Weather for Brisbane: a few showers, strong gusty NE winds. Max temp 27 degrees celcius. Sunrise 4.43am. Sunset 6.40pm.
This Christmas, according to the bureau of meteorology, has been the coldest that Brisbane has seen in a decade. Normally dry and hot, this season has brought in some clouds, rain periods, and strong winds. But we're not complaining! I'm glad we haven't yet experienced the scorching heat of summer (although there were times in spring when it felt like we had plunged into summer days).
As we head out of 2007 and into an unknown 2008, these strange weather phenomena made me think about the changes that lie ahead, not just in our personal lives, but around the world. I wonder what lies in store for us next year? We have no answer to that, but I know that Joerg and I want to keep growing in our walk with Him, and also to develop this faith-walk with our friends here. These past six months, friendships have grown and deepened; sometimes it seems like the barriers and shyness between us dissolved overnight and we were able to talk about 'the deeper things' in our lives. Those mealtimes together really opened our hearts to one another.
Speaking of meals, what's Christmas without feasting? That describes our past week- big meals almost every night! Mind you, we're not talking about eating in restaurants; it's all been home-prepared, which makes it all the more sweeter. After 2 days of roast beef, turkey, and other festive fare, we tried to detox with steamboat (which is great for the weather we've been having), but ended up indulging in more than we should. However, glad to say we finally finished the food last night, after two rounds of steamboat!
In Brisbane, as with the rest of Oz I think, Christmas break for most workplaces typically runs from 25th December to the 1st of January. We've taken the opportunity to have our own break from our work, and I've been back indulging in my favourite pastime- reading! It's great to wrap my head around a novel again.
3 days more to the new year. The winds of change continue to blow... but One remains unchanging, yesterday, today, and forever. Trust in Him :)
Saturday 29 December 2007
Monday 24 December 2007
Little surprises in life
Boon and I planned for a trip to our favourite fishing spot, so after sending Norman and Vania to the airport, we went fishing.
Ever since I came here and started fishing again, I’ve always dreamed of hooking a threadfin, also known as the Australian salmon. Never did I realize that God had this pleasant surprise to conclude 2007! We already satisfied our craving for the day as we had caught a 10kg stingray and a bream. In fact we were not expecting more. But, at about 6.30pm, something tugged my line and sprinted away with my live bait twice, even though I hooked the bait wrongly, I caught a threadfin. It’s amazing, what God can provide even in a fishing trip like this.
As we celebrate Christmas amidst all the merry making, food and catching up, have you wondered about the true meaning of Christmas? In my humble understanding, it’s a special day where God chooses to become human- in the form of Jesus to come to earth to save us! I remember just a year back when we went to Suphanburi, Thailand, for a short Christmas mission trip, I played the role of a inn-keeper in the Nativity. Ironically, I have to tell Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus there’s “No room!” at the inn. “No room” for Jesus in our lives is not something new whether you are a believer or not. Ironically, for most of us, when we become desperate (or chasing after elusive dreams) in life that we allow Jesus more room. I hope that I can make a disciplined decision to follow Jesus everyday of my life, so that when I get more surprises, I know a little more about Him. I hope that you can make a decision to give Him more room so that you can know Him more and let Him bless your life.
Monday 17 December 2007
Close encounters, & adventures in Brisbane
Today I had an interesting experience with a stranger on the CityCat (the Brisbane ferry service that we usually take to Uni and elsewhere).
I just had to pop into Uni for a couple of hours, so Joerg didn't go with me like he usually does. On my way back, while waiting for the ferry to berth at the Uni pontoon, I was standing in line behind another foreign postgrad student- I assumed straight away that he was a postgrad because it's the summer break which means all the other undergrad students wouldn 't be in Uni anymore, and he just didn't look old enough to be a lecturer. We spotted a couple of dophins playing in the water at a distance, and so both of us happened to turn to each other and exclaimed "Dolphins!". So then we just started making some casual conversation, like what we're studying and stuff. We got onto the ferry together and he sat next to me. Alarm bells started going off when this stranger suddenly started saying stuff like, "I am looking for a friend" and "I like girls from Singapore"... oops... I kind of doubt he was referring to platonic relationships. Mind you, I had been pretty clear about my married status from the start by waving my left hand around and making sure the wedding band was flashing in broad daylight. And he did notice (I noticed him noticing), but that didn't seem to stop him. And in case it was not clear enough, I casually mentioned that my husband was studying with me at Uni too.
Just as things were starting to get really uncomfortable, and I was praying for a happy parting between the both of us, Joerg called my mobile to ask where I was. I tried to keep him on the line without saying out loud what was happening, but obviously I wasn't clear enough; Joerg was trying to hang up quickly because he was running out of phone credit. After I hung up the phone, the guy started talking to me again, and I decided to sms Joerg instead: "Can you please meet me at Regatta? Trying to shake off someone. Reaching in 2 mins". Message sent. Prayed hard Joerg would get the message. The guy carried on chatting for a while more, but I decided, ok no more missus-nice-guy, and put on my most distant expression. Then I think he got the hint because after a couple more minutes he stopped and closed his eyes like he was sleeping.
When the ferry reached Regatta (the longest 10-minute cruise I've had so far!), I excused myself to get past him, and by now he had totally changed his demeanour toward me and just moved aside to let me pass. And I was happy to see too, that Joerg was making his way down the walkway to the waiting area. Phew! Thanks God, that nothing untoward happened, and also for Joerg being around!
This reminded me also of another similar incident that happened about a month ago, when Joerg and I were making our way to meet friends at about 8pm on a Sunday evening. While we were heading into the Toowong village carpark, a tall, lanky, tattooed man with a pony tail (yeah just picture that) approached both of us and unsteadily asked for directions to the train station. He was clearly drunk, having difficulty getting the words out, and swaying quite abit on his feet. Just so happened Joerg and I were standing about 5 metres apart, and the man looked like he was moving closer into Joerg's personal space. I could see Joerg getting wary, and he was moving away from the man. But he still gave him directions. Of course in his drunken state the man was like,"Walk where, all the way to the top?" And he sounded (to me at least) abit aggravated. So Joerg calmly told him ok, just follow us, we're headed that way too. Then he walked quickly toward me, took me by the elbow, and told me to walk quickly up that way. So we kept a brisk pace and kept about a good 10 to 15 metres gap between us and the man, who could still see us and follow. When we got to the station, Joerg just called out to the man, "That's the station" and then to me, "Let's go". So we took off, with the man calling out to us, I guess he wanted money for the train ride as well.
So grateful for Divine protection and for hubby around to get through these adventures in Brisbane!
I just had to pop into Uni for a couple of hours, so Joerg didn't go with me like he usually does. On my way back, while waiting for the ferry to berth at the Uni pontoon, I was standing in line behind another foreign postgrad student- I assumed straight away that he was a postgrad because it's the summer break which means all the other undergrad students wouldn 't be in Uni anymore, and he just didn't look old enough to be a lecturer. We spotted a couple of dophins playing in the water at a distance, and so both of us happened to turn to each other and exclaimed "Dolphins!". So then we just started making some casual conversation, like what we're studying and stuff. We got onto the ferry together and he sat next to me. Alarm bells started going off when this stranger suddenly started saying stuff like, "I am looking for a friend" and "I like girls from Singapore"... oops... I kind of doubt he was referring to platonic relationships. Mind you, I had been pretty clear about my married status from the start by waving my left hand around and making sure the wedding band was flashing in broad daylight. And he did notice (I noticed him noticing), but that didn't seem to stop him. And in case it was not clear enough, I casually mentioned that my husband was studying with me at Uni too.
Just as things were starting to get really uncomfortable, and I was praying for a happy parting between the both of us, Joerg called my mobile to ask where I was. I tried to keep him on the line without saying out loud what was happening, but obviously I wasn't clear enough; Joerg was trying to hang up quickly because he was running out of phone credit. After I hung up the phone, the guy started talking to me again, and I decided to sms Joerg instead: "Can you please meet me at Regatta? Trying to shake off someone. Reaching in 2 mins". Message sent. Prayed hard Joerg would get the message. The guy carried on chatting for a while more, but I decided, ok no more missus-nice-guy, and put on my most distant expression. Then I think he got the hint because after a couple more minutes he stopped and closed his eyes like he was sleeping.
When the ferry reached Regatta (the longest 10-minute cruise I've had so far!), I excused myself to get past him, and by now he had totally changed his demeanour toward me and just moved aside to let me pass. And I was happy to see too, that Joerg was making his way down the walkway to the waiting area. Phew! Thanks God, that nothing untoward happened, and also for Joerg being around!
This reminded me also of another similar incident that happened about a month ago, when Joerg and I were making our way to meet friends at about 8pm on a Sunday evening. While we were heading into the Toowong village carpark, a tall, lanky, tattooed man with a pony tail (yeah just picture that) approached both of us and unsteadily asked for directions to the train station. He was clearly drunk, having difficulty getting the words out, and swaying quite abit on his feet. Just so happened Joerg and I were standing about 5 metres apart, and the man looked like he was moving closer into Joerg's personal space. I could see Joerg getting wary, and he was moving away from the man. But he still gave him directions. Of course in his drunken state the man was like,"Walk where, all the way to the top?" And he sounded (to me at least) abit aggravated. So Joerg calmly told him ok, just follow us, we're headed that way too. Then he walked quickly toward me, took me by the elbow, and told me to walk quickly up that way. So we kept a brisk pace and kept about a good 10 to 15 metres gap between us and the man, who could still see us and follow. When we got to the station, Joerg just called out to the man, "That's the station" and then to me, "Let's go". So we took off, with the man calling out to us, I guess he wanted money for the train ride as well.
So grateful for Divine protection and for hubby around to get through these adventures in Brisbane!
Tuesday 4 December 2007
Thank you for your NOTICE!
Once you notice this, please take note and inform people whom we know that you notice something unusual in our blog.....
Hello, knee hao ma?
Pardon my noticeably irritating NOTICE. We went to Brisbane power station with honeymooners Teck Siong and Michelle on Thursday (29 Nov). Yeah, there's quite a few of those signboards around the building. We NOTICEd another one of those:
Pardon my noticeably irritating NOTICE. We went to Brisbane power station with honeymooners Teck Siong and Michelle on Thursday (29 Nov). Yeah, there's quite a few of those signboards around the building. We NOTICEd another one of those:
Just thinking about the things that we see, it's perhaps those hilarious moments in life that we may miss out even if it's right in front of us. Perhaps that's a strong reason why our parents keep telling us to OPEN our eyes when we walk.
As I sat here day dreaming (coz my brain's probably frozen from processing the research study), and waiting for my cooking duty to start, I'm really hoping for a breakthrough. Yeah, God please give me the inspiration for my confirmation document and wisdom to understand my work. Yahweh, Yahweh please help! 30 Nov 07------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Do you think God speaks to you?] 4th Dec (a day after our 2nd Anniversary)
This morning I was reading the Book of Life- chapter 3 of Ecclesiates. I understand why His Word is so everlasting and applicable to anyone of us, whether you are a reader or have no clue which book I'm referring to. I learnt (pride tells to type learnt, in fact it should be reminded again!) that our job satisfaction to a large extent depends on our attitude. We can become dissatisfied when we lose the sense of His intended purpose for our work. Thank God we can enjoy our work knowing that He has given us that work/project/assignment/ study/chore/ministry etc to do and realise that the fruit of our labour is a gift from Him. So when we are going through 'pain' and complaining of His task for us, know that our work is a way to serve Him! Yes for now I'm satisfied for I 'know' (and need reminders), do enjoy your TASK . Yahweh bless you!
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