Tuesday, 06 January 2009
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I'm moving to a new blog address!!!
From today onwards, I'm going to be permanently blogging at a different site.
For those of you who are wondering, why the move...
Well... first of all, my Xanga blog has been really a blessing. I've been blogging my thoughts, inspirations, emotional rants and life updates in this channel for the past 5 years or so. It helped me through my medical school days, times I've struggled with the issues of life, and those days I needed desperately to remind myself of God's faithfulness in my life.
Much as I would have loved to maintain this blog for many more years to come, I realized that many things in my life have changed (and many things are drastically changing). Suddenly, it seems like I've grown out of this blog! A dear somebody recently reminded me of God's Word from Luke 5:37: 'And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined.' I too believe that my new wine deserves a new wineskin - i.e. the new season ahead deserves a new blog to fill up!
Therefore, I'm moving. The new address is http://gmmmh.blogspot.com . If it's hard to remember, just remember G comes before H...and 3m's in the middle. Do feel free to drop by - and yeah, there will always be a link to this (old) Xanga blog at my new place.
To those who've faithfully visited this blog, and encouraged in so many ways - a big thank you!
Yours truly,
Grace
Monday, 05 January 2009
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What you can't lose...
Uneventful past few days. Sort of. Serviced my car on Saturday afternoon...and now, with new minyak pelincir (engine oil), my car feels so much more powerful! *grin*
Busy with some post-holiday adaptations. No more waking up (or sleeping) whenever I want to. No more mindless snacking and telling myself, 'It's holidays after all". No more. My brain has to start working soon, before it gets rusty. I'm thinking of what I can do a little differently this year.
You know how you experience God's grace the most when you've not been all that good, then you get deeply convicted 'bout it, and want to start over again with the Lord? (Like a kid who scribbled on the walls with a crayon out of sheer mischief, and having seen the disappointment and grief on his parent's face, is feeling all bad and guilty about it, even while the parent lovingly forgives and explains that he must not do it again. I've been in that place before. Not only the walls...but my books!) Today is one of those days. Don't feel like I deserve new chances, but desire it ever so much - and am honestly so thankful that the Lord, in His patient understanding, does choose to let grace and mercy overflow from His throne in time of my need. Praise God, I am always brought to remember times such as these whenever others do or say things to hurt me - so that it helps me to forgive and not bear grudges.
Love, hope, faith. I absolutely love what my lil' sister, Zoey, said in her blog (zmmc.blogspot.com) about how nobody can take these things from you... not unless you give up, yourself. It's also amazing, how God said in His Word that among all these, love is the greatest. It bears the greatest value, it covers a multitude of sins, and it is the very foundation of Christianity. God so loved, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16) It is because of God's unfailing love, we receive grace to live to the hilt of each day, despite the weaknesses of our flesh, and our many limitations. We are able to hope and have faith in a God so great, that none of our problems can ever faze Him. And we are able to trust in His provisions for our lives, come what may.
So love. Just as He first loved us.
Give, as He first gave us the best thing He could possibly give.
Be gracious and forgiving to others, just as He is gracious and forgiving to us, even when we fall. Even when we make mistakes.
I know. We've probably heard all these just too, too many times at church already. But, are we doing it?
Friday, 02 January 2009
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Back to Penang! Bye-bye, KL!:(
Some pictures for the past week...
Christmas day doings...
After church...some house-keeping chores at a church aunty's garden. As usual, Ben did most of the heavy work.
Me, after getting wet, thanks to the garden hose (someone thought that it would be fun to do a little splashing!)... Dahlah, my off-white pants had stains from the spaghetti sauce, thanks to Christmas lunch at church (was a good lunch btw!) - now, it was wet too! *Pengsan* I ridiculously feared that it would start growing mould.
Night of Christmas - before I went back to KL... We sat on this really high wall somewhere, and watched Penang all dressed up in lights. Enjoyed the wind, peace and quiet too.
Went back to KL.
Boyfriend came along, and we hosted him at our place.
Someone really missed Penang food at first...
But we dined out alot with my dad and sister, Zoey... Think he kinda enjoyed KL food too after a while. Just perhaps.
--> Zoey and the tea-refill jar at this Korean barbeque place we went. Thought it was really good. We ate and ate and ate. It was so good, that nobody complained 'bout the meat-overload! (Even after our Klang bak kut teh breakfast that morning, with Ben's friends.) In fact, we finished nearly all the meat there was to finish! The restaurant even provides table-service, unlike some of the barbeque places I've been to where you have to barbeque your own meat! Now, I am no expert at barbeque, and I almost always do not know when my meat is cooked (and therefore I ALWAYS burn and char my meat!). Hate char meat. Hated Korean barbeque until I came to this place (can't remember the name of the restaurant) at Sunway. The waiters who served us barbequed the meat so well, that it was amazingly yummy.
We did loads of shopping. IKEA, MidValley Megamall, Gardens, and even Carrefour!
--> Zoey and I at Carrefour.
Travelled a little too. Ben, Zoey and I drove up to Batu Caves and Bukit Tinggi on New Year's Eve, for some sight-seeing.
Batu Caves. It's basically an Indian Temple set in a gigantic rock cave, which you have to climb hundreds of stairs to arrive at. There were sooooo many pigeons at ground level, that I was traumatised - feared three things: 1. Being pooped on 2. The birds pecking at me or pecking off all my hair to make their nest 3. Cryptococcus meningitis - None of these happened of course.
Boyfriend was very enthusiastic at climbing the hundreds-of-steps. Much to my horror. (I'm not kidding!) Haha.
Anyway, we did reach the top sooner than I thought.
What an accomplishment for Zoey and I ~ we were wearing heels!:P - Don't ask me why we chose to wear heels that day, of all days - Well, it didn't stop us from tottering up those steps! ~ I didn't dare look down, so I kept looking either looking down at my faked-out feet or watching out for monkeys (they were perching on the railings!).
Bukit Tinggi, Pahang. Beautiful place. We really had fun! I had my first experience of driving up highland roads. Really enjoyed it. It was a good trip. Had alot of quality time with Zoey and Ben. Dad wasn't able to join us, coz he was at work.
Colmar Tropicale French-themed resort...
Japanese Village.
--> alot of walking to do.
Felt like it was some lawatan sambil belajar! Haha.
Then, boyfriend turned on his Michelin-power! :P
Rabbit Park. Loved the bunnies, deer, and donkeys. We chased rabbits, fed the animals, and spent alot of time laughing at my boyfriend trying to coax the rabbits to eat rabbit-food and catch them....and them running away! Well, not all. Some let him pick them up.
--> Super adorable. I am so inspired to keep a rabbit now.
--> 3 mixed-breed (horse-donkeys) and one pure-breed donkey... waiting for us to feed them. Not very patiently though. They stamped and snorted... and the poor pure-breed donkey kept getting left-out, coz the other 3 were just plainly more aggressive. 
We fed deer too!
--> The baby one. Such a dear!:)
Dinner with my dad on my last day in KL.
Busride back to Penang.
Tuesday, 30 December 2008
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Tuesday
Monday went by fast. We had lunch with some friends in Klang...then I slept the whole afternoon. Ah, the bliss...
Tuesday. Ben, Zoey and I went shopping at Carrefour. Took up almost the whole afternoon... On returning home, we had a gotong-royong to spring-clean my home. Ben did the most work... followed by Zoey, I think. I brought too much of my perfectionism into my chores...and could only do up my dad's toilet at the back and the kitchen. Believe me, it was no easy task. (Mana tau so much to clean in those two places?!? Alot of work, ok!:P All that detail ~ Not used to cleaning such big rooms, when I've been staying in small apartments for the past 6 years at least. Somemore, my home back in KL is double-storeyed.)
Was a happy day on the whole. I'm just so, very-very immensely glad and thankful for this one-week break so far.
OK, back to my laundry!
Sunday, 28 December 2008
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Sunday (3rd day home)
Breakfast at a shop in SS15. Then we went to church. Good sermon, faith-increasing sermon. I was blessed especially. Saw a few of my old friends I've not seen in a good long while. It's indeed strange seeing the 'little ones' now so grown-up. And some of those around my age - already married with kids!:P
My sister, boyfriend and I headed to MVM after church for lunch (goodness knows how long we sat in Dominoes' Pizza chit-chatting about personality tests - of all things!)... then we did a little window shopping at shops selling interesting merchandises (home decor items, artistic stuff, etc); and watched Australia. Had dinner with dad after movie.
I'm now back home. Stuffed. Tired. Drowsy. And fat. I don't recall eating so much before, over so few days. Hehe. At least not in the past few months. Even on my PMS-ing days. Oh well. As long as I don't go back to Penang twice my size. *Shudders* Actually, I do feel a little tired of eating now.
Tomorrow, I'd better start doing a lil' exercise!:P Wish me luck, people. On the motivation part.
Friday, 26 December 2008
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Back to KL at last...
I'm typing this back home. Journey home was smooth, thank God. Apart from the motion sickness from our bus-ride...and the junkfood I consumed all the way home (they served us really lousy food on the bus), it was rather an amiable trip.
So many things have changed. So many roads have changed. Subang Jaya is one big messy place from when I left it.
Boy, I actually miss Penang!:P But oh well, it's always a good change to be home.
Really tired now. Dad took Zoey, Ben and I out for dinner and a rather bumpy drive through the streets of KL city centre. Gonna watch the remainder of Pride and Prejudice (I can't keep count of the times I've watched the recorded version back home!~ Such a hopeless romantic I am...), then drop into bed.
Wednesday, 24 December 2008
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musings...
Christmas Eve.
In the previous few years, I've always asked God for something every Christmas. This year, Christmas took on a new meaning. Somehow, God's gift to us - Jesus' coming to our sin-filled world, the Word becoming flesh - felt more precious than ever. Indeed His grace has been sufficient for me. Even if I hadn't received any presents this year, His grace, something far better than anything anyone could give - would have been sufficient. So, I didn't say my usual, "God, this year for Christmas, I want....." I wrote no wishlists. Had simply no idea what else to ask for.
But God has been good to give me presents all the same. Things exceedingly and abundantly more than what I could ever ask or imagine.
I think I finally know what I want for Christmas this year... I want more of a giving heart in the year ahead. More love. More compassion. More opportunities to serve... just as Jesus did. -
Me
Have not done one of these for a long while now...
Where is your cell phone? .Next to my tea-cup, beside me... Never leave it out of sight, unless I am sleeping.
Where is your significant other? - At home, miles away - hopefully asleep, coz it's late.
Hair colour? Dark brown. Used to be a lot darker. I don't know what happened.
Your mother? In heaven
Your father? Back in Subang Jaya
Your favourite thing? My shower... can't live a day without showering at least twice. Today, I think I had 3. I was dying for the second one... And the third one, I decided to pamper myself with after a tough day... mentally, physically and emotionally.
Your dream last night? Bout a guy friend I've not seen for quite some time. Think he was in trouble. I hope not for real. But, God - I pray that You would take care of him, please.
Your dream/goal? To be in the center of God's will. To bring up my children in the ways of the Lord.
The room you’re in? My bedroom = my workspace, hideout, prayer closet and a lovely place to sleep. *grin*
Your hobbies? Reading, listening to music, piano, blogging, watching movies, Gtalk, shopping, coffee with friends, arts and crafts, scrapbooking, swimming... and perhaps...just perhaps, gym-ing.
Your fear? Losing my integrity... or memory. Or both. *Argh*
Where do you want to be in 6 years? Hopefully married, and being a good wife... also, more importantly, serving the Lord in wherever He calls me and impacting lives with His love.
Where were you last night? Chatting on Gtalk with Peky, (actually more like raving and ranting). And my sewing.
What you’re not? I’m not skinny. Or fat. Somewhere in the middle.
One of your wish list items? To travel to Europe again...
Where you grew up? Pudu (KL), Subang Jaya (Selangor)...
The last thing you did? Take my third shower of the day... and dunk the dirty clothes into soapy water to soak overnight.
What are you wearing? Ehemmm. Take a wild guess :P ~ aiya, my typical home-wear la.
Your TV? Don't own one. Don't watch much TV nowadays.
Your pet? I don’t have pets here, had a mutt called Oreo backin KL.. I'd love to have a golden labrador one day.
Your computer? An Acer TravelMate 6291 laptop.
Your mood? PMS-y. Told ya... some hormonal imbalance. I've not had this problem (extremely short cycles) since my Dublin days.. And I'm not sure if it's got anything to do with my recent illness/ fluctuating weight or mood-instabilities..
Missing someone? Hmm. Kinda. Actually missing more than one people.
Your car? a dark turquoise Proton Wira...our old family car which has been with us for more than 10 years I reckon.
Something you’re not wearing? Ummm. Many things!:P ~ my earrings (only wear them when I go out), my watch (hardly wear a watch), make-up, etc. You use ur imagination.
Favourite store? Too many to state. Borders maybe. Love drugstores, TNS, gift shops and Nichii too.
Your summer? Are you kidding?It has been summer the whole year round - in Penang!
Love someone? Yeah. Definitely.
Your favourite colour(s) ? Used to be obsessed with pink... but in the past few years, I've grown to love blue, baby purple, green and white. Most of my non-black clothes are in these colours.
When is the last time you laughed? Just now. When Peky and I were talking bout' roaches.
Last time you cried? Today. Before I went out for choir practice. Got a lil' bit emotional on my own, which is quite usual. Sat at the dining table, closed my eyes and teared a bit. Think I was tired.
Are you a b*tch? Hope not.
Favourite position? Gosh. What a difficult question. I don't even know what is the definition of 'position' here.
Favourite past time? Sleeping or eating... I'm such a pig.
Are you a hater or a lover? A lover definitely
Are you genuine or fake? Genuine most of the time
Any vices? Pretty things...
Pro life or wire hanger? Pro-life as much as possible, but believe that people should have the choice to do what is needed to be done.
McCain or Obama? My answer is P&C.
Pro plastic or natural? Natural... plastic if necessary only.
Dream job? Being a writer or artist, home-schooler and a home-maker. (*Sigh* Sounds so domesticated one.)
Tuesday, 23 December 2008
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Those wig memories...
Ah...there's nothing like slowly sipping hot green tea in the last few hours of my day, looking forward to a night of good sleep.
Just finished with our choir rehearsal and our last session of 'Experiencing God' with pastor. Ben, James (Ben's bro) and I had dinner at Island Glades, before they dropped me home. Since I've been shedding quite a bit of hair lately, and it has become a household joke (I leave behind a trail of long hair whenever I go to Ben's place - that Ben's mum has become quite alarmed. Now she keeps reminding me to use hair tonic, or I will become botak i.e. bald.), James started "consoling" me with the idea of a wig. He said, if I ever went botak, he'd get me one. *Big sigh* Whatever la. I want a red, curly one please. (Now, second thoughts...doesn't it remind you of the wig Ronald Mc'donald, the mascot clown for Mackers, wears whenever he turns up at birthday parties? Fine, Ok. Make it dark brown, with light brown highlights.) Choy, choy, choy. What am I saying?? Of course I won't get bald. I renounce that!
Brings me to laugh the memories of those days, when I used to beg my mum to buy me a wig, whenever I came back home with bad haircuts. And I was dead serious about getting those wigs, ok. Those begging sessions usually ended with mama very cross and exasperated at me, myself with tears and sniffles, and the bad haircuts still bad haircuts. Eventually, I learned that whining for wigs would get me nowhere, and subsequently, I grew my hair long and refused to cut it - except the occasional trim. Unfortunately, hair-drop problem began in college... and I have been keeping my hair short eversince (i.e. not past mid-back), coz long hairs tends to be heavy and they drop more easily.
Tomorrow is going to be one very busy day. I've got laundry to do early in the morning, scramble for work, pack, go to church in the evening, etc. On top of that, I've got to scoot to the bank, and clean up my place. Oh my.
My oestrogenic hormonal balance went haywire due to my recent illness, unfortunately. God, I pray that everything will be all right.
Can't wait for Christmas day and my one week break in KL with my family!:) -
Tuesday
Been sitting next to the photocopy machine the whole day, printing bulletins...for the Christmas Eve, Christmas day and Sunday services. And the machine has been given me just too many problems. Always, when we've got so much to print, the paper keeps getting jammed somewhere in the machine, that I have to keep opening it up to check for stuck paper. Gah. A real test of my patience indeed. Oh well. Work's like that.. You've got to accept the not so fun parts as well as the fun ones...
I'm pretty down today. For weird reasons that I can't explain.
Gosh. What I really want to do right now is to have a bath.
Monday, 22 December 2008
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Answered prayer..
Today, I had an answer to something I've been praying about for a long while. Most unexpectedly. Loud and clear.
It would be crazy if I continued to doubt. I'm clear now 'bout where God wants me in the next few years. Very clear in fact. I feel like today, God has finally removed a veil from my eyes - and before me lies a road to which He calls, "This is the way. Walk in it." Praise God!
Indeed, when God speaks... you'll know it.
Trust. This is something I've been trying to learn in this year. Not only to trust in God. To trust people. I mean, we've all heard of sayings like, "You can't trust anyone nowadays." Cynical sayings like that. But very recently, God has been showing me that I CAN indeed trust some people. (Ok, maybe not all.. We've got to be wise and be on the watch out for people who con. After my encounter with Mr. Conman this year, I'm so much more vigilant..) But yeah, we can't love properly if we don't trust, because love believes all things. The act of loving does render ourselves vulnerable to the hands of the people loved - to hurt (over and over again, if I may add!). It is to trust the one(s) loved with our very own hearts. Trusting others, does not exactly mean demanding perfection. It does not mean piling on our selfish expectations for others, and expecting them to live up to them. But I believe - it means accepting them and our vulnerability to be failed... and yet, celebrating their strengths and only choosing to remember the times they have not failed us.
God, help me love. Especially my family and friends. Let it be a love that hopes all things, believes all things, endures all things. Let is be a love that is patient, kind, not self-seeking, and rejoices with the truth.
The weekend + off-day were quite good. Went for a CG Christmas party, I had a little recuperation, swam a lil', gym-ed a lil', slept some, watched Ip Man (Brilliant cantonese kungfu movie that Ben and I thoroughly enjoyed), shopped for Christmas pressies (hunted would be a better word), etc...
Guess what, my electricity bill came up to slightly under RM30 this month! Is that an accomplishment or what?
Some pictures, taken by Tairven, Ben and Charles at our CG party (I did not snitch everything from Taiven's Picasa of course...)
And don't ask me what I was doing... Laugh until so jia lat somemore. Eeee....
Saturday, 20 December 2008
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the Boy-girl thang...
BBQ flavoured Mister Potato is superb. I like it because it is not too salty, not over-flavoured that you can't taste the potato, and oh my, it just makes the most awesome crunching noise when you take a bite. *Drool*
There is this whole tin of it sitting next to my PC now...and staring hard at me. Now, now, don't get me wrong. I haven't touched one of these for the past week, and I am not going to start now - because my throat isn't 100% well yet. Just sayin' how good it is... (Don't look at me that way!!!~I know I had Mcdonald's on Thursday.)
*Tries to keep fingers moving on the keyboard so that they won't stray to the tin*
Anyway, that aside... I really enjoyed myself at my cell group's Christmas party (at Louise's place) last night. We had loads of food (and leftovers in the end), a session of carolling, loads of time for fellowship, and cute party games, including a gift-exchange one. I was soooooooooo full, that I woke up this morning still feeling full. And hence no breakfast. Having said that, I'm kinda ready for lunch now.
My sister, Zoey, called me yesterday...and we were talking about how easily guys (even good Christian guys with good intentions) can mislead the girls with their actions and words... resulting in potential heartbreak. And how a girl often wrongly makes assumptions that a particular guy is 'after her', just because he is being nice - and later, realize (with much disappointment), that he is not! Brothers, be nice and gentlemanly by all means...but guard your actions and words so that they don't get misinterpreted; make it very clear that you are treating the girls as sisters and friends...nothing more, nothing less...unless you mean it. Sisters, guard your hearts, look up to the guys as brothers and friends...but do not assume a guy is treating you any differently from the other girls, unless he puts the cards on the table and makes it clear that he is.
Friday, 19 December 2008
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TGIF!!! Again...
Ok...maybe I was up to a little mischief last night... but Mc-donald's did not do my tummy too good.
But it was exciting (I must admit) driving-through Mackers in the dark of the night, after music practice at church, grinning like mad (to myself)...and ordering take-away all by myself. I hardly do this alone, after sunset. Realized something. I don't feel afraid to drive alone at night anymore! What a break-through. You know what helped? Turning on my Don Moen CD and singing at the top of my voice. Hehe. Indeed, when we worship God, mountains start looking like molehills. Coz we remember that He is greater than all our mountains combined.
Came back and realized that I had alot of stuff to do...but fatigue (from my infection) and exhaustion (from today's work and housework) got me sitting in front of my laptop, drumming my fingers away over the PC keyboard. I only started serious work after boe-din-wah-juk (long telephone conversation). Apatah dayaku...
Well, at least I've done most of the housework for the week. Eheh. It is a big harlo to dust-free zone... at least for a while.
Good morning world...
Thursday, 18 December 2008
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Thursday
Back to work. And my, oh my, there is ALOT of work! I think I was even a lil' bit stressed about it, that I woke up even before my alarm clock rang - and could not go back to sleep again. I don't usually do that! (I am a bigtime alarm-clock snoozer, admittedly.)
Tailo (Kean Yew) called from Ipoh this morning, and gave me a reason to skip about in glee. Surprisingly, he's been attending the Canning Garden Methodist Church...and that's where my pastor is going to be tranferred to serve, beginning 2009.
OK, gotta scoot! Loads of errands to run too.
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that great fear...
Growing up, I had a great fear of being abandoned. I had stranger anxiety as a child, horrible nightmares of my parents giving me away to strangers, etc...And I must say that I used to be very afraid of being alone in the dark. I sorta grew out of it in my late teens...but it was still something I was not very fond of. I remember some of its absurdities - for example, if I had to turn off the lights before I went to bed, I'd make it a ritual of quickly eye-ing my room and noting the position of everything, shutting my eyes before snapping out the lights... then I'd run in the memorized direction of my bed, jump in, pull the covers over my head...and not open my eyes again till I fell asleep. (And you thought I was weird!)
So bad it was, that I do not remember feeling very secure in any of the friendships I've ever had.
I was even afraid to believe it, when my mum told me that she loved me - because I greatly feared that she would one day take back what she had said, if I ever let her down. When she died, it stung me to remember her very words...and to realize that I would never hear them ever again.
I went in and out of relationships that I knew would never last - but they did not satisfy the great loneliness deep down within my heart.
But, when I came to know Jesus as Lord, many things changed. I came to learn of His love that never fails or forsakes. Then He placed a few faithful people in my life, who ministered to me and helped me grow secure in His love. Especially three sisters and one brother. Ji, Laura, Cyn, and Kean Yew. Thank you for always being there. For never abandoning me in any way, throughout the years...and throughout my many struggles. For loving me the way I am. I love you, people.
Yesterday, an incident brought me to reflect on how God's been working in my life, with regards to this insecurity I've always had. In all honesty, it now makes alot of sense now that He did not allow me to get into any relationship (i.e. courtship), in the past four years (although I've stubbornly hankered after it at times. LOL!). This was so that He could work on my great fear and wean me unto Him. Imagine if things had been any different. I would have continued to mess-up lives and self-destroy my own. Gosh, it scares me. Indeed, God's will is both wise and kind!
Having said that, I gladly thank God - that my boyfriend has been loving, understanding and patient to affirm me whenever appropriate...And the Lord is indeed increasing the number of friendships I feel secure in. Some people at church (especially Grandma P who ministered to me much and helped me to get through the difficult past 4 months especially via our long Gtalk conversations. Some grandma, huh? - Hehe, to Grandma P, if you read this - if you feel you've not achieved that much recently, be encouraged that God did use you bigtime to help me in so many ways!), the people in my CG whom I'm growing to love and appreciate, the people whom I work with, the 'PMC people' (Yvonne, Ee Ling, Wei Nin, Louise, Benjamin, etc), the people from the CG I used to attend (especially Rachel), etc. Wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ.
Great is God's faithfulness.
To digress....
I am looking forward to the little Christmas gathering amongst my CG members this Friday evening!:)
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- Name: Grace-Melody Moo
- Birthday: 1/31/1984
- Gender: Female
- Member Since: 5/27/2004
About Me
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Passionate 'bout God. Adores animals, nature and the sea. Loves music, reading a good book with coffee, writing and a good laugh. Opinionated, emo and does not react too well to emergencies. Your typical girl-next-door.
