ruth

gwennie came over today and dong showed both of us this new game which he got from joel lee. he was quite excited about it because he found it really cute. it's called Plants vs Zombies.
haha can imagine right. *rolls eyes. such a boy.
anyway i had to leave for class so i left the two in my apartment.
when i came back dong was still shooting peas at zombies.

i went for housechurch today. (first time ever) and we did the book of ruth.
ruth really knows what loyalty is man. it's really amazing to read about how through her loyalty and faithfulness, obedience and sacrifice, God blessed her so much and restored her. From becoming barren to having a son (from whose line king David was born), from being a widow to having someone who loved her, protected her and provided for her. good stuff. aunty kat also shared with us about how God provided for her when she was looking for a house all by herself, not knowing where to start, and without a husband to discuss it with.

i must say, God truly provides for those who trust in Him.
and in our society where people trust their own hands more than anything else, it is not easy to trust in someone you can't see or touch.

flawless flourless chocolate cake

Another colourful day to blog about. I ran 3.7 km on the threadmill this morning with an aching limbs. Yesterday’s touch rugby took a toll on my unfit body. Can i just say – even though i found touch rug really fun, i haven’t fully understood the game yet.

i met up for lunch with su mei today and we had a really good conversation, (yay to heart to heart talk) though our time was cut short when dong suddenly popped by my place.

dong and i talked about quite a few things as well. rahhhh! i really like conversations that make my brain work in the non-mathematical way. haha don't try talking to me about maths.. or stats.. or gah.. don't talk to me about stuff my textbook talks to me about.

we talked till my alarm rang and i had to head for my accounting lecture where i struggled to stay awake. you know how week 1 lectures are - they just talk about study techniques. it's the same thing every semester (so far).

well! on my way home i felt quite tired. i just felt like kicking back with a chai latte. i think that's really becoming a comfort food type drink for me. so i gave nick a call, went home, had dinner then picked him up from his place. we walked to the city onto degraves lane to this cafe called "The Quarter". they have the most amazing flourless chocolate cake. i wouldn't say the chai was fantasitc, but man. the chocolate cake was JUST. SO. GOOD.

when dong's finally done with being busy with ocf, i need to steal him away from studying law for an evening to check that place out - even though he's not the biggest fan of chocolate.

nick and i had so much to talk about as well. i hadn't seen him since holidays started. it was a good catch up - he often has many interesting views and opinions on issues. good talking to him. haha, we walked over to fed square (cause he wanted to) and it looked so pretty. from far the lights looked like stars, and when you're under the lights, it feels like you're covered by a black sheet, even though the only thing you see when you look up is the night sky.

10/10 day. woohoo. three days in a row! i'm gonna shower and get some studying done now. heh.

stretch 'em!

i ran 2.4km yesterday morning as well as this morning.
so unfit. my muscles are aching.
i havent exercised for about 4 months now.
which is why i've decided to check out melbourne uni's touch rug club! :D
i went for my first training today and i enjoyed it a lot!
it's pretty good fun.

yongshen and i cooked lunch at his place today. or rather, HE cooked. i chopped the garlic and onion. totally explains why it tasted pretty good, im glad i didn't help with the cooking. haha. tsk! i keep telling myself that i need to learn to cook! ( i bought chicken today!!)

we had a good chat.

i think conversations like this (and like the one i had with eej yesterday) make my day. yes, im a sucker for good conversations - even though i may not be the best at holding one with a new friend.

pleasure of spending part 2 (or rather, continued)

prior to typing up yesterday's blog entry, i was browsing through the blog of a friend's friend. almost everything in it pointed to her love for shopping, and pink.

there's something pleasurable about spending money isn't there?
(not entirely true, i reckon)

i know many people who think wealth an important factor in happiness. and i'm starting to wonder how happy i'd be if i were to live a simple life. maybe i should try that, ey?

ok, thursday morning > grocery shopping and stock up food for next week. i'll try to live the week with just ten bucks on me. i'll see how far i can go.

(or maybe i'l just end up not following through on this plan. haha)

pleasure of spending

i did quite a few things i enjoy doing today.

for one, i took my time in the shower - something i don't often do because i have no time, and because melbourne's got a drought. oh and i have to pay my water bills. haha.

i visited a new cafe (big harvest - i've always walked past it on the way to school from palmerston, but never went in). i had brunch there with eeejen and we had a very good conversation which had to end because we both had class to attend at 1.
it's a pretty cosy place, where people sit on crates outside. it was too cold, so we sat inside.

i bought earrings! dont tell dong. haha. aiyah, he's gonna find out anyway. they were on sale. 3 pairs for 4 plus bucks.

i sat beside a nice girl called jasmine in the pbl lecture. she came over from england 4 years ago. principles of business law lecture was pretty good. i like the lecturer.

aimee came over for milo after lecture.

rahh. gtg someone's waiting!

bursting

my eyelids are becoming heavy, but something inside me wants to burst out and change the world.
haha. right now i feel like i've got so many ideas and perspectives of various things that im just afraid that once i try writing them down they'd disappear and i'd forget them before recording them in words. speaking to tim on so many mornings over the past month has taught me quite a bit. i daren't say i remember everything we talked about, but i feel that not a single morning spent with him was wasted. im really happy i got the opportunity to have that time with him, as well as get to know people like brian chee, winston and chris better.

friday was a rather special day because it felt like i was out there trying quite a lot of new things.
it started with a good study of ephesians with tim, ann and chris. afterwhich i went to run an errand before meeting junming at his place. from there we spent 30-40 minutes on the road, finding our way to the obscure place of thomastown to get my hi-fi set fixed. really thankful that junming so kindly offered to drive me down (or i wouldve gotten lost). actually, jon lee volunteered him. haha. the both of us had lunch as malaymas on st georges.
best prawn noodles i've had in melbourne. well actually, the ONLY time i've ever had prawn noodles in melbourne. :D it was pretty good stuff.

that was my second time in malaymas. the first time i was there, i didn't know it was called malaymas - so i'd always had the impresion that i'd never been to the famous malaymas before.
the moment i stepped in, i recognised it as the place daryl took mandy and me last year, probably when i was still 16. i was very fond of daryl, he was just like a big brother i never had. as i sat down with jun ming i told him that the last time i ate there, daryl had told mandy and me that if any guy were to have the intention of dating either of us, the guy would have to first talk to daryl. protective older brother. haha. good times.

things feel slightly different now, that we no longer hang out as much, he's so busy with his work, and he's got new commitments and interests (and so do i). haha mandy's still the same (though im not sure how long more before one of us move outta the cellgroup). :)

anyway, that night, i took over paik jin and compered for the night. compering's not something totally new to me, but doing it in ocf is definitely something different - from the crowd dynamics to the purpose of the night's program. it was a good experience.

there were new people in our cellgroup. we combined with pauline's group because many of the people in our group were MIA. it turn out quite well and i guess the best part for me, was to see that fabian, jack daniel, evelyn and clarina seemed pretty comfortably welcomed.

a cellgroup get together was arranged for last night as well because yongshen had missed out on our cell dinner and ocf the previous night. we all headed to kokoblack - including jack and son, another new face. son's a really interesting guy, i really enjoy talking to him, or even WATCHING him talk to other people and listening to what he says. haha. i hope it doesn't sound like im in love. well i AM in love, just not with him. LOL.

son made me realise how different everyone in the cellgroup is. seeing this difference made me feel like we've got even more potential to grow - not in numbers, but grow together, grow deeper in our relationships. i know i face certain challenges within the cellgroup, and i know that even though i really want to learn to embrace the differences we have as individuals, it is difficult. not impossible though. it's definitly one thing i wanna try doing this sememster.

haha. so i'm in my final hour of my mid year holidays. tmr is the start of a new semester. haha, i hope it's gonna be different. in a good way.

shoot me

it was clubs and societies day today so there were many booths at uni.
i found myself at a booth talking to a girl who didn't seem like she wanted to talk to me very much, even though she was the one who approached me to ask if i wanted to sign a petition to advocate same-sex marriage.

after talking to her i felt like i'd just been shot with a dozen mental expletives.
felt terrible.

J.

i met J at coffee ministry.
we're very different people.
we value things very differently.
i believe in God.
she depends on science.
we had a very enjoyable 3-hour long catch up today.
a pity she's going back to china so soon.
but i really hope she'll be happy where she is goes, and keep discovering new things.

she brought up a point that i agree a lot with - that in a relationship, it's important to have the same beliefs, otherwise there will be rather major conflicts.

if i didn't have someone i can journey with, i think i'd be settling for less.

warm chai on a cold and rainy day

told caleb mum and ching i had a belly piercing just to see how they would react. it's just another on my ear luh. but mummy was going to tell me off for it until i told her why i got it.

yetty and i went for brunch after i did some chalking with the ocfers. we ate at this cafe at brunswick - don't know what it's called. i ate something which i didn't have the name to. i just called it "the flat thing" when i ordered it. haha. i reckon it's a pretty good place for sandwiches and wraps (and other things like that) because it was reasonably packed with people who looked like they knew their food well. they didn't serve chai though, so yetty and i headed to animal orchestra on grattan street. that's where the picture was taken. we talked for ages in the car too. excellent stuff. got him thinking, got me thinking. love this sorta conversation.

tim taught us how to do sentence flows with ephesians today. it was really interesting. i've just completed sentence flows for chapter 2. i'm beginning to like ephesians. *nods. i'm starting to think that there's a fair bit of it i'd like to dissect and learn from. :D

anyway, it's about time to look for a house for next year. i wanna move out. ann seems pretty keen to move in with me. yayness.

pink lollies and cookie crumbs

one of eddie's cooking experiments. huge eh?

this is the final week of my month-long holiday.
over the past few weeks, i've been strangely occupied with random things to do, and no particular agenda.
here's just a list of things i did: meeting up with tim almost every morning, i just cleaned my toilet (yay!), Went to the dandenongs with aimee and Bronwyn

we found a picnic spot in the middle of the forest

took pictures with animals!

you can tell im a tad terrified of the pretty bird.

Went to the dandenongs with tiff and co and mandy (i didn't get pictures though.)
Watched run lola run, Madagascar, American gangsters, and the longest yard and the fall with dong
Watched haunting in Connecticut, prestige, them and lord of war at Kensington
Watched a lot of gossip girl
Got a piercing
Went shopping at harbour town twice, dfo once, city a couple of times? Don’t remember.

i drew a map of how to get from my place to the salvos store but we didn't use it much because dong looked at it and remembered the route.

Went treasure hunting at a salvos store with dong. he brought me a surprise! debs baked yummy muffins! :D
Went for brunch with mark at babka’s again, and to the crown, walking through the city with the ukulele.
Melbourne open house with dong which i didn't find very interesting, but he enjoyed it. i enjoyed walking around with him more than checking out the historical buildings and architecture.
Watched the hangover at the cinema with an entire row of friends
Went for amy’s 21st
Planned dong’s birthday, made his card, made his video, shopped for his present i found an asian willy wonka at Meat&Wine Company.

Shopped for dong’s present and lyncia’s cake with Jason
Knitted
Cut sticky’s hair
Tracy’s birthday with tiff's mum's cooking!
Met orientation group
Typed up resume
dimsum Lunch at yumcha
planned orientation night program
covered kyle's room in aluminium foil

mirasol and i with the ukulele at federation square

hmm. i wasn't too occupied. everything went at a good pace. the past couple of days have been quieter.

i tried to change a lightbulb yesterday. i had to go down to ask the receptionist if i could borrow a scewdriver but they said they ddin't have any. but fortunately, i bumped into one of the guys on the maintenance crew who was extremely kind and stopped his lightfixing to look for one for me. haha. somehow that made me really happy and excited! it was the highlight of my day i reckon. not because i managed to get a screwdriver, but the fact that he was so keen to help. i saw him this morning as i was rushing out to meet tim and chris. now, saying hi is quite different. :)

i'm reminded of how gwen always makes it a point to make eye contact with people in the seminar room when she walks past the glass boundaries on the way to her apartment. she once told me that she didn't like it when people just walk past as though there's no one there and they can't see anyone.

do you reckon people don't smile at/greet each other very much because they can't be bothered? or because they're afraid of what the other person might think? or because they think they're better than the other person? or because of something else?

i don't know. haha it'd be interesting to do an experiment on this though. smile at someone and sees what happens.

oh! i smiled at this guy at cafe crema today as i came in and he went "hey, how're you going?" as australians usually do. RAHH! i was a little afraid and unsure of what to say so i just replied with a "good thank you!" and picked up a magazine to read. sian. it's cause of people like me reacting the way i did that people start feeling self-conscious and stop themselves from saying hello.

i've been trying to recall where this spanish-owned cafe is. i made mark sing to the lady (he was sooo embarrassed. haha.) by the end of the song, there were 3 other people standing there watching him. i had no idea what they said cause they all conversed in spanish.

it's strange though. because on one hand, i can be quite unsure and self-conscious, and clamming up (like how i did this morning). but on the other hand, i can just strike up a conversation with a random person and keep talking. to be honest, i realy enjoy random conversations with random people. the best ones go beyond (or do not involve) "what do you study? where do you study? what do you wanna do when you graduate?". haha. that's the way a conversation susually goes when i meet someone new. bores me to the core. it's not like they really care about what i do, or will remember what i'm studying the next time we meet (if we ever see each other again).

over the holidays, i've had random conversations with a kind old man and two old ladies (we talked about the 9million dollar lottery), an indian student who was giving out flyers (i got quite upset when she told me how low she was being paid), an aerospace engineer at borders (we talked about what we think the most important thing in life is) and an old morman man who talked to me about his beliefs (very encouraging to see his passion).

im excited! i just called jennifer to arrange to go for coffee together this week!
busy busy busy. i had brunch with john al len at babka's today. i think that's my favourite place. i really have to take dong there one day (problem is - he can't wake up!). watching harry potter with mandy kyle dong and jason this evening.

doing ehpisians with tim and ann tmr morning, then kicking back with yeti before junming and i head to thomas town to get my hi fi fixed. the dinner with the cell after.

thu - clubs and society day at melbourne uni! gonna have to prepare with the orientation team. then meeting jennifer after.

run errands plus ocf on friday.

and i still need to clean up my apartment before uni starts or i'l have no time!

willy dongka?