pic taken from jez's note pad, 28th april 2006, written at 10.27am, during public relations lecture, H-building lecture hall of UNISA magill campus.

my final teen year!

My cheeks hurt, my head is gonna explode, my eyes are burning….BUT I’m so darn happy!!!! This is my 1st birthday in a foreign land....being away from home, family, friends and relatives. Which now made me realize how much I’m being loved by the people around and even by those who r not-so-near me =)

sneak peaks!:

my daerest cousin made this for me on my birthday!!!! my fav scrambled eggs and chorizo sausage!!! she's da best!!!! she also planned out a dinner for me in this indian place, heehee, will blog about it when i get the pix...









and my boobie, shua, dedicated one blog post for me!!! was so excited! though i look super crappy in that pic but i dun care!!!! its so cool!!! thx shua~







and a teddy bear from 'boon pek', my bible study leader~











ok, now this is the coolest and the most special one! i had a 2D-wish-on-wall, made by future engineer!!!! really made my day! thx tim!!!! though the words came out in mirror image, i still like it! heaps!








i also received friendster testimonials, msgs, 2 smses from my mom, 1 from my dad, and alot more from high skool friends, msn wishes, ppl changing their nicks, emails, calls, a jacket from mandy and another jacket from aunty ivy, and also lotion, vitamin C from mom, and ang pau from mama, red eggs and drumstick (as ordered by my mom to carry on the chan family tradition)

i'm one year older now, gotta start acting like my age d...
Thank God for friends and family!!!!

so happeeeee

totally YPOUT!

Going to camps to me is as easy as 123. It’s something that I’m so used to and I’m never too scared to go to one. But this time, I had a bit of anxiety hovering in me. Maybe it was because it was my 1st camp in Australia, and also being the only Asian among 200 plus campers. To make thing easier, my mom said going to Australia will b like going for a camp, jus that this camp is for one whole year, that’s all, ntg big about it… and that made me see where I got my positive attitudes from, hhahah. So this camp, was like a camp in a camp (same concept as a dream in a dream)

Anyways, I just got back from a camp called YPOUT (pronounced as wipe out) held by LYSA- Lutheran youth South Australia. It was held at a lovely campsite, Tatachila (sounds like Tatar and chilli sauce) for 4 days. I went there without mandy! N I only knew 4 girls who go to the same church as I go to now. I knew them thru mandy, but not really close. I had to join as a leader cuz I’m a uni student and the camp is for young ppl in year 8-year 12. I grudgingly took up that challenge to lead, but it wasn’t so bad cuz they had workshops for leaders b4 the camp.
So the day came, and I took off in a merc, driven by my aunt. She sent me to church where I met the girls and we set off from church in 2 cars. I went in Kathryn’s car with Sarah, while Anneka went in Kate’s car. The weather was great and I stood there in awe when I placed my feet on the grounds of tatachilla.

After rego, I felt a little lost cuz I didn’t know wat to do then, to help campers unload or to unpack my stuff…. But it all went out fine when I braved myself to go talk to some campers. I didn’t wanna hang around with the girls cuz it wont look nice when leaders cluster together. The campsite was huge and some of us had to sleep up in the skool. It was a long walk up, and they had to use trucks to send our stuff up. I ended up sleeping in the corridor with Kathryn cuz the classrooms were all full. But we all didn’t complain cuz it was such a new experience. (was super cold in the morning cuz the heat weren’t trapped in doors)

The camp started off with worship which was held in doors. The setting of the stage was awesome. They had old TVs scattered around and the MCs were thoroughly hilarious! There were games were we had to throw cucumbers to the back of the line thru our legs, and chase after the other team’s celery, etc. it was cold and breezy, that’s y it made us run around more. Aussies are very sporty, seriously. I couldn’t find a single nerd, or anyone who stayed indoors all their life (well, maybe cuz I was out with them also, so I didn’t notice the indoor ones) but who would want to stay indoors with such good weather and cool air to breathe in?

Now, coming back indoors, the food they served was magnifico! I shall say no more with the pix I took of them. There were more but forgot to snap pix of it b4 eating it. There were pancakes, choc mousse, jello, pasta, toast, cakes, potato spuds, ham baguettes (I had 6 different types of hams in a baguette!!! Couldn’t close it) and I finished all my food! Every single time! Well, except for one time they made me laugh so much I was full laughing…. However, it made me miss Chinese food so much!=p

Next is worship. The band was great! Duane’s bro, sam, played the bass. Though I met him once but I didn’t go talk to him in camp… I loved the vocals of the female singers. They had such beautiful voices which brought me into the mood to really worship the King of all kings. The atmosphere was concert-like. though it wasn’t as ‘geng’ as planet shakers, but the ambience of worship was there. It was really Lutheran, I noticed. They didn’t speak in tongues but they weren’t against it. It was just great!

Because there were too many campers, we all had a chance to choose our own stream: leadership, evangelism, performance ministry or creative arts. All these streams guide young people in serving God in their own church, according to its own focus. So if u know me well enuf, u wud hv guessed I signed up for performance ministry. And in this ministry, we had a choice of choir, dance, clowning, sound and light crew, or drama. Surprise surprise, I went in drama! I learnt so many things from it!!!! We played a game called “thank God u’re here” and “what r u doing?” thank God u’re here was based on a show (something like who’s line is it anyway, but done by aussies) and it was so funny. We learnt how to apply drama in telling ppl about a certain biblical msg, how plots can b unique (don’t hv to start with normal bad kid, change to good kid, lives happily ever after), and we also learnt that audiences are not stupid. Elements that can make them think would b great in conveying a msg. we came up with a show that was performed on Sunday nite. It was great. The leader for drama was Brendan, the shortest ang mo I’ve met. I took the pic with him standing up, and that’s his height, no kidding! I really like the way he expresses things. Very nice guy.

Speaking of guys, there were heaps of good looking guys in camp, but they’re either taken or underaged. But then again I wasn’t intending to get my hands on one, just that I noticed that this guy (with his fly open) looks like ashton kutcher, and this guy looks like my old secondary skool friend- panda shang!

The speaker for the camp was Peter Riggs. His sermons were great, funny and direct to the point. If I blog about wat he said I don’t think I’ll b able to publish it cuz it’ll b too long. But I liked the part where we were given the opportunity to have our own quiet time. Everyone can go anywhere they want, just sit and stay calm for awhile. Talk to God, think, reflect, meditate… so I went to the field, where most of them were all scattered around. I lay on the ground and I had my head on the bible, and just talked to God.

I was thanking him for letting me lie on grass (cuz grass in msia not so nice unless it’s a golf course), thanking Him for letting me be amongst ppl who walk with God, and I was asking for something to comfort me for being so far from home, and also to renew my faith in Christ. As I was about to dose off, some girls walked pass me and I over heard this girl saying ‘I dunno y I’m saying this but God wants me to tell u Psalms 23…’ then my head popped up, and my fingers ran across my bible, flipping to Psalm 23.
The Psalm of David went like this:

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house f the Lord forever.

Now I’m so convinced that my God has whacky ways in telling me stuff. Isn’t that cool or what?! I almost jumped up and shout for joy. But I kept my cool, hahaha, too many ppl around then. I shared that with Kat, and she shared her breakthrough too. It was just amazing.

That’s not all. Later that nite, after the preaching, we had a chance to pray for each other, and the 5 of us girls just sat there n cried. We shared about our problems and hurts, and we all prayed for each other. And the best part was that I could see God answering my prayer that I’ve been praying for the past 2 months- to have close friends here in aus so I can share my feelings with. And God didn’t just give me one, He gave me 4!!! I was just overjoyed to see how God works. At the end of the camp, I got closer to the girls especially Kat cuz we both have funny ways in saying things, and she’s really good in changing her accent too! I know I’m very blessed all the time, but this time God’s love and grace was so evident and so tangible! That nite I just realized that no matter where I go, no matter how far I’m away from my life, God will always be there.

After all that, camp to me is still 123, even though it’s a camp in a camp. As an extrovert, camps are tools for me to discover my own strengths and weaknesses, and I’ve always benefited in every single camp. I wanna thank God for giving the idea to human beings to have events called ‘camps’! and also… just a random shout out: HAPPY belated BIRTHDAY JIA WEI!!!!
this was taken in the oval, strong masculine guys being cute with bubles! and this was taken when we were helping out in bring down the stage. me, luke, kate, and kathryn.

this was my group of year 9 girls!

jokers dwell among jokers

Here are some jokes I got from OCF and my aunt: (there are explanations after each answer cuz some ppl actually dun get the jokes…)

~What’s clear and smells like carrot?
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A rabbit’s fart

Explanation: Rabbits eat carrots, so their farts smell like carrots.
…and farts are naturally clear… not toxicated colouring to it



~What will u find if u look up a clean nose?
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Finger prints

Explanation: If ur nose is clean, means u dig it with ur fingers, so u’ll leave finger prints in ur nose



~Why is a mosquito better than a fly?
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Because mosquitoes can fly but flies can’t mosquito!

No explanation. U gotta b lame to decipher this fast.


And here’s a good quote I find pretty convincing…. Got it from my cultural studies lecture.

“Do only those things you would feel comfortable explaining to a national TV audience.” (McElreath 1997:54)

=) have a great day peeps!

Food!!! Glorious food!!!

Lately I’ve been super blessed… with abundance of good food. Someone just told me today that I’m very very blessed to be living with my aunt when I’m so far from home. And there’s a plus to that, I have an aunt who cooks goooood food!!! Thank God for aunts!!!!
Anyways, I managed to learn how to cook and here’s wat I’ve learnt:

• Apricot chicken- my aunt’s own recipe.
  One fine day, she had too much apricot, dunno wat to do with it, so she baked drumsticks with dried apricot, together with her own grown herbs, cream, and miscellaneous thingies. Tasted magnifico!!!
• Chinese Dumpling (ham look zhong)
  As the festival approaches, it is a tradition to wrap that rice stuffing with some leaf and u ‘sap’ the whole bunch. So I took the chance to learn how to wrap it. It’s no easy job man!!! But I managed to wrap 3 successful dumplings! Woohooo! And it tasted great! My aunt also made some with nyonya fillings. Syok-a-lingam!
• Lagsana- Garfield’s favourite food
  We had a deal that mandy and I would cook at least once a week, so I chose to cook lagsana this week!!! Though I didn’t know how to make that but I just hantam!!! Hhaha, nola, with my aunt’s guidance, and lots and lots of help (actually she was practically doing most of it) I managed to bake one of the best lagsanas I’ve ever had! Well, that cuz I added heaps of mozzarella cheese =p
• Scrambled eggs- the essentials of an English breakfast
  Now now, dun look down on this simple dish. Its literally the best egg dish! Not wallet eggs (ho bau dan), not sunny side up (mata kerbau), not omelette (u know wat these are…), not flower eggs (those u get in soup), but its Dai Yee’s scrambled eggs! She makes it with milk, butter cubes, and cream!!! Cant tell u how… it’s her secret recipe which is not too secret anymore since I learnt it d.
• Tau Fu Fah- the famous pasar malam dessert
  Well, I didn’t learn how to make this, but Dai Yee’s Tau Fu Fah is really special. Its like jelly, but not entirely jelly. And there’s the sago! Another dessert. Tastes so good with gula melacca. Also nice with maple syrup. Basically, anything sweet is nice, heeeeee…
• Hot Cross Buns- Easter bread
  Ppl here only eat and make hot cross buns during Easter. Though my aunt didn’t bake these buns, but I got to have some pretty good ones… the prices of it is also quite high at this time of the year (it’s like moon cake during moon cake fest)
• Char Xiu Bau- self explanatory
  Eating it was wat I used to do, but I had a chance to make them!!! It was so much fun! I helped my aunt make the dough, put in the pork fillings, and steam it! I didn’t get to start from scratch to cook the fillings though… but I was involved in making the baus that tasted just like any other char xiu bau from the shops!
  

I think after 3 years of such exposure, I’ll graduate with a certificate from my aunt- an acceptable cook! From an amateur to a pro! Muahahha

V for ...?

V for vendetta, a vocabulary that’s somewhat vague and volatile. Some may vocalize the letter V with vociferous vitality as a vexation in the most vernacular way, but some may see vengeance, void, venom, or even verruca vested in the vitiated V.

Viva la V!!!!

Hahhaa, wat on earth did I say…? I’ve no idea… I just need someone to come tell me wat on earth happened in the show ‘V for vendetta’… I didn’t understand why and how the girl became who she was in the end. Why did Guy Fawkes want to kill the chancellor? And who was the other white haired guy? Who’s Gordon to Guy? Huh? Huh? Huh?

Overall, I like that show… its almost like the novel that I’m reading now. “Black” by Ted Dekker. About a virus that’ll mutate under immense heat that will wipe all man kind on the face of the earth, and this normal man had dreams about the future and was intended (so he claims) to stop the virus before it took over the world!!! *thunderous background and loud banging of the orchestra!!!* I would very much love to tell u the end of the story but I’ll be charged for plagiarism and also I’ve not reach the end yet…

I find some people are just born with creativity… they can come up with the worst idea and make it so popular and intriguingly indescribable that others will think its great! As what Guy Fawkes said in the show “what I have under this mask is not just flesh, but ideas! And ideas are bullet proof.” (Well, that’s not the exact words, but that’s what I got after watching it from my laptop) – And that’s y he didn’t die after being shot a million times… not until he kicked butt! To me, this show had a touch of Zoro, and a pinch of Phantom of the Opera, and a lot of Natalie Portman (she’s good, man…).

So yeah… good show it is. Watch it and ask questions… loads of them…

My 1st driving experience in Australia…. (look at that smirk... "/ )

Look ma! No hands!! And no feet!!!

paper cut

One thing every (or most) students will experience is the encounter of the almighty paper-cut. The pen is mightier than a sword = the paper is mightier than a chainsaw. Hhaha, well, not exactly….

I dunno y I just have countless paper cuts these days, and it’s irritating me! The weather is getting cold, so we use hot water to wash hands n face, and when hot water touches the cuts, it hurts really badly. It’s like an ant that bites ur finger n it never lets go. It’s so annoying…

Furthermore, I had nasi lemak for dinner ydy! Haha, ntg to do with paper cut? It has ALL to do with paper cut… I ate it with my fingers to get the feel of eating nasi lemak in Malaysia. So when the rendang and curry had contact with my tiny wound, it didn’t let me enjoy my fattened rice as much as I shud.

Speaking of which, I have a small piece of rattan in my finger! I was taking the bamboo thingy (neh, those round thingies they use to steam char siew pau the old fashion way) from the top shelve, and I accidentally dropped it, n one small broken part of the bamboo thingy poked into my finger n now the remaining is left there… I can’t seem to get it out! Tweezers, nail clippers, scissors, char siew pau… all can’t work. (I tried to eat the pau to make myself happier and get my mind off the piece of foreign object in my flesh). Reminds me of the black thing that ended up in horny’s arm. Hahah, I wonder if its still there….

Well, just wanna wish all victims of paper cuts and things-get-stuck-in-their-flesh-incidents to smile n carry on with life!

did u know

For a few nites in a row, I’ve been sleeping at 2 or 3am in the morning just to do my assignments. And on Saturday nite, I stayed on till 6am to get one done!!! Cant believe I did that. Well, actually it was 5am, but we had day light saving so I had one hour extra! Heehee, God answered my prayer for giving me more than 24hours in a day!!!
Anywayz, enuf bout the dumb asses that spoiled my beauty sleeps, I shall blog bout stuff that I’ve missed. Thru out that whole week, I’ve learnt so many things n I regret not writing it down.
1. thru the research for my essay, I found out that Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is the name of a Welsh village!!! Aint that cool! I dun even know where welsh is!!!

2. one day I was having a coffee break with mandy and samuel in Gloria jeans, n we were talking bout our ex-es, then samuel told us his ex gfs’ names. It was stella and grace.
Not end of story yet.
Suddenly mandy burst out laughing, n I was like, wat has coffee done to this girl now??? Then she said grace is her mom’s name, and stella is my mom’s name!!! how cool is that?!

3. last Sunday I went for the nite service with mandy, n I met this guy who was like… perfect! Serious… good looking, friendly, talented (he played the drums and sang at the same time during the service!!!), perfect body, smart, kind… u name it! Oh ya, n he jz got married!!! He looks like Ken (Barbie’s man). I cant believe that there’s a ‘perfect’ man on earth!!!

4. for parties here in aus, it’s a custom to ask ur guests to bring food. N I went to this party where I had to bring my own meat for bbq. So I tot its like bring n share, so I brought sausages. Mana tau… u bring wat u wanna eat! So mandy n I ate the sausages we brought… something learnt….

Actually there’s more than this, but I think I wanna catch up on my sleep… I miss being lazy….
so... ~over & out~