~ just the two of us ~

LOVE

FAITH

PEACE

JOY

5. Bonus question - What does the candy-cane signifies? Answer here. Almost all got the answer correctly. And yeah, because of that, I awarded each and everyone of them a peppermint flavoured candy-cane. :)

We had another round of Quest, before singing some carols. By this time, some of them have left and we continued singing. It was a great time of fellowship. Not to mention, Jason, Len, Liza, SW and I went to ECP for a time of cycling. Fun! Tiring though. Surprisingly, we actually sweat!! Had dinner in the Hongkong Rest., and headed home after that.

Posted in: cell, christmas on 2 January 2008 at at 8:11 pm 0 kay-pohs  

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Found out that my mum reads my blog. Oh-no! But being an English-option teacher, she said it's good. It improves my vocab and bla bla bla... Hehehe.. Hmm... not sure if I should /censor/ my posts from now on or not. Hehehe... And am afraid to make any grammar mistakes.. Hahaha.. Just kidding...
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Christmas was different for me this year. It was spent away from home. Of course, I do miss those times we had back home.

On Saturday, 22nd Dec, we went for the Christmas event at church, The Father's Love. It was a great one, I loved the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s love songs melody they sang. And the singers were great.
Right after that, we had to rush from Adam's Road to Pasir Ris to make it to my big boss' house for BBQ dinner. It's a farewell for him actually since he'll be posted to Suzhou next year. Also, it coincided with Christmas, so I bought a bottle of French red wine as a gift for him, and a box of Swiss chocs for my immediate mgr's children. Jason loved the seafood spread that he had. The prawns were really fresh, and yes, cray-fish! I didn't take it as I really didn't like seafood, but Jason said it was good. Even the lamb and beef it was soft, tender, juicy. Haha.

The next day, Sunday, my family (parents & bro) came down. Waited for them for about 3 hours at the bus station as there was a massive queue at customs. Brought them to my granduncle's place where they will be putting up 2 nights there, and headed to Orchard Rd for dinner with their family. At Crystal Jade restaurant (again!) at Taka. Stomachs filled, we walked around before returning home. The crowd was just getting from bad to worse. People-jam. Haha.

Wisma Atria - with granduncle, grandaunt & aunts

At Taka with family

At fountain of wealth

Posted in: chit chat, christmas, family, food, me, shopping on 30 December 2007 at at 1:15 pm 0 kay-pohs  

...is the only constant thing in life - Anonymous-

The year 2007 has been a year full of changes for me..
And I'm expecting some more changes in 2008!
Woo Hoo!

Might not have the time to blog, so have a Blessed Christmas everyone!!!

Christmas stocking given to every employee while having a caroling session at the whole office this morning. Inside is a miserable Julie's peanut biscuits and a sweet. Oh well, it's the thought that counts, I supposed. :)

Posted in: chit chat, christmas, feelings, me on 21 December 2007 at at 6:02 pm 0 kay-pohs  

Yes, we went on a photo-taking spree last Friday, 14th Dec 07. Let the pictures speak for themselves. More on my Multiply.

Posted in: christmas, Happenings, photos, pictures on 18 December 2007 at at 9:23 pm 2 kay-pohs  

1. As little children, we would dream of Christmas morn

Of all the gifts and toys, we knew we'd find

But we never realised, a Baby born one blessed night..

Gave us the greatest Gift, of our lives...

Chorus: We were (are) the reason, that He gave His life

We were (are) the reason that He suffered and died

To a world that was lost, He gave all He could give

To show us the reason to live.

2. As the years went by, we learned more about gifts

The giving of ourselves, and what that means

On a dark and cloudy day, a man hung crying in the rain

Because of LOVE, because of LOVE..

Bridge: I finally found a reason for living

It's in giving every part of my heart to Him

In all that I do, every word that I say

I'll be giving my all just for Him...for Him...

If you can't see the video above, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0J5MLuv35CU&feature=related

Posted in: christmas, song on 17 December 2007 at at 2:55 pm 0 kay-pohs  

Bought a Samsonite laptop bag yesterday at the end of the luggage bag sales at Parkway Parade. It was slashed from $110 to $66. Jason said it's a good buy. And yeah.. so he got it for me for as Christmas prezzie. :P Thanks, my dear...

I was actually more interested in the luggage bag, as it was slashed from $440++ to $199, and it was the biggest size. Quite worth it, but.. too bulky.. without anything, it was already 6kg. Hahaha.. Imagine plus your luggage, it'll be heavier. Anyway, we'll wait for the poly-carbonate one to slash more.. It's big, and light-weight. And not to mention, pricey, but durable. (LY, yours the best-lah). Since we're not going anywhere yet, so it's worth waiting... I hope.. hehee..

But then again, I might just pick another top/pants or two, and that's it for me. Hehehe. Not really in a mood to shop right now. Kekeke.

Yeah, I was hunting for the so-called German "Christmas cake" we had last time at my ex-company, where a German colleague brought it while on business trip to Melaka. It's actually fruit cake, but it has rum and covered with white sugar toppings. It was superb! (Right, Miki?) We were also hunting for cherry-liqour-chocs.... and guess where I found them? Marks & Spencers. Yeah.. I saw it! the chocs were good. Strong taste of brandy. Hehehe.




Ahhh... this week's gonna be a great week.. with a holiday in between (Thursday), and am looking forward to go to ECP to rollerblade with the gang...It's been such a long time since I roller-bladed after the horrifying incident... (Actually, most prob just with Ken & PX - if she's ok by then, not sure if Punchie will be joining us). And then, it'll be the Christmas event in church the whole weekend, and my dept's BBQ at my big boss' house, and my family will be here on Sunday!

Looking forward to an exciting Christmas.... Are you?

Posted in: christmas, cool stuffs, me, shopping on at at 2:24 pm 0 kay-pohs  

Yeah.. Photo-taking spree.. kekekkee.. Even though now MNG is having 50% sales and everywhere sales, but am excited today coz we'll be going to Orchard Road with our cameras and tripods.. Yeah.. A DLSR-like (Nikon P5100) camera and a real DLSR (Nikon D70) camera.. muahaha...

Might try my hand in handling the DSLR... hoping the owner trusts me with it..

Till then.. have a blessed evening and weekend ahead, everyone!

Posted in: christmas, me, photos on 14 December 2007 at at 5:15 pm 0 kay-pohs  

I can still remember vividly, as a child, Christmas was something I really looked forward to. We had loads of fun. :)

Remembering, when I was ten, we had children's carolling. And we practiced hard. Sunday school teachers gave their all, in our practices, and also costumes. Not only did we have carollers, but we had Mary, Joseph, the three wise men, 2 little lambs, shepherds, angels, and etc. And of course, it's the time of the year we get to put on make-up! Hehehe... and we travel to church members' places in a bus, over a period of at least two days... It was fun, exciting, and I can still remember my friends who were with me at time.. We practically grew up together. :) All those who can testify to this, say aye!

When I was eleven, we had a big Christmas event at the Hang Tuah Hall. Our choir made up of adults, young adults and youths. We had a very good conductress, who was a no-nonsense lady (a pro too). We had to do our vocal warm-ups before we go for our practices, and what I can remember is we have to o-p-e-n our mouths, to at least fit an orange or three fingers in height. And our pronunciation must be "perfect". Words like king must have the -ing sound at the back, loud and clear, and words like the must be pronounced with the tip of the tongue showing out, and words like it must have the t sound loud and clear. We sang in parts. Soprano (usually the melody), alto, tenor, and bass. I was always in the soprano side (not sure about now, though). Hahaha. They called the production, "Christmas Bell". We had a huge bell decorated nicely with lights and all just behind where the choir was standing. It was grand. We even had a shadow play on the birth, and crucifixion of Jesus on the cross. I still remember how the atmosphere was when we sang "Do you hear what I hear" in parts! And it was through these practices (months before!) that we got to know church members better, the fellowship and especially giving us the Christmas mood as early as in August. :)

When I was twelve & thirteen, we went carolling again! Woo Hoo! It was alternate years, where one year will be children's carolling, the next will either be the adults carolling or the youth. And yeah, I enjoyed youth carolling too. We did not only sing, we had songs with sign languages, solos, and songs with actions. And thanks to our dear youth leaders, and conductresses, Liz & Joanne , we had fun!!! I miss GY days... *boo hoo* And we had a group of guitarists, abt three/four of them, so it's really nice!

When I was fourteen, we had Christmas Joy Parade! It's where all churches in Malacca came together and we walked on the roads of Malacca, proclaiming Christ. The first year was grand. It was held for seven years after that. We were at Kubu Stadium, the starting point of the walk. We walked through the streets of the towns, as I was in the choir, we sang throughout. At the end, there was a big stage in the middle of the field and there were we, about 100+ of us from all churches. The feelings? Indescribable. Imagine, we had our choir practices also about 3-4 months in advance and the practices were held at Christ Church. The acoustics of the church was so good, that it sent goose bumps all over me when we sang. We also had a professional conductress, and she is a trainer for vocal classes. God really blessed us. I remember once we had to get out of the church and sang outside of the church to really test how loud we were. And yeah, I was in the soprano section again. Hehehe. It was pretty easy, you don't have to remember parts. My mum who was always an alto had to get her parts right. But she did well, and we always practiced together at home.

The year after that, when I was fifteen, Christmas Joy Parade again, but this time, I was involved in timbrel and dancing. Imagine having to dance all the way from the start of the parade till the end. It was great too! This time, it was a smaller group of us, about thirty... and yes, we had timbrels and ribbons.... Nice! Writing all these really makes me miss all those times we had back then. :)

When I was sixteen or seventeen, we participated in the parade, at the same time, our church had another Christmas play at MBMB hall. (Opposite Jusco now). And this time, I was to be Mary... Hahaha... do nothing, just acting preggie and walking with Joseph, who is my cousin-in-law now.

The years after that, when I was already in uni, our Christian Fellowship participated in the parade, and we walked together as a CF, singing carols as we walked. It was great too! The last year of the parade was when I was twenty, stepping into my first year of degree, I was a part of the music team that was stationed at Mahkota Parade. Hehehe. I think if not mistaken, the song leader was Ps. Joanne. :) I remembered as a CF, we performed at the Portuguese Settlement too. And not sure which year was it, we, as a CF, we performed together with other churches during the National Christmas Open House which was held at Hang Tuah Walk. It was grand.. the PM and Royal Entourage were there too..

In 2002, we had our first Christmas celebration in our uni hall. For the first time, we managed to get approval from the university authorities to have our event there. We were so blessed, and guess what, the hall was packed! We initially put in about 500 chairs, but students just kept filling in the hall till they had to stand right near the door! And that was the start, of the many Christmas events till today, they still continue with the tradition. I remember that people went early to book places and it has been packed ever since. Even our dear M friends, were so excited that when interviewed, they said they're looking forward to the next Christmas production the year after that. Some were even touched by the play that we had.

And now, after left uni, into the working world, lots of things changed, and no more participating in Christmas events. Hehehe. I guess, I just couldn't commit for the practices anymore. This year, I wanted to join the choir for Trinity's Christmas production, but I couldn't, as I know I couldn't commit to the practice schedules. It's ok, there will always be more Christmases to come... And having the first Christmas away from home... gives me a different feeling. I'm glad that my parents and brother will be down for Christmas here with me instead. Hehehe. So, nothing beats, spending Christmas with your loved ones... and of course, friends... :)

All in all, each and everyone of us, must know, the true meaning of Christmas.. It's not just about presents, trees, Santa Claus, events... Christmas has been so "commercialised", so to speak, that it has lost it's true meaning...It is more to that... It's a time for sharing, giving and loving... Also, to remember the greatest love of all... God the Father, sending His Son, through this humanly birth, so that He was able to sacrifice for all the sins and fall of mankind... And that we are redeemed by His blood that was shed on the cross, to be made whole once again... (this, I will share when Good Friday comes.. :P)

A song that I sung, since I was a kid:

Christmas Isn't Christmas

Christmas, isn't Christmas
Till it happens, in your heart
Somewhere, deep inside you
Is where Christmas, really starts
So give your heart to Jesus
You'll discover when you do...
That is Christmas, really Christmas, for you...

Jesus brings warmth like a winter's fire
A light like a candle's glow
He's waiting now, to come inside, as He did so long ago
Jesus brings gifts of truth and life
And makes them bloom and grow
So welcome Him with a song of joy
And when He comes you'll know...

Till then... I wish you love, joy, peace, this Christmas.. God bless!

Posted in: christmas, me on 13 December 2007 at at 9:36 am 4 kay-pohs  

Hey, for those of you who will be in Spore during these dates, do drop by for this variety show. It'll be great! And if you have kids, bring them along too, as they have a programme catered for the kids while the adults enjoy the show. :)

Highlights includes:
-Immerse yourself in iconic love songs from 70s, 80s, and 90s!
-Move to the beat of powerful percussion rythms!
-Witness contestants slug it out in a game show!
-Feel the joy & pain in the drama of 3 ordinary fathers!
...Ultimately unveiling the greatest love of all - Father's Love...

More info : Trinity Christian Centre

Posted in: christmas, trinity on 12 December 2007 at at 10:09 am 0 kay-pohs