Recent happenings

12 Dec 05 (Mon) - My office department celebration. Yes, very early for Christmas. Reason was to accommodate the managers who will be busy traveling on business trips or going on their annual leave after that. Ordered a small little buffet, turkey & ham from Prima Deli as well as a special surprise birthday cake for our department secretary whose birthday falls on 29 Dec 05 (she will be on her annual leave that day). Had a good time of makan and exchanging of presents.

21 Dec 05 (Wed) – Lunch with ex-boss at the Chinese restaurant at Jurong Country Club. Food was only so-so, nothing extraordinary and expensive. Boon Lay Raja restaurant at Jurong East Central (above NTUC) definitely serves much better food compared to them !

My ex-boss showed us her photographs taken during the recent charity marathon run organized by Standard Chartered Bank. She ran and completed the 10km track. Started training 2 months before the run and was glad to clock in at 1 hour 10 mins. Well done !

21 Dec 05 (Wed) – Steamboat dinner with 3 friends, followed by ice-cream at Ben & Jerry at Great World City. Great time of fellowship and sharing. Praise God.

23 Dec 05 (Fri) – Went out with 3 other friends to have dinner at Carl’s Junior (Suntec branch), then pool at Pool Fusion (actually I didn’t play pool cos I dunno how to, and so I played PHOTO HUNT with another girlfriend. We even made it to the top 10 with our points ! Praise God ! Hahaha…). After that we proceeded down to Holland Village, Coffee Club, for a drink. Another friend joined us a little past midnight. Great times..

24 Dec 05 (Sat) – Went with my sis, her boyfriend and friends to watch Chronicles of Narnia (movie) at Tiong Bahru Plaza. Great show. Recommend to you all. The bible is put across in such a simple, child-like way that is not difficult to miss. C.S. Lewis is indeed a talented author.

I particularly like the way the eldest brother arranged the sequence of the battle against the Ice Queen at the final battle in that big green field. He sent his “air-force” out by dropping big boulders on the enemies as they charged towards his armies who stood their grounds initially. Then followed by the arrows of fire shot towards the enemies at his younger brother’s commands who was stationed at the top of the hill behind him and his armies. I thought that was some awesome war tactics. Having lots of bull-strength doesn’t always work out yar ? Having God’s wisdom is definitely more beneficial.

Had dinner with sis and her boyfriend at a market in Bukit Merah. After that rushed home to watch Blessed Christmas, a joint Rock and Mediacorp production, at Channel 5, 8pm. Thank God we made it in time. Even got the show recorded. The glory of God and the real meaning of Christmas was indeed brought across the TV programs to all the different households in Singapore. Praise Jesus for giving us the wisdom to invent media & telecommunications etc.

Around 9pm, heard a group of people singing downstairs my block. When I went to take a look, realized that they were singing Christmas carols ! Wow… the song of their voices just spread across the whole carpark… and so many people were watching them through their kitchen windows, including us. Indeed, the true meaning of Christmas is Jesus.

25 Dec 05 (Sun) – Christmas Day ! I felt that Christmas this year is extra special & meaningful. Cos it fell exactly on a Sunday. And Sundays we attend church services. Lunch after that was a gathering with my ministry friends at the Chin Chin Chicken rice stall along Seah Street. Delicious !

Went off after lunch to my aunt’s place at Devonshire Road for our family Christmas gathering. My cousins bought 3 dwarf rabbits recently and they are so small… so cute… I’m really affectionate towards small stuffs you know ? Such as babies, or even accessories etc. Nope ! Insects and creepy crawlies are out ! hahaha… anywayz, had a good time playing with those rabbits, catching up with my cousins, and my 3 lovely nieces that are growing up so fast ! Of cos, not forgetting the foods… yummy !

26 Dec 05 (Mon) – Boxing Day ! Went karaoke at Lucky Chinatown with 7 other friends. It was fun as we find out each other’s singing prowess. Dinner was steamboat at Block 71 Seng Poh Road (near Tiong Bahru).

27 Dec 05 (Tues) – Slept in. Really worn out. Lunch with ministry friends, then went to help out in the church while the technicians, electricians etc were busy installing the new HD (High Definition) systems. Awesome ! You should really see those wires that are inserted and coiled behind the systems… I really have to bow and kow-tow to those people..they are real good ! I’ll probably be “entangled & buried” somewhere in those wires. Haha..

28 Dec 05 (Wed) – Came back to office in the morning and managed to settle some urgent stuffs. Afternoon went off to help out in church.

29 Dec 05 (Thurs) – Back to work (full-day). Nothing much happened. No bible-study tonight too. Attended a funeral wake of a friend’s mother at Singapore Casket. Pastor Lawrence shared a short message, to be absent in body is to be present with the Lord. Indeed I truly believe that my friend’s mum is now in a much better place. It’s not going to be easy for the family as they will surely miss the mum but still, i praise Him for His amazing strength and love for the family.

30 Dec 05 (Fri) – Worked again (full day). Had lunch with colleagues at Bukit Timah (Five Stars restaurant, same stretch of stalls along the place where we had fried chicken wings, mee-hoon goreng, milo dinosaur drinks etc after our badminton sessions the last time).

Thought could “fight” for half-day or early dismissal from work today, but alas, a Taiwan shipment had to go awry and we had to stay till 6pm (official dismissal time) to get the final confirmation that the shipment is on its way and that all things are in order before we could leave. Nonetheless, I thank God that He made all things happen by 6pm.

Went down to church to try on the new cameras, looked at the final installed system in the AV room. Though the cameras are much bigger and heavier, they are indeed more sharper compared to the previous ones. Only thing are the knobs that we had to get a little used to. Praise God.

31 Dec 05 (Sat) – Had karaoke (K-lunch) at Marina Square with sis & friend. Only cost S$11.10 per pax (11am to 2pm). Lunch provided was good too. After that we explored the newly renovated Marina Square. Rained heavily, but spirits were kept up, praise God. Had family dinner at coffeeshop opposite my block. Good food.

01 Jan 06 (Sun) – Woke up at 10am. Attended 3rd service in church, served 4th. Almost fainted halfway through the service as I saw dark patches. I panicked. Prayed to Daddy God. Then I remembered the 3 little clorets sweets I popped into my jeans pocket just before the service (thanks to Dancing Tomato !) Those sweets were my “life saver” at that moment. Praise God. Had dinner with friends after that and went home.

02 Jan 06 (Mon) – Went for another round of karaoke sessions with my friends. We sang from 2 to 7pm. Watched some live concerts renditions and wow…. Awesome ! I was like drizzling with my saliva when those few songs were over. Fully satisfied. Had steamboat dinner with 2 other friends after the karaoke. Fantastic.

That sums up all the celebrations, gatherings, food and fellowships I had with my family and friends for the month of Dec 2005 & early 2006. Simply R & R. No gyms… occasional swimming.
Come 2006, back to “normal”. I have a goal. Target is end Nov’06. So now its ganbatte !