On Love and Relationships - Janet and Xin Wen's Wedding 30th June

Was part of the 4 "jie3 mei4" gang together with Zhu Zhu on 30th June two saturdays ago.
My nth time being a jie3 mei4 but I am so glad to be part of this really memorable moment. Janet and Xin Wen are our coursemates in NTU Civil and it was like a gathering of all old CEE people.

Come to think of it, a few of us have gone through with the bride her ups and downs in relationships, the wrong ones and of course finally the man of her life. And to be able to go through with your friend this journey is rather significant and at the same time, go through a very important life lesson.

Love and Relationships, something that is constantly talked about by many of us. A few of us are bothered by it, some are driven by it and some others yearn for it.

Love - This word is like a double edged sword, it can bring me much joy and when it is abused, much heartache and pain. Having read books on relationships these past few years and having bad relationships in my student years, I believe that my heart could be very worn and beatened by this thing called love.

Many people asked me, you are nearing 30...why aren't you married, have boyfriend etc? I tell you this question bugs millions of singles EVERYDAY on the face of this earth so I am sincerely praying that one day, that as Bridget Jones puts it in her diary, the "Smug Marrieds" will please leave us alone. Hey married people, I still love you all, just please be more sensitive sometimes la...

It's not hard to find a boyfriend in this world but its definitely harder to find a husband. I got a feeling many people will shoot me for this statement.
It's easy to like someone, but to determine that person as your life partner and considerably able to lead and guide me spiritually and maturely...woah..that's a mountain to climb...maybe I got scales in my eyes la...ahhah :P

I have told so many people...there's NOTHING wrong with being a single. Being single at this season at this stage of life, I believe hold a great significance in my life, no matter how tough it is...no matter how much tears I have shed over the years sometimes due to the yearning for love and relationships. Hey, me human u know, I have needs too.

God chooses to let us be single at this time, I believe, for His own purpose. Imagine with me, as Paul has so aptly put it in the Bible, the single woman is single-minded about God whereas the married woman is concerned over her husband's affairs in 1 Corinthians 7:34.

I would not be able to serve God at this extend that I am in and enjoying every moment. I would not be able to experience this freedoom of fully being secured in Christ's love and care. I would not be able to have so much time for my family and friends. Not that a relationship will take away all this, but its really in this season of singleness, do I wanna choose to wallow in loneliness and yearning or choose to believe in God for the best?

I am also not saying that serving God draws me away from finding my life partner. It is just that I choose to wait at this point. Ruth waited for Boaz, Jacob waited for Rachel for 14 years, Isaac waited till he's nearly 40 before he married Rebekkah, to wait for the one true love IS bibilical. I put it down as easy as it is but I dun deny that the wait is long arduous and difficult, especially fraud with much uncertainty. Not just to say that I take a back seat in this aspect of my life and I'm okay, I am actively praying for God to prepare me well for marriage, getting to know more people better, prepare to be fully secure in God, and prepare me to really love and cherish someone.

Seeing my friends go through the bad bout of relationship problems was really disheartening. Seeing my pupils' parents filing for divorce just like that every now and then is very destructive on the poor child. You parents have NO idea how much the impact of your decisions to separate has on the poor kid in school. They are hurt, hurting and in pain! The thrill of getting into a relationship has no hold on a person anymore when it boils down to having the ability to maintain and to strengthen a relationship between two people supposedly in love.

Marriage is no game. Waiting brings a considerable amount of pain, but the joy of seeing the Lord work?

Priceless...




Groggy Rac and MZ wakes up to put makeup at 6am in the morning!!

Pretty Jie3 mei4's all ready

Me and the lovely couple!

The Jie3 mei4's final shot! :P

她来听我的演唱会 - 2nd July 2007

Finally, took a long awaited break to have lunch and accompany my mum.
A day that God has made so divine, first it was this old lady who came knocking at my door selling pork floss.I never opened the door to door to door salesmen, but something made me open the door to these sweet old lady full of praises to the Lord Jesus in Chinese. She was raising money for her brother and stays just next block. She told me that she believes in the Lord too and I just bought what she was selling me despite my mum's protests.

Then went to Coronation Plaza, my favourite haunt during my secondary school days, am a Nanyang gal mah...:P well had my favourite snack at the Poh Piah stall there, only to realise that its opened by a Christian too! Immediately took the chance to share about the things I do in church with my mum again...the songs we sing la etc.
She agreed to come to see me perform in the upcoming church anniversary!! Praise God! This is like her first, wanting to come and see me perform after me playing for so many years.

I am a performer.

You have no idea how much encouragement I draw from seeing people that I know in the audience seats. To see those familiar faces looking up at me. Besides God with me and His Holy Spirit, what really would uplift me is to see the people I love, people I care about out there..:) Believe me, I would always look out for all of you in the crowd. Sentimental la me...love language being quality time...your presence means a great deal to me.

Been listening to Jacky Cheung...hahah last minute "revision" before going to his concert next Friday ..:P

This is on of my favourites from his songs..

选自:『张学友活出生命 live 演唱会』
曲:梁文福词:黄中岳

她来听我的演唱会
在十七岁的初恋第一次约会
男孩为了她彻夜排队
半年的积蓄买了门票一对
我唱得她心醉我唱得她心碎
三年的感情一封信就要收回
她记得月台汽笛声声在催
播我的歌陪着人们流泪
嘿陪人们流泪

她来听我的演唱会
在二十五岁恋爱是风光明媚
男朋友背着她送人玫瑰
她不听电话夜夜听歌不睡
我唱得她心醉我唱得她心碎
成年人分手后都像无所谓
和朋友一起买醉卡拉ok
唱我的歌陪着画面流泪
嘿陪着流眼泪

我唱得她心醉我唱得她心碎
在三十三岁真爱那么珍贵
年轻的女孩求她让一让位
让男人决定跟谁远走高飞
嘿谁在远走高飞
我唱得她心醉我唱得她心碎
她努力不让自己看来很累
岁月在听我们唱无怨无悔
在掌声里唱到自己流泪
嘿唱到自己流泪

她来听我的演唱会
在四十岁后听歌的女人很美
小孩在问她为什么流泪
身边的男人早已渐渐入睡
她静静听着我们的演唱会


Just added Jacky's MTV..enjoy..:) 1:31am



It would mean the world to me to see you all supporting me...although I am serving on stage, you guys give me strength! heheheh...mel mood again...:)

Church Camp 2007 - Fond Memories and Thanksgiving!

Took a bit more time to blog about Post Church Camp thoughts and recap and reflections cos, its a crazy week after we came back from the camp...was rather exhausted the last few days. Probably from too much playing and activities.

This Church Camp is really different and I really want to THANK GOD first for being able to attend this church camp. Initially, we were uncertain whether our leave from NIE would be approved and hence we prayed and fasted for an opening. Thank God for He intervened or we would not have experienced all the fellowship, fun and certainly the touch from God! :D

Met some of my church camp objectives, God convicted me of being a people helper and a better shepherd for His sheep. I am burdened to teach the Word of God properly so that not just for my sheep, I would get a fresh infusion of the verses from the Bible into my spiritual bank. We need to have an input first from the Word of God before the Holy Spirit can speak to us in any aspect. Something that I learnt from Pastor Simon Eng too, while he was preaching, his heart, mind and soul is constantly communicating with the Holy Spirit and praying for discernment to speak.

I desire to have that kind of discerning spirit too, to be able to speak in spirit and in truth when I mentor people and not just purely sharing from experiences. As I relook into my life, I need to really sit down and pray and repent over the wrong things that I have done, the harsh words uttered and the silly things I created.

Found out also that I am from going through the Worship and Serving Pathway to God! Being able to easily experience God through music and serving. Because of my secondary melancholic personality, I find myself dwelling, easily fall into "worshippy" mood, or the people around me, "Rachel's dreaming again.." :P
Serving Pathway because I find myself unable to say "No" to a lot of things, the more I do, the more i find GOd, a strong tendency this part is tiredness and spiritually dryness.

CC had actually challenged me to surrender the aspect that I hold dear in my heart to God and expect God to speak. This decision to surrender ALL to Jesus does not come easy...especially something that happened on the 2nd day of Church Camp, all the way to the extra day at Melaka, things that I saw, things that I felt...my emotions meter are fluctuating to an all time "high". To give to God something and simply pick it up again is a sure sign of lack of faith and fear of the uncertain. I decided there and then that I have a CHOICE. I can choose to be happy, joyful , trusting or simply, holding back tightly from God, worried and fearful. The key to anything and everything in life simply falls onto the foundation of the Word of God, read this in a book on 5 Love Languages By Dr. Gary Chapman,

"Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
Luke 6:38

I chose the former. Thank God that I did!Give it all to Jesus!

What a great differece it really made, the release, the lifting of burden from my shoulders. I was laughing more, I was having so much fun that I felt like a child in GOd's presence again, laughing myself silly, really a huge transition from the teary faced girl one year ago at Riveria Bay Resort, Melaka too.

This is a wonderful Camp, I din fall asleep during the teachings, the programming and food was superb! All the late night sharing and rehearsals for praise and worship sessions, and who could forget the Cendol and chicken rice balls? hehe..San Shu Gong products rocks!!

Thanks Camp Comm! Expecting God to move much more again! :D

Back to School - Our CG from the Theme Night, spot Ah lians and Ah Bengs?

Praise and worship session

Guys from our CG NG6-B3 playing in front of the static display

Sweet demure Peikey!

Extra day at Melaka! Outside Geographer's Bar at Jonker's Street! :D ALl 10 of us! :P

Muay Thai, Chatuchak, MBK, Thailand!!! :D

ME sending the group first on the 7th June!

RAW crab found in our Papaya Salad yeeks!

Beautiful embroidered bags at Chatuchak!

Hope Bangkok Church Service with Brother Pan who helped us translate Thai to English


Throngs of people at the bus stop outside Chatuchak

Really wanted a break and I have been planning to go on this trip with Mingzhu since last year! Amidst the terrorist attacks, violence and bombings, this trip has been postponed at least a few times before we finally set off on the 7th June.

Then who is to know that I can't take leave because of my NIE induction, I flew off alone on the 8th June to meet them in Bangkok. Excitement welled up within me, Shopping queen genes a'tingling within me...it is like a shopper's paradise.

Went immediately for dinner after the 4 kind souls who come and pick me up at the airport and who's to know that the very first meal that I took had a RAW CRAB tossed into the papaya salad? YEEEKS!

So we the odd group, Mr D, Zhu Zhu, YC, me and Law forming a small tour group, trudging the streets of Bangkok. Language was certainly a barrier, and it was rather frustrating at times when we tried to pronounce the Thai places in English and we were met with weird expressions hahaha.. You really gotta pronounce the Thai names really accurately before they understand where you wanna go.
Hailing taxis is another adventure, whereby you get on the taxi and demand specifically that they turn on the meter otherwise you will be in for a rude shock when u pay the fare.

The Thai people are rather gentle and Thai Food is generally very spicy, but we were surprised at how well kept the Thai people are...the places of interest are always clean, even the eating places by the roadside stalls.

Thai Massage was good but not without much pain and cracking of my bones by my massuese who made sure i felt the pain when she rested her whole body weight on me, OUCH! But it was good value for money, 200 baht for 1 hour!! The weather was scorching hot especially at Chatuchak the weekend market where temperatures outdoor go as high as 36 degrees! The shop were located very close to one another and we had difficulty breathing and walking! But really lots and lots to buy...See the pics where all my purchases were made.

Free and Easy trips are exhilirating when you get to plan, where you go, there was once, we spent 1 hour plus travelling to the place to catch Muay Thai, Thai Kickboxing only to realise that the tickets cost 75 bucks! *gasp* and its actually a rather grand affair held in a kickboxing stadium! In the end, we contributed our dough back into the Thai economy through shopping at MBK, Mahboonkong, and Platinum Fashion Mall, Suan Lum Night Market. The guys really can shop, give you all a hint, I am NOT the biggest spender...:P *whisper, whisper* It's a guy!! :D

Finally also got a chance to see Hope Bangkok! Woah, a string orchestra, throngs of people dressed in yellow to commemorate the king's 40th year of reign, all excited and cheering, that they surrounded us with gifts, flowers and chocolates~~We had the privilege to meet with Pan and a Thai sister Nikki who came to our hotel to fetch us and even treat us to lunch! Pan was so nice that he even translated the service which was entirely in Thai for us!! :D Must get a chance to catch up with him! :D

Really blessed by this trip, like a weekend trip but not without much fun, trudging the streets of Bangkok in the middle of the night....supper and fun...Thank God for this short getaway! :D

Too distracted...Can't play straight...put down everything to the Lord! Single-minded for God!

Melancholy mood

Been watching serials of “金三顺“ The very popular Korean Drama two years back and I really loved her monologues in the show! This following phrase is from a scene at a bus-stop where she was very upset over her boyfriend's "disappearance" for many months.

尽情的去爱吧，就当作不曾受过伤。。。
-------------------------------------

尽情的跳舞吧，就当作没人看见

尽情的去爱吧，就当作不曾受过伤

尽情的去唱歌吧，就当作没人听得见

尽情的工作吧，就当作你不需要钱

尽情的生活吧，就当作今天是生命的最后一天。。。


Seize each day while it lasts, make the best of what counts, how big are you in this universe and how big is your problem? God is the greatest of them all and He is above and over all! Set eternity in perspective...:)

Taking a step back...5 views

5 people have told me their views...these people are close to me and also friends who have seen me and known me...some for years...some barely know me...5 told me to choose otherwise, 5 have told me they prefer the other choice, 5 have told me its more suitable for me...am taking a step back, helps me to think clearly and with better perspective...head too messed up to think...now...

Touched to tears!

I was watching this show on Arts Central by this young musical genius of Singapore 12- year old Gabriel Ng who was given sponsorship to study in the prestigious Yehudi Mehunin School for the Musically gifted. He was playing "Salut D'Amour" on the TV and I actually cried! I shed tears! So moving to me was his performance and he really communicates with the audience when he plays! Look out for this boy, a world class musician hopeful....

So tickled!

Want one? Go to www.geocities.com/testiflash

Felt absolutely like a star!! :D

Absolutely felt so pampered and like a star today! Today's the last day of my teaching Practicum at Edgefield Primary School and the last day I would be seeing my darlings from Primary 4 Patience. Look what they gave me! As I went around to check their corrections one last time in class, the kids secretly stuffed letters, chocolates, bookmarks, in the little tray of stationery that I bring about. When I went back to my seat in the class, a very pleasant surprise!

I had to do relief so my time with them was short-lived. Who to guess that a bunch of them waited for me outside the school staff room to pass me a HUGE handmade card from all of them! So very very sweet and touched! I got a few more girls who asked me to sign my signature for them! so farnie right? Bryan pushed me a beautiful handmade butterfly and Wendy and Nadrah passed me some lovely cards, Jing Xuan a photo frame! Wah...must tell them not to give me any gifts during Teachers' Day!

As I read the words on the card....awwwwww...feel like crying! This is certainly where God places me, this is what I want to see and do for God!

:)

"Holy Spirit, Source of Gladness" - hymn by Paul Gerhardt

Let that love which knows no measure

Now in quickening showers descend,

Bringing us the richest treasures

Man can wish or God can send;

Hear our earnest supplication,

Every struggling heart release;

Rest upon this congregation,

Spirit of untroubled peace.

It's Composition Marking Day! - Cleared 35 books in 15 mins!

This is an absolutely CRAZY day! We had to clear so much work and marking that, can you imagine I don't even have much time to go to the washroom?
My red pen did not even stop waving around the books and worksheets and exercises and exercises and worksheets and books...you get the idea.

Rushed through my marking like crazy...guess as teachers in training , have begun to have a sharper eye for grammar, spelling mistakes, calculation mistakes...even able to memorise the answer key to mark the books...

Bulldozed my way through the English Revision right after their English Composition paper...cleared two worksheets within 15 minutes and flew back down to the Staff room at 1245pm....grabbed poor all Jabin,

"Help, HELP, HELP!! Help me clear marking!" Dismissal is at 1pm...steady right?

Thank God for the last few practices in the Maths Workbook are rather straight forward answers and quite fast to mark...furiously clearing and marking till 110pm...there! 35 books times 8 pages...you do the Maths...

Dun wanna get rap from the pupils' parents as it is the weekend and exams next week...

Thank God for Jabin! Thank God for finishing marking!

Back to the SA1 Composition Marking now....phew! Phew! Phew! need ... to... breathe!

Just Walk Away

Just Walk Away

Just walk away ...release me from your grasp

I once held you in close in my life but now,

I am not even sure I would recognise you if you walk by...

Just walk away...take away your memory of me

Why do you still want to pick up the pieces

Of the debris you have caused when you smashed

All that I held dear in my life?

Just walk away...I am not sure I even know you now

Would I be the same person you knew or

Would you still be the same when you left...so many years ago?

Just walk away...my life is fulfilled in Christ now.

My past sorrow, pain and anguish has long been replaced

By joy, love and hope through the Love of Christ.

I am no longer who you knew, what you think I would do...

Just walk away...don't try to call me

I am not sure I am going to answer but who am I to you now?

Who are you to me now?

A figment of my tortuous past?

A "well-known" stranger?

Wasn't it settled once and for all

Many, Many years ago?

Just walk away...leave your concerns in the past...

We have no more to say

No more to hold on to

No more to build on

Just walk away...graciously...

Words ...

Recently a spate of events made me very down and sad...how simple words that come out from the human mouth can make or break a person.

The Bible mentions about in Proverbs 12:18 - "Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing."

Just on Tuesday, because of some harsh words that was spoken, someone from the service was asked to leave. This comes to me as a shock because I personally know that person and he is very dedicated and caring to his work. It was with such dread in my heart when the announcement was made about his dismissal, immediately you can see the change in faces of many people, people who had known him for years, they started chatting about him....such is the "volatility" of human relationships - WORDS. You can be so good to this person, yet when he makes a mistake, a gush of tongue, he's doomed forever?

A series of events that happened over the past few days, words exchanged thru the wonders of communication, SMS, MSN, email, talk. ..You begin to ask yourself is technology making ur life so much easier that you really do not need to hear the person's voice anymore when communicating? Of course, the Bible also says, "When words are many, he who holds his tongue is wise." But isn't non-verbal communication sometimes shouting a different message from what you want to portray? Or even when I receive a phone call from someone, I hear the words spoken, inferencing from the tone that is spoken to me can be quite painful for me also...that's it when I discover new truths, new facets of my relationships with these people around me and friendships...It helps me too to evaluate my speech and the way I should relate to this person.

Words that i heard exchanged over the office, Words exchanged over the lunch table, words simply exchanged between friends, all contribute to this volatility of the relationships.

One word, Charge! kills many soldiers on the battlefield.
Two words, Go away! Sends a poor child who needs help alone to her haplessness.
Three words, I love you etc Builds relationships and reassures love among them.
You do the maths..

If we can say there's no greater wound caused in this world than one caused by words. How true!

I myself am guilty of saying words, too harsh too fast that people are taken aback and are hurt.
That's when I "fall from grace" from my friends and take a long while to reconcile these relationships. Many of these relationships could be hanging by a thread, and it really saddens me to know that the last words i have spoken to them could be in anger or disgust...I have NEVER seen those people again...the world is small, but it can be one in a billionth chance for God to cause your paths to cross again..volatile relationships never healed again...

I am not saying that relationships between people that make or break easily, in this case "Volatile" are not stable or with no meaning.. but the fact that is human relationships are built with communication, words exchanged carry a most important factor in maintaining them.

I remember words spoken to me years ago, a lot of occasions, these voices are like swimming in my head. These words, make or break me. Positive kinds words, reconcile, build, start a new friendship or relationship, reaffirm all doubts, reassure and most often heal. Whereas negative words does quite the contary.

What's more of little children, who remember what their parents had said to them or teachers, leaving most of the time a delible mark in their minds and hearts, forming them to what they are as a person now.

Lord Jesus, I ask for Your Holy Presence and Your Holy Spirit to come, cleanse the condition of my heart and the filth of my tongue. Help me speak meaningful words and words that exalt You, build my friends up and show love to the people around me including my loved ones. When the outflow of my heart caused me to speak in unkind words, may Your Holy Spirit come and guide me to control them and to hold them back even before they come out of my mouth. I need You as always, lead me to Your ways and Your will for me. Amen!

Some pics from Easter Services 7th-8th 2007

Musios Team!!
Me and Shirley Melinda!
Gal Musios
Me and Sijia switched instruments!
Finally celebration at Tao's Restaurant Paradiz Centre.

We thank God for the 192 converts! :D Glory to the Lord alone!

Love letters from...

Two little children by the names of Gao Ming and Wendy. I felt so sweet, felt like crying. I have taught the class on how to write postcards, teaching them how to write the format and all. I wrote down three names on the board, names of my friends that meant a lot to me in my life. I excited told the class, I would definitely send these cards out, so being very sweet children, they wrote excitedly about Sentosa, encouraging these people whose names i wrote on the board to be sent out to them, to go to visit the island.
I wrote down, MZ's name, KT, ABT, and Miss Shee my CT, I informed the class that they are real people and they are to choose one to write to so that I would definitely sent out to them. A huge majority of the class chose Miss Shee their form teacher.

Little did I know...two out of this 36 children chose to write to me! I am so so so touched! This is what will draw me back again again when I am tired and left without strength....this is it...
Thank GOd for this career! Thank God for His little children!

Geniuses are packed in small sizes? Thanksgiving points

At press time, I am preparing for my last lesson observation for English tomorrow at 11am. YEah its the LAST!!

I wanna thank personally all of you for helping me, in terms of encouraging me,praying for me, making manipulatives during the chalet days way into the night. All the cutting, pasting and putting on the double sided tape, making the 8-point Compasses for my class..I am really very touched. Mingzhu, Poy, CC, Law, YC, Andrew, Dennis, Guangrong, Adele, Jason who were all my factory production line, ceaselessly helping me those frantic two days. There were others who helped me too! Thank GOD for all of you!

If not for your help, I would not have come up with such pretty Maths Manipulatives on time! The whole 18 of them sitting prettily in my cupboard now. My Cooperating Teacher (CT) was so impressed that I shared my teaching pedagogy at the P4 level sharing, how I taught the lesson on Angles and how I used the Manipulatives. My lesson plan was even passed to all the P4 teachers! I proudly told them, these are all done by my church friends, cos without you all, I would not have cleared my NIE supervisor's observations and jumped from a fail grade to a potential credit grade.

Indeed this is God's glory and honour! Glory to Him alone! Thank God for Him pulling me through 6 Easter Services, witnessing 192 converts and many miracles that touched us, one most important thing was the renewal of our first love for Jesus, when we saw the animation of Jesus being nailed on the cross from a small TV backstage...a lot of the musios, singers alike were teary eyed. It's so powerful and wonderful to know that God loves us so much to die for us!

I have so much to thank God for and I have to pry myself from this seat! This will have to come another time. But I MUST BLOG this down. Today, I witness personally a little 10 year old genius that comes packed in a small boy named Mark. And I marvel at God's creation once again -to have such brains!!!

Mark is a very sweet, handsome-looking boy and if you see him, you will fall in love with him. He looks very "ang moh" too.

I was teaching the class on Parallel and Perpendicular lines and I found a website which describes in detail the properties of parallel and Perpendicular lines. There was this line under "Parallel Lines" that said,

"Lines that lie on the same plane and do not intersect each other are said to be parallel".

Realising the level of difficulty to explain to the kids the concept of planes in Mathematics, something that we learnt only in A- Levels Maths C, I foolishly decided to brush off explaining to the kids, and ask them to copy only the part on "Lines do not intersect each other are said to be parallel".

This dear boy Mark, copied down, looked at the screen, stared at the diagram for a while then raised his hand and asked me, "Miss Tham, a plane in Maths is like a piece of paper without boundaries right? No limits right?"

Even I was baffled at what he was saying. Stunned for a few seconds.

Then I got it, it made sense! A plane has no contraints of length and breadth only the orientation in the X, Y, and Z axis! Imagine with me a wall with different sides, a line one side of the wall is cannot be said to be parallel to another line on another side of the wall, they must be on the SAME SIDE!

Wow! This boy, already proved to be gifted in a previous assessment should be studying elsewhere...Viola! Maths concepts made easy via a 10-year old boy!!

This has certainly taught me a hard lesson on not to underestimate the power of interpretation in a small child....

THANK GOD! You are still You! ...:)

God sends His little angels...

When we say God understands, He really understands what you are going through and what you are facing... I was rather dejected at what I was going through at my current school and I feel like giving up.

I worked my fair bit of hard work, stayed until 7pm that day until the auntie came to lock the staff room!

God sends His little angels when He knows that I am feeling down..although I feel that they can really drive me up the wall at times...haha...

Tomorrow is my lesson observation and I was feeling rather stressed, there's this kiddo I thought she did not really liked me, she went:

Kid YL: Miss Tham, when are you leaving ah?

Rac: Why? When do you want me to leave?

Kid YL: You are staying for one term right? Could you stay for the whole year?

Rac: (heart melt already...awwwwwwwwww)


Jasmine Wenxuan and Sing Yee, Yee Yuan fooling around behind the girls
Orange House:- Jing Xuan, Yi Teng, Jiamin, Cassie, Junxiang
Yellow House :- Kuan Wei, Qin Zhe, Jun Qi, Jun Hiang, Gao Ming, Ying Hao, Mark (Ee Teck hiding)
Red House: - Ryan, Yi Fei, Nadrah

Feeling the pits, uplifted by the children's faces!

I just had my lesson observation yesterday...did quite a lot of effort in the lesson planning and in preparing for the lesson. My NIE supervisor came and....failed me...I felt in the pits the whole of yesterday and because of her decision, she would have to come down two more times to assess me instead of the original 2 times.

It's rather rushed for me two more times on the 2nd April and 10th April and at press time, I am now in the staff room rushing out my lesson plans for tomorrow and on the 3rd. For the trainees reading this, I have preparing a K-W-L lesson and its a lot of logistics...scary...that's what she's looking out for in assessing me. The tuning in itself, I would have to brainstorm poems, stories and pictures of the character which I would introducing the children, Florence Nightingale.

I began asking myself, why did I put in so much effort for if its not appreciated? Took me quite a while to put down the pride and move on... These pictures of my class, 4 Patience, in their storytelling sessions during their English Lesson encouraged me alot.. This is what I am looking out for, I told J "Ah Beng" T that when you see the children's expressions like this, the appreciation, what eagerness to learn and to present to you, money can't buy all these...You would really appreciate them for their innocence and sweetness...Even the principal came and spoke to me about my assessment results...so scary and emotional stressful. I remembered God called me to this job...two years ago..it will and it shall be!

Sigh, back to burning more brain cells for the lesson tml...



Kristoffer with this Bionic Man getup!
Qin Zhe did a very short act of his bear and shot back to his seat! Kuan Wei did a very interesting "Fire-walking" scene from The wonderful story of Henry Sugar by Roald Dahl
Jia Min was playing a rooster!

Mosaic Music Festival 2007 - Kuh Ledesma and Regine Velasquez 14th March 2007

It was the March School Holidays for students and teachers alike (hee hee)...being too miserable for being sick too long...received an sms from Ming Ju from MCSS...Mosaic Music Festival is on for the whole week at the Esplanade! I did not know that teachers can actually claim the cost of concerts from the LBS incentive that the Ministry had offered to teachers!
Wow! blew my mind...really badly wanted to upgrade myself in terms of resources and exposure to more cultural stuff...The whole week was full of great acts at the Esplanade!
I drove my dad's car and wanted to uplift my spirits a bit...its was spectacular. The two divas from Philippines were really wonderful! Regine, I think most people can remember her from the song she sang with Jacky Cheung, "In Love With You", the other one i was unfamiliar.
They sang many cover versions of Whitney Houston, Bette Midler, Babbara Streisand, and of course, conversed quite a bit in Tagalog to the mostly Filipinos and Filipinas!

They are indeed a very musical people, throughout the show, there were constant clapping, swaying dancing and singing to the songs that they sang! The crowd is very supportive and the two divas are indeed very popular among their fellow countrymen. MingJu and me totally enjoyed ourselves ...we could identify with quite a number of the songs mah...
After the concert, me and MingJu actually bought their albums, and went to queue up the autograph session! Had a great time getting to know about the Philippino culture by chatting with the people in front and behind us...so fun! I actually went ahead, got my CDs signed and even posed for a photo shot! Aiyah, when you are sick for too long, pamper yourself a bit la with treats like this..:D



Me with MingJu at the queue for autographs!
Me with Regine Velasquez, isn't she beautiful?

MingJu with Kuh Ledesma

Sickly Rac!

I can't believe it...I have been coughing and having a stuck nose for the past 1 week plus! When will the cough go away? Please heal me Lord! I dun wanna be 'Nasal Miss Tham' for another week!

What's in a name?

Well, looks like I have gained myself a new moniker today after worship practice thanks to Gerald!

The musios for the Easter Services Team introduced themselves , we have Shirley M, Joanne, Walmond, Geo, Gerald,Ron, Wanqi, IZ, Eugene, Maia, Sijia and me. The girls were teased by their last syllable, i.e. Qi Qi and Jia Jia (liang teh) - read in sacharine sweet voices by the guys...terrible right?

Gerald:"This is THAM THAM (wet wet in Hokkien)"

Isaac:"Oh, then the group Wet Wet Wet will be called THAM THAM THAM lor!"

Rac: ... ... ...

I have been called, "Lioness", "Qi Seen"(read in Cantonese), Ah Tham and many other unmentionables....Gosh...THAM THAM?? This is an ultimate...:S

It's always an English Problem?

Talking about heart languages.

What's your heart language? I am pretty much a Chinese and Cantonese language kinda person. Somehow, I think in Chinese and what comes out of my mouth is mostly Chinese and Cantonese.But the paradox is I write better in English. Lately, been teaching in a neighbourhood school in Punggol, and the kids are mostly heartlanders not like the previous school that I have taught in where the kids are mostly English speaking.

Have u met people who simply refused to READ instructions or rules and regulations when its written in something they dun understand? They just try la to follow the norm and do what they feel that the instruction or rules are trying to tell them..haha.. Well, teach and you would know. My P4 children simply shun the questions when they are written in English. Or even instructions in the exam paper!! Me being an English and Maths teacher, tried my utmost to explain the Maths question in English...what I get? Blank faces, huh? remarks...then i know..It's time for an educator's exercise of flexibility. I SWITCHED THE EXPLANATION IN CHINESE! Voila! immediately I get the answer to the questions I wanted to see. It's not a Maths problem now...definitely an English Problem haha..its the problem of trying to understand what the question is asking you...They are smart kids really. You just need to speak the right thing.

Well, some people really do comprehend things betta in a certain language than others, we can't blame them, its rather what you speak most or the friends around you that speak that makes your heart language. I get touched in the heart a lot by English songs when I was in Secondary 1 and 2 cos my group of friends were "ang moh" speaking. Then come Sec 3 and 4 to JC days... most of friends spoke Chinese, even now as NIE trainees, you see a group of us conversing in Chinese during ENGLISH lessons. I can't help it.. the sure intensity of words spoken in my heart language had such a better way of driving home the point that was expressed instead of others.

Hopeless romantic I am...I was packing my room that day for CNY and saw old letters and cards written to me...how sweet were the words written and how it still stirs my heart a bit even today many many years after I have received them! ah Words - my love language is it not? haha..

Received a phone call today, it was obviously a foreigner struggling to converse in English to make an appointment today for my insurance policy review...argh...being a teacher has its occupational hazards...You know what's burning within me? I wanted to go ahead right from the start and correct her pronunciation, correct her grammar and her parts of speech...ya da ya da...that's it...show some grace Rachel Tham...converse in Chinese la...Voila! I get a clearer picture of what's going on instead of having a 2-sided struggle over both sides of the phone.

I remembered learning my broken Hokkien as a Sales Executive during my 6-months break prior to University. You see uncles and aunties, opening up to you their sorrows and woes and the amazing thing is...they buy up your product!! Wow!

Speaking the heart language in the missions field also has its power. Nebbermind about the stumbles you get in getting the slang right. By the fact that you are trying very hard when you are speaking to the locals in their language, things get by rather easier for you. You get help fast! A basic "Thank you", "Have a nice day" or "God Bless You" has its power spoken in the native tongue. The locals of the places you are visiting started to open up to you in mysterious ways. I remember this incident when I was in Japan chatting up with this business woman on the bus. What with my broken Japanese can convey, I managed to get her name, her occupation, where she stays and her dreams for her life! Same goes for my other trips elsewhere..people feel this link, this connection with you and this makes me feel very excited on doing missions work especially in a place whereby learning the local language would definitely be a challenge.

Speak the right language...it's not always an English Problem....:P

Dealing with Jealousy

Jealousy is eating my life.
It goes beyond what people say as the terrible "green-eyed monster" and the habits and actions that people always associate with.
I struggle with jealousy from as long as I can remember. From my childhood days of my mum showing favourtism over my younger sis than me. I was hurt. I was terrible dejected. I am not exactly the brightest kid in the family, my academic results are okay la, better than average but she's not satisfied, very silly me always get into trouble in school. My sister always seemed to be favoured. She tops the whole school in her PSLE. Her aggregate score of 281 of which that year's highest is 284, her projects and her concerts are always a must-go for my parents, even till now..They only went to mine - ONCE. We are a family of performers you see, us 3 sisters, we sing, we dance, act and yes, play instruments.

Sad right? I tend to feel unappreciated and unloved most of the time and so...my only other friend in the family is my maid - My aunt Marie, who has been with our family for *drumroll* 18 years. I share to her everything, my heartaches and pains and growing pains.

This sense of insecurity has led me to do many things over the span of my childhood. I thank God for one thing that despite living like that, He did not take away my sense of humour and mischief. But it manifests itself, and believe it, i know it myself, sometimes an tremendous awful attempt to get attention. I develop I think this inferiority complex that if I am not good in something, prolly Mum will never notice me, let alone the people around me will notice me. I strive myself into proving one thing that I am good at, the arts - Music, Art and Literature.
I used to take up language and art classes and now I am in music lessons to improve my skills.

Until I met God.

He showed me how loved and appreciated I was and that I do not need to be popular among friends to know that I am appreciated or loved. True love from God which sees you as a person and your inherent value already, not what you try to put on yourself. But then again, the Jealous heart of mine takes a long time to heal. Arguments break out and sometimes I just shun myself in a corner or turn literally "green" haha... I cannot handle it. I ask myself silly questions, "Why must she get all that she ever wanted? Am I not good enough?" or "Ohhh can't he see that I can do it too?" This complex in me have had strained quite a lot of relationships and friendships over the years and it goes to show that I do not need to grow in just the heart part, its the understanding and trust that I need to place first in God and then in people.

I find myself getting frightfully angry at things. Forming thoughts of people which I could not have imagined. I shudder now to think of such things and pictures could actually come out of my head. This struggle is so hard at times. I show it all out. I can't hide my emotions well at times.

I can only ask God to help me, I will personally journal it down and realise....how silly I am and how crazy the things I get jealous over really is...I can only hope that this constant turmoil in my mind and heart will be soothed. What other assurance do I need? Only You ....

Inspirational Video from Sister Act 2

21st Feb 2007

Fresh from the festivities of Chinese New Year - got a conference with my practicum school principal, Mrs Sabrina James.
She chatted with us on the school core values, and on how she eventually chose the path of teaching. Realising that all her NIE trainees attached to her school this term are all Christians, she termed her career move from the Air Force to teaching as God opening doors for her in this area. I was possibly inspired. She was a brilliant woman and many times she could have gotten a higher pay job somewhere yet, the simple obedience to let God lead her life, despite all the closed doors she really faced those times. She exhibits this warmth and kindness and passion when it comes to people and relating about the kids and the lives that she has touched.

"It is ultimately the heart! Many times you want to throw in the towel, think of the lives that you would have helped turned around by your actions..."

I do not know how long I would last but I do hope that what I am embarking on is a life career. Many times, we would start off something full of zeal and enthusiasm and motivation to carry on, the reality of life often slapped on our faces. I do pray that God would help me last in this job.
Strenghthen my heart.

Guess what? I was so so so inspired by her sharing that I rushed off to find some inspiration movies about teachers touching the lives of students! Bought two old movies, Dangerous Minds by Michelle Pfieffer and Sister Act 2 by Whoopi Goldberg.

I always wanted to teach music to children and even though ultimately I was not trained to teach Music in NIE, the school saw my credentials in music and offered me to sit in the different music classes! WoW praise God!
Hope this next clip uplifts you too.
I have been singing this song to myself for the past 2 weeks and it really literally brings a smile on my face from my worries, and haha jealousy..shall touch more on that..akan datang.

Lyrics are really simple:-

Oh Happy Day (*choir echoes "Oh Happy Day")
Oh Happy Day (*choir echoes "Oh Happy Day")
When Jesus washed (*choir echoes "When Jesus washed")
When Jesus washed (*choir echoes "When Jesus washed")
When Jesus washed (*choir echoes "When Jesus washed")
Washed all my sins away...

Chorus:
HE taught me how to wash, to cry and pray
And HE taught me how to live rejoicing, every, everyday
Everyday!
Enjoy ya?

Pic Collage from CNY 2007! 18-19th Feb

大年初一 visitation at my Grandma's place, fun times with the cousins and Grandma!

大年初二 和初三 Cross CG visitation from Boon Lay to Kovan! Cc and Poy's group combined...:)

Visit to my Maths Tutor Mr Lee Ngan Hoe's countrylike house!

Tongue in cheek response to Zhu Zhu's blog post on 10 Feb

Well...forgive me all the brothers who are reading this posting! Call me a silly sister or plain jealous all you want...I AM going to illustrate to you how two sisters in a same situation or same place can be treated VERY DIFFERENTLY. For comparisons please refer to ZZ's blog.

Situation 1

ZZ mentioned about Bro TL and Bro TJ helping her hold the handle bars of the bike while she cycled with their help a few hundred meters and yes she feels blessed. Big O me tried to hold her handles also while she tried to cycle, me "kei kiang" weight of the bike too heavy for Big O me, the bike leaned towards me...scratched my legs actually by the bike....and guess what? No one knows...

Situation 2
Same place - East Coast Park
Big O me tried to ask Bro TL and Bro TJ how they travel pillion on the bicycle a la "Tian2 Mi4 Mi4" with Leon Lai and Maggie Cheung. Bro TL and Bro TJ took a long time of persuasion before they could show me how they travelled in a bike tog...Bro TL was not very encouraging when Big O me tried to carry ZZ the same way on the bike...I pushed the bike off with her, its a bit heavy for me..too heavy nearly lost balance and fell off, told Bro TL and ZZ, "I can do it one, let's try again!" Bro TL,"Yeah right you can do it one" very condescending. Big O me refused to give up, tried again...survived and managed to cycle with ZZ sitting in front of me in one bike about a hundred meters with much effort.

Situation 3

At Adele's house, Bro TJ giving out sweet pink looking marzipan cupcakes that had pearls on them, of course its actually decorations on the little cupcake. Big O me was curious and asked Bro TJ," Wah! Looks like decorations ah, jia3 de4(*fake one) ah?" Bro TJ raised his voice at me, "Of course can eat one la!"

Conclusion:

You can be in the same group and same situation, receiving the same thing from the same person...but the degree and level of treatment? Very different.
Of course I dun deny the times when they can be really sweet and gentle when talking to me...but I really can count the times. They can be very sweet to me helping me to carry things for me, but when I compare the way they are so gentle to other sisters and so different towards me, I feel a bit sad sometimes...
Is it me? The way I relate to people, guys in general? Why am I always being treated like that?

渴望有人对我温柔的女生。。。

Last Day at NIE

Yesterday was my last day of lessons at NIE...many thoughts came to my mind, all the kind, helpful and fun-loving frens that I have come to know in NIE, barely a 7-month course before I go for my practicum in Edgefield Primary School. I wonder too to myself if I am proficient enough as a teacher to go out and supposedly impact the little children...haha we were made to sign a letter to our school principals that goes like "I am proficient to teach composition at lower primary level" or "I could teach Grammar with specific strategies" or "I need to observe another teacher at lessons before I could conduct my lessons" some statements with check boxes whereby we are supposed to check beside the correct statements to tell the principal what we are able and good at teaching...
How to send out a letter like that?:P Highly stressful letter man...

I am going to miss them all my NIE colleagues...despite the crazy mad rush of exams and assignments, high tension and high stress levels...I felt good that we made it...
Here's to all my NIE frens and colleagues! Happy Chinese New Year and a wonderful practicum!

Dragged a very tired body to Touch Community Centre. This week is another week of 4 presentations including my Reader's Theatre performance where I played the role of a witch! Valentine's Day, rehearsals, my tooth filling (*ouch*)...stress, emotions cumulated to a splitting headache and acute cramps. I nearly fainted and wanted to hold on to someone and lean on someone's shoulder for rest...there was no one there physically...
I turned to God, I cried out for help, it was shivering cold on stage and I guess those below could not see how our hands were all cold from the blasts of cold air...I was trembling badly to play properly...God came, God soothes and God overcame it all again...

"He rewards those who earnestly seek Him" ~ Hebrews 11:6

I seek You for comfort, for strengthening, when my physical body and tired mind screams out in protest, I could only fall in Your hands alone.. Lord Jesus, hold me lead me and comfort me. You are there when I need You my all sufficiency and all my anguish is in Your hands. HOLD MY HAND when I could not take it anymore, from stress from tiredness, there is joy in the Lord! I rejoice in my weakness cos I know You would be made strong in me!


Our Reader's Theatre team with our English Tutor Dr. Xiao Lan

Me and my sweet fren Mazlin!

Us in action at LT 8 NIE!

Grabbed CC after she came out of lecture for a shot! :P

Questions, Questions...

It's supposed to be E-Learning week for NIE students BUT...we have so many things to do! Project meetings, rehearsals for Reader's Theatre, I have spent on Thursday, close to EIGHT HOURS drawing and colouring and drawing and colouring my props for my Reader's Theatre Performance on Tuesday at NIE..am so tired..Next week's crazy, 4 presentations, plus rehearsals for Chinese New Year service...

I have questions!

Questions for myself and to ask God...

1) When every guy around you treats you like a buddy, and treats you in a very "chor lor" manner, does that mean that the one that sees all this and treats you with much gentleness and respect is the ONE? hehehe...yes he is very wen1 rou2..How far do I want to compromise? I wait in anticipation...

2) What plans does God has for me in this new school? No longer a boys' school but I am sure missing my little boys now...

3)When God places many new people in my life and they warm up almost immediately to me, does that mean I would be shepherd to many more?

4)Should I go for Grade 7 exams this year? Can I afford the time and the dough? at least a few more $K lei...was looking at my CPF statement the other day and saw the EXORBITANT amount of money that I owe the Singapore government or rather my mum, I wanna cry...when I can finish servicing my debt?

ah...questions questions..

David and Pui See's Wedding 3rd Feb 2007

I was very privileged to be able to play violin for two of our Church Planters in Chile, David and Pui See.
It was a very lovely and definitely God-centred wedding whereby you see two people with equal visions and zeal and passion for the lost in the mission field coming together as a couple, definitely the Kingdom of God will be extended to greater extent!

From the praise and worship songs chosen by them, led by Priscilla from NG12, the songs they had chosen, 1 Chinese praise and worship, 2 English songs, Draw Me Close and How Great Thou Art, all sung in at least 2-3 languages, English, Malay and Spanish. It really depicts the couple's wish to be able to touch people from different nationalities and different tongues to hear the Word of God.

I personally was very inspired by their videos where they showed the charity work they had carried out in the land of Chile, the language courses they taught, the Christmas present giveaway, where you see our Church planters dressed up as Santa Claus and singing to the people there...It really takes a great heart for the people to be able to go out of your own comfort zone to touch people of different races.

Ps Dinah shared about how the couple grew to love each other, it was not a typical "I fell in love, or love at first sight" kinda love story, it was thru working together on the missions field when they grew fond of each other and that it was the mutual understanding that God is in the center of their relationship.

At that point of time during the dinner, there were jokes shared on how Pui See told her good friend then that it be IMPOSSIBLE for her to marry David many years ago due to each other's quirky habits. When each couple wrote down what they want their children to inherit on separate pieces of paper, me and another sis joked behind on saying what kinda response they would write, eg looks lah, intellect la...when the emcee finally revealed the couple's separate response, we were all touched and inspired when they had actually written that they want both their children to inherit their heart and vision for God in the missions field.

It was not rehearsed or coordinated kinda response but it really reflects 2 hearts beating as one for the glory of God!
Although it was a small-scale but it was really a cosy wedding by the poolside of Furama Riverfront.
Congrats once again David and Pui See! Thank God for such a godly couple! :D

Photos with the couple are at another cam, sorry yeah?


Dinner tables at the poolside

Me and CC

The cute flower girl Michelle and Page Boy Daniel

Me and Choon Yam

grabbing the two bros, Daniel and Moses for a shot

Posted for Practicum aka Teaching Practice - Edgefield Primary School - Punggol

In pain

I know having a toothache stands at one of the lowest ranks the hall of fame of the different kinds of pain. But I must say that I have not felt so hopeless for a very long time. Before the internet connection goes down I must blog this down.

On Friday I went for my tooth operation, the anaesthetic took one hour and the surgery was a quick half an hour, but after the effects wore off, I was in great pain. Prolly because the tooth had decayed and infected the nerve area.

Moral of the story: Never delay your dental appointment.

I cried myself to sleep, din know I was so helpless, I thought I was garang enough to withstand lotsa injuries, just this tiny toothache has defeated me?
I could hardly open my mouth, being a loud blabbermouth this is tough..I could not chew and till today 4 days after the operation, I am still on liquid food. I can't burst out in laughter like I always do, and face is still swollen...:(

The immense hunger and pain got me depending on GOd more, knowing that it is impossible for me NOT to open my mouth over the weekend with the birthday celebrations and church, having to sing and all...

Today my NIE fren, Mazlin told me she went through the pains of childbirth so her threshold of pain has increased...well, Lord help me then to ease this pain! Thanks for all the bros and sis who prayed for my healing...appreciate it lots!

Argh...

Difficulty in walking...shiong weekend

It really takes sure grit for me to walk around my NIE campus today...super pain!
My muscles everywhere are aching so badly...my legs and arms...

Today my Papa dropped me off at NIE carpark 3 near the canteen, I had to rush to my 830am lecture..then i met the STAIRS. The longest one in NIE yet...I felt like dying...wahhah you know little Mermaid when she had legs granted to her? In the original version she walked as if knives were cutting her feet?

That's exactly how I felt..I hardly had the strength to lift my legs up to the next step! I walked very very slowly around campus today..even standing up and sitting down is a real pain!

Well, I dun need to actually travel around to get hurt:

Situation A:- Fren A: Rachel! Have you zapped the latest readings? (grabs Rac's arm)

Rac: (*wincing in pain, teeth gritted tightly)

Situation B:- Fren B: Rachel! How are u man? (Slaps Rac on her upper arm)

Rac:(grinding teeth...) Aiiiii'm ccccoool.

Situation C:- Fren C: Come sit with us!

Rac: (grabs the chair as if an old lady would for support)OOOOOOkaaaay. Thanks!

Am reconsidering next time if I wanna play two sports - bowling and badminton in one day...This is too much..:P

Bloopers 2

As promised, here's Clip 2 and Clip 3 of "The Fast Forward Challenge"

Bloopers, "Bimbo" Rac

And I thought I had a fair share of my bloopers throughout my life already...until I found this next video of me ...(Warning: The following scenes you are going to watch are going to create nauseatic reactions, Caution to all to prepare paper bags.)

I was reading Ps Jeff's blog entry on his 10th Wedding Anniversary with Claudia. There was a wedding pic of them then...wah... that was just 10 years ago! Dun worry Ps Jeff! You look so much betta now.

This video was created for the NTU Freshmen Orientation of 2002 under the Generation Acts Club Singapore. I was roped in to play the role of Ah Girl in the last minute...gosh, Ps Jeff you thought yours was bad? No worries man, I shrink into horror at my "act cute" moments in the camera. Okay la...definitely much slimmer then...makes you really miss the old school grounds too...
Notable Cameos are AH CHENG!! with some voice overs too, CK (miss ya!) and Daniel with Peiru as the camera woman.

Take cover...you are warned...presenting the first of 3 videos..

Celebrating Sarah...:)

It was a really crazy, exciting weekend. Our dear Ms Lau celebrated her lovely **th birthday on the 13th Jan!

What was really exciting was that it was a themed celebration...all of those ladies who turned up had to wear dresses. I tell you that's really challenging, I hardly had any casual dresses that I could wear out. Still, we had a great time catching up at Waruku Restaurant at StarHub Centre. Superb good food, great company, what else could you ask for?

Really thank GOD for Sarah and Jeannie for these two gal frens/sisters/buddies who have been with me since NTU days...May God watch over our friendship for many more years to come!

We ate and ate, until the waitresses had cleared all our cutlery, still we ordered more sushi, and ice cream, think we were quick to catch the look they all gave us, they must be thinking, "Man can this table of ladies really EAT!!!" Well, after Sarah shared about her aspirations and dreams and of course hehe her criteria...well Non- rich, dashing, young, spiritual guys need not apply...nah kidding la that was from me :P...I am sure God will provide for Ms Lau and to supply all her needs!

We did a few more poser shots, hey its the weekend, stressful already as it is, we are not without our own fair share of troubles and worries, so let loose la...ended the night singing away at KTV...:P

Hahah capitalising my previous experience in the Hall Pageant team, not contestant la, just helping with the makeup, clothes, hair and poses! hehe..Ladies and Gentlemen, there are really certain poses that you can make when you take photos that would really look 1 million dollars better...

Here are some la...presenting the ladies of the night!!

Pose 1
The lovely sweet, Flo with her new hairdo! :D

Pose 2
Sweet demure Jeannie!
Pose 3

The lovely wonderful birthday gal! Sarah!

Pose 4

The usual ah Lian Rac!

Girls all sugar and spice and all things nice! :P

Happy Birthday my dear Sarah! We love you lots! :D

幸福是。。。

我是一个很简单的人。。。所渴望的幸福并不复杂也其实很天真。
往往让我感到幸福的时刻也许在别人的眼里会是些很无聊的事。就说今天吧，当我在准备上学时，我望着我的梳妆台上的首饰， 绝大多数的首饰都是一些好友或亲戚送的。也许我在别人的眼里表现的是一位很爱收集首饰很爱美的女孩吧！

就在这时候，我看到了它。。。

埋没在一个不起眼的角落里，是一条很漂亮很漂亮的项链。我的东西实在太多太乱了啦！
我嘴边露出了微笑。。。

原来， 能戴着一位你欣赏的人所送的项链上街。。。也是一种幸福。。。

:P

Reflections, Resolutions...2007

Read some interesting posts on reflections and resolutions recently around ppl's blogs ...

Why reflect? Why make resolutions? Ppl argue that resolutions are plain routine which ppl make and never set down to do it in the end...for me I do agree that sometimes the decisions and things that I choose to do in the year is really out of my "planned" schedule. Sometimes, things happen, situations put you down or set you in a totally new life station.

I am a person with plans...(I hope) I cannot do something without a plan. Say I can't go on a free and easy trip without plans or the itenary laid before me. I cannot go through a week sometimes without checking my schedules or simply filling it up with many many slots...

Ah...all these have a toll on me...where is the time for God? Where is the time for family and loved ones? I do my review every year and hopefully push myself for greater depths and distances covered, not just for myself but for God.

6th Jan 2007

I heard some news that normally I know I would jump around, wail, fling my arms around and cry. But unusually, funnily, I was really calm. Really calm. Not that its an hardening of my heart..It was the manifestation of my worst fears but GOD has changed me. I did not feel the least bit affected. Prolly the angst of praying through and crying to GOd has come and gone and there's this new level of handling emotions, new level of staying calm and being peaceful with the Lord. I guess its the months of preparation that led me to this stage. Come what may...God seemed to say it with me...

5th Jan 2007

We had met as usual for CG at Ah Cheng's place and our leader Poy-san wanted us to list down our reflections and resolutions if possible for the year 2006 and 2007.

I had some Thanksgiving points too.

1) Jobs - Thank God for all the timely providence in all the jobs big and small. UOB- Bank Analyst, Relief teaching job...all these came to me when I was down and out and had little financial support.

2) My career - Finally settling down in something that I know I would like doing and a fulfilment of my soul. I told J today that "It's not about the money" when he asked me why I did not take up music professionally where I would have a chance to earn big bucks.
Its being personally there at ground level by working with children that I know it would really change my viewpoint. This job is for me....:)

3)Missions Trip to Jakarta - Exposure to missions work and working in a team which I have not worked before, sharing to people of different culture.

4) Able to serve God in major church events :- Church Anniversary, Corp. Prayer Meet, Church Camp, Christmas services.

5) Played for my friend's wedding - very first Jazz band experience.

6) For my sheep Zhu Zhu for committing back to church.

7) Influx of new life into our group, Jason, Wils, Joe, Qiuping, new dynamics in the group, our group has certainly more life and fun filled days.

8) Thank God for Godly shepherds! CC, Kim

9) Thank GOd for our mini string orchestra! Shen Teng and Sijia!

10) Bonuses and pay increment! :)

11) Able to run and train for Stand Chart run!

12) ALL the trips and hols! Sarawak, Taiwan, Jakarta...:P

Things which I could improve ah...these would be compiled in the CG list...

1) Be more active in sharing my faith - Sharing the Gospel to friends and family, this is something very important, if you dun start with the close ones, where else?

2) Be more spiritually disciplined in praying and reading the Bible.

3) Be more spirt Controlled, slow to anger and temper, "volume" control according to Poy, develop gentleness, <- God's definition ...:P

4) Do Bible study of at least one book every two months using Study Bible helps.

5) Be faithful in follow up, planning lessons and sharing to sheep.

6) Get to know more friends, get out of my comfort zone.

7) SAVE MONEY!! See at least $2K more into my bank Account this year...:P

8) Exercise regularly and lose weight! wahahahahah...

9) Improve my communications with my family members, sisters and parents, spend more time talking to them.

10) Be more meticulous in my work in dedication to planning for lessons, teaching materials for the kids that I would be teaching...

11) Be more controlled in speech, less curt more love, that's my tag line for this year...:P

Any more inputs? Feel free to give suggestions...:P

wah.wah wah. School starts tml wor...

Thanksgiving to the Lord!

This is my prized certificate...I fought very hard for it...its my Violin Exam Certificate! (Which cert were u thinking of eh?) I passed my Violin Exams in the midst of preparing for Church Anniversary, My crazy workload and preparing for the pieces which drove me crazier some more last year...2006.

Year of many breakthroughs..God brought me through it, time and again He brought me through the stress the uncertainty and once again proven that In all things God works for the good of those who love Him. Unworthy as I am of His love, His hand is there to help me again...

Yupps this is another motivation for me to strive to higher grades, more genres of music, better skills...

THANK YOU LORD!

Met an Angel!

Just yesterday..the first day of year 2007, our group decided to meet at Shi Ming's place for cook-out and KTV.

I was late for the gathering and super lost and had wandered around Smith Street in Chinatown for a good half an hour thinking to myself: "Where in the world is Blk 335B Smith Street?"

Wondering up and down the streets...334, Blk 4 (which is very near Fairfield Methodist Church le), Blk 335, Blk 335A...Where in the world is Blk 335B where Shi Ming stays?

Then, i finally wandered to CK department Store and I met....HIM.

There's this old man, I have never met him or talked to him before in my life... the moment i crossed the small railing into the corner, he saw me, its rather immediate, i was looking at my handphone...he turned and smiled at me, "Miss, this is block 335 are you looking for Blk 335?" Can you imagine the shock i have? How can someone read your thoughts like that? I nearly freaked out.

Then he went ahead asked directions for from the nearby fruits stall and pointed me to the correct direction, he even walked with me for a while to make sure I got it right...

I was lost for the second time turned back and saw him again at that same place he asked me if I could find the block again..this time round I found the block FINALLY.

WOW.

Amazing.

"Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it."
~ Hebrews 13:2

Still blows my mind...