Potential Risks

We were asked to draft out a table of potential risks in our lives, as part of the assignment for the module on Risk Management.

So I came out with something this simple....

.And guess what??

The lecturer loves it !!

Before you guys start to question about the standard of work produced in my MBA course, this is assessment is not even worth 1% la..

Anyway, this really set me thinking about the future. What am I am going to do after the end of this year? Should I 1) return back to Singapore, 2) find a job in Australia, 3) continue with my MBA??

As for my current decision, I've decided to make some changes to my plans. I have decided that I shall stop at the Graduate diploma level at the end of this year, find a job and than return to complete my masters after a few years of work. Hopefully, this transitory phase will spur me to do better in this course. Everything is still unconfirmed as of now... "Prayer in Progress".

I'm sure God cares enough to tell me which step to take... Right Daddy?

You'll never walk alone

Brrrrrrrr... It seems like winter visited early this year.

I've always wanted something that will bloom and grow during the cool weather.

We acquired some flowering bulbs during our first visit to Salamanca market earlier this year.

Its a pity that I did not copy down the name of the plant..

But anyway, it gave us full of surprises and infact taught me something through

its flowering pattern.

One bud was about to bloom in advance of the other.

Nevertheless, it remains unopened till the other was ready.

I imagined one whispering to the other

"Don't worry.. Take your time..

I will wait for you...."

I thank God for all my loved ones and friends, who have been ever so supportive and encouraging despite my last few weeks of "wilderness" experience.

I know that the road ahead of me is still long and windy,

but I will press in, plough on and dig under.

To the Special One out there...

Thanks for your encouragement,

support and help with my assignments...

It's a joy chatting with you each time and I cherish every bit of them.

Autumn

Room Revamp

We simply can't wait till June.. Can't we?
Steph and I took one day off during Easter Break to revamp our rooms.

I shifted my table to her room and she shifted her bed over to mine.

Basically, we are having a common study room and bed room now..

In this manner, we can save on heating cost.. :) How cool is that!!!

Steph doing work on her table...... (or is it surfing net??)

We are having 3 beds in our room. One for myself, one for Steph and one for our guest. :)

At last, At last, our landlord fixed up the fireplace

(well... at least from the way we see it) Thanks Nick!

We will need to see how it stands against the next rainstorm.. :)

Going Green

In spite of all that is going on..... I insists of staying true to myself..

Apart from the 3 platys (fish) that I am keeping, I am also involved with some gardening.

It's really self-gratifying seeing your plants grow each day.

For the veges, I present to you Wom Bok, Silver beet and Spinach.

The Silver beet are growing pretty fast and I am looking forward to having my first bite

on them. Yum... And the spinach too..

hahahaa..

Did I mention that I have a fruit tree in my house??? Oh well, it was an apple tree previously..

But this time round, I am having a lemon tree. I have already made full use of the lemons..

Lemonade, Lemon barely, Lemon for the baked fish and Lemon for the Tom Yam I had for lunch..

As usual, my carnivorous plant remains with me.. Out of the whole lot, the Venus fly trap remains the longest, most faithful of them all. It has been with me for the past 2 years, ever since my 2nd month in Tasmania..

I think the variety name is called "Big Trap"..

Tat's all for going green now.. ....

Karen

Thanks for being such an awesome,

wonderfully-made, whacky, fun-loving, caring, sweet, beautiful, lovely,

gracious, kind, cool

Sista

Happy Birthday!!!!!!!

Hope

Assignments are pilling up day by day and the Easter break seems foreign to me.

Gone are the days when I look forward to such an occasion.

Yet.............

Hope for the future

Hope for the nation

Hope for the generation

Hope for the weak

Hope for the poor

Hope for the hungry

Hope for the defeated

Hope for life

Hope for better things

He is the Hope-Giver.

JESUS

My Room

Despite the scorpion issue and the leaking fire place, my room is actually quite pleasant.

To put it in words:

Cosy-looking

Spacious

Classy

Thematic

Clean

Fantastic View

and for now (messy)

I am having thoughts of converting it into a "sleeping" room

since Steph sleeps over in my room so often anyway

And perhaps, shift my study desk and all to her room.

In this manner, we can save up on heating cost,

since we don't need really the heater on while sleeping.

Hmmm.. If it ever works out, it will be a part of our June Holiday plan to do the shifting !!!!

Exciting!!!

Oh.. Did I mentioned that the owner of the house lied to me that he has fixed the chimney/fire place problem?? I totally believed him till the rain came in yesterday.. #%@#%#$

And guess what when I spoke to him about it. He say that if I am interested to fix the problem, I am required to pay for it on my own. I THINK THIS GUY IS TAKING US FOR GRANTED!!!

Suddenly, all the law principles that I've learnt came into good use.

Duty of Care

Standard of Care

Torts law

Civil liability Act

Basically, I brought up what ever I could use to insist on it. I have spoken to the agent about it and she agrees that it is the owner's responsibility to fix it. Please pray that the Lord will vindicate me..

The Promise

The days seem harder than before.

I looked around for a sign of God's promise.

Am I suppose to be here at this point of time?

It has been a long time since my heart yearns for home. Never had I felt so home sick before. I didn't want to tell her, cause it will only make her worse.

I have to be strong.

As I gazed through the window after the great storm.

Behold, the rainbow was there; two of them to be exact, one over-arching the other.

My heart begin to praise God and thank Him for His promises.

The Faithful One........

Grace Christian Church

Heavenly Greetings to all brothers and sisters of Calvary,

Just in case you are wondering what church we have settled in, we are currently attending Grace Christian Church; an A/g church located right in the city centre of Hobart.

The photo was taken at a combined service held in the Grand Chancellor Hotel.

Praise God for giving us a church during our first week. It took us no time to settle into a church; while it took us 2 weeks to settle into our house. Simply said, wherever the presence of God is, wherever our church will be.

Fire place

The perfect house didn't turn out to be that perfect after all.

A heavy downpour on last Friday and Saturday night flooded the fire place with brown tannin water (a mixture of rain water and wood chips). The most irritating issue was when the raindrops hit against the corrugated board; creating a rock band effect. Steph described it as a drummer skilled enough to compete with Bao. Seriously!!! There were 4/4 beats, then 3/4, 6/8 and many others which I can't comprehend. Arghhh.. I had to turn on some soothing music using my IPOD in order to distract myself from the "noise". I finally managed to sleep after 4 AM

Toilet paper soaked with tannin water

Anyway, I informed the agent the next day and got the problem fixed today. Hooray! SO what's next? Scorpion in my hsemate's room??? Ooooooooo..

Green Tea Ice shavings with Mango toppings!

Sigh......

I miss my green tea ice shavings with mango toppings at Hougang Mall; so much so that I am yearning for more.

"Juicy mango topped with silky smooth mango syrup, droused on top of the clean shaven green tea flavoured ice." Hmmmmmmmm.... Yummy...."

Please don't ask me to make them myself.... I can't shave the ice for nuts.

This is something which I'll definitely look forward to at the end of the year; during my maiden trip back to Singapore.

Screwed

Entering into the 4th week of the semester, I realized that my life has been pretty filled up with all the assignments and revisions to catch up. What's worst is that I realized that I've not been doing my assignments since week one. Apparently, the assignments were posted online and I've been over looking them all these while. While still struggling to catch up with my revisions week by week, little did I know that I had to submit my weekly assignments too. It was not until much later when I realized that I've tonnes of assignments to submit. Fancy me being a farmer happily planting vegetables and watering them day by day, not knowing that something huge was piling up. I wanted to scream, I wanted to give up, why am I doing my MBA at this time. The question came back to me as I started to ask God on His plan for me. Is this really what He wanted for me? or was I supposed to answer His calling the very moment I graduated from my bachelor degree. Somehow the peace came when I think of the MBA, or was it plainly my thoughts or excuse. Arghhh....

I am pretty screwed up with my school assignments and revisions. Time to catch up.... I miss home and I miss my 2 months of "tai-tai" life. I miss the very fact that I am going to be an aquaculturists and I miss all my friends in Launnie. Ahhhhhh..

On a happier note, Stephanie and I are attending the Overseas Christian fellowship group on campus and we are enjoying it very much. It feels good to be able to learn and discuss the Word of God together. There were interestings discussions brought up yesterday that got me really excited. Digging deeper into the word of God is something which excites me; well at least something for me to rejoice about.

Though the sorrow may last for the night, His Joy come in the morning

The whole entire begining in Hobart was simply a nightmare to describe. Never have I expected things to turn out so badly. The key reason for this whole chain of problems were most probably due to EXPECTATIONS. Never expect someone to behave in a certain way that your normal environment do, especially so when you are in a new environment; new culture or country.
I was informed by my friend that I will need to re-activate the power supply in my newly rented house. Hence, I wrote an email to my agent on monday and in quire about the process. Never did I EXPECT her to be on a holiday (not receiving any email reminder from her). Her colleagues replied on Thursday when I reach Launceston, informing that I am responsible for connecting the power on my own. Hence, I called up Aurora power immediately and requested for a power connection. EXPECTING that they will see this as an emergency situation and guess what ??? They refused to connect my power and stated that there are two units reflected on my address and that I will need clarifications from the agent before they connect my power. Hence, I was told to call my agent on friday morning and to get back to them with the confirmed address.
Like what I mentioned previously, the agent was on a holiday and I had to speak to her colleague regarding the address. She then made an assumption that it was 20a Richardson Avenue which was obviously not the right one, as discovered later. How I wish you will guess it wrongly, the power was not connected on friday and we had to wait till Monday. Poor Steph!! Tramautised on her virgin trip to Tassie. We had to rely on torch lights for the first half of our first night in Hobart. Thankfully, the owner of the house (which happen to stay at the back of the house, with his wife, baby boy and a big dog), provided an extension cord into our house; giving us some light in the living room. Not forgetting, my dear friends, Eric, Serena and Catherine who drove a convey of cars down to Hobart to transport my stuff, as well as to accompany us for the first night. It was indeed heart warming to have friends like this and I thank God for them.
All these problems seem never ending, I was told that I should take one step at a time, but seriously, I am just physically and emotionally too drained.

Our house is beautiful and that's the only consolation. However, its only the 2 of us for now. Sadly, we have not managed to get any housemates yet. (As my parents require female tenants only). Pls continue to pray for us. :)

Last night in Singapore

Before I could elaborate on this post. I have lots of things to thank God for.

So much things to be grateful for.....

1 last night in Singapore, so much memories; both good and bad. If I were given the chance to re-do something, I would have chosen to do so.

Basically this whole holiday was devoted to settling Steph's studies in Australia.

One obstacle after another, it seems like an endless battle. Finally, I realized something, God was trying to teach me on dependance. I begin to realize that all the skills I have learnt during those times in Tasmania suffice up to nothing compared to the greatness of God. His sovereignty and grace alone are sufficient to bring us through all that will come our way; if we were to allow Him to do things in His timing.

The last issue for Steph was finally cleared by God today. She received her VISA just in time. Praise the Lord..!!!

Tomorrow, we will embark on our new journey, new life and all.

Hobart city is as foreign to me as to Stephanie and I am sure we will find a life of abundance and excitement over there, afterall, He who calls us out; will guide and lead us.

The Faithful Shepherd. :)

Chilli Padi

I told myself "No Buffet liao.. No buffet liao". Anymore and that's it!! My teletummy already 10 months pregnant..

I failed.

Chilli Padi was having an afternoon high tea buffet for only $8.60. What can I say??? All the alluring food seemingly charmed me into it..

A walk down nonya lane....

Diary of the Rojak.

Tales of the Curry Pok

Chronicles of the chee kueh

and last but not least, memoirs of the nonya kueh.

Overall verdict, satisfied. Did I mention that there were plenty of other food too?

Sayur lodeh, Penang Laksa, Ice Jelly, Red dates soup and etc.

Apart from being known as an "Aquarist", some friends also know me as a "Gardener". Yet, not many know that my "green fingers" were influenced and nurtured by a group of close friends during secondary school.

There are a few species; genus; types of plants that never fails to remind me of this friendship that I have fostered over the years.

Carnivorous plants would be the plant that most people associate me with. However, something that always cheer my heart would be the morning glory.

And knowing that, Sheng had grown a pot of beautiful Morning glory from seeds as a gift for me. Apparently, the seeds belongs to the F1 generation, where the first batch of seeds were from Clayton.

NiCe Hor!!!

New Year's Eve

The routine for this year's Chinese New Year's eve was pretty much the same as last year's.

But these are the simple pleasures that I enjoy the most. It has been pretty much accustomed for us to visit the nurseries at Kovan. The scent of the flowers, shouts from the vendors that goes something like this "Five dollars, five dollars, five dollars", or "ten dollars, ten dollars, ten dollars", make up the CNY atmosphere.

Seriously, I enjoy soaking up the CNY atmosphere this way..

After our flowers appreciation session, we decided to have our reunion supper. Hahahaa..

Pretty much the same again, we had it at Hong Kong Cafe.

Polo bun, Hk Milk tea, Prawn paste chicken, Mango sago paste. Hmmm.. yummy....!!!

I hope we can do this all over again!.. Hahahaha..

Steph's birthday

Karen wanted to celebrate Steph's birthday in a hotel this year and decided that Crown plaza hotel near T3 would be a good option. As usual, expenditures like this never ever seems to please our parents. "The money could be used for eating a good meal", my dad grumbled.
Despite of all the objections, karen got her way, afterall, its her money.

Being supportive siblings and children, Steph and I decided to go with the flow; which simply means who ever wins the arguement, we'll follow.....

The toilet wall is made out of glass and gives u a direct glimpse of what's going on in the toilet.

NO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Way.............................

This time round I wouldn't succumb to it and I objected to it in a violent way. ...............

......till... I realized that there's a screen which you could actually let down. Phew!! Thank God!

To give you an idea of how the toilet wall is like...
Here's a shot on Karen and Stephanie fooling around with the toilet wall. Hehehehe..

Steph's friends gave her a surprise visit at the hotel as we plotted for them to hide in my parent's room, while stalling for time in our room.

They brought along a cake for her too.. It was a delicious tiramisu cake.. OOoooo..




The family photo...Pretty neat shot isn't it!!!

Even before the clock could struck 12, my "Cinderella" dad complained that he couldn't sleep and wanted to return to his cosy-cuddly bed. Not bearing to see my dad return home alone, my mum decided that she will tag along too.

The siblings having a shot at the lobby.

I've just returned from a very special place, a special holiday and perhaps the best one I had for the year so far (Hehehe). Stephanie and I made our way to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah on the 3rd of January 09'. We were picked up from KK's airport by Joanne's family; the father, mother, 2 brothers and herself.

Joanne's family decided to show us to their favourite beach and childhood playground. It was interesting to hear her parents talk about their favourite playground during childhood days.

Stephanie and I posing at KK's tallest building.

Knowing that I major in Aquaculture, Joanne's dad brought us to the aquarium in the University of Sabah.

A coral reef tank

Stephanie posing with green back sea turtle.

We had our dinner at KK's famous seafood restaurant.

Now you see them (in the tank), now you don't (in the stomach).

Gayang Seafood restaurant

A tank view of the mantis shrimp

White prawn, vannamei prawn, Litopenaeus vannamei

Rock Lobster

Mantis shrimp (Ever wonder why they were kept in bottles?)

We were brought to the peak of KK to have a bird's eye view of the city.

During our 2nd day, Joanne's dad brought us to Mt Kinabalu. On our way, we managed to catch a glimpse of the many beautiful scenery of Sabah.

The river that is filled with full of sea life.

One of the town near Mt Kinabalu.

Wet market beaming with full of vegetables, meat and all.

A village school found near the valley of Mt Kinabalu. Interestingly, most of the villages were catholic in faith.

Gushing water flowing down the village's river; perhaps their source of water supply.

A rustic looking hut.

"God helps those who help themselves"; a note written on the wall of the school.

A pretty good reminder to all of us. !!! :)

On our way up to Mt Kinabalu, we chanced upon some villagers clearing a landslide. Whew!! Thank God for keeping us safe!!!

A tree with interesting bark found at Mt Kinabalu (Dedicated to Weisheng)

A shiny green beetle

An interesting notice!!!

An accommodation site for the trekkers.

Morning glory shot dedicated to Clayton

Some unid. Vanda orchid.

An unid. banana plant

An unid. butterfly. (Photo taken on purpose for u know who)

A view of Mt Kinabalu.