Reuters move

Reuters Beijing finally moved into our new office yesterday. The new office is really awesome, huge and spacious and pretty… But well the move was really eventful.

First, they had a Fengshui Master to come choose the day and time (thanks to the Hong Kie project manager for this Beijing project). And he had all these weird suggestions of putting a rock here and another rock there.. Good grief!

And in the middle of the move the workers went on a strike coz they were tired and hungry!! And when my manager told them nicely to keep moving, they talked back at him "you want to move?" Man… what kind of attitude is that- and then my manager had to scream at them.. sigh.. I feel for them really, wanted to help them carry some boxes but he say they are paid to do that. so when i went ahead to help, kana scolded by my manager for 不听话…

And I became a “vase”- held the red ribbon for the opening ceremony, smiled and posed for pics till my jaws ached… wait for my weekly photo album updates! Hahaha..

Anyway, that's my China/Taiwan trainees on the left and the whole Fundamentals team on the right- set to double next year! eeks :)

Connecting...

“In our therapeutic culture, we worry endlessly over the impact that dysfunctional families and traumatic events have had on our lives. We focus on our insecurities, our painful memories, and our troubling emotions. Relationship with God is sometimes just one more weapon in the Christian therapist’s arsenal that might help us win the battle to find ourselves. …

As a culture, we have come to regard lesser battles as primary.. We have elevated psychological and personal problems to a position of top priority, and in so doing, have relegated the battle to relate well with God to secondary status, important in its own right and sometimes useful in the fight against our personal struggles, but certainly not our most vital and immediately pressing concern. But that is exactly backward. …

The community of God has no higher calling than to seize the opportunity to experience God. Our fiercest battles are fought when we seek with all our heart to trust God so fully that we see every misfortune as something he permits and wants to use, to know him so richly that we turn to no one and nothing else to experience what our souls long to enjoy, to love him so completely and with such consuming passion that we hate anything that comes between us and eagerly give it up.

That’s a battle I cannot win alone. I need a community that is waging the same war and will include me in the fight. I need a community that will enter my battle and help me recognize what it is so I don’t spend my time fighting lesser ones- which is my tendency. I tend to evaluate every troubling emotion I feel. Where did it come from? What purpose is it serving? How can I change it? Those are the kind of battles that people take to therapists.

But the higher battle involves my relationship with God. Do I trust him to continue working in my life even when I am plagued by crippling emotions? Do I know him well enough to turn to him for comfort rather than demand relief from my pain through whatever means are available? Do I love him so deeply that I welcome additional suffering that might draw my soul closer to him? Will pay any price to know him well?

The core battle in everyone’s life is to relate well to God, to worship him, enjoy him, experience his presence, hear his voice, trust him in everything, always call him good, obey every command, and hope in him when he seems to disappear. That’s the battle the community of God is called to enter in each other’s lives.”

~ Extracts from “Connecting” by Larry Crabb, Chapter 15

Unplugged

You create a stir in me each time I pass you by. Watching you sit there, I struggle to acknowledge your presence. There are times I really want to, there are times I feel obliged to, and there are times you make me wish I never saw you, only to hurry by.

When I turn around and see them drop a coin in the metal can, I hate myself for failing to have done the same. I wonder the extent of Christian kindness and compassion I am called to have, I wonder if I had any left. I see you around every corner, I would love to give a bit to each of you. I wonder if I can possibly do it all the time. When I see you in a moment of reality, I wish so much to tell you there is a God who loves you despite your plight. I wonder if anyone had ever tried to share that with you- and will you retort with scorn.

You make me feel ashamed of my shopping bags, challenged the wisdom of my resource utilization. You make me feel indignant of my comforts, questioned the fairness of life. You make communism seem like a pretty solution, perhaps the key to Utopia.

But yet you also help me see His grace in giving the basics in life, the undeserved comforts that I take for granted, His love in the daily bread provision. Your lot in life is different from mine, but we are all the same in His eyes. Your struggle with His goodness may be the physical needs in life, mine is of a different kind. But yet in our situations He is drawing us to Christ, so my prayer for you is this- that you will experience His abundance in the poverty of your situation, that you will know Him and be fully satisfied in your soul. And may the good Lord also give to you, what you need in His time.

Small Crunchies!

A good mix of things i did last sat- doing the touristy stuff visiting 天坛 (left), being an aunty shopping and bargaining (ahem... need self control on that one, my records thus far have shown that i don stop till my wallet is empty jia lat...), unleashing the kid in me at the toys market (check out the lil zoo on my bed!), having a "regular" chill out at a coffee place,

preparing and cooking for a potluck party (finally bringing some of my new recipes n concotions out of the closet.. hahaha... ), hanging out- playing cards, watching basketball, drinking and eating myself sick... decadence... hahaha.. All in a day!!!!!

***

And sunday was great too, visited the international church nearer to my place (somewhere i might see myself growing and serving in the next couple of months. more on that another time.. ) and a family small group- finally got out of all the silly posh expat surroundings into the "heartlands" of Beijing..

Three american families, one australian family, and i was the only asian single there- a bit out of place but it was really interesting to see how the children can be part of the group, hearing about parents sharing their struggle with their children not walking with the Lord, grandparents focusing on redeeming the second generation now that their children are not open.. and of course the super encouraging and humbling testimonies of how they got there- some working as english teachers deliberately forgoing the expat pay package to teach in the local schools to reach out to the chinese... Time for reality check.. if i am living for His kingdom or the me-dom (read me-doomed).

*******

Crunchies for this week so far

Pray for me.. really cool.. wanted to invite some trainees to my place for dinner this weekend to get to know them better and hopefully build Gospel bridges.. and it turns out they were planning to go KTV and asked me to join them! so pray that this Christian will be doing her bit to advance the kingdom of her King every step along the way, in every conversation, through every act..

***

Reuters in Times Square got a bomb scare... so more work might come this way tomm coz they will have to shut down the office... sigh! After the photo scandal, and now the bomb scare, and all the hiccups in moving to the new office.. 多事之秋 man.. Speaking of which, the weather in Beijing is really turning nice! Fall is coming- my fave season of the year, yipee!!! And there are more blue skies, white clouds and cool cool breezes.. nice nice..

***

My hang-out buddy Mandy's heading back to Singapore this weekend, boo hoo hoo.. i want to go home too!!!

Emotional Foodie- Reprise

A tiny glimpse into my warped world of comfort foods… You know those days when you suddenly feel like it’s Oreo Day? You’ve just gotta get your hands on one of those black round biscuits? You don’t? Ah well, you don’t belong to my league then. Hahaha… I love my biscuits & cookies like all girls do, but my top 2 favies? It’s gotta be Mint Brussels from Pepperidge Farm and Oreos from Nabisco. Ooo…

It’s Oreo Day today. Saaaaaaaalute!!! And as I’m relishing my favorite cookie dunked in milk, let me give you some awesome nuggets of information that I found out… (Yes, I was actually crazy enough to go do research on Oreo, hahaha..)

Oreo’s History…
Did you know that the Oreo was first targeted at the people who drank tea in England? The creators had decided that England's biscuit was quite boring to dip in their tea and that they should create a new "Different" biscuit that would be fun and interesting. The cookie made better progress than what was expected but made greater progress in America later on, which surprised its creators greatly.
And from the start, Oreos were produced in two flavors of cream, vanilla and lemon meringue. This later changed, eliminating lemon meringue and to make way for the many other flavors. Like what we have now- double cream, chocolate cream, peanut butter cream, ice-cream, ec-cetera, ec-cetera, ec-cetera… hahaha

Oreo’s Look…
Did you ever observe the black round biscuit as you devour it? Each side actually shows twelve flowers around the Oreo design! Pretty!!

MY OREO
I never knew I loved Oreo that much. It was one of those cookies that are always in abundance and readily available, I took it for granted and chomped on them happily without giving much thought to how important it was to me... Until my first Oreo day… I had a sudden craving for it, and I just had to have it… It was then, I realized I had fallen in love with my Ordinary Oreo…

How I ate my Oreos evolved over the years. It started with simply sinking my teeth into the cookie, halving it, then halve it some more, and finally pop the last quarter into my mouth. Yummy!

And then their brilliant advertisements came out…“Some people twist apart the wafers and eat the filling first; others eat the cookie without taking it apart.” Since I was doing the latter already, I decided to try the first. Thence started the phase of “eating the filling perfectly”. I’d try licking it with my tongue, rolling it with my tongue, twirling it with my fingers & putting the tiny cream roll into my mouth. It was fun, but too much engineering effort for my taste buds that sometimes demand hastened gratification.. so that phase lasted only for a while.

And when I fell in love with the Parent’s Trap (must have watched it like 10 times over the years, starring Lindsay Lohan when she was still a sweet innocent young girl), I fell in love with the quirky habits the girls had. They ate Oreo with peanut butter. Eeeks!! You might think. But I tried it and man, it’s heavenly...
My Sec 4 days saw me emptying my house of all the Oreos & crunchy Peanut-butter. I’d sink the cookie into the bottle of peanut butter, scoop a large chunk of the spread with the cookie and into my mouth they go. The smooth vanilla cream, crunchy peanut butter, and the rich-tasting biscuit becoming one large swirl… You’ve gotta try it… And this goes way before the the peanut butter cream Oreo was created, and in my opinion, beats it hands down.

My favorite way of eating my Oreo now? “Dunking it in milk like a basketball player!” Obviously inspired by the heart-warming father-and-son addy but it took a long long while before this lactose-intolerant girl got down to trying it. And when I finally did… it became THE way…
You can soften the cookie to a various degrees- gently dip it to get it slightly wet so you get the crunch with a bit of moisture; hold it in there slightly longer to get a soft exterior with a bit of crunch; or just throw the whole cookie into the milk and eat it with a spoon.. Ooo… The milk richens the taste of the cookie and together with the vanilla cream, it’s like… what angels eat on a bad day… I lurve lurve it… Another would-like-to-have in heaven, can I Daddy? Ppplease?

Yeah I know I sound crazy, but my am I delighted to when I went to the Oreo website that I haven’t missed much. Other than deep-fried Oreo cookies, which are batter-dipped Oreos fried like funnel cakes, I’ve tried almost every recommended way to take the biscuit!! Wo hoo!!

Heh.. Oreo fanatic, maybe, don care :p

News today

Koizumi defies war shrine protest
Junichiro Koizumi visited the Yasukuni Shrine every year since he became prime minister five years ago but always stayed away on 15 August (Korean Independence Day). So why did he have to do it on this day this year?
My boss is worried about the safety of my Japanese colleagues. And it's in a way funny when the korean jung-min and japanese Shinji brings this up over lunch each time. Shinji cringed and curled his ears "ahh...... i don want to hear about it!"

Rainbow in Beijing
A rainbow arched across the skies last night, and it hit the headlines today! A rainbow and it made headlines, you go figure how deprived BJ is for blue skies... Hehe...

Funny Names
Beat these english names my trainees have: Jelly, Caca, Pureya... Jelly?? Peanut butter, anyone? Wahaha.. Actually Butter, Cupcakes, don sound too bad eh :p

One month old
Here in BJ for exactly a month!! Three more to go and i'll be home.. counting down... counting down...

选择

“不做选择， 其实也是一种选择” Two different people told me exactly the same thing in less than 12 hours. It is again His usual way of telling me something I need to hear. :p And in light of my current reflections and circumstances, this is more than just food for thought.

Hearing about people who have chosen to leave home for missions in a foreign land have left me wondering if I have ever “made a decision”. All my life, I do not seem to have had “make a choice”. Things unfold and I “just go along” (with some cow sense and godly council of course), and standing some time down the road, I am always blessed with the amazement to see His perfect design every step along the way. Perhaps it’s my bad memory but significant decisions made these 25 years of my life seems far and few between.

Unlike most St.Nick’s girls, I never really WANTED to go Hwa Chong- but because it was the “normal” St. Nick’s choice, I just applied for it~ which turned out to be His provision to bring me to PPC.
Accountancy in NTU was a result of myopia and elimination. I did however appreciated the training the education gave me despite my inability to believe in the man-constructed world of finance, after all it did equip me with the skills I needed to earn my bread. More significantly still, what He has done in those years and the relationships that came along were life-changing.
Then, I never had to go for a single interview for my internship and first job at Ernst & Young, which also meant I never really did have to make a choice about work. Reuters came along as a “chanced upon”, the door opened and I just walked right in.
As surely as He has led the Israelites in the desert for 40 years, He has led me thus far in my life, and I know will continue to do so. The Sovereign Lord is so sovereign over this pathetically small life. (Why You would ever know and love someone like me, I’ll never understand, but I’m amazed, gratefully amazed)

But there has been a nagging in my heart over the past month, if I have ever waited upon Him for anything- to know clearly what He wants me to do or is it always “ok, now He puts me here in such a situation, so what can I do?” I guess theologically this works out in the same vein as man’s free will and pre-destination, and I am not paralyzed with doubts nor fearful of falling out of His will (no one can ever, and I am almost pretty sure He will have His way of having us where He wants us to be at His time). But I have hit this quarter-life crisis that somehow, I have so many big questions I want to wait on Him for.

Ranging from short term ones like- my boss asked me to stay on in BJ for 6 months, should i? (I am resistant to staying for a full 6 months, would 4 months be cool?)
Mid term ones like- I really do want to take time off for theological studies abroad, how would it work out? If I am not able to take one year unpaid leave, then how?
To long term ones - Will I go for full-time paid ministry eventually? Is my current work what I want to be doing for the rest of my life? (much as I enjoy it and am thankful for being able to find some satisfaction in my toil, should I continue to spend time in something I don believe in? An option that popped up recently is to go lecture in a poly~ so I can hone teaching skills which is transferable to ministry, and also the flexible schedule gives time to explore ministry, and most of all be investing my time in something I believe in…)

“不做选择， 其实也是一种选择”- there are a few ways to look at it actually. One is of course that by not making a choice, one may possibly be not ready to take that step to go forward- and therefore the choice has been made for status quo.
But yet also 当你不做选择的时候，你会被选择。 And in cases when one fails to make a choice to stand against the tide of times and the noise of the world, one would be swept away in the waves- falling prey to the demands the world makes upon one and failing the greater joy that lies in the narrow road.

I have been told of the far-fetching consequences of the choices we choose to make in our twenties, and warned with the prospect of hitting mid-life and regretting choices made in days of youth. And I am one who relishes not the prospect of “if-only”s and “have-been”s. Especially having seen the varied lives that people can choose to lead (abandoning the conventional safe road or the glitzy gold), perceived costs no longer seem as hefty- in human eyes. And much less to say choices made, knowing that it will be a journey taken to forming Christ within- even “mistakes” work for our good, what has one to lose?

But of course as David Jackman says, God is often not in as much of a hurry as we are- look at how long He took with Abraham and Moses... So guess it's just being faithful every step along the way that matters. To those whom He has entrusted with visions and big plans, that's His gift to them. To this 小女人 with a bird brain and the sight of a sheep (only seeing the butt of the sheep in front), i can only pray for a healthy dose of cow sense to make a wise choice and a lion's heart to trust His hand in the next step forward.

Another rambling of my thoughts, leaving this open-ended… Am still waiting, will be praying. Not too fazed, but coveting your prayers alongside.

Sleepless in Seattle (II)

Last night, Clive hit the sacks and fell into deep slumber immediately. Tonight, he had been tossing and turning on his bed for the last three hours already. What Jason said kept ringing in his head, “You know the feeling of how after being with someone for some time, you just know she’s the one? There’s no doubt about it. She’s just the one I can spend the rest of my life with, she’s the one.”

Clive didn’t feel this way about Sophie. Things were all right between them, but it was just not the right kind of right. He could feel it in his bones. He could not put a finger to what was wrong, nor could he shake off the nagging feeling that she felt wrong. He didn’t want things to carry on as they are, but the prospect of things changing between them tore his heart apart. Was he thinking too much? Was he imagining things and being difficult? Should he let things be and see how it goes, or should he just let go? Will the last three years be enough to last the thirty ahead? What will dad say?

Son, what’s yours will be yours always. You may need to make a round the wheel of life before realizing what matters, but that journey has to be taken. Some will find their heart pursuits having not left them at all. But in the end if it’s lost, it was never yours to keep from the start. Never be afraid to love in life, learn through loss and live to light up other people’s lives.

Tianjin delicacies :p

Seafood, Yummy!
Mini Lobster, Mince n dough funnels, Mixed Seafood n corn cubes

天津三绝

(a) Expresstrain (b) Railway tracks (c) Chestnuts (d) 天津三绝-大麻花 （e) 天津三绝-狗不理包子 (f) 天津三绝-耳朵眼炸糕

Food aside, guess what was most exciting about the trip was us missing the last train back to Beijing... leaving us with no choice but to take a bus trip back.. we had to wait for an hour for the bus to fill, there were all sorts of people- laborers, couples, monks, etc. a journey all right :p Tiring.. but i think i do like Tianjin :)

The church in Beijing

Visited two very different Christian gatherings over the last two weekends.

The home church that PPC is supporting reaches out to the university students. Many Christians there are young believers and have come to faith during their school years. Coming to gather must be done discreetly, only few can come in and out of the apartment at anyone time to avoid attention. Even though the settings are very humble, what struck me was the sincerity, seriousness and spontaneity of the gathering.

Some leaders chided chat groups that were too loud before the service started. Prayer time for confession of sins was treated seriously by everyone and it lasted a good 10-15min. (how long would something like that last back home, I wonder?) The song leader memorized her script for sharing, including an entire psalm! Questions asked by the pastor/leader drew responses almost immediately- both in a congregational and a small group setting (very un-singapore :p)
Was really thankful to once again be in midst of brothers and sisters after two weeks in Beijing. It was encouraging also to listen to how God brought some of them to Himself and the church, and even more so the work is He doing in this fast growing community.

A flurry of mixed feelings welled inside me at the end of the day. I distinctly felt the cultural and language differences between us, made me miss the fellowship at home so much more. As much as I am torn by my inability to “feel a connection” with them (but it may well be because it’s only my first time there), yet I am also deeply moved by the reality that the common ground on which we stand is even stronger. One Christ, one Gospel, one faith, one hope, one Spirit.

The international Christian fellowship BICF (www.bicf.org) is as it sounds, very international. It’s huge and only holders of foreign passports can enter. (I wonder why, is it a condition when the government allowed them to set up the church? So their main outreach is to the international community? Hmm…)
I got a shock when I arrived at the auditorium- have never seen so many Caucasians, African(-Americans), Philippinos,… appear in front of me in Beijing. And as I stood there in midst of the congregation, it felt like a minor glimpse of heaven- every tongue, every tribe, every nation, every land will come and confess that He is Lord. The sheer diversity of the people who were gathered there caused me to just be amazed at all that God is doing in the different lands to bring people to Himself. And strangely, I felt at home in midst of the diversity.

Coincidentally Max Lucado was there for the week. And got to see him for the first time- I like his very down-to-earth passion when he preaches, not the typical effusing American (heh). The sermon was very his style- inspiring discourse on the five words from Psalm 23- The Lord is my Shepherd. Most prob out of his Travelling Light :) Not a bad message (who am I to judge!), but it made me miss the “digging into the Bible” type of sermons back home.
Anyhow, what was really encouraging was that Max shared that he was there for a friendly visit- to visit the Chinese officials from the various government bodies (eg. social work, etc.) to build relationships and open doors for Gospel opportunities by working with them through these avenues. It was heartening to see what people were doing to bring the good news into China.

Two different visits, two very different experiences. It opened my eyes to witness God’s work all around the world. Very humbling, very encouraging, very exciting!!! Yet at the same time I see many a great need for the church in China. Be it a shortage of workers in the local churches (like only one pastor for a congregation of 60-80, not enough!!) or a lack of good Bible study teachers (am a bit concerned with how the Bible is taught in small groups in BICF- but haven visited one before so cant say more), there is no doubt a huge mission field out there.

And as Desmond says, Singapore is truly blessed spiritually- all the good teaching we have back home, we have so taken for granted. Thank God for His grace upon Singapore! And somehow in light of the Gospel needs this world has, the “church problems” we face back home really aint as big as they seem. Trust Him who began the good work in us! It’s His Kingdom… mustard seed but huge huge tree! Look beyond the local walls each time we are discouraged and give thanks for how His Kingdom is advancing!

Right now, I really miss taking girls for Bible Study… But I know He is at work even till this day, everywhere, every moment, where we are… where I am. So pray that I will be faithful where I am, to seize every opportunity to testify to Him, to give a reason for the faith I profess, to encourage n exhort fellow Christians… Pray for me to keep my eyes open to His work around me and be obedient when He involves me in His work.

Pray also for Him to lead me to the community He would want me to be in, where hopefully i can make a teeny weeny diff during this short stay.. not too sure if i will be effective in the local church, or am i simply taking the easy way out by being in an international group.. or maybe i can do both? would like to know more local churches around my area so i can bring my collagues too, if i have a chance to share the Gospel with them.. so yeah.. advice welcomed!!

Week in a nutshell…

Monday dinner at Mandy’s
My colleague’s mum came by from HongKong and cooked us a feast!! She brought the sauces from home even! Man.. braised mushrooms with some seafood thingy, papaya, white fungus and corn soup, sautéed chicken with onions, all richly flavored with a mother’s love, bliss… And after all that, I still finished a tub of rum and raisin ice-cream, turning into miss piggy soon!!! but i miss mummy's cooking & my fish porridge!!!

Tuesday floods in Beijing
ok I know this is not funny nor should it be in the least bit exciting… but to witness first-hand the effects of flood for the first time, it’s a novelty to this sheltered city girl. was stuck in traffic coz the normal route back to the apartment was flooded, and over the news, you hear of waters being 1.5m high, waterfalls from highways, people fishing for their bicycles in the waters… it was kinda exciting, so today I have it~ my first flood in 25 years (well soon to be, almost, heh).

Wednesday Woes in Middle East
I can never understand the analysis of the economic impact of wars. It just sounds wrong and oxy-moron to ask money questions when lives are lost, families broken, so much grief and mourning!! CNN’s interview with Lebanon’s finance minister about its economy really got me railing man…

Thursday’s world a melting pot…
Just some bitching about the mini global village I’m living in right now… The Chinese aint too friendly, even at tourist sites and I wave hi to them, they ignore me!! Smiling never felt more silly.. The Swedish guy wants to get a bicycle so he can be independent, not much of a groupie I guess~ good luck in BJ’s traffic!! The guys from Bangalore are somewhat over-eager, over-excited and plastering a smile to their faces all the time :) :) And the half-Americans, every other sentence is punctuated “It’s amazing! Unbelievable! It’s sooo good!” over energetic and exaggerating don you think? The Japanese is one whole bundle of fun- so unlike the nerd i thought he was in office wahaha... And the stuck-up HongKie project manager... i wonder if she ever smiles at all man.. standoffish!!! And.. aiya... lose track alreay... too many people from too many lands...

Friday’s Fizzling out
Feeling kinda off today… Not too well in the tummy… too much MSG… or is it cramps… Haiz… Need to rest or no energy for Tianjin tomm…
One too many entries this week I know.. signing out now, tata!

Sleepless in Seattle (I)

It’s three in the morning and Heather couldn’t get to bed. It was just impossible to get him out of her head, even though she had just talked to him barely two hours ago. She has never felt like this for anyone before. Had her prince had finally arrived in this dark knight? Even though there are so many demons of the past, and so many cliffs ahead she can possibly fall over, she wants so much to believe in the picture of riding into the horizon with him. Should she risk it all to own the picture she’s been waiting all her life for? Should she accept his invitation to have a go at Cupid’s game?

Listen to my heart Heather, it’s longing for real love that can stand the test of time. Listen to my spirit, it’s longing for a connection that will last & reach the deep. Listen to my life, it’s waiting to be shared and not owned by another. Listen to my love, it cannot settle for one that matches not “you first”. Wait Heather, wait for him to prove he’s worth your heart, your spirit, your life, your love.