WOW! Haha, can't believe it's been nearly 2 years (again!) since my last post! I was reading my so-called To-Do List, and thought I should maybe update it a little.

So, from 2014:
 1. Auckland tower sky jump - still not yet haha
 2. Collect European boardgames - yes! continuing this. latest addition: Bohnanza!
3. Visit Niagara Falls - default answer: in a few years' time hopefully, haha
4. Make angels on snow - still not yet, oops
5. Visit Disneyland Florida - ok default answer again! soon soon 
6. Bake cakes - YES! done, but stopped doing recently. i should maybe pick it up again some day 
7. Get cool bed sheets - haha haven't actually gotten new ones in the past 2years, but i know i should go get some Christie bed sheets next year! apparently they're amazing 
8. Fly in a helicopter - still not yet! not sure if i'm still desperate to do this? 
9. Experience Wimbledon's centre court - yes! 
10. Watch all grand slams live - watched 2 so far! RG this June! 

Okay wow, it's good to do this every 2 years, hahaha there hasn't been much progress for this particular list. But let's see the other one.

From 2016:
1. Visit a tea plantation (since I've recently fallen in love with tea...) - default answer again. i'd still want to do this! 
2. Learn cake decoration - somewhat... haha, at the moment i don't plan to learn beyond simple cupcake frosting 
3. Pick up a new skill - hmm.... does playing simple chords on the piano count? 
4. Go for a ski trip - ahhh in a few years time, hopefully.
5. Read/watch all of HP movies -  haven't done this yet. need to do this before year 5 ends! so i can hopefully watch the play in ldn before leaving the city. haha
 6. Learn how to associate with kids - ok, somewhat.. mostly in paeds clinic i guess
7. Try golf - one day, maybe
8. Master waffle making - quite happy with my last batch of waffles me thinks! so, yay! done
9. Learn how to do my own makeup - can do a bit of eye brow drawing, eye liner & foundation application now. eye shadow  - not yet!
10. Visit the Grand Canyon - not yet. soon hopefully!  

OK! That's quite a bit to do in the next few years. Hahaha I better not add to the list for now. I'll maybe come back in a year's time and see if I've made progress first, and then add to the list! Hahaha. Oh dear...

So I was reading some of my old posts and I came across this to-do list I made in January 2014.

1. Auckland tower sky jump - ok, not yet! 
2. Collect European boardgames - started! slowly but surely
3. Visit Niagara Falls - in a few years' time hopefully
4. Make angels on snow - hasn't happened
5. Visit Disneyland Florida - haha maybe in a few more years
6. Bake cakes - YES! done and still doing!
7. Get cool bed sheets - haha i have a few that i really like now
8. Fly in a helicopter - not yet!
9. Experience Wimbledon's centre court - YES! twice this year! thank You so much Jesus!
10. Watch all grand slams live - i've only watched one so far! haha not sure if this will ever happen. but we'll see!

Wow. This is pretty cool! I should maybe make another list now and come back to it in a couple of years' time.

So, what are the ten very random things I might/would like to do?
1. Visit a tea plantation (since I've recently fallen in love with tea...)
2. Learn cake decoration
3. Pick up a new skill
4. Go for a ski trip
5. Read/watch all of HP movies
6. Learn how to associate with kids
7. Try golf
8. Master waffle making
9. Learn how to do my own makeup
10. Visit the Grand Canyon

Can't believe how quickly we're about to enter a new year! Haha and I just realised this would be my first and last post of 2015. Two years ago I wrote a hundred things that I was grateful for. This year I would like to do the same too before the year ends to save it as a keepsake. So here goes the list.

1. Christmas -  thank you for your Love and providence, Jesus
2. Family (including shoo hei yam snow) - Lord thank you for protecting them and keeping them safe while I'm away
3. A new flat for 2016
4. Food!
5. A wonderful stay at jmh
6. Good flatmates in the past year
7. Someone who can take over my dashwood tenancy
8. Lovely room at dashwood
9. Daddy for always being willing to support me financially
10. Great company in school
11. Patient and helpful tutors in clin skills classes
12. Life group
13. A superb mentor, Cher
14. Toothpaste samples!
15. A warm Christmas dinner at Yg's
16. The gigi group dinner a few weeks ago
17. Secret santa Jolynn
18. Secret santa Ming
19. A family of God that truly cares
20. Pear and Kotz, for being the lg family's wonderful addition
21. Jing for her joy and warmth
22. Jade for her patience and love
23. A truly memorable trip to Brisbane in July
24. Ivy for always being there and cheering me on
25. EY for looking out for me
26. Mummy for her great sacrificial love, always
27. Ebooks that I can read on my phone & kindle
28. Kotz, Cher and XM for helping me to move last week
29. Billy for letting me stay here right now
30. Cher for being my bubble tea other half
31. Chinatown!
32. The hospitality family
33. Youtube for the entertainment and songs
34. Bubz for her vlogs that keep me company while I brush my teeth
35.
36. Trip to Movie world with EY and ivy!
37. EY for going on the rides with me
38. Ivy for making us muffins so we wouldn't go hungry
39. Ivy for getting me Elizabeth Arden's green tea spray
40. Esther for being a great great friend
41. Louie for the catchup early this year
42. My Radley umbrella from erjie for giving me shelter when it rains
43. All the many new things I could buy online
44. Sarah for leaving me so many awesome things and introducing me to BiOY
45. Yiyi and teoteo for coming to London and treating me to Burger & Lobster (again!)
46. A wonderful year end trip last winter with the Tings to Spain & Portugal
47. Great trips with the gigi group this spring/summer
48. A new phone - thanks Billy for bringing it back from the US for me
49. My faithful mibank for keeping my 4S alive when I have to leave the house for a long time
50. Amber for dropping by last Sunday - thanks for your company, Amber
51. Dajie, erjie and sanjie for always loving me
52. The functionality of my walkman mp3 (I'm really sad i lost the cap a few weeks ago, but I'm thankful it still works perfectly fine)
53. A new alarm clock
54. Jerry, Ps Vincent & Ming for their amazing impartations
55. An amazing easter camp in April
56. Jamie for letting me store my things at hers over Summer
57. Qatar airways for doing amazing flights
58. Great summer at home
59. Billy's universal adapter
60. Great year spent in ocf studying Galatians (and now Matthew)
61. Lovely birthday surprise by the gigi group at the sushi place
62. The amazing birthday gifts this year - thank you so much everyone!
63. Kanken classic for my birthday. Thank you Ryan for all the amazing gifts over the entire year - the ukulele and miband too
64. Well insulated lecture halls in school
65. The lecture capture system! Thank you
66. Lecturers who are so passionate in teaching
67. Textbooks that I can refer to
68. Youtube Tutorials - thanks Armando, thanks Anatomy zone
69. Electricity and water supply
70. For the existence of Internet
71. Moisturising cream
72. tfl - thanks
73. My health & safety
74. Academic performance
75. Successful tooth setting
76. Tooth waxing classes & results
77. Washing machine & dryer
78. Money to buy things
79. Pens to write with
80. McDonalds 1.99 vouchers
81. The creation of heaters! Thank you God
82. The making of hair ties
83. Discounts & sales so I could get some new things
84. Supportive friends and family from everywhere
85. My 2016 summer tickets! (in advance)
86. Sonia (sun young) & Daniel (dong hoon) for introducing me to yummy korean food and making me like them so much
87. Socks to wear and change everyday
88. Tube stations that operate everyday (except today - it's Christmas!)
89. The lovely friends we meet on the streets this year
90. Veep's visits
91. Winter wonderland - for the food, entertainment & fun rides
92. TV at home! Can't wait to be back now
93. Nicky and Pippa's BiOY - thank you so much
94. Daily hope with Rick Warren - amazing, thank you
95. Dajie & erjie for their visit last Feb
96. Musicals/plays I watched this year - Charlie & the choc factory, ONCE, Photograph 51
97. Wimbledon day 1 tickets!
98. The stability of the internet that allows me to ft
99.
100. God's great love, mercy and forgiveness

Thank you  Father, thank you Jesus, thank you Holy Spirit, for everything.

Three months to go! Am I excited? Yes! Will I miss home? Definitely.

I stumbled upon this quote by a friend "The only time you should look back in life, is to see how far you have come" on Facebook earlier today. And I found it really close to heart. How often do we pause and look back to thank God for how far we have come, instead of complaining about the things we went through? It reminds me of this other saying that goes "When you are about to give up, think of why you've held on for so long in the first place," which I really love too. Maybe it's just me, but I think these quotes really mean a lot sometimes.

I was struggling in the pool last week. FYI it's been a decade since I stopped my training. I couldn't breathe properly, let alone complete a lap without stopping. I was initially really disappointed, because I used to be able to swim and represent my school for competitions. As I continued trying, it suddenly hit me that swimming, in my case, is just like our spiritual life sometimes. It is not always easy, and sometimes you feel like giving up right in the middle of life (like in the middle of the pool) because you're tired. Like how I struggled to breathe, many a time it can feel suffocating in worshiping God too, IF we do not know when or where to catch our breath AND when we get too dependent on ourselves. One thing we must remember always, is that taking on the journey with Christ doesn't mean we will not face hard times. Rather, it means we know who to look to in times of difficulties, we know who is in control of things, and we know we have been placed on this earth by God for a purpose. A great purpose.

Broga trip is coming up and I'm missing it for the second time. Nooooo