this island

thinking about death.... makes one really reflect on life.

"every man dies, but not every man really lives" -W. Wallace [Braveheart]

increasing faith

And God is able to make all grace abound towards you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.
2 Corinthians 9:8

For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.
2 Corinthians 1:20

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poignant time

We'll be starting a new life soon. We're looking forward to it. We're not afraid although we know there may be much to fear. We are full of hope because we know the Lord directs our paths.

This is such an important time for me because it brings me back to 2005 when I first got back to malaysia. that was the lowest point in my whole life, every day I cried and cried and wanted to go back to australia. and so, for the last 3 years that was my goal-to get back there somehow. and now, after much waiting and suffering, finally, it's happening.

during those long years in malaysia the thought of australia was just so painful, it caused too much heartache to even think of it so i stuffed all memories of it into a drawer that i didn't open for years. i couldn't look at photos taken there without a painful stab at my heart.

but now...i can finally reopen that chapter.

garden

im going to miss this house we've been living in although we've only been here a few mths! how fast time flies. now we're married and we're moving out in a couple of months. the garden is what i love most. here above is a mango shoot coming out of a mango seed.

luscious looking grapes from the vine! they look good but unfortunately they're hard and sour. terk can tell you firsthand. hehe...
pumpkin plants.

pumpking seedlings

another pumpkin plant.

there can be miracles

we cried with joy when we got the news.

homemade popcorn

this crunchy snack is fun to eat because of its crisp mouthfeel and so cheap to make at home compared to the ready poppped ones at cinemas or at the supermarket. making a whole bowlful at home is probably only about RM0.30!
it's really easy, just heat up a heavy based pan and add about 2 teaspoonfuls of oil, heat up on the stove at medium heat for about half a minute then add a tablespoonful of uncooked popcorn.
cook for 2-3 minutes, they should start popping wildly. shake the pan every now and then to prevent sticking and burning. when the popping slows down take it off the heat immediately then pour into a bowl.
now melt some butter in the hot pan and pour over the popcorn, cover and shake it real hard to distribute it as evenly as possible. sprinkle with salt and pepper.

yakult

yakult factory visit
we saw how this miracle health drink is manufactured and packaged right here in malaysia. the packaging materials and straws are from japan. i'd always thought all yoghurt drinks were equal but apparently i was wrong because yakult is the only one with 30,000 bacteria that'll cure all your ailments. ok that's not what they said but it was close. apparently this drink will stop all your tummyaches and IBS and digestion and make your gastro-intestinal system work better. and it has vitamins added! plus it tastes good so what's the harm? :D my only gripe is that it's too small, i could drink 5 bottles at one go!
so, after the factory visit and promotional video viewing we're sold! i think gav and i will be drinking yakult everyday from now on.

this is one of the amphibian friends we found in the garden. there're probably hundreds of them.
after observing this one for awhile we let it go of course. they're too small for meat anyway.

Isreal doesn't bomb "schools"

in response to some who're condemning Israel for bombing children, this writer will explain it more clearly.
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anyway about my foot, thanks for all your well wishes and concerns. the doc said there were no fractures, and it's only sprained. it's swollen up but other than that, it's fine. no more pain [the painkillers he gave were very very good] and i can hobble around with a crutch now.

where do we go from here?

You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence with eternal pleasures at your right hand. Ps 16:11

I've asked God that question many times in this life, with the premise that the "right" answer will make me the happiest, and it would be the easiest, with the least difficulties and maximum rewards.

I was only half right. I think going God's way may me fraught with danger, uncertainty at times, heartache, problems, challenges...but it's still be the easiest because we can depend on His strength and not our own.

with this new year come new possibilities, new challenges, new "problems" to be faced. but it's the same God we have whose mercies are new everyday.

Commit to the Lord whatever you do and your plans will succeed Prov 16:3

wedding details - the veil

this is just another part of the mostly DIY wedding I had just to document the things I did for future reference. I wanted to make my own veil because just buying one would've come up to RM180 at least! of course it comes in the package if you'd opted for a studio package but we decided against that from the start.

firstly I browsed around the internet to get ideas, in the end I decided on a drop veil coz it was the easiest to make and looks sweet. we bought the white tulle material and the flower shaped lace from Jalan TAR in KL.

then we cut it into an oval, rounding off the edges after measuring and marking the lines with tailor's chalk.

cutting such a big piece of very delicate material wasn't easy as you can see! it wouldn't stay still and we needed weights on each corner.
then we tried it on to see if it fell correctly. we had to re-cut it a few times to get the length right.

it would've worked fine like this but i wanted to have lace edging on it so I got my mum to sew on 4 metres of lace to the edges.

then I sewed on a little comb to attach it to my hair with! that's it!