More about Floppy

Here are more photos of Floppy! Obi and Floppy have a love hate relationship... let's say like-hate is more appropriate. Floppy is quite a domineering puppy, snatches Obi's food and bullies Obi at times... Obi, though he's SO huge, is just a harmless yellow looney, ADD, seeking-to-please, gracious dog... yeah, they don't really get along. After days of observation, few points I note abt Floppy:
- domineering personality (best if he's the only male dog at home)
- independent
- fun-loving
- smart (he already knows how to sit! Only after 3 days...)
- generally calm doggie

It's amazing how God creates even dogs with such different personalities! Pls help me find him a home yeah? =) Thanks!

Floppy needs a home... =(

I just decided to name him Floppy for now... cos he has real Floppy ears for a Lab/ Lab mix! I found him while XLQ and I were jogging with Obi on our way home. He looks very healthy.. I'm not sure if he lost his way or if he was abandoned... We have put up posters all over the place and I really hope that someone will call me up to collect the doggie. Really praying for that...

I can't possibly keep another dog when I already have Obi. And it doesn't help that Floppy doesn't seem to like OBi cos Obi is huge and I think he scared Floppy... if no one claims him, I will definitely put him up for adoption. Usually it's easier for puppies to find homes. But DO remember the committment required in keeping a dog. Once he's your dog, he's family. Cannot give up so easily! He will prob need a private home because he's going to grow quite big. If you know anyone who may be interested, pls let me know k? =)

Breed: Lab/Lab mix
Age: looks like 4 months to 6 months old
Colour: Cream
Gender: Male

Update of my life... = )

The sinus curse
I've been cursed with sinus... it simply wouldn't go away... I've had it since young, but it's gotten worse since I got back from the states. Recently my ears will swell up due to sinus as well. Yes, apparently, there's a tube of some sort connected from the nose to the ear and if the nose is stuffed with stuff, sometimes it affects the ear. And in recent years, I've been getting swelling of the ear quite frequently... not only does the ear swell up, it is blocked too! So I feel like I can't hear very well... "cao he lang"... Hahaha... so it's rather frustrating. That's why ENT (ear nose throat) specialists are needed in the medical field! Plus, I love to sleep in aircon room, which I think doesn't help the situation... =( But I LOVE curling up in my comforter when it's super duper cold and be warm in my little cocoon... hee... ooohhh... so nice! Maybe I have to make changes to my habits... I think it may really have to change after I get married because XLQ doesn't sleep in aircon rooms AT ALL! I'm so dead...

Work
There are so many new colleagues at work that I'm feeling bit like a hermit... just wanna be in my comfort zone and talk to the colleagues whom I'm familiar with. I'm tired of making small conversations and trying to make new friends... but Huiling, u shouldn't think that way should u? I mean, can you imagine? Being in a new place is already intimidating enough, add on some unfriendly colleagues, you will feel SO miserable at work! I know some of you must feel very puzzled cos I'm usually bubbly and friendly.. this is so unlike Huiling... but somehow at work, the feeling is different... sometimes I just wanna plug on my earphones and do my work. Been asking myself why this is so... maybe cos I don't realize sometimes that my colleagues at work need to know the gospel too! That I'm not extending my CHristian love beyond PUNJ and new people I meet in church... I have this thing about meeting new people.. I'm more enthusiastic abt meeting new people in church cos I know it's part of a bigger purpose... helping them to understand who God and Jesus is... I really should adopt the same attitude at work. Sigh.... sinful me. Just that sometimes I already find it tough to keep up with my own friends (ex classmates, schoolmates etc) that I actually am in inertia to make new friends... Usually when I pass the inertia stage I'm ok... in fact, I do make good friends at work. Hope that I will not think this way, but continue to see every conversation as gospel opportunity... doesn't mean that I have to be happy clappy with them all the time, but I think it means I should be genuine about sharing my life with them since the workplace is where I spend the bulk of my time every week!
Wedding prep
I'm finally starting to feel EXCITED!!!! Haha... =) I think it was when I sat down with XLQ thinking through the details and planning for the church wedding that I started to get excited... C+K have kindly offered themselves to help us organize the whole thing which reassures me a lot cos both of them are meticulous people! I'm so thankful and appreciative of their friendship and fellowship, and they're so genuine about helping XLQ and me... especially cos XLQ will be taking his exams right before the wedding and it's probably going to be such a stressful time for him already... which is why we're trying to get as much stuff done as possible so that we don't have to worry too much about them right before the wedding.

I got really excited thinking through the details of the decor, music, invitation cards, the songs we're going to sing, the color theme, the program, the speaker, the sermon and how we can use the wedding to witness to our friends about God's grace towards us... and it's really nice cos many of my friends are helping me with the prep here and there... that's where the personal touch comes in... I'm really touched that so many pp offered to help...

My good friend from Hong Kong called me and asked me how the wedding prep is going... and before we got too far in the conversation, she was like... "Ah Ling, you're so going to cry at the wedding" Hahaha... I AM A STRONG WOMAN, I WILL NOT CRY!!! Haha, ok lah, i think I most prob will, but just hope that I can get through the vows. Haha..

Our flat renovation is abt to start as well... so things are coming along quite well! It's going to be a new scary phase of life.. pray that I will take the changes well and not stress XLQ out... really thank God for His providence of all things!

Other things that I learned/noticed from my Nagaland trip...

1. How "Christian" the state is... All around town, one will see evidences of the Christian-ness of Nagaland... the abundant churches along the streets, verses scribbled on the city walls, shops closed on Sundays, people dressing in their Sun best walking to church carrying their bibles. It's quite amazing what the missionaries have done in the past... how the Nagas, in masses, have become Christians over the last few centuries. But now, we faced another problem of nominalism... where the younger generation Nagas have become lukewarm in their faith. Many think that they are Christians because their parents are Christian, or because they are born in Christian families. However, from the bible, we know very clearly that being a Christian is a very personal decision. We all have to make that personal decision whether or not we want to deny ourselves, take up the cross and follow Jesus. We tried to challenge the students as much as we can on that.. Many times, that's the challenge second generation Christians face... for myself, I always have great fears that my kids will go through that. But I guess we really need to trust God that He is sovereign over all things!
The Naga students always look shocked when I tell them, "My dad is not a Christian", "I became a Christian when I was 11 years old", "In Singapore, most people are not believers". Christianity and Christian activities are so much part of their culture that it's tough for them to imagine a world where majority of the people do not know who God is...




2. The social problems that plague the state...
Even though the state is Christian, there are plenty of social problems that plague them. It just reinforces the fact that men's nature is still sinful... currently, one big problem in Nagaland is alcoholism. Many of the students we met, their family struggles with alcoholism and they are really suffering the brunt of it. One of the gals even shared with me that she kinda like this guy, he also expressed interest in her, but he's an alcoholic and she doesn't know whether or not to get into the relationship. I will definitely say, "Don't get into a relationship with an alcoholic!" But to a girl in Nagaland, so many of the guys are into alcohol that she may be so tempted to get into a relationship for the sake of companionship... it's quite sad... I can see the girl struggling with her own emotions and her desire to please God. I hope that she will continue to remain faithful to God and trust that God will bring along a guy who's prepared to lead her in a godly way.
HIV/Aids- Some of the students shared with me that Nagaland is actually a very conservative state, especially when it comes to dating and stuff. But yet, from what I learned from them, they start dating at a very young age, like 15! And they do it without the parents' knowledge... Apparently, the parents and youth never talk about dating and dating is quite a taboo in the society. Though Nagaland is supposed to be Christian, HIV/Aids is on the rise. Youths lead promiscuous lives without the knowledge of their parents. Our friend shared that there are many babies born in Sep and they are known as the Hornbill babies... this is because in Dec every year, there's a major festival that goes on called the Hornbill Festival, where Nagaland comes together to celebrate the diversity of the tribes. However, people get carried away with celebrations and alcohol and 9 months later, there's a boom in birth rate... I think making a state christian really doesn't solve any problems at all... this is because at the heart of it all, men is sinful and there's nothing we can do to make our state better. We can put on the facade of being Christian, or having laws that ban alcohol, drugs and all, yet the societal problems still occur. It really reflects the broken relationship we have with God.

3. The Christians' hospitality and generousity
As Kevin and Wenjie have mentioned in their blogs already, that the Naga pp have such big hearts! They cook SO much for us and always ask us to go for at least 3 rounds! Haha... I was so well fed then. The food is really quite yummy!!! Especially, the deserts!! It's quite incredible how the women can bake all these yummy cakes from scratch!!
Sub point about the men and women in Nagaland:

a. The Naga ladies make housework+cooking look so COOL!!!
Haha, it's amazing how culture shapes us. In Singapore, if gals are too domesticated and don't focus on career, among your peers, you will feel rather small... as though you're less worthy just because you don't have a high flying career! At least that's how I feel sometimes... in Nagaland, I think if you can't cook, u're probably viewed the same way by your peers! Haha... but i heard that things are changing now, with modernization and all, the younger women are not as good in cooking as their mothers. The ladies (hosts) actually wait for EVERYONE to eat and make sure that everything is taken care of before they start eating!! I can't imagine being a Naga woman and having to wait for everyone to finish eating before I can eat... I think I will have died of hunger by then... HAHA. So useless!

b. The Naga men are so mild and gentle!!!! At least the ones we met.. =)
They all seem gentlemanly and mild. Hmm, that's all i have to say about them. Haha.

I will try to add some more photos later!! =)

Photos from Nagaland

Thought it will be less boring if I share using photos and writing little commentaries on the bottom! =)


Kohima, Nagaland, India- where we spent 7 days... it's actually considered really short for a mission trip. Nevertheless, learned loads and I will attempt to share it in the blog. Kohima is a city set on a hill, where stars are abundant at night. We truly see the magnitude of God's promise to Abraham when He said that Abraham's descendents will be as numerous as the stars in the sky. It never fails to amaze me! I wish we had that kind of sky in Singapore... I was trying SO hard to find the only constellation I can remember from my Astro class- the Orion, and I actually COULDN'T find it!!! Haha...

The gals on the team: (From left) myself (not a super flattering picture.. hehe), Naro's mum (Super cool, funny and loving lady who makes us feel so at ease putting up at her place), Betty (who hates taking pictures), Naro (our beloved host and wonderful sister in Christ), Shu'En (Baby-as known by Naro's mum)

All the students who attended our afternoon talks and workshops at City Church. They were the faithful 20 students who came for every single talk and sat through everything! Though it was a small crowd, it was amazing how God is the same everywhere, in Kohima and in Singapore. We would think that since we grow up in such different cultural backgrounds that we probably have nothing much in common. But after interacting with them for the short number of days, I realized that the struggles that we all face as Christians are essentially the same, just disguised under a different facade. Boy girl relationship problems, struggles with career choice, wanting to do well in studies, alcoholism, inter-racial marriage objections etc. It really boils down to the same sinful human self that we all have in wanting to rule over our own lives instead of letting God rule over us... I led a workshop on "Small Group Basics" on the 4th day. It was quite nerve wrecking, but they loooked like they understood what I was trying to say and some of them looked at me intently and nodding... it was really encouraging when some of them came up to me afterwards and told me that it was an interesting session. Just hope that we will all be convicted by God's Word that we all need to nudge one another along in this long race of perseverance!

More to come later! Sorry there's no sequence to it... just random thoughts and photos. Will try to post pictures that capture the essence of the work there!

Post Nagaland thoughts- Part 1

Hey guys!

I just came back from a one week Nagaland mission trip with church this morning at 6.30 am and I'm now back at work at 2.50 pm in the afternoon... it all feels rather surreal! I will definitely blog more about it later and post some pictures to share with all of u, but for now, it's back to work... lots of things to think through about the trip. Really thankful for the fellow Christians there who hosted us and fed us SO SO much!! (but my colleagues said I lost weight!??!!) Haha... VERY strange.

Mission trips never fails to open my eyes to God's work in the entire world and His sovereignty in His salvation plan. Really shows me how puny I am in the bigger scheme of things! Can't wait to share more...

To my fellow teammates, it was great working alongside with u guys on the trip! Pray that we will continue to grow in God's Word and God's love! =) Write more later!

Obi & Me

"We wouldn't realize it until years later, but he showed early signs of that condition that would later be coined to describe the behavior of thousands of hard-to-control, ants-in-their-pants schoolchilden. Our puppy had a textbook case of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder"

The paragraph above is taken out of the book Marley & Me by John Grogan. I read about it on my friend's blog and couldn't help it but borrow it for a read... I'm still in the middle of it... but MY OH MY, are they describing OBI??? MY OBI at home?? Hahaha... it was hiralious thinking about the similarities between Obi and Marley in the book. I always tell people that I diagnose Obi with attention deficit disorder!!! Haha, thought I was the only strange person who thinks that of a dog... but Josh Grogan thinks the same way!

Ok, I have concluded that Obi is probably a mix of Golden and Lab Retriever and prob 75% Lab Retriever... haha... cos his hair is a bit shorter than normal Goldens... take a look and judge for yourself. =)

The photo below is taken very recently... Yes, he doesn't look remotely like a Golden nowcos I just brought him for a shave few weeks back. His fur was getting all knotted up and he looked really warm... this is the picture of Obi with his new haircut. He looks even more like a Lab now!. I will say, he's 75% Lab and 25% stray. Haha... =) Obi has a longer "snout" and this silly bump on his head. That's one of his favourite thing to do- just biting on the cloth and looking at you with his dopey eyes... He's quite a handful really. Anyone who's even thinking of getting a big dog, pls go read Marley&Me first. Quite accurate depiction of Labs/GOldens! I wanna comment more on the book and dogs, but it's too long a list to start... haha... when I have more time in the future, maybe!

The Wedding plan part 2

Wedding Planning Part 2:

Update on my wedding plans...

Home: Thank God that we have bought our flat and are just waiting for the keys to our new place! It's quite overwhelming signing that loan from HDB of 6 digit figure... makes me feel like I've just signed my life away..... =( We're probably going to start renovating our place in Jul or so... hopefully we'll make it in time for the wedding!
Church wedding: K has agreed to be our overall coordinator! Thanks K! =) We're still in the midst of sorting out the details like the theme, the passage to be preached on etc. But it's coming along! Happy...

Gowns and stuff: We'll be doing our pre wedding photoshoot in Jul! Quite excited abt it I must say... have shortlisted some gowns which I'm using for the photoshoot... XLQ has already made his suit and it will be ready in Jun. Hopefully it won't rain on the day of the shoot... for those who purchased packages from bridal boutiques, you know how they try to get to you to buy more pictures, exceeding the ones they've given in the package and people pay astromical amounts for the photos! PRAY hard that I will not get trapped in one of those situations! Being such a photo person (I love flipping through pictures), i know i will prob be quite tempted... but I WILL NOT SUCCUMB to it!! I will get pp to hold me accountable... hehe. I can actually flip through my old photos over and over again, smile at the same old silly pictures... I never get tired of photos... that's why the danger is there and so real!! Haha, I think XLQ is super worried I will go crazy over the photos, but I definitely don't want to. It's just not worth the money. There are really better ways to spend the money!

There are still so many many things to do!! Hopefully I won't get too stressed out abt it.. knowing myself too well, I probably will! It's tough I guess when I have expectations of the way I want things to turn out, after all, this is a once in a lifetime event, and may not be able to have it due to various reasons... it can be quite disappointing at times, but I guess I'm learning to deal with it all and keep telling myself... it's just a wedding, it's just a wedding, don't be too obsessed! Sometimes I feel pressured to be like other Christian girls, who have such simple weddings. I feel like sometimes if I'm godly, I need to have a wedding as simple as possible... I shld spend as little as possible and just have a very christ centred wedding, focus on the eternal... Not that I want everything perfect, or extravagant or have a superstar type wedding, just that I have this internal battle on how i shld plan the wedding.. haha, i don't know pp will understand what I'm talking abt... I think basically, I just don't deal with differences very well. Whenever XLQ and i don't see things eye to eye, I get bit upset... i think it's my non confrontational and conflict adverse nature at work, just hoping that everything will work out and we will see eye to eye on everything... I know it's impossible, but u know, it's called hoping.. haha... guess i just need to learn how to deal with differences and conflicts better...

I guess God is also teaching me about myself more and more through the wedding preparation. It's just not easy putting 2 people together, given the different upbringing, family culture, personalities... I can't imagine if we don't have a common belief in God, I think the arguments will probably be very aimless and be very self centred... I guess sometimes they still are, but having God in the picture is a constant reminder to myself that there is definitely more to the wedding event...

We'll keep praying for the wedding and the marriage to come! =)

Tombsweeping Weekend (weeks ago...)

For those of you who are not familiar with Chinese traditions, tombsweeping is a time when chinese people remember their relatives/ancestors who have passed away by visiting them at their burial site, or where their ashes are kept after cremation. As a Christian, I used to struggle with going to such events because I am asked to hold joss sticks and bow to my ancestors. I shall not write to much about the Christian principles and all behind all this, but I shall just say that I am quite ok going to such things now. It's part of respecting and honoring my parents that I go with them. My dad knows that I am a christian and going to these events won't change the fact that I am a Christian. As long as he understands, I'm totally fine going to such things. In fact, tombsweeping has become a yearly family event where the 2 families get together and spend some time together, which is quite nice... =)
Just wanted to write abt something I saw at the cemetery... when we were at my grandmother's tomb, I looked over my shoulder and saw another family who was at this old lady's tomb. The family members were busy laying out the food, joss sticks and all. Then, I noticed slightly further away from the tomb was an old man... he was almost bald, wore a pair of dark rimmed glasses... think he must be around 75 years old or so... he was just standing silently at the side and weeping. His eyes were fixed on the old lady's picture and he was brushing his tears away... =( I presume that the old lady was his wife.. When I saw him weeping, I felt so so sad for him... losing your best friend, companion, partner at this age must be really tough on him. I can only imagine the loneliness that he has to go through now. It was so sad... Even though as a Christian, I know that this life is but temporal... we have eternity to look forward to in heaven with God, I can't help but feel sadness at the thought of losing a loved one... As christians, we should be secure about our future, that we will see our loved ones again in heaven. I think the toughest part is the thought of not being able to see our loved ones who are not believers... in times like these, we can only trust that God is sovereign over all things.
There's a family in church who got involved with a car/train accident in California last year and they shared about it over the Easter service. It's quite amazing to see how they can praise God despite the fact that her father got paralyzed as a result of the accident. Her father also went up to share about his own experience. And it was so encouraging to see how they drew strength from God day by day and simply trusted in God's character and faithfulness. It doesn't mean that they know for sure her father will be healed completely, it also doesn't mean that they are happy clappy abt the episode, but it's the trust and faith that God is in control and sovereign over the whole situation despite the fact that things may look gloomy at the moment. And they are able to do this because they know that they have an eternal hope in CHrist. It's so tough, there are many times when I ask myself how I will react when such things happen to me or the loved ones around me? Will I be able to say that God is good? Will I be able to praise God and be joyful for what He has given me still? Will I be able to trust that God is sovereign over all things? Will I lost my faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ? It's really hard to say how we will react in times of tragedies when we haven't experienced them ourselves... Many times, people swing to either extremes in face of bad things: love God and trust God even more through the difficulties, or lose faith in God altogether... I hope and pray that God will be gracious and that I will respond rightly by loving and trusting God even more through difficulties..

Photos and more photos!

My friend from overseas has requested for some photos cos we haven't seen each other in years! So, here are some family photos for you! =)


This was taken on Jojo's 2nd birthday! =) She loves Sesame Street, that explains the cake.


This picture was taken at one of my cousin's wedding. Whole family was present. The one with the cool white hair is my granny! She's the best baker in the world- egg tarts, kueh lapis, pineapple tarts... YUMS!!!! That's my bro to my right in the picture and XLQ to the left. My dad in batik shirt. Hehe.

This picture was taken along Orchard Road, probably the busiest street in Singapore... after a brunch!