Blessed Haven

High Tea

2011-11-26T00:49:00.001+08:00

Blessings of the Day: His love is deep and His love is wide. There's a cross to bridge the great divide.

Recently I was in the mood of going for High Tea. I've been wanting to go for some nice place to chill out and hang out with my friends and just talk and sip eat hot scones, sandwiches and sip yummy coffee or tea. Weekends are usually out for me - either for ministry work or to accompany KG or family. Finally, I managed to find a day after the Girl's Brigade camp ended. The camp ended on Monday and i concluded i would be too tired to work on Tuesday and needed a few hours of "recovery" me time, i told my friends let's meet for high tea the next day. (It was as if my client knew my camp ends on Monday evening, I need to work on some ad-hoc tasks right after the camp. I was soooo exhausted!)

My 2 friends whom I was meeting were my secondary school classmates cum eca mates. The place shortlisted was Goodwood Park hotel and since they had chose the place, I had the opportunity to go for International Buffet Hi-Tea or Western Buffet Hi-Tea. I opted for the latter because I always get to eat International Buffet in any other meal times like Lunch and Dinner. And I was hungry for scones :)

The spread wasn't that fantastic but still I was excited as it was my very first hi-tea with friends. I was also quite hungry since I skipped lunch for the hi-tea @ 2pm. There were a finger food, sandwiches, canapes and etc. There were also a hot food session which were mainly fried food. Desserts includes chocolate fondue, cheese cakes, mousse cakes and crème brûlé. Fruits and Salads were served too. As you can see, this is a not a very big spread. The disappointing thing was the scones. The scones were so tough i think i can use it to kill a bird. Ok sorry really exaggerating. I think sufficient weight to knock a person out haha. The buffet includes 2 cups of beverages which i chose teas. The rose tea which I drank was extremely sour! But the camomile tea was so smooth and relaxing.

While we were having hi-tea, there were this commotion behind us and we turned around and saw many girls wearing evening gowns. A closer look we realized these girls looked extremely young and some with ridiculous hair dos. That's when we realized, these girls were attending their school prom. We can't help but laughed how these girls probably age around 16 - 18 trying to look like 26 and 28 and here we were sitting here lamenting time flies since our secondary school days and we were all desperately trying to look young since we were approaching 30 in 2 years time. haha.

Gosh.. Hi-tea, i can do this almost on a monthly basis. Haha. Ok call me a gluttony. I just want to eat yummy food :P

Strawberry Shortcake

2011-11-01T23:18:00.001+08:00

Blessings of the Day: I've been reading OT for the past 2 months and it just made me realize how merciful God is and how deep His love have for us. Thank you Father =)

Last week was one of my good friend's birthday. Usually for close friends, I will make the effort to bake them a cake. (I am very thankful i have friends who are willingly to be my guinea pigs) For the past few years, I had been making non-bake cheesecake which I had been perfecting the recipe for quite awhile. But I wanted to do something more adventurous and at the same time something not so time consuming. Finally, I've decided I will do a Strawberry Shortcake!

I spent about 2 hours in the kitchen which included preparation, washing up and baking. Of course i need to wait for the cake to cool before I covered them with my favourite vanilla cream. The strawberries unfortunately wasn't exactly the sweetest in this season but yes I am pleasantly surprise how well it looks. We eat with our eyes so if the taste is not good, it is forgiveable.

My friends thought I made sponge cake but it was not. I wish I had though but I know sponge cake requires at least intermediate to advance skill especially I hadn't not been baking for quite a long time. I really can't remember what shortcake really taste like but mine was pretty dense and heavy. But it has this very amazing butter fragrance which I really like. It was almost as good on its own. KG for the first time actually asked me when I will be baking this cake again for him because he really likes it alot! That is coming from someone who doesn't like cakes! So i am pleasantly pleased.

Reflections

2011-10-01T00:20:00.000+08:00

As i browsed through my FB photos albums, there is a immense and deep gratitude dancing in my heart now - that God have given me wonderful friends in my life. Through the seasons - in bottom of the valleys, on the mountain tops, running with me through the race or just walking quietly alongside with me, there are friends whom I can count on. My prayer is that God will continue to use me to be a channel of blessings to the people around me whom in turn bless me so much.

Finally Weekend coming up

2011-09-29T20:32:00.000+08:00

Blessings of the Day: "My project is ending soon! hurray! This Friday will be officially completed!!!!"

Nirwana Hotel Resort

I really procrastinate long enough. Once again, I decided to book the trip 2 days before this weekend and going to Bintan for a 2D1N. Just to get away and enjoy. So I am looking forward this weekend. Is like no more computer, email and work. Just really purely devoted to rest and relax.

I have never been to Bintan. So i am pretty excited. I have done some research online and found most of them were pretty exp. But there were a few food place I can consider checking them out.

A Taste Of Surreal Culinary Adventure with Bob Blumer

2011-09-13T19:04:00.001+08:00

Blessings Of The Day: God is good. After 2 rejections, we finally won a project from a MNC this year! Unexpected as I didn't pray about it nor think about it. I now pray God to bless this project and the hands who worked on this project. Glory to Him.

Glutton For Pleasure - Gift from Bob Blumer

I had another opportunity to meet celebrity chef Bob Blumer! Really unexpected because I just had a dinner with Samantha Brown! :) Really really excited. Thank you to Sllow my sister :)) He is really a creative chef and I have to admit some of his recipes really take too much efforts. Now i am not complaining since I get to sit down and eat the dinner all from his recipes! Let's roll...

For pre-dinner, Bob Blumer made us "work for our food" by shucking our oysters. I had to say is really interesting and proud with my "achievement" that I shucked a total of 5 oysters.

We even get to keep the TLC oyster knife too. (Unfortunately I have to throw away 1 day later when i discover rust on the knife. Hmmm)

Trio Oysters (Really have the ocean smell)


Finally shucked my first oyster! Took lotsa of strength!

Next we had this creamy lobster bisque. We ate like typical Singaporeans with our hand to dig out the yummy lobster from the pincer.

World's Deadliest Lobster Bisque - Smooth Lobster soup heightened with rich flavours

Stinging Nettle Ravioli - OUCH!

Next we had ang mo dumplings - Ravioli! I always hoped to make my own ravioli one day. Yumm. Why "Ouch"? Apparently the key ingredients, Stinging Nettle is a herb that can cause severe rash if one just brush against it. However in US there is this crazy competition going on where people eat raw Stinging Nettle which of course Bob Blumer took part and was featured in the Glutton For Punishment show. Talk about Fear Factor. Haha. Thankfully all you have to do is to blanch this herb and together with nice cheese, you made very yummy ravioli! It taste like spinach. Oh not available in Singapore. So this herb flew in for this event from US!

I have to say this is my favourite dish so far. Beautiful savory cupcake! Baked salmon served Surreal Style. The pink "Frosting" is baked potatoes with beetroot coloring The baked salmon part tasted abit like Otah. Spicy. Nice. But seriously do I want to replicate this dish at home? Yeah why not - probably for a pot luck party. I will do mini ones :) Yum.

Flying Salmon Cupcakes

Lastly before the dinner end, I had the most interesting dessert! Yakun should really consider serving this. But they probably going to charge like $20+++ per dessert haha.

Eggestential Eggs!

A refreshingly chilled dessert of white chocolate mousse & passionfruit! How do you do it?! Basically, cut the bottom of the egg, and clean and wash the egg. Pipe 1/3 with white chocolate mousse and pop in a frozen Passion Fruit Ball Puree and pipe in the remaining white choc mousse. Sealed it with White chocolate. Put in the freezer, at this point the passion fruit ball puree will melt and have no way to go because the mousse would have set in. :D To serve, just turn over the egg, and serve like a "normal half-boil egg" to your (un)suspicious guest! Will I make this? No! Hahaha.

Rants Works Works Works

2011-08-15T22:39:00.000+08:00

Blessings of the Day: I still have God, Kg, my family and friends in my life.

I've been pretty stressed lately. Is like I've got alot of things to do and yet I can never finish them. I want to go for a break and have a relaxing trip. But so far I see is unlikely.

I want to go Vietnam to see my good friend Chi! I want to go to Alaska to see the beautiful glaciers and the northern dancing lights. I want to London to visit Jamie Oliver's resturant and get lots of nespressos capsules back. I want to go NY and Grand Canyon. I want to go Korea and shop till my heart content. I want to go Perth and hope to bring my mom along. I hope to even bring her to see Blue Mountains!

Recently J got me a book when she came back from studies in Australia. This book teaches you how to pray by Dave Earley - "The 21 Most Effective Prayers of the Bible". One of my all time favourite prayers these days is "Grant Me Wisdom" - by King Solomon. There are many more which I've been praying regularly - "Give me success today" - by Eliezer (the servant of Abraham), "Bless Me" - by Jacob (the story which me the deepest impression - wrestling with God) and "Answer Me" - by Elijah.

I've to say all prayers are close to my heart. I've alot of things on my mind and I've been constantly bringing them to God. Sometime I do wish I can do nothing but pray all day long to talk to God.

I've been setting lots of expectations on myself and been also frustrated and fed up I couldn't even meet at least one :(

Roar.

Okie on the lighter note, i am now using my new mac book pro loaded with Lion OS. So far things look ok except I miss a classic white mac book. Didn't really like the metallic feel of Mac Book Pro.

Enough of ranting...

Counting down to the day (again)

2011-07-06T19:30:00.001+08:00

Blessings of the Day: In another 3 weeks time, I will turn 28!


Lychee Martini Cake From Pine Garden - is one my absolute favourite cake and is been my birthday cake for the past 3 years :) Photo Taken Here

Since last year, I've decided I will take time off on my birthday to spend a wonderful time with me, myself and I. This year too :)

I've decided to plan a time table to make enjoy the wonderful day that God had created me 28 years ago!

Morning

Go for a morning run
Head down to Wild Honey for breakfast/brunch ;)
Go window shopping and see if I can get myself a nice dress/shoes/bag (haha)

Afternoon

Randomly pick a bus and ride on it... see where it will take me to....
If not, I might want to sit on the Singapore Flyer!
Shop for a nice book for myself
Go for a nice high tea @ The Rose Veranda and spend time with HIM

Evening

Go for a lazy swim (where to find a pool in the first place?)
Catch Harry Potter @ Lido iMax *woot*

Wah so shiok... and I wondered if I can recover from the Birthday celebration hahaha :)

An Evening with Samantha Brown

2011-07-01T22:29:00.003+08:00

Blessings of the Day: I get to meet a Samantha Brown hahaha :)) I have to blog about this!

Samantha Brown! Host of Passport to Europe, America and Great weekends! She's one my fav host to watch when comes to TLC channel.

When I first watched her host Amazing Homes, the background were pretty boring actually. But I continued watching because of her! Watching her displaying the different kind of expressions and experiences made it so real and you didn't feel it was scripted. (I cringed whenever a host presents when they looked like they memorized a whole chunk of words which didn't appeal to the audience at all! The saving grace was the beautiful place. ) However for her, it was the opposite! Yes granted they did show interesting things but seriously Samantha's personality stealed the whole show! I kept watching because of her! Finally when Passport to Europe and America rolled out, I was thrilled to see her again! She made me want to tour the 2 places even more!

It was thanks to my sister's wide network of contact, she told me she had a place for me to go have dinner with Samantha Brown! Of course I jumped at the opportunity! (Previously I lost a chance to meet David Rocco!)

The dinner was held at Grand Hyatt. On the same table, I got to meet many other people who worked with Ian Wright, Bobby Chin and etc TV personalities and even the creator of the TLC shows! Met more people who worked in Discovery! The whole time getting to know them and listening to firsthand stories was simply amazing for me. I wished I can change industry and join them! haha!

Dinner table. Each guest is given a red travel book.

Lovely red roses as the table centerpiece

She is pretty and quite petite. Exactly same persona even when off screen..

We were presented a 8 course dinner featuring the countries that Samantha Brown visit for her Asia show.

Here are my favourite dishes for the night...

From Bali - Hibiscus Flower Sherbert

Very refreshing!

From Singapore! Our Chilli Crab with Fried Bun

Our only complaint would be : Why only 1 bun?!

WE LOVE SINGAPORE CHILLI CRABS!

*good job Hyatt!*

From Hong Kong - Crispy Noodle with Beef

The beef was so tender it simply just melt in your mouth!

Thumbs up for the beautiful veg rose :)

From Hong Kong - Mango Pudding & Macau - Egg Tart

Sweet Ending... finishing off with a cup of nice peppermint tea!

I love the honey bottle!

I am really happy now :)) This week was blue with work and stress and thank you to my sister!

Bak Ku Teh

2011-05-11T22:28:00.000+08:00

Blessings of The Day: Great! I've finally finished the project. Hopefully the client give a clear go *cross fingers* Starting to work on the new ones. Hopefully I can keep this momentum going on! Time to search for good Saigon tickets!

Bak Ku Teh for dinner! I think is one of the most easy one dish dinner :) Just that hunting for good pork ribs is kinda of hard. Yum.

WOW

2011-05-11T22:16:00.002+08:00

I never knew blogger is so advance! :) Nice! I like my new blog look :)

Mother's Day

2011-05-10T22:53:00.005+08:00

Blessings of the Day: Thank God for my beautiful mom. Even though she's naggy @ times, but I think no one can ever replace her! :) Thank God for also a nice MIL even though yes there are times she does get into my nerves. haha

Mee siam is my mom's favourite food :) Thus my sister Sllow decided to make mee siam again. From scratch! We wondered why are mee siam are sold so cheap outside, there are definitely lots of work going on! But of course one can tell by the generous amount of servings. Each family member ate at least 2 big bowls of mee siam. We had both the dried and wet version. Both are my favourites but the wet one were kind of too spicy for me to take it. That's when I learned from my sister that she put in 80 chillis? I hope I didn't get the number wrong!

What did i do for my mom? I bake cake (again). This time it wasn't too bad but I know my carrot cake have lots of room for improvement. Love the cream cheese. Yum!

Goodbye Orh Nee

2011-05-10T22:27:00.002+08:00

Will miss you both :( You've been such a pair of nice pets to keep even though you fight, bite me but you sure brought lot of fun and joy to our family.

Is such a painful experience to go through a lost. They are just pets and yet I will be feeling moody about it. What more when we experienced the lost of our love ones. I pray that God will grant me grace and mercy.

I just realized I never really blog about the 2 hamsters. Maybe i should for once.

Orh Nee is a rather yummy name given to my hamsters. Don't ask me why I named them after a dessert. I think is cute!

This lovely pair of hamsters were given by my good friend, G as wedding gift! The first thing I knew I got them as wedding gift, I was speechless. My thought was - "What am I going to do when they die?" (Such morbid thought)

KG was kind of resistance towards it. He made me do all the cleaning of cage and feeding and refused to carry them which was perfectly fine with me. Soon towards the end, he helped out more and cleaned the cage weekly. Claiming that the hamster always looked happier and active when given a clean cage. -__-" Whenever we passed by a pet shop, Kg always said "Let's upgrade Orh Nee's home to a pent house!" I being the logical one, told him - "They are going to leave us in 2 years time, no need to upgrade. Just buy more nice treats for them."

My nephews and niece adored them. Always asking me why didn't I bring them out to visit them. My niece was disgusted when told Orh Nee was a dessert, thinking it was mashed hamster. I had a hard time explaining Orh Nee was a name for the hamsters and were not to be eaten.

The 2 lovely hamsters will always be in my memory (and Kg i hope) haha :)

Life is so busy

2011-05-10T22:20:00.001+08:00

Blessings of the Day: Can't think of one now. But since I must make a habit to count my blessing, I know that God always love me and I am His beloved. Thank God and AMEN.

Life have been really hectic. Work piled up and is like forever no ending. The projects are taking much more longer time than expected. I am not productive at all :( Quite disappointed in myself. I wish I have lightning fingers and brain so I can work fast! :( No creativity these days too :S Oh ... God please grant me creative brains - i need plenty of the brain juice!

Some of the things I like to do now despite the madness schedule,

To set time aside to complete my pet project that is had been left on the shelves for at least 3 years -_-"
To cook at least three times a week for myself and Kg. (The frequency had dropped to almost once every 2 months *gasp*
To bake at least once a month for myself (Last weekend was baking frenzie :) )
To blog at least once a week!

I think that's all for now. Writing too many goals at one time is not going to motivate to me. Probably makes me even more down!

Press on and looking forward to June camp and hopefully a trip back to Saigon.

While I was away....

2011-04-06T19:33:00.004+08:00

What Facebook sent me after 4 weeks

910 Photo tags?! Hmmm....

I am very much in love with....

2011-04-04T20:41:00.008+08:00

I can't help but really love their stuffs. The way they design their bags and things they look so fun and playful. Not mentioning the colours just made me feel so happy :)

Recently we repainted our bedroom cos HDB came in to do repair works. We took the opportunity to change the colour of our bedroom.

From this...

back then the beginning.. no furniture nothing hahaha

to this....

Isn't this a nice katespade room :)

Make kids earn keep

2011-03-27T22:56:00.003+08:00

Interesting article on how today parents teach their children about money sense and how a Professor from US gave his advices.

===============

Make kids earn keep
Source: The Sunday Times, 27 March 2011
By Huang Huifen

When civil servant Sharon Teh's elder son Wesley entered primary school this year, she was clueless about how much allowance she should give him.

'Eventually, I went by the food prices in the canteen,' says the 33-year-old, who decided on $2 a day.

'Sometimes I wonder if I'm giving him too much such that he will not value money in future,' says Mrs Teh, who has another son, Dylan, aged five.

A common concern among parents is how to instill the right values about money in their children.

Professor Lewis Mandell, a visiting professor from the University at Buffalo, has done 15 years of research on financial literacy among young American adults.

In town to teach the executive master of business administration class which his university offers in conjunction with SIM Global Education, he thinks giving kids a regular and unconditional allowance is akin to child abuse.

'The child will have an aversion to work because he will think why work when he can get the money easily.'

The best way, then, is to give an allowance in return for fulfilling expectations for doing chores, practising violin or obtaining a minimum grade. 'To the child, it is no longer an entitlement, it is a payment for a job. He will associate money with performance,' says Prof Mandell.

He also advocates giving a child ownership of his money from young. His daughter, now in her 30s, had an ATM card at age seven. At age 12, she started to invest in stocks, though she subsequently lost $1,000 because of a bad decision.

As a teenager, she was given a credit card in her parents' name with a $500 annual budget for shopping.

'Even if she went crazy and spent a lot of money when she was 13, we could view the bills and have a talk with her. But if the child grows older and you have no control over him anymore, you cannot have a discussion with him,' he says.

Read his advice to three families on their pocket money culture.

Reward child for saving

Seven-year-old Wesley is puzzled whenever his mum, Mrs Sharon Teh, 33, says they are not from a rich family and therefore cannot buy a particular toy. After all, he lives in a condominium apartment and can tell that it is different from an HDB flat.

But Mrs Teh, a civil servant, says: 'I don't want him to spend on toys he already has, so he gets the concept of not spending unnecessarily. We are not extremely rich and it takes hard work, especially that of his grandparents, to get to where we are now.'

Her husband is a human resource specialist and they have a younger son, Dylan, five.

She gives Wesley $2 a day for food. A bowl of noodles in his school canteen costs about $1, while drinks are 80 cents each. He is encouraged to save half that amount. When he does well in tests, she encourages him verbally, not financially.

Prof Mandell says: 'How can you save half of $2? It barely lets him enough to buy his lunch. You want him to develop positive association with savings, so praise him or pay interest for each dollar saved.

'It is understandable that Mrs Teh does not want to buy every toy Wesley demands but she should not say they cannot afford it when they can afford a condominium. The child will realise the truth eventually and will not trust his parents.

'Explaining that he owes his standard of living now to his grandparents does not make any sense to him, as he cannot relate to a lifestyle he has not gone through. Instead, explain that while the family is not poor, they still have to save for a rainy day.'

Happy Says: Hahaha. That's quite a typical Singaporean response. Actually I even thought of telling that my to my (future) children the same thing what the mom did. After all I did grow up with no financial rewards and instead earning my own keep! But good point noted - save for a rainy day!

Compliance pays

There is a price to pay for misbehaviour for dentist Kuan Chee Keong's three daughters.

When his eldest girl Kaithlyn, 13, refused to wear her brace nightly to correct a spine problem, Mr Kuan, 41, and his wife Benita, 39, a doctor, deducted a dollar from her $15 weekly allowance for every night she defied orders.

He also deducted 50 cents to $1 from the weekly $9.50 allowance for Cherylyn, 10, when she threw a tantrum during tuition. Natalie, nine, gets a daily allowance of $1.50.

'Instead of caning our daughters, we dangle a 'carrot' to make sure they behave. This way, they will feel the pinch,' says Mr Kuan.

When Kaithlyn is allowed to go out on her own next year, he plans to give her $30 each outing for entertainment such as movies and meals. The leftover amount will have to be returned to him.

He also illustrates to them the concept of passive income by showing them his investment portfolio. He has 10 lots of shares worth $2,900 each. He tells the girls they get two lots each, and that they are bought with their money to give them a sense of ownership. In reality, it is not their money.

Prof Mandell says: 'I would reframe the way Dr Kuan deducts Kaithlyn's pocket money. I would say to her, 'To earn $15 a week, you must wear your brace every night. If not, I will deduct a dollar off your allowance next week for every day you do not wear it.'

'He should not make her return leftover money from outings. It provides a negative incentive for savings and encourages her to spend every cent.

'As for teaching the concept of stock markets, he should use the kids' money. That will drive home a stronger point. They will not feel much responsibility for it unless it is their money.'

Happy Says: First initial thought- That doctor is rich! (based on the portfolios spending) But ya kinda of strange to ask for your left over back? Why didn't he thought of asking them to save up that remaining amount instead or "investing" in his portfolios about? Haha!

Learn to live within means

Student Ryan Liew, 19, earns about $180 a week as a part-time sales ambassador at retail chain New Urban Male, and gets $1,000 credited monthly to an account under his mother Li Sew Lan's name for his shopping expenses. However, he can spend only a total of $1,000 in three months.

His father, taxi driver Liew Tiong Bok, 49, also gives him a daily allowance of $25 for food and transport.

Nonetheless, Madam Li, 46, cannot bear to stop giving him an allowance. 'Ryan's income is not enough to sustain his lifestyle. He buys a lot of clothes which he wears only a few times. He buys the same pair of shoes in different colours. He likes watches that cost about $300 each. He also has a huge appetite and eats enough for three,' says the freelance tour guide, who earns about $6,000 a month.

Ryan, a second-year chemical and biomolecular engineering student at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, says: 'I still need my allowance because I don't earn enough from work. I choose to work to experience the hardship because as an only child, I am quite pampered.'

Prof Mandell says: 'Ryan does not need the allowance. It is also a bad idea to give him $1,000 to spend, despite the three-month limit. It is conditioning him to live beyond his means.

'Madam Li works as a freelancer, which means her income is not stable. She should save the money for her retirement. Ryan does not need that large amount of savings from his allowance. Young people's wealth is in their healthy bodies and earning potential.

'She should try to cut his allowance. But it is cruel to condition him to a certain lifestyle, only to take it away abruptly. So she should explain to him her reasons and prepare him by cutting 50 per cent of his allowance now and then completely a year later.'

Happy Says: Today youths are really rich! $1000 in 3 months for shopping?! I probably don't even spend that kind of moolah today excepts when we go overseas for travelling! Once upon a time to earn $1200/mth during the school holidays from my monthly part time job was to pay off that semester school fees and earning extra income during school days by giving tuition and working as sales promoters in weekend and a libraian in weekdays was to pay off my weekly makan allowances!

However i am really curious what kind of tour guide the mom is working as! $6K a month! WOAH!

Monday Blues

2011-03-27T18:47:00.000+08:00

Hmmm who ever said self-employed have no monday blues? I think is not true!

Lately ever since the deliberate decision of not going to FB during the lent season, I was pretty much focus on it. There were times, I type "www.facebook.com" without me realizing when I launched my browser. My eyes & mouse cursor always got to quickly move to the "Close" button quickly in order not to view the feeds! Talked about addiction. Didn't realize my addiction to FB was rather severe! Finally in order not to give in to temptation, I cleared all my browser cookies and the next time my subconscious mind or auto reflex fingers keyed in "facebook.com", all I'll see will be the login page instead. It was rather depressing to hear live feeds from KgBook or RayBook or other ____Books you named it when you can't really go in and view what's happening.

Due to the strong commitment, I did get more productive at work and managed to be on the ball clearing as much works as possible. But it also got me abit overworked too! There were no "recreation" times for me after work. Cos all I did was work work work work! Kg at one point of time told me to perhaps "reward' myself to view FB only after working hours. Ha that almost got me to reconsider haha. But I decided not to give in and continue on with it. I think it was almost 3 weeks already! Time flies huh? But the amount of work stress seem to be quite overwhelmed at times and last Friday I've decided is enough! I should take a half day break for myself to do what I like to do!

Talked about being a workaholic, I never felt good leaving my laptop behind on weekdays and always carried around. Yet i really needed a break! So I thought of a way, charged my laptop battery full and headed out without my powerpoint cables! I found a quiet Starbucks corner and did my work for another 3 hours or as long the battery could last me. Finally the battery died and that's when my real quiet time began.

It takes a lot of discipline to say NO to work and give yourself time off. No wonder they said Singaporeans does not have sufficient rest and sleep cos all we do is work work work. Another 3 hours passed quickly when I did my QT and I definitely felt more refreshed (+ with a cup of green tea soy latte)

Now what should I do next? Should i join church camp or should i head to Vietnam to visit a good friend of mine ? :)

The travelling bug is here again :))

Catching Up

2011-03-24T15:29:00.001+08:00

Sometimes i feel like a snail very slow in my learning. There are so much things to learn especially in my area of work. New things keep constantly appearing and the old ones are constantly being push behind.

Yet this is something I appreciate that my learning path never stop. It is never ending and testing my ability to push myself up to the next level. I often feel very good that I am able to accomplish something out of my usual scope.

Praying that God will continue to grant me wisdom and perseverance in this season of my work :)

Work

2011-03-14T21:38:00.001+08:00

Blessings of the Day: God gives me good and nice clients :)

After CNY, I embarked on a new project. The project had been fun and enjoyable with lots of stress added to it due to the tight timeline given.

During the project progress, I would have to send updates to my client to update her the progress. Apparently due to the security issue, she couldn't view quite a number of my updates. I did not realize until the eleventh hour. All these time, I thought the website was down and that why she couldn't view the updates. Ah why must all the company blocked so many sites?!

So the crazy weekend rushing impossible timeline of 24 hours to get things done and waiting for revisions. More crazy when I had to go for drill com on Saturday which means I lost another precious day to work. While I was grumbling about the silly issue why all these time I should have realize the problem and I wouldn't have to rush through the crazy deadline. Despite my planning, all things went haywire.

I did eventually meet the timeline and even had time to make adjustments to make the work better. I am now tired and really grumpy.

But why am i blogging about this when i should be sleeping.

Well there were a minor hiccup, so while it is currently in progress doing some auto-resolving, I decided to blog about this. An sms came in and really made my day or my crazy weekend worthwhile.

"... Thanks for working along side. Nothing like a vendor but like a team. Thanks for making this journey not so lonely :P"

Awww, if only all my clients are like her. Appreciative, understanding (yes stressing me at times no doubt) but really genuine and nice clients to work with makes your efforts worthwhile to work hard for them.

Thank you God for granting me such clients. You are so good :)

Retired hubbies a pain

2011-03-13T15:19:00.002+08:00

Blessings of the Day: GB 48th attain Bronze for Pioneer team. Girls i am really proud of you all. How you've grown and matured. We are glad you are part of our life :)

Not that Kg is going to retire any time but before the article appeared, I have already foresee the problem. haha

Strait Times 13 Mar 2011
By Marc Lim

Retirement.

It's the one thing almost all working adults look forward to. Whether you're a CEO or a blue-collar worker, there's something cathartic about being finally able to put your feet up and not worry about meetings, deadlines and bosses.

Instead, it's time for doting on the grandchildren; time to pick up a hobby; time to enjoy all that CPF money that has finally come your way.

But, if the views of a growing number of women are to be believed, dealing with the retirement of their husbands has increasingly become more of a pain.

A family friend, whose husband recently called it a day from his banking job, complained: 'It's as if he's suddenly become the woman in the marriage. He nit-picks, complains when things don't go according to his liking and even throws tantrums.'
Apparently, this 'infliction' plaguing men is so widespread that there is even a term for it.

'It's called RHS - Retired Husband Syndrome,' said an aunt who has been trying to live with its ill effects for years.

It stems from a generation of retired men who are struggling to deal with the idea of the new retired women. Previously, the role of women hardly changed even when they hit their 60s - since most of them were housewives to begin with anyway.

But the babyboomers generation saw more women joining the men in the workforce. A number of them, like their husbands, also took on senior management roles. When they retire, they have their own interests and hobbies.

Said another aunt: 'The men don't understand that it's no longer like their mothers' generation. We volunteer, do church work, serve on committees, go for high teas, have manicures. It's our time, too. We don't want to spend our retirement years being bossed around - most of the times unreasonably.'

Almost always, say the wives, the retired husbands' need to feel important at home leads to unnecessary drama and tension. My aunt cites an example of how she and her friends went on a short trip together, only to return to a home she barely recognised.

My uncle, who enlisted the help of their maid, saw the need to reorganise the storeroom and kitchen - and ended up throwing away things that he deemed surplus to requirements.

Among the items that were thrown away included bags of clothes that were supposed to be given to charity and pots and pans which had been passed down generations.

Said my aunt: 'Things that were stored in a corner of the store room, things that he never knew even existed, suddenly became a problem overnight, just because he had nothing better to do.'

Such conflict in the silver years is set to affect even more people as Singapore ages.

A recent research report from Swiss banking giant UBS found that Singapore is set to be the world's third-fastest ageing nation, as the proportion of those aged 65 and above will double to 20 per cent in 2020.

A greying Singapore could also see grey skies hover over many a household.

My aunt said to me: 'Your generation will have it even worse if man and wife don't come to a compromise. Women of your generation are more capable, they won't be content to sit around at home to be at their husbands' beck and call.'

Her suggestion is for men to take up a hobby. 'Go take up golf, learn flying, just anything to keep you out of the house,' she said, half in jest.

I brought the issue of Retired Husband Syndrome up with several of my uncles. And while they stopped short of admitting they were the cause of unnecessary tension at home, they offered their side of the story.

An uncle said: 'We, too, would love to hang out with the boys all the time, take trips overseas for golf. But do you think the wives would be happy? They complain that we're out so much. So to avoid conflict, we stay home.'

Added another uncle, who worked as an engineer: 'But once at home, you can't expect us to do nothing. We spent our lives finding solutions to problems, making sure things are efficient, so if we spot something not quite right at home, it's only natural that we fix it.'

It may be 30 years till I hit retirement age, but I reckon I should start preparing. And I think I've found the perfect way to keep myself busy, keep out of my future spouse's hair, yet be in a fixed location so that she is aware of my whereabouts.

I'm taking up mahjong.

Spring is here...

2011-03-09T22:45:00.000+08:00

Well although i know in SG we don't really have 4 seasons. But look I am in love with all these spring dresses! Now with the nice USD exchange rate ... this is so tempting! :)

How Nice

2011-03-09T13:17:00.000+08:00

Blessings of the Day: Lent Season - 40 days to reflect what Christ had done for us. Is a season to reflect your life and identify what are the things that hold us captive away from God's purpose. What have I identified? - Facebook. haha. 40 Days without FB and focusing on my work and spending time more effectively. Now I can't really complain 24 hours is not enough. Let's see what happen 40 days later. :)

How to nice to sit by the beach and design my favourite things with my mac book.

P/S: i have a feeling my blog posts will soar these 40 days since i can't go into FB haha :))

Steamed Goodness

2011-03-03T23:12:00.000+08:00

Photo and Recipe from Strait Times

One of my fav dish :) Traditional Teochew steamed fish

Ingredients

4 pieces, 100g each, of Toman fish fillet
1 tomato, thinly sliced
10g ginger, thinly sliced
4 Chinese mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 pack silken soya bean curd, thinly sliced
4 salted plums
2 spring onions, shredded
5g coriander leaves
1 tbs Thai fish sauce
2 tbs water
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

Method
Soak Chinese mushrooms until they become soft. Remove the stems.
Blanch them in boiling water for three minutes and remove. Drain and slice thinly.
Mix all the ingredients, except the spring onions and coriander leaves, in a bowl.
Place the mixed ingredients on the Toman fish fillets and steam for about 10 to 13 minutes.
Garnish the steamed fish fillets with shredded spring onions and coriander leaves.
Serve immediately.

TipsUse oily fish, such as salmon, cod and sardines, contain omega-3 fatty acids to help lower the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Cooking releases the phytochemicals of carrots and tomatoes - beneficial plant substances such as carotenoids and flavonoids - thus making them more easily absorbed by the body.

Running!

2011-03-03T23:07:00.001+08:00

Blessing of the day: Is been a long time since i blog - work is like nv ending these days but however i think this year I shall do something different. Likely to stop taking new projects as I'll like to start something new or rather something that i have been putting one side for a very long time (almost 4 years) :) let's see how it goes... Positive Thinking Positive Attitude :)

Recently Kg and I went for a blood test check up to check on our good and bad cholesterol level. The doc said I was in good shape so keep it up. On the other hand, Kg needed to re-examine his weight issue as his bad cholesterol is pretty high and the good one is pretty low.

So we've decided we will go for morning jogs from now. That means we will need to wake up at 6am to jog so that by 7am we can have breakfast and ready for work. Not sure how this plan will go but I decided to encourage him since he was rather depressed after what the doc said. It will mean we need to be discipline to be in bed early and no more late night OT (or watching korean dramas)! Looks like exercise once a week is not working for him and i guess we probably need to increase to 4 times a week or i think probably everyday.

We can do all things through Christ who grants us strength! :)

2008 First Marathon / 2009 Second Marathon / Kg 2009 Second Marathon

He was not captured for his first marathon :P

Overwhelmed (again)

2011-02-08T15:59:00.000+08:00

Oh no i am so overwhelmed with work. Fear, Anxiety and many more negative emotions seems to be controlling me :( I need to prioritize and plan my time better. God is my helper! Be with Py!

Be my stronghold and your prefect love will drive out my fears. Indeed!

Joy

2011-01-26T12:10:00.001+08:00

Blue Skies

Verse 1
On days of gray
When doubt clouds my view
Its so hard to see past my fears
My strength seems to fade
And its all I can do
To hold on, till the light reappears.
Still, I believe though some rain's bound to fall
That you're here next to me
And you're over it all.

Chorus
Lord, the sky's still blue
For my hope is in you
You're my joy, You're the dream thats still alive
Like the wind at my back
And the sun on my face
You are life,You're grace.
You are blue skies, You're my blue skies

Verse 2
When nights are long
Seems the dark has no end
Still we walk on in the light of the truth
For waiting beyond, where the morning begins
Is the dawn, and your mercy anew.
Oh, to believe we're alive in your love
There is so much to see, if we keep looking up.

Bridge
You filled the heavens with hope and a higher love
A picture of promise for life.

We love you always, Joy. We love you and miss you. We will stay strong and look forward the day we meet each other in Heaven with our Heavenly Father.

Blessed Wedding Anniversary

2011-01-24T13:48:00.000+08:00

Time flies. Yesterday we both celebrated our first year of wedding anniversary together.

Reflecting the past 1 year, we both concluded, we fought with each other harder than before and also love each other more.

New habits were formed, experiencing a new culture in our marital home for the first time. We are still adjusting and getting use to each other. We both have our weakness that makes the other party's blood boil and there are moments we both are touched by the simple gestures that the other party do for love.

What's our new goal in 2011? We've been a spouse centered spouse, focusing on each other only and even expecting more. This year we've both agreed, we should be a God-centered spouse. Putting God first in our lives, the home, work and everything.

May this year 2011 be a beautiful year for us as we look to God our source of strength and provider.

Ten Things I Love to Do

2010-10-19T14:41:00.000+08:00

I just saw this @ OpenKitchenConcept's blog :) Oh ... 10 things is too little :P

#1 - Baking
I don't know why I like to bake so much as compared to cooking. I think baking is like magic :) I like cakes, brownies, tarts, cookies and many more that requires baking :D

#2 - Cycling
I still can't drive yet so I cycle. I remembered I learned cycling by myself! Relying on the extra 2 wheesl at the back, I cycled till they both dropped off without me realizing it and I could cycle after that! Amazing!

#3 - Reading
I like to read but of course not every genre. But if i picked up something I like to read, I can't put it down until I finish reading it. :P

#4 -Walking/Exploring
I like to walk around and explore different places. It doesn't have to be out of Singapore. I like the fact once I am in an unfamiliar environment, my mind will start to absorb the things I see. Almost like a sponge I often desire to discover new things.

#5 - Sitting in a quiet cafe
I like to sit in a cafe and drink coffee/tea and just stoned there and start to day dream or doodling on my sketch book or even reading book or reflecting God's word. I often tried to do this at least once a year (e.g on my birthday). Oh the cafe must be quiet (that's on weekdays i guessed and probably like not a town area)

#6 - Going to a beach/seaside
I think there is something comforting and soothing when you hear the sounds of waves and having your feet touched the sand (though Sg sand is not very clean in the first place). I am bless that I am just about 15 mins away from the punggol jetty and beach though my view is not very fantastic. Sitting there and closed your eyes and listen to the waves, this is such a wonderful time to renew your mind and connect to God.

#7 - Looking Good
I love to wear nice clothes that makes me look good :P hahahaahahahahaa YET I am quite a lazy girl who really can't be bothered to make myself look good. I wish the world is made up of t-shirt & shorts and does not require make up or anything. Hahahahahahahaha So contradicting.

#8 - Spending time with family
I think as I grow older, spending time with family is becoming a big priority in my life. No matter how busy and tired you are, spending time with family is priceless. During the teenage years, I was quite adventurous (nice word to replace rebellious) and explored different things when my family was strict with my movements. Yet because of that, I've also come to realize how wonderful my family members are. I am thankful at least I didn't have to hit a very hard roadblock to learn this truth.

#9 - The Work
Am glad that I have this opportunity to do what I enjoyed doing and the journey have been amazing and I am enjoying every moment of it.

#10 - To eat all kinds of yummy food without putting on weight.

:)

I was told to pass this on. So the next folks will be - plus1, patty, tootie, weiggy, qq and kg

A New Pair of Shoes - For The accident prone me !

2010-09-28T18:47:00.000+08:00

Blessings of the Day: Good & Ultra Understanding Clients are hard to come by. Gotta treasure them!

Work has been crazy for the past 2 months judging by the not so frequent updates. Desperately really wish I can find time to go somewhere quiet and stone. To find time to do nothing is a luxury.

This October, I've to clear the project deadlines. There are no allowance and this is it. I am praying for good discipline and good plan of time that is in my hands. If I can, I hope to sleep early and rise early. So far the battle between me and alarm clock - oh let's not talk about it.

Despite the busy schedule, when you have nice and understanding clients, it somehow make your work load much more easier to handle. After rushing through all the research and came up with something that finally put smiles on their faces were priceless.

I stood up, shook their hands and turned and *crack* Uh Oh.... I looked down and I couldn't believed what I just saw - my new heels broke. In fact that was the first time I saw it LIVE because for me heels broke on TV screens! It was such an ironic scene because my client sells shoes!

My clients were shocked and kindly brought me a pair of new shoes .. free of course. I was grateful and really embarrassed at that time.

Look like I should just buy a pair of flats ( the roll up type) and put in my bag just in case another accident!

Going Bonkers soon

2010-08-24T22:46:00.002+08:00

Am so .. Tired

All Things Are Beautiful

2010-08-17T09:03:00.000+08:00

Source

For some unknown reasons, today I feel happy and chirpy :) Maybe is the recovery for that horrible sore throat and cough.... or maybe the sufficient hours I slept through the last weekend.

Hooked on making ice-cream too. Just saw a fellow blogger made a purple sweet potatoes dessert! Maybe i should do an ice-cream version! Now back to work!

A small kid

2010-07-27T22:40:00.000+08:00

Blessings of the day: Thank God for my parents. I love them.

Today I went back home to get some docs to be printed out as my own printer ran out of ink. (By the time i discovered, it was midnight and shops do not open till 11am). When I reached back home, my mom was so surprise to see me. Immediately she asked me -"Have you eaten any breakfast?"

Shuts i thought - ONLY THIS MORNING I ATE NOTHING. And I desperately need a cup of coffee to wake me up. So i gave her the guilty look and shook my head. Something about her expressions just told me "Why can't PY take good care of herself?!" Immediately I was nagged by her again, she quickly got me a cup of coffee and place a huge cake box and said "Helped yourself with your sis's birthday cake!"

If was in the past, i would have gulp my coffee, picked up the cake box and placed in the fridge and went out for meeting. But this time, i told myself, no matter how busy, I should still grab a bite.. just to appease her.

After my meeting with the client, I met my little sis for lunch. Thought of spending more time with her since she might be going to NY anytime this week or next week. Hope is next week though. She managed to convince me to come up to do my work since we too had some work to discuss. So when I went back again, mom looked delighted to see me again.

I very much wanted to stay for dinner but the thought of my MIL was at home i declined the offer. Mum was also quite understanding and she didn't pressure me anymore.

Halfway through reading my emails and work, I suddenly just gave a loud sigh which startled her. She looked at me with this very sympathetic look and asked what's wrong. I replied "Just feeling tired."

She started go "My poor child.... why did you have to work so hard? Work can never be completed." and followed by her most famous lines “钱是赚不完的！健康才最重要！”

I looked at her and replied "Nothing beats having to work for your own business. Working hard, yes else how to ensure you have income. "

She continued from her last statement obviously missing what I've just said. "Poor child, not only you got to work, you got to cook, iron, wash and mop the floor!"

(Kg does the mopping. I m spared for the last part)

"Don't be so funny. That is part of my life already."

"Tell you what. why don't we arrange every week once or twice I come over your house and help you with the ironing! Ironing is my passion!"

"Are you crazy?! I don't even let my MIL ironed, why should you come?!"

"I don't very much like cooking, and why don't I iron, you cook me a meal in exchange?"

I was completely speechless with that kind of conversation I had with my mother this afternoon.

Before I left, she got my dad to buy extra box of roasted duck for me and Kg. In addition my dad cooked a pot of soup and gave it to me as well.

"Look! Your dinner is settled. Just cook rice and you can have a proper dinner with Kg."

I had alot of mix feelings. While I felt loved and touched by the kind gesture that she shown me, sometimes I can't helped but to roll my eyes at her funny remarks. To her I am never a grown up.

But I have to admit is really nice and bless that my parents love and care for me especially Mom. Sometimes I felt guilty I can't give them more. But yet these are the little moments that you forget about the past hurts and accept them for who they are and likewise for them to accept who I am too.

God watch over them and one day I pray for the day of salvation.

Homemade Icecream

2010-07-21T09:50:00.000+08:00

A Birthday Gift!

Thank you Grace, Rachel and Joan :)

Kg will like to try mango ice-cream & I will like to have earl gray ice-cream! :P

4 core flavours can't wait to try out
1) Chocolate
2) Vanilla
3) DURIAN!
4) Strawberry

A couple of PY own inventions
1) More Tea-infused Icecreams!
2) Herb Infused ice cream? Rosemary, basil? that maybe sound like a pasta Ice-cream
3) Black Forest (though i know Wall's got one already so is not exactly my inventions right?)
4) CARROT CAKE FLAVOUR! HAHAHA

Tomorrow is going to be fun !

What to wear today?!

2010-07-16T10:05:00.001+08:00

That's how i arrange my clothes in my wardobe - by colours followed by category (work/casual etc)

Just found a recent cool article on how to match 12 separates and combined into 80 different outfits combination.

I had at least 24 separates - that will gather me 160 different outfits? Ok - we can't complain we got no clothes to wear right. Actually is just a person habit, we just like to wear the same old thing over and over again.

But is always good to invest in some nice classic sharp wear :) haha

Best part is free! Read the article here! & Download PDF here.

7 more days to ... my birthday break :)

Counting Down II :: Mini Goal #2

2010-07-13T11:24:00.002+08:00

Source

10 more days...

Ran 4km yesterday evening in what? 40 mins. So slow... :S Need to push the timing back to at least 20 mins.

Should I buy the ice cream making machine? Less than $100. But requires quite abit of manual work. Would love to make my own vanilla ice-cream one day. I missed baking!

Mini Goal #2: To make my own vanilla ice-cream this weekend!

Counting down

2010-07-12T10:31:00.000+08:00

11 more days...

It is a brand new week. Loads of work piling up (more more more). New ideas. Need to find ways to re-organize and execute them.

Today's goal: Love myself more than ever *tight hug*

Blessings of the day: My beloved little sister is going to NY in 2 weeks time. gonna miss her. Thank God is only 3 months attachment. May God grant her safety and protection. Pray that God will guard and protect her. So proud of her :)

Good Job!

2010-07-08T04:23:00.000+08:00

Quoted from: DSC_1954.JPG 1030×1230 pixels

library.rit.edu/gda/sites/library.rit.edu.gda/files/DSC_1954.JPG

Good Job... a new breakthrough. Praise God :)

Marathon

2010-06-18T08:27:00.002+08:00

Blessings of the Day: It had been a great church camp with God. I've surely grown closer with Him. Will jot down my tots in the next few days.

It was a pity that I missed the 21km Marathon Registration for SCB this year. The responses had been overwhelming than before. Full marathon was filled up within the first week. Half marathon was filled up 2 weeks later. I was quite disappointed. So Kg and I decided that we will run 10km again this year and improve our timing by 30mins at least or under an hour. Shortly after we registered, the 10km was officially closed. That's scary.

The reason we decided to rejoin is because this year is a new route passing the IR and the Helix Bridge. With new route, it will be less boring. It was also very interesting as I collect the SCB t-shirts - it was Adidas, New Balance and now this year Asics.

When YL was telling me that she'll be going to HK for exchange program from Aug to Dec, she was lamenting that she couldn't join me this year SCB marathon. An idea crept up in my head, I decided I wanna join HK SCB too! I did a check and learnt that HK SCB marathon was usually held in the last week of Feb. The temperature will be quite cooling and ideal to run! When I studied the route in HK, they had designed it to pass by various interesting landmarks. Of course the full marathon have the most and interesting landmarks. 10KM only covers about 3 landmarks whereas half marathon covers more than 6. So cool right! What a perfect excuse to travel again.

Then finally I've decided, I shall attempt my full marathon in HK SCB . That will be in 2012 Feb (very optimistic outlook) I will run wearing my first SCB Singapore t-shirt to commemorate my first marathon. Hahaha.

Ok so much of a marathon dreams blog. Lol :)

Rest

2010-05-31T00:17:00.000+08:00

He gives me work that I may seek His rest,
He gives me strength to meet the hardest test;
And as I walk in providential grace,
I find that joy goes with me, at God’s pace. —Gustafson

If a blackout hits me, i will cry out in desperation cos means i can't work anymore. When i don't work, i probably felt very "unwanted". But yet God doesn't want us to feel that way. In fact, He wants me to focus on Him and find rest in Him.

As I pray, Lord grant me the strength to complete the 5 projects before I go and rest @ the 2 camps.

Motivational Talks

2010-05-24T11:38:00.004+08:00

Image source

One person cannot motivate another person. A person can only motivate himself.

Therefore, you cannot "change" a person, but you influence him/her. No matter how fantastic a motivational talk the speaker had given to you and how it got you excited, it all really depend whether the person listening to the talk is open to change. It also depends on whether he is currently happy with the results he is getting. Lastly it depends whether is he at the stage of his life when he is hungry to learn.

While motivational talks can create a desire to change, it will be up to the audience to decide how they really want to change their lives. When people understand that they have a power to change and make a difference, they will not want to be the same again.

Source: Deep Impact

Hungry to learn and Open to Changes - the positive attitude attributes I want to adopt in all areas of my life, be it work or ministry.

Thinking

2010-05-20T12:02:00.002+08:00

Image source

There are many things I want to learn yet there are so little time. Thanks to the wide resources available online, there isn't the need to spend too much moolah to learn new things. (pat pat my pocket)

How can I bring my work to a new level again? I longed for the rush & excitement to discover new things, learning them and lastly applying them back in my work. I miss reading and only just a couple of weeks ago I finished reading 2 books which got me a good head start. Of course no doubt, i realize God's favour to be upon me. Lately a familiar verse came upon me - we can plan but God will determine our steps (Proverbs 16:9)

The Lord have been good to me providing many more new projects (after a bad year) and I of course enjoyed working through these works. It just that I wonder how I can balance the part of bringing the stable income in and yet at the same time trying out something totally new. Alas, age is really catching up. In the past, it was nv a problem to rush overnight projects for a couple of weeks and still remain alert during the day. These days, rushing projects to 2am would have me looking like a panda the very next day. Brain processed much slower too. I am at the same time reminded that a healthy body pleases the Lord and thus going for all these twice weekly jogs were to keep me alert.

Healthy and positive outlooks also helps but I somehow is going the other way. Negativity and frustration often just lurk around me like ready to pounce on me at any chance. Sigh, why do I ever give that in? So now reading another book - "The Screwtape Letters" by CS Lewis. Classic book and just amazes me how sometimes I behave the very same way as what was described in the book.

How exactly did woman of God did it in the very first place? All i can say is really the favour from God, and her understanding and leaning on God's strength. Health, Work, Ministry n Family - all to God's control then :)

"Pixels"

2010-05-07T22:43:00.000+08:00

Love the tetris the most! This is so cool!

"Curiosity Killed The Rat"

2010-05-07T22:37:00.000+08:00

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tangyauhoong/2886075767/

IS a fishy Business after all..

2010-05-04T18:11:00.003+08:00

After all Jesus called fisherman to be His disciples.

I know is not related but somehow I like to relate my clients to fishes. Though the shark fin slipped away, recently got a couple of rock groupers, cod fishes and salmons are coming my way. I guess I need to remember and give thanks to God for His providence in especially last year sales weren't doing too well.

Ah gor li also not bad lar :)

Praise Him and may the work we do pleases Him and enabled us to find favour with our clients.

Blessings of the Day: It is May already and almost coming to half time @ 2010. I hope to pass my driving test soon! Reviewing my attitude at work, ministry and family. Ah So much things to do lar!

Eye Eye Aizzzz

2010-04-30T10:50:00.001+08:00

Today i realize my eyes sight seemed to have deteriorate. This morning as i sat in the cafe waiting for my client, i stared at my laptop very closely. As i attempted to move my eyes approximate 1 arm length away from the screen, I realized the screen looked blur and i had to squint a few times. hmmmm.

Should i consider lasik? That will mean i need to fork out another $2k again. *sob gone my camera + other things*

First get rid of the bad habit of sitting so close to the screen. Is time to check my eyes and get new pair of funky glasses :P

Simplicty Sells - by David Pogue

2010-04-27T10:31:00.000+08:00

New York Times columnist David Pogue takes aim at technology’s worst interface-design offenders, and provides encouraging examples of products that get it right. To funny things up, he bursts into song.

One of the thing that struck a chord with me is to stop adding new things and improve the current situation. :)

Returning Home

2010-04-22T22:12:00.000+08:00

Kg's reservist allowed me to return back to my own home. I was excited initially as i was looking forward to spend time with my 2 sisters and my mom. Monday came and as I was about to return home, Kg called me and said he was going to book out that night and thus returning home. So i was quite disappointed that I was on "recall".

Tuesday came and Kg ensured he was not out and thus happily I packed my stuffs. As I packed, i started to "regret" as I need to pack quite number of things. Clothes, laptop, wires, hdd, basically u know the things i need to survive for the entire of the next day. By the time I felt i was carrying a huge tortoise shell out of the house.

When i reached my mom's place, i was greeted with the familiar smell of the food she cooked. I could also tell she was really happy that i was around. I too on the other hand was glad to spend time with my sisters. Though we didn't really talk much that night as all of us were quite busy in our own world, I kind of enjoy sitting there with them. Though it was almost close to 3 months since I left home, everything still felt as if I never left. But still there was this tiny feeling that it was different from my own place.

Punggol is a quiet place where you can hear nature (aka toads) and in amk you hear roarring (pple and cars). In the beginning, I couldn't get use to the new home but now in AMK home, i realize everything is so different.

That night i slept in my parents' room as my dad was away for overseas work (else i was to sleep in sleeping bag that night), my mom was grumbling the whole night to me. She complained my dad and my brother and occasionally the sisters as well.

It was familiar but yet it was kind of upsetting. I didn't felt peace in the house for the very first time. Everyone seems to be burdened by something heavy.

After this trip back home, I realize I really need to pray for my family daily and diligently. Praying for peace to dwell in the house and more important in everyone's heart. Father, be with my family members because You are really needed in their lives.

I thank God for this family and really I pray for the day to come to see my whole family coming to know who God is.

Shd i join? (Or rather Shd i get?)

2010-04-22T15:02:00.001+08:00

Browse and saw iPhone Developer Program. In the past, my poly final year project was to develop games app for Nokia phones. Maybe now is the time to venture into this area since the whole world is on iPhone. Haha.

PY: I need to get an iPhone NOW

KG: Why you need that ? Your Samsung is working.

PY: I am going to develop cool apps on iPhone.

KG: You're just finding an excuse to get an iPhone.

PY: Exactly, else when can i find another perfect excuse to buy iPhone.

I got a C+ by the way for the final year project. Because there were countless alot of bugs. hehe

Above conversation was just fictitious but in anyhow it might just come true becos i could almost picture him saying that anyway.

Clear my head

2010-04-02T00:17:00.000+08:00

Philippians 4:7-9 (New International Version)

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Gosh time flies... 3/4 of the year left... Review Renew Recharge

Seth's Blog - We Can do It

2010-03-16T10:04:00.002+08:00

Lost the bid. Feeling down and moody. But yes His ways are higher than mine and there are better things in front of me.

Too often, it seems, this attitude is missing from teams, organizations or the community.

It's missing because people are quick to opt out of the 'we' part. "What do you mean, we?" they ask. It's so easy to not be part of we, so easy to make it someone else's problem, so easy to not to take responsibility as a member of whatever tribe you're part of.

Sometimes it's missing because people disagree about what 'it' is. If you don't know what you're after, it's unlikely you're going to find it.

And it's missing because people confuse cynicism with realism, and are afraid to say "can". They'd rather say 'might' or even 'probably won't'.

Just about everything worth doing is worth doing because it's important and because the odds are against you. If they weren't, then anyone could do it, so don't bother.

Product launches, innovations and initiatives by any organization work better when the key people agree on the goal, believe that they can achieve it and that the plan will work.

Do we have a cynicism shortage? Unlikely.

Successful people rarely confuse a can-do attitude with a smart plan. But they realize that one without the other is unlikely to get you very far.

Count me in. Let's go.

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/03/we-can-do-it.html

The Dinner

2010-03-15T12:54:00.004+08:00

Blessings of the Day: I've just returned from the tiring 2D1N recruits camp. The camp was good with the ice broke and I got to know my squad girls better - Yun Ting, Dion, Wai Hua and Jaymin. Very sweet angels and active ones too. Looking forward to a good squad outing in June.

As I returned home, KG was very happy to see me. It felt good to see your family smiling at you greeting you at the home door. Perhaps I've never experienced that it in my own home then becos my parents would be busy with something or other things and likewise for my siblings too. This is considered peaceful and good already (becos no one is fighting @ home) So when Kg greet me at the door, I was surprised and frankly speaking I didn't quite know how to react.

As i unpacked my bag and started to wash the clothes and at the back of my mind, I needed a good comfort meal after the camp. I was thinking of something wholesome and warm, just as I wanted to tell KG that let's had the clam chowder soup that was resting in the freezer, He excitedly said to me, "Let me cook you a dinner tonight!" I was like eh, is ok, i can do it. He insisted and said rest and once ready, he would call me out.

Feeling rather stunned (since the greeting), I obliged since my muscles were aching like mad. So i rest and soon there was this nice aroma in the house. I started thinking what was he possibly cooking since the fridge was virtually empty (cos we had Seng Siong @ our home below, we can always get fresh supplies of food below anytime).

Then when he came to me, he said oki dinner ready! *very happily* This time I was really curious what was he up to?! When we walked towards the kitchen, i saw 2 bowls. I laughed.

In the bowl, there were rice and topped with a sunshine fried egg (wah very pretty! Better than mine), one hot dog, chilli and soy sauce. He said ok try it! He told me to mix around with the egg yolk. I lifted up the egg, and i saw more crab meat and stirred around and took the first bite. I know it sounds funny, but it was good. Haha. As I ate slowly, he said there were more hidden surprises below. So i started to stir the rice and lo and behold.. I found scallop. The scallop is not the scallop you are thinking. Is the small dry scallop that Chinese use for cooking soup. Hahaha. As I ate, I noticed he actually took hashbrown and mashed up with the rice!

To me that was a Chinese version of Korean Bim Bim Bap. LOL. A pity I've forgotten to take the picture.

We ate the dinner that Kg cooked for me. I was feeling very comforted. It was indeed a wholesome dinner. The best thing was this guy talked so much as we ate our dinner. He kept saying.

KG: "Wah I can't believe I cook such a delicious dinner tonight"

Me: "..."

KG: "We only have 2 bowls to wash tonight! Because the kitchen is clean! The pots and pans are washed. Including the rice cooker! "

Me: "..."

KG: "This is so delicious! You want to learn how to cook this?" as he continued munching his dinner.

Me: "Can you cook this the next time when I am feeling tired/unhappy/lazy? I like to list this as my next comfort food. Thanks!"

KG: "..."

Hahaha. I am bless to have this wonderful husband.

I am a child of God

2010-03-10T16:22:00.003+08:00

Blessings of the Day: "For the past 2 weeks, I brought my MIL to the Teochew senior citizens fellowship. There would be worship ( in Teochew of course), sermon (thankfully Mandarin was available) and followed by lunch fellowship.

My MIL was still quite ok but she was very shy. She worries a lot of like fearing of embarrassing herself or me. But as I encouraged her, she was more comfortable and decided to go provided I was with her. I do thank God for the open heart as she is comfortable with me as well. Basically I kind of got her to know more aunties and elders as well. This morning she was quite funny behaving like a small kid. She wanted to use her rest day to catch TV dramas at home and using my work as an excuse that i should go work and is ok to leave her alone at home (to watch tv) haha Thankfully, she still went for the fellowship at the end."

Today sermon was preached by a China preacher. Usually I have zero listening power when comes to mandarin sermon. I usually switched off and go to the auto-pilot mode (read my bible). What a coincident, i did a hard reset last week and all my applications (including my bible) installed in the phone was gone. So I had no choice but to find other things else I would fall asleep pretty fast. However within 5 mins, the preacher caught my 101% attention. She preached with so much passion and that alone touches me. I think she was preaching on the passage in proverbs or maybe psalms. (haha I am clueless when comes to chinese bible). She was entertaining and most of the time the elderly managed to give her full attention. Although you could see some aunties or uncles dozing off half way which was normal.

What the preacher shared today was very apt in my current life now. After married, I missed my home and sometimes I caught myself feeling lost and I would find myself muggling deeper in my work to numb my homesick feeling. I too sometimes felt lonly even though I found it rather amusing as I thought most couples are feeling blissful and romantically in love in their first 1 year marriage. However I thought of married life beyond that blissful feeling. KG and i shared common goals which was one key reason that brought us very close together. I realize that besides depending on my partner, i need something more than that to fill that gap.

Today the preacher reminded me I am the child of God.

Whenever she read this verse "You are my child" (says God) that line strengthen her. I thought "So powerful meh? I heard and read this verse dunno how many times but why didn't i felt like her" and she continued. "How do you feel if today you realize you are related to LKY or LHL? You are the son/daughter of LKY or LHL? or the grandchildren of the 2 political leaders? Wouldn't you feel powerful? Rich? Protected?"

Eh good comparison! Indeed if today I know i am related to any of the ministers in Singapore, I will feel proud. hahaa. If the 2 guys are just pure human and i would feel that way, what more of my Heavenly Father who created the earth and the universe. I should feel even more strengthened! I finally understood what the preacher was trying to say. (This time I turned around and watched my MIL expression. She was listening intently! :) )

Child of God. How privileged is that.

Are you a child of God too?

Okie This July!

2010-03-02T11:04:00.002+08:00

Abit random but ya I am saving up to get this camera for myself hahaha :P

Semi Pro camera instead of DSLR Camera.

March 2010

2010-03-01T10:02:00.003+08:00

We are approaching like a quarter year in 30 days. Time flies.

I am reminded that I need to constantly remind myself what role I am in now - a wife, a daughter in law and even a better daughter to my own family.

On my table, I placed 6 photos that remind my loved ones.

1) My Parents > They are so dear to me. Every day there was a moment I felt like slacking, I would look at my parents photo and remind myself to work hard so i can give my parents a good life.

2) My 4 sisters > Our age gap are decades part from my youngest sister (8 years) to my oldest sister (12 years). We had never been closed during our younger days. But thanks to God who enabled me to love my sisters for who they are, we are brought closer for the past recent years during new years, birthdays and christmas. I believed that is God's love in me that brought me closer to my sisters more than ever.

3) Family Photo > the photo taken right in front of the cross right in Bethel. I will always be reminded how the very moment that God miraculously bring my whole family to church. This photo a testimony of how God is real and how true He was. If in doubt, look at that picture and be reminded of God's faithfulness.

4) A wedding photo with my parents together with Keegan > The wonderful occasion that got me very emotional that a time where I leave my parents and cleave my husband. I often envy my friends who continued to stay with their parents after married but eventually I know that sooner or later my parent will too leave me physically one day. All these taught me one thing, I needed God even more, to cling onto His strength and be reminded that I need to be faithful that God will bring them to know Him more.

Year 2010 is going to be a smashing year for me.

Smashing Magzine: Is John The Client Dense or Are You Failing Him?

2010-02-23T08:24:00.002+08:00

Totally expressed how I felt at work but this article gave me a fresh perspective (& positive) from the client's view.

---------------------------

Is John The Client Dense or Are You Failing Him?
By Paul Boag
February 19th, 2010

Meet John the client. John runs a reasonably large website. He is a marketer who considers himself smart, articulate and professional. That said, he doesn’t know much about Web design, and so he needs your help. John comes to you with a clear set of business objectives and asks for a quote. But what happens next leaves John confused, frustrated and extremely unhappy.

Explain Why You Are Asking About Money

Before giving John his quote, you ask a little more about the project. After chatting for a few minutes, you ask him about his budget. A fair question, you think. After all, you could approach the project in so many ways. Without knowing the budget, knowing where to begin is impossible. In your mind, building a website is like building a house. Without knowing the budget, you can’t possibly know how many rooms the client can afford or what materials you should use to build.

John, on the other hand, is instantly suspicious. Why would you want to know about his budget? The only reason he can think of is that you want to make sure you don’t charge him less than what he is willing to give. Besides, he doesn’t really know his budget. How the heck is he supposed to know how much a website costs?

Don’t come across as money-grubbing. (Image credit)

John leaves, determined to find a Web designer who doesn’t want to take advantage of him. Fortunately for you, all of the other designers he speaks with also neglect to explain why they need to know about his budget, and so you manage to win the project after all.

Justify Your Recommendations In Language John Can Understand

Once you have won the job, you arrange a kick-off meeting to nail down the specifications. However, John instantly regrets his decision to hire you because his worse fears have been confirmed. In his eyes, you are all of a sudden trying to squeeze more money out of him as you waffle about the importance of usability and accessibility. John doesn’t care about disabled users. He doesn’t expect disabled users to visit his website anyway.

And as for usability, surely the job of the Web designer is to make the website usable. Why do we need expensive usability testing? He is pretty certain that usability testing involves expensive things like cameras, labs and two-way mirrors. You thought you had explained these issues clearly. You spoke of WCAG 2, and you mentioned Jakob Neilsen. You are beginning to wonder if John is a bit thick.

Avoid techno-babble if you expect clients to understand what you’re talking about. (Image credit)

Perhaps if you had talked about accessibility in terms of assessing search engine rankings and testing usability as a way to increase conversion, then John might have listened. As it is, John puts his foot down and refuses to pay for any of these “unnecessary extras.”

Include John In The Process

You walk away from the kick-off meeting pleased to have a signed contract. But that feeling in the pit of your stomach tells you that this might be another one of those projects. Regardless, you try to be optimistic, and you dive into the design process. Almost immediately, you get a phone call from John asking if there is anything for him to see. You explain that it is still early in the process and that you are not ready to present anything. John sounds disappointed but resigned.

A short while later, you are ready to present the design to John. You are pleased with the result. It took you a lot more time than you had budgeted for, but it was worth it. The final design is extremely easy to use and will make for a great portfolio piece.

Stop hiding from your clients. Show them your work early on, and include them in the process. (Image credit)

When John sees the design, he is horrified. From his perspective, you have entirely missed the point. The design clashes with his offline marketing materials and doesn’t hit the right selling points. Also, he is convinced that his suppliers will hate it and, although they are not his end users, their opinion matters.

After a tense conference call, you feel demoralized but have struck a compromise that hopefully will make John happy. You wonder in hindsight whether showing John some of your initial ideas and sketches would have been better. Perhaps you should have presented a wireframe first.

Educate John About Design

After much agonizing and compromise, you are once again ready to present to John. John is much happier with the new design and feels it is heading in the right direction. However, he does have some concerns. For starters, he has to scroll to see most of the content, and yet white space takes up either side of the design. He tells you to move key content into this wasted space. Also, as he thinks about his young male target audience, he realizes that the color scheme is too effeminate, so he tells you to change it to blue.

While John feels somewhat happier, you feel crushed. You feel as though he is trying to do the job for you. The instructions to move this there and change this color to that makes you feel like you have been reduced to pushing pixels.

Educate your clients so they make more informed decisions. (Image credit)

By this point, you are sure the client is dim, and now you just want him to sign off on a design. At no stage do you think to ask John why he is requesting these changes. Perhaps if you had appreciated his thinking, you could have explained concepts such as screen resolution and suggested an alternative to corporate blue, which is so over-used on the Web.

Instead, you wash your hands of the design and just give John what he wants.

Communicate With John Regularly

Now that the design is complete, you turn your attention to building it. John certainly won’t care about your code. Now you can finally do things right.

It’s a big job and takes a lot of time. Even though you put too much time into the design and washed your hands of it, you still have your pride. You are not about to cut corners with the code. After all, other designers might look at it and judge you! You work really hard, putting in more work than you probably should have. John even manages to slip in some extra functionality at the scoping phase, which turns out to be a pain in the butt.

For his part, John is wondering what’s going on. He hasn’t heard from you in weeks. Surely the website must be ready now? He decides to email you to ask how things are progressing. You reply with a short email telling him that everything is progressing smoothly. You never did like project management, and you are sure John would prefer that you spend time building his website instead of writing him detailed reports.

John receives your email and is becoming increasingly frustrated. What does “progressing smoothly” mean? He writes back asking for an expected date of completion, and you reply with a rough estimate.

The date comes and goes without a word from you. After all, it was merely an estimate, and several complications have delayed completion by a few days. John finally loses his temper and calls you. He tells you that he has arranged a marketing campaign to coincide with the launch date, and because he hadn’t heard from you, he presumed everything was on schedule.

Communicate with your client regularly. (Image credit)

You defend yourself, citing “scope creep” and unanticipated delays. But responding is difficult when John says, “All I needed was a weekly email keeping me up to date on progress.”

Explain John’s Ongoing Role

By this stage, the relationship has broken down entirely. You finish your work, and the website finally launches. Begrudgingly, John pays the invoice after delaying it for as long as possible. What amazes you most is John’s pronouncement that he is bitterly disappointed with the result. How can that be when you gave him exactly what he asked for? This guy isn’t just thick: he’s a jerk!

Of course, John sees things differently. He came to you with a list of his business objectives, and the website has failed to meet any of them. He had hoped to launch the website, watch it achieve his objectives and then move on to the next project. Instead, after an initial spike in interest, the number of users and inquiries dropped over time, and the website stagnated.

Ensure that your client understands what kind of ongoing care their website will need. (Image credit)

What John does not realize is that websites need continued love and support. You cannot build a website and then abandon it. John has to nurture it by adding new content, engaging with visitors and planning for ongoing development.

If only someone had told him.

The Moral Of The Story

It’s amazing how quick we are to judge our clients.

As Web designers, we communicate and empathize for a living. Our job is to communicate messages to our clients’ users. We create usable websites by putting ourselves in the position of our users, which allows us to design around their needs.

Why, then, do we so often seem to be incapable of empathizing or communicating with our clients? Perhaps it is time for us to apply the skills we have cultivated as Web designers to our own customers.

(al)

Paul Boag

Paul Boag is the founder of UK Web design agency Headscape, author of the Website Owners Manual and host of award-winning Web design podcast Boagworld.

しんこんりょこう Shinkonryokou 新婚旅行 Day 5 & 6

2010-02-10T10:27:00.001+08:00

Day 5 - our last day in Japan we went Tsukiji Fish Market, Roppongi & Jiyugaoka.

Check out our photos and write up here.

しんこんりょこう Shinkonryokou 新婚旅行 Day 3 & 4

2010-02-09T10:51:00.001+08:00

Day 3: Mt Fuji & Lake Kawaguchi
Day 4: Tokyo Tower

Read here

しんこんりょこう Shinkonryokou 新婚旅行 Day 1 & 2

2010-02-08T10:33:00.003+08:00

Blessings of the Day:

One of the most enjoyable trip I had with KG so far.

Check out our trip here where I blogged about our Tokyo Trip @ FB instead.

Mrs Lim on 23 Jan 2010

2010-02-01T21:30:00.006+08:00

Blessings of the Day: "So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." Matthew 19:6

This is our wedding verse. Kg chose it and how apt. It is a good reminder that God joined us not by our strength and effort. How true that no one can separate us.

The journey was a long one. 10 years of dating. Sometimes unbelievable yet it was true.

That night I slept early (2am) and woke up early too (4.30am). My whole mind was "oh i waited quite long lar for this day." haha. A numerous things went through my mind

Must tell Joan/Jem/Grace/Ray/HS/blah blah where are the things put
Must draft my speech 2nd paragraph * i haven finish!*
....

My make up artist arrived at 5.30am. Helen was really sweet. She usually have to charge extra for arriving before 6am. But she told me she would waive off the charges. Perhaps I also got her to give my mom a night make up too thus the extra benefit. But Helen, thanks anyway :) I was done by 6.30am that's when my jiemeis arrived. All was surprised I was done already. The photographer was like "You are done already??" haha. So great no unglam pictures of before and after.

My videographer came slightly later. But wasn't in a mood of asking why he was late. Feng Nian is from Beautiful Days. Our VG was a last minute decision in Nov. Actually i panic quite abit on that, not sure at such a short notice I was able to find one. But God was good. We got this VG and we really like his works (and most importantly fit our tight budget). It was different from the norm we see. Perhaps I was watching very good overseas wedding video and when I saw his works, i thought they were similar approach and looked very classy.

The morning passed by quickly go through the tea ceremonies at both sides followed by the late morning church wedding. The next thing we knew we were married!

During the thank you speech, my bridesmaid kwa kwa passed me a piece of tissue. I told myself - "No i am not going to use you!" I choked a few times especially at the mention of my mom. Frankly speaking I had been rather overwhelmed with emotions for the past few months. I was not counting down to the day I was going to get married. But rather I was counting down the days I would leave my parents and cleave with my husband. In my heart, I missed my parents especially my mom dearly. I also missed all the late night chats with my 2 sisters. I tried my best not to look at them when I made my speech because I already thought i saw them crying! Gosh! :(

Finally I got it through my speech. What a relief really.

When it came to our wedding dinner, there was a huge mess. A few relatives were not able to make it at the last minute and I had to play musical chairs at the very same timing. Thankfully for my sister, she was quick and was able to organize our relatives properly. Sister also did a good job by doing PR for my dad relatives as it was the first time everyone was able to make it for the wedding. Previously when my sister got married, a couple of them couldn't make it due to a funeral mourning period and likewise when my cousin got married, we too couldn't make it due to our grandma passed away at the same period.

During the dinner, we decided to skip the yumseng part. Thankfully my parents agreed and instead our lovely bridesmaid and bestmand gave us a speech. It was a touching speech and truely, Kg and I are thankful for your beautiful friendship.

Finally the day came to end, a new chapter unfold for me and Kg. We are so grateful for the help that everyone gave us. Without your blessings, the day wouldn't have gone so smoothly.

Praise God for He is good :)

Never Satisfied But Always Content

2010-01-19T22:33:00.003+08:00

Philippians 3:7-14 (New International Version)

⁷But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ ⁹and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. ¹⁰I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Pressing on Toward the Goal
¹²Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

How is it possible to be feel contents and yet not satisfied? I thought today daily bread really summed it up pretty well.

January 19, 2010
READ: Philippians 3:7-14

I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. —Philippians 3:14

Tiger Woods is clearly the greatest golfer of his generation. His ability to perform under pressure and win is becoming legendary. Yet what motivates Woods is not just winning, it’s his passion for excellence. Despite his great success, Tiger has repeatedly refined his swing in an ongoing effort to improve his game and be a better golfer. His desire for excellence leaves him never satisfied.

The apostle Paul was also driven by a desire for excellence—but in his relationship with Christ. Paul, however, taught that we’re to have balance. While we’re never to be satisfied with our spiritual progress, we’re always to be content in Christ.

In his letter to the Philippians, Paul expressed both realities. While writing from prison, he declared his contentment with life’s circumstances, entrusting them to God’s care (Phil. 4:11). Nevertheless, he refused to be satisfied with his own spiritual progress. He did not count himself to have “apprehended” (to have arrived and achieved it all). Instead, he was committed to pressing on toward the goal (3:13-14).

Learning to balance contentment with a desire for excellence may be the forgotten key to our ongoing spiritual growth and advancement. — Bill Crowder

I give my life to You, O Lord,
To follow and obey;
Grant me contentment as I strive
For excellence each day. —Sper

Godliness with contentment is great gain. —1 Timothy 6:6

Contented with what I have. What God had given to me and provided for me. To be contented because I am more precious than the birds in the air and flowers in the fields.

Not satisfied of my own spiritual achievements in work, in ministry and in life. But to aim for the best excellence with my relationship with God, with the people around me.

This is hard. Haha. What a way to start my new year. Well Godliness with contentment is indeed great gain :)

6 more days to our wedding

2010-01-18T00:48:00.007+08:00

Is really exciting. haha

But work is still on my mind. Just now i got a very disappoint email and sms from a very disappointed client. Hmmm, I am starting to wonder the problem might just lie with him not me. Oh well, what can I do? I do feel angry and upset but however, I need to find peace with God. not with that client. So God please grant me the peace that I need. You've given me all the blessings in all wedding prep. Everything is going smoothly so far. You will carry me to the end and for the next 3 working days, I commit to You and ask You grant me the strength to go through it. With 2 deadlines in 3 days.

The Lord is my helper Amen =)

The title doesn't really seemed to match what I am rambling now. haha

Many asked me if I am nervous, uptight and anxious? The answer is Yes! Cos i am thinking about work! Opps sorry. Well, No. Wedding is just a day simply. It is a day where I get married legally to KG. Haha. God have been good to us. We are thankful for the 12 years of friendship cum 10 years of loveship, He brought us so far till today. Is definitely not by our strength and understanding what relationship really means. If not for God, we won't be holding hands till now.

What I look forward is the marriage that a new chapter we are starting in 6 days time. KG had been really looking forward to this day. Certainly there were stress in the wedding logistics and other areas but what matter most is we are standing together as one.

I certainly need to change my lifestyle. No more late working hours, eat healthily, exercise regularly and to pray for my family and love ones more often. I felt sometimes when a couple get too involved in meeting objectives aka task oriented, we lose the little moments of life that God wants us to see. We miss the main point what God really want to show us. I certainly do not want to miss anything that God wants me to see. I prayed for the both of us to walk more closely with God each day as we lead our life as husband and wife.

God this is our prayer, that we will live together and lead a life that glorify you. Help me and KG to go through the next 10 years, 20 years, 30 years and more just like how You have brought us through for the past 10 years.

This week will be "tough" both Kg and I are literally slaves to our work. We both really pray hard that God will release all the unnecessary stress from now till Saturday. Teach us to LET GO and put all anxiety and burdens unto God. Peace to dwell in our hearts.

Be with us God, in Jesus mighty name we pray Amen :)

3 more weeks to our ... HONEYMOON

2010-01-06T01:49:00.002+08:00

Blessings of the Day: Guo Da Li was a success. Thank God! Thank Dad & Mom! Thanks to KG, Aunty and T.

I think I am more excited for our honeymoon than our big day. haha.

Finally after weeks of researching, we decided that we will book this ryokan.

秀峰閣湖月 Shuhoukaku Kogetsu
Website: http://www.kogetu.com

OpenKitchenConcept recommended me to go to Fuji Five Lakes, Lake Kawaguchi instead of Hakone to experience osen and ryokan stay. There were quite a number of ryokans and I was hoping to find one that allows me to view Mt Fuji when we soak in osen/hot springs, to stay in a traditional japanese style room and to try their authentic Japanese food where we usually watch in Japan Hour. I was also quite "greedy" I hope to even catch Mt Fuji view in our room.

It was no joke to search for a Ryokan. For alot of times I really felt giving up and just intend do a day trip to Mt Fuji and Hakone and return back to Tokyo. Ryokan are really not cheap. But if you count in 2 meals for 2 pax, it works out quite a good average. Since is 1 night and I had already save quite a fair bit from the Tokyo lodgings, I shall not complain and spurge. haha.

After about a few months (yes a few months) I was quite pleased with what I had chose and told KG about it. As usual the guy just said anything. In this ryokan, we can view Mt Fuji and Lake Kawaguchi from all rooms, gardens and open-air baths. I think that to us is the biggest highlight. The drawback was is quite a distance from the bus station so hopefully I can arrange for a shuttle bus or private car transport to pick us up. Despite the not so accessible location, there are actually a couple of museum near the ryokan. One of which is a Music Forest and I had already saw some interesting photos online. That will keep us occupied :)

As I've been searching like crazy, i realized I really need to force myself to go through Japanese website using Google Translation. That experience is hilarious. I felt I was reading some kind of gibberish language. Haha.

I drop an email to the ryokan to request if there are any shuttle bus to pick us up from the bus station. After sending, I got an automatic reply in Japanese of course. I decided to use Google Translation to translate and see what it says.

1週間たっても当館からの返信がない場合は、
メールの事故で当館まで届いていない場合もございます。
お手数ですがinfo@kogetu.com まで再度お問い合せください。

If there is no reply from the hotel even after a week,
Some in the hotel when the accident have not received the email.
Cross your fingers please contact info@kogetu.com up again.

Oh i can't wait for this trip! :))

Reflecting 2009 - Part 1 Thanksgiving

2009-12-31T09:45:00.003+08:00

Tonight is watch night service and there will be a segment on thanksgiving and reflection. After some thought, I decided I will draft a proper sharing. I timed... chum 6 mins sharing :P

Dear friends, I was encouraged to share this tonight with all of you as they affirmed me is the work of God’s hands in my family. How God brought my whole family to church during Christmas Eve this year and allowed me to plant His seed into every member of my household.

For many years, I constantly thought how nice to be able to bring my family to church on Christmas day to listen to the wonderful carols and watched exciting dramas staged by Bethel. The fact is I lacked of the courage to ask them. What stopped me probably was the fear of rejection. Finally God opened the door in Year 2007 December and gave me a chance to ask when my mom said she would love to hear children singing Christmas carols and wish there were a group in our house singing to her and my dad. I asked “Mom, if there is a combined service, will you be keen to go and listen the children sing?” Her reply why not? But however in 2008, there was no combined Christmas celebration and plus my dad and sisters were not keen and prefer to stay at home to cook a feast for my whole family.

In 2009 early this year, I started praying more fervently to God. I would constantly prayed for an opportunity to bring my family members to church for Christmas, as I was fully aware it would be a combined service by all 3 congregations this year.

When Christmas was 2 weeks away, I had yet to open my mouth to invite my family. Again was the fear of rejection. During the period I was quite emotional especially having the thought once I get married next year, it seemed even harder to reach to my family members. The thought of it made me so stressful and frustrated at the same time. I felt that God had granted me many opportunities for me to share but each time I fail Him because simply I fear rejection.

The turning point came just 1 week before Christmas. Elder Lee was the speaker for the Sunday service. He shared about the characteristics of God. It was not the first time I listened to this message. In GB, in my bible study with cell group, I read and learned the characteristics of God many times. But somehow that Sunday the sermon message hit me real hard. As Elder Lee presented verses and verses of who God is, I realize I underestimated God’s power of what He was able to enable me to share the gospel with my family. He is my Jehovah Jireh, The Wonderful Counselor and Prince of Peace. The sermon that day led me in tears thinking how silly I was not trusting God fully to bring my family to church. The very same day, I committed the following evening to convince my whole family members to church.

KG was a wonderful partner. He said in order to convince my parents to come to church, we must convince my 2nd sister. I agreed. With a strategic plan in mind, I talked to my 2nd sis and youngest sis. Immediately I faced great resistance. My sisters felt it was very boring and constantly said no. I must have been really desperate that I just cried out and said – I just need our parents to hear the gospel once! They kept very quiet and said what kind of service was expected. I simply said it was a drama play. It would be really good. You got to trust me. Finally I scored my first goal, they both agreed. My parents were rather easy going. When they saw my 2nd sis agreed, they too agreed. Thus the plan was early Christmas dinner celebration from 4pm to 6pm. Target to reach church at 7pm on Christmas eve. It was amazing how all this turned out at the end. Again I was quite fearful that they might back out at the last min, I sent out prayer request to my cell members for prayers support.

God is really good and I felt guilty now that I still didn’t learn to trust God fully at the point of time. Once prayer request was sent out, the very next morning I received a message from my eldest sister asking if she, her husband and the 3 children could gate crash to our Christmas service. I was jumping for joy singing Amen! My sister and my brother in law never crossed my mind because I was still thinking of tackling one family one year at a time. I had so little faith! I couldn’t believe that God could do more beyond my planning… and yet God just sent them just like this in 1 SMS! God Is GOOD!

24 Dec finally came. God brought my whole family and my sister’s family into Bethel for the first time. There was one more missing member, which was my brother. At the last hour, he decided he would drop by as well. I was quite shocked and wonder what was God really doing. By His Grace, His Hands brought every family member into this church. I thought I would only see this complete picture during my wedding day next month! But no!!

During the service, my brother in law and sister constantly asking me what did "Immanuel" meant. I explained God is with us. It was an assuring statement when I said it out loud. It reminded really God is with my family and me. My sister even taught and explained to her 5 years old daughter the lyrics of the songs that was flashing on the screen. It was such an affirming sight that I could clearly see God’s hands was at work. I didn’t have to do anything isn’t? The sermon msg 平安 led by Dr Chong Chee Pang ministered to my parents. My mom had attempted to fill in the response slip but for some reasons my dad stopped her. When I asked her on my way home, what did she wanted to fill in, she said she wanted to tick on finding more about church activities. To me it was the greatest response!

My brother missed the service and drama as he arrived late. But something my mom said that shocked me. My brother is very dear to my parents especially he is the only son in the family. She said if he was there earlier, she would make him accept Jesus Christ in his life. I probed and asked why, she said, since Buddha can’t save him, I think only Jesus can save him. I almost want to shout an AMEN on the spot.

I will always remember 24 December 2009, where the whole household including my niece and nephews were brought by God to Bethel and the seeds are now planted in my family hearts. All I have to do is to be faithful, obedient and trust in God to water and care for the seeds and allow the seed to take root and grow in His timing.

God is good.

Immanuel
Our God is with us
And if God is with us
Who could stand against us
Our God is with us
Immanuel

1 month

2009-12-23T22:47:00.000+08:00

Counting down to 1 month to our wedding.

What's my thought now?

This is such an expensive affair. T_T

I am going to miss Sllow and 6Plus1 :(

Miss my dad cooking and my mom love :((

on the other hand....

Yes i do look forward spending my new chapter with Kg.

I am going to start washing my clothes and cook daily meals (not monthly anymore)

Don't know how I can juggle my work and home. God grant me the wisdom in Proverbs 31.

Don't know what is like living with my future mother in law.

Starting my new chapter in 1 month time - with excitement and anxiety.

This is what keep me going - Part 1

2009-11-30T18:30:00.005+08:00

Blessings of the Day: "Working for Jesus"

My CLIENT WROTE THIS IN HER BLOG:
"A big thank you!
To my husband who has embraced the role as an "advisor" fervently (ha ha!), friends who have given me valuable comments (legal and others), and a big applause to my lovely and ever so patient web designer :)"

My client's blog first write up for opening her e-shop. I am really thankful that God have enabled me to complete this project. It is by His Strength. Amen :)

It is not a bad thing to be too emotional sometimes...

2009-11-20T16:25:00.002+08:00

Sometimes when things get tough and really hard, we really want to harden our hearts to ignore these things so we are not feeling affected, angry and frustrated. But last night after a conversation with JY, it makes me realize that it is ok to be this way. I told her, I rather the both of us sitting one corner, crying, feeling sad and miserable for our loved ones than to harden our hearts against them making us more inhuman. The truth is the world lacks of God's love and if we harden our hearts, the world will be more cold.

Blessings of the day: I do thank the Lord for granting me to ability to cry and allowing tears to flow out easily.

Reflect 2009 @ work

2009-11-16T23:04:00.005+08:00

Shall I choose to see the glass half full or half empty?

The very discouraged Happy very much want to see it half full. But sometime the truth is, it is also half empty.

Reflect 2009, coming another 6 weeks we are coming to 2010. I look back and can count the number of blessings that God have given me.

I also hit the lowest point of my life at work which was something I didn't quite expect it coming this year. Blame it on recession, blame it on lousy leads. But the truth is, is time to blame myself. I felt very disappointed in myself - on my work performance.

Sometimes I felt I missed many opportunities. From time to time, God sent various people in my lives to show me something. I missed it. I forgot about it. and worst .. I might have even choose to ignore it.

As i start to get very discouraged, or I have already did, Kg reminded me that nothing on earth belongs to us. to me. I have to let go and take God lead the way. Pride swell in my heart and make me ignore God's words and advice. My heart was hardened and bitter.

I remembered a good friend's dad words "Don't pity yourself". Yes that what i am doing now. Pity myself. Sigh

As the year come to a closing in another just 6 more weeks, God i pray, ... "Don't let Happy pity herself. Let her trust in You instead"

Looking forward

2009-11-09T22:01:00.003+08:00

"As the deer pants for the water, my soul longs after You"
Reflect on Psalms 42

Been feeling very weak and lousy.

Abba Father, please be with Happy.

"I can do all things through Christ who grants me strength" - Phil 4:13

Tired Tired Tired

2009-11-05T00:14:00.002+08:00

I really need to break through... sigh.. Is too stagnant. My work needs more new ideas new breakthrough.

I need to think something about it. Is time!

Long waited trip - Patty & Happy @ KL Day 1

2009-10-30T22:33:00.007+08:00

Blessing of the day: I learn my lesson. Never will i ever going to be last min.. ever again. God help me to be a good stewardship of your time given to me.

This is the first time I attempt to write my travel write up on the actual day. While memories are still fresh and hot, I realize is quite exciting to do this way to reflect and recall what had happen during the day. Of course I am like a walking zombie right now even as i type this entry as for the past 2 nights, it was less than 4 hours of sleep! Well due to my incompetent and last minute work, i gonna make sure, this will not going to happen again. Never!

Patty and I had been planning for our get together trip for several occasions and every time we fail to carry out. It is either run out of money or not a good time to travel. We both are the biggest procrastinator on earth. Let me count, we probably had tried to plan and travel to places like Langkawi, Perth and what else?? Countless...

So is finally KL because first the air tickets are dirt cheap. With all tax in, we are only paying about $45 for a return air ticket + out from Changi T1! Ok nothing exciting to shout about as we had been to KL several occasions but I guess we been hoping to travel together as we known each other since 2005 as online msn buddy mates. Traveling Patty will be fun!

Time is a factor so thus explain our 3D2N but short trip also means less money spent. The both of us are food lovers and we probably spent more time looking @ food than shopping. haha.

On the eve of our trip, we both were rushing like for deadlines, Patty on her assignment and me on my projects. It was also the first time we only started packing our bag 4 hours before our flight. My dad was kind and sweet enough to send the both of us to the airport. *thanks dad!*

Upon checking in, we both went to have lunch @ Toast Box. That's when i realized I had not eaten anything since I woke up. Curry chicken was yummy perhaps I was too hungry and anything will be yummy. A pleasant surprise awaits us as we saw Tommy Emmanuel! haha Ray's favourite guitarist! keke like 2 small girls, we took photos with him but forgot to got him to play a song and his autograph. Haha.

Just about 40mins more before we would board our plane, the both of us saw a promotion that gives away free complimentary 10 min head and neck massage :P We were quite excited and asked if was really true and tada it was! :P

Finally we board the plane and to our "surprise" we had to sit separately apparently it was a full flight to KL and so we two took the opportunity to "snooze" 1 hour before we reach KL finally. When we were there, we took the sky bus by Air Asia which cost about RM9 per pax and head to KL Sentral. From there we made our way via LRT and reached Hotel Equatorial.

We tried to ask for a free upgrade but apparently I think the guy didn't get my hint. But we did get a "lovely" view of the twin towers from our room. hahaa Patty was trying so hard not to laugh @ me for making such a ridiculous request. We were pretty satisfied with the room and the bed was such a comfortable one.

Patty's friend brought us to Pavilion to have dinner. It was both our first time even though I knew it existed last year and I didn't have a chance to go. It was another big mall but it had a alfresco opening dining concept which is pretty hip and happening. I was hoping to get dinner @ Mdm Kwan in KLCC and tada there was one in Pavilion! So finally I got to eat their signature dish - Nasi Bojari is a type of indonesian tri-coloured rice that comes with assam prawns, beef rendang and deep fried chicken drumsticks. Yummy! We also ordered a chinese dish hor fun with rice vermicelli. It was something unusual for Singaporeans and the order turned out great! 3 girls shared the 2 dishes as the portion was quite huge for us and we were saving our stomach for desserts. We tried the Chendol as well it was not bad but i thought my Malacca trip this year in June was nicer than the one @ Mdm Kwan. Nonetheless, it was a yum yum!

After dinner, we jalan in the big mall and by then, patty and i could hardly open our eyes. We were totally exhausted and I slept almost immediately the moment my head touched the pillow. It was a good 9.5 hours of sleep after 2 exhausting late nights at work.

Work Madness

2009-10-22T15:23:00.001+08:00

Lord, May the work I built with my hands find favour in You.

New Foodie Friends

2009-10-20T11:45:00.002+08:00

Recently I got to know

Through

Cool :)

HappyWhitsun Home - Ep 3 =)

2009-10-19T22:40:00.006+08:00

I realize i never quite finish up what i had wanted to do which was to share my home renovation and all sorts.

It had been almost 3 months since the renovation completed! The home looks good and cozy and ready to be moved in which KG did yesterday finally. Yeah!

The whole home renovation, furnishings and mini small items was all within our budget. We praise God that He provided people who kindly blessed us with furnishing and help us in one way of another. We thank God that the home arrived at the right time too and we managed to secure a few good bargains along the way as we built our home together.

Living Room

Sofa from Sea Horse: This was one my favourite piece of furniture. Firstly is my dream L shape sofa and is comfy! Yes is off white and many of my friends commented is gonna get dirty or wait till kids come.. u will know. Alright, having said that while i will wait till kids come, white sofa shall stay! *muahahaha* My favourite part it comes with a extra set of sofa attachment which give me another reason to shop for ikea nice wooden/white tray. Imagine yummy cakes and tea/coffee and nice summer flowers. hmmm...
Time spent to search and make decision: 2 months
After 1 week we bought the price went up.. muahhaaha
TV from Gain City Marina Road Show: Hahaa best buy from Panasonic! Comes with HDMI Cable + $100 NTUC vouchers. This is so handy. Thank God we waited patiently for 2 IT shows to pass us by before we got such a good bargain.
Time spent to search and make decision: 3 months and countless visits to the same outlet Courts, Best Denki and talking to different guys and till now we still think TV looks the same except the size.
Dining Table From Silver River Furniture Outlet: Ah i love my dining table! It is the first and the last impulse purchase. I am so into nice benches as part of the dining experience. KG didn't quite like it because he finds that he can't lie on his back while drink coffee. I told him that's is what sofa for. We are supposed to utilize everything at home :P Having said that, it is made of solid oak wood and so much stable than the ones we see in Ikea. This table is gonna be with me forever everytime i moved house! It is so zen looking ! Yummy!!!

Kitchen

My dream kitchen! Ok not really since is small and it doesn't have an island. It will be nice to have one. =)
Oven From Mayer: This was such an exceptional surprise! I got a good deal for this and it comes with a promotion price for Chef Knives! Although not very well-known brand but i think for a start, the chef knives were good enough. The Oven still had not made opened its official baking yet and yes i am looking forward to create magic! Hurray!
One of my kitchen highlight will be spice rack where i am going to place all the dry bottle herbs there. Another highlight is the book rack where i am gonna store my cook books and the files of recipes i seen in magazines. Now i was told it was not practical because the books are going to turn yellow. Sigh ok i wonder if i shd get a proper book shelf and put in the kitchen now. hahahaa
Now where to find a nice recipe book holder :P

Study Room

All furnitures are from Ikea! We didn't feel we should be spending part of the renovation to built bookcases and tables. Thus everything are from Ikea instead. As the room is green, most of the furnitures pieces are dark brown oak colour. Hmmm feel so serene and forest. Like some kind of environmentally friendly room ahhaa. I wish the green would be darker though, so far it looked abit too light till. For shelves, we bought the open type like lockers format. More boxes from Ikea to store our loose items like letters and personal belongings to make the space neat. Now how I wish if Ikea got a glass box then i would have place my soft toys in. That will be nice and keep them out of dusts.

Master Bedroom

Our room that can only be utilized next year Jan. Currently is the most simple one. Smack right in the middle is our king size bed from Sea Horse too. We are so pleased that we got a good price with 50% and additional 25% more. The storage bed and mattress all came under $1.2K. It was a good buy and seriously how long did we hunt for it.
Time Spent: No need to hunt, every sunday without fail after service, we will visit compass point seahorse outlet, test the bed, jump the bed, lie on the bed, calculate and asked questions till the point the people inside knew us recognized us and can't be bothered to entertain us. We've also reccee other places and were shocked to see a good reputable bed mattress like Sealy will cost $1.5K & above. Since we both grew up familiar with Seahorse brand thus it make sense to get what we were comfortable on. After we made our purchase, we still make weekly trips in just to see if the price went up or down. haha!

Lightings

It was one of the most memorable. I did my homework as usual by reading forum and posting questions and shortlisted to just 3 outlets. We found the outlet "Lighting Arcade" @ Balestier Road one of the best buy. The shop is small but low and behold, there are gazillion lightings inside! My favourite light would be the "ice-cube" and "netting" right @ our passageway. Hanging lights cost quite abit and thus pushed up the budget. But I was still glad that everything exceed the budget by a couple of dollars so that's wasn't too bad! =)

The rest of the home furnishings > Ikea Ikea Ikea :) I love Ikea!!! i still haven't got enough stuffs from Ikea yet! :P

We enjoyed every single moment of process from furniture hunting, bargaining and setting it up. It really put a smile on our face when we came up for cleaning for the past 2 months. Living here would be fun and yes may the home we live in be a channel of blessings to our friends who visit us. =)

Now back to my work... so much work! Oh my goodness!

Time!

2009-10-14T09:48:00.001+08:00

I realize that recently my management of time is terrible. Not as if it was prefect in the past. But really recently ... it was just so messed up! Everything is so last minute!

Sigh God please help me to be a good stewardship of Your time.

Graduation Shots

2009-10-13T12:18:00.004+08:00

Blessings of the Day: Still in the mood of graduation *finish liao*

I've Finished The Race!

2009-10-08T23:46:00.005+08:00

Blessings of the Day: To God be to Glory.

Last year I felt I went through a rehearsal

This year... is for real! And it is the final lap!

我终于读完了！我终于毕业了！

It had been a bitter sweet journey for me. Not that I went through alot of trials but yes it was quite a fair bit of obstacles. As I sat in the hall waiting for my turn to receive my certificate, thousands of one things ran through my mind.

I still remembered the many disappointments I faced when I applied for various local uni after I finished my poly. I remembered facing the disappointments from my mom that I cannot enter local Uni. I remembered a lot of things.

But I thank God that I can graduate today with a degree. It was HIM who enabled me to do all things.

I guess I've been waiting for very long for this day to come. Today my parents, my 2 sisters and Keegan turned up to support me. Some of my classmates said, "eh you attended the ceremony twice?" I know! Frankly speaking, I didn't feel anything last year hahaa, yes i was happy but for today, I was very overwhelmed. Even now as I am typing this blog entry. I am just choked with thanksgiving in my heart that I finally reached my goal and my dream.

It was not easy for me, because I often felt I am not a very bright person. I don't scores As or As* for every subject. From Primary school, to Secondary school to Poly. Even when I entered into workforce after poly, I often felt very inadequate. A few times, or many be multiple times a day, I felt so stupid & dumb ! Argh! Why can't I ever get things right? Why don't I have natural talents like some of my friends do. If I were to ever admit what I am most envy about.. that it would be talents. You will never find me envy a person with materials possessions because at the end of the day, I know if I work hard enough I can get the items that I want. Somehow I often felt talents are like inborn ability or God's special favour on the person.

For the past few years, I questioned/seek/prayed/asked God what talents He had given or bless me with? I wondered hard and long enough. Today I think i got the answer.

God had granted me perseverance.

I looked back, if not for perseverance, I will not be able to finish the race. If not for perseverance, I would give up in IT. If not for perseverance, I will not be where I am today.

I may not be the A* student in class or the most talented and biz person in the business world. But yes God granted me perseverance to complete what I had set my mind on. And in the process, He mold me, change me, teach me and most important He moved before me and determine my steps of where I seek my goal. I took longer than usual but I believed it was His intention to lead me today outcome.

Proverbs 16:9
In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.

Thank you Father. All Glory to Your name as You lead me in my business for Your Glory. Amen.

Happy@Work: Yummy Packaging

2009-09-18T01:54:00.002+08:00

Japanese are a bunch of creative people. One day would love to move out from IT totally and focus on this instead.

Banana Juice Designed By Naoto Fukasawa

Wedding #5 - しんこんりょこう

2009-09-16T23:42:00.003+08:00

Blessings of the Day: Finally the little ones said he is willingly to walk down the aisle as the page boy and the little cute niece as the flower girl.. Sigh they are just so funny :)

We are flying to Japan for our しんこんりょこう (Pronounced as Shinkonryokou also means 新婚旅行) 6 days via ANA! Tickets bought at a good price of $570 per person including tax.

Quite a good bargain. It is a pity that we couldn't take SQ (due to the timing) otherwise the flight would have been A380 nevertheless ANA is not too bad either! So what do I look forward most?

Mt Fuji
Tokyo Tower
DisneySea
Ryokan: Japanese Traditional Guesthouse and wearing the outfit Yukata and deep into cool Osen, natural hotspring!
6 hours cycling tour around Tokyo
Food: Ramen, Bento, Sushi and whatever is edible and yummy!

Yokohama Ramen Museum

*happy*

Driving Test

2009-08-28T17:52:00.004+08:00

Blessings of the day : I think I had the most patient instructor on the earth. Amen :)

Today was my driving test. For the past 1 week or rather 1 month it was an intensive month of driving lessons on the road. It was also the only month I've entered into circuit for the first time.

I had to admit for the past 1 week, I couldn't sleep well. I was jittery, nervous and anxious. Everyday right after my lesson, I would call Kg almost immediately after I stepped out of the car and "report" all my mistakes and funny stories on the road. Kg was patient while taking the excuse from work to run to the toilet to hear me rant.

When was the last time I felt so nervous? I don't even recall I was THAT NERVOUS for my O levels exams. Neither was I nervous for my first story telling competition in primary school. (Ok that was irrelevant)

Everyday without fail this week, my body would start up the engine at 6am and start to get jittery again. Every circuit lesson I entered, I would either do well in parallel parking and mess up in vertical parking or roll off the slope and mount curb on the crank course.

It was soooo pressurizing! Every day for the past 1 week I would have "funny" and interesting stories to share with my family.

Day 1: 100+ demerit points + 5 immediate failures
Day 2: 50+ demerit points
Day 3: x number of demerit points + 3 immediate failures
Day 4: No strength to pull handbrake anymore and must use 2 hands. Left leg shake like mad turn numb and both hands - sweaty palms.

Last day or today. I can't be bothered anymore. Enough of worries! Enough of anxiety! That's it!

Morning 11.30am I met my instructor. I asked him how did the student fare before me. She took her test in the morning. He said: "Strike pole mount curb at parallel parking ~ immediate failure @ first pit stop"

*gulp* I told myself I can do it better!

Once in the circuit, it was much better than the past 4 days. My instructor also tried his best to encourage me and not let me felt nervous. I looked cool on the outside but inside I was screaming like mad *why did i even do this?!*

I messed up in crank course again. Mount twice and triple I remembered. I strike curb, forgot to check blind spot, never stop before the white line. I told myself again "I can do better!

Finally i spotted the fuel tank was @ E and my instructor told me to get a quick lunch while he ran off to top up the tank. I sat at the coffeeshop staring @ the chicken rice and my hands were still shaking.

*Sigh* I must have looked really pathetic.

Then I told myself, i need to do something about it! Then i flipped to my e-bible and read the following verses to myself over and over again. Remember the withered fig tree and Jesus was sharing about faith?

Matthew 21:19-21 (Contemporary English Version)

¹⁹and along the way he saw a fig tree. But when he came to it, he found only leaves and no figs. So he told the tree, "You will never again grow any fruit!" Right then the fig tree dried up.

²⁰The disciples were shocked when they saw how quickly the tree had dried up. ²¹But Jesus said to them, "If you have faith and don't doubt, I promise that you can do what I did to this tree. And you will be able to do even more. You can tell this mountain to get up and jump into the sea, and it will.

To me i was reading like this already:

But Jesus said to them, "If you have faith and don't doubt, I promise that you can do what I did to this [insert circuit station example: crank course] . And you will be able to do even more. You can tell [this crank/S course to widen up the road and let you go in and will not mount curb / tell these poles to stay rooted to the ground and dun fall down even if you touched it / tell the parallel parking/vertical parking/directional change to widen the road and I will not strike or mount curb] and it will.

Ok i am that faithful. I really said this while I am in the circuit!

Lo and Behold...

the poles never fell
i did not mount curb
i did not strike curb
i did not roll off the slope

Simply put, i did well in circuit and on the road. I thought.

But .. i still fail. with 40 demerit points. Thank you.

Sigh well, the tester was pretty strict with me. But I had to say he did prepare me and was also quite encouraging in his own ways. I thought I actually learn more during this test. Perhaps my instructor had been pleading me to remember to do the following and I've always "ignored" it and choosing to worry whether the poles were going to collapse.

Safety checks was my biggest killer in the test. I was slow in moving off, road hogging, turn the wheel while the car is in stationary position and many etc.

It was quite an experience this afternoon. I also really felt that I had placed unnecessary pressure on myself for the past 1 week making me so jittery for no good reasons. It was a good experience that I went through. I felt that if today I had passed and gotten the license, perhaps I wouldn't have been humble and would turn pretty overly confident.

As I looked back now, I really found it funny and laugh at the silly mistakes that I committed in the test. I had to admit I was really disappointed but I thought it would had been better to be a skilled driver than a dangerous driver.

haha poles stayed rooted to the ground. hahaha - what a prayer.

Dream Car

2009-08-27T13:31:00.001+08:00

I think it is pretty pressurizing to go through the D-Test than spending money to buy your dream car. Changing subject I like to dwell the thought I am given a FREE chance to drive such car after I get my license!

I fell in love ever since this car first rolled out in Year 1996 or 1995. It was like my dream car! It was also ever since this car appeared, I've only like SMALL cars! I am only interested in SMALL CARS!

My first dream car must be RED - it doesn't need to be first hand :P

I like cooper for some reason! It just spells stable to me :)

The next car that caught my attention

i know i know not practical right?

Fine....

Our next vehicle will be this :)

Is the most ideal :D - can put bicyles, can take lotsa of things and i can go BBQ anytime! *Yippee!*

Full English Breakfast

2009-08-25T00:10:00.003+08:00

Looking forward to cook a Full English Breakfast in our new home next year :)

Food never fail to cheer me up.

main courses | serves 2 Recipe by Jamie Oliver, Photo by © David Loftus
Preheat the grill to high. Set the oven to its lowest heat and pop 2 plates in it to keep warm.Put the sausages, mushrooms and tomatoes, scored-side up, on to a large grill pan and place under the grill, about 5cm from the heat. Cook for about 10 minutes, turning the sausages once or twice.

Add the bacon and black pudding to the pan and grill for 5 minutes, turning halfway through cooking, until they are cooked and crispy. Put the baked beans in a saucepan and warm gently for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Place a non-stick saucepan over a low heat. Melt 1 knob of butter in the pan, add the eggs, season to taste and stir gently until just scrambled. Remove from the heat. Put the bread in the toaster, and arrange the sausages, mushrooms and tomatoes with the bacon, black pudding and beans on the warm plates. When the toast pops up, butter it, then put a slice on each plate and top with scrambled egg. Serve with HP sauce or tomato ketchup on the side, and a pot of tea.

Served with 1 cup of english tea or Vietnam Coffee! *heaven*

If today was my D-Test

2009-08-24T22:55:00.001+08:00

i would fail miserably... 100+ marks deducted + 5 immediate failures .. this is so pathetic!! :(

HappyWhitsun Home - Ep 2 "(Dream) Furnitures wanted"

2009-08-20T00:28:00.008+08:00

Blessings of the day: Well the renovation is completed and i still have not jot down what was the process! *Goodness* But Praise God for the work completed =)

Our furnitures hunting also brings a lot of fond memories :P and also it were also one of the many blessings that both families had given to us =)

When the home was designed with the following colour scheme, our ID told us to get the following

Living Room: White TV console, White Sofa, White Table, White Dining Table, White Chairs

Note: Shoe cabinet built in is WHITE.

Summary: Get all WHITE furnitures for the living room...

so cute! Can match my sofa :P

Kitchen: Don't mention - is white again but we can be adventure with our colours but still get white or steel colours for oven, hob and hood, and sink and fridge. If can get white, why not? But seriously i think there is too much white now in our home.

White Oven IS Not Practical

Lovely! White kitchen is the BEST and will make small kitchen looks big especially for Punggol home like ours .. space is a limitation!

my our dream kitchen also came from my our fav blogger - Chubby Hubby's Kitchen

Did ME we spent the most of our budget in the kitchen? no lar... of course

The Starbucks AKA Study room: I am inspired by when I flipped through the magazines, i saw this beautiful home office by this ang mo who lived in a HDB 4 room flat too. It just looked amazing and i want to follow: white shelves with colour books *opps white again*, beautiful beige wooden study table facing the window! I loved it i want to had the look too! Forgot to take that photo but looking at this - i think is beautiful too..

Don't you feel like working from home every day and spent ur weekend afternoons here reading a good book and drink coffee *ahhhh*

But because my ID chose green, we decided to change to dark rich brown wood colour to compliment the green walls. Hence the name starbucks room. It just need an expresso machine now to complete the whole cafe (anyone like to sponsor .... me?) hahaha

My MIL Room: Well she chose pink , and so is simple - white furnitures again! White wardrobe! hahaa

Our MBR: This time a slight change, except for the white wardrobe again, we are opting for black colour bed frame which is perfect for the dark grey walls. It will suit beautifully and posh and elegant hahaa.

If only.. is that huge in real life... hahaha :P

Next coming up - the actual furniture... !

Wedding #4 - L.O.V.E Photoshoot

2009-08-14T23:27:00.002+08:00

Blessings of the Day: You know is actually a blessing that it rain... cos we nv sweat at all =) Thank God for the wonderful weather!

How? Nice? =0) More to come later....

ok ok one more =)

BIRD NEST!!!!

Classic Chocolate Cake Recipe from Rachel Allen

2009-08-01T00:49:00.002+08:00

Quite inspired by this simple chocolate cake recipe. Will do one for my da jie this August.

For the cake

125g (4 ½ oz) dark chocolate
3 tbsp milk
150g (5oz) butter, softened
150g (5oz) caster sugar
3 eggs
200g (7oz) plain flour
1 tbsp good quality cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
Cocoa powder or icing sugar, for dusting, optional

For the chocolate butter icing

75g (3oz) butter, softened
1 tbsp cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
175g (6oz) icing sugar
1 tbsp good quality cocoa powder

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F), Gas mark 4. Butter and flour the sides of the sandwich tins (two 20cm (8in) diameter sandwich tins) and line the bases with greaseproof paper.
Place the chocolate and the milk in a bowl sitting over a saucepan of gently simmering water and heat until then chocolate has melted.
Beat the butter until very soft then add the caster sugar and continue to beat until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then fold in the melted chocolate.
Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and the bicarbonate of soda, and fold in gently to mix. Divide the mixture between the two tins and bake in the oven for about 25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle of each cake comes out clean.
Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to sit for a few minutes before turning them out of their tins and placing them on a wire rack to cool.
While the cakes are cooling, make the chocolate butter icing. Beat the butter, cream and the vanilla extract until very soft. Then gradually sift in the icing sugar and the cocoa powder, beating all the time, until it is all added. Continue to beat until very soft, then whisk the mixture until it is light and fluffy. (I normally make the chocolate butter icing in an electric food mixer, using the whisk all the way through.)
Once the cakes are cool, sandwich them together (I normally sandwich them together bottom to bottom – if you know what I mean!) with the chocolate butter icing. Place the cake on a plate or a cake stand and dust with cocoa powder or icing sugar if you wish.

26 Years!

2009-07-23T00:49:00.004+08:00

What does 26 means to me?

Is time to be more mature than yesterday
Is time to be prepared to be more mature tomorrow
Is time to grow taller (i know i passed puberty way long ago but i just want another 2 more cm! OK i can always replace with heels)
Is time to learn more things and equip myself even more
Is time to plan my next 5 years plan and next 10 years plan
I am moving on to my next phase of my life
I can no longer play like as if i am 16 years old (actually 16 years old having O Levels, so where got time to play?)
So i shall continue to play till next year Jan

1/4 of my life + 1 year had passed me by. I'll have another at least half of my life time ahead of me (if by God's grace). This year, it somehow became rather solemn. It is like almost i wished i had never grow up. The amount of stress and responsibility can be rather daunting at times.

However every year i am thankful my birthday fall in the month of July. It gives me a new opportunity to reflect and catch up whatever I had not achieved for the past 6 months, reminding me I still have time to catch up in the next 5-6 months.

This year birthday, I pray the Lord continued to lead me and guide me in His path. That He will continue to grant me the wisdom and courage that I very much needed as I grow in - my career, my family, my marriage and my walk with Him. God is good.

Blessed Birthday Hap(py)

Behind The Building

2009-07-16T21:53:00.001+08:00

July 16, 2009

Behind The Building

READ: 1 Peter 4:8-11

Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. —1 Corinthians 15:58

Where we were working was hot, dirty, and it smelled bad. We had traveled thousands of miles to do some work projects, and on this day we were painting the back of a classroom building at a school for the deaf. The only people who would ever see this part of the building would be the guy who cut the grass and any unfortunate person who would have to work on the septic pit.

Yet, as the young adults diligently painted away, one of the girls, Melissa, put it in perspective by saying, “Nobody will ever come back here to see this, but God will see it. So let’s make it look nice.” And so we did.

Sometimes we sit at our desk and think no one sees our work. Or we stand at a line assembling item after endless item. Perhaps we take care of crying babies in the church nursery. Or we live the best Christian life we can—without anyone noticing.

Often our work is “behind the building.” But if that is what God has called us to do, we need to work with all our heart. As part of our calling to love others deeply (1 Peter 4:8), offer hospitality (v.9), and use our gifts to serve others (v.10), our task is to work with God’s strength to bring praise and glory to God, not ourselves. The important thing is that God likes what He sees. — Dave Branon

Though others may not observe us
And see how we serve God today,
Our job as servants of Jesus
Is to please Him in every way. —Branon

No service for Christ goes unnoticed by Him.

A new "iPod"

2009-07-14T16:48:00.001+08:00

So happy i got a new ipod from http://www.mixpod.com.

See the ipod on your right.

HappyWhitsun Home - Ep 1 "Final Quote is never Finalized"

2009-07-12T19:54:00.009+08:00

Blessings of the Day: We both enjoyed what we are doing. Confirming the designs, colour schemes and looking @ 3D designs. We are excited to hunt for furnishings, best bargains deals and building our lovely home. God has been very good to us and it brought us closer to Him than before and we just want to dedicate the whole home to our loving God :)

KG said we must really record down what we been through so that it would always be a good reminder of how the Lord had been good and faithful for providing this home for us. Great idea but it takes lots of efforts to blog everything and yes yes... with many photos :)

Collection of Keys

The day we collected our keys we were sooooo excited! Our friends had told us that it would be very a long tedious process because we would keep signing the forms till our hands were sored. But haha guess what, it was 1 hour long settling the admin mattters but we truely enjoy every single moment doing this together. When is the next time you gonna collect your very first new home keys again?

Opening the Door for the very first time

We had a slight problem with this issue as my mom wanted us to open @ auspicious hours. She wanted to also get a "Professional" to do it. After many rounds of persuasion and also pleading, we finally got "our way" and she finally relented let us opened our door by ourselves :P But we did promise her to get our door open @ the ausipicious timing just to make her happy and be at ease.

We both were so excited, happy and grateful at the same time. We were reminded that God had really given us this flat since we had tried BTO for 3 times and it was the 3rd time we managed to got it. Pastor shared that when he first got his flat with Aunty Sk, they dedicated the whole place to the Lord. Thus for about 5 minutes, we stood there and prayed and dedicated the whole place to the Lord and asked Him to fill His presence in our house to be a blessed and safe haven for us. We very much wants our place to be filled with God's love and when our friends and family who stepped into our house and leaving our place with God's love, joy and peace.

Preparing for our Renovation

When we opened our home we went WOAH! Actually *WOAH* not at the place but the amount of mailers that were lying on the floor :) We started to do cleaning up and Kg went crazy and mopped the whole house 6 times while i sweated and did the defect checking for the whole house. It took us 2 days over a week to complete the defect checking and took HDB another 3 weeks to correct the defects for us. In the midst of the 3 weeks, we made our first payment to the ID and waited for our first 3D draft designs. When it finally arrived, we were very much pleased with how it looks. I had my concerns for the colours chosen initally and finally decided with Kg that it looked decent :)

No carpet will be used, no flowers on the wall... for presentation purposes of our color schemes only

Each room in the house will have a coloured feature wall while the rest are in off white. Except for my F-MIL's room which is mulberry, our colours are quite cool neutral colours like grey, starbuck green and silver. Our kitchen took a bold step by choosing a white colour theme but many had concerns since we would love to cook and bake. Finally we still chose white because our kitchen really look tiny and the best way to maximize the tiny limited space is using white colour :)

One thing we learnt that the final renovation quote would never be the final quote. We continued to add in more items (not as if we can control the extra costs*sigh* ) and was glad that the initial stage we bargained quite a fair bit. There were frustrating moments but thankfully we had also learnt to tackle it together. There were much more intense planning coming up that involved our budget and that forced us to be even more disciplined than ever! We had to be cool headed at all times and if in doubt... just pray. You won't go wrong with that!

Next our furnishings huntings Ep 2 :)

I want a new toy

2009-07-11T01:26:00.002+08:00

This new toy will be perfect while i trained in gym :)

WALKMAN® MP3 Player - NWZ-W202/W
Be free from the tangling of cords and listen to your favorite music freely with Sony's NWZ-W200 series Walkman® MP3 Player. It features a new wearable style that does not involve any headphone cords, new ZAPPIN™ & Jog Dial controls for easy operation, making it a perfect partner for any activities.

Week 1 Day 2 Tone Muscles

2009-07-10T15:36:00.003+08:00

Week 1 Day 2 - Lower Body Stretch

Cardio 15 mins :: Step Climbing - Level 9 Fat Burning = 89 floors climbed/169 Calories killed
Cardio 5 mins :: Slow cycling - Level 5 Fat Burning (to catch my breath from the intense climbing)
x30 Crunches
x30 Biceps Curls with 0.5kg Dumb bells
x30 0.5kg Dumb bells shoulder press
x30 Leg Press
x30 Hamstring Leg Curls

Result: Almost died from the step climbing cardio exercise. More alert for the past 2 days and slept better too :)

Week 1 Day 1 Tone Muscles

2009-07-07T12:53:00.005+08:00

Week 1 Day 1 - Full Body Stretch

Cycling - Level 5 Fat Burning 20 mins ~ 6km++
x30 Crunches
x36 Biceps Curls with 0.5kg Dumb bells
x30 Lateral Pull Down
x45 Standing Calf Raise
x36 Leg Press

Results: Aching buttocks...

Bling Bling

2009-06-23T01:54:00.002+08:00

Bling Bling from Anna Nucci @ Far East

i want DSLR camera

2009-06-04T11:12:00.003+08:00

I want to buy a DSLR camera (Repeat infinity times)

I promised this will be my graduation gift cum birthday gift cum wedding gift cum christmas gift cum comfort gift(?!) cum ....

Sony A300X

Nikon D60

Canon EOS 500D kit

HappyWhitsun Home

2009-05-19T20:42:00.005+08:00

Blessings of the Day: By God's grace, a great ID was found and we were blessed with our very first electrical appliance gift by a couple :) *thank you*

The journey was a long one staring @ different types of quotations. It was interesting and how in the process we've both learnt so much and we also argued a fair bit. (on colour schemes alone -_-)

It all started last year when we first learnt our keys were coming soon in the first quarter of 2009 and it got us abit panic. As our future home is in block C so the folks in Block A will get the keys first. Friendly neighbours posted their home photos online and we were lucky to have a sneak preview of how the home looked like. It got us really excited - the living room cum dining room look decently big enough and kitchen was miserably small (there goes my dream of having an kitchen island) and 3 bedrooms and 2 mini toilets.

It began with finding out more about contractors and interior designers aka IDs ~ who do we really want to look for. Contractors were known to be affordable but design wise you would have to design and coordinate yourself. IDs on the other hand makes your life a breeze by providing one stop solution for you but is known to be expensive.

I read the whole forum - www.punggol.org and also in the process got to know my future neighbours. It is really interesting these days how this kind of social networking websites works and you can be more prepared and less blur. Kg and I looked for a total of 5 Ids and 1 contractors quotations over the period of the past 4 months. It was long but at least we wasn't rushing.

Orange Cube
http://www.theorangecube.com/

One of my neighbour recently shortlisted them and I have to say their designs are really nice and unique. I came to heard of them when I was blog hopping looking at the people doing renovation process. The discussion with them went well until we were presented a quote of close to $20K. These was abit on the high side and they promised to throw in free gifts worth up to $4k which we thought we could get a better price and even added up which would not even reach $20K. When we asked if we could use the free gifts to offset the quote, the answers was yes but would not offset $4k but the free gifts wholesale price which was less than $2k -_- Of course we never went back to them since. Side Note: the ID who attend to us very good looking.. whahaha jem is smitten by him... LOL

A&D Design
http://www.interior.sg/

This ID is located in Upper Serangoon. They are quite patience people and the person who attended us was Raymond. His quote was about $16K and quite a number of things we liked to have and they belong to the list call "nice to have" not "good to have" or "must have". If not for a friend's contact, A&D would be the one we will likely to go with. They had done about 4 projects in our blocks and that's shows they are quite good.

Baroqued Design
http://www.baroquedesign.com/

Another popular ID engaged by most forums users. By far they have the best praised carpentry by all the home users. Price was on the high side. When we asked for the quote, it was around $16K and quite a number of items was not yet counted in yet. Certainly I would have to say their works are pretty well done and judging from my neighbours new home, they really look warm and cozy :) Looked for Lawrence.

Very sweet Daddy who had made a warm and cozy home for his 2 sons. Total damage heard was $50K++ (include furnishings)

Summit Design

Only 1 neighbour of mine is using them. They were the last ID I had approached to before we made up our decision. Personally I felt the response was abit slow and we didn't really meet and we were only communicating via email. Maybe I am a very e-person, everything must communicate via email before meeting up. The quote was around $15K as well. But I have to say my neighbour new home is very nice looking and was full of praise when comes to defect checking and such - basically this ID is a very efficient person. *ironic - it just contradicts my impression*

Total damage is around $32K (includes furnishings as well)

Contractor - Friend's Contact

The contractor was quoted slightly on the low side cost about $14K+ to $15K+ (note compared with IDs this quote will cover more items). The reason why I had quite trusted this guy was kg's good friend's cousin who would be coordinating this. He was quite patience and explained to me when we met up at our friend's new home about what is needed and what's not needed. The only "negative" thing would be I had to come up my own design and tell him what I need. I was really concerned cos then I was doing my report and I felt that this would be a major Project to me - to design my own home. Of course it would be nice to design your own home and who wouldn't want? But when I had tried to create my own 3D drawings i think i was roaring away. Then I also got Kg to try to do 3D drawings too. Think he went bersek. Apparently that led us to the deciscions - pay more and let the expert plan and do. Don't bother to crack your brains till dust...

But my friend did a wonderful job in his new home!

Theme: Red & White

Finally drum roll - good friend's Kok Keong contact ...

Plush Creative Living Pte Ltd

Avee is Kok Keong's ex-colleague. She is really nice and friendly. When we met up with her, she was able to explain very clearly of what we wanted. She showed us many photos of her past works and advices what we can do and what not we can't do. As we bargained and negotiated, we finally managed to come out with the final quote which we both are quite happy with. What impressed us the most would be her persistence and professional personality. Personally she was the first lady in the IDs we had spoken to and the rest were all guys. Somehow, female IDs will have a more gentle touch and can communicate better with the customers :) Keegan and I were glad that after 4 months of marathon, we finally concluded our IDs searching and settled for this.

Of course friends really helps and i guess they had probably had gone mad with my consistence pestering. hehehe. Thanks Kok Keong :)

Study

2009-05-08T01:03:00.001+08:00

3.5 years - it had been a long long journey....

TO be continue...

Study FEVER

2009-04-27T00:52:00.003+08:00

Must i always find fun GAMES like right BEFORE my submission date?!!?!

Every semester is happening to me! HAIYO! Good thing is the last semester!

COME ON PY!!!!!

Happy Cooking

2009-04-23T01:59:00.005+08:00

Look what i have got here?

DAVID ROCCO'S DOLCE VITA RECIPE :)

WHAT EVEN BETTER! HIS AUTOGRAPH!

HEARTS DISCOVERY CHANNEL

His menu absolutely look stunning! Every course was accompanied with red wine (as if i know how to appreciate) and more important his charming personality just melt every single girl's heart (married, single or attached)

But too bad he is a chef with 2 beautiful daughters :P

So do i enjoy? Absolutely.... the recipe book of course.

Guess what? I did not attend the event at all....

All thanks to my sister! *argh* After i discovered the event, the very next day i asked her if she is keen to go with me. She looked at me and said "Aiyo, Py! $188 leh! He is not famous!"

"No lar not as famous as Jamie Oliver, but he is sure one true Italian and I wonder how's the food like! His ways are so different from how Jamie cooked!"

"If i am going to watch David cook there, i might as well catch his show on TV and then spent $188 to buy the ingredients and cook a meal for myself! For all you know you will spent less than $50 in total"

"NOOOO! That different! It is DAVID who is cooking! Come on!"

"Nvm lar Py, save that $! We go see got more interesting events to sign up instead?

*weep*

AND GUESS WHAT! Weeks later Discovery invited her to go for this event! There she was raving away how exciting cos she is going to get up close and personal with David! *weep*

Papers reported - David Rocco event - SOLD OUT

*WEEP LOUDER*

MSN Conversation:
Sister: Should i get his book? It cost about $100+

Me: Nah forget it! Just to get his autograph??

Sister: No lar! But is a book worth to keep....

Me: Later Discovery give you one

Sister: You wait long X10000

Me: Ha!

*a few hours later*

Sister: Don't scream!

Me: ARE YOU GOING TO GIVE ME FREE TICKET TONIGHT?

Sister: I got a free autograph of his BOOK!

ME: .........................

Sister: hehehehehe :P

Me: .......................

Me: I shd had just gone ahead to sign up instead of listening to you ! ARGH!

Sister: Don't like that lar....

Me: EVENT SOLD OUT! I CANT EVEN GO IN :(

Sister: I will give you the book or at most buy you one more book

Me: Nothing beats getting up close and personal with David :(

Later @ Night when she returned home

1 Huge Big Paper Bag - She whipped out his book ! i just whined ... then i turned i saw this....

ok i am a happy but not a very happy girl :)

She didn't buy the book. Discovery gave her another book. Oh my God - I LOVE YOU DISCOVERY! I will buy your channel in my new home for sure!

Oh well, i missed David Rocco. But we are going to attend another world gourmet summit event.

Le Cordon Bleu Culinary & Pâtisserie Masterclass

Learn from the masterchefs of one of the world’s most established culinary institutes. For one day, feel like a student at Le Cordon Bleu in this culinary masterclass instructed by Herve Boutin, Oliver Oddos and Arnaud Guerpillon hailing from schools in Australia, Japan and Mexico.

Ok :) Hope is something yummy :)

Shoot~ 4000 words to go !!! :(

Love Bank Investments & Returns

2009-04-14T01:08:00.003+08:00

Sometime is so hard to care for someone especially you don't see the returns. You need to swallow back your frustrations, anger and bitterness and pretend that nothing happen.

You don't need HUGE returns - a simple word of thanks or a smile will do and that makes a difference.

The sparks and flares are inevitable - no one is perfect...

God grant me the patience!

Getting Stressful

2009-04-08T02:17:00.000+08:00

About 1 month away from the submission. And I am not even half way through. The rest of the days are going to be hard ...

Hang On Happy!