a quick summary :]

Monday
my birthday! :]
many thanks to all the texting well-wishers, including my cousin who wished a day earlier by mistake LOL
i celebrated my birthday with my class followed by the swim team.
THANK YOU JOSHUA for singing happy birthday the minute i walked into class :]
apparently, i owe him three birthday presents! goodness...
they totally took me by surprise during break.
i had no idea they had all that planned but it was really sweet!
THANKS 1T30! :]
many thanks to my wonderful IG mates who came up personally to wish me :]
i liked the combined card! :)
okay fast forward to the afternoon.
went for swimming training as usual.
i was kinda emo cos i know i didn't perform very well.
but i was also thinking about some other stuff.
after training, we were all walking to the exit.
then suddenly clarence turned me around and started talking about how the weighing machine was a unique piece of equipment.
i went HUH?
then i realised what he was doing but i just played along.
all the same, it was really sweet of them to do that! :)
something else i didn't expect haha.
yes THANKS PEIJUN for cheering me up!

Tuesday
i don't remember much of this day except that we ran three rounds of the track.
i only lasted the first round.
THANKS AMANDA for trying to push me faster.

Wednesday
Not a good start to my day but let's not go into that.
had swimming training, this time with Coach present.
we swam 40 plus laps!
it was a great physical and mental challenge...
it was exhausting!
imagine coming out of the pool out of breath and listening to Coach say that we might get axed from the team.
not her fault but still, it kinda hurts.
well, if i get axed, i have to admit that i've no other options lined up.
no idea what to do next.
good time to pray for direction. :]
had subway for dinner and left with astley, keith, xiuhui and zhihao for CJC for the PTM
on the bus, all we could talk about was getting axed.
we as in zhihao,astley and i.
well, it wasn't exactly helping the situation but oh well, it felt kinda better talking about it
by the time my parents and i got back from the PTM, it was nearly 10.

Thursday
I finished writing that song that's been on my mind for days! :]
sydney, xiuhui and joline had a look at that.
oh and i was late for school.
accident along the PIE.
let's not go into that though i eventually didn't get marked down.
met tessa during mass PE.

Friday
i think i got the tune for that song...
anyways, today, joshua let me listen to the melody he and jerome composed to be our class song.
it was nice!
i came up with the lyrics in the library during the break before training.
we had land training today.
its a crazy experience.
macritchie could do with a lot less slopes.
i could do with a more fit body.
i shall not dive into the details of my wonderful experience there except that i really bonded with tessa :]
we've gotten to know each other better.
unfortunately, we may be separated soon :(
that aside, i must say THANKS SZERN for reminding me about my piled up tuition homework.
been back late this entire week.
tried to do it all today but it didn't exactly work.
only managed to do one set.
imagine me doing and dozing at the same time. :(
consistency is important.
i was consistently home late so i consistently put it off.
need to change that bad habit.
okay, i am exhausted now.
church tomorrow! need to have energy! :]
seeya!

it's because of Him :]

today's sermon had a massive impact on me!
the story about wally being caught in the barbed wire and saved by his selfless friend really drove the message home for me.
it really emphasised the fact that JESUS set us free from sin.
the analogy of the dog from tom and jerry really helped me to visualise us chained by sin and being held back.
i totally understood that one.
sometimes i feel so constrained and obstacles keep hindering my progress.
sometimes, they really get to you and tempt you to give up.
its really the faith and trust in GOD as well as encouraging influences around me that kept me going.
the story about david livingstone and the chained slaves was so incredibly moving.
the speaker was so expressive and i was really feeling for this story.
we really need GOD every single moment, even after we've been set free.
we need to help spread GOD's Word and we can only do that through Him.
WE CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS US!!!

i'm glad GOD gave me the courage to speak with you about what was bothering me.
i'm glad that i prayed for you and that GOD answered and that you are alright. :]
i am further reminded about the importance of prayer...

SPECIAL DEDICATION:
TO MEMBERS OF NISSI GAP: I LOVE YOU GUYS!
your birthday surprise was amazing and totally touching!
how touching? so touching that i cried.
those of you who know me should know how difficult it is to make me cry.
my lack of teardrops aside...
i loved and enjoyed every moment of it and am so glad i got to celebrate with you guys!
you're like my family (my brothers and sisters) and i've really enjoyed my time at church.
the best thing that can ever happen to a person is knowing and experiencing GOD and you guys have helped me to do so.
you're still doing it now, of course, and you guys are a huge encouragement to me!
you guys encouraged me to jump during service so i've grown height-wise! :]
more importantly, you guys have helped me grow so much spiritually.
i thank GOD for meeting each and every one of you!
He's blessed me with you guys that have helped me through a time when i wasn't sure what i wanted.
you guys set me on the right track and constantly remind me how to stay on track and there aren't enough words to express gratitude for that.
it was a simple celebration but its the thought that mattered most to me!
i'm amazed you guys thought of singing the song.
that really took me by surprise because i honestly thought we were going to have praise and worship.
that song mattered a lot to me and you guys have made it even more meaningful!
thank you!
:]

if there's one thing i learned today, it is to never try to communicate with siewyee using hand signals.
she was waiting outside my classroom after classes.
for some reason, when i signalled her to wait for me, she thought i'd signalled her that our class wasn't ending for another hour.
and she left.
i panicked and tried to find her.
i ran down to her classroom and couldn't find her.
ran back up to my classroom and couldn't find her.
ran down to her classroom and couldn't find her.
i finally found her sitting comfortably on a bench at the bus-stop.
normally, i would thank her for keeping me in shape but not under the circumstances when i'm trying to facilitate the recovery of my wound in time for monday.
still, thank GOD i found her.
so we took the bus.
i went to swiss and she went home
she chose sleep over me
econs people: this is what we call opportunity cost

at swiss, i walked into the hall.
the scariest thing was my junior wanting to tackle me cos she claimed she missed me too much.
yeah right lol.
okay so i helped out for awhile then went to the staff room to help out and catch up.
then went back to hang with the club.
let's just say i missed them a lot.
lots and lots and lots.
i love CJ but i love swiss too!

first embarrassing encounter:
this guy was ahead of me in the queue for noodles, never mind what kind.
he got his noodles and walked off.
its only after he'd walked some distance away that my classmate and i realised that he'd left his bowl of wanton soup on the counter.
we decided to be nice people and brought it all the way to where he was sitting, thinking he'd forgotten about his wanton.
turns out he'd just left it there because he didn't want it.
his entire table was laughing and i was pretty embarrassed.
i didn't know what to do so i just left it on that guy's table and left, trying not to laugh at myself.

second embarrassing encounter:
okay, i don't want to elaborate on this.
basically because i don't know who to trust!
its so weird.
and freaky.
and just downright wrong.

okay i'm basically finished being embarrassed.
bright side: there's church tomorrow (discipleship, prayer meeting, service, cell group, dinner)
somebody told me the terms sound so technical and boring.
response: you don't know how fun and rewarding it can be! :]

random parts of my week that i didn't mention previously.

today was major FUN.
2 hours of lectures and 2 hours of tutorials straight.
how awesome.
"school's so FUN!" right peijun? :]
hmm, on second thought, i should be thankful.
people in university have longer hours of lectures.

my wound itches like crazy!
and mum doesn't want me to swim on monday!
like missing the trials once wasn't enough.
i just might miss it again.
this GOD-given injury got me out of one situation and created another one for me.
i'm very impatient and am just dying to know what His purpose is man.
ah well, other than the excruciatingly slow recovery of my wound, i am otherwise alright.

okay, kenneth's birthday was yesterday.
we had lots of fun...
the day before, siewyee and i went to buy his present
if it wasn't for kenneth, i would never have known that famous amos sells BUTTERSCOTCH cookies.
siewyee's second "throw face" moment: the pizza hut waitress mistook her as a student from china.
the look on siewyee's face was just priceless :]
we ended up making friends with the waitress.
back to kenneth's birthday.
he didn't get taupok-ed.
siewyee and i were disappointed
you can't blame us for being intrigued by the idea of taupok-ing because we've never seen it happen.
kenneth was smart enough to standby an extra set of clothes though it didn't happen.
hmm, after escaping his predicted taupok-ing session, he said that he'd plan one for me
i really hope he forgets because taupok-ing is not something that should happen to girls.
like never ever ever ever happen.
imagining the unglam scene alone is terrifying especially when you're my size.
will bring a spare set of clothes on monday.
evil + unpredictable + kenneth = scary kenneth
i don't want to think about what he's planning on monday.

anyways, i'm going back to swiss tomorrow!
evil kenneth refuses to come.
but siewyee, eugene and vanessa are going!
i miss my juniors and my teachers! :]
oh oh and on saturday, i'll be going to church!
looking forward to it because i had to do so much stuff just to be able to go.
tuition hw+orientation+lectures+tutorials+school hw = Church+Masterlife+Bible reading plan
that's such an unbalanced equation.
but when you know you're doing it all for Him, it makes it so worthwhile and meaningful.
plus, He sacrificed more for me than I have for Him.

i'm a little disturbed now though i don't know if i should be.
for people who are reading this, 1 and 2 and 3 are about different people.
and if you really, really want to know, i'll tell you.
amount of details you get depends on whether or not you know the person/people.
1. there always seems to be something between us, creating a gap.
2. i'm still praying that everything will be alright and that you'll go back to being really happy.
3. you keep it from me because you think i wouldn't understand. i will never understand if you don't tell me. i think this is what prevents us from having the close relationship we should have.

college life (kinda)

this post will be rather all-over-the-place-ish cos i'm in no mood to organise my thoughts.
bear with me alright? :]
okay, this week's been great so far :]
its been all about tutorials, lectures and just basically, lots of adjusting.
for some reason, i can stay awake better in lectures than tutorials.
i nearly fell asleep during the chem tutorial.
that was on my first day.
i resolved to stay awake from then on cos i felt pretty bad.
overall, i have nice tutors so that's pretty cool.
on monday, i went to watch the swim team.
i didn't swim cos of my knee but i will next week.
hopefully.
i was sorely tempted to just jump into the pool.
on the bright side, at least i can get along with the seniors.
the swim team is like a family.
okay, which part of CJ doesn't feel like family?
i like CJ a lot but of course, i still miss swiss.
we're going to swiss this friday!
i'm glad that i tried to catch up with tuition homework.
it's easy to stop the engine but to start it up again takes so much effort.
masterlife's going good.
i'm finding it very interesting.
i'm going to encourage as many people as possible
its amazing how powerful words are when you really mean what you say.
its amazing how GOD speaks through others to me and vice versa.



i wonder if its just me or its a hint from GOD.
you seem to be going through a hard time, judging from the way you reacted.
i don't know what's troubling you or whether you'll tell me eventually.
i don't even know if my instincts are right.
even if i find out they are, i don't know what i would say to encourage you.
but whatever it is, i'm praying for you. :]

hmm, i think my injury became the joke of the cellgroup.
it has been dubbed my "GOD-given injury" by peijun.
okay, let's rewind to the morning.
went to see the doctor.
he rubbed the wound TWICE with alcohol.
i can tell you one thing: that hurt real bad.
got my MC and went to stone in beauty world while waiting to get to church.
after a while, i decided stoning wasn't a very productive use of my time so i started to reflect on the orientation experience and my "GOD-given injury".
wrote a song out of it which shuen loved (don't exactly know why though)
okay service was interesting and i am encouraged to be a purple person.
purple person= a unique person
there's a link but its a long story.
i'm glad that everytime i listen to a sermon or go for cellgroup or both, there's seems to be yet another thing i learn about my faith.
i guess that's what it's meant to be: an ever-learning experience.
we started masterlife and prayed about it.
i'm glad its a journey the whole cellgroup gets to experience together. :]
went to grandma's place.
lots of food to eat as usual.
we celebrated 3 birthdays at once: yanting's, renjun's and mine.
in short, i was super tired.
between all the mental and physical exertion, i'm glad its the weekend.

days 3, 4 and 5 :]

DAY 3:
dragonboating was so fun!
IG04 came in first!
we were soaking wet and having a blast.
there were some bonding games.
hmm, the games were so crazy.
wow but one thing's for sure, my wet clothes stank like crazy by the time I got home.
my shoes, for one, took 2 days to dry.
CCA orientation was cool!
the drama performance was a little on the weird side.
the asylum was amazing.
the way they acted was so realistic.
but all the same, it's on the FREAKY side.
signed up for swimming too!
that's gonna be my first choice.

DAY 4:
MUSCLES ACHING LIKE CRAZY.
but I had a ton of fun.
today there were bonding games
got wet again but oh well.
that's like the point of orientation isn't it?
but it was the last day we'd spend as an IG so it was pretty sad...
this is the day we thought about the appreciation we ought to show to the 2 special people that helped us so much along the way.
i fasted lunch and ironically, the strength continues to flow such that i wasn't hungry when it came to dinner.
that's the power of God! :]
i ate dinner with kenneth and siewyee.
that's where all the peekaboo and finger-lickin good jokes came about.
it was one of kenneth's most embarrassing moments.
siewyee's too.
we were wondering what we should do for siewyee on her birthday.
she suggested we dance the bhangra from the mass dance on the bus.
we were contemplating doing it in the west mall atrium but it didn't seem like a very good idea to do it in front of swimsuit racks while wearing the CJ PE attire.
so we dropped the idea.
thank goodness for that or we might've just appeared on youtube.

DAY 5:
MUSCLES STILL ACHING.
today was the last day we spent together as an IG.
i guess we were all pretty sad...
we were split into classes according to our combinations.
i got the combination i wanted so i was kinda happy.
then we got into our new classes and started playing bonding games.
i have a pretty great home tutor so that 's fine.
i got a cool form class and everything but it just felt a little weird i guess.
ahem, this is where the drama begins.
in short, i fell.
don't ask me how it happened but it just happened.
i obviously couldn't play any more games so i sat for like 3 hours stoning.
i would've been more bored if timothy hadn't messaged me to encourage me.
THANKS TIMOTHY!
okay, so after orientation was over, i went to go get the stuff for angela and germaine.
don't ask me how i made it with my leg but i did. thank GOD.
oh and thanks to weeleong who accompanied me.
when i got home, my parents decided my leg was in pretty bad shape.
i was feeling very frustrated.
THANKS PEIJUN! you called at the right moment!
so i had to postpone the surprise and had to skip orientation.
yes, i still felt bad about that but i was pretty thankful that i still got to go to church.
i mean, if you think about it, its a blessing that i got away with abrasion and didn't break my neck.
sometimes, it happens when your landing is just horrible.
with me, that happens a lot. i can twist my ankle just walking.
i'm a klutz, i know.
GOD made me that way.

day two :]

I'm exhausted.
Just physically.
Mentally, I'm still pretty 'high' from today's orientation!
Today was so fun!!!!
The bonding games were all awesome! :]
When I came back, I was covered in:
1. PAINT (from the bonding games 'paint-twister' and 'scissors-paper-stone')
2. WATER (from the bonding game 'water-spongeball')
3. SWEAT (duh)
All the games are so fun...
Tomorrow, there's dragon-boating?
Our group is finally bonding much more.
I'm so relieved about that actually.
It makes everything seems more fun!
We'll only know our class posting on Friday.
I can't wait for that!

Oh, today was my first ever time fasting.
I still felt pretty good after the whole thing.
Can still sit for the ELL test lol :]
God's incredible man...
He gives me strength!
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! (Thanks, Szern!)
I asked the VP officially today regarding Saturday.
Unfortunately, it's a no.
Oh man, I'll miss going to church.. :(
When I think of the situation, I'll think of this song:

God will make a way
When there seems to be no way
He works in ways we cannot see
He will make a way for me
He will be my guide
Hold me closely to His side
With love and strength for each new day
He will make a way
He will make a way

I know it's a song kids sing in kindergarten but it's apt.
Like I said, I'm exhausted.
I'm going to sleep!
Goodabye and all the best to everybody!

I'm committing it all into Your Hands
I'll walk according to Your plan
Because of You, I am who I am
It's through You that I know I can

day one :]

For a first day, today was pretty good.

The one horrible thing about today, I shall not mention.

All I can do is let God guide me towards a solution.

Orientation was less interesting at first.

That was because people would rather sit and stone rather than bond.
Luckily, my group had 2 hyper facilitators so that helped alot.
Well, first days are so, yes?

It got better and i think it ended off much better.

Tomorrow, we'll be more enthusiastic! :]
The mass dance is complicated and, well, funny.
We have to have partners of the opposite gender.
I've never seen a more hyper school in my life.
Oh, and I settled the combination issue that's been on my mind this week.
Pretty relieved about that one.
Thank God!
Yes, now, I'm leaving the selection test all up to Him.
Tomorrow is supposed to be a crazy day!
Hope everyone had a great first day!