two cents worth?

A lot of things running through my mind these few days. I don't want an extremely lengthy post but I like blogging for archive sake.

I feel that life is interesting because it is peppered with interesting, unexpected things that happens.

This semester, God brought me a friend whom I think is very interesting. When we first had a meal together, I found out we share one same hobby!!! I went for an event he organised last night and I was the camerawoman. So, today my friend sent out a picture that i took and he mentioned this: *I didn't take this shot myself. I found someone who is like-minded! And I smiled because I think it's so nice to know someone thinks the same way as you. It's so nice to meet someone whom you know share certain hobbies or ideas with you. Don't you feel so?! It's like meeting a long lost twin. hehe. Maybe it'll be interesting to think about the friends you have and the special thing that you both share. Don't that make your friendship even more special? :)

xxx

For lunch today, I cooked. It's always good to hang out with friends from the same kampung - especially after so long! But, today I relive my childhood. Some of you know the friendship I have with David - a platonic friendship that started since we were kids. We've grown up and God in HIS goodness, brought us both to Singapore - a company we really appreciate! But today, we did something that we as kids used to do very often. I don't know if he remembers it or not. But, he used to come to my house after church and then we'll sit at the piano - playing and singing. Today we did the same thing. And I think that was special. :)

xxx

Shelby wrote on our church songbook that she so thoughtfully gave to me: May you be able to use it in times when there's silence that needs filling with song. There have been aplenty time where there's silence that needs filling with songs. And although I'm no sweet sounding songbird, I love to sing. Music fills a certain emptiness within. Music has a special place in my heart. And there are a lot of times, music (like poetry) echoes the things in our hearts much more competently that just mere words.

And in the past two days, there's a desire to sing which is much greater than any ordinary days.

And when times like this come, I miss shelby much more!!! :)

xxx

Weng Yan celebrated her 23rd birthday 5 days ago. Jee Leng, my sister, celebrated her 18th birthday 4 days ago. Jon celebrated his 24th birthday yesterday. With all the birthdays taking place, I'm just brought to realise how time really flies once you hit 20! One better make sure time is spent wisely, life is spent interesting and beneficially before it is all over.

xxx

I thank God for everything!!! :)

Only sweet and nice things shall be remembered!

Going back this time round was good.

First of all, I manage to spend much quality time with my family members. It wasn’t just stupid jokes but also talking about lives, which was very good!

I had meals with various people on Sunday – people whom I don’t usually have lunch with, which makes it even more interesting.

Didn’t had a clue that Kevin and Kok Choong was back so to see them on Sunday was such a delight. Then we went out for breakfast. Ah…..it was good. Then lunch with Mun Onn and Weng Soon was special too coz I seldom have lunch with these people. Of course, it was then that Mun Onn made that remark about me – the remark that stayed in my head for hours! Nono, it wasn’t a bad remark…it was neutral. I didn’t take it negatively too. I was just thinking. Hehe.

Then, we celebrated Joshua’s birthday. Happy 21^st birthday dude! Where else but our favourite SS14 A & W! :)

Came back to Singapore and was bed-ridden because I think I caught the stomach flu bug. Head aching from fever and stomach aching from the bug, I couldn’t move much nor stay awake comfortably nor could I go to sleep (because of the pain in my head!). It was quite torturous really! But, thank God for His healing hands! And for friends like Edgar, Jia Ying and Pei Yun!!!! God is good!!

quite something...

Liren, your blog post is really something!

Today was just quite a bit of running around. I didn't get to sleep well last night because of my cough, which is the kind that comes ferociously (what a word to use!hah) at night and tickles your throat and once you start, you won't stop till about 10-15 mins later or when you pop a sweet into your mouth. I was so afraid i'd wake my roommate up with all the coughing! With the lack of sleep, I only got up at about 9:30am, which is so late!

I went to the EL comp lab at 12noon to start on my take home quiz. I need to run the text on this software which version i am familiar with is undownloadable to my pc. And because i'm unfamiliar with the version of the software I downloaded to my PC, i couldn't be productive with the take home quiz. So, i figure, i better just go to school and use the comp lab. The thing is that the comp lab is usually locked and i wasn't too sure if my matric card (i.e.: student card) would grant me access to the lab and since it was noon time, I don't know if the technician would have gone for lunch. So, I prayed hard that somehow or rather, i'd be able to get to the comp lab and use the comp to do the work i'm suppose to. THANK GOD because when i got there, the door wasn't completely closed and Liling, Rachel and Phey Ying were there, and pei en too!!!! so yay!!!

Started with work and woah, it's really not easy man....no wonder matt spent so much time on it la... I was able to do 2 out of the 5 parts we were suppose to do. Then I had to rush to meet Karen and then there was Bible Study. Afterwhich I met up with Theresa for dinner. Wednesdays are my free day but they are seldom free. Either I mug on or I fill up my day meeting people. Whatever it is, it's a weekday, it's not suppose to be free. My free day is Sunday! haha.

Have you ever felt so angry with someone for giving wrong information that means a great deal to someone else? And for coercing that person to do something that he/she doesn't want to do with the wrong information you gave him/her? It's so terrible and I almost burst out in anger today! So frustrating! But, it was important that I didn't burst out in anger coz it would have been terrible! So I just had to try to understand what was happening and give grace and remember to love. Kept telling myself that Christ said "those who have been forgiven much, love much" - drawing the principle that if i've experienced much love from God, I should love others as well, even if i dont think the other person deserves it because I definitely don't deserve God's love too. So who am I to judge?

When I look at Karen and Wei Ting, truly I am very pleased. Not because they are growing to be superb christians but because they have been allowing me to be more involved in their lives and together we grow. We share our burdens and struggles and we aspire to grow together. I'm not there to make super christians. I am there to be a discipler. To lead. To grow. To share. To teach. To learn. To cry. To laugh. To love. And we do all that together. I am no super christian. Jesus said "make disciples" not "make super christians"...and i'm really enjoying my journey with these girls - not so much coz i think they have potentials of being used by God tremendously but because I see how they are just clinging on to their Lord, and together with the ups and downs, we journey hand-in-hand, and how they are standing firm on the Rock, on the very strong foundation!

Thank You God for blessing me with these girls!
And thank you God for also blessing me with friends such as these:


(frm left: JieYao, JeeLee, Jeremy, Edgar)
And an A+ to JieYao for editting the pic! haha. You're an A+ friend! :)

night of lame jokes...

I feel extremely guilty for going to Botak Jones for dinner. I could feel my heart beating 100 times faster. I was afraid I was going to get a heart attack! HAH! Met Yuen Ting and Candice there. Yuen Ting was doing a write up for Campus Observer while Candice was just packing dinner before she goes for church meeting. I was there with Mark and Jeremy. The queue for dinner was super long but thank God for a seat I got and then I was able to run to the money changer and then to the bank. The ground were all wet because it rained and I was wearing my grip-less slippers. I was really thankful to God that I didn't fall. Would have caused a great laugh though!

Didn't do much today. I probably woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Infact, I didn't feel like waking up today. I was fully awake by 8am but lazed on the bed till 9am. Terrible girl! But yes. When I finally did get out of bed, I plunged my bump on my chair and blank-out for a while - trying to decide what to do and what to wear. I won't say i wasted my day away coz after i did my QT, I read the article for LPP lecture. At 1145, I left for my LPP lecture and den we had a group lunch. It was a good time to gather and eat and talk nonsense, get to know one another better. Too bad Mich couldn't join us. Anyway, as per our last meeting, we started talking about gays but this time, with more insight to the "status" of our friend, talk more about the gay church in Singapore, each other's opinion about homosexuality. Don't get me started on the gay church - it's just so wrong! Argh.........

After the groupie left, i met up with Ade to pray - ah, it's always good to meet up, talk, share and pray. It feels so good!!! haha. It's not just knowing that someone cares but that someone is here to hear you out, share your burden and uphold you in prayer - it means much to me!

I had in mind to go to clementi to get my Ringgits changed and then go to the bank to drop the cheque but it was raining, so i was lazy. But, i bumped into Jeremy and Mark and then i just decided to go with them for dinner. It was a good thing. Because they wanted to go to Botak Jones for dinner but neither of them have ever been there before. All they know is that it is in Clementi. So, smart alec me brought them to where it was, got a seat for them and then left to the bank and then back to where they were for dinner.

Mark has an obsession with men's body. He goes on and on about noel's body and honestly, it is a bit weird to hear a guy talk so obsessively about another guy's body. And he even asked me "Have you seen noel without his shirt?" GASP!! Of course not. And honestly, I don't want to. But, it was fun talking to him and jeremy and just having a purely rubbish talk la....Relax and just enjoying each other's company and laugh about stuff. It was fun. Thankfully the rest of the Monday GC weren't there for dinner. With just Mark and Jerm, it was already too much lameness to handle....

I wanted to start on my take home quiz (for Lang & Internet) but nah, my brain decided to not function at all. I downloaded wordsmith but when I looked at all the data, my mind is just blank. How am I suppose to write 1000 words? Die....

ps: i seem to be blogging about random stuff lately - not because i've no thoughts but because there's too much and it's hard to pen (or rather, type) them (all) down. :)

Be of good cheer...

I left Singapore yesterday but with much hassle.

My bus from Larkin was at 6pm. At 5pm, I was still in NUS. Class ended at 4:30pm. I manage to get a cab only at 5:10pm. Traffic was heavy (understandably) so to cut a very long story short, i reached Larkin at 6:40pm and the bus left without me of course. Thank God, I got another bus which left at 7:15pm for RM25. Much to thank God for. One, that I still manage to get a bus last minute and for the usual price. The bus wasn't in too bad a condition. There was no accident despite the rain. I reached KL safely at 12midnight.

If I choose to, there was much to complain about yesterday. But, i shall dwell on how good God is. Yesterday, being post v-day, Dr. Ooi gave us double-shot of chocolate. How nice of him right?! Michelle made heart-shaped pineapple tarts for us. Adeline made orange cup-cakes. Woah, feel so loved man. So, before I left, I hugged the EL bunch good-bye, Happy CNY, and belated V-day. Haha. And matt commented: why you guys behaving like it's graduation? haha. I briefly explained to him what the hugs were for. But, it was still something pretty funny. But, my point is this: I overheard him comment to Hui: What a close-knitted bunch! And Hui said: Yeah. So nice and cosy!

Yeah, I agree with them. We're a bunch of close-knitted friends, and we have a very pleasant and cosy friendship! haha....

And being Malaysian is really such a blessing - coz we're muhibah....

On wednesday, Edgar commented that I looked like a malay. On Thursday, a taxi driver commented that I look a little like an Indian. People have asked me if i was malay but that was purely because I can sound like one. Edgar said I looked like a malay coz he saw me without much light, so looking rather tanned. But, indian? HUH? How does a chinese look indian? You tell me. And the best part was he said my nose looked like an indian nose. Woah. My eyes are completely chinese - that's undebatable. But my nose are very flat too....how is that indian-looking? He asked me if my father was indian. NOPE. I have indian friends??? haha.

I say it's because i'm Malaysian. We have all the different races blood in each of us. We can look whatever we want...haha.....

Happy Chinese New Year people... :)

Blessed I am

This is long overdue but better late than never! Hehe! I was just reflecting a few days ago about how much God has provided for me while in Singapore and among all the things I reflected on, the one thing that I realised was that, God provided fun friends!! I’m talking about my friends in the English Language Dept. It all started in Semester 1 of our second year and we slowly got to know one another and in semester two, we got to know each other much better. And it was in semester two (I think) that my friendship with Ade grew much more and to a higher “calling”. In semester two too, that I got to know Val much better too, not forgetting Sara too. Oh they are such a blessing! Of course, Janice and Michelle has been there since the very beginning of our journey in the dept. haha.

Ade’s birthday was a few weeks ago but we celebrated it for her. And it was so much fun! My gosh. We just sat and ate and chatted and oh gosh, we laughed our heads off at so many things. It was so fun. And really, I just felt so blessed. I can count on these girls to do fun things man. The few of us are already talking about where we wanna go after we graduate la…as in, not work but for vacation…Ah, truly so blessed with friends such as them!!! :) :)

CARLS' JR. is the place where we
feasted. Gosh. IT's so humongous!!!


















Vivo City, the apparently biggest shopping centre in Singapore, has a Crocs outlet!! The shoes are so ugly, it so strange to walk into a shop filled with ugly looking shoes. Yet, there are cute ones like those in the next picture ! They are kids boots. Like Phua Chu Kang's!!

Pictures and summary

The pictures are here!

Of Putting up Christmas Tree in the Lee’s house. Of course, watching ‘The Night Before Christmas’ too. My phone camera only 2MP so please pardon the bad picture quality. Too bad none of us brought our camera along.

Of glorious Siew Yuk. Restaurant Kokok.

Of Christmas night. Our annual event. The gang hanging out first in Centrepoint MacDonalds and then at the Leong’s but minus the Yees. I enjoyed myself with them.Talking nonsense. And of course, the day Samuel got his nick name. He’s now “Bad Colour Samuel” in my phone.But Sam, you know we all love you just the way you are!

Of having brunch and sending off the USMers. And a bunch of university students, who were supposedly mature people, being super fascinated with flies mating.

New year's eve's eve, me and Josh were out just to get stuffs and talk. Since 1U don't extend their opening hours, we had to go to MacDonalds Centrepoint again.

On 31^st Dec, with the USMers were in Penang and the Yees in land of the bombed (aka Thailand), the only ones left were yours truly, Joshua, Samuel, and Yueen San. And since Yueen San had relatives from Hong Kong in KL, she couldn’t spend the day with us but instead had to go layan her relatives who only speak Cantonese. If you know how fluent San is in Cantonese, you’d understand how much they'd enjoyed each other’s company. hehe. So, Joshua, Samuel and I were left to do things on our own. We wanted to have lunch together. Samuel wanted to get wallet. Joshua didn’t want to go to places like 1U which will be packed. So, we all went to Amcorp Mall. The flea market wasn’t around so Amcorp was very empty. Then, we put on our thinking caps and thought of watching a movie since we’d be back in uni soon and won’t have opportunity to watch a movie anytime soon. And since all the hype over ‘Night at the Museum’, we decided to watch it at Smiles Theatre at Amcorp Mall.

So, we got up to the third floor. Went to the ticket counters and realise there was no one at the counter. So, we desperados stood there for about 15 minutes calling nobody in particular but hoping that someone will attend to us. A man came out, apologized and gave us our tickets and this is how our tickets looked like. Yes, old school. Tear yourself. Chop date. Tickets with serial number.

We rushed through our lunch, which was of course the Prosperity Burger in MacDonalds. Got into the cinema late. No one to tear our tickets. How cool is that? Haha. Next best thing was this: It’s free seating! Oh gosh. Sam was kind enough to allow me to drive Joan back to church. And from there, we went our separate ways.

At night, there was VBS Thanksgiving. Oh, watching all the videos was so fun. The kids are so cute! Teaching them brings so much joy. Wished I was part of VBS. Ah,the dance was so cool and funny.

Then there was Watchnight Service in church. It was good. Got a specific word from God and a good time just reflecting and thanking God for what has happened over the past year. God’s grace, love and faithfulness truly surpass my understanding. After which, I drove Joan to Sam’s house and we then picked Joshua and Yueen San and headed to Asia Café in Subang for our mamak. Of course, this year we break our tradition of drinking and eating at Lotus. It was good meeting Chuen and Kat too.

That’s about it.

There’s no picture for this one, but I met up with Jon on the 2^nd of Jan. It was good meeting him because friendships are hard to keep and now it’s a challenge to keep the friendship going knowing that there’s no other thing that would draw us together other than our position in Christ. But, friends that I treasure, like Jon, are always a gift from God.

So the night of 2^nd January, Weng Yan, Yueen San, Joshua and I met up. It was going to be our last night out before Yanni, Josh and I go back to uni. So, we went to Giant in Kelana Jaya to shop for Yanni and Joshua’s things for uni. And then we wanted to go for a drink but thought it a better
idea if we just hang out in Yanni’s house. But as we were on our way to her house, the playground in her neighbourhood attracted us. So, like kids, we ran for the swings, played on the slides, some tried the see-saw. It was really nice. We shouted our hearts out as we were feeling depressed needing to go back to uni. Yanni and I had stresses in our hearts over the coming semester and the challenges that are ahead of us. But, it was a good way to relieve stress man. We had a really really good time. Joshua finally learnt how to swing really high. Haha. We spent our last hour in the playground taking pictures. Oh how thick-skinned we are! Hehe.

For all the good times we have had, I wish I was with you guys and that holiday never ends. But, I can’t.
For all the arguments and misunderstanding and pressing each other’s wrong button, I cherish it because through it, ties are strengthened, we get to know ourselves better, we get to know one another better.

Whatever it is, I thank God for you guys. Because friends, as cliché it might sound, are gifts from God.

Sometimes, I get sad by the fact that we’re drifting apart but I realise that no matter how far apart we are physically, you guys are always near my heart. Cheesy yes! But it is the very thoughts in my mind and heart. Because if I laugh with you and for you, if I cry with you and for you, then I know you mean a lot to me still….