thinline between dreams and reality?

lately i've been having too much dreams/nightmare, i cant recall which are true events and which are dreams.

the only One who loves perfectly...is Him.

i miss them =(

I MISS THEM SO MUCH!!! awesome family..so anyway, this is my host family in costa rica. actually I cherished the time most with this family duirng my 1mth stay in costa rica..although white water rafting..and abseiling and horseback riding on Christmas day and all was superb...but still nothing beats being around these people.

Not everyone is in here.. they have like extended family..sisters...cousins...and whoever all staying side by side. their culture is such that the family's very closely knitted, i really love it there. simple and nice..everyone goes abt doing their own things, schooling, working (my family's into wood-carvings and stuff. very cool. i tried to do it, and managed to carve out half a sea turtle..loL) hmm, this family..can't live without music and TV. ahha..i think apparently all the families in this village are like that. they'll blast music (Neri - the grandmother loves spanish romantic music, so i get that every morning as wake up call. haha. if not it'll be the kids running around or the washing machine going RRRRrrRRRrrRR) in the morning while doing housework, then evening everyone would be gathered around Neri's place to watch tv and have dinner (beans and rice beans and rice beans and rice...and more beans and rice..altho i love beans...thats abit TOOO much...i got constipated after that). the lady carrying a baby...yeah well, she's the grandmother in the household..v young right. the women in this culture seem to make it their mission to get married early, then have kids. kids are like so impt to them...actually whether they get married or not, they'll still want kids. so yeah...alot of single mums in this village, doesnt really bother them at all, cos along with their kids, they just stay with the parents. oh wells..its interesting to learn how other culture function.

but it felt so good, cos they embraced me as one of them. took care of me so well..fed me with so much beans and rice........and yeah well. haha.....was touched by their lil acts of concern and stuff...like i had night duty at the beach, and they were afraid i couldnt find my way back cos it was pitch black...switched on the front lights so that i could recognise the house.

oh man...there's just too much to write and share abt this trip. haha.. i journal like abt average 8 pages for each day..this is definitely an experience i wld never forget.

so anyway..i'll just leave with that for now. goodnight everyone. God bless all~

Aribadda!!

Taken at playa Ostional, this was really a blessed trip. not only was i able to see 2 leatherbacks, i was able to witness the Aribadda (mass nesting phenomenon)! Thousands of olive ridleys came up to shore to nest within a period of 4-8days.. i was struck in awe, just standing at the beach, surronded by lots n lots n lots n lots of sea turtles. looking towards the sea..i was able to see many sea turtles swimming towards the shore, their heads bobbing up and down the choppy waters..haha. really very funny. on a serious note, its really tiring for these turtles to come up shore and nest..swimming across oceans..with like 100 eggs in them, you can actually see then pant when they reach the shore. crawl crawl crawl...stop and rest...then crawl up further to a safer spot. gotta start digging their nest (really hardwork! i had to do that too, like get down on all fours and dig turtle nest for the hatchery *sweat*)....then lay abt a 100 eggs....and they still gotta cover up the nest and camouflage it. really tiring... but then, thats the end of their job, they won't get to see their youngs again. and only 1 out of 1000 grow to be an adult. sad case.

bottom left of the collage is my project leader yaiza, awesome to work with, and she took care of me well when i was there. =) and i can really sense her passion and love for the poor turtles.

bottom central: thats me and 2 other research assistants..during my off day, we walked 2hours to the next village just to use the internet. took a wrong route, and we had to climb up a steep rocky platform..crossed mini rivers..and the roads arent well-paved! they are sandy and had lots of pebbles...haa... hot, tired and bothered......even then, ever ready to smile for the camera! =)

bottom right: thats me sitting by the hatchery on a day shift =) oh during night shifts while i was at the hatchery...i saw lots of shooting stars! wooohoo!

Olive Ridleys!

TURTLES TURTLES TURTLES! This particular species is called the Olive Ridleys. Very cute...it is named for the olive color of its heart-shaped shell, the smallest species of sea turtles (7 species in all). Largest species is the leatherbacks.. I saw 2 of those when i was patrolling the beach at night. woohoo..it was really massive. 1.5metres in length (jus the carapace!! i.e., the shell). really a sight to behold..

yeah, i'm the only asian in the whole ISV group. bulk of it were aussies, and a few kiwis. haha, they're actually quite fun to hang out with, it was really quite an experience.. immersing myself in 2 cultures (aussie and costa rican) at the same time. Definitely stepped out of my comfort zone this time round.. unforgettable.

Finally! Photos from Costa Rica trip

sorry for the delay..haha anyway its finally up. some photos from my trip. I dont have much photos though, cos as most of you know, my camera went kapuut on me 1st day i reached Playa Ostional (place where i did my volunteer work in costa rica, its a remote village by the sea.) I took all these photos with my handphone (k800i)..haa.thank God camera phones =p

this is Linus..one of the kids in my host family. very cute..and super duper hyperactive. dont get fooled by pictures! haha =p

bits and pieces

since my last post, havent been motivated to blog at all...much has happened during this disappearance act of mine. both good and bad. that being said, God uses all circumstances good and bad for His Glory ["And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28] ........so its ALL good. heh..

lets see....hmm..dont really know where to start. how bout some photos? but wait a min...suddenly realised i forgot how to post photos on the site. grr. after my 1mth stint in costa rica, apparently became bit of an.......IT illiterate. O_o

now ehh...there's flickr.....photobucket and wat else......anyway, i forgot my password to watever i've used before. gosh, haha terrible.

ok ok..wait till i've figured all those out, then i'll post again. O_o
then theres err....oh yah..tagboard.

ok nevermind. this is such an embarassing post. haha. anyway you guys must be used to it by now................i guess. zzzzZz.

just came back from church camp! whooopee. it was gooooooood. God is always good. hehe. fellowship was good, made some new friends, built up stronger bonds with existing ones...worship was awesome, Word by Bro Binh also stirred me up..reminded me to have that burden in my heart, the responsibility that has been entrusted to us. God, I want to make a difference! I want to make an impact! God, use me! God, I say YES to You!

ooH then i was asked to help take photos for camp too (alongside with mark and casey, cos both them on worship most of the times). it felt weird at first, when people were worshipping, doing their stuffs.....then there i was going *snap snappy snap* ..think it'll prob not feel as weird next time round. yippee~my first official assignment. was fun fun fun! initially i was like "hmm...im not capable of taking good photos...what if this...what if that..." basically lots of doubt abt myself, but mark said as long as i enjoyed myself, that was more than enough. heh.. and during one of the sessions, Bro Binh mentioned that we're serving by grace, becos He allowed and cos He wanted to use us.. that we shouldnt serve only when we feel adequate and 'up for the job'...cos we always fall short of God's standards anyway. and if we don't use our gifts, we'll lose it. so yeah.. Lord, help me to say YES to You always. Lord, mould me and make me the person You want me to be. May You fashion my heart after Yours.. and make me an instrument of liberation for what Your heart bleeds over.

there was this other thing i wanted to say while i was writing the above paragraph...i was like "hold that thought hold that thought.."..but still it slipped my mind! meh.

so anyway, hmm yeah then i lost my wallet during camp. i remembered distinctly packing my wallet into camping bag....but then when i got back home, wallet was gone. *woe* really wonder where i lost it. but thank God i took some of the money and my debit card out (didnt know why i bothered to do that, i usually dont...so thank God!) anyways....im jus gonna miss a few photos that was in the wallet.....and some cash (can't recall how much)....no biggie i guess, hope whoever picked it up will be blessed then.

today is easter monday~ public hols! i can never never remember hols when im in perth. i don't know why. this morn i was all changed and ready to go uni print some stuffs, then planned to head to a few primary schools to make an appointment with principals to talk abt recruiting their kids for my study... but woh, thank God shanshan reminded me that its easter monday today. saved me a wasted trip! phewz.......thank God and thank you shanshan (tho u probably dont know this site exist)! heh..anyway much appreciated.

ooK. thats abt all for today.. hopefully next post there'll be some photos. and hopefully i'll post again sooonish. haaha. i've like 1 presentation and 2 essays to do.......and need to write intro and method section for my thesis before this hols is up...and theres the readings i've gotta catch up on.....bleah. so yeah.

God Bless all!

exam madness

introducing my 2 exam muggy buddies, li-chan and my sister dearest. loL. i think we ate more than we studied though. heh. the custard bao that u see here, well its our late night supper. whats interesting was the process of 'heating' up these yummylicious bao. ehh, well we tried to steam these bao of cos..but it kinda failed, cos the bao ended up happily floating in the pot looking like 4 super big tang yuan.. well u can imagine. so anyway we decided to oven-bake it..haha. smart right. turned out really well too, still as yummy as ever. abit crunchy though. heh..yums.

anyways, heres 3 cheers to li-chan, cheryl and yummilicious custard buns. loL.
life is so much more bearable and fun~ =p

less than 2 weeks to home!
less than 1 mth to costa rica!

woohooo!

oks doks. time to ZzZzzz!

weeee!

I got my project assignment for ISV already!!! Thank God He gave me what i wanted!!
SEA TURTLES!!! COWABUNGAAA!!!

distracted. again.

top 10 ways to stick to your new exercise plans (an article i got from a site)

1. Get an exercise buddy. They will help keep you motivated…and so will the guilt of standing them up.
2. Make a bet with a friend or enemy. Placing a money wager that you will hit your goal by a certain date makes every workout count. It also puts your honor on the line!
3. Tell everyone you know about your fitness goals. That way, you will have that many more people to answer to.
4. Buy yourself new exercise clothes, sneakers or a workout bag. Not wanting new and/or expensive equipment to go to waste will make you more apt to get off the couch and use it.
5. Join a gym that you pass by nearly every day-perhaps on the road between your home and work. Seeing it regularly will eventually draw you in there to train.
6. Get on a professionally-designed, long-term program. The sooner you start seeing results, the more you'll want to keep training to continue them. Aimlessly hopping from workout to workout-or even worse, from machine to machine-will only waste your time.
7. Join an exercise class. The camaraderie you develop with your classmates should be enough to keep you coming back.
8. Keep a workout log. Recording your progress from session to session (or lack thereof) will show you what you're doing right and what you're doing wrong. There's also a great feeling of satisfaction that comes from watching the amount of poundage you use grow with each passing week.
9. Buy an iPod or portable CD player that you can take to the gym. Associating your workouts with fun music or escapism will make you not want to miss them.
10. Put a picture of your family or loved ones in your gym bag. It will remind you who you want to be healthy for.

i likey point 4 and point 9. lets do some shopping! loL. point 10 sounds interesting to me.

okiz for point 3: im gonna annouce to the whole world now - aiming towards FLAT tumtum/chiochio abs by end of next year. loL. i dunno how yet, but im gonna do it!

current shape - round (oh woe!)

weight: im not telling you!

physical fitness: all time low.

all this is gonna change...wahahaha~ debs and me have made up our mind to join next generation fitness club next semester. best part is..its near my new place. whooopeee doo.i hope this works.

for now though, i shall get back to my exam prep. woe.

Friday Night Live.
Left to right:
Debbie
Pengpeng
Susu
Me
Jean








abit of photo update.. thats the only one i hav. haha..i've been under-utilising my camera~ bleah. yet to get remaining photos from my frenz..so yeah...

CHOOOCHEEEYANAAA!!!

note to self: f0cus!

bits and pieces.

so i've been gone for a long time. nothing much has happened, except that..all my assignments are done. now its just benkyou all the way.. 3 hour essay.. im dreading that. no idea how to prepare for that yet.....im just studying for my human learning and cognition unit, which is MCQ based. taking only 2 papers this semester. so i guess, i really shldnt be complaining. but ah...why essay. i dunno how to prepare for that. or probably, jus lack the motivation? meh. dunno. i've been studying lately, but got my priorities wrong man...trying to escape from my essay preparations...

went over to have dinner with amanda, gabz, joey poey and deborah .. yummy dinner. but the best part was catching up with 'old' friends....haa. we decided we must live a healthier lifestyle. lOL...then contemplated to join gym next sem (not murdoch gym! and hey, it wasnt me who suggested it this time!! i noe wat u're thinking ellie.). so anyway...wld be checking out this place called 'Next Generation' theres even a website for it..looks real cool.......and pricey. haa...maybe i'll try and get a free trial or sth. lOL.

hmm.......i thot...i had something else to say.........but i forgot..

anyway....oh so its confirmed, im moving to bibra lake with debs and ellie next sem. *WAVES to future housemates* woohoo. hehe...

ahhhhhhhhhhh. ok. seems like my brain's not functioning quite well now. haa. thats all folks. gonna watch waterboys now. heheh. >_<

i will wake up early to study tmr. yeth. EARLY. hmm, suddenly realised..i'm becoming more of a lark than an owl now... study best in the morn, but at nite time...i jus shut down.. neither can i study, nor sleep. grr. to the one who invented TV...i love you. haha. [was it alexander graham bell?? or did this guy invent the phone? or who is he anyway.....? aish. nevermind]

jya neh.

a note to my dear goldfish(es)

thanks bobo and ellie bellie for that cute lil note in gladwrap. heh..heartwarming indeed. =p
and hello there to all my fellow goldfishy.. sorry goldfish lee has been hermitish again. heh.. one last assignment to go...then we can all muggy mug together in library. im giving myself till this friday to complete it. yes i must! then bobo, i'll wait for u...and we can have one whole day dedicated to playing video games (i realised my PS2/ntsc-j has been modified to be able to play pal games...haaa. just as well, since the format in aust is pal...but cos of that i cant watch DVDs using my ps2. grrr.), photoshopping and numnuming...heh.. soon soon.

anyway been lazy to blog, somethings wrong with that tagboard. bleaah. i've been wanting to revamp this blog....i think since few semesters back -_-"

ok doks. i willl see u all veryyy sooon.

with lots of loveeeee,
+noodle

ima back.

i've been missing for quite a long time, and im guessing no one ever checks in since i changed the address previously. heh....anyway...lazy to write much now. some photos. taken with my D200. having lots of fun with it..but lately i've been neglecting it due to busy schedule, but mostly due to lack of inspiration. still learning the ins and outs of handling a dSLR..and trying to grasp photography techniques...anyway, enjoy.

How are you running?

...so I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step...

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize." 1Cor 9:24-27

Lord help me. to take every step with your purpose guiding my feet...

taken at cotts.

i love my zoom lens, and unsuspecting subjects. haha.

Family: hand in hand.