What I Attempted so far in 2008

Another long year have just passed by so quickly. Sighs. I'm getting old.

So, what awesome stuff have I done this year? Let's see....

1. Completed my BEngSc degree studies (: after much struggles and mood swings.
2. Passed my Class 3 driving ^^ on my 2nd try.
3. Took up another ministry in church, Campus Outreach for Siglap Secondary. Perfect core team I got with me, with very enthusiastic responses from the other students! Totally worth it.
4. Shotgun promotion to Director in Video ministry, partly bcos Zhi Lin, Uncle Melvin's right hand woman decided to leave for further studies. Haha! At that point of "promotion", I still know nuts about directing. LOL!
5. Officially a net leader. Had 2 nets under me, the older teens' net at first, and now the wide spectrum in age net. 
6. Went for my 2nd consecutive youth camp during my birthday week, although I felt abit out-of-place this time round. Was more of a babysitter, mother and nanny, instead of being a normal youth playing and screaming away.
7. Tried my hand on online shopping and I loved the convenience of it.
8. Bank ended up more dry than ever. 
9. Played Facebook and had rediscovered many long-lost primary school friends.
10. I watched my first ever "live" soccer match in Malaysia. Chelsea vs Malaysia (:
11. 1 full year of crazy nonsense with my bf.
12. Went to Batam with bf, for my first-ever New Year celebration outside Singapore ^^
13. Attended 4 weddings, Shi Yun, Han Wen, Aman and Rachel.
14. Turned 22 and I feel that my memory is failing even more than ever.
15. Sent out resumes to start off my official job hunt for 2009.
16. Friendships and other relationships that were maintained, strengthened, dying, lost and gone - left me stronger and more appreciative towards every1 around me.
17. Attended my first-ever atas music concert - Silver Strings :D
18. Got myself a new handphone, finally! Not very good but it beats that old SE phone. Here comes LG Viewty :p
19. Saw a new high in readership on my blog, of about 1000 views per month. Of course, it's 20 times lesser than Xiaxue's but still, thanks guys for being so kaypoh! LOL!
20. Rediscovered that wasabi is so good to eat!
21. Wore dresses more than when in 2007 (: bcos of weddings lor...
22. Last but not least, I got a phobia of bee hoon - due to excessive eating of it for breakfast continously for months.

So, 22 things I've attempted in 2008, coinciding with 22 years of living of this Earth. Thank you, and that's all folks.

Happy New Year to all :D I love you no matter how shitty you are.

God bless!

Rachel & Gilbert's Wedding 14.12.08

Rachel & Gilbert's wedding was held at Orchid Country Club, situated near Yishun. All 4 of us almost forgot about the dinner and/or mixed up the dates. We ended up being late and well, the big miracle was Wendy, the super late queen, was finally earlier than me, the late queen (:

We have been looking forward to see the rest of our ex-company and colleagues from Infineon. I forgot most of them, except for my direct boss, CK Ong! Haha! SK and CK almost couldn't recognise me but well, I'm glad it was for the better =p Heehee!

Group pic outside the ballroom (: Wendy bothered to dressed up, finally!

The grand ballroom, with many many tables. As usual, our table is at the back.

The wedding menu =P

The nice candle stands along the wedding aisle (:

Eternity key, very creative door gift!

Wedding saucer display ornament :D

Decent pics of me and Alan, after much NGs on my part. LOL! 

It was quite boring sitting with older adults, so we had to camwhore abit although we were not comfortable about that idea ourselves. Finally the food came (: yummy! Shark's fin was up after my all-time favourite cold dish!

Since our table for 10 was only sitting 6 pax, I had 3 bowls of that stuff =P I could literally bite into the chunk of fin. Ha! Sorry, I'm not so much of an animal activist. Anyway, SK Chow was happily serving me and Alan, which I couldn't refuse either. Oh wells :D I'm so satisfied.

Not my fault what, Pat and Cynthia din make it in the end although we were so eager to meet up with them lor. I volunteered to eat their share, see I so noble right :D 

Next, that big and fresh red groupa fish! SK and I were eating most of the fish though. Meow!

Soon after few dishes, the bride, Rachel and her mama marched into the ballroom, with some English love ballads playing in the background. I did recorded a video but I can't seem to upload into Youtube properly. Stupid Blogger only offers 100MB worth of upload space while the video is 109MB big. Oh wells.

Rachel was literally smiling from ear to ear. Such a happy girl (: Awww~

Gilbert dedicated, sung a love ballad to Rachel, while his brothers played on their acoustic guitars. 

So Westlife-style, as I commented to Alan. LOL! Something different from the usual wedding program. I like!

She was touched to tears. Sighs. So romantic, I know. Everyone now, "AWWW~!"

Some waiter entered the ballroom with a flaming sword O.O

Nope, he din swallow it, much to my sadistic displeasure. Sighs. He just kept waving all the way to the stage in front, thinking he was doing some magic show, but well he clearly disappointed us all. I still have no idea what significance that flaming sword carried, but it did looked entertainingly good with all the coloured spotlights and music. Haha!

Me and the pretty bride, Rachel! We both share the same birthday, just 5 years age difference. A lovely coincidence (:

Kang and Wendy, after the dinner. Tired from all the yakking and catching up at the table. Haha! You should have seen how she yakked on MY phone with Pat lah. Macham payphone, just that I'm the one slotting in the phonecard lah. Haiyo!

The cab ride home was another hilarious yet annoying stoy altogether. I thought I was gonna reach home as a 80-year-old granny lah. That not-that-old cab driver was taking forever to drive from Yishun to Jalan Kayu to Pasir Ris to Tampines and to Bedok. 

The fare, needless to say, was more than expected. Darn that uncle, no wonder he can still make profits just by driving midnight cabbing. Where's your professional ethics, cab uncle?!

Oops, pardon me for digressing. To end this supposedly happy entry, last but not least, my utmost sincere blessings to the newlyweds. May God bless your marriage and do stay happy and blissful always. 

Let us all, the ex-Infineon lunch kakis, meet up again soon for another meal ya =p Cheers!

A Land Of Hope

I was intending to do up my entries on the recent events this month, but when I read Chen Chuan's blog, I came across this interesting phrase, "The Church is a land of hope". Intriguing, I would prefer to say. Whatever I say here, I shall not be biased towards the church or whatsoever, but based on my personal experiences and feelings.

Being in a church for almost all my life, I really like the fact that the church environment really brings in more life and love, hope and faith into people's lives. I've seen many kinds of Christians in the church, the contradictions, the constant reshuffles of the church system, the disgusting politics, the unhappiness between fellow brethens, the passionate and on-fire Christians, the ever-serving ones in numerous minstries, and those that just sit there and does nuthin but sleep during morning service.

I've went thru life-changing experiences in the church, have and had great friendships with fellow brethens, did things that I would have never imagined myself doing 5 years ago, learnt various skills and knowledge from various ministries, spiritual growth and maturity has gone up by another notch. The church is indeed a great place to nurture one's chraracter, only if you let yourself outta your comfort zone.

The church and its ministries are there to allow us to serve God, with a willing heart. I'm glad I got a hope within me, to help me develop my Christian character and mentality. God is our hope, to this new generation. Let us therefore make more disciples for Him, to give more people the hope we have in our lives, show the love to others just as He have shown to us on the cross, not be ashamed of the Gospel and be of godly examples to one another.

The church is a good place to be in, it's the people who determines the atmosphere in the church. I love it when the presence of God is in the church, you can feel it so well and good. Let's make the Lord proud of us, and not be disgusted or ashamed of hypocrites instead.

Join me in this awesome quest to be part of the hope of God =) do sth nice to someone whom you think, needs God's love. Bring hope to that someone. Who knows, he/she might be the next big thing God wants to use for our generation!

God bless you, my fellow brethens.

*I feel like I'm almost Apostle Paul writing a letter to the fellow Corinthians now. LOL! Just kidding.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas yesterday was fun!

The drama went on really well, the actors really did great with their improvised lines, the lighting went on smoothly, the video went on superbly and the gifts exchange were nice. LOL!

I got a rabbit watch from Sook Yi, a nice LeSportSac pouch from Faith, a pink pig photo frame with the whole AV crew pic in it, from Nicholas, accessories from Aunt Theresa, Joan, Ernest, Cherie etc, cookies from Ee Ling, Janice, Cleone and Sylvia etc. I feel so happy, soaking in the festive spirit already.

I was initially feeling so broke, but upon receiving so many early gifts, I felt so bad that I had to find some stuff to get for my net and my video team, and some other youths, while shopping the whole day at Vivo with bf. LOL! Fun but tiring for us both (: 

We ended up doing that curling of hair, buying medicine and 1.5L bottled water, looking for bargains for gifts, watching Yes Man, trying on numerous clothes at Club Marc, acting like tai tai and shao ye! HAHA! Love spending time with bf, especially after so many busy months of hectic studying.

So, I met up with Ying Xi, Alvin and Cher Hao for dinner at Ikea yesterday evening. I finally tried the famous meatballs, that allegedly was the thing that kept Ikea alive till this day. It is good, I say. Beef and pork is a lovely combination in meatballs man! Woo hoo! The sauce is good, kinda reminds me of KFC mashed potato sauce, irreplaceable ya know. Haha!

So in all, it was a lil Christmas I had, but filled with love and joy. Thank God for everything He has done for me and you. May He bless you more in the new year! Cheers people~

p/s: God answers prayers and He is good. Gonna meet up with Yi Ru finally, for the 1st time this year :D what a way to end 2008! Thank you God!

Quick Update of Busy December

YAY! I'm finally meeting my Starhub pals later again, for lunch! I miss them!

I've yet to celebrate my birthday yet though, but Christmas is fast approaching so well, HOHOHO! Merry Christmas, in advance, to all my loves in my life!

I have received quite a few gifts this year, including a nice bag from Jem & Jo, earrings from Jan & Cleone, pearl powder and this clay recorder from Taiwan, from my aunt & cousins, a Chicks Rule tin from Karina, etc. Thanks to all!

Yesterday I finally headed down to Starhub (my life revolves around it eh..), to port over my Singtel number and got myself a white LG Viewty phone (: It's quite an old model, came out last year, and there were mixed reviews about that phone. I couldn't be bothered anymore bcos I was more fed up with my current Sony Ericsson phone lah.

While waiting for my turn to buy the phone, my parents, sis and I went for a walk. During my walk around Tampines Mall and Century Square, I reckon I bumped into more than 10 people I knew lah! Most of the time my sister or the person we knew, was the one shouting out to me bcos I was constantly busy sms-ing. LOL!

Oh, I got Sook Yi and Elijah's birthday pressies too! The malls were so packed everywhere, it was almost another Orchard Road inside Tampines lah. Everyone was jolting and pushing, avoiding and cramping here and there. Haiyo. All last minute shopping lah. Everyone was just grabbing whatever they could see and started a bee line at the cashier(s). Did so much walking till my lower back started to ache again. Old already, your body starts to have lotsa tantrums every now and then. Sighs.

Talk about being old, I got to met up with 2 of my Primary 1 classmates last Saturday for lunch and coffee. 15 years! We sure have changed in height and shape, but definitely not the face. We still look so awesomely cool lah, or rather that's what Kuanyi would always say lah. LOL! I missed last Sunday's dinner with the rest of the class as I was doing duty for evening service. Heard they had fun, hopefully I can attend the next reunion lor.

I thank God for last week's quite successful My Hope SG, thank my net for their utmost efforts to make sure the session went well, thank God again for healing my throat miraculously, and for everyone who took time to come for the session! I love my net (: 

Christmas service this year is rather different, in terms of the drama and format for the event. No traditional Mary and the lil lambs (no pun intended). No baby Jesus. Up for video duty, yes. Food b4 the drama, yes. Modern setting drama, yes. Gift exchange, definitely YES! Do come by to VFC at Tampines Street 43 this Thursday at 10am for refreshments, actual event starts at 11am and will end by 12.30pm!

Oh ya, I shall blog proper about the youth camp, Rachel's wedding and all those stuff that I wanna share with you, soon! Heehee~ For now, it's another action-packed week ahead, and Batam trip next week and into the new year of 2009! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee~~~

Busy December~

I got pics to upload from the youth camp, Joan's birthday supper gathering, Rachel's wedding and most probably, pics of my cousins this week (: 

*edit: the pics all are on my Facebook and Multiply sites, go to the links on my sidebar to see all the uploaded pics ya =) enjoy!

Wheeeeeeee~ I'm enjoying my break now, although I think I should start doing up my resume and get ready for that My Hope Singapore project that is on this Friday lor =\

Will be going to cousins' house from today till Wednesday, hope to get more rest and do some meetups with certain people too :D although I haven't been meeting bf proper for the past 2 months already. Sighs.

Christmas is coming so fast, I haven't got into the festive mood yet. Maybe its bcos I haven't celebrated my birthday proper since I came back from Malaysia. Ha! Doubt I'll do my traditional Christmas cards this year, far too many to write and too lil time lah! 

Oh ya, I still gotta do video duty on Christmas Outreach, corporate service and setup on 3rd and 4th Jan 09 and more. Sian!

Actually I have no idea why I'm typing out my activities and stuff for this month out on this entry, I guess its bcos I got no pics to start off all the activities that I've gone to during the past week lah. Bear with me awhile till my pics are uploaded k (:

Happy Birthday to Me!

Happy 22nd Birthday to myself (and Rachel Chong), on 10th December 2008 (:

Thank you dearest bf, buddies, VFC youths, my BW12 roommates and all friends of mine. Your wishes (smses, facebook messages, calls, hugs, love and cards, handshakes, birthday songs and cup noodles) mean alot to me :D

I love all of you, much! Can't wait to celebrate my birthday with you all personally!

However, no thanks to that someone for ruining my birthday during Youth Camp.

I will post all pics of the camp once I get the camera cable from bf. Haha! Not much lah, only about 100 odd random pics.

I'm off for net, a funeral and a birthday supper. How weird is the combination tonight =\ oh wells.

I'm Gonna Die On.......?!

What the heck! I'm gonna live till 2089?! I would be 102.5 years old by then! An old granny, all hunched and alone. I dun wanna live so long when every1 else is in Heaven already. This is so not accurate lah. I dun think I need to live to see my great-grandchildren or sth lah!

Back to Harsh Reality!

Btw, this entry is not some GP paper thing ya. Just thought of penning my thoughts down, and it came out rather lengthy and picture-less =P (I'm starting to learn from Karina liao. Oops!) LOL! Enjoy reading while you can, bcos I'll be off to Youth Camp soon! Wheeeeeeeeeeeee~~~

A phone call with my auntie woke me up back to working life reality. I guess too much of the student life has numbed me from the working world and I thought we, the younger generation of adults should know, b4 going out to work for the 1st time, or 10th time, depending on how many part-time and temp jobs you had in the past lah. HA!

A harsh reminder about the working society. Older workers, ranging from middle-aged to the elderly, has a slimmer chance of getting that same job applied by someone of my age. Prior to that, they have an extensive and relevant working experience (excluding educational qualifications) as compared to me a fresh university graduate. 

Although I do have some working experience for the past 6 years, after getting jobs here and there to temp during the major holiday breaks, I still cannot compare myself to those "old birds". Yet, sometimes even if you take so many upgrading courses and certifications, have so much working experience in various positions, it (that lifelong learning bull-crap) doesn't really help when you start finding another job after you hit the 40s age range, your future seems so bleak. You then start contemplating working at fast-food joints, else you are only left with your pride and bank account to depend on. For how long, I do not know.

Of course I dun raise this issue up for fun or for blogging purposes, ya know. I'm really not that free to talk cock only. Bcos of that phone call with my auntie last Wednesday afternoon, it made me realise how easily it is to lose a job and how difficult it is to maintain one, given the excuse of the human age hindering performance and productivity, as well as more salary to pay them for the same position to us.

I reckon we young adults can be rather unproductive at times too, unless you are saying how much we try to swallow the crap our bosses tell us to do lah; that I think we have a higher tolerance bcos the "old birds" would have shoot the bosses straight back. After all, they are in the working world far longer than we are on this earth.

However, I still feel that 姜还是老的辣！* (simply, the older ginger is always spicier - literal translation). The older generation have definitely went thru more financial recessions, more retrenchment exercises, more bills, more crap and more politics than us, the younger generation of adults. They pretty much know how to handle these kinda situations and they are wise in their ways to advise the lil kids, us.

What I'm driving at is that, the society should not condemn these wise "old birds" so soon, just bcos they finish up their paperwork slower than the younger birds, or their reactions to act upon sth is not as quick as b4. Dun tell them, "I dun think you are suitable for this job. You should look for sth for suited for you. Ya know, like those jobs that ends with -er or -ess."

WTH! You are just trying to tell them to scram and that they suck in their job lah! No wonder most of the waiters, waitresses (not including air stewardess) and the other occupations "that ends with -er or -ess" have many grouchy and grumpy people, bcos they are simply not as happy as b4, in their current jobs. Sighs.

Give them a chance to work on and not be a nuisance or any kinda problem to society, esp when they can function perfectly well now. Why make people feel so inferior and demoralised when they had no problem working for you for the past years? No wonder so many middle-aged adults are getting depressed and suffering from erratic and unreasonable behaviours, simply bcos they have lost confidence in themselves!

Yes, its true that 旧的不去，新的不来* - if the "old birds" dun leave, the young ones like us cannot enter the company. But I'm sure there's a better way to work this out? Maybe compensate them or get them another (smaller-scale) job in a (smaller) company or sth. At least they will be useful in society, generating more GDP and income tax for Singapore. LOL!

You know, all the coloured ribbons projects in Singapore; the yellow one for the ex-convicts, red for AIDS, pink for breast cancer etc. I think this group of demoralised middle-aged adults need a coloured ribbon too! Maybe blue will be good. Ya know, its an ironic colour, so that they won't feel blue about their self-esteem and all. Ha! Or, orange is good too: 雨过天晴* (clear skies after the storm)!

Oh wells, I guess that's all I gotta say for now. Pardon my writing standard, I pen it out the way I think only. No grading system needed ya. So, any takes on this, or am I just the only one bothered by this issue? Hmmm..... =X

p/s: "old birds" does not refer to those stupid middle-aged people who just eat snake* (slack and laze in the office) all day only, those people can just scram. Give someone else (preferably, a hardworking one) a chance to earn those bucks please.

22nd Birthday Wishlist

My 22nd birthday is coming soon! 

Do you remember THE date? W/o the help of Facebook or Myspace or whatever birthday calendars, of course!

Wishlist time!

I want a digital camera!

I want another pair of Levis' jeans!

I want a new pair of spectacles!

I want a new handphone!

I want $$~!

I want to find a good job in 2009!

I want my buddies, to be happy and grateful for all their blessings in their lives!

I want my church youths and the ol' pals I grew up with, to always stand firm in God!

I want my bf!

I want my family to stay united and happy always!

I want YOU to know that I care for YOU! (:

So many wants, so little haves. Ha!

My Buddies Can Dance!

It is so amusing seeing my buddies-elves dance so agile-ly and so much confidence oozing outta them (: enjoy dear buddies~! LOL!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Country Version!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Charleston Version

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Disco Version

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Classic Version!

Overall, I think Cher Hao the elf is the most natural in dancing, both real and virtual life =) LOL! Good job buds! Hope you guys enjoy them =P

Liberation is Sweet!

I'm FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-plays Hillsongs' I'm Free in the background, loving the electric guitars-

No more assignments, exams, late nights, frequent changing of windows on my Mac, falling sick, "house arrest" and deadlines!! 

Funny thing is that, now I use my Mac for leisure purposes only, it feels weird. Ya know, not being busy and multi-tasking anymore. Humans are so contradictory. Sighs. Now, I dunno what to do online anymore; unlike my busy studying period, when it seems that I have never-ending sites to visit and check out. What the heck!

Wahahahahahaha~ I sure had a good night sleep last night, almost 10 hours worth! Well, hopefully my facial complexion improves with the amount of rest I'll get for the next few weeks =P

Liberation and freedom indeed feels so good. The big fat burden is finally off my shoulders (: Thank God for bringing me through this tough time of studying, I could have never went through this period all by myself. Thanks to all who kept me in prayer, encouraging me to jiayou* (add oil - 加油) although all my you* (oil - 油) all use finish already. I even had to go to Shell nearby to pump out more you*油 lor. LOL!

Well, I can finally meet up with my buddies proper tonight, with no worries at the back of my mind. We are gonna celebrate my birthday in advance! Feels so good to be able to celebrate with them for the nth time already :D Well, its a pity Shi Yun & Ying Xi can't come bcos of schedule clashes but well, I hope next year we would have full strength.

OK, Youth Camp next to look forward to (: YAY!! Time to pack my bags and my Mac along! Lalalalalalala~ I'm so happy like a lil bird now!

Jesus' FB Got Error!

You know how Facebook always has problems loading certain pages due to high traffic or busy server issues. 

I was looking thru the "Jesus" fans group page, and had clicked on one of the forum posts, when this error message came up despite repeated refreshing of the page.

LOL! 

I had to laugh out loud at the irony there. At least I know that Facebook din create Jesus, neither does Jesus has any errors in Him. The maker of Jesus, God, is perfect to the core. He "loads" everytime we "click" on the link, "Him"! 

If Jesus has a Facebook account, I reckon FB will not be able to handle the number of friends in his list lah! That one got error I can understand. Hahaha!

So, dun bother to click "Try Again", that's definitely not Jesus =)

Kidnap Prank Call

Remembered the kidnap scam hoo-ha that happened few months back in Singapore? I tell you, those people who go around randomly calling unsuspected parents and elderly, should just jump down and die okay!

My mama just received a phone (prank) call from this unknown lil girl boy, sobbing like crazy and saying, "Help me, Mummy!", in Chinese. Then, this guy comes into the line and say a Chinese name, Wong sth sth...

My mama got so mad bcos she could hear no shit on the other line (bcos of the bad sobbing), she just kept shouting to the guy, "你是谁?" (Who are you?). Next thing she know, the caller just hung up. She ended up scolding the phone. LOL!

So, whoever prank-called my house just now, you are a lousy "kidnapper"!

Loophole 1: We dun call for help in Chinese. We are "potatos", we speak English at home only.

Loophole 2: Our surname is not Wong.

Loophole 3: Boys are not that stupid to get kidnapped by some random Chinese guy/syndicate.

Loophole 4: We rather call siblings' handphones (bcos of Caller ID), rather than the house (:

Loophole 5: That voice is belongs to a young boy! My brothers are much older than me and I haven't heard them cry like babies in ages man! LOL!

Stupid like shit! If you ever call back again, you watch out for your ears alright! I'll make sure you die hearing my flowery language okay! Idiot.

Pardon me, but this is no way to scam old people of their life savings and health alright. It's very annoying and despicable of anyone to do so! 

My mama was telling me that many aunties from the Hokkien congregation in church have been targets of that loser "kidnapper" already, so all you people, call your child/ sibling/ grandchild first b4 panicking or giving your hard-earned money to those losers okay!

This is like a lil Crimewatch thing ya =p Hahaha! Back to my work (: 

-1 more day to sweet freedom baby!-

Last Dash to the Finishing Line!

Philippians 3:14, "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (NIV)

Last (tough & difficult) assignment of this degree course! I can't wait to end this physical and mental torture this Friday! Counting down, and pressing on to the goal (start of holidays!).

The finishing line is nearing. The last 100m dash. I know I can make it, somehow.

Hooray, in advance (: