the fifty-second week of the year

Week 52 - This week in brief: My brother is back in town. I've been eating a lot of leftovers. Been hanging out with my cousins and my siblings quite a lot this week... it has been lots of fun (ie: playing Risk/ Guesstures/ Articulate, snooker & pool, celebrating my gong-gong's 89th birthday, shopping for my brother's boxing bag, lunch, lunch and more meals, etc.)

My Top Ten Memorable Firsts for 2005: (in no particular order of importance)
1. I completed a graduate diploma in primary education.
2. I got my Ps so I can now drive myself around town. (yes I was a slow learner)
3. Met the most amount of Canadians outside Canada.
4. Had uni friends from my Melbourne days visit me.
5. A family member passed away (my Malaysian grandmother in March).
6. Travelled to Kunming, China and totally loved the city.
7. Developed a curious interest for current HK movies.
8. I taught my first Mandarin lesson.
9. Ate the best sushi ever (in HK with ChibiKimmy).
10. Celebrated Christmas in Perth with my family (bonus my granddad is here too).

There are obviously lots and lots more firsts for me this year but I just decided to list some of them out... and it was good to look back and even give my brain a good squeeze to help remember what actually happened during this amazing, crazy, sometimes sad, sometimes hilarious, beautiful, and intense year.

And here's a random video of a seal and a polar bear (sent to me from ChibiKimmy)

as christmas nears

BOO: I haven't quite figured out what I'm getting my family this year (there'll be fifteen of us in Perth this year... argh!)... I've been going to the shops for the past couple weeks window shopping and found no inspiration... sigh! Will just have to keep on trying & also try to find a civilised way to shop just days before Christmas.
YAY: I've been helping Clare with painting the set design for the Christmas production, and I have to say it's coming along very nicely. We've been singing merrily along to various Christmas carols and getting into the swing of the festivities ourselves! haha... I've been taking some pictures of the progress, but I won't spoil the fun by posting it before the production actually begins. Looking forward to the Christmas programs this year at church. (For more information about Riverview Church's Christmas programs CLICK HERE.)

being wow-ed by nature

I've been really inspired and encouraged by this month's theme at Riverview - Childlike Wonder. And I agree that in order to live life to the max, sometimes it may mean taking more chances, risks, and stepping out a little bit more. I've been learning a lot from my gong-gong (my paternal grandfather), he's 89 years old this year and he's still ever so curious about new things ie; playing with the kreepy-krawly in the pool, using all the TV remotes (he uses them better than mom!), goes to the shopping centres with us and carefully observes the items in the shops, etc. I hope I don't ever become content with what I know, but to be constantly exploring and challenging things I haven't yet tackled.

It's almost Christmas, and the memories of past Christmases just flooded my mind, and made me crave for a cold festive season (no fake snow and songs that don't really correspond to the Southern hemisphere season in December etc)... but nevertheless I'm determined to look on the positive side and make Christmas this year a good one... it'll definitely be special as my family will be spending our first Christmas together in Perth (Moses will be flying in from Sydney to celebrate with us - yay) and we'll also be spending it with my gong-gong and lots of relatives - so it'll be lots of fun not to mention copious amounts of food.

On a more perkier note... I've been enthralled by the magnificent foliage that has been exhibited around town these days... sometimes I'll be driving down the road and go pass a blossoming tree and just be in awe of its beauty... how awesome is God for creating nature with such amazing colours (I'm a sucker for colour).

w.a. christmas tree + kangaroo paw

my fishies + jacaranda

passionfruit flower + chilli padi

poor cinders (erynne) cleaning up at church after Youth's House Party

splendor on the grass

It was the Young Adult's End of Year Bash on Saturday night at the Mosman Park Bowling Club. I had lots of fun making paper lanterns with Jemima during the week for part of the evening's decorations, though it was a bit difficult transporting them to the venue as they were super crushable. I was a little apprehensive about the lanterns burning down, but with the help of some sand (thanks Jemima, Julie and the pots) and strategically plopping them in windless locations, they all survived the evening! As for the actual function - well it was a blast! A bubble machine blew strawberry scented bubbles to welcome the guests, and there were a few fans who headbanged infront of the machine to soak up the bubbles and its ambience. Lawn bowling was the highlight of the evening, and it was great seeing elegantly dressed up men and women sans shoes on the lush lawn bowling. The DJ played awesome music too, so there was lots of dancing! Anyway here are my pictures from the night - below are just a couple but CLICK HERE for all the pics!

the chickens were in town!

Sounds Like Chicken were in town last week. Joel, Nat, Nyall and I used to be part of Students For Christ (SFC) at Monash University, and I remember going to their shows when they first started out in 2000, back in the days when I was studying in Melbourne. I hadn't seen the boys since probably the end of 2000, so it was really great to be able to see them again. They were in town last year, but I didn't drive in those days and I didn't really know anyone either who would want to go with me to see them, so I didn't manage to meet up with them then. It was all God's timing too I now realise. The past week was seriously amazing being able to spend time with the band (Dave, Joel, Nat, Natalie, Nyall and Mike - their bass player couldn't make it so Paulo from Brainhorn helped out). Don't think I've laughed so much in a long time (I'm sure Samn would agree with me - ie: paper plates and self portraits). Thank you Chickens for being such a blessing in my life! oxox

Here are a few pictures of the week's happenings:

Sarah and I combined our pictures - CLICK HERE to check them out! Check out Samn & Annette's blogs for more pics of the SLC happenings in Perth.