Last weekend was special to me. Auau & myself met up with our friend YanYan. She was the first among our group of friends to get married. She had a baby gal not toolong after that - Paige. Ohhhhhh she's so cute!!!!!!!!!
I was amazed at how much YanYan slim down after her pregnancy. Not that she was fat just that I've heard horror stories of how a woman stays BIG after having kids... I even clarified with her if she took pills or something.
After I carried Paige & took a short walk round the restaurant that we were eating I realized how YanYan slim down. I mean baby Paige is heavy you know. My arms were aching by the time I put her down. No wonder YanYan is now like slimer than before.
Note: YanYan is a working full time taking care of her baby. She commented that no matter how tired she is but when she gets home & see baby Paige smile at her so innocently her heart just melts. Something funny as well that she mentioned, no matter how tired/frustrated sometimes she might get she can't just flush the baby down the toilet right? How true :)
Some frens told me the video was too dark. Actually Auau was playing with baby & baby is like trying to pull Auau's finger off. Hahah. Anyway I'm going to post up Video Part2 so that we can all fully appreciate how cute Paige is!!!!
I had a lot of "first time" at this camp. Another first is dancing in front of 200 people. Haha!
Every group had to do a presentation and my group did a mass dance. I was very serious about mastering the dance. So much so that one of my group mates told me to relax a bit & have fun! Enjoy the process of learning, having fun, relax, relax, RELAX!
Come on we don't have to be perfect all the time. If we fail just stand up, SMILE & try again!
Part I - 1st part of dance & two of the team mates sharing
Part II - 2nd part of dance (I was pretty off sync here, hahha!)
The Internet is powerful. Very very powerful. Look at how it has crept into almost all areas of our lives in such a short time.
And along with the Internet it has changed many many things which people has never thought possible before. (Just like before the first airplane came about no one ever thought they could fly right)
I received a wonderful article this morning of how the Internet has helped a young man fulfilled his dream.
Summarised version (by kermit for easy reading): Aspiring artist Duane Keiser spends one to three hours daily working on postcard paintings that he posts to a blog to sell on Ebay.
On Keiser's blog and the blogs of scores of other mostly non-famous artists who make small original paintings nearly every day and sell them for as little as $100 each. It doesn't make them rich, but it allows them to make a living as an artist, and it could make some of them famous.
The Internet makes it possible for anyone to be an artist.
Full version http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2006-08-22-blogger-artists_x.htm?POE=click-refer
(Girl With Red Hat, an original oil painting by Justin Clayton - another blogger artist)
This is probably the best video I have ever seen on youtube (or any other video sharing site)...
http://captnj.blogspot.com/2006/08/inspirational-video.html
Saw this on my fren's blog. And I absolutely agree with him. It's definitely worth the 4 minutes and 14 secs of your life.
You are SPECIAL! Did anyone tell you that before? Now now what are you thinking? It need not be a boy telling his girlfriend or a girl telling her boyfriend sort of thing.
Well then again my parents are the chinese chinese kind, they tend not to say such mushy things to me. Hahaha.
I said that before. Not just to one person….. to a whole group of them.
They are my students from 1U 2006. For first time in my life I prepared and did magic tricks for my students. They really touched my heart with their simplicity and open heart. They are not the sit down quietly guai guai listen copy notes type. Though they tend to talk loudly & is noisier in class but (even as I’m writing this) hey! they are just being themselves. Not hiding behind a mask, not assuming another identity just to please others.
Hey 1U, you are SPECIAL. Do you know that. Thank you for being so REAL to me!
BEAUTY QUEEN WAS UNWITTING PAWN IN ONLINE SCAM
Summarised version (by kermit for easy reading): Singpore beauty queen cum part time model owns a blog, post photos on blog. One day a man went up to her and asked if she was his online friend. And to her greatest horrors!!!!!!!! Found out that someone has been using her photos pretending to be her & cheating money out of men.
Full version (as reported on Newpaper on 14th Aug 2006): As a beauty queen and part-time model, she's used to having her photos circulated widely. Like many people, she has also posted personal photos on her blog. But Miss Amanda Low, 26, had no idea that someone would use her pictures to seduce men in an online scam.
These pictures were sent by "Kalene" to Mr Michael Poh, supposedly of herself. They are really of Miss Amanda Low.
Once the men become smitten with the attractive girl in the pictures, the impostor would 'sweet-talk' them into giving her money. She would tell a sob story and ask for a loan, with the money to be transferred to her bank account. When the men ask to meet her, she would make excuses not to do so. If they insisted, she would then stop all contact, leaving them with no way of recovering their money.
Miss Low, who was Miss Chinese World in the Miss Singapore-Chinatown 2005 pageant, believes that at least five men have fallen victim to the cyber cheat.
She also won the Miss Friendship title in the Miss Asia-Pacific 2006 pageant.
It was purely by chance that she found out what her photos were being used for.
One man who almost got conned by the impostor had spotted Miss Low at an exhibition in Singapore Expo last month. Miss Low, who has been modelling part-time for seven years, told The New Paper on Sunday: 'I was giving out brochures when I noticed a man staring at me strangely. 'He came up to me after 15 minutes and asked if I knew him.'
She was taken aback by Mr Michael Poh's direct manner. Mr Poh, 26, who runs a food stall in Toa Payoh, told her that she looked exactly like the pictures of a woman he knew as 'Kalene'.
WANTED CASH
He said 'Kalene', whom he had met on the Internet, had tried to borrow $3,000 from him.
Miss Low said: 'I was shocked that my photographs were being used to cheat men. I would not have found out if not for the chance meeting with Michael.'
She was in for another shock.
After she and Mr Poh exchanged more details about 'Kalene', Miss Low found out that she was the same woman who had impersonated her in 2001.
The two women were friends then.
'Kalene' had sent out Miss Low's photos in Internet chatrooms, claiming to be the woman in the pictures.
Miss Low recalled: 'I found out about it when my friend happened to get the photos.
'I also learnt that her online 'boyfriend' would transfer money to her, thinking she was me.'
When confronted, 'Kalene' apologised profusely.
FELT INFERIOR
Miss Low said: 'She told me she did it because she felt inferior to me. I let her off with a warning after she promised never to do it again.' Twice bitten, Miss Low decided to make a police report this time as she is worried that 'Kalene' might have conned other men.
She showed us a copy of the report dated 6 Aug.
Through her own investigations, Miss Low said 'Kalene' could have cheated at least five men.
She said: 'If she's been cheating men like this since 2001, who knows how many more victims are out there? 'What if one of her victims sees me on the streets and beats me up because he thinks I ran away with his money?'
Now, whenever she stays out late, she always makes sure she is not alone.
'I hope the men who have been conned can contact me so I can press charges against her. Now it's just my and Michael's words against her,' said Miss Low. The police have confirmed that they are investigating the case. Miss Low gave us 'Kalene's' contact number and real name.
We called the number a few times over three days.
Each time, a woman answered to the name given by Miss Low, but when asked about this case, she said she was too busy to talk.
BLOG INTEREST
Mr Poh related how he got to know 'Kalene' in January last year when he chanced upon her blog. He has a blog too.
He said: 'It's my hobby to browse through blogs. This blog was different because there were photos of her manicured and pedicured nails, handbag, laptop - everything but a photo of her face.
'This made me even more curious to see what she looks like. So I e-mailed her and asked for her MSN Messenger address.' He has e-mailed female strangers before in the hope of befriending them and has dated one of them. Mr Poh, who did not have a girlfriend then, was elated when 'Kalene' replied soon after. They started chatting every day on MSN.
'We talked about all sorts of things like our hobbies. After a week, I asked for her photo and phone number.' She then e-mailed three photographs to Mr Poh. They showed an attractive woman striking different poses.
Mr Poh was immediately attracted to the woman in the pictures.
'She was so pretty. And from the way she wrote in her blog, I could tell she had brains too,' he said. 'I was interested in her and wanted to ask her out.'
He got her number and they chatted over the phone every day.
'You could say we had a relationship going. We would say quite mushy things to each other,' he said. 'Kalene' said she was an accounts assistant.
Soon after they met online, she told Mr Poh that she was having problems at work.
He said: 'She wanted to quit and asked for my opinion. I told her if she doesn't like the job, she should quit.'
But 'Kalene' claimed she had to pay two months' salary totalling $5,000 if she quit without giving notice.
Mr Poh said: 'She told me she had $2,000 in savings and asked to borrow $3,000 from me.
'I agreed to lend it to her, but told her she would have to meet me.'
But 'Kalene' claimed she was not free and asked him to transfer the money to her bank account.
That was when Mr Poh began to smell a rat.
He said: 'She just refused to meet me and gave all kinds of excuses.
'Once, I tried to meet her after her dance practice, but she didn't turn up. Her handphone was off.'
After 'Kalene' stood him up, she did not contact him for a few months.
'Maybe she was mad at me for not lending her the money. I no longer saw her on MSN, probably because she blocked me,' he said.
Mr Poh started going out with another girl, but the relationship ended after a few months.
Feeling depressed, he wrote about the break-up in his blog.
Around that time, 'Kalene' got in touch with him again.
He said: 'I was feeling down. We started talking again. I don't know if she contacted me again because she wanted money from me.'
He admitted he was still interested in 'Kalene'. But although he wanted to date her, he was confused.
A friend had told him she saw her pictures on someone else's blog on Friendster, a social networking website.
When Mr Poh asked 'Kalene' about it, she brushed it off, saying the blogger was probably using her pictures to pretend to be her.
'I didn't know who to believe,' he said.
That is, until he saw Miss Low at Singapore Expo.
SAME GIRL
'I stared at her for 15 minutes to make sure she was the same girl in the pictures,' he said. 'I then called Kalene's handphone.
'She answered and said she was at home sleeping. It was then that I knew she had used the photos to trick me.'
This experience has taught him a lesson he will always remember.
'Never ever believe what you read and see on the Internet.'
No matter what kind of lousy situations you are in. Remember bad times will not stay forever. The rainbow could be just round the corner!! 明天会更好！！！ (Translated as tommorrow is an even better day!)
Therefore there's every good reason to SMILE!
I'm so happy!!!! I can finally blog again! Last two weeks was crazy. Tiring & almost died of exhaustion but happy :)
Back to my Shanghai trip. This has been a wonderful trip. I rated it 10/10!!!!! Partly because we had so much fun & joy & laughter as a team.
Here's one of the group cheer we did. It's so funny lor. I was the video woman for this trial practice. Wonderful memories indeed!!!
Yo write me a comment to rate our group cheer k. Like 1 out of 5 stars or 5 out of 5 stars those kind.
We’re flying via China Eastern at 0055 midnight. My parents accompanied me to the airport & we had a quick dinner together. I think Dad is worried that I might be hungry on the plane. But I didn’t eat much. Too excited. We took a quick shot & they left for home soon after. My parents don’t really like too much interaction. They are rather shy. But I was really touched that they could come.
(Parting shot with Dad & mom; Our gal-friends who came to send us off; My team members gathering for a parting shot with our luggage; XiaoP & myself at our seats!)
I'm leaving tomorrow midnight to Shanghai. We're going there to serve the poor & needy!!!
Actually the reason that prompted me to go was way before I even know about this serving the community project called 1000 Linking Hands (千牵手) . My good friend and I decided that to celebrate our 7 years of Christian friendship to do something more interesting.
Secondary 3 & 4: Known Auau since Sec 3 but whole of Sec 3 & 4 I only talked to her once --- To borrow her chemistry notes to copy for a major exam. Hahahahah!
Junior College: Different classes same CCA - Netball. We belong to the same group of galfriends. One of her friends know my friends & one of my friends know her friends but we didn't know each other well. We just happen to have common friends.
University: Turning point. I really really got to know Auau after we decided to go to church together with a friend who invited us. From there on we were in the same youth group & we went through many good times & even more bad times together. :)
She taught me to be less serious & learn to have fun. (It's good to be serious & responsible in the things we do but my problem was that I tend to be OVERLY serious). I learnt from her how sometimes we can pause a bit & smell the flowers along the way. She was patient with me though I am unreasonble in certain occasions. Thank God for such a wonderful friend. May the Lord continue to bless us with many wonderful anniversaries ahead!
Want to use this as a place to thank some of my dear friends.
(Secondary/JC school mates) Hey frens thanks for volunteering your time to help out in the Children Carnival. You gals sure looked like you had loads of fun terrorizing the kids. *winks*
Though we’re not able to meet as frequently as when we were still schooling but I wanna let you know that you gals are on my mind each day!
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(The Westerners) It's been quite some time since we got together right. But I'm really touched that despite the phyical distance the friendship was not broken. Looking forward to the wonderful get-together in the days to come.
What a race! Right at the start I was sorta mumbling in my heart how come the group so quiet one? Why can’t they be friendlier with each other? Aiyo I’m going to have a hard time…
We did really funny things like asking tourists to pose with us, say something funny for us, attempt to find hidden slips of paper & having fun in the MRT.
Young people put them together sure can have fun one. Some might be shy or take time to warm up. It’s ok. I’m the need time to warm up kind as well. But when I’m with my close pals then I go all crazy.
And at the end of the day, the gals proved me right. They sure looked they enjoyed themselves yea! I did!!! And I'll definitely take the same group again if I have the chance! Gals u ROXX!
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BE PATIENT
This is a true story which happened in the States. A man came out of his home to admire his new truck. To his puzzlement, his three-year-old son was happily hammering dents into the shiny paint of the truck. The man ran to his son, knocked him away, hammered the little boy's hands into pulp as punishment. After the father calmed down, he quickly rushed his son to the hospital. Although the doctor tried desperately to save the crushed bones, he finally had to amputate the fingers from both the boy's hands. The boy woke up from the surgery & saw his bandaged stubs, he innocently said, "Daddy, I'm sorry about your truck. But when are my fingers going to grow back?" The father went home & committed suicide. Think about this story the next time someone irritates you or you wish to take revenge. Think first before you lose your patience with someone you love. Trucks can be repaired… Broken bones & hurt feelings often can't. The actions we take while in a rage may stay to haunt us forever.
Attended my friend’s wedding not too long. That’s him & his bride.
They’ve came a long way. It was NOT honeymoon period all the way. Good times, tough times, difficult times… Even a point of time they nearly gave up. Why??? Is it because they weren’t suitable for each other?
I don’t think so. Imagine if you put a dog & a cat together. Sure to fight right!
It’s the same when it comes to human beings. Two different person (different family background/upbringing/views/gender/way of life) coming together. In fact human beings are much more complex than animals so it requires even more effort to make things work out.
Lovey feelings alone are NOT sufficient to make a relationship successful. As quoted by a professional; such lovey feelings last for at most 2 years.
Commitment (If we’ve chosen each other, then we’ll do our best to make this relationship successful. I’m not taking you for granted or for fun)
Communication (You’re being unreasonable, but I’ll try my best to understand what’s going on in your mind. I want to hear you out)
JH & Wei, congratulations! 
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.
(Their wedding verse)
Don’t just look at the surface; there is much more hard work that has gone into a successful relationship. Not for the faint hearted.
I'm participating in this with some of my friends. Come join us if you're interested.
Important: If you're interested, drop me an email at kermittee@hotmail.com by 19th June, Monday!
NOT OVERPOWERING
Many relationships fail because one party tries to overpower another, or demands too much.
People in love tend to think that love will conquer all and their spouses will change the bad habits after marriage. Actually, this is not the case. There is a Chinese saying which carries the meaning that "It is easier to reshape a mountain or a river than a person's character." 江山易改，本性难移。It is not easy to change. Thus, having an unrealistic expectation on changing your spouse's character will cause disappointment and unpleasantness.
If you really love someone will you accept them for who they are? 
I received an email from a friend this morning. And I thought that it was pretty meaningful. And good stuff are meant to be shared!
TRUST:
TRUST is a very important factor for all relationships. When trust is broken, it is the end of the relationship. Lack of trust leads to suspicion, suspicion generates anger, anger causes enmity and enmity may result in separation.
A telephone operator told me that once she received a phone call. She answered, "Public Utilities Board." There was silence. She repeated, "PUB." There was still no answer. When she was going to cut off the line, she heard a lady's voice, "Oh, so this is PUB. Sorry, I got the number from my husband's pocket but I do not know whose number it is."
Without mutual trust, just imagine what will happen to the couple if the telephone operator answered with just "hello" instead of "PUB".
How true. Marriage is forever.
1000 Linking Hands 千牵手 2008
Objectives:
To serve the needy and disadvantage community in China in 2008 by gathering 1000 youth form Singapore and Shanghai each, using a bilingual setting (English & Mandarin), resulting in lasting friendship among volunteers.
Shanghai Summer Camp 2006
This camp was designed as a pilot project for 1000 Linking Hands (千牵手) in 2008.
Camp Objectives:
1) Empower the participants to serve the needy and disadvantage in the community with the heart of compassion
2) Equip the participants with performing magic skills and basic service-learning knowledge to serve the community
I’m going Shanghai in July; this will be my second visit there. First trip in 2004 was semi leisure but this second trip is official. I’ll be going as a volunteer to serve the needy community in China. So if I approach you for donation and sponsorship do be generous! :)
There are 20 groups in total, with 6 members per team.
~~ Fundraising Bazaar ~~
Over the weekend our cluster had a fundraising bazaar. Four little teams make up one cluster. Our team came up with two ideas – Selling second hand items and hand bracelet balloons. Business was good! We ran out of balloons halfway through our sales and Rennie had to drive out to replenish the balloons.
Other sales items were homemade cookies, inspirational book marks (cheap & good), t-shirts, earrings. The most profitable item was the ….drumrolls….. Homemade cookies! I tasted some left over crumbs. Yummy!
Fundraising was not just about raising funds. It was also a wonderful team bonding time. I used to think ShaoQi is the “Don’t mess with me” type. But I had a taste of her cheekiness last Sunday. Evidence included!
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Pearlyn is really diligent. She may be the youngest among us but she worked the hardest. She single-handedly mastered the skills of making the hand bracelet balloons & then taught us how to do it.
Other than team bonding, fundraising is also a wonderful opportunity to share with people around us what we’re doing. And why we’re doing what we’re doing. (Scroll right above for the reason)
Yeah! A job well done! Farewell shot.
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Day 3 (13th May)
All activities today were held indoors. The guys and gals were splitted up into separate groups.
~~Image of a Woman (Desirable values of a lady)~~
For the ladies, Mrs Julie picked up from where she left off the previous night. We explore further on what are some desirable values of a lady. I’ll just share on the value that was assigned my group=> “to be KIND”
Qn 1) What are some personal struggles we have on being kind?
- When we feel that our kindness was taken advantage of
- After a long tiring day we just don’t feel like being kind
- Some people just get on our nerves…
Qn 2) Just how kind is kind? (As in… some people are naturally very nice. Are they kind? Or it’s already part of them?)
- A wonderful lady in my group PP shared something that just turned on the light bulb in my head. “Do unto others how you want others to do unto you”. Basically treat others as how you would treat yourself. You won’t mistreat yourself right? *flashing light bulbs*
- Are you kind simply because you want your kindness to be reciprocated? Or are you kind because you really just want to help someone in need? Ooooh.
Qn 3) How girls act UNKINDLY?
- Someone shared about a book that she read titled “Guys bully, Gals Ostracize”. Generally gals won’t go round scolding people or bully in gangs but a way a gal acts unkindly by withdrawing her attention from you. It’s sorta like you’re not in her close click of friends. Not welcome. Shoooo.
I was greatly enriched by the group discussion and Mrs Julie’s teachings. It gave me a good opportunity to reflect upon myself – the real me when no one is watching. Chimm??
~~Image of a Woman (Be comfortable… enjoy what you’re designed to be)~~
There’s a “MYSTERY” section in the programme sheet which kept all of us in great suspense. And it came as a huge surprise for me when it was finally revealed.
We’ll be waltzing! My initial thoughts were like….eeeks so awkward one, must we really go through this. Eeks! I’m definitely not going to enjoy it. Blah blah blah blah...
We were informed beforehand to bring our formal wear as if attending a wedding and strongly encouraged to wear skirts and no pants.
3-4pm: Learn waltz
4-530pm: Free time, preparation
6pm: Dinner Banquet (AAAGRH!)
The guys were “transformed” into gentlemen for that night. (Disclaimer: Not that they are not gentlemen but that it was super highlighted for that night) And the gals…..ladies. Initially it feels very weird for the gentlemen to pull our chairs; take food for us and yes invite us to dance.
However at the end of it. My conculsion is I absolutely enjoyed myself. It was not how I imagined it to be. And what I caught at the end of the day is that
Guys -> Be comfortable to be a man. Appropriate your manliness.
Gals -> Be comfortable to be a lady. Embrace your femininity.
Let’s enjoy what we’re designed to be.
Picture of PP, dinner partner Skywalker & myself. New found friends! And Skywalker is getting married in July. Congrats!!!.jpg)
Important notice: Do not simply go out and sign up for any waltz courses. This was carry out in a safe and moderated environment of my church’s youth camp.