Merry Christmas

Hey all. Just want to wish you all a Merry Christmas. Hope that all the presents are nice, and that you all spent quality time with your families.

Been a good week more or less, overall. Finally finished my cards and gave out all the gifts that I bought for people, except for a few cos I forgot, and one notable one to give in the next few days.

Christmas was good. Though I was pretty much exhausted due to waking up early in the morning for 4 days in a row (and sleeping 4 hours per night only, on average), but it was worth it. Church had a drama going on in the morning. Kinda realistic, according to Li Yen, who brought her colleague along for the event. Talks about 3 families going through trials, arguments, and other negative stuff. But in the end, it's the love of Christ that brought them back together and helped them through the situations. And quite a number got saved, Praise God. Btw, did anyone get the Christmas cd by Pastor Rony? If so, can I borrow? Kinda broke to get it at the moment, so if anyone can lend me, will be grateful :)

Had a lunch with Xinyi, Hui Qing (did I spell right? Xinyi's friend), Li Yen and Andy (Li Yen's colleague) at the food junction at Century Square. Wanted to head to a restaurant, so in the end, we just decided on the food court. Not too bad, had 2 rounds of food, again. Hungry stomach, was already growling as we closed up the sanctuary earlier. Tim heard the growling with dropped jaws, lol. Colin joined in as we were about to finish lunch, then Li Yen had to go for another appointment with an old friend in Paya Lebar. So the 4 of us (minus Andy, who left with Li Yen) went for a movie. Charlotte's Web was decided on, and it's worth the weekend rate, to my surprise. Kinda tired already by then, but still agreed to some coffee and chit chat with the rest. Couldn't get seats at Star Bucks and Coffee Bean, so went to Delifrance, where we stayed till about 6+. Li Yen joined us again a while after we got there, and sat down and chatted about stuff here and there. Decided to leave after a while cos was feeling tired and I still had to go to Carrefour to get something for a surprise gift for a friend of mine. Just hope it'll be well received.

Kinda tired when I got back home. Met Gary for a bit before going home, since we'll be taking the same bus. So crashed in bed till past lunch time earlier. For a grand total of 13 hours of sleep. First time in a long while that I slept so much. Still kinda groggy though, when I woke up. But it's ok. Got up and checked my emails, chatted on msn a bit with Joyce and Joshua, and broke open the Looney Tunes vcds I bought in Carrefour on Sunday. Hmm loved the classics. Haven't watched them in a long time, so it's lovely to be able to do so again after so long.

Dinner at Sushi Tei with the former excos followed, more to celebrate Sam's birthday than anything else. Food's not bad, though it left me hungry. Kinda like a drop in the ocean, after I finished my main course. Thank God for green tea, which filled my stomach for the time being. Cake was nice. Cookies and cream, yum. Though it was just a small one. But well, we all had a good time. Too bad we didn't have more time to hang out. What's more, the rain was still unrelenting when we got out to head to the trains. Just praying now it won't rain on friday. Else my plans will just end up in smoke.

"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12

God He Reigns

Can't seem to sleep at this hour. Not that I've tried. My mind's pretty awake, just have no idea why. Long day past, many hours last. The day's dawn, slept through my yawns.

Ok, I really don't know what I'm writing up there. Just a lame attempt at poetry, a couple of sentences at that. Nothing much since my last entry. Tried pathetically to study this side of Christmas, but kinda failed. Elitism (bugis, if you understand) got the best of me this past week, more to entertain myself more than anything, though I'm getting sick of it. Really have to stop doing this. Oh well, have to force myself to do something before Christmas, at least start on something.

Went shopping for flower material on Wednesday with Wijaya, Wenda and Huishan in Chinatown. There was this shop that I always go to to get such stuff. Nice and cheap, but too bad they didn't have the colour patterns I wanted (blended colours). So settled for a pack of each colour. So it looks like I have 180 roses to do. Not alone of course. Will have some help from the gals in doing this. Operation fund raiser has already commerced, with some roses already done. This year, we are gonna do more than roses for fund raising. There's the idea of knitting some names to put on pens, car wash (?), gigs to raise money (-_-"""), knitting key chains in pairs for couples, and goes on. Need more ideas. Lots of funds to raise. Hopefully we can raise enough.

Hmm, hit Vivocity after we were done with the shopping. First time there, and it's kinda nice. Love the Page One bookshop there. The sort of place where I can just bury my nose in books the whole day, since they have copies available for browsing. Good for poor students like me, heh. Arranged to meet Joshua there, where he was with Cecilla. The guys tried some hotdogs at some new fast food outlet there, while I got a coffee. Then Huishan needed to shop for Christmas presents for her 5 guy cousins (her mum asked her to), and she was kinda clueless in regards to what to get for them. She wanted to get puzzles for 2 of them, but didn't know what to get for the other 3. And apparently, Vivo didn't have any puzzle shops -_-" Kinda surprising for such a big place. So we went for a quick dinner first at nearby at a stall of Cecilla's aunt. Nice wanton noodles. Lightning was like striking overhead rather freely all the while, but thank God we were sheltered while eating.

PS was the next stop where we spent the rest of the evening. Joshua had to work (Jack and the Beansprout, Drama Center; nice! Go watch!) while Cecilla went to amk. To cut a long story short, Huishan managed to get the gifts, with some suggestions from the rest of us, and after walking through most of PS. Kinda tired on the train ride home. Was standing on the nel (crowded as usual), and my knees almost went from under me at one point. Sigh. Remind me not to take the nel back home, no matter the time of day.

Another week ahead. Another day arising from the dusk. Time to close this chapter of my blog and let myself to bed. Come to think of it, I AM in bed. Just not sleeping :p Typing this on my lappy while stretched out on my bed, heh. Ok, skip the rotten tomatoes yeah? Don't wanna get messy before sleeping. Oyasumi.

"So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, 'He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.' " Hebrews 10:35-38

Headache

Your Heart Is Purple

For you, love is about establishing and developing a deep connection. If it's true love, it brings you more wisdom and inner strength. Your flirting style: Sincere Your lucky first date: An afternoon at a tea house Your dream lover: Is both thoughtful and expressive What you bring to relationships: Understanding

What Color Heart Do You Have?

Something I got off Clare's blog. Hmm, guess it's time to link her blog to mine, heh. Oh well. Been a busy few days. 2nd meeting for concert planning went on yesterday, and we got a major obstacle in terms of the venue and budget. Seems like it's only available for use on Vday. Not a bad choice for a date. But it's the rehearsal dates that I'm thinking about. Might seem that the LT is not available for use the whole week at all. Sigh. So have asked Caroline to check out for us when are the dates it's available for use. Then came budget, which is always a cruncher to plan and execute. We went overboard in estimating the budget, to be on the safe side. Which came up to one huge amount. Reason is cos I'm thinking of getting a video camera which can record audio directly from the mixer instead of using the built in mic. Cos I don't want "extra" noise to be in the tapes. Hope this is doable without burning a big hole in the fund. Can only pray and ask God to lead.

Christmas is coming soon. So far, have not really done up what I wanted to do. Cards are still waiting for me to write and send out (and I'm considering e-cards at the moment for some, but not really keen on this option though). Still got a few gifts left to buy. Which is leaving me flat broke for this christmas, considering that I'm not really working now (trying to resolve my cashflows now). Sean wants me in the office once a week for now, but can't seem to commit over the last few weeks. Things always seem to crop up that's preventing me from working. Hope things will get better soon. And praying for hearts to be softened as well. Passing out flyers for church's christmas drama around. Hope those I've passed to can come for the event. I believe it'll be a life changing experience :)

"Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy; for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls." 1 Peter 1:8-9

Isolated

Felt isolated and a bit lost earlier in the day. First of all, my hp's battery went flat on me when I was smsing a friend (then again, it's like quite a lot of smses throughout the day as well) while browsing around at Sembawang Music at cineleisure. Then I tried to go online using my laptop, and discovered that it's battery, too, is flat. Shucks. Totally isolated from the people I know. Not the first time this happened to me recently, as my hp's battery went out on me a couple of weeks back as well. Been a long day, as I crashed Huishan's morning soci lesson, and then went for my own in the afternoon as there was a test. Which I discovered it's actually managable, though I forgot some stuff. Didn't really study much; just went through briefly the study guide in the wee hours of the morning while trying to get rid of a virus in my laptop (long story). Walked through the bazaar with Huishan and her friend after the morning class and got myself some yogurt with fruits and cookies mashed in. Nothing much in this year's bazaar. Saw some cute stuff, but no reason to buy. Couldn't find anything small and cuddly and cheap, like what I managed to for the last couple of years (which were subsequently kidnapped by Jasmine and Karen if I remember correctly, and held to "ransom"). Did see one huge penguin that resembles the one from Happy Feet, and that cost like 50 bucks. Hmm. Speaking of Happy Feet, almost wanted to catch that, until Stella and Huishan convinced me not to, as it's not really worth it. So decided to go catch Open Season instead.

Which brought me to Somerset mrt while Lady Rain decided to cry her heart out. Sigh. So I had to run to cineleisure from there. Thank God my laptop and the stuff were dry. But I looked like a drowned rat when I got inside the building. Water was literally trickling off my hair. And I missed the 5.15pm slot for Open Season as well. So decided to walk around and let the aircon in the building dry me. Then came the flat batteries. Oh well, thank God at least my mp3 player was still running. Open Season's not bad, though I don't really like the animation style. But it's funny, something I need as I felt a bit stressed. Though the humour is more towards the end of the movie. Think it's just about worth the price of a weekday ticket. Definitely not for a weekend movie. Ok, this one's down. Eragon, Flags of our Fathers, The Nativity Story, Deck The Halls, to go. Maybe Last Kiss as well. Was deciding between this and Open Season earlier. Shucks. In any case, I'm pretty much broke. Should stop spending on movies, and saving up for my grad trip. Movies seem to be my ticket out of boredom these days. Especially on tuesdays, after Sunny's class. Just hope I can pass soci this time around and not commit the academic version of suicide. It's late now (2.19am), guess I'll turn in soon. Didn't really get much sleep last night as I was trying to resolve the virus issue (grand total of 3.5 hours of sleep, excluding the cat naps throughout the day). Hence, I was close to surrendering to my body's cry for rest, but yet my mind was very awake (effects of Red Bull from bazaar). And felt my heart cry out as well, don't know why, guess it's the combination of the above. But thank God for His grace, that I'm still living and breathing now. Read this somewhere before. That God's gift to us is life. And our gift to Him is what we do with this life. Have to use my life as a testimony to His love and mercy and grace. And I pray that He will enable me through the days to do so. Amen.

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wraith through him!" Romans 5:8-9

Talentime 2006

Oh well, it's finally over. Thank God for that. No more rehearsals till like february (for THE concert event of Sim, lol, just kidding. Then again, ours is like the only concert event this year in Sim :p). Can finally start preping and planning for feb's event. Thing now is to select a venue, the number of songs in total, the order of them, fund raising, whether to charge for entry, managing the performance department, rehearsal dates, the equipment we'll need (condensers, feedback monitors, snake cable), title for the concert, video recording, finding someone who can do the sound board, publicity planning (booth dates, how to attract ppl -> pull/push factors) , logistics planning (what is needed for what song item, how and when to move them). Just listing down the things to do for the concert. These are just the things I can think of for the moment. Might have more coming in as the days go by. Mindmap will help a lot, I think. Guess I'll be busy, again. Sigh. Time to do some delegating, though I'm notorious at this. And Joshua was thinking of getting in a full band with a drum set. Possible I guess. Will have to see, though it's only meant for simgc members to perform. Oh well. Li Yen mentioned about having a bidding system for the song dedication segment, after I shared about the concert with her earlier during supper after MS. Will have to consider this. Might be a nice way to raise funds.

Back to talentime. Felt that there's quite a bit of time wasted, no doubt due to technical difficulties in handling the LT's sound, as well as the number of participants. Expectations weren't matched as well, from what Joseph initially told me way before the auditions (no grand hall -> can't be helped, I know; no qualified sound people to handle the sound system; no music equipment like feedback monitors brought in). Not to mention information not being disseminated to the participants at times. Budget constraints, I know. Can share the experience. Then again, what's the $3 per entry used for? (Kath asked this as well, as she felt it didn't give her the "utility" she expected) Considering it's like a 50% hike from last year, and a 300% increase from the previous year (if memory serves me right). Alright, I should not complain so much. Just something to rant about for the moment. It's like 1.23am according to my laptop's clock, and I'm tired from the events from the past week. Church starts at 11, so I should head in to bed soon. What still puzzles me is how did Serris get 2nd in the group category, considering that we played/sang badly and the response from the audience is kinda lukewarm. And I was nervous before we got to playing. Anyway, it's over. Mr Prata's gone down our stomachs (thank you to all who came to support us, hope you enjoyed the treat), and a MS tract passed to Roger, the cab driver who drove me home that night (hope to see you in church soon). Another week passed, and one less till the exams. Really need to mug soon. Someone pull me to study, and I don't care who. Was already sweating in IBM earlier. Will need a miracle and God's grace to do everything I need to do, especially in my studies.

Buenas noches.

"But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations." Psalm 33:11