Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Good morning world! I'm alive and kicking at 9 in the morning on a public holiday. You would not believe it, but I slept off at 10pm yesterday. I know, a good start for 2012. Let's hope I can keep up with this sleeping pattern. Oh wait, I don't have a choice, do I? Since I'll be starting work, like, tomorrow? Hehe. I'm gonna start off as a Junior Writer at In Publishers, kinda excited as it'll be my first exposure to the home living industry. Do wish me luck!


Year 2011 has ended, lots of bitter sweet memories if you ask me. The highlight of the year would have to be experiencing the wonderful works of God at GA 611 Bread of Life. Not forgetting being baptized for the second time, and finding friendship and support from my cell group. Also my brief internship at Marie Claire, that served nothing short of a fantastic eye opener, I swear I'll never look at fashion the same way again. LOL.


Then there was the torturous thesis that I spent nights doing (last minute, don't ask), have to thank Ashe and Chairman for the specific guidelines and constant advice, and also Patty who was in charge of printing and passing up as I happily packed my bags and headed for a stress free getaway to Bali with Tk.


Year 2012, and I'll be 26 in August. Just the thought of it makes me shudder. With hope that aging comes with maturity and sensibility. I ought to learn to have more patience and obtain better time management skills. As the saying goes, "Fail to plan, plan to fail". I need to learn how to plan ahead, and stick by it. Commitments and responsibilities are not exactly the easiest to cope with, but through Him, I hope know I can.


It's incredible when I look at how far I've journeyed in life. Without the grace of God, without the love of my family and friends, where would I stand? Hence I just wanna say a big thank you to all of you who have made a difference in my life, I pray that my Lord Jesus will protect each and everyone of you, and bless y'all abundantly.


I'm gonna end this post with happy pictures of Christmas celebration with my beautiful family. ^^

Looking forward to Christmas already! Hehehe.


Happy New Year, folks!

Eleventh Hour

I've got to be the most last minute person on EARTH. I'm off the Bali in another 24 hours, and I've yet to pack, not a thing, na-dah, seriously! And here I'm frantically trying to finish the last bits of my thesis that is to be submitted in less than say, 8 hours? GOSH. Time is catching me short. I'm out of breath. All thanks to my lack of time management skills, and of course - procrastination - the biggest devil in my life.


I've got to stop doing this. Like really STOP pulling last minute stunts. I haven't slept enough, my eyes are dry and prickly, severe outburst of acne, you don't wanna know. 


Year 2011 is coming to an end, time for new year resolutions, again. And hopefully this time I'll make 'em like I mean 'em.


PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, God. Make today a good day! Hopefully all will end well.

Saying Yes to Jesus Once More

November 27, 2011 marks my new birthday, as I reaffirm my identity in Christ. Pastor Philip conducted my baptism at GA611 BOL yesterday, and I was really honored to have Tk, Mii and Mr. Infinity present, not to mention my kind shepherd, Jennifer, and all the new friends I made from cell. Although I was baptized as an infant, I had no memory of it whatsoever, and deep down I just yearned to relive that experience. Just like how some married couples renew their vows as a symbol of cherishing their marriage, I wanted to significantly commit my life unto Jesus, I wanted to say yes to Him once more.


Indeed, God has performed many miraculous wonders in my life, His great love never fails to amaze me. Each time when I feel like I'm being pushed to the brink, He makes me feel that it's okay even if I do fall, because He'll be there to catch me in time. Let me tell you this, I've never been good at waiting, be it waiting for a person, or waiting upon the Lord, patience is NOT my middle name. Hence when I knew I couldn't rush Tk into knowing Jesus, I just felt so frustrated. I know it's not fair to him, because to him, God has never played a role in his life. But emotions just kept taking over, and I couldn't help but blame myself, worse still, I blamed the Big Man Above. I blamed God for making me fall in love with a non Christian, and for getting me into all this dilemma and misery.


I'm just guessing, God must have had enough of my whining because during Sunday service, right before my baptism yesterday, Tk felt touched by the Holy Spirit for the very first time. Tears welled in his eyes as Pastor Ezekiel led in praise and worship, and he had the tingling sensation that nearly freaked him out. He couldn't understand what was going on with him, and I was just too overwhelmed to explain things. There and then, God was telling me right in my face that He was able, that I should have never doubted Him. I should have knew that He loved me, He loved Tk, and that our relationship will be in His good hands. I should have never felt insecure or restless, because all will eventually fall out in His perfect timing. 


I believe Tk will have his personal encounter with God one day. I just need to continue to pray for him and learn how to have faith, as I always say but fail to put to practice. I promise I'll try harder this time.


Thank you Jesus, all glory unto You!

Feeling Needy

I've just finished a bowl of duck flavored instant noodles, and a bar of choco with hazelnuts. This is gonna keep me up all night. I hope.


Thesis hasn't been progressing as smoothly as I'd expect. Each time I finish a paragraph, I tend to pause to read again what I've written, and wonder if I'm on the right track. Next thing you know, I scroll upwards some more to read the earlier paragraph, and the paragraph before that, I just keep going backwards to check, and the doubt simply grows greater, then suddenly I'm terrified if I'd gotten everything wrong. UGH. This is utterly frustrating.


December is supposed to be my favorite month. If not for thesis, I'd be really looking forward to it, what with my vacation with Tk, and also celebrating Christmas with my family and friends.


Stay focused, Mel, FOCUS! Thesis will be over before you know it. (They say the power of the mind performs great wonders... I'll just have to keep hypnotizing myself then.)

Declutter

Trust me to do the right thing at the WRONG time. I just spent the whole evening de-cluttering my room, when I was supposed to be figuring out Chapter 3 of my thesis. Can you believe it, I'm only left with 2 weeks? Chairman is right, Procrastination IS the thief of time. Now I'm gonna suffer... BAD!


Still, I feel much comfortable with the extra space that I can do with now. There's still more to work on, but it'll have to wait, unless I don't plan to graduate on time. AAAHHH. That'd be a horrendous nightmare. Yes, just the word nightmare won't justify, it's horrendous nightmare, something like nightmare x10000. Why am I even bothered to explain this. ISH.


Feeling very broke right now, glad to be done with all birthday celebrations. HOHOHO. Need to save up for Christmas though, been eyeing dreamily at some lovely things during my window shopping sessions. Would be great if I could get them for my family and friends.


Gotta ciao for now... THESIS AWAITS. Sigh.

The Perfect Seven

And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

Genesis 2:2

Seven, God's perfect number. It encompasses completion and providence. And guess what, Tk and I had just celebrated our seventh anniversary! ^^

It's really exciting when I pause to reflect on how our relationship has grown throughout the years. From classmates to lovers, from lovers to life partners to be, we've certainly gotten to know each other a fair bit. Love on its own would not have sustained the relationship; I believe it has been the grace of God, and also our conviction to stay committed to each other. Life is full of choices, and more often than not, we are forced to face temptations, but I guess end of the day, you just need to be contented with what you have. Most importantly, trust in Him, He knows who is right for you.

Nothing comes easy, so trust me when I say we've had our rough patches, as cliché as it may sound, if two people really intend to do life together, then you must be prepared to face all sorts of obstacles that come along the way. You need to believe in each other, and really hang on to the faith that you want to make things work. The most important lesson that I've learned so far would be: Acceptance.

Tk and I are very much different in many aspects. We were brought up differently, we've got different lifestyles, different point of views, different likes and dislikes, hence to accept each other is not as easy as it seems. However we're gradually getting the hang of it (yes, after seven years that is), and it's still in the progress. As my dear friend, Jennifer, puts it, "God tends to provide you with a partner that is of your opposite in order to complement you, so that together, you can carry out His works". Which I pretty much agree.

That said, here are pictures of our humble celebration. (",)

Main dish of the night: Sweet sour pork. It was Mr. Ho's first attempt. Not bad I'd say! :-p

Serious cook at work. LOL!

Ingredients that were needed.

The only help I could give: Beat the eggs. 

Fresh vege waiting for it's turn to the wok...

End result! NICE. *grins

Dinner is served.

Indonesian High Tea

Bowels problem aside, I went for High Tea with the oldies over the weekend. Hehehe. Yes, the oldies! My mom and my aunts, not forgetting Mr Infinity. :-p


Thanks to Dealmates, we got a very good price for our tea set at Brisik, Jaya One, however there were a few setbacks. First of all, the place was kinda stuffy, and the Balinese-Spa-ish music was playing way too loud at the background, what should have been soothing became more of an irritation. Also, I bought two coupons, so rightfully, I should have been entitled to two pots of tea, but the lady boss insisted on one big pot for us all, which was still acceptable, IF she would have put two teabags in it. We could hardly taste the tea. =.=


When we were almost done with our makan, the lady boss came over to ask how the food was, and we said that we really enjoyed the fried meehoon, but the kuih and cakes were less than mediocre, then just like a living scene from Kids Say the Darndest Things, she replied by saying that the kuih were not made by her, because she didn't know how to, so she ordered from 'outside'. LOL!

This is the entrance, you may take the stairs up to the restaurant. It was rather nicely decorated! 

Fried meehoon that was the saving grace! 

Three-tier: The sandwiches with chili flakes were good,  cakes and kuih were really so-so. 

(Pictures courtesy of Madame Ruth)


All in all, service was a tad slow, however the two staffs that were working there were really smiley and nice. I guess the restaurant just needs to work on the ventilation and as for the cakes and kuih, perhaps change the supplier?