Angels brought me here...

Thursday, December 29, 2005

Here I am, seated on my revolving computer chair and blogging out an entry when I could have been with my cca people trudging through a cultural trip in Johor Bahru, or wandering among the animals at the zoo with my pre u sem group members. Wonder why it's ended up like this? Well, I'll keep you guessing.

Had a video conferance with Inbal last night over msn (for those who don't know, Inbal is a friend I made online during my role playing days. Yes, she was one of my role playing mantees and no, she's not from Singapore. Where from? Try the country of Jesus' origin. And yes, this is the girl who's cousin lives in England.) which was a tad awkward given that I didn't speak hebrew at all, and it's been a year since Inbal had said a word of english. She's pretty good though haha, for someone who hadn't uttered english for 365 days *laughs*

Spent most of the rest of yesterday slugging around at Pei Jing's place with Mark, Isaac and Wan Xiu, played a couple of board games, watched The Nightmare Before Christmas and caught one of those chinese serial things on television too. Poor Wan Xiu, home alone when the rest of the family was at a relative's. Isaac and I hung around with her for as long as we could, until eight, cuz the weather appeared unrelenting (and it had already been raining many times earlier that day.)

Nothing much had happened today besides my siblings and I re-watching Charlie's Angels (Full Throttle) and Corpse Bride, as well as the rain pouring down from the heavens again (maybe I should change the blog song to Rain Down by Delirious? hmmm...) and my whole house freezing over. This is that time of the year when air conditioning is totally useless (unless I intend to use it to keep me warm)

Ahh... speak of the weather... the white, frosty, foggy appearance is back outside my window again...

amanda faith
2:35 PM

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Phew.. another day of badminton *woot* (and did I mention we're planning to have another one this friday? or at least we'll try... if the courts are not already booked...) For once, I'm not feeling excruciatingly tired after the two and a half hours of play - any possibility of increasing stamina? haha

Headed off to Pei Jing's house after the game and lunch (as usual) but this time, no PS2 to play with lol (it had to be serviced. So we won't be seeing it for another five days. Poor wan xiu...) and had fun playing wizard's chest for a bit before they decided to pull out Hotels.

You know, I've never played that game before in my life. Today was the first time I've actually sat down to play the game. Haha, I think I was really blessed today cuz I just blur blur throw dice and buy property and build stuff. Kept lending in the squares to build free things and all that. The game ended with Isaac and me left in it, and me owning almost every hotel save Le Grand, President and Taj Mahar lol. Cash wise (excluding property) I had a whopping $50,250 despite having forgotten to claim my $2000 every time i passed the bank haha. Never thought I'd actually find so much fun in a board game, let alone win lol.

Ok... three (msn) hours later (lol) I've forgotten why I started writing this entry in the first place. I think I should just end it here lol

amanda faith
8:28 PM

Tuesday, December 27, 2005

After a trip to town with liangkai's cousin, I've decided that they were right when they said your brain has to think twice as fast in order to keep up with children. No joke lol. Oh and for "clean" guys who think they can use harmless sounding lingo to talk about sexual related topics in front of children, think again. They know more than you'd expect them to. lol

ok.. brain gone to sleep again...

amanda faith
1:28 AM

Monday, December 26, 2005

Loads of things coming up this December for City Harvest Church! A lot of activities lined up this month so I thought I'd leave a little list for referance. Anyone who feels like dropping in can feel free to do so!

01 December:
02 December: W283 CG meeting, 7.30pm. CHC Last weekend at Jurong premise, B4 Auditorium, 7.30pm.
03 December: CHC Last weekend at Jurong premise, B4 Auditorium, 4.30pm and 8pm.
04 December: CHC Last weekend at Jurong premise, B4 Auditorium, 9am, 11.30am and 2pm.
05 December:
06 December: W283 brothers' gym trip.
07 December: W283 Badminton Game, CDANS, 2pm - 4pm. CHC First Prayer Meeting at Expo, Hall 8, 7.30pm.
08 December:
09 December: JC Cluster Prayer Meeting and Basketball game, meeting place: Serangoon MRT, 10.45am
10 December: W283 East Coast Outting, meeting place: Payar Lebar MRT, 10.30am. CHC First weekend at Expo Service, Hall 8, 5pm.
11 December: CHC First weekend at Expo Service, Hall 8, 10am.
12 December:
13 December: W283 Hike through Macritchie through Nature Trail, meeting place: Bukit Panjang, 11am. JC Cluster Sentosa Trip, meeting place: Harbour Front MRT, 1.30pm.
14 December: W283 Brothers' Swim, Jurong East Swimming complex, 11am.
15 December: W283 Sisters' Shopping Trip, likely route/locations: Bugis, Orchard (brothers who want to come are welcome too!) Time and meeting point to be confirmed.
16 December: W283 Last CG meeting for 2005, 7.30pm.
17 December: CHC candlelight service at Expo Hall 8, 5pm.
18 December: CHC candlelight service at Expo Hall 8, 10am.
19 December: Mini W83 Badminton, CDANS, 9 - 11am.
20 December: W283 Shopping, Dinner and Christmas lights, Orchard road 5.30pm. JC cluster pre Christmas overnight 'party' (start), Cecillia's house/Changi Airport.
21 December: JC cluster pre Christmas overnight 'party' (end), Changi Airport.
22 December: W283 Dinner.
23 December:
24 December: Christmas Service at Expo Hall 8, 4.30pm and 7.30pm. CHC Christmas Carnival at Expo Hall 6, 2pm to 10pm.
25 December: Christmas Service at Expo Hall 8, 10am and 1pm. CHC Christmas Carnival at Expo Hall 6, 10am to 6pm.
26 December:
27 December:
28 December:
29 December:
30 December: CL zone MTV (Moving Towards Vision) awards at CHC Jurong, 7:30pm.
31 December: CHC Year End Service and countdown to 2006.

The schedule will constantly be editted to add events!
Last editted: 20 December

amanda faith
2:11 PM

Sunday, December 25, 2005

Alright! finally starting to blog about my christmas weekend (eight msn windows later lol) and already feeling my eyes closing down hard. Don't blame me if I fall asleep halfway k haha, really very tired after two straight days of chionging for church and fighting for seats with barely two hours of sleep between them. For photos from today's events (I only have a few and I didn't take any on christmas eve cuz I forgot my camera) is all on my multiply.

Don't mind if I jump time zones and topics k, I'm totally seven-eighths asleep as it is so I'm just typing whatever's the first to come to mind.

The carnival was really great, the games were fun (and hard to win lol) but all the same, we had a lot of fun taking photos and cheering for Strike Force! (boy they're good... brought out the old favourite too; water drums woot! wish I had taken pictures of that part of their basking performance...)

Some of the cell group people went to ride the Meteorite (and came out feeling dizzy and nauseous... hmmm...) That's one ride I would never dare to ride. I think I wouldn't just feel sick, I might actually puke too :/ Not my cup of tea that's for sure, so a round of applause from me for the brave souls who went on the ride (don't think most of you will ever be doing that again any time soon)

After the whole sick feeling wore off, we went totally bonkers with all the random dancing/swaying we did as well as endless singing lol. Speaking of singing, Ben, Hao Wen and I were queuing with sister Olivia and friend in the morning. Sister Olivia wanted to hear us sing live lol. For a trio of people who only slept for two hours the night before, amazingly, we could still sing despite sleep deprivation haha. A bit of a squeeky, choked up voice of course, but haha, t'was fun.

Went around playing some of the same with Priya and her cell members also while the rest waited to go up the Meteorite, and... we didn't win anything lol. At least now we know we have a bad sense of aim :p lol. Wish I won some of the toys though, the bears and clown fish are so adorable! Side note: up till now, I still haven't figured out what the very large, silver, looks inflatable, flying thing is yet. It is henceforth officially, a real UFO lol (it even has an alien print on it lol)

Oh yeah, wanna thank some people for really wonderful gifts this christmas, namely Kelvin (for the cute care bear), Grace (you know what you gave me lol), Hao Wen (and Grace, for the beautiful butterfly motif skirt), Zane (for those pretty earrings), Pei Jing (for multiple pairs of striking earrings), Daena (for the Christmas card. My apologies for not sending you one), my paternal family (for the nail polish set thing). And if I forgot anyone else, I'm really sorry... can't think straight at the moment.

I should really head staight to bed... I'm falling asleep on my keyboard.. again

amanda faith
11:24 PM

Friday, December 23, 2005

Went out for a two and a half hour game of badminton with Shi Hong, Mark, Ignatius, and Geraldine today at Yishun stadium. Wah.. so tired after that sia! haha ok, I'm kidding, I only got tired after a really long day of badminton, shopping and finally, bible study haha. My legs have only begun to feel the pain they should have experienced hours ago...

oh ya, went to mark's house for a while before we headed to the mrt station to go our own seperate ways. Didn't really see much of the house, but really, his room is awfully neat for a guy. really cosy type (all the way down to the room being full of all kinds of things) Saw his hamsters, and I swear, they're not dwarf hamsters, they're miniature dwarf mark hamsters :p they have his cute cheeks n red nose region of the face, big eyes and a adequetly curved body. Not to mention they're brown and they don't have the line down their back that all dwarf hamsters do.

haha anyway, hamsters aside, the badminton game itself was really fun. Teh guys were of course, pro lah (haiz... feel like such a lousy player lol) and thinking of playing with them again next week (so those interested better let us know k, so can book the adequent number of courts) It'll probably be on a thursday (cuz that's the only day Ignatius is free)

It's now 1.11am (wow, I took so long to blog? must have been the multiple chat windows, phone calls and sneaking out for a midnight snack lol) and just heard Thomas on air lol. Funny guy lah haha. Thank for the dedication and the errrr flying kiss thing on air haha, a Merry Christmas to you too (cough and my best wishes to you and Ashley cough *winks* haha)

While I'm at it, a very MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE and CHRISTMAS to all my darling friends out there!!! To the friends in cell group who have made an impact in my life, my god-sent friends I've made during first three months, in school, from cca, from my drama diploma class, from national day parade training three years ago, from pre u sem, from history sem, from church, from ministry, and so on.

My special shout out goes to my first clique of friends in MI, my cell group, my best friends since forever, my juniors, peers and seniors from my cca, and the friends I've had the priviledge to know from ministry.

First up, my best friends since forever - Shi Hui and Daena. Thank you so much for being there for me all these years even after those times when I used to mess up my life and neglect you guys, yall were always so forgiving and were always there to welcome me back with open arms. So sorry I haven't been able to spend a lot of time with you gals this year, but I promise I'll make it up somehow after a levels k. *hugs* I love you girls :)

To my first clique of friends in Millennia Institute - Liangkai, Grace, Junia and Joel - for the wonderful times we spent the past two years playing pool, sun tanning and what not other fun we've had (remember the time we gave liang a t shirt with his name on it? hee and Grace got cream/cake on his face lol) I thank God for sending you guys into my life cuz I never expected to find christian friends in MI and yet, God sent yall. I believe it's no coincidence that we all ended up being believers in Christ.

To my cell group: Thank you for showing me what is wrong in my spiritual being and helping me to grow and change through this whole year. I thank God for sending me to where I am today, and for wonderful spiritual siblings that encourage me and are always there in times of need. Especially people like Liangkai, Li Ji, Jun Xiang, Ben and Pei Jing; without you guys, the good things of today would never have been.

To my other closer school friends - Dominic, Mark and Hao Wen - thanks for standing by me and taking all my rubbish! lol. Really pei fu your tolerance for my childish nonsence that I throw at you guys some times. Stay strong through the next year k, it's our last academic lap so let's really work hard for it =)

To the people from AKE: keep shining brightly like a star over the hills of time. Our fame and standards must not waver. you guys have been a really wonderful team of people to work with for SYF 2005 and the two performances we've had at lao pa sat this year. Continue to improve and bring our cca to the next level and prove that we are worth the financial costs and the time spent on us and more!

To my new friends from choir (especially Kelvin, Gloria and Si Jia) Thank you so much for being... well, you! Yall are special to God and to me too! Keep growing in the spirit and move from glory to glory. May God bless you till yoru cup runs over and there is no room enough to contain His blessings. Thank you Jia Jia and Wei Xin who have been wonderful leaders to me this past two months I've had the priviledge of serving in the choir.

To the wonderful team I've worked with from both campuses for pre u sem (especially Ignatius, Mark, Tressa, Christopher, Rozi, Nabella, Huda, Joel, Dave, LiangKai and Hazel) and everyone in Group 14 (my awesome roomie Shi Yun, Charles, Huai Yuan, Angel, Ronald, Vanda, Eunice, Wee Ling, Claudio, Jana, etc): thank you guys for the awesome experience this year. I will never forget the wonderful times we've had together and the thick and thin that we've managed to pull through.

*yawns* well, now I'm going off to bed...

amanda faith
11:30 PM

Thursday, December 22, 2005

heya everyone :D I'm blogging from woodlands regional library (don't blame me if the spacing between words doesn't turn up k, something's wrong with the computer keyboard. Got to do this quick (I think I only have thirty free minutes or something like that.)

Did a little research on fashion/costumes throughout the centuries from all over the world (just for fun. Plus i have to entertain myself while Sok Leng did her little research thing about some other costume things) and well, the results are interesting (from my point of view) they weren't kidding when they said that fashion comes in cycles.

Anyway, to all my girl friends out there who complain about today's jewelery being too opulant or elaborate (or "obnoxious center pieces" as a certain friend of mine likes to call them lol) you'll be pleased to know, we're not as bad as those from a few centuries ago and those a few contenants away.

Ok... now sok leng wants to leave the youth section so here ends my entry - at least until I get home haha

EDIT: Yay! home at last (and blogging past midnight as usual... hmm... should really rethink this whole nocturnal thing and retune my sleeping pattern before i get 'jet lag' when school reopens...)

So anyway, about the fashion thing - ok, honestly, I've forgotten half the things I wanted to write about today (see, this is what happens when you do not bring your diary out with you. Which reminds me, I have to do somehting about my memory; I forget when i don't write it down. Maybe I've got too heavy a dependency on notes... anyhow...)

One thing that bothered me the most was that the non fiction books I looked up were all in the referance section (so as common sense goes, they can't be borrowed) so some (pardon the use of profanity) id*ot tore out (not just one) but a total of about ten pages from a book dedicated to jewellery across continents and from various civilizations through the centuries. It's annoying because imagine reading a book and as you approach the climax, two pages of vital information are missing so you end up by-passing the build ups and the explainations that would prepare to evoke the desired emotions, and diving either head first into the climax. Or worse, you end up jumping straight to the resolution without knowing what the real conflict was all about and where did it go.

And if one page is not enough, imagine facing the same scenario again and again in every chapter. And some chapters have it so bad, it's almost as if a page is missing every three to four pages... Really, such behavior is so... unbecoming of a well educated society! It's diappointing really... oh well...

Time to go knocking on heaven's door, seeya

amanda faith
5:30 PM

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Phew.. tired... realized most of my entries were written after midnight haha, well, can't help it, I have the tendency of being very awake after praying (maybe I should pray in the morning when I just wake up instead lol)

Anyhow... just got back from our little trip to see the Christmas decor at Orchard (yes, this is in the CHC/W283 schedule. It's in the post below and has been updated.) Had a really wonderful time ot today.

Today's program in a nutshell:
- window shoppping/gift hunting while waiting for the rest of the group to arrive (this lasted for quite a bit haha, almost an hour if i say so myself lol)
- walked to far east for dinner (Mmmm... the chicken rice is yummy!)
- walked down to this place (I forgot the name suddenly) to eat waffles with ice cream for desert. (Thank you so much Ben for the sort of treat!)
- walk down orchard road to take photos of christmas lights and of ourselves!
- Side trip to Kino before I left Orchard

Highlights:
Between every destination we were suppose to be heading for, we disappeared into tons of shops to look for shirts, bottoms, gifts and accessories lol. Spent a lot of time at POA and all the other little shops at far eat on our great wardrobe hunt lol. Trying on clothes was super fun haha, and a great bonding opportunity. Serious! When you're doing crazy things like this, you end up talking about weird things and discovering trivia about friends and new aquaintences.

Met Naresh and Wendy at POA also. Exciting news: Naresh is joining choir!! Whoohooo!!! haha, now to psycho Priya to join choir also haha. Priya, if you're reading this, JOIN CHOIR!!! haha, don't join drama lah. (I know I'm bias =p but...) Choir is the most exciting ministry ever! hehe

Struck a lot of silly poses with the christmas decor (wah.. don't know what happened to me... getting more and more shameless liao haha) but I wasn't as bad as the *eh hmm* girls who went to do a 'splat against Beckham' pose =p (haha those involved know what I'm talking about, I'm not going to rat on you gals here)

Dinner was over very quickly (lol, food practically disappears with most of us haha) and we were still hungry after that, so dessert seemed appropriate. The waffles were *mmm yum!* delicious and HUGE! Miran says they may have been baked with maple sauce in them cuz they're really sweet as well. And the ice cream on them was *wow!* heavenly! ooo boy... sinful food haha.

Decided to pick up another Seventeen magazine when we stopped by taka (I really have to know what my sis finds so interesting about these things) and got a free make up set (nail polish, lip gloss and some glittery/eye shadow powder stuff) with it. Well, at least there's an incentive to my little investigation haha. Still don't understand what's absolutely interesting in it yet. Maybe I'll get that revelation soon haha. Miran says I shouldn't have bought it lol, cuz she has tons of CLEO to pass to me if I need model referances for my anime haha. Well, I guess that's a pretty good offer too hehe.

Oh well, time to experiment with the strange coloured nail polish. even though it's already pass one o clock haha

amanda faith
12:29 AM

Monday, December 19, 2005

Phew! Another day of waking up early and dying later haha. Kidding. Woke up at seven today to play badminton with Pei Jing, Wan Xiu, Isaac, Hao Wen and Pei Jing's dad at CDANS today (or the new name is HomeTeamNS lol) before we went off for lunch at Westmall and finally crashing at PJ's place to clear up the hamster cages and give the ham hams a bath haha. Ooooo... cute little fuzzy fur balls! *cuddles one*

Haha, truthfully, I wouldn't dare to cuddle one, they're vicious little monsters lol. Cute on the outside, but with painful bites lol.

Anyhow, new choir team alotments are in, my new team ic just called me to let me know about the change. From Wei Xin to Yong Xin haha, any probability that they're related? lolx. Well, still won't be serving for the next month so I'll still be waking up before the crack of dawn to prepare to go to church and book seats for a while yet lol.

Well, I suppose that's all for today, going to get back to my archie comins for a bit before I get into QT. Cheerio!

amanda faith
9:48 PM

Candlelight service was absolutely beautiful today. Even though everything seemed to have been done in a rush, the final highlight of the whole day's service was still as beautiful (if not more) than what most of city harvest's members have ever imagined. Picture this: A single flame is ignited on the stage, followed by another ten, and then slowly but surely, the light spreads, breaking throught he darkness of the expo hall. And soon, a sea of 7000 golden orange flames lights up the room, with the candlelight dancing to the music from the stage and the melody uttered from the lips of the now light-bearers of the world.

For me, it was like being transported back in time to my childhood, one late christmas night on fort canning hill. Eyes are getting droopy but the inner child still struggles to stay awake because the candles still stand unlit. And then, when the moment comes, the whole hill from the plaza of the church building all the way up the road to the fort canning car park is illuminated by the orage glow of candlelight. Beautiful.

I could almost imagine what it could have been like two thousand years ago; be it from the dimly lit stable where Jesus lay in the manger, or from the vast open fields where shepards and their sheep watched in total facination at the light spectacle and choral performance put up by the angles in the otherwise pitch-black sky. Or perhaps even from the view of the wise men in the dessert where nothing lay ahead except orange sand that softly reflected the bright like of that single, special star in the night sky... almost...

*yawns* Dream aside, I've officially been awake for twenty hours already *yawns again* But even though I'm feeling really drained from today, deep down inside, I still feel like it was worth it.

amanda faith
12:54 AM

Saturday, December 17, 2005

phew! just got back from helping out dialect church for their christmas outreach. After a good bath, I'm feeling so much better than just now haha. Finally resting my aching feet lol. Haha, I'm so unfit lol, stand around in the lift for four hours plus only already cannot take it haha man do I need to work out some stamina lol.

After today, I finally realized the importance of one's mother tongue (lol) seriously, t'was so difficult to communicate with the folks who came down today. Had to alternate between my poor cantonese to my fragmented hokkien and my half-past-six mandrin lol. I might consider actually paying attention during chinese lesson next year lol.

Other thing I learnt: Never try and correct their sense of direction for going up or going down even if they are wrong; You'll only have people continuing in a string of foreign dialects that will only get you more confused. Just try to get an idea of where they want to go and take them there. Don't even mention if you're going up or down haha, just say "audi" or "ya sau" (translation: Jesus) for B4, "toilet" "che suo" or "chee so" for B2 and "lou ka" for level 1 haha.

Overall it was fun lah, I learnt many new words in three dialects haha. Well ok, they're not that new.. I just haven't used them for like forever so it took some major memory jolts to recall haha.

Anyhow... I guess this is the end of this entry, I'm starting to feel sleepy... *yawns*

Oh yeah... Tomorrow is candlelight service!!! Yay!!!

amanda faith
9:16 PM

Wow! Can't believe it's the last cell group meeting of the year liao *deep in thought* 2005 has flashed by so swifty, pulling many eventful moments in its wake - the people that came just for a visit and the people that have stayed on; and even those who seemed like they would never return not only came back, but also gave their hearts to Him. There have of course, been moments of lose, but their time of mourning has come and gone and we have moved on from there to another level.

One part of today's sermon that really spoke out to me was the thing about the parables. I have known the stories since I was less than four years old but their true significance had never once occured to me until tonight. Like Ai Ming said, the things that were lost were not just precious, their value was so high to the extent that the persona in the parables that had lost them had gone all out to search for them and did not stop until the lost items were found.

They all did something different for the things they lost. For the parable of the lost sheep, the shepard literally climbed every mountain for the sheep that had gone astray and only returned to his flock when the sheep was recovered. He never gave up. And every obsticle in his way was not avoided, but overcome. This scenario to me, reminded me of the case in evangelism in which the friends that we care for and love and want to reach out to chooses to stray off the path we try to put them on. Like the shepard, we should never give up; if we really love our friends, we will keep searching for them until we can finally bring them back with us.

For the parable of the lost coin, the woman literally searched every nook and cranny for that once piece she had lost even though she had nine others. This scenario relates to a situation in which out of ten friends you have, 9 are already saved. But still, we shouldn't give up on the one that is lost. Even though our circle of friends may not expand to include more unsaved friends, we look in every nook and cranny of the small room for that one friend.

While we're on the topic of friends, I would like to add a few words of thanks for a few of my cell group members. I know we've already had our appreciation night, but I feel the desire to give my personal thank you message to the people who made a differance in my life. It's getting late so I won't be able to write for everyone today, but I will try. And I promise I'll try and make it short ^_-

Ai Ming: For the discipleships that opened my eyes to my weaknesses and the areas that required change. Much would not have been possible without her guidance.

Ivan: For the little advices dished out on guy psychology haha. Without cell members like him, well, I'll still be stuck with my *eh hmmm* problems... haha. Not to mention, without this dude, no guitar for cell group meeting! wah... we know how bad that is. Boy did we struggle in his absence lol.

Miranda: shi shang zi you ma ma hao! You have no idea how true that statement rings! Miran has been my leader, my advisor, my counsellor, my tutor, my listening ear, the one who rescues our refreshment team... wah... the list can go on and on! 'Niang' has been a role model I looked up to for a long time, and I still do! Thanks for being you! Wow, I have to agree, you certainly deserve the All In One award!

Liang Kai: For being my lighthouse in the storms. Without this good friend, I would have been shipwrecked or lost at the bottom of the ocean of life and school. His life alone is also inspiration and encouragement enough to perservier on no matter the storm. Thank you so much for the counselling, the advice, and the sunshine you brought into my life! =D

Li Ji: For being a faithful listening ear. In my rare moments of depression he would always be there to listen to my woes even in the midst of his A levels or his revision. A friend who is not limited by circumstance and is most certainly loyal and sincere. Cell group would never be the same without him.

Ben: Our cell group's most sexy tanner voice! haha. Also another faithful friend I want to affirm. There is no age differentiation with this guy. To me, he is more of a friend than my cca junior and he has been a great cell mate! Ben is easy to talk to and is most certainly always there to lend an ear or a hand to a friend in need. Thank you so much for being my friend!

Jun Xiang: JX is literally just a phone call away. He is always willing to avail himself for friends (regardless of time or day. It can even lapse from the late hours of the night into the wee hours of the morning and he will still be there) and makes it an effort to spend time in fellowship as possible. Also another wonderful counsellor and friend that is most certainly god-sent!

Pei Jing: My good friend of four years already. Never once have I regretted bringing her to church. Pei Jing has become an eccential part of my life as a christian in terms of a good friend.

*yawns* I really need to head to bed now... feeling very tired... goodnight... err... good morning world!

amanda faith
12:25 AM

Thursday, December 15, 2005

Hmmmm... didn't get to bed until four plus in the morning (before I started tossing and turning more lol) and then I oddly woke up suddenly at 7.30am and had to force myself to sleep a bit more (waking up every twenty minutes or less if i say so myself. hmmmm....) What happened before that? Quiet time! And I really mean one to remember.

Those of us familiar with the presence of God will realize that He makes His presence felt in a variety of ways. For me, I think, last night's was the most... oh I can't think of that word for 'something that can be sensed or felt' right now (brother's rushing me off the computer...) but wow! If I were to described the experience, well, imagine; You already feel warm, but you also sense the warmth converging and rising in temperature in front of you and then wham! You feel this force and heat push forward and dash right through you! Wow! I still can't forget that feeling. Nearly fell backwards n knock my head on the bedpost...

Oh yeah, while I'm here (and since I won't get to blog later) check out today's Today paper, page 16: Dying has been outlawed in a farm town of Brazil. lol.

The report in a nutshell:
- Government does not allow the opening of the new cemetary or the expansion of the present one
- Cremation is against environmental laws and thus is illegal
- Bodies have been burried under walk ways and squeezed into present cribs (talk about gross... imagine walking on orchard road, knowing you're stepping on someone at every step of the way *shudders*)

Seriously, check it out ^_-

amanda faith
9:10 AM

Noooooooo.... I've done it again!!! ahhh!!! *must... close... MSN....* *grunts* *sigh* and I thought deleting AIM, Y!M and ICQ would cut down on my addiction lol. I even skipped the board chat room! ah crap... it is really too addictive to chat on instant messaging...

But it's not wrong right? lol, I mean, I miss talking to Tyler and Inbal.. it's been ages since I caught up with my ex role play mates. Time zone differances make it rare for us to meet afterall...

Haiz... still, something has to be done...

amanda faith
3:38 AM

Yay!!! Pre u sem 2005 Group 14's gonna go visit the zoo on 29 Dec! Coincidently, that is the same day MI AKE is going for their Malaysia/JB cultural trip haha. Good thing I lost my consent form? lol. At least this time I won't miss a group get together (missed the last few already...)

Lol, how long has it been since I went to the zoo? Years? Was suppose to go with family yesterday but didn't in the end. (but I did get the cute beanie baby koala bear from the souvenier shop *grins*) Lol, it's almost like I'm being called to go to the zoo or something cuz I've had friends wanting to visit the zoological gardens since... forever? haha. Yay! go back and see all the cute little animals and look out for additions I missed since my last visit.

Note of enclosures that must visit (if they're still around):
- Tigers
- Cheetahs
- Jaguars
- Leopards
(I just love the white versions of the above big cats! ^_^)
- Lions
- Pumas/Mountain Lions
- Penguins
- Wolves
- Sunbears
- Polar bears

Yes yes.. my favourite animals are felines, bears and canines... so sue me :p haha

amanda faith
1:29 AM

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

What in the world is a Fantasy Knives site? yeah, that's what I want to know. Most of you should know by now that I have a blog where I store some of my role plays from various RPG sites I played in plus some works by RP friends that I found most impactful or outstanding in that year. So anyway, a couple of people have left comments on the entries (which if I may add, are almost completely identical with only one or two words differant.) and there's this thing in the comments about some Fantasy Knives blog or something. Does anyone have an idea what that is? Would really love to be enlightened. Sound pretty interesting though... *thinks*

Anyway, on to the subject of writing since I'm at it. I went back to the RP Hangout today and read some of Cyrillian's role plays (gosh I still practically almost idolize this guy's work! Even though it may have slipped a bit these past few years. It happens even to the best of us. I know. I've seen it and experienced it myself too...) and wow, I think I just rediscovered the cause of my addiction to role playing. It's all about the ability to explore the vast infinate directions one simple sentence can take to build a beautiful masterpiece in writing. I mean, as long as you know who your character/s is/are, his/her/their personality and how he/she/they think, where he/she/they are, the cause for the plot (basically what happened before the story/rp), setting, atmosphere, mood - you're totally on your way to a good role play. Seriously! I Love that stuff! *sigh* I totally miss those days I could afford to sit in front of the computer for hours just to write 700 word average replies for multiple role play threads. Wow... those were the days...

Oh well, real life really eats up time for leisure doesn't it? It would be foolish to go scrambling to write a biography now and attempt to get back on site and role play from january to march... I wouldn't have the time to upkeep and I really should be spending time mugging for the A levels... ah *sigh* for a moment I was feeling potentially hopeful that I might be able to squeeze some time in for role playing but... ah who am I kidding? I'll have ministry to serve, bible studies to attend, subjects to study, homework to do, tests and exams to mug for and still leave time for my Abba in heaven. Maybe I might find time say.. when I start working or something. Way way way after university. Oh who am I kidding... this is Singapore! Work is like.. well... we all know what it is... the extent of tiredness and stress would maim and handicap creativity.

But with the zoe life of God we can do anything right?

Haiz... rubbish lah, this is what we call misinterpretation of rhema word and/or taking it out of context. Unless it's my calling to write stories or something that it will happen lah haha. Oh well, at least I get to do one thing I like: Sing and serve in choir.

Come to think of it... A level prep would mean... eeps! I can't do my Drama diploma next year! Think of it. This year, I put in this much effort in academics and this much effort in drama at the same time and all I got was 2A 2AO for promos and a Merit for Drama. Would it be wise to continue the diploma next year?

Ahhh... decisions decisions decisions...

amanda faith
12:15 PM

Monday, December 12, 2005

Been thinking about a lot of things since service this weekend. I mean, how can I not? Imagine if you were touched by God's presence so much that you were reduced to tears to the point that you've cried yourself dry, two days in a row. Feeling so guilty as if I've taken advantage of His presence the whole of my life. Literally.

I mean, I'm not exactly a brand new born again Christian, I was born into a Christian family. You kinda know many more bible things than your born again friends, but you lack the faith and understanding they have of these things when they do get their revelations.

Or better yet, some just believe in faith even though they do not fully comprehend God's reason for doing what He does or asking them to do some things for Him and then they just do it, even if they don't see the benefits ahead of them.

I'm not complaining much, I guess we're all just different. In any case, comparing between the two is not exactly the focus of today's entry.

The focus, is who He is to me, to all of us who are His children. How often have we said that we are 'children of God' or 'Jesus' co-heirs to the kingdom'? How often have any of us believers out there said any of these phrases and more without really thinking of what it really means? What does it mean to be a child? And what does it mean to be Jesus' so-called "peers"?

A child of God is a person who sees God as more than the all powerful supernatural being up there that can potentialy wipe you out in a snap of a finger if He chooses to. It's not so much about fearing that bad things will happen to you if you don't abide by His laws. Sure, bad things do happen in such scenarios, we've seen it all in the Bible when the Israelites sinned against God - but remember that these people have already been forewarned and they chose to forget His commandments and His blessings despite having tasted His goodness to the extent of fresh manah from heaven - but punishment is not all God is about.

A child is a person who sees God as his or her Father. To say that God is your Father is that you completely trust Him and His plans for you. That you believe that everything is going to be ok even if you're suffering now. You're saying that you trust Him to take care of you, and that for everything that happens, He knows and harbours no ill-intents. You're saying that He is concerned about every aspect in your life no matter how minute it may seem. You're saying that He is constantly watching over you, even if situations make it seem like He has deserted you, you believe with great faith in your heart that He is still there with you.

No real father ever abandons his child. Haven't there been moments in your life when you deal with your own problems and all your father did was give you advice or leave you to handle them on your own? The reason that happens is because your father knows you can deal with it or that if anything turns out wrong, you will learn from it without really getting harmed. And even if you do get hurt, he is still there to take you into His arms and comfort you later on.

God pretty much works in the same way, the only differance between Him and your earthly father is that He never makes mistakes. He has an intent and purpose for everything that happens in your life and only His love is perfect.

His love... how perfect is it? He gave His only son to save us all. That's how much we mean to Him. How much do we mean to Jesus? Think about it, He had a choice, He could have refused to die on the cross for our sins and diseases but He still gave His life for us. And even after His ressurection and accension He is still praying and intercessing for us at the right hand of God.

Then there's the Holy Spirit, the member of the Holy Trinity most people forget about. Does He care? Of course He does. If He didn't, He wouldn't care even if we did the wrong things that grieved the Trinity. He is that Holy conscience that differentiates between right and wrong, good and evil. The decernment for every decision that guides us in every action so as to prosper us and guard us from harm.

With a God like that, what more can we ask for? He gave His only begotten Son for us to save us, is it too much for us to give our lives to Him and be living testimonies to His heavenly goodness and grace? If He forgave us for every sin big and small, who are we not to forgive others around us for small offences?

Perhaps you're wondering why am I writting about all this. Well, these have been my reassurances and revelations the past two days after getting so close once more to my Abba in heaven.

amanda faith
11:46 AM

Thursday, December 08, 2005

Haha, found the link to this test on Ignatius' and Terrance's blogs so I decided to give it a try. It's pretty interesting actually, and I think it's really quite true ^_^

Your view on yourself:

You are intelligent, honest and sweet. You are friendly to everybody and don't like conflict. Because you're so cheerful and fun people are naturally attracted to you and like to talk to you.

The type of girlfriend/boyfriend you are looking for:

You are a true romantic. When you are in love, you will do anything and everything to keep your love true.

Your readiness to commit to a relationship:

You are ready to commit as soon as you meet the right person. And you believe you will pretty much know as soon as you might that person.

The seriousness of your love:

You are very serious about relationships and aren't interested in wasting time with people you don't really like. If you meet the right person, you will fall deeply and beautifully in love.

Your views on education

Education is very important in life. You want to study hard and learn as much as you can.

The right job for you:

You have plenty of dream jobs but have little chance of doing any of them if you don't focus on something in particular. You need to choose something and go for it to be happy and achieve success.

How do you view success:

You are afraid of failure and scared to have a go at the career you would like to have in case you don't succeed. Don't give up when you haven't yet even started! Be courageous.

What are you most afraid of:

You are concerned about your image and the way others see you. This means that you try very hard to be accepted by other people. It's time for you to believe in who you are, not what you wear.

Who is your true self:

You are mature, reasonable, honest and give good advice. People ask for your comments on all sorts of different issues. Sometimes you might find yourself in a dilemma when trapped with a problem, which your heart rather than your head needs to solve.

If you want to try it, the link is right here

amanda faith
7:29 PM

Oh ouch...... went out to play badminton for three hours yesterday... t'was total fun! And according to Pei Jing I've improved in my one year of no badminton :D

But... there's a price to pay... now I'm aching all over and handicapped in one finger on my right hand... *groans* All over is no understatement. If you want to know what I mean, imagine total pain with only your left lower arm spared. Yes, that bad. Even the butt muscles hurt...

Oh well, hopefully I'll be able to move by tomorrow morning if I intend to get to JC cluster prayer meeting in one piece. And not to mention there's cell group outting to East Coast Beach on saturday so I definately have to be able to move if I want to carry all my stuff and be able to blade at least a bit lol

Well... this typing is taking too much effort lol, so I have to cut off here before my arms and finers scream pain to the highest heavens rofl.

amanda faith
5:10 PM

Saturday, December 03, 2005

How often this year have any of you seen me read one of those magz people are always picking up at various news stands and snack shops? Probably never. Well the past month has been an oddly free period of thirty days for me and so I decided to do something 'new': actually catch up with the more secular world for once.

In the course of the past 33 days or so, I've actually found some things that are of interest to me - some. But I guess I'm fast catching on. Better enjoy this while I can (although it is about time I started re-submerging 'underwater' back into the world of academics again.)

Since the 25 of November I've found myself actually reading stuff like Seventeen (I'm way overdue I know lol) and Lime and actually bothering to catch the news. I've never felt more behind time than ever lol. Could you believe I lived the past... say... almost a whole year in total oblivion? Prior to the post oral presentation days I think the last news report I remember catching had something to do with the tsunami relief work that's been ongoing since last December. Yes, that's how behind time I am.

What have I been doing for leisure? Well, I know Liang is very glad to know I'm more 'normal' now in the sense that I am finally going out with my girl friends lol *cuddles and clings to Shi Hui and co* Finally! All the A level kids can come out to play! Haiz... missed them so much while they were mugging away... At least all that is over now *grins* (although in a month I'll be doing what they did *sigh* argh)) The side effect though, is that I'm now aching all over from going on little shopping trips with them practically every day (or at least every alternate day) for the past two weeks lol. I wuv you all ^_^

Other than shopping, I've returned to my text-base role playing (at least for this month) after my nine months of absence. Wow, it's really amazing to be able to find the time to write those 500 to 700 word average posts! Even though most of the time it's a tad too lovey dovey for my liking lol. But the show must go on! haha Got to tie up the lose ends for various chars that haven't reached the end of their story before they get too old rofl.

What am I going to be doing for the next month? Well, despite choir duty relief, I'm going to be just about as busy as ever. Practically every week is a big day or cell group outing or combined cell group outing or even a zone outreach event! We're going out for badminton, pool, pool parties, BBQs, movies, beach outings and even gym! (for the brothers haha) Ahh a busy busy week indeed.

And the world of everyone else is just about as crazy haha. Pei Jing is going to fly off to China in the last week of December (Nooo... don't leave me behind! *clings to her ankles* lol) and my sis will be coming back from China (haha, exchange program? lol) Me? I guess I'll be hanging around this little island (unless otherwise stated at the very last minute or something by dad which is not that unlikely.)

Well, better get this entry posted before I start writing nuttier things lol (I think going back to my RP site has rekindled some of the old insanity bug left behind from my past four years and two months of role playing before my nine months of absence rofl)

amanda faith
1:43 PM