E-talk prep

My holidays are coming to an end very soon! 1.5 more weeks and I'd be back in hot, dry Perth!

Been preparing for a short evangelistic talk that I might be giving in OCF one of the weeks, and boy it's really hard work writing a sermon! Now I'm beginning to appreciate the effort and time that pastors and speakers put into it, and I hope it will get easier with experience. Stretching my mind for sermon illustrations... how come I can't think of any good stories to tell?

Am reminded also that it is not our eloquence that counts, but that God works through our faithfulness in preaching his Word. So please pray that I won't try to be a 'perfectionist' trying to nail down the 'Billy Graham sermon' (as if I had the skills to do that!), but to be faithful in presenting the truth of the gospel, and have a dependent and willing heart to let God do His work in convicting the hearts of the students.

Will have a trial run preaching it to some very special critics - my two sisters! Muahahaa... (Yes you two!)

Not enough...

I can't believe it... I just had dinner not too long ago and I'm hungry already... Grr... porridge is not enough for my big appetite! =(

Can't wait for my swelling to go down so that I can open my mouth wider to munch on some proper food!!

HUNnnNnnNNnggGGgRrrrrYYyyyy~~~

Wisdom Tooth Trauma...

Had my surgery to remove my left-bottom wisdom tooth today. It was quite traumatic because of the complications my tooth had:

i. It was horizontally impacted, so more difficult to remove
ii.The roots of the tooth were curved, so couldn't just pull the tooth out straight
iii. The roots were very close to a nerve, so there were chances of bruising it during extraction.

I think I shall spare you most of the details, and I'm just so relieved its over!

Thank God for ANAESTHETICS!

And thank God that I haven't had much pain so far ever since the anaesthetics wore off. Took only one pain-killer so far as precaution, and haven't had to take any more since yesterday. Hopefully that's a positive thing (or is it a sign that my nerve is damaged, hence I can't feel the pain?)

The right side of my face is swollen from the surgery, and it's expected that it will reach its maximum size on the 3rd day - which is tomorrow! Yikes. NO... I will not post any photos of it here! Hahaha..

Can only manage to chew small amounts of food at a time on my left side, and have mainly been eating oats & porridge for my main meals. Am supposed to be on a soft diet. Though I must add that I sneaked in an ice-cream yesterday 2 hours after lunch 'cos I was hungry... and ice-creams are SOFT... hahaha...

Please pray for speedy recovery & no further complications (like infections... Eek!!)

Update request fulfilled...

Funny how my sisters are asking me to update my blog....(?!) Hey, I'm staying in the same house as you-lah, and you know what I have been doing anyway.. Haha..

Anyway by "popular" demand.. =P

Just sat for my IELTS (International English Language Test System) yesterday as part of my PR application requirement.. Glad it's over 'cos was quite nervous! Was especially nervous during the "speaking" test, getting my words jumbled up & using wrong vocabulary.. aiyo... Pray that I can get at least a band 7 for each of the test~!!!

Arhhh!

Getting my bottom wisdom tooth extracted tmr.. my first surgery.. *gasp*.. quite worried actually but trying hard not to think about it. I guess I'm especially anxious because it won't be my usual dentist who would be doing the procedure, but an oral surgeon whom she recommended. Apparently it will take about a week to recover, and I won't be eating solid foods during that time.. WHAT?! Porridge every meal for 7 days??! =(

Attended the Curtin Uni Pre-departure talk today at Sheraton Hotel, Subang Jaya to meet students who are anxious to study in Perth for the first time. There were quite a number of students, mostly studying Pharmacy so it was good to have Esther Ho around to share her experiences. The OCF students who were there (3 of them) managed to get some contacts, so hopefully they're able to follow up on these new students and help them settle down in their first few weeks of Uni. (and of course to invite them to OCF too.. hehe..) Please pray for these students!

Otherwise, good time hanging out with the two Esthers from Curtin (Esther Ho & Esther Kok) at a mamak place after the session. The Roti Canai wasn't fantastic, but the company was! =)

OK, More updates after my wisdom tooth trauma tmr!

Trip to Singapore

I visited my friends in Singapore in December. Had a ball of a time there (as you can tell from the photos!). Managed to catch up with some of the ex-OCFers from WA (ie. Robin, Daphne, Dom & Lee Peng), my church friends (Su Ann & Elaine) & the ex-OCFers from Canberra.

(At Vivo City)

Stayed with Dewi and it was a great time catching up till the wee hours of the night. Was so tired by the lack of sleep that I started to get quite grumpy on the 4th day. Bad bad bad... so I had to excuse myself from dinner on Sunday night and went back to sleep instead (hence my absence in the Orchard Road photos..)

(Orchard Road Nativity Scene)

Had a little Christmas party at her place on Saturday too. It was great having fun with these ex-OCFers and some current ones too (like Ilona). Pot bless dinner with roast turkey and honey baked ham (ok that was ordered from Canadian Pizzas), baked pasta & apple waldorf(?) salad (Jaclyn's yummy contribution!), Caesar salad (Mag), Fries (Dewi?) and jelly by me! hahaa... Oh, and log cake from Bengawan Solo, drinks and chips. Did I miss out any dish?

We had Christmas carols (guitar playing by Ju Lynn), and I shared a short(? ok 10 minutes..) devotion from Phil 2:1-11. Then we broke up into groups and prayed for one another, and then there was the wacky gift exchange game that we had to play (thanks to Dewi & Mag!)

(Dewi & Mag busy explaining how the gift exchange works.. so many twists & turns!)

(CHeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesseeeeeeeee......)

Mag... we're waiting for you to organise the next Christmas gathering ok? Let's have it in Sam & Karen's new place =P (Oops.. Sam are you reading this? hehehe..)

My best friends' wedding

The long-awaited wedding of two of my best buddies from Canberra - Steven and Yuen Peng!

It was held in my church, KL Wesley Methodist.. pretty right?

This is the OCF Canberra bunch... I only know 2/3 of them.. quite a few first year students whom I've never met till that day!

This is the candid shot of the bride & groom with the best man (Douglas), and the bridesmaids (Magdalene & Me!).


I must say that the photographer, Greg was really good! Love this photo!

Haha.. they got a 'sabo' during the dinner for this! We (i.e. crazy OCFers) were not satisfied with this kiss at all! No No No... hahaa.. too bad I don't have the photos for our 'sabo'... yet... will post it up when I get my hands on that photo CD!

Happy couple walking out after the ceremony!