1 November 2009 update

Time just flies by so quickly! My last entry was on 24 Aug 2009, my bday eve. Recently, i have been lazy to blog even though there were many events that take place over these 2+mths. But 1 week ago, i re-read most of my past years blog entries & think blogging is a good habit as it captured the memories & significant events that occured. Also, a few friends recently asked if i am still blogging, friends like Michelle, Serene, Esther & Trina. Guess, it is their 'support' that motivate me to blog a short entry today.

Sept was a busy busy mth at work as i was doing dual roles, old role as Account Payable Lead (full load) & new role as Financial Analyst (forecasts, budgets, etc). Sept quarter-end closing was really big sweat too as everyday i was fighting battle. So glad i managed to tide it over. Tomorrow mark the start of my Oct month-end closing for my new role. I actually brought some preparation work home to do over the weekend but the motivation to start my brain cells is 0! I intend to go in office earlier tomorrow as my brain juice is at its optimum in the morning!

Some of the interesting activities that took place in Sept & Oct are:

• Sep - Pulau Ubin trekking with my new gang of christian friends (Trina, Samuel, Daniel, Clement, Tai Vie, etc) & Brian too. It was a great time trekking and taking care of my brother Brian. It is great to be ner nature again & we get a chance to visit "Ah Ma" house in Ubin. Ah ma is a 70+yrs lady who has stayed in Ubin island all her life. Her family has moved to Spore but she still feel Ubin is her home and her daughter will visit her & stay with her over weekend.
• Oct - Mooncake celebration with my new gang of friends at ECP. I co-organised this together with a friend as we got 'arrowed' for this event. The event was fun as we have a group of 20 new friends having a great time with singing, games, riddles & lanturns.
• Tuition maddess - final lap to pump Limin & Nikhil for their Olevel exam. To date, i have tutored 10 students over a span of 8 yrs. Amazing. Today is my 2nd last lesson with Nikhil and i am very glad that he made some good improvement & efforts. 4 Nov Wed evening will be my LAST tuition session, for this season of my life....so tired of tutoring or shd i blame it on my diminishing passion?
• 2 friends' dad (Michelle Baoyu & William's dad) passed away these 2 mths...both dads are young, in their 50s/60s so it also reminded me that life can be so short & unpredictable.
• 30 Oct Fri - Partied at Howl at the moon pub to celebrate Hen's party for Michelle buddy as she is getting married next Sat 7 Nov. 8 girls simply went mad as we drunk too much, played so much, danced so much & Michelle was very sponteneous to go up to the stage to play drum for song Cloud 9 & wore bunny costume throughout. Haven't party for a long time but i do acknowledge it is mentally & physically very draining.
• 31 Oct Sat - Watched "This it is" movie filming Michael Jackson's concert rehersal, before he passed away, with Mum & Brother at Downtowneast Cathy cinema. From the film, MJ is really a perfectionist (live up to Virgo's characteristic as mum said he was born on 29 Aug, which was supposed to be my scheduled birth date but i came out 4 days earlier!) & he is really passionate on his work. This is a great learning point to pick up from MJ, a great Pop star legend for this era.
• 31 Oct Sat - attended Methodist Church Marketplace seminar. I was too tired to listen attentively as i slept at 3+am and woke up at 8am to rush for the full day seminar. I learnt to appreciate healthy level of tension is good so i shd stop avoiding & learn to handle the conflicts between me & my team mate.
• Visited Michelle Baoyu at her home this afternoon. Michelle always have a way to let me see different perspective. The analogy of "TV vs DVD player" & "Creative brand vs Apple ipod brand" really striked my heart. Will anyone want to go for reformatted old DVD player when one has the chance to buy a new DVD player? Why is the use of being that old reformatted DVD player when one can put up itself on display shelf to be a new DVD player? Someone out there who is looking out for DVD player, will appreciate this DVD player. Everyone like new gargets so why am i still so stubborn? Am i being afraid or too lazy for to adapt to changes?

Happy 27th Birthday Joyce/Huifen!

Yes, i havent been regular in my blog entries, blame it on distraction from facebook! Haha. Just want to capture this special day of my life in my blog, since if 1 day i am gone from this world, the cyber web aka my blog still remain for my readers to remember me. haha.

This year bday is full of surprises! I begin to understand the real meaning of not having expectations & you will find lots of surprises! So sometimes, life & contentment can be so simple! I was a contented bday girl this year as I had many close friends celebrated my bday!

15 Aug Sat - My jie jie Serene treated me to a simple Chinese food lunch at Downtowneast as she was rushing back for church counselling while i need to rush for tuition. Although the lunch was a rush one, it was a long awaited one since the last time we met in mid June, 2 mths have passed jie. Don't worry..i know we are both busy with our routine schedule. Just keep in touch constantly via sms ok?

17 Aug Mon- My TKGS 10 fairies surprised me with a bday prank as they were quite serious to bypass my bday this year! It started with Zhenyi asking me to go to Singapore Flyer Popeye as she was very stressed at work. She was also rushing me to leave my office too. At the moment, i almost got angry as i still have load of work to do BUT after i reached Popeye, i was very surprised to see some of my fairies (Huixian, Rongzhi, Kiang, Peipei, Tong) sitted there, on a Mon night! Haha. I got a big surprise when they took out a chocolate cake for me too. Jun & Yanli subsequently turned up after their OT. Thanks my fairies for not bypassing my bday this year & celebrated with this prank!

20 Aug Thurs- My ever good faithful pal Jianming treated me to a Japanese sabu sabu cum sukiyaki steamboat at a jap. restaurant at Marina Square. We had a good chat on life lessons, financials stuff, etc. My gd pal also helped me source a MS Office cd so that i don't need to buy one for my home laptop! Thanks pal! I know you are always a pal that i can count on through good & bad times! =)

21 Aug Fri- 2 of my good colleagues cum sisters in Christ, Grace & Chung Yan treated me dinner to Riverboat at Marina jetty. It is a Christian cafe on a small ship & there is simple live keyboard music. Also, pleasantly surprised, my sisters ordered a dessert for me & the pianoist played a Happy Bday song for me. It reminded me of last yr when i celebrated my bday with Esther, Mingqiang, Lynette & William, whereby the Ming Ge Cafe singer also played bday song for me & called me "Loomie". haha.

22 Aug Sat- Went out with my best friend Esther, Princess Lynette, Thoughtful friend Mingqiang & Brotherly Jerome to Clifford Pier. We were astonished by the Shanghai-ese poshy Chinese restuarant. The owner has converted the pier into a poshy place, serving Chinese fine dining. The food is quite delicious, although it is quite ex. Thank you my friends for treating me to this good dinner! Also, roomie & lynette made 3 calls to each other, just to decide on a Secret Recipe cheese cake for me! Haha. Although the cake has melted along the way, it is always the sweet thoughts that matters to me!

24 Aug Mon - My neighbour cum colleague treated me to dinner at Tampines One Imperial Treasure. The food tasted better than Cystal Jade. If you have a chance, do try it.

25 Aug Tues - My roomie called me at 12am to sing Happy bday song to me. Hee..This is a tradition between my roomie & I since i also sang Happy bday song to her on 17 May too! Haha.

25 Aug Tues- I also received 2 e-cards from my family. This came as another surprised to me since didnt expect it since my family is a shy family. My dad sent me a e-bday card as he is working in Thailand now. His card message is: Huifen, Happy birthday to you on 25 Aug 2009. So typical formal message from my dad, but a sweet one as his e-card has a sea shell with a message "To a daughter who is the most precious gift to have...happy birthday"..haha...On my brother e-card (he is staying in Shears Hall now), his e-card message is "happy birthday...really thank you for all the care & concern. Glad that you are my sister." Hee..sweet message too.

Once again, i want to thank all my friends & family for a nice bday celebration. It make me a very contented happy 27th bday girl already! I am looking forward to a GREAT 27th year ahead since 27th year old is a good maturing age towards adulthood!

Tribute to King of Pop - Michael Jackson

I have just finished watching the repeat telecast of Michael Jackson memorial on Channel 5. I enjoyed it because the whole service recounts individuals testimonies of Michael Jackson & all the things Michael Jackson did between the 50 years in the "dash" from 1958 - 2009. I remembered watching a youtube video recently that all the things we do with our life in this world, can be just summarized with the symbol dash "-" between our birth year & our death year. That indeed brings a new perspective to me with using my time wisely & what do I want to be remembered after I depart from this world here.

Indeed this King of Pop has impacted our world in this time era with his music & his kind deeds done in this world, especially to the poor & needy & children. Although his life was impacted with controversies, all these seem so so meaningless now, as compared to numerous intangible good deeds he has done & numerous lives he has influenced & impacted. I listened to MJ's music during my schooling growing up days. I am not a great fan of his but I do enjoy some of his music such as We are the world, Heal the world, You are not alone, Beat it, Man in the mirror & his dance moves, etc.

Forget about his robotic looks, forget about all the allegations, forget about his debts that he leaves behind, forget about what causes his death…. Just remember he has a heart for this world, to make a difference, making use of his gifting & talent which is his music & his influence as a pop star to this world in this era. As individuals, we should reflect how to make sure of our own gifting & talents and contribute to make our lives better to the people around us- our family members, our close friends, our colleagues or even strangers in the streets, day by day.

Michael Jackson, a brother in Christ, I hereby pay tribute & thank you for what you have done with your life in this world. I am glad that you have returned to the Lord's arms & be free of all the worries & cares of this world. Our Heavenly Father rewards & welcome you back in His arms, with a pat on your shoulders for a life well-spent. All Glory to God who gives children of Christ a ultimate hope, a hope of eternal life in heaven when our time in this world is up. Amen.