And so we all wish...

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY to all the beautiful mothers I know! You are doing a great job - just keep pressing on! A woman of valor who can find, for her price is beyond pearls.

Her husband relies on her, and he will lack no gain.

She requites him with good and not with evil all the days of her life.

She seeks wool and flax, and she works it with the will of her hands.

She is like the merchant ships, she brings her food from afar.

She rises when it is still night; she gives food to her household and an allotted share to her maidens.

She contemplates a field and purchases it; from the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.

She girds her loins with vigor and strengthens her arms.

[When] she advises that her merchandise is good her lamp does not go out at night.

She stretches forth her hands onto the distaff, and her hands support the spindle.

She spreads out her hand to the poor man, and she stretches her hands out to the needy.

She fears not for her household for snow, for all her household are dressed in crimson.

She makes beautiful bedspreads for herself; fine linen and purple wool are her raiment.

Her husband is known in the gates, when he sits with the elders of the land.

She makes a cloak and sells it, and she gives a belt to the trafficker.

Strength and beauty are her raiment, and she laughs at the last day.

She opens her mouth with wisdom, and instruction of kindness is on her tongue.

She supervises the ways of her household and does not eat bread of idleness.

Her children rise and call her fortunate; [also] her husband, and praises her.

"Many women have acquired wealth, but you surpass them all."

Charm is false and beauty is futile; a God-fearing woman is to be praised.

Give her of the fruit of her hands, and her deeds will praise her in the gates. [Prov 31:10-31]

STITCHES

We spent our afternoon today serving the people in the Housing estates of Ascot Vale. The team at Operation Stitches had decided to put on a pre-winter carnival for the people who live in these estates. 20-plus of us were off, and it was a quite a sight; with a trackless train, giant and mini jumping castles, pamper parlour (hair-braiding, manicures, perfumes), temporary tattoo stand, fairy floss and popcorn, loot bag stands. I volunteered to be stationed at the scarves and beanies stand - each person had the chance to pick a beanie and a scarf to prepare for winter for free. Each beanie and scarf was lovingly knitted by the folks at kogo (Knit One, Give One), an organisation made up of people who knit for the sake of giving.

The Husband was first to volunteer to be in-charge of the giant jumping castle, and with his black t-shirt tucked into the back trackpants, finished with a pouch bag; he really did look more the part of a bah-kut-teh seller. He had a ball of a time; though he needed to be quite stern with some of the boys, trickier moments like that were balanced out by some kids who exclaimed to him, "It's the best day of my life!!!"

It was quite a fantastic experience, to be able to see these people as individuals and serve them and love them, particularly the children. Even though it went on for a couple of hours, it felt too short a time! It wasn't so much of "doing charity" or "helping the needy"; but rather an eye-opener to see these people as our equals. To see them as how God sees them, and who they (and we, for that matter) have been called to be. To see them as deserving love just as much as we do; to see them being shown grace just the way we have been shown; shown the courtesy we would expect for ourselves and our friends.

not THAAAT hopeless

I've been ridiculously bad at my attempt to blog or post a photo everyday (via project365) but have failed quite miserably.Though I haven't posted in around a week, but fear not, people - I haven't been THAAAT slack. Have been taking photos, just haven't had the time to post them daily!

There is hope after all.
So anyways, here are my err... weekly update!

DAY 4: SATURDAY, 10 APRIL 2010 - What in the World?

This was my attempt at the week's project365 theme 'What in the World'. Can't quite remember where this was taken, but I do remember what it was - it's actually the hole-y part of my much-beloved Mimco bag. This photo is certainly no where near as nice as the TOP 5 choices of the week, but dear iPhone will just have to do!


DAY 5: SUNDAY, 11 APRIL 2010 - Old Friends

Circumstances of late have decreased the number of chances The Husband and I get to hang out and catch up with a couple of dear old friends. We still see our friends relatively regularly, but more often than not, it is in a large-ish group. As you may have realised, the dynamics and conversations are quite different in a small and large setting. This day just reminded me of how much I had missed catching up with friends one-on-one (or if we're talking couples; two-on-two!).

I had been feeling quite bleagh; very oh-woe-is-me!; and this encounter quite unexpectedly became very encouraging and soon I was refreshed and revitalised.
There will be old friends and new friends; old family and new family - but still we love 'em all!

DAY 6: MONDAY, 12 APRIL 2010 - Happy Engagement, T and S!

meat Meat MEAT!

We went to The Point in Albert Park, one of our absolutely favourite resturants (though we only tend to make an annual pilgrimage, when we have our valid discount of 'buy-1-free-1 main') to celebrate the engagement of The Husband's groomsman T and his child-bride-to-be S (tongue-in-cheek!). Speaking of spending quality time in small-ish groups, it was the first time The Husband and I have actually gotten a chance to go out with the both of them alone, so it was a fantastic night out! With great food. Was it any surprise from the picture above that we ended up ordering steaks all-around?


DAY 7 AND 8 - FAIL !


DAY 9: THURSDAY, 15 APRIL 2010 - Costco Queen


2 litres of mayo, anyone?

It was too good to resist. This massive jar of mayonnaise from Costco was even cheaper than buying a jar half its size from our local supermarket. Addressing Food Safety issues, we never double-dip and keep the jar in the fridge - we've kept our open (but uncontaminated!) jar in the fridge for months and have never gotten sick before!

That night I was dubbed Costco Queen.


DAY 10 - FAIL!


DAY 1: SATURDAY, 17 APRIL 2010 - Car Servicing is fun!

Corn Fritters w/ haloumi, poached eggs and tomato relish

St. Ali
12-18 Yarra Place, South Melbourne

We had to wake up at an unacceptable time of 7:30am on a Saturday morning as we had to send our car for its routine service. Good thing that the day was sunny but cool, and very pleasant!

After we dropped the car off, we walked to St Ali for breakfast. This was the first time we've been there since the 'tut-tut' bought-over. Word is, people in the (Melbourne coffee scene) know have stopped going there due to the controversial issues surrounding the purchase of the business. Don't take my word for it, but something along the lines of the original owner not knowing who the actual purchasers were, and that if he had known, he would not have sold it to them.

But anyways, we went there for brekkie, and it wasn't too bad. My corn fritters were slightly oilier than what I would've liked, but overall it was nice.

After brekkie, we took a nice walk to and in the South Melbourne Market, which is always a treat for me. A trip to the ATM within a nearby shopping centre suddenly saw The Husband and I get manicures. Yes - you read right - we both did. Actually his was even more expensive, as he had gotten acrylic overlays put on his nails in an attempt to halt his extreme compulsive nail-biting habit (onychophagia).

Nails done; The Husband wasn't feeling too well so we decided to have lunch then go home. Had seriously the most authentic Malaysian Roast Chicken Rice at:

Coconut House 449 Elizabeth St Melbourne.

Even though we are aiming for authenticity, typos on signage is just not acceptable. Seriously, if one is to spend so much money on signage, at least proofread! There were typos like "Home-grown Austyralian soybeans" and "Come and discovery for yourself".

Reminded me of the time I saw a typo in a Chinese restaurant menu and exclaimed, "Oh no - the poor tofu got fired!"

fail!

I don't know how people have the time to commit to uploading a photo each day. Taking the photo isn't the big problem - it's uploading and posting it on web!

Damn fail; at day 4...

Day 3.

What was left of a plate of charkwayteow

This place, I dare say, has the best charkwayteow in Melbourne. The most amazing thing about it is that it does not contain (i) pork, hence no "chi yau char" and "lap cheong", and (ii) MSG. They also served pretty cool desserts eg. Pandan pannacotta with gula melaka, and durian creme brulee. Definitely highly-recommended.

My Cube Boardgames Cafe
122 Lygon St Carlton

Day 2: Chicken Tonight

About 14 of us gather almost every Thursday as a house church, and we make it a point to bring a dish - a la pot luck. For some reason almost everyone decided they felt like chicken, and so 4 out of 6 dishes were Chicken - grilled chicken, chicken stew, herbal chicken, chicken nuggets. I'm all chickened out.

Closing thoughts for the night:
Based on Genesis 1:1 - The Genesis writer does not use the personal names for God that the Hebrews used (eg. Yahweh, El Shaddai); instead, the writer uses the general word 'Elohim', literally meaning 'The Mighty One', or the 'Ultimate Power'.
What is the difference between saying, "Our God created the Heavens and the Earth' and "The One who created the Heavens and the Earth is our God"?

Day 1.

Have decided to jump on the project365 bandwagon and attempt to post 1 photo each day for the next 365 days. More often than not, though I have a lot in my heart and lots to say, I can't seem to put them into one coherent post, and this gets me frustrated and so I just tend not to try. So I'm hoping each photo will get me started. If not, at least the photo is something posted for the day, which will hopefully also "capture otherwise forgotten moments of (my) life" (as per their website!)

Day 1:
Saw this very unusual water glass at a fancy cafe, when catching up with a dear old friend for lunch.

I won't quite start my rambling now, as I'm actually cheating, i.e. it's not exactly the 7th by the time of this posting, as noted on the blog :P I DID photograph this on the 7th though