Neighbours...

Woke up to the smell of fried fish from a neighbour which permeated right into my home.
Well, kudos to the auntie who diligently ensures that her family is nourished with all the goodness of omega oil, but I wish I could send her a note to tell her that her cooking (to be put it frankly) is 'nauseating' her pregnant neighbour.
Mind ya, she cooks like this everyday, starts as early as 7.30am and ends as late as 10pm. Sigh... I'm starting to wonder if she has a catering business specialising in fish, or something.
But as some of my dear ones have heard me gripe about this before, nothing beats this annoying, cheapo neighbour living across my unit who wakes up very early in the morning, picks up my newspaper and reads it to find out her latest NTUC promotions without even obtaining my permission.
She was caught in the act at least 7 times, but often, would try to bargain for 10-15 minutes more to read the headlines, "WAH! Mass killing in the USA!" or "It's Thursday and I want to check on the supermarket offers. I'll slip the newspapers under your door later, okay?"
Maybe Vincent and I are too nice, or really, she's super thick skinned to the point when we say we need the papers back, she still gets back into the 'stealing newspapers' routine. My! This woman drives me crazy. I'm sure it does not happen in a HDB flat, so I'm especially amazed this is actually happening in a private apartment where people pay more than $XXX/sqf to own a unit.
I'm inclined to believe too that whenever I throw out my newspapers, she actually brings it back to her home to sell to the rag and bone man to earn some spare change! Wah! Can faint! There was once I wanted to throw out some old clothing and she happened to be at the corridor and actually had the audacity to ask me what I was throwing out. She said, she wanted them!!! Can you imagine my disbelief?
Also, there was one morning during a heavy downpour when we bumped into her son at the corridor (son is okay, but typical mommy's boy) and she kept urging her son to ask us to send him to the bus stop (knowing that we drive) as the son does not drive. CAN YOU IMAGINE THIS WOMAN???
Phew! I've let it all out... leave me a message and tell me what you would do in my shoes.

Food journal

Food baby likes:
Mangoes
Peanut butter toast
Hot piping rice (lover of carbo- God bless the mom)
Prata (but only from Casuarina)
Japanese rice with chicken, beef
Korean beef on sizzling plate (Meridien Hotel)
Malay foodstall from Killiney Rd (chicken, cabbage, potato)
Delifrance (white baguette with egg and chicken)

Food baby dislikes:
Grapes
Cheese (ever had a whiff of fermented cheese?)
Fishball noodles

Food baby's not so keen on:
Horfun (especially those that leave garlic-ky aftertaste)
Hainanese chicken rice
Pasta (at this point- too rich)
Milk

Food baby does not mind (from time to time):
Teriyaki salmon from Fish & Co
Sliced fish steamboat from Balestier
Pizza (but crispy type)
Kenny Roger's chicken and side dishes
Soya bean drink/ soya bean curd (gd substitute for milk)

Blogging for Two

It has been weeks since I last blogged and to make it up, I now return with the power of 2! Me and my little one! :)
Yep, I'm 10 & a half weeks pregnant! Praise God for this precious gift! Everyday has been an adventure since I discovered I was pregnant! And I must say my adventure applies in every aspect of my life! Physically (with morning sickness that lasts from morn to night), mentally (trying not to overthink and analyse pregnancy symptoms), emotionally (mood swings) and spiritually (learning to lean on God daily for his grace through faith!)
However, in the midst of all this, I must say, juggling bible school and pregnancy has been quite a challenge as well! We need to be in school everyday from Mon-Sun, and there's ministry work, assignments, tests that never seem to end. Thank God for his grace that has seen me through so far, not to mention, the encouragement from friends like Tracy, Debra, Chelsia, Hsin Yih and frens at bible school.
Well, after weeks of vomiting into countless plastic bags or any containers that I can lay eyes on, I think I'm slowly easing into second trimester, although I do get the occasional nausea from long car rides or oily food!
Let's do a checklist: a big improvement in lifestyle's this week is that I finally managed to get myself a hair cut, facial and manicure! Definitely much needed for my well-being especially since you know I'm such a grooming 'freak'!
I've got so much to say but just don't know where to start or continue. Guess I'll leave it for the next blog update so that today's journal doesn't become a sea of words- which I'm often guilty of. Will try to take some pictures over the weeks and let ya spot the baby bump. :)
Till then! Keep me in prayer! And your eyes glued for updates!

Stretched from all sides- Part A

It's been 3 weeks since I last blogged and it wasn't easy! Many a times, I wanted to log in to post some updates, but refrained as I was so short of time with multiple priorities from school and work. So, this feels almost like a treat!
Just got back from Martin & Cat's Turtle Soup Restaurant. Food's yummy, very home cooked style with yam rice, asam prawn, that kinda thing altho I didn't dare eat the turtle(s)!
Don't quite know how to summarise what I've been through the last couple of weeks. For sure, it was extremely challenging in the physical sense as I had to wake up at 6.15am every day for school, go for prayer meetings, ministry work and attend every sermon and bible teaching. You can say I'm a church resident these days. 7 days a week!
But it's amazing how I've grown spiritually over the past month. I've gotten deeper in my understanding of being a Spirit-filled Christian. It is definitely a new level for me, and I want this to continue for the rest of my life- to be stronger, more motivated and full of faith for God!
Financially, God has been a wonderful provider. Never once did I need to solicit for work. The freelance assignments kept coming in and already, I've committed to 5 digit figure amounts. Praise God!
Mmm... think I wanna rest early tonight. Will continue with Part B tomorrow k? Adios!

Desired BAGS... not.

I adore bags- you name it, every size, material, brand, usage for each and every occasion, but I can't say the same for the ones that I recently acquired- big spongey eye bags! A result of shorter sleeping hours and water retention from all the early mornings and late nights rushing to and fro bible school and all the other school and work commitments.
Anyways, I've got shu uemura's moisture eye zone mask on now as I type, so hopefully that removes some of the guilt. I even cancelled out on my pampering facial treatment earlier today cos' I simply had no time!
Apart from that, the past week has just been great! I'm enjoying school despite the avalanche of assignments - which includes a 60 page book review to be submitted in 2 weeks to say the least. yikes!
Anyways, Rev Robb Thompson is in town and I attended two of his business meetings (yesterday and today). One thing I picked up is thar finishing is the key to success. Take for example, in a marathon race, everyone looks good when they start the race. However, very few make it to the finishing mark.
I feel it's especially relevant for me now that I'm taking up freelance projects, cos while it sounds exciting to just take up everything, I've learnt that I need to be a good finisher. Some projects seem easy when you start them, but becomes a painful process to complete. Ha!
Anyways, I finish off today's blog with my personal revelation:
"Gifts are like seeds, planted by God in us. We need to put them in good soil, fertilize and water daily with God's anointing for them to grow, take root and flourish with good fruits, so that it comes a testimoniy and enjoyment for God."
What are the seeds that God has planted in your heart?

So privileged...

I'm into my third day of bible school and it has been amazing. The atmosphere is so joyous, so peaceful, so wonderful. The hall filled with people who are spiritually hungry, fervent and committed.
I feel so privileged to be one of the few to have the chance to dedicate 4 and a half months fully into studying and enjoying the Word of God.
Very few people have the luxury- to be able to take their 'life remote control' and press the pause button- to do what they want to do without worrying about finances or what the future brings.
Yes, my savings account may be running low, but like what Pst Kong said in his early ministry years- "Our pockets were empty, but our hearts were full." The whole idea is to really press on in faith, because the blessings will outweigh the sacrifices.

Knowledge is power!

Got up at 7.15am this morn, and immediately (er... not that immediate on hindsight) zipped into the bathroom to begin my first day at City Harvest Bible Training Center!
Vincent was sweet to wake up earlier than his usual and loan me the car for the morning so that I can reach school comfortably.
I fetched him to work and then made my journey to Jurong West. The expressway seemed to go on forever, but I was glad I did not get lost or need to do any detours midway. In fact, it was quite liberating starting something on my own. I always love school!
Parked my car and went to the registration on Level 1, and saw my beautiful SOT lanyard with my name and card sitting at the recep table. It felt like a miracle cos' I had submitted my application just last week and wasn't sure if my postage got through, but Praise God! He is always faithful. :)
I collected my file and then went to the main auditorium at Basement 4. It was a nice feeling cos' it has been quite a while since I last worshipped at Jurong West.
We started our morning with Praise & Worship and the presence of God was energising. I was so motivated and inspired by the other 468 students who signed up.
We are the largest intake ever in history, with students from Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, HK, UK, Brunei, Bangladesh signing up.
We went through the Student Handbook and before long, were broken into our various teams to take part in the 'Amazing Race'- part of the orientation activity.
I was allocated to Team 4- together with the BBG ppl. However, as I had just recently gone for surgery, I had to opt out of the games as it can be physically strenuous.
Supposed to join them for dinner at Marina Bay but I've decided to see Doctor Chen again cos' my fever is still on and off and I need some antibiotics in case there's any infection.
Alrighto, more updates tomorrow!