What about that dance?

The other night Tak and i were talking about camp. He was like, "it's coming up in 4 weeks!" We were both like, "yay!" Then i was like, "so that means im also leaving in 4 weeks," and my initial reaction was 'YAY.' Smiling from ear to ear i looked at Tak and Tak looked back at me smiling.. and amongst our smiles i wondered if he was thinking that same thing i was?

It's pretty much safe to say that Tak and I have seen each other
e v e r y s i n g l e day for the past few years, give or take a few days. During the week days, we go to school together, if not, we work together, on weekends we go to the same church and activities together. And despite seeing each other every day, we still manage to talk on the phone on a daily basis. Now some would cringe at such a thought! "Don't we get sick of each other?" i hear some of you saying.. haha Well, no. Not at all. We still live our separate lives and do our own things and funnily enough, even though we see each other so much we somehow still find it hard to actually HANG OUT! But besides all that, this will be the first time i will be away from Tak for a period of time, 4 weeks infact. That is just WEIRD in comparison to the amount of time we spend together.



When i was planning this trip to Europe, Tak was hesitant on whether he could have gone because of work. I use to joke around saying i was jetting off with or without him! We talked about it for months and eventually it was confirmed that he couldn't go. Even though i knew for a while i would have been going alone, it hadn't clicked that i wouldn't have been going with him. Same concept i know, but different perspective with a world of a difference (to me anyways). I said to Tak that night, "i know i always joked around about going with or without you, but i don't know if i really can do this without you.."



My thoughts went a little further back to when we first met 10 years ago. Looking back I've basically spent my teenage years growing up with this guy. Man, who was i before i met him? Do i even remember.. not really! I was only a child! OK, the thought is scary but heart warming at the same time! And before this sounds like i'm complaining about going to Europe, im not. I realise how blessed i am to have this opportunity. I know the world won't stop either not being by Tak, but my point is that was definantly one of those defining moments. Although i always knew it, i was reminded again just how much this guy meant to me and what a big part he plays in my life. How i thank God for him.





I guess that dance by the shores of Greece will have to wait...

Then bursting forth

Following my previous blog about my love for fog, what it really comes down to is my love for nature. As i was coming home from my College Anniversary today, the sun was setting and was shinning gloriously through the clouds. Oh how i love God's creation. There is something indescribable and undeniable about it... and i gazed into the wonder and mystery of God, of his mighty fine works.

When i wake up some mornings, i walk out of the house and its sad because the first thing i see is another house infront of me. At times i'll sigh.. because i miss seeing grass, trees, birds and open land like i use to back at my old house. I use to wake up to an oval of grass.. I loved the fact that i could smell the damp cool grass in the the mornings and see the grazing pink and grey parrots in the afternoon. I would also spend my afternoons chilling out watching the sun set and just the feel of the wind against my skin. Sure it was an actual school's oval with an ugly gloomy school close by but what i loved about it was the all natural aspect of having such a wide open green area. Because of society and the times we are living in we can easily forget about the simple beauty of life. Life is getting faster and busier and we forget about the sun rising, the birds chirping, the cool gentle breeze. We get so bogged down by our daily chores and worries we loose sight of the simple things, which are often the best things.

How i wish many of my friends who don't know Christ could see the all awesome glory and majesty in his creation. When i saw the sun this afternoon with it's rays of light bursting forth through the dark clouds painting golden patches everywhere, how could i not praise God? But everyday that sun rises and sets and we all move on day in day out, through traffic jams, road rage, rising petrol prices, broken relationships, personal issues and brokenness that we miss the wonder of it all. When you see the beauty of nature from the little caterpillar chewing away with no worries in the world just enjoying his daily mountain dose of green leaves, to the rising sun, blowing wind and falling rain; how it works ever so effortlessly and constantly; you'll come to know that that is the work of God. His creation is wonderful and it was made for us to enjoy and appreciate.





Let us move away from computers(ironic i know), worry less about work, school, money and petty issues and get outside more often. Let's trust in God to provide and protect, help and heal and open our eyes with the love of Christ in us and see the beauty that this world has from God's glorious creation.

Take a moment and be still.. take a deep breathe and let the sun shine on your face. When you feel that warmth sink into your skin, know that that is just the beginning of God's love.. and there is so much more warmth and love He can and will bring into your life, if you just let him.


Give it a go. Take a chance. Maybe one day you'll understand the freedom you can have in Christ.

What a tripper!

As i was driving home from work one night there was fog covering a section of the road and as i drove through it i was reminded of one of my childhood memories. When i was just a little girl, during the winter months i would wait for nights where fog would settle on the oval across from my house. The moment i saw it i would run outside and just.. well i suppose play... by myself!


Some nights i would whisk around in circles throwing my arms out feeling the cool wet air. Other times i would try to eat the fog. Just imagine a kid bobbing their head forward and back trying to gobble up air! Yeah, that was me! -_-' And other times i would run and just keep running for the sake of running through white fluffy fog. But my mind brought me back to certain nights when fog would settle around 1 metre high and you could be above it or under it. During those precious times as a child I would be out there on the oval and i would stand above the fog and look around and see the oh so familiar scenery, the one that would never change. But then i'd go underneath it and it would become a whole new world! It was where magic happened!


Now there's something wonderful about being a child. Because when you are a child you think like a child and your mind knows no bounds and your imagination has no limits. You see under that fog, Aladdin was waiting for me to whisk me up on his magic carpet. It was the place where tinker bell and i would talk and laugh and she would sprinkle her fairy dust on me and lights would sparkle everywhere. It was where i would find the end of the rainbow and talk and play with the little animals that lived around there. I would also lie on my back and look up at the mystic fog above, swirling and floating ever so effortlessly. It was magical, heart warming and captivating.


Actually looking back, it was quite dangerous, scary and plain wrong!!! 6.30, almost dark and a little girl out on her own outside tripping under that thick fog in an open field! That's CRAZY!




But i guess that's the beauty of being a kid! How i wish though i could go back to one of those nights.. just one more time and be lost in the moment.

Happy Birthday Li Li

A big happy birthday to my very precious Leonie who's now 22!

I wish you nothing but the best!

We've had many awesome years together..

& when i look back gosh its been wacky & fun!

Through the tears & tantrums, fears & loss..

but more importantly the triumphs & new beginnings!

Through the many laughs... few snorts =P & plently of smiles,

I have a feeling this l o n g journey has just begun!

And it's going to be a w e s o m e !

xoxo

Loving you long time!

Time is money, money is time.

My sister use to say to me all the time when i was younger "time is money, money is time." I never gave much thought to it apart from the fact that it annoyed me because she would randomly say it out loud for no apparent reason and i never got it!

But I felt the full force of that saying yesterday. For those who don't know, i've been planning on going to London. For the past few weeks I've been getting quotes back and forth and i just couldn't decide who to go with. Seats were getting booked out by the day and taxes were increasing by the week so i had to make my decision fast.

My first concern was the length of time on the plane! My best bet would have been going with Emirates. 8 hours to Dubai, 7 hours to London. A beautiful 15 hours at the ugly cost of $2800. Sigh* So that option was out!

In the end after much talk it came down to two airlines.

AIR MAURITIUS & MALAYSIAN AIRLINES.

Pros/Cons

Air Mauritius (whom i've never flown with let alone heard of )
20 + hours on the plane
4 hours transit
But cheaper flight


Malaysian Airlines ( and have peace of mind having flown with them many times )
spend 18 hours on the plane
1 1/2 hours transit
BUT pay an extra $400 on top of what Air Mauritius was asking.


Now it would have been fantastic given the opportunity to see Mauritius. But my other issue was that i would be flying solo for the first time. Had i been flying with someone else, SURE i would have taken Mauritius airlines no problem with the great price! But alone?

Ok, i know people travel solo all the time and they do just fine! But knowing that i would be tired beyond belief coming straight home from camp then straight to the airport, it would be bad combination, especially being in a foreign country. In such a state i could just imagine myself in Mauritius airport exhuasted and jet lagged, not being able to understand anyone.. lost in an airport on a little Island next to Madagascar, south of Africa, crying with luggages in both arms!

Cringes* What a sad state to be in.

And so since time is money, money is time, I decided to go with Malaysian Airlines. Well as it turns out, peace of mind is costly too (great i still need insaurance!). And so how much did it cost for this peace of mind and less hours to London?

A lump sum of $2400


London baby, here i come!

Parents Day and the golden boat!

Every year for Mothers & Fathers Day our church celebrates it as being 'Parents day.' It's the day where the youth organise practically everything... apart from the actual sermon. They do choir presentations, hand out flowers, gifts, food and the youth have the option of giving a little thankyou speech up the front for their parents. When i was asked by precious Jade to say something i was like SURE! Then it dawned on me.. oh *beep* it's meant to be in chinese isn't it?

Now if its anyone who's truly a bit GG about their own culture & cultural background, it's me. Even though i went to chinese school and speak to my parents in chinese, my chinese seems to be going down hill by the second!

I remember in China once, Tak's Aunt was making those paper gold nuggets for Chinese new year. Now i battled with Tak's relatives trying to prove to them i was Asian enough for them. Just when i thought i was winning the race, she asked me what it was... i went blank and said..


its a boat! ^_^




GOSH! I wanted someone to shoot me!




ARgh.. i still cringe at the thought! But back to parents day! I asked Jade to translate my speech for me verbally so i could write it out in english with hung yin ping yin. Mike and I practised and practised and it was truly worth all the effort. Afterall this day was about our parents whom we're eternally thankful for. We've been blessed with such wonderful parents.

Lastly... I told my parents that i loved them for the first time that day(apart from when i was little). They both cried! The moment was so precious... it will stay with me for a good while!


Happy Parents Day Mum and Dad. Da jie Mike and I love you.

Fare well Annie.. Welcome home Jie, we're all so proud of you.

My cousin is the second person in my family to leave Perth for a working holiday. Last year my sister left for London. She contemplated and rambled on to the family about going for years. I don't think anyone of us really thought she'd go... infact i don't even think she believed she' d go. But the events that went on in her life a couple of years prior to leaving really confirmed to her that this trip was just what she needed! She needed out! She wanted to move out of her comfort zone, gain some independence, she needed some space, but most of all she just needed to prove to herself she could do this. And so she did it! She achieved one of her life goals and how awesome is that!

She always said to me she didn't want this to be something she'd look back on and regret because she didn't go through with it. I really admire her bravery! If it were i, i'm not sure i could have gone through with it. I'm just too comfortable where i am. Is that wrong? Hmm that was one of the reasons why she left.

Oh well who knows, maybe it's a path i may cross one day...



But in the mean time, farewell Annicals...

Take the sunshine with you over there.
God bless.
See you soon.

Saturday 12th September 1998

Its been 10 years since we first met... i still find it so hard to believe it's been that long. When i was just 13, he suddenly popped into my life and history was in the making! I met him at JMYF (Junior Methodist Youth Fellowship). He was Wei's friend from school, he was just 14, his name was Tak.

He had his back towards me when i first saw him. He was crouching on the ground and i started to walk towards the lower section of the church. As I walked past him i had a sudden thought. It was like a light bulb that just turned on. Now wherever the thought came from is still a mystery, but i knew at that moment this guy would be a part of life in a big way. A while later as i walked back up towards where Tak was, i saw him.

OK! This isn't some love at first sight story. Infact, when i first saw Tak i thought he looked scary, a bit of a try hard and not friendly that's for sure. Haha but it didn't take long for him to grow on me because he became one of my bestest friends, my crush, my boyfriend.. and boyfriend again years later.

Saturday 12th of September, 1998 was the day i first met Tak. Little could words explain how much he means to me still after all these years.

Hey i could get use to this..

Ok truth is, the reason why my past attempts at starting a blog have failed is because of my OCD with having things perfect! The banner, colours, template, settings. It drives me insane trying to get things done just the way i like it. But after much struggle i've decided this is it. This is my blog. Its not perfect, but it will do..

So yeah.. stuff the fact that my banner is too big and covers the boarder of the heading.. and the fact that i even have a boarder around my heading (how do you get rid of that?).. and the fact that the pictures aren't CUT OUT EXACTLY how id like it seeing as i don't have photoshop so did it MANUALLY with DODGY PAINT!!!

Ok breathe... breathe breathe...

Hmm, yeah i really can't stand it. I guess it'll have to be a working process.



Runs to Tak.. how do i do this...

what a joke!

Okay i have little hope for this blog surviving in this big blogging world! I touch the computer for around 10 minutes a day and that's just to check emails and maybe reply...

So Good luck to me to the start of this new blog journey! I doubt i will be back here again.