90

Have you ever wondered if you'd ever get to be 90 years old? And if you did, how will you look like? How strong will you be? Will you be healthy?

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My paternal grandmother turned 90 today (well, actually she's only 89 years old but Chinese always add a year because life begins at the point of conception). She looks frail, but she can still walk - V.E.R.Y slowly. But at least she's mobile. She's very healthy and hasn't seen the doctor for years.

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So, what's the secret, you ask?

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I thought about it and came to the conclusion that giving birth to 15 children has moulded and shaped her into someone strong and tough. The rough years of seeing her young children fight and shouting at them all the time, holding one child's hand while feeding another and at the same time soothing a 3rd child and watching out for the rest of her brood, making the Ringgit stretch to cater for so many mouths - all these contribute to her being who she is in the present, a lady who despite the difficult times, was able to overcome all circumstances, including going through World War 2, and came out victorious.

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In the above picture, you will see that she has done what the LORD commanded in Genesis 9:7 - Be ye fruitful and multiply. And indeed, she has done her share of labour where that verse is concerned. There were just so many people at her birthday party.

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Dinner was set at 5pm (so early!!!!!). I went to my mum's place 1.5 hours late. I felt as though I walked into the wrong house!!! I couldn't recognise 90% of the people there. I guess that really showed how much (or in this case, how little) we kept in touch with each other.

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Ha! Just a thought! I wonder if she recognises every one of her descendants??? Maybe I should do a family tree chart and see who is who in this huge family...

Pre-Climb Dinner

We had our pre-climb dinner at my parents' place just now. The purpose of this dinner is to allow us to get to know each other better as 3 from the group are not from Agape. We sang our theme song, "Higher Ground" before adjourning to the dining table - where we had an 11 course dinner spread before us.

Dinner was whipped up by my "super" mum and Tusi. I had to work until 6pm (I left the office at 6.20pm) and didn't lift my finger to help my mum - so all credit goes to her (and Tusi) :)

Some went back as early as 9pm, while others stuck around, singing some oldies until 11pm. The living room was practically transformed into a "karaoke joint", with Voon Fui being the lead guitarist. Esther, Rachel, Eunice, Rajen, Peter Lai, Dad and Mum sang. Some songs were sung at a higher key, thus making some of us sing out of tune. Whatever it is, we had a great time singing.

KL Cell Takes Over

The Cell Groups had just finished the "40 days of Community" where each cell has to do something for the comunity. The KL Cell decided to take over the whole service for Agape Community Centre, an outreach of Agape in Semenyih headed by Uncle and Aunty Lim.

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June 22nd, 2008 was chosen and everyone in the KL Cell did something for the service :-

- The worship was led by Thomson with Selwyn as back-up, Joeboy on drums, Lavinia on the keyboard and Kin Fei played the guitar.

- The PA - Johnny Kok

-The children's Church - Sharon, Suzanna, Chooi Kook, Jennifer

- The sketch - Sharmen, Ryan, Henry, Elaine

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Certain other cell members were "imported" :-

- Esther Tan-Chong from YCYC preached a beautiful sermon on "What is in your hands?"

- Lavinia (YCYC) and Joel (MRYC) songled and played the guitar respectively for the children's church

Still, there were others who came to give moral support:-

- Voon Fui (YC1C), Rajen & Rachel (YCYC)

I went up to the Children's Church for a while and was greeted with warm, vibrant singing from a group of children ages 6-12. They looked like they were enjoying themselves and sang their hearts out. I was deeply touched by they way they gave their all to God.

Worship session at the adults (err... most of them are young) church was great too. It really reminds me of the days when Agape was still in its infancy and we had our services in shoplots. There was a closeness among the church members and everyone knew each other. More importantly, everyone sang as though they will never sing again. The presence of the Lord was awesome!

After service, we had the opportunity to chat with the people (like I said, mainly kids) and they were so friendly and open. One can sense their eagerness to make new friends.

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This service has truly been a blessing to me. I saw God's love through the eyes of this congregation in a different manner. :)

Seven

Recently, I came across 3 bloggers ( Jimbo, YY, TFTD ) who blogged in Malay and challenged others to do likewise following their format.
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Although I have not been tagged, I thought it might be a fun exercise. Of course I will be doing it in English!!! I've also changed the last topic : the names of 7 people to take up this challenge (simply because I don't want to issue out any challenges)
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Here they are :-
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7 Facts about me
1. I am a twin
2. I am a leftie
3. I like challenges
4. I am "almost" a perfectionist
5. I hate being hot and sweaty
6. Creative juices flow when under pressure - which translates to : I am a very "last-minute" kind of person
7. I don't take red meat, pork, durian, asam laksa, maggi mee, alcohol, tea, coffee, etc, etc, etc
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7 Fears
1. Exams

2. Blackouts
3. Horror Movies
4. Public Speaking
5. Sickness or death in the family
6. Being thrown in the middle of the ocean
7. The future of non-muslims living in Malaysia
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7 Songs That I Currently Like
1. Anastasia
2. Kita Serupa - Headwind
3. Isabella
4. Mercy Saw Me - Geron & Becky Davis
5. Colours of the Wind
6. Our God is an Awesome God - Rich Mullins
7. Any Oldies Song
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7 Favourite Promises of God
1. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me - Phil 4:13
2. I will never leave you nor forsake you - Heb 13:5b
3. My God will supply all your needs according to the riches in Christ Jesus - Phil 4:19
4. The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want - Psalm 23:1
5. Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest - Matt 11:28
6. My grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect in weakness - 2 Cor 12:19
7. God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind - 2 Tim 1:7
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7 Words I Usually Use
1. Oh Man!
2. Aiyoh
3. Goodness
4. Oh my Goodness
5. Adoi
6. Why?
7. M.A.F.A.N. (to be spelt out)
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7 People/Things I Value
1. My life
2. My family
3. My friends
4. My laptops
5. My DSLR camera
6. My books
7. My craft stuff
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7 Firsts
1. Ponteng one lesson in school for the first time in 1982
2. First church camp in 1984
3. Missed my flight from Brisbane to Kuala Lumpur for the first time in December 1995
4. Robbed for the first time in 2003
5. Touched snow for the first time (Minnesota) in March 2005
6. Climbed Mt. Kinabalu for the first time in September 2007
7. Lunch at Burj Al Arab (currently the only 7-star hotel in the world), Dubai in March 2008

Grownups

I can't believe it!!! Bernice and Eunice are 21 years old. Time passed by so quickly. We knew them when they were very young (err... maybe 7 or 8 years old). They were our flower girls when we got married and now .... they are grownups!!!

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We were at Izzi's Cafe last Saturday. That was where they had their big-do. As usual, they did it the Jesudasan style - good food, nice ambience, close friends and relatives. The place was decorated in their theme colours (Orange, black and apple green - err... I don't think I saw any apple green decor) and there were many scrapbook style pin-ups of them.

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A few games were played. There was a picture of them in their prams when they were a year old and we had to guess which is Bernice and which is Eunice. It was not a difficult one, though, as they are fraternal twins. Even then, some got it wrong.

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Another game involved the both of them. They were seated back-to-back and Joshua (their younger brother) asked them questions about each other. Questions like : What is Eunice's football position? Name the brand of all three of Bernice's guitars. What is Eunice's favourite word? Name one of Bernice's colleagues. What is the colour of Eunice's eyes? Bernice took piano lessons until grade ...? What is the brand name of Eunice's first football shoes?

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There were a few live bands (friends of the twins) which provided us with continuous music and Sean (the twin's older brother) sang a few songs.

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It was also Kevin and Lillian (twins' parents) wedding anniversary, which made that whole day special.

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We left at 11.30pm - kinda late for us as we had to drive an hour to get back home.

Father's Day

To all Fathers out there ... HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!!

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Let's see.... how did I spend today???

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Every year, our routine was to go to my father in law's place in Malacca for lunch & tea and rush back in time for dinner at my parents' place.

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This year, despite of what happened on April 4th, we still went down to Malacca. We had lunch at Aunty Timah's place, went to Tesco for grocery shopping, visited my father-in-law's gravesite, went back to Aunty's place for tea before heading back to Seremban. Traffic was smooth all the way and the weather was great - cloudy.

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We just came back from my parents' place. They had some guests (church friends) over and when we left, they were all watching a "James Last" DVD.

Weekend in Singapore

Last Saturday, after the Gunung Datuk climb, Rajen and I went down to Singapore. Expecting a terrible jam caused by the fact that it's the last weekend of school holidays, we braced ourselves to be stuck for at least an hour at the Immigration crossover. LiteFM kept us informed of the traffic situation and up to 9.45pm, it was reported that traffic is bumper to bumper both at the Causeway and the Second Link.

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We were sensible enough to leave Seremban at 7pm instead of our planned 5pm. The ride was pleasant and even though I was exhausted from lack of sleep and my morning climb, I was wide awake during the first 3 hours of the drive. We only made one stop at the Machap rest area where we filled up our tank. Rajen and I played a "guessing game". How much will it cost to top up the tank (we left Seremban with a full tank). The petrol gauge showed 3/4 tank full and I guessed RM40. Rajen guessed RM70. It came to RM55. (!!!!!!!!!!)

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We went past the Malaysian Imigration smoothly and when we came to the Singapore Imigration, THERE WAS NO LINE AT ALL. The Immigration personnel in the little booth told us that the jam had just cleared. Phew!!!!

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We arrived at Aunty's place at 11.45pm.

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The next morning, I had breakfast with Frances, my Skype friend from the Philipines who came to Singapore to work. After that, we went shopping. Err... "I" went shopping. Within an hour, I managed to contribute more than S$120 into the Singapore economy. Here is the evidence:-

I always find craft fascinating. And even though I possess many funny-shaped scissors, I would still go out and buy more. Also, that interchangeable stationery only cost me S$5 (RM12). :)

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The other purple stuff is some cutting gadgets which I will so need when I do my scrapbooking. I like the way the cutting mat is made - it's actually two pieces that can be joined. And then there is that cutter which can cut a perfect circle or oval shape (I haven't tried it out, though)

Books!!! I love desserts and always look for nice (and cheap) recipe books. Also, when I saw Grisham's latest paperback on the rack WITH 20% discount, I grabbed it. Patterson's 6th Target was also on a 20% discount. I saw Nora Roberts' latest paperback only AFTER I've paid for my stuff.... and decided not to spend too much. Now I'm not sure if I regretted that decision or not.

Frances and I parted ways at 11.30am and I sort of dreaded the journey back to Aunty's place, mainly because it meant walking in the afternoon sun from the MRT Station. To my surprise, it was cloudy and throughout my walk back, the sun stay hidden behind the clouds. However, when I arrived at the block of apartments, I had to go into the nearby 7-eleven to cool off.

I arrived at aunty's place and was greeted with so many people. Uncle Lawrence, Aunty Helen, Christopher, Jude and Sharon were there. After lunch, I was packing my things when I realised that my John Grisham book was missing. So was my pack of scissors. I was calm and had the good sense to go down to the 7-eleven to check if I left one bag there. I remember putting down all my things to snap some pictures outside 7-eleven. THE BAG WAS STILL THERE. "This IS Singapore, not Malaysia", I reminded myself.

Again, we braced ourselves for a terrible jam at the Second Link but was pleasantly surprised by the lack of it. Well, we only waited 5 minutes to get to a booth. Further ahead, we were told to get down from the car to have our thumbprints scanned. Apparently, a criminal escaped from the Singapore prison a few weeks back. This person is said to be dangerous and is a terrorist. The thumbprint scan was needed to identify this person so that he would not be able to escape using disguises and a fake passport.
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The rest of the journey was smooth sailing until we arrived near the Senawang toll. Earlier, it was reported that there was an accident between the Labu and Nilai tolls. We were hoping that the cars would not back up to the Senawang toll as we were planning to exit there. We weren't so fortunate. About 2km before the Senawang toll, we were crawling at 10kmph. That was not too bad - at least we were moving. We managed to get out of that jam in 10 minutes and arrived home at 6.45pm.

Sharon (Aunty's daughter) is now living in the US with her family and does not come back as often as she could. We managed to snap a few group pictures for remembrance.

Gunung Datuk for the 3rd Time

One would've thought that climbing up Gunung Datuk for the 3rd time would be an easy task for me but I still found it daunting and tiring.

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I was supposed to join another group going to Gunung Angsi but a last-minute trip to Singapore made that almost impossible. So, Gunung Datuk, it is!

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Not wanting to go there without any guys, we (Esther and I) made plans to meet up with a group of "young" people at Gunung Datuk.

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The climb up was tiring. I started panting 20 minutes after we started. Then there were many 5-seconds stops along the way. Two girls were sick and one vomitted out her breakfast but they managed to somehow overcome their light-headedness and even overtook us. I keep telling myself that they are at least 10 years younger than me and that's why they seemed to climb up so effortlessly. (grrr!!!)

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The weather was perfect! It was not raining, though earlier it threatened to pour. It was not sunny either. But when we reached to the small clearing at the 1st summit, the skies were dark. Esther and I decided to go down without waiting for the rest.

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About 1 hour later, it started to drizzle ... then it got heavier. And then it got lighter again. Then it stopped... and we arrived at the foothill.

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The statistics :-
2 hours to reach the 1st summit
1 hour 45 minutes to get down to the foothill
Water consumption - 700ml of water and 200ml 100 plus
Food - None

Petrol Price Increased by 41%

Tuesday's Star papers announced that the decision by the government to revise the price of petrol on June 4th, 2008 would take place with immediate effect. Even though I had slightly more than half tank full, I drove into a petrol station to fill it up that morning.

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Wednesday evening when the news broke out concerning the 41% hike of petrol prices, many people rushed out to the petrol stations. At first I was puzzled by the sight of the many cars on the road. Later I realised that they were all heading for the petrol stations.

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Driving past a few petrol stations at 11.15pm, I could still see many cars queuing at various stations. Some spent 3 hours just waiting for their turn - what a waste of precious time! One of my colleague's friends waited about 1 hour before his turn came and was told that he could only fill up RM30 worth of petrol.

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Petrol price was raised from RM1.92 toRM2.70 per litre, the highest percentage of price hike eversince I started driving. It is no longer cheap to own and maintain a car these days. What is even terrifying is that it's going to increase even more in months to come. :(

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For those of you out there who have yet to own a car, remain car-less for a long as possible.

Aspirers' 25th Anniversary

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The Aspirers is 25 years old!
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Over the years, many young people have come ... and gone (grown old, actually) and this is the 4th generation of youths in Agape. God has been good and blessed us with talented young people.

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The Anniversary, a 3-hour event which was celebrated 2 days ago, was mostly organised by youths ages 13-17. The place was decorated according to their tribal theme. Aaron and Joel Chong were the Emcees for the event and they did a fantastic job. Pastor Ben preached a short and meaningful message.

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Worship was a blast, though us "slightly older" folks found it a little too loud. After that, we were told to break up into groups according to the animal picture of the small sticker in the gift pack we received at the entrance. There were a few games played throughout the event and I'm proud to say that my team, the Owls, won. :)

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The Tribal Dance

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The drama team, headed by Jenny Woon, did a skit on "Lonely". This simple skit tells us how lonely we can feel, even in the company of friends and how we can bridge the gap and reach out to others.

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There were two performances by the Aspirers. The first one, "Watch the Lamb" was a mime. This mime got the runners-up position when it was performed a few weeks ago for one of the Aspirers' programmes called "Take the Stage" where a few formed groups to perform and compete.
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The Js were Champion. I take my hat off this group and I think they REALLY deserved to win this competition because they practised terribly hard for months. Jeremy Tay and Joel Chong learned to play the drums and organ respectively just for this performance. Prior to that, they didn't know nuts about music. Jian, too, was singing solo for the first time - and he's not even in the choir! Jonathan and Joel Tay play the guitar for cell.

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The Food was simply yummy. Nothing extravagant, but very delicious!

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On the overall basis, the whole event went surprisingly (Szet Anne's words) well and there were no hiccups at all (at least none that I could tell).

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Aspirers, keep up the good work! You guys rock!