Sigh.........

My last assignment was handed in on Monday, and today, my last lecture and tutorial. I’m supposed to be happy, but, no, I feel so terribly small today. As I listened to my lecturer ramble on and on and on, I just felt as though there is so much that I don’t know, so much that is beyond me, and so very little time left. I kept on trying to comfort myself that there’s still a lot of time, but somehow, after a certain point, it just didn’t work. On my way home, as I thought of what little that I had in my little brain, tears just streamed down my cheeks. Why is it that I can’t seem to remember what I’ve studied?!?!?! Exams freak out me out, and in the process stress me out. I just feel that all my time put into revision and studies seem so wasted. Today is just so horrible and frustrating, how things seem just so beyond me…*Sigh*

Expect in Excitement

I woke up feeling excited today, which is something that I haven’t experienced for a long time(kinda like the feeling that you’re leaving for home today sorta thing) Excited at the fact that there was guitar class today, excited that there was OCF today(and I get to hear the wise one speak =P) and also excited because I was going for my very Elder Hall lunch series concert. Basically, I was excited at what God’s about to do and say today and this weekend for Kairos! =)

The concert this afternoon was interesting, more like unusual. It was a jazz concert, with a varied repertoire in different arrangements. I get inspired to learn the piano better when I see the talents that people have, like there was this guy who can imitate the sound of a didgeridoo, and the rest just sing so well, or play music so good!! At the same time, I kick myself hard for not being more serious when I took music classes.

This is also the time of the year where we pack boxes for the Operation Christmas Child. It’s something that I’ve done for the past 2 years and I’ve loved doing it!! You see, Operation Christmas Child is a project by Samaritan’s Purse where people like us pack gifts into a wrapped up shoebox and these boxes get sent to children in the underprivileged countries(e.g., war or poverty stricken) to just tell them that “there is still hope” and “someone cares about you!!” It warms my heart so much to imagine the smiles on the faces of the little children, who have almost nothing.

I didn’t manage to grab dinner before OCF, why? I don’t know, but I thank God that Mr. Gastric didn’t strike. I was SOOO hungry by the time I reached home, and just as I was about to dig into my dinner, God reminded me of those who are going to bed hungry tonight. I thank God for even allowing me to go hungry, which gave me a slight idea of what they experience everynight. I thank Him for all His providence and giving us more than what we need. I'm still hungry now, but it's okay....

Can’t wait for what God has in store for the coming weekend, Kairos. It’s truly a privilege to even be a part of this. Can’t waitttt!!!

Walking to and from uni had been something I’ve wanted to do for awhile, but never got around to due to procrastination until I saw reports on sunny weather and so I seized the opportunity to explore that.

I’ve discovered so many things, like beautiful flowers, the bird’s nests that is snuggled within the trees, shops that I thought were never there and sights that I didn’t have the time to see when the bus breezed past.

I wouldn’t say that it’s easy to walk that journey has been easy, given that I’m not one who enjoys exercise, and sometimes, the thought of the whole journey itself feels so daunting that I just want to give up and take the bus. I’ve also got those really unpleasant “stitches” that occurs during exercise, where every further step hurts so much. So, what is it that drives me? It’s the money that I save, the exercise that I’ll get, and the pure satisfaction that I’ve managed to walk that distance.

I’ve learnt to enjoy my walks, I use to this time to talk to God, and also to just enjoy what all of God’ creations, the sights of the tree lined roads with the sun’s rays beaming over the trees.

As I was walking one day, I was reminded that this is so similar to our walk with God. He never said that it would be easy, and there are ups and downs. The bigger lesson that I learnt was perseverance. As long as we keep our focus, we will reach our destination, all that we need to do is to persevere. Just like my destination is uni, I just have to walk towards it and not let the interruptions hinder me and uni will be there, so is the same for our walk with God, we must not lose sight of Him and He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Sometimes, the destination does not matter as journeying there, for it what we discover, learn and pick up along the way. Same goes for our walk with God, it’s our walks with Him that we teaches and moulds us.

So yea, it IS good fun walking, I wonder what else He’s going to teach me the next time I leave the bus ticket at home….

The Prudent Spendthrift

Being international students with limited funds and doing our best to take up God's call to be good stewards of His money, we think of all sorts of ways to save money. Among which I have tried out myself over the past 2 years,

• Walking to uni to save on bus fare and also using the free bus services
• Nutella and peanut butter sandwiches EVERYDAY for lunch with only a thin layer of nutella and peanut butter
• Impersonating someone else to get a free smoothie
• Eating hungry jacks because it’s so cheap with the buy one free one booklet
• Getting my supply of maggi mee, toiletries and stationeries from home
• Buying discounted juices, meat, bread, ham etc (I have gotten free butter and juice because the scanner in the supermarket couldn’t read the barcode)
• Getting stationeries from career fairs.(my main intention of going is to find a job)
• Buying one drink and the smallest sized one and sharing it with a friend because it’s unlimited refills, so why pay more when you can get the same quantity? =P
• Getting spectacle lenses replaced at home and sent over by post.
• Taking more tissues and sauces from Hungry Jacks so that we can use it at home. =P
• Have aunties and DHL bring textbooks from home for me
• Comparing every product to see which one has the most content in it.(eg. which soft drink bottle has the highest level of liquid in it)

I heard the MOST outrageous and funniest method recently (and it backfired)

Someone, in the bid to save money(on water and electricity bill), would go over to the unoccupied apartment opposite to shower everyday. Somewhere down the road, someone thought that it was too TOO tedious to bring all their toiletries over everytime, and decided to leave it all there in the apartment opposite, of course, all for convenience sake.

How can such a wonderful plan backfire?

One day, the apartment owner came by and locked the apartment up with all his toiletries in there!! The owner of the toiletries had to end up spending $50 + replacing everything!! So much for saving money....

Of course, when I heard this, along with many others, couldn’t stop laughing until we were all in stitches. =)) We concluded that he was just being a cheapskate. =))) A wonderfully good example of "Penny wise, pound foolish". =P

The Teenee Tinies

A whole shipment of photos of the tiny tots of home just arrived via email this morning. It's so refreshing to see photos from home and they just brighten up the gloomiest day...like today. These are of my current nephew and niece. There has been a new addition, but no pictures yet.

These are my favourites among the whole lot..just looks adorable, doesn't it? Here we have Chung Chung doting over mommy's shoulder, looking so ever "teh".

Chung Chung's che che Sam Sam with her stretches and her little actions, which I can never figure out what they are, but we have fun in the whole process! One of Sam Sam's expertise was to make monkey faces while we were taking photos, but I think she's since grown out of it...=)

The bottle brush and fit ball seems to be Chung Chung's newest toys...can't ever guess what he's up to. There was also a phase when he discovered the world behind cupboard doors, he started emptying his grandma's cupboard of can foods and plates and laid them on the floor, as though there was some sort of a cheap sale going on!

This once very shy and timid boy has now grown into a boy who(in pa's words) loves posing for pictures and looking at his own image on the camera after that. I think I now know why he used to love playing "disappearing into the curtains", cos he was SO shy!!

This has got to be my absolute favourite from this lot of pictures. It's so cute to see them both together holding hands..I think I've never seen that before!! I remember when Chung Chung would bite people, and by people I mean Sam Sam, his one and only victim. Che che would then come to 'report' her 'injuries' to us..

I'm really missing watching them all grow up, with all their silly little tricks and mischiefs, and to see them run about. It's been awhile since I last saw them, I wonder if they even remember me. I know! Chocolates, toys and lollies the next time I return home would do just the trick!! =P

Oodles of noodles

My hungry tum tum called for food oh so badly, and suddenly thought of my Maggi-Mee-In-my-mugs at the back of my cupboard which have been neglected for awhile now. The wonderful whiff of the hot instant noodles after a long time felt so nostalgic. Sheer bliss! I think I’ll send an SOS home to send Maggi mee and Cintan mee over!!

It’s amazing how I would give up a nice big lunch to eat Cintan noodles after coming home from school. Also not forgetting all the constant nagging from family members to not eat so much of it cos it’s bad for health(lose hair, no good, cancer, high blood pressure…the list goes on). Hence, instant noodles became sort of a “luxury” to me as I didn’t have the “privilege” of eating it as and when I want to.

Funny how time and circumstances change, now that I can eat ALL the instant noodles without parents nagging, I DON’T. I just feel so sick after stuffing myself with too much of it. It’s just remarkable how some people can solely live on it. (I think it’s that particular brand of instant noodles)

Nevertheless, a nice warm familiar bowl of instant noodles during the icy cold winter while snuggled up under a quilt sure is a great (and cheap) pick-me-up and a great form of homesick food. Missing home? Just have a pack of your favorite instant noodles for a quick fix! Don’t do it too often otherwise it’ll just seem so routine! =P

Dusty memories from the past

So, the long awaited holidays begin, YAY! What have I been up to? Lots of eating to begin with, and today, I FINALLY got down to some tidying, and I found some of my thoughts that I penned down within my first few days of arrival in Adelaide almost 2 years ago. I thought that I’d share it with you guys! =) (you’d read of some familiar names!)

Saturday, 12th July 2003

I overslept and was totally late for my appointment to see the place at Hume St. To make things worse, I lost my way. I had to ask some random person for directions. He was totally nice and looked it up in the street directory. Had a look at the place, nice but not exactly keen on living with strangers and guys. Came back and packed lunch and headed to Barr Smith Lawns and off to Neville and Fran’s place for a bonfire. Some OCF thing. It was a beautiful place, it’s like a farm with cows and a big BIG fire to warm us in the jungle. We had a yummy barbeque. Not bad for my first REAL Aussie meal. We roasted marshmallows and sang songs round the fire and just fellowshipped with the rest. Bonfire was absolutely cool! Went back and called Li Ming and chatted till 1 am.

Friday, 18th July 2003

Woke up pretty early today for a hike at Mount Lofty and a trip to Hahndorf. Met Fong che and the other OCF people at the Barr Smith Lawns and off we went to Mount Lofty. It’s so cold!! The hike began pretty smoothly, continuing with a steep steep descent all the way down!!! Some points where I nearly slipped… We played some games and had a picnic lunch of sandwiches and hiked all the way up!!! I nearly died getting there! Well, I guess the fact that I’m writing this means that I made it back alive! We then adjourned to the summit of Mount Lofty and it was an absolutely spectacular view of Adelaide!! Next, off we went to Hahndorf where we had a taste of Kangaroo salami. We found this quaint little English looking candy shop that sells yummy ice-cream Mmm…!(this was before I tasted gelatis and Baskin Robins not here yet) Gillian sent us back to Central Market where we had a taste of all sorts of cheese and also muscatels (raisins that look like shriveled up grapes in a bunch). Some cheeses don’t taste as good as they look. In fact, they tastes like YUCK. Rotten rubbish! =((I learnt my lesson to not simply put cheese into my mouth and not all free food taste good!) Overall, it was a good experience and there was SOOO much free food!!


These are REAL entries that I wrote 2 years ago, not something that I cooked up from memory last week. The bonfire was my very first contact with people from OCF Adelaide back in the days when I was still a small little girl. =P It’s been awhile! It’s so amazing to just see how time flies and how some things don’t really change. Like how we always ALWAYS meet at Barr Smith Lawns. Hahndorf and Mount Lofty being our favourite Op Welcome destinations. Games always being apart of OCF activities. =) I’ll never forget these experiences of being a freshie in Adelaide who knew nuts about anything. I think some things are better left unchanged....

You are Proverbs.

Which book of the Bible are you?
brought to you by

New kids on the block....

I was waiting for the bus this afternoon and I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it!!!!! Baskin Robins is coming to town!!! All these years of waiting for m favouritest ice cream in the world and it's finally arrived!!!! YAYYYYY!!!!!! Here's the bestest part :- It's a 3 minute walk from my house!!! I hope they taste as nice as the ones at home...*la la la* =)

What's next to Baskin Robins? Saint Cinnamon!!!!! Not that I like it very much, but it makes me feel one micro step closer to home and Midvalley....

So Cool….and uncool….

It’s so cool that :

1. We’ve finally got broadband at home! YAYY!!! No more sloth speed internet connections!

2. We can make unlimited calls, unlimited hours be it to handphones, landlines, within the country and also overseas!!! All for almost nothing (do I see some faces green with envy? hee hee), which means no more need to explain the sky-high phone bills to my parents.

3. I can be on the phone and still receive incoming calls! No more shouts of "KUAN!!! get off the phone!!!"

It’s so uncool that :

I’m not home to enjoy this wonderful facility!! =(
Why is it that my parents get this when I’m not home. I would make their EVERY penny worth. =)
I shall make up for all the lost time when I go home..muahahhahaaaa

Formula Farce

WARNING: If you're not an F1 fan, the following will not be of any interest to you!

Harlo! This is Janice here. I'm writing here on behalf of LK because she's too lazy to 'spread the news'. Muahha. Nah, it's just that I have this 'urge' to tell everyone about the last US GP in Indianapolis. It was sooo funny. Well, too bad I didn't stay up to watch the race (exam the next day). I think humour-wise, it surpassed that of the Monaco GP and the Aussie GP a few years ago. Besides, I have never been any happier for Schumi to win!(NB: I'm for Kimi, and no, not because he's cute!)

See, 7 out of 10 teams run on Michelin tyres. But due to safety issues, Michelin advised the teams NOT to race. So yea, since big boss said "Don't race", heeded they did. Well, the issue here is, why didn't FIA just put a chicane in? That would make everyone happy. But NO, they had to be stubborn. Think of all the commercial value that the US GP has lost. Think of the disappointed young F1 fans in the US (the Yankees prefer 'American autoracing' like NASCAR, CART etc...many of them do not know Schumi...to the Americans, America is probably a 'world' on its own!)

Well, at least the minnows, Minardi won some points. But isn't it kind of farcical that it is through these circumstances that the underdogs score points? At least Minardi people make good coffee! Bernie Ecclestone (F1 boss) is fuming right now. Who wouldn't? As a consequence of not participating, Kimi is now trailed by Schumi by only 3 points in the Championship! Yikes! But I wouldn't worry because Ferrari doesn't have what it takes to win this year (Thank you God for answering my prayers! By the way, I used to pray every night for McLaren and Mika to win, hehe). That's why they're concentrating on next year's car, F2006.

I can probably tell you lots of other funny F1 stories. Maybe I should start blogging. Nah...I don't have a penchant for writing. Maybe you're thinking "What's this idiot trying to write anyway?". That's your problem. Muahah. I just wanted to share this REALLY funny story (at least to me anyway). God bless.....

Hey all, I'm back.....for 5 minutes before I get back to work. I haven't been missing, I've been studying and getting all stressed out for my finals. So, dear readers, please please PLEASEEEEEEE pray for my exams. please pray for God to just sail me through this time.

Anyways, Just managed to squeeze out whatever brain juice i'm left with to write this, sing to the tune of lemon tree.(still a work in progress) heh. God bless all!

Examination Stress
I’m sitting here in the engineering lab
It’s just another rainy winter’s day
I’m wasting my time I’ve so much to do
I’m hanging around I’m groaning away
But nothing ever happens - and I wonder

I’m sitting around, reading my notes
I’m trying my best I’m getting so stressed
I’d like so much to shed my tears
I feel so stessed i'm doing my best
But nothing ever happens - and I wonder

I wonder how I wonder when
Can I ever get to graduate
and wear the tasselled hat
walking out of Bonython Hall
but as for now on this swivel chair
I’m turningturning turning turning turning around
And all that I can see is just another day of studying

I’m sitting in here counting tax
Worrying about accounting steps
I’m looking at my investment book
Nothing beats the frustration
There’s no conclusion.

Examinations - is not good for me
Examinations – It’s just too much stress
I’m trying so hard to rely on God
I know He’s above exams and beyond
And I know it

okay, break's up. time to get back to my books. Please please pray for meeeeeeeee

what say you?

Slow and Steady

Your friends see you as painstaking and fussy. They see you as very cautious, extremely careful, a slow and steady plodder. It'd really surprise them if you ever did something impulsively or on the spur of the moment. They expect you to examine everything carefully from every angle and then usually decide against it.

Hrmmmm.....true or not? you tell me! :)
Slow? yeah, me sloth. Big time!

This week, I learnt 2 very important lessons. I learnt the real meaning of “allowing God’s spirit to lead”. It all began when I didn’t feel like leading worship yesterday as I was feeling dry in my walk with Him. Nevertheless, I just prepared and committed the whole worship into His hands. Other than that, I just prayed all week long. During worship, I could even see how God was actually the one who chose the songs, and how HE was the one who was leading worship, which brings me to the second and MOST important lesson for the week, without prayer, things will not work as well even though we’re doing it for Him(some may think that it's work for God, so i'm sure He'll make it work) and there’s only so much of planning that you can do, but it’s God who leads. All glory to God!!

Spiritual preparation before leading people into worship with God is of utmost importance as we can’t lead people somewhere if we haven’t been there ourselves. I cannot imagine the amount of preparation the Priests would do before entering the Holy of Holies. Prayer is the glue that binds all things together.

Memories of today, tomorrow

A few of the international students from church organize an appreciation dinner for our Pastors and leaders. We had a great time, with all the food and more food =) , and also catching up.

My favourite part of the night was watching the photo DVDs and slideshows brought me to remember the times that I’ve prayed, cried, laughed, cooked, work, walk, study and shop with friends here. The list goes on. These moments are precious, more so priceless. I truly dread the day we say our goodbyes and part ways. Memories etched in our hearts remain. As we look back in the future, it would bring back nothing but sweet memories of today which would have been history. His-story. Our-stories. Ourstory.

Fried day on a Thursday....

Heys...I'm baaacckk!! I just realised that I haven't blogged poofed. I haven't really felt so tired for awhile, so I decided to just take tonight off to rest and attend to other stuff.

I reached home early, and came up with a grand idea of making fried banana fritters whilst I was half way through my daily dose of cartoons. Armed with a pinch of creativity and a bunch of leopard print(overipe) bananas, I start frying the mixture and the oil got too hot. To cut a long story short, I was left with a huge sorry mess!! The whole house smelt of fried oil in every nook and corner and resembled a temple because of it's smokiness. I probably spent more time washing, cleaning, scrubbing and mopping than the time it took to make it. The product?? Super-oily but pretty good tasting banana fritters. Thank God for a housemate who loved it and ate all of it up!!! thanks eve! Maybe i'll improve on it some other time.

I’m now sitting in my room, in the still and quiet of the night trying to figure out my assignment of which I've only completed one third, and it’s due this Friday. To make matters worse, I don’t even know if what I’ve done is entirely right. *sigh* I’ve never been in such a position where I’m feeling so lost for my work to this point. Guess who’s going to be putting in all-nighters for the rest of this week....

It’s been pretty tiring these few days as I begin to feel the pressure mounting and workload building as the finals draw close. I know I’m not in it alone, everyone around me is going through the same thing, and this is also the time where we cannot rely solely on our own strength, but to draw from God as well. It’s also times like these where we need to remember God in all the little things when it seems all so difficult so see anything good coming out. It’s also the time where we have to see God’s greater purposes and plans for the future. It’s also the time where we have to learn to allow His peace to infiltrate our hearts. This is the time where we sometimes feel so much closer to God than we’ve ever been, when we can feel Him by our side. It’s also this time when we have to learn to let go and let Him.

2Corinthians 1:3-4 “What a wonderful God we have-He is…the source of every mercy, and the one who so wonderfully comforts and strengthens us.”

Of gelatis and dodgyness....

I had a fair share of encounters with funny people this week…Errr…..guys in particular. I was walking to the bus stop on Monday morning when someone suddenly walks up behind me, so I moved to one side of the sidewalk to let him pass. Instead, he walks alongside with me, and suddenly strikes up a conversation.

Ang-moh fella : Hot day today isn’t it?
Me : ??? (like why you suddenly come and talk to me lahh) Really? No, I think it’s a beautiful day.
Dodgy ang-moh fella : So, you live around here?
Me: Yeah. (at the same time praying that he doesn’t ask me which road)
Really Dodgy ang-moh fella : Really, so you want my phone number?
Me : No.
Really really Dodgy ang-moh fella : (looks abit disappointed) Really? Are you sure?
Me : Yea, I’m sure. No.
Really Really REALLY Dodgy ang-moh fella : Really? I’m single, ya know?
Me : Really? You’re single? Good for you!

He quickly then trots off while I walk off with a big sigh of relief. Oh well, joke of the day.....

I went to pick up a few some groceries from the supermarket among which is honey yesterday. The cashier scanned the bottle of honey, and found that it was sticky. He then said, “Honey, Sticky!”. I just looked at him and said,”Yea”. He then goes on repeating Honey! Sticky! Honey! Honey! Honey! Here I am thinking “you calling me honey is it??!?!" I quickly got my change and left the supermarket.

I’m not in any way making fun of guys yahhh…Sorry if I've offended anyone...

My uni brought Multicultural Week forward to this week which would otherwise be held in September. It’s a whole week where stalls would be set up offering an array of food from different countries like, and also an ice-cream and gelati stall which never fails to show up every year. Every year, I would have ice-cream-every-day-week during M-week. Come rain or shine, cough or no cough, voice or no voice, I would be indulging in my ice-cream(sometimes 2 or 3 a day), feeling the satisfaction of a little girl who gets her ice-cream. This year was no different, gelati yesterday with a friend and gelati today, on the steps in front of the art gallery. Another 2 more days to go!! *GriN*

After dinner today, Eve and I went on a shopping trip…..for free car parks! To our dismay, we found nothing of such which were near to uni where we can park and walk. We concluded that we would end up spending more time walking from the car park to uni than the whole bus trip from home to city. However, I think our trip was quite interesting, we managed to drive into roads that we’ve(or I) never been to. I think it was a great adventure! Conclusion of our trip? Leave the car at home and take the bus…our surburb is still the best!!

Okay okay, enough of adventures and fun for the day…time to get back to my work….

blah

blah

Here's a big birthday shoutout to one of my dearest friends, Li Ming a.k.a. Lemming!! Okay, since it's her birthday, I'll dedicate this post to her. I've known Li Ming for about 5 donkey years, my first contact with her was at our church camp back in 2000 at Peacehaven. Li Ming's one of my friends where we can be out together for the whole day, and yet we'll still be tying up our house phonelines the moment we get home till the wee hours of the night. A great friend, and also a greast source of support for me many times, among which when I was homesick here in Aussieland.

Love ya and miss ya loads and wished that I was there for your not-so-surprising surprise party!!!!!!! Do keep in touch yea, call me or come visit me or something like that lahhhhh. Love, Lemon