i am royalty?

got this from joy's bulletin board message on friendster...
i'm a noblewoman? hmm.... *queer look on my face*



You are a Baroness!
Spirited, Captivating, Stunning!

You are a woman of worldly wisdom and experience.
You are sensitive, protective (maybe even motherly),
you are highly respected and praised. Your gentility and
grace always shine through. You have a very beautiful moral
nature that defines who you are. You are a woman others seek
to befriend and they would never want to cross you.

Which Royalty Are You? Find out! By Nishi.

movie night: something's gotta give

with compliments from jo, who got her hands on 2 free tickets and generously offered them to jon and i, we hopped over to marina square last night to catch the 9.30pm show. i have always wanted to watch this show (primarily for its "quality-assured" cast) but refused to pay the extra that cinemas are charging for new releases. so we decided to wait till about a week after the premiere to watch it. and thankfully, we got to watch it for free!

this show is a remarkable must-watch for those who enjoy a romedy (romance + comedy). jack nicholson truly lives up to his awesome acting reputation. even at 60+, he still has the charm, not only to the younger women he dates in the show, but on the audience who are captivated by his eye movements and teasing smiles. i can't quite explain how he does it, but the playful yet knowing looks he portrays just makes the cameras love him. and how i can forget about diane keaton? wow... who would expect a woman her age to be able to give those girly expressions and shy smiles, despite her wrinkles around her eyes and lips? and jon thinks she still looks good and attractive.

quoting from this critic i read, they make an irresistible combination! i think it's their experience all these years that makes their acting skills so seamless... they seem to do it so naturally, and look like they are enjoying themselves on the set. (i mean, they must be enjoying themselves. they can't be doing this for the money right?)

this show struck me with its witty and smart dialogue, as compared to "along came polly" (which was the last show i watched). i would have been able to remember some lines if i blogged in last night, but after a trip to dreamland, i can't seem to recal them anymore (time to get the vcd!). the words they used, the jokes they jabbed at each other, the lines they expressed... were far more intelligent than the usual movies we watch. this show would not find you curled up laughing, but it still gives you the hearty laughter you need. and the romance effect was quite strong. given the beach resort setting, with the blue skies, swooshing waves, white fine sand, french music, and candlelight... and the occassional keanu reeves (do you know he's 40 this year?!) popping into the scenes. this is a show i truly enjoy... you wouldn't expect an emotional roller coaster, but just focusing on the lines they speak keeps you glued to the screen.

just a side note, i personally think amanda peet (who plays keaton's daughter and nicholson's latest trophy girlfriend) looks better with her hair tied up in a ponytail, as compared to letting it down straight and loose. she's gotta show those cheekbones and jawline!

which peanut am i?

got this from qiang's blog... how come i'm not woodstock? i think he's the cutest of all...




Which Peanuts Character Are You?

'explore singapore' trival quiz answer

haha.... i had a few people asking me where the place is and offering answers to my quiz. some even questioned whether i was going to be really giving away mystery prizes. yes i was serious! i was really going to get a prize if someone managed to give the right answer.... (and josh, i thought you were serious about taking a bus down to check it out! i'm disappointed...)

anyway, the name of that place is PARKVIEW SQUARE. i'm sure many people have seen it... it's the building diagonally opposite bugis seiyu when you exit near tan quee lan street. it's the building which sticks out like a sore thumb, because of its greek-euthopian-i-don't-know-how-to-describe-it design... it's the home of the super exclusive divine society club-lounge.

so for those who will be somewhere in the vicinity one day, do pop by the building, and walk straight into the open air garden and check out the breath-taking bronze statues (there are about 10-15) and golden crane tower.

i am a pair of leather boots?

did this quiz out of curiousity to see how accurate it is... not bad. i must agree that i do love leather boots. suede would be more enticing. but anyway, it's just for fun! =)


Leather Boots - sleek, trendy, and popular, you
are always dressed right. You sometimes seem
fake to people that don't know you. You enjoy
shopping and hanging out with your many friends.

What Kind of Shoe Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

yellow screen...

haha... i'm working with a yellow screen now. i'm serious. everything i see on my screen has a yellowish tone. i was just surfing online when my screen flickered and turned yellow. i know it's not funny, but i decided to post an entry with this yellow screen before i figure out what is wrong. my dad reckon that the wire at the back of my cpu is loose or faulty. no worries. i have another spare monitor sitting around.

i realised that i have not blogged in for about five days. not that my days have been uneventful. on the contrary, it has been quite fruitful and i have been enjoying every day since.

wednesday :: 18 feb [ sushi crazy ]
clement's leaving on saturday, and knowing how much a sushi fan he is, we planned to go for a sushi buffet at sakae sushi. although it was supposed to be on tuesday, he bailed out on us for a dinner appointment he couldn't refuse. we don't blame him, it was important.

anyway, let's get back to the real part. we had such a great time at sakae, just gobbling down salmon sushi. eating and talking, and waiting for shan to join us after her project meeting. poor girl, she didn't even have time for lunch. but that's good anyway, since she could eat her fill. it amazes me how time flies when we just slack and eat when we feel like it. the fresh salmon was great (we had at least 10+ plates). the fried tofu was great (jon can vouch for that... he had at least 4 plates). the fried salmon head was great. the gyoza was great. i'm sure you get the drift! putting it simply, everything was great coz we had over 50+ plates of sushi alone. we didn't even bother about the udon, fruits and desserts which were complimentary.



after that satisfying and diet-killing meal, jon and i went on to meet lynn to discuss for youth service and cell groups. shan went home to slug over her project and clement went to the airport (without a balloon! hee... private joke!). "oh man..." was exactly the reaction i had when i first saw lynn in her occupational therapy uniform. no wonder they are health science experts, and not fashion designers or art talents. pardon me, lynn, but i have to repeat this again. it really looked like a toilet cleaner's uniform! you really have to put on the badges to differentiate yourself.



anyway, i don't want to elaborate any further. we had our share of disagreements during the meeting, but thank God we managed to clear things up after that. and life goes on for the glory of God...

thursday :: 19 feb [ balloon frenzy ]
it's jon's 24th birthday! and before we put down the phone in the wee hours of the morning, he mentioned if only he could have a party to celebrate his 24th year... we laughed it off, wondering why he would want to announce that he's already 24! hee... but just as i was closing my eyes, tossing and turning in my bed, an idea struck me... and i went off to dreamland.

i woke up early in the morning, to do my duties as a daughter, and that was to wash the clothes. after that was a series of smses to find out the plan for the day. so we decided that we will go for a movie after he had lunch with his mum and jo. but what he didn't know (and expect) was a phone call from me just when he was getting dressed to leave for lunch. i popped over with 4 balloons, a sunflower, a plague i made and the big card from the youths. haha... a really small party for my boy. was contemplating a bunch of balloons, but it would be embarrassing to carry that many balloons on the mrt. 4 was just right for me...



anyway, we hopped off to suntec for his birthday lunch and jo suggested pizza hut. so there we went, and extremely full we left. pranced around looking at stuff till jo had to leave for work. so jon, his mummy and i walked down citylink mall and stopped at the whiff of coffee at pacific coffee. so we paused in our steps, sat on a cushy sofa and walked the people whisked past us.

after that was flying off to suntec for the 4pm show of Along Came Polly.

for those who have watched the show, my personal opinion is that the trailer gave away too much of the funny parts. or should i say, the show lacked sufficient comedic segments and they were all showcased during the trailer, so most of the stuff were too expected. but on the whole, it was still quite okie. and i did have a favourite character... and i felt the pain every time it banged into something.




the evening was spent at jon's kong-kong's place for steamboat. the food was good.. and we had our fair share of laughter and obsession with mark's new boxing pole. and cake-cutting... then mark wanted to go over to jon's to see the balloons. and he had fun just jumping and catching the balloons from the ceiling. i'm sure mark boy slept easily that night... and that sums up our day. so tired yet fulfilling! and i do hope jon had his "party" as he wished in a different way.

dessert break!

just another day swift past so quickly again! woke up at 10... and tried to do some cleaning up on my computer. too much trash (not as in recycle bin) and i don't want to run the risk of any viruses snooping in. however, that noble mission was halted the moment i found waffles in my fridge. so i went on to put them into the toaster and read the newspapers in the meantime. besides the moscow water palace tragedy and all the pro- and anti-valentine's day articles... i think i literally just browsed through. "ting!" and my waffles are ready... (and the rest is history.)

went down to the assemblies of God of singapore office at geylang to submit the forms and cheque for the synergiz youth conference. the lane where the building is on had a chinese temple, a taijiquan association, a buddhist society, geylang evangelical free church and guilin building (where 85% of the offices are Christian organisations!). anyway, that was just a trival observation of mine.

after 20 minutes in geylang, jon suggested catching a movie so we made our way down to orchard, with the intention of catching the 4pm show for Along Came Polly. but after rushing and quick walking, the lady at the box office told us the show was at 3.30 and the next is at 5.30, which is a bit too late coz we were going home for dinner. so we trotted down to wheelock place and had dessert at big-O. love the doggie pictures which were on the wall. (oh by the way YONG, i was trying to figure out who the girl you fancy was... but i can't! and i almost resorted to taking photos of all of them to ask you! haha...)

s'poreans are not poor!

the title came from the life development training session on money management, conducted by rev nicholas choo. it was quite an insightful session on teaching children to save and manage their money. it's important to teach them as little as they start with, so that when they start to earn big bucks, they won't be so overwhelmed that they start being ill stewards.

anyway, this fact has been proven today. SINGAPOREANS (in general) ARE NOT POOR! judging from the amount of bouquets, the size of teddy bears, and the amount of chocolates that past me today, how can anyone doubt that singaporeans do not have enough money to spend? and i'm not just focusing on the younger generation. the older working class were spotted in jewellery stores too. and how can i forget to mention about the strings of people queueing outside restaurants and eateries today? even macdonald's was filled to the max! and there isn't a sale going on at these places... set meals specially named for this special day were going at a premium price (with the excuse that they add a rose to the table, lay pink table cloths and play love songs in the background).

swensen's at bugis deserves a special mention. there was this long queue of people waiting to enter the restaurant, and i wondered if it donned upon the people that by the time they get their food, it's almost supper already? why would anyone want to spend their v.day standing in queues? (thankfully, jon and i opted for hoshigaoka when it was still not that crowded yet!)

before i end this post and head off to bed, an "explore singapore" trival question for everyone: name the place in singapore that has the bronze statues and golden crane seen in the photos below. (WIN MYSTERY PRIZES by leaving your answer on my tag board. winners will be notified shortly.)

think: is love really in the air?

who cares if today is friday the 13th, coz everyone is looking forward to valentine's day tomorrow. after all, love can battle all odds right? including any unfortunate events that is rumoured to happen to people on this supposedly-unlucky day?

yesterday afternoon i was just surfing around online and taking peeks into my friends' blogs and websites, when i came across this page where the writer was talking about her __th month anniversary with her boyfriend. (to maintain some privacy, i'm naming the writer Q. something different from the usual X.) Q was jotting down her sweet thoughts of being together with her significant other half for __ months. and she mentioned that people say that the first month is to get to know each other better, the second month is to overcome difficulties. and if they can get past 6 months, it should be able to last. then i question myself: last? last how long? last for what? Q is so glad to feel the love she is receiving, and is more than glad to give her love to someone she thinks is worthy. but honestly speaking, can 6 months really prove to stand against all odds that come with any relationship? most of us, if not all, would say that is impossible.

as i ponder on this, young people nowadays (to avoid sounding old, remember i'm just a little older than them) have yet to realise that true love does not come so easily. christians would know from 1 corinthians 13 the qualities of perfect love and that it can only come from God, coz we are all humans and it is "human to err". as christians, we do have the advantage of enjoying what perfect love is. but please put some thought into this point. christians and non-christians alike, how many of us have learnt that waiting till we are more matured and have put thought into our future, would be more appropriate for us to get involved with someone and be "in for the long run"? how many of us, when we finally meet the one who want to spend the rest of our lives with, can be 100% comfortable with talking about our past boy/girl-friends without feeling embarrassed, awkward, or finding ourselves keeping some facts from each other? wouldn't it be great if you can tell your other half that you have not loved anyone else other than him or her? although he or she may be the person you loved the most, but nothing beats being truly the "one and only".

so let me encourage you to make it a point not to jump into relationships so easily. stop, see, wait, then cross over to couple-dom. (a bit like crossing the zebra crossing.) for christians out there, let's trust God to provide the special someone for you, as He knows best and wants the best for you. as i heard from one of my friends, he has never spent a valentine's day alone since i-don't-know-when. but does it really matter? so what if he found someone to spend tomorrow with? is it really that important? will it be so significant? love is not only for lovers. what about family? what about friends? i'm sure you love them just as much. and even if you have someone to spend this day with, let not this day be the only day you express your love for him or her. shouldn't you love him or her the same on every usual day?

at the end of the day, valentine's day has evolved into a marketing gimmick. to boost the national GDP. to create sales for little red, and preferbly heart-shaped, things. to attract double the sales of anything companies are trying to sell. to help nurseries finish their bulk of roses, so that new buds can start to grow. to give restaurant owners and chefs the challenge to yet another testing time of their creativity.

½ price tues to full steamboat!

today, for me, can only be summarised with two words: FOOD DAY! met jon at 3.45pm and headed off to centrepoint to buy my cousin a birthday present. we dropped by life bookshop to see what cd i can get for him. jon picked out two cds: "hope" by hillsongs, and one by rebecca st james. i chose to get the "hope" album, for the very reason that he is more familiar with those songs. i would probably get the rebecca st james album for myself another time. it was quite interesting. different taste to the songs, yet unique in a special way.

anyway, after popping by mango (and eyed a green racerback but don't have my size) and life, we were a bit thirsty and wanted to get a drink. and i started having a craving for waffles or pancakes. then suddenly, it dawned upon me that today is tuesday and it's "½-price waffles day" at gelare. i searched my brain and can't remember where the nearest outlet is. so i made an SOS call to mummy and she told me FAR EAST PLAZA! oh man... that's so far away! but then, i recalled that we saw an upcoming outlet at plaza sing a month ago and headed there with anticipation. i was so glad i finally got to eat my waffles with ice cream! yum!

decided to have dinner there as well, since jon had to trot off to school at 6. and we had a 100% chicken meal... and who's afraid of the chicken flu? jon ordered chix treat (which is actually chicken chop) and me, chix mayo sandwich. and guess what? i think the thought of having my waffles overwhelmed me, and i forgot i'm having my grandpa's birthday dinner later at 7.30. thankfully jon helped me with the sandwich, so that i can have my large waffles with honey malt crunch ice cream, maple syrup and whipped cream! it was simly tantalising and the snapshots below tells it all....



after that satisfying meal, i headed home to meet my parents to go for dinner. my godfather arranged for us to have dinner at the hainan charcoal steamboat restaurant at aranda country club. as the name suggests, we were supposed to have a charcoal steamboat, but i was confused when the manager came over and switched on the GAS stove! haha... anyway, i can't tell the difference so who cares?! but the food just made all the difference... talking about it now just makes my mouth water again. shou tao, crab and noodles (yum!), steamed hainanese chicken, king prawns, beef, pork, thread fish, squid, cuttlefish, sea cucumber (eee...), clams, abalone...

but what's more important was that the family was all present. with the exception of uncle mike who didn't come back this cny, everyone was there to celebrate my grandpa's lunar birthday and ah yuh's birthday. i think it truly made my grandpa's day, coz even though it was arranged quite last minute, everyone made the effort to be there. and for the first time after many years, we finally managed to take a family photo (excluding my godfather who hates being in photos, and my cousin's wife who is pregnant and says she can't take photos for whatever strange reason!). what i feel is that it is so important for the family to be able to take a photo together, coz it shows the togetherness and it serves as a keepsake. when a photo is taken, everyone is smiling and displaying happy faces, and that is captured on the photo. any disagreements and unhappiness cannot be remembered. isn't that great? what we should remember are happy days and wonderful moments. negative feelings and unhappy times should be washed away, just like words in the sand under water.

so let me encourage everyone... take your cameras and start clicking away. capture those happy moments and remember them forever.

nothing but obedience

today's service was quite an experience. worship by micheal was quite okie, until it came to the last song "Spirit touch your church". i was so moved by the Spirit and felt the prompting to kneel and pray. tears started flowing down my cheeks as i felt the burden to pray for the youths. that God would touch their hearts, and His Spirit will flow from within them.

after that, rev pang ek kwan spoke. and he prayed his opening prayer with such spiritual authority and that i'm sure he caught everyone's attention. he spoke on "following the servant attitude of Christ" in Philippines 2:6-8. Christ is a deity, yet came to earth and lived a life in humanity. He made Himself nothing, and simply became obedient to death. underlying all these, He was totally dependent on His Father.

rev pang also side-tracked a bit and touched on how fleeting life is. how sometimes we waste our time on unimportant things and take God for granted. this truly encouraged me even as i reflect on what i shared in the youth bulletin for feb. if God in his magnificent wisdom made 24 hours in a day and "it was good", then why do we still complain that we do not have enough time for certain things? something must be wrong somewhere. either we are wasting our time doing nothing, or we are filling our time with things that we are not supposed to be doing.

another this that rev pang mentioned was that we sometimes never spent enough time with Him and notice how impatient we get sometimes when sermons get a bit too draggy or long-winded. it's all a matter of priorities. what are the things that are significant to us? why do we limit our time in church to the few hours on sunday mornings (and sometimes saturdays)? why do we set a limit to the time we give to our Lord? don't we enjoy coming to church? i agree with a line he said: church should be fun! we should enjoy church! YEAH!

chicken flu?

i realised that the last time i blogged was on tuesday. that's 5 days ago! shows how uneventful my life has been... this unemployed life is starting to get to me. i'm beginning to feel aimless in things that i do. i'm actually thinking that i should find a job really soon. so that i have something to do, earn some money, give my dad some hope of entering retirement soon and save money for the future! wow! great plans... but i've gotta start somewhere, and that's looking for a job!

anyway, my weekdays are quite standard. spent the past weekdays helping jon with his ob essay. not that i'm really good at it (didn't even do that module in sim), but a few topics like communication, leadership, motivation and conflict management do ring a few bells here and there. i also spent quite a few days seeking God about what i was going to speak about during youth service and what i was going to write for the youth bulletin. i just want to thank God for using me to remind everyone that "not enough time" is just an excuse we sometimes hide behind. and there is a great need to re-examine your life and schedule to see what you are filling your time with. and are the things you are doing pleasing in God's sight? i was greatly encouraged by the song that clement led...

may the words of my mouth
and the thoughts of my heart
bless your name, bless your name, Jesus...
and this is what i long to do
it's time to live a life of love that pleases you...

oh, and not forgetting i spent friday sniffing and blowing my nose... was suffering a bad flu. (3 packets of tissue in merely 4 hours!) not knowing where or how i caught it. but i was just joking with lynn that i'm down with a flu, and since i was born in the year of the chicken, so doesn't that make it "chicken flu"? jokes aside, i'm now nursing a skin-peeling sore nose..

as for the snapshots below, it's just for entertainment. the first photo on the top left was taken this afternoon on the way to vic's place after lunch at ps and shopping at x:odus. upsetting that i didn't get another pair of shoes. sigh. the pairs that i was looking out for were sold out. but i'm glad we found a pair of shoes of lynn. and i think she looks really nurse-y in it. (which is a compliment actually!) anyway, the three of us were at hougang mrt and when we walked past the handprints, we were just looking for handprints that could match ours. and seems like jon and vic found their match...

the other 3 photos were taken in early january when the boys were playing bball at the bball court near church. vic asked me about them, and i decided to post them here so that she can take a look at how wenhao and boy tried posing like they were doing a dunk. pretty convincing eh?

treasures in clay jars

during sunday service, tita pat dropped by in singapore, en route back to phillippines from indonesia. she was here to present anita with her certificate of completion for her 2-year mission training. when pas irene invited her to the pulpit and before she presented the cert, she gave a short talk on IFL (where she is from) and what they've been doing lately. she spoke about how God spoke to her that He will speed up their ministry among the Aetas, and how they have started work in a new village in Bata'an.

as she was speaking, one line she spoke was extremely obvious to me: "the hidden belongs to God's people". she was speaking about the hidden villages and tribes who have yet been exposed to the Gospel and kept away from the world. but the church theme for this year "treasures in clay jars" as taken from 2 Corinthians 4:7-18 kept ringing in my head. and just when tita pat was about to end, another line came to my mind. "Let not the treasures be hidden forever, but manifested in God's time". so throughout the sermon, i kept wondering about that. but nothing was revealed to me.

yesterday, we had a meeting at jon's place regarding the purpose-driven life campaign and how it would affect the youth ministry. lo and behold! i was enlightened by what God was trying to tell me during the sunday's service through tita pat. sis violet shared that as the Spirit of God works in the hearts of our church, the clay jars will break and the treasures will flow. what i gathered from this is that when the Holy Spirit is upon us, we will be overfilled with His power and wisdom, and we will be zealous for His glory.

the clay jars symbolises ourselves, and it is only when we "break" ourselves and surrender our lives, then God can work fully in us and He shall allow His treasures to flow from us.

praise the Lord for ministering to me. what more can we ask for, then to be filled with His treasures? gold and silver will not give us eternal life, diamonds and gemstones cannot give us happiness. so for those of us who have yet to overcome the thought that we are in control of everything, and we don't need God, let's consider this. can we say that we have not done anything wrong in our lives? can we really do without God? are we sure that when we leave this earth, we would be in Heaven? i don't know about you, but for me, my answer to the last question is a definite YES.

popiah party

celebrated my cousin's birthday yesterday at uncle david's place. it was a nice family get-together with a popiah lunch party. the twist to it is that we had to make the popiahs ourselves. it was definitely a test of skill. and the lack of an "instruction manual" didn't help the matter. the younger ones, who do not actually stand around popiah stalls and watch the aunties make it, did not know the steps to make the popiah. haha... for me, i forgot the lettuce was to be put on the skin after the sweet sauce, before the ingredients to ensure that the skin does not get too wet and soggy. so as you can guess, my first popiah (which was for my grandfather) came apart at the first touch of the knife. hey! but the knife wasn't sharpened either. =)

and there was my dad's famous roast chicken... cans of coke... more cny goodies... mandarin oranges... and homemade pulot hitam completed our lunch. oh, and talking about the pulot hitam, my auntie really got the taste right! with the thick coconut milk, oh.............. it was wonderful! mmm... describing it now still doesn't fail to wet my appetite again. and i had 5 bowls of it! haha... (not to mention, i had a super-uncomfortable stomach in the night).

a point worthy to be mentioned is the entertainment of the day. as seen in the photo collage above, that's melinda's new pet parrot. we had fun just playing with it, teasing it with this thin metal rod which came from a handcarry umbrella. and being the caring pet lover i am, i gave the bird its vegetable intake of lettuce and cucumber... and tried to test if it liked lup cheong. (for those who wish to know, parrots don't like lup cheong!) and i gave it the biscuit of my ferrero rocher too... and it finished it! haha... talk about luxury food.... and this bird is so funny. it loves the shelltox insecticide metal canister that sits next to its cage. if you hits it and make the "cling" sound, it would come to the side of the cage and start jumping up and down. and if you take the can away, it would start to make a lot of noise, asking you to bring it back. isn't that so interesting? and i forgot to ask melinda if she named it......

"donkey" addicts

thanks to kejia and her mum who graciously opened their home for us with great food and a time of fun! some of the youths went down to kejia's place in sengkang after leadership training in church on sunday and had a wonderful time.

her mum was such a nice lady... readily offering us snacks while she cooked dinner. judging from the amount of food gobbled up, i think the favourite dish of the night was the dessert: agar-agar with longan and rambutans. oh, and not forgetting how nice the mum was to peel the mandarin oranges before we arrived and serving them cold. wow!

and the rest of th night was spent... playing donkey dai-dee (again!). i think that's the only game that comes to their mind when they get together and starting thinking what they should do next. anyway, i was enjoying myself on the sofa, multi-tasking between watching them play and watching my 'japan hour'. that excludes the occasional interruptions of calls of distress from sidney who was the new addict of dai dee.

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just to share with you...

below are some pics which i snapped over the weekend. isn't great to see the blue sky once again? although i'm starting to miss the cool cozy weather, but without the rain, i guess it's better not to be lugging an umbrella around.

an educated tai tai?

before i logged on, i had many thoughts in my mind. i had wanted to write about thoughts i gathered from service this morning, views about this afternoon's leadership training session, the hype of the 'shag bands', the changing weather...

but as i read the new paper today, a headline hit me. something which is close to my heart. and those friends who are close to me would have heard so much about the title of this post.

All I wish when I leave university is to be... A graduate housewife
The New Paper, 1 February 2004

She will get the grades for her business degree. She will probably score herself a well-paid job. By all accounts, her life seems set to revolve round power lunches, power dressing and the heady heights of the corporate world.

Yet, this 21-year-old says she will drop all that as soon as she gets married. She'd much rather stay home and make babies.

A poll by The New Paper on Sunday revealed that, like her American counterpart, undergraduate Ong Lianjuan may well be the New Woman from Gen Y. Instead of the career woman trading blows in a corporate boy' club, the new modern woman dreams of a loving husband, a five-room HDB flat and three healthy children.

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hmm... doesn't that sound familiar? just before i finished school, people were asking what i would want to be after i got my degree. it started all as a joke. i would kid them and say "i want to be an educated tai-tai"... and jon would always give me this strange look in the face.

note: graduate housewife is not the same as an educated tai-tai. but after long thought, i have come to the conclusion that in singapore, it's unlikely for many people to be a tai-tai, unless they find a husband who can bring home about $8-9k monthly. so a "graduate housewife" title would be good enough for me, although i still prefer the ring to the words "educated tai-tai".

anyway, in the past few months, i have heard similar answers from friends and acquaintances. so i wasn't alone. i totally agree that there is a growing number of women who are treading a path towards this goal. as the article suggests, many aim for such a married life to commit their lives to having more children. as for me, i think many, like me, have had enough of the fast-paced, hectic life in singapore. and such a dream would allow one to slow life down a bit, take time to smell the roses and concentrate on less than 5 things at one time.

life in itself is full of complications and winding roads. isn't it enough that we have to wear many hats at one time, and juggle many balls simultaneously? add to that need to feed the baby, wash the laundry, catch up with the news (and sometimes drama serials) on tv, make sure the sheets are clean, keep in contact with friends, attend family gatherings... wow! no wonder people suffer from burn out! how much can we do in the 24 hours we have in a day?

and now, i come to a new thought that crossed my mind. what happened to God? how are we going to squeeze out time for Him? amidst our busy schedule, it is so easy to make the excuse that we have not time for God, except on Sundays, when we "perform" our weekly obligation to attend church. once in a blue moon, i wonder if only we can live the lives of our forefathers. tilling the land, tending the animals, doing chores in house, appreciating His wondrous creation. i'm sure they had more time to themselves.

i'm not propagating that women should leave the workforce and stay home to take care of the family. however, i'm driving home the point that life is not just about studying hard, getting good grades, graduating with a valuable degree, landing in a job with high prospect, earning lots of money, providing the family with a comfortable life (plus luxuries thrown in, if possible), and retiring in a serene resort home. though these are important, they are not essential to living life to the fullest.

fulfilling your responsibilities is what we should do. as a Christian, as a son / daughter, as a grandson / granddaughter, as a father / mother. then comes the million dollar question: what is the priority ranking of our responsibilities? let me leave with you a verse...

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Matthew 6:33