating a community project. Although, we didn't get to really do one in the short span of 2 days, we brainstormed for different ideas and made plans for the project. Before, I didn't know that planning a community project required a lot of effort, checks, different kinds of people to contribute to the planning and make it work, budgeting etc. The money part is what I haven't thought of before and I learned that it is important to stretch the dollar (if possible) to make adequate use of the grant and also to check for any ethical issues, licences, etc. Most importantly, the beneficiary must be foremost in the planning and I learned that it is good to have an objective. We were asked by Silver Ribbon to think of ways to raise awareness and our group brainstormed on the idea of using slogans such as the MSN lingos to form catchy short-forms relating to mental health. One such lingo we thought of is, ASAP "As Sane as Possible". The slogans can be used for a variety of things such as, being printed on t-shirts etc. It was fun thinking of meaningful slogans from well-known short-forms. :)

The other groups from different schools who were also in silver ribbon were a nice group to be with. There were lots of funny brain teasers we played like, "Fuzzy Wuzzy likes this... and not that...", "Going to Afghanistan", "Black magic", "Mrt stations", " 'Bang,bang,bang...who died?' " ( I don't get this still...haha). On the whole, we were quite bonded and everyone was enthusiastic in contributing to the ideas and giving feedback etc.  

School starts tomorrow... the beginning of semester 2. It looks set to be quite hectic.

In Christ alone, I place my trust,

 He is my Light, my Strength, my Song.



 

Little children

The innocence of their little faces,

staring wide-eyed at you.

That little beam

or gleam of mischievous fun

shining from their eyes.

They bounce and jump,

and walk about,

not afraid to speak their minds.

"Concentrate!" they remind themselves,

if they drift off in a daze.

"Four more and then I'm done!"

One yawns sleepily and requests to wash

his face,

while another in all adult seriousness

is absorbed in her own work.

Active little ones, bursting with fun.

Full of energy...

Amusement abounds, coupled with 

several exasperated chidings.

Little children are just

themselves.

Wednesday

I haven't been posting recently because too many things have happened... yes, I know, I'm lazy. :) Yesterday, I went to a wholesale shop selling flowers with S.M to choose complimenting side flowers for the main flowers she has chosen to decorate the wedding aisle. It was super cold there and I was glad that I heeded her advice to bring a jacket. It felt like walking in a gigantic fridge! Actually, it wasn't really that big, maybe just around 3 rooms wide. hahaha. Well, anyway, when I first stepped into the room, the cold hit me and soaked me through my skin because I didn't wear my jacket prior to going in, so it took some time for me to acclimatise. My teeth were almost chattering and my jacket didn't seem to be warm enough, so for the first few minutes, I wasn't helpful to S.M. I think because I was suppose to help her go around and search for suitable side flowers. I was feeling too cold to move. :D The flowers in that mini winterland are really pretty though. In the end, we decided on some yellow side flowers (I forgot what they were called). We also purchased some other things like florist wire and paper. When S.M. requested for some of the flowers she had ordered and the yellow ones we had chosen to do a sample, the boss was so kind to give her a generous few stalks of each for free! She was really happy because she had been worried the night before about how she was going to do a sample for us to see and help in the decorating. Thank God! It was my first time being in a wholesaler place that sells flowers. I like the place and apparently they sell the cheapest flowers among the row of wholesalers along Thomson road. Currently, my favourite of what I saw there would be the baby's breath. :) It's really nice to see God's creation, even in such a sterile environment. I'm looking forward to be involved in helping out with the decorations this Friday, it'll be my first time being part of the process of a wedding! Usually, when I'm invited to a wedding, I'm only there at the end, after all the decorations have been completed. I think it'll be an interesting and fun experience. :)

The hols so far has been full of events and lessons learnt. School will be reopening in 2 weeks :( It'll be a whole new set of modules and 'foreign' subjects. A math related subject will be included called "Intro to Statistics & Research". Not a big fan of numbers, I hope my lessons will be enjoyable and that I won't have war with this module.

The zoo

I've been quite lazy to post lately. Many things have happened during the holidays so far. I'm kind of suffering from fatigue from the onslaught of activities which have nevertheless been fun. One of the recent places I went to was, the zoo! My aunt had her company's corporate pass to the zoo so she invited my mum, younger bro and I to go along with her. We had free admission and didn't have to queue for tickets so it was quick entry. :) My last visit to the zoo was 2 years ago, also, with my aunt. haha, anyway, the zoo hasn't changed much. We visited almost every animal and show stated on the zoo map. I think the monkeys were the funniest and most in variety of species there, well, maybe, aside from the variety of snakes.(not that snakes are funny, they're scary) There's a new show featuring domestic animals such as dogs and cats performing, its target audience is children, I think the show just started a year ago. It's not too bad for a new show, just that I think there was more entertainment than the animals performance. The trainers of the animals even performed break dance moves. Here are some pictures I took at the zoo:

  {An elephant placing a hat on the trainer by using suction to grip the hat by its trunk}

                      

{I love the beauty of this butterfly, it's a pity that I couldn't capture it clearly}

                            

                                                    

{a bat eating from a bunch of fruits}

                                                     

           {A monkey we saw sitting randomly on a sign ( I forgot what the sign was, I think it was something to do with reptiles. haha) I wonder how it got there. It looks bored.}

{Giraffes! My favourite animals}

                                                     

{I think this is an ostrich? I had some trouble capturing its picture because it kept moving its neck up and down.}

{Two cuties we saw near the entrance of the zoo}

{Mutualism in action}

{Rhino}

{Close-up of a dragonfly I saw}

{A monkey we saw hanging there... it was facing us initially just staring into space, then after some time, it swung its arms and faced backwards and stayed like that for quite a long while... it was quite funny... :) }

{I think this is an iguana but I forgot, it looks really comfortable on its perch}

Ok, that's all. :)

19th International Coastal cleanup

I went for the coastal cleanup last saturday. It was quite an eye-opening experience for me. :) We were assigned to Chek Jawa to do the coastal cleanup. Woke up at 5.45am and took a train to Eunos station, then a bus to the jetty and then took a ride in a boat pulau ubin and then a van directly to the area where our school was assigned to do the coastal cleanup. Armed with gloves, trashbags and cutters, we cleaned up the length of beach. There was seriously a lot of rubbish and the variety of rubbish found was quite shocking. There were plastic bags, fishing nets, ropes, those big plastic drums, tyres etc. and things like an intact wooden folding chair! There was a list we had to mark against, using the statistical method where you put 4 horizontal lines and the 5th vertical line across for each item we picked and threw into the trash bag. Picking rubbish may seem easy but there were some things like having to bend low to untangle ropes entangled on the mangrove branches and picking up sacks filled with sand that required a lot of strength and effort. We only cleaned up for an hour or so because of the incoming tide but we collected quite a lot of things... filling 23 trash bags! I still find it quite unbelievable that people can throw things like a chair into the sea! Why do these people treat the sea like a rubbish bin. We cleared rubbish on only a 50m stretch of beach on Chek Jawa and already found so much rubbish... imagine the amount of rubbish dumped around the entire island! Through this coastal cleanup, I've seen the extent of human damage done to the environment of non-biodegradable waste. You should have seen the "decorations" of rubbish and ropes etc. on the mangrove branches... Yup, so I realised that it is very important to dispose of waste appropriately and how important it is to look after the environment. 

Here are the statistics of our cleanup.

Teachers' Day

I went back to St Marg's today. It was fun meeting Joanne, Marion, and Marisa as well as others like Ji Yin, Xin Xuan and Xuan Rong, even though I do see 4 of them in school occasionally. :D We met Mrs. Seet, Mr Ang, Ms Lee, Ms Lum and Mdm Wang Li. Teachers' day seems to be quite a quiet day. After the chaotic 'rush hour' in the staff room, students clad in their colourful house shirts thronged home. Anyway, it was still great talking with the teachers and Ms Lee treated us all to ice-cream at the Student hub! We repeatedly refused but she insisted in the end... aiyo, I didn't give her anything for teachers' day. The ice-cream tasted good. :) Oh, and something interesting (or scary) happened, somehow, the principal approached us when we were waiting for Ms Lee who was having a consultation with a student and found out that we were all from poly. She asked us about our courses and whether we enjoyed it and suddenly she asked us if we could talk to the sec 5s about our courses. I don't know about the others, but I was stunned and my body froze for a second. Her statement caught me completely by surprise... followed by a slight dread and the 'oh no' groan. (I have stage fright...) In the end, she took down our names and phone numbers. I'm really scared if she calls. But I do wonder though, not to be judgemental, if she knew that we were express students (not to be 'high and mighty' either, we're all students).

Anyway, 4 of us went for lunch at an interesting place in Bras Basah complex. I didn't know that there was a block of flats above the complex. haha... nice windy place though. We ate our packed lunch from the food court there.

 I didn't see many other ex-students today. There's the new sports complex... but I miss the green field in that spot.

Whoopie Pies! :)

I had fun making whoopie pies! :)))

Monday

So many thoughts fill my mind that it's hard to organise and pen them down sometimes. Today, I played badminton and captain's ball and finally after a long while, got to attend Bright Lights. Right now, I'm trying to stick to a challenge of finishing the New Testament according to a schedule by the Navs by this October. It's been consistent so far although there are times when I still struggle to read and meditate. The study break so far has been quite packed for me but there have been some breathers...


 I guess the good thing about the school system now is that when there are holidays, we don't have pieces of homework to do nor projects although we do have to study for exam but still, it's a different kind of experience of a break now and a break then during secondary school where the holidays seemed like school.

YOG has been quite exciting so far, although sadly, Singapore has not bagged many medals. But, it's not the winning that counts, it's the whole process and experience of learning from top athletes around the world. I think that YOG will be a great experiential platform for athletes in Singapore to learn from other athletes and to improve. Haha, YOG is really history in the making...it's cool having an international community of athletes and to be part of a host country for a mini olympics. When I think of Olympics, it's always a very grand picture, like how they always show it on television. Never did I picture that Singapore would also host an olympics, despite it being a mini one; the Youth Olympics. It's awesome just to see the youth olympics aired on television on home ground with Singaporeans. ... I love the thrill of sports even though I'm not a sporty person. :D

Alright, I don't know what else to type now, I'm simply rambling out my jumbled thoughts. haha.:)

Witnessing

I really thank God for the chance to be able to witness to others about HIM. Although it's challenging for me now because of the boldness required to approach a complete stranger I'm glad I'm able to learn from S.M., my leader in the Navs. My prayer is that those who are witnessed to will have receptive hearts to hear about Him and will seek Him. haha, although there are times of rejection, witnessing can be exciting. :) Thank God for the opportunity this afternoon. :)

Website woes

I'm now currently waiting for the 3rd part out of 9 split zipped components of my video presentation to load. Sigh, out of 3 zipped folders that i needed to submit for the website, only 2 managed to squeeze in on time... Thank God that at least the main folder (containing the website!) was in time otherwise I would get 0 marks. *phew*. After going through this nerve-wrecking assignment, I don't think I'll ever venture into the IT line of web designing. At leisure, it's fine, but with a dateline... woah, the technical tediousness gets to me...I panic like crazy. Now, that the last website assignment is over, I can finally concentrate on my studies during this 3 weeks of study 'break'. The past 2 weeks have been just... crazy and dramatic, especially last Tuesday. I had to submit both my final term essay and the psych group project due at 5pm and 3pm respectively. Time management is really of the essence. That day was a first for me too, in that i skipped lunch (I don't skip meals). It was quite a comical sight to behold for the submission of the psych analysis project. Our group was rushing like crazy in the library to touch up on our 2000 word essay and video (cutting and joining together in Windows movie maker). I downloaded converter programs to find the most suitable one until I don't think I want to try converting another video again. We only needed a small segment from each of the 2 you tube videos of the video we chose to showcase the social learning theory but it took so much effort just to cut out 2 sections and join it together with WMM. I slept at 3 am (another first) on a usual school day the day before, being successful in converting the actual disc parts. BUT, it took extremely long to load all the clips in WMM even till the next day! In the end, thank God, a classmate helped us to convert the youtube videos (we had originally decided against using the youtube videos because of the bad quality so that's why I was trying to use the original cd to try and convert the format, cut the parts we needed and join it in WMM. ) So, after all the effort, the original bad quality videos were used still, but it's better than nothing in that crazy moment of time. Every second counted. I was adding in English subtitles (as it's 小孩不笨) and well i guess my adrenaline was really rushing. It would take about half an hour converting the disc. So, holding my computer, charger and external disc drive (with cd, still copying movie over), I went with 2 of my classmates to the HMS office which was quite a distance away with a few flights of stairs to counter. On the way, I saw at least 2 groups of people running to the building as well. It was very dramatic. In the end, we managed to submit by the time our lecturer came (which was half an hour after the submission time to the pigeon hole). Thank God. 

Thursday

Today was a little different from typical Thursday. I didn't have to attend written communications class nor sociology tutorial. Instead, I went for consultation with my writ com. lecturer concerning my final term paper and had e-learning for sociology. Thank God that I didn't fail my APA referencing test and that my final term paper draft is not too full of major corrections to make. I'm really looking forward to the study break in a week's time... even though it's supposed to be a break for studying. :) (cos thereafter  is exam). Now, I'm working on a website assignment using Adobe Dreamweaver. It's interesting and cool to be able to create a website but the CSS thingy is really tedious. Still, I guess the results will be worth it. :D  I'm typing now amidst the sounds of the violin and the piano. Live radio... :D CCA will be starting soon.

Happenings

Aside from studying, these two weeks have been really eventful! My seventeenth birthday has just passed. I'm another year older. So fast. I'm glad that God has brought me through 16 years and has taught me many many things about Him. I hope to continue growing in Him and shining for His Name! This year my birthday has been lovely... I had a surprise cake (from Swee Ming), lunch with Uncle Alvin's family, Sunday School celebration and dinner with my family as well as awesome wishes from friends. :)

In Christ Alone, I place my trust. He is my Light, my Strength, my Song.

I read this verse on my birthday:
" I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust."

Psalm 91:2

I'm thankful that the LORD reminded me that I have Him to anchor on and do not need to be anxious about anything. In God, I trust.

A week has passed

Mon: APA referencing test
Tue: Intro to community services test
Wed: Intro to Sociology presentation
Thurs: Long day- attended TCP talk, had free ice-cream!
                         - ended school at 10pm after strings cca

Fri: -Sports & Wellness in the morning (badminton) at 8am and Jumpstart
      -Mum went to hospital to do some checks
      -Helping out at Toa Payoh Family Service Centre
      -Violin lesson

Sat: -Meet up for community services project
       -Denim Challenge (Our class was posted to Bukit Batok to collect denim clothing for World Vision. It was door-to-door and quite interesting but tiring. :D)
       -Strings concert which was quite disappointing but I think I bonded more with the strings people through it. :)
Sun: Going to watch Xi Yun's strings concert!

Hectic week

It's the middle of the week now and I feel so exhausted. Haha, can't believe I'm still up at this hour, waiting to print powerpoint slides for a project. Tomorrow will be another long day. At least, 2 tests are over, now, I'm left with 2 projects and 1 final essay plus strings concert. Oh LORD, I need strength.

Tired

Sheer exhaustion. Violin exam today was rather terrible I think because I was nervous. Yes, again. Yet, I'm thankful for the opportunity to be able to take the exam. I need to learn to look beyond the notes, into the music. To play music, not notes. Ok, now, I've got to get back to essaying.

Redang Island

At Berjaya Resort

Our family went to Redang Island recently. It's my first time going to West Malaysia and also taking a plane from Seletar airport instead of Changi airport. Redang island is idyllic with clear waters, corals and marine life. We did a lot of snorkeling there; it's my first time snorkeling. Haha, I was a little nervous about snorkeling at first but found out that it wasn't that bad floating and swimming in my life jacket while peering through my snorkel goggles, breathing through my mouth, into the watery depths to see colourful corals and all sorts of fishes (even clownfishes, 'nemos' swimming in and out of sea anemone!). It was fun swimming with them literally. I found out that I don't like stepping on dead coral, especially those big ones on the seabed near the coast. It's sad that those corals were once colourful and vibrant... alive, with fishes swimming and co-existing with them. Tourism does have it's downsides, especially with throngs of people swimming to see coral. We definitely need to take care of the natural environment, otherwise it'll be depleted eventually. But, I'm really in awe at God's creation... being there and having a glimpse at the marine world is fascinating!

At Berjaya resort

The sand there is really fine. It's like caster sugar. :D

We saw someone paragliding there... looked really fun but it's expensive. :)

View in the morning

I think it was high tide at the time so we had to wade through the seawater when we reached shore.:)

Our room at Redang Lagoon

Francis enjoying the tractor ride which is suppose to carry our luggage.

Sunrise view from Redang Lagoon

Love the formation of clouds.

Clear waters

Fishermen! We saw them while riding on the speedboat on the way to another place where we were supposed to stay but couldn't stay at on the first day because it was fully booked. (it's cheaper to stay there) ;)

Term Break is here!

Yay!! Term break is finally here. I just finished my very 1st and only common test paper on IT theory today. It was somewhat challenging and I forgot some things but oh well, it's done... Thank God for bringing me through it and for granting me the wisdom to answer the questions. :)

This morning, I met up with the Navigator ladies for quiet time. It was refreshing and rejuvenating to hear each individual sharing on how they've meditated on a certain verse in the portion of scripture for the day and how they are going to apply it in their lives. I feel that I've learnt a lot just by listening to them because each have different insights on the same verse and I'm able to look at the verses from different perspectives.
 This verse caught my attention today: 

"The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen." Romans 16:24

It reminded me of God's grace and that His Grace is sufficient for me to live. Thank You God for Your Grace.

Today, Swee Ming (who has been doing bible study with me) gave me  this gift... food! Haha, I think I'm going to get fat with all these snacks. But that's beside the point. I'm touched by her kindness and blessing. Before common test, one of the ladies who was at the quiet time gave me a packet of snacks to munch after the test and make-up sociology lecture which ended at 1 pm. I was  pleasantly surprised and also touched by her sparing a thought for me. I was hungry after the lecture (which was immediately after my common test) and ate the granola bar, mini bak kua and green tea sweet in the pack that the kind sister gave me. :) haha, I didn't have to spend money on buying food. The snacks were delicious... oishii neh!

Our family will be going to Malaysia this monday... I'm excited!

On a side note, I really thank God for bringing me through this first term of "resocialisation" in NP as sociology puts it. :) I've learnt many new subjects, frequent the library more often for research, had a taste of being a leader in a group project, did 3 essays with research, did group projects and hands on learning experience in social organisations, learnt how to be more independent and made new friends as well as adjusted to a new environment plus going through my very 1st test today. It is really all by His Grace. :)

Children's Camp

It has been an interesting 2 days of Children's Camp so far... :) This year the craft centre has become mobile because of the lack of classrooms. Our craft stuff had to be systematically organised per craft and arranged in baskets that we can easily carry along. Thank God that this year we have sufficient helpers and that so far the crafts were able to be done within the time limit and all the children were able to complete the craft within the time. :D The younger children are so adorable. As one of the crafts involves writing the memory verse 1 John 3:1, you could see their marked efforts. One child firmly gripped his pencil, constantly glancing at the sample verse and wrote. In between words, he would place his index finger as a 'space' and proceed cautiously to write the next word. :) The whole process was conscientious and neat! It was really cute.

This year, the bible stories are based on Peter. The past two days, were on the themes of being "Accepted by Jesus" and "Protected by Jesus". It has been a good reminder and lesson for me to read the passages on Peter relating to these themes so far. I find that, even though I'm not a camper, these themes are extremely relevant to me even now. So I'm glad that God placed me to serve in this camp.

Tomorrow is ITabs common test... my very 1st test in poly. LORD, I pray that I'll rely on Your Wisdom and not my own.

Thank You for this day! :)

Children

The smiles linger
on their faces.

Several cheeky ones grin,
running and running around,
shouting, dancing and screaming.

Each face is different,
each temperament unique.
All are so
very special.

An experience I'll not forget.

Hanging on

My brain feels tired from thinking. My eyes feel tired from staring at the illuminated screen. The complexity of video projects! It's so time-consuming, energy draining and at times, mind-boggling. You fiddle here and fiddle there with different effects, make sure the formats match... etc. I think my mind doesn't really work well with technology. I prefer books to staring at a screen.

Ok, enough pessimism. Today, I had a refreshing time of devotion in the morning with some ladies from the Navigators in school. We shared our reflections from verses that spoke to us from the passage, Romans 12: 9-21. I liked ALL the verses. :D But the verse that spoke the most to me was, verse 12.

It reads: " Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer." Romans 12:12

It was a timely reminder in this difficult time to continue holding on to God, to trust and to have faith in Him. Indeed, to rejoice in the hope that gives joy. Also, to be patient in times of difficulty, no matter how much discomfort it brings. God has a reason for everything. Most importantly, He reminded me to continue in prayer. I find that it's not always easy to pray especially when you feel discouraged, disheartened or sad. Recently, God has been teaching me about prayer, theoretically and practically. :D In Sunday School, we have been learning about prayer. Yesterday, we prayed for the different aspects in the lives of the church leaders. Personally, I've never prayed for the church leaders in so specific a manner before, praying for their spiritual life, their family, their needs, their ministry etc. Through doing praying for them, I learn that it is important to keep them in constant prayer. Leaders have a heavy responsibility in leading the church and serving in their area of ministry. However, as members, we too can support them with prayer. Not only do we absorb what they give but give and support. After all, the church is one body.

Practically, God has also taught me about prayer. For children's camp this year, we had to collect at least 50 glass jars for a craft that we were doing. I prayed for God to provide at least 50 jars or more so that there would a sufficient quantity for the children. In 3 weeks, we only had a minimal amount. But now, a week away from the camp, we have collected 50 and more jars! Praise the LORD! :D I was quite worried about it initially but decided to trust in His Provision. So, yes, I shall continue in prayer.

Friday

Although it's Vesak day today and I don't have to go to school, I've had a full day.

1. Cycling at East Coast Park (8am)
2. Meeting Arifah at City Hall to do video project (2.30pm)
3. Meeting up with Joo Ye and for a short while, with Marisa (6pm-9pm)

I'm really, really, really, really tired now... and there's still a lot of things to do. LORD, please help me not to rely on my own strength to do things but on Yours.

Thank You for the time of fellowship with people today! :)

Sociology

Today is tiring Thursday with the 3 hour break in between. Sociology today was very interesting. We worked in groups to think of a little "experiment" that broke the social norms of our society. Our group decided to hitch-hike, using the hitch-hiker's thumb to signal cars along the road. The very first car gave us a pleasant surprise... the driver actually stopped! and asked us if we needed a ride. Of course, we told him that we were just doing a little "experiment" so we thanked him for his kindness. :) His informal positive sanction was heartening though. :D There were 3 cars who stopped and agreed to let us hitch a ride. The other drivers' reactions were quite interesting to observe too. Some cars swerved to the middle of the road to avoid our outstretched hands, signalling the hitch-hikers thumb while others just looked, smiled and drove on, others looked mildly amused and surprised. Overall, it was a fun experience and I would like to do that kind of experiment again. :D We had a sharing in class about our observations and some were really hilarious... Fortunately, we were only required to violate social norms at a Folkway level, which is a casual violation, the lowest level of violation. Crazy ideas, turned into experiments can be rather... well crazy. :D


Thank God for bringing me through another day!

The special ball

For now, I've yet to understand this special ball...
It exudes interesting qualities:
Bright on the outside
yet bursting with air within.

I've been with this special ball
for years. It has always been unique.
There is always this joy at seeing it.

Now, it has suddenly become too bouncy to bounce,
too sticky to handle
so different from the very special ball I first knew.

Oh how I wished it remained the way it was in the first place,
when it was young, lively and with just the right amount of air
How I really wish...

惊讶

好久不见
当被瞒着的事
便 清楚，
我 感到 非常
惊讶。

有 很 多 事情
我们 不能 逃走。
因为 怎么逃，
怎么 瞒
上 蒂都 知 道。

Happy Mothers Day!

The shrill sound of my sms ring tone broke the stillness of the early morning and my sleep. Francis had messaged," Jie, remember the breakfast?" My mum,(who was awake) asked me who messaged so early and I couldn't reply. :) Inwardly, I groaned... Francis, why did you have to message?

Anyway, so we managed to get into the kitchen and start preparing to fry Francis's forte which is, an omelette. :D He used milk, bacon, eggs, "mozzarella cheese"(unknowingly, he had used slices of mango which really looked like mozzarella cheese) and garnished it with spices. (all salvaged from bits and pieces in the fridge) I made instant green tea in a teacup and he presented the omelette, placing a slice of cake (recently baked by my mum) beside it on the plate to fill up the gap. We then woke up mum (who had went back to sleep) and served her breakfast. :) Haha, it was hilarious when she tasted the "mozzarella cheese" and found that it was crunchy and even sour! That was when Francis realised his mistake. :D The omelette tasted quite good actually... :) Fortunately he didn't put in durian (which we had on hand) as I objected quite vehemently to the idea of durian with egg. Kudos to the chef still though for cooking!

In the evening, we went for dinner with my maternal grandmother at the same teochew restaurant we went to the year before on Mothers Day as well. Great food... I love the yam paste dessert (a teochew specialty)

Thank God for mothers! :))





 

迷路

有时候，觉得 伤心，
有时候， 觉得难过。
有时候，为你担心，

为什么 你 偏偏 要 走这 条路？
我 的 脑 有 时 一 片混乱，
一 只在 想 为什么。为什么？

每天 只能 为你 祷告

Wednesday: ITabs

Photo Taken and Edited by: Natalie Law

More Time!

A day goes by,
than a few days,
than a week.
Whoosh... just like that.

The things that need to be done aren't done
and the things that needn't be done are done.

The result?
An overwhelmed mind,
flu and an exhausted body.

Time, I need more time

but yet I know,
it's prioritization
that I lack.

Trapping Water

It's been a hectic week. I feel like I'm trapping water in a pool, trying to stay afloat in a pool of assignments. :D Today was a nice breather though, we had our first badminton session which was quite proper and enjoyable. We also built a roller coaster using materials provided during the IS (inter-disciplinary) module after sports& wellness. As a group, we had slightly over 60mins to think of an idea an build the roller coaster which had to include turns, spirals and last at least 4 seconds if possible. The 'rider' was a marble. It was interesting but really challenged me to think out of the box and as a group, just construct by 'trial and error,' within the time limit. The other groups had some pretty great constructions... all very unique. We also had 'market' our roller-coaster, to present the selling points of it. Some groups were had credible selling points and even themes like Alice in Wonderland, decorating their roller coaster to suit the theme. :D Some were quite hilarious too. :D

Thank God for the breather. :)))

First week of school :)

I survived! :D School has been interesting, full of life, busy and full of new things for me to learn and get used to. I like my class... it's small, with a great mix of people who have a passion for the course. :D The subjects we've been learning so far have been, written communication, psychology, sociology, community services and ITabs (which teaches us IT stuff to help us out with using IT for our course). Projects are slowly piling up, giving  us little time to catch our breaths. Simply, our lecturer told us during tutorial, "This is poly life." :)

It's also a small, small world. I met familiar people almost everyday. They were either my sec 1 school friends, smss friends or my primary school mates. I didn't intentionally see them, in fact most of  them who were my primary school mates and sec 1 school friends tapped on me to ask me if I remembered them! Some of them look so different, I can't recognize them. :D Thank God for all the familiar faces during the week and for new friends, as well as for helping me find my way around. :) Hahaha, I'm prone to getting lost (as I'm not street smart) so I checked out the venues for the classrooms and lecture theatres we had to go to everyday online on the campus map, to make sure I roughly knew where the venues were. Punctuality is taken very seriously. If one is a minute late till 15 mins, one would be marked as late. If one arrives after 15 mins, one is marked as absent.

Today, we had sports and wellness briefing and I took up badminton as my sport. It's going to be intensive for 11 weeks learning badminton proper+ competitions in the later weeks. For people like me, who hardly exercise, it's great to keep fit and have fun away from studying.

Thank God for bringing me through this first week at school.

An eventful week (100th post!)

Ok, randomly, this is my 100th post!

Seriously... this has been an eventful week.

First, was the HMS (humanities school) orientation camp. It was really full of activities and my orientation group was extremely enthusiastic... it seems like their energy never dies and they can really scream their lungs out. :) Thank God for safety, good sleep, familiar faces and for a fun time! He actually opened some witnessing opportunities for me but I didn't really make use of it well. (jolts me to be prepared next time... the harvest is plentiful!) God gave me a few pleasant surprises during camp, I met some secondary schoolmates (1 who will be in the same course :) ), 2 primary school friends (1 who was in my orientation group) and placed me in a group who were majority girls. (only 1 boy... actually in hms, boys are a minority.)
 Ok, about the witnessing part. Actually it started with me reading a portion of scripture before I went to sleep (I brought the small bible, only the new testament). On the 1st night, my room mates (2 of them both free thinkers), just noticed that I was reading a bible and when asked if I was a Christian, I said yes. They went to sleep after that. The next night, we didn't have a lights-out, so we decided to stay up longer to chat. I read my bible, while they talked for awhile. After I read it, I joined their conversation and KY ( one of them) asked me, "Actually, what is the Bible about?" Her question caught me by surprise and I was momentarily stunned. Her question seemed simple, yet I could not seem to think of a satisfactory explanation, so I showed her the Bible and asked her to read it. (that was not really wise of me actually, come to think about it) After flipping the Bible for awhile she replied that it was very "cheem." I didn't know how to continue... Then the other girl piped up, "I know, the Bible has Matthew, Mark and all that right?" ( it turns out that she attended a church before) and she also asked if I was a Protestant or Catholic. I was surprised to know that she knew there was a difference between the two denominations. Our conversation lingered for awhile on religion and then drifted away to other topics. In my heart, I was thinking, "Oh man, I just missed such a great witnessing opportunity because I wasn't prepared to give an answer when I should be prepared." I'm sure God put this incident in place to remind me to always be prepared to give an answer to anyone. ( as written in James)  

Next, it was Francis's frantabulous fourteenth birthday! ( heh heh, I made the too sweet 'toy drum cake.' It was just jelly beans and chocolate all over, from the inside out. It tasted too sweet for me. :D) My mum improvised the drumsticks. She wrapped a pair of chopsticks with aluminium foil. :D  Haha, it was fun...

Lastly, was the "Grace" charity concert which I self-dragged myself into which I originally, simply intended to support the players by watching but ended up performing too. :D  It was tiring but fun to play with strings again and meet everyone. :)

                                                          The blue-tie(d) players. :))

Thank God for bringing me through yet another week, for the fun and all the lessons He's teaching me!





                                                

Getting busy

School is starting soon. Next week I'll be having orientation and school starts on the following Monday. I'm excited and nervous at being in a new environment.I've been praying for God to provide some godly Christian friends and to prepare my heart to be discerning.

Besides school starting, I've been partly 'dragged' (that's because I also partly agreed) to be part of the concert coming up. I hope that I'll be able to memorise the pieces, especially the repeats and that I won't forget because I'll not be able to practice for the 2 days that I'll be at orientation. There's also children's camp craft preparation. My leadership skills are really bad and well I've not been really focusing on it as I should have, honestly. I've still a lot to learn and am learning to take constructive feedback. Haha, have to keep telling myself not to be lazy and not to be self-defensive! Surely, God is teaching me something through this. :)

The 4 month hiatus from studying is about to end. Actually, although I'm not studying, there are other things that keep me busy, so I won't say that I'm very free in a way even though many people think so. :D

Thank God for this day! 

Lost sheep

Lost sheep
strayed out of the pen.

Wandering

in the wilderness.

The Shepherd watches,
He knows.

He will bring His lost sheep back
to the fold.

Accounting

Went to help Aunty Mary today. :) I had a good time of fellowship and work. :D During this break before school starts, I've been helping Aunty Mary and learning the ropes of using the computerised program. After awhile, one gets the hang of it but it can get tiring for the eyes because what I'm doing is mainly the book keeping aspect of accounting. It's so different from poa in real practice because you have to sort of visualise what's happening in your head, there are no specified t-accounts drawn out. Of course, computerised accounting is definitely much easier. 

Based on my learning with 师父 so far, I've observed that accountants are generally very organised, responsible and trustworthy. Hahaha, today I learnt that the NEA covers radiation protection (like in x-rays in hospitals), previously, I only associated the NEA with the nature environment like eliminating dengue mosquitoes, revamping and protecting parks, picking up litter etc. It's interesting to know that the 'environment' that NEA is dealing with actually covers quite a wide spectrum of things. :)  This shows that I really have little knowledge on what the NEA does. :)

Good Friday

Today, we had the first session of S.O.P (Seasons Of Prayer). It was great to have a time of silent reflection and reminder of His love in sending Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. Indeed, "His love endures forever!" Thank you LORD for your love and grace.

Thursday

I went back to collect my O level certificate today+yearbook. It was awesome going back to school again. There were some minor infrastructure changes but other than that, the ambience was still quite the same. Everyone, including the students seem to be very busy with activities. Even Miss L. has taken up heavier responsibilities now; although the few of us who went took waited quite awhile for her to finish conducting the interview, it was worth it to get to see her and talk to her again. Love her cheery smile and optimism. :) Haha... M. and I got to talk to her a little longer because of M. 's 'boldness' at calling out to Miss L. for a lift when she was on the way out. :D It was meant to be a joke but she really stopped for us! :D It was a great privilege and we had a longer time to chat with her. :D

I managed to catch up with some classmates who also went back today... long time no see... :) it was pleasant chatting and we had a hale of a time laughing. How my cheeks ache! :D

S.O.S

S.O.S God,
my physical strength fails me.
Only you can talk through
to one who is blind-folded
and refuses to take off the blind-fold.

Its agonizing to be the onlooker.

S.O.S to the King
is my daily call
to HIM.

Hope

"Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me?
hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance."
Psalm 42:5

Words

Words. They can bring life, or they can kill... seemingly harmless but lethal if used wrongly. Bright Lights meeting today was about this topic.

"Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart,
be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer."
Psalm 19:14

I learned about how words can hurt and words that we should avoid like, bad words, harmful words, false words, proud words and inappropriate/unnecessary words. There was something trifle about bad words (besides the literal vulgarities) that I didn't really take note of before which is, a good word used in a good way can also be misused in a bad way. In a way, they are puns, but more often self-created bad puns made popular.

Instead of using bad words, we should choose words of truth, words of love, words of grace and words of forgiveness. (Eph 4)

For me, the real test comes when I'm angry; the internal response in my heart comes out into an external one. To speak words of the above of truth,love,grace and forgiveness is not going to be very easy if my proud nature persists...(it still does), especially in trying situations but pruning isn't comfortable is it?

Chinese songs

Recently, I was asked to type chords for the Chinese service on the soft copy from the hard copy. It's quite interesting because I tend to pause for each song to read the lyrics which are so meaningful and beautiful. The organ was used a lot by the Chinese service and that's why, even though there were proper notations, some scores still had the cipher notation (thanks to Lynn, I finally know the proper term for the 'numbers' I usually call it. :) ) written above the black notes! Haha, I saw one score which even had a term similar to con brio , it was written in brackets; 坚定有力地.

Chinese is cool. :)

East Coast Park

I went to East Coast Park today with some classmates. :) It's the first time I took public transport there. The ride was really long... Anyway, the weather in the morning wasn't very optimistic to begin with... dark clouds loomed and it rained, not cats and dogs but it rained. Weather forecasts predicted cloudy skies and basically wet weather. M. and I prayed for the rain to stop and decided to go ahead with cycling. When we reached there, it didn't rain yet though dark clouds hovered above. We had lunch and than rented our bikes. About 10 mins cycling, the raindrops started falling, in a drizzle at first and then in a sudden downpour, forcing us to take immediate refuge in a shelter nearby. We took refuge twice when the rain was heavy but at other times, when there was no rain or when it was a heavy drizzle (about the rest of the time), we rode on. In the later half of our ride, I couldn't stand the rain so I held my umbrella with my left hand and cycled with my right hand holding the handle. It wasn't too bad actually, :) I thought I wouldn't be able to balance at first. It's so fortunate that M. 'forgot' to take a picture of me doing that because well, it'll look funny. :D My worst fear was that I couldn't brake in time if I were too get too close to a cyclist or had to squeeze through narrow spots between cyclists so I rode slower than the rest, behind them. (they weren't holding umbrellas)

Thank God for the good time of fellowship and cycling and for no accidents. There were some close shaves when K. and I came close to falling due to some people suddenly braking in front of us but we managed to keep our balance. :)

Overall, it was fun but I would prefer cycling when it's sunny, or just after it rains. :D

Performance

Went to watch my brother, Francis perform at SP today with his school band. The different aspects of the band were presented quite interestingly. :) The percussion was great...rhythm was kept consistent and the players all concentrated on their parts well. (I'm siding the percussion...haha, Frans) It's the first time I've seen Francis performing 'live' with his school band, usually I just hear him talking about it at home, practicing his rhythms on the drum pad, listening to recordings over and over and trying out tunes on the piano to play on the glockenspiel. He has band euphoria. :D
I thought that some parts were quite contained though...but overall a job well done. Oh, the singing by the vocalist was powerful and she was great too. :)

Sunflower

The bud
reflects in splendid green hues
against the sunlight.

As each day passes,
a petal unfolds.

Each unfolds,
yellow, soft and fragile.

A flower blooms,
the hidden beauty revealed.


All in His perfect timing.

Grace

Think about His love,
Think about His goodness,
Think about His grace
that's brought us through.

For as high as the heavens above,
so great is the measure of our Father's love
Great is the measure of our Father's love.

Phillip Yancey's book, "What's so Amazing about Grace?" has recently got me thinking about grace. The above, are part of the lyrics to a song that played in my head when I woke up in the morning about 2 days ago. Oh yeah, there's another one:

Why have You chosen me
out of millions
your child to be
You know all the wrong that I've done
O how could You pardon me,
Forgive my iniquity?
To save me, give Jesus Your Son

God's grace is so awesome and yet honestly, I rarely praise God for that and forget that He gives grace and I too should show grace to others.

Iris folding

I folded this iris following instructions from a craft magazine I borrowed from the library. At first, I thought that I wouldn't really do it... but I did! :) Usually, I just fantasize and say that I would do it when something inspires me and then, I don't or I procrastinate and soon, it becomes forgotten. Looking at the finished iris is definitely rewarding. :) So what exactly is this iris thing?
Quoting the magazine, "Iris Folding originated in Holland. It's a technique in which you fold strips of three or four coordinating papers depending on your design and then arrange them in a pattern to resemble the iris of an eye or camera."

The 3D look is pretty cool, the person who invented this craft is so innovative! I had lots of fun despite it being a little meticulous. :D

Music

"Without enthusiasm nothing real comes of art."

Robert Schumann
Rules for Young Musicians

"Always play as if a master heard you."

Robert Schumann
Rules for Young Musicians

Mark 13

The end times are near. Today's message was detailed, direct and powerfully delivered. It was very interesting to hear statistics of the world's food shortage, wars, natural disasters (tsunamis, floods... etc.) but chilling because of the large numbers. There are 4 seals: Deception (Rev 12:9, 2 Thess 2:9-12), Wars (Mark 13:7), Famine (Mark 13:8, Rev 6:6) and Death- disasters, cyclones, tsunamis etcs (Luke 21:25). Deception is what I'm afraid of... a 'watering down' of the faith. God, please help me to stay rooted in You and to present You as you are to others and not any other way.

I learnt a new word too... called, eschatology

, which is a study of the end times. Our youth Sunday school may embark on a series of Revelation studies with the speaker if consensus has been made. So far, response has been quite good. :) I hope there will be a class for it.

" Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is."
Mark 13:33

Vancouver Winter Olympic Games

Was watching the coverage of the winter olympic games on television and really enjoyed the exhilaration of being a television spectator. :D It's so cool to watch the winter games because we don't have these kind of sports here... no snow, no ice, summer all year round. :) The athletes are great and their stamina and determination makes me admire them. I love competitive sports.

Tuesday

... just a random note: just now I was cracking eggs to scramble and 3 of them had double yolks! No wonder they were big eggs, my mum was saying maybe its ivf or something. :) She bought it from the market nearby.

Ok, getting back to my main post. Today I had piano exam in the morning slightly earlier than 10.59am, the stated time. Thank God for a nice examiner who's an elderly Scottish and was very friendly and gave quite a number of hints. On commenting on the texture of the piece he played for me for the last part of aural, I said the texture was homophonic. There was a pause and he played a part of it again, more audibly emphasising the imitative texture of the piece, to which I immediately realised my error and responded that the texture was polyphonic. Giving a smile of relief (it seems) he heartily voiced a "Thank you!" confirming that his hint had got through and I had responded correctly. Oh my, I was quite ashamed that I couldn't pick out the texture especially if it was a Baroque piece. Sad to say, my pieces did not go without slips, including scales. Double sigh. Aural was unexpectedly quite ok, I thought I wouldn't be able to identify the modulations and chords at all but God enabled me. ( I had been worried about it and prayed about it... He answered! :) ) Thank God too for the prayers by my family and friends for my brother and I who both took the same grade exam consecutively today.
...I sincerely hope though, that the kind examiner would have better players than me to listen to... :D... he was really patient.

With piano exam done (unless I have to retake), I can focus more on violin exam coming up and music theory (I've forgotten quite a lot of grade 6 stuff already). Taking music exams and learning music is costly and I don't want to waste the opportunity given to me... so even though I've felt like giving up so many times and stared at my violin bow with agitation, with God's help, I'll press on. It does become easier though when I've crossed the challenge of mastering something but I've realised that in order not to lose the skill, I must not stop practicing and of course, practicing should not be a dead regime as well.

Prayer

God has a purpose in everything He does. Everything. Many times, I pray like how Francois Fenelon puts it in his book, Christian Perfection, "Too many people pray like little boys who knock at doors, then run away." We're doing this book in Sunday school now called, "Partners in Prayer," by John C. Maxwell. It's an exciting book for me and I'm looking forward to learning how to pray the right way and to pray without ceasing. Right now, I'm praying for a prodigal brother. Please bring him back LORD.

Immersed

I've recently been reading a book entitled, "The Last Sin Eater." The title itself already suggests the occupation of the sin eater. My dad bought the book, haha my house is a little like a mini library, so when a new book comes, I read it. :) The book is an unputdownable. For the first time, I read a book in about half a day. I like the story plot as the characters are metaphorical of Christian context. This fictional story by Francine Rivers allows readers like me to really step into the shoes of a person who is still living in fear and held in the bondage of sin and the longing to be free and at peace. Later as I read on, this little girl called Cadi Forbes and another boy are saved by hearing from the "man of God," a missionary to their clan in the highlands which were quite hostile to strangers. They experience joy and freedom in truth and even the sin eater was enlightened and freed from all his years of being a scapegoat that hindered the village from knowing that only the One could take their sins away, not mere man. As a 2nd generation Christian, I didn't really experience a dramatic joy when I received Christ but I feel free in Christ and am still learning to walk in Him. This story enabled me to get an inkling of how a first generation Christian feels at the intense freedom in Christ they feel when they believed in the truth and saw the light. I'm glad that I read this story. I think God is reminding me about His grace and mercy and that I too have a duty.

"I am the way, the truth, and the life:
no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
John 14:6