Precious Moments

FavorFull - Week 1 - Monday

2008-10-06T06:39:00.000-07:00

If you noticed, my MSN personal message is:

"prays that the next 4 weeks will be FAVOR-full"

I'm telling you, my prayer's answered even on the first day I start my 10th week of 3rd year 1st semester. I don't need to chant God's name a million times. I don't need to fast a year. It's the matter of confession. Claiming my blessings. Professing my wishes. Believing in things unseen. Hoping on the impossible. It's just *click* like that. Just writing a simple Personal Message such as that had caused the heavens' doors flung open.

I was awaken by my alarm clock at 6.15 AM today. I was about to sit down when I felt my head's spinning. I tried again. And still had the same headache. I suspected it's migraine. It was felt the night before, after I had a long day in front of the computer. I whined abit while my sister was getting ready for school. Good thing Mom's there. She took Panadol and gave it to me. I quickly drank it and went back to sleep. Mom suggested for me to go for the afternoon classes. Somehow, I felt that I shouldn't miss AMX lecture. So I set my alarm to 8 AM.

Left house at 8.30 AM. Took the route to Kovan because I was carrying a heavy load, thus walking to Hougang was too inconvenient. The bus came a minute after I arrived at the bus station. My first favor. Sat down in the bus and suddenly felt dizzy and nauseated at the same time. I suddenly remembered that I forgot to eat breakfast (I seldom do anyway. But this one's really painful!) I was contemplating to whether or not stop at Kovan and grab something to eat before boarding the train. Somehow, after reaching the bus stop, I turned left...to the train. I was thinking, "What am I doing?! What if I faint or barf on the way? No Dede. No one to help me if I do." These thoughts just rushed into my mind. Honestly, I am quite a dependent person in these kind of things. I couldn't do it on my own if I'm under pressure. Being sick IS pressure.
I can testify that my sister's been patient enough throughout these years. She usually gets annoyed if I'm sick. But thank God she's able to survive me. After all, I'm nicer when I'm not sick. So she has to "heal" me in a way so I can get back to my original state. The state of Angel, located somewhere in the North-east-west-south of the United States of America.

I was in a nauseated yet jolly mood while waiting for the train. I listened to some Gospel music throughout the journey, and it really set my attitude, especially on a Monday--when everyone's got Monday blues. Second FAVOR, I got seats from Dhoby to Outram and from Outram to Boon Lay. I did not even expect any of those, it was just there. The second part of the trip gave me a time to close my eyes and rest my eyes. By the time I reached Boon Lay, I was no longer feeling dizzy. I also had my third FAVOR...going to school with Wan Kay. I needed company at that point of time. I waited for her near the 199 Berth and remembered about my breakfast. Oh no! It's already 10 AM and I haven't gotten my breakfast. By the time I reach NIE, it'll be too late! Nooo!! Fourth FAVOR, God reminded me about my chocolate Pocky sticks that I bought last week. I did not get a chance to eat it because I was too full. And VOILA! It was in my bag! I had those for breakfast. I'm a happy person. I fed myself chocolates in the morning. Yum Yum.

The day's not over yet. During lunch time, I was telling Wan Kay how weak I was for the past few weeks. Physically. Mentally. And especially thinking about the workload that's piling up. I also remembered about Math project, this GSP project, on which I had to partner myself with Tiara to execute this task. To do this project, I need to have the software. I didn't buy it coz it's too costly. So, the only resolution is to book the computer lab, which I find very troublesome. Out of the blue, Wan Kay took out a CD from her bag. Fifth FAVOR. She handed me the GSP CD. I am telling you... this is like surreal! I almost shouted and screamed for joy at the canteen. God had just straightened my path and really blessing me with all these favor, without me asking for it. It's so true when a righteous man walks in truth and according to God's Word, favor is running after him. Not the other way round. I don't need to chase for favor because I have it chasing after me.

Not yet ... I still have my final favor. In class today, I was listening to the lecture and suddenly Tera wrote me a note:
"Are you free next Friday? Wanyee and I want to ask you and Jeanette out for 'mission gold strings'."
I thought that they had forgotten my birthday. I totally forgot about that and here they are, asking about it AGAIN. Without my desperation. Without my hinting.

Thank God for LIFE! Thank God for TRUTH! Thank God for FAVOR!
Just a confession of faith, everything you've ever wanted is being fulfilled, even beyond what you're expecting. That's the power of the living God. Totally in awe with His awesomeness. TOTALLY!

Pictures of Many Many Moons Ago

2008-09-19T18:59:00.001-07:00

I found some old pictures of mine!!

Highschool days.

This was when I was ... 16?

19!

ENCS "Above" Live Recording

2008-09-12T20:07:00.000-07:00

My church in Singapore, ENCS (Every Nation Church Singapore) will be having a live recording concert next Saturday, 20th September 2008. Do come!

What You'll Look Like in the Past

2008-09-07T06:42:00.000-07:00

Hey!

It's the end of my longest weekend! Tomorrow, another week of school. But no worries. Week 8 will be recess week. Muahaha!
Ok. Can't wait.

Just sharing with ya a lil fun website. Info me if ya'll tried it already. I really wanna see what ya'll look like.

http://www.yearbookyourself.com

Toasts!

Here's mine:

My ultimate favorite!

The Happenings in August

2008-09-04T08:42:00.001-07:00

Yahoo!

Week 5 had been amazingly FINE for me. Started my weekend on Wednesday after 10.30am. Apparently, one of my history modules which was supposed to be Monday 5.30, Wednesday 2.30, and Thursday 9.30 was on E-Learning! The timings were off. And I'm glad that it happened this week. I still need more anyway. =P Been studying the whole week. Been exhausted from readings after readings. Been excited about the coming recess week. Bahaha. I know. I'm still enjoying my LONGEST weekend this week. =) So what were the happenings since the last time I updated this blog? August 27 -- Blood Donation Drive organized by BA Club. I was just helping to mend the booth. I was thinking of donating, but when I checked..my pressure was barely 100! No surprise though. I had had low blood pressure before. My friends suggested me to eat more iron. Dig some, guys. Feed me then. =P At 3 PM, I had a rehearsal for the next day's event. Yeah. The FPO contacted me to be an emcee for this event. It had been a year since I emcee-ed something. The great thing was ... it was all prepared by the office. The script, and everything. I only need to show myself there. Present it well. And voila! The only thing that I had problem with was the pronunciation of names. Gosh! I read Hung as "Hoong" when it's suppose to be the 'Hung' in William Hung. Diao! So glad that I rehearsed that well. August 28 -- Waited almost 5 hours for the event. In the morning, Wan Kay asked me to join her in Learning Fest--MONOPOLY, organized by Club Jeux. Since I had nothing to do, might as well go there and make new friends. =P And so I did. The people there were really cool. They influenced me to join Club Jeux, yo.

Learning Fest with Club Jeux

Then at 4 PM, the NIE Passion and Club Award began. I was wearing batik (told one of the NIE staff who's organizing this that I'm proud of my country..hence I'll be wearing my "costume"). When I met her, her face brightened. She said, "Nice batik!" Hehe. Thank you momma, fifty thou is nothing compared to looking good. Hehe. The event went well. Only lasted for an hour. Did I talk too fast? =O I think I was nervous. But who cares! I sailed through successfully. Thank God for His favor.

Speech and lots of drama.

Prof. Goh, my ex-GESL facilitator

Mrs. Seah who told me that she liked my hairstyle. =P
With ex-em-cee, Faeez

NIE babes (75% Historians)

With Club Jeux again.

Blue is her favorite color

It was planned that after the event, Wan Kay and I would go Clarke Quay to have our drinks and enjoy our Thursday evening. A girl's day out! She was all prepared with the camera, that's why I had these pictures. But most importantly, she wanted to take pictures of narcistic self. Not saying that I am. Ahem.

We went to Cafe Iguana. Ordered my usual Mango House Margaritta with salt, while she ordered Lime blended margaritta. After a few sips, yes ... Wan Kay was blushing. Permanently blushing for an hour or so. There are evidence in that. Please refer to pictures below to guess the proceeding events before we call the night off.

She's not drunk, guys. Her blood pressure just went "up".

Viewing the River

Escalator up!

Doesn't it look like a movie poster?

The ultimate favorite picture of mine!

Olympics 2008 - Victory for INA in badminton!

2008-08-15T18:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's Olympics:
Indonesia defeated Denmark in badminton for men doubles.
Go, In-Do-Ne-Sia!

Anyway. I haven't talked much about school. But school's great. The 2nd week just passed. It seems so fast for me coz I have a 4-day week. And I can officially start my weekend on Thursday, after 10.30 AM! Imagine that. I have only one morning period on Thursday. I guess I deserve it after my Monday to Wednesday's 8.30 classes all the way til 6.30, 5.30, 4.30PM (consecutively).

AND .. today Indonesia won again for the women's single. Wheee!

"Ayo Maria!" -- apparently there's this one Indo lady shouting and cheering for our heroine.

Okay! Get back to what I was doing just now.. enjoyyyyyy my weekend.
Tatas!

Album: Reading Obsession

2008-08-08T10:35:00.000-07:00

The pictures that I took for fun.
Theme: Reading Obsession

The Week When My Grandmother Passed Away

2008-08-02T19:35:00.000-07:00

Year 3 will start tomorrow!
How fast time flies. And of course, I don't grow young either. Freaks me out! Aaah!

I saw my timetable. Monday to Wednesday was pretty packed. I don't mind having packed days. It's worth my trip down to isolated NIE. My Thursday's only a period lesson (1 hour). Now that's ... what I call premarital exhaustion. But no worries, I'll have my Fridays off! Woooooo!

Some major event that happened this week was that my Grandmother passed away on Sunday, July 27th, 2008, 10.30ish AM at Tan Tock Seng hospital. The accident happened at home, when her breathing tube came out. Not only the tube, the tiny tube inside, that connects to the lungs also came out. Why did she had these tubes? On September 2007, she was hospitalized and operated because she cannot breathe on her own. SO they decided to plant these tubes inside. She's also fed through the tube in her nose. It's quite sad to see her in such condition. She had been paralyzed since 5 years ago. Her disease, multi-neuro (something. something to do with her nervous system), drained her physical strength, muscles since 11 years ago. It detereorated as the years went by. At first, it started with her tongue. She felt that her tongue was stiff. Then slowly, it affected her walking, her lifting up arms and legs, and then it paralyzed her in the end. Despite the physical disabilities, her brains were still working perfectly fine. She still memorized her children and grandchildren's birthdays. A year or two years ago, I asked her about how she met my grandfather. Before the surgery, she still can communicate with me using her mouth. I had to guess the words. But after the surgery, she can only communicate with her eyes, while we have to point the letters and find the letter that she wanted. To get a sentence of 4 words, it took about 15 minutes. It was really hard for her, especially when her brains were still working well! I believe she had so much things to say but she can't.

When she passed away, I felt that the house became really lonely. My grandfather, especially, had been in his "emo" state since last Sunday. I know how it feels to lose someone you really love. I am not an expert in this coz my grandparents had been married for 51 years, this year. They just had their golden anniversary last year, which was not celebrated publicly. That long journey, and the vows that they may have not made, for better or worst, showed me what true love means. It's easy to say that you love someone when they're in a good state, be it in their appearance or finance. But are you able to say you still love that same person who was well 12 years ago but now paralyzed? Are you able to stick with him/her to the end? As a young woman, I am much in awe of the love life my grandparents had to go through. I myself had to learn from them about what true love means. Looks will wither. Strength will weaken. The important element of true love lies within us. Everything. Loyalty, faithfulness, mercy, meekness towards the other partner. It's all our decision. And I have learnt that it is my decision to do what is right. I have the freedom to choose who I will marry, but I do not have the freedom to choose my consquence. Divorce rates have been growing tremendously. Doesn't that trigger us that the world looks only at temporary love? Marriage is not the ending to a love life, it is the beginning of God's blessings or on the other hand you can call it, a nightmare. I may not have experienced marriage before, but I have set my focus on the things that will last forever.

Thank you Gong2 and Popo for your example. Gong2 may have not known Christ yet, but it's all by God's grace that he can last that long, through the better and worst with his spouse. I pray that more men will have Gong2's character traits. I pray that there will be men who know their purpose in life and will always fight for someone dear to them. My grandmother passed down this legacy to the children and grandchildren:

A never give up spirit

Let this be our prayer today to never give up in anything worth dying for.

A Leader is a Reader

2008-07-26T06:40:00.000-07:00

I've been stuck without a computer for a week! My laptop crashed. It was terrible being disconnected from the world of web. Yet, everything was never fated to happen. It was destined to make me realize that I still can survive without technology (except Nintendo DS and cellphone). But that didn't matter, I was never 24/7 on phone or playing DS, unlike the computer. What was I doing? MSN, Facebook, watch videos, listen to music, and everything else. It seemed that I had "something" to do online, though it was plain wasting time.

I thought I'd never survived the week; but days proved me wrong. I spent the whole week reading inspirational books. I've finished 2 books and started a new one last Tuesday..in just a matter of 6 days (coz I bought a new laptop on the 7th day). Productive eh? I was quite surprised myself. I never finish reading books before, except textbooks. ALthough I did remember that I finished one storybook series when I was 12. After that, no more reading for me.

I chose to read inspirational books because firstly, there's no other genre! (obviously I don't buy books, so feel free to give me books for presents. Haha!) Secondly, I believe that there's more that I can learn from books such as those. The books that I've read and reading are:

1. Your Knight in a Shining Armor: Discovering Your Lifelong Love
by P.B. Wilson
2. The Woman that I'm Becoming
by T. Suzanne Eller
3. Woman of Influence: Ten Traits of Those Who Want to Make a Difference
by Pam Farrel

Questioning why I read these?
I learn alot from these kind of books. How to become a better daughter, a better friend, a better sister, and it enlightens me to not only become an ordinary future wife/mother, but someone who is ready to help her husband goes through trials and tribulations. The first book talks alot about relationships. From the title itself, you can already predict that the book contains teachings about finding the right partner. Wilson brought us to ponder what LOVE is. Many times, we ladies are trapped in an emotional attachment. Because it feels good to have a man to feed our loneliness with sweet words or romantic dinners, we are too blinded to see what's around us. But most importantly, we're too captivated by infatuation to look what's ahead of us. It's not wrong to love. It's not wrong to feel that you want to be loved. We are created like that, that is why we're different from animals. What about animal instict you say? I heard that phrase alot of times. A girl falls for a guy, or vice versa, because of their animal instinct. Sigmund Freud based his theory of sexuality on instict as well. Yeah. Human beings have animal instinct. It's just that they don't call it an instinct. It's the yuppie-word called emotion.

If your emotions overwhelm you, you would do everything that you feel is right at that moment. Some "auntie" cuts in the queue line in Burger King, you snort and complain to your friend that she's a LOSER. Right under our nose, your sibling takes one of your things without permission. You blow up. Things like this are all run by our emotions. But these things are definitely not good. If you run your life with emotions, you are heading to the path of foolishness. How many times have you ever regretted by the decisions that we make? Making decisions require wise and sound reasoning. It is like going into the grocery store when you are hungry. You spend alot on the food you think you need to eat, but in the end, you've wasted money because you're too full to eat. Have you heard that saying? Don't do grocery shopping when you're hungry.; you'll tend to buy everything.

Similarly to our beautiful relationships. I myself sometimes question why do people get together when they've only known each other for less than a month? Worst, I've heard 2 weeks! Aren't they afraid that once you get together, all the hidden motives, habits, past experiences sprung out? Then most girls would feel cheated, "How come I never knew about this until now?" Disappointment. Heart-broken. Our lives are too precious to be broken into pieces by strangers. Don't you think that we ladies have so much more to offer? When everyone views men as the ultimate strongest living creature, it means that they are physically capable. They're tall. They're strong. On the other hand, we ladies are so much stronger spiritually. I believe that every women in this Earth, who may or may not know the Lord Jesus Christ, too have the potential to be mentally stronger than men. That's why they call men waffles, and women spaghetti. Men are always "in the box", while women are mostly flexible and far-sighted. The difference between a godly woman and a non-believer is that godly women are able to discern what is right and what is wrong, because our objective truth is based on the Bible. We are God's mouthpiece to speak to our husbands. We are very sensitive towards the spiritual realms. But this sensitivity can be a weakness for women. Again, we are fallible to men's conquests. Thus, I encourage all women out there, to be strong. Do not be the victims of unwanted brokenness and deceit. I know you can persevere this challenge. Don't worry about what man you'll get. As long as you keep focus on God, serving the community, and be selfless, God will bring you the right man at the right time. He has provided the man for you. All you need to do is to get ready. Don't rush it coz God knows when you're ready or not. Imagine a 10 year old boy asking his father for a motorcycle. If you're his father, what will you say? His father knows that if he gives his young son a motorcycle, it would endanger his life. What if his son crashes? What if the motorcycle tip-over his son when he's cleaning it? Just like our physical father, our Father in Heaven wants to keep you safe. He wants you to enjoy life and not get hurt by "strangers".

This entry isn't only for the ladies. Men too. If you're not ready, please oh please, do not play with women's feelings. If you practice doing so, you know what kind of husband you'll become. What you sow is what you reap. You can't reap mangoes if you plant potato seeds can you? Men out there, you all should also prepare yourself to become a great husband and father in the future. If during your single life you're exposed to alcoholic drinks, your marriage life wouldn't instantly change your habits. Researchers said that a habit is formed when you do the same thing over and over again in the period of 2 weeks (14 days). From 14 days onwards, you'll do the same thing. It's a habit. Change those bad habits, men and women. Ya'll are precious!

Thanks be to God who always causes us to triumph in His name!

** These are basically what I've summed up from P.B. Wilson's book. Some are revelations. Not in the book **

The word for today is
Wisdom

3 Days with P4 Girls

2008-07-11T03:10:00.000-07:00

True enough. My day turned out great. It even started a few hours after I blogged about it.

Today was the end of my observation in P4 Love. Btw, I was and still am posted to CHIJ Our Lady of the Nativity for a 5 week Teaching Assistantship. I was already acquainted with this class and a bunch of girls. They were warm, friendly, and cute! They actually washed off all my perception about upper primary children. They listened to what I have to say. I somehow felt like I am their teacher as well as their friend. Of course, not to the point of extremity.

The class had a group activity called "Find Your Match". There were 34 pupils in that class. Each one had to take one card. 17 cards were fractions, the other 17 were decimals. Since they were learning about decimals, they had to mentally convert fractions to decimals, vice versa. The objectives of the activity was to find their respective partners. Since one of them was absent, the teacher gave me a part to play in this activity. The girls were overjoyed. I'm not joking! They were "Yay-ing" me for 3 seconds! I counted.
I've also counted the girls who came up to me to be my partner, although they didn't have my match. When I told them it's wrong, they gave me a papaya face. Poor them! My partner didn't come at all. She was standing beside her seat, blurred. She has a really cute face. She doesn't really like to socialize, but she CAN interact with people. She is the carefree type of girl, doesn't really pay attention to what's happening around her. Very cute. I came to her and showed my card. At that point, she gave me a grin and told her friends that she got me as her partner. Her friends were jealous. (Yeah! Teachers can be divas!). Then she sticked our cards on the board. She even had to write our names on the cards to mark that I was her partner! I enjoyed being in this class, really.

During the written work session, I observed one girl called Jia Wen (a very nice girl too). She asked me a question and I was not too sure what the teacher wants, so I asked her to go ask the teacher. She was scared of the teacher, I think. But she told me one thing that kept on ringing in my head: It's okay. Learn from mistakes.
I smiled instantly. Coming from a P4 pupil, it IS really amazing! Gosh! My eyes were instantly open to these young girls. They're so precious! I don't care if they're big or small, they're all very precious! I really wanna dedicate my life for these girls. I know that my life as a teacher-to-be will impact so many young people. And like what a quote says ...

Teachers, you may never know when your influence stops.

The word for today is
Precious

Today X, Tomorrow ^

2008-07-10T06:45:00.000-07:00

Have you ever been in a situation where your life had just been swallowed into the suckiest pit of all times? Does it feel like you just don't have the mood to do anything, your whole body's weak, and your tummy hurts really bad because you're holding your tears?
It had been a refreshing, yet awful in some parts, today. After I came back from Learning Journey with the P4s today, I sat in the staff room for 30 minutes and stared at something that I can stare at. I didn't feel like doing anything at all. When I ordered my lunch today, I was also in a verge of tears. It just sucks being me today.

My word for today is
TRUST

[MFLW] Tomorrow will be better than today. Much much better.

Happiness vs Joy

2008-06-19T20:05:00.000-07:00

Holidays went so fast. Practicum starts next Monday. I've prepared my attires, the papers, but I guess I haven't prepared myself. It's gonna be tough, and I pray that it's gonna be fun. One thing that I wish for is so that I can work with younger kids, rather than older ones. I honestly found joy by just being around little kids. It's like, when you're around them, time flies really fast, and you are really busy of doing things, chatting with them, or even accompany them to the toilet. At the end of the day, you feel really tired, coz little kids drain most of your physical and even psychological strength. BUT, all of these breaks up to one point ... enjoyment. No matter how stressful or tired I am serving little kids, at the end of the day I feel an overwhelming JOY. That's the difference of happiness and joyfulness. Happy is just a temporary emotion. You're happy when you receive presents. You're happy when someone compliments you. But joy is what keeps you cheerful in the midst of distress. Joy is an attitude that motivates you to keep on believing and have faith that something great is coming. It's those things that not all everyone possess.

[MFLW] The joy of the Lord is your strength.

Backstage

2008-06-02T20:02:00.001-07:00

Now I'm in MSA Kindergarten office. After playing the keys in devotion, I ate breakfast at the canteen with several seniors and my sister. As for what I'm doing today, I had Performing Arts rehearsal at 12 noon today. Yes, I am part of it. I'll be managing the backstage with my sister. There are lots of things to do for backstagers. It is a very crucial element in a performance. I'm not saying this because I'm glorifying myself by throwing myself into this task. But I'm trying to make an awareness that each part of a play plays a crucial job, no matter how small it may seem.

[MFLW]: I don't wanna go back Singapore so soooon. I still wanna have holidays! =D

Celebration Continuation

2008-06-01T18:04:00.000-07:00

As promised, here are more pictures of my birthday celebrations. It officially ended on May 25. I celebrated it with 2 of my other friends and the other 2 are the leaders in church. We celebrated it in J.W. Marriott, the all-you-can-eat restaurant. Before that, I had my other celebration on May 13 in Mulia Hotel. We also ate in an all-you-can-eat Japanese restaurant. The best stuff there is the Teppans.

@ Mulia Hotel

Drinking Sakae. Legally 21.

Dirty teeth.

Swarovski Crystals from South Africa

The 5 May babies

Cutting the cake that we don't eat. Xp

Posing with Berka

Guys' table with Esther

My Thoughts on Blogging

2008-06-01T17:49:00.000-07:00

Although I claimed that I have a blog, but honestly, I'm not the type who'd update it everyday, except the first few days when I started blogging. To me, blogging is like your life experiences that you wanna share with everyone. Sometimes, there are things that I do not wanna share publicly, thus I also kept myself a private journal -- handwritten! It's funny how time have changed. We're no longer looking into people writing diaries and locking them up so that no one can read your private stuff. But now, look where technology got us into..a public diary. The more who reads, the better. So, I guess some stuff you just have to keep to yourself and not let the public know your private life, unless you WANT their attention on it. You may never know what kinda people reads your blog. The tendency of people is to be judgmental. You can't blame them for not doing so. Watch what you write. Select your thoughts, experiences, and words carefully.

[MFLW]: It's already June!

21st Surprises

2008-05-12T07:08:00.000-07:00

First and foremost, thank you so much for all of YOUR birthday wishes!

I had a great day today. Woke up at 8 AM this morning. Do what? Walked around the room while thanking God that I am still standing tall on my 21st year of living. Then, I read sms-es. Then I went to my mom's room and she wished me happy birthday. In there, I asked her to order noodles for breakfast. =P When I came back, I laid down on my bed again, and my sister shocked me when she woke up and just jerked on me saying Happy Birthday!

Breakfast came, and we all went down to eat our noodles. Suddenly, a stranger came into the house. I wasn't wearing my glasses at that time, and I was still in PJs. I strained my eyes to see that Stella, my girlfriend, was there! I was like...THIS IS THE RANDOMEST THING EVER! She surprised me, really. She gave me a Guatemalan frame with Ivana, Adelene, Stella, and myself in the picture. She stayed for a while to chat. Then she left around 10 AM because I too had to prepare myself to go EX (Entertainment X'enter).

By 11.50ish AM, my siblings and I arrived in EX. I was invited by one of the MSA students (K3) to Hard Rock Cafe. I only knew her, and only started teaching her last week. We had a great time in there! Lots of surprises!

At the end of the day, after watching Speed Racer with my siblings, my parents surprised me with a beautiful gift that they gave during dinner. It's a necklace, with a white-gold and diamond pendant shaped as a key with a 21 carving on it. IT'S SOOOO COOOOL! They said it's difficult to find "key pendants".

All I wanna say through my surprises and blessings today is that ... I am sooooooooooo happy to have a great family! Great friends! Great students! Great great great great great GOD!!

God,
If not for Your goodness, if not for Your grace.
I don't know where I would be today.

With Sicilia

In Hard Rock Cafe

The "surprise"!

With siblings

[MFLW]: I will post a picture of my necklace SOON!

for your information..

2008-04-23T20:39:00.000-07:00

I'm in MSA Kindergarten teacher's office ... doing Grade 1 Math lesson plan. And yes, ACM 201 proved to be useful and time-consuming!
I'm gonna teach on the topic: Money. Anyone has an idea what's a creative way to teach money for Grade 1 Math class?

I ate siomay today. YUMMY! It's been awhile. Tera and Wanyee, when you're here, you should try this food. It's siu mai (fish, I think) with the sauce and ketchup. I really don't know how to describe, but it's awesome.

I'll try to post my brother's birthday pictures. Alright, teaching here I come.

wednesday, thursday, friday, saturday

2008-04-23T02:49:00.000-07:00

Wednesday

The eve of exam. I planned to study in Macs the whole day with Iggy and to meet Jeans for lunch too. Iggy and I were already in Macs. Just a few minutes after we sat down, Tera called regarding the class T-shirts. The company had problems with the images. They could not stretch the designs into maximum quality. That means, I have to send them pictures with higher pixels. That day I did not bring my laptop. I was a bit upset though, but I did go back home in the end. I decided to study at home. I dragged Iggy along. Cut the story short, I sent the designs to the company before lunchtime. Jeans came for lunch too. Before lunch, some things happened. It let me down. It was really a disappointment, especially when I'll be having exam the next day. I tried to forget by singing songs (I'm on the piano and Jeans, Iggy, and my sis sing). After the sing-along sessions, we walked to Hougang Interchange to grab bubbleteas. I wonder whose idea was it. I must say that Wednesday had been the toughest day of the week. I'm so glad that I got a chance to pray about it with my fellas. They're a real encouragement to me. I believed that tomorrow will be better than today.
Thursday

And it was. Besides finishing Dr. Rahil's exam, I felt overjoyed and encouraged by my friends. Historians united. The class T-shirts were delivered early in the morning. Tera, Jeans, Wanyee, and I were planning to wear them to the examination hall. I thought we all should, but I don't feel good telling the others to wear the shirts coz if not that'll make me look like I'm "bragging" about my designs. I was abit disappointed when some of them were not wearing the shirts after they bought them. But miraculously...15 minutes before we enter the hall, I saw almost ALL of them wore the shirts! Even when we enter, I saw Dr. Rahil's shocked face. It was like the attack of black ants! The rest of the people in the hall also stared at us. They called us snooty! Ahem. Who else if it wasn't the Chemistry student (you know who u are!). I was and still am overwhelmed. I have great friends!

Friday

The day of freedom. Finished the other and last paper! Australia!!! Why are you so complicated?! Well, not really. I think I'm gonna score well for this module anyway. =P As long as I'm happy, everything will look good to me. I came to school early to study and in less than 6 hours, I was done with the paper. I was in a state of shock. I still wasn't feeling the victory yet! Even in the bus, I was quiet. There were still remnants of the convict period, Vietnam War, and feminist writers. =S

Front design. Courtesy of Jean's FB picture.

After eating dinner with Wan Kay in JP (the Hokkien Mee!), I contemplated to go either with my Aunt or to Life Group or home. I decided to go LG instead. And I was truly blessed that I came. I got to share testimonies and be blessed too. Ate Ash messaged me that night. She was sad because I'll be going back to Indo (for a 2 month vacation) on Sunday. Before that, Wan Kay already said that she'll be missing me too. I told her, imagine after graduation. Her face was red! I was sad too. Again ... I thank God for great friends! I'll miss all of you. It's not over. We still have 2 more years to be hyped about! Agree?

Saturday

The packing begins in the morning. I was still shocked that I finished my semester! Nothing else to study when everyone else are still studying and exam-ing. In the afternoon, I met Wan Yee. Our appointment was impromptu. I only asked her out in the morning. She had nothing to do, sick of studying, and lived nearby, so why not. We watched the randomest movie ever: The Escape from Huang Shi. It was based on a Western guy's life who went to Nanjing and then to Huang Shi to help the orphans. It was abit gory and of course, historical movies expect you to let go of your emotions. Wan Yee cried at the end. Hehehe.
After the movie, we went shopping! The best day ever! I felt my freedom then and there. Haha. I bought 1 Forever21 sweater, 1 Forever21 short-sleeved jacket, one Zara cardigan. I nudged Wan Yee to buy a green cardigan from Zara. And she did. Looking forward to see you wear 'em when you're here, babe!

The day did not end there. I went for music practice then recording studio in the evening. My sister, Mark, P.Neli, and I recorded P.Neli's "rap" song somewhere in Potong Pasir. It took us about 2 and a 1/2 hours to complete. My takes for the bridge seemed forever. I was also upset at myself for not hitting the first four notes strongly! In the end, we stick to another arrangement. We'll see how it goes when I'm back. But it's a wrap!

sunday, monday, tuesday

2008-04-18T18:38:00.000-07:00

Hey hey!

I've been physically and mentally tired this week. Starting from Sunday, when I stayed up late to finish my English lesson plan which was to be submitted the next day before 12 noon.

SUNDAY

On Sunday, Ate Ashley invited me to her house. I was quite worried coz what if I cannot finish my work. But then somehow I said yes. And I even suggested to sleep over at her place, given that from her place to Boon Lay is nearer. And so I did. Merryn was there too. We watched MSA's West-Side Story and they were pretty amazed at the number of mics we used! Haha.
Ate Lea cooked dinner for us. We ate a mixture of brown, white, and Jasmine rice (Ate Ash cooked that!), this soup thing, and fried fish. YUUUUUUMMMM! It's Filipino food, but I loveeeee 'em. I must confess that I went 5-6 rounds of rice because I enjoyed it so much.

I somehow managed to finish my lesson plan at 11 pm.And before sleeping, Ate Ash and I played Viwawa (Sushido) for a while. We got lag problems, so we decided to stop. We slept in the living room, on the sofas. I couldn't sleep until 1ish. I guess too much to think about. But I managed to rest my body.

MONDAY

The submission date! I was in campus from 8.45 AM. I went to the computer lab and met Jonathan Boey and gang. Apparently, they too wanted to print out lesson plans. 10 AM, almost everyone who's taking English CS module flocked the computer lab. It was such a hilarious scene. Btw, I met my Secondary school experience mate, Aishah (Malay Lit), in computer lab. Been a looooooong time. She's still nice as usual. Haha!

I met Wan Kay, Wei Boon, and Iggy and we decided to submit the assignments together. After that, I planned to stay in school to study for my Australia exam on Friday. Wei Boon was also in Australia (Yeah! The class has only 7 people. The rest took Europe). As we were walking down to eat our lunch, I broke my sandals! The strap came off! It was so irritating! In the middle of the campus, and it was RUINED?! It happened in LT01, in between block 5 and 7. So I sat down with those two people and we're thinking how to solve this problem. The guys, being guys, said to staple it. (Anyone wanna comment on this?) I somehow thought of people in hall. And the first one that I had in mind was ROSENNA! It was also so coincidental that she was leaving hall to meet her friend in campus. After I hung up, I was thinking...that's really strange, I didn't even have to think twice to call her. Somehow, I realized that I called the right person. She has petite feet like me, she knows style, she stays in hall, she has spare sandals? (Rosie, if you're reading this, you're a miracle!;P)

We waited for about 10 minutes and she brought me the sandals. Amazingly, it's the type that I wanted since agessss ago. It was a black Roxy strap sandals. The sandals that I wanted to buy was Havaianas, but I figured that it's the most expensive sandals ever. Rosenna said she's giving these sandals to me. I was shocked. Her reason was that she didn't use them anymore coz it causes blisters and it's too big for her. At that moment I was still shocked. But then I was excited (yes, for a pair of sandals). I felt sad too when I had to throw away my broken old pair. My old pair would be one year old this June. *Sniff*. But once you let go of the past, you'll receive a better future. Thanks Rosie!

Monday was studying time with Wei Boon, Iggy, and Wan Kay.
We stayed there until 6.30ish. We had dinner in the new Canteen A! But we ordered Macs. =P Subway was terrible. The queue was horrible. Iggy was able to get Subway because he queued up first. The rest of us, including Moi whom we met in the library, ordered Macs. We were also coincidentally seated in groups. Iggy was alone on one side and the four of us on the other.

Subway versus Macs.

Hilarious! It was such a lovely day. And I did "learn" something at least.

TUESDAY

Went to AMK library with Iggy, Wei Boon, and Eric to study for Thursday exam. It was about Historical Interpretations, the philosophy of history, rather than the usual content-based history modules. It was the toughest, and I can assure you that everyone agrees with me. For both Iggy and I, the date of assignment submission was too close with the exams. We only had 3 more days left to study our history. For me, I only had 3 days to study for BOTH exams because I only had 2 papers, one's on Thursday and another on Friday!

WEDNESDAY-FRIDAY

* to be continued *

ARGH! There's so much things to talk about! I'll try to finish 'em somehow. Thursday and Friday was the best!

Stressed is Desserts Spelled Backwards

2008-04-12T08:16:00.000-07:00

Before I start blabbering, I just read an email from my 7 years and 11 months cousin. She wrote:

Stesha D. to me

show details 3:18 PM (7 hours ago)

hello, what are you doing i am at school. when are you going back to jkt. bye

I think that is really cute. Well, apparently, I will be going back Indo in a while. Phew. It'll be a 2 months holiday and I can't wait til exam ends.

I wouldn't call myself a mugger coz I don't think I can ever be one. I cannot study the whole week for exams coz I feel that it is a waste of time, especially when I got stressed in the process. I am the type who learns along the way. So, for the whole semester (13 weeks), those are the times when I study. I cannot study too much because in the end, whatever comes out from my pen on my essays will be things that I already thought about and able to relate to. Besides, education is about life change. I guess for me, grades are not that important. Don't take it to the extreme side, of course, who wants to get a C or D! But grades are just bonuses. And it is not the ultimate goal in education. Though, I must confess that I did get several A's in my last semester. But I didn't try too hard, you see. I enjoy what I was doing. No wonder they always say to do the best in what you are interested in. Because you don't need to try hard to achieve better results. Enjoying the subject is the most crucial point in education. Less stress but achieve perfectness.

You know, lesson plans are stressing me out, but at the same time kinda motivates me to be creative. It's all part of learning. I don't have to know everything to write lesson plan. We are not expected to write so much since it's our first year right? But at the same time, we should not reject the mistakes. It is okay to make mistakes. We learn along the way.

Stressed is Desserts Spelled Backwards.

The funny thing is that our English CS tutor closed the FAQs on the 7th of April. Any questions asked beyond that date will not be replied. She even posted another reminder to say that she was not going to answer anymore questions. So, guess what.. I counted.. at least 5 people came to me for advices by means of MSN, sms, one to one, etc. It's really funny coz it's as if I'm playing the second role (substitute role) of my tutor. I'll get questions EVERYDAY! I think I should open FAQs session in my blog eh? =P

Oops. It's 11.30 already. I better sleep. 6.45 tomorrow. Wake me up again! ;)

[MFLW] I ate ayam penyet today with my sis, Love, and Rosna. THANK YOU ROSNA FOR THE TREAT! =D

DISC

2008-04-11T21:13:00.000-07:00

Do you know this personality/behavior test called D.I.S.C?
Just a quick summary of what that is..

D is for Dominance/Determination. People who are D are usually the leader-type of person. They want everything to be done according to what they want. They seldom compromise. They like it straight to the point, be it in workplace or studies. They accept aggression and reject affection. They tend to be directive. When we invite them to movies, the first thing they'll ask is: "What movie?" Straight to the point. What they're afraid of is being controlled. They're afraid of another D? =D

I is for Influence/Interaction. This is the kind of people who likes to talk about everything, from A to Z, from black to white, from Russia to Antarctica. They have the capabilities of doing so because they love interaction. Most of all, they love people. They reject aggression and accept affection. They tend to get approval and recognition. When going out to the cinemas, the first thing they'll ask is: "Who's going?" The more the merrier. I people are afraid of rejections. So, remember not to ignore I people, because they'll be terrorized by your ignorance. They'll think you reject them, when you're actually sleeping when they sms-ed.

S is for Steadiness. They have a strong sense of stability and security. They like to cooperate and work with people, rather than working alone. They are afraid of changes and uncertainty. If they are working on a project, and the authority says to change the topic, they'll be "oh-no, oh-no-ing". S tends to overly willing to give in. When asked what movie to watch, they'll answer, "Anything. Up to you." Very indecisive. But the best part is, S tends to be supportive. One more thing about S...you get to be very stable in your picks. You tend to like things for a prolonged period of time (e.g. Fish and Chips allllll the way). Remember, S people do not like changes.

C is for Conscientiousness. The C people are the most organized people out of the four. Their goal is to work for perfection with order and accuracy. They want everything to have quality and correctness. Their fears are criticisms of their work. And sometimes, it can get really bad that they tend to overly criticize themselves and also others. How do you know if a person is a C? They're quite expressionless. Who knows what they're thinking with that face. They can win a million dollar but still put on that face. C people are very critical and analytical. When they're talking with an I person, they tend to analyze the way he talks and sways his hand here and there than listening to what he has to say. It's not necessarily a bad thing. But it can get out of hand. The same applies to the rest.

Your behavior can change depending on situation. I may be an I with old friends, but I can also be S with new friends. It changes. This test is not to justify YOUR behavior. This is so that you can be aware that not all people are like you. It's others first, then you. In all we do, we must always think that we are blessed to serve. So, with this test, we can roughly estimate what our friends are so that we won't hurt them. And in turn, they will not hurt you either. Not only that, we can appreciate them better by understanding our differences.

Can you guess what's mine?
What's yours?

An Afternoon @ Bugis

2008-04-10T07:58:00.000-07:00

I was not in the mood to blog yesterday. So, let's chunk everything in today.

Yesterday, I was in the NLB @ Bugis with Wanyee. We studied in study lounge @ level 5. In total, I think we studied for 3 hours. We were studying history (Historical Interpretations) and it seems that we've known everything but not all. WAGGHHH! And here came distractions...websites! I helped her checked air fare tickets to JKT. I can't remember if it's valuair or jetstar but apparently, she can get it for $250ish return tickets. Nice right?

Distraction wasn't only that. Our hungry stomach kept on calling us to eat Pizza Hut / Swensens / Fish and Co. / Mexican food / Chinese food / any food that we had in mind. We were famished! (honestly, she was. Not me. =P) Hence, we left as early as 4.30 P.M from NLB (which stands for National Library "Books"? =S I seriously don't know. Educate me someone!) We ate at Bugis Junction. The restaurant was called Terra. Funny name. Reminds me of Tera. =P
The food was quite alright. They have $9.90++ set meals. And in my opinion, the baked potato with mushrooms and vegetables are fantastic! And it wasn't that bad for a $9.90 meal. It includes soup of the day and ice cream. Plain water is free. Try it!
But mind you, the service was pretty awful, at least that was what we experienced yesterday. But WHO CARES! You can always feedback on their service. It's of less importance as long as you can indulge on delicious yet inexpensive food!

After our meal, we walked to Bugis Street to digest our food. I never knew the place was quite "interesting" to window-shop--though I find Lou Hu (HK) and Ni Ren Si Jie (Shenzhen) better in terms of prices and fancy stuff. I do like the service shops here though. Like those nail stores, etc. It is really eye-catching, especially when they design the place cozily. Gosh. Girls do pamper themselves!

Then, at one point, I saw this little salon at one of the alleyway. I was struck by the services they offer.

Hair extension
Braids
Corwall
Perming
Bonding
Coloring
...and Dreadlocks!

I saw the prices and it was affordable! Hair extension starts from $1. So, I sat down at the seat and picked my choice (I chose a braid extension) and they braided a strand of my hair. It was awesome! I spent $10 for that one braid. Err...not so cheap, but this is something new! I tried to convince Wan Yee, but apparently she was not ready for the adventure. So, tadaaa... whatcha think?

It's orange and black.

[MFLW] I might be going to Planetshakers tomorrow with some of the ENCS people. Yay!

Japanese Resto @ Raffles City

2008-04-08T07:53:00.000-07:00

Yoyoyo!

Tuesday's ending soon. Exactly in an hour's time. I think today is quite a fruitful day. I went for an Esplanade Tour this morning with CS class (except Wendy). We went into the Concert Hall for the first time. It was majestic! Its sitting capacity was 1800. There was a huge organ with...how many? 4000 pipes? All made of glass. Interestingly, it was placed at the 3rd level. Imagine how people view the player. Phew! The tour guide said that there isn't many pipe-organ concerts because people do not really appreciate it. There are only 2 to 3 pipe-organ performances a year.

We toured the Concert Hall and the Theatre Hall. In the Theatre Hall, people are preparing for We Will Rock You the musical. It was also the first time stepping into a Category 1 area. =D

After the tour, Wan Yu, Vans, my sister, and I decided to grab our lunch. After much contemplation, we chose the Japanese restaurant (Marche style) in Raffles City.

Good Stuff: Sliced Beef Udon, Soft Shell Crab, Shitake, Omelette.
Prices: Ranging from $3-18 (or maybe more for stuff like salmon this and thats)
Location: Basement level of Raffles City (near J.Co Donuts).

[MFLW] Will blog more later. Gotta catch up with some people. ;)

Three P.M.

2008-04-06T23:53:00.000-07:00

3 PM and I haven't taken a shower!

After I woke up at 9.30 AM today, I already put on my thinking skills. I started working on my English lesson plan from 10 AM until 2 PM. And I've only completed 40%! I think I need motivation. I realize that I cannot study at home. I need people to talk to. People to keep me company. And I need them to be there to remind me not to get distracted! (To tell you the truth, at home, I get distracted because of MSN, Viwawa, and all other online stuff) So! Tomorrow, I shall go out somewhere.
Actually, I was suppose to go to NLB with Iggy this morning. But I slept late last night, so I was afraid I cannot wake up. =P

[MFLW] Please mind me if there are posts that seem too scholarly. They are my exam revisions. Cheers!

His 10th Birthday.

2008-04-06T09:47:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday Steven Djie!
7th of April

Reviews of Viwawa

2008-04-06T05:47:00.000-07:00

Seriously! I like my blog. I like this font too. LOL. Fine! I shall stop being solipsistic.

In case you're wondering what are the two images hanging and floating on my page, they are actually optical illusions. I can't remember when I "save as" those images, but apparently they were supposedly ideas for my history class t-shirt design. The quote in conjunction with the image is "One man's bias is another man's perspective."
It's kinda catchy, but our class adopts a democratic environment. Since I won't be using these images for the design, might as well post them here. I hope it's not copyrighted. *shivers*

I don't feel like studying! I have to do English lesson plan which is worth 70% of the course. It's due next Monday! And my exams are next Thursday and Friday (back-to-back paper). I've tried to study, but it all comes back to Viwawa. It's a really cool online game. Not MMORPG. It's more of arcade games. You can play Big 2 (cap sa / da di), Sushido (if you've ever played Bejewelled, that's it!), Stwack (fighting game but your character is a stickman whose hair will change color as it levels up), and many more. I was first introduced to this game by Melvyn. We were in ACM 201 (Math curriculum studies), was not really paying attention because of my empty stomach. It was also at the last 15 minutes of the lesson. I revised the game probably a week after the introduction. I was with Wan Yee in the computer lab and was getting really bored. So I told her (she has an account too) to log on and play together. Never realized that Viwawa games are AWESOME! I get to interact with my friends and also show off my skills. If I have one, that is. Their games are mostly mind-reading games. It's good! You're educating yourself with these kinda games. That's it for the site. I hope Viwawa staff can read this blog. I wanna win their prize!

[MFLW] Iggy don't be late tomorrow. 10 A.M @ MRT

Inspirations on "The Waiting"

2008-04-05T08:43:00.000-07:00

HOLLA!

I'm just back from music practice. We actually ended pretty early today..6.45ish. Then went to grab dinner with Abiel and Mike. We decided to chill after that in Mike's rooftop, which is really cool btw...the pool's on top of the building! WOOT! And I saw sooooo many stars. Beautiful!

Well, that's not all, we had a great time singing, sharing, fellow-shipping (this really sounds like a cellgroup isn't? =P). At first we wanted to write a song about the "stars". Apparently, the song that came out from me was Switchfoot's "Stars". Abiel's song was Corrine Rae's "Just Like the Stars". Well, that's why kinda find it difficult to write songs WITHOUT inspirations. Oh well. Since the three of us are single, we were actually planning to write about the waiting. (Heyy! Cool! I can use this the song title: "The Waiting"..LOL!)
We also shared about the identity that we're looking for. Is being in a relationship everything for you? I can totally relate this to Israel's song: Only You can satisfy!
In the end, it's only God who can satisfy our every needs, every desires, every wants.

I hope that our song will turn out great. Will catch up with them again next week. Next week's destination ... Ayam penyet in Lucky Plaza!

Good night everyone. I have to sing tomorrow. Must wake up at 6.45! Wake me up! =)

[MFLW] Try this personality test: http://dna.imagini.net/friends/

List #1

2008-04-04T22:41:00.000-07:00

Hey Hey!
I finished with school. No more morning classes. No more lectures. No more going to Boon Lay with heavy bags! But, I still have 2 exams on April 17 and 18. Then I'm gonna fly back to Indo to enjoy my 2 months holiday. Yummy!
Can't believe that I'm almost a Year 3 student. Time flies really fast. And fast enough to get me back to where I belong, leaving Singapore. There's, of course, excitement to go back home, but on the other hand, there's always the feeling that I'll be leaving my other home too. Especially the people I love and care for. ALOT of them! And it's impossible to name you all one by one. It's just amazing how God placed them as part of my life. I know I'm blessed with such wonderful friends. =)

In this appreciation list, there aren't any names that are more important than the others. No hierarchical order. All are equally important. Thank you...

Tera, Sze Jia, Thomas, Wan Yee, Jeanette, Iggy

Sze Jia and I rollerblading in East Coast Park.

Thomas and I on a Heritage Trail to Civic District.

Above left to bottom left: Wan Yee, Sze Jia, Jeanette, and I @ NIE Canteen level 2 - celebrating Tera's birthday.

History mates

ALMOST all history people (July '06 intake) are here celebrating Tera's 20th birthday.

After Dr. Fernando's Early Modern Southeast Asia class. Left to right: Kain, Terence, Iggy, Anna, Bernard.

Tera's house.

Iggy crying over spilt-milk @ Max Brenner.

Rosenna, Wan Kay, Melvyn, Wayne Onn, Melvin, Faeez, Tze Wei

Rosenna pointing at my wound in the bus.

Wan Kay and I studying for Math.

Faeez, Melvin Chin, and I after NIE Grand Welcome 2007.

Melvyn, Wan Kay, and I concentrating in class.

Abang Sherefudin

Fullerton.

Giver of Logitech webcam for my 20th birthday.

Other beautiful people!

AED 102 Project Group - Yvonne Ho, Adelene, San Yi, Kai Jun, me

Roy, borrow laptop arh?!

Historians and one Literature boy.

ICT project group - Me, Adelene, Michelle, Hakim.

ICT last day with Yuyan.

Secondary school experience with Huda and Aishah.

And many other people whom I have never taken picture with! Uni life rocks because of ya'll! =)

I am very much grateful for those people whom I always can count on, especially tutoring me in my school subjects, giving me insights, comments, debates, and EVERYTHING just to see me excel in my studies. I'm sure God'll bless you. You know who you are =D

A New Year's Kick-Off

2008-01-27T02:45:00.000-08:00

January hasn't ended yet, so this post is still valid as the "beginning of the year" post.

Alot has happened this month, though it's only the first month of the year!
2nd to 4th Jan. --> went to HK Disneyland. Awesomeness! Not only the place, but also the time spent with friends and especially my family. Talking about my family, all of the Tjoandi kids got DS's now! Haha! JB and I got ours for our Christmas presents. So thankful for it coz now I don't have to "complain" about my school trips. But then again, DS sometimes kills time. Must take note, NOT to play it overboard.

School started on Jan.7. Most of the modules are quite "deep", coz it's now dealing with how to teach. More psychology is taught. YES! More Piaget, Vygotsky, and Bruner. As for my history modules, it's not that bad. I guess I need God's wisdom, patience, and peace to guide me through.

These are the modules that I'm taking this semester:

AAH 202 - Historical Interpretations
AAH 236 - Australia and Asia
ACE 201 - Teaching Reading and Writing I
ACM 201 - The Teaching and Learning of Primary Mathematics I
ACI 201 - Music Curriculum I

The curriculum modules were the toughest, especially Math and English. It's coz I have to connect myself to the Singapore education system. Well, it should be no problem right, coz this year is a year of greater increase! With greater increase, there will be ... greater responsibilities and challenges. =)

I'm also starting off the new year by claiming the Word that 2008 is a year of GREATER INCREASE. What's past is past. What's in front is going to be greater.
As I hold on to Deuteronomy 28:2, I hope this Word will also encourage you to claim God's promises in your life. When I read this, honestly, I had goosebumps. Everytime I said it, I will also feel the same. Coz I was just thinking, do I really deserve this from God?! A sinful person I am?
God remains faithful, yeah. And I thank God that His faithfulness surrounds me forever.

Deut.28
2 All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God:

3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.

4 The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock--the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.
5 Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.

6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.
7 The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.

8 The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.
9 The LORD will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in his ways. 10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will fear you. 11 The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity--in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground--in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you.

12 The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. 13 The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. 14 Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.