HOT HOT HOT.....

Today's weather is awfully hot!! A scorching 35 degrees! Yeouch...It's cooking me up like the ikan-bakar (barbequed fish) I was craving for last night at Goodall cafe!! A friend came over to get some help with his resume just now. I feel a wee bit bad that I don't actually have air-con in the living room. Sorry, William! :S
I just realised that I'll be stopping by the Penang Airport 3 times in total in one day. Just dropped off Ming Han and friends this morning heading back to Kota Kinabalu, picked up daddy dearest at 3.30pm returning from Kota Kinabalu (yeah, coincidence eh??) and in a few hours time, picking up my uncle and aunty arriving from Kuantan to visit Mummy. I think I can drive my way to the airport with my eyes closed already!! HEHE..

Okay okay... yah, it's a mindless post on this lazy hot, hot, Sunday afternoon. I miss Brisbane weather!! Don't mind me....I think I'll just catch a nap now before going for a swim in the evening later.

My trusty hatchback since college days...
(Rach, it's a Swedish car, naice??? :P)

Aim lower, think smaller, give up, Go have a cup of coffee

I was moved by Sunday's message in church and I found this video which was very relevant to the preaching that day. Indeed a great perspective to chew on.

Some Oreos and a cup of coffee, anyone??

Happy b-Earth Day to me!

Yepsss... so it was my birthday a few hours ago. I had a rather interesting birthday experience this year. It rained for a while the night before and lighting struck the electricity post somewhere in my neighbourhood and caused a blackout at the row of houses in front of my place. Good thing my row was not affected, else Mum would be pretty pissed if she missed the exciting part of her Chinese Drama-- believe me.. her source of entertainment.. very important!

Anyways, I managed to catch "House" on AXN after mum's dramas but my desire to watch "Braveheart" after that, hoping that William Wallace would inspire me once again, on my birthday.... did not come to past. The clock struck 12 and *pouff* the electricity was cut off due to repairs needed to be done caused by the lightning just now. Hmmm...interesting, I had a thought that maybe... just maybe, someone would bring me a birthday cake with candles on 'em and go, "SURPRISE!!!" ... =__= that didn't happen either. HAHA...Wishful thinking!!

Let there be light... *LoL*

However, my mobile rang and it was from the sweetest bunch of people I've ever known! Thanks so much for the call, you know who you are!! The blackout-birthday-"tanglung"-chat on the phone with y'all was more than enough to make my birthday a very special one. (Despite the fact that my parents actually forgot to buy me a cake today...HAHA.. Mummy gave me money to buy one for myself tomorrow, though! Funny! XD)

Also, I got this in my mailbox today!! (Rachybaby, I got yours on Saturday.. ask Post Malaysia, why?? *shrug*)

*ahem* velly velly glamorous, ain't it?? I feel the LURVE....

Thank you all, Judah 7!! I feel extremely blessed to be remembered on this day. What more could I ask for.

And... God never fails to give me the desires of my heart on my birthdays. This time, He blessed me with a job. YES!! I am hired!!! PricewaterhouseCoopers, here I come.....in June! Thank you, Lord, for you heard the little details, too.

"I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD."

-Psalm 40:1-3

Oh yeah, PS: Happy Earth Day, everyone! Save electricity, save water and love God's 3rd rock from the sun =)

I teachiee.. Chinese..

Currently down in Kuala Lumpur, bunking at my uncle's place. I'm sharing room with my 8-year-old cousin, Debra. Been a while since I handled little girls. She was so happy when she found out that I am going to be staying with her for the whole week until Friday. Why happy?? Because she thinks I am gonna be of great help with her Chinese homework.... aghh....someone save me... she's gonna find out that I am not any better than her. HAHAHA...

That's Debra -- hard at work. Memorising Chinese characters.

I'm keeping busy with the dictionary... Hehe.

I'm kinda nervous about my assessment tomorrow. Remember to keep me in prayer. More updates to come later at the end of the week..!

I BAKED!!!

Mummy used to bake pretty often when we were still little kids but she stopped ever since most of us went away. I thought of trying more new things lately, so I tried...baking! To add a plus point to that, it was a good opportunity for Mummy and I to spend time together! We dug out Mummy's old little dusty recipe book she got waaaay back the 1970s in England when she was still studying, and....we made scones!! =D~~~~ One of my all-time Mummy's baking favourites!!!

For those who'd like to give it a try, here's the recipe:

Sultana Scones

Ingredients:
8 oz Plain Flour
4 level teaspoons Baking Powder
Pinch of salt
2 oz Margarine
2 oz sugar
3 oz sultanas (or raisins)
1 egg
approx. 6 tablespoons of milk

Method: Grease and flour a baking sheet. Sieve together plain flour, baking powder and salt. Rub in margerine then add sugar and cleaned sultanas. Pour in egg and milk to form a light elastic dough . Form the dough into ball-sized shape and place it on the baking tray (make sure the balls are not too big because the dough will expand). Brush over with a little beaten egg, bake in hot oven for about 10-15 minutes at 500F (Approx 250C).

The end result............
(No, they're not burnt, it's the egg spreads
to make it look golden brown on the top)

Not bad for an amateur baker, eh??
It's so easy and it only takes you less than 30 minutes to make them. Good for brekky and teatime!!! Can't go wrong with that!! =D

朋友们，Shall we keep in touch?

Don't know why, just couldn't help but remember my schoolmates of my high school days -- (I was in an All Girls' Chinese High School) -- I was once teased to be a banana-skinned chic who doesn't listen to Chinese Music, the English language "guru" (which I don't think I am as good as they think I was.).. the bottomline was we live in "different worlds" and it's just quite difficult to go beyond just being school mates.
I found a set of friends and they do certain things I do, but I wouldn't say I agreed with all the things they used to do, but I pushed myself to "fit in".

Things changed when I couldn't push myself to be who I am not, anymore. I slowly stepped back and left in the shadow. No more shopping at the malls together, no more hanging out at the girls' place talking about boys, no more comparing dress senses. All no more. I left my usual seat at the canteen with the girls, empty.

I wondered, are these friendships worth keeping? Wait a minute, were we even friends from the beginning? I confess that I have allowed misconceptions to cloud my mind. I agreed with what my mind thought how I looked like in your minds. I backed away... and now, I feel like I was the baddie, instead. If only glue could make a broken vase look just as beautiful as it was before it fell onto the ground.

Reality sets in to remind me that I am back in this island for good, I remember my alma mater -- my high school mates, especially. Nothing can change the fact that I am a "Peng-Hwa gal."
The island is relatively small. There's always a high possibility that you'd bump into someone you know and it happens pretty often when you were once in a school with almost 3000 students. Strolling around Queensbay Mall brought me in physical contact with quite a number of my ex-school mates already. I see them from a distance, and I just didn't know how to begin with the simple word, "hello" anymore. I even forgot your names. How do I begin with those small talks? After these small talks, would there still be a possibility of keeping in touch? I do wonder how you are, did I ever cross your mind, too? I hope so.

My high school mates. Many of you left different sets of footprints in my life. Some trotted with me through happy times, stood with me through detention, some ran together with me (through the tough times... PMR..SPM~~oh-the-agony of exams.), some lifted my feet. I beat myself for holding on to the memories of being "stepped all over" more than the rest mentioned.

People walk in and out of our lives. I browsed through Facebook and it was one of the girls' birthday yesterday. I wrote a short note to send my birthday wishes. We've shared memories in the past. Most of us, technologically, we're still connected.. just through the wires of a computer. We're "friends" on Friendster and Facebook, but does this label anything beyond the words? You're all at the other end of the world and ironically, I am back here. Will we connect again on hard ground? Will I ever see your feet again? I hope you haven't walked out yet. It's different now. Times have change along with the extra lines we have on our faces. Is there room for grace? My heart cringe when I look at how things ended.... or perhaps, more like "hanging at the cliff", with certain things unsaid.

Well, above all else, my prayer for all of you is that you will be well. Take care.

PS: On another note, thank God for you, Ee Wey. Thicks and thins... You've always been my saving grace :) High School mateys for life!! *HugZ*

PPS: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, MELMEL!!!!! I DIDN'T FORGET. JUST DIDN'T CALL ON TIME! I WILL, SOON!! ^__^

My foot is tapping... tapping... tapping....

Have you ever had an experience that you were eagerly looking forward to a moment and your mind kept revolving around that "moment", you could hardly focus on anything else? Sometimes you even wish that you could speed time up so that you could just catch a glimpse of it way before hand. Truly, it's not wrong to have that eagerness building up in us but often enough, this matter revolves around the test of patience... or rather, (whether you like it or not) IMPATIENCE.

My journey called "life" took a rather big turn and I honestly still think it's a miracle that I allowed myself to step into where I am now. So what have I been up to, you wonder. I have been staying home most of my time and occasionally driving mum to the hospital. That's pretty much the major highlights of my life now. Sounds like there's nothing much to shout about in comparison to my previously much tighter schedule that I had back in Brisbane. Now, I have so much time in my hands that I don't know what to do with it. I knew I did request for a "break", but I never expected it to be *this* LONGGG (Be careful what you pray for?? HAHA~~!!). I'd be silly to complain, I know. But I can't help but feel like a "nomad" at times, still roaming around wishing I could feel more settled a little earlier. It's frustrating and sometimes I wish commanding myself to stop thinking about it would just put a full-stop to my thoughts but I still couldn't help it. As I am going through this time of transition, I realised that I have never quite grasp what waiting upon the Lord really meant (...and still figuring...=__=). Looks like impatience is slowly climbing onto me. What was I thinking?? My focus was based on what "I" want, rather than "what can I do to make good use of my time while I wait?"

I can never build patience by my own strength and I really need God to help me build this quality. In Galatians 5:22, the fruits of the spirit are listed and patience is one of them, therefore I have no doubt at all that patience is a quality that is vital in a Christ-believer's life. Christ is our strength and he can help us learn to wait. Each day we have is a gift from God and each moment we have is meant to be used wisely and for good. Yeah, so while I wait, gotta pick up those books that I received as gifts from friends and start digesting them into my spiritual soul (LOOK, MEL~~ I am reading the Sheila Walsh book now, it's really awesome!! Thanks!!! ~~ Oh, and I'll read yours soon, Didi!), listen to sermons on my iPOD during those long hours hospital waits, reading every nook and cranny of the newspapers to keep myself on the edge of what's happening locally.

I turned from this....

.....to this. (HeHeHe...well, at least I am trying to. =P)

Ahh well, I know it'll be worth the wait. God has proven it so many times and I know He'll do it again. As I choose to let God have the last word on the subject, I trust that I will hear Him encouraging me in James 1:3-4, "Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing."

Anyways, on a side note, I have attended my first cell group just now. I was one of the younger ones there and well, this is a breath of fresh air. Although I am going to be based in this CG for just a short period of time before I relocate to Kuala Lumpur, I am eagerly looking forward to getting to know these group of faith-filled people. I have joined them for several meal-outings and am adapting quite well with them. Oh yeah, I had an early "April babies" birthday celebration with them just now, too. =D
Also, I've got an assessment/interview coming up on the 15th and an interview on the 17th, if I get short-listed. I am really rooting on this firm so keep me in prayer. May God's will be done.


Lord, I love the way you write the story of my life. Every chapter brings many uncertainties but yet always ends beautifully in Your perfect way. Though I struggle to let go of certain things, I pray that you will help me to surrender them all to You. I thank you for giving me the eyes to see that every moment of my life spells out how You were a part of it. I will not let anyone write my story but You. Waiting for more chapters to come....