One basil writes...

Certain memories are too hard to put into words,
To do that, I gotta b a linguist, a pro, or a nerd.
But if I’d put some effort and time,
I’ll just gather the experience with words that rhyme.

After months of planning and saving,
Expecting the unexpected and praying,
The 4 and a half Basils flew from Aussie land,
With unlocked luggage checked in and pizza in hand.

Tiny greeted us with a gigantic smile in Singapore,
That night for dinner it was makan galore.
We met humble legends from UniSA’s OCF,
After being super blessed, next day we left.

Cheap and comfy accommodation plus superb food,
Everything in sawasdee ka land is good.
Training us with their experiences and wisdom,
The Alaskan and American have a huge heart for His Kingdom.

With heavy hearts we said farewell to original Pad Thai,
One more time we boarded the plane and flew high.
As we landed in the Eternal Spring City,
The 4 of us were exploding with curiosity.

Only one night we bunked in dodgy hotel,
Oh it was dodgy, anyone could tell.
We were cared for by wonder woman behind scooter,
And by Suzanna who made bus travelling much smoother.

In the phlegmable bus we travelled for 7 hours,
Into a little town that we cant call ours.
Shrinking in traffic at the corner of this suburb,
The tooting of the horn could still be heard at every curb.

Housed, fed, and nurtured by a wonderful family,
We stayed in the clean and cosy guesthouse happily.
Their kids have pets, including a dog that ate my shirt,
James kept reminding us everything is relative, including dirt.

We got to know the staff there really well,
They even took us to the place where they initially dwell.
We walked through paddy fields and ventured into caves,
And the pond where they played was near cornfields and graves.

First week of camp was exhausting as we burnt midnight oil,
Yet the smiles of the kids were worth the toil.
We were not only tested with their bratty behaviour,
We were also frustrated cuz it was hard to share about our Saviour.

However His mercies are new every morning,
We gave thanks daily through singing, praying and yawning.
Camp 1 was all about vocabulary, story telling and craft,
When ‘boat’ became ‘boombs’, we cant help but laugh.

Faithful as usual, God later gave us Camp 2,
We couldn’t believe that our prayers came true.
We spent time with older kids from 2pm till 9,
We communicated through play, outings, songs and dine.

With them we hiked up 999 steps for the 2nd time,
Oh my goodness, it was nothing but a miraculous climb.
He held the rain and brought back electricity,
It was obvious His hands were upon us, it wasn’t a mystery.

On the last night we chatted with kids about life and its reason,
That there is a God who loves us the same in every season.
They cried before they went back to their villages,
To me, those were touching moments and valuable images.

Now that I’m back in safe environment and clean streets,
And finally getting to eat non-spicy food and chunky meat,
I miss those days when I could wake up near my fellow basil,
Getting ready for change of plans and last minute hassle.

Through this hands-on experience that I’ve always heard about,
“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few!!!” I’d wanna shout.
The brave souls out there changed my perspective on working for Him,
Just hand over your life to Him and everything else will follow, including your dream.

I wish I could stay longer to watch the kids grow to know Him,
And witness how they realize that they are loved to the brim.
I pray that this memory will not just look good in rhyme,
But that I will grow to love the lost more and more with time.

-Basil Jez

It's not about saving the world, but to watch Him save His children.

found old musings

I found a word document in my external and I think I wrote this last year when I was still living with my aunt and uncle, and was still mandy's roommate, heehee...

Sometimes you wouldn’t know how great reality is until to truly live it.

You wouldn’t know how fortunate you are until you come home later than the promised time and still know that you’re loved.

Sometimes you wouldn’t know how entertained you are, until you get to watch Blades of Glory with full grown adults who laugh at u laughing.

You know you’ve studied too hard when your table lamp fused up. (=p okok… maybe its cuz I depend on it more than my room lights, but hey, I still put a lot of effort in my studies, cuz I love it so much)

You wouldn’t know how blessed you are till you have friends who would help at your 1st SOS call without asking you why and still offer a smile of assurance.

You wouldn’t know how patient you are until you live with a witty 3-year-old kid who names everything in your bedroom when you’re rushing to finish your assignment.

It’s good to know that we’re emotional beings. There may be times u drown in the down side of the downs, but it’s priceless to get to feel the emotion called pure happiness.

It’s the uncertainties that make life interesting. So I guess I should stop worrying and let the Big Guy do His awesome thing.

I've always been a blessed daughter of the King.

with gratitude

Having so many things that clutter my mind, I constantly find myself in moments where I cant feel anything or just not know what emotions I have. As I was walking to work, I unleashed the thoughts that were already clanging in my mind.

Why am I not getting anything for my research placement? what if I dont get anything? I wont be able to finish my degree, and I wont be able to graduate... What if I am not able to find a job here? Then PR would be impossible. Decisions made by faith... are they going to come to pass?

It was quite cold then, so I prayed for sunshine. Fair enough, God sent the sun. But then, droplets of rain started to fall. It rained with the sun still shining. I blasted my mp3 player as the wind gushed strongly against my face. Why Lord, Why?! No placement, late for work, and rain with strong wind.

Emotions started to stir when this song came up next in my playlist.

Gratitude - by Nicole Nordeman

Send some rain, would You send some rain?
'Cause the earth is dry and needs to drink again
And the sun is high and we are sinking in the shade
Would You send a cloud, thunder long and loud?
Let the sky grow black and send some mercy down
Surely You can see that we are thirsty and afraid
But maybe not, not today
Maybe You'll provide in other ways
And if that's the case . . .

We'll give thanks to You
With gratitude
For lessons learned in how to thirst for You
How to bless the very sun that warms our face
If You never send us rain

Daily bread, give us daily bread
Bless our bodies, keep our children fed
Fill our cups, then fill them up again tonight
Wrap us up and warm us through
Tucked away beneath our sturdy roofs
Let us slumber safe from danger's view this time
Or maybe not, not today
Maybe You'll provide in other ways
And if that's the case . . .

We'll give thanks to You
With gratitude
A lesson learned to hunger after You
That a starry sky offers a better view if no roof is overhead And if we never taste that bread

Oh, the differences that often are between
What we want and what we really need

So grant us peace, Jesus, grant us peace
Move our hearts to hear a single beat
Between alibis and enemies tonight
Or maybe not, not today
Peace might be another world away
And if that's the case . . .

We'll give thanks to You
With gratitude
For lessons learned in how to trust in You
That we are blessed beyond what we could ever dream
In abundance or in need
And if You never grant us peace

But Jesus, would You please . . .

The wind was still strong, the rain was still pouring, my tears were dried even before it could surface because of the wind. i was still cold, and yes, I was still late for work. But hey, the sunshine, was still there. It was the hope that I was running towards. He granted me peace.

Placements? Maybe not, not today.

So if that's the case... I'll still give thanks to my Saviour, who has EVERYTHING planned nicely for me

...with gratitude.

Did you know...

Huey Chi, Ming and I came up with something quite random one nite (a few months ago). We did some research, some culculations and some laughing about it. We came up with the conclusion that there's something in in common between people from China, and the land of Singapore. I hope you wont stone me for saying this, but I have to because its just mind blowing.
Disclaimer: I love the Chinese and I love Singapore.

Did you know...

that if everyone in China were to pee at one go, the amount of pee is able to flood Singapore for up to 4mm high.

That's cool stuff right?

That statement was made based on the calculations considering that the population of China is 1.3 billion, every one is China pees in average of 200ml each time, and the size of Singapore is 407km square.

*Que: woahhhhhhhh~~~*

working His jiggy in the storm

It hailed this morning.

Reminded me of the time when Tim was here and he wanted to experience rain. Fair enuf he experienced it while we were in the Botanical Gardens with James and Norman. Running with little stones falling from the sky and laughing at the same time wasn’t easy. But it was fun.

Anyways, I woke up this morning feeling really out of place. I just felt bemused and flummoxed (hahaha, I just saw this word in thesaurus and thought it was cool... not sure if it is used for the rite context).

Things ahead of me are exciting but it’s also scary at the same time. I can’t see what I need to believe and I can hear the voice I need to follow. Takut! Placement, PR, graduation, IELTS, work, ministry, Tim coming to Australia for good (yay!), working full time soon etc.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7

Ok God. Amidst the storm, I will not be anxious and give u thanks while u work Your jiggy in my life.

choc sprinkles

Alright, here goes what I’d call “the chocolate sprinkles on a super rich chocolate cake”—the brief overview of what happened between my last update and now.

I witness a dear friend being Sabo-ed by ppl not of our clan. Well, kinda... and then the boys from our clan showed the other clan not to mess with our girls by executing a revenge sabo-tion back at the mastermind behind my dear friend’s sabo. It all turned out to be really entertaining and assuring: knowing that my clan has protective guys. –Esther and Sam’s sabo

Note: I’m not from any gangster mobs. All these sabo-ism is done in love. And if u want to know wat sabo means, ask a young Malaysian.

During that time, I had a crazy apple strudel frenzy cuz my housemates left the country, leaving me alone with the cats and our part-time housemates (their bfs). So I baked. Yes.. baked.

Though I’m not a fan of animals, but my housemate’s cat’s kitten passed away one day. I named her OJ (short for Orange Juice cuz of her tangy character that matches her colour). We couldn’t find the cause of her death. But this one was the kitten I liked the most out of all the furry things that run around the house.

OCF UniSA jz started girls ministry this year and we had our 1st slumber party where we fit almost 20 girls in a cozy apartment, had awesome supper, breakfast and lunch. Got to know more about others and to be amongst lovely ppl. I noticed that I was becoming a little ‘gentler’ for awhile =p

In between, there was a lot of preparation for the greatest trip of my year! I travelled to from Adelaide to Singapore to Thailand to China to Singapore again and back to Adelaide within 21days. The plus point was that I did that with 3 of my closest friends who’d do anything to make sure that I’m ok physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally. I’d do the same for them. More on the trip later.


I came back totally stoked! And it didn’t just end there. Even before I had the chance to release my breath of excitement, the person I wanted to see the most flew in to Adelaide all the way from Malaysia!!! 2 weeks is not enough for me to get enough of Tim before he baliked kampung... however, beggars must not be picky. I’ve treasured every moment I had with him, I’m sure he did too. Thank u so much for doing so many things here with me and for me =) u could so effortlessly make me feel like the most loved girl in the world! By the way, u did leave quite an impact since u came, heehee... some of my friends here miss u already. Imagine how much more I’m missing u!


Well, new sem of uni started. It’s week 7 now and I’ve been having so much fun writing like crazy! I do pray that my placement plans will work out fine. Sometimes in class I feel like I’m diving into a bowl of Caesar salad with some chunky meat in it. It’s because there are so many kinds of academics: vegies (the normal), croutons (the i-dont-really-give-a-damn ones), meat (the super hardworking). I’m neither. The scary part is that I do not walk into the bowl. I dived into it while we’re all being tossed together with odd sauces (assignments) and seasoning. Ok, maybe that wasn’t such a suitable metaphor... but yeah, my point is that I’m being tossed around with assorted talents and aptitudes.

Then I celebrated with some friends who graduated from psycho studies. Made me quite excited for mine..


Juwita Suwito came to Adelaide as part of her tours and OCF got her to perform during out Enite, which turned out great. I love her voice... I wanna sing like that too!!!!

Since I cant sing that well (yet... (I’ll keep trying)), I was approached to play bass for the Tristantos! I’m asked to be a temporary member of the band for Convy Fundraising Nite performance, but I was told that I could extend my contract after that if they like me. Hehehe.... its been great practicing for the 1st time with them, 5 hours straight of jamming till my fingers had blisters. Yeah!!! So felt like a rock chick. Hahaha... they’re all so talented! Yet, I don’t think I’m being misplaced... I’m there to show how good they are when people compare my playing with theirs. Heheh... I serve the band well.


Residents of Ashok Macho hosted a Merdeka celebration which made me feel so home sick after that. Oh well, at least I knew I had 30 or more friends who are with me at fighting this. They also had 4 other agendas that nite: 1. The wedding ceremony of Lingster and Gohstan (their pet ducks). 2. The funeral for Laka (their pet fish). 3. The welcoming of 2 new fishes (Laki and Luku) and 1 human being (Mindy). 4. The farewell of Kenny Boy (who won the best Mangkuk award). We had asam laksa and nasi lemak, with bubur chacha for dessert. We watched Petronas ads from youtube on the huge flat screen and it made me laugh and tear...

We sent Kenny Boy off and exchanged him with Jinnie Babe. Welcome back, Thambi!!!

I also attended countless birthday parties and get-togethers which I cant fit in as chocolate sprinkles for now. U’re probably tired of reading by now.

So I’ll stop.

bee aee see kay

And she’s back again. With more weird insights to what goes in and out of jezzie’s brain.

If I have avid readers out there who devotedly visit my blog often, then i’m sorry for the long pause after moon talk.

If u so happen to pop by and see this updated post, then u’re in luck. Go check ur postbox. There mite b an envelope with cash in it for tmr’s dinner.

It’s been awhile since I had the time to sit and muse over the craziness that’s been going on in my life. Well, i do occasionally ponder about them matters while in the bus or in the shower, but then after i snap out of it, i’ll be back to bz mode.

I’ll try real hard to backtrack to fill in the missing gaps and do it in the most condensed style possible.

Erm, however.... i think i’ll do that in the next post. I shall jz leave u with 3 random thoughts

+You know u’re not progressing in ur work when u start arranging icons on ur desktop to form odd shapes and letters.

+The new Listerine toothpaste (antibacterial fluoride) makes me feel like i’m brushing my teeth with deep heat gel... well, at least i know my mouth is flouridely bacterialess...

+If they asked u to fill in the blanks, then all blanks would have the word ‘in’ in it. no?
____ --> in

.....

Told ya, she’s back again...