Mochi Mochi

I 'stole' this from a friend's website, who is into making Japanese mochi, or Daifuku, at the moment. That's the cross-section of one.

So if you're interested, you can visit her website, http://ichigodaifukuinnagoya.blogspot.com/

Blessing in Disguise

Sometimes change is inevitable.
With every ending comes a new beginning.

I don't really believe in coincidences. I believe that there is a reason for the things that happened in our lives, just that we might not know it when it occured. Just like what happened today. Guess it really was a blessing in disguise as it helped me to realise that it really is time to move on.

I had learnt much too during the past 13 years that I've been there. At least it had helped laid the foundation for me, which was perhaps what I needed at that time. Though there were certain unpleasant incidents, they had also helped me discover more about human nature and in the process, more about myself as well. As usual, on hindsight, there were so many things that I could have done better but I supposed there's no point harping on that now. If nothing else, at least I had accepted Christ then.

Now, it's time to move on to another level; on to establishing deeper relationships. If I remained in my comfort zone, I will never do that. A few months ago, I thought I could start anew in the same old place. But the place isn't that big, and I ended up meeting the same people again.

she asked me how it went.

i told her i don't know and that they'll get back to me

then she told me to pray about where God wants me to go

God is telling me to leave......

Commencement 2007

I attended Ting's and Jo's commencement ceremony on Thursday. It was held at NUS University Cultural Centre. I remembered the last time I went back to NUS was last year, for my own commencement ceremony. Also saw some familiar faces. People who had graduated or were graduating this year. I guess it goes without saying that I am getting older now. Anyway, we also took quite a bit of photos since we were not sure when we would go back to NUS again, if ever.

Me with Jo. My hair's longer than hers now. Hehe.

Me with Ting, and her nice sunflower =)

I think I had blogged sometime last year about how photos helped us to remember and recall events that had past. But, I'm also beginning to wonder about the validity of photos. After all, photos are rather two dimensional. As in, they only showed one side of the story most of the time; what is reflected on the photos largely depended on how the photographer took the photos in the first place. And aren't people almost always smiling when taking photos?

Perhaps at times, the best memories are the ones that we kept in our hearts.

On eagle's wings

For those in the know, these few weeks have been quite difficult for me. My grandma hasn't been feeling well and to make things worse, we were short-handed at work too. On top of that, we received some information last week that there was some problem with the auto-upload and that the data have to be updated manually. Just fantastic. Sometimes I felt like throwing in the towel and giving up altogether.

But thankfully, this week has been less hectic. And thinking back, I see God's blessings that could perhaps only be seen on hindsight. Some thanksgiving:

1. My boss managed to get an intern to help us out this week and it turned out that IT managed to solve the problem and we do not need to do the manual update after all. =)
2. The prayers of my fellow christian brothers for my grandma. Though she's still unwell, I really appreciate their concern.

Also saw this article on my company's internal magazine. It was on eagles.

Eagles enjoy the longest life expectancy among bird species. They can live up to 70 years. In order to survive, they have to make a critical decision at the age of 40.

When eagles turn 40, their claws weaken and it is hard for them to catch preys. Their beaks are growing long & curved almost touching their chest. Their wings are heavier due to thick & long feathers

They have 2 Choices:

• Die
• Or undergoing a painful transformation 50 days of perservarence & steadfastness...

They have to fly to the top.

Build their home there And REST.

They have to hit their beaks against the rock till they fall off. And wait patiently for the new beaks to grow.They will use their new beaks to pull out their nails. With their newly grown nails, they will then clean off their old feathers.

5 months later, the eagles will fly again with their new feathers. They renew their strength for another 30 years!

Sometimes we have to make difficult decisions in life. In order to embark on a new journey. Let go your old habits and traditions, And let yourself fly again. Like the Eagles. If we put down our old self, "eagerly" pick up new skills, we are able to explore the undiscovered talents in us.

ISAIAH 40:31

But those who wait on the Lord

Shall renew their strength;

They shall mount up with wings like eagles,

They shall run and not be weary,

They shall walk and not faint.

Then my colleague told me something about how eagles will stir up the nest of their chicks in order to teach them how to fly. And if the chicks fall, the mother eagle would fly down to 'scoop' them up on her wings. After some time, the chicks would learn how to fly.

After reading and hearing these 2 stories, I felt that eagles are really amazing. And more amazing still is their Creator.

Even though everything seemed to be going terribly wrong sometimes. I know that He will always be there to catch me when I fall.

Perhaps one day I'll be able to soar on eagle's wings.

Musical time

I went to watch Phantom of the Opera with Kia yesterday at The Esplanade. Initially, I had thought that we might have problems watching it since we were sitting at the highest floor, but it turned out to be quite alright actually.

Kia said that Raul (or is it Raoul?) is good-looking and was glad that he and Christine were together in the end. But actually, a part of me was hoping that Christine and the Phantom would be together instead. Haha, maybe it's just me who feels that way.

Anyway, in case you're wondering why I'm blogging at this time, no, I'm not using office hours to blog. Just that I'm on MC today.

Ok, one for the memories...

Floral Arrangement!

I went for my first floral arrangement class yesterday. It was organized by my church. I was quite excited actually. Hehe..who said floral arrangement is only for middle-aged ladies anyway?

Here's my first 'creation'.

Too bad I won't be able to attend the class next Sat due to work commitments. =(

Back from Cameron Highlands

We returned from Cameron Highlands on Monday. It was just a short getaway over the weekend. Here're some photos. My first time putting photos in my blog. So exciting =>

We stayed at Strawberry Part resort. This is not a very nice photo though.

Anyway this is our living room. Messy huh?

The view from our balcony. Really breathtaking, especially in the mornings when the clouds cover part of the mountains.

Orang Asli's house.

We travelled around in this jeep-like vehicle on the first day. It actually looks pretty nice here. Can't say the same for the inside though =P

After our tour to the orang asli village (which is not really a village actually as we only went to one house), we headed down to Brinchang town for our steamboat dinner. Initially we wanted to eat at the Highlands restaurant but it was already full house. So we ended up eating at another restaurant instead.

Realised that Ting had uploaded our photos for our trip on her blog, so if you're interested, go see her blog k.

Think I shall just end this entry now. Yes, I know it's a little incomplete but the photos are really taking a long time to load. I'm a lazy pig =P

Just came back from a company retreat in Batam 2 days ago. It was my first time there but did not really get to see much of Batam as we remained in the resort most of the time. The retreat was quite alright I supposed. Also got to know some of my colleagues better.

Anyway, yesterday in the MRT on my way back from work, I heard some students talking about their exams and 'Genes and Society' popped up in the their conversation. Then it occured to me that now is perhaps exam time for those studying in NUS. But I'm not going to start reminiscing again.

Some good news then. Just got my bonus and a slight pay increment, which actually comes as a surprise since I've only worked for less than a year. Oh well, guess I shouldn't be complaining so much and should start counting my blessings instead.

My cactus is dying. =(

For those who don't know, I bought a cactus last year and placed in on my office table. I was going to water it last Thursday when I realised that one side of it, near the roots, had turned black.

I started to panic. My colleague told me that it could be because I've over-watered it. I supposed this has been going on for quite a while, since it would not have turn black overnight. If only I had noticed the symptoms earlier, except that I don't know what to look out for in the first place. Until it's too late.

Perhaps at times, life is like that too. We don't notice the symptoms til it's too late.

No One is Righteous

No One is righteous

There is no one righteous, not even one;
there is no one who understands,
no one who seeks God.
All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one."
"Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit."
"The poison of vipers is on their lips."
"Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness."
"Their feet are swift to shed blood;
ruin and misery mark their ways,
and the way of peace they do not know."
"There is no fear of God before their eyes."

Romans 3: 10-18


For everyone has sinned;
we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.
Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous.
He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin.
People are made right with God
when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood

Romans 3: 23-25