stories of us 3

5 things you can only do with babies

2011-12-10T01:15:00.001+08:00

Christmas is almost here and we have this overwhelming urge to dive straight into the Christmas spirit and buy all the candy canes, honey ham, ribbons, shiny balls and anything Christmasy that we see. It's really such a lovely time of the year! There are days when i wake up moody and i'll remind myself it's Christmas - and the day does really get better.

There are so many things i wished i can do with Shanah this season. I wished we could bake christmas cookies, colour christmas pictures, create funky homemade decorations and decorate the tree. But all these have to wait till she's alittle older. Just before i wished she could grow up faster, i'm glad i caught myself and read this article.

I'm loving these things that i can do with our sweet sweet baby.

1) Chomp and bite her little hands and feet.
We can't get over how cute her little fingers and wrists are, especially when they wrap themselves around your thumb, my heart just melts. And the tiny tiny toes are absolutely perfect. They are so tiny and lovely and cute and reallly tiny.

2) Sing my hearts out
I'm embarrassed to sing in public. With Shanah, i sing undisturbed to silly songs with my lyrics all wrong. Her favourite is Hush Little Baby where i changed all the gifts to anything 3 syllabus (chocolate cake, apple pie, lemon tart, something nice). When she's not sleeping or nursing she would stare wide-eyed and smile, and at that moment, you know that you are everything in the world to her.

3) Take a bathe together
Our little water baby loves the water. She would squeal and kick hard, splashing water everywhere. Such a joy to cuddle in the water.

4) Dream blissfully about how she would turn out
We both agree that she loves music and would be a world class doctor.

5) Be the number 1 coolest thing on earth
Her wide eyed stares, her smile as i walked into the room, her lovely lovely laughter when we perform silly antics, the warmth it brings when she leans her little head on my shoulder and how we snuggle up together in the nights... these are the really special things that i will hold close to my heart always.

Thank God for our lovely lovely little sweetheart.

It aint easy!

2011-11-20T22:59:00.002+08:00

It's been an amazing 4 months for us. Every time I see Shanah, it just echos Psalms 139 to me, that indeed we are fearfully and wonderfully made.

He who finds a wife finds a good thing, And obtains favor from the LORD.
Proverbs 18:22

I was listening to a Pastor Prince sermon recently and he mentioned this verse. Indeed, it is the grace of God upon my life, to have found a wonderful wife. And I am the sort who likes to brag about God's blessings on my life. I've been to so many baby showers recently and I'm not trying to compare, but ask around and you will realise it aint easy to be a mommy! In fact, better ask your own! So I really thank God for His blessing to me :)

Even in a apparently textbook thing, where the government, every consultant and every textbook advises total breastfeeding, I realise that it is not even easy to sustain it. The time, the commitment, the tiredness - it really takes its toil on mothers. Even waking up in the night...oh my oh my....haha I definitely could not sustain that (after all I have work the next morning mah...haha!)

The best thing our Shanah could have is the best mommy - Matilda :) The favour of God is indeed upon our household :)

I'm not very sure why i'm up

2011-10-21T02:03:00.000+08:00

It's 1.30am in the morning and i'm wide eyed. I'm pretty sure if i were to lie down i would sleep in five minutes tops. But it just seem so mundane to sleep when i have a night to myself where all the chores are done for once. Plus it makes sense to wait for the baby to wake for her feed rather than scramble about in my sleepy state.

Laundry.. checked
Ironing.. checked
Cleaning... checked

So here am i, after exploring all the usual culprits and placing a huge huge huge shopping restraining order on myself, i've decided to explore a old rather neglected hobby. I've been really looking forward to fiddling with this new program.

I'm not the most efficient when it comes to sharing photos on facebook. In fact, we uploaded our wedding pictures about 1.5 years after our wedding. Not a good idea when i was 38 weeks preggies and proud to be looking quite like an elephant.

I'm sensing that my tired brain is going into ramble mode soon. So before that happens, here are some pictures of our not-so-recent trip to Europe end of last year. I'll prolly be sharing more if i can recall the places we visit. Shanah was about 10 weeks-ish then, and we initially planned a really loong exciting itinerary (London-Paris-Rome-Florence-Venice) before cutting the entire trip down to London and Paris cos I couldn't take anything but Asian cuisine. The thought of anything western (except that western food store at the kopitiam) makes me nauseous. I know, of all places, in the culinary heaven of France. Throughout our whole trip, i was thinking about the promise a friend made, that he would pick us from the airport and bring us for supper at Bedok Simpang. I was like mee goreng mee goreng the entire trip. All i can say, poor hubby :) Oh, but at least i was still a nutter for the sweet stuff!

We ♥ camping

2011-10-21T01:37:00.000+08:00

These days we spend more time sleeping on the living room floor then the Serta mattress we poured our life savings into. It just seems like the most natural and easiest thing to do when the baby needs to feed for prolonged periods at night. Momma gets to watch the telly as Shanah feeds and Papa doesn't have to entertain me because well, the telly program does the job. Everyone is happy. Or like Isaiah likes to say, when momma is happy, everyone is happy.

And then when I wake up at 3 or so for a feed, I can easily go about doing my business while everyone else sleeps soundly. I get to fold the clothes, pack the house, fill the water and do other household chores without screaming 'shannaaahhh mummmy's hereee!' every 5 minutes. I don't think our neighbours have a very good impression of me.

How life changes when you have a kid. Not every change is nice, dainty and sweet smelling like the baby but we embrace them all cos we are addicted to smelling her and watching her coo. I absolutely cannot resist showering her with kisses all the time. And when she smiles her special morning smile for mummy, my heart just melts.

Just last week, I placed Shanah on the bed next to me. Not too long after, she started to poo big time. I swiftly carried her for a diaper change. Unfortunately, the poo was (always) faster than me and our lovely clean sheet was adorned with a nice sweet-smelling circular stain.

Baby poo as i have learnt, is best cleaned when it's fresh. When it's kept too long, the stain gets stuck to the cloth and the poo turns colours, including luminous green. Very gross.

Anyway, after I was done with the clean-up, i happily placed the baby on the other side of the side of the bed, where she proceeded to spit/puke up her milk. Entirely my fault that she puked as she was fussing and i refused to get up to burp her. So well, we now have both sides of the biiggg bed stained with two huge circles and nowhere for us to lie. We proceeded to the hall, back to our trusty mattress and the telly, where we both watched ANTM cycle 16 marathon from 11am to 7pm. Bliss :)

He's my daddy

2011-10-11T04:08:00.000+08:00

These days most conversations with friends would often include questions about daddy's involvement in caring for the little one. It's normal, considering the fact that we are still living in a rather patriarchal society. But thankfully for me, I married a super dad, whose talents includes diaper changing, bottle feeding, massaging and toilet cleaning. Come to think of it, my dad is a super grand-dad too - with all his visits and yummy dinners.

Here's seven reasons why Isaiah rocks our socks off:

7) He saw my insides spill on the table and didn't squrim

Childbirth can be rather revealing - of the placenta and other bloody stuff that is. First we wait 40 weeks for the child to come, then we wait for the cervix to dilate, then we push the baby out and finally all the bloody stuff comes out. Not a very good sight. But this champion here saw everything and didn't squirm or faint. In fact, he even wanted to take a picture of it. Thankfully he didn't.

6) He woke up for all the night feeds in the first month even when he didn't have to

Thus far Shanah has been exclusively latched on, which means to say Daddy doesn't really have much of a job in the feeding department. In those first weeks where things were a complete blur (both because we didn't know what to do and were really lacking sleep), Isaiah woke up along side me to keep to company for night feeds. He rocked her to sleep after i'm done feeding and when she starts screaming. He changed her diapers, hoping to wake up her to drink more milk, while i rest in bed. And he walked her around the house for hours at end in the wee hours of the morning.

5) He willingly cleans all the toilets in the house and does it without fail most of the time.

A mutual friend once asked why I was against the idea of having a part time cleaner come by. I don't like our weekends being confined to waiting around for our house to be cleaned up. Plus, I can do the housework, it's exercise for me since my gym membership is non-existent now. My record time for cleaning the entire house is 45 minutes. I can even add polishing the parquet to my list of abilities.. i just can't do the toilets. In comes my lovely husband who scrubs the loo down to a T and says he's the expert in it :)

4) On weekends, he takes over the diaper duty and does it with minimal squirming.

When momma gets lazy and daddy gets moving to let momma sleep in for the extra 5 minutes.

3) He cleans Shanah up for bed despite her screaming into his face sometimes.

Shanah gets fussy at night. After sometime we figured that it's prolly because she's over tired. So when daddy starts the night routine of getting her cleaned and dressed for bed, she sometimes screams non stop and kicks her legs in fury. Despite a whole day at work fighting his own battles, daddy patiently calms Shanah down and cleans her up so that momma gets sometime to clean herself up.

2) He gives momma time to bathe her luxurious 15 minutes bathe while he tries ways and ends to calm the grumpy baby. After that momma sometimes get a feet massage while she feeds the baby

Refer to point no. 3

1) Most of all, he loves the ladies in the house very very much.

I know you loves us so very much. Thank God for you :)

The simplicity of things

2011-10-08T01:36:00.000+08:00

One thing i wished i had done when i was pregnant with Shanah was to blog about being preggies. In fact, the pregnancy was the main reason for the initial hiatus - i was really grumpy. Add on nausea, worries and even more worries, it just wasn't very fun to be around me. No prizes for guessing who bore the brutal end of the brunt.

Motherhood is teaching me to slow down (except for the housework bit). I can't hurry her along and make her grow faster, neither can i will her to learn how to sit up and play by herself. But one thing i can sure do is to enjoy the precious moments. I love watching her sleep, not because it's all quiet and mommy gets to continue her floor cleaning project she started 3 hours ago, but because it's in these moments that i feel my heart bursting with so much joy, love and gratitude, for such a beautiful gift from God.

There are different seasons in life. Some seasons are for working our butts off while others are for celebrating and spending a hefty sum of money getting married. I think my season right now is to slow down and enjoy watching my little girl grow. These days i wake up to a gentle smack in the face from Shanah followed by smiles and giggles from her. I think it's the best way to wake up :)

There is a certain simplicity and joy in enjoying the moments where we are in right now. Sometimes we get too caught up wondering about the what ifs that we forget to enjoy what we have in our hands and to make the most out of it. For starters, where i do get preggies with no. 2, i'm gonna enjoy being preggies and actually write about it so i'll remember how nimble my body was when i'm eighty. But till then, I'll just spend more time staring at the little one as she wraps her little palm around my finger.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10

it's been quite awhile, about 9 months to be exact

2011-10-01T01:13:00.001+08:00

We have lots of things up our sleeves in the past 9 + 3 months. Most of it involves me looking like an elephant and swaddling around like a duck. In recent days, my slimmer self has semi-returned and most of our time is spent staring at a pint size princess that looks like this:

Welcome Shanah Lucy Das, our (almost) 3-month-old champion. I'm not too sure if I've seen anything lovelier, cuter and more beautiful than this awesome gift from God.

Now that my house is in a considerable mess and I've come to terms with it, I figured that we should start once again to talk about our daily life and the wonders that surround it. How far we have come since the days where we prepared for the wedding and lived our lives as 2 people conquering the world. Life does get better, we are trusting on it!

thinking of quitting your job?

2011-09-24T11:41:00.000+08:00

Something worth reading to spur you on:

My three bits of advice to avoid ending up in a career disaster zone like me | News | www.eFinancialCareers.dk

Shanah's Baby Dedication!

2011-09-04T23:24:00.002+08:00

Today was Shanah's baby dedication :)

It was just a simple act of coming in front of the church and being prayed for by the Elders and Leaders of the Church, but it was a reminder to us that God made us to be part of a family. Everyone is important, everyone has their place.

If you are someone who doesn't feel like you "fit in" in your Christian community, just know that God wants you to be part of His family. It isn't about one church or another, but you are part of God's family. And just as He gave us natural parents, so too He wants us taken care of and part of one local church family. It takes time, it takes effort - just like any human relationship.

We are all Christians - but we are not Christ Himself - none of us are perfect. So let's make room for mistakes, for different, for any other labels there are...cos at the end of the day - God loves us, more than we as parents love Shanah (and we oh so love love her!)...BUT GOD loves us way way more, in terms that go beyond human understanding.

Just experience and accept :)

There is hope

2011-08-06T23:12:00.001+08:00

saw that line posted on the POD outreach blog.

3 simple words, but so powerful :)

Thank God He gives hope to the hopeless and help to the helpless.

She's so beautiful

2011-07-29T23:58:00.002+08:00

"When I see your face
There's not a thing that I would change
Cause you're amazing
Just the way you are
And when you smile,
The whole world stops and stares for awhile
Cause girl you're amazing
Just the way you are"

The lyrics are exactly what I think of her :)

Shanah Lucy Das is officially 19 days old today! It's been an absolutely amazing journey and experience! Crazily messy, sometimes dirty, sometimes unsure - but in the chaos, there's a simple joy knowing that every moment Matz and I have with her is unique.

So thank God so far, thank you everyone :)

hello little one ♥

2011-06-09T13:07:00.006+08:00

Hello little Shanah Lucy. We're all really excited for you to come so that we can count the number of tiny toes and fingers, kiss your chubby cheeks and smell the sole of your lovely baby feet.

But till then, I'll just have fun carrying you wherever I go. You are getting heavier by the day, but it's so nice to know that you'll always close to my heart ♥

Blessed Valentines 2011!

2011-02-15T22:02:00.005+08:00

It's been some time since we last blogged, so well, hello everyone! :) There has been many changes since last year, and while we are ready to share all about it, work and other stuff call for a greater priority. Hopefully with more time to ourselves, we can finally start sorting out the many pictures and sharing alittle of our lives :)

Though i'm proud to say that i've finally cleared the SD card from good ole trusty Nikon and create 15 (yikes!) folders of photos. Apparently the last time i officially cleared and stored everything properly was like, last November, before Europe!

Meanwhile, Blessed Valentines all. I shall shamelessly share my lovely bouquets from the even lovelier husband who unbashfully showers his wife with so much love :) The first one came last Friday, in time for Crazy Love, while the second one was a total surprise on Valentines day itself. Now each time i look at it at home, it warms me up inside.

Now, whoever you spent this Valentine with, remember that Jesus shall be your eternal Valentine. He has tonnes of flowers and an everlasting love for you and me.

Do you know the meaning of Christmas?

2010-12-25T13:38:00.001+08:00

Blessed Christmas!

2010-12-25T13:11:00.003+08:00

Another Christmas, but every one has it's own special memories.

It was a mad rush this year again. Had to get ready for the office Christmas lunch & I realised I forgot to take pictures! Managed to sneak in one round of table tennis and then had to rush off to meet Matz@Nex to complete part 2 of the Christmas shopping! (In case you wonder, part 1 was in Europe!). Then it was off to Rivervale Mall.

And after a mad speeding rush, it was off to Church to get ready for Caroling, leave Matz at home to wrap the mountain of presents! She was exhausted after that! Thanks Dear! :)

Caroling was awesomely great this year - a different Spirit in the air! And thank God for His miracle. It started drizzling, but somehow in the midst of that God provided a rainbow to remind us of His faithfulness and the rain stopped!

Everything was really raw at the caroling, but it was honest, heart-felted service from people who genuinely love God - youth and adults, different services coming together to bless the Sin Ming community, and hopefully for many to hear about Jesus! In fact one of the dialect service brothers shared that one of the residents might come to visit us this sunday! PTL! Many thanks for all those who contributed: JW, Huijun, Christine, Caiqing....and to all who came - you were a blessing!

Then once caroling was done, it was the mini-makan organised by Aunty Farren. Good time of fellowship and food. Somehow, the beehoon was particularly outstanding! Ultra-fragrant! Yummy! Haha!

As if that was not enough, we still had a Christmas Youth Service, it's something special and kudos to Isaac and Joy! Perhaps the greatest gift on Christmas day is knowing and loving Jesus all over again :) It was great to see so many and some especially who haven't come in a long while :) There's nothing better to celebrate Jesus than being with Him in His house :)

My goodness the list is long! After service we had the Z2 gift exchange organised by Shalom. I think it was something well-needed. You can give something without loving, but you can't love someone without giving! Regardless of how it's done, I think everyone still wants to receive something for Christmas - I know I do! :):)

Then then...the Midnite Madness Supper Run began! Jalan Kayu, Boon Lay, Geylang. Of course I skipped the Boon Lay :P

But nothing compares to playing Lan at 5 AM in the morning!! Darn we lost but nevermind! I got my membership card, so we better play again!! :)

Then finally after sending them home it was 645am and time for a nap! I say nap cos I couldn't possibly sleep till late - so much more for today to do! Hehe breakfast was Famous Amos cookies with Matz :)

All in all, it was a great day, but nothing greater than knowing we tried to use every possible opportunity to share about You Jesus :) You're the reason for everything and my prayer before this day ends is for more lost souls to receive the gift of You today, in every Church, every outreach, every single opportunity.

We love You, Jesus :)

Eve of Christmas Eve!

2010-12-23T19:19:00.005+08:00

We are sorry for the late of updates. A tad slight embarrassed maybe because it has been an event-filled year end thus far. Loads of love and joy to share! More updates will come we hope.

Till then, have a merry and blessed eve of Christmas eve! :) Be Jolly, be Merry, but dun forget the REAL reason for Christmas. And nope, it's not the turkey, neither is it the ribs. It's the One who was sent for us some 2 thousand years ago. The One who loves us so much.

2010-11-20T19:21:00.001+08:00

Two things I learnt here:

(1) absence does make the heart grow fonder
(2) it's your loved ones that make the world around you beautiful, warm and fuzzy

Anywhere around with your loved ones makes it special

I miss home

hello from NZ! :)

2010-11-18T18:29:00.004+08:00

Hello from Day 4 in NZ. It was a bumpy ride to the land down under, not a good way to endure a 2hr + 10hr ride. Nevertheless, thank God we got here safe and sound. :)

I'm missing home and i cant wait to get back in a few days. Well, more like a week's time. I miss my bed and most of all i miss my family. But at least i'm getting many hours of sleep here. I'm 5 hours ahead peeps, and hence we get to see the gorgeous sunrise in the gorgeous weather. Loads of fresh air too. Alrighty, i'm heading off to bed. Here's some random pics which im too lazy to name :)

very excited and very broke :)

2010-11-09T09:32:00.001+08:00

Unfailing Love

2010-11-01T00:49:00.002+08:00

Still in the midst of my quiet time right now, strumming guitar and just worshiping in a way that i haven't been in quite a while.

Today God impressed on me 2 things:
1) Before we can rise to our mission, we must first overcome ourselves. There's no greater force to stop us than our own thoughts against us. Matilda wisely told me yesterday that we need to first find our selves and affirm our identities.

In the King James version of that famous verse, Jeremiah 29:11, it says that:

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

"I know the THOUGHTS that I THINK towards you" - that's God's word. He's constantly thinking about us - how amazing is that!

We have 2 realise 2 things: First we need to know what God thinks about us and then we need to take those God-thoughts and think them ourselves. The Bible encourages us to mediate on the Word - to dwell on the Living Word - Jesus!

Be set free - fix your thoughts on Jesus and what He thinks about you - no one else matters!

2) Times of Refreshing....it's a lovely song we used to sing in the past. And the lyrics are so needed for many of us today....

Times of refreshing here in Your presence
No greater blessing than being with You
My soul is restored, my mind is renewed
There's no greater joy, LORD, than being with You

Stay in His presence daily - climb up that prayer mountain. Get away from the crowds, from work, from people. Just spend time with Him. WE NEED IT! So precious is this time - don't let go of this. You will be restored, you will be renewed!

Have a blessed week :)
Isaiah

one of those drowsy days

2010-10-18T15:27:00.002+08:00

San Francisco with Char (2008)

Today's one of those drowsy days where all you can think about are places you've been to and the upcoming holidays. I'm dreaming of lush greenery, gorgeous country side, beautiful cathedrals, creme brulee, cheesecake, coffee and long flights.

Just enough to keep me going and marking :)

Have a blessed week guys.

it's almost Christmas!!

2010-10-12T10:03:00.002+08:00

it's been so long since we've some free time for ourselves, to just sit and laze on the sofa. Or to pick up a good book and not give myself 5 mins to read it as a break. Heh. But in any case, i see a slight light at the end of the tunnel. It's coming, it's coming, we just have to keep hoping.

Meanwhile, IT'S ALMOST CHRISTMAS! Exciteds or what?!?!?! :) :) :)

Blessed Kiddos' Day :)

2010-10-01T04:52:00.003+08:00

growls

2010-09-30T06:29:00.003+08:00

Been sleeping and waking at odd hours recently. As much as I'm occupationally a morning person, its really more effective to be working late into the wee hours, where the world around you is sleeping soundly. This cycle of sleep has stuck with me since uni days and i find myself returning back to it from time to time.

Aside from the dark eye rings and the senseless dialogues, staying up late does make one really hungry.. and grumpy in the mornings. And i must say that it takes a wonderful husband to deal with it so lovingly :)

maybe macaroons will help. freshly baked ones :)

Yummiest lunch in the world :)

2010-09-28T14:30:00.001+08:00

Mummy woke up earllyy at 5am to cook this morning!! She's totallly awesommee!

Loveeeeeeeee!
Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld

oops, i think we over ordered again! :P

2010-09-19T20:48:00.004+08:00

Looming deadlines, a to-do list that piles up faster than i can tick off and crazily long hours thinking about work. That's how i would describe my life for the past couple of weeks and the weeks to come. At the same time though, it's going to be exciting helping these kids get through one major exam in their life, to help them bridge the gap between school and the life after school.

As busy as life gets to us, one should never forget about time with our loved ones. So here's one shot of our very crowded table of sushi. Mummy, lyn and i brought gramps love to their first Jap meal. Thank God mummy manged to snag a seat next to the 'roll roll thing' (i.e. conveyor belt) :) I hope they had loads and loads of fun!

And more importantly, thank God my maiden journey to Toa Payoh went without harm. Jesse once said, there are 3 categories of bad drivers in Singapore: 1) P-plate drivers 2) Red plate cars 3) Lady drivers. Unfortunately, i fall into all 3 of them. You get the idea.

And here's one for the week. A really stupid picture of Socks and me. If we perm our hair, this is how we would look. Or if we change our jobs and move to UK as guards :)

Have an awesome week guys :)

'The Lord bless you, and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine on you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.'

Numbers 6:22-27

a mini weekend get-away

2010-09-09T19:25:00.008+08:00

Who says we can't pretend to be tourists in Singapore? :) :)

Just over the weekend Isaiah and myself treated ourselves to a mini break in Fairmont Hotel, Singapore. I like to pretend that I'm a travel magazine writer/hotel reviewer/someone-who-gets-paid-to-stay-in-hotels-for-free person! So sometimes, we try to live this dream alittle. Heh.

We checked in early - where we each rushed some work till about 4pm (!!!) But with the emails sent and our hearts at ease, we happily went swimming in a bid to lose some calories for our major pigging out fest later on.

Prego Restaurant
Fairmont Hotel

Warm lovely bread for starters (which they kindly refilled :))

Tuna carpaccio for starters

Prego Speciality Pizza - Parham Ham, Rocket leaves and cheese i believe

Chicken dish with mashed potatoes that came with Isaiah's set

Glorious Agnolotti (Pasta with minced beef filling)

Rice Tapioca & sorbet ice cream for desserts
light and yummy - absolutely perfect way to end of a really huge meal

The meal was awesome overall. I wouldn't say that it was drop dead absolutely wonderful - but at the same time, the food was just right. Even the heavier dishes didn't give this sense of being too full or too sick of the same dish. Service was absolutely excellent and attentive.

After the huge dinner we went on to catch a movie - Going the Distance. Neither of us can tell you what's the movie about or how it ended because we both fell asleep (!!!) while watching the movie. Even moving our feets and getting back to the hotel, which was just a stone's throw away, was such an ordeal.

A couple of pictures i managed to snagged off my sis' camera (which she still doesn't know i took and i cleverly didn't check to see that the batteries are dying) before we dozed off with happy dreams of our dinner :)

Zonked out!

Pretty hotel toiletries
These Fairmont people dun scrimp on their goods! Their towels are seriously fluffffffy!!

A great breakfast is a great way to start a morning :)

Thank God the hotel was kind enough to grant us late check-out the next morning. So as Isaiah was making his way to work, i had a variety of options - sleep/swim/stone - to choose from. Of which, i did all :))

Fairmont was awesome - albeit alittle on the old side. But with super fluffy towels and old world charms, and for the price we paid, i would say it's definitely worth it. Not too sure if i'll recommend if someone's paying to stay there at full price ($200ish) though. Nevertheless, a much needed break fulfilled and a great way to start the work-filled hols!

treat-yourself sept hols

2010-09-09T19:13:00.004+08:00

The Sept hols can be rather unkind to teachers - we have a truckload of marking to clear with the looming marks computation deadlines, admin work blah blah blah and to top off, trying to convince our friends that no, we are actually not that free.

So my besties colleagues and i decided one day to throw away all work and find someplace to pig and chill out (recently there seems to be so many reasons to pig out! Hoorays or what!). We needed somewhere away from the outside world of students and books; somewhere where we can leave the reminder of work far far away from our minds. Almost like a refuge really.

Nuff said. Too many words already. I'll show you what my trusty BB bold camera can do :)

Ps Cafe
288 Harding Road

Happy hols to us all - with whatever that's left of it :)

COSB Family Day! :)

2010-08-30T00:29:00.006+08:00

Finally blogging about something current :)

We had our church's Family Day over the weekend. 8am was honestly alittle early to wake up on a Saturday morning, especially after a nice time out with the girls the night before. But it was worth it! I seriously think we all put on weight with the amazing food!

People of all ages were welcomed to Changi Beach with fragrant century egg porridge and fried bee hoon (i had 3 helpings! :P) With tummies full and happy grins on our faces, we started the day with a round of aerobics by a trained gym instructor. How the aunties and uncles managed it is beyond me.. but certainly, they were a bag of good fun!

A telematch that started and ended in record time ensued; the groups just ran amok! After a round of ice cream and drinks, the group settled down for an entertaining series of magic tricks by Uncle John, leaving them amazed and peeling on their sides in laughter. We rounded up the day with an intense game of Bingo; the closest i ever seen to the ones i read about overseas :) Kudos to the organisers who thought of Bingo, a game that transcends all age and languages. And really, kudos to them for such a wonderful yummy day :) It was perfect, the way we would like it!

To those who missed it, there's still next year!

The ones who were there before it all started

aunties who gave the workout their best

On to the Telematch!

the ice-cream man reminded us of our wedding :) the queue never stopped!

happy as can be with ice cream

Everyone wanted some. I had 3 helpings! woohoo!

Uncle John entertaining all of us

looking for grasshoppers!

proudly showing off her grasshoppers :)

Children do love their sand!

BINGO!

Eh why i never win?

And a hug to end off a wonderful day

Thank God for the wonderful weather - it was sunny, yet windy. Given the erratic mad weather, i wouldn't dare say this fell short of a miracle. Till the next post, have a great week guys :) Blessed Monday!

Life & Love; Tears & Death

2010-08-30T00:10:00.003+08:00

It's been a busy couple of weeks since July! We helped out in 2 weddings (Mr Beh and Mr Ong), I attended a good colleague's wedding dinner the same weekend. All 3 were good fun, catching up with friends and sitting down to eat.

Then suddenly, I get a saddening sms... a friend's dad passed away. We went to the wake, it was a tough time for the family and I pray, knowing that God's peace was with them. AND, it was at that wake, that I found out that another friend's mum passed on as well. We rushed down to that wake the same night.

3 weddings and 2 funerals.

But life is a story continuously unfolding. Just last week, my mum called me to the hospital because my aunty was critically ill. We visited her and my grandma asked us to pray for her as well.

I'd like to think that I'm a person of faith. But in the face of the situation, I honestly found it very difficult to pray in my typical strength of belief - the best I could muster was that "God's will be done".

A day later my mum called to say that my aunt had passed on. So it came that a few weeks before, I was following Bridal Cars, and now, I was following behind a hearse.

It's a stark difference, between a Celebration of Love one day and a reminder of our frail humanity.

Love and Life one day, Tears and Death another.

The Bible reminds us: He has also set eternity in the hearts of men (Ecc 3;11)

In our hearts, is a yearning for the "something more". It is an underlying current in our spirits that tells us that life is more than that which is seen.

I guess my point in writing all this done is that while we think and dream of the great plans and destinies that we all desire, let's remember that life is often the sum of its moments. Every moment we have is an opportunity and a point of decision for eternity. It's a moment to decide to love the people around us that God has placed in our lives. It is to decide that it will be a moment to love, live and laugh.

At the end of this life, there's nothing we can bring along with us.

Ecc 5:15 Naked a man comes from his mother's womb, and as he comes, so he departs. He takes nothing from his labor that he can carry in his hand.

What we do bring is memories of the people we lived life with. Memories of the people we journeyed in our walk with God on this earth. Memories of the people that we touched, people that we shared our Jesus with.

And one day, one day, those memories will become reality again.

John 14:2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

That place is prepared for us.

1 Cor 15:52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

That great joy comes not just our memories are reality again and we see those we love. But that we will see HIM who first loved us. And I hope that when that day comes, I will hear my Lord say to me:

Matthew 25: 23 Well done, good and faithful servant... Enter into the joy of your lord.’

And when we love, we remember that God is love:

1 John 4:16 We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.

Chase your dreams! Live out Loud! But remember to love, remember to care, remember to share. Remember that you can make a difference to someone. Just like Jesus.

children @ work!

2010-08-24T23:59:00.008+08:00

*waves hi!!* It's been a loong time!

I must apologise for the lack of updates - except for a smattering of photos, there really wasn't any real update of our lives and what we have been up to. Just today, CF kindly reminded me that we have *gasp* yet to upload anything from our wedding, honeymoon, or anything related to it. Some wedding blog huh. Tsk!

Well, our only saving grace would be... a smattering of photos from other close friends' weddings! Hahaha. Which, to be honest, was pretty much what we were happily busy with for quite some time earlier on. I know I've mentioned this somewhere, but I'll do it again here ('cos it's always good to count our blessings! :)), that it's always such a joy and privilege to be part of something so special to the couple.

Over the 2 wedding weekends, we rented a couple of lenses (my fave being the f1.4 one. it's awesome!) to play with. I'm really bad at using the zoom lenses - pictures are usually blurry - but when it comes to capturing children playing at weddings with the 1.4, it's a complete joy. There's just something about capturing their expressions and their play that gets to me; i dare say that the joy of capturing them at their most innocent and carefree moments is almost indescribable :) Of course the 1.4 played a large role too. hehe. It was a pity we didn't get to use any of the rented lens much over the 2 weekends - but opportunities and chances will come, hopefully! :)

little feet making big footsteps in the world

uh oh, he's part of the church deco now!

Bubbles + kids = loads of fun, giggles and soap!

smile sweetly for mummy :)

a smile that goes right to the heart

run with the wind, let no one hold you back

Meanwhile, we have heaps of stuff to share! YOG, wedding photos, foodies and holidays! I really can't wait to post them up... but now though, let me get my piece of furniture for our new place (our spanking new iMac!! :))) tidied up first. As of now, everything is err, on the desktop and in the good ole macbook :) And somewhere in between the tall order i've given myself, i'll slot in markings and lesson planning to be done in my real job. hahaha

Toodles guys, have a blessed week ahead!

Chunxiang + KAren - one more day!

2010-08-06T13:56:00.005+08:00

Chunxiang + KAren
7 August 2010
Thomson Road Baptist Church
1150am

Pan Pacific Hotel
700pm, cocktails

When 2 of our closest friends get married to each other it's impossible for us not to be joyous and announce to the whole wide world! Its been one wind whirl of a journey planning the wedding with them - can you believe Chunxiang proposed 2 christmases ago? Wow! :)

One more day - cant wait! :) Thank God!

Multiple Nupital Bliss ahead :)

2010-07-24T13:40:00.007+08:00

Hello world!

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 2 Cor 13:13

Sorry for the lack of updates and for not fulfilling the promise of blogging about the wedding and the honeymoon. Can you believe it, it has been 8 months since we got married? It seriously felt like yesterday since we were planning for the wedding, having fun at Perth, getting everything together, trying on the gown, walking down the aisle with my daddy and looking at Isaiah in the eyes, as the world fades away. Not forgetting the panic attacks just before the march ins and the lovely lovely honeymoon @ Tasmania! :) Sigggghh...

*snaps out of day dream mode*

This time round however - we have a perfect reason for our busy schedule! It's our honour to be part of the upcoming weddings in church. For the next two weekends, we have 2 lovely couple from church getting married. It's certainly a joy to be with the lovely couples as they make their journey to saying their i dos.

It's so beautiful watching them prepare for their wedding, making so much effort to make the start of their new lives together perfect. Our blessings to our dearest friends :)

Cyrus & Elaine
31st July 2010, 1.00pm
Lutheran Church of our Redeemer

Chun Xiang & Karen
7th August 2010, 11.50am
Thomson Road Baptist Church

WOaAAaaahhhh!!

2010-07-21T09:06:00.000+08:00

WE JUST BOUGHT OUR FIRST HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCE!!! :) :) :)
Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld

[PoD] #1

2010-07-20T09:13:00.009+08:00

[PoD]
2.30pm, Sundays
Leave a comment for addy!

It was brand new beginning where everything started from scratch, but not without the blessings and much wisdom given from God and everyone else. As we watched the youth put in their heart, time and effort in making this service work out, it really brought a sense of pride - pride that they are taking a step forward to declare to the world that Christ lives in them. Perhaps this is how one feels when they see their child succeed and make it big in the world - and maybe what we are feeling is a glimpse of God's joy upon us.

11th July shall mark a new chapter for the Youth. It's a new chapter because we are not leaving behind the many years of what our wonderful leaders what done, rather we bring the wisdom along with us as blessings from them :)

As long as God is with us, it's gonna be one amazing chapter! I can't wait for explosive services, amazing sermons and most of all, real love and friendship that comes from the center of you.

Ladies and gentleman, presenting to you, our brand new, [PoD] People of Destiny

Check out the strawberry cheesecake baked by our awesome Li Chang

A New Day

2010-07-10T22:35:00.002+08:00

Tomorrow is the first day of the New Youth Service.

Amazing, i must say. these past few days seeing all the youths so passionate, so keen, so excited. God bless them!

I've not blogged in a LONG time...

Just yesterday, I had to give the customary speech to welcome our new SGX Scholars. I talked about a few simple points and one of them was about Searching.

At the same time, i had a couple of friends looking to change lines and jobs and stuff.

One group just signed off on the next 4+2 years of their lives, hoping for something good. another group still looking.

It reminds me of what U2 sang - I still haven't found what i'm looking for...

We seek direction, but not the director.

We seek peace, but not the peace-giver

We seek love, but not HIM who is love.

We seek success, but we don't really know what that means!

My heart breaks, to know that so many are lost because they will not or have not turned to the SOURCE of everything. To Jesus who loves you all so much, who gave His life for you so that you may have abundantly overflowing LIFE!

If there's anything we can do to help, let's do it. stop the suicides, stop the hurts, stop the tears....don't let lives be cheated out of their fullness!

Jesus - we are helpless - please Lord, show us the way!

HELLO NEW FRIEND :)

2010-07-09T10:02:00.003+08:00

Say hello to Patches, also known as Toots, our youngest member of the gang :)
Totally love surprises like these from lovely Isaiah :) :)

Less than inspired

2010-06-27T03:54:00.000+08:00

*pray*
Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld

we are home!!

2010-06-22T07:56:00.005+08:00

... and it feels slightly odd, nostalgic, whimsical and dull to be back (what an odd combination of feelings i know). What grapples me is the need for work, ahha! But thank God for opportunities to travel, to get ourselves out of the country time and time again for getaways. Its really amazing how much about work you can forget in a span of 2 week :P

Can't wait to get our feet off the ground and on the plane again. :)

Hello from Taiwan :)

2010-06-12T20:06:00.006+08:00

Still reeling from all the excitement of the trip :) Its been an amazing time together with the girls, loads of laughter, mad shopping sprees and heartfelt conversations.

Will be home for the weekends before hitting the jetplane again. Jetstar ought to make me their most loyal customer!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS everyonneeyy! :)

Topsy Turvy World: Pancakes! @ Raspberry Farm in Tasmania

2010-06-02T09:24:00.003+08:00

When things are going just alittle mad, when people around you are kinda different and slightly weird, have a yummilicious desert. And then, pray :) These few days it seem, I'm constantly reminded about praying. Each time i silently ask God why, the same answer returns - pray. So let's have a dessert (pancakes and berries preferably. though i settle for ice cream too) and pray.

A few more days to the hols and i'm leaving on a jetplane. *claps hands excitedly

Patience: One of the 1232312454958 flowers @ Cradle Mountain, Tasmania

2010-05-30T12:45:00.005+08:00

Quick one from yesterday's sermon:

If Christ took 30 years to prepare Himself for 3 years of ministry, what does it teach us about patience? :)

it's been six sweet beautiful months

2010-05-28T23:50:00.007+08:00

It's been 6 wonderful months :) And i'm not gonna spend our precious time together blogging, so more updates laters guys! Thank God we've not pile on too much weight. ahahahahaa :)

'A good marriage is a place where we are seen and loved,
secure in the knowledge that our heart is being trusted as good,
thought the best of, and even delighted in.
Marriage is the relationship that
provides the most hope for times of rest
- a respite from the world of needing to prove ourselves -
from having to work so hard to
make ourselves understood and known.
Instead, marriage is the place where
we are meant to be able to 'let down'
and be our truest selves;
to be known, loved and welcomed.
In that place, our souls and bodies can rest
into each other's loving embrace'

John & Staci Eldredge, Love & War

emergency numbers :)

2010-05-27T23:49:00.000+08:00

You will never want to miss this inflight safety video

2010-05-24T18:50:00.003+08:00

I grabbed this off Liwen's facebook - who grabbed it off someone else - who grabbed it off Thomson Airways, a UK based airline.

So smart - everybody will totally listen to the in-flight safety video for once! :)

Marilyn's back today. Yay!! :)

Forget Mac's Cinnamon Melts, here's the real heartmelt

2010-05-21T02:26:00.004+08:00

"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these."
Mark 10:14

I had the lovely benefit of photographing these kids during their Sunday School lesson last weekend. It's such an awesome feeling watching them, colouring the fruits of the spirits, wondering about what colour the durians should be, and bragging about how their daddys bought them rambutans. Such innocence and trust touches one so deeply.

Kids at this age are also such a great sport. As long as they are comfortable with you, they relax and show you their natural funny antics without shying away from the lens. Amazing. :)

Wokays, with markings (and mad crazy mad crazy mad timeline) out of the way, it's time to talk about our wedding! Photos incoming :) Yippie Yiippe Duupp!!

Busy!

2010-05-20T23:17:00.001+08:00

So busy for the past few days.

SUPER!

It's amazing how time flies when we're drowning in work!

But let's not lose focus on the important things in life yeah? Or rather, the MOST IMPORTANT PERSON!

Jesus and the Cross - were it not for my beautiful Saviour - in my sin I would still dwell.

"Blessed Redeemer, Jesus is mine.

Oh what a foretaste of mercy divine"

Weekend Photography!

2010-05-16T23:15:00.003+08:00

talent :)

2010-05-16T23:04:00.001+08:00

MOVE ON!

2010-05-12T10:16:00.000+08:00

I'm sitting in my office right now.

Thinking that..... I WANT TO QUIT! Haha :)

There must be more than this.

But, why would I want to quit?

Hmm... office politics, meaningless work, boring job... I think the list goes on.

Then I remember what the Bible says - Let your good deeds shine before men that they may praise our Father in heaven.

If there are no 'lights' in the marketplace, who will show them Jesus?

So I stay...stay till it's time the Lord opens my eyes to His plans.

proof that i'm really very sick of marking

2010-05-11T13:18:00.007+08:00

Assuming a teacher has 300 scripts to mark. Given that the teacher has 7 days to complete the entire stack (yes, sadly teachers work over the weekend too):

(a)	Calculate how many scripts the teacher must mark per day to complete her marking	[1]
(b)	Assuming the teacher has other duties to attend to for 3 hours per day (well, you know), and spends the rest of the day marking (with no sleep), calculate how many scripts she must mark per day to complete her marking in time.	[2]
(c)	Given that the teacher’s speed of marking is x, calculate the diminishing marginal rate of return for this teacher.	[4]

ponder a wonder

2010-05-11T12:39:00.006+08:00

'Truth is always stranger than fiction. We craft fiction to match our sense of how things ought to be, but truth cannot be crafted. Truth is, and truth has a way of astonishing us to our knees, reminding us that the universe does not exist to fulfill our expectations.

Because we are imperfect beings who are self-blinded to the truth of the world’s stunning complexity, we shave reality into paper-thin theories and ideologies that we can easily grasp, and we call them truths. But the truth of a sea, in all its immensity, cannot be embodied in one tide-washed pebble.'

Dean Koontz, A Big Little Life

Many struggle with understanding how wide, how deep, how high and how long God's love is - and sadly, many see their incompetence in understand the abstractly simple concept of agape love as God's inability to love them past their pains and hurt. The truth however, is far from that. Just because we are unable to love past a certain undoing doesn't mean God can't. Just because we cannot believe that He loves us, doesn't mean he stopped loving you. And just because you feel too unwanted and incorrigibly horrible, doesn't mean he can't see past those hurts and reach for your heart.

Just because you can't imagine Him loving you, doesn't mean that He can't.

And He does :)

This my dear, is for you :)

2010-05-06T10:04:00.000+08:00

what a wonderful way to start the week

2010-05-03T16:19:00.004+08:00

credits: Jose Villa

It's off-in-lieu today *does a few virtual cartwheels cos i can't do it in real life*... and we'll back at work marking like mad to meet the deadline. But it's great to wake up lazily, waay past Mr Sunshine and stroll down to get a nice brekkie before hitting the roads for work. When the day starts right, it feels like you are right in Tuscany, enjoying cups after cups of delicious afternoon tea and scones.

credits: 100 layer cake

... and what a wonderful way to start the week with such a sweet and inspiring couple like the one we see above. It's the simplicity of love and life that brings us back on our feets, reminding us that life doesn't have to be as complicated as we may periodically make it out to be.

Have a good one guys :)

Bless-a-Meal

2010-05-02T11:53:00.002+08:00

credits: Lesley Soo

Our Service rocks or WHATT?!?!?!

arrgggh!

2010-04-27T08:49:00.006+08:00

There are just some days that totally test your patience and put all your good qualities on hold. These are the days where anything can be the straw that will break the camel's - or for that matter, mine - back.

And today... is such a day.

I hate a lousy start to a morning - but nothing prayer and a nice warm cup of cuppa can't cheer up. I hope.

Respect

2010-04-27T00:15:00.003+08:00

Death puts Life in proper perspective...

I've been to 3 wakes in 3 days...Friday, Sunday, Monday...

My heart goes out to those who lost someone they loved.

The last one which I just got back from was particularly troubling and yet a wonderful reminder of God's goodness.

My great respect and love for the family of Uncle Teo. He was a faithful worker in the house of our God for many years. I've seen him for the last 15 years serving faithfully in his local church, doing his part for God's house. He is one of the reason why I remember and hope others learn the importance of taking physical care and stewardship in our places of worship, whether it is a studio hall or classroom or sanctuary.

Well done Good & Faithful servant - you're in the better place now dear one, with our Lord :) You can hear it straight from the Master. And I rejoice knowing that this is certain. Thanks for blessing us :)

I met his son last wednesday, after such a long time. And perhaps it was my own laziness, but i left him my namecard and asked him to send me his address so that I could visit Uncle Teo, before it was too late...

However it was....I only got the call today and found out that God had called His servant home today....Friends learn this well please - if today is that day, don't let any good deed be undone! Work while there is still time, love while there is still time. DON'T HESITATE! DON'T DELAY!

Sigh....I can only say it now, cos i didn't when I had the chance... But God knows.

Yet, why I speak of God's goodness - I just got back from the wake. I expected to spend just 30 minutes there. BUT God intended and we acted....spent more than 1 hour sharing the Good News with a friend of Uncle Teo in MANDARIN!

Even in such a meeting brought because of someone's death, God works His purpose. My friend through his life showed Christ to this lady and we continued the work by sharing more of the Gospel with this lady who is easily 2 times my age! God can use any situation, any moment - if only we let Him. He certainly uses anyone and can use anyone, even me...

AMAZING GRACE so sweet that sound that saved a wretch like me.

Got a nice reminder in my email today :)

2010-04-16T14:01:00.001+08:00

There was a little boy visiting his grandparents on their farm...

He was given a slingshot to play with out in the woods and he went to practice in the woods; but he could never hit the target.

Getting a little discouraged, he headed back for dinner.

As he was walking back he saw Grandma's pet duck.

Just out of impulse, he let the slingshot fly, hit the duck square in the head and killed it. He was shocked and grieved! In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the wood pile, only to see his Sister watching! Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing.

After lunch the next day Grandma said, 'Sally, let's wash the dishes'

But Sally said, 'Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen.'

Then she whispered to him, "Remember the duck?'

So Johnny did the dishes.

Later that day, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing and Grandma said, 'I'm sorry but I need Sally to help make supper.'

Sally just smiled and said, 'well that's all right because Johnny told me he wanted to help?

She whispered again, 'Remember the duck?' So Sally went fishing and Johnny stayed to help.

After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally's; he finally couldn't stand it any longer.

He came to Grandma and confessed that he had killed the duck.

Grandma knelt down, gave him a hug and said, 'Sweetheart, I know. You see, I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing, but because I love you, I forgave you. I was just wondering how long you would let Sally make a slave of you.'

Thought for the day and every day thereafter:

Whatever is in your past, whatever you have done... And the devil keeps throwing it up in your face (lying, cheating, debt, fear, bad habits, hatred, anger, bitterness, etc.)...whatever it is...You need to know that: God was standing at the window and He saw the whole thing.

He has seen your whole life... He wants you to know that He loves you and that you are forgiven. He's just wondering how long you will let the devil make a slave of you.

The great thing about God is that when you ask for forgiveness; He not only forgives you, but He forgets.

It is by God's grace and mercy that we are saved. Not by what you can do :)

Learnings

2010-04-16T08:46:00.001+08:00

Just got back from CLCN camp late on Wed Night. It was a great time there, though it would it have been better if Matz had come along :)

Awesome time of fellowship - EVERYONE there is super cool and super nice. The pastors there are fantastically pastoral. The folks there were geninuely serving and eagar to serve in their various ministries.

I was assigned by Ps Mark to the Young Working Adults group and it was an amazing mix of people. we had one church with 100++ YWA and 1 church that had just 7. Yet the spirit was the same. they had such a burden for this generation.

I've served in Youth for so long, that sometimes I forget the struggles of being in my own age group :p

Many of them agreed that IDENTITY (or lack of) is a real problem for my generation. We go out to work and often many lose their souls there. Even for those that stay in church, there are still problems.

YWA are probably one of the great untapped groups within many churches or organisations. We're young, but old enough now to take on greater responsibility, we have our own ideas, we can think for ourselves, we have spending power, we have the passion and energy to move and make things happen.

Yet it seems many are just living in the borderlands.... by that I mean never entering into the fullness of LIFE & POTENTIAL that God has for us. Some just play it safe, earn their living and barely tasting life, struggling just trying to exist day to day.

Others end up building their own kingdoms, chasing money & materialism and obviously enjoying the fruit of that.

I think it was Kong Hee that said:

People rise to the level of their dreams

sometimes many of us forget to dream, we just hit into CRUISE and follow the CROWD or we CHASE the CASH.

Many times the transitions are too much for us to bear. Marriage, Money, Mate, Materialism, Ministry - so many things either consuming our attention and energy or confusing us with the avalanche of choices.

Can this generation, my generation find our dreams again? Can we rise up and make a difference and live, really live?

³⁸As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. ³⁹She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. ⁴⁰But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
⁴¹"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, ⁴²but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

Maybe...at the feet of the Master, we can hear again, those dreams and hopes from the not too distant past.

New Birth!

2010-04-04T21:33:00.002+08:00

Congrats again to Hannah, Jeremiah, Grace-lyn & Christine!

Praise God for this wonderful day.

It's always wonderful to see people dedicate themselves to God and even cooler that it's in East Coast!

Dying to Live! The Bible has it's own way. Death that gives way to Life, new Life, better Life. correction - REAL LIFE! The way it's meant to be!

I hope that everyone will be able to experience REAL LIFE - life as designed by the Designer!

Have a blessed week people! :)

hello from a long time ago :)

2010-04-03T14:34:00.005+08:00

It's been quite a while since i blogged here. And we do realise that there's a whole backlog of photos that we promised to show (i dragged Isaiah in with the 'we' so that we share the blame. Married and all. Hahha.) We really hope that this web space doesn't become one of those dusty *coughs* one that gives you the feel of a *ah chew! dust allergy* reaaally old house when you visit it once in a really blue moon. And to do that, we really have to get our fingers moving and to turn on my old Mac more. These days, i talk to good ole HP at work more often than i communicate with Mac. How sad. Thankfully this isn't reflective of our 3 month old marriage. Far be it! :)

Well, I've a grand plan (granted i've many grand plans) to post them up pretty soon, now that my writing block is kinda unlocked :) So bear with us alright (yes, pun intended). Take pity in the fact that poor Ms Huang is in school right now (on a saturday afternoon where the rest of Singapore is shopping or doing something fun), facing not one, not two but three deadline extensions and still have difficulties finishing the marking and handling over the goods.

April's gonna be one crazy crazzy madd maddd month. But we'll get through it. Splendid and brilliantly in fact :) Cos God says it's gonna be awesome.. so it'll be. :)

Have a good one guys (and gurls). Love BIG, Love MANY, Love like there's no tomorrow.

Amazing Grace

2010-03-26T08:52:00.000+08:00

Congratulations to Zhuang Mao & Eliz! It was a wonderful privellege to be able to witness your graduation and I pray that it will be a starting point for greater things that God will do through you!

It reminds me of what I think EM Bounds said "Men look for better methods; God is looking for better men; Man is God's method".

Better men (& women) - better not because of ourselves, but because of the Good Grace, Amazing Grace of God!

2 Corinthians 12:9

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

Personally for me, it's been a rather "holy" week :p Being over-fed spiritually....

Wednesday - Ps Benny Ho seminar on "Year of Breaking"
Thursday - Ps Benny Ho message during the TL graduation on "Finishing Well"
Saturday - Ps Benny Ho seminar on "Unstoppable power of unity"

Haha...yes i'm a fan. He's a great teacher of the Word! But I think for me, these are Words in Season. My mind is running wild these few weeks...with plans, ideas, dreams, hopes...and I realise that 3 messages is one message for me....(sorry if it doesn't make sense to you reading!)

To do great things successfully:

Trust Jesus for Breakthroughs!
Start well, but more importantly FINISH WELL! Complete what is started and pass it on.
We can't do it alone. We need a team. We need to come together to get it done.

It's a little late in the year for new year resolutions, but I pray that 2010 will indeed see our faith soar, hope spread and love grow =)

Quote of the day

2010-03-18T18:22:00.004+08:00

The problem with a holiday is that one forgets how much work one previously had. And as the memory of work slowly recovers, just like how one would wake up from a coma, the mountain of work seems bigger than it actually was.

How odd.

Post Note: We were watching the lovely Phuket sunset at Karon beach just 24 hours ago. Siggggghh.

Happy Holidays for us both!

2010-03-12T15:58:00.004+08:00

Aaaahh we soooooooo need this :)

See you guys soon, hopefully i find some time to blog about the honeymoon and transfer the thouzillion photos from memory card to my comp. Starting from errr, Christmas carolling. Heh.

TPMC Visit

2010-03-12T00:29:00.003+08:00

FRONT STEPS WHERE GUESTS FROM MRT ARRIVES:

LIFT 1:

LIFT 2:

WALKWAY ON 2ND FLOOR FROM LIFT 2:

FRONT DOORS OF SANCTUARY:

SANCTUARY:

19 pews @ column

Pew hooks available on every row : abt size of a 20cent coin

Altar Table: 79cmX 211cm
2 flower Arrangement on stage by the side- dimensions of round stand: 35cm wide X 104cm high

Rostrum/Front Pew
Stage front 2x rows @ 373cm (to deco with flowers?)

Front stand (flowers needed) and side plant thing to be removed

Rostrum

Right music area

Left music area

Gorgeous lights!

RECEPTION

Items required for reception area:

Signing in table & 3-4 chairs
Photo album table (Sq table for photo album 91X91cm - require table cloth)
Photos for non glass side wall
Polariods display

To remove red banners and place pictures with black frames (9metre)

Glass side - possibility of using 3M hooks to secure strings for polariods?

FOOD RECEPTION:

PA CREW:

That's all for now folks! :)

changes

2010-02-27T22:59:00.002+08:00

Life. Motion. Movement. Change...

We just came back from Jedi's 1st birthday, lovely, simple celebration of new life. God bless you Jedi!

(This post is going to be quite dis-jointed!)

One day we're celebrating birth and life. another day earlier, i just found out that a friend & colleague is leaving our company! right after another friend just left.

anyway, here's the point. in 2003, 5 of us took a photo. a group of young uni students signing a scholarship with our company. now of 5, 2 have left the company, 1 is being posted overseas (though in the same company) and that leaves me and another left!

looking back in life, it's almost like being an athlete on the running track. we look to the left and right, see the people who start the race with us. but as we run, people go off on different tracks, the paths diverge.

we start well, can we finish well? where will we finish? each person in life seems to run their own path.

birth, life, death, graduations, terminations, new careers....life moves.

God knows, but may we only walk on paths He sets and through doors He opens :)

it's our beautiful promise :)

2010-02-19T02:17:00.007+08:00

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,
saith the LORD.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

For as the rain cometh down,
and the snow from heaven,
and returneth not thither,
but watereth the earth,
and maketh it bring forth and bud,
that it may give seed to the sower,
and bread to the eater:

So shall my word be that
goeth forth out of my mouth:
it shall not return unto me void,
but it shall accomplish that which I please,
and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

For ye shall go out with joy,
and be led forth with peace:
the mountains and the hills
shall break forth before you into singing,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree,
and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree:
and it shall be to the LORD for a name,
for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off."

isaiah 55: 8-13

Hunniemoooooo Snippets #1

2010-02-19T01:58:00.005+08:00

Back from a long hiatus.. yeeehaa!

Here's a couple of photos from each lovely Aussie city we visited. Something to get your tastebuds tickling :)

St. Kilda Beach, Melbourne

Red Cross Vintage, Chapel Street, Melbourne

Backdrop of Rose Garden, along the way to Cradle Mountain from Hobart, Tasmania

Freycinet National Park, Tasmania

Sunset along the way to Hunter Valley, Sydney

Wagyu beef buger (AUD$10 ), The Rocks Market, Sydney

p.s.We are 3 weeks from the next holidays! :) Yippee Yippe Woo!

The Day of Unspeakable Joy

2010-02-18T15:45:00.000+08:00

Now this i am highly capable of :)

Ever had one of those days something so incredibly good happened to you that you can't help but grin from ear to ear? That when the news was delivered to you, it's as if your entire world lighted up and everything seems so beautiful? That you can't help but scream and jump a hip hip hooray and 3 cheers for yourself cos you are absolutely brimming with happiness, relief and joy? And you know that you are grinning like an idiot, behaving like one cos you say hi and bye to everybody including the uncle who mans the toilet (who knows you la!)... but you can't help it?

OOooOhhh! Today was such a wonderful day :) All i can say is Thank God, my lovely lovely Isaiah, my family and some special special people for it.

I was clearing through some stuff, desperately searching for a piece of paper when i stumbled upon one of my old organisers i had in uni days. Coincidentally, it's from the days when Isaiah and I first held hands :) Here's a poem that i found especially inspiring:

If you want a thing bad enough
To go out and fight for it
To work day and night for it
To give up your time, your peace, your sleep for it;

If all that you dream and scheme is about it
And life seems useless and worthless without it;
If you gladly sweat for it,fret for it and plan for it
And lose all your tenor of the opposition for it;

If you simply go after that thing you want
With all your capacity, strength, sagacity
Faith, hope, confidence and stern pertinacity;

If neither cold, poverty, famine
Nor gout, sickness or pain of body and brain
Can keep you away from the thing you want;

If dogged and grim you beseech and beset
With the help of GOD, you will get it!
Les Brown

I was reading through this poem when i realised... hey! they all applied to me. And when the wonderful thing happened, my goodness... it's just simply a-m-a-z-i-n-g :)

Now go grab some dreams people!! :) Reach out for it and be stubborn about letting it go!

hello from the sleepyland!

2010-02-08T10:47:00.004+08:00

Sorry for the lack of updates recently. Been caught up with work and trying really hard to get out of sleepyland. These days, it seems like i can never get enough sleep. The most infuriating thing is that i would bring my lappy to and fro school and home and do nothing - except burn off calories from carrying the 10000034323423000 kg laptop.

I will will WILL post about the honeymoon soon. To those of you reading out there, thank you for coming back time and time again. We really appreciate it. More interesting stuff soon i hope! Considering that our lives are pretty colourful, we ought to share more love and fun! Like the beautiful houses in Brighton Beach, Melbourne, you see above :P

Have a great week ya'll. It's a short one.. or a deceptively short one. :P

God bless!

something to cheer your day

2010-01-28T10:43:00.004+08:00

These days i've been doing alittle of tumblr surfing while managing my department's english resource blog. I really must get down to blogging about the honeymoon.. especially when we are really missing Tasmania oh-so-much now that Benny is there. Ahhh, Tassie.. the fresh air, green green grass and blue blue skies!

tee hee

2010-01-27T15:58:00.000+08:00

A bear, however hard he tries, grows tubby without exercise.
-- Winnie the Pooh

♥ ♥ 愛心食♥ ♥

2010-01-26T14:28:00.007+08:00

逗人喜愛的妈咪一大清早醒来准备午餐给全家吃。
肚子胞胞的, 心里温温的, 充满着愛 ♥

What is God's will?

2010-01-23T13:11:00.002+08:00

i was asked an interesting question yesterday - Does God have a specific plan/destiny for me?

i think it is a question on many people's mind. 2 thoughts to linger on:

Firstly, should the question be re-engineered? 1) What is God's plan for humanity? 2) what is my part in God's plan? Perhaps answering these could reveal more on our own destiny?

Then again, a part of me wonders if we are too self-concerned to keep asking this question? Or are the ready-made answers given out too simplistic for us to accept?

Perhaps a study of what happened in Eden can reveal more? What exactly was stolen from us the moment our ancestors ate the fruit? LIFE - life itself was stolen.

more than 4000 years later, Jesus came and said in John 10:10 that He came that we may have life and have it more abundantly.

Life that was stolen, Jesus came to restore. Have you found LIFE?

Secondly, Many are the paths in the minds of men, but it is the Lord's purposes that prevail. Something to consider - "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear"...

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."
- God (Jeremiah 29)

of coffee and love on a rainy day

2010-01-20T00:56:00.011+08:00

Max Brenner
Sydney CBD

It was on a wet afternoon in Sydney that we were walking and exploring the streets. We seem to bring the rain wherever we go, be it in Perth, Melbourne, Tasmania or Sydney. :) Though given the warm warm weather, i must say that the rain was a slightly nice welcome.

We chanced upon Max Brenner during our walk. Since the store in Esplanade, Singapore looks so posh and expensive, we assumed it must be the same or worst for the one in Sydney. Hence it was a pleasant surprise to find out that the outlets here operate in a more coffeebean-starbucks like style.... and so are their prices :) Yippe!

Sipping a nice warm mocha in a cold wet evening together with the love of my life. Seriously, isn't it blissed out or what? :)

Out of super randomness... here's something to wind down a potentially mad day :) This was taken at Brighton Beach in Melbourne (remember the colourful houses?). Sigh, i remember being super carefree and exhilaratedly thrilled to be at the beach... Urghh! Can't wait for March hols to come!

p.s. coincidentally, it's raining as i type this post. I wonder which one will end first - my work or the rain? :P

here's to a great start to the week! :)

2010-01-18T01:17:00.007+08:00

Isaiah's sleeping as I'm typing this. :)

Right after dinner on Sunday, i proudly announced that i have a new resolution after reading some detox article in Elle - I'm gonna try to sleep by 11pm each day. Then i added a verbal footnote that i actually meant 12am... but since i know that i ain't gonna meet my target, i might as well set it at 11pm so that i will really sleep at 12am. :)

It's 1.20am now, barely few hours into my new resolution and i broke it. wahahahahha.

Anyway, Monday's here and i'm kinda excited cos it's a brand new week - a new chance to make thangs good and all. Hopefully my enthusiasm isn't mixed up with my excitement to sleep. More importantly, i pray that i won't look like that by mid day later...

'wat the dots....'

I reallly meant to come online, check out some stuff, pay some bills... and FINALLY FINALLY document the whole honeymoon and wedding. But each time i try, i only got so far as to looking at the pretty Tasmanian skies, the rustic Melbourne streets and the bright sunny Sydney days. Then before long i realised... it's waaay too late to start blogging for real. Darn! Next time remind me that i should come online like at 10pm instead of 12.55am!

Anyway, time to hit the sacks. Till the next time i attempt to document the honeymooon! Have a lovely week dudes and dudettes. God bless! Make a difference this week to someone's life :) Keep safe, watch the roads, watch the cars and watch out for maniac drivers like me in Ubi. :P

BETCHA stiffled a yawn righhhttt? :) Never underestimate the power of a picture .... or a contagious yawn... or a sleepy friend/colleague for the matter. zzZZZzzzz

a little something to warm your tummies

2010-01-10T03:18:00.008+08:00

It's been 3 weeks since we are back from the honeymoon, and i can't help but go... only 3 weeks? It felt like a million things have happened since we reluctantly left Sydney, boarded the flight to Melbourne and then got blessed with an upgraded seat in Business for our ride home. There was Christmas, Youth Camp, going back to school, New Year of course and then the dreaded school reopening.

In anycase, i'm hoping to document the Honeymoon here with pictures to show how beautiful the country is. I'm also planning on talking more about bits and pieces of the wedding and what went on behind the scenes! I hope hope!

Just alittle something from the Honeymoon album for the time being. This entry is dedicated to CF who answered my billion and one questions on Tasmania, and then provided more tips and advice. When Tasmania was a blur to us, he was our GPS :) I always remember him going, 'MUST EAT THE OYSTERS AHHHH!' So this one is for you CF, partly to make you hungry, drool and miss Tassie also. Hehehe.

Prossers on the Beach

On our second last day in Hobart, we finally got the chance to dine in Prossers, one of the most highly acclaimed restaurants there. In fact, we were recommended to go there by a fellow chef whom we met in Swansea. The restaurant's so popular that when we rang the day before for dinner, they were fully booked up till closing.

Cooked Oysters for starters

One sentence says it all - the oysters were a-m-a-z-i-n-g! If the shells were edible, we would haven eaten it as well. Imagine, fresh oysters paired with spices that were light yet tasty and heavenly on the tongue at the same time. I want more now!

This piece is entitled - 'Where have the oysters gone??'

To save $$, we shared a main dish so that we can afford to get dessert later on. We were torn between this fish fillet puff thing or a soup thing. Eventually Isaiah settled for the former. To be honest, i wasn't getting my hopes up because its a puff after all. I couldn't be more wrong; the fish was so fresh and tender, coupled with an amazingly light pastry and fantastic sauce. We could go for seconds, thirds, fourths!

Tucking into the main dish. Fish Fillet with an amazing sauce.

When it was time for dessert, we couldn't decide on one that was as appetizing as the meal we had. Thus we thought we might as well have another seafood dish. Even the waitress couldn't agree more :)

And this piece entitled - '... into my tummy heheh'

Looking very happy and satisfied :)

Till the next time, i hope you enjoyed the pictures, drooled alittle and made yourself so very hungry by now :)

Oh soooooo cute :)

2010-01-08T21:33:00.001+08:00

I hope u guys can see this picture. Rae-Ann, a super cute four year old drew this for me!

Can u see e bride below? And she says Isaiah is nt drawn to scale. Hee hee

Have a lovely weekend all, e way u like it :) may it be filled with joy and God's love. For me, I wld like to read in bed, sleep in on saturday and grab a nice brekkie. All these followed by a great Sunday!

Its things like work that make u cherish weekends. At e same time, it e funny kiddos that make me cherish work too!

Blessed weekend sweets :)
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New Year Posting

2010-01-06T08:21:00.003+08:00

everyone seems to be posting new year posts, so i think we should too!

i'm sitting at home, about to be late for work..but hey haha...

it's been a whirlwind since our wedding. our honeymoon was awesome - Melbourne, Tasmania, Sydney. Then coming back for Christmas, then New Year. So my point? Too many holidays! I can't bear to go back to work =(

Won't blog about the honeymoon, but i have to say that i simply love Tasmania! God's little chilly eden. it's such a beautiful place. You know Psalm 23? Tasmania is the postcard man - Green hills, blue skys, woolly sheep and still waters - all over the place! The surroundings there bring such a sense of peace and calm. I wonder if God takes "days off" to walk in His creation, just like He did in Eden way back at the beginning? But i think He's given that privilege to us, so we've gotta enjoy it!

Anyway i've started in a new place at work and i hope i can get into the rhythm and start contributing soon. At the same time, i'm really have high hopes for 2010 that we can accomplish much in the ministry for the Lord. 2009 was a great start as we strengthened our engagement and relationship with the community around our church. i think it was quite cool that we just blasted the speakers and caroled right in front of the entire block!

oh anyway (sorry everything is so random cos i am rushing to go to work =p) something i learnt from our honeymoon. we visited ps Mark barnard's church in tasmania and the speaker of the day said this:

"I think in this day and age, the best testimony to people around is going to be a strong marriage. so make your marriage the most important thing this side of eternity"

amazing. it is not just about being powerful in the sense of being almost unreal. but i think what God wants of us sometimes is simply to live naturally supernatural lives. living life to the fullest (john 10:10). Imagine a day when children tell their friends that they are rushing home to hang out with their parents cos it's cool. what kind of impact would that have on his friends?

families are falling apart in this generation and the church (that's us!) has to show the way that God designed it to be.

And camp - the last message from Jon Wong was a great one. DREAMS. and friends, Dreams can come true. don't be held back by fear, by money or even tradition. Don't miss it! don't let go!

Once a pastor gave us this message - "Guys you guys are DREAMERS!" (I thought the pastor was scolding us!)

then he added - God knows you have big dreams, don't give up dreaming! keep dreaming!

i'm not sure if the message was for all of us then or just a specific person. BUT! how true it is. God knows your dreams - He put them there. Never Give Up.

I love my wife =)

a wonderful splendid perfect beautiful memory

2009-12-22T15:34:00.002+08:00

Yushan from ambi photography posted the fantastic fabulous highlights from day one. It's an awesome way to come home from the honeymoon! :)

You can check them out here !!

Here's some for a sneak preview :)

I kept adding pictures to the list until i told myself i have to stop cos there are all in the website! :) hee hee.

bits and pieces from land of love :)

2009-12-22T15:22:00.004+08:00

The skies' so blue and trees so green and our hearts sooo in lurrrvvee :) The honeymoon was filled with so much adventures and surprises. Thank God Isaiah loves me enough to deal with my nonsense and crazy itinerary! :) :)

Have yet to transfer all the photos from the cam so here's some bits and pieces for you to enjoy!

Colourful Colourful Houses!
Brighton Beach, Melbourne

Ross Bakery
Ross Village, Tasmania

Dove Lake
Cradle Mountain National Park, Tasmania

Strawberry a-picking!
Launceston, Tasmania

Soaking in lavenders in the lavender farm
Launceston, Tasmania

Freycinet National Park
Freycinet, Tasmania

Drooollllllls
Hobart, Tasmania

blue skies in Tassie... finally!

2009-12-11T06:45:00.001+08:00

Praise God for blue skies finallly :) :) :)

excited excited!!

waves HELLOOOOO!! from Melbourne

2009-12-05T20:53:00.003+08:00

I can't believe it, it's exactly a week since we were married.
We are married for 7 days.
It's been 168 hours or about 10,080 minutes or 604,800 seconds.
Wow. It's been a week! Heeeeey, i want to relieve last weekend :)

But honeymooning totally rocks too!

After a wind whirl of activity last weekend, we lazed around Four Seasons (sigh, can we go back?) till Tuesday... living the dream where Border's and Kino are our friendly neighbourhood stores. At home on Wednesday, we did a mad pack and left for the airport to catch our night flight to Ozzzieeeland. Thanks a million Yu-Shan for the Melbourne tips... we totally didn't have time to research. Your tips saved the day!

a new morning, a new beginning :)

Look what an anonymous Mr Yan and Ms Tee surprised us with

It was an absolutely lovely start to the morning when an air stewardess and steward came by saying, 'Mr and Mrs Das (still gives me goosebumps hearing it! hee), happy honeymoon'. Awwwwwww. Though it was a bummer that we had to finish the cake before we reached customs.

Thank you :)

Check out the view from our hotel room

There's a lovely day bed by the window where we can lounge and watch the city. Aside from that, the hotel totally rocks because they allowed us to check in early at 10am. Coolness or what?? :) Couldn't ask for more. Thank God!

We spent the first day lazing and exploring town.

yummmliicciousss

...that's why honeymoon comes after the wedding. so i won't have to worry about fitting into the gown.

It's 8pm by the way!

We declare late nov/early dec the best time to visit oz! Temp is still rather chilly and days are lonnnggg! Sun rises at 5.30am and sets at 9pm. Awessommee! And well, we packed clothes that were way too thin, so time to shop!!!! Laa laaa laa.

Day 2: Yarra Valley

By the time we got to the rented car it was nearly noon. Yeeha! We had brekkie at the quaint Degraves alley and Isaiah was so sweet to shop with me in Country Road. When we finally travelled to Yarra Valley, I fell asleep in the car (hee hee)... only to wake up high up in the mountains. Eh.. wrong!

Moral of the story - 2 sleepyheads cannot be the only ones in the car!

Anyway, a very kind owner of a Tarvan gave us the right way and recommended us to Innocent Bystanders (similar to Little Creatures in Freo) for pizza and wine. The pizza's so lovely and the wine so awesome. Especially cos it's ice cold. Guess i gulped it down too fast on an empty stomach (and i figured i had to drink Isaiah's share cos now we are married, his is mine and all.. hahahah). Everything became woozy after that.. and sleepy.

Having said that, the wineries were beautiful. Will post up more pictures soon :)

Day 3: Great Ocean Road

favourite :)

That's all from us for abit. Gotta rush cos the internet's running out :) It's AUD$25 for 24 hours. :)

Love ya from Aussieland
Isaiah & Matilda

We are leaving on a jetplane!

2009-12-02T22:14:00.000+08:00

Off to hunnnieeemoooo! :)
(Last call as usual. Hahah!)

God bless and speed!

Lurve u all
Isaiah & Matilda
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Thank you!!

2009-12-01T23:19:00.003+08:00

Wow! it has been a crazy lovely beautiful weekend! And before I forget, i need to thank everyone whom i can remember (sorry if i forget your contribution!)

God - for making everything beautiful in His time and providing for all our needs, in Him there is no lack and no worry!
Our parents - without you, there wouldn't be us!
OCX & Karen - our wonder, power coordinators - you 2 r awesome and definitely "better together"!
Ps Mark - our Senior Pastor, marriage counsellor, solemnizer and now Uncle!
Wai Kwong - thanks so much for spending your anniversary with us and sharing such a special message! And thank you for the wedding car as well!
Yizhen & Roanna - our super deco team...AMAZING!
Ereen - for the loveliest guest book i have EVER SEEN! so NICCEEEE!
Lesley - thanks dear for the lovely church program. no one would believe you took less than a few hours to do such nice work!
Jason & Irene - our lovely MCs and supporting coordinators. We came to church and everything was ready to go! and of course ASHER! haha so cute, so sweet! When you are older, we will show you your video! :)
Emelda - my niece and beautiful fairy flower girl :)
The brothers - Jon, Nic, Benny, Mike, Sam, Paul, Kenneth, Ocx, Daniel Yan, Bernard, Daryl, Dan Fung, Nat. You got shaved, dirtied, insulted, unclothed.....thanks bros!
Isaac - for staying over at my place, thinking he would get more sleep - only to end up working till 2am!! thanks bro!
The sisters - liwen, nina, yanjing, char, pl, gail, karen, vyn, elynn, marilyn
Marilyn - for being so nice and helping with all the videos and stuff at the ultra last minute!
Suiying - the super "everything also help"! from buying ties to do deco and usher!
Zhuang Mao - for especially coming down to help Nic and I shift ALL the tables to Amtech!
Huijun - beautiful sax! thanks for playing :)
Worship team (shalom, danyan, eliz eng, eliz lee, nat, luck koon, josiah, joel) - thanks for taking the challenge! It was fantastic!
benny - the super media man and cow-bearer.
Mike & Dot - the video was AWESOME! Thanks to Jude too! We were so so touched! sob sob..
Our receptionists - Xiuling, Sook May, Junie, Evan, Ruth - thanks ladies!
Ushers - Adriel, Jon Lee, Joey, Rachel, Huijun, Jeremiah, Rochelle (did i miss anyone???)
Cleanup Crew ( you didn't have to help, but you did!) - Kevin, Marcus, Matthew Fung, Yongqing, Wenjun, Ying Xiong, Jeremiah
Our Dinner MCs - Nic & Jon. Nonsense - but superbly funny!
Aunty Selina - thanks for the beautiful beautiful cake! so NICE!
Peiling - the loveliest wedding invites!
Weiwen - thanks for the IM(Love) t-shirt design!
The band - melissa, justin, dan fung, nat - thanks!
To our lovely impromptu guitarist and singers - (shh..secret) thanks! :)

Thanks as well to:

CJS catering - Elgin & Aunty Justina - thanks so much! food was fantastic! Thanks for everything!
Bartley Christian Church - Uncle Sam & Tony - thanks for being a God-sent miracle!
1950s - CF, thanks for the great pre-wedding shoot! lovely and no one knew what we suffered in the winter there!!! :)
Ambi - thanks Yushan & Vince - lovely express highlights! Can't wait for the rest of the photos!
Dreamz Production - thanks for the super funny animation! awesome!
Four Seasons - FANTASTIC! thank you!
Poppy - thanks Sarah for the lovely polka dots ribbons and beautiful flowers!
Caroline - you made the most beautiful wedding gown!

Looking at this list - it is an amazing celebration of talent! and most importantly, thanks for sharing that talent with us and loving us through this. It is so part of us now that matz & i can't stop talking about the weekend and watching those slideshows and video over and over again!

Thank you for loving us :)

The difference btw us

2009-12-01T16:43:00.000+08:00

In preparation for the honeymoon and boring nights in OZ, we went book shopping on Kino :)

It rocks to stay in Orchard, even for a few days! Thank God!
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Wooooooooooots!! :)

2009-11-30T06:33:00.000+08:00

Thanks for coming everyone!
We love you!!
Everyone single one of UUUU!
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When I got bored waiting this morning!

2009-11-28T19:33:00.000+08:00

Char was so loud and the rest of them so happy I so wanted to sabo e guys too!

Here's me, bored! :)
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Hahahaha!

2009-11-28T08:30:00.000+08:00

Liwen goes, 'I heard Matilda say your IQ very high!'

For the set of IQ questions :)

I can hear e blender! Haha
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Come on!!

2009-11-28T08:21:00.000+08:00

I can hear liwen going come onnn come onn eveery few minutes!

Waay to go gurl! :)
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Gatecrashing

2009-11-28T08:10:00.001+08:00

Its hilarious listening to them argue and scream :) super loves my very loud bridesmaidss!

I can't help smiling to myself!

Ahha!!

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All dressed up :)

2009-11-28T07:58:00.000+08:00

Waiting for the guys in e room, all dressed up! My bridesmaids are so lovely and perfect :)

And... The guys are late! Typical! :)
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0 days: ITS THE DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-11-28T03:32:00.005+08:00

It's my last night as a single lady.
It's also my first morning as a married one :)

After many months of fretting, worrying, hesitating and what not, i feel strangely at ease.
I know when God prepares the way for me, everything will be alright!

Actually.... I'm sooooo excited!!! :) :) :) See you in church. Leave some ice cream for usss!!

Isaiah just proposed! :)

2009-11-28T03:32:00.001+08:00

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Collected the gowns :)

2009-11-26T20:00:00.000+08:00

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3 days: HUNNNNNNNNNNNIMOOOOOooon

2009-11-25T16:22:00.001+08:00

We are finally getting our honeymoon details settled :)
It rocks to see Isaiah joining me in my crazy idea to settle everything ourselves, from flights to hotels to car.

3 more days. 300 more things to do!

music and lyrics!

2009-11-24T10:28:00.002+08:00

arrgh! can't decide on the songs for the wedding!

march-in
march-out
return

how how??? need these 3 songs TODAY!

i can't decide the feel. do we go for cool acoustics or disney fairytale love songs? sigh...

heart melts

2009-11-24T05:19:00.003+08:00

Went for SGX Bull Run with Isaiah. :) First time i actually got up close to the starting line when the runners are starting! Saw these cute white balls with children's drawings on them. So sweet and simple... reminding you that life doesn't have to be that complicated. :)

5 days: almost there! i heart wedding planning.

2009-11-23T17:08:00.004+08:00

Day one of my actual holidays and I've gotten a really good rest before starting on more wedding preparations :) The only thing i remember about last night was my mum asking me to shift myself from the living room to my room and Isaiah coaxing me to go upstairs. So sweet :)

Managed to get the photos for the guest book settled today. Emailed lovely Chrissy about the slides. Poor girl is stressed up but i know she will totally rock :) Pretty Lesley finished the program in 1 (!!!) night for us... if that's not talent, then what is? :)

I love preparing for the wedding. It's like waking up to something you love eveyday! :) It's just the jitters that get to me sometimes. It would be perfect if i'm planning a friend's wedding! hahaha :) Maybe it's time for a job change! *coughs. (whispers - anyone wants to hire?)

But i love Isaiah more!

6 days: hello Uncle Sam!

2009-11-22T17:01:00.001+08:00

Went down to Bartley Christian Church to get some logistics in order today :)

advance party :)

Yizhen and Roanna are Pros! :) They are super well equipped!

New reception (carnival) location. Watch it transform under the hands of the pros!

Super efficient OCX :)

Thank God for Uncle Sam, the lovely staff from Bartley Christian Church who have always been so kind. He's never without a smile and a kind word for us. Uncle Sam attends to all our queries with such love and generosity that he puts our worries at ease. He's wonderful :)

Just a gentle reminder, BCC is just next to Bartley Train Station (Circle Line). See you guys in 6 days!!

stories of us 3

5 things you can only do with babies

It aint easy!

I'm not very sure why i'm up

We ♥ camping

He's my daddy

The simplicity of things

it's been quite awhile, about 9 months to be exact

thinking of quitting your job?

Shanah's Baby Dedication!

There is hope

She's so beautiful

hello little one ♥

Blessed Valentines 2011!

Do you know the meaning of Christmas?

Blessed Christmas!

Eve of Christmas Eve!

hello from NZ! :)

very excited and very broke :)

Unfailing Love

one of those drowsy days

it's almost Christmas!!

Blessed Kiddos' Day :)

*growls*

Yummiest lunch in the world :)

oops, i think we over ordered again! :P

a mini weekend get-away

treat-yourself sept hols

COSB Family Day! :)

Life & Love; Tears & Death

children @ work!

Chunxiang + KAren - one more day!

Multiple Nupital Bliss ahead :)

WOaAAaaahhhh!!

[PoD] #1

A New Day

HELLO NEW FRIEND :)

Less than inspired

we are home!!

Hello from Taiwan :)

Topsy Turvy World: Pancakes! @ Raspberry Farm in Tasmania

Patience: One of the 1232312454958 flowers @ Cradle Mountain, Tasmania

it's been six sweet beautiful months

emergency numbers :)

You will never want to miss this inflight safety video

Forget Mac's Cinnamon Melts, here's the real heartmelt

Busy!

Weekend Photography!

talent :)

MOVE ON!

proof that i'm really very sick of marking

ponder a wonder

This my dear, is for you :)

what a wonderful way to start the week

Bless-a-Meal

arrgggh!

Respect

Got a nice reminder in my email today :)

Learnings

New Birth!

hello from a long time ago :)

Amazing Grace

Quote of the day

Happy Holidays for us both!

TPMC Visit

changes

it's our beautiful promise :)

Hunniemoooooo Snippets #1

The Day of Unspeakable Joy

hello from the sleepyland!

something to cheer your day

tee hee

♥ ♥ 愛心食♥ ♥

What is God's will?

of coffee and love on a rainy day

here's to a great start to the week! :)

a little something to warm your tummies

Oh soooooo cute :)

New Year Posting

a wonderful splendid perfect beautiful memory

growls