Living out Faith

Happy birthday to me Happy birthday to me Happy birthday to meee .... Happy birthday to me! Yes, I've turned 32...And there you go, I've said it! These days, I've learnt to accept my age but I still hate wrinkles! Still hate it heaps!!! Today has been one of my best birthdays ever.....We went to Disneyland!!!! Ya!!! Well, today it's a public holiday in HK and so we were free to go to Disneyland. I totally, totally love Disneyland. Have to hand it to Disney for making me a sucker! And the wonderful thing about it, it's only 45 mins from home. Really near, so I've decided that I'm going again next month and this time, I'm going to get a one year's pass! Love, love disney . But have to say that the Disneyland in HK is way smaller than the one we went to for our honeymoon in Anaheim. Enjoy the pics. They are in order from when we got there till we left. Enjoy the pics!

This morning, we went to Macau with WK's parents. We brought them to sight see . Well, at least this time I finally get to see Macau more. Here are the pics from Macau . Just disembarked from the Turbojet. Walking towards customs. The turbojet is like the one we took to Macau . It's really fast and it takes about an hour from Hong Kong to get to Macau . This is Senado Square. The centre of Macau . It looks a little like Malacca, very European. WK's parents posing for the camera. WK and me at St Paul's ruins. This was taken through the window of St Paul's ruins. For some reason, I thought that this looks really nice. The huge basin reminds me of my childhood. Remember that we used to scoop water out of this kind of basin when we had our showers. Relied on these sort of sign post to bring us around Macau today. The tired people towards the end of the day On the turbojet going home. It was a good trip for the family. Ate heaps, drank heaps, walked heaps and bou...

North Korea suffering 'critical food shortage': UN envoy Posted 24 October 2006 0754 hrs (Channelnewsasia) UNITED NATIONS : A UN envoy warned of sharply reduced food aid shipments to North Korea as a result of its missile and nuclear tests even though the Stalinist state still faces a "critical shortage". Vitit Muntarbhorn, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea, also urged Pyongyang to abide by its human rights obligations and to specifically stop punishing North Korean refugees repatriated by neighboring asylum countries. "There is a critical food shortage also compounded by disastrous floods in July and August," he told a news conference here, adding that the crisis was further complicated by the North Korean missile and nuclear tests which triggered sanctions by the UN Security Council. He described Pyongyang's missile tests last July and its first nuclear test on October 9 as "a serious waste" of resources. "The res...

My cutie!! This was taken at The Peak. We brought his parents there for sightseeing. WK's parents are in town. Well, I'm going to be honest about it, it's hard for me. WK and me come from very different kinds of family. My family is very open and basically, I'm left to my own devices, make my own decisions and my parents respect them. WK's parents are rather conservative, they have their mindset and it can be hard to try to change it. And they speak Chinese. Not that I've anything against that but we do have a communication barrier. I've lots and lots of respect for WK's parents, especially his mum. She saved and scrimped to give him an Australian education, a nice wedding and basically she did her best for him. She's very thrifty to the point that I wonder if it's the right thing to do. I remember once during sermon Paster Heng mentioned that mothers should not try to eat the leftovers from children because it'll inculcate in them that it...

Well, it seems that Blogspot must have known that I've got too much time to kill that my last post for some reason got lost in cyberspace and now I've got to repost and think hard what I wrote a few mins ago. Here it goes. For the next couple of days, I'm going to be blogging during work hours. I'm trying to kill time since I've got too much time to kill at work. I can get busy after work, you know, so I don't have time to blog when I get home. After work, need to get to the gym for an hour, after that, cook dinner before WK gets home, and then try to clean up and after have my shower, spend time with WK and watch lots of telly. I'm very very busy, you know? Not forgetting weekends, got to go out too....I lead a very busy life...So must time manage well...Hahahaha!!!! Went to the Chinese doc yesterday. Hopefully, he'll help me get rid of all the water in that's stuck in my body. Just drank a cup of the Chinese medicine. It's yuck, disgusting, vil...

Well, it's not exactly do nothing day.....I've stuff to do at work but I'm not working at a hurried pace. I don't need to rush because like I've mentioned....no classes to teach for the next two weeks. I've been taking my time to mark, help a colleague with a project and also ha....to blog! And replying emails, chatting with sis and WK and whoever that's online. Life is good at this point of time. But it's not do nothing at home. Now with someone else living at home and me getting off work early almost everyday, I cook dinner. After work, I try to get in an hour of gym. (Someone's been saying that I'm turning porky!) And then get home and cook dinner before WK gets home. After dinner, I've to wash up. WK did washing up yesterday and the kitchen looked as if a tsunami came by. It was the same with the bathroom. Plus in laws arriving this Sat, it's time to get into super gear of cleaning up! And with only one bathroom, the fight for the bat...

Finally, WK is working in HK. How apt is that WK starts working in HK exactly after 2 months that I started working. He landed yesterday and as usual, I'm such a blur person, I was waiting for him at the wrong arrival hall. He had to call me and ask where on earth was it! We met and all was fine. We got home and went to a restaurant in our estate to have lunch and there after we had to go to Macau. Yes, people, we went to Macau. WK had to get his visa validated. So we went to Macau and then walked in Yaohan for like 20 mins and then went back to catch a ferry back. And interestingly, I haven't see Yaohan for like forever. I remember when we were kids, we would go to Yaohan to shop. I used to love to go to Yaohan. It was like my all time favourite shopping store. After like five hours or something like that, we got back. WK was tired from all the travelling. I actually feel sorry for him to have to travel so much. Anyway, thank God that it out of the way. WK woke up early today ...

It's my second month in HK and how do I like it so far? Well, at this point of time, I still like it! I still have no complaints. Life is pretty good and God is good to me and to us. WK will be joining me in 2 days. I can't wait. Veron sent me an email today. In her email, she said that her little boy, Ashton, blurted out Jasmine....That's so nice of him. I miss that little kid. I called and spoke to her today and she told me about Marcia and her new baby. It's times like these that I miss my friends. I'm really not homesick but I do wish I was there for my friends' kids and their events. I called Veron also to check on little Ashton. Apparently he had a bad bump yesterday and he had to take an x-ray. Thank God that he's fine and everything's ok. It's funny how Veron asked if I was bored in HK. And well, my reply, I'm pretty much busy almost every weekend and I watch way too much TV as well. I'm heading out tonight with Adrian, an old friend ...

I've been trying to get onto blogger for forever tonight....and finally...I'm in...I can blog! Finally! The world is getting upset with North Korea for testing nuclear stuff. Well, as much as I agree that North Korea should not be doing that...But I think that imposing sanctions on North Korea is not going to work. It has been well reported that it is the North Korean Govt that wants to do the testing and not the citizens. On top of that, most of us know that a certain dictator there is living very well with a couple of wives...And it's the poor people that are suffering.To me...a lay person...It seems that the sanctions are going to punish the common people and not at the people that actually want to test those stuff. It brings me to the point that parents punish their kids or the society punish kids but its not really the fault of the kids. Parents that have no parenting skills, bring up ill breds that are a menace to the society. And then they get into trouble with the l...

Yes, family and friends, I've booked my tickets to go home for a weekend in November. Can't wait! Well, I do miss my family and friends quite a bit. And I can see my furry daughter as well! Ya...It's so exciting! I miss eating all the yummy food. I'm already planning all my meals already. Initially, I wanted to come back on 1st Oct weekend. But then plans didn't work out. And I found out that Vanitha is going off to Perth real soon and it might be years that I'll see her again. And so, the trip home. Vanitha has been a great friend and colleague. She's one of the few at WDP that took me as I am and I love her for it! In a month's time.....I'll be eating....nasi lemak....prata....chicken rice....what else....actually, whatever that my tummy can fill up! 12 am Hong Kong

Last night, Ryan, an ex-student said hi to me. It's nice of him to remember me. I was his form teacher for about a month or so last year. He's a nice boy. When I went to bed, I started to think about the impacts that I've left on the kids that I've taught. I remember the first year that I was teaching, there was this kid that left an impact on me. And the funny bit, he wasn't even in my class. He lives in Bukit Panjang and at that time, WK living in Bukit Panjang and sometimes we would catch the same bus. Kenneth would tell me about his life and that's was when I learnt a lot from a kid and the impacts that he had on me. Years, later, he still remembers me. He made me realise the sanctity of marriage and how important is it to really plan for a kid. And as much as I tried to, hopefully, I left positive impacts on his life. As a teacher, it is inevitable for us that we leave impacts on lives of the students that we teach. It can be positive or negative. I'm p...

Just to clarify if anyone is wondering, I've no roots in Hong Kong. Don't think any of my grandparents are from Hong Kong. I woke up today feeling really terrible. The sore throat, cough and flu finally got to me. I lay in bed thinking if I should give church a miss. Eventually I gave church a miss. Got up, checked my emails, had my breakfast and I went downstairs to see a doctor. I wanted to give the chinese physician a try. I've always wanted to give it a try and what better place than in HK to try. Got into the clinic and surprisingly, the chinese physician spoke English. He took one look at me and said that I've got water retention. That explains me being fat. I wanted to give that man a kiss! Finally, a doc that says that I'm not fat, it's just water retention! Ya!!! And he told me, no worries, I'll be able to lose some weight. He went through a series of questions and he scribbled a bunch of stuff. Well, it turns out that I'm extremely unhealthy. H...

I took this pic last night before heading out for dinner and drinks with some friends. Mid-Autumn Festival is huge and I mean huge in HK. Everyone in HK goes home for dinner. Even my boss told me that I'll be better off catch the ferry or trains out as traffic on the roads might be crazy. I thought that she was kidding. I went to the supermarket last night to pick up a couple of things for the dinner party tonight and boy, it was chaotic in the supermarket. Everyone was rushing and loading up their trolleys. It's almost like Christmas. This morning, I woke up bright and early to go to Shenzhen with Michelle and her sis. Got there, had yum cha and it was like only SIN$20 for 3 people! Unbelievably cheap! Shocking! After that, we went for a message. And guess what, for a full hour massage, it was only SIN$10 and SIN$8 for tips. The massage was great! We're planning another trip! Shopping was not too bad as well. Left Shenzhen at 3pm and rushed back home to cook. Friends were ...

I'm sneaking time from work to bloc. I've just finished lunch and I've 10 more mins before my class starts. Went home from work yesterday. Opened the letterbox and was elated to receive a letter from immigration. WK's visa has been approved! Ya! Didn't expect it to be processed at such a fast rate. Thank God for it! Really thankful to God. After that, I had to rush to Macau. Aunty Yoke Siong, WK's aunty, whom I call Lok Yee now, was in Macau. Originally, she and her friend were going to stay with me and they decided to stay in Zhu Hai and I met them in Macau. It was nice seeing her again. I left and said goodbye and before I boarded the ferry, WK called and asked if I passed her the money. And I was like, damn! I forgot. It was a mad rush....I couldn't call her on my phone, apparently, my phone doesn't allow outgoing calls as I was in Macau. Had to get to the payphone and try to call her. Thank God everything went on fine. I just came home half an hour l...

Readers...This is going to be a religious post....Went to the gym today. Haven't been there for about a week and so bringing myself to the gym wasn't an easy task. As I try to lose weight and slide on the cross trainer...My thoughts had a good run. Have to keep myself distracted..... I was thinking about how God's ways are always much higher and His plans are always not the way we want our plans to be. My thoughts about the Almighty actually started when I went to Tsingyi to get Aunty Yoke Siong a mattress. She's WK's aunty. A real nice aunty. I looked at it a few weeks ago, and its was HK$200 and today, it was $120. A nice discount. When Aunty Yoke Siong called last night, I told her that I'll meet her on Thursday nite. I wanted to go out on Wednesday to meet the girls from Geoexpat website. So arrangements were made with her. Dad's friend called when I got home after school and we made plans to meet for dinner on Wednesday nite. When I was at the gym, I re...

Woke up this morning and went to church. Church shopping again. Went to International Baptist Church. Met the Carlsons there. I knew the Carlson family since I was a kid. We went to the same church. They left for HK about 16 years ago. I went to IBC because I knew the Carlsons went there. Initially, I taught that IBC was pretty far from Central as it's in Aberdeen. But it didn't cost that much from Central when I took a cab there this morning. Church was great! I actually enjoyed the service. Felt a little like home. And I do believe that church shopping might end now....Thank God for that. People were friendly, and also I felt that sermon was great and holy communion was normal as well. No bread dipping in juice...no more curry bread! That was important for me. I really prayed over this issue and I want to go to a church that's sound. After church, I went to for lunch. Met people from Geoexpat. It was interesting meeting new people. When people are in their home countries,...