love song for my Saviour

save me

...you see just who i am.. just take my hand and..
save me from this place
heaven knows i'm falling
for you, my sweet embrace
heaven knows
heaven knows i've been waiting for you

...out of nowhere you came and rescued me
there must be some grace in the touch of your face...i'm no longer afraid

-corrinne may

"They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands. The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, 'A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!'"... - Judges 7:19-20

you give me freedom, you give me beautiful grace...
you make all the broken pieces fall into place.. beautiful healer.
your beautiful rhema word that speaks into my soul and my soul rejoices and i am fed and i am whole and oh, so in love...

safe in a crazy world

woke up today to a phonecall from an unidentified no... i've been putting my phone on 'freaking-loud-brrrRRinging-with-ultra-high-frequency-vibrration-mode' so i can wake up when schools call me for relief teaching. still drowsy, i couldn't quite hear where the lady on the other line was saying she was from cos my ears were still asleep.. finally got through to me that she was from a florist and i was getting flowers!!!!!!!

so i went to the gate to receive the apologetic florist (for getting lost) who handed me a bouquet! with my very own message, just for MEeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *beam* thankew my darling babeeee!!*muacks* you're the best, pancake! always know how to make me smile. so you'll be happy to know i had an extra toothy one today! *grin*

at 3, i went down to the spa for a full body massage. totally needed one after that one night of badminton. (i'm rusty, i know) so my mommy helped make the appointment for me and requested for a hard one... so i was very pleased to lift my head up of the massage chair to see a good, strong, big chinese woman enter the room. man, this woman was strong.. wasn't the kind of massage to leave you salivating and drifting off into sleep cos it was even painful at times, but really good for all those sore muscles. but with all these deep-technique-massages always comes the risk of bodily damage... when she was bearing down on my lumbar spine with all her upper body weight, i was thinking to myself... man, she could snap my spine and i could die in a massage chair wearing nothing but my undies. how unglamarous would that be? but hey, i've lived to tell the tale! so here's a caution to all those tai tai-wannabe's like myself who go for regular massages... make sure you tell her to stop when the pain goes beyond muscular and don't go on a full stomach.. also, when she's doing that back-slapping-knocking-the-wind-out-of-you thing, exhale slowly and continuously. yup yup.. see? being a tai tai ain't all that easy...

then i finished off my book 'paradise' in town before meeting mommy for dinner at esplanade. can't remember the name of the restaurant, but it's one of those fusion things.. had grilled lamb, which was surprisingly good... mmmmmmmmmm... then we rushed off for corrinne may's concert!! for all of you who don't know about her, check her out at www.corrinnemay.com... listen to her. she's got a unique voice and her band's pretty amazing. was really an enjoyable concert.. had me tapping my heels and bobbing my head.. hee.. girls, she's from rgs! woo hoo!!! but she was a prefect!!! boooooooo.... my favourites from her were 'mr beaseley', 'same side of the moon', 'something about you',which has a really catchy chorus, and 'free'. 'free' is from her 2nd album! go get it cos it's out in stores now!

malacca 2005

selamat jalan ke malacca!

(ok someone kill me if i mistook welcome for goodbye... and is it my imagination or is 'ke' = to?)

anyhow, i just got back from malacca!!! woo hoo!! i know i was kinda grumbling about having to accompany my family and extended family to malacca to most of you guys (since we've been there every year and stayed in the same hotel every time....) but what i took for bad, God turned into good!! praise Him, He's just been blessing me abundantly in soo many ways, it's great to be so loved!!

malacca was amaaazing this time round.. i've probably been there every year for the past few years with my family, but i've never appreciated it this much before..i don't know why.. maybe it's cause we actually had a malaysian tour guide to take us round! and the fact that i got to share a room with my cousin. anyways, here are the highlights of my trip!!

lots of cheap good eats: biscuits, fruits, peranakan food, and ikan bakar! (bbq fish) that bing3 that is at the top left hand corner is apparently only made once a year, in line with the mooncake fest. oh oh! and check out the size of those pao's! they're freakin massive!!

old skool!

an old shophouse.a gramophone.HMV.old skool fan.a coffee shop.chinese pillow(ouch).fruit stalls.i have no idea what this is.a stray dog that caught my eye in yong peng.

dragonfruit!!

oh! and i found my new fravrite fruit!!!DRAGONFRUIT!! it's totally amazing... and it's PEEEEEENK!!!!!!!!!!!!!! apparently, they're starting out new plantations for it in malasia.. it's supposed to be really high in fibre, etc etc etc.. there are two kinds.. the one with the white meat (long2 zhu1 guo3) and the one with the red meat (long2 huo2 guo3).. lhg is slightly tastier and they can also be differentiated from their skins! hahahah..the red one is my new fravrite fruit everyone!! they even made it into a drink! and it comes in this ultra cute pink bottle... i finished a WHOLE fruit (~300g!!!) last night all on my own and my fingers were stained red in the process! (literally caught red handed.)

also, malacca was also the venue for the annual competition, the ultimate clash of the titans :

carol

special powers:

bottomless stomach+insatiable appetite

VS

da bao

saucy meaty chunks wrapped in a thick steamed bun (w egg)

and the winner this year is........*drumroll* da bao...... because i couldn't finish half of the da bao and had to tag team with mom....

:( there's always next year!!

'the black haired girl #2'

yawning her first yawn in a decade and stretching her first stretch, the little black haired girl decided to make her way out of her room to explore the outside world.

but then.. the lbhg faced the problem that all youths faced before venturing into the outside world... the eternal question of :

what to wear???

the lbhg, who hardly needed any new clothes before, was discouraged and disheartened by the dearth of good clothes in her wardrobe... she let out the saddest pout she could muster and just sat in a corner all forlorn.

before she could even blink, she heard a voice say, "don't be sad, little black haired girl, i will help you."

she spun round, saying, "how do you know my name?"

"but why i didn't know that was your name, i just called you that based on my astute observational skills."

"well... then you must be shiny black panther?"

shiny black panther: well then, why not? shiny black panther it is.. well, little black haired girl? can i call you l.b.h.g. for short? well, what if i told you, i know where u can find nice clean new clothes?

lbhg: why where? tell me please!

shiny black panther: of course of course.. but first, don't you wanna know where i came from?

lbhg: not really...

shiny black panther: aren't you even surprised that i can talk? i'm a panther, mind you?

lbhg: no you're not a real panther, silly, you're a furry toy! (giggles)

shiny black panther: a toy??? a TOY? HAAAARUUUMPPH! you don't look very life-like yourself, if i might say so myself!

lbhg: okay, i'm sorry, i won't call you a toy anymore. just tell me where i can find clothes..

shiny black panther: then follow me....

~*~*~*~*~the adventure continues... stay tuned....

the good ol glory days

met up with old friend sarah that day for bible study. we go waaaaaaaay back.. we're ... domestic. in fact, sarah, you're the only friend i've ever gone overseas with. :) what else did we do together? bathe together, sleep together, play doubles together, cry together etc etc... she was from rgs badminton, together with ivanna! woo hoo.. we were the terrors of the team eh? together with nadirah.. (where is that girl nowadays anyway?) ahhh. the good old glory days..

speaking of which, i just got back from badminton.. yes.. at 230am in the morning.. eric chooses the most absurd times for sports... was kinda last minute thing. started at 11pm.. and i was told it was at queen astrid park, so i just assumed it was the condos there. but silly me.. it wasn't in the condominium, it was in a house.. one with an underground badminton-come-basketball court, a 30m lap pool, 5 living rooms, a mini-theatre, 2 kitchens, a coy pond with 100 coy fish, another pond with no fish, 3 studies and 3 bedrooms. turns out it's one of my primary school classmates. we took a house tour at the end of badminton and i swear, it took us 20 minutes... damn! if i had known he was this rich, i'd have talked to him more.. (just kidding!)

well, was quite an interesting night. played doubles matches and i absolutely hate doubles! eeyurk.i'm a singles player! but it was fun anyway. surprisingly, i still have my skills! yipppee! plus, i was the only one who didn't have to take a waterbreak! and i was the only gurl! heh heh heh.. but no.. badminton's so passe.. it's time for tennis!

there's no point in me sleepin tonight cos we're leaving at 5am sharp tmrw morning for malacca.. might as well just pull an all-nighter blogging! heee... okok.. so expect some really warped blogs from my past-bedtime psyche...



this is what i had for lunch with mommy today! was pretty yummy! haha.. my mom asked if the brinjal was fish and if the rice was rice. had it at the japanese shop at taka b1. were supp to go to crystal jade, but both ones had such long queues and i was starvin by then so i couldn't be bothered waiting.

went to buy lipgloss today! i was running low... this is wat i bought!

they're the absolute best! okok.. i'm getting bored of this post.. time to start a new one.. uh oh.. the post-bedtime carol is starting to kick in... woohoo!! i can do a cartwheel but i'm not gonna do it cos i just had a celery cream puff with soya bean. hmmm wonder if aaron's done his bungee jump... *thinking, thinking, thinking*
the end!

mommy dearest

went out with my mommy today for a bit. not hung out with her for a loooong time. hee... for those of you who don't know my mom, she's the Blur Queen. i have no idea how my dad could have put up with her idiosyncrasies and ignorances for all these years... it's sooo bad.. i could ask her to take a photo for me, position the camera such that i've centralised the shot and all she has to do is look at it, keep the camera still, wait for me to stand in position and press the button... but she couldn't even do that.. not once, no, but twice in a row. like this photo for example...(this was the 2nd attempt)

that's my mom for you.
and that time when the girlies came to sleep over, we asked her to help us take a photo... this is what she took:

even after i told her not miss out the words on the table...
mom:what words?
this was what was on the table..

and let's not forget the time she lost me in ikea and she had to use her handphone to call me.. yeah. she had to ask the ikea salesman to unlock her phone for her.. oh oh.. and the countless number of times we went swimming in the evenings and she'd start talking non-stop to some stranger standing next to her in the pool, thinking it was me.. even when the person was a guy. and the fact that she's been pronouncing 'film' as 'flim' and 'confiscate' as 'confisicate' for the past 21 years i've known her, despite the fact that i always correct her..

and she allllwaaaays never fails to say the silliest things.. like today in the car while i was driving us home.. i was wearing a white collared short sleeve shirt with a vest over it.

me: whaaaa... i'm damn hot!
mom: here, here, i give you all my aircon.. (turns the aircon towards me) who ask you go and wear so many layers? singapore is so hot, the girls all wear g-strings. ...


or over dinner,

mom: who you going to play badminton with?
me: some old friends. (i had said this at least 3 times already.)
mom: where?
me: queen astrid park
mom: with who?
me:...
mom: but you don't know how to play badminton! .....-3 secs-....oh
(i've been in national training since i was 11)

and how she always nags at me...

MAAY LING! (note the emphasis on the 'mei'.. that is for getting my attention.) no no! don't take the car! i don't allow you to drive my car!

or when she tries to cajole me...

MEI LEEEEENG... (this time the emphasis on the 'ling'. it's supposed to sound more endearing.) why you always going out? stay at home la you...why you never spend time with your familee?

yup yup.. that's my mom for you.

haha.. but i still love her very very much.. heh. but honestly.. sometimes i don't know whether to laugh or to cry... i'm so glad blurness isn't hereditary.. or is it?

'the black haired girl.'

once upon a time, there was a little girl who had black hair. she was a very very lazy girl. all she did all day was eat, sleep and blow her nose. she did not even bathe every day like normal children did.




her poor father did not know what to do with her, so he put her in a room with food and water and left her there.


the room was so comfortable that the little girl immediately fell asleep on the bed and never moved again.

one day, the little girl had a dream. she dreamt that she was shopping and sipping iced coffees in nice cafes and watching movies with her girlfriends a lot. she also had a lof of new nice clothes to wear everyday. the little girl's heart skipped a little beat in her sleep.

the little girl opened her eyes and decided to leave the room.....


~*~*~*~*~*to be continued..................

THE HAIR CONTEST results are out!

and now it's time for..... *drumroll* carol's annual

HAIR CONTEST!

as most of you guys will know, i just got my luscious locks beautifully shorn by my much treasured hairdresser!!!!!! so let's play a little game... hee... whoever can guess which hairstyle is most similar to the one i'm sporting now will get a mystery prize!!! heh heh heh... anyway, i chose ayumi to be my hair model cos i realise she's one artiste who's gone through soo many different hair styles and hair colours.. she's definitely a girl with an image! okok.. so dear friends, leave your answer in the comments!!! meanwhile, i'm off to do as the japanese do and eat sushi with my daddy! (you don't have to be in rome to do as the romans do!)

i'm terribly disappointed!!! none of you got the correct answer!!!!!! which is....... B! (altho i was warm)

but that just goes to show i'm unpredictable, i'm super funky and i have coooool hair!!!

so i get to keep the prize and none of you will ever get to know what it is...... *evil laughter* but thanks to all for your participation!! is much 'preciated!

a perfect day

it's amazing how some alone-time can be so therapeutic....

today i :

1. took a walk in the rain
2. saw an acacia pod split with the acacia seeds ready to be blown away
3. read on my bed
4. went to the spa for a jog
5. took a nice long shower with clairol's herbal essence (ooh!!)
6. listened to gavin degraw
7. did a little window shopping
8. allowed myself to day dream a little
9. had a facial done
10. will watch manhunt at 1030pm!


shall resume more reading after this..
am reading 'paradise' by toni morrison just now. it's about a black community in the redneck county of Ruby. pretty compelling read, but not exactly my cup of tea...a tad bit too crude and melancholic....
'paradise' was actually recommended by one of chang-u's aunts (my favourite one!) years and years ago. think she only meant to lend it to me, but i never found the time to start reading it.. or rather i was just too distracted by other more popular titles.

other than 'paradise', i'm also reading 'british society after 1945' and this christian book aaron lent me. yes...as u can tell, i'm quite easily distracted!
you know what ol' cicero said, "If you have a garden and a library, You have everything you need."

well, this relaxed and chilled out day is making me a little cathartic... here i am talking about nothing while my boyfriend is miles and miles away in his little press office cubicle, high on artificial stimulants from the 5 cups of coffee he takes a day, probably a little irritable, the slightest bit of perspiration on his brow despite the air conditioning, pupils dilated, eyes dry from all that staring into computer screens, unsatisfied from the mere rabbit fodder he gets for lunch, but too busy to mind.

men eh? what can we do without their money? heh heh..

something funny that shen wrote about my new-found patriotism: "Singapore's the best (because we've got lots of money)!" funny but true, shen, funny but true... :p
you get a nice pair of Fendi shades from me after i get my first paycheck for seeing through me so easily...
*yawnz* okok, time for me to give into the temptation of looking at hot, sexy steamy men...
women eh?

a revelation

it was a spirit of heaviness that saturday afternoon. outside, the heavy tropical rain was beating down mercilessly on my balcony.

good memories can save your life.

it was not for myself that i was heavy-hearted.

With skillful hands he led them. (Psalm 78:72)

i prayed for God to take away the rain but instead He turned my attention to the bamboo trees in my garden. there they were. swaying in the wind, battered by the rain. and there, from their sides, water gushing out from below their branches, a mysterious botanical waterfall from a height 2 storeys tall.

give me wisdom, God.

it is only in the storm that such a beautiful sight is seen. without the rain, there can be no waterfall, there can be no such beauty.

being singaporean

SATURDAY:
went for ndp with mommy and daddy! really wasn't my thing, but daddy said we had VVIP, which were much coveted...at least according to my parents:

dad: other people want also dun have! you better go.
mom: eh meiling, this is where the president sits okaay? eh, raining how ah? do they have shelter for our heads?

so i played the good daughter and followed mommy and daddy.
turned out to be quite entertaining really.. not been to an ndp in ages.. but if some of you would recall, i performed in one when i was in 2001 as a cheerleader! woo hoo, bimbos of the world unite! yeah, but that was ages and ages ago.. and i only did it cos it would earn me a gazillion points for that stupid community service crap..

but yeah, being on the spectator end was rather much different. although they do expect you to stand up and do silly things too.. like the 'previously-called-kallang-wave-now-called-singapore-wave'.. for aaron's benefit.. it's where everyone stands up and raises up their hands, waves their mini-flags and makes as much noise as possible when the wave sweeps onto your section and it goes round the whole stadium... pretty dumb eh?
but yeah, it was raining merlions and tigers in the morning and afternoon, so we were hoping it wouldn't rain into the evening.. much to our favour, the weather at 5pm was really nice and cool, albeit a little cloudy... but it must have been somewhere between that calm and quiet lapse when gurmit asked us to look to the skies and when we saw, through the clouds, parachuters spiralling down from the sky, that i felt how proud i am to be singaporean.

march-past and central space

air-display

millitary display

floats and colourful people!

firewerkz!

went for dinner after at funan before rushing home for the girlies! woo hoo! it was mahjong night that night with shen, honk and junice! yayyyyy!!!!

so the girls arrived fashionably late (as usual) at 11pm and we wasted no time!

we had sooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOO much fun that night talking cock and making a fool of ourselves. it's nights like these that really define us, i feel...

i think noone can fully know me until they've seen how i'm like with them...a total goofball. heh..

and my darling ivanna baby called from australia while we were playing and i hu-d for that game!!!!!!!! yayy!!! ivanna girl, you're my lucky star!! *muacks*

3 bags of chips, a bag of twisties, 1 box of tim tams, half a box of M&S biscuits, 2 cups of coffee and one round of mahjong later, we were stuffed and ready for bed.... (come to think of it, i'm quite glad we only do this once in a while...)

slept in til 1130am when honky had to go play softball! jun and shen left shortly after... but we met again that sunday evening for the church and the nus med play: 'a good history'.

me.shen.jun.ting.in jubilee hall.

interval in the toilet

raffles hotel at night.

nus medics+me+shen.

our little starlight dance.