God's abundant grace

He is baptised today. Only God knows how happy she is and how grateful she is to Him.

He likes her. She likes him too. Her life belongs to God. He has accepted Christ before but is now unsure. She encourages him to seek God again. He sincerely wants to. She brings him to church so that he can grow in a Christian community. He attends church faithfully. She resolves that if she indeed has to make a choice one day, her choice will be God her creator, her saviour and her daddy-in-Christ. Even then, she hopes that God will touch him because this is the best gift she can ever share with him.

She expects people to gossip but she doesn't know that it will hurt so much. Misunderstanding. Hurtful comments. Gossips. Well-meaning maybe but it still hurts terribly. She cried. many times. She prayed. She knows that God understands.

They made a pact. One year. Time for them to grow spiritually, mentally, emotionally, intellectually. Separately. Individually.

God is mercy. She has encouraging and understanding family and close friends. God wants to know her priorties, her heart. When she is willing to give up the "thing" for Him, it is time when she is fit to own that "thing" for Him.

God is hope. He re-affirms his faith in Christ. He attends baptism class. She learns to forgive. She learns to resolve the bitterness in her heart towards those who has wronged her.

He is baptised today. It is 2 days before the end of the one-year timeline. She can only say, it is all by God's love. God's grace. God's mercy.

Bicester Village

Went Bicester Village with MG, Rebecca and YL on Fri. :) Bicester is a village for outlet shopping. I didn't buy much... 2 bags only. ;) My very first Kipling bag (at 60% off retail price)!!! heehee..

And today, MG and I went looking for swim suit coz we are going Athens and Santorini (Greece Island) for the sun, the sand and the sea from Monday onwards! :) After that, we met up with YL and Rebecca for duck rice. Yummm.......

It has been quite tiring. But it was fun!

Visitor from Singapore!

Yileng is here for a visit! :)

She arrived on wed and we spend the whole wed afternoon shopping along Oxford Street.


Today was sightseeing day and we first went to LSE to meet up with MG and Rebecca for lunch at Wetherspoon. Then we walked around Covent Garden, Chinatown, Trafalgar Sq, down to Horse Guard Parade, Downing Street, Parliament House (Big Ben), Westminster Abbey, St James Park and then Buckingham Palace. Very glad that we managed to cover so much today. :)




The weather so far has been really good. Sunny and not too cold. Thank God for giving us good weather so that we can enjoy this holiday together. :)

Bye bye Waterloo! Hello Euston!

Today was an action-packed day. :)

Woke up earlier to pack and also clean up the toilet and the bathroom. See how my room was when I was packing.

Have spent 10 months in this cosy room of mine. Saw the tree outside my room shed leaves, then became bare, then grew new shots, flowered and now, there are birds eating tiny red fruits on the tree... time flies...

Called a minicab which came at 4pm and off I went to the new place I rented. Thanks to Kenneth for helping me move today. I wouldn't have been able to carry the 14 bags all by myself. :)

Started unpacking after dinner. Ta-da! This is my new room.

Thank God for giving me another nice cosy place to stay in. I never have to worry about accommodation. In fact, I have never searched any website or looked for any housing agents. Somehow, when I needed a place, God just provides.

Yileng is coming to London tmrw and will be staying with me. See! God's provision and timing is always perfect. Praise the Lord!

The End... Woohooooo

At Last. After reading thru 40 articles. After writing 4 drafts in total. After spending 4 hours in school double-checking, printing and binding. I completed and submitted by 10000 words (9917 to be exact) dissertation TODAY. This marks the end of my stint at LSE - about 40 weeks of studies in total.

Thank God for guiding me through this journey, giving me grace and helping me to be disciplined so that I can meet my targeted milestones along the way. Thank God for Danny and Gordon, who helped me proof-read the dissertation for grammatical and typo errors. You guys have saved me 24 pounds (the price that I would have to pay the Student Learning Centre to do it for me). :P It's been a wonderful journey... because of God. :)

And, I thank God for MG. I have to move house tmrw and today was supposed to be a very hectic day - packing and cleaning and all. Thanks to MG, who came to my place after we handed in the dissertation and helped me with the cleaning. We scrubbed, wiped, swept etc etc and managed to finish cleaning the kitchen... it would have been impossible without her help. I will continue to work on the toilet and bathroom tonight and tmrw (Lynn will be back tonight so she can help with the cleaning then)... :)

And in between hard laborious work, we still managed to visit 2 nice places for meals - Caffe Alba at OXO Tower (South bank) and Shiok (a very nice Malaysian restaurant).

I really thank God for today. and thank God for arranging for MG and I to come to London together this year so that we can keep a lookout for each other. God's timing and provision is always amazing. Thanks for His love. :)

Camden Town

Went Camden with Regina after church today. The sun is out and we have so much fun walking around.. looking at food, clothes and other stuff u can find at flea markets. :)

But I think I am falling sick. May have caught a cold over the weekend as it was rainy and windy.. :( I am such a weakling. I tried to eat healthy and exercise.. but but.. :( anyway, will rest early and drink lots of fluid then.

Farewell dinners

Time to say goodbye. Friends are leaving London for good. School year is coming to an end.

Met Peiying for dinner at Khan last night. Superb indian cuisine. Enjoyed it thoroughly.
Then, went with Yuwen to Borough Market this afternoon, before meeting up with MG for dinner at Kiasu (Singaporean food). Dropped by Shakespeare's Globe Theatre along the way. :)

Have more or less completed my dissertation. Will be handing it in on mon and then moving house on tue. Thank God for providing me with a new place to stay for summer. God's provision is always wonderful and His timing is perfect. :)

If a church does not manifest the presence of God, it is still a church?

I have been thinking about this since my visit to the Liverpool Cathedral.

No doubt it is a grand structure. Tall and Magnificent. Spacious. Beautifully decorated with stained-glass. But, the space set aside for worship is only about 1/12 of the floor area and within that, half of the seats are to be taken up by the choir and church staff on duty.

There is a cafe and a souvenir shop inside the Cathedral. Multi-media kiosks can be found. Even elevators have been installed to bring people up the towers for a panoramic view of Liverpool. There are nothing inherently wrong with all these. But if a church becomes merely a tourist attraction, a local icon, a place of interest and God's Word, grace, power and presence can hardly be felt or seen, then I think we should really reflect on what is God's original purpose for churches on earth.

I have seen churches without any image of a Cross. Not on the altar. Not on the doors. Not on the walls. Only drums, keyboards, spotlights, dancers. We are spreading the gospel of the Cross. Christ salvation through the cross. 'It's just a symbol'. But it is loaded with meaning.

A church not speaking of God. Is it still God's abode? Without God, it is just another piece of beautiful architecture... My personal thoughts.

To take this further. Are we merely creatures beautifully created by God? Do we manifest God's love and grace through our actions, thoughts and speech? Without God, we are merely beings, going through the motions of life with little identity, aim or purpose. Let's make God shine through us.

Football, Beatles and Culture

What do the above stand for?

LIVERPOOL of course. :) Visited Liverpool - the European Capital of Culture for 2008.

We first visited the Anfield Stadium (belonged to Liverpool Football Club), then we proceeded to Albert Dock, where the Beatles museum is. After that, we made our way to the Liverpool Cathedral. It was a rainy day but thank God that the rain wasn't heavy and we managed to cover most of what we have wanted. :)

The weather was really chilly. 12-15 degrees. Winter weather. Sigh.. where has Summer gone?

East meets SEA

Had dinner with my new housemates last night.

I prepared claypot rice, Lynn prepared pork ribs soup and Bonnie prepared some chinese meat ball dish and veggie. We had a nice chat over dinner. Love such times. :)

Of Europe and Asia

Hee hee.. I really took a break. Off to Istanbul for a short trip. Istanbul is very different from the places I have been to. Islamic Architecture and Arts. The Golden Horn. Being part Europe and part Asia. It's hot. Sun was blazing (but it was a nice change from the London weather). We tried a lot of turkish food: kebap, turkish ice-cream, fried fish sandwich, turkish delight. We visited markets/bazaar, mosque, museums and palaces, watched the mystic turkish dance performance. It had been an interesting trip. :)

Think Turkish pple seldom see Chinese visitors. Hence, we (esp MG and I) attracted quite a lot of attention. I am not quite used to that. :) and this is the first trip I had after I fell ill. As told by my TTSH doc, I do get tired more easily than usual and feel breathless after walking in the sun for a while. Thanks Kenneth and MG for their patience as I need to take regular rests and cannot rush too much. :)

Was a bit worried before leaving for Istanbul coz of the perception that it is not a very safe place. Thank God for keeping us safe and sound once again. Feel so blessed. :)

Walking, Working, Packing

Yeah! Completed the 2nd draft for my dissertation. Can take a break and have fun.

Have been going out for walks these few days. I want to stay healthy. The weather has been quite cooperative and I do enjoy these little exercises. London is a city for walking. I can walk for more than an hour without feeling tired. :)

And I have been packing my stuff for shipping and moving too. Can't believe that my time here is going to end soon... In less than 2 months, I will be leaving London for good... :( Have booked my ticket to Hong Kong already. I hope to spend some time with Dad before I start work again. Once I have started work, I think it's more difficult to visit him so often. :(

Weekend of Sports

I walked to church this morning! It's a 30-min walk and I enjoyed it. :)

This weekend is truly a weekend of Sports in London. Both the Tour de France (a cycling event) and Wimbledon were held over these 2 days. In fact, a lot of roads in Central London was closed and bus routes diverted just because of Tour de France.

I went with MG to Hyde Park to catch a glimpse of this world famous Tour de France this afternoon. Hyde Park was crowded. A lot of people was there for the real-time telecast of the event. There were also booths selling French products and promoting cycling as a sport.






We spent about half an hour in Hyde Park and then we proceed to do what is our favourite pastime. ^_^ Hee hee... It's been a nice afternoon.

The Shopaholic Me! ^_^

I admit that I have a weakness for shoes... and to a person with BIG feet like me, London is a paradise! Shopping for shoes has NEVER EVER been so easy... so pls pardon me if I am over-spending on them...

Anyway, the story goes like this.. The sun is finally out after days of rain. I feel "invited" to go outdoors. So, I worked on my dissertation in the morning, and then went for a stroll after lunch - a stroll along the famous shopping street of London (Oxford Street). Actually, I went to Covent Garden the day before and I already have a shopping list in mind. But since the London Summer Sales is now on, I thought I should look at a few more shops to search for best bargains. :P

To cut the long story short, the end product of this 2-hour stroll is 2 new pairs of shoes. A pair of blue floral-print flats from Dorothy Perkins and a pair of white mid-heels from Zara (I went to 3 Zara branches before I found the right size, at the Covent Garden branch. The others were too big. You know, this will never happen to me in Singapore or Hong Kong. I ALWAYS have to ask for the largest size :( )

Ha ha.. after the shopping spree, I decided to do a proper stroll home. So I took a 20-min walk home. It's really the best weather to be out. Not too hot. Not too cold. Not humid either. I just love it when the sun is out. and I remembered that I used to walk to school when I first came. I think it's about time for me to re-commence my walking ritual. If the weather permits, I hope to walk to church tmrw. :)

Sleeping Beauty/Sleeping Pig?

This is the 100th post on my blog! :)

I didn't expect myself to feel so tired after I come back. I slept for 3 hours yesterday afternoon and then from 930pm to 830am this morning. :P Finally, I feel more refreshed. ha ha. :P

Went shopping for grocery last evening. I realised that I have been eating rather unhealthily for the past 9 months in London, mostly on processed food - luncheon meat la, sausage la, bacon la, breaded chicken la... Partly coz I was trying to save money coz things are really really expensive here. Processed food is cheaper in comparison. And partly coz I am lazy...

But after I have fallen sick so many times within a span of 3 months (having fever and infection once every month in Apr, May and Jun), I think I need to pay more attention to my health. I am no longer young (but still young at heart!), I have to admit. :P

So... I went out to buy salmon steak la, milk la, egg la, celery la yesterday. And I will be boiling ginseng soup tonight. I guess I will be spending considerably more on food, but it will be worth the while. :)

hmm... as for exercising... hmm... I need stronger motivation to do so... :P Can shopping be counted as a form of exercise? heehee.. coz Summer Sales in London is now on... :P

Back in London

Just arrived in London from HK this morning.

Despite the recent car bombing incidents, London is surprisingly calm and quiet. Everything is as per normal, except for an obvious increase in the number of policeman on patrol.

So, my one month (extended) hols is over. I am actually quite glad to be back in London, where I can concentrate on working on my dissertation. There are just too many distractions in HK and Singapore. :P I know I just have to endure this remaining 2 months and then it'll be done.

I was glad that I managed to spend my birthday in HK with Dad, William and Fion. :) And I am thankful that because I fell sick and had to extend my stay in Singapore, I got to meet up with more friends. Am looking forward to our reunion soon. :)