GCC’s fundraising June 27, 2008

21st june 2008 – after photoshooting in the morning, and yumcha in the late afternoon, i rushed home with only 45 minutes to prepare before rushing out for glory christian centre‘s d’next generation dinner, in support of their building extension project…

prelude

julia & mei hsia

mei hsia & i

beatrice & i

international dance performed by the youth & the children

song presentation & testimony by pastor dong. he shared of how he used to beg for livelihood in the streets of the philippines due to his handicap. however, God came into his life and inspired him to write songs to God. besides that, God gave him a wife and several beautiful kids. wow! God is not limited by our “handicaps” in life… as long as we yield to Him.

dance presentation by the children. as you can see, my view was partially blocked. but i was too shy to stand up and take pictures. must. maintain. glamour.

energetic pom-pom dance by the youth

catwalk by the youth

catwalk together with the children. i love this kid’s pose – spunky!

on the left is ezra, julia’s nephew.

cool-nya

hamilton was singing, “you raise me up” by josh groban. lovely song.

close-up of hamilton, julia’s brother-in-law, on the projector screen

after dinner, we went for a drink at hyatt’s mosaic

julia! the model so pretty but the picture so blur… why? why?? why???

 

here’s a big thank you to julia for inviting me to the dinner

post scriptum: beatrice was also with us @mosaic but her picture turned out to be super blurry. no price for guessing who was the photographer la *winks*

gaya street June 26, 2008

21st june 2008 – photoshoot with sharon c’s boyfriend, paul, along gaya street as well as @first beach, tanjung aru beach

would have love a portrait shot of this gentleman but i neglect to bring my zoom lens.

paul, sharon c. & chai hoong

this elderly gentleman bought a small bagful of dried corns from a nearby sundry shop to feed the pigeons.

it bought him at least half an hour of entertainment…

sharon’s foray into photography. a digital slr soon, i hope.

paul, a nikon-ite.

whenever i go to first beach @tanjung aru, this blended avacado is a must. i love love love love it!

sharon’s

 

post scriptum: i heard paul got some pretty interesting pictures of us @first beach. will get them from sharon c and post them up here.

farewell June 21, 2008

11th june 2008 – met up with winnie at hyatt’s cafe before she left kota kinabalu for good.

i got to know winnie when we were both working in the pharmaceutical industry. the very first time i noticed her was during a buffet breakfast at sandakan hotel during one of our many outstation trips. she was holding a booklet of our daily bread while having her meal.

later, we were formally introduced by mavis, my senior colleague. occasionally we would bump into each other during outstation trips. at times, we would make effort to meet up for meals. but what got us closer was our common love for joyce meyer.

after we both left the pharmaceutical industry, we kept in touch sporadically. when i found out that winnie was to leave kota kinabalu, i felt a tinge of sadness, yet i understand her decision.

so, winnie, here’s to a FUTURE & a HOPE…

Jer 29:11 For I know the purposes which I am purposing for you, says Jehovah; purposes of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

sleeplessness June 19, 2008

sleep evades me tonight…

was it the masala chai?

ladies’ floorball team June 14, 2008

1st june 2008 – it was supposed to be the 1st ever ladies’ floorball team practice. but probably due to the pesta kaamatan period, the guard at damai community hall did not turn up.

captain shawn, i’m sure, was N O T trying to break-in to the damai community hall when the guard was away, aramaiti-ing.

the ladies *cough*

8th june 2008 – 2nd attempt at the 1st ladies’ floorball team practice.

luciana, madalen & cynthia lee setting up the goal post.

coach(es) leonard & shawn, with the ladies.
 

hear ye! hear ye! June 12, 2008

“it was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” (a tale of two cities; dickens, c.)

the opening line of charles dicken’s most famous novel (i think), best describes my tenure with the palliative care association of kota kinabalu.

i have learnt much from my dying patients. and i am still learning… that at the end of the day (or rather, at the end of our lives), the more important things in life are neither material possessions nor fame nor successes. but rather, it is to be at peace with God and man. and the best gift to us, difficult as it may be for some of us to believe, is our family.

besides that, random things that i learnt:

– to appreciate each sunset

– to wash the dinner’s dishes for mama as much as i can, because tomorrow, i may not have the privilege of doing so.

– to cut short my time pity-partying, because then, i may miss the real party!

– to ignore what everyone else think of me, as long as God thinks i’m ok.

– that life may not be fair, but at the end of my life, when i meet God face to face, He is able to repay me back… ham pa lang.. and much, much more!

– there is a purpose for everything under the sun.

– do not gossip but rather, share my feelings with someone safe.

– to be a listening ear

– that when life is tough, it is not the end of the world, although it may seem to be so.

– God is more dependable than man

– most likely, my charles & keith discount card can’t be used in the afterlife.

therefore, to end my duty as a nurse coordinator with the palliative care association on the 23rd june 2008 is a bittersweet decision. but one that i believe will bring about an exciting and much needed change…

crocodile farm @tuaran June 8, 2008

31st may 2008 – our cell group outing to taman buaya tuaran!

when we reached there, the show was almost over.

yup, over.

we were then entertained with cultural dance. more for the tourists, i would think.

after enduring through 20-30 minutes of the cultural dance, we walked around the taman. saw this tail-less croc. no idea what happened to the tail but i would think this handicap would throw off its balance when crawling. then again, there’s not much space for this poor croc to move about.

guess what were they waiting for?

feeding time! they were thrown chickens… at least not the live ones. that would be cruel, in my opinion.

this croc kind of freak me out a little. look at its right eye.

zoomed in picture for more freaky effect. ewww…. the eye is popped out, yet still attached. non-functional i’m sure.

someone needs a manicure…

not that scary when placed in a pool. *phew*

 

something about ostrich amuses me… God’s creativity, ingenuity and sense of humour, all rolled into one. *i’m envious of its eyelash. then again, maybe not*

 

chai hoong, our “tour leader” for the day and payau.

georgina feeding the payau…

… and ps thomas thinking of feeding on this payau.

yikes…. they look so geli.

literally hundreds of them. yikes!

koi fish

some ular… chai hoong actually posed with it! you can call me a scary cat, but i’ll not go as far as to pose with it!

later, we adjourned to gayang seafood restaurant for lunch…

… followed by coconut pudding for dessert by some road side. by then, we were really full. i mean, the cannot-take-another-spoonful-or-else-i-would-vomit kind of full.

we decided to walk off our fullness at 1borneo. huge place, but only the cinema was open then.

here’s a group pic. from left to right: chai hoong, siau yee, georgina, ps vui tze & ps thomas.

three (3) of us then joined some others for fishing @yayasan sabah.

the bait

ada orang jiwang sebab tiada kawan hook bait untuk dia. hehehehe…

can tell it’s a lady’s fishing toolbox just by the sheer presence of the baby wipes =)

cynthia threw the hook in and posed for a picture…

… eh, so fast song diau?

especially for elaine, who’s far far far away. in case she misses this place. kekekekekekekekeke… NOT!

 

for phyllis-san, we miss you!