i like sandra bullock and especially love her in romantic comedy. i’ve been waiting for the sceening of the movie that i’ve googled everything about the movie. i watched the trailers, making of the movie etc while waiting for it to hit the big screen.

i loved it so much that i highly recommended it to my collys. but still, i told them not to go with too much expectations in case they are disappointed. true enough, they enjoyed it too and said they understand why i said i will watch it again.

another colly commented that she saw the trailer and it doesn’t seem interesting. i told her that there is more to the movie than what’s shown in the trailer!

i love it because of sandra bullock. i love it for the fact that it’s shot in alaska. it’s one of the places i want to visit after having watched the sitcom “northern exposure” donkey years back. i love it for the chemistry between sandra bullock and ryan reynolds (note i did not say i like ryan reynolds). my colly didn’t think he is appealing just by watching the trailer and i totally agree. but he does have some charm as you watch him in the movie. betty white was hilarious!

i’m not waiting for the release of the dvd/vcd!! heh!

we went for dinner at sushi don at funan digitalife mall. the price is reasonable. i had chicken curry and it was ok.

we adjourn to marina barrage thereafter and i’m glad i persisted in trying out the night mode with my digi cam. the shots were very nice – not perfect but great enough. there were a few “spooky” photos. i reckon it’s due to the lightings, exposure, lack of powerful enough flash etc…. shall i name the photo “x-files @ marina barrage”??

1 significant event was my get-together with jaclyn and serene – my good old friends when we were back in lower secondary school. i am the shortest amongst the 3 of us. that’s very rare as most of the girl friends i am with usually nowadays are shorter than me – at least 9 out of 10.

jac left our school at the end of sec 3.  and actually, i can’t remember why. then her family migrated to Down Under. i visited her when i went there for my first long overseas holiday after college. its been about 20 years since and we catch up on another 2  to 3 occasions. the last time we met was about 3 years back and i m just so amazed at how time flies. it really seems like just yesterday when serene and i met at jac’s place.

how we got in touch again was quite miraculous, i must say… .

anyway, i organised a get together cos serene was leaving SG for sydney as her husband is working there.

it was just the 3 of us this time without our partners and children.  and we sure had a good time walking down memory lane recountinng our teenage mischief and over the penpals we met back then.

thanks to technology, we tried looking up people on FB. and it quite thrilling and exciting.

i was quite shocked that i forgot so many things and incidents… well, not exactly shocked, probably a lil “paisay” cos’ they remember and i don’t.

well, we will be “separated” again as serene moves to sydney. we asked a few times over dinner when the next gathering would be and said that we should plan our next gathering and meet up regardless of where it would be. we didn’t come to a conclusion but we said that we will definitely organise another one when jac returns from melbourne and before serene leaves.

it’s monday and i’m beat from last night’s night cycle. rode from tampines to changi village and back to tampines in 1.5 hrs with a short break in between. burnt around 481 calories. it was a very very late ride. reached tampines at 12.30am!! there was one particular slope that was a killer. i peddled like a crazy dog :P but i really like the sensation of cruising down the slopes. hope to do the next ride soon tho’ i suspect that cycling is not exactly the best thing for my knees

i bought a car rack for my bike and i tell you; putting it up is as good a warm up. it takes about 15 mins to mount the rack and the bike on it. hopefully, it will take shorter time once i get more familiar with it.

anywayz, i went to sunday school for a very short visit yesterday. i went to church very early, to pass them the projector. so, i took the opportunity to visit the children at sunday school. i went to the pre-school class. my camera phone amused them and they were very eager to pose for me. timi (short for timothy?) was exceptionally funny. he kept wanting to make funny and monkey faces for me….

reminds me of the time when i was teaching in sunday school back in bartley. reminds me that i once said (when i was much much younger) that my preferred ministries would be the sunday school and worship….

and i thought this was realli funny!!

i’ve since gone on 2 rides. first was from home to bedok reservoir and back. a short and manageable distance with long intervals in between as we had to adjust the seat height and angle a couple of times along the way.  the 2nd was to ECP and back! still not too bad. i was reminded of a night cycling trip donkey years ago. i believe we started from ECP and then to hougang area and then to the airport and back to ECP!

i’ve enjoyed both trips so far. but still need to work on my core. i was a little unstable on the bike especially when it is at some narrow paths or sharp corners. alternatively, got to change the tyres to some thicker ones which helps in the balancing.

so far, we have added lights, a new seat, a bike stand and a new (cheap) helmet! i saw one ivory pearl white helmet for over $100. was very tempted but decided against it. we’ll see how i get going on this new adventure.

i got to know that she started on a part time job a few months ago. not an easy job as it’s somehow like direct sales. she shared with me how she approached the job she has on hand. she sees it as a way of meeting new people and enlarging her network and circle of friends; all in the hope of making a difference in people’s lives and being Christ’s influence. she shared how there was a case when the resident declined to make any purchase from her in a little hostile way. she went away praying  and communing with God. interestingly, a while later, that man opened the door and asked her to go back. he asked if she was a singaporean and commented that he knows how hard it is for a singaporean to work in singapore. he asked how much did she have left and he purchased all of it and asking her to keep the change.

she went on to share about the job and i hear and see how God is blessing her with favour. she said that she is doing pretty well compared to her fellow collys and she gives thanks and glory to God. she also shared how she is reaching out to her back-sliden boss.

we went on and on. there were 2 occasions that her eyes were watery… . we were so moved as we recount what and how her family and her have gone through the past years with the grace of God.

i’m so moved in my spirit hearing her share. it’s been 6 years since her husband and her came to accept Christ. they started in my cell group and i was reminded as i sat opposite her that it was for people such as her that raised in me the burden for chinese ministry. her life is such a wonderful testimony and comfort to my heart and soul. as i sat there looking at her and hearing her share, the thought that “it’s all worth it” came to me on at least 2 counts. i may be in a spiritual drought now but hearing her and seeing her was like all that i needed to get me going.

and i’m so excited for what’s going to be in stored for her. i’ve seen that leadership potential in her. and a few years back, i saw the need to disciple & build her up. i felt (then and reaffirmed again) that she is to reach a group that most of us who started the chinese ministry cannot do. and that is the mandarin speaking mothers. i’ve seen her grown in this area as well. when she was in my chinese cell group about 4 years back, i remember how she was hesitant and fearful about reaching out to her group of good friends and was actually being influenced by them. subsequently through the years, she overcame that and started reaching out to them; using her life as a testimony and she managed to bring a couple of her friends to church.

and the thought of how this job can enlarge the circle of people she can get to know excites me even more. and i’m sure God will bless her richly in her sales as she focuses on Him and His Kingdom.

i’m also thankful for what God is doing in her family. i can go on and on. there’s so much to share about her and her family… . may the LORD continue to bless their family so that His glory may be manifested greatly through their lives.

this is a season of “farewells”. first was tracy, then it was wensing. ken and wensing just recently became parents and it’s best for wensing to join ken at emily’s cg. wensing has been in my cg since the birth of chinese ministry and she has always been such a valuable support to me. her love for people is relentless, though she denies it. she has such a good heart towards the less loveable and is very genuine towards people.

i’m excited for ken and her for their new born – luke ng and thankful to God too for this blessing. may they be full of God’s wisdom as they bring luke up as Godly parents.

within a week from wensing’s farewell, we also had a farewell gathering for wensing’s sister – soo sing. the worship ministry team came together with her ex CG for a farewell gathering on May Day.

and it was a teary occasion for me – quite unexpectedly. i’ve known wensing much longer than soo sing… and it only seems like yesterday when soo sing came to our church. i remember meeting her for the 1st time in service. she was in a brown top and she was so smiley (still is!). she accepted Christ shortly after and has been growing and serving in our church. soo sing is such an encouraging person. she lavished encouragement upon me as we serve in the worship ministry. despite all the blunders and mistakes i made, she has always been so kind (the rest of the team too ) and encouraged me on. i will definitely miss having her around!

soo sing gave her farewell speech and kevin also shared how it was not an easy decision for her and them. i didn’t know kevin very well and for the 1st time, i heard him said so much. even soo sing affirmed that he is of quite few words actually (probably in mandarin). but i’m glad they sought God about their decision and they are at peace about this decision – that it is not brighton for this season. i wish them well and may they continue to be a blessing to their ministry in FC.

through the recommendation of liz, i told cg about [curry favor]. so, that’s where we landed oourselves for dinner. i love jap curry and wished that theirs was more spicy. but i still enjoyed my dinner. we adjourned to dome in the ex-sji compound. it was relatively empty and that’s gr8! it was particularly nice to have huimin and serene with us and in fact, the whole cg; minus uncle wu, being present.

we bought tracy a cross pendent and chain. that’s part I of our farewell gift. part II was a scrapbook album which we had to delay giving her on the day she left as i under-estimated the time i needed to complete the album. i stayed up till 4.30am to finish it on sat night and i was so thankful i was not at all sleepy while rushing it out.

i’ll post pics of the scrapbook album some other time.