Sent Me An Angel

A close friend of mine has offered to help me pay the remaining fees I owed to the employer.

Somehow, our MSN conversation came upon me and I told her my career situation right now. She said it's not a problem for her to loan the amount to me, and that I shouldn't use "don't want to owe people money" as an excuse to not look for new opportunities.

When we ended our conversation, I thanked her for offering me this opportunity, and told her that I will inform her if I need her help. I have also promised her that I would increase my level of competency to avail myself to more opportunities.

A part of my brain was wondering. Have you heard the story of a man who prayed to God for help, but rejected all the help from the people who came his way, insisting that God will help him. Eventually, he died and when he was in heaven, he asked God why didn't He came to his rescue, and God reminded him of the various incidents when people came to his help and his refused.

I wonder if this is the kind of situation that I am in now. Yes, I know, the answer is pretty obvious. But a part of me is holding back and has it's reservations. Granted, my friend is genuinely concern about my situation and wanted to help me (at one point, she used the word "pathetic", but I know she doesn't mean it literally), I am uncomfortable getting myself indebt again.

Still, it is a back-up plan I could use.

And I want to thank God for showing His love through the people I interact with, for they accepted me for who I am, and gave what they could to me.

I am grateful.

+(image from inmagine.com)+

Food at JB!

Last night, P, JH and myself drove up to JB, Malaysia for dinner. The occasion: P had recently sold her flat and it came with a small profit, and she decided she should give us a treat :D God bless this girl! :D

Inspite the jams and customs clearance, we arrived at 9pm. Not too late for dinner-supper, I'd say.

First destination: Seafood fare at a hawker place.



1) Stir-fried Crab, Stir-fried Kangkong and Lar-Lar (a kinda shellfish)
2) Stir-fried deer meat, chopped chili in soy sauce (haha, I had to put that description in!)
3) Lar-lar and chili crayfish

Everything's good except the deer meat... I guess that is not a local speciality. The crabs were fresh and the meat sweet. Kangkong is delicious and the crayfish okay. Lar-lar is not too bad. Oh, we also had Fried Oyster, and the chili was "very good", commented by P and JH and verified by me.

I asked them, "So how do you define good chili?", they looked and me and laughed, with the only-you-will-ask-this-kinda-question look and said "Good chili is good chili lah, and.. it would smell good, the chilli is just right..." I added, "It must also have been a 'remixed' chili right? Because chili on it's own is just... Chili." They agreed.

We wanted to head to the jetty to see Singapore from the other side of the sea, but JH realised that the local authorities have diverted the route, and we decided to abandon the idea, not wanting to have another +"Kulai"+ incident happen again :)

Next, we proceed to have "Lok lok", which in Chinese (Cantonese actually) means "Joy Joy".

The stall is a mobile one, and parked outside some dance clubs, along with 2 others. Until our arrival, the stall had no customer. But when we start to order, people start to come over.



1) The variety of food on skewers for boiling and frying.
2) The stallowner (right) and his helper

It was a nice experience. And nice to eat those food too. Especially the fried barbequed pork and yam! My favourites :) Definitely a must-try.

After these, we head back to Singapore.

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The Singaporeans who come her for the food actually came here for the nostalgia too. Singapore was like that, till the government decided to make food hygienic for us.

I guess that's what the JB government could bank on. Offering what Singapore don't have, to earn the Singapore dollar.

Earning a living there is not easy. While we were seated at the seafood stall, we've got beggars coming to us, as well as illegal CD peddlers and lottery ticket sellers. They go from table to table, offering their ware to Singaporeans. Practically everywhere we go, there would be someone hoping to get some money from us. Comparatively, I do believe our streets have less of such characters around.

Not making a political statement, just stating my observations (as usual).

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I was updating my +Food List+ page and realised that I am indeed a huge fan of food! :D

In fact, I have eaten alot of varieties of food that are available in Singapore (of course, my list is not extensive... Still yet to explore lots of others).

This journey will continue on... To Food City and Beyond! (Hey, that was the immediate line that came to mind! :)

I Like To Be With People

Tonight, as I was going for my cell group meeting, a nice thought came up.

I'd realised that I've spent quality time each day of this week with different groups of my friends.

Tuesday: Secondary school friends and their friends
Wednesday: A friend from PC
Thursday: P, I met her in a chatroom
Friday: My church friends

It's a nice thought :) I am in constant contact with my friends. And these people are not just the superficial acquaintance - We can make fun of one another without worrying that the other one would misunderstand the joke. We can talk about things in life, our aspirations, our worries. Though we may not see each other often, especially in the case of my secondary school friends, but we would always have each other in our hearts.

Nice :)

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September is going to be an exciting month for church.

More interaction with people and the community, yay! :D We are receiving our faith education, and applying it in our everyday lives, and the lives of others. It's going to be exciting!

I've been "volunteered' to be coordinators with a friend from the other cell group to do midnight cycling. More details to follow. If you're interested, drop me an email! :)

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I guess I am just excited to be with people and have lots of fun! :D

Quick One...

Hmm... It does look new... A new dish called "Friend's Gaterings"? :)

(Spotted at entrance of Plaza Singapura)

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I've watched The Bourne Ultimatum! And I love it!

Matt Damon's as cool and suave and Mr Jason Bourne/David Webb.

The entire movie was action-packed, yet it was not over-done.

I like that spunky lady who helped Bourne. And Julia Stiles. Hey, woman are his best friends in the show, I think :)

Now, if only I could get my hands on Bourne Supremacy from VideoEzy... :)

It's a +must watch!+

A thought: As I sat through the show, I have come to realise I am kinda immune to gore and violence somewhat. The media has numbed us of our senses to violence, I admit it's becoming a non-issue.

Don't let that get into you. Violence is not a non-issue.

Okie time to get some rest! :)

Yawning Post

I've learnt a great way to compliment myself when striking a conversation with others...

Lady who worked a few doors away from my floor: (Admiring herself in the mirror while waiting for the lift)

Me: Hi!

She: Hi!

Me: Do you have a sister who works in XX Plaza? I have a client who works there who looks like you!

She: No (Smiles). No...

Me: (Walking towards the ladies)

She: (Raised her voice) Is she pretty?

Colleague: (Rolled her eyes)

Me: (Mumbled) Similar... Similar...

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Arh yes.. The interesting part today was that I was able to watch +The King and I+, with complimentary tickets from LY! :D *gleeful*

Her company is one of the sponsors for the show you see... *still gleeful* :D It's the second time I am blessed with complimentary tickets, the first was +West Side Story+ last year.

The Chinese musical I watched paled in comparison to the one I watched tonight. The singing was much professional. I enjoyed myself very much, and lost myself in the story between a Thai ruler and the English teacher he had engaged to teach his children. One thing though, the ending for The King and I is very abrupt. Just chop off like that, with the king dying and his young son beginning to take the lead as the new king.

If you are contemplating to watch or not, I would recommend you to go. The season ends on the 26th Aug, which is this Sunday. And get good seats if your pocket permits. It's a terrific show not to be missed, if you can afford it.

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1) When the actress playing Anna sang "Getting to know you", it reminded me of my Sunday class kids, and I truly appreciate the song when it's being sung.
I ended my teaching last week by telling them, that I loved them, and love to be with them, and that they have improved in comparison to the first time I took over the class. And I hope they will bring what we have concluded and learned during the past weeks into the next class and the next teacher.
It's one of those "lecture" times I give my kids. And they, have the same reaction as the kids in PC, look down and kept silent as I ratted on. But their expressions tells me that that sank into them. And hopefully, they enjoyed getting to know me just as much as I enjoy knowing them.

2) I hope not to sit near "aunty" groups in musicals next time. They talked during the opening of the show, and would not tone down their volume when commenting on the scenes :S

3) I do not understand why the local audience who are seating in the same row as me giggled when the dancers on stage were performing a story narrated by one of the characters. Those were dances similar to the traditional Thai dance. In fact, very well modified.
Do they understand what is "appreciating the art" or are they here for the literal singsong and acting only?

4) The ushers at the Esplanade shows unfair treatment to the patrons. There were some empty seats in front of us, and some locals decided to move up there during the intermission. They were chased back, ok politely asked, to return to their seat.
But none of the ushers showed a group of Caucasians their way back to their seats when they sat at where no one should seat.

I am going to write in and complain.

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Yep, this things (among others) happened on Wednesday, 22 Aug 2007.

If There’re Seasons

Funny Picture for the day:

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Just came back from a musical presentation by a local Chinese drama group.

+"If There're Seasons"+

Saw alot of famous faces in the local scene there (Somehow, whenever I watch a play or a musical, there're bound to be some celebrities present too. Well, I guess, Singapore is a small country.) There's the founder of Creative, a tv news reporter, 2 tv former personnels and of course, Mr Liang Wern Fook himself.

Each song sung in the musical was worth every cent we paid. Those songs brought back memories of youth and childhood days, when local Chinese music pretty much play an important role to most of us who come from dialect or Mandarin speaking backgrounds. When put together, I had to admit that Liang Wern Fook is a superb lyricist. The words were well-written and addressed every aspect of life impeccably.

The lead actors were more outstanding then their female counterparts, although most of them are probably English-educated (their accent gave them away). Even Little Papaya of +"881"+ was in the cast too, but her role was more of a supporting one in a group.

All in all, I think it's kind of a pro-government policy musical :) Warm and saccharine sweet in some point. That, coupled with the score, allowed the audience to warm up to the entire musical. I am sure many in the audience were transported back to the time and places where they were engaged in some activity at the intro music of most of the songs.

I think you would like this musical if you are a Xinyao fan. The songs would bring back fond memories and leave you feeling nice and warm and snuggly inside.

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Funny thing I noted during the performance.

There is a time of silence before the presentation begins. During this time, I heard alot of the audience clearing their throat. "It's as if the audience are getting ready to perform," I whispered to my friends on my left and right. And then we giggled. :D

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2 guys, 3 gals altogether. Only one of them do not own a car (Me).

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One of the friends spent (to date) $18K to spruce up her face. But I don't think the facials did any good to her. She should consider putting on make-up.

She need to spruce up her image, and her self-esteem. I do not think being innocent, blur or childlike is working for her. Not at that age.

Another reminder to myself: Look your age, behave your age. Be confident. It shows.

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Tomorrow's gonna be another interesting day! Watch this space.

Snippets and Memorables

My Current Craze: Rubik's Cube

The interest came about after watching the movie +"The Pursue of Happyness"+, where it was featured. It brought back fond memories when the craze over the puzzle took over the world, and everyone on the street has one with them, I think, literally.

I got a knock-off at half the regular price in a toy wholesale centre at Tan Quee Lan street (the original intention was to get keychains ones for my Sunday School Kids, but they don't have them). There is an even cheaper version, but the packaging was as good as this, so...

Anyway, it came with a little guide, which I misplaced. Duh right? I discovered I need it when I somehow completed a full colour side with T-shaded on the 4 sides. I tried to resolve it, but messed it up anyway. As of now, I have yet to fix the cube 3x3x3.

Well, I am not giving up, yet.

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Ah, but why did I go to Tan Quee Lan Street? That shop was the closest I get to look up for resources for my teaching classes. I was on a seminar prior to that you see. A self assessment career related seminar to be exact.

The speaker was good, and the information that were shared, helpful. Even the questions raised by the participants provided some food for thought. There were some hard facts, and useful information on how to make career choices when given the options.

Some practical tips:
- We should plan our career as if our job will be overtaken anytime
- Bring up the level of the skills that I would like to use, it should be the skill that people are willing to pay me for it
- Be clear in what I want to achieve, SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timeframe
- The interviewer doesn't really want to know your age when he/she ask me that, they expect an answer that comes with the age that is reflected in the resume
- IMPORTANT: Don't blast out resumes, apply only those I think I can

I can't share more, otherwise the speaker will sue me :P If you want to know +this+ is the link to the seminar I attended. Yeah, I paid for it. And I think it's value for money.

I have a slightly clearer picture of the kind of career options I can go for now.

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I sat through a 3-hr rally by the Prime Minister tonight. It's my first time doing this.

Now, I know alot of Singaporean bloggers and locals I know who don't like the way the government operates. They have alot to complain about, and alot of dissatisfaction in the way things are handled.

I have my grouses too, but even though so, our government, in my opinion is not that bad afterall.

Maybe because I do not study economics;
Maybe I am not as learned as the people who complained;
Maybe I do not know as much, or do not queried as much to be dissatisfied...

I see many, many good thing that our government has done. Of course, if you compared a pea and a soyabean, the pea will never be able to match up to the soyabean. I don't know why these people like to make comparisons frequently. Yes, I know that we shouldn't be ignorant to the world outside, but have they really lived in those countries that they compared with and justify the life?

Like what my colleague say,

"If you don't like it, migrate lah!"

I still have my grouses. But if you ask me, this place is home to me because at the very least, I can be proud as a citizen, and need not worry about being a Chinese, a woman, or the roof over my head.

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Anyway, back to the rally.

I want to hear what vision the government has for the country, and what do they foresee happening in the future.

Again, the need to beef up the Chinese language came up again. Maybe I was looking for affirmation for my capabilities, or maybe I was just looking for something to remind me that I must not throw away my skills.

It was affirmed again, and I know the things I need to do. As the speaker in the seminar said,

"'Can' or 'cannot'?

The answer is of course... Can!

But do you WANT to do it?"

I find myself asking this question almost everyday. Do you have the same problem too?

Good Monday!

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Oh, I had to add.

I have been Facebook-ed! :D If you are interested to add me, let me know!

Flashbacks #0001

I was washing a fruit juice container when I recalled something about childhood.

The bottle was made of (almost) the same material as the milk bottles you see in supermarkets. I remember when I was young, I envy those kids whose refrigerators uses these milk bottles to store cold drinking water. The smell of milk that came out from a glass full of cold water from my friend's house fridge would somehow trigger excitement, even made me "high". Because it was something that I wanted to have, but never get.

You see, we couldn't afford to drink milk like the other kids during primary school. When I was schooling as a kid, the school, like most schools in Singapore, encouraged the parents of the children to order milk for their children (I suppose now that recall, the purpose was to build up the physiques of us younglings). Most of my classmates would happily pick up their packet of chocolate or strawberry flavour milk when they were delivered to our classes, and drink them during recess time, or bring them home after school.

(I remember during one of those years, the chocolate milk cartons were changed to the rectangular shaped as we see now, and featured the winning entries of a drawing competition. It's one of those scenes that are etched in my mind. Though it didn't mean anything significant, I remember that. Maybe I was wondering why didn't our teacher inform us of the competition.)

My mom would tell us (in an unapproving tone) that the dairy company is trying to get the money of parents by tricking their children to order milk monthly (well, I don't blame her. She only have a certain amount of money for the family then, when my father was a heavy gambler. She certainly will not let a monthly subscription take up a major part of the food money for the entire family, just for one person). And so, I had never order milk in school. I would look at my classmates packet of chocolate milk longingly. If I am lucky sometimes, one of them would say they wouldn't want to milk and gave their milk carton to me. I would be exhilerated, needless to say! :D Sometimes, I would pay for it. I wouldn't mind forking out 30 cents out of my 50 cents pocket money for a packet of chocolate milk.

Happiness = Priceless.

(I figured this would be the beginning of a series of adhoc writings of flashbacks from the past. Arh... The wonderful memories of childhood and years that have gone passed us.)

+Image of Pyramid Carton taken from Tetrapak website+

Mid-Week Something

I mentioned that I was a part of a party cheonging disco last Wednesday night. It was a silly thing we did, and I thought I should document it down anyway.

Just to make myself remember what a silly thing it was.

It was the eve of our National Day, and I was invited to a church member's place for dinner. Nice home with a "guy's room". He used to be a DJ and he has all these turn-tables, and speakers and what-have-yous in his house. It was nice fun, just dinner and meeting people.

Then I head on down to +Power House+ at +St James Power Station+. The idea was to have a good time, because JH can sign us in as members. Upon reaching the place, there was a snake queue outside the disco. JH can't get us in, so we decided to join the queue for non-members.

Big mistake.

We queue inline outside the club for one and a half hour before we get to go in. In my heart, I was just grumbling, "This is madness! People are actually willing to wait for this long just to get into the club. This is ridiculous!" But by the time I got all flustered inside, we were 70% in the queue, and because I have two companions with me, and JH is waiting inside the club for us, we hang on.

After everything, we realised we should've just went home or go somewhere else instead of staying in the queue. However, we know that a friend is in there waiting for us, so we didn't do it. But if it's going to happen again next time, I am definitely not going to be in line. It's just madness. And lotsa sillyness. And stupidity.

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Went to watch +"881"+ tonight.

(In fact, I've also watched "The Simpsons" last week, but didn't post it. Not to say that it's a bad movie, it was really funny. There's no limitation to a story when it's animated. I totally enjoyed it.)


So yep. Went to watch "881" because I'm very intrigued by the title and what is the movie about, and also, because Royston Tan is somehow related to P. He used to be her classmate.

It's a good movie. Brought out the essence of Getai shows that happens during the Chinese Hungry Ghost Festival every year. What I particularly like about the story is that it totally reflects the kind of "law" that is unwritten in the Chinese culture. Like you should help one another, that you shouldn't badmouth another person, and important things such as loyalty. Also the various Hokkien songs that were sung in the show brought back childhood memories when Getai were a form of free entertainment for us heartlanders, and opportunities for us kids to checkout cheap toys sold by the tidbits seller by the roadside.

However, it carries one common trait that flows through all Singaporean movies. Somehow, local directors like to drag their story in some scenes. It's something that always baffles me. I understand that they want to use the spaces, the silences, to illustrate the intensity of that particular moment. But it's really overuse, such that the audience loses interest in what the director is trying to say. They really ought to cut in after a certain amount of time, and allow the audience to make up their own ending to that particular scene.

If you do not mind the raw way in some part of the story (very heartlander, very ahlian-ahhuay, ahbeng-ahseng +See TalkingCock.com for explanation of these characters+), you may enjoy learning a thing or two about Getai.

Oh, it's true. The costumes of the singers are pretty fanciful! Some are really, really beautiful, while others are seriously over the top. The costume designer does deserve a mention or two if there are ever any award to be given to costume designs in any movie awards.

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Ah... It will be Wednesday tomorrow... So fast huh?

Road Trip

I was out at a resort over the Friday-Saturday (We decided on that because I had to get back because I am still on Sunday School duty).

Now, if I blog about yesterday, I may have alot to write about. Now that it's 24 hours later, the excitement kinda weaned off. But I'll write it down anyway...

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We went to a resort in Johor Bahru, Malaysia (JB), based on a map that I printed from the website (later, I was told that I could've gotten bigger maps by clicking on the smaller maps. Duh-me.) Finding our way there was no problem, because P has been there before (we booked the room under her boss's name, cos he's a member at the resort). After spending our afternoon lazing at the pool, we decided to stop watching Singapore tv and having dinner before heading to town (another friend was joining us later that night).

At around 10, we arrived at the town to pick up our friend R before heading for karaoke (we decided against cheoging disco cos we did it last Wed - another story). We sang till the joint closed at 3am and are all too tired to continue on for supper or whatever, and so we decided to head back to the resort.

And yes, the exciting part is coming up...

Our driver, JH frequents JB frequently, hence, we were pretty confident that we would have little problem finding our way back. It was until when we realised that we were driving on an endless "road with light reflector" that we kinda figured that we have been on the wrong highway(ie. wrong exit, wrong road...).

If you've ever drived on Malaysian road, you'd know that the road signs are not that reliable. And besides, the roads we took was dark and void of any street lamps, and it makes it much harder to make out whether we are on the right track. Desperate for directions, we stopped by at the next gas station to ask for direction. With our broken Malay, we managed to get him to draw up a map for us.

The map did not take us to where we want to, because we took the wrong exit, and drove into a very dark highway. There were housing units along the road, but none of them were lit (strange eh). When we reached the end, we realised we have been driving on the road to Kulai, which is the road up north to Melaka or Kuala Lumpur!

So quickly, we made a U-turn (in fact quite a few illegal ones along the way) and was relieved to find a police station. Upon entering the station, the officer woke up. We asked him how do we get to Senai (where our resort was) and requested for him to draw a map, but he said he doesn't know how to draw a map.. He shoke his head and replied in Malay that he is new to the station and reckon Senai is probably about 30 km away.

Yep, that's the closest help we could get... While we went to the toilet at the station (flush did not work, we had to do manual flushing), JH went to the other side of the road, hoping to get some help from the staff at the gas station there. No luck. Then we saw him approaching a motorcycle rider who stopped at the side of the road, and came back with a map drawn. Later, we got to know that the rider just had an accident and was covered in blood when JH approached him. But he seemed sober when JH asked if he is alright. Queer huh?

With that map, we were on the road again. Because we were now on the road leading to JB, the signs were looking friendlier, and the roads even more so. All this time, we have had our car radio tuned to Singapore's Class 95 station, that helped to calm our anxious nerves. And when the national anthem of Singapore was played at 6am, all of us burst into patriotism and sang along. We were some 12 km away from our resort then.

Did I mention that there were 4 girls and 1 guy on this road trip? :D JH was the only man, and the pressured and tension was on him who was behind the wheels. But what was amazing was that all my women companions were not the jumpy type, and it somewhat made the long trip easier. Though we were anxious to get back, we did not go crazy at the lack of directions. Oh yeah, all this happened because we did not have a map of JB. Things would've been different if we had one.

But all in all, things went well, thank God. I was praying in the car that God will show us the way, and at one point I shouled "Hallelujah!" to my fellow passengers (who are all non-believers). We even went shopping the next day (I had to get some rewards for my Sunday class! Oh, I bought a pair of shoes too, hehe! ;)

Kulai will be a memory for all of us. It was a fun and memorable 36 hours with my friends :)

And She Only Met Two Of Them

You have read in this blog that I love the stories of +Peter Rabbit+ by Beatrix Potter. Unfortunately, I missed the movie screening of +"Miss Potter"+ when it came here earlier this year. So it was much delight that for me when I managed to find the show, and as a matter-of-fact, I've have just finished watching the movie.

Did a quick google on her and found this +insightful article+ about her.

She is now the the new inspirational figure in history that I look up to.

+Official Site (UK)+

How Stuff Works

Boy... I never know they have information for such things too...

+8 Home Remedies for Water Retention+

+How PMS Works+

Meanwhile, the food cravings are gone, but backache beckons on, and I have to manage my mental... It has totally lost control of itself...

And I need LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of bananas...

Headless Chicken

Sorry, sorry... Things look a lil' messy here.

I was bored.

I was thinking about other things.

I was trying to make this place look prettier.

I was trying to do something, but I do not know where I am heading to.

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Seriously? I think the coming Sunday class this week will be a challenge to me.

1) I've tried teaching without using the DVD, and it didn't turn out that well. I will try to use the DVD this Sunday, to observe the actual reaction of the kids IF they do it with the DVD. (Yes, I concede. The DVD material is probably better. I am talking about local and expat kids here.)

2) I'd be heading out of the country for a short break couple of days before the lesson. I hope I would have the energy to work it out with the kids

3) I have an activity with my relatives on National Day, and fireworks watching with my sister and nieces on the same day.

4) There is a pre-National day sorta gathering on Wed. Our cell was invited by another to join them. I've decided to go, in spite of my lack of time.

I need air! I mean, I need to breathe!

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There is this huge condemning thing going on within me. You know, the you could've done better thoughts.

I realised some things linked to one another and somethings happened, because I allow them to, other things overwritten certain routes I could've taken. I mean, there is seriously something wrong with the career path I have been taking... With all my credentials, God must be making some big mistake with my life!

The things flooded my mind as I was walking back home from my step aerobics class. "God, why did you do this to me? You know I have the talents! How did I end up like this?" I asked, boldly and loudly.

I've got an impression that something could happen this month that may break a cycle. I'm not telling; it was a message for me, I believe. And I hope it will come to pass.

And also, as I type the above, I realised something.

This is not my end, not yet.

Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first. ~ Mark Twain ~

The Pursuit of Happyness

I thought this is a really good show. Will Smith was very convincing as the down and out Chris Gardner, who had to go through life's deepest pit. That is coupled with an even convincing role by his real-life son, Jayden. Much of the story, I believe, has been rewritten for screenplay and wasn't that +accurate+ really.

It's one of those underdogs done well movie, similar to my favourite movie of the same kind, +"The Working Girl"+. Some scenes in the movie hit hard. I've been through those times before, and believe me, I know what the word "poor" means, because I've been there.

The folks at +Rotten Tomatoes+ seemed to think that the movie is trying too hard to tug the emotional heartstrings of it's viewers.

Well, they've probably never been there. Never tasted poverty in situations where one is on a constant battle against survival, and having only less than a $50 in the bank to last to the end of the month. Or maybe they do... They don't want to remember those times now that they are living in big houses and driving big cars.

+"The Pursit of Happyness" imdb.com site+

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I am getting FAT again. Remember the +hunger binge+ I had couple of weeks ago? It has rolled back the fats. I had thought that I was about to lose a few more kgs lesser before that. Now, I have to re-tune my diet. Again :S

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Ah yes... My first Sunday School teaching today.

Yes God, you do have humour. You really want me to learn to handle extreme situations, huh? I had thought my first hand at the class would leave an impression on my 10-11 year olds. But what do I know? You thought it'd be better that I get introduced to the 8 and 9 year olds too (or are they the 6 and 7s?!)! (Ok, it's not anybody's fault... Their teacher had to take care of her son who is sick, and the whole gang came over to my class for lesson. Yeah...)

Anyhow, this being my first time teaching in the new church, I had no major expectations that things will be perfect. On top of that, the service extended for an extra half hour! And with no extra materials, unfamiliar with kids AND being a year away from children's ministry, I allowed the most unthinkable thing to happen... I let out the animals out of the zoo!

Man, I feel like a new teacher all over again! All the jitters and what-if-Is and oh-dears took their turns to come out. It was like World War 10!

I had to watch out for the brothers who fight with each other, a special needs child who was always found on the floor (probably pushed), many hyper children who are very "curious" about the hotel room lights, the projector, the microphone, the laptop, and one kid wrote post it notes that says "Don't Step On me" while he lies on the floor, girls taking over the drawing board, kids who ran in and out of the room...

It was a circus. But I thank God somehow, I wasn't in total shock. Just a little. It did however, sorely and glaringly highlighted the things that I had missed out: I had forgotten to prepare snacks (the little ones were hungry), I didn't prepare enough games (the older ones were bored and restless) and I really really shouldn't give them the permission to go "born free".

Nonetheless, it seems like most of them would remember me after today's lesson. I think. I will be more prepared come the next lesson. It'd take some time for me to get used to the way the classes will be conducted.

But God will be my Helper, Amen? :D

I Did It

... not my way of course.

After the post about Amway couple days ago, I was pretty decided that I will tell the friend that I am not interested to hear more about the "system".

I was pretty bogged down by this decision, and that affected me for days. I do not know how to reject/turn down people's request in a tactful manner. In the past, I've always told them straight in the face that I am not interested, and very bluntly tell them my very reason for doing so. At that point in time, I had thought the best way to tell a person I am not interested is... Well, that them the truth as it is. However, sometimes my reasons can be a little too blunt.

So this time, I wanted to be careful. She has her good intentions, in what she believes is something that will make my life "better". But I do not think so, and after the research about the system, I am more convinced that it's something I do not want to be involved in. At the back of my mind, I wanted to pull out the dirty and show her that she may not be in good hands afterall.

But I know it's not going to work on her. She is too into the system that she will not be able to see from the outside. So whenever I get my time to pray at night, I'd share with God my intentions and ask Him to grant me a tactful answer the next time she mention about Amway again.

You would have guessed that that was the reason I wrote this post. I had reminded myself that I should not go back to the old route of confronting a person head-on, but I should wait for the opportunity to come to me. And it did.

After a brief exchange of the usual stuffs on MSN this morning, she began to express her interest to invite me to the "business". At one point, she said something which I do not recall saying (hmm).

Anyway, in between the conversation, I allowed long pauses after her comments, so that I can respond 'rationally', if I may put it that way. I do not want to look like someone trying to defend my decision, but I want to put across to her that I really do not want to be involved, in a calm and clear-minded manner.

And I did it. And the words didn't flow from my mind to the keyboard. They just came out naturally. It was a wonderful moment, and I thank God, for it had to be Him. The conversation ended cordially, and we were able to move on. She asked me that if I have any contacts who may be interested, I should introduce them to her. I do not want to offend her, yet, yet I do not feel comfortable giving away the contact numbers of my friends. And God gave me a wonderful reply to that... And it makes sense.

So anyone of you interested to better your lives?

Keep On Praying

+Militant: Taliban 'Might Stop Killing Hostages'+

+Families losing hope for hostages+

Don't Try To Sell Me Things

I met up with an ex-colleague last night to catch up on things.

Or so I thought.

After all the real catch-up, she began to ask if she could share something with me, if I don't mind. I didn't have a chance to respond and she whip up an A5 size calendar looking chart and took out a piece of paper out of it.

I was surprised, "Wah, nowadays you bring pen and paper wherever you go huh?" She replied, "yah lor..." and trailed off.

And she presented me a sales pitch about concepts, and that a certain education system is a really useful tool for her to realise "things". And as she go on and on, I realised she is pitching Amway to me +again+.

I was very tempted to sign up after her presentation. Afterall, who doesn't want to earn money by buying things that I need everyday and earn money (on top of the free air tickets, refundable membership, and lots of nice people I would meet)? What more, it seemed the way to make money the non-linear way ("If you think about it, all of us have been working in a linear" after she heard me describing that I've been going horizontal with my job options) I seemed like THE person who knows what is going on and is going to enjoy the benefits that comes with it.

It was not after I spend sometime after the meeting (late into the night at 2am in fact) doing research on the company that I remembered why I rejected her the other time. And I plan to turn her down again.

It's a precarious move that I will be making here, I know she'd be pissed. Afterall, after hearing my sharing about my situation (job/life in general), she'd think I'd be the perfect candidate for her downline, why am I not taking this opportunity to start my own business?

Oh well, if this friendship cannot weather this difference, I don't think it's friendship.