H O P E...and greater hope

i dedicate this video to my spiritual brothers and sisters, and also myself, who have relentlessly been praying for and awaiting our loved ones' salvations.

This video may be raw, but it drips with a divine H O P E that outrageously shines through, even when 'death like a gypsy seeks to steal what we love' as depicted in the main character's life event.

Let's continue to put our hope in His word.



For those of you who don't exactly understand what i am saying, simply know that i am talking about a God who can give us a living hope when Jesus is in our lives and is truly Lord.
1 Peter 1:3-4 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you...

The video's main character found this living hope, and began to place all his hope in the Lord Jesus for his father's salvation (amidst frustrating moments) . He held unswervingly to the hope he professed, for Jesus who promised is faithful (Hebrews 10:23). Guess what? Jesus fulfiled his prayer, granting greater hope at the end of the day. =)

on Young Preachers' Contest...

Thanks, especially those of you who emailed/msn-ed/sms-ed/called me to encourage me on my Young Preachers' Contest last Sunday, and of cos those of you who came to support me physically! =)

The results for my first round......*drums roll*.........
i DIDN'T get into the next round!

I am not exactly sad cos' i knew i didn't prepare well at all. But i am a lil' regretful cos' i had not been focused enough on this preparation, letting myself be distracted by many little disturbances that hit my previous week. Especially the emotional ones, which are usually a woman's Archille's heel. Did i hear an Amen? =p

I recalled my previous attempts of speaking/singing to a crowd when i could at least appear confident... i knew i did it cos' i stood in the presence of One - the one God who delights in me, the one heavenly Father who loves to hear me talk or sing to Him, no matter how good or bad i do. Hee. The result: i always did better than i expected.

This time, even seconds before the contest, i let my mind and emotions run wild in the whole Expo Hall 9 (very big hor). I forgot to focus about my Father. That is sooo important.

And yesh i thought i mumbled r.u.b.b.i.s.h for five complete minutes - i couldn't even remember my points and scripture references! I really appreciated my three pastor-judges who nonetheless encouraged and smiled at me as i preached, or rather rubbish-ed. =p

* * *
BUT just in case you are thinking that i am discouraged, push that thought of concern away. =) God was the one who called me to join the contest; He wanted me to learn from this experience and re-learn to lean on Him in ALL situations. And i believe that from here, He has many more and greater things in store for me to learn, to overcome, and to conquer.

i am still believing in God in the dream that He has deposited in my heart (see below). As i repented over this incident, a new strength is birthed in my heart to follow God's will with even greater tenacity and boldness. *Would you continue to believe with me?*

in God's mighty love,
mirabel =)

P.S. i just got news that every contestant's 5-min session is going to be broadcast on Youtube soon! Aha...

(Why i made myself go thru' this TRAUMA) (click on)

A week before the contest...
I was both excited and anxious about it, because i have always been rather frightful to stand before a crowd. (You didnt think so, right? :P)

SO, why did i make myself go thru' this 'trauma' ???

1. My church family actually encouraged me to go before i even thought about it! i was pleasantly surprised b'cos i am definitely not the most eloquent person around.

2. When i asked God about this, He reminded me that i have a dream to preach to multitudes like my spiritual great great grandmother, Pastor Claudia Castellanos.
So if i don't even want to try on this comparatively mini platform, how would i ever dare to go up to the BIG one?

3. God also brought fondly to my mind how people around me encouraged me when they heard that i want to be a pastor in the future. Like what one good bro said 'You want to be a pastor? i will definitely be down there to support you when you preach on stage!'

Acutally even after these 3 reasons, i was still not feeling confident enough. I told God, "if you let me hear or see the word P R E A C H one more time tonight, then i will go". (i could hear God fall off his chair when i said this)

And goodness me, when i was checking up a totally unrelated word in the dictionary that night, my eyes suddenly roved to the entry:

pulpit (n) : platform for P R E A C H -ing on.

This time I fell off the chair.

I told God "Ok ok, i will go!" and smiled. (Though my heart was still thumping with worry! :P )

* * *

Between the Dreaming n' the Coming True

This music album title excites me. So many of us dream of our dreams coming true. But hang on... the process towards seeing that light at the end of the mystery tunnel is something not to be belittled or disdained over. It is necessary. The journey of finding Hope (and joy and strength) in the midst of darkness, un-peace and confusion is beautiful.

You can't understand light unless you understand darkness, because that's where life is most often lived…somewhere between the two. It's messy and it's beautiful all at the same time. - Bebo Norman

Bebo Norman, one of my favourite singers and songwriters, found Peace in a world that looks so confusing and frightening, having watched friends in failing marriages, people that he loves get sick and die... war and poverty and natural disaster...

But.."whether we want to admit it or not, we (Christians) are in the same place as those who don't believe as we do," Norman says. "For all of us, life is fluid. It ebbs and flows. We get caught in darkness and some days we escape into light. Life is beautiful one moment and tragic the next. But we seem to spend all our time trying to separate the two - to somehow weed out the bad moments and highlight the good. We forget that all these things flow into one another."

Out of this perspective flowed songs lived out in a real world that is messy and beautiful all at the same time, into Between the Dreaming and the Coming True, an epic that whispers intimately and a pledge of love that endures through the worst of times.

* * *


I Will Lift My Eyes
Written by Bebo Norman and Jason Ingram

God, my God, I cry out
Your beloved needs You now
God, be near, calm my fear
And take my doubt

Your kindness is what pulls me up
Your love is all that draws me in

I will lift my eyes to the Maker
Of the mountains I can’t climb
I will lift my eyes to the Calmer
Of the oceans raging wild
I will lift my eyes to the Healer
Of the hurt I hold inside
I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes to You

God, my God, let Mercy sing
Her melody over me
God, right here all I bring
Is all of me

‘Cause You are and You were and You will be forever
The Lover I need to save me
‘Cause You fashioned the earth and You hold it together, God
So hold me now

© 2006 Appstreet Music (ASCAP) / New Spring (ASCAP). All rights for the world on behalf of Appstreet Music (ASCAP) administered by New Spring (ASCAP). / Peertunes, Ltd./GrangeHill Music/J Ingram (SESAC)

(Go to Bebo Norman's official site to listen to this song. Bebo Norman's heartfelt sharing on his new album can be found here)

jungle gals wear skirts. Orr..eeee..orrrr!

My office attire did not deter me from treading the jungle track (though not unbeaten) this afternoon. Was at SAFTI (Singapore Armed Forces Training Institute) Military Institute to oversee a project, and lunchtime was boring while waiting for some SAFTI personnel to return. Yes i couldnt sit still. So off i went, pulling my not-too-keen colleague along, into the greens! Definitely much more interesting than the airconditioned facilities! =)

Only the best!

My takeaway from this video:

Psalm 84:11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.

I am reminded that the heavenly Father has always the BEST for us! *awww* Don't settle for second best. =)

Shh...

(This is a Youtube video showing what you really shouldn't be doing in the library)

*chuckles*

I am human too.

Many of you have left notes to me, saying that you have found encouragement, inspiration or simply Godly peace thru' reading my blog. Thank you. And i praise God truly, cos' He is the one who has encouraged your hearts. =)

I suspect most of you have the impression that i am always joyful and positive. That is truly how i choose and seek to be. Before i smile, i make sure joy swells from within my heart (Proverbs 15:13a A happy heart makes the face cheerful). I choose to look ahead more than behind, cos' while i can still make efforts for today and the future, i can never change the past. That is why i never use 'what if...' - 'what if i had noticed the mistake earlier... what if i had done it even better...' - but one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14)


But i am still human. i do get hurt, feel unappreciated and think negative too. i understand why such an unfortunate trend of cutting wrists/arms is so prevalent among the youth gals nowadays. Though i never thought of doing that, i did use to entertain thoughts like 'maybe i should just die or jump down the flat' when i was younger. It seemed almost therapeutic to indulge in negative thoughts and feelings, or even pain. Isn't that true, gals?

Just last night i felt so hurt and couldn't stop sobbing. i wanted to spend some quality time with a very dear person, so i tried to plan a trip according to her preferences, and made efforts to save up more. But when i tried to confirm the plans with her last night, she said merely this 'i don't feel like going'. i asked why. And her answer is 'sianz...'.

These little-gal thoughts raced thru' my mind - 'So going out with me is sianz... i knew it, she doesn't love me, nobody likes me....'.

Do these sound familiar to some of you?

Proverbs 15:13 ends like this: A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit.

* * *

+ Have you felt so crushed in your spirit that you tried to 'transfer' the heartache to pains and wounds on your own body?

+ Afraid of dying thus cutting your lower arms instead of your wrists?

+ Do thinking and feeling negative bring you both pain and pleasure?


May i emphasise to you that this pleasure is deceptive! Heartache definitely crushes you, not just mentally, emotionally, and psychologically, but physically as well. Which gal wants to face the world with swollen downcast eyes and Rudolph's nose?

A car, once scratched, loses its original splendour and value. Gals, God created every of you in His beauty and brilliance. Don't create scratches on yourselves that you WILL regret later on.

The Heavenly Father's heart is very pained when you do that. Imagine how a car owner's heart pains when his sparkling car gets scratched. Did someone ever tell you that you are God's sparkling gem?

Another good news is that, you will never lose your unmeasurable value in God's eyes! The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). Hey gals, do not try to deny that your hearts are really loving, tender and giving. Beautiful.


If any of you has been cutting your own arms/wrists/thighs, may you allow me to tell you this: My heart pains extremely too when you do that to yourself.

* * *

This morning i woke up with swollen eyes. ARGH. But i looked (thru smaller eyes, heh) to Jesus who was there with me the whole of last night, and who told me He understood and gave me His comfort and healing. Today i had renewed strength in my spirit, and i will forget what is behind, and strain toward what is ahead (Philippians 3:13). I am God's precious gem, and i will continue to shine, reflecting His glory!

Guess what, i just smiled, and i knew it arose out of the inner joy of the Lord who had strengthened my heart (Nehemiah 8:10). Proverbs 15:13a A happy heart makes the face cheerful. =)

* * *

Gals, do you want a cheerful face or a crushed spirit? They do not exist together.

i have a secret to confess.

(i have a secret to confess.) (click)

I AM VEEERRYY SHY!!!

Nowadays people give me the mirabel-are-you-sure-you-are-shy look whenever i say that.

But really. My heart feels faint with accelerating palpitations, sometimes skipping a beat or two, and my stomach churns with butterflies in their spiral glide, in these situations:
1. Before or when i speak or sing before a crowd
2. When the attention is on me
3. When i am facing a guy i like.innocently. (however in this case, the intensity of the heart 'tremors' and stomach churns is much lower. Really)

i say it again... Mirabel is very shy! =P

oh no...i am such a lazy runner. Out of the 5 or 6km last night, i think i walked 1/4 of it breath-fully. =p
Still it was a refreshing trot around NUS and Science Park.

What and where is my motivation????

Countdown to Safra Sheares Bridge Run : 11 days. *GASPS*

i think God just showed me 1 Corinthians 9:26-27 : 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.

i have two 'cars' that bring me across miles

i love to walk. My two 'cars' (referring to legs in the hokkien dialect) almost never grow weary as they trot places. And i always wish i have more time to stride longer miles (i don't mean on the treadmill).

Yesterday i felt pent up in office. Suddenly i missed Jesus... i missed the intimacy of His companionship and presence. Jesus is real and He lives in the present. He desires to be our Soulmate at every present moment. But i had shoved Him aside many times, when i felt like being alone, when i received much attention from others, when i relied on man more than Him...

This was it. I would not shortchange myself of Jesus in my life. I invited Jesus on a walk with me after work. There was no better companion for this favoured hobby.

(Click to read on about the beautiful walk)

Just some minutes into the time with Jesus, i began to think of some dear gals and my granny - Hey today is Jean's birthday, i must call her. Ooh i miss Pat, i shall give her a call. I will ring Angela too to bless this baby in Christ, and why not Dina and Felicia too. Oh i am going to pass by Ying Shuen's place, should i pop by? I feel like visiting my grandma too, probably i could buy some desserts and then walk to her house.....

Aren't you spending time with Me? Jesus asked. Hee, sorry. All plans aborted and left for later.

And indeed i simply allowed the Holy Spirit to lead me. Jesus spoke to me about many things about ministry, the role and true beauty of a woman (in relation to this article), about me wanting to be a tree... Reaching Chinese Garden MRT Station i thought probably i should head home, but my heart was reluctant to end the walk with Jesus. I then walked along Jurong Lake which was as dark as shadow so i kept to the main road (with all the dust blowing at my face, yucks =p).

(30 minutes into my walk) I spotted an iguana on the tree bark as i turned the corner into Jurong Town Hall Road, but i did not shudder as usual because this 'verse' was in my heart 'If God is for me, what can an iguana do to me?' =p

A few steps after that, Jesus suddenly popped this question 'Do you really want to get married?'. i was stunned for a split second, after which i chuckled. He then began a series of 'interrogating' questions, and the point of conviction came only when He showed me His face - the state of it when He was crucified. He showed me His body - broken, broken, and broken.

Jesus then asked, Are you really willing to serve Me, someone who had been this broken and crushed? Are you really willing to die, die and die in order to serve Me? I had been in worse inferior state than any man, including your future husband, can be in.

My heart pained badly for Jesus. Planet Shaker's song Evermore continued to play in my mind... i sensed much of my own desires die; the redundant superficial concerns fell away. i felt so much lighter as i continued walking and chatting with my Shepherd...

it was an awesome 1-hr walk. My 'cars' had taken me probably across 3.5km, but Jesus had brought my heart a thousand miles closer to His.

More walks to come! =)

Bowled over.

i am terribly awed by this 13-yr old gal.

This is for you, daddy!

My dad's birthday is coming soon! Since he was back in Singapore for the past week, i decided to present to him my thanksgiving video then.

This is for you, daddy! =)

(Hee i do find the background music overused, but i still think it's sweet, and i couldn't find any other, especially that it was 2+am in the morning. Some of you may find the photos familiar, but my dad has not seen them. Argh hee. Enjoy! :P)

Fresh Imports!

Now you can put faces to my newfound friends from GCYC! Here are a few of the peektures they just emailed me.


wooh...i miss all of you! But friends, i will be seeing you very soon! i may be making a trip to bangkok at the end of this month with my youth volunteer organisation, and am so looking forward to the Magic of Love (MOL) trip to Tokyo in October! *winks*

Nozomi, thanks for giving me your blog addy! All in Japanese...Can someone translate her blog for me? ha. =P

Eri, thanks for popping by my blog. I am so sorry it is all in English. heehee. We must teach each other our language.

Fumiko, your presents were oishi! Arigato! =)

For Future Generations

(By 4Him)

The signs are obvious, they are everywhere
All that we hear about is the gloom and despair
Too many would be prophets saying
"It’s the end of it all"
‘Cause mother earth can’t take much more
The hammer’s gonna fall

So nature has its needs, that’s a lesson learned
But it appears to me there are greater concerns
‘Cause we can save the planet
Thinkin’ we will somehow survive
But father time is calling us
To save somebody’s life

(Chorus)
So I won’t bend and I won’t break
I won’t water down my faith
I won’t compromise in a world of desperation
What has been I cannot change
But for tomorrow and today
I must be a light for future generations

If we could find a way to preserve our faith
So those who follow us
See the price that was paid
Then maybe when they question
What it’s gonna take to survive
They’ll find the strength to carry on
In what we leave behind

(Bridge)
Lookin’ in the eyes of the children
Knowing that tomorrow is at stake
When the choice is up to them
Will they have the strength to say

i think i am easily amused.

Here is one recent silly joke that crossed my path.

K: Hey so you were the Lord's Supper....
i paused, waiting for him to close his sentence, which somehow drifted into thin air just like that.
me: Nope, they didn't serve me on the plate just now.

Ha i am sorry Kenny, didn't mean to poke fun at your sentence. But my imagination was being playful. Anyway, i think 'Lord's Supper personnel' sounds overly serious. It was simply serving. =)

* * *

i love this picture. ahmi Yueh Ping was praying for me at GCYC, after a short but good catch-up.

thanks bongshua teo for capturing this gentle yet moving shot.

"I Cannot Be Who I Am Not. I Can Only Be Who I Am."

i wonder how many of you find this drawing spectacular.

True, it is not one that makes people, including myself, go 'wow' at the first glance. But i wow at the awesome man behind this painting. He uses no paintbrush, no hands - just his nose.

Gille Legacy, the artist, was born in Bathurst, NB, Canada, and was afflicted with cerebral palsy since birth . Thus Gille has no use of his arms or legs.

He writes really heartfelt poems too, typing them with, yes, his nose.

Below is my favourite of his poetry:

Live The Life You Want To Live

Be Yourself.

Care for what you see is yours.

Follow your journey.

Do not stray from your path.

Do not judge others by their mistakes,

but be judged by your own.

Live in the world that God wants you to live in.

Do not turn your hourglass before its time.

Time is too priceless

to let sift away from your hand.

Let others think as they wish.

You are the one who knows what you feel inside.

Do not let imaginary visions of promises

from others desolate your mind

with fairy tales from the Devil's tongue.

Ignore the waves

and let the sails ride free with the wind.

---from "An Island In One's Heart"copyright Gille Legacy 1991/1994

It truly tied in with Gille's motton on his website: I Cannot Be Who I Am Not. I Can Only Be Who I Am.

i shed a little tear at the marvellous strength and resilience God has granted this man whom the world could have proclaimed u s e l e s s. i praise God because He has a purpose for every person; no man is an accident or is redundant. Only man can give up on himself.

Looking at the shots of Gille and his color-stained nose, i saw that his face exudes a joy and hope that many so-called normal people lack.

Corrinne May wrote in her blog about her meeting Gille: "I believe He (God) must have had a hand in leading me to behold His face in Gille...and what a lovely face he has".

* * *

+ Are you always struggling with being who you really are?

+ Or trying too hard to be who you are not?

Let me encourage each of you that you really do not have to be who you are not. Everyone of you is created as an unique individual. 'God created your inmost being; knit you together in your mother's womb. You are wonderfully and fearfully made' (Psalm 139:13-14). Each of you is already so beautiful cos' you are 'made in God's likeness' (James 3:9b)! Thus i believe too, that if all our faces are pieced together, we truly reflect the full glory and beauty of God's face. *say wahh...*

Yes, just like what Gille wrote in his poem... Be yourself, and the best of yourself! =) Nobody should expect us to be like any other. i was very heartbroken when one of my girls chose to think that i was always disappointed in her. Whether she made it in her studies or not, i had told her 'it's okay, dear, keep on putting in efforts. i believe in you, and i love you'. I am always proud of her. When she improved in her studies, i rejoiced so much in my heart at the Lord's work in her life. Maybe she thinks i only care for or am proud of her when she becomes a top scholar or a G12 leader. That is how the world defines success. Every even tiny step of faith she took, i saw, and i knew she tried. And if that was the best that she could do now, it was enough, and perfect.

(Dear, please don't struggle alone. If you don't tell me or let me in, i cannot help you. But like what i always told you, i am here for you.)

* * *

Many paint with hands. But God has made Gille excel in the same art and skill using his nose.

Who says we have to follow the world?


(i suspect it's no coincidence that i read this quote from songwriter Liang Wen Fu in his article tonight - "We are so used to the norms of majority in society. A right hand is a right hand, but it doesn't mean that the left hand is a wrong hand". Agree.)

newfound friends (and freedom)!

Jesus brought these new friends from Japan to me last weekend, and many more from Tokyo and eight other Asian nations. Just like the sticker on the present that Fumiko (not in picture) gave me, which says "Friends love through all kinds of weather" (Proverbs 17:17, Message Bible), i am sure the precious friendships built up during this Gateway Cities Youth Convention (GCYC) will go a long way cos' they were established on Jesus' love and kinship.

More photos and sharing on the way. My camera failed on me on the last day :( . Shall await to see the peektures my newfound friends are going to send me!


(How God used me during GCYC...) (click on)

i went to GCYC with a heart simply wanting to welcome and serve the people that were here, and as usual God never failed to bless me back when i gave. =) In fact, i felt like i was the delegate intead sometimes, when the foreign brothers and sisters received my gestures and myself with such hospitality and warmth. i felt the big family of God, or to put it even better, the BIG God in this gathering of His nations.

Last night when bro bongshua asked me to describe my experience of GCYC, i received a verse in my mind - 1 Peter 4:8b 'Love covers over a multitude of sins'. Indeed Jesus was about His ministry of reconciliation throughout the GCYC. When the Chinese brothers and sisters knelt before the Japanese to ask for forgiveness over any hatred and unforgiveness they had bore against the whole nation of Japan for her past deeds, i sobbed hard. Where else does love and forgiveness mingle, and then flow as easily and freely as before the Cross of Jesus Christ? The next moment, the Japanese brothers and sisters were kneeling and weeping with the Chinese. And we all knew something broke free in the Spirit for these two nations. Praise God.

i went on to read the surrounding verses 1 Peter 4:7-9:
'The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.'

Jesus had truly empowered us to do the above over the past few days.

* * *

Personally i had also felt a greater freedom to serve and love during this GCYC. As i was sharing with bro fun, i felt 'so myself' (to which he replied 'you mean you are usually not yourself?' :S ). Ha, nope. But i really sensed the Holy Spirit using me so freely like never before.

+ i was pretty disturbed within my spirit as Pastor Hee Guan shared about the lack of fathering in China, and how career and survival are a subset of each other's focuses. My dad has been working in China for the past ten years (and is definitely quite entrenched in the Chinese system of personal survival), and i thought i sensed probably a small fraction of the lack of fatherly love in the Chinese. i cried out to God for my father's salvation, because as much as his business is big in Shenzhen, i want him to be influential in advancing the kingdom of God in Shenzhen! My spirit was soaked heavy, in God's compassion, as i teared to my ahpa Yc and ahmi Yp.

+When we were praying for the Chinese delegates, i sensed there was so much restrain and probably fear in the Chinese sister i was near. After praying, the crowd receded to their seats but i held her back, and spoke firmly into her ear in Mandarin 'Jesus wants to tell you He really loves you'. Her face screwed the next instant, and she began sobbing badly. I praised God because i believed His healing had taken place. God's compassion for the Chinese overcome me again... i then continued to pray affirming words (in broken Mandarin, haha...) into my dear sister.

+i bumped into a Thai sister, Safus, on the last evening, and somehow the casual conversation immediately turned into heartfelt sharing, during which i felt that the word God gave me in the afternoon was for her. I prayed Matthew 6:26 into her 'Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?', and then she tenderly shared that there was indeed a picture she had seen and been touched before - her watching the birds around her and thinking they were so wonderful and loved by God....I praise God because He had continued to minister to and affirm my beautiful sister of her worth. =)

Another Thai sister suddenly popped up, and asked me 'Do you have a word for me too?'. Haha.

* * *

About being a tree.....

Pastor Eugene concluded the GCYC with a word about national revival from Zechariah 3:10 "'In that day,' declares the LORD of hosts, 'every one of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and under his fig tree'". i was too tired to receive the word completely, but my spirit still went 'Wow'.

On Tuesday ahmi Yp had prayed for me about being the tree that spread out her branches to let many come to gain shade and support. I was overwhelmed, cos i was reminded that i told God two years ago this, 'Father i want to be a tree. A tree to support, shade and shelter many many', when this conviction strengthened my decision to forsake my further studies because i knew He had called me to be a tree to the many youths that He had brought to me here in Singapore.

Exciting times are coming, for me, for Singapore, and for the nations!!! Would you believe with me?

the best gift about the best gift

To the big kid Jing, this reminded me of the wooden tag you made for me. It's been pasted at my bedside all these while, and it never fails to touch my heart. =)

throttling thru' thin air | into nosebleed territory

I received these photos thru email, and i was awed. Tibet has been my dream place since my secondary school days when i read 'Seven Years in Tibet' by Heinrich Harrer. i knew it was not the story that intrigued me, and definitely not Brad Pitt who starred in its Hollywood interpretation, but the beauty of the Tibetan land and people which is so alluring in its exclusivity.

i am looking forward to hop on board the Beijing-Lhasa Express some time soon! *woohooo*

jalan jalan for a good cause

(Early in the morning 6 o'clock) half-dazed Shereen and Mirabel wait at Cck bus interchange...
(6.20am) finally we hear the footsteps of the rest of our troop...and off we head for Padang!
(7.10am...) joining the 17000 strong congregation on the green field, we try to wake one another, especially Ainiah and Elizabeth, by acting silly (Amanda pinpoints Mirabel), taking photos, following the excercises which we could hardly see (Ahem, Yati was our leader)... Asyiqin finds us! Thank God!
(7.45am) flag-off! And so we walk and walk and walk... =)

For the Take the City Walk, my group and i accompanied Yishun Children's Club kids and Pastor Victor and Kelly's tribe for the 4.5km-journey from the Padang to Shenton Way, Boat Quay and back. One of the boys was really cute. He was perspiring all over his face, but he just refused to wipe his sweats away. This little boy was such an inspiration for us big zei-zeis as we watched him put in so much efforts for the walk!

*Thank you friends, coachees etc. for walking with us*. I especially want to affirm Rosebel, who cut her toe quite badly during the walk (gosh so much blood) but nonetheless continued to finish the race well. You gals showed me real and deep comradeship when you were staying by Rosebel, cheering her and holding her hands when she was so afraid and in pain. *wow*

Well done everyone!!! =)

(Shereen, where are the rest of the photos?? :p)