My sunday

After today, the cg (with majority of the members! yay! - thanks to good timing that all ministry members were off duty today!) went to bugis junction V8 to makan lunch.

The bill chalked up to $143 for 10pax. =) the standard at least $10 for a main and $4 for a drink on the average kinda cafe with the typical western choices. But it was a good choice coz it wasn't crowded so we got a place almost immediately.

We were hungry man...and 4 a grp of 10pax to travel from Expo to Bugis HUNGRY should not be triffled with...hahaha...

After that...the some of us went present shopping. and jalan-jalan lah...D&T left together...D gg reservist tml...all the best man bro...=) so he left to go cut hair...T was his escort/ body guard! LOL!

At about 5pm it was left with Anna and me...she was gg to meet one of the cg members near clarke quay later at 6 plus...so i thot to accompany her, since i had nothing on and she had time to kill...we decided to succumb to i'll kiddish impulses and went to Settlers to play game for 2 hours....

It was nice walking and chatting from Raffles Plc mrt...=) SO QUIET that place...on a sunday! Hah! God was good to provide shady clouds tho the weather was warm.

So here is the pic! this is the second game we played. the first was Blokus or smthg like that.hahaha...We won one game each...the trick? pick the orange pieces! NOT purple!

Second game was called Balloon Cup...calculation and sabotage! LOL! i took this pic when Anna had to go off to meet the cg mbr...nothg to do mah...shld keep some memories...

Note the solo nugget left and that's her ice kopi...she falling aslp lah...need stimulants! she won the first round! GRRR/....

Second round due to lack of time...we were not making sense towards the end..haha..it was hilarious coz i kept putting the cards wrongly and saboing myself instead of her!! xiao liao...anyway...i concluded she won lah...=(

RE-MATCH!!!! --akan datang!! (ie. coming soon)..hahaha

After that more walking to bus stops and chatting...God was sweet and provided a pleasant and breezy evening for it. PTL!...heee....

ok time for bed...tml got work..cham liao...=S

tired...

Today I dunno why but i'm tired. Especially since i reached home. I have no idea why...I didn't do much at work today...but i think i did alot of thinking and planning.

To top it off..i haven't been getting good rest in the morning. which is the critical preiod of my sleep. these past 2 mornings i've been awakened about 2 hours before the time i should wake up...then when i get back to sleep...it is a fitful sleep...sigh...

just read a work e-mail..my mind is running again...hmm...but i should sleep soon...

It's been some time...

...since the words of a song touched my heart so much in worship.

When i first sang the song a week back in church, i have to admit, it didnt' catch on to me...perhaps the fact that the chorus had "Hosanna, in the highest"..left me wondering .."isn't this not very far off from another worship song of old?"

But when the Bridge came...I felt different...the words.... The way it was sung was like a cry for something...something...a longing...

By the time the Bridge was sung the 3rd time,...I had fallen in love with it...because it so encompassed how i felt...and in 6 beautiful lines...covered the meaning of our walk with Him.

Heal my heart and make it clean

Open up my eyes to the things unseen

Show me how to love like You have loved me

Break my heart for what breaks Yours

Everything I am for Your kingdom's cause

As I walk from earth into Eternity

No prizes for guessing the line that has stuck to my heart the whole week and i still tear when i hum the song... --- Break my heart for what breaks Yours --- Holy Spirit inspired indeed..=)

So why do i say the Bridge covers the meaning of our walk with Him in those 6 beautiful lines? Like i said...when i sing the bridge..all this runs thru me...it's a cry and a longing for:-

Heal my heart and make it clean - (from the day i called him my father in heaven...confession...even till today..everyday...i still ask...and he still heals ...he still cleans..)

Open up my eyes to the things unseen - ( Faith...belief...in everything...and everyone...and me...even when the present condition looks beyond hope)

Show me how to love like You have loved me - (the great commandment..to love our neighbour...and remembering that for every 1% I give...he first gave 100% more...enuff said..)

Break my heart for what breaks Yours - ( I'm sorry for all the times i've hurt You the times i walked away...please never let my heart grow cold towards You...I long to be close to you...)

Everything I am for Your kingdom's cause - (Surrender at the altar...discipleship...the great commission..Looking at me through His eyes...)

As I walk from earth into Eternity - ( His promises...his fellowship...that he will never forsake us...forever and ever...I'm not alone...have a direction..and I have a home somewhere...)

I have delayed writing this post for over a week. Because it's not easy to write..simply coz...I knew I'd cry buckets as i typed it out...

the good kinda' cry...hee... =')

My mouse is all 'goooey'....Yecks!

I'm done...and i'm so glad it has been written the way I want it to be...=) like God says...it is good...

CG at Sentosa

Before i go rambling on about the event, I'd first like to thank ANNAANANNANA (Anna! haha..) for the hard work preparing for it...i know she spend many days before with little sleep doing up the thing. =) (better say nice things huh...since i fixed my blog problem..she now can read my blog! *gasp*)....hahaha...kidding lah.. TRUE EFFORT! you are loved and appreciated!!

Also...Pammie also bah...I know you spent time preping toos! hee...Thanks for bringing the enthusiasm to the event!

My team came in third of four! *growl* we didnt win the movie vouchers but we got a box of chocs! not bad lah...still..my feet were aching halfway thru the race liao...and after all the "mah- lu" things Anna made us do...Grrr...especially the video bit! ONE FULL MINUTE of acting like a fish at main signboard of underwater world lor...Wah cows!!1 it's public holiday weekend lor...and pple Long Q there...start watchign for entertainment!! =S...the whole thing to be video recorded down lor...

A mum and a child were taking a break nearby...the child stared at us with a gapping mouth...and the mum just didnt know what to say...they must have thought i was mad! thankfully, i had a friend, Melody to hold out on the embarassment with me!

i just learned on msn that the video idea was Pammie's!!! RAARRR!!! and she initially wanted 2 mins! Thank God for Anna who cut it down!..hahaha...Still a shepherd has a heart for her sheep ya...LOL!

The route was tiring..the winning team invested in bicycles! =( oh well..they deserved it then!

I had Timo and Emy in my team too...they were a great help! couldnt' have done much without them! Melody and ShuHui said i was like a female 'gang' leader...hahaha...

there was very very heavy rain which woke me up at 10am that morning...i looked at the rain...and went back to sleep..in a way, i didnt panic, coz i knew that kind of rainfall would mean it will defintiely stop by the time we started at 1 plus!

or maybe it was just faith! LOL!...anyway...yes..the weather was great after that! very sunny!...we palyed from 2.30pm to about 5.30pm...then the few of us left went to playt he skyride and luge. Normally i wouldn't pay for it...but since we were there...why not?...=)

It was pretty worth it actually..everything cost $9...and the luge downhill was pretty long with some fun turns! It helps that it was evening too...so the track surroundings glowed with nite lights!

Then we got our pic taken with the the mascot for the Song of the Sea show...

Sentosa has really changed alot...last time i was there to really explore was in Nov 2005!! 2 years ago!...felt quite recent actually...i was at a chalet there...and during my explorations...all the attractions there today were just roads and piles of sand and construction materials...i have to say...sentosa is worth a visit now...things indeed have changed for the better...

well for starters..the new night laser show is a VAST improvement from the fountain one man...

Ok, i'm off to get a drink...=)

Showing off my new lappie!

Some of you have heard about my new laptop i bought in early Sept at the Comex show. Cost me S$2497, (there goes the bonus!!) came with free all in one (fax scan copy) printer and $2 more gave me some PC -cilin antivirus with windows office 2007! Cool!

Also coz my sis used her credit card to pay for me first...i got a free samsung bluetooth headset!

here are the specs! HP Pavilion dv6508tx...i really like the look...even has a free external remote control!

The vista OS is a pain actually...coz i need to hunt for drivers...still i think the industry is picking up and many drivers are starting to be automatically available online.

Processor, operating system and memory
Processor type
Intel® Centrino® Duo processor technology • Intel® Core™2 Duo processor T7300 • 2.0 GHz , Level 2 cache 4 MB, 800 MHz Bus speed • 802.11 a/g/n WLAN
Operating system installed = Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium
Standard memory = 2048 MB
Memory type = DDR2 667 MHz
Memory layout = (2 x 1024 MB)
Maximum memory
Supports up to 4GB DDR2 memory (Dual Channel Memory Support; For 4 GB memory configuration, up to 1 GB may not be available with 32-bit operating systems due to system resource requirements)

Internal Drives
Internal hard disk drive =160 GB
Hard disk controller = SATA Hard Disk Drive
Hard disk drive speed = 5400 rpm
Optical drive type = Lightscribe Super Multi DVD Writer (+/-R +/-RW) with Double Layer
System features
Memory card device:
5-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader for Secure Digital cards, MultiMedia cards, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, or xD Picture cards
Modem = High speed 56K modem
Network interface = Integrated 10/100 Ethernet LAN
Wireless capability = Bluetooth® wireless networking
External I/O ports:
VGA; 3 USB 2.0; RJ-11; RJ-45; 2 stereo headphones; external microphone; AC adapter; S-Video-out; expansion port; ExpressCard Slot; IEEE 1394a; Consumer IR; Fingerprint reader
Video capture interface = IEEE 1394 FireWire® Interface
Expansion slots = One ExpressCard/54 slot (also supports ExpressCard/34)
Display size= 15.4” WXGA High Definition BrightView Widescreen
Display resolution = 1280 x 800
Video adapter = NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8400M GS
Control panel
HP QuickPlay media player software and its dedicated menu controls, music and DVD buttons
Internal audio = 3D Sound Blaster Pro compatible sound 16 bit integrated
Speakers and microphone = Altec Lansing® speakers
Keyboard = 101 key compatible keyboard
Pointing device
Touch Pad with On/Off button and dedicated vertical Scroll Up/Down pad, volume control, mute buttons, 2 Quick Launch Buttons
Power supply type = 90 W AC Power Adapter
Webcam = HP Pavilion Webcam with integrated microphone
Dimensions / weight / warranty
Weight 2.86 kg
Dimensions (W x D x H) 35.70 cm (L) x 25.70 cm (W) x 2.54 cm (min) H / 4.30 cm (max) H

(Part Three) 21st October 2006 - Reaching Hokitika

Hokitika (Ho-kee-tee-kah) located along the west coast! i gave the famous Pancake rocks of South NZ a miss coz it would mean me going to Greymouth (see map below)...which doesn't make sense since i'm heading south along the west coast.

I've decided to add a map of my trip so that u can see what i mean. I took the red route ( using highway 73) from Christchurch on the east to Hokitika on the east! What a journey!! now you know what i mean by i drove almost non-stop for about 4 to 5 hours. (Neil, the key man in Hokitika, Birdsong said that's about the time it normally takes!..so i made good timing..thank god!)

I drove Christchurch>>Rolleston>>Darfield>>Springfield>>Arthur's Pass>> Otira then made a left turn to Hokitika.

i headed straight for my accomodation that is along the highway, across the road from the seaside coast! I stayed at a BBH BirdSong...this is a nice place. You can check out their webpage on http://www.birdsong.co.nz/ the animals in the website which they put on the hostel beds are REALLY there! it's not just for the photos!

I was put up in a room on the ground level,...rigth next to the front door...which i might as well share now..it was quite 'scary' realising how basic the security is...the front door lock is those simple 'push in buttons' that we use for our home bedroom doors!!!! Nothing else!!

being my first night on the ground level in a foreign land was weird...the windows of my room had no grills..so of course..i kept the window locked and curtains drawn..i guess that's the level of safety they have there...thus a less stressful life..haha...

Anyway, on with the pictures!...here's Neil behind the reception desk...he's running the place with his wife, who is pregnant or just gave birth thus she's home...so i never saw her...coz they live somewhere else..the hostel is like their workplace! =) Neil gave me a tour of the hostel and quick intros to the present occupants!

He knew i was only staying one night so he recommended that i should go for a jaunt at the coast and catch the sunset if possible. it's been cloudy with all the rain so the sunset hasn't been that good lately.

The coast was BREEZY! and truly..it was right across the road..and you know me lah, the exploring type.

Note...the waves are very strong...and the ocean is neverending coz there is no island opposite!! haha...yup...nothing for miles ahead...the sand there was a weird grey...interesting...I have no idea why...it can't be the pollution. so i think it's just rich in minerals?? LOL!

I picked many pebbles on the beach. these pebbles are smooth and VERY VERY flat. I encountered a man picking pails of pebbles and i soon learned he was living next to Birdsong, and uses these pebbles (after decorating them) to make dinner placemats and flower pots! he sells them ..WOW!..he invited me to take a look at the pots outside his home when i went back later...what a nice hobby!

after half an hour i decided to head back to the hostel. the fireplace is upstairs with a great view of the coast and sunset...and there i started meeting and chatting with the people that have been staying there. A british couple, and a group of Israeli teens!

Mid-week analysis

Good news! My nose has stopped bleeding..well, it didn't bleed today lah! So let's hope it stays that way.

It's already wednesday. In fact, wednesday is over, and i'm beginning to sense the end-of-week rush to complete several tasks at work. Still a handful of outstanding items that shouldn't be delayed actually. Nonetheless, i give thanks to God that i managed to finish my AGM minutes today. Alot of creativity was needed!!

My boss has been pretty stressed lately. He really has alot on his plate. I pray God will help him manage his time and make things move smoother. To protect him from unnecessary appointments and make his meeting times effective and easy. =)

There's so much to do...still...we had to give our time to the interns for their biggie presentation. One of the things i've learned from working life is that...things almost never work out as you have planned...but try not to mope too much about things and pull yourself to embrace what needs to be done now...there may be a mountain of work...but being calm is a good thing as anxiety doesn't make anythg any easier...

of course, all the above is easier said than done! LOL!

The afternoon ended off with 4 of the interns giving a presentation of the work they have done so far. Went pretty well, lotsa comments but it's all constructive. This friday will be their last day...indeed, i'll miss their ways of torturing the Spongebob Squarepants softoy in the office! haha...Their internship teacher was there to 'interogate' them after the presentation too.

After that, we all headed down to the Secret receipe near my home for a farewell dinner. i still feel that this is the best Secret receipe outlet...simply because i believe it was one of the first in Singapore. It was fun and i got to try some new dishes. =)

It's late...time for me to go..chatting with my cgl on msn..it's late and she's still busy doing something...i have no idea what..but she's tired..=) i pray that God will continue to cover and keep her...=)

Nose Bleeds

Sigh...my nose bled two times today again.

This morning while my boss was running through the calendar of events. LOL! See lah he stress me!..haha...but no lah...it jsut came suddenly!

And again just less than an hour ago...when i just sat down in front of the computer after hanging up my washed bedsheet.

went to a couple of websites to read up what's happening. Apart from being heaty (as the common asian diagnose...) ..which i dont' really think so lor...yes, the food i've been eating is not 100% UN-heaty....but not like saying i've been eating heaty food endlessly! i've also been drinking more water today...besides...it has never happned to me before..and i've binged in worse scenarios.

Can't be a vitamin k deficiency coz i love to eat green leafy veges which is a good source...

One possibility is that it could be too dry..it always happened when i'm in an aircon environment...

Oh well...we'll see...i'm not really looking forward to seeing a doctor on this...but if it happns a few more times tomorrow i think i will have no choice bah...

literally 'gift exchange'!

last night i was informed that the present i bought for a fren's bday was not working after set up!...GROWL!..so after searching for the receipt, i realised that we were about 2 to 3 days past the 15 days refund/ exchange period.

But we decided to give it a shot.

now today was my mgt meeting day...yes..my dreaded monday of the month. Ok lah..not so much dreaded...but my most stressful day of the month...where there are once again many many moving parts. Nonetheless, it turned out pretty alright... thansk to my interns taht i could get to help me with brainless (but still essential - coz if they weren't there...i still would have to do it!) stuff...like photocopying, and preparing the files for the meeting.

Anyway, back to the gift...yes...i headed to Suntec C4...thankfully...after lotsa negotiation, by God's grace, we could do a refund, but decided to upgrade to another brand and set.

i was a little sad that my gift didnt work out...but i think i'll look at the positive side of things...besides, my fren still saved on the upgrade, due to my earlier 'payment' on the previous set. Also, if i never got the gift,...my fren will never get doen to buying it ...LOL!...hahah...

so yes,...macham spent the whole night in C4...from 7 30 until about 930 to do all the negotiation and decision on which one to upgrade to..hahaha...after that...grabbed some hotdogs for a late dinner...and guess what...before i could eat, my nose BLED!...

heaty lah i guess...earlier at work was eating several heaty foodstuffs...and also..whole day...due to the stress of my monday meeting i only drank 2 miserable cups of water. OR>...my fren made me so pek chek my nose started to bleed!!..WAHAHAH...i got a 'whack' for that...

anyway. ended up queueing for a cab...and you know those notorious suntec Qs...watever the time of the day..even after 10pm..it's like the cabs are jsut going round in circles waiting for a call...GRRR...good thing even thought after a long day of work..our spirits were up...and could joke and yak...=)

Okies. time for me to rest. We'll catch up again. =)

Thinking back on my BIG solo trip...

Just some reflection time...

It's almost been a year since my southern NZ trip! yup! i left Singapore on 18th October 2006!! 17 days!! Can't believe it man...it feels like a long time ago!

And...erms...I'm supposed to blog it all down hor..haha...no time lah..it's not easy leh...to recollect every detail!...and try to make it interesting so that you don't fall asleep!..hee...but i'm still resolute to share...

Though...erm...now i have two more holidays to share...the one i did in June (Tokyo) and Krabi, Thailand in September. may not cover the Tokyo one so much...coz..erm...too Touristy...ZZZzzz...nothing majorly interesting...but we'll see...---marathon..how much can I write! LOL!...

i have over 800 photos from NZ lor..though it include the mistake kind...hee...alot of self shots mah..since i'm alone!..but stay tuned...I'm determined to finish it!!! ROAR!!!