Shu.: May 2011

Friday, 27 May 2011

(Over)Work.

I've been missing from this space but all for a good reason!

Since I tendered my resignation, I've been handed a good two months worth of work to be cleared in the next three weeks, so that things won't go haywire if they can't find someone suitable to replace me before I join my new company. There are moments when I've been very tempted to complain (whether in my heart or out loud), but God is good and always reminds me of how kind He's been with providing a new opportunity. I'm leaving my current workplace at one of the busiest times for retail businesses too (Great Singapore Sale starts tomorrow!), so it's definitely hard on my boss to miss a staff from the already understaffed office. So, no complains. I shall complete all my work with joy and thankfulness. :)

Thank you all who left such encouraging comments at my last post. I read every one of them (as I slogged in the office) and I'm very thankful indeed. :) I'd gladly reply each one now but I'll have to be up by 3:30am (that's 3 hours from now!) to catch my flight to HONG KONG!

Finally, a break! :D Short but still, I need all the rest I can get.

I've been there some 5 years ago, so I'm pretty excited to see how things have changed. I'll do a post on the best shopping places and eateries when I'm back! :) Any readers from Hong Kong? Please feel free to suggest your favorite haunts! :D

Okays, now time for bed! Yay!

Friday, 20 May 2011

Roller-coaster.

It's been an exciting two days, because:

1. I got rejected from a job application.

2. I got an offer from another job application.

3. My boss counter-offered something even better.

All in two days!

I'm very thankful for all that has come my way. God first humbled me with the initial rejection, and then encouraged me with the subsequent offers, so that through it all I may remember that all good things come from Him and Him alone. It wasn't by my own ability that I got anywhere at all. All wisdom and knowledge comes from God Almighty. He knows what I need and lovingly provides for me.

All that you have comes from God too. Have you thanked Him for the people who love you, for the job that sustains you and for every little joy in life?

One of my favourite psalms from the Bible says:

When I was younger, I thought this verse means that I shall not want the Lord as my Shepherd haha. Very poor language skills I know! But no, it means that the Lord is my Shepherd and because He is taking care of me, I will not be in want, because He will make sure I have all that I need. :)

Here's a song that Ling and I recorded for our parents' day project thats inspired by this lovely verse:

Lyrics here! :)

Are there any of you also facing a dilemma or a difficult situation? Are you going through rough times in life? God can give you peace too, just like how He has given me. He is just a prayer away. :)

---

Thankful for the new opportunities that God has placed in my life, boyfriend and I had a celebratory dinner, Singapore style.

Love having simple fare at traditional hawker centers and old markets. Good food doesn't have to come with big bills. :) Singaporean readers who love fried hokkien mee, you have to give the old Bukit Timah market a visit!

---

Even though it is tempting to stay, seeing how much my boss wants me to stay, and how I've grown to be so comfortable with my current job, I have made up my mind to move on with a heart to learn and grow. Though the new job would be full of challenges and uncertainties, I know wherever I go, God is never far away. He will lead me as I go along. :)

Here's to new beginnings!

Tuesday, 17 May 2011

A Girl Needs to Eat!

Apart from the usual highlights of Saturday, I also ate an unbelievable amount of food this weekend. *looks sadly at protruding tummy*

One of the most satisfying meals was Domino's! :) Oh wonderful lovely creamy cheese paired with succulent chunks of juicy chicken, button mushrooms and onions. My stomach feels empty everytime I think about it. T.T (If you missed my post on our first visit, here it is!)

The small pizzaria smelled so good, it was quite hard to sit still while waiting for the food. :S We distracted ourselves by taking a truckload of photos:

hello! I'm hungy!

A cringe-worthy act cute shot muahaahahaha

Meet Wini. She's very shy.

Revenge! While Ling looks bored.

One can only take so many self shots. Wini started giving out random instructions.

"You're amazed!"

"You think Wini's pretty."

I'll leave you to guess what this is.

10 minutes and 40 photos later (I kid you not), the food came! Tummy almost went mad from the sight.

We scarfed everything down in 20 minutes (I know, must've looked ugly) and everything was awesome. The whole eating experience was punctuated with gushing raves in between bites.

- chomp chomp - "oh man this is just - chomp - too good!" - chomp chomp swallow -

If I had ten thumbs, all of 'em would be up.

Now I'm hungry. ROARS!

Saturday, 14 May 2011

What happened to my Happy Date?

My last post (titled Happy Date!) is gone! I've been wanting to reply the sweet comments some of you guys left but blogger has been down since forever ago and now the whole post has gone missing along with the comments. T.T

Blogger guys, bring it back please! It was a lovely date and I would like to remember it well, thank you very much!

Anyone else lost your most recent posts? :(

*Update: Post is back but comments are not! :O

*Update 2: Anyone also having trouble uploading pics? I have a long post on the great weekend comin' up so stay tuned till Blogger is completely healed of the bugs! :)

Thursday, 12 May 2011

Happy Date!

It's been a long time since boyfriend and I had time for a day-long date. The last time was... I don't even remember!

Ever since I stepped out of university and into the work life, it was goodbye to the precious fun-from-breakfast-to-dinner dates and hello to just-dinner dates. Now that he is out of university and into the noble (but undeniably sad) life of a teacher (who has to climb out of bed at 5:30am from Mondays to Fridays), it is "noooooooooo it can't be!" to dinner-while-trying-to-stay-awake dates.

Yay for work life.

But seriously, besides this little shortcoming of a full-time career, I am enjoying work much, much more than schooling. I'd gladly write a report than study 24/7 for an exam any day. (All those who scared me with the horror stories of employment while I was approaching graduation, thank you very much for the unnecessary nightmares.)

Anyways, back to our happy date! :) I took a day of leave on this precious day that he doesn't have to work.

He smiled through the hot, hot day. He smiled even when our breakfast became lunch. (Yes I overslept sobs.) He kept smiling even while I shopped all around the mall. (He takes an average of 2 minutes to buy whatever he needs at any store.) He offered his opinion on the dress that I liked. (Never happened before, first time ever!) And he waited patiently at Starbucks with all our stuff while I had to run some last-minute errands.

Besides all the smiling, I recall lots of laughs too. :)

yes he closed those eyes on purpose -.- there's a little boy trapped in that man.

I prayed and prayed for a happy date to remember. Thank God and thank you boyfriend! :)

Tuesday, 10 May 2011

A Letter To My Sister and All Mothers.

*The elder sister, that is Sen, not Ling, whom you guys know.
*Matthew is my sister's son aka my nephew.

Hello Big Sister!

I feel compelled to write you a letter because Matthew just called me and said that he couldn't sleep the whole night because of his upcoming exams. I prayed with him over the phone.

I love your family and I love you and so I feel I must speak out against the direction which you are all headed.

I know I am not qualified to give any parenting tips for obvious reasons. But as a sister in Christ, I want to tell you that God is. He loves you and your family more than anyone else and wants to free you from all your burdens.

"31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:31-33)

You love Matthew and worry for his future. Does God not love him more than you? Will He abandon your child because he is not achieving school expectations? Will He not provide for his needs because he does not do well enough in school? God knows what he needs and He will provide them. The burden is not yours alone.

"28 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)

God is in control of all things - how well your son learns, how well he expresses, how well he does in school. Your friends who do not know God do not know this, and so they run around anxiously, looking for answers at the wrong places - tuition centres, assessment books, motivational seminars etc. You don't have to follow their lead. Commit everything that is out of your control to God and rest in Him. Then you can have peace and sit back and watch Him work in your family. I assure you that no tuition centre can bring such peace. They only add to your burden and anxiety.

God is the best person to go for parenting tips. Have you asked Him how He wants you to bring up your children? Just as He loves your children, He loves you. Will He not provide you the strength and wisdom to lead the family if you ask Him? He will gladly use you to do great things in the lives of your husband and children.

Lastly, "Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?" (Matthew 6:25b) Are Matthew's results the most important thing that determines his life? Is your children's success the most important ting that determines yours?

This is a prophecy yet to be fulfilled in the Bible -

" 1 See, the LORD is going to lay waste the earth
and devastate it;
he will ruin its face
and scatter its inhabitants—
2 it will be the same
for priest as for people,
for the master as for his servant,
for the mistress as for her servant,
for seller as for buyer,
for borrower as for lender,
for debtor as for creditor.
3 The earth will be completely laid waste
and totally plundered.
The LORD has spoken this word." (Isaiah 24:1-3)

Smart or not, successful or not, we must all face and be accountable to God at the end of time. Is your family's faith not more important than worldly success? Ask God what He wants for your life and your family's. He will answer you with love.

I have been praying unceasingly for your family. Join me in prayer! God is good and He listens.

Lots of love,
Your Little Sis.

---

To all other mummies out there:

I don't mean to offend anyone with my letter. I do not want to trivialize the stress of being a Singaporean mother, whose children has to compete hard in the flawed education system. I acknowledge the difficulties and pains of motherhood. I long for the joy of it as well. It is a noble and beautiful task. And for that, I pray that this letter would bring you to God, for He is love and the only source of peace. May He bless you and your family abundantly.

Love,
Shu.

Monday, 9 May 2011

Pain and Politics.

I am here to eat my words. My new shoes from Aldo are too high. My swollen right heel is proof. *glum*

For those who missed my post on my problem with heels, here it is.

I must admit I'm very lousy at getting comfy shoes. Why do they always make your feet feel good in the stores?!

Anyone who thinks yourself as a shoe shopping guru, please enlighten me. :(

---

Anyways, its been a very busy, yet very enjoyable weekend. First off, I must say -

Happy Mum's Day to all mummies! You have the noblest job in the world. You deserve to celebrate.

(That brownie cake was totally yummy by the way. One of the rare cakes that both looks and tastes good!)

Besides the Mother's Day celebrations, Singaporeans have also sat through a nail-biting experience on Saturday night through dusk - the results of our General Elections 2011. Some celebrate the outcome and others cry. But through it all, I believe we have all grown as a country in political literacy. We have come to understand how our government truly governs life of all citizens, and how our one vote weighs a ton.

As we all participated in the political debate, both offline and online, I was inspired by many and very upset by some. It wasn't those who supported the other party who traumatized me, but rather, those who 1) made loud and totally skewed arguments based on ignorance and lack of knowledge (for example, in my humble opinion: Xiaxue), 2) casted their votes flippantly (aka was too lazy to read up on news and thus flipped a coin to decide the future of Singapore. Don't laugh at this ridiculous proposition, because I DO HAVE A FRIEND WHO DID JUST THIS.)

Your vote impacts the lives of everyone in the nation. Please (please!) do your homework on all parties before making your decision. You have the next 5 years to do that, so do it well!

I shall end off with a tribute to The man who loves Singapore, Mr. Chaim See Tong of SPP.

Sir, your battle was well fought. While the others earned votes, you earned respect, love and trust. Thank you for dedicating your life and energy to our country and all who live in it. Singapore loves you too.

Onward Singapore,
Shu.

Saturday, 7 May 2011

A Day in Black, Pink and Frustration.

Here's one of my favourite work dresses; A black dress with hot pink trimmings and a lush full skirt - paired with a multi-coloured skinny woven belt. Got it while spreeing in Bangkok last year!

Love the scrunched up pleats!

Come follow me to work!

Clomp clomp clomp.

Speaking of work, I've had a really bad day. Here are the list of things that went wrong:

Woke up with an elephant-sized zit on my left cheek
Faced an elephant-sized pile of work
Forgot an important deadline (!)
Got assigned to collect a poster from our printer and drop it off at one of our stores after work, which pretty much meant overtime
Left office and walked the arduous journey out to the main road, all ready to hop on a cab, when I got a call from our printer that she did not receive the file to print!
Walked all the way back to the office, turned on the pc, saved the file in my hard drive
Called and begged printer lady to wait for me as its already near their closing time
Waited an eternity for a cab
Traffic jam! Waited an eternity in the cab.
Got to the printer's, waited another 30 minutes for the print
Hailed and got rejected by 3 different cab drivers because they have their own itineraries in mind
Got to church band practice 1.5 hours late!

Yet, amidst bad circumstances, there are always things to give thanks for:

Boyfriend offered kind words and a lot of comfort.
Printer lady very kindly waited for me and served me with patience even beyond opening hours
Got onto a cab with a wonderful cab driver who agreed to wait for me while I run off to drop the poster, with the possibility of not ever returning (but I returned of course! One good turn deserves another.)
Was greeted with a lot of love and concern once I got to church for the practice - a big thank you to all my lovely bandmates!
Enjoyed an hour of worshipping as we practiced.
Ended the day with a wonderful dinner cum supper with boyfriend and Ling.

All thanksgivings to God Almighty, who is in control at all times.

Anyone else had a bad day? Big hug for you! Smileeeee!! :):):)

Friday, 6 May 2011

Romance in the Hands of God.

Feeling sort of bummed out and poetic today, so this shall be more of a thoughtful post than the usual noisy ones with all the exclamations marks haha. :)

"No man is an island!" was my primary school teacher's response to my journal entry about feeling left out among my friends.

It remained just a fancy phrase to me until I read that this was how God intended things to be, right at the beginning.

The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." - Genesis, 2:18

Then, God went on to create animals and more people. :)

Deep inside we all yearn for attention, for recognition, and for love. That's how we are created to be.

(Of course, God's love is sufficient to fill all emptiness in us, as we are ultimately created to worship. There's a long explanation of how these work out in God's plan but that'll take up a whole other post!)

In my life, I've always been dependent (in varying degrees) on different people, at different times of my life.

When I was young, it was my mother. I remember how terribly sad I felt when the time came for me to walk myself to school, without her holding my hand. I would set out into the dark, barely-breaking dawn with my unreasonably heavy school bag and feel so bad for myself.

A little later, my attention turned to friends. Suddenly, I didn't feel like staying at home all the time anymore. I want to be out with my peers, my confidants who could relate to my every problem.

That lasted till the first taste of betrayal came. Back to family I go! These are the people who would love me to end.

That still remains :), only now there's a new person involved.

He's sort of family, yet not really there yet. He relates with the understanding of a friend and the love of a family. How wonderful the feeling, to have found someone who would hold my hand again, as I brave the darkness of everyday life in this world of weaknesses and temptations.

I bet Adam felt just as great the moment he woke up to see Eve by his side. :)

Who is this special person for you? What have you done to show that he's (or she's) special to you?

It was God who placed him (or her) right there beside you. Have you given thanks for such a lovely gift?

You are loved. Rejoice. :)

Peace,
Shu.

P.S. In case you're in the mood for some music, here's a lovely song that makes me cry on such days. A perfect song for weddings.

Thursday, 5 May 2011

Comment to your heart's content.

A big, giant, humongantic thank you to Claire of Spinning-threads.blogspot.com for dropping me a mail on my faulty comment box!

I've fixed it (okay actually I only changed the placement of a tick in blogger) and its now working fine! :)

So, as the title suggests~ fire away!

Would you miss me?

That's a banned question in my relationship, because I used to ask it 20 times a day, to the point that he feels he can't answer it with sincerity anymore.

I felt another bout of PMS-y emotions on the bus ride home. Before he got off the bus, I asked despite the ban, "Would you miss me?"

- Time paused -

- I prayed for an answer that wouldn't make me feel worse -

"I always do."

Wednesday, 4 May 2011

Worthy of a Song.

Owww ate too much. PMS still going on!

Anyhow, as promised, I shall take some of my lunch time (I know its late sobs. Citi isn't the only company that never sleeps.) to post one of the songs that Ling and I recorded for our parents for Mother's Day. We thought it wouldn't be nice to just sing for mum so we're including our father in this too! :) You can read up a little more on the project here.

We were too concerned about working first during the recording that we didn't care much about photos. Still, I managed to take these:

Ling, who was very shy to sing in front of John for the first time haha.

And here's John. Thank you kind sir!

We did 8 songs in 5 hours! I wished we had more time to re-record all the flat notes (sobs) and adjust the volumes of various tracks but John (who offered his recording system for free!) was already kind enough to sit 5 hours with us for nothing.

I'll put up all the songs up on youtube in due time, but for starters, here's the first one:

Still

By Hillsong

Hide me now

Under your wings

Cover me

within your mighty hand

When the oceans rise and thunders roar

I will soar with you above the storm

Father you are king over the flood

I will be still and know you are God

Find rest my soul

In Christ alone

Know his power

In quietness and trust

When the oceans rise and thunders roar

I will soar with you above the storm

Father you are king over the flood

I will be still and know you are God

May this song bless my parents and all others who hear it, including you. :)

And may God be pleased! :)

Enjoy!

Tuesday, 3 May 2011

Drape and Pouf.

It's such a sleepy Tuesday. Even my boss went home early because she almost dozed off on her desk! No such privilege for a mere employee though. Sniffs.

Since there's still a little bit of time before I have to leave for bible study, let's take some time to post some recent outfit pics:

Long sleeves for a gloomy Monday.

Absolutely love those drapes!

My office look today - structured zipper dress with a oversized cardi with pouf sleeves.

Got the top from Amber Avenue and Cardi from MDS Collections. :) Local readers, search the side bar on the right for more yummy online shops!

Okays have to run! Have a nice evening you guys! :)

P.S. I'll try to put up at least one recording tomorrow! :)

Sunday, 1 May 2011

PMS, Boyfriend and Song Recordings.

I've been eating like a pig (cleaning the plate with space for dessert) and feeling ultra sensitive lately. That can only mean one thing - PMS!

I get the worst mood swings when it hits. Ask my boyfriend, he suffered enough to know. Every little thing has the potential to make me sad or/and angry or/and frustrated. He complains about it every 2 days but guys just don't get it that women are victims of the emotional changes as well. :( You try going :( :) :( :) :D :S :( :( :( in just 1 day! It's not fun, I can tell you that much.

This current bout of hormonal change is making me very sensitive about the amount of quality time I have with the above-mentioned guy of my life. Since our last dinner together on Thursday, I've been seeing him in church last evening, group dinner cum supper with many other church mates on last night (first time at Domino's Pizza - it ain't that big in Singapore! - and it was awesome), and group steamboat dinner with (again) many other church mates tonight. In all three occasions, we hung out with different groups and barely had time to actually talk much to each other! :(

On any other day, I would be perfectly fine with it, as I do love hanging out with the church community. But we're talking about PMS here. I was very much craving for some affection!

He left the steamboat dinner while I was in the middle of a game of Bridge, because some of them went for paintball this afternoon and were already half dead by 10pm. My insides sort of shriveled when he announced that he was going home. The conversation with myself went like this:

"I suppose he isn't very bothered by the fact that we haven't spent much time together."

"He must be tired. That's a valid reason!"

"He doesn't care about spending time with me."

"No no he's tired!!"

Back and forth I argued with myself, until he sent a message over while I was on my way home, which said, "Feels like a long time since I talked to my girlfriend properly! Would you be freeee for breakfast tomorrow? :D"

That pretty much ended the argument between me and myself. :)

Thank God that he feels the same way. Thank God that he messaged! :)

Looking forward to breakfast tomorrow. :)

Thank God for him!

---

I didn't join them in paintball today because Ling and I spent 5 hours at John's place for the song recordings! It was great fun. Thank God for good voices today, John's generosity to do this for free and a smooth time of recording!

I'll put up the songs up here soon, so stay tuned! :)

A typical(ly busy) Saturday!

Saturdays are usually busy for me, as my church service, weekly bible study lessons (I teach a group of lovely 16 year olds! :D), weekly cell group meetings (where we meet and share prayer requests and thanksgivings) all fall on the same day!

Most churches have these gatherings on separate days but since a long time ago, my church started lumping it all in one day. No complains, because its really a joy to be among my church mates every Saturday, singing praises to God together and sharing weekly updates.

I finished my lesson planning earlier than usual today (thank God!) so I had time to have lunch with my parents before heading for church! :)

Took some pics in the car as its another cheery sunny day! :)

yes I didn't iron that top. :(

Rosy blush thanks to Benetint!

Mmmm sun!

A rare jeans day. I usually prefer dresses - slip on and go!

hello new shoes!

It was great to have the whole backseat and my parents to myself for a while. :D I remember I used to be very jealous of my little sister when she first came into the family, because there goes my princess status haha. Not anymore now! She's my best friend! :)

Did you have a good Saturday? :)

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Friday, 27 May 2011

(Over)Work.

Friday, 20 May 2011

Roller-coaster.

Tuesday, 17 May 2011

A Girl Needs to Eat!

Saturday, 14 May 2011

What happened to my Happy Date?

Thursday, 12 May 2011

Happy Date!

Tuesday, 10 May 2011

A Letter To My Sister and All Mothers.

Monday, 9 May 2011

Pain and Politics.

Saturday, 7 May 2011

A Day in Black, Pink and Frustration.

Friday, 6 May 2011

Romance in the Hands of God.

Thursday, 5 May 2011

Comment to your heart's content.

Would you miss me?

Wednesday, 4 May 2011

Worthy of a Song.

Tuesday, 3 May 2011

Drape and Pouf.

Sunday, 1 May 2011

PMS, Boyfriend and Song Recordings.

A typical(ly busy) Saturday!

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