Let's go to the farms!

The goats stand in a row, with their udders fitted to suction pumps. They appear very obedient.

I love this photo. the goat so cute.

Then after, we headed to the frog farm. They had live displays showing the life cycle of the frog.

tadpoles

bigger tadpoles

tadpole-frog

frog-pole



frog

Then, we went around to see the mating areas. See them in groups
Alone
dead.

memories

My "meihua" shoes broke when i was rehearsing last Friday. Good thing my ankles were not harmed in the process. I've since dumped them, but not without taking a picture first. It's just that it was a part of one of my favourite memories in SMU. :)

I am precious in Your eyes, and honoured, and You love me

1But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel:"Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.2When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.3For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you.4Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you,I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life.5 Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you.6I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold;bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth,7everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made."

Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.11 I, I am the LORD, and besides me there is no savior.12I declared and saved and proclaimed, when there was no strange god among you; and you are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "and I am God.13Also henceforth I am he; there is none who can deliver from my hand; I work, and who can turn it back?"

16Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters,17who brings forth chariot and horse, army and warrior;they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:18 "Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.19 Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.20The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert,to give drink to my chosen people, 21the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.

25"I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.

Dear niece

Dear niece,

Welcome to the world. I already love you very much.

Love, your Aunty :)

work/life

Some of my friends celebrate 4 years of working life. Yes, time flies right. This is another reason i'm a bit proud of my blog. i've had it since i was in uni. i know it's not all that long, but long enough for me to feel proud.

A few of my colleagues received money from the firm for their uni education, in exchange for a 4-year bond. Now they're done. and they're pleased. It's like a little milestone.

dear God,



please give me photographic memory. thank you.



in Jesus' Name, Amen.

i had a "God-moment" this morning.

i was walking to office from Chinatown MRT station. It's a 10-minute walk. When i got out of the MRT station, i saw that it was raining pretty heavily. I had no umbrella. I didn't know what to do, but i wasn't really thinking much, so i walked. I just walked and walked all the sheltered paths. I knew that at some point, i will get to a part where i cannot walk on without an umbrella.

Just then, i met an ex-colleague. She didn't need her umbrella anymore and was happy to lend it to me. I think it's a God-moment because the help came in the time of need.

You are my Lord

You are my Lord
You are my God
You're the only one who conquered the grave
In You i believe
Your love i receive
You will always be my King

You are my Lord
You're the shepherd of my life
You are the lover of my soul
You are my God
Every moment that i live
Your mighty hand is doing wonders for me

Next time your day goes south, here what you do:

Steep yourself in the grace of God.
Saturate your day in His love.
Marinate your mind in His mercy.
He has settled your accounts, paid your debt. Christ carried our sins in His body on His cross.
- 1 Peter 2:24

back back back

i'm back at work. And other than clearing a backlog of mails, i'm actually not that busy (yet). I'm happy to be back. work is a good reason to have coffee. hehe.



You deserve all praise
You deserve all praise
Evermore Lamb upon the throne

We give thanks to You
Your mercy knows no end
We shout out Your praise
Your love endures forever

down memory lane

i was looking at my secondary school yearbook...and it left a really odd feeling in my stomach. I wonder why i did certain things and why i didn't. I dunno. it's just really weird.

I can't find my autograph book....u know the one where everyone signs when school comes to a close? arghhhhhhhh.

Keepsakes

Once again, i'm packing my room. I seem to be doing it so often because i usually pack one small bit at a time. And everytime i do something like this, i make a big deal out of it. heh.

The Phantom of the Opera. I watched it in London in 2004.

London planner. I don't remember referring to this guide much. But i kept it anyway.

Big Ben. Coincidentally, it celebrates its 150th birthday today!

Westminster Abbey.

Tate Museum

I first tasted this in London's Harrod's.

If u look really closely, u can see the words "Stonehenge" at the bottom of the coin. I've to say momentos like this are really really useless. So after this picture, it was thrown away.

I consider this an awesome musical. Must watch. I loved Eponine in here.

Harrods!

This photo was taken for the date.

After London, i went to Barcelona. Visited a monastry there.

Among the keepsakes, i found this. Awesome right.

We wore this at commencement ( the start of school at SMU)

A floormat i've had since i was 16. I've another picture taken with this and a good friend from secondary school. :)

Don't fret too much. God will take care of you and your situation. - sis. 29 Apr 09

Wisdom

James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

James 3:17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.

Piggy

http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/05/06/afghanistan_amply_protected_from_swine_flu
isn't this piggy cute? heehee.

Psalm 121

1I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?2 My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
3He will not let my foot be moved; he who keeps me will not slumber.4Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5The LORD is my keeper; the LORD is my shade on my right hand.6 The sun shall not strike me by day, nor the moon by night.
7The LORD will keep me from all evil; he will keep my life.8The LORD will keep my going out and my coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

Trisha Sia

Don't worry, just do the work. God protects us. - Sis 6 Mar 09

Ha. It never rains but pours...:) - Sis 9 Mar 09

He is Lord

Oh blessed lamb once slain
Will reign forever more
His hands once bound now save
Our God will never fail

He is Lord
He is Lord
Sings my soul
He is Lord
And He lives
Yes He lives
I'm alive 'cause Jesus lives

'Tis at the cross of Christ
Where earth and heaven meet
Where sin is overcome
To God the victory

And now
Let the earth resound with praise
For our Saviour God He reigns
He is high and lifted up
Arise
For the King of glory waits
He is coming back again

He's not that into you

I thought i'd like this show. But i didn't. the score is 2/5. fail. i didn't like the way the girls in the show think, and i don't think they represent me. so i kinda lost the ability to identify with the movie. the jokes were not funny. I was rather disappointed. The only thing i liked about the show is that i watched it with people i like. It's a sad show with a happy ending. But on the overall, it's sad. the loser kind of sad.

Marley & Me

this movie was an ok movie. just ok. like 2.5/5. Just pass. The dog is not even the cutest, except for a fleeting moment when it was a puppy. But there are parts of the show i really liked. But they are more on the serious side. I liked Jennifer Aniston's role in the show, as the supportive wife and cool mum. How she seems to understand her husband (i forgot his name). The kids are also not very cute. Ok only. It was more their relationship which i liked. I remember reading a review about the movie and this is what the guy said : "this show is about a couple and they have a dog." and i think i agree. =)

Thoughts to remember

That His is your God, lovingly watching over you, and working wonders for you, 24/7 because He neither slumbers nor sleeps. - 1 Feb 08

Flowers are nice but perishable - 14 Feb 08

Every uncertainty is an opportunity to remember that God is trustworthy. And we can't see it yet, but God is currently working wonders for you. Hang in there - 15 July 08

Keep looking to God for answers. And you're not alone in this journey. - 7 Aug 08

Keepsakes

I happen to be clearing my room. And one of my biggest obstacles to throwing things away is because some things may be totally useless to me already, but have some kind of memories attached to them. So, i've decided to take pictures of them, so that i can remember and also clear the space in my room.

School Tees

When the school just opened and we had an "I love SMU" campaign.

We also wore this tee at our open house events and welcomed visitors to start conversations with us.

This tee was to commemorate our move from the Bukit Timah campus to the City Campus. We had this event which took place at night. I remember many of us kept signs in the school as mementos.
Honestly, i don't remember what this tee was for. But there's the yellow and navy version. I also have the yellow one but only bothered to take photo of the navy version.

the back view.

Reunion Dinner

Reunion dinner was an international one, with my German manager, Swiss housemate and 3 Chinese students joining us. We had the usual steamboat but the fun bits were mostly during the talking. Having people from various parts of the world also meant that various languages were heard at the table, including Hokkien, German, English and Mandarin. The Chinese customs and superstitions were a topic of interest to the 2 Europeans.


M: Is it true that you're not supposed to cry during Chinese New Year?

Me: hmmm.... i've never heard of that. What's the reason?

M: Supposedly if you cry during the start of the year, you'll cry everyday of the year.



My auntie: Then what if you're a baby?

Rachel Getting Married

The show was nice. A bit on the artistic side. Many scenes were filmed with a handheld camera, which gives u the feeling of being there with the actors. Kim (Anne Hathaway) was the "problem child" in the family. Wedding preparations bring to the surface all the struggles, including remnant hurt from the parents' divorce, death of a sibling, sibling rivalry and assimilating a step-mom. Very interesting, though not an entirely new idea. Anne didn't look so hot in this show. But the acting was engaging. Definitely a more substantial show than Bride Wars.

Bride Wars

It was a crowdpleaser. A very ok movie. but ok only. Anne Hathaway was really really pretty, with snow white skin and a dazzling smile. And Kate Hudson is absolutely adorable. But other than that, the story is predictable and simple, the scenes were fairly typical and the men are not cute. But i enjoyed it. Mainly because of the company and the brainlessness of it all.

Minimalist memories

My theme for 2009 and the rest of my life is minimalist. I understand this may sound very difficult to achieve since i'm me. But let's just say i've lots of room for improvement. And i really want my room to achieve that type of zen feeling when one steps in. I'm on the way ok.
So i began to throw things out. But some things hold some precious memories. So i decided to take pictures of them and post them here instead. Photos are a good way to remember things right?
This is the thing which our leader held when we were all preparing for the graduation ceremony. At that point, we were all dressed like Harry Potter. I really liked this sign and held it to take several photos. My prof was so amused.

I kept a whole bunch of posters from Anything Goes. To this day, i still consider that musical to be my proudest moment of my young life. This is because i was really challenged for the role. I just saw snippets of the DVD and i still can't believe it's over. Thank God for lovely memories.

The full view.

when i look into your eyes

Today deserves a blog entry. Recently i'm been hurrying around, with no time to sit still and think about life and rubbish, which is the main source of inspiration for the stuff i write. I was looking at my post on the last day of last year. And it says that 2008 will be a year of answered prayers, manifested blessings and abundance.

Well, isn't that great?! 2009 will be a year of profusely abounding free favour, delight, acceptance and salvation.

This year ends with a smile on my face. I'm one happy kid. The turning point came when it hit home that God is good despite my circumstances and what i can see. And trust founded on Him being reliable and loving and generous instead of how much i believe gives me peace. My faith is found on His unchanging character and enduring lovingkindness. How delightful.


whoopppeee. *jumps

Blueprint

By Cyril Wong

Amazing how it takes the smallest things, like a bus ride,to transport you to the important issues, such as deathand all its different manifestations. Approaching 7pm,shadows are already climbing out of the sky to put outthe skyscrapers like candles, ink a river under the highwayto black opacity. You wonder about the years you have

emptied into your present job, the sameness of expressionwith which your wife greets you in the evenings, sullenface of your son at the dinner table, the taste of foodreduced to blandness on your tongue, while the televisionin the hall blares forth winners of another game show.

You gaze out the bus window at the moon's half-grinand remember that film your colleagues hated, whichwounded you in some deep, unspeakable way, likethe scene when the male lead hesitated for more thanwhat was only a minute before pushing a knife's edge

against the taut curve of his wrist, with that sharplyheld breath before every attempt, its quivering releaseupon failure. This process you are so familiar with,each hesitation recurring to a lullaby of the same, these repetitions the invisible blueprint of a life. Stars

perforate the sky, like the eyes of dead peoplesuspended outside of time peering in, the place whereyour soul must have come from, yanked down by ropesof pure longing. You wonder at the history of mankind,

calculating the sum total of your consequence in relationto its yet interminable drama. Quickly, you drift on to happier subjects, like your son, who pointed one dayat clouds rising into houses, pillars, collapsible cities. You wonder what you were like at that age. In school,

a teacher commented that you had a talent for stories, a startling gift for description. You recollect the praises scribbled in blue across the bottom of a report card that dad signed, then handed back to you without a wordof compliment. You tell yourself you are better towards your own son: more tender, more inclined to praise.

None of you can account for the exact moment when that cynicism flew into his face to lock itself in.You attribute rudeness to his friends, your wife blames you for spoiling him from the very beginning. You glare helplessly at desert maps of your palms, at the paperweights of whitened knuckles pinning you down

to the world. A poet said that all of us are searchingultimately for our graves. You think about graves, howyour wife was a hole in the ground you crawled into and remained for so long you forgot what love was.You complain to yourself about how this bus is taking too long to bring you home. The road stretches out

like your father on his bed the morning he did not wake.He looked no different, and religion made you believeanother sort of wakefulness was prepared for him. Youstood there observing him, dwelling upon decomposition,how the air would dissolve his body, reclaim the spaceit once occupied. You glimpse at your watch, this gift

from your son for Father's Day you found out was really bought by your wife; this watch that never slows downfor the ecstatic instant, but for boredom's uniformity.Last week, you went grocery shopping with your family

at the supermarket around your block, and discoveredyou had lost your wallet, or maybe dropped it somewhere between the vegetables and the dairy section. You heard,on the intercom, the voice of the one who had found it,

a girl mispronouncing your name again and again. And you left your wife, your son by the trolley, both turningto strangers with their unison expression of puzzlement and mild irritation. You hurried down aisle after aisle,so eager to retrieve the little you could have lost,

realizing instead you were unable to find the counter.You kept walking and walking alongside rows and rows of shampoo bottles pasted with women's faces cracked wide open by smiles and that barely audible laughter.

You became convinced there was no counter. That bitch repeated again what was once your name. You halted,much to the approval of tin cans of baby powder, images of babies so cute you could smash a fist into every tin.

Fluorescent lights swelled inside your head to blossominto a panic: at once unbearable, yet oddly calming, as you never felt so close to alive, so potentially free.

Pay cuts: Bosses to take the lead

Heads of six major firms pledge to bite the bullet; layoffs to be last resort.
Sun, Nov 23, 2008 The Straits Times
By Goh Chin Lian & Sue-Ann Chia

BOSSES and senior managers here are prepared to freeze or cut their own pay first as the financial crisis deepens. Top executives at six leading companies contacted by The Straits Times said that management will lead the way if cost-cutting measures need to be put in place. Retrenchment will be the last resort, they said. This is in line with the guidelines issued on Wednesday by the Manpower Ministry, National Trades Union Congress and Singapore National Employers Federation (Snef) on managing excess manpower. The six firms were Singapore Airlines, transport group ComfortDelGro, accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers Singapore, OCBC Bank, Maybank Singapore and the Crescendas Group, whose businesses include real estate and manufacturing. Said SIA chief executive officer Chew Choon Seng: 'Should the situation become so bad that sacrifices have to be made, management will take the lead and the process will start from the top.' During the 2003 Sars outbreak, SIA's management took pay cuts of up to 27.5 per cent, while the cuts among staff were between 5 per cent and 16.5 per cent. Such cuts are a feature of the flexible wage system accepted by the airline's 14,700 employees. Half or more of senior management's annual salary is variable - dependent on the performance of the individual and the company. This is compared to 30 per cent for junior ranks. A further 10 per cent of monthly salary can also be suspended if SIA incurs losses for successive quarters, Mr Chew said. 'Because of this cooperation by the staff and the unions...Singapore Airlines will indeed contemplate retrenchment only as a last resort, after exhausting all other means of avoiding losses and keeping everyone on the payroll.' The guidelines on Wednesday urged bosses to save jobs through steps such as reducing variable wages, sending staff for training or having shorter work weeks. Some bosses are already cutting costs this way, according to a poll earlier this month by Snef, of 131 companies which hire a total of 53,000 workers.
Two out of every 10 companies polled said they had implemented a shorter work week. Seven in 10 have cut spending on travel, entertainment and major capital purchases.
The guidelines also urged senior management to lead by example. They could reduce their own salaries earlier or accept similar or deeper cuts. The Straits Times asked bosses of 30 firms what they and senior management were prepared to do to take the lead.
Six affirmed that management would lead by example, nine declined to comment, and 15 did not respond. United Overseas Bank, PSA Corp, accounting firm KPMG, law firm Rajah and Tann, and Keppel Corp said that it was either premature to comment on such moves or that they preferred not to do so at the moment. Philips Electronics Singapore, law firm Wong Partnership, Singapore Food Industries and SembCorp Industries said they could not provide immediate responses as their bosses were either busy or abroad. Among those who responded was ComfortDelGro, which employs 22,000 people worldwide, including 10,000 here. Said spokesman Tammy Tan: 'In difficult times such as these, one of the first things we have done is look at our cost structures and made sure that we do things better and more efficiently. And in such instances, senior management definitely takes the lead.' This was also the case for Maybank Singapore, which has 1,400 workers here. Said head of human resource Wong Keng Fye: 'Should there be a need for wage reductions, the bank will trigger the cut via the Monthly Variable Component... and senior management will take the lead.' And responding from Sydney where he is attending meetings, Mr Gautam Banerjee, executive chairman of accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers Singapore, which has 2,000 employees, said: 'Our philosophy is not to make any knee-jerk reaction and cut jobs. The first (step) is to cut our flexible pay, and more senior people will have to take a bigger burden.'

Objective measures of subjective matters

Any idea?

A summary

I was skimming through the rubbish in my computer and found this. It's dated 4 November 2007. I was preparing to go on a mission trip to Korat last year and the trip leader asked everyone to write their "testimony". So here's my attempt.

If you are a 2nd child, or even better, a middle child, this little sharing is especially dedicated to you.

I grew up in a Christian home, with parents who love God, each other and me. However, for some reason, I never felt loved enough. It’s as if someone owes me something. As a kid, I often wondered why God didn’t make me smarter, more talented, more beautiful, more popular, etc. While I never became that angst-y, suicidal kid, I made up for what I view were my shortcomings, by trying to be the good kid.

I studied hard, obeyed my parents, attended church, was good to my friends. I always tried to do the right thing. I still do. I believed that God the Father sent His Son to die for me. Yet, it was necessary for me to do good, do my daily devotion, be nice, study hard, you know, the usual. I feared that if I didn’t, then my prayer is not as effective, I’m not so blessed, or perhaps, I’m not so forgiven. Or that when I go to heaven, I will live in an ‘attap’ house.

Recently, I learnt about the grace of God. That Jesus took my place on the cross, so that I could take His place. He gave me His life, so that I can live. And as sinful as I was, even more so was Jesus (and still is) sinless. By His stripes, I’m forgiven, of my sins past, present, and future. When He cried “it is finished!” on the cross, that was exactly what He meant. There’s nothing more i can do. There’s nothing more I need to do.

Romans 8 asks “who can separate us from the love of God?” And in the same passage, this question is answered. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Nothing can separate me from the love of God.

Did my life change? Yes. Did my problems disappear? No. I still have problems. I still have many questions which are unanswered. One day, I was feeling discouraged, and I had many questions, one of which was, if my God has done it all, if Jesus did finish it all on the cross, how come I don’t see the good things happening? And why is it so difficult?

And this is what my sister wrote to me in an email, “Qi,” as she affectionately calls me, "I may not have the answers to your questions. But in the meantime, this is what i have to say:...we need to look at difficult situations through eyes of faith, even though the circumstances don’t reflect the reality of what we believe yet."

She continues to attempt to explain it, and this part requires some imagination on your part: "It’s like, if u ask a Christian caterpillar what it is, it will tell you, “I’m a butterfly” – something like that." I was crying and laughing at the same time.

In Romans 8, it says that we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us. FOR I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Let the love of God and His finished work on the cross be your persuasion. And you will be more than conquerors. And while God has many children, to Him, You are an only child. His only child.

past present future?

I was browsing through all the photos in my computer. And feeling that "heart-squeezing" feeling. I don't know how to describe it. I have to say i really really miss those days and want to relive some of them. I think top of my list has to be my touch rugby days. Especially when we represented SMU. We didn't win. But we were a fun bunch. We trained and we played. Hard. Of course, the days playing in NJ were very precious too. But for some reason, i don't hv any of those photos.

The other would be the theatre days. Honestly, i never thought i could master all that stuff. And i'm not sure i can do it again! But for it's worth, i really really gained a lot from the 4 productions we did. Every production has a special place in my heart for different reasons. Sing to the Dawn was my first and to this day, i'm so proud of it. And the cast! remarkable people. A What on His What was awesome. I remember it being fun. And G was so good in her role. Barefoot in the Park. Who knew i could do blue hair? Anything Goes proved i can do anything! haha. not really la. But it was by far the biggest challenge. I was under a lot of stress. I remember being so scared. But God helped in marvellous ways.

SMU days are so precious. And the people are so precious. Remember our study buddy club? And talks of papaya? Going for rugby training at the "upper quad"? Or hanging at the red door on end because of rehearsals. Argh.

Thank God for a good time. And much more to come. =)

Shopgirl (2005)

I think it was on Sunday that Shopgirl was shown on TV. I didn't mean to catch it. But found myself comfortably sprawled on the sofa as this show was just beginning. And i was hooked. The story moved quickly and engaged me. I was very touched by the kind of love and commitment. It's an interesting story, with a very very slight twist. It's actually adopted from a novel written by Steve Martin. I liked it. Go watch it. =)

Tax structuring. whoo hoo.

Eagle Eye

The movie had a lot of action, some suspense and shitloads of explosions. The male lead is a mix of Peter Petrelli from Heros and Edward Norton, and the female lead is skinny. haha. that's about all i came away with. The show's really not that good. But if u have to watch it, watch it in a cinema, where u can feel the full blast of the explosions.

Me lor, which u've done. N tell God too. But no need to be anxious cos God will provide a * *, soon. - 26 Feb 08

Smile at her when she speaks to u, instead of looking at her directly, look at her *. That will unseat her. - 10 Sep 08

* women tend to nit-pick and both * and * are excitable - 10 Sep 08

it's *. just take * and go. if u're not sure, ask again. no need to feel her emotion. - 10 Sep 08

Keep looking forward. No need to look back. - 30 Sep 08

Kangoo jumps

Today is a public holiday. Last night was the eve of a public holiday and i had so much fun. Seriously. Last night, i met up with my best friends. (yes, i have two best friends) And we had dinner and we went to shop. You know, the thing about meeting up with friends who know u and love u and are fun is just so uplifting, no matter what the activity. Anyways, after a good dinner and a prolonged conversation, we headed to the shops. And buy did we!

I bought 1 dress and 3 tops. And i'm super pleased cos i like them all very much. We went home very late and extremely pleased with ourselves.

This morning i didn't sleep in. I woke at 930am. Went to East Coast Park with L, M and N to go Kangoo jumping. Had super a lot of fun. It was a cloudy day, but now my face is hot from the sun and workout.

Then i went to the hairdresser's and got a head of new hair. Revived at least. heh.

I ended the day meeting with a good friend. An old friend. I'm such a sucker for good conversations. And yep. Now i'm home, after a massive jam in Bedok. Feeling very blissfully exhausted. =)