blink and that's it

On our way back home from the city today, we (my cousin Syl, Jan and I) witnessed a serious car crash. As we were approaching an intersection, the motorcyclist in front of us sped up to cross the amber light, just then a car came from the intersecting road and the motorcyclist rammed straight into the side of the car and the motorist flew off and landed on the side of the road. It was rather graphic. Luckily there were people at the scene immediately and were contacting the police and paramedics. After a minute or so, the motorist was moving his leg and arm, so I was very relieved. My cousin Syl who was driving was in total shock and drove quite slowly back home after that. It all just made me realise what can happen in just a blink of an eye. The incident made me think about how priviledged I am to be living - the lifestyle I'm currently living, to be blessed with all the things I have, my family, my friends, etc. I feel very lucky to be alive! It made me think, how am I worthy of all these things. And if I'm not careful it can all be taken away from me just like that. It made me realise I have to be a faithful steward with not just my belongings, but also with time. Hmm more humble pie for me here in Perth!

watch out Perth roads!

Guess what? I finally got my Ls (learners driving permit)today... now I need to take driving lessons, then take the driving test, do a log book of 25 hours and finally pass the hazard perception test and then it'll be me Ann Ong on the roads by myself! How scary is that!


the L plate

my God loves mobile phones too!

My friend Rachel who I met in Hong Kong FINALLY got to meet up here in Perth yesterday. She's doing a course here and have just recently come back from an overseas trip. It was pretty trippy how we were living in the same city but because she didn't have direct access to a phone we had to communicate via email! Anyway we got to talk on the phone the morning before we met up and when she mentioned that it was pretty hard to communicate with people here without a phone, I confidently told her I would give her my old phone to use. When I checked out the phone it wouldn't switch on. I figured the battery was probably dead cuz I hadn't used it in a while. So I plugged it into the adapter to charge it, but I couldn't see any reaction to it... I started getting a little figgety then and tried using another adapter, the reaction... the phone still wasn't charging. Uh oh, I thought "man I told Rachel I would give her my phone but this phone is totally busted, what am I going to do!" Anyway as I was getting ready to go out, I was reminded that back in HK once when I prayed for my phone it was back in action within no time... and I remembered the same thing with Lolly and Mandy's phones. So I decided to pray for my phone, I really wanted to be able to give it to Rachel. The phone still didn't switch on though... I was quite bummed out... anyway as I continued with my getting ready to go out routine, something in me just told me to plug the phone into the socket and leave it for a while, and so I did... After I finished getting ready, I went and checked on the phone... guess what.... it was CHARGING! yay! I was sooooo thrilled. Some people may believe that it was just me using my extra brain cell, but I believe that God gave me that extra bit of wisdom and helped get my phone working again.

Later in the afternoon I met up with Rachel in the city and I was able to give her the phone! We got her a phone card, and now she's a true city gal! Wow it was so awesome being able to hang out and catch up with her.


Rachel & I

I was supposed to go to the footy at Subi with Ruth & Anna yesterday too, but it was a plan postponed... till the next game!

My cousin Syl and I went out with her colleagues last night, it was the first time I went to a pub/ club in Perth... was very fun hanging out with them!


Liz, Cousin Syl, Ashley & Shelley

it's a challenge... beauty parlour

To put it mildly, I had major issues with my dad this week, and it wasn't a pretty site. I was a mess, and frustrated with the things I was supposed to be doing and questioned my reasons for doing them etc. In the end, I knew the problem was yet again... ME! When will I learn... Things are better now, thank God for that. As my cousin Sharon would say, "it's a challenge... beauty parlour"

rather amusing...

I just thought I'd share this with you.

who would have thought...

Just wanted to say I have finally got myself a blog site. Never thought I'd get one, but then again never say never... Then again, I never thought I would be living in Australia again, and here I am in Perth as a permanent resident.

I've learnt alot since being here - about myself, my dad, my relatives, my new house which we will be moving into in July, renovations, colour combination, Malaysian food, and about the city which I now call home. It's hard not to compare everything with what I have previously known. It's strange that I'm not working, and I sometimes feel guilty for being able to relax while the rest of the world is busy slaving away making money and doing productive things. Honestly, being here has been a truly humbling experience for me. Initially I had to totally depend on my relatives to get to from point A to point B. It then dawned on me that I couldn't do all the things I liked to do because I had to depend on people here, it was really frustrating. About 3 weeks ago I finally cracked it. I had a panic attack. I was really upset, depressed, I chucked a tantrum at my dad for no good reason. I was miserable. At the end of the day, I prayed that the horrible feeling would go away and that I would be able to target it. "Helplessness" was the word, the answer that I got the next morning. Once I was able to figure out what was bothering me, I was able to pray about it and immediately I began to feel a sense of peace in me that I did not have the day before. I'm learning to be more of a servant, laying down the pride and arrogance. I never thought I had issues with becoming a servant until I came to Perth. These days I have become the housekeeper, the secretary, the investigator, etc. Initially I felt as if I was doing slave work, but then after a chat with my sister I realised the reason I came to Perth before my mom and my sister (who will be arriving late July) was to help my dad and to support him. I had been too preoccupied with all the 'me' benefits, I had forgotten my purpose. With all these realisations, I pray that I will be able to change and settle better into my new environment. I have also been checking out Riverview Church. It's really huge, but it's also really fun and funky. Hopefully will be able to settle into a church soon.

I'll leave you with a list of "who would have thought I would ..." rambling:
- Live in the same city as my Malaysian & Singporean relatives
- Not be able to shop on Sundays cuz all the shops are closed then
- Live next to a river... the Swan River to top it all off
- Soon be living in the most Chinese sounding suburb ever - 'Leeming'
- Meet so many Malaysians in Perth... hence some people call Perth 'mini Malaysia'
- Be so domesticated (cooking, cleaning, washing laundry, etc)