Fingerprints

Meet Jerome!

2006-05-07T00:21:00.000+10:00

Hehe...droooooll guys... my car =) a black 2006 Honda Civic... I've decided to call him Jerome! hehe dont ask me why... that was the first thing i thought of =) Thanks dad and mom... i appreciate it lots... really... i can finally buy juice, milk and rice at the same time hehe... and learning how to wash car, pump petrol (the first time i did it myself, i only managed to pump $22.41 worth of petrol... arent these things supposed to be automatic?!?) and check tyre pressure!! I'm quite the bimbo when it comes to cars... It's all rather stressful i must say... i'm so spoilt... never had to do all these back home ;P but dont worrie! I'm getting the hang of it... getting there... getting there =D

At San Souci beach, Botany Bay... See the city skyline in the distance!

Love the golden hues of autumn =)

Steven Curtis Chapman ;)

2006-05-04T18:37:00.000+10:00

I drove all the way to Baulkham Hills to see Steven Curtis Chapman... and boy was it worth it... a long 75min drive and even after all the horrendous traffic we managed to get there on time! yippee

I've listened to Steven's music for years now... and i never ever tire of his music... he's a great guitarist... an ingenious arranger and he sings from the heart... the songs he writes speak poignantly of his own life and his journey as a christian... and how he sees God's hand in all of these =) He's got God written all over his work, music, life... and despite all the success, awards, accolades that he's got under his belt... he remains humble and contrite... a man that looks to God for sustenance with gratitude and thanksgiving... and each day, he marvels at God's goodness and provision in his life... u can hear it and see it from the way he speaks, the way he expresses himself through his music... what a way to live life! SCC is a real inspiration to me =)

Although his performance was short (well it wasnt really a performance... he was invited by Hillsong to talk to the music and creative arts team... sing a couple of songs and share about what he's been doing) .. he did play my favourite song - "Speechless"... i was SO thrilled... i was about to explode from my excitement hehehe... So many times i had to pinch myself... that i was really seeing him live on stage... hehe... and wow this guy is really able to play all the rifts and rhythms... the addictive grooves pumping into my ears hehehe and this guy is like in his early 40s mind you... yet in the exuberance of his music... i swear he looked no older than a boy just having the time of his life indulging in his favourite game =) absolutely charming... hehe

I was happily videoing the few songs that he did... but alas alack... the high energy songs had too much bass and boom in it that my digi cam couldnt take it... the sound quality captured is so awful it doesnt do him and his music ANY justice... sigh... cept one slow number... that really is the most heartfelt of all the songs i think!! He spoke very fervently about the wonderful love of God, and the closest thing that helped him understand God's love for us was when he and his wife decided to adopt a baby girl from China... even after their 3 kids have all grown up and they are past midnight feeds, nappy rash and toilet training hehe... as it was, the little girl they brought home did nothing to deserve their love but just as how God through Christ's sacrifice redeems us so that we can be called children of God, not because we are worthy, but because He is a gracious, merciful and loving God... now his little girl Shaohannah brings them unimaginable joy... and they have gone on to adopt 2 more girls... so that's a grand total of 6 kids in tow =) now how amazing is that! hehe ... And he wrote a song about this whole experience:

When Love Takes You In

I know you’ve heard the stories
But they all sound too good to be true
You’ve heard about a place called home
But there doesn’t seem to be one for you
So one more night you cry yourself to sleep
And drift off to a distant dream

Where love takes you in and everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart
When love takes you home and says you belong here
The loneliness ends and a new life begins
When love takes you in

And somewhere while you’re sleeping
Someone else is dreaming too
Counting down the days until
They hold you close and say I love you
And like the rain that falls into the sea
In a moment what has been is lost in what will be

When love takes you in everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart
And this love will never let you go
There is nothing that could ever cause this love to lose its hold

When love takes you in everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart
When love takes you home and says you belong here
The loneliness ends and a new life begins
When love takes you in it takes you in for good
When love takes you in

I'd be able to give Jamie Cullum a miss 20 times over... but i wont ever ever miss SCC if he was ANYWHERE in town within reach =) At the end of the day, the brillance of Jamie Cullum is really just music, gets me beebopping and rat-tatting but when the curtain falls and the lights dim... the memory fades and it just seems like a distant great night of music... but Steven speaks and sings about God and even as he will one day pass away like everything on earth, the word of God stands, the life changing words of Jesus withstands time... and i dont know about everyone else in the room, but i came away encouraged to press on, to live in the light of eternity and look forward to the hope that one day will come. Another one of the songs i like is Not Home Yet... it says:

To all the travelers,
pilgrims longing for a home
From one who walks with you,
on the journey called life's road
It is a long and winding road

From one who's seen the view
And dreamt of staying on the mountains high
And one who's cried like you,
wanting so much just to lay down and die
I offer this, we must remember this

We are not home yet
We are not home yet
Keep on looking ahead
Let your heart not forget
We are not home yet
Not home yet

I know there'll be a moment
I know there'll be a place
Where we will see our Saviour
And full in His embrace
So let us not grow weary
Or too content to stay

Cause we are not home yet
We are not home yet
Not home yet
So let us journey on
We are not home yet
We are not home yet
So keep on looking ahead
Let your heart not forget
We are not home yet
Not home yet

hehe he's gotta be the best Christian music artiste ever... superb aint it ;P Get your hands on Speechless (my absolute fav album), All Things New and Steven Curtis Chapman: The Abbey Road Sessions (he was invited to re-record some of his best songs in the Abbey Rd studios in London, GREAT stuff!)... or if u're in a sappy melancholic mood... he wrote an album for his wife and its called All About Love (this one is kinda un-SCC...he used alot of piano in this, but i've always thought of him as a jingly jangly guitar whizz so it was kinda different when i heard it... but still very romantic and a joy to listen to)... u aint heard nothing yet if u aint heard SCC hehe... enjoy and be encouraged!!!

When i grow up... i wanna be...

2006-04-30T20:49:00.000+10:00

this is the theme for Vet cruise 2006... dont know if u remember... but i went for it last year and we had to go as characters from Neverland... i didnt go this year cos i had to work.. but man... look at what some of my classmates went as... HAHAHA super funny...

There was:

Cowgirl and cat woman!!! *GRMEOOW*

Jedi Knights heheehe

Ballerina, Magician, Gladiator (or gladiatress!), Construction worker and what not...

Guerilla soldiers and handy-women

AND get ready for the most ultimate.... SUPERMAN!!! hahaha

(by Mr Ego Jono) HAHAHA i couldnt stop laughing when i saw the pics... it takes ALOT *ahem* to put on that suit... HAHAHAHA *wink*
shucks man... i shld have gone for vet cruise... it looked a whole lot more fun than last year!!

Hehhe a classmate was circulating a v funny video... about superman (not this one though but they're daring him to do it)... hahahahaha ENJOY!!!!

mr jangles and me

2006-04-30T13:03:00.000+10:00

i like this picture cos of the colours and the smile and the cat hehe ;P

Very strange 2 days...

2006-04-29T22:13:00.000+10:00

Strange things can happen even when u are cooped up at home to study... very classic stories too hehehe i must share... I was on duty last night and got a call at about 830pm: this guy told me his dog started seizuring all of a sudden and he wanted to bring it in... so fine i told them, come down right away and when they get here, ring the bell, i'll then go downstairs to receive them... 20mins later... the doorbell buzzed and i made my way down.

I didnt see anyone through the glass doors of the hospital... and i thought... were my ears playing pranks on me? I decided to open the door anyway just to be sure... and i saw 2 big burly men standing on the sidewalk guffawing in laughter! I walked toward them and when they saw me, one of em said "yea our friend's dog had fits and he called earlier...hahhah"

"errr... okay.... so where's the dog? in the car?"

"hahahaha....nope... he placed the dog on the sidewalk and the crazy dog just took off!! down the street and he's gone after it!!! hahahahha... its so funny you should have seen it go... it shot down the street like a cannon hahahha"

i thought to myself,"oh my god... my client just ran away!!! shittt!!! and its just had seizures!! i cant believe this is happening... and what am i going to do with these 2 laughing guys on the street???" i thought maybe the owner would manage to get the dog soon so i stood with them by the road and tried to find out what actually happened to the dog when it had fits...all this time i was trying to keep the clinic in view from the corner of my eye, just in case i get some lunatic dashing in to rob the clinic or something...

the 2 guys were trying to relate the story (rather unsuccessfully... they dont even know what breed the dog is) and was interrupted when one of the blokes got a call from his mobile," what?? the dog's coming down the other street???... righto..." and the 2 men just took off down princes highway... and i was left standing there... half deciding whether to run after them or to go back to the clinic... hmm... i chose the latter cos those 2 really ran too quickly for me to catch up and i didnt feel like running anyway hahaha

I hung around the clinic for another 15mins just in case they came back... but they didnt... hmm... so whatever right... i decided to go upstairs to continue studying... and when i told my housemates the bizarre story and they had such a good time re-enacting the "fitting dog chase" in the apartment HAHA...

heheh at about 930pm... the doorbell buzzed again... i went downstairs... and the forlorn owner was standing outside the clinic... the poor guy couldnt find his dog!!!! oh dear... he looked absolutely miserable... and he kept saying "damn my wife is going to kill me... what am i going to tell her..." (i was trying so hard to keep myself from laughing as i was speaking to him hahaha... so poor thing... ) I told him to leave his details and hopefully someone in the neighbourhood will find the dog and bring it in...

True enough... my housemate was working today and she told me that someone brought a wide-eyed, terrorised shih tzu early in the morning, which he found freezing and trembling under his car... looking absolutely distraught and disoriented... poor doggy hahaha... what an adventure he's had for after an epileptic episode =) i have never imagined myself having to deal w a runaway client... how crazy is that man... hahahah

And i was just going through my absolutely BORING histology material when i suddenly thought about what i was going to feed myself with tomorrow (oh this btw is totally unrelated to the runaway client story)... something quick and easy.... something quick and easy... hmm spagehtti should be easy enough... cook a huge pot and eat it over the next couple days... hmm... i remember buying 500g of mince... BUT shit i dont remember seeing it when i was unpacking groceries on friday... OH NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IS IT STILL IN THE CAR BOOT???????? I freaked out, jumped up grabbed my keys and sweater and ran down to my car... stood in front of the boot and took a deep breath "if its in there...i should be able to smell it by now..." but nope... only the smell of the crisp fresh night air... i opened the boot anyway... and phew it wasnt there... i checked the car.. nope dont smell nothing nasty...

I walked up the stairs... and kept thinking whereabouts was my 500g of mince... dug through the freezer and it wasnt there... checked the fridge as well... not there... hmm... oh well... i guess if its somewhere in the house...i'll find (or smell) out soon enough... man... have you ever lost 500g of mince before? i havent... till now that is... and i have no blooming idea how i did that either... heh... miss scatter brain does it again ;P

My funny valentine

2006-04-20T21:38:00.000+10:00

hahaha guess where i found Mr Jangles today! hahaha so cute!!! Look at him lounging in the bath =) he's got a toilet obsession...

Easter at St Andrews

2006-04-20T21:21:00.000+10:00

Easter convention at the Cathedral was great with excellent speakers like Peter and Phillip Jenson...I've learnt much, its amazing how each time the gospel is preached, although i've heard it many times... it just never seems to become old =) Will blog later on what the Jenson's preached about... but for now, the cathedral pics are too pretty not to put up! Enjoy ;P

The beautiful pipe organ and the ornate stained glass window

The main cathedral =)

Jamie Cullum @ the State Theatre, Sydney - 10 Apr 06

2006-04-10T01:13:00.000+10:00

the beautiful state theatre as i walked in...

Jamie rocks... Jamie C rocks... Jamie Cullum absolutely RAWKS!!!!!! oh my goodness... have i said it already? JAMIE is phenomenal man... this puny bloke from UK is an absolute musical genius... AWESOME... Even though i've heard his albums countless times, watched DVDs of this live performances... today i've seen and heard him for myself... this awesome guy ABSOLUTELY ABSOLUTELY RAAWWWKKKSSS!!!!

Ok fine... u get my point hehehe... sorry for my limited vocab.. but this guy's really damn blardy good la... u have to watch him... you just HAVE to (i think he's performing in Spore in June... PLEASE go and watch... you'll be doing yourself a massive favour ;P) I found out about his performance really late... like just a week ago... and i literally HOPPED off my seat in sheer exhiliration... immediately emailed my friends to ask if they wanted to go. I agonised for another 30 seconds max and that's it... i went to buy my ticket... i didnt even care if my friends wanted to go or not... I'M GOING! not about to miss this for the world...hahaha... well turns out there were only single seats left so i didnt have much of a choice ;P

jamie wielding his magic...

And i sure wasnt disappointed! U know what's the best thing abt a live performance... u can see and hear for yourself how the music is pieced together... marvel at the arrangement... hear the blending of the different sounds, witness the creative process... the intoxicating rhythm that just sweeps you away... and how it changes, twists and drives u absolutely crazy in a fantabulous way... and u know it is live cos the songs are those u hear on the albums yet it is different... there's a different edge to it... and i bet everytime he plays... there will be a unique variation and that for me is the mark of creativity, the gift of a true musician... man and until i watched Jamie C... i had NO idea he had a zhnged grand piano... seriously... there's this funky sound box hooked up to the grand... and he could modify the piano sounds... from the warm rich melodic tones to one that is crisp and sharp... even the wonky tonk of the digi-piano sound or the boom blast hybrid sounds that he used in a funked up song... and this was hooked up to a natural instrument... not an electronic one (ok fine... i'm sure some electronic devices had to be installed to it but in essense... it is the huge 2 metre grand piano thing... and the sounds originate from the resonating wood and steel strings of this gorgeous creation ;P and not bits and bytes of an electronic sound) and if u have ever watched or read abt JC... this guy doesnt just play the piano... he dances and plays... jumps on the piano... sometimes he uses his foot or cute booty to play the piano haha... the piano is also a percussion instrument to him... sometimes he plays it like a harp... its amazing... u just have to see him for yourself...

i got this off youtube... Jamie C live in cleveland...

He may not be the best pianist/guitarist/vocalist/songwriter/whatever but it's that unique blend of spunk, creativity, spontaneity and passion that makes him a class of his own... and the one thing that draws me to his music... is that his expressions through music are very real, genuine and unadultered... u can see it in his face, it is expressed through his body, his voice, his music... u can feel the broken-ness or take part in the exhiliration, drift into melancholy, taste the emotion so stark and at times so raw...i for one was swallowed whole ;P as i sat in the dark of the state theatre.... and he began wielding his musical wand... i was just taken... woven and spun into this tapestry that creeps into the depths of my heart, completely floored...

this is one of my fav songs - high and dry... pity this video didnt get to the best part of the song...

i normally leave lyrics to wrap up my blog entries... but this time i wont... cos words on a screen doesnt do him ANY justice... go buy a ticket to watch him... or buy his album: twentysomething or the lastest one catching tales... u know what.. the DVD is what u should totally get haha - Live at Blenheim Palace
(pls no buying pirate stuff k! Appreciate the creativity of an artiste, and pay for the enjoyment for what its worth... i'm sure u will not be disappointed!

standing ovations all round =) Jamie C RAAWWWKKKSSS!!!!

Loathesome first semesters

2006-04-08T20:25:00.000+10:00

First semesters are yucky... time seems to run away from you cos the daylight hours are getting shorter... it gets colder and chillier... like sinking into depression... and at the end of it all... there's only a meagre 3 wk break before semester 2 starts again... semester 2 on the other hand is far more perky... slowly the sun creeps in... and u can wear flip flops and cotton skirts again... and at the end of it... we get to hit the beach and chill out... it also means we are done with another year of vet!!!! sigh...looking forward to the summers man... hurry hurry hurry...

The Selfish Cat

2006-04-07T00:03:00.000+10:00

hahaha this video is hilarious!!! Perks of being a vet student => other stressed classmates send funny clips to inject some humour into our sorry assed lives of dreadful long hours, endless studying and looming midsemester exams.......

Actions and words

2006-04-03T00:25:00.000+10:00

I learnt something new today... the phrase "action speaks louder than words" was addressed in church today... do actions really speak louder than words? not so it seems... cos its the words that give the action its meaning, for it explains the motivations, intentions, the why, the what of that which is being done... without which, actions on it its own can be left to a thousand interpretations, and no one for sure can know the true motivation behind it... however if we flip it around, words without actions are meaningless too isnt it? words alone are cheap... we all know that... people can say something and do something completely contradictory the next day... hence words and actions must go hand in hand, and not contradict one another... then will it carry its weight and cause people to sit up and take these words seriously... sometimes i think that by living out a life that pleases God, people will see and understand somehow my motivations... but now i see that it is also important and essential that i explain and tell others why i choose to follow Christ, and live my life in accordance to his word, in so doing, they will understand the person of Christ and it is through this discovery that they will one day come to acknowledge Him as Lord and Saviour... Walk the Talk, and Talk the Walk my friends... let us not do one without the other ;)

FIshing for kibble... hehehe

2006-04-01T12:18:00.000+11:00

Scooby dooby dooooooo!

2006-03-30T20:32:00.000+11:00

Look who's come to stay for the weekend! My housemate was dog-sitting and i wondered what in the world was making the booming sounds in the stairway... and suddenly this gigantic dog burst into the living room, bounding and bouncing all over! heheh... such a lovable boy Vinny is... he was brought to the pound as a pup... they thought he was prob a staffy-x of sorts and staffys dont grow too big... prob knee high and 13-15kgs as an adult... but this pup never stopped growing!!! Dont you think he looks like scooby doo?? heheh shock and horror this dog's still a pup! only 11mths old... and he's SO BIG!!! and he's already 60+kg just for comparisons... my dobermann is only 30kg!)... prob end up 70+kg when fully grown...now they suspect he's some great dane/mastiff cross... heheh... It's so funny though... watching him bounce all over the apartment... playing fetch with his squeeky grog bottle and a white tiger plush toy... =) this pup was so nosey.. i was clearing dishes from my room and left my door open... he stuck his head in and when Mr Jangles saw him... immediately did this gigantic leap from my chair and made a bee line for the window and CRASHED dramatically into the glass TWICE... his tail all poooffeed up... and his eyes glazed over with fear... man... poor Vinny turned around and ran for his dear life as well HAHAHAHA... i couldnt stop laughing at the animals... hahahaha... poor Mr Jangles... i think he got a bit concussed after... my poor kitty made these very strange grumbling, rumbling noise while i cuddled him to calm him down..heheh... animals are so funny =)

Reminisence...

2006-03-29T21:09:00.000+11:00

I've been browsing the blogs of a couple ARPC-ians... and its time to say goodbye to the building at 25 Adam Rd... a place i believe many of us hold very dear... a reminder of Christ's saving work in our lives, His provision of wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ, indeed we have a family to grow with, to share joy and sorrows, to encourage and at times rebuke (vice versa too!), all for the sake of Christ... The inspiring sermons we have learnt much from, helping us understand and recognise the person of God, reminding us of God's unchanging grace, helping us to see our fallen-ness, encouraging us to press on in the midst of trials for the crown that awaits us at the end of the day, a hope of eternity that we can rejoice in even if circumstances we are facing arent much to shout about...

For me... its definitely all of the above... and more... it's a place where God has nurtured my love for music, both in skill and service... a place where He taught me to love, to serve, to be other-person centred... the precious words of God that taught me much about Jesus and the character of God... the place where i was baptised! And my family came to witness it... when i say "place", i dont mean that which is confined to the physical building... but that which it represents, the body of Christ, His church, the gathering of God's people... and in fact i have said my goodbye before i left for Sydney... heheh... the night before i flew off, i had some close friends over at my place... a few of them stayed till late... and i drove one of them back... stayed on a bit at her place and chatted till even later... and finally begun to make my way back home... heh but i found myself making my way to ARPC instead =) I parked outside the gates and turned down the headlights... said a prayer firstly that Pastor Chris doesnt come out of the manse and find this psychotic girl outside the church at 3am in the morning... and then thanking God for all that He's given me and telling Him that i'm not psycho and fixated on a church building... but it just represents so much that i hold so dear... i just had to come and say goodbye...

Even though i know that God provides... and goodbyes arent always bad... sometimes we feel inclined to cling to what we in our limited knowledge perceive as something so precious its irreplaceable... and almost having to tear ourselves away from it when it indeed has to go into the history box... brings to mind a famous quote from good ol Jack (CS Lewis) - Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in the slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by an offer of a holiday at sea. We are far too easily pleased.(The Weight of Glory)

Let us pray to trust in He who is Creator, He who is sustainer and He who is faithful... His grace is sufficient for me and His strength is made perfect when i am weak... Amen...

I Will Glory in My Redeemer

2006-03-25T01:21:00.000+11:00

I Will Glory in My Redeemer

I will glory in my Redeemer
Whose priceless blood has ransomed me
Mine was the sin that drove the bitter nails
And hung Him on that judgment tree

I will glory in my Redeemer
Who crushed the power of sin and death
My only Savior before the Holy Judge
The Lamb Who is my righteousness
The Lamb Who is my righteousness

I will glory in my Redeemer
My life He bought, my love He owns
I have no longings for another
I’m satisfied in Him alone

I will glory in my Redeemer
His faithfulness my standing place
Though foes are mighty and rush upon me
My feet are firm, held by His grace
My feet are firm, held by His grace.

I will glory in my Redeemer
Who carries me on eagles’ wings
He crowns my life with lovingkind - ness
His triumph song I’ll ever sing

I will glory in my Redeemer
Who waits for me at gates of gold
And when He calls me it will be paradise
His face forever to behold
His face forever to behold

“I Will Glory in My Redeemer”, by Steve and Vikki Cook.
© 2000 Sovereign Grace Worship (ASCAP).
Sovereign Grace Music, a division of Sovereign Grace Ministries.
From Upward: The Bob Kauflin Hymns Project.
.

New friends at St George

2006-03-18T20:22:00.001+11:00

Meet my favourite charcoal chunky... Max!! This fella is one of the clinic cats and shares my apartment at the hospital... he's one funky cat even though he's been hit by car twice (that's why he lost his tail...)! And he gets a bit confused sometimes... neurones misfire... but there's this old man that stays a few doors from the hospital, that simply adores him... brings him a packet of fresh mince every night for his dinner... hehe we call him the Meat Man =) but his real name is Chris...

And this funny lady here is Georgie... who also shares my apartment and treats it like her own giant litter box... yep...she pisses all over the apartment... there's this yellow/brown disgusting stain just outside the toilet entrance... and its all her doing =( one night.. she broke into the clinic downstairs... ripped open a few food bags and took a giant piss all over the blood machines... she was lucky the vets didnt give her the grand needle that day ;P i'm resolved to litter train this kitty... shes really quite sweet once u get to know her...

This little 2 wk old bunny is the cutest cutest cutest thing ever!!!! And its one fiesty fighter this one... she came in one night after the family cat ripped her left hind limb off... no one thought she'd make it.. but look at her! Gotta bottle feed her every couple of hrs and she suckles ever so readily... and she's got great balance despite the amputated leg... and she's hopping around quite a bit =) hehe isnt she the sweetest?

And.. my Mr Jangles!! Sampling water from my glass... he'll stick his paw in there and lick the water (or ribena!) off his paw... no wonder i've been noticing sediments at the bottom of my glass whenever i drink from it... damn ;P silly boy... now i cant reuse the glasses i leave on my desk anymore =(

Murphy's Law proven right

2006-03-17T15:58:00.000+11:00

BTW this was written yesterday... even the blog site was down... wah lau...

It's been a while since i blogged... but the chain of events that took place yesterday... woa man... i cannot help but make myself sit at the computer for half an hr before i jump into bed for a nap before i'm my duty starts at 7pm...

My classmate, Miss Y, finally found a house to rent and needed help to shift her stuff... And she needed to buy furniture from Ikea as well... so my friend Miss K and I agreed to help her... i suggested that she rent a vehicle overnight... drive to Ikea to pick up what she needs and after that move her stuff from Miss K's place to her new house and if we still have time we'll help her set up her furniture...

I told Miss Y to get directions from the internet to get from school to Ikea and new place etc so we'd be able to do everything smoothly... she ended up buying a street directory and after school on Thurs...it started RAINING just as we were going down to the van rental place... and when we got there...oopsy... they ran out of vans w autotransmission... only manual vans left... i said that's fine... i'll drive the manual van... no biggie...

So 3 asian girls.. climbed into the front of the pretty wrecked up rental van... with a broken radio and airconditioner that makes a lot of noise but doesnt blow any air out and set out for Ikea... before we left the rental place.. the owner told us... oh yah... this one's out of gas... u need to go top it up yah! Shit... best lor... so ok fine... in addition to finding our way to Homebush Bay Drive, Ikea, we need to look out for a gas station...

Traffic sucked ALL THE WAY to Ikea... and after a few wrong turns... and missing ALL the gas stations along the way... we finally got to Ikea at 530pm... no probs cos late night shopping on Thurs and we gave ourselves till 7pm to get out of the placce... Miss Y reconfirmed her choices and we went to the self serve warehouse to pick up the stuff... lo and behold... they ran out of the mattress she wanted to get!! And only had the $499 version... like twice the price of her original choice.... and they were unable to bring the stock from the higher shelves for safety reasons as they could not operate forklifts when there were still customers in the warehouse... we asked if they would sell us those they use on display and they said no...due to health and reasons... i suggested to Miss Y... let's just have a quick look around this shopping centre (its gigantic btw) i'm sure there are other furniture/ bedding shops that u can find something comparable...

So we put our purchases with the counter... promising with our lives to come back to get it... and ran out of Ikea to see if there was anything else... Miss Y went to use the washroom so Miss K and I hunted around for the shop directory... when we found it... Ikea was the ONLY furniture shop in the shopping centre... arghhhh.... i rang Miss Y and told her the bad news... then she told me even worser news.... that she misplaced her purse!!!!! Someone left a voicemail on her mobile to tell her she has found her purse and to ring her back... but that person's number was registered as a private number and could not be retrieved! Oh man... then the panic set in... call back to Canada to cancel her credit card w the Canadian bank but dunno why cannot get through... call australia bank to cancel bank cards but they put her on hold for like half an hour... tried to get shopping centre security to page for the person who left the voicemail but they couldnt cos we dont even have the person's name (the goondu didnt even leave her name on the voicemail)... go to vodafone store to ask if they can retrieve the number then they couldnt do so as they dont track numbers on voicemail... ARGH... panic panic panic... at the end we had to convince Miss Y... just get whatever u need to get and take the expensive mattress.... we were tabulating how much money we had left in our accounts so that we could split the bill between Miss K and I first... and by the time we queued up for the check out counter... it was near closing and the lines were SO LONG... we didnt get out of Ikea until 10pm

When we finally loaded all the stuff into the van... and asked Miss Y... ok... how do we get to Miss K's place to pick up stuff... guess what... we misplaced the street directory too!!!!!!!!!!!!! i dunno why... we just couldnt find it... JUST GREAT... then we said... oh well... whatever... we'll just drive slowly and keep our eyes peeled for the Parramatta Rd exit... and when we were driving to the carpark exit... i asked Miss Y for the parking coupon and she was like "OH SHIIITTT!!!! Its in my purse too!!!!" freak right... i slowly drove up to the exit... and realised... the barriers were UP! and the attendant was packing up already... so i just put on the gas and drove out!!!!

And just as we turned on the highway... i saw the gas tank light turn on... blardy hell... we forgot that we still havent filled up the gas tank yet...ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH..... so there we were... crawling along the M4 ...fortunately turned off correctly and the first 3 gas stations we passed... were on the OTHER side of the road.... ARGHHHH.... was praying so hard that the van wouldnt die on us... and thank goodness... we pulled into one a few mins later...

BUT when we tried to top up the gas, the tank cover wouldnt open... the lever at the driver's side doesnt work!!! I swear... the 3 of us were just in complete amazement at how screwed up thngs can be... and thankfully the guys at the petrol station were nice... they actually had to use a screwdriver to pry it open and we managed to get our tank filled up...

So on we went... to load up her other stuff... by the time we were done it was freaking 1130pm and we all hadnt had anything to eat since lunch... ok now for the final leg... we lost the street directory and Miss Y wasnt exactly sure how to get to her new place... and she tried to call her housemates but either phone was turned off or house line was engaged... and i suggested... do u want to borrow Miss E's street directory.. she doesnt stay too far from here... so we gave Miss E a quick call... went round to pick up the street directory and set off for Miss Y's new place... it was so dark and we had to circle the place a few times to FINALLY find the house... oh boy when we found it we were SO relieved...

By the time everything was done... it was almost 1am... and i stayed over at Miss K's place cos we had school at 9am the next day... on the way back... we grabbed the last cheese pizza at the kebab shop and it was the BEST pizza i've ever had... TRUST ME...

How's that for Murphy's Law man... incredible... just incredible.... i'm so exhausted... my back is aching from driving that stupid van... i'm gonna zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Air Blog!

2006-02-28T04:51:00.001+11:00

I cant believe the advent and availability of technology… haha… free internet on the plane!! Air Blog… now that’s a first =) and just one of the many firsts today… from a clumsy air stewardess that split orange juice over the ang moh across the aisle, letting off a very audible ‘OH SSHHH***T!!!!’ oopsy… haha… and a very peculiar Chinese lady on my right… who requested for soyabean milk (??!!??) and was actually visibly disappointed when she was told there wasn’t any =) and she whipped out her laptop as soon as the plane was airborne… I thought ‘wah so on… ready to zap up the free internet offer’ but I was wrong… she instead chose to view her own (sscary) makeover pictures… I swear I was trying so hard to curb my sniggering… the most tacky cutesy poses ever… almost as if she has sugar pouring out of every orifice in her face… and a gigantic pink peony on her head… what was she thinking!!??!!! Scary part came when she zoomed in to admire her own face… wah lao... i think i'm gonna get nightmares...hahahaha

Anyway… enough of laughing at people hehehe… I’ve taken that plunge… back into the swirling waters of change… when you are in it… it’s not quite as scary or daunting… kinda just ease back into this whole journey to be a vet phase of life… but its just the process of taking the plunge that gets me everytime… aren’t these things supposed to get easier?? On well…whatever la….easy or hard… just do it! It’s been a great summer holiday… I love my family and friends too much to be able to express it in words… and likewise… I will miss all of you so much that words fail me… but inevitably the tears will come… as I am already looking forward to coming home… a friend of mine couldn’t understand why I allow myself to go through the angst… the missing and all of that everytime I leave… why not learn to leave everything behind? Well firstly I cant =) I’m too sentimental I think… and the soft spot for home is just too damn big la… I’ll just get so depressed I’ll wither and die… and hey… it’s cos I have something so precious and dear to me that warrants a response as such when I have to be away to do what I have to do… positive heartache I’d say hehe… and u bet I’ll hang on to my treasure =) hehe… don’t worry… I’ll enjoy Australia for what it offers… and continue to put my trust in God cos He leads me everywhere I go… pray for me for there will be many changes this semester!

1) New working arrangement at Vet hospital
2) New living arrangements and new housemates
3) Very possibly, new church… pray I manage to find one that teaches God’s word faithfully and a group of Christian friends that I can trust and grow with

Watch this space my lovelies… more adventures coming up! Know that I am loving and praying for each and everyone of you at home… miss all of you already =)

I'm gonna miss my little monster the most!!! Chloe and me at the airport before yucky goodbyes... i dont like em yucky goodbyes... ;P

Marley & Me

2006-02-24T18:20:00.000+11:00

what do u know... this book on an eager beaver golden lab is the current US bestseller hehehe... affectionately coined by his master as the World's Worst Dog =) makes for some good airplane reading i reckon... let's see if i manage to get my hands on a copy before i fly!

Can i buy me a beach and a beautiful sunset?

2006-02-22T05:17:00.000+11:00

i'm drugged... by white sandy beaches... a cool breeze... clear blue seas and warm sunshine... these things should be on sale la... then can buy and get a fix whenever i want haha... trip to phuket was grreeaaattt but i'm so completely knackered after 4 days of intense diving....nitrogen is seriously wrecking my system... and i have an ear infection cos of the perpetual soggy ears... stupid ear is throbbing... even after 2 panadols, some antibiotics and ear drops from the doc... and i can't sleep even though i'm so darn tired... in my daze i ransacked the fridge and found some macadamia nut chocs... and made myself a piece of hot buttered toast and well... i'm here blogging some mindless thoughts... i thought maybe i should start sorting photos... but cannot make it... my brain is dead i cant even decipher a nice photo from a not nice photo... maybe i'll go listen to the last sermon video that i missed over the weekend... hmm... i think i shall go try that hehe...goody nitey!

The air-con man and Revelations =)

2006-02-10T00:48:00.000+11:00

The air-con man came to service the units in my house today… I was told to tidy up my room so it doesn’t look like a mad house (sigh… one never quite grows out of being the youngest child hey?) And there I was in my room… continuing my reading of ‘Teaching John’ at my desk… I went for a toilet break and the air-con man came to have look at the aircon in my room… I could hear him from the bathroom, speaking of Revelations and the judgment of God… when I heard it I was like “Huh? How did he suddenly broach this topic while fixing air conditioners??” I came out of the bathroom… my mother was in my room as well… apparently he caught a glimpse of the open bible and books on my desk and heard me playing Christian music and eagerly shared that he was also a believer and launched into his latest discovery of the coming end times as learnt and discovered from studying the book of Revelations…

The tribulations when God pours out His wrath: disease, fire, drought, seas turned to blood, thunder, lightning and massive earthquakes, which is to come before the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, a glorious sight of The Word of God, clothed by a robe dipped in blood, accompanied by the army of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, pure and white. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.... Satan defeated, the Judgment and the New Heaven and New Earth that will come..

For those who have heard and believed in Jesus’ work on the cross, was the participation in the eternal Kingdom, the New Heaven and New Earth,"Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them and they will be his people and Go dhimself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." It goes on to say...“It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, the murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” The judgment for those do not believe is real and clearly written… eternal death awaits for those that remain unrepentant... for God will cut him off completely from His sight...

Whenever I enter into a discussion about my faith, there is a tendency to talk about the more 'palatable' stuff like what Christians believe, the reasons why we believe and choose to live a certain way, about Jesus, who He is, why He is the Christ, how He is able to save us, why His work on the cross is so important… but I seldom speak or highlight the judgment of God, His wrath on those who do not believe and remain unrepentant… partly cos I don’t want to seem as though I’m coercing or scaring people into faith… yet we cannot deny, the judgment of God is real and true… Many people find it difficult to believe in Jesus and they end up not making a decision and putting it aside. They cannot say they do not believe in His existence, yet they are unwilling to come to terms with a decision they have to make if Jesus is real and all that is told to them is true. However, I think many people fail to realize that in not making a choice, they have already chosen the path of the faithless. You either believe in Jesus or you don’t… and the consequences are clear… others may argue… how do you know you are right? I will not believe unless you can prove to me 100% that Jesus is who He claims to be… and honestly I cant give you 100% because I do not have all the evidence… for one I am not able to bring Jesus and have him sit in front of you… yet whatever that has been revealed in the bible, in historical evidence, in personal encounters, is enough for me to believe and put my faith in He who saves… and if you are still searching…I encourage you to keep seeking… if it is a lie, the lie will reveal itself in time… but if it is truth, it will withstand all your interrogation… There will come a time when everything will be revealed in its entirety… do not wait till then to come to terms with God… for God so loved the world that he gave His only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:16-17)

The Look

I saw one hanging on a tree in agony and blood
Who fixed His loving eyes on me, as near His cross I stood
And never till my dying breath will I forget that look
It seemed to charge me with His death, though not a word He spoke

Forever etched upon my mind
Is the look of Him who died, the Lamb I crucified
And now my life will sing the praise
Of pure atoning grace
That looked on me and gladly took my place

My conscience felt and owned the guilt, and plunged me in despair
I saw my sins His blood had spilt, and helped me nail Him there
But with a second look He said, “ I freely all forgive.
This blood is for your ransom paid. I died that you might live.”

Thus while His death my sin displays, for all the world to view
Such is the mystery of grace: it seals my pardon too
With pleasing grief and mournful joy, my spirit is now filled
That I should such a life destroy, yet live by Him I killed

Forever etched upon my mind
Is the look of Him who died, the Lamb I crucified
And now my life will sing the praise
Of pure atoning grace
That looked on me and gladly took my place

Lyrics - John Newton, Music - Bob Kauflin

Hear The Look here... it is indeed beautiful =)

Leading bible study

2006-02-09T03:17:00.000+11:00

I led my first bible study today! It was a great experience i must say =) and strangely a lot less stressful than teaching keyboard.. even though i've been in music ministry for years and never in a word/teaching ministry so to speak... odd isnt it? Maybe its cos i know that more experienced bible study mates will jump in when i get stuck so its not so pressurising... and also God's word speaks for itself and what a marvelous passage it was to expound and discuss (The Book of John, 3:1-21) ... I had much help from the CLOBS session last saturday and also Boon lent me this book called Teaching John... awesome book... it talks about how the gospel writer John had intended to write this book and why he has chosen to put in place a particular structure in his writing... very intriguing... i think i'm gonna get me hands on more of such commentry type books... =) For 2 days i spent my time reading and reading... delving in and out of the bible, my own notes, Teaching John, bouncing off ideas with friends, even Wikipedia and google.com hehe... thinking to myself, how best to present this idea? what questions should i ask? do my thoughts flow? is it easy for others to understand? Funny thing was that i was listening to my new EMU Live 2 CD while working on bible study prep... and was constantly moved to tears by either the music or the passage/books i was reading... haha i never knew bible study prep could reduce one to a sobbing lump... =) the power of the gospel indeed... Over the few days... ideas and thoughts kept churning at the back of my mind.. and last night i lost my ability to converse normally... i dunno why... i was unusually quiet as my friend pointed out over dinner... he thought something bad happened ;P and after that during my bass lesson, music that normally so quickly assimilates into the crevices of my brain was strangely foreign... things just werent moving along as they normally did!

I certainly hope bible study prep gets easier (and less emotional) as i do more of it (teary eyes cannot focus and read properly ;P) eventually i managed to do up my own facilitator notes nicely hehe but when the study commenced and everyone aired their views and started asking their questions.. it was really quite a challenge to keep people on track.. while managing aspects of the passage which didnt have a clear answer... this dynamic aspect of leading bible study in a group made up of varying people was really quite exciting... hehe i can see how it can be daunting for some but i was pretty thrilled!

At the end of the evening, bible study mates were really sweet to send encouraging messages and give generous pats on the back =) Would i lead studies again? I guess i dont mind... but it really takes quite a bit of commitment and time... and rightfully so =) after all... u are sharing, discussing and helping others understand the precious word of God!

Pretty Baby

2006-02-07T20:11:00.000+11:00

Doesnt she just have the sweetest smile? This is my current fav pic of the little monster =) She's growing up to be a very pretty little monster... isnt she? hehehe
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I finally got my EMU live 2!!!!!!!!!!

2006-02-06T04:54:00.000+11:00

i am so happy hahaha... i finally got my hands on the EMU Live 2 album - See Him Coming... i blogged about this abt half a year ago... when i was present at the live recording during TWIST music conference... hehe i even did a recording of a song that captured me... and man... when i saw the lyrics of the song in the CD sleeve i wanted to faint!! hahaha my memory super lao pok man... almost 50% of it was wrong... i even got the name of the song is wrong man hahaha its called How Can This Be? and NOT Lord of Lords... ;P BUT BUT BUT... i was pretty spot on for the melody and chords hahaha... Check out the lyrics it's almost poetic... and listening to it brings tears to my eyes...

How Can This Be?

How can this be? Creator in creation
The King of Kings, upon the earth he made
He spoke a word; Creation stopped and listened to his voice
O man of men, the perfect life you gave

O sight of sights! A hill outside a city
The Lord of Lords is hung upon a tree
The world is dark; The light of lights is dying on a cross
Jesus my Lord, sinless made sin for me

There in the tomb, His body lay in waiting
The Lord of Lords, is silent in the grave
Then joy of joys! The news that he is risen from the dead
The death of death, He lives until this day!

O hope of hopes! Our bodies raised eternal
Transformed, renewed, the night of sin has passed.
To this we’ll wake, with hearts now pure and thankful evermore
And our dear Lord, we’ll see him face to face.

- Lyrics © 2005 Simone Richardson; Music © 2005 Philip Percival -

Go buy the CD go buy the CD!!! Only $25 at Bookends in ARPC... =)

It's really strange... how i become so emotional when it comes to music... powerful lyrics + good music just strikes the sweet spot... clean and swift... and i am utterly defenceless man... scary...

My annual CNY pilgrimage

2006-02-03T03:46:00.000+11:00

3 days in the wilderness of Terengganu... the laboured 10 hr drive each way... my legs and arms decorated with red welts of mozzie bites... as if the mozzies themselves were having a CNY celebration of their own and serving up my sweet blood as mains (buggers grrr =P) i've always dreaded the forays to the sleepy east coast city (town?) of Kuala Terengganu... where grandma and most of my father's family reside... Terenggganu is really quite something... time just seems to stand absolutely still there... the only thing giving it away is my relatives that grow older year after year... other than that... everything is pretty much in tact as it was some 30 years ago...

As a young girl till now... these long drives have helped me overcome motion sickness (puke until wont puke anymore... and mom always says... "look ahead girl! Dont keep trailing the electrical cables... dont keep looking at the rubber trees zooming by!" u do wisen up after a few years hehe...) and i think we've come a long way... from taking the trunk roads along the east coast of P Msia past Kota Tinggi, Mersing, Kuantan, Cherating then into Terengganu... (mind you these roads are one lane only in each direction and when u get stuck behind a giant lorry carrying heaps of oil palm kernels going at 60km/h, u just have to overtake them using the other lane carrying oncoming traffic.. while navigating the meandering roads w potholes through never ending rubber or oil palm plantations... i think my dad's an awesome driver after all this training!) to today's part journey along the much improved north-south highway... we normally turn off at Tangkak or Pagoh... cut across to Segamat then back to old east coast trunk roads again as we drive on toward Kuantan... after which, we need to be very careful to not miss the by pass at Jerangau so we will hit Ajil and then K. Terengganu... if not it will be a huge detour through the local town traffic and it will set us back another hour or so... very soon the east coast highway will be completed so that will make it so much easier to get to Terengganu! so yippee yay...

This time round... my uncle hitched a ride and travelled with us... My uncle has been stationed in Shanghai for a couple of years and from the promptings of my aunt... he went to visit my grandfather's hometown in China and see his remaining uncles and cousins... Through his sharing, i've learnt so much more about my dad's family! My grandfather is the oldest of 5 boys and one girl... he came to Msia from China when he was a young lad of 15 or 16 and shortly after, his 3rd brother joined him here... no. 4 and 5 stayed back in China... no. 2 apparently was killed by Kuo Min Tang... (so drama right!) Grandpa ran a fairly successful rubber plantation business in Terengganu... and sends money regularly back to China so that his family could build a house etc... to my uncle's utter shock when he visited the house that was built... it turned out to be a mega 3 storey solid stone mansion on top of the hill with 30 rooms!!!! FAWH...my jaw dropped when i saw the photos man... and apparently... they kept requesting for more money cos neighbours over the years built an even larger monstrosity but cannot lose face...must make theirs the biggest and bestest so add an ancestral hall etc etc etc... They spoke of visiting their brother's families in Terengganu with much longing... and my uncle really didnt know how to tell them that they are indeed living in a dream world... if they only knew what was reality... years after my grandfather has passed on, my grandmother stays on her own in the 30 year old terrace house which is merely a stone's throw from Kampung Cina in humble Kuala Terengganu, with well worn furniture... 3 bedrooms, one bathroom and floods annually, when the torrential monsoon rains hit... a far cry indeed from the 30 bedroom mansion on a hill!!! Life isnt as easy and perfect as they imagine it to be... where they think their brother has hit the jackpot in southeast asia and their family probably living a kingly lifestyle and enjoying the fruits of their labour...

As we had sometime in the afternoon, my dad drove us around, we went to the lovely beach... saw his old school... drove around Kampung Cina which is the chinatown really... and just behind the shophouses was the Terengganu river... apparently pple going to Redang and Perhentian can take the speed boat from here! The old shop space that my dad spent his early years... quite nostalgic i must say... i never did understand what it was like for my dad to grow up in this sleepy town within a largely malay community...

My grandma was probably 3rd generation chinese in Terengganu... hence she has localised quite a bit, being fluent in malay and hokkien, and donning the sarong even up till today... she always makes sure my father's favourite local foods are on the table: pulut lepa, nasi dagang, nasi kunit, pa-ong, mo-haw, kepeh hu (flattened fish or fish keropok), budu, terengganu style asam fish laksa, kway hong... all of which i enjoy very much too hehe... and i also realise that a lot of the hokkien that i understand is really localised Terengganu hokkien... street lingo and expression are really quite unique to the chinese community here... like they pepper the ends of their phrases with jugok (means altogether), and they have really comical descriptions of people's reactions to things.. hehe

And my cousins! Have i ever mentioned that we've got big genes on my father's side of the family... my cousins are all very big... i always get a shock when i see them... i'm like considered small/slim in comparison (shock and horror right!!!) they keep asking me if i diet a lot (hahaha what a joke... those who know me know i'm a foodie!!!) and yes, i've been commanded to come back next year with 1 + 1 cos my sis is now 1 + 1 + 1 + 1... and my lousy hokkien doesnt allow me to rebuke cleverly.. so i just have to smile and nod my head =P...I see my cousins who were born and brought up in Terengganu eager to catch up with one another as most have moved to KL and other larger cities in the search for better job prospects... and somehow feel rather out of place... my sis and i are the only ones unable to speak hokkien when we were young and were never part of the 'gang' so called... we were always the xiao jies... never play fire crackers before... dunno where to buy ice lollies... dunno how to catch long kang fish... if we ran along with them and fell down... oh man... my cousins will get it big time from my aunts for not looking after us properly... and when everyone was at the dinner table... they automatically greeted each and everyone respectfully: grandma/parents/aunts/uncles/older cousins were called to eat (or 'jia') before digging in themselves... while my sis and i, never taught this practice at home were just stunned and didnt know what to say... our eyes darting furtively around hoping noone noticed that we didnt say anything... didnt know how to address them in hokkien and too shy to say it in english or mandarin... just picked up our chopsticks and shovelled rice into our mouths!! haha... and we wouldnt get scolded for being rude but the rest of them would if they didnt show such respect =) so double standards right haha... indeed... this slice of life is not where i belong to... but to be able to understand my dad's childhood... and another way of life that is a part of my family... was something i only recently grasped =) and knowing my ever practical dad... that he relentlessly makes these tiresome journeys year after year just for a short 3 days... this must mean a great deal to him =) and i can only obediently and joyfully tag along... and brave the mosquitoes for him! hehe

Happy New Year everyone!!!!

Slightly over the midway mark

2006-01-25T03:31:00.000+11:00

Let's see... I have just about 4.5 weeks left before i fly back to Sydney... and i think i'm starting to get a wee bit pensive... maybe its prompted by the DG retreat that took place over the weekend... where u are made to sit in your own quiet corner in the charming kelong village of Kukup... to reflect upon 2005... major lessons learnt... what was done well, what wasnt done well... personal walk with God and how that is going... and also to look forward to the year ahead... not so much a resolution list of the "lose weight, drink less, snag a husband" variety... but one that makes a concerted effort to serve God, to be purposeful in our plans and making sure God has His rightful place in our lives... a commitment rather than a "see how" attitude...

In the midst of all that planning... and thinking... i also realise... heh... everything hasn't turned out as i have expected... takes a while to get used to... but also challenges me to see things hopefully from God's perspective... and that his blessings may not come in the form that i expect and it may not be a bad thing necessarily... just well different!

So for me... i go in with only one expectation: CHANGE... which seems to be the only constant nowadays =) bad? well not really... unnerving? TOTALLY... sigh... 2005 has been really eventful by far... and the summer hols tops off the year with a mega drama-mama booster shot, which i believe is of the slow release variety... haha i've said too many 'wah laus' these 2 months that i have lost count... and i think this 'wah lau' theme may just continue into 2006... oh well... i guess i should just convince myself to sit back and enjoy the ride... have a funny feeling that this time next year... ALOT of things will change... how so? totally no idea hehe... well for one... i may find myself with no roof over my head when i return to Sydney cos of some miscommunication... may have to wait 2 weeks and find some kind hearted soul's place to crash at before i can shift into the hospital and meanwhile.... i need to find a storage space to dump all my stuff until i get back cos someone is gonna move into my current apartment in 2 weeks... AND figure out an ingenious way to eventually fit all my possessions into the smallest room in the hospital living quarters...hehe... c'mon friends... say this together with me "WAH LAU...."

I wonder what Mr Jangles is up to....

2006-01-23T00:20:00.000+11:00

hehe...i just saw my cat nanny's blog... Mr Jangles is Mr FOODIE!!!!! Keeps attacking her cat, Salem's dinner...
so funny... read on here

If You Could See, What I See

2006-01-19T20:39:00.000+11:00

this is my favourite love song... i dont know who wrote it... but the lyrics are incredible... Lord... will there come a day when someone would sing this to me? =)

If You Could See, What I See

All of my life, i have dreamed
That somehow love will find me
And i cant believe you're standing here
If beauty is all in the eye of the beholder
Then i wish you could see, the love for you that lives in me

That you would know you have my heart
If you could see what i see
That a treasure's what you are
If you could see what i see
Created to be, the only one for me
If you could see what i see

I know that there are days when you feel
so much less than ideal
Wondering what i see in you
It's all of the light and the grace
Your belief in me drives me to say
I promise you a faithful love, forever true

That you would know you have my heart
If you could see what i see
That a treasure's what you are
If you could see what i see
Created to be, the only one for me
If you could see, then you'll understand
Why i fall down to my knees
And i pray my love will be worthy of
The One who gave His life, so our love could be...

If beauty is all in the eye of the beholder
Then i am beholding true beauty...

PS. pardon the punctured bass sounds and the static noise... i've got lousy cables and recording quality was compromised ;( i'm gonna miss Jessy's Korg Triton... gonna be returning it to her tomorrow... hmm... should i save up to buy one so i can arrange more music??? hmmm.... anyway... here goes... =)

If You Could See What I See
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Oscarina the Grouch

2006-01-10T18:47:00.000+11:00

i hate floating things... when they are there hovering around your head and giving u a splitting headache but u just cant pin them down... i hate being frazzled... i hate being flustered... it makes me irritated... grrr... i hate uncertainty... i hate not knowing what's up... or what's down... i hate having to squeeze creativity from my tired brain when there's none left and it makes my headache worse... and for once... blogging is actually preferred so noone needs to endure my ramblings... take that internet! haha...

keep the rain coming Lord... keep the rain coming... maybe in the gloom, grey and cold... it'll cause the wells of creativity to overflow... and i will be Oscarina the Grouch no more...

Pseudo Mommy-dom

2005-12-29T23:31:00.000+11:00

My parents have been away all month... and there's a little monster lurking in my house... a very cute monster though... but a terror nontheless hehe... today tired yiyi took her eyes off little monster for just 5 seconds... wanted to take a breather... then little monster's little hands lost their grip on the armrest of the sofa... and *plop* fell and bumped her head "WWAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" oopsy... yiyi's fault =( little monster cry damn loud until face look like squished tomato... super red and tears rolling down non-stop... sigh... sayang sayang sayang... yiyi beat the naughty chair ok (actually... yiyi should beat the naughty yiyi la... never take care of little monster properly)

I've only been doing baby sitting on a part time basis for a month... and i really want to pengsan oredi... if this is the mommy test... i sure fail one... it's really quite funny how i get very excited when the clock reads 6-ish in the evening... haha that means little monster's REAL mommy is coming home soon... i just have to tahan a couple of minutes more then i'm FREEEE!!!!! sing Old Macdonald had a Farm for the 20th time plus play catching with little monster for another 5 rounds around the house... maybe just try to bluff her with another quarter of a sweet biscuit... and read her shiny tiger book to her and make her laugh with her finger puppet turtle.... wait... do i hear the door opening? YESSSS!!!!!! i bet my face is beaming as much as little monster's when she sees her mommy come through the door...

Thank God this is just pseudo mommy-dom... REAL mommy-dom... no such thing as time-out ;P I can only pray that when the time comes... God gives me the wisdom, patience and love i need to be another little monster's mother (and pls God... dont make mine so much of a monster can?) I cant think of any other reason for God to make parenting as difficult as it is except for our own Godliness.... cos it requires no less than to be truly other-person centred. To be responsible for another's life and upbringing will inevitably cost us something and these sacrifices may not always be appreciated =) (i'm sure we all had our fair share of teenage angst) Times of exasperation are bound to come and we are made time and again to realise our continued dependence on God... i guess it also comes with it the willingness to allow God to change us, so that we can be the Godly parents that God calls us to be to the little monsters that are given to us in our lives hehe...and all this for a son or daughter, so that we uphold the value of relationships the same way God demonstrates to us that while we were still sinners, He sends Jesus to die for us so that we can be restored back to God as His children, and having the privilege of calling Him dear Heavenly Father =) I'm sure there are tonnes more to this whole parenthood thing... i can only thank God that it is not now for me... hehehe... till the next stages of life beckon, i really appreciate the current freedom to run off for supper at 10pm, study vet sci, go for dive trips, do music stuff for church etc etc... the privileges of the single life indeed! Live it up!! =)

hehe here's the little monster dancing... i told ya she was cute... ;)
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2005 is disappearing...

2005-12-29T22:21:00.000+11:00

Juz a couple more days and it'll be byebye 2005, and hello 2006... and funny i should say this... it hardly feels like my year is ending... haha... i havent had enough fun yet to get into a reflective solemn mood... maybe that time will come when i'm about to go back to Sydney for my 2nd year of Vet... at which point i always find myself standing at the edge of a huge roaring whirlpool (and mind you this is no jacuzzi)... watching, contemplating, praying, making my usual deal with God," Heavenly Father... Bring it on!!! You never fail to surprise me with a twist here and a tumble there... but i don't care... whatever it is... u promise to catch me when i fall ok!" and take that giant leap of faith with a loud splash... into the swirling waters of change =) u know... this leaning into the everlasting arms of God thing can be very liberating hahaha but thankfully... it's not time for giant leap of faith yet... haha i'm not ready... and i dont want to be ready now... i have 2 more months... hehehe 2006 will really only start in March for me =P

Lamb of God =)

2005-12-24T19:46:00.000+11:00

Counting down to Christmas day! Just a couple of hours more... monsoon rains looming (i guess this is the closest we are ever gonna get to a wintry christmas ;P) presents are all wrapped... still have to write cards... maybe later tonight after family dinner... let us not forget the real reason for the season... the birth of Christ, the lamb of God... God incarnate... given to save us from our sins...

Lamb of God you take away the sins of the world, grant us peace =)

Silly billy...

2005-12-22T04:14:00.000+11:00

it's been dark cloud days of late... moody... irritable... but still trying to force a smile in front of friends... and appear like my usual enthusiastic self... yet the gloom slips through and friends suddenly ask "are u okay?"... "yea.." with a weak smile... "i'll be fine..."

behind closed doors.. only God hears the cranky prayers... and witnesses the mish mash of emotions all bottled up inside... i thought i was fine... but why is it that i'm not now? i had a lousy night last night... gastric striken... tossing and turning in bed for hours... cold sweat cos the tummy was in serious disagreement... medication didnt help... i couldnt sleep at all... woke at 5am... boiled some watery porridge and felt so much better after taking it... finally slept at 6am...

this evening at the Christmas gathering... super anti-social... dint feel like talking to anyone... and i got a lousy chicken mug for the christmas gift exchange... so annoyed! when i got home... grey clouds were still looming... i called bestie in melbourne at 230am... i forgot it was 530am her time... and lucky me she was still awake! writing Christmas cards... talked... teared... talked... teared some more... then bestie asked," wait... are you having PMS??"

hmm... i did a quick count... oh yah hor... it is PMS indeed... wah lao... now i feel so cheated... SILLY BILLY man.... i am such a ninny!!!

*yawn* silly billy is sleepy... off to bed now hehe! ;P

Stressful presents

2005-12-20T04:04:00.000+11:00

christmas presents are stressful... sigh... u think u've gotten it right.... then oops i forgot so and so... oh dear... so and so may not like the gift i got... die... what am i going to do w the extra one if i get another... should i reshuffle the gifts... how do i reshuffle the gifts... its not possible to reshuffle the gifts... *stress* how come the eventual wrapped gift looks so ugly... it's not supposed to look like that one... the ribbons look damn sala... aiyah.... next time use newspaper wrap la anyway its gonna be ripped apart and thrown away... *grrr*

Baby niece!

2005-12-12T16:21:00.000+11:00

She's one now!!! and she's started to walk on her own over the weekend... heheh isnt this such a lovely pic of the fam? =) love it man...

Baby Hedghogs!

2005-12-07T17:29:00.000+11:00

Tell me this isnt the cutest thing u've ever seen!!! dont they look like mini durians??? hahahaha it just tickled me so much i had to post this pic up =)

Initial D

2005-12-05T04:07:00.000+11:00

I know i'm a super mountain tortoise la... now then watch Initial D (haha on the flight back from Sydney) but i really loved the show!! =) cant get enough of Jay Chou's nonchalent, expressionless, cool face as he drifts along the hairpin bends of Mt Akina in the wee hours of the morning, with one hand on the steering and his right elbow against the window to prop up his face with the most adorable head tilt =P its been such a long time since a movie was able to 'involve' me so much... sigh... heart wrenching man... the pain of betrayal inflicted by his innocent looking, wide-eyed, sweet faced sugar daddy babe... (i should have known something was up when she told him she bought a sexy bathing suit and how she intentionally chose one with the least cloth!!! ;P) sigh... when i saw the tears rolling down his dejected face as he was speeding off...i felt like telling him: love hurts kiddo... gotta suck it up man cos reality bites.. and it bites hard indeed... get used to it =P First cut is the deepest....

Oh well... here are the lyrics to my fave song... i snapped up Chou's CD when i managed to find me a CD shop =) It comes from this webbie called Jay Chou Studio they also included english translations but it just sounded corny to me man... hahhaa that's the beauty of the chinese lang i suppose... this high context language is remarkable with imagery and it captures moods, emotions with such precision... the english language does fail to adequately describe it properly lar... enjoy!! =)

一路向北 Yi Lu Xiang Bei

後視鏡裡的世界 hou shi jing li de shi jie
越來越遠的道別 yue lai yue yuan de dao bie
妳轉身向背 ni zhuan shen xiang bei
側臉還是很美 ce lian hai shi hen mei
我用眼光去追 wo yong yan guang qu zhui
竟聽見妳的淚 jing ting jian ni de lei

在車窗外面徘徊 zai che chuang wai mian pai huai
是我錯失的機會 shi wo cuo shi de ji hui
妳站的方位 ni zhan de fang wei
跟我中間隔著淚 gen wo zhong jian ge zhe lei
街景一直在後退 jie jing yi zhi zai hou tui
妳的崩潰在窗外零碎 ni de beng kui zai chuang wai ling sui

我一路向北 wo yi lu xiang bei
離開有妳的季節 li kai you ni de ji jie
妳說妳好累 ni shuo ni hao lei
已無法再愛上誰 yi wu fa zai ai shang shui
風在山路吹 feng zai shan lu chui
過往的畫面全都是我不對 guo wang de hua mian quan dou shi wo bu dui
細數慚愧 xi shu can kui
我傷妳幾回 wo shang ni ji hui

後視鏡裡的世界 hou shi jing li de shi jie
越來越遠的道別 yue lai yue yuan de dao bie
妳轉身向背 ni zhuan shen xiang bei
側臉還是很美 ce lian hai shi hen mei
我用眼光去追 wo yong yan guang qu zhui
竟聽見妳的淚 jing ting jian ni de lei

在車窗外面徘徊 zai che chuang wai mian pai huai
是我錯失的機會 shi wo cuo shi de ji hui
妳站的方位 ni zhan de fang wei
跟我中間隔著淚 gen wo zhong jian ge zhe lei
街景一直在後退 jie jing yi zhi zai hou tui
妳的崩潰在窗外零碎 ni de beng kui zai chuang wai ling sui

我一路向北 wo yi lu xiang bei
離開有妳的季節 li kai you ni de ji jie
妳說妳好累 ni shuo ni hao lei
已無法再愛上誰 yi wu fa zai ai shang shui
風在山路吹 feng zai shan lu chui
過往的畫面全都是我不對 guo wang de hua mian quan dou shi wo bu dui
細數慚愧 xi shu can kui
我傷妳幾回 wo shang ni ji hui

我一路向北 wo yi lu xiang bei
離開有妳的季節 li kai you ni de ji jie
方向盤周圍 fang xiang pan zhou wei
迴轉著我的後悔hui zhuan zhe wo de hou hui
我加速超越 wo jia su chao yue
卻甩不掉緊緊跟隨的傷悲que shuai bu diao jin jin gen sui de shang bei
細數慚愧xi shu can kui
我傷妳幾回wo shang ni ji hui
停止狼狽ting zhi lang bei
就讓錯純粹jiu rang cuo chun cui

Composer: Jay Chou (周杰倫) Lyricist: Vincent Fong (方文山)

Boyer Lectures

2005-11-29T11:53:00.000+11:00

In relation to my previous post on nations built on Christ... the Boyer Lectures are ongoing now in Sydney and this year, the lectures are given by the Archbishop Dr Peter Jenson. I quote from abc.net:

Jesus is more important to the Australian values of 'a fair go' and 'mateship' than the stories of the Eureka Stockade and Gallipoli; in forgetting him, as Australians we risk losing our core values now and in the future, warns Anglican Archbishop of Sydney Dr Peter Jensen in his 2005 Boyer Lectures, The Future of Jesus, beginning Sunday, 13 November.

'I want to provoke a national debate with the Jesus of the Gospels,' says Dr Jensen in his introduction. He aims to inspire widespread adult reading of the Gospels and recognition of the significance of Jesus for a modern world in which religion is increasingly on the agenda.

Perhaps of interest to those who have lived in Sydney before and understand the culture, life and people of this city... or for those wanting some good spiritual fodder and keen on listening to some good bible teaching and its application for a modern world... head on over to the Boyer Lectures page where transcripts and media files are available

Live broadcast is on Sundays 5pm (sydney time), on 576AM for Sydneysiders...Repeat broadcasts on Tuesdays at 1pm... those in Spore can listen online...you guys will be 3 hrs behind yea =)

Annual Seafarer's Service

2005-11-28T19:55:00.000+11:00

Just a couple of weeks ago i trooped down to church one cold wet sunday morning and found myself at the Annual Seafarer's Service. I was clueless to what that was all about really but i know i did enjoy the warm brass sounds by the Australian Naval Band as they were invited to play for the service... hehe reminded me very poignantly of Salvation Army... the church i used to attend =)... i went along with the procedings and understood better the significance of the service - it was borne out of a ministry to the seafarers that started about 150 years ago. Harsh working conditions, being away from family months on end and facing the vast endless seas day after day... just imagine the immense loneliness and needless to say, the unhelpful sailor's lifestyle once the ship docks at a foreign port... all these prompted the start of The Misson to Seafarers as they endeavour to care for the spiritual and practical welfare of all seafarers regardless of nationality or faith... during the service, the Australian national anthem was sung and with much gusto at that =) The second verse caught my attention:

With Christ our head and cornerstone, we'll build our nation's might
Whose way and truth and light alone, can guide our path aright
Our lives, a sacrifice of love reflect our Master's care
With faces turned to heaven above, advance Australia Fair
In joyful strains then let us sing, advance Australia Fair

Wow.. a nation that set out with the intentions and design to build itself with Christ as head and cornerstone.... how wonderful =) (makes me wonder what Spore is built on.... prosperity? tolerance? peace? progress?... hmm something to think about i guess...) With the country's roots borne out of Jesus' teachings of generosity, kindness and providing for the weak... remember how the Jews were commanded by God in Leviticus 19:9

⁹ " 'When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. ¹⁰ Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.

Perhaps that's why the Australian government puts much emphasis on welfare, humanitarian issues, caring for those that are not able to support themselves... But that being said we know there is no nation that is currently functioning as the way God wants His Kingdom to be... sin has permeated this world... there are many who do not agree with the high tax rates and are bitter about it and are of the view that they worked hard to earn what they earn, why should they be made to give so much of it away? At the other end of the spectrum, there are those that abuse the system and expect to be supported, languishing in idleness and putting unnecessary strain on limited resources... no longer a reflection of Christ but a reflection of sinful rebellion... what happened to the nation that was supposed to be built with Christ as cornerstone? Idols have captured the land indeed... 'better homes and gardens', wide spread acceptance and promotion of homosexuality, unhelpful TV shows (did i ever mention the reality TV show Big Brother? where the ratings shoot through the roof because people enjoy watching the housemates doing private things in a not so private way)... and one of the strangest thing that i've experienced so far: One day i was chatting to one of my Aussie friends and we broached the subject of Christianity... i said

'Yea i'm Christian... i go to St Andrew's Cathedral in the city... which church do u attend?'
'Oh i'm not the churchy type...maybe just during Christmas.. yea i'm Christian... its a family thing, everyone is... So you must be one of those born again types hey?'
'???' i was thinking to myself... Huh? Got other types meh? 'Errr yea... i'm the born again... type.'

oh dear... she thinks she is Christian by birthright... and she's not even Jewish... and to her i'm like the 2nd class Christian cos i have yellow skin and black hair and needs to be born again... sigh =( It's sad when people dont have a correct understanding of Jesus and who He is... the salvation He brings through His sacrifice on the cross... the love of God, His grace and mercy shown to us in that one single act, the pardon we do not deserve... Come to think of it... isnt this the real privilege of being Christian? To realise that someone as big as God would love someone as small as me... i'm not talking about the empty, frivolous, vacuous phrase that people stick on their cars or mention in passing when they think you need some self validation and decide to use it "oh dont worry, God loves you" but i'm talking about the time when you truly come to terms with your own sinfulness and are being made so aware of it and no matter how hard you try, by your own works, you know you can never take away the sin... at the end of my life when God calls me to account... if i have not given my life to Christ, you can be damn sure i will be doing much more than trembling... yet God loves you and me, so much that our sin matters to Him, that He dealt with it once for all by sacrificing Jesus on the cross... He could easily anihilate us, squish us like bugs, make us disappear from the face of the earth but he doesnt... instead while we were sinners, God sends His son to die for us...THAT is how much God loves us... to understand the pardon that is ours because of Christ that is in you and me... we now have the hope of eternal life, we are able to call Him not just Lord but heavenly Father... and we are given the privilege of being in relationship with Him, free to live without sin taking a stronghold on our lives for "sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace" Romans 6:14

"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father... that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:14-19

home in 3 days...

2005-11-28T01:50:00.000+11:00

And Christmas is coming!! =) dont you think this is a lovely picture of the Christmas tree at Martin Place in Sydney hehe you can see the looming grey clouds in the background and yet it is supposed to be the onset of summer...these few days have been wet, dreary and COLD almost as if someone fast forwarded the seasons and cheated us of summer and suddenly winter is here again... mind baffling... i just dont get the weather...

And it's funny how i wanna go home yet i cant seem to grasp the sheer proximity of being home in 3 days...where i'll be back in my familiar old room, the air heavy with moisture and late at night when it pours during the monsoon season, i can hear the croaking frogs from the big drain just behind my house =)... hugs and kisses from mom and dad... big cuddles for Checkers, Colly and Trissie and their smelly doggy breath... playing with my niece... being in the comforting presence of good friends whom i love so dearly... simply easing back into life back home... the rest, the comfort... as if i were a piece of jelly that is popped straight back into its jello mould hehe =) it just seems far away now... even though it's just 3 days... maybe its cos i still have so much unfinished business here and i've just been running around like a headless chook... trying to find someone to sublet my room to (but unsuccessful unfortunately sigh) ... having to meet up with my professor tomorrow regarding a marine conservation project...being exhausted by the whole prac handling exam last week... making sure i get 3 mths worth of cat necessities for jangles, buying his carrier on ebay and travelling up to north sydney to collect it... packing up my books and notes (geez i didnt realise i went through so much material for first year vet... scary man!!!) cleaning my room (only halfway done... more tomorrow)... trying to contact the vet clinic to find out if they would offer me the live in position next year but still no decision... trying to arrange for a medical checkup for my PR application (this issue is such a headache... too complicated and boring to explain here) and packing my stuff for home (alamak havent even started yet)... almost all my school friends have gone home now... and i'm still like slowly waddling through the muck of my "things-to-do-before-i-leave" list.... oh no i still have to tell hwees that i dont have time to do up the keyboard workshop material by end Nov... aiyaaaaa.... i'm so going to forget something... maybe when all this is done and i'm on the plane.... then i will be looking forward to home =) yay... finally dont have to blog anymore... can just go downstairs and talk to mom and dad... or call a friend and hang out over coffee... u know... i actually dislike blogging... its so one-way... and so non-communicative... sometimes i feel like i'm having a relationship with my blog man... i'm not really sharing my life and experiences with anyone... its just there on the screen... i guess friends and family do read it... but i'd so much rather tell u guys and enjoy the responses and actually like communicate right... i mean its just not possible to aptly describe my chicken euthanising experience via cervical dislocation on a blog... oh well... i'll definitely be on blog leave for 3 months... and so damn glad at that! Hahah!!

bye bye mao mao jangles

2005-11-27T20:14:00.000+11:00

........

=( just sent mr jangles off to a friend's place... where he'll be spending his summer there and getting to know a new cat friend called Salem hehe... that's him in the carrier ready to go... i'll miss my mao... will he forget me after 3 mths? or maybe he'll have so much fun with his new cat friend that he doesnt want to come home w me... sigh then maybe it'll be better for my friend to have him where he will have cat company... =( nooooo cannot... i want my mao mao back... byebye mao for now... i'll see you soon after summer...

Prac Handling Exams

2005-11-26T19:05:00.000+11:00

Farm girl life is tough!!! This whole week, we were out at Camden everyday, working on our animal handling skills - horses, cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry... so tired... up at 6am everyday to get to Camden by 9am... braving sun and rain to get our tasks done... and its the yucky fly season again argh!! annoying little buggers... grrr.... every evening, i came home completely knackered... my arms and back never quite recovered from surfing... now i wake up stiff like a cardboard every morning =P

Horses are the best...Here's a pic of my favourite horse, good ol Squirt (that's the white one, or the technically correct description is grey... they are grey as foals and lighten as they grow older...horses are never born white !) Aint he handsome?? =) And that's his best buddy Tom, the chestnut one with a white blaze down his face...

And that's us horsing around during lunch!! haha...

Early morning on our 2nd day of horse handling, one of the aggressive mares, Mrs Moon snapped, backed another old mare into the corner of the paddock and gave her 6 big whammies in her side... woa man... the poor mare just tumbled and rolled on the ground after and when the instructors brought her out to examine her... we could see this huge haematoma welling up under the skin... so freaky... i was just using Mrs Moon the day before for the horse handling exercises... and she was perfect... very cooperative and not skitish at all... and then this... really goes to prove we cant take any animal for granted... and our safety as well... its so easy to be lulled into a false sense of security...

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We had to move pigs around too... it was really quite funny chasing them around the paddock... having these giant sows bolt for the gate and all 8 of us trying to prevent her escape and running after her hahaha... oh and there were these tiny little day old piglets!!!! and they had really fine rust coloured fur and black dots all over... looked like Dalmatians hahaha

Sheep handling was fun too... we got to shear sheep, milk sheep and bottle feed the sweetest little lambs... made everyone go "awww..." =) absolute darlings with their cute baaas hehe even the guys in the class couldnt resist giving them a cuddle... there's this really neat machine that brings about 3 sheep up a conveyer belt whilst restraining their feet so they cant get away... and as the belt moves along, each person stands alongside the sheep to flip the onto their backs so we can take blood samples and trim their overgrown toes and check for foot rot and things like that... haha and once we are done, we move them along the conveyer again and at the end of it, we flip them off the machine with them landing feet first and running off to join the rest of the mob =) cool

Our final assessment was on cattle and cattle handling by far was the most difficult... i'm actually pretty scared of them... we were on a beef cattle property and they had these menacing looking black angus herd... they dont look friendly at all man... much more jumpy and excitable... and as usual... they hate us... which really doesnt help when ure trying to look into their mouth or eyes. Its really scary when the cattle is in the crush and trying its darndest best to bust outta it.. and you have this 600 kilo mass of muscle thrashing and trying to leap out of the crush that is higher than its head... sometimes it really seems like the crush wont hold up and the stupid cow will bust out and trample on all of us!! =P And it was pouring the day we were out there... completely soaked through and still had to muster them around the yard... utterly cold and miserable day...i was shivering away man... but good thing was that they thought we were competent enough and let us go at lunchtime so we had half a day off! While we were waiting for the bus to come get us, some of my classmates decided to change out of their wet gear and stripped to their undies in full view of everyone hahaha pleasant surprise for our instructor cos he was making a cuppa coffee at the time and the sudden flash of bare skin and black lace made him spill hot water all over his fingers followed by a good stream of colorful words HAHAHA hilarious man... ;P

Can you believe it... i'm actually done with Vet 1...wow... how amazing is that?!? =)

Surfing

2005-11-20T00:33:00.000+11:00

Sun, sand, and the Tasman Sea =) My classmates and i decided to hit the surf and headed for beautiful Manly... the first lesson got off to a terrible start... with us being an hour late cos we got the directions mixed up and traffic was a killer! Heh but it wasnt gonna zap any of our spirits... we geared up and were ready to go!! It was a choppy day at sea, entirely unsuitable for surfing initiation man... we were spent just fighting the waves in a bid to catch some waves... ended up getting tossed around... tumbling all over... i reckon this is what it feels like to be in a washing machine!!

We were totally knackered after that... and nope didnt manage to stand... at best a squat hahaha but we still had a really good time even tho we had our fair share of water logged ears and gulping down sea water big time... Looking at the pictures now i think we kinda looked like beached Orcas HAHA...After the lessons we had a wicked time chilling on the beach man... happily manufacturing Vitamin D and getting microwaved! Manly rawks... it's so beautiful... makes me so happy just looking at it...

4 of us braved the aching arms and sore back and returned for round 2 of surfing this morning... another glorious day and yippee yay! I finally managed to stand! For all of but 3 seconds?? haha oh well... slowly but surely i guess! Emily and I are hooked... she's me surfing buddy man... Maroubra's our next stop... hehe planning to go next Saturday! hehe... but right now... sleep beckons... i'm seriously dragging myself around the house.... extremely exhausted and i actually walked from Circular Quay back home hahaha lugging groceries somemore... nitey nite!! more updates soon... summer holidays here i come!

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Moby and the Aunty Gang

2005-11-14T20:28:00.001+11:00

my classmate just got a ginger boy.... Moby!!! Oh my goodness when i first saw him i almost fainted! He is SO CUTE!!!! an absolute charmer this one... had all of us girls fussing over him and just going bananas hehehe he's only 4-5 weeks old and his eyes are still blue! and he is SO SMALL... hehe and SO CUTE!!!!!!! ok i promise i'm going to study now.. no more blogging and gushing over kitties

Conversations w a cat

2005-11-13T16:51:00.000+11:00

"hallo maooooo...."

cat looks up at me

"heellloooo maoooooo....."

"miao" cat jumps on the table sits and looks at me

" helloooooooo maooooooooo i'm SO BORED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

cat still looking at me and swishes his tail

" howwwwwwwwwwww???????? BOREEDDDDD........ i dowan to study anymore arrrrgggghhhh"

cat jumps off table and plays with a plastic bag. STUPID CAT!! =(

Cat in a bag!! Cat in a bag!!!!
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Hot pink bakwa

2005-11-11T22:49:00.000+11:00

Hahahaha i was so bored, i decided to get a virtual pet pig... -see bottom right column- Say hello to hot pink bakwa... hahaha feel free to feed her an apple or disturb her... if she gets annoyed enough, she will start rolling in the mud and u will have to spray her clean again!!!

hahaha this is too cute man...

to-do(ne) list?

2005-11-11T11:15:00.000+11:00

8th Nov - Cell Bio
10th Nov - Vet Anatomy & Physiology
15th Nov - Animal Husbandry aka farm girl exam ;P

feels so GOOD to scratch them out one by one HAR HAR HAR ... ;D

ALL DONE!!!!!!!!!!! ALL DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i hate cellbio part 2

2005-11-08T15:00:00.000+11:00

wah... u wont believe it... the stupid toilet roll proteins really came out... damn it... i'm such a genie... u guys shld pay me to tell your fortunes ;P

the sun's out! After a stormy night yesterday that continued till the morning... i'm going for a swim... get those freakin proteins out of my head... if not no space to cram the stuff for anatomy and physio paper on thursday... ANATOMY!!!!!! sigh the one that you can never finish studying for... but its ok... i like anatomy ;)

i hate cellbio

2005-11-08T00:22:00.000+11:00

i dunno why its so irritating... i hate cells... ARGH... and i just cant remember all these stupid jargons... what zinc-finger proteins and leucine dimer zippers that are the most common gene regulatory proteins... what the... and they have this stupid schematic representation of it in the textbook that bloody looks like toilet rolls tangled up in a spiral staircase (apparently these are the protein complexes which incorporates a zinc molecule and are attached to the DNA alpha helix)... totally doesnt help lor! ARGH.... yar sure... like how exactly does it work again ???? It just looks like one of those con-man type thing that says that the tangled up toilet roll structure is a work of art... *bleh*

oh my goodness... tomorrow is my paper and i'm still complaining!!!!!!!!

Aging and dying brain cells

2005-11-07T13:34:00.000+11:00

I swear my brain is dying... =( Gone are my ya-ya papaya days when i can skip into class and out (or not at all)... and yet still miraculously get down to it when exams beckon... tunnel through books and notes like a supersonic bookworm and emerge with erm.. decent(?) grades... =) Sigh... brain cells brain cells where art thou... i really am getting old... i cant remember things!! (worse still i can choose to forget) ARGH... not so ya-ya papaya now... and i actually attend almost all lectures now... and i am one of those toots in the first few rows... making myself concentrate and learn.... 10000x more effort than last time ok (which is only a few years ago what....) but how come getting stuff into my brain seems so much more difficult now!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And sadly i have to resort to gingko supplements.... brain tonic so called... pill popping to save me from brain cell senescence and apoptosis.... *bleh*

Oh and guess what... u know what really helps in improving studying skills? Bible study!! I remember how when i first went for ARPC DG and Marc ALWAYS made us break up the bible passages and pick out the key message... examine the text right ("so where did you get that from?" cannot anyhow boom some standard Christian "10yr series" answer without supporting biblical evidence) haha i used to get so annoyed cos initially i thought they were just being picky... but hey what do u know... i've come to love it =) And how when i go listen to Chris or more recently, Phillip's preaching in church and these people are so amazing right... and all these precious teachings just keep pouring out... and i'm trying to catch all of it with my ears and furiously jotting it down (aka... effective note taking during lectures) heheh... "what did he say? What analogy did he use? Which verse was he referring to? Oh... so it means... *ding* ahhh...got it...=)" excellent stuff man... LOVE it... =) Heh without bible study or going to church... i'd probably be charging down the highway into bimbo-dom with the rate of brain wasting that has already occurred ;P

Prayer

2005-11-04T23:16:00.000+11:00

I have to confess... i'm super lazy when it comes to prayer... so inclined to think,

"aiya... God is all knowing anyway... he knows what i need so i can count to 3 and zzzzz...."

maybe in my desperate moments...

"pls God help me remember all the blood vessels of the stupid pelvic cavity... how come i cannot remember what i've studied!!!"

or

"God.. die la... i'm late... make the bus come faster.... pls pls pls!!!!"

i was reminded of the words of my mentor from my previous church, spoken to me when i was still a young christian," I know exactly what my children desire or need, but sometimes, i will wait for them to ask me before giving it to them." hmm.. a ploy to torture dreadful teenagers perhaps? hehe... not quite but i guess she wants them to realise what is important and want them to want it bad enough to humbly ask from their parents, whom they know love and care for them and will not withhold from them any good thing.

This is a mere glimpse of how it is between our heavenly Father and us... God knows His people for He made us! He sees our hearts, our innermost thoughts, he even numbers the hairs on our head. So when we pray to God, we are making our requests or petitions known to God in coherent words for prayer does not constitute mindless chanting or having wierd ideas of emptying your mind to connect with your inner being. In prayer, we are making our requests known to God, who is the Creator that is above all creation and created things. This Creator did not put the world into existence and abandon it. Instead, every second, He sustains it and He is in constant control cos He is a sovereign and all knowing God, all powerful and able to do anything and everything.

When we pray to this God, we are acknowledging our trust in Him, we are reminded of who God is, we are putting our faith in the very character of God Himself. At the same time we are reminded or our own limitations and yet comforted by the inifiniteness of God. And this is a God that listens! He hears, He acts, He blesses, He helps, He is personal and He is relational. This is a God that communicates... there is nothing too small or insignificant to bring to God in prayer...

Why should the nations say,
" Where is their God?"
Our God is in the heavens;
He does all that He pleases

Their idols are silver and gold
the work of human hands
They have mouths but do not speak;
eyes, but do not see.
They have ears but do not hear;
noses, but do not smell.
They have hands, but do not feel;
feet, but do not walk
and they do not make a sound in their throat.
Those who make them become like them;
so do all who trust in them

You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and their shield
The Lord has remembered us, He will bless us
He will bless those who fear the Lord
both the small and the great. (Psalm 115: 2-13)

Keep praying to The One who is willing to provide, who made us and who loves us so much that He sent Jesus to die for us. That's why we pray to God our Father in heaven, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Put your trust in The One who is sovereign, for He sustains us, and gives us everything for our good. In fact He is more willing to give than we are to ask!

Which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?
Or if he asks for a fish will give his a serpent?
If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! Matthew 7:9-11

I know myself... many times there is this urge to take everything upon myself to solve, instead of prayerfully offering my insecurities, fears and worries to God and continue to lean on Him, trusting and waiting on God.. even in praying for others i get lazy too (especially when its an on-going prayer thing.. oops...) and i can so easily give in to "ya and God, for ____ it's the same thing... i told you yesterday already right?" sigh... yet it's so important to carefully think about what exactly we are praying for for others, as it makes us consider what this person really needs! Keeps us from being superficial and be sincere in our prayers, helps us love them better and to be more other person centered and encouraging.

Heavenly Father, thank you for Your grace and mercy, thank you for Jesus that we are able to come to you as Your children. I pray that You will keep me from complacency and laziness, give me the wisdom to live as Your people, give me the heart to love and serve others, give me faith to persevere in times of trial, that i may remember and trust continually in Your sovereignity for You are the unfailing God. This i pray through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen!

This bulletin of prayers was too cute not to share...heheh

I wanna come home

2005-11-03T02:30:00.000+11:00

U know... in the midst of my exam planning and trying to spot questions for my anatomy paper (praying for a miracle brainwave connection to Dr Hopwood's brain) i've decided... i wanna go home after all this vet studying is done... (you must be thinking: Shing has completely lost it, of course come home la! Plane ticket already booked on 30th Nov... dun come home then do what?)

No. I mean i have decided i wanna come home after i'm done with this degree course... and it means that i will plan to work in Spore, try to get my clinical placements with hospitals and clinics in Spore in the coming years etc etc... (you must be thinking: Now Shing has REALLY lost it!! Is she crazy? Singapore's like the most boring place... and whole day look at dog cat dog cat dog cat hamster dog cat dog cat rabbit dog cat dog cat dog cat x1000000000)

In all sanity and honesty... I think i will have really lost it if i have chosen otherwise =) Why would i forsake my home, my family, my friends, the people closest and dearest to me, the place where i spent my childhood, the place where i did my growing up, everything that has made me who i am today? Sigh i cant imagine having to be away for longer than i have to... i hate coming home to a home that's not really a home cos my family's not here... i hate not being able to see my niece grow up... i hate it when i miss my friends voices... i hate that i'm the only one laughing at spastic sporean humour cos no one else gets them... i hate it when i miss the green waffles with peanut butter that you can only get at HDB bakeries... =(

hmm...Maybe Shing just has a serious deficit in the adventurous spirit department... i dont think so... if not i will still be in the bank... running the rat race mindlessly instead of having my arm up the rectum of a cow... and i will still be proudly professing myself as a dog lover while now a kitty cat has made his way into my heart (as you can see from the slew of kitty pics likened to a teenage obsession of writing her crush's name on a piece of paper over and over again =)... and still think that playing music for church is the best thing ever while now i think that serving God by teaching music is heaps heaps heaps better... everyday i am learning something new... about myself, about God, about the people in my life, both old and new... and you can bet that this list of new discoveries will only lengthen (but pls shoot me the day i say my favourite animal is the lizard ;P friends and family will know i am terrified of them, but i want very badly to do some work with Taronga Zoo but there is a high chance of having to handle lizards and geckos that are in rehab... geez man... i will drop dead)

If it's such a great experience here in Sydney... why the sure decision to be on the first plane back after i'm done with my degree? Cos i've also realised what is truly important and irreplaceable... and i will do my darndest best to hold on to it =) A place called home.... ;)

EMU Live 2 is out!

2005-11-01T11:59:00.000+11:00

Remember how i was raving about the TWIST conference at the beginning of the semester??? The live recording that was done over the conference is out --> EMU Live 2 =) Have a listen on the EMU Music webbie... there are a couple of sample tracks available! They've added a couple more new songs... the music is getting better, catchier and very singable so its great for congregational singing... their music arrangement is also moving up a couple of notches ( listen to Hallelujah to the King of Kings ) and all this time, remaining faithful to good, faithful, biblical lyrics! Have a listen hey? And use it in your churches if you think suitable... although they are not mainstream, popular Hillsong that everyone listens to... look at the songs for what they are and you will realise that they are really a gem of a song... and the lyrics will encourage those that sing and hear it... which is really what music ministry is all about isn't it? That people will be built up with good biblical songs that the church can sing together and that the non-believers in their midst will hear of God's faithfulness and goodness, and the Good News of Christ Jesus!

Look who's the cutie!

2005-11-01T01:31:00.000+11:00

Debs brought little Ethan over to our place on Sunday arvo...haha look at what a cutie he is!! Within minutes he was all over the place... crawling, laughing excitedly and having a great time exploring =) Dont you think he looks so much like his mommy? He's a great kid... so cheery and full of smiles... and no temper at all! No wonder Debs is really enjoying motherhood hehe

and another piece of wonderful news! My sis told me she is expecting again!! yippee yay! Baby will say hello to the world next June... what great timing... i'll be on winter break too =)

Deja Vu

2005-10-31T00:00:00.000+11:00

Do you believe in Deja Vu? I dunno if i do but sometimes when brief instances of my life in Sydney just seems all too familiar.. and its not even anything really significant... like i was just studying the gross anatomy of the lymphatic system... then i just came across this sentence and hey, i've done this whole sitting at the table with "Curiosity kills the cat" song playing in the background and trying to understand what "tributary region" means.... with my study lamp casting its warm glow on my book and using a red pen to mark on my textbook before...

A few times too... walking along the street and the overcast sky and a sudden cool breeze sweeping up my hair and the smell in the air.... it's so strangely familiar... like replaying a video... same thing when i was in church playing But for Your Grace on the piano after the service ended, watching the people getting up from the pews and mingling... the piano sounds swirling around the cathedral... feeling happy being obscure and out of view... wishing that the gorgeous tinkling sounds that the grand piano makes will never have to end and dreading the 'emptiness' that takes its place when my foot is lifted off the pedal when the song has ended... or even noticing the movement of leaves being blown in the wind behind the stained glass windows of the cathedral when my mind drifted off momentarily during a sermon...

hmmm... oh well... i dont know what it means! Probably nothing heh... just an interesting observation...

back to studying... and looking forward to home... one month more... this time next month i'll be back home!!!! Yippeee....... hee ;P home... sweet blessed home...

my study companion..

2005-10-27T22:32:00.000+10:00

hehe... he just plonked himself on my books and notes while i was studying and decided to settle down there ;P time for some cardiovascular physiology Jangles? Or have you decided to sit on some lymphatic system instead? ;P

Munchie mouse hehehe

2005-10-22T11:51:00.000+10:00

Mr Jangles LURRRVVEESSS his mouse (or what's left of it heh) ;P He goes absolutely kkrrazeee!! Look at that psychotic glaze in his eyes!

Loser day... =(

2005-10-20T22:30:00.000+10:00

U know its just one of those days that come by every once in a while... when u feel like the biggest loser ever... sigh... this morning... Mr Jangles decided the waste paper basket was gonna be his new toy... and he tipped it over and dug all the contents out.... the crackling plastic and crumpling of paper... the scratching noises just IRRITATED the life out of me.... i scowled and got out of bed (this was 715am and i was supposed to wake up at 745am) stuffed the contents back into the basket and crawled back in the bed... 2 minutes later... He was AT IT AGAIN!!!!! I shouted at him "STOOOPPPP ITTT!!!!!! ARGGHHH!!!" and while trying to steal a few more mins of sleep i got up late... and had to take the bus to school cos walking would take too long...

When i turned the corner at the street... i saw my bus drive off... "Great... just great..." so no choice... have to walk... while huffing and puffing and tot i'd catch bus 2 that would cut short my walk by 10 mins... lo and behold.. i left my wallet at home! DARN!!!!

I got to class at 925am (class starts at 9am btw)... then i found out that i didnt bring my files with my lecture notes.... (*%$#$%^&*.... ARGH and today's lecture was on anaesthetia and i was really looking forward to having a productive lecture.... (%^&&%^&*&^...

Then came lunch... had to borrow money from friends... after that we all went to the library to study and revise for exams.... thank goodness that went well... left school at 7pm... and it was RAINING =( cold and wet we trudged home... had to borrow my friend's travel 10 (prepaid bus tickets) cos i had nothing on me...

Got home was famished.. decided to whip up some aglio olio... quick and easy... man... it turned out to be Murphy's pasta --> whatever can go wrong... did go wrong!!! Too much olive oil... too little garlic... garlic got charred... fettucine was over boiled and soggy... too little chicken... and when i put it all together it became a tasteless... soggy mass (and i swear i must have emptied a quarter of the salt shaker)... damn... then i spotted a can of tuna lying innocently on the shelf... "Heck it... this might help" so in went the tuna...and boy was it a mistake =(... thought i'd cook the pasta a bit longer... and it turned crunchy =( like Ma Mee noodles!!! that has gotta be the worst pasta ever ever ever...

A loser day indeed... sigh... how bout a better day tomorrow please? =(

Affluenza...

2005-10-19T23:23:00.000+10:00

Amidst all the avian flu scares popping up all over asia and now in Europe... one type of flu permeates modern society... it plants itself in our minds and hearts... and it seduces, subtly and slowly... the disease of affluence...

Coincidentally was chatting to a friend about it not so long ago... and shortly after Mike Raiter was invited to our church to give a talk on Money, Missions and Ministry! He brought us to Luke 12:13-21 where Jesus warns us to "guard against covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."and he goes on to the parable of the rich man who was blessed with riches, storing up treasures for himself and is not rich toward God.. this all comes to naught as that very night, his soul was required of him and death makes a mockery of his life and earthly treasures.

You must think now... oh i've heard this a ZILLION times... yada yada yada everyone you talk to will agree that life is not about possessions! We've had this moral drilled into us through fables and stories as young children isnt it? BUT fact is, few practice it! More is never enough... people are still wanting that dream house, swanky car, exotic holiday... and face it... we do take immense pleasure in what we own! There is a strong draw to being self indulgent... rewarding yourself after working hard cos i deserve it... similarly, that's the whole sales pitch behind retirement planning isnt it? I will work this hard now so that by the time i'm 50, i can ______ (fill in the blanks)... and on the way, so long as i give 10% of my salary to ministry then yep... i have fulfilled the requirements when it comes to untying the purse strings... Some will ask... "So can i buy a BMW?"... or "Gucci/Prada/LV bags can buy a not? How bout when it's on sale?"...

Do you recognise this? The pharisee in each one of us rearing its ugly head... always looking to fence a subject in with rules so that we know exactly what God requires of us and what we are allowed to get away with! But fact is we are free from the Law in the post Christ era (some may rejoice "yay! no need to give 10% anymore") --> what rubbish cos God now expects MORE than the OT Law... we are now bound to love and generosity with one another... give as much as your brother needs... not just in money, but your kinship, your prayers, your time... just as we no longer worship God with burnt offerings... but with every aspect of our lives, living as people set apart to the glory and praise of God. It's the change in attitude and a change of heart that is what makes up Christianity... people who take pleasure in serving and live to please God...

The real danger of the big M is the slow, subtle way it takes hold of us... and we almost never realise it! It starts small... working hard to sustain ourselves and maybe have enough for a short holiday at the end of the year... then soon enough... i can afford the Nine West shoes! Go to the fancy restaurant once in a while... a few drinks with friends at the newest pub in town... oh! i can actually afford a car now... how about investing in a house... i really like how the house was decorated in the last episode of Better Homes and Gardens.... a trip to _____ will be the best way to end the year... after all, i deserve it after working so hard... and the list goes on and on... Money exerts a strange power over us... It sparks our greed... and very soon, we can find ourselves worshipping created things rather than the creator Himself...

For me, the reason i chose to get out of banking earlier rather than later... was firstly cos i didnt want to waste anymore time... secondly i also didnt want to face an increasingly difficult decision cos the money and financial independence may be too good to give up if i stayed in it longer... even now... as a student with limited funds... i do find myself wanting to buy things like i used when i was working (sometimes i do give in lar sigh but nothing over 20 bucks --> see Pharisee coming out AGAIN)... or go to nice restaurants (Sydney is FULL of them!!!) but i know it's well beyond my means... i also learnt that being without... isnt so bad after all! And i can devote more time to productive things like studying, reading good books, quality time with friends and family as opposed to looking out for the next good bargain =P I pray these precious words of Pro 30: 7-9 -

"2 things i ask of you, deny them not to me before i die: Remove far from me falsehood and lying, give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest i be full and deny you and say "Who is the Lord?" or lest i be poor and steal and profane the name of my God."

In the game of earthly monopoly... u can acquire and build and own the Queen Astrid Park and Nassim Road squares... but when the game ends, it all goes back into the box... you can build the big red hotels in every square and charge every "person" that steps on your square... it still goes back into the box ;P Be careful not to put your trust in things futile.. but trust in the faithfulness of God and His sovereignity... He will be faithful to those who are faithful to Him... Invest and store up things that last... and make a profit for heaven =) For one day our life will be required of us and God will call us into account for what He has entrusted to us in our lifetime.

The Jacaranda tree is BLOOMIN' !!!!!!

2005-10-19T21:39:00.000+10:00

There's an old saying among the Usyd students:

"If you havent started studying for the exams when the Jacaranda tree blooms... you're DEAD."

damn it.... i walked past the huge Jacaranda tree in school today and it was freakin bloomin' its head off like this... damn it!!! These trees can be found all around the city and every tree i chanced upon... they were all turning bloomin' PURPLE too!!!!!!!! sigh... i better stuff my head in my books right NOW....

Cattle Pracs

2005-10-16T17:23:00.000+10:00

*note this entry is gonna be preeettttyyyyy graphic... gross alert on HIGH!

Cattle prac has gotta be the most eye popping one for me.... u just have no idea how MASSIVE these animals are... until you come face to face with one and you have this bos taurus towering over you. One thing for sure, they DO NOT like humans and they hate being petted on the head. They have less exposure with humans (unlike horses, which can be huge but at least trained and controllable) and you almost always use a crush before examining them if not you're gonna get kicked, head butted or run over by them!

First up was dairy cattle... the guy taking us for dairy cattle classes is so funny... he was like," So how do u identify a good udder? C'mon guys... you tell me what's a good set of tits look like... what do u look out for?" HAHAHA anyway the moo ladies walked up to the milking facility and settled in with their bums and udders toward us on either side... and there we were learning to put on the milking cups to get the milking going while avoiding being kicked... "Be gentle! You sure wouldnt like it if a stranger came up to you and suddenly squeezes your tits!" HAHAHA... but in my opinion the REAL danger is the onslaught of pee and poo...it just comes pouring out from these moo ladies... mind you... the moo ladies are standing on a raised platform... their bum is the perfect height for a shower tap!!! House rules include:
"Rule no. 1: KEEP YOUR MOUTH CLOSED!! I don't know why but vet students year after year just dont get it!" HAHAHAHA
"Rule no. 2: If it happens...don't just stand there... get away!!! You dont have to stand still and suffer =)" HAHAHA
"Rule no. 3: I'm not going to pass anyone of you if you dont walk out of the dairy farm with any shit on you" ...

Oops... not so funny already... and he was totally right regarding the torrential pee and poo avalanches with no warning whatsoever... and he was right again about not being able to keep mouth closed cos when it explodes... 100% of the students duck away screaming HAHAHA and yep... you bet ALL of us passed the prac handling at the end of it ;P *poey*

Next up... our first RECTALS!!!! We watched in amazement as our lecturer demonstrated... and after that was done... each of us was to grab an arm-length glove, pour on some lube and get into it! I swear this is the most amazing experience... the challenging bit is to get past the rectum and the sphincter muscle and woa... you are just so amazed at how roomy it is inside!!! Anyway we got up the rectum as far as up as our biceps... as we moved up the rectum... we can feel the intestinal contractions gliding over the length of our arms...it's just so cool what you can palpate in the cow's pelvic and abdominal cavity... we could feel the dome shaped rumen, the left kidney, the uterus (sometimes these moo ladies are preggies), the ovaries (they are about the size of golfballs with follicular lumps on the surface), the pulse of the abdominal aorta.... SO SO SO SO AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so what's in the rectum ?? SHIT of course! hahaha and beware when you feel the rumbles in the rectum... it means fart is coming through! and yes if you dont turn away fast enough....moo ladies will let out a ripping fart right in your face accompanied with the splattering of shit !! And as usual... shit just pours out of their rectum...down your side, accumulating as a pile over your boots... yuck =P

I swear if there were ever a competition for shit tolerance... vets and vet students will win hands down... but then again... i'm fully convinced that being a vet has got to be one of the coolest professions ever... i mean how can u justify putting your hand up a cow's rectum without being thought of as a total perve? hahaha ;P Anyway here's my list of cool professions without any order of merit:
- Vet
- Mom
- Pastor
- Musician
- Anything to do with the sea heh (was watching some surf programme and am inspired to give it a go soon!!!! )

I was just thinking... Wouldnt it be nice if i could be a vet with my clinic near the sea... i will own 2 horses (one grey and one chestnut), 2 dogs, a cat and a ferret (i'm still thinking abt this one cos they are smelly) on my days off i will ride my horse to the sea with hubby and kids and animals... do some surfing or scuba... or just chill right!! and then we can all have bible study on the beach too! and a seafood BBQ for fellowship... hee...Wouldnt it be nice?

TLC

2005-10-16T16:12:00.000+10:00

Just sent mom off...sigh it's so good to have family around... aiya i really miss home... mom's really great... always comes armed with yummy food and lotsa TLC heehee... drove to Camden with her to show her where i have my farm practicals and in true Singaporean style went food hunting around Sydney ;) Mr Jangles was banished to the bathroom or laundry room for a few nights... dont think mom would have enjoyed his midnight trampling and the kitty cat toe catching in the mornings hee hee hee 1.5 mths more!!!! then i can go home... cant wait!!! ;P

Girl girl is learning to speak!

2005-10-13T20:52:00.000+10:00

My niece is starting to talk! My sis said that besides mama and papa one of the first words uttered was DOG! (or rather... 'dock' in her baby language) hehe how cute is that... looks like we've got another animal lover in the family =)

Dinner with the Foos

2005-10-09T16:00:00.000+10:00

haha no more procrastinating... got off my bum, stopped chasing Mr Jangles and got down to my essay and i've finished it!!!! Yippee!!!

Hehe time to blog about the wonderful time we had w Yuk Yee and Karen... they had Chew Sim and i over at their place for dinner last night...and i finally got to meet them after hearing so much about them =) and oh oh oh they have 2 very adorable boys, Nicholas and Graeme! Just look at them hehe... they pressed all the right " i'm cute come play with me!" buttons for Chew Sim and i man... heheh.. super cute la the both of them...we had so much fun =)

- Graeme and Nico -

Karen was telling us how Nico has recently been concerned about Graeme's salvation hahaha kept asking his brother if he knows who Jesus is... and of course he doesnt get a very coherent answer from his one and a half year old baby brother hehehe so cute eh? Kids just say the funniest things =)

Me and Nico

Graeme and Chew Sim

After the boys went to bed, we had great conversations w Yuk Yee and Karen over yummy food and dessert! hehe... i love good conversations over yummy food...Cant find a better way to spend a saturday night =)

PrOcRaStInAtInG

2005-10-09T10:39:00.000+10:00

i dont wanna do anymore work booooohooooooooooooooooooooo i'm so tired =( found a new way of destressing...chasing cats!!!

hahaha it's so funny to see Mr Jangles running and darting around the room... and now he gets this glazed eyes look and fear struck expression when i look at him and growl.. in a second he's off and goes shooting across the room hahahhaha

"GRRRRRR....."
*MEOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!*

This is not animal cruelty ok... he's getting fat and i'm trying to exercise him.... hahaha he is too funny... when he lies on the window ledge he's so chubby his tummy is spilling over the edge... in time he's gonna fall off the ledge man... hahaha my super cute soft roly poly kitty =P

i am damn stressed

2005-09-29T23:51:00.000+10:00

i AM damn StREEeeSSSSEEEEDDDddd........$%^&*(*&^%$#$%^&*()_(*&^%$%&*()(*&^%$@

Baa baa black errr white sheep?

2005-09-28T19:19:00.000+10:00

Sheep are really cute but so silly!!! That's a Merino ewe that i managed to restrain =) and once you get them on their bums, they wont move anymore! They are so much better to work with than piggies.. and your hands feel kinda waxy after handling them... natural lanolin moisturiser!!! But it takes quite a bit of practice to be able to tip them over... they can be pretty strong and stubborn if they want to =) i like sheep, they are nice ;P

3 Little Pigs

2005-09-19T21:52:00.000+10:00

We are into the 3rd week of farm pracs now... the most recent practical class was on PIGS... and all that talk about the stench and the noise is all TRUE!!! boy.. they can be such buggers to work with... they squeal and crap everywhere... fully grown pigs are HUMONGOUS... they just trot and sit around like large pink bolsters that smell bad...

First we had to learn how to herd them using pig boards... and if they can get their snout into any gaps... u can be sure they will muscle their way through and you will have to do it all over again!! That pudge over there weighs 85kg btw ;P Pigs are really inquisitive animals...once u set foot in their pen... the whole bunch of them charge toward you and sniff at your trousers, boots.. if u stand still long enough.. they will nip and chew at your legs and it HURTS *ouch* we find ourselves with bruises on our calves at the end of the day! All of us were hopping and jumping and kicking in there so that the pigs cant get to our ankles and calves while trying desperately not to fall and kena the dung =P

Then we also had a hand at catching pigs hahaha... that was quite fun though...but i really hate their piercing squeals ARGH...it's as if they were being murdered.. ooo that's me when i finally managed to catch a piggy! and guess what... soon after he started shitting on me
=( damn it!!!!!

.
There were also these tiny little piglets that were really quite cute!! u can see my friends carrying some of them... they are prob bout 5-10 days old =) i'm so bad with piggies...whenever i tried to carry the little ones they would start their murderous squealing but they were mostly quiet when my classmates held them... one little piggy even fell asleep while my friend was carrying it... HAH and just when u thought all was well...next thing u know... they start shitting on you again!! ARGH!!!! these buggers are like crap machines... no redemption factor for them man... =P After the practicals my hands reeked of pig shit... even after scrubbing and washing and soaking them... it was truly horrendous when i was starving after a long day and decided to pick up a quick dinner from Hungry Jacks ... oh my goodness... when i bit into the burger...my nostrils were quickly filled up with the smell of pig crap from my fingers... EEEWWWWWW... man, i hate pigs...

There were other things we had to do like collecting semen from boars.. hahaha no pictures of those... it was too gross... go FIGURE!!! ;P

*its amazing how my classmates are willing to risk getting crap all over their camera to take these pictures hahaha but thank goodness for them... if not i'd not have any piggy pics to put up*

Mr Jangles =P

2005-09-05T23:32:00.000+10:00

look at my new friend! He's a 10mth old domestic shorthair... adopted him from Cat Protection Society a week ago =) i've never really been a cat person but i thought, hey i'm gonna have to treat these little guys when i'm a vet... better get to know them first! Hehe... Mr Jangles is his name... and what a funny fella he is! Makes me laugh all the time... Isnt he handsome with his white tux and white socks? =) hehe

Bewildering contradictions...astounding truth!

2005-08-28T20:50:00.000+10:00

I've been attending morning service at St Andrew's since i got back... normally i join the evening service, also called The Bible Talks... the difference? TBT is very much ARPC style but morning service is age old 100% Anglican, complete with a fully robed all-male choir singing (yes! soprano parts sung by pre-pubescent boys hahaha) the beautiful old hymns accompanied by pipe organist... the deacons, preacher etc also put on their full robes for service...it's tradition to the core! They even have the hymn lyrics with their tow gays written out on the order of service for you to sight sing to! And you will probably find yourself saying hello to a silver haired lady twice your age ;P Nontheless its been a refreshing change i think... to be ministered to by the choir and there's just something about the original rustic chords resonating in the stone walled interiors of a cathedral more than a century old... makes it almost ethereal =) as opposed to funked up jingly jangly hippy upbeat christian music that i am so accustomed to hehe

Philip preached on the significance of Jesus' baptism as written in Matt 3:13-17. Why did a perfect, sinless Jesus need baptism? Since he was neither in need of repentence like the rest of us... It baffled John the Baptist as well! But Jesus reply was that "Let it be so now for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness" As soon as Jesus was baptised in the River Jordan, the most extraordinary thing happened... the heavens opened and God anointed him with the Holy Spirit descending like a dove on Jesus and said "This is my son in whom i am well pleased"

We were pointed back to scriptures in the old testament (OT) in Isaiah 42 and in Psalm 2:7 where both prophecied on this very event. So in one part, Jesus' baptism was to fulfill these prophecies. Also as kings in OT days were annointed with oil which represents an annointing with the Holy spirit. In Jesus' case, God Himself annoints Jesus, to be King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and His reign will be over all nations, and all the earth will be his possessions. Through Jesus is the fulfilment of all righteousness for he would bring forth justice and quench all sinful rebellion...

This King, will fulfil righteousness not with strength, chariots and mighty army charging with a loud battle cry, for he would not even bruise a reed, in all gentleness his breath does not even put out a candle. The precious words of Isaiah 53 never fail to strike me at my innermost being...

1Who has believed what they heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground;he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. 3He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows,and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities;upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. 6All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way;and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

7He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth;like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. 8By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who consideredthat he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? 9And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death,although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.

10Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 11Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. 12Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors;yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

The suffering servant, yes... and yet at the same time Jesus is the conquering King. Yet in reality, it seems that Jesus is more likely the conquering servant and the suffering King. His coronation was His crucifixion, yet through His death and resurrection, He will reign as the King of Kings.

The shadow of the cross is evident throughout Jesus' life... the King of kings born in lowly Bethlehem. Soon after he escaped King Herod's slaughter when the family seeked refuge in the land of the enemy, Egpyt. Isaiah's prophecy: that the saviour will come out of egypt, and indeed, after the danger has passed over, young Jesus brought out of egypt by his earthly parents and was raised in Nazarene, an obscure land which nobody of great significance dwells. His life on earth was never destined for a palace but instead, it was headed for the cross, a crown of thorns and not one adorned with jewels... indeed, all these for the fulfilment of righteousness

How can anyone not be changed when they realise this? How can anyone not turn and give their lives to Christ? Its just funny how i've heard this so many times yet i still grapple with these extraordinary, humbling and baffling words.... these bewildering contradictions and astounding truth!

Lord, Your grace astounds me again and again... Compelled by love so great that You my King would die for me... my mind simply cannot fathom the depth of Your love... I am indeed not worthy to receive You... Forgive me and change me, that I may live my life with Jesus as Lord and Saviour for all my days... Amen!

Your Grace Still Amazes Me

My faithful Father, enduring friend
Your tender mercys like a river with no end
It overwhelms me, converts my sins
Each time I come into Your presence
I stand in wonder once again

Your grace still amazes me
Your love is still a mystery
Each day I fall on my knees
Cos Your grace still amazes me

Your grace still amazes me....

- Phillips, Craig and Dean

Reflections on singleness...

2005-08-27T16:24:00.000+10:00

I was just sharing with housemate on what i've been recently reading on this whole BGR business... no doubt lots of lamenting heh... some of the memorable snippets of our conversation =)

"this season of singleness is a gift given to us by God now..."
"har... can dowan this gift a not..."
"and our current singleness is not cos we are too fat, too thin, too pretty, too ugly, too smart, not in Spore (hahahaha), too godly, too ungodly or cos guys in church are too passive or whatever la! Every day we have on earth is given by the King... if this is a season of singleness, then it will be a season of singleness... not up to us to wish it away or exchange for the OTHER gift =)"
"hahaha... aiya i also know la... we've heard it so many times oredi...sigh... but its not unGodly to desire and pray for the other gift of marriage too right..."
"hahaha... i oso dowan this singleness gift la... of course we can desire and pray for marriage but we shouldnt desire marriage higher than everything else cos after all there will be no marriage in heaven (Matt 22:30)"
"yup true..."
"think abt it... we've got a God to serve, His people to love, our own spiritual growth and godliness to be concerned about than to spend too much time on this whole singleness/marriage thing! if it comes then it comes lor... hor???" =)

yep... so we both agreed... if it comes then it comes lor =) its not a matter of probability, opportunity, geography, type of church (heh cos there is this church in Sydney rather reknowned to be the dating church... those hell bent on finding bf/gf should flock there haha) if God has plans to end your season of singlenss to replace it with marriage... u can be in Antarctica making friends with polar bears and it will still happen... God is Sovereign! Meanwhile... "Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord" Pro 16:20

by the way... have a super long list of thanksgiving!!

1) Huijia just asked me to be her bride's maid! wow what an honour =) hehe

2) I'm currently involved in a church plant! St Andrew's Cathedral is starting a new gathering, called the Asian Bible Church on 4th Sept 05.. more details here and here... i'm gonna be involved in music, not just playing, but teaching others music in the service of God and help raise up new musicians!! For the past year or so, i have been having this desire to teach music... and i have only done some informally with friends back home...but this is the first time its like official... i'm quite scared but very excited as well... and guess what! Hwees asked me if i could do the keyboard workshop for ARPC musician's camp in Dec! wow!!! so many opportunities to serve and to learn!! i'm really excited hehe.. but there is so much preparation and learning i will have to do first before i am able to do this... pray for me that i can learn the necessary skills so that i can teach others humbly and effectively and that people will be more equipped to serve God in music! Also, pray for the new Asian Bible Church, there's so much work to be done, pray that all those involved keep their eyes on Jesus as we go about doing the necessary, and faithfully speak the gospel message to those who havent heard =)

3) I just found out that i can do electives in marine research or work with marine mammals!!! SUPER COOL!!!! wow... indeed the stuff dreams are made of man... i cant wait!!!

God is indeed gracious and so good to me =) Pray for me guys... i've been sick for a week now (and the stupid dr refuse to give me any medication!!!! GRRR)... and school's shifting into 5th gear from this week on... i need all the good health i can get! Missing and praying for all of u as well...

TRUST AND OBEY

When we walk with the Lord

In the light of his Word

What a glory he sheds on our way!

While we do His good will

He abides with us still

And with all who will trust and obey

Trust and obey

For there's no other way

To be joyful in Jesus

Than to trust and obey

But we never can prove

The delights of His love

Until all on the altar we lay

For the favour he shows

And the joy he bestows

Are for them who will trust and obey

Trust and obey

For there's no other way

To be joyful in Jesus

but to trust and obey =)

- Rev. John Henry Sammins (1846-1919)

PS: my apple cinnamon bread turned out to be a real flop =( its more like a recipe for rocks.. boohoo

Letter to Christian Girl from Christian Guy

2005-08-26T14:21:00.000+10:00

I've recently been reading postings from other blogs and this one in particular caught by eye!! It's by Kaif (coincidentally, his mom and my mom are like good friends since school days!! But i only discovered earlier this year during my baptism when my mom visited arpc for the first time and saw Kaif songleading upfront!)... the link to his original posting is here but i'll just cut and paste it for convenience's sake:

A letter to Christian Girl

Just in case you are wondering why a married man like myself is writing this, let me qualify by saying that this is not a letter for myself. I'm writing this on behalf of the single guys.

Dear Christian Girl,

I think I am attracted to you. I must confess that in the past and even now, I've often liked girls because of their looks. But I'm trying my hardest to change, because I know it is Godliness that counts. Proverbs 31 has taught me that. But in order for me to do that, I need to know you better; know what your hobbies are; know what your likes and dislikes are; know your walk with Christ, because I know these are the things that matter.

However, I don't know where to begin. While your Godliness attracts me, sometimes it scares me. I always hesitate when i ask myself "Can I match up to your Godliness?" or "Am I Godly enough for you?" The reason why churches are so filled with girls is because girls generally take God more seriously than us guys. Left to my own, I prefer to be a back-bencher. I'm pretty laid-back you see, and it is not my natural self to lead. Hence, sometimes when you go on about Christ and when I see how zealous you are for Him, it intimidates me. It makes me wonder whether I should even try to get to know you, because its a rather tall order to match up to Proverbs 1-30. I have 30 chapters to aspire to become, you only have 1.

I'm not asking you to be less Godly. In fact, like you, I too desire to be a Godly man. But it takes time. I'm willing to try if you are willing to give me a chance. While I can't do it on my own, God can change me, and push me towards greater Godliness. In fact, sometimes he uses people like you to do so.

So do give me a chance. It is not my intention to lead you or anyone on. I just want to get to know you better. I hope you would like to get to know me better as well. If i ever muster up enough courage to ask you out along with a few friends, would you just oblige me? After all, it is not a marriage proposal.

Yours sincerely,

Christian Guy

Swing by Kaif's blog to read some of the responses to this entry... u will have a good sense of the confusion this whole BGR thing brings to each gender heheh and i'm sure there are many frustrations we all can relate to..

I am no expert in this field... i struggle with it at many points too! Paranoia: That i will be deprived the joys of marriage, having my own kids and dying old and alone in my dingy apartment... worse still... die oredi then nobody know... until neighbours ring the police cos v smelly then they open to find that my starved dog (cos i'm dead rite) has eaten part of me... and i'll make it to the front page of The New Paper...Face-less of the year???? sigh... anyway... back to Christian Guy's brave letter!

No doubt i can see why a Godly girl may scare some guys with her apparent perfection... but i must reiterate the word "apparent"... not becos she is faking it... but cos her Godliness comes from Christ! If someone were to think that of me... I will be glad cos that person sees the good works of Christ in my life yet on the other hand, i worry because i know how sinful i can be, the thoughts in my head, the things that i say etc... does this person actually know me? If he does... he will know that i am far from perfect.. i stumble and fall again and again... and that God is constantly putting me through His refiner's fire. It's a road toward Godliness that we are on... not a black and white, pass or fail thing... this brave lad may just turn and run the moment my imperfections rear their ugly heads cos we are all sinners, striving to live under the Lordship of Christ! I dont think girls are expecting the guys to live up to Proverbs 30 before we'd go out with them, but to value the truths in Proverbs 30 (as well as the rest of the bible) and keep moving in that direction! Just like the girls who aspire to be a Proverbs 31 woman and are just trying to live out our salvation...

So dear brothers, if u spot a girl who fears the Lord and strives to walk His ways... and you are attracted to her... Pluck up some courage and go for it!! Asking her to join your friends for lunch after service or supper after DG... cant be THAT bad =) hehehe and girls we'll be more than happy to oblige... it's just makan right? ;P

JOY IN THE JOURNEY

There is a joy in the journey
There’s a light we can love on the way
There is a wonder and wildness to life
And freedom for those who obey

And all those who seek it shall find it
A pardon for all who believe
Hope for the hopeless and sight for the blind

To all who’ve been born of the Spirit
And who share incarnation with Him
Who belong to eternity stranded in time
And weary of struggling with sin

Forget not the hope that’s before you
And never stop counting the cost
Remember the hopelessness when you were lost

There is a joy in the journey
There’s a light we can love on the way
There is a wonder and wildness to life
And freedom for those who obey

— Michael Card, 1986

Pumpkin Soup!!

2005-08-23T20:24:00.000+10:00

It was so COLD today when my friends and i were walking home from school... *brrr* and i cant believe i actually said, " damn it!!! I hate the cold!!!! Gimme some sun man!!!!" and friends who know me know that i used to say that i'm a cool weather girl and that the heat in Spore can really bring out the devil in me ;P lo and behold... eat my words hey? Anyway... cold days always make me crave for bright cheery sweet satisfying pumpkin soup... and i cooked up a HUGE pot last night =) Turned out pretty good! i just raided the fridge to see what vegs i had... it was a bit of a chemistry experiment on the stove hehe

ROAST PUMPKIN AND VEG SOUP

1/4 of a pumpkin (1/2 a butternut squash oso can)
1 carrot
1 green pepper
1 onion
5 small potatoes
1 red apple
1 zucchini
5 cloves of garlic
1.5litres of chicken stock (just use the maggi cubes!)

basically u just have to chop the veges up into large chunks, put them on a roasting pan and pour olive oil over them liberally... sprinkle the vegs with salt and freshly ground black pepper and chuck them in a 200 deg oven for err... half an hour? or until they are kinda soft and cooked... u can take the tray out and turn them over midway if u you wish so they are nice and coated w the olive oil...

when that is done... pour all the roasted vegs and the stock into a blender and puree it... put it on a large sauce pan (or kwali in my case) and simmer for 15mins... and comes the final touch! Pure fresh cream!! i used 125ml... but u can use more if u like... cos its yummy!! and can use the cream to decorate the soup too! Serve hot with toasted buttered bread rolls... or garlic bread... yummm

oh yea... this kinda serves 10 pple i think... i've got tupperwares of frozen soup in my fridge now! =)

next up is apple cinnamon bread... its on the bfast menu at the Vet Cafe and its so good!! (esp with the generous servings of butter spread on it after it comes out hot from the oven!) i smell it all the time while walking to class... gotta have it!!!

Manly Beach

2005-08-20T21:00:00.000+10:00

We saw the weather forecast and an amazing warm 25degs was expected for Friday... the bunch of us girls decided to head to Manly beach!! Well it wasnt as cold but it was OVERCAST!!!! darn... dashing our hopes of a warm sunny day in the midst of a cold spell =( but we still had a great time... talking shopping eating (all time fav girlie stuff la hehehe)... and just cranking it up on the beach hehehe

yay!!!! i can be a part time beach bummmmm!!!!

That's us on the ferry...

Photo happy...

Racing each other on the beach...

Flopping out on the sand...

Oooo my smelly feet???? =P

Come on let's TWIST again!

2005-08-08T23:07:00.000+10:00

TWIST Conference (The Word In Song Together) was an awesome experience =) We looked at passages from 1 Cor 12 and 13… that reminded us that we as God’s people make up Christ’s body, and each part has distinct role to play… all gifts, be it be teaching, healing, administration, music etc are equal… and are to be used for the edification of the church or God’s people! Our diversity should not be a source of division but instead, it should unite us as we need each other’s gifts, just as the ear needs the eye, the hands etc (1 Cor 12-31)

“God has so composed the body, giving greater honour to the part that lacked it that there may be no division in the body but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together. If one member is honoured, all rejoice together.” – 1 Cor 12:24-26.

For the musicians who serve in music in church, remember that it is an important ministry but do not fall into the trap that we start to perceive music to be more important than it really is! Don’t be carried away by the attention it brings, the lavish praise from the mouths of men, the self-adoration of being an accomplished musician! All gifts serve the same Lord, all gifts are of the Spirit… it’s a fine balance we always need to put in perspective =) Also do not be lulled into thinking that we can only serve God as musicians because we are first Christian before anything else… as followers of Christ, we give up everything, take up our cross and follow Him, placing God first, not only in music, but also permeating throughout our lives, in our work, in our families, in our relationships with one another! I was also reminded that the gifts we have been given would eventually pass away, as these are gifts that are useful only in this fallen world. However, when Christ returns and the new heaven and earth comes, only 3 will remain:

Faith – which represents our continual dependence on God,
Hope – for we have the surety of eternity with Christ and
Love – the greatest of the three, as this is the essence of God, the very being of who He is!

Can you imagine? There will be no need for my musical abilities then! Wow… this reality astounded me! It is a NEW heaven and earth that will come… its beauty and workings beyond my wildest imagination… but till that day comes, we need to pursue the way of love, not that between a man and woman, but a love that puts another first, a love that unconditionally seeks the betterment of others, even when it’s unnoticed. A love that builds up, a love that always protects, trusts, perseveres, a love that always hopes. A love that delights in service, the love that Christ showed to each one of us through His death on the cross =)

For the musos… are you playing for the love of music? Or are you playing music in love for the people of God? It has to be the latter, for if we have not love, we are nothing… even the most beautiful song we play or sing, will be a mere clanging cymbal to God and He will be covering His ears!! Recognise the power of music, for it provides God’s people the opportunity to corporately sing of His goodness, so that unbelievers in our midst may hear the message… and for those that find themselves part of the congregation weekly… your participation and verbal confession through song builds up the body of Christ for you too are part of His body! Your folded arms and disinterested disposition isn’t isolated! Yet your hearty singing and enthusiasm is a great encouragement to the people around you as well as the song leaders and musos who serve you in this ministry! How amazing is this other person centredness thing! =) With those (many) words of wisdom… we went about our workshops, trying to pick up tips and practical skills in music...

What struck me throughout the event, more than just in immense talent that was EVERYWHERE… was the humility and Christ centredness of the workshop leaders… these people like Nicky Chriswell, Mark Peterson, Bryson Smith, Phillip Percival are professionals in their own right, yet they were the most humble people ever. They totally de-mystified music! And instructed and encouraged us in their various fields of expertise… What was so funny was that they themselves had so many ‘No-Good’ slipups but they were so relaxed about it, “it doesn’t matter, happens to the best of us… come let’s try that again…” and they just laugh and carry on… it was incredible… they really walked the talk… music was not on a pedestal for this bunch =) neither was the incredible musical talents that God has given to them =)

I made many new friends in the conference, and I am grateful for their other-person centeredness and how they served me… This wonderful girl Sunshine offered to share her bass guitar with me cos I didn’t have one to fiddle with as we were supposed to bring our own instruments for the workshop… she brought me to meet her friends so we all could lunch together… another bunch of folks from East Sydney Community Christian Church that I met during the band workshop took care of me throughout the rest of the conference… took me out for dinner as that was the first time i set foot in the Ashfield area… they included me in their sharing sessions, and I had company throughout, even during the song writing workshop, morning teas… and even drove me home for both of the days… how wonderful is that? I never expected anything like that… I am indeed blessed! God does provide =)

Lord please help me love your people with a love that you first showed us, with the gifts that you so graciously gave me… Lord help me keep my eyes on things eternal, and put my hope in heavenly things… I thank you for your faithfulness and may I sing of your greatness all of my days =) Amen!

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. (1 Cor 13:11-12)

TWIST!

2005-08-08T01:06:00.000+10:00

I had the most AMAZING weekend... went for the TWIST music conference and it was incredible!!!! I was a little apprehensive cos i went alone... u know how all these conferences, are normally attended by a whole music teams... well.. i'm kinda part of no team here so... i decided to go anyway... after all , how bad can it be at a gathering of God's people who share the same love for music? =) and God didnt disappoint me (as usual... its normally me that's the faithless worry wart sigh) Learnt a lot a lot a lot, both theologically and practically!! I went for workshops on how to play bass guitar (YEAH!!!!! i am DEFINITELY getting a bass guit/amp and i'm so gonna give it a go haha... anyone knows anyone who is looking to sell?), band arrangement (incredible incredible stuff... the musos were so so so so talented.. i'm not talking abt the workshop leaders... i'm talking abt the participants!!!!) and another one on song writing... haha i'm gonna give that one a go too... soon i hope! praying for a muse =) There is a lot to write about TWIST... these few lines really dont do it any justice... so i will put that up very very very soon... however... it sparked me to do a bit of recording cos one of the songs really captured me... pardon the poor quality ( i dun even have a line-in inlet on my laptop and i'm using a mic one...that's how bad the quality is!!!) ... i dun have the software nor appropriate equipment with me... and i dun think i got all the lyrics right... this is from memory! so if u kinda dig it... look out for the new EMU live album that will be out in 2-3 mths! Alright...here goes... by the way if u really have to cover your ears when u hear it... let me know and trash it kay ;) no black mailing hor hahha its called err... i think its called Lord of Lords... =)

http://s26.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0QELB1JWA1NEZ3M9FZBHNWP1CX

Trigger happy =)

2005-08-05T23:36:00.000+10:00

Had a day off school today! One of the rare free fridays before the farm rotations at Camden commence... needed to run some errands in town so i brought my camera along to capture some of Sydney's prettier sights!

Queen Victoria Building

It's a really popular tourist spot right smack in the middle of town... beautiful architecture... and its massive as well... home to the big names of fashion in Sydney... really enjoyable to just walk through and admire the beautiful things displayed in the shop windows... the building was completed in 1896-7 and originally named Queen Victoria Markets Building "in order to mark, in a fitting manner, the unprecedented and glorious reign of her majesty, the Queen".

Sydney Town Hall

Right across the street from QVB... Sydney Town Hall symbolically reflects the city's origins as Australia's oldest settlement.. it was built between 1866 and 1888. =)

Saint Andrew's Cathedral

The city cathedral... just next to town hall... and also the church i currently attend. The building is beautiful and the original pipe organ is still in use! The cathedral has amazing acoustics as well hehe can u imagine the sounds?? However, nothing is more beautiful than the gospel that is being preached within its walls and by the people who gather in this place =)

Made in Italy

ooo... Made In Italy (at the junction of Miller & Mount St in Pyrmont) serves THE BEST stuffed squid and Vongole pasta... great pizzas too... and its just round the corner from my apartment... run by an Italian family... and the waitresses all very chio! and i dunno how she does it but she's always in little skimpy tops to show off her good bod...even when its freezing!!! hahaha

My Apartment

Yup... this is where i stay!

clink clack chop chop

2005-08-03T19:33:00.000+10:00

u know how dissection is always stereotyped to be one of those hair raising... blood spattering... juices over flowing with moosh all over type things.... ITS TRUE!!!!! had the bloodiest messiest dissection prac today... we were looking at the thoracic cavity today (chest)... man... some pple accidentally cut the large arteries and woa man... blood flood!!

"ooo is this the heart?" press press press
"*&%^!**$&^%$%^!!!!" cos all the blood spurted out from the puncture site!

*duh* cut the artery then go and press the heart somemore... of cos all the blood come out lah!...and the stench!!! others cut through the diaphragm by accident and made incisions into the gastrointestinal tract... poooeeewwww.... they made the whole lab smell of dog fart...

Stage 2 of the prac required us to look at the nasal cavities in the head... so off with the head... saw saw saw...chop chop chop (with a rusty blunt hand saw!!! it was truly awful) and after that was done... we had to split the skull right down the middle, between the eyes... so out came the chisel and hammer... *clink clank clink clank* argh skull is too hard!!! *CLINK CLANK CLANK CLANK CLANK!!!* can u imagine the whole lab resonating with the sounds??? in the end, we got the guys to help cos they are stronger... *WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM ! WHAM!* righty-O... we finally got it open... and the brains smooshed all over the table and the dissection tools... *URGH*

By the time we were done... it was like a murder scene man... our lab coats were all bloody... the sleeves soaked... gloves crusty with dried blood... the carcass was dripping when we tried to dispose of it, drops of blood on our shoes and books... cleaning up was a real headache it took a long while for us to mop up the blood on the table and those spilt on the floor =P man... it's really like starring in Texas Chainsaw Massacre or something ;)

*cover your eyes Fuzzy boy!!!*

Monsters =(

2005-07-30T17:00:00.000+10:00

First week of school.... and boy did they grill us already! Was at a friend's housewarming party yesterday, catching up with friends at school and keeping up to date with the grapevine... and also met with a Singapore girl who's come back to U Syd to do her postgrad diploma in Vet...

Found out from friends that a good many people have dropped out of vet... we started with 130... now we are slightly below 110... those that left said
"its too difficult"...
"i dont think i want to be a vet anymore"...
"nope, dont think this is the life i've signed up for!"

and during one of our professional practice classes... we were warned that the Vet profession has one of the highest suicide rate across the various industries... cos of the high stress levels and if we want to die...well to put it plain.. we know exactly what, where and how much to shoot up to achieve our desired objective in the shortest time possible ;P *yikes* and the girl doing her postgrad diploma shared that one of her lecturers did exactly that... the night before their microbiology exam... and mind you this lecturer was one of the best Vet microbiologist in the world...

And getting thru the degree is just hurdle no.1... when u grad, you are hardly a competent vet... u are unsure of your diagnosis, much less confident of your surgery skills (and i am really really interested in surgery!!) sometimes u are like CLUELESS and u are in the consult room with the animal on the table and the owner staring at you waiting for your response... suddenly radiographs all look the same... and your mind just goes blank. FREAK... what happened to all that 5 years of mugging and studying...horror of horrors right... =P almost everyone she knew had some form of breakdown... mental/emotional... whatever... almost everyone had vomitted the night before their exams and cried their eyes to bits at some point... sigh...

I get so annoyed when monsters like these creep up on me... =( It makes me feel like i'm such a scardey cat... so afraid of difficulties and challenges...
"why cant it be easier?"...
"why does it always come with this big CATCH of the day that jumps out at you at the most unexpected times...*bleh*..."
i was so ready to get into it...just raring to go for Sem2 and now i'm like pushed back a few steps already... so useless!!! i need me some superhero powers man...

All i need is a good disguise

One where nobody can recognise

That i'm feeling so small

All i need is a secret weapon

I've gotta have faith

Zapping monsters into outer space

I'm gonna be a SUPERHERO

- Little Superhero Girl by Corrinne May

Happy Bday to me

2005-07-25T19:35:00.000+10:00

I'm 25 and 2 days old... and i've been told i've become a Christmas cake... u know... those that go on sale after Christmas day *boohoo* ;P oh well... with God's grace... i'll be like fine wine... better as the years go by!! I refuse to be reduced to expired sticky date pudding ;)

I had the most awful flight back... trapped between a huge German dude (this guy's like an X-tra Large Andy can) and a snotty grumpy Briton... German guy slept so soundly... his mouth wide open and all... super generous with his dragon breath can!!!! wah piangz... wan to faint... then snotty Briton... had his laptop on throughout the whole flight playing Solitaire... and his laptop was producing so much heat i was so uncomfortable and prickly all throughout the flight... i took off my cardi and was sitting there in my singlet...fanning myself with the safety card like a satay man... ARGH... my godliness almost flew out the plane too ;P i arrived totally ZOMBIFIED at 5am Sydney time...

How quickly time passes... and its back to Sydney for Round 2... When i looked outside my window... the trees that lined the street all botak!! And it's back to school again, queuing for notes and cafeteria food... was pretty excited about going back to school actually!! It was so funny to see my friends sporting their white chubby mid-winter faces hahaha... I'm so glad i went home for the short hols! I had a great time you all... missing all of you already... ;P Take care and God bless hey? Will keep all of you in prayer...

Halleluia!

2005-07-14T19:44:00.000+10:00

I met a friend for lunch today and on my way home, i decided to drop by Lifebookshop at Bishan to see if there are any good CDs i could buy... was just raring to listen to some good stuff after spending yesterday morning with Jessy at church... she taught me lotsa stuff... sequencing music using the Korg and picking up some pointers on playing jazzy stuff on piano ;P

Just as i was entering the shop, there was this man on a wheelchair just silently staring at the rows and rows of CDs, i thought he was waiting for someone so i just continued to browsing and looking for my 'gem' of the week. He turned to me and asked, "Miss, can you help me choose CD? I want to buy one, have song that says Jesus is Alive?"

I said," Sure! I'll be most happy to help you out... What kind of music are you looking for?" I knew instinctively that i was asking a really useless question cos he probably does not know! But at that moment i just didnt know what else to ask especially when i spend much time with like minded musicians where we delve into the intricacies of music... and just get so incredibly bowled over by chord progressions, musical and vocal arrangements, style, groove... and it just goes on and on... the response from him really humbled me:

" I just want song that says Jesus is Alive and can sing Halleluia..."

How wise isnt it? You can have music with the works yet if it doesnt speak the truth of the gospel, the good news of our salvation in Christ so that His people can rejoice and praise Him... we have completely missed the point... Its marvelous how God used this man to remind me of a simple truth, that the gifts of music he has given me is simply to be used for His Kingdom and glory...

So i scuttled around the shop, trying to switch my mind from the Paul Coleman album i was eyeing and trying to look for a CD that will encourage this man, and remind him of God's amazing grace while keeping with his budget of $15... i must have tested like 8 CDs... and each time i turned to him," Do you like how this one sounds?" (cos i'm so used to being so particular about the music i buy!! its a tough habit to crack...) and his reply was always," Anything miss, can sing Jesus is Alive can oredi" Then i began to look at each song on the CDs and trying to remember the lyrics to see if they are good bible based songs that will not be too difficult for him to understand... i finally found one... and can you believe this... it was going at $14.90, special offer... and there are like 3 CDs in there filled with perennial favourites and solid lyrics.. coincidence? Or another telling sign that our God is a purposeful God ? I choose to believe the latter... ;)

I bought the CD for this man, and i gave it to him... He was insistent that he paid me for it but how could i take his money? I'm just glad that God let me serve someone today ;P I pray that he finds encouragement in the music and i am so grateful that he has taught me an important lesson too... Our God is truly an amazing God hey? Let's all sing Halleluia to that!

Absolute Bliss! ;)

2005-07-05T03:10:00.000+10:00

I'm home! Hooray! Cant believe it... Sem 1 just went by like that... (well i do have 9 more to go so 1 down doesnt really seem like a lot!) i'm just so so so so so so so so glad to be home... and i can wear my rotten sleeping clothes again hahaha

My niece Chloe has GROWN!!! A real bundle of energy that one... but such a sweety smiley happy baby... i love it when she laughs... she's so cute i want to squeeze her all the time heheh... and my house is over-run by her stuff! Incredible! The centrepiece in my living room is her crib... and there's literally a mountain of toys, prams, high chairs....u name it we've got it! Its funny how the smallest person in the house takes up the most space ;P

Over the weekend i had a great time catching up w friends at Vitali and Suling's gorgeous wedding! The live jazz was just awesome! It was just great to be in the company of friends that i've missed so much while i was away... words cant describe it ;P Check out this pic first hehehe

Its amazing how the tiniest things just seem so significant now... like how dad coos to Chloe and his big smile when he sees her chuckle in response, or how my piano keys feel when i play on them... my rotten sleeping clothes... how my dogs follow me around... using the telephone without having to think whether i'm calling a landline or mobile number (you will understand why when u live in Aussie... the telcom billing there is totally retarded)... SMSing!!! (its so freakin expensive there and pple dont text one another!) buying a CD (man i havent done that in 4 mths!! i juz love it when i walk into the CD store expecting to discover another musical gem and i did! Steven Curtis' new album... His Abbey Rd re-mixes... AWESOME stuff)... and oh my goodness! DRIVING!!!! haha and read this... how its just so difficult to get ARPC congregation to clap... hahaha its so strange that these things are so appealing ;P

I'm so thankful that God has given me much... friends and family to welcome me home with open arms and all these lovely little things... just seem so much more dear now... sometimes i wonder whether i love these gifts so much that i may even love them more than the Giver Himself... i hold on so tightly to them that even when i'm physically away... my heart is still here and just refuses to board the plane... I was reading CS Lewis' The Four Loves on my flight back home... and he commented on a well known phrase by M. Denis de Rougemont, that

"love ceases to be a demon only when he ceases to be God" or otherwise restated as "love begins to be a demon the moment he begins to be God". This balance seems to me an indispensable safeguard. If we ignore it, the truth that God is love may slyly come to mean for us the converse, that love is God... Every human love, at its height, has a tendency to claim for itself a divine authority. -- CS Lewis

dear Lord, help me keep my eyes and heart on You always.. let not my longing slay the appetite of my living because

there's more to this life than living and dying,
more than just trying to make it through the day,
more to this life, more than these eyes alone can see
and there’s more than this life alone can be...
.

So where do we start to find every part
Of what makes this life complete
If we turn our eyes to Jesus we’ll find
Life’s true beginning is there at the cross where He died

He died to bring us more to this life

- More to this Life by Steven Curtis Chapman

may i always look to You and trust in You completely ;P amen!

Last Paper

2005-06-29T08:00:00.000+10:00

I'm about to go for my last paper... havent slept a wink... just downed a mega huge thick cup of coffee, had timtam and chips for bfast (cos there is no more food left) and my brain is just bursting... pray for me guys... i NEED IT

Whinging Works!

2005-06-28T14:57:00.000+10:00

Hahaha! You wont believe this! I wasnt the only one subjected to this Os Coxae trauma, pretty much 90% of the students were caught out... and they whinged to the course coodinators and lecturers saying that it wasnt in the handbook, they didnt highlight the structure to us blah blah blah.... and u know what? The lecturers decided to give everyone a minimal pass mark for those questions... UNBELIEVABLE but hey i'm not complaining man!! hahaha! Incredible aint it?

Whinging works in Aussie

*Whoop-pa-de-doo!* And you know what? They cleverly disguise it as FEEDBACK.... HAHAHA ;P I swear this will never work in Singapore...

What is an OS COXAE?

2005-06-27T16:17:00.000+10:00

Beats me. That's the first question of my anatomy paper today:

1. Describe the Os Coxae of the dog. (8 marks)

What in the WORLD is an OS COXAE??????? grrr... man i've never studied so friggin hard in my life... up till 530am burning all those muscle names into my brain and ligaments and joints and blah blah blah then they ask me what's an OS COXAE. Man i tell u my heart was beating so damn fast ok... panic panic i tot confirm die oredi... the adrenalin rush was a real wake me up and i went on with the rest of the paper on pure adrenalin... wrote until my ugly handwriting became this absolutely ugly scrawl... then i had to write SOMETHING about this stupid OS COXAE rite... well at first i tot maybe it has something to do with the dingdong of the dog (cos its called the os penis) but anyway... i wrote a bunch of whatever logic i could think of... and dat's it. Time's UP.

And u know wat's an OS COXAE?? I found out after... Its the bloody friggin pelvic bone. WHY COULDNT THEY JUST ASK : DESCRIBE THE FRIGGIN PELVIC BONE????????? grrr... sigh Shing... GET OVER IT!!! ;P I'm going to sleep.... stupid Os Coxae...grrr...

Happy Bday Pa!!!

2005-06-24T19:13:00.000+10:00

HaPpY BiRtHdAy Papa!

Love you lots ;)

rAiNbOW

2005-06-22T15:20:00.000+10:00

I was sitting at my desk preparing for my animal husbandry paper and i just looked up and WOA!!!! There it was!!! This splash of colour across the sky that took my breath away!!! This was just outside my bedroom window! Gorgeous aint it???? *GRIN* =)

one down... 3 to go...

2005-06-22T02:46:00.000+10:00

then home sweet home!!!!
yay yay yay ;D

Sunday Symphony....

2005-06-19T13:31:00.000+10:00

i was woken up this morning... to the incessant loud blaring noise of truck horns... and it went on for HALF an hour.. a freaking HALF an hour... GEEZ... i dragged myself to the balcony to see what in the world was going on... and literally... this whole stream of trucks/trailers along the Anzac Bridge just going full-on with their horn "symphony"... what is this... some protest??? Then neighbours above and below me were out on the balconies too... obviously pissed off cos it meant the end of their snoozy Sunday morning bliss... no holds barred... there they were hollering at the top of their raspy dragon breath voices " SHUT THE F**K UP!!!!!%$#%^&*(*&^%$#$%^&**&^%$"

Geez... as if they can hear you! What a morning...

Freak freak freak!!!!!!

2005-06-19T01:11:00.000+10:00

Oh my goodness. A classmate just quit the course. Oh my goodness. When it's like 1.5days from our first paper... He's also a mature student and he looked at it financially etc, he says it just doesnt add up. And throughout the whole semester, he's been so involved and active in class and suddenly... he's outta here!

Sometimes the bunch of mature students sit around to chat... including seniors etc... and the dreaded question is raised: Is it all worth it? Why am i putting myself through this? What is this dream really? Is it really worth it?

and for some, it really isnt worth it and they leave the course... Shit.. i'm threading on thin ice here (dad and mom if you are reading this DO NOT FREAK OUT) i am fine... i just need to get my mind together these few weeks and get through the exams.. but its true...those in 2nd, 3rd and 4th year (btw it only gets progressively harder, and i really need to know and understand this cos its gonna hit me soon enuff) most of them started this course similar to where i am now... some are married but spouse is in Spore: one with baby on the way, and another, her husband's earnings all goes to her tuition fees here, another girl was an accountant then came over and ended a r'ship w her bf of 7 yrs, another one did her science bachelor's in Canada then came here to do Vet... and they are constantly plagued... is it really worth it... darn... no more such thoughts... exams first...

Lesson 3: Unorthodox Destressing Methods

2005-06-18T22:18:00.000+10:00

1. Bubble tea!! (they come in gorgeous 700cc mega cups here so u can sit and suck and slurp and munch till u're utterly satisfied *hiaks hiaks* and while u are at it.... remember ta bao another cup to store in fridge ;P)

2. Do a 'Cinderalla' (the cleaning part i mean... then the whole house smells of freshly laundered clothes and fabric softener... bathroom smells like lavender and shower stall turns from frosted to clear... instant satisfaction!)

3. Bob to cheesy dance music in your room (they seem to go really well with organic chemistry... strobe lights would have been really wicked but oh well ;P)

4. Figure out how many ways you can braid your hair without looking like a complete dork (there's just something about girls and hair... i cant explain it but its rather therapeutic)

5. Try out new recipes!!! (note: can cause even more stress when recipe fails... cos u've still got to finish it right... cannot waste food =( sigh.... )

Lesson 2: Self Motivation

2005-06-17T00:51:00.000+10:00

Step 1 - Determine favourite times of the day

1. Lunch time
2. Dinner time
3. Bath time
4. Bed time

Step 2 - No doing the above until u get all the stupid enzyme names into your head!!!!!!!

Yup... that's it! SELF MOTIVATION

Lesson 1: What to do when holed up at home studying

2005-06-16T14:15:00.000+10:00

I swear i have the most uneventful life ever... haha... its SO uneventful... its actually quite funny in a really sad way... but oh well... what better way than to experience nerd-dom... now that should qualify as having varied life experiences! =P So i was trying my best to memorise anatomical parts of the distal forelimb of the dog (note: that's the Antebrachium *in the atas i-know-it all medical jargon sort of way*) and my friend sent me a msg on msn

Friend: Hey, i just got back
Shing: oh really? where from? btw let me test you... what are the origin and insertion points of the m. coracobrachialis?? (note: by the way this is a small piece of useless muscle that if you can memorise it, its the additional info that will give u a High Distinction for anatomy)
Friend: *LOL* i just came back from a birthday party, had some drinks watched a stripper, ate a kebab and you're asking me anatomy? ok.. her boobs were enhanced :)

Ok pause. By this time, Shing was stunned and didnt know how to respond. After a few minutes... it went on...

Shing: woa... your day seems a lot more interesting than mine! who's bday was it?
Friend: muscly housemate...his 21st bday... it was interesting! She waas pretty acrobatic heh heh

Ok right. now what do i say??? (note: this is one of the reasons i rather not stay on campus... cos not only do i hear stripper stories... but also audible three-somes next door, rampant booze parties, and this new trend sex-buddies) if i laugh it off and joke about it... am i not indirectly condoning such practices? but if i'm gonna like chide him about it... my friend is prob gonna think "oh this goody-2-shoes girl again... miss holy poly... next time dont tell her anything, she's just going to go all moral again..." will i then lose the opportunity to share the gospel, and the value of Christian living? After arriving in Sydney... this is the biggest challenge so far, how do i conduct myself in a non-christian environment, how do i share Christ, how do i live out Christ... esp when the community of people around me are all of the world... and how do i make sure i dont fall into temptation, and in tolerating un-godliness, become complacent and end up falling away...

2 weeks ago, Philip preached in church to take heed! Do not be complacent "Oh it could not happen to me.." or give ourselves excuses "Oh i couldnt help myself, it's circumstantial" be careful not to be disqualified at the end of the day (1 Cor 9:24-27) like the Israelites that have witness God's salvation and deliverance from slavery in Egypt into the promise land, yet instead of being grateful and recognising the privilege of their rescue... they became impatient and turn to golden calf in idolatry, testing God in their endless grumbles and complaints, discontent and rebellion... TAKE HEED: do not misplace our confidence, harden our hearts and flirt with idolatry..ignoring His word, coveting materialism and accept less ethical ways of living... We are called to FLEE idolatry...which is so prevalent in today's society that we dont even notice it... and it doesnt always mean to physically flee or isolate ourselves but to set our minds on things eternal and not trivialise it and tolerate evil... someone in the congregation asked "Can a Christian fall away??" and the reply was "MAKE SURE YOU DONT!"

At this point... i really got quite worried... its so hard and it seemed like such an uphill task but Philip reminded us: We must not have faith in our own faith but are to place our faith in the Lord Jesus and the salvation He brings... We are safe in God's hands, nothing in this world can pluck us from His hand... and TRUST in Him, that we will be able to continue to take heed... Now that's a great reassurance to perservere in this journey and look forward to a day when everything will be placed at Jesus' feet where He will reign over all =)

was just makin some music on my keyboard to destressssss.. and came across this song...

When earthly things crowd round

Temptation slides a veil across my sight

Yet in You my sufficiency, my Christ my only hope

Forgetfulness, oh let it not obsure,

that my life has no meaning, but to seek Your face

Lord please break me down till I see only You

Magnify the Lord, who strengthens feeble hands

Magnify the Lord, who stays the trembling knees

Glorify the King, who in His hands hold victory

Servants of the King, Magnify Your God

- Magnify the Lord

by Lisa Ng @ ARPC

True joy??

2005-06-13T23:41:00.000+10:00

Amidst my going bonkers... a classmate was so kind as to come by to study with me... finally i have someone alive to talk to... how incredible is that!!! We took a break from our books to chat over coffee... and he was sharing with me some difficult life choices that he had to make... and how he was torn as neither choice seemed to be favourable, cos neither would result in him being happy... the world places happiness first, the "i will go with what is most beneficial to me" mentality... when i shared with him the christian perspective, that the goal in life is not our own happiness, but holiness - not to mean being goody-two-shoes but instead, to be set apart in the way we live because we are to live as God's people, as is said in Phi 1:27 "Whatever happens, conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ... stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you."

it was very difficult for him to accept that... bewildering almost... why would anyone subject himself/herself to such as these... doesnt it make one happier to have the freedom to do whatever you want and live whichever way you choose! Once upon a time, before i came to know Christ, i had the same thoughts. But now, that i have gained Christ and am found in Him, He has clothed me with righteousness, not of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, a righteousness from God, which allows me to live freely under the Lordship of Christ. We have hope because we live in light of eternity, knowing our citizenship is with God in heaven allows me to look beyond earthly things, and this is the freedom and joy salvation brings... it goes on in Phillippians ..."Rejoice in the Lord always... Do not be anxious about anything... And the peace of God that transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" Phi 4:4-7

It does matter what we place first in our lives... a worldly person commends the enjoyment of life because there is nothing else to live for but to eat, drink and be merry... after all, death comes to us all and makes a joke of our existence as all come from dust return to dust... however, if we include God in the equation, all that changes... because we are called into account at the end of the day, it matters how we live and it matters what choices we make... not just based on the 'haha-feel good' barometer but one that we know is in sync with how God wants us to live... to set our minds on things eternal is to experience the greatest joy, joy that transcends the circumstance we are in... i pray that God will help me share the gospel faithfully and fearlessly... and for my friend, that one day he will come to understand this and share in this true joy as well...

What can I do? How can i live?

To show my world the treasure of Jesus

What will it take? What could i give?

So they can know the treasure He is

And if I can sing,

let my songs be full of His glory

If i can speak,

let my words be full of His grace

And if i should live or die,

let me be found, pursuing this prize

The One that alone satisfies...

The treasure of Jesus

- Treasure of Jesus by Steven Curtis Chapman
(Matt 6:21, 13:44, Phi 3:7-9)

Cranky crazy.... ;P

2005-06-12T22:23:00.000+10:00

In the midst of scrutinising bodily tissues, cells, molecules, ions... i am seriously going crazy.... havent had a decent conversation with a human in 2 days (except saying thankyou to the girl at the checkout counter of Coles and buying a bus ticket from the newsagent) God help me! How am i going to survive the next 3 wks???? And it doesnt help that my cold isnt going away and my tastebuds and sense of smell have completely disappeared (i hope week old ham is still good to eat!) sigh...

my companion today is Jamie Cullum... he's on repeat mode on my DVD player... i was just eating my (week old) ham sandwich and watching him stutt his stuff in Blenheim Palace... this little guy is truly amazing... i mean literally letting his fingers do the talking ;) The gorgeous sounds that come through.... for once... my right brain gets some exercise... all this scientific mugging is driving me insane... its just profound what music does to me... it strikes the chords deep within... stirs and twirls and lifts... exhilirating, exciting, mysterious and at the same time, it rings with longing, melancholy and for that moment... its strangely out of this world... look at it scientifically and you lose all the wonder and beauty (think waves, vibrations, frequency, amplitude) but just close your eyes and delve in... marvelous, intricate, explosive, subtle... indeed its pure magic.... ;)

I've got the sniffles ;(

2005-06-09T20:55:00.000+10:00

darn... got bitten by the flu bug...*sniffle sniffle*
i've got a cotton wool brain too ARGH.... =( i hate this....

Dog handling classes...

2005-06-07T18:13:00.000+10:00

Thank goodness we get to work with live dogs and not just dead ones!! These lovely dogs were very well behaved.. i doubt we will get such 'perfect' patients in future... the goldies are Oslow and Daisy, the white fluffy Samoyed is Keela and the little brown fiesty terrier is Sooty!

The Chuas came to visit =)

2005-06-06T22:15:00.000+10:00

My exboss touched down in Sydney early this morning with his whole brood... wife Pat, 5 kids and 2 mothers!! And we met up for dinner...it was so good to see him and his family... when Stephen saw me he just gave me a big hug ;) how awesome is that... i am indeed blessed... Stephen has been a great boss, and he has taught me many things... indeed someone i respect and look up to very much! I'm really happy that even after i have left the bank, the relationship still continues... i guess a teacher never stops teaching! ;) oh yah...that's his little girl, Abby... she's a real sweetie... haha had so much fun playing with this little polar bear... doesnt she just have the sweetest smile?? ;) it took quite a bit of convincing before she decided she wanted to give me a goodbye hug... hee...

Hooray! The whales have been saved ;)

2005-06-04T12:56:00.000+10:00

A whole pod of whales beached themselves in Busselton in WA... took 1500 pple to help keep them alive while rescuers tried to herd them out to sea again.. and they did it!! There was literally a wall of whale on the beach... these arent the huge whales though... but they still weighed abt a tonne each...Now that's animal welfare for you ;)

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/ss/events/wl/060205whaleaustralia/ im:/050602/481/bus10306020816;_ylt=Arwe9n2r18eP0vsXy
UqRPkjlWMcF;_ylu=X3oDMTA5bGcyMWMzBHNlYwNzc25hdg--?sp=6000

Fainting Goats hahaha

2005-06-03T19:47:00.000+10:00

This has got to be the wierdest video... these breeds of goats go all stiff legged and flip on their backs when they are startled!! check it out
http://www.acurrentaffair.com/funny/faiting_goats_small.wmv