1st Post in December

I realised for the entire month of November, I missed out on my blog entry this year. Ah, what a pity. I had thought I would at least have made an entry a month. Alas, November went by without one! But still, I was glad my faithful tradition of meeting up with EL was kept up, although it was a belated celebration of her birthday on 30 Nov instead of the 23rd. As I had spent the 23rd celebrating Illary's 10th birthday at Pizzaface with a heart-shaped Lana Chocolate Cake and a pizza/pasta meal together with ST & Elsa too. 

Also, I was busy sending out hedgehog coasters, and cute shiba inn and kitty cat coasters to different ones, near and far. It was a pleasant surprise to receive a packed of assorted flavoured Kit Kats from Dom & LP (all the way from Kanazawa), a brown long sleeve chiffon blouse from Daphne&Robin, and a specially curated calendar of my fave pics from Siao Yen (from Miri) all in the month of Nov. I think I received two pairs of earrings (from Lee Tzu & Josie). Lee Tzu gave me a Christmas ornament too (a glass Santa) and CCH+Margaret gave a box of chocolates which I shared with the A Team and eventually gave the rest to EK (and his kids). I gave a double portion of coasters to JW & family but not sure if any reached them although the registered mail ones should reach them. The reason was the first post had probably gone missing and I was a bit sad. In any case, I don't think those coasters meant much to them. He seemed to have been ignoring me since 25 Nov (US Thanksgiving), over two weeks. I feel a bit sore but that is that. Should not be overly emotional over a relationship that most likely will not amount to anything much beyond former co-workers, despite me having an inordinate amount of affection for the person. 

Finding a right match in life is no easy feat and not everyone in the world find their "happily ever after". I am quite okay with living my life without finding "a life partner", if that is God's will for me. I am open, if God has someone in mind, but God, only You know if such a person exists. Not my will, but Yours. 

I am thankful for mum, siblings, sister-in-law, cousins, aunts, uncles, close friends, god daughters, co-workers, good neighbours, new brothers and sisters in Christ I have come to know in my DG and people in the Residents Network Committee, as well as OCF Alumni Network friends and TCF friends from across Southeast Asia. I am thankful for the EAST Community too and the EAST Alumni Network although my bonds with them have not been that particularly close this past year. I have not been very intentional in cultivating deep bonds with people in the EAST Community due to remote working. 

Reconnecting with old JC friends has been a bonus. I thank God for them - Meirong, Peiling, Margaret, Janice, Wai Sen, Peijing & Sin Lee. Covid has also made me draw closer to a few in the OCF gang - like Dom & LP, Daphne & Robin, Jeff & Grace, David & Jess. It was also good to have caught up with Lucy & JF in person.  

Looking forward to Boxing Day Lunch with Wing Poh & Rebecca, Dickson & Bel, & Cat. Hope to get to know them better as brothers and sisters in Christ. 

2nd Post in Oct

I need to wean myself from my communication with JW. Lord, please help me, I pray. I should really refrain from initiating any more texts with him even if he replies. I bet he is thinking the same about not wanting to reply me or he just has no bandwidth to handle communication with me as I am pretty low down on his priority in terms of the friendships/relationships he has at hand. I need to have greater respect and love for me. :)

1st Post in Oct

Today, JW has started work at a new work place, a tech company I think. His last Zoom meeting with our Advancement Team was on Monday, 27 Sep. That was also his last official day with EAST. On Thursday, 30 Sep, we had Zoom meeting with JW and I guess the feeling that he has really left us finally sank in. Sigh.

Has it only been a year ago that this young, handsome, jaunty guy stepped in EAST and a year later just as quickly stepped out? What a lot of difference a year has made! 

Lunch incident

This afternoon, JW teased me by saying I got to sit by myself for lunch because Jonathan will sit with EK and he wants to sit with Aitee. It was a silly prank but I found it mean and hurtful. I told him it was done in bad taste, that it was mean and I was hurt and he quickly apologised over text. Upon some text exchanges, I will be getting a gourmet burger meal lunch apology out of him tmw. Haha! That makes me happy after all the unhappiness I felt today. Hopefully the burger does get delivered to the correct address.

Anyways, is this considered our first or second fight and make-up incident? Previously he said something that made me uncomfortable and I told him about it over text as well. He is quite speedy in apologising but the problem is that with close contact, we will probably have more opportunities for greater conflicts. These are definite red flags to watch out for. Better to keep a safe distance from him especially after his stint at EAST has ended - which is likely to be a natural course of events, Lord willing.

3rd Post

This is my third post for September. JW's last working day with EAST is this Friday, 17 Sep. But I think the last face to face meeting I will get to see him will be on Thursday, 16 Sep. Oh, 18 Sep is both Li Ping's 47th and Peace's 18th birthdays.  Well, last Saturday, 11 Sep was Imel's 47th birthday and I am glad she was happy with the bouquet I sent her. On Sunday, Sue, Imel and I had a fun get-together to have a belated celebration for Imel. I gifted Imel a scarf which I hope she liked too. 

Dom was sharing about how we used to write longer emails with more spiritual insight and depth in our Uni days. These days, hardly anyone write these long emails anymore. Well, until Grace mentioned that she just wrote one to her family. Lol. And Dom mentioned that Christine Thien writes them once in two years. I guess they are the rare ones. Most of us survive on WhatsApp text messages, FB, IG and Twitter to connect. At least, I do. 

Siow Yen and I have a pact to remind each other to sleep earlier when we can. So I just reminded her when I saw her on FB Messenger at 1am. Haha! She mentioned she'll go sleep soon after a shower. I promised I will do the same after a journal entry. Hopefully, I will get sleepy enough soon.

Binny sent a wedding pic from 18 years ago and this year, her youngest sister Karen is getting married to a guy from Shanghai. I do wish Karen a lifetime of marital happiness ahead! But most of all, I pray that she would know Jesus as her Lord and Saviour too - both she and her husband to be!

1st date with Elsa - 7 Sep

Tuesday, 7 Sep, and I had a lunch & movie date with Elsa, my elder goddaughter, our first date by ourselves. We had lunch at Secret Recipe at Plaza Sing. She had Nasi Goreng with Satay and Earl Grey tea with a packet of sugar. I had Grilled Chicken with Mushroom Sauce and White Coffee to go with it. The meal was about $40. The tix for the movie Sinkhole was about $17. The salted popcorn, two ice-lemon teas (one for Elsa and another for Illa) and my latte was about $16. The parking was $7. In all, the budget for our outing was roughly $80 but the memories for the day, priceless. Elsa introduced me to her favourite Sword Shop called Caesar. She showed me her current read called "Ten types of humans". I gave her a prayer journal and just simply enjoyed her company. 

I pray for Elsa to grow to be a God-fearing, God-loving lady who glorifies God in all her ways. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Lord, give ST the wisdom to lead and guide her. I pray for Illa to grow well in the household together with ST and Elsa - may she continue to enjoy the favour and love of her mum and sister all the days of her life. 

September Holidays

The one week September Holidays has officially started for school age kids. Tomorrow I have a date with my elder goddaughter Elsa, to catch the Korean disaster movie "Sinkhole", picked by her. We will watch it at Plaza Sing at 1:50pm, a Tuesday afternoon, my day off. 

Today being a Monday, I normally have Advancement Meetings with Jon, Aitee, EK and Josh but as the past weekend was a MG Ministry Weekend - both Jon and EK were kept busy with their MGs. Jon decided to give our team (and himself) a break this morning. We will meet this Thursday instead.  Josh only has 11 more work days with EAST, his last day being 17 Sep. Counting down to his last official day - will miss him for sure. Pray that he stays contactable as an EAST Volunteer.  =)

Yesterday, I had a very lovely, encouraging and edifying afternoon at home with Lu & JF over chicken pies and prayers. It was JF's first visit to my home and he gifted me a box of yummy low sugar egg custard mooncakes. Lucy gifted me a beautiful cushion cover with the picture of two happy children and a hedgehog staring at some fishes in a Happy Kids Aquarium. We had conversations about resourcing our regional partners with teaching materials and what JF has been up to with the BSF Men's Chinese Bible Study School Programme. We also caught up with JF's recent health scare of an unexplained heart attack. It was just an engaging time of catching up. I enquired about Wen Tin's friend who knew sign language and wanted to teach. That was something Lu could have input in, so I was glad.

We ended our time praying for the different issues we had conversations over, and prayed for the different friends who could not join us that afternoon too. God has been faithful in keeping us close to Him. Pray that we will continue to keep faithfully walking with God.

End of August, we had a family birthday celebration for sis at Bishan - with Kor, Binny, Josh joining in the celebrations. Jie ordered a keto friendly Ondeh Ondeh birthday cake and a keto friendly chocolate cake. We also had take-outs from Belo, Amos' restaurant along Upper Thomson Road. On Jie's actual birthday on 2 Sep, she took mum out for lunch at Open Farm Community Farm & Restaurant, and at night, three of us went to The Majestic restaurant at Marina One, near the Marina Bay Financial Centre (MBFC) area.  

By the way, just two nights ago, I have sold away my Rainbow Vaccum Cleaner for $500. Mum was a little upset as she believes I have made a bad financial decision for selling it at such a low price. But it was taking up space and I was hardly using it - much like a white elephant - so I thought it might serve a better purpose in another household. That's that. In the first place, it was probably an impulse buy that I should not have bought. An expensive lesson learnt - I hope. 

On forming intimate relationships

I wonder often how it is that even though I have quite a number of close friends, yet I have never really been able to have formed a strong intimate relationship with just one guy for a prolonged period of time. Are there still parts of me that still require healing from? Is it because I do not love and accept all of me, which is why I am not able to love and accept all of another person?

In any case, I can only hope and pray that in time to come, I will be more healed from the different traumas I have encountered in my life and I will be able to love people more fully, especially a special someone that God, if He so desire, may send my way, someday, soon. Haha.  

On Intimacy - notes from a lecture by Roy Tan

The transformation of being an intimate person rests on the work of the Holy Spirit. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them is the One who loves me. It is more important in intimacy, how the other person feels, rather than how I feel. Do not be ego-centric and think only of ourselves. Intimacy is brought about by the gospel. Brokenness and humility affects intimacy. If the Son of Man can do nothing on His own, what more for each of us? God putting on flesh is as deep as broken humility can get. A fish swims because it is a fish. Live out compassion, kindness, humility. Learn not to hide but speak the truth in love. Venture out and speak the truth in love. "This is my Son. Listen to Him." Sometimes our past holds us back. God is very specific when he brings closure to our past. 

Be broken and humble. Be confident in our new identity in Christ and don't hide.

Listen to Christ. Imitate Him in dealing with sin in our lives and our relationships.

Ann's Passing on 28 Jul

Since my last entry on Nicolas' passing, my former EAST colleague Ann Lim also went home to the Lord, on 28 July. She has been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer for over a year, since April 2020 or so. Her condition got more serious in August when she formed a whatsapp group for friends to pray for her which I was part of. My last telephone conversation with Ann was sometime in March or April 2021 before her condition deteriorated so badly that she became monosyllabic and finally was bed-ridden and non-communicative too. She was admitted into St Andrew's Community Hospital in June 2021. Those were her last two months of her final journey on earth. 

We really never know when God will take back the people He puts into our lives, and Ann is just one such person. A loving friend, a big sister-in-Christ and someone who loves the Lord dearly. I can recall how I was the first person to welcome her to EAST at the EAST Library at Dorset Road and I remember having a farewell lunch with her together with Jonathan and Karen at Sumire Yakitori Restaurant at Bugis Junction. In between our first and last meetings, we shared conversations, jokes, meals and EAST retreats at Changi Village Hotel. Her journey on earth is done and I am certain that she is now at rest with her Beloved. I never thought I would miss her as much as I do now. Lord, I wished I had loved her more. 

Meanwhile, Lord, help me to love those around me more, while they are on earth.    

Nic's Passing & Other Things

The day after I wrote about JF's heart attack, I received news of Nic's passing - Amy's husband in Adelaide. Amy sent me a text on FB messenger in Chinese describing him being found already unconscious in the church toilet - in fact dead, likely passed on due to a heart attack. That happened last Tuesday. Amy is coping with suddenly being a young widow and single mum of two young boys aged 5 (Josiah) and 2 (Joshua). Last Friday, I had written a post about Nic but YK had told me to pull out the post and reschedule it two weeks later. She also informed me to get Amy's permission before posting. In the end, with Joshua's added advice to really wait for Amy's reply, I got a negative to post from her. The post was totally dumped.  I guess even though I had worked at it, I was glad not to publish it as it would have gone against Amy's wishes at this juncture where she is already at immense shock, sorrow and suffering. 

Lord, why do you give each of us such different trials and tribulations to go through in life? Ultimately, to test the genuineness of our faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and bring all glory back to You when all's well that ends well? If not here on earth, then till we meet You face to face in heaven? Most of all, to show us that Your love is unfailing even when life fails us? We have a living Hope in a risen Saviour. That our faith when tested will come forth purer than gold.

Today, I connected with Tomo O on FB Messenger and she informed me her mum passed away last May, a Buddhist, while her dad has passed away a few years ago. I pray for this dear sister to stand strong in her faith in You, Lord. My dad too has passed away a few years ago. My mum is nearly 80 years old. I could very much in a similar state as her at anytime, except that she is an only child, while I still have two siblings who care for me very much, and I have close relatives too. But actually I am thinking, perhaps Tomo does have strong faith in You, O Lord. She totally relies on You now - You are her everything. Perhaps, while I think she may be in a pitiful state or condition, she may not be because she has You - You are all she needs. She is a much stronger lady than I. It is either that or I should connect with her more and show her God's unconditional love more. Pray for God's guidance. 

Kinkin has posted the Podcast which I recorded last week. It apparently went on 6 different platforms. Happy to be part of the podcast. :)

Come 19 July, I will be taking Casey and Roy's Shepherd Care class. I hope J will sign up for it too. Lol. But I really dunno if he will. He is like so non-committal to stuff... I get the feeling he probably will not. Just my gut I guess so I don't want to get too much of my hopes up. Ah wells... will update in due time.

Sally, Meirong and I caught up on a Zoom call on Tuesday night, just two nights ago. That was a really good catch-up session for us three. 

Cousin Andrew's 61st

Yesterday was cousin Andrew's 61st birthday, 1 July 2021, and I just got to send him his birthday greetings right before midnight, reminded by EH's greetings to him round about half past eleven. 

The second half of 2021 started rather unceremoniously with yet another Advancement Team meeting via Zoom in the morning at 9:30am.

Can't quite believe that I am into the second half of 2021 already. Did a podcast recording for Kin Kin last night. Looking forward to the completed podcast by this weekend. :)

JF had Heart Attack!

Update: JF had a heart attack two weeks ago! Shocking news to me! But the good news is that he has no clogged artery and hopefully the MRI that he goes for next month will reveal some underlying cause. Most of all, all our NIECF friends and I prayed for his complete recovery. 

Today, what prompted me to contact JF was because JW had lunch with CT. Somehow, whether that was a spontaneous lunch outing or a pre-planned one did not matter. I was just jealous of them spending one on one time together. I reckon I am always jealous when I am not getting JW's attention as and when he is or should be available.  Seriously, why am I behaving in such a weird, selfish, inconsiderate, manner when he is a junior staff working with a senior staff like me? I really need to give him more space to get to know other EAST staff, whether they are of the opposite gender, or younger and prettier than me! haha! He is simply a junior, a younger brother who is 20 yrs younger than me! There is simply no line that we can, should ever cross with each other other than that we are siblings in Christ. 

It also prompted me to text JR and A. Have yet to receive any responses from them both. I asked if they have taken their vaccine jabs. But, oh well, just out of curiosity and concern. Taking my jealousy to the Lord, and asking Him to purify me. Make me more like Jesus.  Jesus, were you ever jealous? Jealous of me spending time frivolously with others when You wanted me to spend more time with You? Maybe, this is the lesson of the day for me. 

When I am jealous of my beloved spending time away from me, I am reminded of myself (as my Lord's beloved) spending time away from my Lord with frivolous activities or people I should have no business with. In the meantime, I need to guard my heart and be very careful whom I call as my beloved. If it is not the right person whom the Lord desires, it will only lead to yet another heartbreak in due time. So, guard my heart, for out of it springs the issues of life.  

Joyous June

June is normally a joyous month as it is a break from the usual routine of the academic calendar at EAST.  I remember having gone on holidays with papa, mummy and sis in May/June right after the Commencement, many years back, to Hokkaido, Japan. It was a tour package type of holidays but still it was a memorable family holidays for us four. The only downside was that Kor and B were not with us, thus we never actually went on a full family holiday together as far as I can recall. That is perhaps my sole regret while Papa was still alive but it was never up to me to decide or control. Even for Taiyiyi's 80th birthday cruise to Redang Island, Kor and B could not join us as it was too near to B's expected date of delivery by then. The cruise was in September and she was due to deliver in early October 2013. In another two years, we will be celebrating Taiyiyi's 90th birthday, Lord willing, on 16 October. Hopefully, we can make it yet another grand celebration by then. 

June was also the month I visited Mongolia back in 2010. That was more than 11 years ago by now! Incredible! Time just goes by so quickly. That amazing Mongolian trip was a highlight of trusting God for funds, for fun, for friendships made. Actually June/July has also always been a time for those ACTC conferences to happen. We shelved last year's conference and I am not quite sure what is happening for this year as yet. Things are kinda a blur for me these days to be honest. The Covid-19 pandemic has kinda messed up my head a little. 

But June turned somewhat less joyous since five years ago, since papa departed the dawn of 17 June 2016. That morning, I was still sound asleep in Kandy, Sri Lanka, having celebrated Uda & D's wedding the night before. Hwei Wah was with me when I received the phone call from sis about dad passing on. She helped me book an air ticket home. I was kinda in a panic mode then. Grief has not truly set in. Perhaps guilt set in first, guilt for not being by papa's side when he departed. Still, five years on, and the guilt has dissipated. The grief lingers, somewhat, in the quieter moments of life. Still, I can look towards my Heavenly Papa who loves me perfectly and knows what is best for me. I still have my mummy dearest with me and I definitely should not take her for granted for I do not know for how long more I will have her with me, or me with her.  One thing I know, life is unpredictable, even as God is fully in control. Trust Him, I must. 

In Loving Memory of FF

My dear cousin died a shocking death on 7 May 2021, due to cardiac arrest. Definitely none of us were prepared for her passing. Mum and I last tried contacting her on 23 April on her birthday. Unbeknownst to us, that was the day that she found out she was Covid-19 positive. She did not want many people to know about the news, so she had kept it from us. Even though eventually she recovered from Covid-19 and was discharged from the hospital, her body has probably been weakened by it. So when she was readmitted to the hospital again, her heart gave way a few days later and she passed on. 

That was the most shocking, and devastating news in May of 2021. It wasn't that long ago that TF has left us, and now FF.

KH's 52nd Birthday

Today is KH's 52nd Birthday and we had an advanced birthday celebration for him on Sunday (mum, me, B, J and KH). EH could not join us due to the 2 visitors max restrictions during this Heightened Alert measures period which should end by 13 June. 

May went by so quickly that I did not even managed to put in a blog post! Elsa celebrated her 13th birthday on 19 May and Alice and I sent her macarons and a cake. Can't quite believe that she's already a teenager. Too fast. Also, Lu had a milestone 50th birthday bash on 15 May. I sent a delivery of fresh bouquet with some sweet pastels florals and also picked out a necklace with pressed flowers covered in a glass casing. As for BY, on her 47th birthday, I had a bundle of pink baby's breath and a cake for her. I just sent the same bundle to PC on 8 June. It was a visual feast but I heard that the cake was not yummy at all. :P

Aside from all the birthday celebrations, EAST had Thanksgiving and Envisioning Events on 5 June which went quite well. We managed to raise close to 50k. Still a bit off the mark of $2.5mil but some way there, so definitely a cause for thanksgiving!

2nd Post in April

It is Good Friday today. A day of remembrance of Jesus' death on the cross for Christians worldwide. A day to remember my Saviour's sacrifice for me. It was also a good day where I got to catch up with Sheela, a prayer buddy from my youth. Good to have seen her, her 18 yr old son Jairus, her hubby Xavier, her 20 yr old daughter Evangeline. Her daughter led worship in church this morning. Bless her heart. Her youngest daughter Raphael was still napping when I visited. She also had 1+ yr old German Shepherd who currently has some kind of skin problems. The dog was borned in Slovakia. Quite a character. 

It was good to keep in touch with Sheela and just to pray with her. :) 

1st Post in April

Today is the 1st of April, it is Maundy Thursday, the day before Good Friday and it is also April's Fool Day. This morning at 9am-11+am, we had our A.Team mtg with J, EK, A and me. J showed us a clip about work from his church. The pastor talked about not being idle and not making an idol out of work. Basically J wanted us to monitor the number of hours we clock into our work per week, so as to evaluate our work health. 

I talked about my felt need to have a change of title but J and I are still exploring the options. I pray that God will make a way for an appropriate title to be assigned to my current position at EAST.  I brought up Digital Content Specialist or Creator to J to consider as I felt that was closest to the work I do. May God give him the wisdom to decide. 

Yesterday was the WWDP and I have an article to complete. Pray that I will complete it soon. 

 

Elsa wanted macarons

Because Illary took the coffee macaron that came with the salted caramel ice-cream waffle, Elsa kept wanting macarons for the rest of the evening. Sadly, we could not find her any at J8, so I told her I will get her some for her birthday - I'll have to remember that for May 19 this year. ^____^

Oh, and I learnt that Illary is categorised under Gen Alpha, after Gen X. How cool is that?

April Birthdays

Trying to keep track of the special people having birthdays in April - 1st - Daniel, 9th - Shun, 14th - mum, 15th - Josh, 16th - Mei Ling, 20th - Pei Pei, 21st - Susanna, 24th - Evelyn & Aitee, 30th - Binny.  ^___^

Don's Baptism

Don got baptised on 11 Mar 2021 at the swimming pool of River Trees condo by his friend, Ps George, from Sonship Church and I was there to witness it along with Uncle Anthony, Auntie Jessie and Amos. Happy to have been there along with many angels rejoicing with him!

ST's 48th Birthday

Today is ST's 48th birthday. I will picking her and the girls up at 4:30pm and heading to Belo for a birthday celebration meal. I have also packed some presents for her. I hope she feels special today. :)

1st Post in March

After my Chap Goh Mei post, I have not updated anything. Workwise, we are busy working on EAST's inaugural e-Open House which is happening next Wednesday, 10-11:30am, online via Zoom. I will be co-hosting a 20min session for Singaporean participants with Q&As. I am still racking my brains over the Q&As they may have. However, I have already contacted 8 alumni who agreed to come online on Wednesday. I need to confirm with them their availability for a rehearsal on Monday morning from 10:20-10:45am. 

Today, I caught up with Bobs in person at Belo, giving her an advanced birthday treat. I feel she has not been doing very well emotionally since grieving the passing of her mum almost a year ago. But she is definitely on the road to recovery from her grief. Praying for her that God will continue to heal and comfort her. Be her strength and stay, and strengthen her marriage too.

I got in touch with Bataa and Yu Jin to get their help to spread the word about the e-Open House to MCCC and KCCC staff. Hopefully, they will both be able to communicate well to their staff and many will attend. I got in touch with Debs from Spain too. Miss her and hope she will be able to return to Singapore soon. She says likely after she gets her Covid-19 jab (vaccine). 

I have an early start tomorrow and I should sleep soon. Pray that I will get sufficient sleep because I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow.

Chap Goh Mei

It's Chap Goh Mei today, 15th day of Chinese New Year and mum is cooking up a storm at sis' place in Bishan for tonight's dinner, inviting uncle MW over for dinner. This year, CNY has whizzed by rather quickly and tragically for some in Singapore. On 2nd day of CNY, there was a fatal dawn car crash at Tanjong Pagar Road that killed five young men in their 20s, around 5:40am. Following that, there were other incidents... 

Anyways, it's a happy day today. Looking forward to dinner tonight.

 

Ravi Zacharias' fall from grace

Over the past few days, reports of RZ's posthumous fall from grace have been all over the internet - confirmed sexual misconduct over the past decade during his active ministry. It is perhaps a sigh of relief to the victims who had suffered sexual abuse to see that they are now vindicated because what was done in darkness to them has finally been brought out to the light, albeit the offender is no longer alive. For that, I am actually glad for them. But I am saddened that those who had put their faith in RZ probably have their faith shaken up because of what happened. Also, there is huge disruption to the RZIM organisation as a whole.  Strike the shepherd and the sheep scatters - that's the devil's strategy, is it not? However, God is still in control because we are to look at our Great Shepherd - our Lord Jesus Christ, not simply behold someone made of "finer clay than us". Sigh. I still feel somewhat sad. 

Yesterday was 14 Feb and mum and I had lunch at Han's (Novena Square).  She had stir-fry beef hor fun and I had grilled pork chop. For dinner, we headed over to Bishan where sis prepared veggies, and steamed fish with chillies. After dinner, I had Valentine's Day Pilates with Priscilla and Julie. There was a third lady who joined in later but I did not catch her name.

Today, mum and I went to Alexandra Retail Center to try out a relatively new cafe called Colourful Day Cafe. Mum had beef rendang nasi lemak and I had chicken wings nasi lemak and we ordered wanton soup to accompany our nasi lemaks and that was a brilliant decision. :)

Cannot quite believe that half a month of February has already gone by. Tomorrow when I wake up, it will already be Day 5 of CNY! How fast each day goes by!

Shocking News

I was in touch with Hlg and we wanted to do a get-together with Jy at the Old Chang Kee coffeeshop near Selegie end of Jan. Because of it, I texted Jy today. The shocking news I received from Jy was that she has quit her job near Selegie due to her mum's stroke. 

I was not able to get the news out of my head so I contacted LP who did not respond. The next person I contacted was D, who had a whole lot of back story to tell me but apparently he had kinda fallen out with Jy. Oh well.

 

Inaugural Chapel at 118 JCR

On 13 Jan, we held our inaugural Chapel at 118 JCR and it was anchored by our Advancement Team (Jn, EK, Jsh, A & I).  EK was instrumental in all the technical aspects of pulling things together with D, Ry and CV. Jon introduced CCH (who gave the Chapel message) and did the closing prayer. Jsh was our Emcee who welcomed the participants along with Jn and A and organised the Menti word game as an ice-breaker as well as gave the announcements together with Y. Aitee anchored the Praise and Prayer section. Z and I led worship with three songs - Give Thanks, Standing on the Promises and Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me. I thank God that internet connectivity went well throughout the service and we did not have to carry out Plan B to send out videos/PPTs by Whatsapp. Praise God our inaugural Chapel went off smoothly enough, with 37 online participants (as some were in groups of 5/6 people). 

This morning during our Adv Team mtg, we evaluated the Chapel and generally gave ourselves a pat on our backs. Although, EK did mention that the technicality part had increased in complexity because of the hybrid nature of the broadcasting to different rooms on-site and online at the same time. Jsh learned that while doing his Emcee role, the stage should not be left empty or blank, so as to facilitate flow of events "on the stage". As for myself, I felt I had done my best even though at some point I could not get some lyrics right, as the screen was not showing the right words. Still, I was glad at least one student H Zhong texted me to tell me that she was being ministered to during worship and she cried. (Jsh kinda made mocking remarks, at least to me, it felt that way...  or maybe it was his dry humour about, "Thank Jesus I cried" or something to that effect, and that I did not appreciate - I felt that was uncalled for.)

Also, Jsh was a bit harsh in the manner in which he was coaching me to use Powerpoint to edit an image. Generally, I did learn something from him, but... It was not the most fun nor enjoyable experience to be learning from him because he kept wanting to make it hard for me to learn, or at least that was how I felt... even though he probably did not even realise it. His tone sounded as if he was some army sergeant. So dictatorial. Haiz. Why can't he even learn to speak in a more gentle tone? There is still much for him to learn for sure. Anyways, perhaps it may be due to his recent army experiences in life. I am not sure. He definitely still has a lot of rough edges, in terms of communicating with people in a palatable manner. Or am I expecting too much of a 25 going on to 26 year old young lad? Our interaction was rather awkward to say the least but still, thankfully, I learnt something. haha!

But one thing he did learn after I told him off about remembering to say goodbye is that he will now remember to say goodbye at lunchtime or at the office (tho, not so much at the office). One thing that was rather cute that came up was that Jsh asked about my dog in JB through Jn and they thought Brownie had died! It kinda tickled me that they had such thoughts but at least he cared enough to ask after Brownie. Especially after I had asked him to pray for Brownie's well-being a while ago. It registered with him after all. That is rather sweet. :) 

1st Post on New Year's Day

I heralded the New Year of 2021 by attending ARPC's Watchnight Service with I (my MGS classmate) and GP (my AJ coursemate). We had an early countdown in church as the service ended by about half past eleven. By the time we left the church and got to my car, it was nearly 11:55pm and we were five minutes from the fireworks display at Bishan. Still, by God's grace, we zoomed right down to Bishan Road and caught a most magnificent display of the fireworks for a good two minutes at least. What a splendid way to welcome the New Year!

December has been a busy month of celebrating my birthday and catching up with beloved friends. I had a very lovely birthday lunch with mum and sis at Fullerton Bay Hotel's french restaurant and after lunch, we walked across to Fullerton Hotel for pretty pics to commemorate Christmas and my birthday. My birthday fell on a Friday and sis took leave to celebrate with me. That was really sweet of her. On Saturday morning, I had a birthday surprise from Su and I (planned by Su!). They came to my home to surprise me with fresh focaccia bread (baked by Sue) and a fresh bouquet of flowers (a sunflower arrangement) bought by I. I was pleasantly surprised by both of them! It was also their first visit to my home. We had tea together later that afternoon with a proper celebration with cakes and two rounds of birthday songs.

My brother's family took mum and me to Goodwood Hotel's Ming Jiang for dimsum and the food was delectable. That was also on Saturday and it was a birthday treat for me too. That was really generous and kind of them, aside from kor buying a pair of progressive glasses for me. Also, I had celebrations with YL together with GP and G. I also had joint celebrations with WT at Fat Burger at Novena Square.  Furthermore, during our TCF lunch meeting at Irene's, I had another joint celebrations with Irene. :)

Man, December is really full of festivities for me... plus I had over 160 wishes and blessings on my FB profile. I know I am abundantly blessed, and my cup overfloweth because God is overwhelming good to me. None of it is because of what I have done and because I deserve any of it. All of it is because of what God has done for me. I can only humbly bow in my heart and thank Him from the bottom of my heart for His goodness, mercy, kindness and love that is unfailing. In His time, He makes everything perfect. :)