australasia

OMG it's been the longest time! From where I last left off here, I was still back in Singapore.. and now I'm back in Melbourne working full-time! So lets pause and rewind, and see where the past two months have seen me. After Singapore, we had a massive family holiday back in Malaysia (Kuantan) to visit the grandparents.. We then travelled to Langkawi, Cambodia.. and before I knew it, I was back in Canberra attending my graudation ceremony. Praise God! I have been waiting so anxiously for the day to kiss Canberra goodbye, and it has finally come! After the graduation, I bid goodbye to my sis (who is still working in Canberra), sent my parents off to the airport, and it was rush rush rush because I only had a weekend to move back to Melbourne to settle in before I started full-time work! And I have been working ever since. It's been routine and nothing exciting (save the short trip that J&I made up to the Goldcoast last weekend, which I will blog about at a later date when i have time...) So. That pretty much sums up my past two months in a nutshell. Would love to write more, but I gotta rush off to work. So I shall love you and leave with yet another facebook album, beacuse I (still) am very lazy and time-poor to do up pretty collages to post on the blog. Here it is: AustralAsia. Enjoy! Tata xx

change is in the air

im craving a change for this blog. lets see what i can come up with amidst all the eating, shopping, tanning, gymming, and socialising while im back home in singapore for vacation. ah, good times!

i smell it!

TWENTY HOURS TO FREEDOM!!!

my last ever university academic exam tomorrow ends at 12pm (AUST)....

OHMYGOSH. I CANNOT WAIT!!!!!!!!

but till then, STRESS.......

for the steps..

.. of a good man are ordered by the lord: and he delighteth in his way. -psalm 37:23

my older sis turns 24 today! happy birthday che. this is the collection of photos that i compiled as a scrapbook for her, on her 24th. i took the photos one evening while we were out cycling/ jogging by lake burley griffin (in canberra) after work. they are all 'natural-action' shots- ie. amy didn't pose for a single one of them! the psalm that is imprinted in each one of the photos, is the verse that i was holding onto while praying for my sis as she turned 24. hence, the significance in each photo. love you lots, che xx


its been awhile. a very long while! i know there has been a major lack of updates from my end.. particularly with my close family and friends who are frustrated with my lack replies and updates. tiff, lyn, evan, wingyan, clara, ern, susan, theng, siqi, esther, sharz.. im dreadfully sorry. i will get to those emails and fb messages asap!

i keep reminding myself that i should make an effort to blog more regularly, especially since my blog is the only avenue that i use to update my family and friends (who are mainly overseas, all around the globe) about the ins and outs of my life. i know that my mom is my most avid reader (lol). she gets awfully excited whenever i blog (especially with pictures). she tells me that she has this page bookmarked under a list of her "favourites"- so she has easy access to my webpage everyday. too cute, my mom. i love her!

admittedly, i havent had much of an urge to write about my life of late. i think im still groping my way around 2009. i feel unsettled. theres much to do, much to think about. especially as i enter the last academic semester of my post-grad course. i graduate in four months! can you believe it? its been almost two full years since ive moved to canberra!

there is a flurry of excitement that comes with graduating, and finally returning back to melbourne. but then i wonder. is there much in melbourne for me still? it used to be a place that i called home. but so much has changed. two of my bestest girlfriends (ern and wingyan) have left melbourne and returned to malaysia; my sister has now moved to be with me here in canberra; my kids/ streetlife ministry has stopped. things are not how they used to be anymore.

there is this agonizing feeling of not knowing where home is. at times, i feel like a displaced, lost soul. where in the world (i mean, a physical place) do i belong? singapore, melbourne, *gulp* canberra? its awful. not having a place that you can distinctively call home. i guess this is the season that im in. a season where im trying to figure everything all out. my friendships, relationships, ministry, work, career, where god is leading me to from here.. and how everything in life fits in together.

kids day out

i took the little streetlife kids out yesterday. we spent the morning at st.kilda beach; the afternoon back at jo's place baking chocolate chip cookies and playing board games. its been awhile since ive properly spent time with these kids, and they have grown HEAPS! five years ago, they were still in primary school, and i used to babysit them at times while their mother was away. five years later (today), they are all grown up and matured, telling me of their boyfriend problems! gulp. time passes so quickly.. im starting to feel old around them!

photo credits: phuong's camera. the pictures below are the ones i pinched off her facebook.

surfers paradise

yet another photo update...

Gold Coast: am back in melbourne from surfers paradise, and im missing the queensland sun. j said it right. i'll be happy anywhere so long as there is sun, sand and surf. its gonna be a whooping twenty nine degrees celcius tomorrow in melbourne! beach, anyone?

photo update

no time for pretty collages- here are photo links from facebook.

Tasmania Trip: we spent five beautiful days in tasmania. the scenery was simply breathtaking!

Graduations '08: cousin alex and sister amy both graduated from their medical degree. two graduate doctors in the family! cousin shar's graduation coming up soon...

... off to the goldcoast tomorrow!

strength for the day

the GOD i know, is above every situation, above every circumstance, above every heartbreak and pain, above every suffering and learning, above every joy, peace and love, above the good and the bad, above all in my life.

forty day fast

i just returned from the l*e church women's conference that i attended in melbourne over the weekend. the past few days, god has really been stirring in my heart.. and i guess he has led me to a place whereby im yearning for breakthroughs in certain aspects of my life, and am desiring for clarity in some major decisions that im praying through right now.

pastor tim spoke about the book of daniel on the sunday service, and encouraged our church to join the community in a forty day fast (starting today, tuesday 21st October). pastor discussed four testmonies or initiatives of daniel. these are my sermon notes:

1. PRIVATE PROTEST
   
   * i am obedient to a different authority
   * daniel wanted to get food form his own source.
   * defiant stand/ private protest.
   * we are called to have a simple life: things we "gather" has authority over us.
   
   
   
2. DETOX DIET
   
   * what is it that your flesh needs to sustain it. when cravings are demanding allegiance.
   * to be able to say, "no i am not dependent on these things- i am dependent on a different source to satisfy my comfort/ cravings etc.
   * not finding comfort in comfort food, but in something that is going to give you true REST.
   * in an empire that controls you almost completely, i am making a stand to defy my dependency, to prove my FREEDOM.
   * detox off the junk food, to suddenly discover that we do not need it afterall.
   
   
   
3. DESPERATE DISSATISFACTION
   
   * i am fervent for a different world.
   * i am deeply dissatisfied with my life/ the state of the church/ global affairs etc.
   * the situation is so dire that food is not important to me right now.
   * god can only resurrect something new once the former has been allowed to DIE.
   * and to raise up a new humanity, people who can truly position themselves before GOD.
   
   
   
4. SHARED SUFFERING
   
   * i am a servant with different people (the church community).
   * you are not alone in this.

: :

40 DAYS FAST

I am obedient to a different authority
I am dependent on a different source.
I am fervent for a different world.
I am servant with a different people.

: :

i was sharing this with jo after service, and she has decided to come alongside me to pray together, so that we can be accountable to each other!

“for if they fall, one will lift up his companion, but woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up.” ecclesiastes 4:10.

ok, so jo has decided to do a fast from entertainment: ie. internet sites such as facebook, youtube, blog sites etc. (so, if you're reading this, and you know jo.khoo, don't bother sending her any facebook messages/ links to youtube sites/ leave comments on her blog cos SHE WON'T REPLY!) i'm holding her accountable, and you bet i will.

i will be doing a plain vegetable and fruit fast (ie. no gourmet styles; no meat, dairy, chocolates, sweets, junk food etc). my housemates and jo can keep me accountable for that.

: :

the little girl in me
just wants to be a little girl
and sit at your feet
beaming at your beaming face
and know that i'm loved
to forget that i've been hurt
because i have something better
to hold on to now
but the words have seared me
dullness and emptiness ensues
preventing me from skipping
like a lamb by your side
i turn my hollow eyes to you
and look for grace.

melbourne bound

hello! im in a bit of a chirpy mood tonight because im leaving for melbourne tomorrow! very exciting, yes. i was just counting the months, and i realised that i havent been down to melbourne for FOUR months to date! thats a record for me. life has been rather mundane in canberra. this semester, ive been flat out with uni, and work. i literally live and breathe drugs every day of the week! am either at uni attending lectures/ tutes, or at the hospital doing placements, or working 3 full days at the pharmacy. seven days a week, i dont even have one off day to chill. how bad is that! hence, im looking forward to this week out of canberra to catchup with the family/girls/kids in melbourne. it is going to be SO GOOD. am getting incredibly excited just thinking about it. so much so that i cant sleep! i just crawled out of bed at 3.55am in the morning, and here i am smiling gleefully at my laptop screen as i look up past pictures of family/friends in melbourne. i cant wait for this face to face!! looking forward to...


hot chocolate at max brenners...



the fabulous cousin sharlene..



the bomb: cousin dr. alex tai!!



my girls: en, joanne, wingyan



homecooked dinners by en..



jo jo my mojo!



lovely wingyan..



ivy and sue!!!



ivy pohpoh



my best girls ALL IN!



smelly jolene wee wee



the little streetlife kiddos!



last but not least.. the older sis.



I ABSOLUTELY CANNOT WAIT!


ps. pictures, circa 2006
pps. looking back on the pictures, i really do miss my long hair! finally time to start growing it out again... (: