20061229
a Christmas entry.dear diary,
it's a little late but hey, there are twelve days of Christmas right? (: it's been a real good Christmas this year! it has been pouring for the past few days but amidst the cold, there's warmth found in the little meet-ups with the different groups of friends in celebration of this festive season! the rain has not dampened the spirits and i'm so thankful for that!
first up was the clique dinner on the eve of Christmas eve. it's the first complete clique outing like finally! it was certainly nice to see the rest again after so long! dinner at Kenny Rogers was good, with the good ol' jokes from college coming out all over again. spent the time after dinner loithering around, while we were all unable to decide on pool, bowl or movie. eventually it was Damien, the organiser who decided on pool while the few of us sneaked over to the arcade for the bishi bashi game (that game where you whack the red, blue and green buttons). the ones with the curfews and other appointments had to rush back (just like how things were back in college) while me, Veron, Lay Joan, Boo and Ming made our way to tcc for some quality catching-up over drinks. it was really nice and i really enjoyed that short hour with the incessant jokes and reminiscing of the good ol' days. our interesting teachers and the silly things we used to engage in. it's amazing how time flies, eh?it was a nice prelude to the Christmas season! thanks clique-mates! and thanks Boo for the chocolates and Lam for the lipgloss!
combined service at the indoor stadium was good! with us remembering that Christmas is not about the shopping and fun, but rather who we are celebrating for. the reason for this season that we can enjoy, is Him. i spent my first Christmas with this knowledge when i received Him a few years back. still, it was simply about knowing that it's His birth that we're celebrating, and nothing more than that. but today, i'm thankful to say that above all that, i celebrate Christmas knowing that He loves us and i celebrate Christmas by spreading this love to all others. i'm truly grateful for this amazing spiritual growth! (:i see gracethe eve was spent at Joan's place with the Red Cross mates. the combination made the eve a good one, with the fun company (seniors and juniors alike), the yummy food (dumplings that i burst, fries and nuggets that we fried, ice-cream, vodka and chips!), the hilarious gift exchange (of which i got a nice lil' photoframe from the host herself while the rest of the contents are purely confidential) and the different events going on at different parts of the house (movie in the room, mahjong on the corridor and poker cards at the couch). it was a nice night spent with the peeps, complete with the countdown! and although we only caught like a few winks each, we managed to pull ourselves up (with some people like Yingsheng who needed others to pull him up) and headed to Macs for breakfast. and yes, we talked about our camps again. haha. and i wonder why we never get tired of telling the same stories over and over again. perhaps it's the knowing that over the years, different batches of juniors are listening to our ageing tales? (:
sealed by Your sacrifice
i see love
reaching for me
precious blood
washes and sanctifies
healing flows
setting me free
i see grace
the day was spent at Marie's place with our huoguo! it was a simplel lil' gathering us four with food and gossips. what else do we need? haha. had a great time catching up with them all! huoguo was so satisfying that we all had bursting stomachs while we were devouring the chocolate-coated mashmallows prepared by Marie! love the girls! (: it's probably the last huoguo at there and we need to source for a new place! rushed back to hall for the block Christmas dinner with the usual peeps! they were having steamboat too! almost puked when i saw all the food. haha. got back in time for the gift exchange, where i received a whiteboard from Weiliat! it's totally apt for me! and maybe it's a calling for me to go for the teaching award. haha. and Minsun got my present! (: all the gifts were so interesting and i fell in love with the present Zhihao received from Daniel. it's this flute-like piece of ceramic and they actually attached scores of a few songs! and for the rest of the night, i was happily playing Teresa Tseng's Xiao Chen Gu Shi! and i'm proud to declare that i've mastered the few two lines! haha. this is coming from someone who couldn't handle the recorder back in primary school can? the night didn't even with the steamboat 'cause the guys had like a never-ending supply of alcohol. and we played this game with poker cards that required us to pick a card and we either drink, get someone else to drink, start a rap, start of catergory or set a rule. and we drank yucky drinks concocted by the oh-so-thoughtful guys while having to squat on the chairs and not being able to show our teeth. haha. and we made a hell lot of noise man. thank goodness the security guard (Alapichy's his name) was not around. for someone who booked me and Diana when we were studying in my room ("keep the volume down girls!"), i think he would have thrown us out of the hall that night. the night ended with a weary heart that enjoyed herself in all different ways! (:
it rained heavily on the morning of Boxing Day. couldn't make it for soccer training, while hockey and touch trainings were cancelled. the weather called for me to take a good rest and i certainly did! watched a movie in the comfort of my room, snuggled up with my pillow in the cosiness of the pouring rain. dinner was disappointing though, with the dry meat, uncooked fries and broken drinks dispenser at Carl's Jr Vivocity. and we finally went for our much-delayed kbox session (since our mid-sem break?) after dinner! thanks to Minsun for going with us although she understood like ten words of everything we sang in those four hours? the session was definitely worth waiting for!
this is one of the best Christmases i've had in years! now i truly understand the meaning of letting go of excess baggages. baggages that are long past their due dates and baggages that i tried too much to hold onto. it has been a fruitful year with me learning to know that there are much more things in life to embrace, and much more things in life for me to spend my time on. and certainly, i know that i'm enjoying myself alot than i had in the past few years. thanks for this blessed season! (: thanks to Veron, Diana, Lynn, Guanyou, Yuhui, Joan, Stella, Evonne and Wenting for the presents and cards too!
with the end of the fun, everything is back to how it was before. and our results are out! i did not check my grades during the leak-out and i've been so apprehensive and worried for so long! by God's grace, my grades turned out to be pretty satisfying! it's been a difficult semester, with trying to adapt to school all over again, the heavy workload and the need to balance the tons of other activities. and i know that i've not performed to my best capabilities. the grades were definitely a good surprise for me! and with that, i know i will work harder next semester! (:
trainings are back on full run! and i'm starting to feel the fatigue. the games start next week, with hockey and touch on Thursday and Saturday respectively. and one last week before school starts too!
dear diary, i just want to say that i've had a marvellous time for the past few days and i'm really happy! (:
a tired but happy girl,
julie
group1 soared @ 03:06
xoxo