Wednesday, April 25, 2007

spring brings renewed hope.

spring is here. one week after the tragedy the things are still fresh in my head. i can only take comfort in God. who provides great comfort and joy in the midst of trials and suffering. there's always a reason for everything. sometimes we may not understand. but He has a plan.

i attended the vigil for the victims of the massacre organized by UW's students' union. it was solemn, and it stressed the importance of unity. to prevent ethnic discrimination.

after the short vigil, the clock bell chimed 33 times in honor of the victims, including the shooter, as we bowed our heads in silence. i closed my eyes and prayed, the many times i've prayed since the tragedy. and i stared at that candle in front of me as darkness started to fall. i remember Matthew 5.


after the vigil a crowd of people gathered in a circle to pray and i decided to join in. as i heard each prayer, praying for almost everything i could think of. no ethnic discrimination. the shooter's parents. the victims. the families. the community. the university. the administration. the student leaders. the korean community. love. comfort. faith. hope. i was filled with peace.

i'm glad for spring. everything around me looks beautiful. i'm reminded of God's grace and His amazing creativity everyday. even when things may be bad, readings and midterms, travel headaches and all, i can find comfort and most importantly, joy in the Lord.

oh yes. and a new found love for reading God's word. =) i'll miss seattle terribly. and the life i have here. but i'm also looking forward to be back. back with family, sam, friends, bethany, hugo my darling dog and the food.

be gone in 2 days to portland for sight-seeing and a damien rice concert. =) =) the rufus wainwright concert was sooo good. soooo good. he was charming and has a magnetic personality. his eccentric gay sense of style shines so brightly. haha. his dress theme for himself and his 7-man band is stripes and brooches. he had like 4 shiny diamondy bling brooches on his striped jacket, striped shirt and striped pants. haha. so funny. i'm not the elast bit turned off by his clothes (although i think i'd be if i saw a guy wear that on the street). he sang songs from his new album, to be released in mid-may. it's good!! although i still prefer his quiet songs, just a guitar or a piano. he's a great pianist!! ohmygoodness he's good. and he also sang some old songs, like the Art Teacher and One Man Guy. the crowd was good, really excited and psyched to see him. and he bantered effortlessly with the audience. i took a video and 2 photos. because silly me forgot the camera. argh. will upload soon.

hehhh. damien damien concert yayyy.

Labels: damien rice, life in seattle, rufus wainwright, virginia tech

This girl posted at 3:44 PM

Thursday, April 12, 2007

He gave His life for us.

As little children we would dream of Christmas morn
Of all the gifts and toys we knew we’d find
But we never realized a baby born one blessed night
Gave us the greatest gift of our lives

*We were the reason that He gave His life
We were the reason that He suffered and died
To a world that was lost He gave all He could give
To show us the reason to live

As the years went by we learned more about gifts
The giving of ourselves and what that means
On a dark and cloudy day a man hung crying in the rain
All because of love
All because of love

I finally found the reason for living
It’s in giving every part of my heart to Him (every part to Him)
And all that I do every word that I say (you know I’ll be saying)
I’ll be giving my all just for Him, for Him (every thing for Him)

We are the reason that He gave His life
We are the reason that He suffered and died
To a world that was lost He gave all He could give (all that he could give all)
To show us the reason to live

#He is the reason to live
don’t you know do you know the reason
that He came, oh He came to save us
when he gave His life for us
He suffered and died
To a world that was lost He gave everything (everything that He had He gave)
To show us the reason to live

Don’t know how I could thank Jesus all that he had all..

-Avalon's We Are The Reason

easter came and went. i'm glad i went for maundy thursday, good friday and easter sunday services. the one that really spoke to my heart was the easter sunday one. and i was glad danny went with me. the pastor gave a good message about the meaning of Jesus's death on the Cross and His resurrection. what effect it had on His disciples, and what effect it had on us. it was a fresh new way of looking my risen God, and very insightful. i'm also glad i got to talk to t. chen kee and pastor mitch on msn, as well as looking at easter concert and easter lunch pictures on blogs. =)

now i'm looking forward to listening to pastor charlie's maundy thursday and easter messages on mp3. i'm looking at my faith and salvation in a greater light now. i feel blessed.

anyways school is overloading me with readings and more readings. all thanks to my electives. but i shall be strong in God's grace! looking forward to shopping at lynnwood, a neighbouring city outside seattle, rufus wainwright concert, damien rice concert and travelling around portland, my 2 sisters' arrival here in seattle (yayyy!!), kayaking and whale-watching at san juan islands and planning my summer holidays to los angeles, las vegas, grand canyon, hoover dam, yosemite national park, san francisco, and the caribbean. hope my budget works out. haaaa.

oh yes. there's always those midterms and quizzes and readings to dampen my mood. but i have joy in the Lord! =)

Labels: damien rice, easter, life in seattle, thoughts

This girl posted at 7:40 AM

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

spring is here. almost.

some cherry blossom trees are in full bloom at some obscure parts of campus. and hence they really stand out. i'm always so mesmerized by its beauty.

spring is almost here. it's said that before spring arrives, winter has to unleash its power one last time before packing its bags till next winter. so that power is being unleashed right now. night temperatures are falling and parts of washington state are snowing and ice-flaking at night. the wind is merciless, with wind chill temperatures going as low as -2 degrees, with the sun shining bright.

nevertheless, i'm hoping that season passes soon so the beauty of spring can come.

not that i dislike winter. it has its perks. like the cold air and the warm feeling of snuggling in bed or clutching a hot steaming cup of latte. not to mention winter sports.

but spring brings a whole new world. the flowers bloom and temperatures are cool. i get to wear nice clothes other than jeans and sneakers/boots. i get to go whale-watching and tulip-fields viewing. i get to visit the national parks and volcanoes and go hiking. i get to go wide-water rafting.

not to mention a weekend trip to portland at the end of april to shop and watch damien rice in concert. =) =)

***


on the school front, i finally finally finished my drug discovery final exam paper. i rewarded myself by going to ikea with suzanne to eat swedish meatballs and we ended up having a great adventure. after coming home but still really excited abt my ikea trip and good food awaiting for me at home, wanquan stumbles into the room and invited us to xiaojun's farewell party at venom, a hip club at downtown seattle.

so within minutes i threw on my new heels from aldo factory outlets, grabbed my new bag from levi's factory outlets and my coat (not new. haha.) and was out the door where tony, our singaporean friend studying at UW full-time was waiting with his car. drinks were more expensive than in vancouver. didn't drink much 'cos i'm a good girl. but the dancing was good. i had good dance partners, girls. the men are more blatant with picking up girls and dancing with them. much more daring than the guys back in singapore. its a different culture. either that or they're desperate. hurhur. went out for supper. my legs were SO tired after dancing in heels for 2 hours straight. supper of chinese food at chinatown was good! and it was 4am when we got home. after i fell asleep at 5.15am...

at 930am the next day, my morning call woke me up. we were going to the factory outlets. this time i was bringing those that didn't get to go the last time. and yes i bought stuff again!! someone help me.

i like my weekend. sunday was spent at home. resting from an action-packed friday and saturday. i think being on exchange is supposed to be like this. u work hard during the week, and you get to have a great time during the weekend. whether it is traveling, or exploring our surrounding cities, or eating, shopping, dancing, drinking.

***

i learn more and more with each experience. i see things from the sidelines, from another perspective. i've learnt to hold fast to my faith and my love for God and His Word. I've learnt to depend on Him on strength and comfort at the worst of times. and i feel so happy that this is just the start of this beautiful journey. and i really want to be able to walk worthy of Him.

***


vancouver was a blast. canada is just so scenic and beautiful and idyllic. lots of mountains and plains. as far as the eye can see. vancouver is just as happening, if not more, than seattle. our hostel was very nice! and clean. and right at the heart of downtown vancouver. with pubs and clubs around us everywhere. both nights we went out to sit at a pub and talk and have fun. drinks were cheap so everyone was happy.


our whirlwind tour of vancouver started and ended at chinatown. with good chinese food! cheap too. we also visited lynn canyon suspension bridge, walked the nature trail to see the twin falls. we went to lonsdale quay public market in north vancouver. we also went to the other market, grainville island market. i love walking through such markets. there's always something nice and unique and quirky to look at. plus the gorgeous vegetables and fruits and cheese and fresh produce and flowers. and good food...=) we also went shopping at downtown. haha as usual.

alright. school work beckons. do check my pictureblog for more pictures of life in seattle. toodles for now.

Labels: damien rice, seattle, spring, travels, UW

This girl posted at 11:16 AM

Thursday, January 04, 2007

9.

9 is the title of the new damien rice album and it has really explicit songs when you listen to the lyrics. but yet the melodies are so beautiful and his voice is just amazingly suited to each song. each tone. each nuance. each rise and fall. each emotion. i love the melodies, and occasionally the words. but some, like the 4th track, is just horrible to my ears 'cos i don't like it when people say the 4-letter word out loud.

anyway today was the first day of school. spent the day at pharmacology II, where the prof was quite humourous; calling men "rats" 3 times in 30 mins. and lectures are only 50 mins! but 3 times a week. i feel like i'm back in tj. then went to the health sciences library to settle my subjects. went to see a prof regarding enrolling into a graduate course.

the story goes like this. when i scroll through the UW subjects and the schools, i just picked out the modules that matches the mods i'm supposed to be taking back in NTU, like pharmacology and drug discovery and all. and i was able to find them. so i submitted the subject codes and all to our coordinator. that was back in dec. and when we arrived in seattle, ms chua the NTU GIP coordinator happily told me out of 6 of my courses i picked for winter quarter, 5 are year 5 modules. year 5 is 1st year masters degree courses. oh well done. and she tells me to pick undergraduate courses because the masters courses are really difficult and i won't be able to get in and the fees are more expensive.

so i launched into this debate with her that if i do not take those modules i won't be able to graduate from NTU and i already signed an agreement with MOE that i have to graduate within 4 years. if i didn't take those mods i'll have to stay back 1 year in NTU. and i tried to convince her in my politically correct tone and manner that maybe US school system is just a little less advanced than what we have in singapore. hence my year 3 and 4 modules are only taken by graduate students here.

yes. even their introduction to biochem is taught in year 4. and we did that in year 1.

so i was talking to my prof. and showing him my degree audit. and he was so surprised at the modules that i have taken and was telling me "wow you can go and get a phd now." and he was listing all the modules. "wow, development biology, neurobiology, BIOPHYSICS?!?!"

for once, i'm proud to be educated in the singapore system. all those endless nights of slogging through the lecture notes and tutorials. paid off in that single second. and i was immediately enrolled in the graduate course.

and graduate courses mean no exams and tons of readings and assignments and projects.

something i've never done before for a bio module.

challenges and more challenges.

just got accepted into another grad module for proteomics. at the fred hutchinson cancer research center campus! ohhhh there're like 3 nobel laureates there!

so exciting. but i have readings for tmr's class already. the first lesson of the course!! =(

ok time for dinner. wonder what shall we cook.

will ramble more next time. =)

everybody take care! please say hi to singapore food for me.

Labels: damien rice, life in seattle, UW

This girl posted at 9:53 AM