100th post

This is my 100th post!

Between 2 worlds....

Friends n family with me at the airport

Back at Nottingham

Back to notts

I'm back at Nottingham!

Many thanks to the people who prayed for me in church and at home, and to those who sent me off at the airport!
Thanks especially to James, Loyalle and Weichuan for coming and for their very thoughtful gift! :) I really like it.

I had a safe flight; didn't suffer from travel sickness. I have overcome it! Thank God. Touched down in London Heathrow at 530am; got the National Express bus at 7am and it was another 3+ hours to the Nottingham bus station. Arrived early, looked for my luggage; looked up- and lo and behold, there was Vincent right in front of me! Haha I'm sooo happy to see him again. :)

Managed to stay awake for the whole day, thereby fighting off the jetlag. Walked around town with Vincent to buy a few essentials, then to Broadgate to change my standard room to a studio, then to Sainsbury's to shop for groceries to cook at Xuanee's place. Vincent cooked for us- will post photos soon. :) Afterthat unpacked, slept then went to Fidelia's midnight surprise party. Hehe somebody is 21 years old!!! Happy Birthday FiFi!!!

Yes Mum, the change to a studio room is successful!

Today woke up early to do more unpacking and FINALLY finished. Will start studying today.

leaving on a jetplane

I leave Singapore for the UK this Sunday. How quickly 1 month has flown by. :(
This time I leave not with mixed feelings of fear and excitement but with the sense of unfinished business. Things left unspoken and undone (on my part)- how I wish I had more time or more initiative. Went to visit my grandma in hospital last night; she looked very faraway. We all felt very sad. Just pray that her pain will be alleviated and more importantly, that God's will be done. But I trust that my family, friends and relationships are in God's safe hands. And I will be back in 2 months time!!! Hahaha! This time no more exams to study for. :D

One among the many I will miss- who also woke me up in the middle of the night.
Attention-grabbing Whisky!!! Super cute!!

Friends and family

I'm back home! Have been since last Sunday and boy am I enjoying it. :)
Been super jetlagged the whole of last week but have since recovered from it after Kor's wedding. Kor's wedding was wonderful! It was full of joy and glory to God. Very happy for Kor and Jamie who are on their honeymoon now.

It's been great shopping, eating and meeting up with my family and friends.
I am a very happy girl. :) Have not been studying though!

Unfortunately I have not uploaded all the recent pictures taken in Singapore onto the com yet, so dear friends, you guys have to wait!

People I've met up with include:

1. VJC friends at Ichiban Sushi where Wei kindly shared her $30 voucher with us. Much fun, animated talking, laughing and photo-taking! I love you girls. :)
2. BLC youth, aunties and uncles at BLC itself during Kor's wedding. Nice warm feeling meeting the people who watched me grow up, also those with whom I grew up.
3. Brighton friends in church, which proceeded with an outing to Vivocity! Alot of excited squealing and hugging. Haha I was "re-introduced" to the Young Adults group, which was quite amusing.
4. Shopping spree with Shella in town, followed by Bugis hawker dinner with XinXin and Eugene.

Tomorrow will be a sisterly outing to Cheh's house where we'll watch DVDs, view each other's pictures and eat the much-anticipated Japanese meal Cheh is going to cook!! :)

Friday- cell group outing to Sentosa where we'll have our sharing and discussion by the beach! Nice!

Home sweet home

Saying goodbye...

fi, me, vincent, jason and jingfeng(fi's bf who flew all the way up to visit)
Wonderful Sherwood hall mates :) Jason and his fans
Vincent, Brad and me off to London!
Mau mau, me and fifi

Homecoming

I'll be back home on 25 March, Sunday.

Await my arrival! :)

Leaving for London in less than an hour's time, to stay the night at Vincent's sister's apartment. Flying off the next morning.

Today we just heard the shocking news that Deanna's room got broken into and her laptop got stolen, while the group was out at Pitcher and Piano. Robber climbed through the tiny slot in the window to break in- must have been a really skinny person. All I can say is I'm so sorry for Deanna. Poor DeBird!!! On the penultimate day of term too. I hope the police catches him and then you'll sue him big time. Sigh Nottingham is indeed the crime captital of the UK.

Alrighty, gtg now..Easter break officially starts tmr.
Will touch down in Singapore soon! :)

Love you all,
Carol

Arch comes to visit (tour of Nottingham's University Park Campus)

More dancing daffodils

The lake with Trent Building in the backdrop

A sun-bathing Mandarin duck!

Future lawyers

Arch in notts

Arch comes to visit

Outside the Sherwood dining hall

Trent Building and the field of daffodils

By the lake and blossoms

Probably the best hall in the world

commitments

My Commitments

-Christian Union leadership team: Prayer
-Malaysian and Singaporean Society: Welfare Officer
-Law Student

Last night we had e elections for the MSS committee. I'm very touched and happy that all of my dearest friends from Sherwood- Fifi, Jenn, MauMau, Stef, Deanna, Chen, Jason, Raymond, Yifei, Vincent(HK) turned up in full force to support Vincent(Msia) and I.. :) I love you guys, thanks for all the support and encouragement!

Especially to Jenn "Jbird", Stef "Stepbird", Fifi "Chickybabe" who really helped me with my speech! Haha I had the best counsel, all the HK girls are seasoned debaters who take part in mooting competitions or in a leadership position. :) Jenn is really wonderful; she's running for President of the International Student's Bureau and I do hope she gets it- She does have what it takes! And her pep-talk really boosted my confidence and determination to achieve what I wanted. And Vincent, now the Vice President and Jason, who soothed my nerves by totally cracking me up with the things they said. lol!

Anyway, my position was the only one contested out of the 8 posts- I didn't expect that at all. Was also having a nasty headache, having not been sleeping well the last few weeks. Still, I prayed for strength and a clear mind to answer questions and God really did come through for me. Surprisingly, I didn't feel nervous at all and I could deliver what I wanted to communicate naturally.. :) The Q&A round was good too, although everybody was directing all the difficult questions at me rather than my competitor. My friends, not just the Sherwood peeps but seniors like Jon and Zijing told me I spoke and answered very well! Hehee praise the Lord!

I remember the last time I did something like this was 2 years ago during the Project Work assessment in college. Super stressful time.. I never thought I was cut out for public speaking, but Mr Hoe revealed to me the next day that the assessors told him that I answered a challenging question very well. I was very encouraged. Also ran for one of the slack positions in Dance Society in college but I met a couple of girls in the toilet who told me they voted me for President instead! Hahaha!

In all, I'm glad for experiences like this, where I'm pushed out of my comfort zone and stretched to fight for something which I'm not naturally inclined towards. It's great achieving something you put your mind to doing. Again, I have my Lord and my friends to thank for.. I couldn't have done it without you. :)

Congrats to Vincent too!! You'll do an excellent job, no doubt about that. Thanks for everything. :)

Hua Tuan Jing Cu

You know it's Spring when the flowers are out in full bloom.... :)

Snowdrops in Shropshire

Daffodils! Pockets of gold everywhere on campus

Petunias in London

Roses and tulips in my room

Sprightly Spring Days

A snapshot of leisure time in Nottingham

Ping Pong and pool after dinner in the JCR.

Players and spectators we have.

Spring days by the lake

Outside the lakeside cafe

loved

:)

Christian Union Leaders Weekend Away in Shropshire

The Sherwood crew- Sam, Pete, Me
Me with the Rutland team- Manny and Gwiz

Tired and bored- spent most of today cooped up in my room; am punishing myself for going out practically every single day for the last 2-3 weeks.

Life has been good though. I'm very happy, I love all my friends, especially those in Sherwood Hall whom I've been spending the bulk of my time with! Almost every night will be in someone else's room with a group of friends watching movies, eating dessert or drinking coffee. :)
I really treasure the friendships made here, very blessed to have a group of friends I can both trust, confide in and have fun together.

Stefanie's room- Party room/Night club, restaurant
Vincent's room- Cafe/Lounge, movie room
Maureen's room- Movie room
Fifi's room- Movie room

Had steamboat in Vincent's room last night and lots of delicious dessert!!!
Strawberries and vanilla ice cream doused with Bailey's Irish Cream, followed by Vienetta (ice cream with layers of chocolate). Mmmmmm :D

Sang Chinese songs (!!!) in my room with Fifi and then we went to view the moon eclipse outside, where the whole bunch of asians was to shang yue. Too cold outside, so we proceeded to the JCR to play pool and ping pong. :)

Good night I'm so sleepy...

CNY in notts

CNY cookout (continued)

Maureen preparing the meatballs! Her face was sooo red! Hehe

Everyone looks on as Deanna slices the grilled chicken, fresh from the oven. Chef/Birthday boy Vincent and the bak choy
What is a Chinese gathering without mahjong?
Deanna performing with the makeshift microphone (ie mop)
Xin nian kuai le from Nottingham! :)

CNY cookout back in Nottingham

Chen (China) and I
Maureen, me, Deanna (both HK)
Home-cooked tang yuan!

London CNY

CNY in London: 16-18 Feb

Leicester Square's Chinatown

Sunset at Notting Hill

Beautiful houses!!

All of us (3 frm SG, 1 frm Holland, 1 frm Canada)

I have roses!

Valentine's flowers

Mission week: my testimony

Mission Week has started and today's lunchbar topic is one that has always intrigued me- "How can a loving God allow suffering?"

And as a Christian, I myself find it hard to answer that question. Perhaps it might be more useful to read up more on the topic on this website- www.bethinking.org, which I've started doing just this morning. :) OR attend the lunchbar/evening talk itself! lol

P.S If anyone wants to go for lunchbar (free lunch and a short talk), feel free to text me and I'll go with you! Will be helping to prepare lunch b4 that.

Tmr's topic is thought-provoking as well. "Happiness: the most important thing in life?"
Is it really? I rmb so much in secondary school wanting happiness, becos I wasn't very happy, in truth just plain miserable, especially at upper secondary level. But somehow, God just brought me through.. Went to VJC, got to know a wonderful grp of friends who really matter to me. :) I think it was the start of my spiritual re-awakening too; met Thong who challenged me to know more about God with his passion and openness about his relationship with God. JC years were good; my interest in God and spiritual things reached a new high. Attended a couple of church camps too, where God really spoke to me about letting go of my past, with all my fears and insecurities, hurts and failures. Broke down and there was so much release of the mass of bad things trapped inside. It was incredible- experiencing God's healing so personally. Met a great grp of people from Brighton Community Church too, who really helped me grow spiritually. Can't wait to be back with them!

Received an email from Cheh a few days ago and she told me how amazed she was at how God has transformed me from the inside out; in a mere couple of years. And how there was a real breakthrough; exponential growth when I left for the UK. Indeed praise the Lord! God has changed me, in so many areas. I'm so thankful that I feel free to be myself- I'm not enslaved by fear or worry all the time. And I'm discovering so many things- Of myself, of the world around me, of God Himself. I've got to thank the numerous people who faithfully pray for me every day. :) Have to thank Cheh especially, she's been there for me and with me right from the start of my spiritual journey, pointing me to the God who loves me more than anyone else in the world. The CU here is excellent too- solid teaching of God's word and very genuine and spiritually mature Christians as friends and leaders. I'm excited to serve with them next year. :)

So in answer to the question: Is happiness the most important thing in life? My personal answer would be no, because happiness never lasts- it simply cannot; that's just the way life is. Life is a package; we must accept its sorrows, setbacks and suffering that inevitably come our way. Knowing God as my Lord and Saviour is the most important thing in life for me. I trust Him, in happiness and misery, good times and bad times.

:D
Snow pictures- More to come!


Some updates:

-Praise the Lord for my results- a First Class for Contract Law! (the hardest)
But the rest were quite bad. Haha..

-Pray for Mission Week, organised by the Christian Union. I'm very excited!!! There'll be events going on all week- Lunchbars being the main focus. Lots of hall events going on too; Grill a Christian, pool tournament, 5-a-side football... Do keep Mission Week in prayer!

- Praise the Lord as I gradually learn of the gift of prayer for others that He has given me and for confirming it when Hannah, my CU leader asked me to join the CU prayer team! There's going to be alot of commitment but I'm sure it'll be fulfilling experience, with good training provided and opportunities for deep friendships. I wasn't sure if I'm up to it, but I do wanna serve God and develop in this area. Moreover, spoke to Cheh this afternoon and her response to whether I should say yes to joining the prayer team was "Of course!"

-Yes, life is good. God is good. :D

snow

It's SNOWING!!! :D

fashion

I'm feeling better now; just that I still have headache, runny nose, cough alot and there's lots and lots of phlegm. Eeeewww...

In between the 9am and 12pm lectures, I went to the Pioneer Travel Centre to book my train/bus tickets (which I'll do later to save on the Coachcard) and then bumped into Jen outside. So we ended up in Portland chatting with her other HK law friends- Jack and Grace, which was really nice. It's great getting to know new ppl! Jack's a really nice guy. So we were all talking about lotsa things; one of them happened to be fashion. And they were telling me how HK people dress up all the time, especially in HK because they're obliged to and more importantly, they just might meet someone they know on the streets. Also when they went shopping or else the sales people would ignore them! So I was telling them, come to Singapore! You can walk around in shorts, T-shirt and slippers and no one will give a hoot. Hahaha. I do that alot when I go to Parkway/Katong area. Even here, most of them dress to the nines- and as compared, here I am, sloppy Singaporean in jeans, top and sneakers almost all the time. They put in alot of effort into their appearance and it shows- most are stylish, some posh (like Stefanie and Deanna, the cream of the law faculty in HK uni), some funky but on the whole, they're all very well-dressed.

But I felt a little uncomfortable with this huge emphasis on fashion and appearances. So I asked them, Don't you think that over-emphasising clothes and externalities is kinda superficial? Won't other people think that all there is to you is just your clothes? Which is so sad! They laughed and agreed but still felt that the pressure to look good was too great not to conform. It is too in Singapore, but not as great an extent as that in HK. I still think HK is an amazing place with amazing people and would definitely want to visit!

And something I've learnt from interacting with people like Aidan, Hannah, Kenny, Lee (all my wonderful hall mates) is that the way you dress is not all there is to you. Kenny (a british born chinese) for example thinks that ppl who flash around their designer clothes are just trying to hide/make up for what they don't have. Perhaps. You can have very few clothes but still have a great conversation and leave a good, lasting impression on others if you've got character and confidence.

I'm so glad I'm beginning to learn all this. :)


Carol

day 2 sick

I still feel horrible. Please pray for me.

Bad throbbing headache.
Heatiness; whole body's very hot.
Sore throat.
Cough with phlegm.
Body ache.
Fatigue.

sick

Feeling like crap- sick!
sore throat, cough and throbbing headache. =(
It's the chocolate cake we ate at 1am in Stefanie's room to celebrate her bday.
Can't make it for today's lectures..

Some random updates.

- Did the Jung personality test (thanks to ben and my sis) and I'm an INFP. It's quite cool, this growing self-awareness and going "yea! I'm like that!"My sister was encouraging me to know and accept the person whom God created me to be. And stop comparing myself to other people and feeling inferior- simply because we're all different! Indeed the world would be a very boring place if we were all the same. Rejoice in our uniqueness!

-OM ships replied my email and God willing, I just might serve on board the Doulos or Logos II during my summer holidays! Exciting..

- New batch of exchange students have arrived. I've German and American neighbours, both girls. I'm no longer the only girl on my floor! Hooray. It's nice getting to know them, but somehow it's different. Really miss Gwen and Milad! It's so quiet without them around.. Don't get anymore prank calls! Haha.. Was very sad saying so many farewells. And I got kissed 4 times last weekend- Thrice or even more by Doreen, this very lovable and animated German girl and once by Diego, this Mexican guy. I think it's a European thing; I really got a shock! Haha..

- Re-decorated my room. I've a mirror now!

- Went for Refresher's Fair and will be joining more activities this term. Thinking of Volleyball, Explorers, Latin and Ballroom, Music Soc, Pilates or getting more involved in church/Christian Union activities. Like helping out in the international cafes or the homeless soup kitchens. Wanna make the most out of my time here. So many opportunities!

- Will be going home in less than 2 mths time! Will be back for a month. ^^
Flight's on 24 march, will prob arrive on the 25th.

hang in there

Last exam today!!! (Contract Law)

1 month of non-stop study will finally be OVER!

Hang in there!

:D

had my first exam today- tort. it was alright, prepared well for it but i'm not so sure about the actual performance during today's exam. was too tired and nervous- kept cancelling and re-writing sentences. but alot of people came up to me and said they saw me writing ALOT. haha! oh well next one to go is contract next friday. one down, one more to go. praise the Lord for having sustained me. :)

this is the verse that has kept me going thus far:

"The Lord is my strength and shield,
my heart trusts in Him
and I am helped.
My heart leaps for joy
and I will give thanks to Him in song."
- Psam 28:7

received a parcel from home 2 nights ago- oh happy day!!! :) :) :)
thank you my dearest family!!! biggest surprise: my dad sent me a framed poem which he penned himself, which makes it even more special. :)

anyway, looking through my old photos online now and it's depressing. put on 4kg since i got to the land of potatoes and fatty hall food!!!!! new year resolution: get back into shape. looked through stefanie's photos too; she's a really talented photographer. very artistic shots. i am inspired. :) so many things to explore and develop!

tired now, good night my friends.

-carol

My interests

I just read an article in The Guardian about Tips for Writers and Readers, by Zadie Smith.
It was excellently wrriten and it offered many incisive and thought-provoking comments about the craft of writing. He describes a great novel as an "experience of the world through a consciousness other than your own". And the writer's duty as "the duty to express accurately their way of being in the world".

And it got me thinking...

Do law essays count as good writing? I miss being able to express myself freely through Literature; being able to have a unique, flowing style other than having to adhere to the requirement of being "clear, precise and concise" in law essays.

I miss reading fiction and poetry. Simply haven't had the time or the luxury. I can't even remember the title of the last fiction book I read- Most of my reading materials nowadays are confined to textbooks, law cases, journal articles or online news reports. I don't read for enjoyment anymore.

It's something that I gradually realise- what I've given up over the years in the name of academic focus and success. My love of reading, writing, art and craft, music, French and piano lessons, sport (netball and volleyball) all sidelined and pushed away into a dark receptacle. And it's only now that these interests (and how I/society has repressed them) are beginning to re-surface. Now that I'm away from Singapore, in England.

It first hit me acutely during the "Talent Night" during the Christian Union House Party in Wales- it's not that the people here are more talented; they simply take the time and effort to invest in what they love- and it shows. I approached this girl who sings very well and she told me she started singing professionally when she was 15. Now this implies that she'd been singing for a really long time- She's that good because she'd been practicing for years. Another thought- How many of us in Singapore would actually pursue music as a career; what's more at age 15?! And this is just a sidetrack- Isn't it godly too? To invest in our God-given talents and grow them so that we can glorfy Him instead of burying them.

Then the next time was in Aidan's house- His sketches are displayed all over the house.. And I remember this conversation we had. He asked me, "Do u draw, Carol?" because I told him about sketching capsicums for art class. (Remember Hazel my dear sheep???) And it was a painful reply: "Yes, I used to... But stopped". "How long has it been since you gave up drawing?" "Since I was 14?" And it's the same story for writing- short stories and poetry, for music, for sport. How much of myself have I suppressed/given up???

All this random thoughts were ordered and reinforced while talking and sharing with Cheh last week. She told me she discovered a creative side of herself in Australia! She even bought a sketchbook to draw when she felt inspired! :) How cool is that! And yeah I'm so glad there's someone who feels the same way... About enthusiastically exploring our interests and believing they're worth our time and effort.

Yesterday's study break was spent doing some sketches and with the thought occurred to me "Hey i can do this!" :)

Post-exams break shall be spent watching Pride and Prejudice with Samara and reading a good novel.:) Or maybe even taking a short-weekend trip outta Nottingham.

family

Question: How did my family spent Christmas Eve? Answer: Big party!! An impromptu one at that. Amazing since the last time we had a big-scale event at Joy Court was 4 years ago?! During my parents' 30th anniversary.. log on to my sister's blog to see the happenings: www.dazzlyn.blogspot.com :) Wished I were home too; then again I had a very authentic English/French Christmas. I'm just glad that everyone had a great time. Hehe I can't wait to be back! Just 2 months to the Easter hols.. And I'll be going home in Summer too! Mum and Dad want me home for their anniversary celebrations.. Very special date: 7/7/2007. (But it's just an excuse for we miss you Carol. Hehe) - So YEAH it'll be a whirlwind of festivities each time I'm home sweet home- Kor's wedding on 31/3/2007! Exciting!!!!

Yesterday at Blackwell's I spent 10 pounds on 8 cards and a calender... All half-priced! I love the designs.. so pretty and some so nostalgic. So before I give them away to the blessed recipients, they'll be perched happily on my bedroom walls. :) I've put up my Paris paintings too. I love my room! Love hanging out in other people's rooms too! Haha.. Min brought back bak kwah! :D

K back to the books now.

Carol

coursework- OVER!

breakthrough- i finally finished all 3 assignments, with just 3 hours of sleep monday night.
was woken up by the fire alarm at 4am- on my first night back! and so worked all the way until the 4pm deadline. praise the Lord that i managed to complete it in His strength! im pretty sure i gave my understanding law reseach essay my best shot. :)

think im falling sick though- perpetual headache and feeling feverish.
last night i was feeling so hot- couldn't sleep even though i had stripped down to t-shirt and FBT shorts.

:( can't fall sick- need to prepare for exams!!!
Lord, give me a godly perspective on exams- i will do my best, for Your glory but my self-worth and identity is not dependent on how well i do! teach me not to worry; but in everything, by prayer and petition, to present my requests to You. and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus.

You are with me.

-Carol

happy to be back in hall, surrounded by people again! :) :) :)
had a very happy first night seeing friends all around, saying happy new year and inquiring how they spent the christmas break!

Year 2007

"The Year"

What can be said in New Year rhymes,
That's not been said a thousand times?
The new years come, the old years go,
We know we dream, we dream we know.
We rise up laughing with the light,
We lie down weeping with the night.
We hug the world until it stings,
We curse it then and sigh for wings.
We live, we love, we woo, we wed,
We wreathe our prides, we sheet our dead.
We laugh, we weep, we hope, we fear,
And that's the burden of a year.

-- Ella Wheeler Wilcox



This is a little late, but happy new year to all. :) And happy birthday to my dearest daddy.

Played hard; now's the time to study hard.

Coursework and exams to prepare for..

So tired; but must be motivated!

Just 3 weeks and this will be over!