Path to A New Adventure

I'm going to give it a shot.

After I decide on Friday, if it's a green signal from God, I will book us Engage Encounter sessions at my Parish.

I can't believe that I'm actually going through this route. I'm going to talk to mum soon.

I guess it'll be this year.

On my birthday.


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Meatless & Weird Stuff

I went meat-less today, and might continue tomorrow too.

We'll see what happens :)

So I was thinking I might actually finally donate blood. Got kinda excited when I saw this poster:




So let's see, I might actually do it.

---

I'm very weirded out lately actually, i'm beginning to think that I have 'Marry Me' post-its on my forehead, or something.

Ok I'm not complaining, it's a huge compliment to have stable, nice men gauging that I'm a good woman to marry, and it's exciting, whisking me to a new level of adventure, but maybe, just maybe, I need to talk with myself how these things will be on me in a long run.

---

Bestie says I've to think properly, and actually make the effort to size them up and so I can see if I can 'consider to consider' proposals.

{Like I don't know that}

Maybe I'm just held up by things that I don't show much interest.

I just need time to get back to my original perspectives.

For now, I'm going to smile and play coy like I always do. And, play stupid to all matters as these.

I don't know why I can't take these things seriously. Tho deep down I may know the root to these.

Maybe, its cos I been in immature relationships that leads nowhere near solid prospects of marriage. And of course, I guess it might be just me too.

---

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Lord's Second Coming

I just came from a movie with Azmi, No Strings Attached, and we walked home from eHub.

{Will give a short review on the movie in the next posts to come}

Anyway, as we walked back to my place, and he was busy texting his girl friend, words and tune just entered my head and it started with -

"The whole world will bow down before you, as you walk with us again.

The while earth will pay homage to you O my King"

And then I continued, having the tune and the words overflowing continuously till I actually completed a song - a ballad on the Lord's Second Coming.

I could see it being played this year's advent.

The lyrics are as follows:

The whole world will bow down before you
As you walk with us again
The whole earth will pay homage to you O my King
Up ahead they will see a bright light in their midst

So come O our King
Walk amongst us we pray
As you come let us see your face
Once again

Fill us with your presence,
Empower us all

The whole world will bow down before you
As you walk with us again
The whole earth will pay homage to you O my King
Up ahead they will see a white light in their midst

O Lord please forgive our trespasses we pray
Shine on us your light once again

Fill us with your presence,
Empower us all

For the world will bow down before you as you come
Teach us, lead us
Remain... With us
Lord forgive us our sins

For the world will bow down before you as you come
Teach us, lead us
Remain... With us
Lord please forgive us our sins

End of Song.

I'm proud of it, should show it to my musician friends and they can pair it with their instruments.

I'm really happy that God blesses me with talents for words and be an instrument for him.

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Birthday Bloated

Happy birthday to my dears father and cousin, Azmi.












After work I met up with them at East Coast Food Village.






It was a chore looking for seats that would fit 8 Adults, 2 Teens and 1 Child.

And to all who've been there, you would know how difficult it is to get a proper seat. But thank God we got a big ans comfortable place to sit at.

Initial plan would have been at Swissotel or at our new family favorite restaurant at Downtown East, Magic Wok. But cos Father's mum and siblings came so we have to "spend less".

It was fun tho. We spend so much on food, but thank God nothing was wasted.






{too much food}








{but more to come}







The food was awesome nevertheless. I guess this was one of the best place to have birthday dinner cos it's cheap but wonderful. Thank God for His great providence.

--

Azmi and I stole some time to ourselves, but ended up at Mana Mana area and it kinda whipped up some memories but the good thing was that I wasn't affected.

It was good memory.

--

Anyway, back to the celebration. I'm seated here after eating Prima Deli's cookies and cream cake that Aunt chose. It was nice!

--

Tomorrow I will be going out with Azmi and spend some cousin times after a long time. We have a lot of things to catch up on!

So tomorrow's movie time! :-)

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My little brother!

It seems only like yesterday that my lil brother is a small cute baby wrapped in baby blankets, and still delicate, and now he's in school direct to nursery 2.

He's becoming a model student. Gauging from his independence I don't see the reason why he isn't.

Love him so much!






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Attraction

Every friendship/relationship started with this - attraction.

Part or the entirety of the person can make you feel attracted, but no, it isn't love.

There's no such thing as 'love at first sight'. Loving the exterior of the person in a second is purely lust. But it definitely can turn to love should you cross the barrier, make contact and initiate friendship.

And ladies, you can initiate. According to a religious speaker at my friend's church, a woman can initiate with the assurance that she's sure her motive is as pure as she should be.

Otherwise, the whole story about Eve offering the deadly apple to Adam will repeat itself in your own life. Thus making both man and woman incur a cursed relationship.

Anyway, back to attraction.

It's that emotion we feel when we see that person, a crush, someone we admire.

Attraction is important, and it can be a one sided affair but of course, the next step to friendship will actually give you enough time to win over your crush into gaining a mutual attraction.

If the attraction is already mutual instantly, don't rush into anything physical. Yes, lust can become an issue even at the point of attraction.

If you want the attraction to last, build it from the foundation of friendship.

Give yourself a period of three to six months to gauge how you feel because what you feel now may differ when you give some time more getting to know your crush.

It might change drastically - from like to dislike, or it'll just make you more convinced that you can see your crush as someone you want to establish a deeper friendship with.

Note to self: Always remember that friendship is the strongest foundation relationships should have.

Next post: Roles of man/woman in relationships.






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How to love your job or any form of work?

To love your work, you gotta love your life.

To love your life, you gotta love yourself.

To love yourself, you gotta love God.

Enough said.


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Chesterton said:

"Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found hard and left untried! More than any other, the exhortation to love one's enemies has been left untried"

Something to share with you from the homily that my Parish Priest gave last Sunday.

I feel it's true that Christianity takes more than just wanting salvation. Itself, I think it's how we accept the Lord's teaching in order to find salvation.

It begins by loving one another as Jesus loves us. There's many people in the world who refuse to accept him as the Savior, when from thousands of years before, His coming has been proclaimed, been written in scriptures and believed by many. But when He arrived, walked amongst us two thousand years ago, and his teaching proved to be hard to swallow, many decide to believe only what appealed and suited to them.

It's like picking at our food.

For me too, I find religion hard to swallow due to the many laws created by The Vatican. But the only way I can hope to be a good Christian is when I come to church with an empty cup, and learn from the authority set before us in a form of a brotherly Priest.

Constantly, Christians need to do their all to learn Christ's teaching, and accept his new set of commandments. And the greatest is Love.

When I think of loving one's enemy and not just our friends, I have always ensure never to bear grudges and make amends with anyone I stepped on. Or at least have peace at heart that I don't have hate in it.

But then Thomas came to mind. I tried to ask and study my conscience for any hate or anger I've kept. I spend my months last year removing hate of him but after just conveniently texting me that he has someone else when I told him I want to fight for him, it hurt me, i think, and it made me wonder now why I wasn't affected then is because I made myself deflect the hurt and accepting it, so thus it turned to hate.

It can't be possible I've stopped loving him, because it's impossible to stop loving someone so fast especially the time of years I spent with him. I don't think people actually stopped loving, it's just that they have conditioned themselves not to feel for the particular person.

Anyway, point is, I think I've to really examine myself for any hate because as long as I don't feel at peace if he hits my head even once in a blue moon, I will not be able to claim my place that I'm a good Christian.

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Marriage Proposal

Sometimes people come to our life and plant an idea there, but that doesn't mean that the person who plant that idea is the one who will be the help God intends for us, to nurture till the plant is full grown, ready to bear fruits.

God uses these 'farmers' to plant that idea for us to prepare ourselves for something that is forthcoming.

I think for me, it's marriage.

Just months back, I said that I will not walk down the aisle and that I will not settle anymore without being completely sure. I never took the idea of marriage seriously, nor actually think that it's something God will want me to think about.

A friend of mine who actually made a proposal for some reason made me open my mind to possibilities of marriage, and now I have reconciled with my fear of love. I'm actually excited to love again!

But of course, like I said it's not necessarily that person who plant the idea in your head the one to be helping you nurture it till the plant is full grown.

So lately, I'm reading and knowing more about love derived from GOD's teaching and ways. I want Him to be the central of my relationship. Of course, it's not easy, so it's good to have a spiritual travel buddy to journey with.

A girlfriend, Gem, actually passed me a Relationship Guide material she got from her church's relationship seminar she attended, and I feel that it's a good start of a guide.

I will share the relationship process in my next post.

For now I will end my post with an advise from a girlfriend, Clara, which I feel that is something I hope God allows me to have, I hope to re-phrase as closely as I can to her spiritual understanding:

"A man and a woman sharing a mutual human love cannot give each other unconditional and sacrificial love, because naturally, humans are selfish. Only with GOD's presence in their life together does human love get perfected. They need God to form that strong bond couples need to share an everlasting love, only GOD's love is everlasting"


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Come to Me, and I will give you rest..

Life is not all that bad, my friend, hmmm
If you believe in yourself
If you believe there's Someone
Who walks through life without you
You'll never be alone
Just learn to reach out,
And open your heart
Lift up hands to God,
And He'll show you the way.

And He said, "Cast your burdens upon Me
Those who are heavily laden,
Come to Me, all of you who are tired
Of carrying heavy loads,
For the yoke I will give you is easy
And My burden is light,
Come to Me and I will give you rest."

When you feel the world
Is tumblin' down on you,
And you have no one
That you can hold on to,
Just face the rising sun
And you'll see hope,
And there's no need to run
Lift up your hands to God,
And He'll make you feel all right.

And He said, "Cast your burdens upon Me
Those who are heavily laden,
Come to Me, all of you who are tired
Of carrying heavy loads,
For the yoke I will give you is easy
And My burden is light,
Come to Me and I will give you rest."



Song by Fred Hammond


Dedicated to the family and loved ones that my Beloved Grandmother left behind.


I love you, granny. Mwahs

Rooms | wanderlust hotel

Rooms | wanderlust hotel

OMG

This

HOTEL

is

AWESOME!

Can't believe it's available here in Singapore.

*hyperventilates*

Happy Valentine's Day 2011

Would like to share with you an interesting website that you may get interesting Valentine’s Day craft/gifts/recipe ideas!

http://www.makeandtakes.com/spotlight

It’s the time of year again,

As friends and lovers unite in turn;

A day much fun celebrated in love,

Brought to you from up above.

Smile and believe there’s one destined,

Rewards of love will come redeemed;

Fret not but smile, fear not but brave it,

Valentine so great you shall have it!

-MJ-

Back to work and more...

Okay, so i was suppose to post about a how-to on Batam in the Harbour Bay district.

I boarded by noon and by 2pm, i'm already at Batam, Indonesia.
It was a fast boat ride, and i was hardly able to catch a shut eye.

When i reached Harbour Bay Amir Hotel, i was tired due to the Batam heat. It was okay.

I reached the Ferry Terminal fine and excited at what i'd experience there, all alone and currently no one to call on should anything happen. The terminal are littered with taxi drivers hoping to get passengers. I walk on knowing that my hotel is only a stone throw away. Indeed i reached in less than 7mins.

I rested for a bit before i decided to head out for dinner and some sightseeing.
Had early dinner at this fast food restaurant, Best Friend Chicken, and had Ayam Penyet..

A BIG NO to those who want to eat at restaurants like that.

Please eat at those street hawkers. They not only taste nicer but it's also much more cheaper.
Spend from 17K on the Batam nasi padang.. It's very nice!

So i contracted a local ojek (biker) to ferry me around places and introduce me to things to see at Batam.
I thought at first that i must be crazy to do it, but he turned out to be with moral and integrity.

I contracted him for two days, he brought me to Tanjung Ma for an overall hill sightseeing, viewing the whole Harbour Bay on the first night and Barelang Bridge on the second day. Nothing much to see really, but it's really nice at night. At the hill, there's this local restaurant that serves superb food.

Also, the place was real windy so it was really really very relaxing.

Headed to my hotel after  dessert and then i spent my night in the bath tub and watching tv.
Being alone is apparently rather enjoyable. This is one of the things i needed before i fully kick started this year.

I mourned for granny again, then i felt that it's okay. She's better off now.

And then i shed tears for my ex boyfriend of almost 3 years too. But that was it.

No regrets nor hopes for ever having to think i'd want him back etc.

Then something still bugged me.

It's that person that's been itching me up for a bit now. I don't know what to do with him actually. Should i respond and go further to his subtle invitations or would it be a disastrous event to go back a time 6 years ago.

Or would it be different this time? I will never know.

Cos i guess i'm never going to venture there. It's better to think that somehow, what little happened with us happened because of the time apart, and maybe a crazy idea to embark on something with the familiar person you know is always there no matter how long and how long the absence is.

Each time however i decided to let it be, something pulls me back to him. Weird eh. I don't know...

Anyway, so i stayed in Batam for 2 nights, and come the 2nd night, i spent it on my bath tub and with TV.

It was good opening and ending my trip with a prayer :)

It made my stay really wonderfully serene and safe, making me see that Batam seems misjudged.
The people there are very friendly.

So now at this moment, i'm back to work.
Work has gotten interesting ever since after the cruise, as i got to know some juicy stuff.

I'm still trying to comprehend and accept the seriousness of what he feels. For a quiet guy who was unnoticed by me for all this time, to eventually be someone who confesses and professes what he wants, it's a very surprising thing.

I guess only lately he had the courage to come out.

At this moment too that i think i should let this one other fish go back to the ocean. I don't like lead ons so it's important for me to be honest that i don't think anything will be possible with this current guy i'm kinda seeing.

Well, i've been transparent that i'm not on exclusive terms with anyone.

So may the best man win.

Finance / Family Advise

I'm not married, in a relationship nor a financier.

But I'd like to share with you a valuable lesson that I wish to keep with regards to family finance.

I was actually thinking about how family usually fails in their finance management.

And for some reason, I came up with a realistic and yet thoroughly idealistic solution;

"A successful family finance depends on the teamwork of ALL its members. Men, it's your responsibility to provide for your family - emotionally, physically, mentally, spiritually and of course, financially. Women, it's your duty to help your man when he can't make ends meet - motivation, support, encouragement, understanding, and yes, financially too. Children, it's your job to avoid spending unnecessarily, and if you're of age, work the weekends to pay off your own habitual expenses."

"Men, it has always was, and always will be, your call to provide for your wife, and family, for everything. And you can never do that if you can't trust her with your life, let alone your money."

"Men, you have to earn for the family, women, you need to use his earning to give your family a home."

"Women, your man cannot do it all on his own. If he has given all he could to give you, and you know that he has always done and he can't say no to any of your expenses, you have to cut him some slacks when he cannot provide more than he can"

"Women, you need to know that just because he's the man of the house, doesn't mean that you have to put ALL of the family expenses on him. If you have the money, use it and elevate his burdens. This is called teamwork."

"Opinions of external members such as parents of the man or woman, aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters, cousins and so forth, should NEVER override the financial understanding of the man and woman"

"Men, if you have habits that pulls at your wallet besides what is necessary and what you can afford, you have to give it up. You're similarly choosing between two things - temporary or permanent happiness. So what will you choose?"

"Women, don't fall prey to overly superficiality of branded items. Yes, buy branded items when you can, or if it's due to occasions. The feeling you feel right after you buy that Gucci or Prada will not be special anymore when it becomes a habit. Same principle to the feeling you get towards a dish you eat everyday for a month, or even just a week"

There's more actually but I'm stopping here. These are just some guidelines I wish to follow through in due respect of the principles I developed as I lay thinking of my friends' first-hand experiences and even my own family's financing issues.

Sometimes, it's not that the money is not enough. It's mostly due to our management. I've seen how I can juggle with $150 and $1500 a month, it can disappear at the same rate / duration if I don't actually pull the reign on my money.

Remember the sayings:

"The higher your income, the higher your expense"

And a very one I coined regarding happiness and contentment:

"You're never happy if your not first contented"

XOXO

CNY Vacation

We got a week's break for Lunar New Year holiday from 2 Feb to 7 Feb. But of course it sucks when 2 days leave is taken from your 14 days entitlement, 2 days is weekends (that you're still entitled to) and since the official public holidays for lunar new year is 2 days, there's nothing really great out of it.

But nevertheless, instead of staying in town experiencing days of Ghost Town madness, I decided to head out to Batan Island, Indonesia. An hour away by sea from SG, to a whole different place one hour backwards time difference.

At first I wanted to head to Penang, Malaysia then decided against that due to the crazy potential traffic situation that CNY crowd will bring. A normal 10-hour coach ride might easily be extended to 15 hours travel time only. Thanks to my Malaysian friends and boss who has gone thru the experience, here I am now waiting for my ferry departure at Vivo City.

I've still two hours to burn before my boarding.

I'm happy that I finalized everything a planned. I'm meant to go! :-)

Within the coming days, I'll post a How-To travel notes to and around Batam, in Harbourbay district.

As of, I'm going to bid you adieu for now! Ciaos.

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