Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Random happenings....

smthg tt amused me...
(IKEA storage box)

Yummy cold crab at an obscure Zi Char
stall along Old Airport Rd

IKEA @ Tampines...i love this space

IKEA @ Tampines...wowow..=D

the 3rd car accident I saw within a month.
Luckily this one is not fatal.

cupboard fixing 1.1 - side table

cupboard fixing 1.2 - side table

cupboard fixing 1.3 - side table

cupboard fixing 2 - Cabinet

after a whole day's ordeal...
spent and exhausted...

oh yes...check out the stack of my thesis models!
really dunno what to do with them...lol

Monday, July 13, 2009

just feel like....

resting in the spirit...

watching an impending storm arriving...
like a scene in apocalypse?

Pioneer MRT Station.
like the feel.


Leftovers after I cleared out 2 small 20-yrs-old
cupboards and one 10yrs old wardrobe that stored
tons of memories, archives and things to be recycled/donated.


"Memory T-shirts"

Surreal...

Yea...my frens shld be lining up to go up to the stage
for that brief moment
to receive a scroll
after 5 years of hard work
And here I am
in my home clothes
sitting in front of my laptop
facebooking
and gg to watch some taiwan drama on youtube
Sarah must be grumbling that I din go down and
take photos with them...
well, many will say "Nah, it's just a ceremony."
But I guess the way we're brought up in S'pore,
everything is about ceremony, being ceremonial
Being honoured and credited on stage
and doning the ceremonial gown
means a lot to many, and esp my parents.
And perhaps deep down inside, it meant a lot to me too.
Having led a meritorious secondary and JC school days,
stage "appearances" and ceremonies were norms for me.
And after this 5 years of Uni, and thesis.
I'm really tired.
Tired of this race and competition.

And praise God for pulling me out from this
And I pray that I'll continue to listen to You
and trust in Your ways.
For I know and believe that
You have the best of interests for me

I might be struggling financially w/o a full-time job
but i can live contently
live within my needs and not my excessive wants
I might be slowly losing my drive as an achiever (in society)
but i could be moulded into something better
that He could use me
I might be waking up w/o an alarm clock
taking breakfast and reading papers for 1-hr
and having no fixed schedules for the week
and sometimes staying up late to youtube
But I just pray that I'll be doing meaningful
things in the midst of these
Having time to work on music compositions
and to spend more time on parish/youth work.

Am only into the 1st month of my break...
and I only hope and pray it'll get better
To really get the break I need
To recharge and renew myself
To broaden my horizon
See and learn more things
Reach out
and to build a strong connection with God.

Hearts on Fire Youth Rally, 11th Jul 09 @ CJC

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

reality check....

managed to drag myself outta bed
on a Tues morning.
Walked to the "nearby" Jurong West Stadium
Gg to attempt 2.4km after so long...
thought to myself...
well i've been swimming and i ran the Half Mara
wat's 2.4km?
But when i've to run 2.4km under 12+ mins to pass IPPT
it's a no joke.
And I was shocked...
that I clocked 10mins after running 1.6km (4rounds)...
and I gave up...
Was huffing and puffing and chest was tight...
Really felt defeated and appalled!...
Luckily i found this out early...
then i can start training and preparing well
before i sign up for a IPPT Test slot.
Ego shattering moments but yet humbling.
Shall begin some circuit training and do "sprints"....

On a side note,
T3 Bible Studies has been great so far.
For the first time in my life,
I was really captivated by the happenings
in the Old Testament.
Was spending some nights reading up on Samuel
through to the Kings...really like them
and can totally imagine what it would be like in a movie.

Now, i'm really slowly and truly and finally falling in love
with the Word of God...
not just loving random inspirational quotes and passages...
but the whole salvation story in its entirety.
Simply amazing.
My eyes has certainly opened to greater things...
And learn to look beyond the what-it-seems.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

a "me" day out...

chilling out..and quite literally chilling out at The Deck
one of the very rare rainy days
but still able to look out and look at the grey sea...
it's been just a week since my submission + presentation
and it felt like it's been a month...
so many things happened right after 15 June...
meeting up with friends, groups of friends,
helping sis get her laptop, running around...

was reading Paul Coelho's Witch of Portabello
and Athena said that it is the pause in music that creates rhythms
and the pause and spaces in writing that make sentences make sense.
So here I am now, trying to create this pause and space in my life,
to make some sense of it after all.

shall just focus on my thesis reflection for this post.

it all began in Sep 2008.
And it lasted till 4th May 2009.
Just when I thought all was over and I'm all ready for the Europe trip,
my thesis was extended another 6wks,
till 15 June 2009.
6 wks, as compared to what my fren has described to me,
in Germany and other countries,
people can do their Masters and extend for a couple of months,
or even a year.
This 6 wks is really nothing.
But it's definitely worthed more than anything i've gained so far.
Friendship and friends that I've always show not much concern,
or don't really know and appreciate how important it is.
And i'm truly blessed for this group of friends,
for their relentless help.
I'm on my way to writing a song
To dedicate it to them
And to let me not forget those treasured moments.

God wants me to be special
although people sees this as imperfection
for not being able to commence on the year I graduate
And then my fren said there're no commencement at all in Germany.

God wants the best for me
And can't bear to see me graduate with a half-hearted and substandard thesis
I seize this second chance
With the help of friends and tutors
I pushed myself to the limit
which I did not do so previously
I was guilty of not doing my best
for my heart was not there
And i just wanted to pass and graduate
and for my grad trip.

God wants me to wait
and continue to learn patience
and draw precious life lesson from this episode
that I can't always be a planning freak
expecting things to happen the way I want to
expecting people to behave the way I wish to

God wants me to humble myself
To call upon His name and draw strength
And to know that He is God, not me, Myself.
To lay down my pride and just learn to ask
And help will just gush in like water from a broken dam

God (probably) wants me to "pause".
For I did not join the rest in the rat race
of getting employed...
For I've discerned early this year to work part-time for the church
till early next year, then probably i'll be well rested and ready
to take on the next major phase of my life.
Work and career.

The thesis journey was sure agonizing
we probably need some kind of support group
to counsel and share problems among friends
And we did kind of unofficially did that.
I'm glad to be able to just sit and listen to friends
pour out their woes, and some even shed tears.
And i'm glad to have friends to listen to my woes too.
Grateful to have my other half being understanding
and not demanding too much attention and time for her.

Besides having stretched my design thinking and language
developed better critical thinking
and all else academic
I've suffered and yet gained a lot emotionally, spiritually
and physically.
This Masters Thesis is a culmination of rich experiences
and memories. Life-changing if I must say.
Not the sudden change, but a gradual subtle change
in my perspectives of life, behaviour and threshold for acceptance.






Wednesday, June 17, 2009

it's officially over...

6 weeks of initial agony, heartache and despair
that eventually turned into joy, gratefulness and blessings.
Many words to say
Many people to thank
And that one Person to give praise to.

Now still suffering from a bit of thesis hangover...
enjoyed not having something constantly haunting my mind...
enjoyed waking up not to the sound of my alarm clock for the past 2 days
Now my calendar starts to fill up day by day
with meet-ups and misc stuff...
not gg to pack my schedule....and plan like a freak...
just gonna enjoy each day as it comes...

Will take another few days before I post a proper reflection...


awesome friends who slogged for me over the one week.


and the PRODUCT!


Friday, May 29, 2009

one more add-on to the "gain" list

I wouldn't have written my 1st song if not for this tough period.
Thank God for the gift.
My first, "Almost". =)