Fanning

I'm a "The Body Shop" fan. (which reminds me of "The oriental"'s adverts nowadays which has a tagline 'she's a fan')
anyway i needed to buy shower cream le...and i love body shop's cocoa butter or shea 'flavoured' kind coz these are great ingredients to combat dry skin. but i needed to by $30 of stuff to get one more stamp to redeem a free gift. so that's why so many bottles. enough to last me a long long time. tho i'm going bac there again tmr to help my mum-in-law to buy the lipgloss that she says is very gd..and it's on sale.


So...i'm also...
an IKEA fan - cheap and some really not the best quality but so much variety and at affordable price. i love walking through ikea even tho i have nothing to buy...it's always great to imagine what you can do for your home by strolling ikea. and it's free.
an ESPIRT fan - i luv the mood of their shop. plus my mum got espirt card so aha...i only buy with the card and usually when there's sale.
a MUJI fan - terribly expensive stuff sometimes...but the stationary is so clean, sleek and down-t0-earth...i'll admire the food packaging but never buy them.
a MARKS & SPENSER fan - i simply love their food packaging...if it's free i'll collect them. it never fails to entice me...i think it tastes great even before i get to eat it. see what great packaging can do? it makes me think they're one of the kind.
a MOS BURGER fan - i dunno why i always think it's a fast food restaurant that isn't a fast food restaurant. so the delusion that you don't get as fat as fast if u go there to eat instead of Mac. coffee milkshake is the top on the list...1.95 to slurp your way to simple indulgence
a KINO or BORDERS fan - it's just the hugeness of the bookstore that's exciting...it's a bit dizzying that there's so much books to be read or so many books to be found.

enough of fanning...i should sleep...i'm blogging fei stuff. got lotsa work tmr...and hopefully i can find time in the evening to cut hair...the weather's hot and my hair's too long.

Light-hearted

It's a kinda exciting day. Lotsa things to do that's why. and my first contract signed! that's why i'm feelin so exhilarated. no time to waste ding-dong-ing...so they signed today..also coz we needed to start works soon. wooo. fun! i know that coordinating works can be quite daunting too, as in there are many unexpected things than can crop up. really...so if u have no experience in this don't ever attempt to coordinate yr entire home renovation works on your own. some things have to do first before some other things...and you've gotta be on call at any time. but i guess for me that's the interesting part of it. tho i always feel like i have 101 things to remember to do...ie call this person, ask this thing that thing, check this & that. there's 10001 varities of materials and ways to work with materials so...possibilities are endless.

and the other exciting stuff was that the shelving area for the books was done up today. the carpenter came by early this morning to do it. and it was exciting coz i kinda sketched it on paper, indicated the dimensions, the material and some details...and to see the real thing is exciting. now i juz gotta wait for the electrician to fix up the downlights for that place.

Anyway, sunday's sermon was really refreshing. it was about humility. on area where there's no one better to learn from other than Jesus. "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves." Philippians 2:3. we're called to look out for the interests of others. Jesus came and thought of us...if he didn't He would have spared the pain of being separated from God because of our sins. Pastor Jiami was preaching that it's not the pain of the nails, or the whipping, or the insults hurled at him that was painful; it was the sin He bore for us, the judgement and the punishment that He bore for us on the cross that was painful....because of this He has to be separated from God (because God is holy = no sin)...that's the most painful thing He has to endure. somewhat hard to imagine coz we aren't God. maybe it's like humans being separated by death from the person they love deeply, or disowned by someone they love deeply because of something they have done. of cos this analogy is too simplified...God is more complex than that.

it's a good verse...because there are many times i can't help doing somethings out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. u know there's a 'i win' feeling that's obviously feel-good. servant leadership...not just emphasized in church..but in many secular seminars. but true servant leadership isn't i treat u well, and i manage to get my way & earn my money or got you under my control...but the way Jesus did, "Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love." NIV. "having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end." NASB John 13:1b. the way Jesus washed His disciples feet.

i feel so inadequate in expressing what God impressed in me through this sunday's sermon. but He was speaking.

and....on the same day i read about a person who seemed quite oblivous to his lack of...hmm...i'm also not sure how to express. but it lacked the part of "consider others better than yourselves". or more like lacked self-reflection...and full of defensiveness. always ready to put down the person faster, even by quoting bible verses, rather than put down/humble himself. it's quite scary actually, that someone can be so self-righteous. even tho sometimes i dun really know what sin to confess, i know i'm not perfect, i know i have things i need God to help show me the displeasing-God things that i don't want to face...and i have to ask God to show me and break that stubborness. i never ever want to be that kind of self-righteous person.

Sunday with the boys

Not much peace around with 3 naughty boys...or more like 2 coz the other is too small to be involved in their fun. got work to do tho...but i dun tink i can get anything much done until they have gone home..hope they don't go home too late. phews. they're cute still..they saw this t-shirt xy3 gave for my bday and the older boy was asking if he can wear it as well. hoho..


i have so much things i would want to write but not for now...i think when i have collected my thoughts and have a more condusive environment to write will i get on to do so. have been blessed by yesterday's cell time and this morning's sermon. hopefully i'll get to write mo abt it soon.

anyway i did get Ww to do the 5 languages of love...haa...and yeps his is also Quality Time. gifts is still the last on both of our list...and not that we never got anything for each other...i still have boxes of the stuff we gave each other..just that now to save space..and more like to save money, the best gifts we can give each other is our time to talk and be together...it's this that money can't buy.

The right guy

Is it hard to find the right guy (or girl)? No one will ever say it's easy. It's that right mix of timing, personality and later effort and lots of love. and for Christians...the same faith. shoeeee commented recently that too many ppl and even leaders have moved to r/s with non-christians.

yeah...true. hard to find a good christian guy or girl around? probably.

then again hardly anyone is good with their waiting...or more like waiting on God (esp the thought that the right guy will not come by till you're probably 60 yrs old is daunting). i'm in no position to say much about that waiting game because Ww & I met early...and married early (according to Singapore standards) and it's kinda fun when u tell ppl you're married and they will like "what! but you're so young!".

seems like the 'i like you & you like me' stage is very hot during our teenage years and once after that it seems to die down..either with ppl being attached already or just no one left. of cos sparks can fly in the most unexpected places...so that's the fun part about waiting...it's when you don't keep thinking about the waiting and find your delight in God in other places, the unexpected may come by.

christian with non-christian couples...nothing new. really. it depends on whether you're ok with someone who won't share the same values and faith as you...it's the stuff like how a family should be, how we should treat each other, how we see life. it does reflect the depth of one's faith. and even if the non-christian converts...it does really take a while for the values to be there, unless it is there in the first place. and if he/she converts is it because really of God or because of the r/s? there's so much details & itsy bitsy things that i can't list out. even so, christian r/s aren't all that perfect either, that's why God doesn't want us to start on a more difficult situation...but i guess for many it's easier to see the present need (the need for a human life partner) than the future consequences.

of cos i do hope that those who are searching for a partner to find a comptible one as soon as they need it, save all that desiring and lost hopes and impatience. sometimes Ww will try to matchmake ppl but so far not successful..haa. and i wanted to matchmake a friend with a very eligible bachelor i know but whell...not so easy. haa. surely God is that perfect matchmaker, knowing our timings and our needs...then again not letting us have things too easy, so that we'll grow in beauty and godliness before the right guy/gal comes by.

for us who have our r/s to grow, there are many other challenges ahead, and surely a different one from those who are single. for Ww and me who've taken the vow to be there for each other for better or worse, richer or poorer, in sickness and health, to love and to cherish till death do us part...we know and don't know what God will put in our paths to challenge us in our life, but we will live our purpose God has given us with lots of joy together, knowing also that our marraige sometimes reveals to us a glimpse of heaven.

8k ceiling

recently there was this appeal for a relaxation of the combined household income $8k ceiling. the rationale...inflation, and to encourage young couples to not marry later or not have children later. why? housing loans...one of the big costs in setting a family..and for couples whose combined income is $8k and above, they cannot buy HDB new flats or get the lower interest rate HDB loan and so have to buy private properties. so someone wrote to appeal to reconsider the $8k ceiling...she asks if inflation is being taken to account. she & her bf (young graduates) just entered the workforce have a combined starting salary of $8k. but because they have exceeded the HDB income ceiling, settling down is beyond their reach because they have just started to repay their student loans and parental debts.

my reaction to it? combined starting salary $8k le.....why complain? gosh who gets $4k for a starting pay? and with such a good starting pay why complain? what about those ppl who's combined salary is abt $5k? and also have to pay student loans, support parents etc. they still made it. i guess it's the gov's way of differentiating the rich and the less well off ppl...or more like to minimize the rich-poor gap ba. and not that they can't buy HDB anyway, buy resale lo, just that they can't take the HDB loan which interest is much lower than bank loan...and don't buy those new flats. and with starting pay of $4k...there's so much potential it'll increase...you know how long it takes for some ppl to reach that pay scale? some never do. oh whell...they don't think of those ppl who aren't as well off as them...just cut down on those extrvagant things to buy and luxurious things to splurge...and much money can be saved.

The practice of being taught

We are properly schooled from young till we graduate...until we can even teach what we were taught. Yup as SG encourages lifetime learning, God surely mandates lifetime learning too. I find myself being less being taught as i grow older...at least in a formal classroom situation or a teacher student situation. it's a struggle to go for Sunday sch because my lack of understanding of Chinese...blabber to me all the biblical historical names and places, chim chim words and i will just stare at you blankly. it's too mafan to ask for every word i don't understand. and i hate going to chinese courses because of that. so i'll jump at any english sunday sch. then again i can't commit to a thurs bsf. i missed going to the church course on church worship.

i think ah the older we grow...the less we are interested in going for something to be taught. there's too many things to draw our attention, too many ppl to meet, too much work to do, too much personal time to fill to satisfy ourselves.

then how do we grow? how to help others to grow?
is meeting once a week enough? when all we have is that 2 hours. how to grow? where'll we find God? when we were young, and there were many courses to attend, camps to draw us to God, renew our faith in him, to be encouraged, many challenges. now, there's many distractions to draw us away.....and no one wants to go anymore...little is interested...and because i'm not interested as well? where are you God in those who no longer want you anymore? sigh...we're all selfish selfish ppl and we think we aren't. we focus so much on the things to do, the worship atmosphere, the sermon or lack of it, whether we belong there or not, the ppl whom we aren't comfortable with.....but do we bother about worshipping God? Less me please. More God.

"Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." Proverbs 4:23

Sweltering weather

These few days air-conditions are great accompaniment to such weather. i don't turn on e air-con when i sleep partially coz i think it'll dry me up and partially coz it's uses up lotsa electricity. but these few days i wake up feelin sticky...i think the sky tried to rain the previous night but still it's just the humid weather season le...SP will start to earn mo money le.

Such weather is also opportunity to be irritated by little things. Tho i haven't been...i think i've been fretting more than irritatable. why fret? and everytime i can't seem to settle my heart this verse pops in my head "Don't be anxious about anything..." which unfrets me a while. still i missed out the next part which says "but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God". which will unfret me for a longer while.
i fret because i have my mind has left things in the office which hasn't been done or things i dunno how to to. ie after i left office yesterday i realized i haven't called someone and don't have the number with me already. and i'll worry about missing something out for wed's appt. or worry that another customer will not get back to me or watever. you know how worries have infinite possibilities. guess this is my weakness...my fretting and worrying. and the antidote? just do it or if can't trust God and pray. but of cos easier said than done because i'll have to struggle to settle my heart down to pray...without my brain having to many other thots that's not relevant to what i needed to pray about.

in continuation of the previous blog....yesterday was a time well spent oso coz ww's nephews were around...as usual every weekend...tho sometimes we just want to leave us alone but usually we'll entertain them...and you know how kids love books so much..and they are sooo cute! we were going out in the morning after picking up some stuff and augustine was saying byebye...and he added..."you come back later ok,ok?" so cutteee!

Time well spent - no time

Weekends are always busy. Though most of it well spent.

I spent most of my Saturday at this event called RAFT organized by Hbay which is like an excursion for to-be-home-owners. it's like some enrichment tour to help them know more about reno products and its process etc. so we went to Alumix system (i love this modular storage system anyway), Surface (a tile supplier...huge showroom and so much tiles to choose frm), City gas and no time to go to our office..so we finished the tour at Hbay. i attended to a customer who has a super weird shape flat...what a headache to design tho. i even wonder why hdb build such flats in the first place. it's a challenge but really, the floor plan is a waste of space...you end up with less usable space than what you actually have. anyway there were questions that they asked me which did really stumped me....urgh...and things that i forgot to do or say...urgh. whell..i'll get better next time.

by the time i reached my mum's place it was already 415pm and was tired out...went thru cell materials and took a quick 10min nap. we started kinda late but i really enjoy it...somehow i just forgot i was tired.

i have been running hot 'fevers' for 3 nights...i don't feel sick but at nights i would just feel really hot...like a fever...of cos and ww would jump when my hot head touches his arm (and i feel better coz he always feels cooler..haa). it got better last night...so i hope it'll be over. i forget i'm tired when i have something to do tho.

sunday...Family day! i helped to facilitate a group that was really on and it was fun even though we didn't win. really big group to handle anyway...and i wondered if family day must necessarily be games...are there other methods? hmm... but the committee have worked hard and but their heads and hearts to plan it, really felt their efforts throughout and despite some hiccups along the way, it's quite a feat to run it frm beginning to end. just that as usual, i do feel some missing support from the youth zone ppl...some la...tho i dunno if it's a lot...sometimes these things can be kinda disheartening. or mayb i'm just being myopic in what it think. mayb these ppl really had something so they can't come or watever.

sunday's also 4th mth anniversary day....but we celebrated it earlier on thurs knowing that sunday will be really tiring for us. so we decided we had to try out something new...no fish&co again! yah..so we did...Crystal Jade Macau Restaurant....

food not bad la...but the shakes were super yummy..esp my strawberry milkshake!

and of cos Ww tried to beat me in saying happy anniversary on sat night right when the clock turned 12mn. haaa...but he was too early. it was only 11.58pm.
so 4 mths married le...and ppl have still been asking us how's married life. i'm usually stumped by the question, even tho i know it's a question everyone will ask. i just say it's great...of cos it really is. :) and we thot abt it...well...instead of talking over the phone before we fall asleep, we can talk face-to-face till we fall asleep...or at least till he falls asleep. we get to see each other everyday. which is a really nice thing...honestly i don't think we get tired of seeing each other. eat bfast together on sundays. wake up together....(tho every morning i'll be called awake by the alarm clocks before he does and have to keep shoving him till he switchs it off). we aren't really quarrelsome so we don't get irritated by each other's habits too much, there are new things we discover about each other's habits but they are just kinda..you know...interesting. there are many more things...and every time we pray together with our that long list thru out prayer book, we'll always pray for our marriage and in the midst of it always give thanks to God for the love He gives us to love each other and other.

i've gotta go work le....there are many things to do today!

10 things i would love to do & HDB 1st appt

1. catch a plane to anywhere with my hubby (so that poor him will have a break and destress) and so that we can go on our 2nd honeymoon...which doesn't seem like it will happen in the near future considering we got ourselves a house and so a 30-yr debt. :S
2. help someone plan a wedding
3. categorize my entire photo albums...and maybe make a photobook of my life.
4. start designing my new house!! (i got no scaled plans yet :( so still can't so much but dream for now) but for once i can actually do it from design to coordinating the construction...after all it's my job.
5. shop for house furnishings for people & do up their houses...like Debbie Travis
6. buy a house in australia..and if i have too much money...some beautiful part of europe instead; do it all up and rent it out. or maybe just design the rooms and turn it into a hotel.
or if i'm madly rich enough, i'll do up a house like this with an interior courtyard. (anyway this is an architect's office...which is in a private estate. quite cool.
7. start some organization that can help people...i got no idea what...not that i'm very on about it now...but it will be cool...in future.
8. have kids 3 yrs later or mayb earlier....we'll have to see how things (and money) goes
9. start a Christian magazine for youths and then for women.
10. bring my mum & mei to Japan

i wrote this a while ago...oh and it's still quite relevant.

Meanwhile i'm drinking Meiji Chocolate milk - all time fav!!!

We had our 1st appointment today at HDB for our new flat. and we should be getting the keys by 1st May. wooo....
Anyway it wasn't too a non-event. A lot of documents to photocopy prior to this appointment, and a lot of documents to bring and then they got to verify. And coz we were getting the CPF housing grant and the extra 10k coz we'll be staying near my mum...my mum came along as well. (more documents to show and verify) A lot of papers after papers to sign and a lot of explaining to do. Though there was a lil bit of hiccup because i don't have a pay slip since i just started work. After all was signed and done...we'll wait for another 6-8weeks for the 2nd appointment and get our keys! The fun part will be doing up our place tho the as usual not fun part is the amount of money we have to spend on the reno.

This is also a week of many tuitions coz it's the holidays...which isn't all so bad...i needed the income while waiting for my other income to come in. but i had to juggle that with my work time..so i'm either leaving earlier or coming into office later. i can kinda do that coz my work time is somewhat flexible and depends on my project demand (which i have nothing at this point of time...i'll only get to meet my potential customer next week).

And....i wanna spend time with Ww!! whell...not much time to do so, so i'm keepin the nights clear. then again...we usually dunno where to go when we want to spend time out coz it just means to spend money. :S

The Five Love Languages

inspired by my chic pie...i juz thot i take the quiz. maybe i'll make Ww take it too..haa..

The Five Love Languages

My primary love language is probably
Quality Time
with a secondary love language being
Words of Affirmation.

Complete set of results

Quality Time:		11
Words of Affirmation:		7
Physical Touch:		6
Acts of Service:		4
Receiving Gifts:		2

Information

Unhappiness in relationships, according to Dr. Gary Chapman, is often due to the fact that we speak different love languages. Sometimes we don't understand our partner's requirements, or even our own. We all have a "love tank" that needs to be filled in order for us to express love to others, but there are different means by which our tank can be filled, and there are different ways that we can express love to others.

Take the quiz

Week of work

I've stopped bloggin for a week coz i obviously don't have my afternoons to laze and have nothing better to do...or nights either. i tend to sleep early or Ww's using the comp so by the time he doesn't, i didn't mind going to zzz le.

Work is fantastically interesting. There's like so much to learn, and those stuff you don't learn by studying. Tho i need some projects to start with...which is the sales part. anyway my title is IDSP advisor (aka interior design space planning advisor). of cos i do itch to do design but i kinda also understand that when ppl wan to do home reno most of the time they would have their own design..so my role is to advise..whether use this good or not, which is better, why use this material not good etc etc. there's really a lot of details that when u juz flip those design mags but there are many little details that ppl don't see or dunno. anyway it does get a lil complicated but still so far fun. very nice colleagues too and got to know my new work 'buddy' better over this week as well. so anyone wanna do home reno...ask me!

on wed's mm prac, we had a violinist to play with us and what a difference a real string instrument makes to the depth and mood of the worship! tho of course with more instruments, the more sensitive u have to be to how the sound blends. if u play alone, u have to play more but the more instruments there are, most of the times i needed to learn to play less and listen more. last time lihui will keep reminding me to play less, play less; coz sometimes as musicians, you want you music to stand out (esp when i always feel the piano sometimes just gets drowned with all the sounds), but the essence of playing in a band is blending aka unity. i can really feel when we're all playing in a mess or playing together. there's so much to concentrate while playing tho sometimes i wonder whether i'm worshipping or just playing. then again, i always will remind myself that everytime i play the keyboard, it's to celebrate this gift God has given, the enjoyment of playing and improving my skills is God's gift to me to give to Him and others.
music still does move us, doesn't it? and during this wed's prac while we played the song "耶稣尊贵圣洁救主 " with the violin, i dunno how to express...but the beautiful mellow and real sound of the violin with the band brought the song to a different depth. it's like we felt the song more, felt the words more and moved more into worship. i still can feel it now. God really doesn't create music for nothing. He knows how much it can move our hearts and capture us with His beautiful music...and draw us to be so amazed with Him.

oh whell...meanwhile Ww's off at BB camp for the next 2 nights....less than 500m away tho but he has to stay over mah...:S gonna miss him for a while.

Being quarter century old

doesn't it feel like antique historical relic when u use the word century? but i'm fine with the age...it's just a matter of perspective. and quite a birthday day it was. what happened in chonological order of the day...many cakes and 2 tubs of ice-cream.

1. my new colleagues celebrated my bday with cake and candles and song after lunch (aww...so sweet! i was like so paishe..heh..). it was my 2nd day at work onli.

2. Dinner at our fav Lemongrass with family. We ordered just enough amount of food to make us full but not over-bloated. the black-pepper beef was our ever fav, seafood tomyam (was hard for me to take...as usual, too spicy!), asparagus, mango fried fish (yums!), some fried chicken thingy (thumbs up too!...i think it's got to do the the batter they dip the chicken in..fantastic), claypot tofu, and our ever fav keropok appetizer.


3. Cutting the cake at mum's place.

The cake's frm Regent hotel's cafe called Something to Go..mum loves to buy their cakes frm there...and i've been having this almost every bday...juz that the design a bit different. There's this fig fruit which is kinda tasteless but quite intriguing and the pic with Ww & his dad...they were dabating or like instructing each other how to light the candle admist the wind...quite amusing actually.

Family photo...we were kinda syncronized with all the pastel colours oh.

4. Cell secret celebration...which got leaked away when someone called me to say he's not coming to my place..i was like: hmm...were we meeting tonight??. but i somewhat brushed it aside and was quite engrossed with Amazing Race on tv till...

they ding-dong-ed the door bell with 2 ice-cream tubs and many burning matchsticks stuck in it (the pink one is Bandung icecream with white chocolate!!!). not much photos yet...coz the video (the video!) is with eric. awww....i was so gan2 dong4 by them...so sweeet! the surprise in the late of the night and going thru all the trouble...with Ww as the accomplice. luv u guys! (and the photo abv? they were pretending to be watching tv...hhahaa)

presents of the day....:) all so wonderful! of course...nowadays it's becoming mo popular to give vouchers oso...ah..but at my fav shopping places..so it's great! Cat card frm Ww...took him quite rushed while to find the purrrrfect card...aft his course & b4 our dinner...poor flustered him...oh..but i'll not divulge on the contents of the card anyway...always luv the way he write stuff....shhh.

5. Today. Ate the choc biscuit sponge cake made by my mum-in-law yesterday but we were too full to eat it...so we cut the cake today! it's super yummy too!


i've enough of the photos le.....mo on my 3 day work next time.

feel so blessed by God for bringing me thru all these 25 years...it's a really long time! and so blessed we all are...in God's own special ways for us.