ONLY BY GRACE

Finally, the big break! Exams ended; semester concluded. Its time to take a breather and chill somewhere away from the island of Singapore. Long awaited break. This entry is going to be brief as I will be leaving for the Philippines (Bacolod) with the NIE ASEAN Club tonight. Mixed feelings to this trip. 1st disorganized trip I've ever been on but hopefully exciting things await us. As much as I'm quite frustrated over the mess, but I think the essence of this trip is really to go with an open heart, and one that is ready to just love the people who will come along my way. More than just what we can do and offer to the people, our presence and being matters alot too! Hope to leave beautiful memories behind for the people of Bacolod. Then in another 2 weeks, (immediately after the marathon), I will be heading for my backpacking trip to Vietnam and Cambodia (7-22 Dec). OOoohhh...this is really what I'm looking forward to! I've been counting down the days to the 7th as I ca...

Watch and hear this! Simple lyrics, catchy tune yet powerful truth of who we are and our mere existence on earth spoken. Enjoy Chris Tomlin - Made to Worship YouTube - Made to Worship - Live at Passion 06 Before the day Before the light Before the world revolved around the sun God on high Stepped down into time And wrote the story of His love for everyone He has filled our hearts with wonder So that we always remember You and I were made to worship You and I are called to love You and I are forgiven and free When you and I embrace surrender When you and I choose to believe Then you and I will see Who we were meant to be All we are And all we have Is all a gift from God that we receive Brought to life We open up our eyes To see the majesty and glory of the King Even the rocks cry out Even the heavens shout At the sound of His Holy name So let every voice sing out Let every knee bow down He is worthy of all our praise

*Drums roll*...."Please welcome the Dynamic Threesome of NIE : Joani (Crazy Woman 0.5), Aidah (Crazy Woman 0.9) and Grace (Crazy Woman 0.7)". Why the '0.something'? Don't know that's why we are crazy!!!???? Hahaha Joani the crazy shopaholic Aida looking scholarly BUT it was just that day! She's the VAINEST pot out of the group! Don't we look good together!? So far, I'm the best in being able to capture all 3 of us nicely in 1 frame. The other 2...erm more practice needed lah! :) But yes our favourite pastime together is TAKE PICTURES of ourselves! I've been wanting to blog about these 2 whackos I've met during this semester in NIE. They are my GESL mates. No one could have guess we would become such close friends in just 4 months! And we don't see each other apart from GESL meetings. Both are geographers, while I'm the fit one. Hmmm..but they are also quite fit (i'm fitter!). One does Muay Thai, the other hockey & taekwan...

I bought this set of keychain for my gramps. So cute right? They both love it to bits man! Haha..I'm proud of myself. A wise person said this to me this morning: "when you count your blessings, you will find many things to be thankful for...". True true. Been rather short fused these days and especially with family members. My grandma bore the brunt of it on monday when she suddenly appeared at NCC with my grandpa. I wasn't expecting her and so when I saw her, I was quite mean to ask why she was there when I actually know her intentions. I felt the way I felt because firstly I was already bothered about how to take care of grandpop when he sighs and worries about his discomfort and blah and then grandmop comes along and be herself (complain complain and ask same questions 1001 times etc). Double whammy! Anyway in a nutshell, the wise person told me early in the morning that grandmop upset that I brushed her aside that day, which I know was baddie bad bad :( ok i will...

Got 2 examinable PE modules next week and I have yet to start revision. I'm not at all panicky about it. I know I have to but the inertia is great. As always! :) Trying to caution myself against complacency or lacklustreness and constantly psychoing myself to have to give my best shot, even if I think this whole exam thingy is rather ridiculous. I question the neccessity of taking exams in NIE. Shouldn't we be given more hands-on experiences, especially for PE (more game modules???) Ok granted that we need to have some theoretical groundings but what's the emphasis in our 2yrs of training? I have not seen the point. Oh wellz....just feeling a little angsty about exams! Overall feel is we have to take exams for the sake of taking exams! Got value being added in our training stint?? Inertia also great in my training for marathon. This yr I sure to 'suffer' during my run! Haha...minimal training but I am not going to chiong! That will be suicidal :). Feeling the sianne...

Last weekend was just cool. My first time at the Singapore Sevens and had the wonderful opportunity to meet with handsome, burly and simply gorgeous ruggers from various nations like New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Fiji, South Africa etc. Of course, it was a total feast for the eyes! ahhaha....okok..I'm not all that superficial. RIGHT! I was attached to Ponsonby - New Zealand team. Heard that most of the All Blacks players hail from this team and I was excited to meet them. Even though this year's team consists of mostly amateurs, yet they displayed such finess in their game. The way they spin the ball, dodge, tackle etc just blew my mind away. But of course, they are soon-to-be professionals so they had better show some standard! Hehe..but they truly lived up to their reputation. Don't mess with these big boys when they mean business! One of the many light hearted moments Coach had with his boys Above and beyond their skills, what actually impressed me most was their gent...