We visited Hillsong Kent this morning with the intention of meeting up with Janine and Louis. Gosh I think we haven't properly caught up with them for more than a year. Now that they are married and back from their mega moon (yes 7 months over 10 countries, 4 continents to be precise), and are living in Burgess Hill, 15 miles north of Brighton. Tonbridge in Kent is probably somewhere midway for all of us now. Pretty cool place to meet up isn't it - at our Kent church.
Grant was preaching about growing as a person today and something he said made me sit up and ponder. He said we should all aim to grow and learn more everyday. He doesn't want to be the same person he is next year today. And with God's wisdom guiding us everyday, I don't see why this is not achievable! Then a random thought popped into my mind… I will blog about 20 (random) things about me today, and it would be interesting to look back a year later.
Not in order of course
1) Fav season: Autumn. I'm an autumn baby you see. I love the changing colours of the leaves and get all excited when I see a tree with green, orange and red leaves all in one. As cliche as it may sound, it sure feels more romantic than the other seasons. Maybe cos it is starting to get colder and I love a good snuggle. Everybody loves a snuggle.
2) My all time Christmas movie - The Holiday. I swear I have watched it at least 8 times. Or more. They show it here almost every Christmas and I still love it (Jude Law!!). K would sigh and resign to his fate whenever I watch it on TV. He'd be like "really? Is this the 100th time already?" And I have to sheepishly admit I know most of the lines by now lol (And special mention.. high five Stephan who probably loves the movie as much as I do.)
3) I love home decor and especially shabby chic stuff. Developed this love when we bought our place late last year and just over the weekend I went out to stock up some Christmas-sy stuff for the house and feeling very excited about dressing up the house for Christmas. What's not to celebrate Jesus' birthday? I say bring it on :)
4) Love shopping (no change there and I doubt this would change in a year's time). Like what I saw on FB the other night "I am not a shopaholic. I am just helping the economy." There you go. Justifiable course, what can I say.
5) All time fav colour: white. Loving the new white watch my brother and his wife got for me for my birthday last month very much.
Fav colour for this season: copper. In fact I've been eyeing this copper coloured candle holder… (see you can link this to #3. Or #4.)
6) Fav TV show: The Blacklist. K and I raced through season 1 and are faithfully watching season 2 on TV now. A reason to stay in every Friday night. The other show which I am glued to this time every year here is the X Factor. I was surprised to see them showing it back home - which meant I did not miss any episode, being here or back in Singapore. True, the fad for me has dwindled a little throughout the 6 years of watching it but really, there isn't a better show to take my attention away every weekend at 8pm.
7) Loves cleanliness. House.has.to.be.clean.at.all.times.
8) Fav animal: bunny. Still miss Snowball and think of him at times. If you follow bunnymama on Instagram, Snowball has an uncanny resemblance to Eddy, which is probably why I adore bunnymama's photos. Snowball was the best bunny ever. And now with Hei in comparison.. adorable but definitely not as good natured as Snowball. (Hei's back home in Singapore btw).
9) K says I don't act my age. At work I try to put on this professional, serious front and back home I'm all giggly and girly… K can't imagine how professional I can be at work seeing me at home…
10) I'll hit the big 10 years at the bank next February (yes, really I survived). I started in this bank on 21st February 2005 and still remember the young, innocent and gullible me… couldn't believe I was that blessed. You have to understand I was fresh faced from uni, had no clue what I wanted to do with my life, and boom - the job at one of the top banks landed on my lap just like that. With God's grace of course, I've managed to move various roles, and countries within the bank in the past 9 years. The environment has changed drastically in the past 9 years, with a colleague commenting "the good banking days are over" And it is so very true. I could probably devote a whole blog post about it, but I shan't bore you...
11) Express my love for writing through this blog. I never thought I could upkeep a blog for so long, and credit goes to Priscilla for inspiring me. She's still going strong too (well done Pris!).
Love playing songs from Spotify playlists in the background while blogging (like now). My current search list includes playlists with the word "autumn" in it. I think this one's called Autumn Jazz. There are also good songs on live365.com before I started using Spotify.
12) Would love to say "I love washing clothes" because this is what K would attest to, but it is more of my love of seeing an empty laundry basket more than the love of washing clothes itself. Do I make any sense here? I can't stand a full laundry basket and would feel the urge to clear the pile asap every weekend.
13) One of my all time fav books: Master of the Game by Sidney Sheldon. I first read this book back in secondary school and loved the plot. I think I just finished it for the 3rd time yesterday having downloaded it on my Kindle. I am still loving the plot and how it spans 3 generations, starting from the diamond rush back in the 1800s…
The other book I finished before this is dubbed as "the book of the year", aka The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. It's mega thick, and took me quite a long time to finish it. It's ok but I wasn't entirely blown away. Now with my longer train commute, I try to have something to read in the train.
14) I fall asleep watching (most) movies. And I blame it on my exhausting job. K laughs at me and says I shouldn't waste money… which is why we seldom watch movies. Surprising, however, I lasted throughout the movie "Gone Girl" last week, which was recommended by a lot of our friends. I didn't sleep midway!
15) Haven't got my driving licence after all these years. There is just this thing about me and driving that doesn't go together. I have no idea why.
16) Church is where I built my community here, and how I met my group of close friends. Not many know this but I was leading a connect group for 2 years, until I got engaged and had to plan 2 weddings for last year that I had to request to step down. It was an experience and privilege I don't take for granted, and grew as a person. One of the biggest things was building up my confidence, in leading it, "being Jesus' hands and feet" as we call it. Practically, not only did it hone my public speaking skills, it also built my organisational skills (plan dinner, assign duties). I do miss it and I'm seriously thinking of starting something in my new neighbourhood, like a Sisterhood brunch every month.
17) Loves creativity that involves anything pretty and girly. K added that I love form over function. If it is pretty or looks good, it sure must be good.
18) Hates exercising. Just yesterday morning we tried jogging around our neighbourhood. My heart leapt when it started drizzling. Says a lot.
19) Spent 4 months in Canada doing student exchange. Fun fact: saw snow for the first time in my life and squealed like a kid. I can vividly remember the well defined thick snow flakes that we don't get here in the UK (we get slush here but they get real, proper snow). I still remember one night having showered and washed my hair, I had to run over to the student dining hall across the road which took me less than 2 minutes. When I walked into the dining hall, I realised the ends of my hair had frozen in that mere 2 minutes outside in the cold. It was so cold -20deg I have no idea how we survived that 4 months. If given a chance, I would love to bring K back to Canada for a holiday.
20) Probably not a surprise but I am loving every single day here in London. I don't take this season of my life for granted, and often tell myself it might be my last year here before heading back to SG, so I have to do this.. go there, see this, etc.. so that the day we move home, I can say - hand on heart - I have lived my life here to the fullest. I will be forever grateful for this experience. I'm glad that I didn't come here alone, but with Cynthia; and the day I move back I won't be doing it alone too because K will be there to help me cope with my London withdrawal symtoms.
Grant was preaching about growing as a person today and something he said made me sit up and ponder. He said we should all aim to grow and learn more everyday. He doesn't want to be the same person he is next year today. And with God's wisdom guiding us everyday, I don't see why this is not achievable! Then a random thought popped into my mind… I will blog about 20 (random) things about me today, and it would be interesting to look back a year later.
Not in order of course
1) Fav season: Autumn. I'm an autumn baby you see. I love the changing colours of the leaves and get all excited when I see a tree with green, orange and red leaves all in one. As cliche as it may sound, it sure feels more romantic than the other seasons. Maybe cos it is starting to get colder and I love a good snuggle. Everybody loves a snuggle.
2) My all time Christmas movie - The Holiday. I swear I have watched it at least 8 times. Or more. They show it here almost every Christmas and I still love it (Jude Law!!). K would sigh and resign to his fate whenever I watch it on TV. He'd be like "really? Is this the 100th time already?" And I have to sheepishly admit I know most of the lines by now lol (And special mention.. high five Stephan who probably loves the movie as much as I do.)
3) I love home decor and especially shabby chic stuff. Developed this love when we bought our place late last year and just over the weekend I went out to stock up some Christmas-sy stuff for the house and feeling very excited about dressing up the house for Christmas. What's not to celebrate Jesus' birthday? I say bring it on :)
4) Love shopping (no change there and I doubt this would change in a year's time). Like what I saw on FB the other night "I am not a shopaholic. I am just helping the economy." There you go. Justifiable course, what can I say.
5) All time fav colour: white. Loving the new white watch my brother and his wife got for me for my birthday last month very much.
Fav colour for this season: copper. In fact I've been eyeing this copper coloured candle holder… (see you can link this to #3. Or #4.)
6) Fav TV show: The Blacklist. K and I raced through season 1 and are faithfully watching season 2 on TV now. A reason to stay in every Friday night. The other show which I am glued to this time every year here is the X Factor. I was surprised to see them showing it back home - which meant I did not miss any episode, being here or back in Singapore. True, the fad for me has dwindled a little throughout the 6 years of watching it but really, there isn't a better show to take my attention away every weekend at 8pm.
7) Loves cleanliness. House.has.to.be.clean.at.all.times.
8) Fav animal: bunny. Still miss Snowball and think of him at times. If you follow bunnymama on Instagram, Snowball has an uncanny resemblance to Eddy, which is probably why I adore bunnymama's photos. Snowball was the best bunny ever. And now with Hei in comparison.. adorable but definitely not as good natured as Snowball. (Hei's back home in Singapore btw).
9) K says I don't act my age. At work I try to put on this professional, serious front and back home I'm all giggly and girly… K can't imagine how professional I can be at work seeing me at home…
10) I'll hit the big 10 years at the bank next February (yes, really I survived). I started in this bank on 21st February 2005 and still remember the young, innocent and gullible me… couldn't believe I was that blessed. You have to understand I was fresh faced from uni, had no clue what I wanted to do with my life, and boom - the job at one of the top banks landed on my lap just like that. With God's grace of course, I've managed to move various roles, and countries within the bank in the past 9 years. The environment has changed drastically in the past 9 years, with a colleague commenting "the good banking days are over" And it is so very true. I could probably devote a whole blog post about it, but I shan't bore you...
11) Express my love for writing through this blog. I never thought I could upkeep a blog for so long, and credit goes to Priscilla for inspiring me. She's still going strong too (well done Pris!).
Love playing songs from Spotify playlists in the background while blogging (like now). My current search list includes playlists with the word "autumn" in it. I think this one's called Autumn Jazz. There are also good songs on live365.com before I started using Spotify.
12) Would love to say "I love washing clothes" because this is what K would attest to, but it is more of my love of seeing an empty laundry basket more than the love of washing clothes itself. Do I make any sense here? I can't stand a full laundry basket and would feel the urge to clear the pile asap every weekend.
13) One of my all time fav books: Master of the Game by Sidney Sheldon. I first read this book back in secondary school and loved the plot. I think I just finished it for the 3rd time yesterday having downloaded it on my Kindle. I am still loving the plot and how it spans 3 generations, starting from the diamond rush back in the 1800s…
The other book I finished before this is dubbed as "the book of the year", aka The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. It's mega thick, and took me quite a long time to finish it. It's ok but I wasn't entirely blown away. Now with my longer train commute, I try to have something to read in the train.
14) I fall asleep watching (most) movies. And I blame it on my exhausting job. K laughs at me and says I shouldn't waste money… which is why we seldom watch movies. Surprising, however, I lasted throughout the movie "Gone Girl" last week, which was recommended by a lot of our friends. I didn't sleep midway!
15) Haven't got my driving licence after all these years. There is just this thing about me and driving that doesn't go together. I have no idea why.
16) Church is where I built my community here, and how I met my group of close friends. Not many know this but I was leading a connect group for 2 years, until I got engaged and had to plan 2 weddings for last year that I had to request to step down. It was an experience and privilege I don't take for granted, and grew as a person. One of the biggest things was building up my confidence, in leading it, "being Jesus' hands and feet" as we call it. Practically, not only did it hone my public speaking skills, it also built my organisational skills (plan dinner, assign duties). I do miss it and I'm seriously thinking of starting something in my new neighbourhood, like a Sisterhood brunch every month.
17) Loves creativity that involves anything pretty and girly. K added that I love form over function. If it is pretty or looks good, it sure must be good.
18) Hates exercising. Just yesterday morning we tried jogging around our neighbourhood. My heart leapt when it started drizzling. Says a lot.
19) Spent 4 months in Canada doing student exchange. Fun fact: saw snow for the first time in my life and squealed like a kid. I can vividly remember the well defined thick snow flakes that we don't get here in the UK (we get slush here but they get real, proper snow). I still remember one night having showered and washed my hair, I had to run over to the student dining hall across the road which took me less than 2 minutes. When I walked into the dining hall, I realised the ends of my hair had frozen in that mere 2 minutes outside in the cold. It was so cold -20deg I have no idea how we survived that 4 months. If given a chance, I would love to bring K back to Canada for a holiday.
20) Probably not a surprise but I am loving every single day here in London. I don't take this season of my life for granted, and often tell myself it might be my last year here before heading back to SG, so I have to do this.. go there, see this, etc.. so that the day we move home, I can say - hand on heart - I have lived my life here to the fullest. I will be forever grateful for this experience. I'm glad that I didn't come here alone, but with Cynthia; and the day I move back I won't be doing it alone too because K will be there to help me cope with my London withdrawal symtoms.
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