Christmas was great. It would have been better if my UK cousins managed to grab a flight back. Unfortunately they couldn't get a flight back and will now be heading back during CNY - the period I would not be around... I met my niece for the first time. Her name's Nicole, my cousin's kid and she's only 1-year-old. Everyone says she looks like me when I was little. Hmmm... but she'll probably be prettier anyway when she grows up cause she's of mixed blood. The strange thing is she is very picky about who picks her up or carries her and she quite likes the "pass the baby" game. Haha... Somehow she often stretches her hands out to me, which according to my cousin is very rare. Also met my Aunty Denise's grand nephew. He's only 15 but looks older and was away for the first time out of the US. All the cousins welcomed him and he got along with both young and old. It was quite interesting finding out that he had never tried seafood, but we introduced it to him the night we went to East Coast and surprisingly, he took a strong liking to it!
Christmas was definitely fun. It was the first time in a long while that my sis and I were both back together. I was only back for 7 days - yeah, a rather short I should say, but I managed to meet up mostly with relatives, but also with my childhood friends and also church friends. Ate a lot of food, bought some nice tops... the usual stuff you would do on a holiday. And no, I don't think I splurged... or my next month's credit bill would be pretty high.
There was one thing I didn't think I would do during this hol back to Spore, and that was go on a yacht cruise to Malaysia. My aunt rented a yacht, a 20-man catamaran at the SAF Yacht Club in Spore and 19 of us went. It was good fun but the most tiring day I've had. We disembarked at a resort in Malaysia and played water polo (cousins versus the adults) for most of the day, then we returned to the yacht to have lunch. It was really good. I actually didn't want to go - first, because I didn't bring any bathers because I thought I was gonna shop my entire trip and meet with friends. So I actually waded around the steps going into the pool. Second, I get boat sick. The last time I was on a boat, it was bad. But because it was a family thing and my aunt persuaded me to go, I said OK. My mum ended up buying travel sickness pills for me - I took one pill before the journey and it actually worked. Two of my aunts got quite seasick though... The tiring thing was after the yacht cruise, I rushed home and showered and then headed out again for my Spore church gathering. I can't believe I started the day at 7am and ended the day at about 1am... went to bed at about 2am.
We also played charades and a few other games on the yacht so yeah, it was pretty exhausting by the end of it all.
My church gathering was a really solid reflection I found. We had to write our answers to three questions:
1) Name a godly attribute you would like to have or take on in the new year and why.
2) What habit do you currently have that you would like to change in the new year - so many people said procrastination. Haha... but quite common among students. I kinda said I worry a lot and think too much that I doubt God at times when I shouldn't - so just wanting to trust Him more with the plans He has for me.
3) A verse that encourages you.
We sang church songs and also spoke about our ups and downs for the past year - just a general reflection for the new year.
The last day in Spore was Sunday, and again, I met up with church friends. There was church lunch and it was really good, but I was craving for chicken rice also. One of my church friends suggested Downtown East, this resort in a suburb called Pasir Ris. And yeah, the chicken rice wasn't bad. The ice milo was one of the best I've had in Spore though... except there is this milo drink with milo flakes (can't remember what it's called) but TY introduced me to it and it's quite nice.
TY had been so busy in Spore helping his family move house. I guess it's handy to have a son like that but he was getting quite sick also because of the hectic-ness. At least he spent lots of time with his family. I only got to meet TY twice the whole trip and it was for an extremely short period of time. So in a way, I am glad to be back in Melb and spend my next 4 days with him here before I head up to Sydney for good. Quite sad really with all the boxes being packed and the house clearing away slowly. Still need to do lots of stuff. Pray that my future housemate Christina and I can get permanent accomm soon.
By the way, I just came back to Melb this morning - my flight wasn't very good. First, my flight was delayed. I sat near the bulk head seats and there were lots of babies around me who kept crying. You kinda feel like you're in a pregnancy ward. There was one baby near me who wanted me to hold him though... and he was adorable. But he cried too at some stages, especially during the turbulence. Yeah, the turbulence was quite bad. Also, usually they give you a towel before the flight and after the flight, but they only gave you a towel after, so I was getting really dried up due to the air in the plane. The food - it was the choice of pasta or salmon. I love fish so I took salmon, but it wasn't a very good choice. Don't think it was cooked very well and it made me have a very upset stomach. It got to the point that I had to go to the toilet and puke it out. You could tell it was the salmon cause it looked like it - just all mashed up. I must say it was the first time I ever puked on a plane. Then it got really stuffy and my nose was dripping and blocked. It was quite horrible. Managed to watch Knocked Up though, which was alright - predictable ending and storyline. Quite liked the light humour to it though. but there were some really gruesome scenes... certainly not for kids. Stardust was so much better - watched it when I was on the flight to Spore - and it was really quite good. Definitely worth a watch.
Actually I nearly missed the flight back to Melb. I checked the time a day or two ago, but actually saw the wrong time - I was looking at the time I arrived in Spore. Good thing TY called. He called to check where I was and I said I was still at home. Then he asked if I was sure that my flight was departing at 2130 and I said yeah, I think so. But when I checked my ticket again, it was 2015. Yikes! This was about an hour and a half before my plane was due to leave. So we rushed. And during that time, I was happily eating my grandma's buah keluak peranakan dish. She cooks the best one.
Well, I got to the airport just in time. My dad said it was the fastest he ever drove to the airport. And I got there 50 minutes before my plane was about to leave... Apparently they close the check-in 40 minutes prior to the departure time, so I was quite lucky to have arrived there - it was so close... TY was departing from Terminal 2 but came to Terminal 1 where we went in together. He got his new biometric passport too which he tested out and it worked! Mine works too - just don't have the plastic thing. His looks more high-tech.
When we got home, Jess was sleeping. She did such a good job looking after Kara and Cuddles. Kara really missed us because she was purring and rubbing her head against our faces. So cute she is. TY and I slept for a bit and then I had to go off to work. Yeah, jetlagged at work... haha... but went to work and survived. Tonight is the countdown to NY's, but I'll probably be too tired to really do much. Need to pack.
By the way, I received my full offer package to the MA Speech Pathology course at Uni of Sydney with so many forms to fill... including my criminal check record and vaccinations. I need to actually go through my medical booklet from Spore to see if my vaccines are still valid. If they are, it saves me having to take them again. But the list of vaccines I need to take are in a booklet and there's a lot - quite scary. The only worry is I have to do my criminal check by 15 Jan and my vaccinations by 18 Jan. That is pretty rushed. Need to make a full check list for the NY and it will be busy the first two months. Pray for strength, discernment, wisdom regarding choices and the hecticness in Sydney and pray for a smooth transition. Thanks.
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