If We Hold On Together

Don't lose your way
With each passing day
You've come so far
Don't throw it away
Live believing
Dreams are for weaving
Wonders are waiting to start
Live your story
Faith, hope & glory
Hold to the truth in your heart

If we hold on together
I know our dreams will never die
Dreams see us through to forever
Where clouds roll by
For you and I

Souls in the wind
Must learn how to bend
Seek out a star
Hold on to the end
Valley, mountain
There is a fountain
Washes our tears all away
Words are swaying
Someone is praying
Please let us come home to stay

If we hold on together
I know our dreams will never die
Dreams see us through to forever
Where clouds roll by
For you and I

When we are out there in the dark
We'll dream about the sun
In the dark we'll feel the light
Warm our hearts, everyone

If we hold on together
I know our dreams will never die
Dreams see us through to forever
As high as souls can fly
The clouds roll by
For you and I

*One of my fav songs and its from "The Land Before Time"

Check out the video here

Sang this song today again at OnePage KTV... Was with Yixin, Yingdan, Enz and Huiping (she came after work)... $20 for 7 hrs of k-ing plus free flow drinks and 6 plates of finger fd... Quite worthwhile I think =)

Some serious mathematics!

Today my P6 student had some revision worksheet given to her on ratio, percentage, plus volume... Spent 2 plus hrs on various kinds of qns, lolx... Then after tat did some serious logarithm with Joyce... Stunned for awhile by having to prove a^lgb = b^lga... Then there were oso some other stunning qns which she managed to dig out... Its been a long time ever since I used my brain so much liao, lolx... I'm so proud of myself today, hahaz =P

*Equation of the day: e^iπ + 1 = 0

Sentosa!

Went Sentosa ytd with Chengxin, Kaiqi, Liyun, Han En and Jing Hui... Took cable car in and then took bus to Siloso point where we went for the nature walk first... After tat met Nicholas at Siloso beach... Played abit of Captain's ball b4 going into the sea cos it was super duper hot... Tried to build a sandcastle after tat and at least we succeeded in moulding something out from the sand, lolx... Washed up (or rather we juz splashed ourselves with water) after tat and had our little picnic consisting of bread, tuna and ham... Oh ya and Jing Hui's seaweed too =) Left soon after tat and took the cable car to Mt. Faber b4 going back to harbourfront... Well, tat's the summary of wad we did... Below r the pics which will hopefully tell a thousand words like they always say, lolx... I noe I'm not v gd with the captions but at least I tried rite? =P
Jing Hui, Han En, Liyun

Chengxin, Kaiqi, Me

At the cable car station

Some rat wizard

Jing Hui driving? =/

All Aboard!

Act cute! =P

Nature Walk Entrance

Whee! =)

Who's holding the ball?

Sing: "We're on the top of the fountain looking, down at creation..." :D

Say Cheese! =P

Base of the fountain

Hmmm, some dragon thingy

Under boulders

Where's my body? =)

Jing Hui lagging?

I swear that's a sandcastle!! =P

Stoning...

And more stoning?

The following are things u see when u look out of a cable car =)

1. Another cable car

2. The sea

3. Toy cars and buses

4. More toy cars

Managing your emotions

Well God's timing's reli so exact... Had been feeling quite down for the past few days due to many things and I juz cant seem to get out of it... Then today there was a conference at night abt managing ur emotions but I couldnt make it cos I had tuition... Then close to 2pm in the afternoon, I received an sms from Jia Qian asking if she could cancel her tuition tonite cos of her heavy workload from sch... To me of cos its a loss of $50 but then I'm like ... Hey I can go for the conference!! N this is the 2nd time within a week tat something like this happened!! Last week I managed to push forward my tuition timing so tat I could go for another conference and this week God made it happen again!! Wow, totally didnt do anything and it juz happened, and the timing is perfect too! =)

Well I didnt regret going for this conference and I learnt some stuff, though most of it may seem to be quite straightforward... Basically the pastor started and ended with one main theme, and that's WISDOM... He quoted the first part of Proverbs 1:7 "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" Then he went on to say why we are having a harder time nowadays managing our emotions, touching on the stressful environments that we usually find ourselves in... In short there are 2 main reasons why we're having a hard time... First is due to the ever-changing external circumstances and secondly becos we have the wrong self-expectations...

He went on to say that all of us, whether we know it or not, look at other people thru different kinds of glasses/spectacles...

1. Money (we look at someone and think abt how much they are worth to the company)
2. Family Background (We give due respect to the minister's daughter but don't really care about some hawker's son)
3. Academic Background (similar theory, juz think abt ur automatic view of a person when he says that he's from RJC compared to someone who's from YJC)
4. Occupation (compare doctor/lawyer/lecturer with hawker/road sweeper etc.)
5. Authority (some ppl have the right connections and after pulling a few strings they get things done quickly whilst those how don't struggle to do the same thing)
6. Body Figure (this shd be quite obvious)

Here he's trying to say tat the world nowadays has become so complicated (as u can see from the 6 points above)

And after that he talks about the basic nature of human beings...

1. Self-preservation (its in us to protect ourselves)
2. Happiness is preferred to suffering (obviously)
3. We want things to happen without doing anything (plain laziness la)
4. We only accept praises/nice feedback and shut ourselves off from all criticism
5. We're only interested in things that will benefit us or make us gain something
6. We despise ppl whom we think are not as gd as us

Not too sure wad's the link from this 6 points, but thought it would be interesting to share =)

He goes on to talk abt how we can take steps toward better management of our emotions...

Firstly, instead of running away from our problems, we shd face it bravely... Bring it to God and know that He is always there with us, that that which is in us is greater than the world... Secondly, everyone is given their fair share of 24 hrs a day and its up to us to manage our time wisely... He recommends doing one thing at a time at home (being focused) but doing many things once u step out of the hse (so tat u dont waste unnecessary travel time)... Thirdly, we shd quieten down and pray... No matter how busy we are, there shd always be a time set aside to seek God everyday...
He ended with the following quote (quite well-known I think) which again leads back to WISDOM...

" God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference. "

*Singapore got the bid to host the Youth Olympics in 2010!!! =)

Still celebrating! =)

Went down to SP today with Elsen to appeal for their Chemical Engineering Course... He onli missed by one point so chances are not too high but we still submitted an appeal letter in the end... Well, let's leave everything in God's hands =)

After tat went down to Bedok where Elsen took his lunch at KFC (I had mine at SP, super duper cheap la!) then I went to gif tuition... Met up with Kai Lun after that and had lunch at Suntec's NYDC... His treat for my bday! =) N I managed to take photo with this cute little elephant, lolx...


Here are some of my other more recent gifts...
Necklace from my bro =)

Gift from Li Juan and Chengyi

Socialising =)

On Sunday we finally had badminton again after a few weeks of rest =) N we found a new place to have dinner after tat... It's at ...... Terminal 3 Food Court!!! Grabbed the sofa seats after Kailin's parents left, lolx... Here's wad we have =P
Gp Pic (Thomas took this one)

Guys!

Gals!

Then today went to watch movie with Kaiqi, Chengxin, Liyun and Jing Hui... Hopefully Jing Hui finally will noe how to go to Vivo after today, lolx... Watched p.s. I Love You... Think okay onli, although initially I thought the show would be quite gd... Had lunch at the Kopitiam then we walked around for awhile... Played the hockey-like thing in arcade, lolx... After tat Chengxin had to leave cos got tuition then we went to Orchard for Jing Hui to collect her contact lenses... Slacked around at Shaw House Starbucks b4 leaving... Oh ya, I finally managed to start on this book entitled "Becoming A Person Of Influence" by John C. Maxwell and Jim Dornan... Onli finished one chapter so far but I think its quite interesting... Here's the acronym...

Integrity with People
Nurtures Other People
Faith in People
Listens to People
Understands People
Enlarges People
Navigates for Other People
Connects with People
Empowers People
Reproducers Other Influencers

Listening to God's voice! =)

Juz came back from this 3 day (or rather 3 nights) conference by Pastor He Zhi Yong... It was a great experience as well as exposure for me... The topic was on "Listening to God's voice" and he basically spoke of 4 main points...

1. We need to hear God's voice to become victorious
2. God's voice nowadays is usually in the form of soft whispers from the Holy Spirit
3. We need to quieten down in order to hear it
4. We jot down what we receive and learn as we grow

Seems simple maybe but the promises and potential that can be unleashed from the above points are reli powerful... All along I knew that I had to listen to and follow God but I didnt reli make it an emphasis... Hopefully this conference will get me started on something =)

[FLASHBACK]
Yesterday was the first time I exercised after the CNY week! Finally! I think I gained like 2kg from the whole of last week by eating too many CNY goodies, lolx... So luckily yesterday I had the chance to go run with Chengxin for around 7km then went his house do weights... Now some parts of my body still aching but I noe its gd =) After tat we met for lunch at tm then went to watch Jumper... (my idea, lolx) Juz thought tat the action was quite cool la, although of cos its all juz fantasy... Tired from the all the workout but I'm glad tat I'm getting some exercise... Bday juz over means IPPT window open liao, gotta get tat $200! =)

Today I went down to Marine Parade after playing for the worship in the morning cos heard tat Jason Chia opening spa then he invite our class, 04S103 to go... Got abit of a surprise when I reached there cos it was more of like a whole building with a food court on the ground level and some wellness sanctuary on the 2nd level... Didnt noe it was so big... They even had Lion Dance and I saw Vincent Ng, lolx... Anyway the whole point of this was to oso shun bian meet up with my JC pals cos didnt see some of them for quite some time liao... In the end we were treated to cheese fries and hotdogs as well as some drinks... (Thanks Jason!) Hung around in Parkway Parade after tat b4 Qingde sent me and Nick to Kallang Mrt... Still cant take his driving, super fast and makes me giddy =/

Went back to Agape and found out that Chengxin and co. were in the counseling rm doing his consent form... After a few arguments and crapping around, they managed to finish it up... Apparently the gals were bored and wanted to go somewhere so in the end we decided on City Hall... Walked around randomly in the CityLink and visited some amusement park tat was set up... After tat we went to Esplanade and managed to act like tourists, lolx... Took photo with some guy with a bird on his shoulder, hahaz... (photo by courtesy of Han En) After tat Wen Bin and me went to eat dinner at BK while the rest went for the steamboat... N after that... (u can refer to the very first paragraph on top)

*Happy Belated Bday to Si Han and Happy Bday to Shirlena! =)

Happy Vday and Friendship Day!

John 3:16

 For God so loVed the world,
        That He gAve
             His onLy
             BegottEn
                   SoN
                       That whoever
          Believes In Him
            Should Not perish
         But have Everlasting life.

Happy Valentine's Day! =)

"Making a thousand friends a year is not a miracle. The MIRACLE is to have a friend who stands by you for A THOUSAND reasons."

A big thank you to all my friends who have been part of my life! You know who you are! =)

Happy Friendship Day! =)

Back to work!

Today morning was quite exciting =) With the help of my Dad, I managed to fix up a wall shelf tat I bought yesterday at Ikea... White colour with 2 metal supports at both ends... Shd be solid enough for me to put all my books =) Shifted out the study table to drill the holes for the support (my Dad did it la, lolx) and mount the whole thing up... Lots of dust particles after tat, hahaz... Had to vacuum, sweep and mop the affected areas... Now my table is cleared of all the once stacked-up books and I oso managed to consolidate all my books together in one place... After tat proceeded to shift back my table and clear it up... Left onli the most impt stuff lying around, so the whole place seriously looks much neater and less cluttered now... Touched up abit and voila, the whole area juz looks super cool now! =)

Today I oso officially went back to work, lolx... My tuition stopped for exactly one week liao, due to CNY and some students falling ill... Its always so fun to be able to teach Math again, hahaz... N I started English lessons with Nashirah today on top of Math... Muz say tat P6 Eng is oso not tat easy to teach, lolx... So much Grammar and Vocab... N with English there's always exceptions... I reli hope I noe wad I'm doing, lolx... Will try my best la, although I always believe languages are acquired and not reli taught... Overall was still quite ok, taught another subject and earned $20 more per lesson =) Anyway this week still not tat heavy, cos some of my students r sick... Next week will reli be going all-out to teach, hope tat I can still arrange my timings and cope well =)

Happy CNY! =)

Gosh I'm gonna have to practise my summary skills again, lolx... Will try to write abt the impt stuff onli but I hav a feeling that this is gonna be another long long post =P

New Year's Eve (060208)
Cant remember much except tat I had tuition b4 reunion dinner and I actually got a $10 Bengawan Solo voucher from Nashirah's Dad for the new yr... So cool rite? =) N I'm gonna teach p6 English soon too on top of Math, which means I get a pay rise, hahaz...

Anyway after tat went down to grandma's hse for reunion dinner as usual every yr... Managed to tok to Hannah's mum (my aunt) and apparently I got myself another tuition deal again! This is reli too cool to believe man! =) Seems like a gd start to the new yr although I had to stop tuition for most of my students this wk... Spent the rest of the time watching some lame kungfu mahjong show on Channel 8 b4 heading back home... Continued watching some Channel 5 show (Faceoff I think) with my bro all the way into the new yr b4 slping =)

First Day (070208)
Went down to my uncle's bungalow (mum's side) to bai nian... This yr was abit diff, in the sense tat I actually managed to catch up with my cousins, and its not juz the usual "how're u?" kinda thingy... I actually got one of my cousins' number and MSN (we dont usually tok much) and it was reli time well spent toking to him =) After tat went with another cousin's family to some temple followed by the botanical gardens... Nothing much at the temple, but this family is one tat we've been trying to influence to go church... My mum asked if 2 of my cousins (Kae Uei and Jye Ning) could go on Sunday and the Dad didnt object =) Hope tat things will continue to improve...

After tat we went down to the Botanical Gardens (some random idea la) and tok a short and leisurely walk around... Juz explored a small area onli, the whole place is super big la... Took some quite a few pics while we went around the diff areas... It's been a long long time since I last went there bah, but I still remember some of the stuff which nv changes, lolx... Feels reli gd to relax and cruise around slowly, hahaz... Following tat we went our separate ways; they went back home for dinner (we came from their hse and there was lots of fd cos they prepared for all out relatives) and we went in search of something to eat... Not an easy feat I muz say, esp. since its the first day of the new yr... Either the place not open or super-crowded, lolx... In the end we went Eastpoint's BK to settle our dinner...

But tat was not the end, cos my bro and I had arranged to watch a movie with Kae Uei and Jye Ning later and we were trying to book the tickets at dinnertime... The demand was huge so in the end we settled for Shaw at Bugis... Watched the 11.45pm show... CJ7... Not much of a plot but super duper funni, lolx... N the alien-dog super cute la... Totally love it =) Was around 2 plus by the time we reached home... Feeling abit hungry so we made instant noodles and had supper/breakfast? Totally dead beat after tat... Slept at abt 3...

Stayover! (080208)
Today we went to my father's side to Bai Nian... Woke up at like 11 plus and it was almost 1 when we left the hse, lolx... Nothing too fanciful oso... Basically went to 2 places and stayed longer at the second one until abt 5... Then went down to Simon's hse... He had 2 guests with him, plus we waited for Chengxin and Ivan b4 having dinner, which consisted of KFC bought nearby... Cleared up and started another TV marathon... (think I'm reli deprived, lolx) Watched Survivor followed by Time Machine... Slept close to 3 again... Simon's sofa's soooo comfortable! =P

Feast! (090208)
Woke up late at abt 10 plus again... (guess u can already determine my new yr routine, hahaz) Went to buy some stuff for the steamboat tml, after which Chengxin and Ivan left first... We hung around for awhile b4 Calvin came over and then we all went down to Agape for worship practice... Had the honour of sitting in Jasper's car and went down to Jing Ping's place for dinner... There was Simon, Calvin, Jing Ping, Jasper, Xiu Hui, Ning Ning and me... I muz say its reli sumptuous and I ate to my heart's content, lolx... Think abt 10 dishes in all plus rice and soup and drinks... It was the most delicious meals I had for the New Yr I think... Everything's juz so prefect, hahaz... Ru Lan Lao Shi's reli a superb chef! Seriously la! =P Songkai's family came down after tat too but Eugene was not around... They juz came back from Penang... Muz hav been a most enjoyable experience =) Anyway after tat we went down to Yile's place to Bai Nian... I was too full to reli try any of the new yr goodies tat Yi Xin offered, lolx... In the end took something to eat and spent the rest of the time sharing a Sprite with Simon... Left at abt 10 plus... Tired but still very full, lolx... Got home and tried to think abt wad I wanted to share the next day but in the end went to slp... Too tired I suppose =)

Full Reunion!!! (100208)
Today supposed to meet Kae Uei and Jye Ning at 10 at Kallang Mrt together with my bro but in the end all of us were late... We ended up meeting in Tanah Merah where they boarded the train tat we were already on... Reached Agape close to 10.30am... Went with them to eat chicken rice across the road, then we went up together... Was actually quite nervous by the time worship started cos of my sharing... In the end I mixed English and Chinese together... Hope I was making some sense =/ But I'm reli glad tat its over! =) Was quite stressed by it for a few days, lolx...

After service Weiting treated me to this Dan Dan Mian... Can say its my first bday gift? Lolx... Was quite nice but I couldnt finish it so shared it with Andrew... Oh ya, toking abt Andrew... I was quite stunned when I saw him walking into the worship hall at the back, lolx... Thought he still in Australia... Anyway its reli gd to hav him back with us =) Left Agape after lunch and went with Simon and Andrew to buy the rest of the steamboat stuff, then Calvin came and picked us up in a cab... Went down to Simon's place and started preparing for the steamboat...

Gosh, this reunion dinner for our G12 was reli ultra cool and a super rare event, cos everyone was there!!! Andrew, Chengxin, Calvin, Ben, Sing Heng, Alvin, Nicholas, Ricky, Chin Heng, Simon and me!! Plus we had Weiting there too! =) Its reli been years since we had such a full gathering together, lolx... Either the overseas ppl not around or some ppl will have something on during cell... Its reli so cool tat everyone was around this time!




Anyway after steamboat they celebrated my bday (as well as Andrew's cos next month he wont be around) Gosh, cant imagine tat I'm turning 21 liao... So fast la... I feel neither old nor young, lolx... Is tat how u're supposed to feel? Hahaz... Anyway I wanna thank everyone who came and oso for the presents... Ben and Chengxin one the wrapping super cute, lolx... Thanks to Alvin too for being my photographer =) N oso to Andrew for reli helping with the shopping of fd plus clearing up (both the fd and the plates and utensils, lolx) Weiting too was a big help and definitely lightened up the whole atmosphere... Plus she bought our cake! Thanks sis =P Of cos not forgetting Simon, who planned and organised this whole reunion cum bday party! One big hug for u! Love ya! =)

*Happy New Year to all hu managed to finsh my ultra long post! =) May this new yr bring u more joy, peace and love!!

Food and Driving!

Gosh I realised that I most prob wont have time to blog on weekends so this is another summary post of the last few days =)

On Friday I went for my first run in Feb together with Chengxin in the morning... He was having abit of a flu and cough so we onli ran 2-3km... After tat had breakfast together at Blk 201 the hawker centre near his place... Went back after tat and was super tired as usual (run liao always liddat) Slacked at home until 2 plus 3 then got ready to go out and meet my 2 aunts and grandma for some nice fd, lolx... In the end we decided on the high-tea buffet at Marriott's which was not a bad choice =) Loved the curry and the dessert... However, I generally dont reli like buffets (esp. the ex ones), cos I dont like to keep stuffing myself with fd to make it "worth it", lolx... Prefer a nice complete set with everything from appetizer to dessert, and that would be cool enough =) Got $100 from one aunt and $20 Taka voucher from the other to buy new yr clothes but I dont think will use la cos I didnt see anything tat I like so far... Well can save the money and use it next time bah...

Ok skip to Sunday night =) After rushing around trying to settle lots of stuff after service, Chengxin, Calvin, Simon and me went off at around 4... Went to NTUC to get the necessary fd and spices b4 heading down to Simon's place... Guess wad? We cooked our own dinner, or rather Simon cooked our dinner, lolx... We juz did all the preparatory stuff like peeling garlic and washing the fd, lolx... Spent like 2 hrs plus and it was tiring but most worth it... We had 5 dishes and 1 soup as the final result of our hard work =) The chicken with mushrooms was the best dish in my opinion... It was simply delicious!! =P Satisfying too in the sense that you're eating what u spent lots of effort preparing... Made me treasure the fd more, lolx... Thanks Simon for the wonderful dinner!! =)

Monday was my 3rd driving lesson! Woke up abit late but thank God I reached juz in time =) However, I was told tat the aircon juz broke down awhile ago and we had to get it repaired... My instructor took the driver seat and drove us to the repair shop nearby... Spent abt one hour there for them to diagnose the problem and in the end the compressor was changed... I thought it was rather interesting as I watched them work cos it led me to think back to those times when I was the one trying to maintain the tanks... I know my nostalgia sounds crazy but it juz seems so familiar and routine watching them work, lolx...

After that my instructor drove us to some roadside (I thought we would be going back to the carpark) and swapped places with me... Practised abit on changing gears and how to maintain the "half clutch" position... To my surprise after that, he told me to move off!! (as in drive around on the real road, lolx) Initially it was abit scary cos there's juz so many things to take note off... Not onli do I need hand-leg coordination but I had to look at my surroundings and make certain judgements on whether to move, stop, when to turn, how much to turn etc. Luckily it got better after awhile and I even began to enjoy myself!!! =) He would still help me by putting his hand on the steering wheel sometimes to help me turn and manoeuvre the car but overall it was juz so fun and exciting, lolx =) Practised quite abit of reversing and moving forward at the roadside too and its reli cool, hahaz... Though the whole lesson was cut short by half (1 hour instead of 2) due to the spoilt aircon, it was worth it cos I finally drove out onto the road =P

After my lesson I went to meet Hongwei and James for lunch... We wanted to go try the curry fish head at Changi Village but by the time we reached there at 2 it juz closed =( In the end we went to the hawker centre and tried the supposedly famous nasi lemak... The chicken was nice but other than tat dont see anything special, lolx... Then we called Jing Jin and asked him to meet us... Went down to my place to watch movie... They decided on "The War Of The Worlds" in the end... I nv watch b4, onli read the book long long time ago so was ok with it... Nothing happening la but it was gd to meet up with them again, esp. Hongwei cos it has been quite some time ever since I last saw him =)

Well tat is the end of yet another summary of events, lolx =) Btw, HAPPY BIRTHDAY Liyun!! =)