Last Post of 2012

Amazingly, I have only made one post on this blog in Jan and now the last post in Dec. I met up with V Ng EL last night and we had a jap meal at J8 Watami to celebrate our birthdays. Her belated birthday was on 23Nov and mine on 18Dec. I received a handcrafted beaded pink crystal pendant painstakingly made by her mum, order was placed by her ofcourse! What a delightful birthday present! My favourite this year!

2012 is just about to go by in less than two weeks and I'll be reaching 40 in less than two years! The big 40 sounds a bit scary to me. Maybe it's mid-life crisis that I may meet soon... I dunno... But I do want to stay rooted in Christ and keep thanking Him for each day, each year of life He has given me. Every day and every year is precious. Let me learn to number them and may God grant me a wise heart to live out each day and each year.

1st Post of 2012

Today is 16 Jan 2012. It seems like I have only had 4 posts in 2011 and 4 posts in 2010. I wonder if it will be the same in 2012. Will there be more posts or less? Last year, on 23 Nov 2011, my second god daughter, Illary Shashonna Alarcon-Tan was born and I didn't even blog about it. She is ST's second daughter, Elsa's younger sis. She shares the same birthday as my best friend V Ng EL whom I've known for over 3 decades since 1981.

Last year, I had a memorable 37th birthday in Perth. Mummy and I had a lovely lunch at Cottesloe and we attended Ingrid & Jason's wedding ceremony at Sunken Garden on that beautiful summer's afternoon. Perfect way to celebrate. I also caught up with Kenna, another really great pal after the wedding reception. I had beautiful memories of that day and night. :)

Viadolorosa Xanga Shut Down

Today, I shut down the very first blog I started. All the entries that I've painstakingly posted since 2004, for the past 7 years have vanished. Or at least, not accessible to me anymore. I'm not sure if Xanga actually stores them digitally somewhere but it doesn't matter to me anymore.

Somehow, digital memory on cyberspace has lost partial appeal to me... Partial because I am still blogging. Words only, no pics. And this address is hardly known to many... only a few friends come by to read it, if at all... And I don't open it up for comments anyway.

I may go back to journalling, the old fashion way. Sometime.

Fine Appeal Went Through

Got a reply from the HDB Senior Estate Officer today and the fine appeal I sent in earlier this month had gone through! Yipeee! I don't have to fork out an additional $50 for forgetting to pay the $75 monthly season carpark ticket on time. However, in the email reply, the officer stated that this is the FINAL TIME they will accede to my appeal. Maybe they do have a record of the number of times I have written in to appeal afterall... Nevertheless, I really should not be so forgetful...

Scaling Mount K in June 2011

This Sat AM, I'll begin training with Hui Ling and possibly Yaling at Bukit Timah Hill. It's a dream to scale Mount K in June 2011. Hope that this tiny dream comes true this year. :)

New Day in a New Decade

1 Jan 2011 is a new day in a new decade. May this herald a new beginning of many good things that God has in store for me personally. I look forward to walking more closely with the Jesus each day. I want to be filled with his joy, his love, his peace which surpasses all understanding. I want to have faith that moves mountains and abides deeply with quiet confidence in the Father's goodness and never ending kindness, love and compassion. I want to be wise and yet not overly so. I want to experience a greater measure of God's glory and grace in my life each day.

Father, may you be pleased to grant all I ask. Amen.

Quote of the Day

life is as wonderous, curious and fragile as a breath. it comes, it goes. don't let complacency or busyness stop you from cherishing people. seize every little opportunity to sow words and deeds of life into each other. be brave, err on the side of generosity and take a risk to love those God has put into your life. - Shiao-yin Kuik

Dinner with EL @ Polo Club

Just two evenings ago, I met up with EL and had our annual meet-ups. This year, she gave me a hand-knitted scarf, made by her mum specially for me upon her request. Last year was a shrug in Christmas colours of green and red. This year's scarf was in a somewhat muted Christmas colours. Just as pretty and heart-warming a gift.

Praying for the Lord to continue to unveil the hardness of her heart towards spiritual matters and especially towards Jesus. Praying for a breakthrough in her understanding of what it means to have a relationship with a God who loves her unconditionally and cares for her. Praying for her salvation and that of her household. Lord, have mercy on her, I humbly pray. Amen.

Flavian

I also recently started to tutor my neighbour's kid who will be entering Primary 1 next week. He is Flavian Ho. For the longest time, I thought he was called Fabian until I started tutoring him. His mum is Belle. His grandma is Yan Jie. He's a bright kid and reads quite fluently for a six year old. I shared about Jesus with him last night when we came across 221BC and I was explaining what BC - Before Christ meant. He asked about how Jesus died.

After lunch post

Been over a year since I last posted an entry here. Thought I'd just blog today. Had lunch with a relatively new DG mate at United Sq who works nearby to pass him a Milan Police magnet I bought for him. Glad to have finally handed it to the rightful owner after a month of purchase of that magnet in a Milanese museum. He's young. 25. Same age as my baby cousin niuniu. A police overseas scholar. Will be the commanding officer of Woodlands Police Center from next week. No longer nearby. No more convenient lunch together. First and probably last excuse to meet up at United Sq today. He's a tall, friendly introvert. Nice lunch we had. I like him. (:

I'm thinking at 25, commanding a police center, this chap is given quite a lot of authority at a rather young age. In charge of 120-130men now, I guess if he stays on till his bond ends in another 3 years' time, he would have risen in ranks and stature even more by then. I wonder if all that means much to him. I have a feeling that he'll probably stay on and carve out a civil service career somehow. Meanwhile, he'll find other pursuits on the sideline to keep himself entertained. Otherwise, he'll be restless. Mark my words.

Celebrating EL's 35th @ Equinox

Yesterday, I took half day leave to celebrate EL's 35th with her at the Equinox. We had high tea there from 3.30pm to 5.30pm. The view from the 70th storey was magnificent in the day. The food was definitely decent and the company delightful. We had lemon bush tea for two amongst other delectable eats.

EL will be running her very first marathon on 6 Dec, next Sunday. Running has become her passion of late and it will be her first attempt in running 42km after having ran two half marathons of 21km. She hopes to complete the marathon within five and a half hours and I'm quite certain that she can do it with her perseverance.

I've invited her to the Christmas Eve musical at ACS at Dover Rd on 24 Dec but she has yet to give an affirmative answer. I hope she can make it. I'll ask her again when we meet to celebrate my birthday. My prayer for this dear friend is still for to come to know the Lord Jesus personally. Lord, may your Holy Spirit work in her heart in your own time... though I hope it is sooner rather than later...