highlights of the week

Lots happened this week... among the many things... Nathan and Aaron, Sarah's friend's from HK who are now studying over on the East coast, came over to stay with us for the Easter break. During their stay, we were able to go to the Perth Zoo... had an afternoon with the animals; had dinner at Leo's twice during their stay; went to Sizzler twice... ate way too much each time; went to Brendan's parents' restaurant for fantastic Thai cuisine; saw Sarah in action at Subway during the lunch rush; watched 'Inside Man' at the movies; went down south for the Young Adult Retreat; we did heaps more but I'll stop rambling on about them for now...

We had the Young Adult Retreat over the weekend (Fri 21st - Sun 23rd April) in Dwellingup. I was a little nervous at first about the retreat as I had been helping out with some of the admin beforehand and wasn't sure if things were going to go as we had planned. Luckily it all went well... The atmosphere of the whole retreat was really amazing... There were lots of new people that I hadn't met previously and it was just brilliant getting to know them and seeing them all get connected to other people. The acoustic worship and speakers were really encouraging, helping me crave to get back to the basics, trying to keep it real in my worship. The location of the retreat was great too, the lush green surrounding was quite different from the city scape and helped me experience God differently. Anyways that's just a bit of what I got out of the retreat... (And some pics of the weekend below.)

the hermitage cottage + dave and the girls

b00f + simone

cathy and marje + chilling out by the fireplace

troy + jono brendan

nancy ryan jonathan jay marje + meal time out on the verandah

josh dunjey's baptism in the river

My friend Yoshi gave birth to a beautiful baby girl - Imogen Sayuri Monck, on the 21st April. I got to visit her at the hospital the other day... Imogen slept angelically through the visit (she was awake for most of the night the night before!). Congratulations JP and Yoshi!

proud parents yoshi jp and imogen + yoshi baby and ann

auntie ann + yoshi and her baby girl

easter - a brief picture summary

From one of my favourite comics: bc comic - 14th april 2006

The front cover of the West Australian and the page 11 article that went with the picture - Saturday 15th April. (click on the image to enlarge the article)

a cloud of randomness

It's late, I'm tired but I decided I should update a little, so here goes... I love what Pastor Zhenya from the Hillsong Kiev Church said tonight - we need to have a spirit of appreciation, especially for things/ people we may often take for granted. Anyway here's a random mish-mesh of thoughts from this past week: I'm really loving my cell group, it's quite a mix bag of characters but it just adds an element of interest and I reckon we're all learning from each other!... Can't believe that lots of the youth worship team guys have actually written songs. We finally got to listen and share them last week! It's so wonderful hearing the different styles of music and yet they have the same focus. Keep the tunes rolling guys!... I actually helped design and paint the new set design for April. (Yeah what the!?!) For a person who could never paint or design well in high school this has been a major achievement. I was actually quite scared especially being appointed the 'project manager' for the set. I was super priviledged to have been able to work alongside Belinda who is a Fine Arts graduate. She knew which colours to use, and how to mix them etc (I hadn't a clue about that kind of stuff!) Thank you God for helping us through it... I'm really looking forward to what the Young Adult ministry is capable of doing, there is so much potential that's yet to be unleashed. I reckon the retreat is going to rock! (Oh by the way the last Young Adult Social went very well... biskiting at the Narrows... twas a fun-filled afternoon with pictures to prove!)

josh jono clare + getting ready for a ride on the swan

the umbrella + jason candice

nahum jo + grace

jordan marje + sarah

ann + boys and their handstands

it's been two years

I can't quite believe it, but it's been two years and two days since I landed in Perth... wow! How time goes by quickly... and how much has happened in that time! Unbelievable! (O-ohh) From I don't know why I'm here in Perth, to slowly working out that there is stuff for me to do here, it definitely has been a journey... but looking back and reflecting, I can see how God has been there every step of the way. He's seen me through all my joy and sorrow, He's heard me ranting, raving and venting, He's counseled me and consoled me, He's seen it all! I'm glad that my family and I have been able to adjust to the new environment and really enjoy it. It's brilliant seeing my dad and mom relaxed, hanging out with friends, enjoying tackling the garden, etc. I guess having my cousins here helps too, Moses loves hanging out with them when he's in town. I'm also so grateful for the beautiful supportive friends I have overseas and the amazing friends that I have been able to make here. And I have to say I'm super thankful for my church, my other home - Riverview... Thank you God for answering my prayers and for always being there for me. And thank you God so much for opening new doors for me, allowing me to experience and see so much more than I ever expected. I never thought I would be able to be involved with visual arts (sure I used to critique it but I never could paint, but here I am doing just that at church!). I never thought I could write songs (believe me I've prayed for years, I've even sat down with pen and paper many at times ready to write something - but nothing came) and just recently one morning I woke up with a song I knew I had to write down... how crazy is that! Anyway those are just a few of the amazing things that I've been experiencing recently... how awesome is my God!

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Melbourne beckoned my friend Mark... he will definitely be missed by us all here in Perth... so for now - a few flashbacks of the GTs/ shenanigans.

brendan adam mark + chantelle corina

samn greg aaron + feet

corina + aaron

the boys + samn

group photo

annette + pillow fight

racial identities

I've read quite a few articles in the past few weeks about the race and ethnicity. It dawned on me that no matter how much we talk about equality and not-judging, it's always going to be around. I'm not saying it's all bad... although I am interested in hearing how people react to prejudices etc. Just tonight a friend was saying he didn't like watching asians take the mick out of themselves by looking geeky, because it's stereotyping all asians into the geeky category which is obviously not the real deal but it can appear that way. I guess the same could be said about african american and how they are often linked to hip-hop, rap and pimps... just a thought. Anyway here are a few links of articles/sites I came across recently which I found very interesting: (warning - some of the links may be quite extreme and some people may find it offensive)
- Trading Places (a reality TV show about a black and a white family changing identities for a period of time)
- Tokyo Breakfast (a comedy skit of a traditional Japanese family thinking they are black)
- All Look Same (a quiz to see if you can identify Chinese, Japanese and Koreans - I thought this was really tricky... as a Chinese I reckon I scored rather pathetically... but I guess that's the point... can you really tell the difference?)
- Crash (the multi-Oscar winning "racial drama depicting the intertwining experiences of an array of characters over 36 hours")
- This article about Paris Hilton just cracked me up... the title alone is hilarious.

a sigh of relief

After applying for heaps of jobs, the result I got last week were all negative... what a downer! It was just yesterday (Tuesday) that I was telling some of my friends about the job hunting situation and how I was going to continue to plod on. Anyway today (Wednesday) I got a phone call from a company asking me to go in for an interview! I was so stoked! God heard my grumbling and answered back. Whatever the outcome of the interview I'm just so in awe with God for being so humourous and real.

Well I haven't taken many pictures with my camera recently, but I have finally uploaded my pictures onto the computer. I discovered that I had taken some pictures of my church's Christmas production set design development, so here they are pictures of the set design of Riverview's Christmas Production (yeah I know it's months late, but I still love the pics!). And some of the happenings from this weekend/ week from my sister's camera: The main events were James and Laura's Superheroes themed birthday party where Clare, Corina, Sarah and I dressed up as Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles, and the Young Adults' Sunday Sizzle at the Foreshore...

clare and ann at the club + the heroes in a half shell

the turtles, sheera and sailor moon + superman and dangermouse

the boys and the pole

robin + grace and jason

superhero pile-up + the sunday sky

gail + relaxing at the foreshore

sarah as a dancing bean + my artwork on fish fingers

amidst the job hunting

I applied for a job on through an online job-advertising website last week. In return I received a very peculiar sounding email back about the job description... I didn't respond to it but just rolled my eyes... Throughout the job hunting process, I have come across a myriad of ads that look sort of legit, but when you read the details they just sound so dodgy... and ah! behold! I managed to apply to one of them! haha. The even funnier thing was I checked my email today and I received and email from the job-advertising website informing me that the job I applied for was found out to be phony. Hilarious! Anyway I'm still on my job hunting journey, a bit more wary of dodgy ads, but still plodding on!

Last week I got a call from my ex-colleague in Hong Kong telling me that the former company we used to work for has been going through some catastrophic changes... within 2 weeks 6 people had left the company (some fired, others quit). It just left me dazed as I heard the tragic news. The company used to be a place where people communicated through their issues and found ways to solve/ deal with the issue, it was a place of love & prayer, and I knew lots of people who eyed for a job there. What on earth has gone wrong. What has happened to the leadership and its direction? What has happened to my former colleagues?

Currently missing:
- My mommy. She's in Taiwan at the moment to be with my grandma 婆婆 who is not feeling too well these days.
- My brother even though we have our indifferences. He's back in Sydney getting ready for another semester of uni.
- Hong Kong. My cousins are currently over there for the week being tourists. They asked me to write down places that I loved and recommended so they could check it out... I managed to write a double-sided list (if I had more time and energy I probably would have written much more down)... sigh! I wonder when I myself will next be back in there.

Currently loving:
- Alison's new songs Circular Roads and Under His Arms (click on the titles to listen to the songs!) This woman is HOT! She's super talented!
- The new online store for Christian books & music - ChristianBookstore.com.au. This is my friend Andrew and his wife Angie's new baby! Check it out!
- Live paintings during the sermons at Riverview.

february equals summer

Just still quite amused that it's February and I'm tanned... that didn't use to happen... in fact I was looking at a picture my ex-colleague sent over of her recently and she was all rugged up in her North Face down jacket in Hong Kong braving the winter chills. Gotta love the beach weather! (remember to Slip Slop Slap though) The downer about not being in HK in February is that I only received a minute amount of laisees... wished I was back there for CNY (oh the laisee! haha ok and the food & shopping!)

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I remember playing with Barbie when I was younger, now the doll just seems to be a little too silly/ try-hard with her on-again/ off-again boyfriend Ken deciding to go the metrosexual look... Mattel the manufacturer is hoping that will bring Barbie sales back after Bratz made her sag... what the! sigh! Click here to see what I'm trying to explain. I was talking to a few friends over the past week about our favourite childhood toys/ TV programmes, and the conclusion we came up with was that what we once thought were soooooo awesome now looks or sounds so cheap and tacky. But I have to admit the 80s came up with a lot of great and innovative things for children... ie: HeMan, Sheera, GI Joe, Transformers, etc. the list goes on and on...

Currently loving:
- Dried mangoes
- Clare's 'Grace'
- Tree63's Worship Volume One
- Henri Nouwen's 'In The Name of Jesus'