SF

Sydney Trip + Hillsong Conference

2009-07-19T18:59:00.002+10:00

It's been a really busy week since I came back so this is kinda a little late... It was really fun going to Sydney and the conference was wonderful... I guess this conference really answered a lot of questions for me in terms of the church media... It was kinda like going to school in the electives.. Really gained a lot of knowledge on stuff... The worship and sessions were really good too... Really encouraged by Louie Giglio's last session's message to go for next year's mission trip! And of course Chris Tomlin leading worship was awesome! Amazing Grace LIVE! Melting man... Haha...

Outside of the conference, we toured Sydney Harbour and went to the Blue Mountains... Even though both were quite expensive ($40 and $150 respectively), but both were really worth it... See the photos and you'll know.. I'll post a few here but I've uploaded the rest to facebook... Awesome sights.. And the best thing was we had tea and lunch in a cave! Haha... That was really nice...

Fell sick after the Blue Mountain trip but doesn't really matter lah.. The most important stuff (Conference and Blue Mountains) were already achieved by then... Just didn't manage to go Hills Church, Fish Market and Paddy's...

The great thing is Sydney was a lot warmer than Melbourne even though the temperature's around the same... Somehow its a warmer.. :) Even Blue Mountains wasn't as cold as Mt Dandenong! And that reminds me I haven't updated on the Mt Dandenong trip! The photos are still with Tim.. When I get them I will update.. :)

Thank God for a wonderful trip! Thank God for a job too! And a flexible job at that! Looking forward to school starting, recording my song and a DSLR! If I can save enough for it! Haha

Link to the rest of the photos:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=744656211&ref=profile#/album.php?aid=137668&id=744656211&ref=mf

On The Cross

2009-06-26T12:36:00.002+10:00

So what does Jesus dying on the cross for us mean? Taking our sins upon himself... And what do we actually know what that means? Literally taking our sins... Imagine the stuff that we've done, the things we've said, the sins that we've committed... All upon Jesus... As if like they were done by Jesus? Taking OUR sins UPON himself... How can we even bear to do that to Jesus? Yes, Jesus taking our sins upon myself is our only way of reconciliation with God without having to sacrifice animals or a priest... Not that we should run away from Jesus, that's not solving the problem at the root (like the people here do), but we should solve the problem at its root... SIN itself... We are the problem...

Anyway, I'm starting to get into life here... I would still prefer to be back in SG, but at least I'm learning a lot of things here... Being here alone isn't easy... Cooking was initially the hardest thing but I've grown to like it.. Taking care of everything and having to make every decision myself... That's not easy but I'm loving it... It's a very good experience that I wouldn't have had in SG...

When I first came, I thought I would have a lot to offer to the church here, coming from a bigger church (and the mother church).. But actually, the church here is offering me much more than I can offer them and in areas that being in SG church wouldn't offer me... When I hear about the testimonies from the Samoa team, it was exactly the same thing... They were invited to do a worship conference in Samoa, to bless the people there, but in turn, they were even more blessed by the people there.. God doesn't shortchange us.. You can never out-give him... Give and you will receive EVEN MORE than you gave... It's amazing... Next year we're going to HK and China for worship conferences! That'd be awesome!

Some happy stuff to end off... Shifting house already... In the process.. Officially moving out next Tues and then going to Great Ocean Road on Thurs-Fri! That'd be so fun! Looking forward to that... And after that, Hillsongs Conference in Sydney! WOOT! And I'm gonna go Philip Island after I come back! Ahh so many things to see! Exciting weeks to come!

One Way or the Other

2009-06-12T15:02:00.003+10:00

Argh.... Almost.... Almost went back to SG lah.... But couldn't afford to.. Bought my air tickets already and can't afford to waste $400 (plus conf tix) + $600 (air tix 2 way melb<->SG)...

Really irritated with those people that pang seh us... Say wanna come then now not coming... Spoil all our plans.. So much for spending time to send emails, talk on msn, send overseas sms, to get the best deals and have a good trip.... All gone... All the planning gone down the drain.... Pfft... Pissed... Giving more problems than solving...

On the bright side, looking forward to MIFF.. Really looks like its gonna be good! Think I will go for the passport... Watch as many films as I can.. Gain as much exposure as I can.... MIFF! Faster come! And of course there's hillsongs conf too... But this bunch of people's ability to pang-seh last min makes me sick...

May Update

2009-05-31T22:34:00.002+10:00

Wow I realised its been 1 month since I last updated... If not because I'm waiting for my CD to finish burning and there's nothing better to do, I don't think I'll be here updating.. Haha.. Can't really remember much though........

New Car!
Ahh.. My very first car... Registered under my name, but not paid by me.. So actually not my OWN car but officially MY car.. Haha.. Anyway, its a 1995 Toyota Camry... Not too bad... Got it for a good price at $4200... I think the happiest thing is not getting the car but bargaining for a good price! I'm not known to be a good bargainer.. I usually buy stuff at the stated price even though its overpriced cause I don't like/know how to bargain... But bargaining down from $5000 to $4200! That's quite an achievement! Haha... Anyway, its a good drive... Though its a little big and hard to fit into my garage! I can't drive straight in.. I have to reverse in! Haha

Meeting Tim
Last week spent some time meeting up with Timothy Ho.. Brought me to this place in North Fitzroy called Old Raffles Place or something liddat.. Some really good singapore food there! Finally! Haha... Then went to his place... So cool lah.. He stays at the eureka tower (or at least like the servant's building part of it) and has access to all kinds of facilities at the eureka tower! Went to his swimming pool for a swim yesterday... Quite nice man.. Especially since its the first time I exercised since coming over! Haha.. I should visit that more often... We're gonna have steamboat (SINGAPORE STYLE!) next week and probably go swim again... Weekly exercise (while he still has access to a warm pool in the cold winter) is a good form of exercise...

Testimony!
Thank God I managed to get my internet cancelled! I signed a 2 year contract a few months ago (which is really a mistake) and they didn't tell me that if I shifted address, the contract restarts! And because I'm a student (and always shifting), that 2 years will never end lah... But thank God there's a loophole and that helped me get my contract terminated without paying any penalties! WOOT!

What else.... Nothing else I guess... School ended.. Still got 1 project to finish up.. But nothing major... Just touching up... It's gonna be a LOOONG break... Looking forward to a fun-filled Jun+Jul... The youths coming in end Jun, and Terminator and Transformers releasing in Jun, shifting house too... Then Jul got the sydney trip and MIFF... Sounds like lots of stuff man...

Till then!

Healer

2009-05-01T23:08:00.002+10:00

I believe You're my healer!

Thank God for the healing! It's awesome! Hurt my back this afternoon moving equipments but after they prayed for me at lifegroup, the pain's gone! Still feel a bit stiff, but no pain!!! Thank GOD!!!

WOOT!

2 weeks ago did my first filming here.. Didn't go too well but gonna do it again this Sun!

Ahhh... Getting really excited to go for Hillsongs Conf! :D

PlanetShakers Conference 2009

2009-04-16T23:29:00.003+10:00

Whoa whoa whoa! What an exciting conference! This is one of the greatest, if not, probably the GREATEST conference I've ever been to... You know how sometimes we go away from a camp or conference feeling like we don't want it to end? This time, I don't have this kind of feeling.. Instead, I'm feeling really energised and excited by what I've received.. Great worship, great sharing of the Word and AWESOME PRESENCE OF GOD! All the speakers were awesome... John Bevere, Mike Pilavachi, Glen Berteau, Reggie Dabbs, Russell Evans and Sam Evans... Men and Women of God! I'm supposed to be feeling really tired now that its almost 12am and I've not had good sleep over the past few days... But I'm really excited to share this conference experience I can't wait till tomorrow! I hope I don't end up preaching.. :D

Giftings
Ps John Bevere shared with us about our giftings. What is a gift? A divine empowerment to do what we otherwise couldn't do in our own ability. We don't own the gifts. We are STEWARDS of the gifts. But many times, we allow fear to swallow up our gifts. We let fear rule over our gifts and lose the vision. We need BOLDNESS to get the fear OUT! Perfected Love Knows No Fear!

Evangelism
Ps Mike Pilavachi shared with us about evangelism. He said this statement that affected me. Worship is an expression of love. Evangelism is telling others about His love. Many times we can get really deep into worship and feel like we're "floating" in worship but we fail to tell others about this love that we're expressing in our worship. He showed us how Jesus reached out to the woman at the well (John 4:1-26). Jesus spoke to her where her mind was. Her mind was getting water from the well and Jesus spoke to her about water. He made her understand from where she was. Sometimes we've gotta be able to talk to people where they are so they can understand.
Ps Glen Berteau also shared about this. We must be good news before we can share good news. The world is fleshly and attracted by beauty. Let us make our church a beautiful place, with joy! Let people come and be attracted by the joy in the church (that makes us beautiful).

Forgiveness
Ps John Bevere shared about the servant who was forgiven of an unpayable debt and that servant thrown his fellow brother who owed him a smaller sum into prison. We must learn to forgive others. We've been forgiven of an unpayable debt (sin). We will be forgiven the way we forgive. Just like the servant in the story. Read up in Matt 18:21-35.

Image
Ps Russell Evans. Satan came to pervert the image of God in our lives. In Gen when satan tempted Eve, he gave a false image of God to Eve. In this world today, the devil is creating images to bind us. He is creating false images to distract us from God. Wrong images lead to darkness. Right image leads to freedom, Godly dreams and imaginations! God's image is revealed in us when we encounter Him. So each day, we must come and encounter God and make sure we have the right image and not let the devil deceive us with the wrong image.

Honor
Ps. John Bevere shared about how we should honor authority. Civil, family, social and church. Honor can come by actions, words or thoughts. But true honor comes from the heart. And this is the greatest one - Honor those who dishonors you.

One More Night With The Frogs
That's the title of the message Ps. Glen Berteau shared. It's about the plague of the frogs. The frogs that came upon Egypt signifies our problems. And if you read it up, you will find it really funny. There were already frogs all over Egypt, and yet the magicians still made more frogs come up! How silly! Its like adding problems to your current problems, giving you MORE problems. And Pharoah's answer is the funniest. Moses asks him when he wants the frogs to go away and he says TOMORROW! WHY DIDN'T HE SAY NOW? Oh how silly... Sometimes we are like that. We don't deal with our problems now. We always say tomorrow, another day or some other time, at some conference or some camps. How silly are we? We should just deal with it NOW!

I'm Sorry
Ps Reggie Dabbs! He's really good! Taught us to sing and dance like the blacks! Haha... The way he preached was really different but it will make you tremble.. He used the illustration of the woman who poured her alabaster jar at Jesus' feet and Judas. The woman chose the right thing, did the right thing and honored Jesus. Judas chose the wrong thing but he didn't come back to ask for forgiveness. It doesn't matter what our past is. We've gotta let it go, put it at the feet of Jesus and ask for forgiveness and MOVE ON! We can't change our past, but we can change our FUTURE! ONE CHANCE, ONE CHOICE, ONE MOMENT, FOR ONE GOD!

Dreams
Ps Sam Evans shared about our dreams through the story of Joseph. Joseph had a dream and his brothers didn't agree with his dream. They didn't see his dreams. They didn't believe. But through all the trials and tough times Joseph went through, he stuck with God and saw the dream God has planted in him come to past. The enemy loves to mock, isolate and enslave our dreams. God will bring the dreams to past as long as we persevere in Him!

Worship
Ps Henry Seely and Mike Webber shared on worship in our elective classes. Ps Henry talked about how to lead people into worship. Joshua was told to get the people to walk around the city of Jericho for 6 days and on the 7th day, sound the trumpet on the 7th round and the rest is history. There's a meaning to why walk around for 6 days. In our worship context, it means we should prepare ourselves for 6 days before the 7th day. Like we should start preparing ourselves on Monday and ask God what he wants to do on Sunday Service. Worship leaders are not only the ones who stand with the mic and leads the band. Everyone, drummer, guitarist, musician, singer, we're all worship leaders! As worship leaders, we need to surround ourselves with worship. Our worship encounter during the week will shape us and influence how we lead worship on Sunday.
Ps Mike Webber shared about being in the worship ministry. God has given us a gift and we are to use the gift for God! We need to kill PRIDE. Pride will spread throughout the team if its present. We need to stop idol worship. The Israelites built an altar for them to worship God but in truth they were worshipping an idol. Aaron compromised to make the people happy. There's only ONE GOD and we cannot let compromise come into our worship. When we let compromise come into our worship, we are worshipping compromise. Disunity. It must GO! If there's a disunity in the team, it affects the flow of God in a service. If there's something you are not happy about or affected by someone else, we should resolve it before we even go on stage to worship God.

Ok I have shared a lot.. 45mins of typing.. Time to go and sleep! Be encouraged and stirred up! It's time to wake up from our SLUMBER! Anyone up for Planetshakers Conference 2010? :D

Update

2009-04-13T13:08:00.002+10:00

It's been a long long time since I've updated.. Have to manage another blog for school so don't really have time to update here... Nothing much happened anyway.. Nothing really special... Been looking for a house but no suitable houses yet... Bahhhh... Some of the houses here are really scary.. Its really terrible... I don't know how humans can survive in such environments.. They seem more like dog houses...

This week is super exciting and super busy.. Even though its the holidays... Today's the start of planetshakers conference... Really looking forward to being there... This weekend gonna do the shoot for my project... Hopefully everything goes smoothly and the weather's good...

More updates after this week maybe?

Funday

2009-03-28T19:39:00.000+11:00

What a fun fun fun Friday!!! Well, this whole week was really fun! Started off with Monday, I finished my first project! 2D animation... After putting so much effort into it, I'm really pleased by what I've done... But I only realised after I finished it that this project is worth 0%... That means no marks... Argh what a disappointment... Bah!
Wed was really fun too.. Project number 2... We had to do a shoot in 30mins... Shoot a script that was given to us in 30mins.. Cover as much as you can.. So we had to think of all the angles to shoot from and all the different stuff we could do in 30mins... Really exciting and fun! Imagine if we were able to do video announcements in 30mins... That'd be awesome! Haha... Now comes to the most exciting and fun day of the week - FRIDAY!

Started off with school again (yea all my lessons start at 830.. nth better happens before that!)... We had to do a <5mins recording of an interview... So we went around looking for people to interview... This time it took us 2 hours plus to finish everything... And we only got like less than 5mins of footage... Which makes me realise how important planning for a shoot can be... The amount of time you can save on a shoot if its all planned out properly...

Lifegroup was fun too! We went to MyCube (aka Minds Cafe style)... We had fun playing Taboo and Gift Trap... If you guys haven't played Gift Trap before, you should go and try it.. It's super fun! Taboo was not that fun cause we played guys vs girls and the guys lost terribly... Haha... I wanna go there again! It's soooo FUN!!!!

After coming back, I had a video-conference net with the Hillview net in Singapore! Haha! We used skype and I joined them for their net outreach.. LoL... I had to watch them eat pizza! And even say grace for them! Haha...

What a week!

Housewarming and Monash Palace

2009-03-23T20:23:00.002+11:00

Went for Zhilin's housewarming last Sat... We bought her a coffee table... Now her living room is getting closer to being complete! It's actually like the ONLY thing in her living room! Haha.. Well, its a good start! What a big house she has... Many times the size of mine! Can't wait to move out! Haha... After her housewarming, we headed down to have dinner at Monash Palace... Sounds so english/british eh... But its actually a chinese restaurant! Had some really good chinese food (or maybe only because I haven't tasted good chinese food in a long time! Haha) and just chatted with her med friends... It was really quite weird at first cause Esther n I didn't know anyone else except Zhilin herself..

After dinner, we went to have ice cream at Cold Rock... I didn't have the ice cream but it doesn't look anywhere near NICE... I miss Ben N Jerry! Too bad they don't have it over here.. They should open a franchise here! I will visit them often if they do! Haha...

Projects are starting to come in.. Time to get busy!

Update

2009-03-21T08:57:00.003+11:00

Oh well, its been a long time since I've updated... Just got my internet last Tues... Finally! Haha... Week's not been really that exciting... Just school and home... Went for prayer meeting and its really gd.. Had a fun time there... Its really not easy not having your own building... You have to set up everything for an hour of worship practice and then tear it down again after that... BAH!

Gonna go for Zhilin's house warming later... Till then... :)

I love this photo.. The sunlight bounces off the building and the balloons in the air.. Perfect!

MacBook Pro and AX

2009-03-11T16:30:00.003+11:00

Woohoo! What an exciting day yesterday! Got my new macbook pro and bought the AX jacket! :D

The picture tells it all.. Both are just BEAUTIFUL! AWESOME! A picture tells a thousand words.. So I'll stop here cause there's thousands of words below! :)

Week 1 in Uni

2009-03-09T12:55:00.012+11:00

Whoa.. It's been a long time since I've updated.. Wanted to update during the weekends but didn't have internet access.. Internet for my house now delayed till next Mon! ARGH! School's been quite fun.. Doing some 2D animation on flash, learning a bit of FCP, scriptwriting and cinematography stuff... I've a unit that's like just taking photos and you can pass already... LoL

Been really caught up doing school stuff all week long didn't really have time to daze.. Spent my spare time watching shows.. I must start watching some of those ang moh shows already.. That day in class my lecturer ask what's our favourite movie and director.. I didn't know a single movie everyone said... And when it was my turn, I said "Red Cliff" and everyone went like STUNNED, including the lecturer.. Only my thai friend knew what it was.. Nobody else knew it.. LoL.. It was hilarious.. We live in different worlds... I guess its easier for me to watch their ang moh shows than for them to watch my cheena shows.. So I went to rent some dvds yesterday.. Now I have a lot of catch up to do - WATCH ANG MOH SHOWS!

Wow.. What an exciting prayer meeting.. I've never had such an experience for a long time! Thank God! Thank God that I obeyed and stayed in VFC. I know this is the right decision and the right place for me to be at. Thank God! I feel so blessed at prayer meeting this week... Initially, I had the spirit of coming to serve rather than coming to receive.. But God is always faithful.. He never short-changes us... He has given me more than I have given... Freely give and freely receive... Thank God for that! And I thank God I have seen the other side to the worship ministry.. In SG, we really focus a lot more on spiritual side than we do technical.. Probably cause there are many people... But here, they are really quite technically focused... Or rather I should say, more aware of how important God's gift to them is... Developing the talents God has given them.. And that's something I have learnt.. And I believe I will grow in that area.. Excelling in the gifts God has given me... I really enjoy being part of the worship team here... Thank God for such a wonderful team of people and a great leader... I'm loving it here! Don't worry, that doesn't mean I won't be back... I'm sure I will come back to SG... :)

I went to see the fireworks on Sat along Yarra River... Cool man.. Never been so close to fireworks before.. You could see the sparks like gonna fall on your head lah! Haha.. I've uploaded lots of fireworks photos below.. Check them out! :D

My first taste of the "Yuan Yang" (coffee and tea mixed)

Black Pepper Beef Rice

Waterfall at night!

Gary's birthday (couldn't light candles because of the fire alarm! HAHA

Youth BBQ!

That's a crazy ride... It's stinking high and flips you around like some toy!

FIREWORKS!!!

Like some electricity!

My personal favourite!

The Day Has Come!

2009-03-01T21:08:00.002+11:00

Yes! Tomorrow's first day of school! Finally what I am here for! Haha... Well, I'm already not that excited about school... Not that I don't have the motivation to study, but I'm already looking forward to the next "happening"... Honestly, I can't wait to be back in SG.. But I know that's gonna be a long time and lots of stuff gonna happen before that... Next up! Planetshakers Conference! That's what I'm really looking forward to! It's gonna be FUN!

Oh well, I won't be updating that often anymore once school starts.. Although I have a slack timetable... Probably gonna get a job soon... Can't stand not earning some money while I'm here... Haha...

Today was my first day on duty in church... The standard here is really high.. Higher than in VFC SG... But probably cause the setting of the church here is smaller, so the vocals and every instrument is more obvious and they really expect a lot.. Like we're expected to sing in parts the WHOLE song... It was really tough this morning.. Haha.. Next week I'm playing AG... Stress ar.. Haha..

End of the free and easy days... Tomorrow's a new chapter!

Busy Week!

2009-02-27T21:58:00.005+11:00

Its been awhile since I blogged... Been really busy these few days... Orientations and stuff... School's starting next week! I've got a kind timetable... Only 4 days! And of those 4 days, 3 days are half days! :D

I will update when there's more exciting stuff! My first worship duty this Sun! BV! It means "Backing Vocals".. LoL

Some photos of the meals I've cooked recently...

The photo doesn't show it all... But the rays of light shining through the clouds is amazing!

And look at how long that line of clouds is!

That's all today!

Orientation Day

2009-02-23T22:19:00.002+11:00

Gonna keep this real short. It's been a long day and I'm really tired. ARGH!

Orientation was really long and quite boring at times.. After coming back from orientation, the tough part starts.. I have to start choosing my co-majors, minors and electives! What a headache man! I spent the last 4 hours looking through all the available courses to me and I still can't make up my mind. Haha.. Gonna look at them again tomorrow..

Went to Pancake Parlour again just now with my neighbour, Gary. Psycho-ed him to be a Pancake Parlour fan now! Haha.. We're gonna visit it once every month.. :)

And I signed up for the planetshakers conference! WOOT! Its at the Hisense Arena! Cool place.. Eh signing up for the conference doesn't make that my home church or make up my decision ok. Haha.

Oh well, that's all for today... Goodnight to end of week 2.. :)

The Dilemma

2009-02-22T21:10:00.004+11:00

Bear with me.. This is gonna be a long post...

皇上 and Us
I was just watching a 古莊片 and had some thoughts while watching it. As I watch, I was just thinking the relation between the emperor and his subordinates is like God and us. The emperor expects his subordinates to carry out his orders, just like God expects us to obey his commandments. But of course God is more merciful, He won't sentence us to death if we disobey. But sometimes we take God's mercy for granted. If we continue to take God's grace for granted, one day, we may just end up getting the death sentence! As I watch, I see how the eunuchs and generals can be so faithful to the emperor, serving him with their lives, and obeying every single command without even asking "why", but how is it that we are not like that to God? Are we really wiling to put our lives down for God? Are we faithful to God? Are we not always procrastinating when God calls? We just act dumb and let it pass by. I want to be like the disciples who are so faithful to their masters. God help me!

The Dilemma
I went to 2 churches today. VFC Melbourne and Planetshakers City Church. VFC service was good. Nice worship and a good word. And I also joined the worship ministry! Eh, dun need audition 1.. They trust me? Haha..
After that, headed down to Planetshakers. Its really like attending EDGE. Powerful worship stuff and awesome videos. Really, our video announcements at EDGE is peanuts to them. They probably won't even look at our announcements. LoL. I really felt energized at the service even though there wasn't preaching, just worship and lots of videos (as it was their 5th anniversary).
Now comes the hard part. Where is my home church? VFC or Planetshakers? After the service, my mind was really heavy with thoughts of this. But this thought suddenly came to me - Is it about what I can give or what I can receive? I know I will have something to give if I'm at VFC, if I'm at Planetshakers, I can receive a lot more, especially if I join their video team, since its related to what I'm studying at uni. So where do I go now? Is it better to be part of the VFC church? Or go to planetshakers where it could be more beneficial for me? Honestly, I feel spiritually better in the Planetshakers church, but more comfortable with the people in VFC. I don't know.. Argh.. Tough decision.. Any advice? But if I don't take your advice please don't kill me! Haha..

Some pics of the churches

The VFC Church Building
Dallas Brooks where PlanetShakers is

Romans 3:23: For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God

Melbourne Day 12

2009-02-21T22:09:00.004+11:00

Proud of my dinner! The gravy's fantastic.. Its the swedish meatball gravy..

Nothing much on Day 12.. Just going to the library to use itnet.. And stocking up... I'm proud of my "collection"

Macaronis, Pasta and Rice!

Whoa.. Large Collection! Gonna last me a long time!

Got tom yam paste!

Quite empty here.. Haha

The freezer! Swedish meatballs, crabballs, cheese fishballs and tang yuan!

The huge wang wang that cannot fit anywhere I had to put it on my printer!

More church photos tomorrow!

Melbourne Day 11

2009-02-21T00:04:00.002+11:00

Whoa.. Its been a few days since the last update.. Nothing much the past few days lah.. Walk around loh.. Today's a little more eventful.. We went to Queen Victoria's Market.. And tried the italian restaurant there that Pam recommended.. Er.. Total disappointment.. And in order not to make the waitress feel bad, we said we were happy with the meal.. But in all honestly, it was BAD! Very salty! I kept drinking water cause its so salty lah! Their pizzas worse.. No wonder only $13 for a large pizza.. Our canadian pizza even better than theirs loh! But I think our canadian pizza more ex.. Haha.. One cent money one cent goods (translated).. But we were to be disappointed by another of Pam's recommendation - Pancake Parlour! WOOT! Fantastic man... I had the pancakes with hot fudge and hundreds and thousands.. ITS AWESOME! When you people come over, please make it a point to try pancake parlour, its definitely a hundred times better than the italian restaurant, La Porchetta (sounds like Ha! I cheat ya!)..

Bah its gonna be a boring Sat... Awaiting a fun-filled Sun in church and then in the afternoon, visiting PS! Not Plaza Singapura lah! Planetshakers! :D

3 more days to orientation day! WOOT!

Melbourne Day 8

2009-02-18T18:02:00.005+11:00

Its the start of week 2! Went to DFO today with Esther Wee and her mum... I duno if I'm suaku or wat.. I thought DFO was like a shopping centre like Metro or Robinsons, but turned out, its a shopping centre with many different shops.. LoL.. Nothing that interest me there.. Maybe should not say that, rather, I wasn't into buying something, so it wasn't really the place for me.. Ended up in Starbucks again and this time, the coffee's better! Haha.. Still, SG 1 is better.. Went around city after that and tried the vietnamese food.. Er.. Not to my liking.. Haha.. Maybe its the noodles they used that took my appetite away.. It was the same cold noodles (other than its hot this time) that I had in HK (the mango shop).. Some pics to go along........

Southern Cross Station. Looks cool!

The Stadium

Stadium with the "M" :D

The train tracks are so messy!what's this? 80? 81?

And we walked so far just to see the "waterfront"........

The BRIDGE

AX in Melbourne Central!

That's all for Day 8!

Melbourne Day 7

2009-02-16T22:11:00.004+11:00

Day 7 eh! That's fast! Tomorrow will mark the start of week 2 in Melbourne.. Can't wait for next Mon to come.. Haha.. So boring lah.. Spent my day in town today.. Nothing much.. Just walked around and see see loh... Really quite lousy leh.. SG shopping also better than here loh... Bah! I guess my greatest achievement in town was buying Starbucks! Haha.. But really, now I know why Starbucks in Melb close down... Their coffee is really quite bad.. SG 1 nicer.. EVEN HK 1 NICER! Eh this is sooo bad here.. Maybe I went to the wrong outlet.. Haha.. Next time try the other 1..

Came back from town and met a new neighbour! WOOT! COOL! He's from SG too and he's studying at monash in caufield... Nice to have a SG neighbour.. Haha..

Argh my internet gonna die liao.. Left 1GB oni.. Can't believe I used 6GB already lah.. Ugh.. Hopefully school got free internet.. Haha

A week has passed and I'm still missing SG! Bye WEEK 1! DFO tomorrow!

Melbourne Day 6

2009-02-15T21:14:00.002+11:00

WOOT! Been to VFC Melbourne today! Haha.. We walked like 20mins to get there from the train station.. The whole journey took me 1 hour! It's like going for Corp Svc at Expo by train! Really far man... But I enjoyed myself at the service.. Ps Ray preached and there were many chinese in the church! Some from HK, some from M'sia, but most of them have been here for a long time... 10 years++ also got sia... I wonder why they stay so long in this weird place.. Haha.. Well, I don't hope to be like them! It was great hearing Ps Ray sharing about the vision of the church and how they are starting LIW classes and getting people involved in ministry... They have prayer mtgs every Wed! (Not like in SG, only once a mth), but too bad they only have morning service and no evening service..

I think the people here are very patient... Singaporeans will really have to learn how to be patient here... I waited like 15mins for the train to get to the church... I thought that was long enough.. Considering it will never happen in SG unless a train breaks down... But on my way back, I had to wait 40mins for my train! FORTY! That's FORTY! Crazy! I wait until my neck also long liao loh... Bah!

Came back and found my com beyond repair... Had to reformat it... I thought I could get everything back since I have got a backup, but I didn't noe that Tiger OS don't have Time Machine! ARGH! I can't backup now until I get my new com and install Leopard OS... Ok sounds confusing rite.. Nvm... In simpler terms, it means my com now only has the original softwares, msn, skype and firefox.. Nothing else... BAH! But at least I have the most important software - QUICKTIME! To play all my shows! Haha!

Enjoying the night wind now... So cooling.. Ahh... That's the end of Day 6... Really looking forward to school... I'm so bored trying to stuff myself with activities!

Just gonna play the game on Des's blog for fun! Haha.. Just that mine will be filled with chi words.. LoL

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1. Put your iTunes/Napster/Zune Player/WinAmp/etc on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!
4. Tag 10 or more friends who might enjoy doing this as well as the person you got it from.

IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?
One Day - 楊宗緯

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Sing Sing Sing - Chris Tomlin

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Sixology - 林俊傑

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
影子的爱情故事 - 林峰 (I don't want this kinda life purpose!)

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Sorry - 苏永康 (what a lousy motto!)

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
分身术 - 容祖儿 (yea true.. At least im not with them now)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?
28個我 - 容祖兒

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
來呀 - 陳曉東

WHAT IS 2+2?
好心好报- 方力申

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
风雨无阻 - 周華健 (WAH! I wonder who dares to claim that! Haha)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
King of Majesty - Hillsongs (Yea He's MY KING!)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
原諒我 - 蕭敬騰 (EH NO!)

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Love - Chris Tomlin

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
独唱情歌 - Tank (HAHA NO!!!)

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
奮不顧身 - 蕭敬騰

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
都是我 - 光良 (Good idea!)

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Still - Hillsongs (WHOA!)

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
北極星的眼淚 - 張棟樑

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
为你我受冷风吹 - 林忆莲 (Wah sure or not... My frens got so gd meh?)

WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
不流淚的機場 - 林俊杰 (WHO DIDN'T CRY AT THE AIRPORT?!)

HOW WILL YOU DIE?
天天夜夜 - F.I.R.

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
无可救药 - 黄品冠

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
心动 - 林晓培

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
中国话 - S.H.E

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
第九夜 - 李玟 (On the ninth night! LOL)

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
王子 - 张栋梁 (Fear the KING)

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
零 - 柯有伦 (HAHA! Why liddat sia.. So zhun! Suay suay kena 0!)

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE
冲动 - 萧亚轩

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
女孩当自强 - S.H.E

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
壓力 - 林俊傑

Haha.. So fun doing this... You guys should try this... :D

Melbourne Day 5

2009-02-14T22:00:00.003+11:00

Whoa.. It's already Day 5... Spent my afternoon in the city today.. And I found AX! Haha... Too bad they don't have the sweater... Maybe when its autumn or winter they will bring back the stock.. :D

OH! And 2nd discovery - STARBUCKS! Haha.. I didn't get to go in as I already bought a cup of Gloria Jeans... Its not too bad... But I guess Starbucks will be better! Next week must go and try.. :D

My only pics of the day are my meals... LoL.. It's starting to get repeated... :D

Lunch

Dinner

bah bah... That's for Day 5.. Tomorrow's going church! :D

Melbourne Day 4

2009-02-14T11:43:00.003+11:00

Oh I forgot to update yesterday! Haha... Didn't do much yesterday.. Went to the bank to settle some stuff and that's all... Stuck at home the whole day...

My Lunch - Stir Fried Black Pepper Beef with Cheese Fishballs!

My Dinner - Campbell Soup, Bacon Egg and Fishballs!

And look at the sun... So BIG.. Like some salted egg yolk..

Nothing much on Day 4...

Day 3 in Melbourne

2009-02-12T22:52:00.004+11:00

Again, I woke up at noon (which is SG time 9am).. Still can't adjust to the timing here.. Haha.. Went to IKEA with Esther Wee and her mum today... We almost got lost trying to find our way there.. LoL.. Alighted at the wrong stop.. But thank God in the end we managed to find our way there.. And guess what I found there?

I guess they should pay me copyright for it! Haha

And everyone's favourite in IKEA is...........

SWEDISH MEATBALLS! Its cheaper than in SG... Here, 15 meatballs for $7.50.. And you can buy 1kg of frozen meatballs for just $9.90! So cheap! WOOT!

That's about all the activity for the day... Came back and cooked myself a meal.. Macaroni with Cheese Fishballs and Mushrooms... I had 3 bowls of this.. LoL

Some photos of the surroundings.......

That's my uni behind the trees!

I can see the city from here!

The Road downstairs

See my uni on the left side? That's how near it is! :D

Goodbye Day 3...

Melbourne Day 2

2009-02-12T00:54:00.004+11:00

First of all, a picture of my lunch! I couldn't finish the pasta! I cooked like 4 times that bowl of pasta and I only finished that bowl! LoL

Not an easy day for sure.. Its really hard getting around here.. I wanted to go IKEA but I have to take trams to get there and there's no indication like which stop number you alight at or stuff liddat... Not like in SG where you have a bus map stating where every single stop is so you can count the number of stops... Bah... I'm not really liking this place..

As I was taking the train, I started to think how similar HK was to SG and how different Melbourne is to them both... But when I arrived at Boxhill (the chinese district in Melbourne), I found myself to be so at home! There are so many chinese people and chinese shops... And as you walk around, you hear chinaman speaking chinese and some other HK/M'sians/SGs speaking cantonese.. I like that place! Haha... Maybe after my rent ends here, I will look for a house there! Haha..

And I had dinner at a HK cha chan tang... The portion was huge! But I managed to finish it talking and eating at the same time.. Probably didn't realise what was going down my throat.. Haha..

There goes Day 2 in Melbourne... Its 1am here! ZzZ

Greetings From Melbourne

2009-02-10T21:04:00.008+11:00

Hello People! I have arrived in Melbourne.. Thanks to all who sent me off at the airport.. Really quite shocking to see so many people.. Especially when everyone went up to the kopitiam! Haha.. Some photos from the airport........

It was a tough journey on the plane. Could barely fall asleep on the plane thanks to all the cards you people wrote me.. Haha.. After arriving, non-stop doing stuff.. Getting my keys to the apartment, then went to open bank account and shopping for groceries.. In the afternoon, went to get my internet and phone line set up. Took forever man.. By the time its done its already 4+ and I haven't had lunch! Argh! And look how pathetic the lunch is... It costs $6.50! Bah!

Came back and found my air con not working. Or rather, its not an air con... Its just a heater and its stinking hot in this summer! Went out and bought a fan! Not bad.. $49 for a tower fan... COOL!

Just had my dinner! Ahh... Look at the first meal I cooked here... Costs less than $2! :D

And a look around my room... :)

l

And there goes Day 1 in Melbourne... I'm almost about to hit the sack.. Really tired... ZzZ

The Last Mon in SG 2009

2009-02-09T18:25:00.001+11:00

And here it is... The day has come... Another 5 more hours and I'll be on my way to Melbourne... This stinks.. Typing this is making me emo... Argh... I'll update again when I'm there... Take care everyone! Seeya soon!

Bye bye last Mon in SG 2009...

The Last Sun in SG 2009

2009-02-09T04:02:00.003+11:00

What a busy day! Started off with church in the morning, then had soccer in the afternoon and evening svc!

I received a lot of ang baos today! Thanks to all! Soccer with the guys was really fun... A lot of funny incidents.. Like Jadon lobang, then Jon shoot against Keith and resulted in a goal, and Jon shooting right into Jadon... The impact must have been really big cause it sounded like dropping a 1 tonne metal from 5 storeys up! Haha... BOOM! Fun soccer day, but sunburnt now.. BAH!

Had dinner with my family at the Wan Chai HK Cafe in Lot 1... While waiting for our food, I sent out msgs to all.. After my dinner when I looked at my hp, I saw this :

Crazy man... First time I ever saw something like this... But anyway, thanks to all for your blessings and prayers! Really appreciate! :)

Argh... Been busy packing the whole night... A lot of things to pack ar! Off to enjoy my last night here!

And there goes the last Sun in SG 2009............

The Last Fri and Sat in SG 2009

2009-02-08T02:32:00.002+11:00

Too late to update yesterday, so now its TWO in ONE... Haha..

Fri
A day of chionging! Gab, Ah tan and I went down to chinatown to have dumplings for lunch.. Then we headed to buy shuttles before playing badminton at Gombak. Only 4 of us play badminton loh.. So tiring.. Non-stop action. Haha..

I joined Jocelyn's net cause I had no nets to go and only she invited me to join hers.. They had it at Kimberly's house and she has so many dogs!! But the only dog she put out was scared of guys.. ZzZ.. So cute lah the dog... Keep running away from me.. I'm not that scary right? Haha.. After net we went bukit timah for supper with some of the other youths.. Crazy man.. Had 2 stingrays, 1 plate of sambal sotong and 10 mutton satays! Of course not I 1 person seat lah... Share 1.. Haha.. But that wasn't the end! Aft that we went down Geylang to have dou jiang you tiao.. VERY NICE!! The you tiao very crispy.. But that's not the end! Then we headed down to the marina barrage.. Its really quite a nice place.. Just that we probably shouldn't be there at 1am cause the place is like full of couples.. We're like destroying their privacy! Haha.. The view there is very nice.. Reminds me of the view from the peak in HK... And of course the wind too.. So strong! Like when you walk out of the tunnel in HK.. Haha..

And there goes the last Fri in SG 2009

Sat
Didn't do much today.. Just packing and watching dvds.. Spent the night out at my grandma's place and I got two angbaos! Special angbaos cause I'm going away.. Thanks to my aunties! Then went out to meet the youths for dinner.. Tempted to eat that curry rice at west mall... But must tahan! I'm falling sick le!! Argh!

And there goes a boring last Sat in SG 2009

The Last Thu in SG 2009

2009-02-06T02:19:00.001+11:00

Oh man... Another day's gone! So fast! Really felt like I've wasted today... Argh... Spent the day packing and watching dvds.. Barely done anything productive... Met Jocelyn and Gab at BPP to have starbucks and try to help ourselves concentrate on doing something productive.. But end up we barely managed to do nuts... Oh well, stinks! Hope tomorrow will turn out better...

There goes the last Thurs in SG 2009... BAHHHHHHH

The Last Wed in SG 2009

2009-02-05T03:29:00.004+11:00

Ouch ouch ouch! Broke a big hole in my wallet today... Brought my family and grandma to have dinner at Ah Yat Restaurant... Well, I didn't exactly plan to treat them... They FORCED ME! Haha... I just had to take photo of every dish we ate cause its so expensive.. It will serve as a reminder to them! Too bad I didn't manage to get a pic of the receipt thanks to my camera screwing up! Duno wat's wrong!

Yu Sheng (so little lah)

Boiled Prawns (Aww quite nice)

Sotong in You Tiao (WOOT! My FAV!)

Shark Fin (not too bad lah)

Close up on the Shark Fin (ok fine... overexposed!)

Scallop in Yam Ring (Well, can't taste the scallop!)

Black Pepper Beef (tasteless)

Watched Love Matters with some of the youths today... Didn't seem that bad... Ok lah... Quite nice... My last chinese movie before I fly! NOOO!!!

I duno wat's wrong... So tempted to open what i've locked for some time... I thought I could keep it locked... Even at one point, to delete it... But I really 不舍得... Feels like I really wanna open it again... I hope I can tahan until I fly... At least...

The last wed in SG 2009 just passed liddat.....

A Day of BAD Things

2009-02-04T03:12:00.002+11:00

Its been a long and terrible week... Terribly tired and filled with activities... Last week had steamboat for net, spent the whole day preparing it... I cooked Tom Yam Soup! Woot! But in the end too much food (or maybe cause the steamboat pot spoiled, not spoiled actually, but nvm, shouldnt say why! haha) so I had to bring home and I had steamboat again for Sat lunch, just to finish up the remainder..

We went to send Angel off at the airport on Sun.. When she was about to leave, we saw the tears... Awww... I wonder what will happen next Mon... Stinks lah.. So fast and its gonna be my turn!!! Duno why it feels like going to jail... LoL

Spent the whole afternoon today shopping with Esther in town... Buy all the stuff I need for my aussie trip and of course not missing out of having starbucks... I had their muffin today! Shiok sia... I like the caramel hazelnut thingy...

Went K today also... But wasn't very fun... Jidi couldnt make it last min coz of work, and we wasted Kimberly's time... Argh.... Feel so bad today... Made Esther go town for the 5th consecutive day she's been there and she tired also nv tell me... Still go so many places... Then wasted Kimberly's time... Stinks lah... Today is a BAD DAY!!!

Its my last Tues in SG in 2009 and it turns out this bad... BAH!

A Day of Great Things

2009-01-30T01:38:00.003+11:00

Yes! A great day! Finally bought my Nike bag! Woot! 20% discount somemore... Only cost $55!!! Then watched Red Cliff 2 with some of the guys... So funny lah... We walked from cine to PS cause we tot we could catch the 830 show at PS but in the end no seats for all of us, so we had Carl's JR there and then walked back to cine to catch the 940 show... We spent our spare time at the arcade in cine... I realised I barely know how to play any of the arcade games, except maybe the catch the sweets 1 and initial D... LoL... Anyway, Red Cliff 2 was great! Fantastic! I'm so tempted to buy the whole Three Kingdom series now! Haha

My New Nike Bag!

I think I actually like cooking a bit... Its quite fun cooking but I hate the end product cause I suck at cooking... Everytime I get disappointed at what I cooked... Pfft...

Before
After
From top left (clockwise): Hei Rou (Black Pork), Steamed Beancurd, All 3, Broccoli and Fishball Soup

CNY!

2009-01-28T18:22:00.003+11:00

Whoa... Its fast... 2 days of visitation gone in no time! My ang bao's getting bigger this year even though we're in the midst of a crisis... No thanks to me going to Aust... People giving me "extra" boost! Thank you!!

I think I'm addicted to Starbucks............ NOoooooo.....

Took some photos during CNY....

With Family

My Mum's side cousins

My Dad's side cousins

Both sides almost all girls... LOL!

Gonna be a fun-filled-exciting week! RED CLIFF 2 tonight!

CNY Eve

2009-01-26T00:27:00.005+11:00

What a weird weird CNY eve.. Didn't feel a single bit like CNY eve.. No excitement, not really anticipating CNY tomorrow... Like what the HK dramas always say - NO FEEL! Evening svc was so quiet it almost felt like a Methodist service!

Really touched by the gifts I received.. Especially after I saw the price tags! Were they purposely left behind to make me feel guilty? Haha... But really, wanna thank all of you for the gifts.. Though I can't remember all the names, I appreciate it lots.. :) The gifts really motivate me to go now.. Its the kind of "cannot let you all down" motivation.. I will make it to honours and stay there 4 years (instead of 3)! BUT! I promise I WILL BE BACK! I don't know how long I will stay there, but I know for sure 1 thing, I will come back to Singapore..

Before I made this decision to go, I never thought I would miss SG.. I even had the "I wanna migrate" thoughts.. But now, I start to appreciate SG more.. Its like people always say "you never treasure it until you lose it".. It stinks! Oh well.. Time for some pics..

My two luggages!

Started doing some packing and in the end it got worse! So messy lah!

After 1 hour of cleaning up.......

Ahhh... Much neater..

My Belated ORD Function

2009-01-25T01:34:00.003+11:00

After 3 long months.. Really long... Didn't even feel like 3 months... Almost like a year! Well, finally the long-awaited ORD function... Really good steamboat buffet at Hotpot Culture.. They even had fondue! Cool! We ate like some hungry ghost even though it wasn't the 7th month! Haha..

Watched 3 movies in 2 weeks, but yet, none of them satisfied me.. Don't know is it something wrong with me or what... But really weird... 3 chinese movies (all HK movies) YET below expectations.. Ip Man could have had more action, the Eason movie looked more like some TVB drama, the Louis Koo movie was probably the best of the lot, don't know what's wrong with it, but something seems to be lacking.. Oh well, Red Cliff was the best though! Hopefully Red Cliff 2 next week will be better than the 3!

Oh no...... Starbucks cravings............... Argh... Any idea if starbucks still open at 11pm?

Time

2009-01-22T12:42:00.001+11:00

I've realised I tried to do it on my own... Unknowingly... Time to rely on the Father... Time to let it go... RELEASE!

Thank God for His Faithfulness

Not So Surprised, Surprise

2009-01-21T02:49:00.002+11:00

Thanks to Pam, Dot, Elvin, Esther Tan, Oon, Esther Foong, Rui Xiong, Colleen, Bro Stanley and Sheena for the surprise dinner. Ok, I know its meant to be a surprise and I wasn't supposed to know about it. Next time I will try to act "surprised" better. Haha. But anyway, had fun eating (apple crumble's good!) and thanks for the birthday song (even though it wasn't my birthday!). Appreciate all the farewells. Sometimes I feel like as if I'm dying (with so many farewells and gifts). Haha. DONT BUY ME CLOCKS!

Totally embarassed at my nanny's place just now. Brought her some CNY goodies and she gave me twice what I gave her. So pai seh. ZzZ

A New Blog for the Aussie Experience!

2009-01-16T12:49:00.019+11:00

Soon, very soon, I'll be leaving SG, to Australia for studies. Here, I will update on all the Happenings in Aust! Probably staying 3-4 years (depending on if I can get to Honours) in Melbourne.

Well, before I begin the Aussie update, here are some Pre-Australia updates!

Part 1 - Trip to HK

The first of my 3 dream destinations. A must re-visit. Really fun time shopping and sightseeing there. Too bad I didn't bring enough money! The next time, I must save more! Twice that amount! Haha.

Part 2 - Sec Sch Friends Farewell Dinner + KTV

Ahh... We had steamboat at my house and went to Chevron to K after that! Haha... First time I went K with them and probably the last time for a long long time to come... :(

Nice catching up with them.. Recalling back the past was quite tough for me but they seem to remember everything! Especially the bad stuff I did (which I don't remember doing!!!). Maybe they got the wrong person! Haha

Part 3 - Youth Picnic @ Sentosa

Woot! What a fun-filled afternoon! We played frisbee and ball games while waiting for the food to arrive. No wait. Not the food, but the picnic mat (which turned out to be table cloth?). But we had lots of fun playing games and I think we (or at least I did) realised we're not so fit after all. Like 5mins into the first game, tired liao. LoL. Ah tan's dog was irritating though. Cannot leave ah tan. Even ah tan go toilet she also make noise!

We also played the luge! Its my first time! Haha... I think the skyride was more fun than the luge. You should have seen ah tan's frightened face. He's so scared on the skyride. LoL

Part 4 - 五月天签名会 @ Central

The queue is crazy! Twice as long as what you see in the photos. I queued for 1 hour to get my album autographed. Haha. Sounds crazy rite? But I just really just there to waste time (since I'm so free) and see how crazy others were. People who probably took half day off to queue early. LoL

Part 5 - Church Friends Farewell Dinner

Wahaha... We had curry chicken that was so spicy even Elvin complained its spicy! And the bitter almond jelly.. LoL.. Of course I believe the wasabi ice cream was the BEST! Had so much fun playing the "shooting game", some "chaki chaki" thing.. Elvin and Esther Chong got the worst ones... I think they took 3 of the 12 wasabi ice cream each.. LoL.. Elvin got it like 3 in a row and Esther got the "lots of wasabi" one.. Oh well, enough talking, just look at photos.. :)

Part 6 - Gong Wen Send Off

It was meant to be a surprise, and it almost failed! LoL.. We were desperately searching for her in the check-in queue but could find her nowhere. Almost thought we went to the wrong place. Thanks to Zhang Lan's disguised phone call, we managed to find out where she was! Haha.. Goodbye! Seeya next year! Let's go for dumplings again! :D