I never keep track of the resolutions i made through the years but is till like to make them . Having them made me feel like i am making efforts to move forward to new year with an improved self.
2012 Resolution:
PRIORITY: MAKING BABIES
1. Keeping a balance at work and knock off on time.
Will ask if i can change my working hours to start early at 830 and leave 6. Be more organized and on top of things during work so that I will not feel like work is endless. Be more focus and specialize in certain areas and also be more forthright in saying no when i needed to.
2. Exercise regularly
Keep a discipline of doing yoga on monday, wednesday/saturday morning, swim once every weekend, visit the nature or forest every once a month.
3. Eat regularly and ensure that I have lunch and dinner. Try to have dinner early before 8. If that is not possible, have light meals when i am back.
3. Be discipline in daily devotionals and also walk with the lord'
Set aside a short 15 minute devotion and also a 30 minute devotion in the evening with the lord. Pray with hubby together at night( so hard to keep up with this even though we attempt to)
4. Try to be early for church service every sunday and also keep up with attendance when I am serving at Sunday school. Make cell group a Friday Priority and take more active role in leading worship of bible study
5. Have dinner with in-laws and father/brother at least once a week
Friday, December 30, 2011
A 2011 thankful post
A thankful post
I should learn to give thanks . this year, i have not been much thankful about a lot of things happening in my life as I allowed myself to be overwhelmed by the huge workload at work. This also explained why my blog was silent for a while.
Yesterday, while i was doing my performance appraisal, i am thankful that through the process , i am able to reflect and evaluate what i had achieve over the past year. And boy, there were a lot of breakthroughs for me at workplace trying out new things, stepping out of my comfort zone and initiating new contacts and building on my expertise and having opportunities to where god wants me to focus my efforts and that is : special needs education. On top of that, i find myself being more resilient in stressful situations, being more convicted and and confident in expressing some of my views for certain issues and push forward certain staff. And for that, i thank god that he has given me strength to perserve , my hubby who tolerates and shares my frequent whines, my ever sweet, encouraging, understanding , supportive new boss, lynn and of course all the wonderful external professionals that I am working with this year.Without the opportunities given, i will not have grown so much professionally this year
I am thankful for my dad ,brother who were ever so understanding and understood that at times, i am so tired that I couldn't even bring myself to travel back and visit them.I would strive to reach a balance this year.
I am thankful for my wonderful cell group mates. what a year of change and also transitions
that all of us were facing . And despite our occasional frequent meet up due to babies and work, I am glad that we stood by each other and figure a way out to know one another better and also to be more accountable to one another in the lord's way
I am thankful for my friend , Hoon Lan who has been another pillar of strength and listening ear whenever i need one . I thank the lord that she is blessed with a little one next year and that she is able to cope with a demise of her love one this year with strength. I am also thankful that our husbands got to know one another better and that we have opportunities to hang around many times together in the year.
I am thankful for lord's spiritual food for me and provide opportunities for me to learn keyboard and spiritual worship at Believer music and also get to know some course mates who were an encouragement to me. I pray the lord will give me the discipline to continue to worship with him on that through music that will allow me to connect me more to him
And lastly, I am thankful that the lord gave me much strength to overcome the miscarriage that i have in the early part of this year . It took me a while and even now as I overcome the fears, the worries of getting conceiving again and ensuring that the baby is safe and healthy. I pray that he could contiinue to strengthen my faith and trust in his timing and continue to keep a joyful heart on this journey.
I should learn to give thanks . this year, i have not been much thankful about a lot of things happening in my life as I allowed myself to be overwhelmed by the huge workload at work. This also explained why my blog was silent for a while.
Yesterday, while i was doing my performance appraisal, i am thankful that through the process , i am able to reflect and evaluate what i had achieve over the past year. And boy, there were a lot of breakthroughs for me at workplace trying out new things, stepping out of my comfort zone and initiating new contacts and building on my expertise and having opportunities to where god wants me to focus my efforts and that is : special needs education. On top of that, i find myself being more resilient in stressful situations, being more convicted and and confident in expressing some of my views for certain issues and push forward certain staff. And for that, i thank god that he has given me strength to perserve , my hubby who tolerates and shares my frequent whines, my ever sweet, encouraging, understanding , supportive new boss, lynn and of course all the wonderful external professionals that I am working with this year.Without the opportunities given, i will not have grown so much professionally this year
I am thankful for my dad ,brother who were ever so understanding and understood that at times, i am so tired that I couldn't even bring myself to travel back and visit them.I would strive to reach a balance this year.
I am thankful for my wonderful cell group mates. what a year of change and also transitions
that all of us were facing . And despite our occasional frequent meet up due to babies and work, I am glad that we stood by each other and figure a way out to know one another better and also to be more accountable to one another in the lord's way
I am thankful for my friend , Hoon Lan who has been another pillar of strength and listening ear whenever i need one . I thank the lord that she is blessed with a little one next year and that she is able to cope with a demise of her love one this year with strength. I am also thankful that our husbands got to know one another better and that we have opportunities to hang around many times together in the year.
I am thankful for lord's spiritual food for me and provide opportunities for me to learn keyboard and spiritual worship at Believer music and also get to know some course mates who were an encouragement to me. I pray the lord will give me the discipline to continue to worship with him on that through music that will allow me to connect me more to him
And lastly, I am thankful that the lord gave me much strength to overcome the miscarriage that i have in the early part of this year . It took me a while and even now as I overcome the fears, the worries of getting conceiving again and ensuring that the baby is safe and healthy. I pray that he could contiinue to strengthen my faith and trust in his timing and continue to keep a joyful heart on this journey.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Turkey Istanbul
7th August 2011
Turkey has been the one of the countries that we have always wanted to visit.Simply because of its rich history and culture. 10 nights and 7 days in the historically known Constantinople and Byzantium has allowed us to marvel at the beauty of Western Turkey and visited four of its biggest cities.
On the first day, we landed in Istanbul , I so love the city ( that I listed as one of my top favorites after Paris and New York) and had made up my mind that I would visited it again It is located on the Bosphorus Strait and encompasses the natural harbour known as the Golden Horn, in the northwest of the country. It extends both on the European (Thrace) and on the Asian (Anatolia) sides of the Bosphorus, and is thereby the only metropolis in the world that is situated on two continents. Istanbul is a designated alpha world city.
Most of the architecture in Istanbul is primarily known for its Byzantine and Ottoman architecture, but its buildings reflect the various peoples and empires that have ruled its predecessors. Genoese, Roman, and even Greek forms of architecture remain visible in Istanbul alongside their Ottoman counterparts, Our first stop is the predominant Haga Sophia. The building is interesting as it has remnants of Christianity and Islam design and influence in one building. It started off as one of the largest cathedral in the ancient world, afterwhich was converted to a mosques, where the mosaics are plastered, minibars and minarets were added after Constantipole was conquered by the Ottoman Turks Under Sultan Memed II.
Next was the Tokapi palace. It is one of the largest palace in Istanbul and was occupied by the Ottoman Turks. The palace was one of the Unesco Heritage Site. When we first entered the site, it was designed with the same concept that it would be a self contained little town like some other palaces that we have visited in the other parts of the world. It has many courtyards and of course different function rooms.While listening to the stories told by the guide in the first courtyard, I could already visualize how the courtiers are assembled to host the different ambassadors from around the world. Then hubs and I quickly hopped over to the second and third courtyard where we managed to see many of the artifacts , the porcelain collection, the treasury, the arms collection and not forgetting one of the biggest diamonds and emerald that the royal families have worn.
As time was a little short... ( the downside of a tour package), we quickly went through the various rooms and visited the outer gardens which is my favourite part of the palace. Over here, we have a panoramic view of the Mamara sea from the palace. With the nice Mediterranean weather, Hubs and I spent a good 20 minutes marveling at the beautiful scenaries.
We then proceed to the the Blue Mosque. What a magnificent mosque in the classical period and being one of the largest in the world, with , 6 minarates, 8 domes. According to our tour guide, when you have 6 minarates in a mosque, it signifies that this is a mosque visited by the royal family.
We linger around the inner courtyard while the guide was giving a history of the mosque. It happened to be the fasting month when we visited Turkey so we could see lot of people which provided such a great view of the exterior of the mosque.
The interior view featuring the prayer area and the dome.
Before we say good bye to the blue mosque, there is this area where everyone has to washed their feet before they left or entered the mosque
Next we had a quick stop over at the hippodrome.It was the heart of the sporting and political life of old Constantinople.Monuments decorating the Hippodrome include the 3500-year-old Egyptian granite Obelisk of Theodosius, brought to Constantinople by Emperor Theodosius in 390 AD. You'll also see the spiral bronze base of a three-headed serpent sculpture brought from Delphi in Greece.At the southwestern end of the Hippodrome is the bare stone Column of Constantine Porphyrogenetus, dating from the 10th century. Just west of the Hippodrome is the Binbirdirek Cistern ("Cistern of 1001 Columns"), worth a look.
After lunch, we started our journey to the hotel that we are staying in Kudasi. Over here, we were ready to depart from the European Continent and take a ferry across the Mamara sea to Asia continent ( Anatolia). What an exciting and life time experienc!!
After 3 hours ride, we finally reached our hotel in Cannakale , checked in and retired early with the beautiful sunset hues.
Turkey has been the one of the countries that we have always wanted to visit.Simply because of its rich history and culture. 10 nights and 7 days in the historically known Constantinople and Byzantium has allowed us to marvel at the beauty of Western Turkey and visited four of its biggest cities.
On the first day, we landed in Istanbul , I so love the city ( that I listed as one of my top favorites after Paris and New York) and had made up my mind that I would visited it again It is located on the Bosphorus Strait and encompasses the natural harbour known as the Golden Horn, in the northwest of the country. It extends both on the European (Thrace) and on the Asian (Anatolia) sides of the Bosphorus, and is thereby the only metropolis in the world that is situated on two continents. Istanbul is a designated alpha world city.
Most of the architecture in Istanbul is primarily known for its Byzantine and Ottoman architecture, but its buildings reflect the various peoples and empires that have ruled its predecessors. Genoese, Roman, and even Greek forms of architecture remain visible in Istanbul alongside their Ottoman counterparts, Our first stop is the predominant Haga Sophia. The building is interesting as it has remnants of Christianity and Islam design and influence in one building. It started off as one of the largest cathedral in the ancient world, afterwhich was converted to a mosques, where the mosaics are plastered, minibars and minarets were added after Constantipole was conquered by the Ottoman Turks Under Sultan Memed II.
Next was the Tokapi palace. It is one of the largest palace in Istanbul and was occupied by the Ottoman Turks. The palace was one of the Unesco Heritage Site. When we first entered the site, it was designed with the same concept that it would be a self contained little town like some other palaces that we have visited in the other parts of the world. It has many courtyards and of course different function rooms.While listening to the stories told by the guide in the first courtyard, I could already visualize how the courtiers are assembled to host the different ambassadors from around the world. Then hubs and I quickly hopped over to the second and third courtyard where we managed to see many of the artifacts , the porcelain collection, the treasury, the arms collection and not forgetting one of the biggest diamonds and emerald that the royal families have worn.
As time was a little short... ( the downside of a tour package), we quickly went through the various rooms and visited the outer gardens which is my favourite part of the palace. Over here, we have a panoramic view of the Mamara sea from the palace. With the nice Mediterranean weather, Hubs and I spent a good 20 minutes marveling at the beautiful scenaries.
We then proceed to the the Blue Mosque. What a magnificent mosque in the classical period and being one of the largest in the world, with , 6 minarates, 8 domes. According to our tour guide, when you have 6 minarates in a mosque, it signifies that this is a mosque visited by the royal family.
The interior view featuring the prayer area and the dome.
Before we say good bye to the blue mosque, there is this area where everyone has to washed their feet before they left or entered the mosque
Next we had a quick stop over at the hippodrome.It was the heart of the sporting and political life of old Constantinople.Monuments decorating the Hippodrome include the 3500-year-old Egyptian granite Obelisk of Theodosius, brought to Constantinople by Emperor Theodosius in 390 AD. You'll also see the spiral bronze base of a three-headed serpent sculpture brought from Delphi in Greece.At the southwestern end of the Hippodrome is the bare stone Column of Constantine Porphyrogenetus, dating from the 10th century. Just west of the Hippodrome is the Binbirdirek Cistern ("Cistern of 1001 Columns"), worth a look.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
YANNI IN SINGAPORE
One thing about marriage is, you learn to enjoy each other company in one another interests. Husband's love from the past- YANNI. I wasn't a big fan but after the one night concert at MBS, i was blown away by the talented musician and his band. Truely world class!
Batam Getaway
Sometimes a simple getway with frens over simple board games and eating can recharged your spirit. We should do this more often.
Monday, June 13, 2011
The Big Three @ Phuket Rawai
Morning sun greeted me at 8am. What a good rest! Serendipity lived up to it's name. We were served a sumptuous spread of intercontinental breakfast. Nice table set up with little cute cutlery and pottery.Food was aesthetically displayed. Light lounge music was played. The place is so quiet and serene. I felt time has slowed down a little .
11am :Moving on to another chapter today and celebrating it at phuket .Naiham beach is beautiful. The green waves and the clear cirrus clouds lightened me up. We rode the waves and dived in the sea water. I was in heaven with the sea water bubbling in my ears. There were a lot of things I hope to do before turning thirty such as having a kid but I guess god has it own timing and I should learn to be content with what I have and learn to treasure my time to enjoy the present .
4.30pm: While waiting for the minibus to fetch us back to the hotel, Hubs and I sat at the beach to have some silly fun.Snaping pictures, watching the dogs and talking about why the caucasians like to date petite thai asian girls
5.30pm:
Before having a good soak in the bathtub, we decided to laze around in the balcony,just to enjoy the good space and the nice nature. Be still. That's a nice feeling to have.
8pm: We went back to the same local restaurant that we had yesterday to buy dinner and went back to our apartment to enjoy a quiet dinner. No fancy dinner or blowing the candles on the cake. Just Hubs and I with a bowl of tom yam, green curry, morning glory and grilled chicken for just $20 dollars.
12 June 2011
7am: Woke up to enjoy the breakfast.The same feeling of peace and tranquility. Have a little walk in the garden before hitting the pool to swim a few laps. Then laze around in the nice chairs to enjoy our last hour before we bade farewell to Serenpity and our wonderful accomodation. I really had a good time and will definitely be back again, hopefully with a little bud.
11am :Moving on to another chapter today and celebrating it at phuket .Naiham beach is beautiful. The green waves and the clear cirrus clouds lightened me up. We rode the waves and dived in the sea water. I was in heaven with the sea water bubbling in my ears. There were a lot of things I hope to do before turning thirty such as having a kid but I guess god has it own timing and I should learn to be content with what I have and learn to treasure my time to enjoy the present .
4.30pm: While waiting for the minibus to fetch us back to the hotel, Hubs and I sat at the beach to have some silly fun.Snaping pictures, watching the dogs and talking about why the caucasians like to date petite thai asian girls
5.30pm:
Before having a good soak in the bathtub, we decided to laze around in the balcony,just to enjoy the good space and the nice nature. Be still. That's a nice feeling to have.
8pm: We went back to the same local restaurant that we had yesterday to buy dinner and went back to our apartment to enjoy a quiet dinner. No fancy dinner or blowing the candles on the cake. Just Hubs and I with a bowl of tom yam, green curry, morning glory and grilled chicken for just $20 dollars.
12 June 2011
7am: Woke up to enjoy the breakfast.The same feeling of peace and tranquility. Have a little walk in the garden before hitting the pool to swim a few laps. Then laze around in the nice chairs to enjoy our last hour before we bade farewell to Serenpity and our wonderful accomodation. I really had a good time and will definitely be back again, hopefully with a little bud.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Jurong Bird Park
9th April 2011
Hoon had free tickets to Jurong Bird Park and she invited hubs and I to join them yesterday. I had such great fun. JBP changed so much. I preferred it over Mandai Zoo for two reasons:
1. It is less commercialized and the vegetation is much natural
2. The birds are always moving and in actions, unlike the animals in the zoo.
Then, we went to Ivy Poison @ Bollywood ( Lim Chu Kang) for lunch. The banana bread, kueh, fig tea and curry are yummy. Love the rustic feel of the restaurant. You won't feel like you are in Singapore. I think is a great place for parents to bring their children for some outdoor fun and eco-education. Service was good and the boss would take time to check in with you. Apparently all the vegetables are grown without pesticides. So is ORGANIC and you still feel so healthy after a heavy lunch!
1. It is less commercialized and the vegetation is much natural
2. The birds are always moving and in actions, unlike the animals in the zoo.
Then, we went to Ivy Poison @ Bollywood ( Lim Chu Kang) for lunch. The banana bread, kueh, fig tea and curry are yummy. Love the rustic feel of the restaurant. You won't feel like you are in Singapore. I think is a great place for parents to bring their children for some outdoor fun and eco-education. Service was good and the boss would take time to check in with you. Apparently all the vegetables are grown without pesticides. So is ORGANIC and you still feel so healthy after a heavy lunch!
Discovery weekend
1 April 2011
Hubs was away in Bali for an offsite retreat with his company. So I needed to figure out how to spend the weekend alone. Went to do a facial in Haach and thereafter went to Esplande to hang out at the library. I am reading the " Half the Sky. How to change the world". Fantastic book about wide spread human rights violation of our age. Worthy read. There's something about Esplanade that kept drawing me back.I love the changing visual arts display. It gave me perspective.
The young local bands were blasting at the amphitheater. I thought I am too old for Rock. I redicovered that it energizes my soul.
Then I moved indoors to the concourse. Another local band was sharing their journey. Fantastic trio. Love the lead singer, Ruth Ling and the drummer, Audrey.I swayed my body to their ballads and immersed in their sharing. Music makes wonder to one's soul. I am so glad that I am reconnected again.
At 6pm, i left to meet dad for dinner at Sisley. It turned out to be another wonderful time. Just daughter and father. Conversations over plates of salads, fish and chips and pasta. Catching up over one another's life.
Life is so wonderful with such little things.Thank god for such a great weekend.
Hubs was away in Bali for an offsite retreat with his company. So I needed to figure out how to spend the weekend alone. Went to do a facial in Haach and thereafter went to Esplande to hang out at the library. I am reading the " Half the Sky. How to change the world". Fantastic book about wide spread human rights violation of our age. Worthy read. There's something about Esplanade that kept drawing me back.I love the changing visual arts display. It gave me perspective.
The young local bands were blasting at the amphitheater. I thought I am too old for Rock. I redicovered that it energizes my soul.
Life is so wonderful with such little things.Thank god for such a great weekend.
Global Trotter is back
13 March 2011
First weekend that Eu Jin was back for good and in order to help this guy settle his life back in Singapore, we went to Adam Road to have his favorite prawn mee noodle after church service. Well, after being away for so long, he was still a true blue singaporean. Good Hawker food makes him happy.:) After that, we went to the Botanical Garden to laze around and enjoy the green outdoors. The SAF Military band was playing that weekend. It wasn't fantastic but had made us happy and contented .EJ said we should do this more often and with a bottle of wine,some cheese and crackers the next time.
First weekend that Eu Jin was back for good and in order to help this guy settle his life back in Singapore, we went to Adam Road to have his favorite prawn mee noodle after church service. Well, after being away for so long, he was still a true blue singaporean. Good Hawker food makes him happy.:) After that, we went to the Botanical Garden to laze around and enjoy the green outdoors. The SAF Military band was playing that weekend. It wasn't fantastic but had made us happy and contented .EJ said we should do this more often and with a bottle of wine,some cheese and crackers the next time.
Weekend @ MBS
29 March 2011
Eu Jin came back for good! So happy. Love this guy. We met up and we went to Tai Seng for Bak Choy Mee. It must had been the best Bak Choy Mee that I had tasted. No wonder the boys love to have their meet up here.
After the sumptous and satisfying lunch, we checked out the Gengis Khan exhibit at the Singapore Art and Technology Museum. The museum design was fantastic . Love the architecture but the admission fee was a bit too pricey. $30 dollars per admission.
Anyway, thought the exhibit was worthwhile after i visited. Learned more about the great Khan and brought back memories of my mission trip in Mongolia. He apparently was greatly idolized in Mongolia and to this day still greatly respected. Like all great leaders, he had many quotes of wisdom which had been passed down to his descendents. Some of which, i thought was pretty good. There was performance by this Mongolian folk music group which was pretty impressive. The lead singer had an interestingly deep voice and ability to mimick different sounds.
I was also inspired to arrange a trip to Silk Road after being intrigued by the museum display. It was those dreams of mine to go to an exotic destination in my life time.
Eu Jin became our official photographer after we visited the museum. That would always happen if he went out with both of us. Since hubs and I had not been to MBS yet, I quickly sized this opportunity to take as many pictres as I could. I loved how we acted like we were tourists and captured the beautiful skylines of the downtown.Singapore had developed so fast over the last few years. I can't wait for the new Marina Bays Garden to come at the end of this year.
Eu Jin came back for good! So happy. Love this guy. We met up and we went to Tai Seng for Bak Choy Mee. It must had been the best Bak Choy Mee that I had tasted. No wonder the boys love to have their meet up here.
After the sumptous and satisfying lunch, we checked out the Gengis Khan exhibit at the Singapore Art and Technology Museum. The museum design was fantastic . Love the architecture but the admission fee was a bit too pricey. $30 dollars per admission.
Eu Jin became our official photographer after we visited the museum. That would always happen if he went out with both of us. Since hubs and I had not been to MBS yet, I quickly sized this opportunity to take as many pictres as I could. I loved how we acted like we were tourists and captured the beautiful skylines of the downtown.Singapore had developed so fast over the last few years. I can't wait for the new Marina Bays Garden to come at the end of this year.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)