Osaka, here I come!

I'm at the airport waiting for the airplane to depart to Osaka (Japan). I'm getting more excited by the minute, especially after I just found out that I'll be having a whole room to myself!! Imagine having your own single supplement room in a 6 stars hotel in Japan! It must have been my prayers answered :) God is good! Not mentioning that this is an all-expenses paid trip to Osaka :D God is more than good; He's awesome! :D I pray that I won't be flying without James the next time though. It would be perfect if he's with me in this trip, but I know God will have something better in store for us ;)

Albert came to stay in my house officially today. His first day of staying in our house & both his landlords are already not at home. I hope he can adapt well without us. The 1st day he shifted his stuffs in his room, I thought my house was burglared! It was a real mess. But guessed he hasn't moved in yet, so he just kinda leave his stuffs all over the floor in his room. When I saw him tidying up his room just now, it makes me felt so much better already.

Stay tune to my Osaka holiday updates!

The days when James are not around...

James is now in Brunei and I missed him dearly!!!

James has not been travelling for about half a year as we were renovating our house, because I wanted him to be around. Now, the house is all done up, he's "flying" offshore again. I must say after that half a year of being always together everyday, it really took me some adjustments to get used to me being alone in our new house. For once, our house has never seems so big...

I slept at my mom's place yesterday cause I didn't feel like going back to an empty house after my appointment. I know my family will always keep my bed ready for me, and my mom still changes my bedsheets for me regularly. I feel so touched! I had a great time chatting with my siblings back at my mom's place. I missed sitting around in the living room and watching tv together with them. And as we watched the drama serial, we will have fun either criticizing or complimenting the actors.

My mom was very worried about me being alone in my new house when I told her I'll be going back there to stay from today onwards. After all, it's my own place, and I'm worried about it being burglared if no one is at home for some time. I guessed that's how my neighbour's house was burglared. James' mom was also worried, and she didn't want me to stay alone there too.

But one good news is that Albert, our new and 1st house-mate, will be staying with us on friday onwards. Quite excited about his company cause he's a good friend to both James and me. We had never rented out my house before, nor has our parents, so it'll be something new. I wonder if we will adapt to it though, having someone else besides our immediate family members under one roof. After all, everyone has different personalities and habits. Hmm...

SOT graduation celebration

It's SOT graduation weekend over the past weekend in church! I was so happy not because it was my graduation (I graduate in year 2005), but it was the graduation of some people I know, like Jinzhi and Qinsi. Of course there are many more others (imagine a batch of more than 600!), but the 2 of them are closer to my heart.

I'm really impressed by Jinzhi. He's still studying in SIM full-time, so I can imagine the stress he need to cope with in SOT... with all the assignments, reading, exams, preaching tests, etc.. & he still has to continue to perform well in SIM (which he did!). He nevers complains, but is full of energy, and is one positive brother. He's simply amazing! With his capacity, I'm sure he will do great things for God in future. Our cell group held a graduation celebration dinner especially for him at Tian Tian Steamboat.

The food quality is not bad, very clean, but not much variety though. For the first time, I ate very little in a steamboat. Not too sure if its the food that don't interest me, or I have no appetite because I ate too much at my mom's place earlier in the afternoon.

Qinsi is another sister whom I am very proud of. She went through so many parental objections to be a christian, so she must have gone through even more to go to SOT. Yet, she did what she is supposed to do despite her fears and the pressure around her. She lost her job in the midst of SOT, because her boss feels that the company would need a full-time employee instead. Imagine the sudden loss in income, especially when you need the income to support yourself through the SOT school fees, living expenses, parental allowances, etc. Looking at her petite size, one would think that she is very timid and low self-confident, but she proved everyone wrong. She held on to her strong convictions and faith in God. Many months passed, and even till her graduation, she still couldn't find a full-time job. Bad things do happen to good people, but it doesn't mean God doesn't care or is not real anymore. I believe that her faith, that has been tested and proven, will be honored by God. He never shortchanges, but is a rewarder of all good things.

My collections of Eyeores

These are the eyeores James had been buying for me over the years. Some people said they are so unpractical and will collect dust, but nothing beats the joy everytime I see them. They reminds me of the love James showers on me. How many man will bother to do such sweet little things for their girlfriend or wife?? James did, and I'm so proud of him!

I'm definitely not cut out to be a cook...

I always agree with Joyce Meyer... not all women are just born to be homemakers. Now staying by ourselves with no mother or mother-in-law to cook nice home-cooked dinner for us anymore, I have no choice but to learn how to cook :'( it's one of the most challenging thing I'd learnt to do for the past one month. And not mentioning tiring... Not sure if it's because I'm still not familiar yet so I'm much slower, but I usually take one hour to prepare, another hour to cook, and another 15 mins just to wash up!! With my busy lifestyle, making time to cook is really a sacrifice I do for my dear hubby, cause I know he really loves home-cooked food. He don't like to eat out cause when it comes to food, he's very health conscious. He don't like food with MSG, too salty or oily. So... knowing that I could make his day happy by eating home-cooked food, I try to squeeze in time to cook for him. I try to come home in the late afternoon to prepare to cook, and then have dinner with him before I go off on another appointment again.

Before moving into our own house, I have not cooked except probably to fry an egg or cook instant noodles... I can't even be bothered to stand beside my mom to observe her cooking cause I simply have no interest in cooking... Having no experience, I have to trial and error... :p Sometimes it turns out quite ok, but sometimes I wish I could dump it into the bin. So far, one dish I can cook surprisingly well is... BEAN SPROUTS! I love to eat them, so I guess it's easier for me to 'imagine' how to cook them since I eat alot of them. Look at my bean sprout dish! I'm so proud of it I even took a picture of my creation!

The most 'memorable' disaster was the chicken steak I tried to grill... It looks burnt cause I didn't know adding BBQ sauce to it will cause that effect. And as I was grilling it, the breadcrumbs I used as the platter started to fall in pieces... My grilled chicken looked burnt and 'disfigured'.

I thank James for being so supportive and encouraging. He always tells me it's not that bad, it's nice, not salty, etc... I know at times he's lying ;) but even though I know he's doing so, it still makes me feels better. After all, I'm cooking for him, isn't it?? I'm learning to be a good cook (though it probably take me a long long time to master), so if you have tips, don't forget to share with me :)