Ern Chee's birthday..

so, i had a "mixed up" week.. dont know what i'm feeling at this point of time.. guess i just wanna go to sleep and never wake up.. so tired of everything.. so tired of people asking me how i'm feeling, what i'm feeling and why i'm feeling like that.. for crying out loud!! they are feelings!! feelings.. things that you feel.. how the hell do you know why you feel something.. you just do.. grrr.. why don't people understand that? why don't people wanna accept my decisions? why do people wanna question my decisions? and why do they keep telling me that i'll regret it when i know that i wont.. ugh! ok.. enough drama.. haha.. so, it was dear Ern Chee's birthday on friday.. so our lifegroup decided to surprise her at her place with a cake and singing at midnight.. but that didn't really go as planned cos she was in the shower till 12.10 la!! haha.. but anyway.. we still surprised her.. haha.. wilson got her flowers.. which looked A LOT like carnations.. haha.. but apparantly they aren't.. we stayed there till about 1.. oh! and i just have to give God the glory for this.. i dropped my phone at home on thursday evening, and some of the wires must have got disconnected inside the phone, cos it couldn't ring.. it would just vibrate.. and i use my phone as an alarm clock.. with just over a month till i go back home, i really didn't wanna get a phone from here.. anyways.. i prayed that God would let my phone work, and He fixed it.. cos the next morning the alarm rang!! i'm sooo happy and grateful.. thank you Jesus!! :) here are the pics from us crashing Ern Chee's place.. hmm.. i've never had a surprise party in my entire life la.. so sad... :( oh well...

the cake.. yum!!


us hiding in the room, waiting for ern chee to finish her shower..


SURPRISE!!!


happy birthday hun!!


birthday wishes from your lifegroup..


Ern Chee and her stalker!! lol..


HAPPY BITHDAY ONCE AGAIN SWEETIE..

we had International Student's Meeting on Friday.. it was good.. but it made me miss my own church back home.. that is the first church that i attended regularly.. i spent my teenage years there.. and i have sooo many fond memories there.. the friendships i've made, the girls who became as close to me as sisters, and the guys as brothers.. we really have an awesome SHINE family!! and i feel so sad i am no longer part of it.. :( seeing the youth here each week just reminds me so much of what i've left behind.. when i look at how close the girls are here i think of my girlfriends back home.. i miss all of you soooo much.. more than you'll ever know.. jie jie, sterls, shell, hannah, alicia, manda and abbie.. i miss u guys!! thanks so much for everything.. abbie, you've been an awesome best friend and sister to me for the past 12 years.. we've had our share of fights, but you've always been someone i could count on.. thanks to all of my close friends for always being there for me and supporting me.. i love you guys..
being the "new" one here, has really been an eye-opener for me.. back in s'pore i guess we were soo used to being in our cliques, we, or i, never really bothered to go out of my way to make someone new feel welcomed.. sure i'd go over and say hi and chat for a bit, make that person feel settled and that's about it.. but i now know that that's just not enough.. yes, you do try to make that person feel at ease, but it's not as simple as that.. i've learnt that being the new one, there's a tendency to feel left out.. don't get me wrong, the people here are great, and they try to make me feel like one of their own.. but it's just not that simple.. it takes time to really integrate oneself into a new environment.. you get along, feel comfortable with them, so that's it isn't it? well is it really? who's to say it is and who's to say it isn't? it's good to have a place where you belong.. but where is that place for me? do i even have one? i feel like a lost soul.. not yet settled here, but no longer a part of MPCC.. yes, i know, i still am part of MPCC, and i will always be welcomed there, but it's different.. so much has happened and changed over the past year.. things are different back there, and i'm different.. i can't just expect to waltz back into everyone's life expecting things to be just the way they were when i was there.. and so what if i do settle here? what's gonna happen when they go back home? i've got 4 more years to go, while most of them only have a year or 2.. and most of them are going back home or overseas.. like Noelle - she's so sweet, and super random.. but she always makes me laugh.. (thanks babe..) :) but she's leaving next year.. yes, she's still in Aust, but it ain't the same..

i guess i just like stability in my life - when it comes to friendships and all.. still looking for that closest / best friend here.. thought i found one, but guess not.. i love sharing with that person, and i respect and admire that person too, but oh well.. in God's time He'll bring me someone i can rely on.. in the meantime, i will just depend on God, cos He never fails, disappoints or abandons us.. He never draws us to Him, only to push us away when we feel we are getting closer and start to feel comfortable with Him.. that's just human nature.. :) but thankfully that's not God's nature..

oh well.. this was one super random post, cos i had no intention whatsoever of talking about all that.. haha.. but it feels good to get everything off my chest.. exams in 3 weeks.. aiks!! gotta start mugging and stop all my philosophical thinking.. haha.. enjoy the pics from ISM and have a great week.. love ya peeps!! God bless..


the 3 birthday girls... they got saboed.. haha..


Phylia, me and Noelle after ISM..


Lynn and I.. Lynn is my senior!! haha.. doesn't look like at all lor..


Phylia's wearing boots, Noelle's wearing the whites, and mine are the goldly ones..

My wonderful life group..

the 20th of october was the first time i attended lifegroup here in SA.. i wish i went a long time ago, cos they're so so so sweet... :) we had... food of course!! haha.. tong yam steamboat.. and yes, i know, all of you back home will be like "what?! emma eating tong yam?? no way!!!".. haha.. i know.. but it really wasnt hot.. at all.. and it was soooooo yummy!! haha.. i ate way too much.. but how to resist? haha.. thankfully, all of them love to eat, and can really eat A LOT!! haha.. so i didn't feel so bad.. :) food was sooo yummy and company was awesome... after dinner we had ice-cream.. yum yum.. then we watched home run by Jack Neo..so good.. except that there was something wrong with the VCD, and we couldn't see the race part.. but it was still good.. thanks guys for everything.. i had soooo much fun!! love you guys.. :)

stayed home on saturday, and started packing.. haha.. i know i've got a month to go and all, but.... haha.. and also cos i need to move stuff to my aunt's.. so i've gotta get it packed up soon.. church on sunday was great.. feels so good to be the Lord's house after sooo long.. haha.. never again will i work on a sunday morning.. hehe..

i went for interactive service at night.. this girl, Amanda Best was there.. she survived a plane crash in which 5 people died.. only she and the pilot survived.. she shared her testimony and it was amazing.. she said "I'm glad i chose my saviour before i was in my time of need".. and that is just sooo true.. so anyway.. here are some pics from after the service.. we were just mucking around while waiting.. hehe.. have a great week people.. love ya!! :)

Look at all the food..
more food.. yum!

Wilson, Katie and err.. forgot her name.. hehe.. sorry..


group photo..

another group photo..

noelle and leah


group photo but missing Wilson..


Delia and Lynn..


Hsien Fei and me.. She's also from s'pore


Delia and me..


Lynn and me..


Noelle and me..


Wilson and me... i'm sooo blessed to know him.. he's a wonderful lifegroup leader.. :) appreciate u heaps..

19th of October

so, here are some pics of the gift that Leo sent me today.. instead of sending them out to everyone who asks for them, i'll just put them here.. enjoy.. and have a great friday tmr.. i know i will.. i'm having steamboat with my life group!! so i'm looking forward to that.. then i'll have even more pics to upload.. hehe.. take care peps.. love ya all!


This is what i found on my bed when i walked! got a shock.. haha..


This is what it says on the balloon...


This is what was in the box.. it kinda looks more like a coffin though.. haha..


these 2 leaves came with the flowers.. i thought they looked kinda out of place.. haha.. but oh well, they look alright sticking out on either side of the vase..


close up of the roses..


and there you have it.. i arranged them, but got pricked in the process.. haha.. 24 beautiful red roses.. they make my room smell soooo good... haha..

updates..

i'm soooo lazy to blog.. but hey, a picture speaks a thousand words right? so i'm leaving you guys with heaps of pics.. the first lot are from my hostel mate Cindy's birthday dinner.. food was great and so was the company..


look at all the yummy food!! all cooked by Jason and Su Lei for Cindy's b'day dinner..


Group photo of my hostel mates..


Cindy with her b'day cake.. it's yummy!!!


Jason and Su.. they just moved out.. i miss them... :(

took these pics on friday night.. the first few shots were taken on my way to rundell mall.. i went shopping of course.. and got lots of nice stuff! hehe.. the highlight of the evening was, of course, MAMAK NIGHT!! it was organised by my church, Paradise.. it was sooo good.. there was bryani rice, curry and more curry, prata and more curry, and teh tarik.. oh! and chin chow too.. yum!! then there was desert. there were all kinds of kueh.. i loved the one that was cheesecake and had strawberry jelly on top.. then there was pandan cake and a lot more stuff.. anyways, once again, the food was awesome, but the company was even better... thanks guys for making me feel so welcomed!! love you guys.. :)


took this outside my place.. the sun was starting to set.. and the sky was pink..


this is Victoria square when its dark.. can you spot the duck?


this is victoria square when it's bright.. haha.. its just next to my school..


Leah and Katie.. look at the food.. yum!


Hsien Fei and I.. she's here on an exchange program.. and she's from s'pore too!! she's from NUS law fac..

Noel, me, leah, phylia, katie

Noel, Phylia, Leah, me

Mei Lin and me


Ern Chee and i.. i'm supposedly her stalker.. haha.. congrats on getting your pink phone babe!!


my new aqua coloured top from supre.. couldnt try it cos it was on sale, but it sorta fits all right.. a bit too baggy at the shoulders, but ohh well..


my plain black long sleeved tee.. wanted one for so long, just never actually found one that i liked..


my new black cap.. from sportsgirl too..


my new ring.. i just love chunky rings these days.. i want one in every colour!! haha..


i used the ferrero rocher lid and trays to make this.. haha.. can put my little accessories in it.. makes them easier to find.. lol..


i used the box to store my bangles.. :)

yup.. well i got another cap.. a white one.. but its in the wash.. will post a pic soon.. abbie, you'll love them!! hehe.. have a great weekend people.. 2 months till i'm home.. woo hoo!! cant wait.. love ya guys!!

visit from my bf..

wow.. time really flies.. it's been almost a month since i last blogged.. sorry guys.. :)
so, my boyfriend Leo came for a short visit.. he was here for 6 days.. and he just left today.. it had to be a short trip cos we're both having exams soon.. anyways, so we didn't really do much sight-seeing or anything like that.. we spent our time in the library, shopping and eating.. oh my goodness, you won't believe how much we ate.. we just ate and ate and ate... we had japanese - sushi, italian, dim sim twice, chinese, korean and western food too.. but it was all good.. haha..

then, we went hiking with my hostel manager and my hostel mates.. it was so so awesome.. i met this girl, Lauren, who is from Kentucky, America.. she just finished a training course at YWAM.. what a small world! she told me she just finished a course at youth with a mission, and she wasn't sure if i had heard of it before.. and i was like "YWAM!!!!" and she was like "yeah!! are you a believer?" haha.. it was so funny.. and for the rest of the walk we just shared our experiences.. and i shared with her about the mission trip i went on to Chiang Mai in 2001.. God is just so so good!!
and we saw a wild Kuala.. it was at the base of a tree.. it was so close to us.. we had to be really careful we didn't make it feel boxed in, otherwise it might have attacked us.. but it was cute.. hehe..
yesterday i got a pair of expensive groovy sunnies.. hehe.. Leo bought them for me.. thank you darling.. they're funky and i like them heaps.. hehe.. yup.. so he left today.. feels odd not having him here.. but then again time really flies.. i'm going to sydney at the end of nov, after my finals, to get a scuba-diving license, so i'll see him then.. oh wellys.. will blog again soon.. 6 weeks till finals.. Lord please help me!! take care folks.. hugs and kisses..

at the Italian restaurant..



scenery is amazing...


the wild kuala..


group photo...


more spectacular scenery


Leo at 'Alfonso's'.. we had breakfast there on sunday morning.. way too much to eat!


my new sunnies, a gift from Leo.. hehe..


saying goodbye at the airport

to end of with a quote.. this is something that Lauren said to me which really impacted me.. she said it when we were trying to take in the beautiful scenery.. i'll never forget those few words she said.. they are simple words, but they left a lasting impression on me.. she said, "how can someone look at all this and not believe in God?"