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2010 It has been a long and overwhelming year for me. The joys, worries, laughter, tears, excitement, pains – they are all enmeshed in the memory, making it a complicated mass. It’s hard to blog about so volatile a year.

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But I’m slowly but surely finding my way back. And when I do, I WILL blog.  So see ya soon

So AQ was having, as part of his practical exam on the Hotel Management degree that he is taking, a “Fine Dining” service exam. And he has requested the three of us, AChris, Su-Ann and yours truly to assist him. We are to be his guests at the Fine Dining experience at his college (KDU) and he our waiter. He would be graded by an observing lecturer.

So we were to make out way over to KDU in Damansara – an hour’s journey from our home. As I was to pick the other two up, I started out a little earlier. Here’s what happened when I passed through a small, lonely stretch of back road from my house leading to Ann’s place… {the translation is more dynamic than literal }

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Policeman 1: [waves and signals “STOP” sign]

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Me: [thinking on the spot] Hmmm…lonely road, no cars, and two of ‘em. Should I stop? Maybe I should not. But their uniforms sure look real…

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Policeman 1: [signals “STOP” authoritatively while looking at the area about my right neck and shoulder]

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Me: [thinking] What is he looking at?? [touches the area about my right neck and shoulder; gasps out loud] Oh No!!! Where is my Safety Belt??? What happened to it? Who cut it loose? Why am I not wearing it???!!

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Okay, I need to stop right here and tell you folks that I do not, as a rule, forget to put on my safety belt. It is about the first thing I do when I enter a car ever since I was 7 and the government imposed a rule that drivers and front passengers Must Wear safety belts. And I make every one of my passengers “buckle up.” If you don’t believe me, just ask any of my cell members. So then, the possibility for me to have actually forgotten about wearing my safety belt, especially when I am driving, was really slim to none! So imagine how flabbergasted I was when I felt about my right shoulder and didn’t feel the belt!!

So anyway, I slowed my car down to a stop and wound down the window…

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Policeman 1: [stating the obvious] Cik tak pakai tali keledar, ke? {Miss, you are not wearing your safety belt, are you?}

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Me: [sheepishly]: Sudah lupa, Encik {I forgot, Sir}

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Policeman 1: Kerja mana? {Where do you work?}

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Me: [softly, wincing guiltily] Gereja, Encik {In the church, sir}

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Policeman 1: Mana tu? {Where again?}

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Me: [louder, still wincing]: Gereja, Encik.

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Policeman 1: [sounding astounded] Gereja?? {A Church??}

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Me: Ya, Encik {Yes, Sir}

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Policeman 1: Tengok lesen {Let’s have a look at your driving license}

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Me: [taking it out and handing it over, and praying hard that the license is not expired!!]

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Policeman 1: [looking hard] Hoh!

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Me: [jumps in fright]

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Policeman 1: [to Policeman 2, gesturing at me] Hoh! [to me] Keluar kejap {Get out of the car}

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Me: [praying hard for vehicles to come along this lonely stretch, got out of the car, walked across the street to Policeman 2]

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Policeman 2: [Taking my license in hand] Cik buat apa ni? {What is it that you have done, miss?}

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Me: [as humbly as is possible] Lupa pakai tali keledar, Encik {I have forgotten to put on my safety belt, sir}

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Policeman 2: Oh, so kena saman la, tu {Oh, then you need a ticket for that}

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Me: [resignedly] Ok, Encik {Okay, Sir}

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[A car passes by, slows down, and then a motorcycle comes along. Phew!]

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Policeman 2: [looking for clues in my driver’s license] Taman *____*? {Is Taman *_____* where you stay?}

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Me: Ya, Encik {Yes, Sir}

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Policeman 2: Nak pergi mana, ni? {Where are you off to?}

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Me: Jemput kawan, pergi KDU {Picking up a friend to go to KDU}

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Policeman 2: Mana tu? {Where is that?}

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Me: Kolej Damansara Utama

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Policeman 2: Oh jauh nyer. Kenapa? {Oh. That’s far. What for?}

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Me: Kawan ada exam dekat sana, Encik {A friend is having exams there, Sir}    [for how else can I explain that we would be going there to “assist” in an exam??]

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Policeman 2: [obviously stalling for time] Kerja kat mana?      {Where do you work?}

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[Another a few vehicles pass by. Thank You, Lord!]

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Me: Gereja, Encik {At the church, sir}

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Policeman 2: Gereja mana? {Which church?}

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Me: Yang dekat Ampangan, tu, dekat Bomba {The one near Ampangan, near the Fire department}

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Policeman 2: Ohhh…itu, yah? {Ohhh, that one, huh?}      [For I think my church is really that well-known in town]

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Me: Ya, Encik.

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Policeman 2: So? Saman, yah? {So, can I give you a ticket?}

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Me: Ya, Encik.

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Policeman 2: Boleh? {Can?}

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Me: [shrugging] Ya, Encik. Saya memang salah. Saya lupa pakai tali keledar {Yes, Sir. I am clearly in the wrong. I have forgotten to put on my safety belt}

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Policeman 2: [writing on a piece of A4 sheet] Saman, yah? Betul? {I’m issuing you a ticket. Would that be correct?}

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Me: [repeating] Ya, Encik. Saya memang bersalah. Saya lupa pakai tali keledar. [and adding]    Kalau Encik boleh maaf, tolong maaf. Kalau tak boleh…saya memang salah… {If you can pardon me Sir, please, do. If you can’t…well, I was indeed in the wrong…}

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Policeman 2: [straightening up, looking triumphant] Ohhhh. Maaf tu memang boleh. Tengok macam mana, la .{Ohhhh. Of course I can pardon you…if you do what needs to be done}

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Me: [repeating steadily] Kalau boleh maaf, Encik maafkanlah saya. Kalau tak boleh, tak apa la. Saya memang lupa hari ini. .{If you can pardon me, Sir, please do. If you cannot, then it’s OK. I sincerely forgot the safety belt today}

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Policeman 2: [bent down again, decidedly disappointed, continued writing on the white A4 sheet of paper, stalling for time] Nombor kereta, errr…***, ya? .{Your car number is ***, right?}

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[Streams of vehicles were passing by now. My relief had by now turned to great embarrassment as they slowed down and watched me curiously. “Oh God, don’t let any of them recognize me!!”]

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Me: Bukan, ****, Encik. .{No, Sir, it’s ****}

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Policeman 2: [straightening up again, looking resigned, handing me back my driving license] Okay, la. Maaf kali ini sahaja. Lain kali jangan lupa. Ingat, Saya maaf sekarang. Jangan lupa. .{Okay, I will pardon. Don’t forget next time. Remember, I have pardoned. Don’t forget this}

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Me: [gratefully] Ya, Encik. Terima Kasih, Encik .{Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir}

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I walked back across the street to my car got in, put on the safety belt, drove off.

Was I grateful to the policeman for pardoning me? After all, his pardoning me saved me from having to pay up RM300 for the ticket. So, by right I should feel grateful, right?

But…I don’t! He was so obviously pushing for a bribe and I was so obviously resisting that when the whole thing was over, I felt it was more God’s grace and mercy than the policeman’s pardon. I particularly did not like the feeling of power he yielded over me when he was heavily hinting for a bribe. It was oppressive.

I must admit, amidst praying for heavier traffic on that lonely stretch of road, I was also praying for help from God. I know I don’t deserve to be pardoned (like I said, I was in the wrong!), but I was really pleading to a merciful God to, well, have mercy! And He answered my prayer!

So in the whole scheme of things, I must say that the One I am really grateful to is really God. He rescued me. Even though I didn’t deserve it! Thank You, Lord!!!

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It’s been a week since my birthday. What was it like? Let’s see, I’ve had 1 cake (a symbol of being a year older), 2 presents (a sign that I am really getting old), and 3 angpows (a sign that negates the other). As for greetings, I have had…

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10 pre-birthday greetings

65 FB greetings, including 2 cards, 2 cakes, 2 gifts and a bouquet of flowers – from people of FIVE different countries!

19 late greetings

15 SMS greetings

5 MSN/gtalk greetings from THREE different countries

4 phone calls from THREE different countries

3 online greeting cards

3 electronic/automated greetings, from companies I get services from

3 actual birthday serenades (singing la)

2 snail mail birthday cards, also from companies I get services from

1 email greeting (emails aren’t so very “in” nowadays, huh?)

….and countless, countless facetalk greetings!

Yup, this birthday is exciting because it really fed my LOA-ness. To the hilt! lol.

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So you’re probably asking what’s next, right? Well, there are just sooooo many things on my Next List that I don’t know where to begin. Suffice to say that I am way grateful to God for giving me this life, and am honored that there is more, much more, to come. So I guess that’s what I’m going to start the rest of my year with – being grateful. Not just for a Good Life, but for a FULL One.

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Anyway, having decided on that last night, it was certainly a pleasant coincidence to have “gratitude” spelled out so clearly for me while I was in church today. Here’s what I heard (I hope it’s copied correctly):

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Count your blessings, and not your messes

Count your gains, and not your losses

Count your joys, and not your woes

Count your friends, and not your foes

Count your smiles and not your tears

Count your courage,and not your fears

Count your full years, and not your lean

Count your kind deeds, and not your mean

Count your health, and not your wealth

Count on your God, and not on yourself

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Is life Good? Well, I’d say it only is when it is Full!

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This is not an original post. I got this in an email from AYeow and even the pics are taken off the internet.  But the piece really spoke to me. Lots of people are having lots of problems and sometimes the problems do get into your mind and make you think and think and think about life in general – and pains and hurts and all – and about how you take them in, process them and transform them into gems…or not.  I hope it makes sense to you…

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I Believe…
That just because two people argue,
it doesn’t mean they don’t love each other.
And just because they don’t argue,
it doesn’t mean they do love each other.


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I Believe…
That we don’t have to change friends if
we understand that friends change.




I Believe…
That no matter how good a friend is, they’re going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.




I Believe…
That true friendship continues to grow, even over
the longest distance. Same goes for true love.

I Believe…
That you can do something in an instant
that will give you heartache for life.




I Believe…
That it’s taking me a long time
to become the person I want to be.




I Believe…
That you should always leave loved ones with
loving words.. It may be the last time you see them.




I Believe…
That you can keep going long after you think you can’t.




I Believe…
That we are responsible for what
we do, no matter how we feel.




I Believe…
That either you control your attitude or it controls you.




I Believe…
That heroes are the people who do what has to be done
when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.




I Believe…
That money is a lousy way of keeping score.




I Believe…
That my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time.




I Believe…
That sometimes the people you expect to kick you
when you’re down, will be the ones to help you get back up.




I Believe…
That sometimes when I’m angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn’t give me the right to be cruel.




I Believe….
That maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you’ve had and what you’ve learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you’ve celebrated.




I Believe…
That it isn’t always enough, to be forgiven by others..
sometimes, you have to learn to forgive yourself.




I Believe…
That no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn’t stop for your grief.




I Believe…
That our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are,
but, we are responsible for who we become.




I Believe…
That you shouldn’t be so eager to find
out a secret. It could change your life Forever.




I Believe…
Two people can look at the exact same
thing and see something totally different.




I Believe….
That your life can be changed in a matter of
hours by people who don’t even know you.




I Believe…
That even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you – you will find the strength to help.




I Believe…
That credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.




I Believe…
That the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.




I Believe…
The happiest of people don’t necessarily have the best of everything;
they just make the most of everything.

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Me: [shouts] En!!

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En: [reading  book, grunts noncommittally] Hnhh

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Me: [longingly] I waaant to go to Jerusalem and Turkey. Can you please pray that I get a Free Trip to those places?

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En: [without hesitating] You can go to Jerusalem in your computer. Just type “Jerusalem” and you can get there already.

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Me: Wha…??!!

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It’s funny, but I am unable to edit my last posting – I wonder why…

Guess I will have to try it again later…

[5 hrs later]

I didn’t edit at last. Couldn’t. And so I just deleted the whole thing and re-entered the post. Took me more than 2 full hours… but it’s done. Thank God!!

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[notice: this is a long post]

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I know, I know.  Timid people have been politely silent, while their more assertive friends have ventured to hint at it. The much bolder ones have come right up and said it directly in my face (some of whom had been ALee and KGT): I have NOT been Updating My Blog!  And it is about Time I Did!

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In my defense, I had been swept away by the intense business of work, study as well as pleasure (yes, I include pleasure as well because yes, I had had many good times in the last few extremely exhausting months. God is good).

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And to my credit, even though I did not find the time to blog, I did, however, record the major happenings in my life in the last months with the good old camera.

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So I would stop talking here for a bit, and allow the pics to tell the story…Enjoy.

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APRIL 4^th: Park time after Missionettes:

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April 30^th: STM Romans class presentation

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April 30^th: STM CRW classmates

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MAY 1^st: MRYC + YCYC combined at IRC

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May 3^rd: After being in the midst of so many cam-whoring youths on Friday, I decided to try doing it myself….hmmm…not bad…lol

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May 9^th: It was En’s FIRST TIME ever up on that Hill we all love so much – K. Hill. She did very well, I must say… In the event that she turns out to be one of those world-famous mountain climbers one fine day, I guess this picture will go down in history as her first taste of the heights…

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We went for brunch with dad later. It was his birthday the day before. As usual, the dim sum was good, the company great.

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May 10^th: It was Mother’s Day. I got a perfectly beautiful rose from En. She scoured the whole of Jusco to find me this…ain’t that just too sweet?

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May 28^th: My first attempt ever at making Dumpling….I made a mess and was asked to eat it up!!! But it was fun. I think I’ll do better – all I need is practice…lol

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JUNE started off by being extremely Kidz Safari busy[June 6^th]….

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…and went on being BCM class busy…

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June 9^th: …family outing busy…

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June 20-23^rd: …vacation busy…

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June 30^th: …and finally, party busy…

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…Not bad, considering all of the busyness had much to do with pleasure. Lol

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JULY came, and with it, the start of the Kidz Cell in AGA…

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There are 3 cells altogether and the kids are having fun, definitely.. J

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July 2^nd: Om was back from Pennsylvania for summer hols…

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And then there was the day I had my impacted and half-rotted wisdom tooth finally extracted. After seven jabs of LA, my gum (and half my tongue) were sufficiently numb to endure the excruciating moments that were to come…

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I know, it isn’t exactly a pleasant sight – but I promise you, I had it cleaned up over and over again before I took a picture of it. Anyway, if it wasn’t so rotten, I would never have been desperate enough to make the appointment with Dr Louis. As it is, I bore the pain and sensitivity heroically for two long months before finally succumbing to the need for relief.

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July 12^th: The Yeoh clan dinners are legendary. This one was no different, save for the fact that it caused me to have a 4-day long stomach upset from the deliberate intake of butter (on my part) on the toasted French loaf. What can I say – the taste of it was worth the pain it caused. Lol

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Other random pics include more cam-whoring and hiao-ing…

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AUGUST came…It was Uncle Phan’s 80^th b-day [Aug 1^st], but looking at the pics, it is hard to tell – all the pics took were only on ourselves!!

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Aug 12^th: Anne had her b-day this month and was totally taken aback by the huge bouquet of real flowers she received – she did mention that she had never received flowers for her b-day for the last 8 years. Well, this one came All The Way from HongKong, so be wow’d, People!

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Aug 16^th: H1N1 struck hard in August, En had the fever and had to be masked for fear of actually contracting the virus…she religiously wore the mask for a Week – even to sleep… 

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Aug 22^nd: This one is a happy occasion – I was to meet up with YKL and JLim, friends I have not seen for at least 23 years…discount the date on the pic, folks, it was actually on Aug 22^nd…typo…hehe

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Aug 30^th: Esther and Allan came back from Oz and we had a great-but-not-enough-time dinnering at mom’s…

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Oh yeah, did I mention that church camp happened in this month as well? Well, it did. It was totally exhilarating, but utterly exhausting as well. I didn’t get to take a lot of pictures, though, so you won’t see any here. Apologies!

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August was also a study/assignment-heavy month for me – I had to hand in assignments for two courses – 7 papers in total. If you’ve seen my previous pics on assignments, well, just multiply the mess by about 7 times and you may just get a slight picture of what my office desk and my whole house looked like. The assignments pretty much squeezed every single thought, creativity, energy and bounce I had for the month, so I guess that would be my excuse for not having pics taken of the mess they made of my house and office desk. I was thoroughly bushed by end-August. I really, really thought I would not be able to make it in time to hand in the assignments. But God is faithful. He brought helpers and prayer-mates into my life at just the right the times I needed them. Thankfully, though, the SCG lessons were planned for June and July, and not August, or I would not have been able to cope with my assignments.

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It’s now SEPTEMBER. The month began pretty numbly for me (it was right after submitting all my papers, remember?), and I took about a week to recuperate from the assignment marathon,and another week to laze around. But it is well into mid-Sep now. I wonder what the next two weeks will bring…oh well, I guess we would probably see it in the next posting.

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There, that’s my life for the last few months, folks. It has been a whirlwind, and boy am I glad it’s over. Looking forward to quieter months ahead…or not!

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I discovered this particular piece many years back, and till today, I still find it meaningful.

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AFTER A WHILE YOU

LEARN THE DIFFERENCE

BETWEEN HOLDING A HAND

AND CHAINING A SOUL.

YOU LEARN THAT LOVE

ISN’T LEANING BUT

LENDING SUPPORT.

YOU BEGIN TO ACCEPT

YOUR DEFEATS WITH THE

GRACE OF AN ADULT.

NOT THE GRIEF OF A CHILD.

YOU DECIDE TO BUILD

YOUR ROADS ON TODAY,

FOR TOMORROW’S GROUND

IS TOO UNCERTAIN.

YOU HELP SOMEONE PLANT

A GARDEN INSTEAD OF

WAITING FOR SOMEONE

TO BRING YOU FLOWERS.

YOU LEARN THAT GOD HAS

GIVEN YOU THE STRENGTH

TO ENDURE AND THAT YOU

REALLY DO HAVE WORTH.

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Maybe it’s because I’m feeling melancholy now, that I am writing all these down. Or maybe. Just maybe. It is due to the FIVE ASSIGNMENTS that are due in just a few days’ time which I have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA what how to even start, much less continue and end!!!! God help me…!!!

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In any case, looking at the note above, in my present frame of mind, I’d rather feel the opposite – I need support, I wanna throw a tantrum, I want flowers (!!), and I really, really, REALLY want this writer’s Block to get UNBLOCKED now!!!! I still have FIVE more papers to do… Aaarrrggghhh!!!

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I’ve not come back to wordpress, yet. I will, I promise you. Just gimme me some time to get re-oriented to earth…

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Thanks KGT, ALee, EChong, ChewFS and EuT for the frequent reminders to ‘get back to earth.’  I can only say this…. “I’m coming…..!!!”  lol

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It’s almost the end of the day already. Remember I was professing in the morning that there would be no activities today, except relaxing ones? Well, that alone ought to teach me not to count my chickens before they hatch!

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VFui called in the morning, while I was getting ready to go to the bank to get some stuff sorted out for Tusi the maid. He said En’s teacher called up to say that En was unwell, and threw up several times at school. He was on the way to bring her to the doc. I wondered what happened to her. I said a prayer for her and hoped everything was alright. Then I headed out to town – it was late and the lunch traffic was already quite in full swing. I prayed really hard for a car park near the bank, and a true miracle happened when the car right in front pulled out of the parking lot, giving me a legal parking lot, just about half a block from the bank itself! Whee! I was chanting thank-you, Lord over and over again. I just could not believe my eyes! And then I thought, why not pray for very quick service in the bank as well? I needed to get all banking stuff done within a half hour as I wanted to rush back to the office. I got that prayer answered as well – I got back to the car within 24 minutes!

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I went back to the office and that’s when all the hecticness came. I did some research for a material that needed to be out that day. I had been searching since the morning, but I found nothing! I started stressing. I asked around for help (as usual!). I spoke to Dan in China over on FB and asked his opinion. Then I spoke to Mk and see if she had anything to offer. They both helped a little, but at last, I knew I was on my own. I started praying again. The long and short of it was, I only completed it at 4.30pm in the afternoon. I had to cancel the appointment with the revenue department. It was half an hour after office hours! As I was sending the emails out, I remembered that I needed to search some stuff up from the old archived files for one of the cell leaders! Oh no! I rushed, but that took me up to almost 6pm!  I sent off the mails to the respective people, closed up and went home. I was already late for my appointment with En.

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I arrived home only to find that mom absolutely forbade En to go out with me! She is not fit enough, mom said. Oh no! We had so much to accomplish at Jusco’s today…! And En was INSISTING that she was fine enough to go. But mom says NO. Okay, I took a deep breath. Jusco was out. En and I’d have to run our errands some other time. We re-adjusted and went for a walk around the residential area instead. Then we sat ourselves down and read some 7 chapters of the Bible, give and take a few verses. It was a good session.

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It’s now 10pm. Coupla hours more before bedtime. I still have hopes that the next two hours would be calming and relaxing.

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But I’ve learnt my lesson. Never count my chickens before they hatch. So here I am, with a cup at hand. But I’m not drinking to the next couple of hours. I value my sleep too much. So my lips are sealed. For now…

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