UL1000 Part 1

One thing that i love most about my church is how i'm constantly put on the line... constantly out of my comfort zone. When i thought everything's cool, then suddenly it's not! Well it a good way... by God's grace! We were recently challenged to have 1000 people in the adult's Urban Life (UL) for all non-planetshakers goers, its cell group. And my UL has about an average attendance of 50 every meeting which is awesome! Someone even commented once that we were having our UL in a lift! My living room was packed to the maximum when everyone sat down, and as always our butts are "slightly" wider than our feet, my poor living room couldn't contain us! But by God's grace, we managed :)

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Anyway like i was saying about the recent challenge, we pushed ourselves to see the 150 people coming. Marketing and publicities? Giving away 1 Ipod mini, 3 I-Shuffles, 10 Max Brenner Vouchers, 10 Movie tics and heaps more! No one was going to go home empty-handed! We gotta be relevant to our generations... What will attract youths?? IPODS! The amazing thing was how funds just flowed in... When i heard the words, ..."i would like to sponsor..." my eyes just went as round and as big as a gold fish... He provided for our every need.

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The pre-preparation was just a beautiful process to think back now... Though heaps of us were stressed, but we were refreshed... constantly.. at least i was! And the best part, i love it when we have those long car rides checking things off, or having meetings and we just end up diverting... It was great! Everyone was just in a spirit of, GOD-WHATEVER-IT-TAKES! I love that spirit! It's time the young people in this generation, get up from their butts and do whatever it takes!

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I literally wanna be charged for being over-friendly, promoting Christian values, trying to take the gospel to the world, tearing down the College Square

walls of religion...

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And the jury finds me, G-U-I-L-T-Y...

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Whatever it takes...

p/s stay tune for more tomorrow... more pictures and more stories to tell!

Oooo.. who's that?

I know that she's gonna kill me, but consider this my birthday pressie to you!!! PUBLICITY!



Yes to all the guys out there... drooolll... haha!







And no guys, i'm not giving out her number! hah! *wink*

1-2-3-4

I have been completely uninspired after sitting here for hours trying to read my CPA text book which does not make any sense at all... Adding on to that i can't get the sexy sound of Diana Krall out of my head. So come on guys, let's talk about jazz!

I wouldn't completely consider myself as being a jazz conossieur - i don't know when someone's playing a "fat" solo but i do know thankfully, when to clap after every "solo" :) because it was very good or because the one's that look like real "jazz cats" are nodding and doing so. That being said, i would like to be someone who understands jazz - in its discipline and technicality. However, whenever i find, myself saying (or thinking) that, i kick myself for being too much of a purist or a victim of instituionalized music.

Jazz - in its earliest days, had always struck me as music that was in itself free form - a brand of music that was hidden beneath the layers of pop culture, yet not completely seperate from it. Jazz was played, sung and performed whenever the spirit moved you, and was not something that that was measured in scales, sharps or flats. That type of free form jazz and its casual essence was epitomized when i listened to Yvette Johhanson at Bennets' Lane. After waiting for a while for her to come on stage. After finally coming on stage, she looked straight ahead and forgot what piece she was doing, and just turned her back towards us and looked at her band. After getting her cue, she sang a wicked concert. It never really has to be perfect. The thing with Jazz is that it's culture, it's style, it's love, it's personality, it's spirit. It's not something that's learnt - it's felt.

Currently listening to: Diana Krall's live in Paris concert... WICKED!

the port at palazzo 

Palazzo... 

the extravagant Palazzo Versache 

sue anne's first sunset ever! 

and the roller coaster that i had to have heaps of guts to get on! 

a really beautiful picture... 

a matrix stunt show at Movie World 

my favourite restaurant... Hogs Breath... must go! we went there twice by my request obviously! 

the picture totally cracked both of us up!!! My name's on the TV! Anyway, for your information, the heap of photos here are from my Gold Coast trip as i have promised earlier on. 

the view from our hotel room on the 18th floor... weee!!! 

Genuine vs. Counterfeit

How genuine am I? That's the question that frequents my mind... In everything that I do, i constantly ask myself am i me? Being a genuine person is not being spurious or counterfeit; but authentic. When i think of GENUINE, i think of leather! Hahah... Weird isn't it? Well we always hear and see genuine leather, 100% pure leather, the real stuff, the good stuff. (Oooo side point here, i love this 100% leather bag! The poor cows...moo...) I have never in my entire came across someone saying 100% plastic or genuine plastic. Basically, my point is that people tend to place genuine with something of high quality, something worth the association of the word genuine. Genuine tends to be always with the positive. And that is exactly how i wanna lead my life. To be called a GENUINE person! (I reckon that's the greatest compliment ever, to be true to yourself)

Genuine=AUTHENTIC, which simply means: having a claimed and verified origin or authorship; not counterfeit or copied. And when i hear this word authentic, i link it up again with Thai food. There's always a restaurant somewhere in each city which claim that they serve "authentic Thai food". What does it mean? Pretty much that the food is prepared by a genuine, true and real Thai. Not any Tom, Dick or Harry who have already memorized the entire collection of Thai recipes. But rather, someone who has grown up in a culture and environment that foster the sort of aunthenticity towards his skills in cooking Thai food! I believe that when you visit the kitchen, you'll find someone with the name that you can't even pronounce! Some Prongchatpomn or something. But you definitely won't see Jamie Oliver in there! I can't cook Thai food with any culture in it. But i reckon i can whip up a pretty good maggi! :)

Anyway, my point is that being authentic, your life has to be written by the author Himself and not anyone else, sometimes not even ourselves. The Person who created life in the first place. The Person who created the earth and spoke the first few words "Let there be LIGHT". And there was light... The everlasting God, The beginning and the end. With Him writing the pages of your life, will you then be able to live a life to all measures of satisfaction; far above more than you could ever imagine! Do not live your life according to what other s say about you... but rather what God thinks about you! (This comment is deliberately inserted for that special someone)

This is the best part:
Genuine Christianity living is characterized by a simple yet profund desire to please God, and not by the ostentation that is in reality more interested in generating the impression among our peers that we are pleasing God. Tha latter is only temporary satisfaction, nothing eternal of any sort.

You wanna be genuine or a counterfeit?

yes... my voice is now one heck of a husky one...

watched robbie williams' live at the albert hall concert which was flippin' awesome. Reckon that this genre of music really suits me. Indeed he was born to sing broadway.

signing off...

Ewwwww!

The Melbourne weather is practically killing me.

I'm coughing every other minute and every other minute that i'm not coughing, i'm sneezing.

My nose is as red as a reindeer...

And Borders just chooses today to have its "20%off-all books-students-teachers-discount! Just when the weather sucks and i'm sick...

I need to get the book Gilead! Eventhough i have bought 8 books in the past 1 month.

I feel that my grasp of the English language is decreasing due to a lack of T-I-M-E.

And any resemblance of my "witty" conversations disguised as intelligence has been winding down.

I miss the times where i just sat on my bed and read and read and read.

So, i'm a sick girl without much brains to be interesting!

I need my book!

And

My medicine!

And

My precious sleep!

Currently reading: The life of Pi (but obviously it's at a 10km/h)
Currently listening to: Evermore by Planetshakers

p/s and yes people, i have the EVERMORE album!! It's gorgeous just to be able to sing the songs that you sing at church in the comfort of your room on my iM3.

Leaving footprints

The lack of activity on this blog is due to the fact that i've been buried deep in work. Not office work mind you but database work for church. My life has been a mixture of blissfulness and misery. I sincerely thank God that i have the opportunity in experiencing both spectrums of emotions that carve our emotions intellect.

In the past one week i have lost a very dear member of my family. Grandma. I ache not seeing her again. Not tasting the home-made popiah that she makes for me everytime i'm home for the summer holidays. Not being able to clutch in my hands the red-packets that was generously given to me every chinese new year and on my birthdays. Right at this point, i can't possibly express how i feel... Perhaps later when i get myself together. However, my younger sister wrote something absolutely beautiful on her blog as a dedication and celebration of her life. Here goes...

As i drifted further from Taiping

I knew it had really ended

You have really gone to heaven

How i wished i had dialled 05-8073812 more often

Now as i dial it on my hp yr name appears and it saddenes me that u wont be the one on the other side

The next time i step into that huge old house

You will not been seen

Going into the kitchen

Lying on yr huge old bed

Going up the stairs of old house

Having dinner with the nosie of the cars passing through 319 Jalan Kota

All i see are only memories of u but not u

But where have u been

In heaven i know

But how i wish i could

Bring u down n hug u

Bring u down n kiss u

Bring u down n say ''ah ma wa sayang lu'' again

Life will never be the same without u

The Chuah family will be different without u

Every CNY u wont be there

The chang that u did

The popiah u made

The mee ku u made

The otak2 u cooked

How i wished i had savoured and appreciate it more

But it is now all gone...all gone together with u

i miss u so much

the thought of never seeing u walking n moving n talking

Makes me want to jus sit and cry

Its only now i know how great u r

How u learnt chinese though u were illiterate

how u always unfaillingly remembered my birthday

How u gave to so much

How u helped without boasting

How u gave to the poor the helpless

Quietly and silently a little old lady like u

A women that seems small and frail

But is actually a giant and heroin to all of us

A women with inner power i will call u

When i look through the glass of the coffin

I see that smile once again

And all i want to do is to spend my remaining time standing there

The greatest joy i had was just to be near and around yr coffin

Cause it reminds me of u and it makes me feel as though u r still near

But reality sinks in

I will never see u again

Ah ma how much i miss u'

I know u r enjoying heaven and reaping yr rewards

Thousands came to pay their last respect to u

Even the greatest gangster head in Taiping wept

Many came to testified how u toiled n helped

How u raised yr children when ah gong was paralyzed

How u have to raise 7 children in poverty under greatgrandmother

All that u have yr listening ear

The money u have

The heart u have

U gave it all away

U will always be in my heart

I will always capture the moments i have with u

And carve it deeply in my heart

i miss u and cherish u n love u ah ma

Now u have 7 children with 4 daughter in laws and 2 son in laws15 grandchildren 3 grandchildren in law and 3 great grandchildren

But at that fateful night of 28 July 2005

As i was busy with my economics project

U were there gasping for air and dark brown blood flowed out

And at last God decided that he wants u back home'

Exactly at 10:20pm u gave yr last breath

Shouts of cries were heard

And ah ma u left all of us that night

Leaving behind yr legacy of honour

28th of July ,i will always remember this day

AH ma...till we meet again in heaven

Yes a ma.. till i see you again...

I love you and cherish you...