ministry

the upcoming perth trip is gonna be really exciting... faith stretching... =P

as details of the trip are coming in... i get a little more nervous with each email...

the team would be ministering in 2 churches... then share at a women's cell group... think i'd be alone for this one... stress... =P

have not done this for a while liao...

but i know that faith will rise a little more with this experience..! =)

food itinerary

dad jus planned out our food itinerary...

dinner
curry fish head + durian

breakfast
black noodle (gals' special order from hawker centre)
carrot cake
mee siam
mee rebus

lunch
chicken rice (coffee shop @ bishan)
orh luak

dinner
crabs + zhi char

supper
prata


sure put on weight..! =P

new hobby..?

received a scrapbook mini-album kit... put together all by herself... as a farewell gift... before i left for japan...

during the first 3 months... i managed to paste the coloured paper onto the cardboard for the album... but that was it...

we do not have a coloured printer... so i couldnt print photos at home... and was too intimidating to go out and get them printed...

until last week... joanna had to print 3 photos for her school's homework... and so... she and i went to the shop... and gave it a shot...

and it was easy..! within 10min... we got our photos... with that i printed another 10 for my mini-album project... =)

so i started yesterday... on the very first photo... took a long time... playing around with the kit... managed to stick the main things on the cardboard... and then it was time to go out...

while outside... i spotted some really cute stickers...! like this one... so pretty the flowers... and they are 3D..!

as we shopped some more... i was so tempted to buy some more stuff... my eyes seemed to have opened up and saw really cute stuff for scrapbooking..! =P

bought 1 more sticker and a roll of stickered border... for my page on the fun we had at the river bed in yamanashi... =P

anyways... this is what i could do... never did this before... thought it looked a little plain... so i guess this page is unfinished...

ribena... thanks so much for this..! =)

in jus 3 days

got a job...

got air tickets to singapore... and perth...

got exciting projects lined up...

got so excited..! =)

becoming a reality

after planning and coordinating the flights... i tried booking the tokyo to singapore flight... then came the part i had to fill out the passport number... and suddenly i was reminded that we all are holding onto diplomatic passports... actually didnt know what that meant... dunno can travel out of the country of posting or not...

so i started searching high and low for the note that spells out what we can and cannot do due to the fact that we have been issued diplomatic passports...

sigh... couldnt find... and being already so excited... couldnt wait for hubby to call back to ask... i acted on my own... i emailed MFA to enquire...

no reply till now...

but wad was great was that i spoke with hubby over the phone and he directed me to where he had kept all the documents... and there... i found what i was looking for...

so i started to read it carefully....one document states that hubby cannot leave the country of posting during his course... yet another stated that he can... so i am still confused...

anyways... worst case scenario...

we go back to singapore on our diplomatic passports... and fly to perth on our normal passports... that will do... wont it..? =P

but a bit leh cheh la...
means i have to carry 6 passports with me...

so blessed... i cant contain it..!

after contemplating... praying... talking... over the last 3 weeks... my family and i finally decided that i should take up the offer and be a part of Oops! Asia Singapore...

and so... the email was sent out this morning... and the things that happened following that was simply amazing... =)

there is this opportunity for me to go to perth in oct cos of the ministry that i will soon be joining when i return next year... and the ministry has even extended the invitation for me to take the gals along with me on this trip... of course the gals were elated...

but due to cost... the gals understood that they may end up not going...

so in my email... i asked for permission to be excused from this trip... if i were not able to arrange for childcare for the gals during that period... but assured them that i will try my best to make it for the trip...

i began searching for the cheapest flights from tokyo to perth... there were no direct flights... at least 1 stop over... either in sydney or in singapore... and the cheapest one makes me stop over in singapore for over 8hrs..!

at that point... a thought came to my mind... that i can actually spend some time in singapore in between flights..! and at that very same moment... my dad came online... and we talked...

then he too... encouraged me to take the gals along with me...

with that we both searched the net for the cheapest fares... then we realised that it was cheaper for us to book the flights separately... i book the flight from tokyo to singapore... while my dad helped me book from singapore to perth..!

a lot of coordination went on... cos the timings need to match... needed to factor time to check out and also to check in for the next flight...

after trying a few permutations... getting very excited along the way... we arrived at the best one...

gals and i will arrive in singapore... in the evening... spend the night with my dad... eat chicken rice... laksa... char kway teow... then next morning... meet the team from Oops!... and take the flight to perth...

upon returning... we'll leave with the team on the same flight for singapore... reaching in the evening... spend another night with my dad... eat durian... chili crab... orh luak... then the next morning... leave for tokyo...

and the best part of it all... we get to save over $1300 by doing it this way..! =)

God is so good..!

fried rice

being the summer vacation... i have to oso prepare lunch for the gals... so looking at what i have in my fridge... and with the different scraps of food... i announced that we would be having some fried rice for lunch...

there were bits of carrots... daikon... chai por... minced pork... onions... eggs...

as usual...rachelle made a bee-line to the fridge to get her bottle of mayo... then i asked her to try first... so that she would know how much mayo to put... actually was afraid that she would put on too much weight with all that mayo... =P

so she tasted some... and remarked 美味しい..! and then said... no need mayo...

haha... that's the best compliment to any chef ..! =)

wipe your hands

was at the zoo... having our onigiris... i was done with mine... and i was wiping my hands with a piece of wet-wipe...

mom
the japanese wipe their hands BEFORE they start their meal... we are so used to wiping them AFTER we eat... which do you think makes more sense..?

dad
i think it makes sense to wipe BEFORE you eat...

mom
i think... AFTER we eat...

joanna
both of you are WRONG... we should wipe our hands before AND after we eat...

guess she was right... =P

most memorable

guess the most memorable experience that we had over the last week... would be the one we spent at the river bed...

it was an experience we would never find in sunny island singapore... what made it feel good for me was the fact that the particular river bed that we went to... was the one that our host family frequented when their boys were the gals' age... dunno why... but it jus makes it so much more special...

our host family is jus great... they treat the gals as though they are their grand-daughters... remembering what they liked and disliked from the previous trip...

back to the river bed... the water was really so clean and refreshing... the gals drank from it... but i didnt... didnt think it was that wise to be drinking where we jus played... =P

the view at the valley was magnificent... upon reaching there... i remember thinking to myself... how nice it would be to be praying through a worship set right there... worshipping God...

there the gals 'mined' for gold bits in the river bed... hiked up a rough terrain to get to a mini waterfall... caught tadpoles with their bare hands... pee-ed among the bushes... haha... and even learnt how to stay calm and still when a bee was near...

all these are so precious to them... to us... brought back some childhood memories for hubby... esp the tadpole catching part of it... jus that he did it in the long kangs... =P

indeed... i am so grateful to God for giving us our host family... and for this experience... dun think the gals will ever forget this... =)

onsen 温泉

whenever others know that i am in japan... one of the very first remark or question is... have a tried the 温泉..?

i have been very reluctant to visit one... even my korean neighbours have suggested that we went together some day... i usually will be the one that is not too keen...

reason is simple... i dun like the idea of being naked in public..!

but it seems that for the japanese and koreans alike... 温泉is very much of their culture... family bath-times were normal...

i told myself that before i leave the land of the rising sun... i would have visited an 温泉at least once...

well... i did... with the gals... while on our trip to hokkaido...

guess it was easier to go with the gals... they kinda give me courage to go... at least if we did something different from the others... there will be at least 3 of us...=P

the gals were... like me... hesitant initially... but went with me anyhow...

the first was at the hotel in niseko... dressed in our yukatas... we bravely marched to the 温泉... before getting there... there were jus so many questions in our minds... wad if we embarrassed ourselves..? the gals jus squirmed at the idea of seeing other naked bodies...

anyways... we went... and actually found the whole experience rather enjoyable... nobody really cared how you looked... in fact... no one was looking at no one... everyone was jus doing their own stuff... showering... soaking... simply enjoying themselves...

before we dipped into the 温泉... we had to shower first... there were many showers... each station had a stool and a basin... shampoo... conditioner and body foam were also provided... we were to sit on the stool and shower...

as we were showering... it was common to see women scrubbing each other's back...

after the shower... we dipped in the 温泉... joanna found it too hot... and took a long time to get in... but she didnt stay in there long... rachelle could almost instantly submerge her whole body into the pool... i found it most relaxing... shiok..! =)

people usually dun soak for hours in there... 10min at most... then a quick rinse... and out they'd go... and so did we...

it was such a good experience that rachelle and i went again at the hotel in furano... joanna did not join us as she skinned her knee jus moments before we went to the 温泉... rachelle and i went to the one that was outdoors... so cool i tell you...

what an experience we had...

looking forward to more 温泉experiences here..! =)

mt fuji

hubby and a few of his classmates are gonna climb mt fuji tmrw... a night climb... reaching the summit at day break...

many have climbed and the experiences that i have heard... rather mixed... some vowed never to do it again... some enjoyed it... some got really sick... some kept on climbing...

praying that hubby's prepared for the climb... that he will be protected... and he will enjoy the climb... and be awed at one of God's most magnificent creation...

that means... the gals and i will be spending the night by ourselves... which means... i will have more time to blog..!

have been wanting so much to blog about yamanashi and hokkaido... the memorable experiences that we shared... jus gotta blog them... so that i can return to read them years later... =)

10 more days

that's exactly how much time i have to come to a decision...

have been struggling a bit... yet at the same time... standing in awe of what He has provided... humanly... i am struggling with a lot of 'what if'... the unforeseen... things of which i have completely no control over...

when i asked the gals for their opinion... if i should take it up... rachelle asked me back... why are you not accepting the offer..?

though a very simple and innocent question... it has set me thinking... really... what's holding me from making that decision..?

is it cos i am still thinking of going back to the team at my home church..?

or am i afraid to quit teaching... for the second time... and most probably my final time to do so...

what if i dont like doing what i am to do..? what if i am not up to it..?

then it is at this point that i find myself reminding myself that it is not about what i can or cannot do... but what God has designed me for... so if i were designed for this... He will enable me...

so then... is this what i am designed to do..? =P

photos galore

finally managed to upload all the photos taking over the past week... phew..!

a total of 8 albums...
3 @ yamanashi...
4 @ hokkaido...
1 @ rachelle's 10th bday...

now to blog about them..! =)

backlog

there are jus so many things that were blog-worthy the past 2 weeks... but hardly have the time to be alone to do so... still in the midst of sorting and uploading our photos on FB...

and it is getting so warm here... that i find myself doing 'new' things... things that i have not done before in sunny island singapore... like carrying an umbrella to shade the sun... having a towel constantly in my bag... going for dips in the public swimming pool... having meals that are cold... like cold ramen and soba... turning the air-conditioning on for 24hrs... phew..!

and did i mention cicadas..!!! they are so irritating..! not that they are in my house... but they are everywhere outside my house... and the sound they make... for 24hrs a day... is so loud and irritating...

gals go back to school next wednesday... think i should have time to myself... to blog... to clean the house... to pray and ponder about taking on a new job...

holidays..!

gonna be spending the next 3 days with our host family... in Yamanashi... this will be our second visit... fell in love with his house during the first visit... so kind of them to invite us again... =)

then back on wednesday...

off again early thursday morning... to catch a plane to Hokkaido..! pick up car... and begin our journey..! so exciting... first time... a self-drive trip... 4 days... 3 different hotels...

bag is packed for Yamanashi... but not for Hokkaido... think we should have enough time to pack on wednesday night... =P

amazing..!

jus had the most amazing chat on FB... amazing cos it seems that God has opened yet another door for me... something for me to be seriously praying about...

job scope and pay package have been emailed to me... sounds so exciting... something that i would really love to do...

now to pray over it...

parent-teacher conference

met the gals' teachers today... was really reluctant to go... especially when they are 1.5hrs apart... lasting approx 20min each...

i went nonetheless...

met with rachelle's teacher first... he speaks almost no english... and i spoke very little japanese... there were many awkward silences during the 20min... i did most of the talking... half english... half broken japanese... dun really know if he understood a thing that i said...

then it was joanna's turn... this time it was not as challenging... there was another japanese teacher who came along to help translate... her english is not too fluent... but definitely more enjoyable than the previous...

at the end of the day... gals seem to be doing very well in school... raising their hands to try answering in japanese... hardworking... always smiling...

良かったですね。。！

august... already..?!?!

it has been 4 months... how time flies..!

it has been jus amazing for the family... the gals are so much more bonded now... relating well with each other... it simply warms my heart... =)

back at home... everyone was jus too busy... hubby does devotion with the gals twice a week... but here... not only does he do at least twice a week... the gals even have put up a notice to say that every monday and saturday nights... are family devotion nights...

with no car... and no where to go after dinner at home... we are playing more games together as a family... wii... board games...card games...or simply jus talking...

our dinner times can last from 6.30pm... to about 8pm... almost every night...

really thanking God every day for this opportunity He has given us... =)