Happy New Year!

Heyyyy! It's a new year! 2015 was a quick year, wasn't it?

2016. What do I expect from you?

Well, I expect 2016 to bring about many ups and downs, many new things, many new experiences. I trust that God, who has always been faithful, will continue to be faithful and no matter what happens in this new year, I trust that it will all be for good, with God being with me every step of the way. I know that all in all, it will be a good year, because, well, I'm God's favourite daughter ;P

I have never been one for new year resolutions, and I'm not about to start now. I did, however, come across a verse (or more accurately, two verses) which I'm glad I started the new year with, and I guess these verses will be what I want to live out or what I want to hold onto in 2016.

The verse is from 1 Corinthians 16:13-14, and it says (from The Message and New International versions):

Keep your eyes open, hold tight to your convictions,

give it all you’ve got, be resolute, and love without stopping.

1 Corinthians 16:13-14 (MSG)

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith;

be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love.

1 Corinthians 16:13-14 (NIV)

Baby Nutella :)

My help comes from You

You're right here, pulling me through

You carry my weakness, my sickness, my brokenness all on Your shoulders

My help comes from You

You are my rest, my rescue

I don't have to see to believe that You're lifting me up on Your shoulders

for KING & COUNTRY - Shoulders 

Baby Nutella sitting on Daddy Nutella's shoulders :D

Baby Nutella needs never be afraid of anything as long Daddy Nutella is around! :D

Chong Pooches - 1; Snake - 0

Today, I am reminded that I am truly blessed to have a great family - including awesome dogs.

Last night, mummy told us that the dogs had red eyes, and to pray for a miracle because it was too late in the night to get anything done or to get whatever medications might help. She said it it was probably from snake venom, but they weren't sure, they weren't even sure if there were any puncture wounds. They seemed fine other than the fact that their eyes were affected, they didn't seem to have any other symptoms, but it broke my heart to hear that Simba, whose both eyes were affected, walked straight into somebody because he couldn't see :'(

Anyway, we were all worried sick and bombarding mummy with all sorts of questions, and she finally told us it was too late in the night to do anything, but to pray and go to bed. So that's what we grudgingly did (or at least tried to do).

This morning, mummy reported back that the dogs' eyes were still red, but not as bad as last night. Also, they found the cause - a black snake. The snake was dead when it was found so what we guess happened was that our dogs saw the snake and killed it, but not before it sprayed some venom or whatever it is (I really don't care much about snakes and how they operate, those evil reptiles!) into our dogs' eyes!

So today, I just want to say that the Chong pooches are my heroes. I wish I could be at home to be with them and to cuddle them, to let them know they are my heroes, and just to remind them that they are loved as much as (if not more than) they love us!

A Celebration of Love :)

Congratssss Megggg! :DDD

Today I went for my first Indian engagement ceremony. It was fun, filled with joy and laughter, colour and happiness, and most of all, love.

I see what the Bible says about love, and I think of what the world would be like if everybody loved each other with the love described in the Bible. Imagine that. Wouldn't that be an amazing world to live in? Love never fails. It brings people together, and it connects them at the heart level. I think love is pretty cool, don't you?

Today I saw people of different skin tones laughing and dancing with each other, teasing and playing with each other in good fun. Aunty Olive said to me, "Our church may be small, but we are all so close", and it hit me. We are all so close because we are connected at the heart level. It doesn't matter what colour our skin is, what language we speak, how old we are, or where we come from. There is a love that binds us together, linking all our hearts together as if we were little pearls being strung together to make a beautiful pearl necklace. God taught us how to love, and the love we have for each other holds us together and makes us a family.

Probably my favourite photo from that night (even though I'm not even in the photo!) -
Some of the people who have grown to be my family here in KT being their usual adorable/funny/weird selves!

Today I pray that the people of this beloved country of mine will experience and know Love, and all of us Malaysians will be able to stand together, hand-in-hand, united as one in love. Love never fails!

Jagung-y Durian!

Duriansssssss! I have been seeing more and more durians lately, and finally, I got to eat some a few days back!

It was after our CG/Fellowship thingy (where the FES staff who is taking care of KT, Wan Ling, was our guest speaker :D), and she, Ruby, myself, and one of the UMT students, Enoch, were on our way to Chinatown for a late dinner. We passed by Pasar Payang, and we saw durians. Then we smelt durians. Then we joked about stopping for durians. Then, we realised Malaysians never joke about stopping for durians, and so we parked the car, got down, and yayyyyy! We had durians! :DDD

We had two different kinds, one called kacing baju and the other was a Thai Musang King. The Thai Musang King was, you know, your typical Musang King, but, well, Thai. Okay I don't know what I'm saying, but the bottom line is, it wasn't all that impressive, especially for Musang King standards. The kacing baju was interesting, though! I don't think I had ever tried one of those before, and it was one of the most peculiar durians I had ever tasted, because it tasted like a blend between durian and corn. It was really creamy and sweet, though, and though I'm not to big a fan of the flavour of corn, I found I quite liked this corny durian!

Now I'm wondering if there are other kinds of durians that taste like other things. Banana-y durian maybe? Or ooh! Maybe it could be the other way around! Durian-y bananas! That'd be cool! Maybe. Or just odd. I wouldn't know until I actually try one (that is, if they do exist!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NIKOOOOOO!!!

Thank God for technology! Daddy's and mummy's three children are all away from home, all in different places, but still we managed to have a wonderful time online together :)

Brother #2, happy 25th! Thanks for being such an amazing brother! I'm sure you already know how much I look up to you, and how much I love you! In case you don't, though, I do look up to you and love you a lot a lot a lot! I am so blessed to have be able to call you my "brard brudder"!

Happy birthday! Love you!

HAPPY (boxing) BIRTHDAY, MUMMY!!!

Guess who came to KT?

DADDY AND MUMMYYYYYYY!!! :D :D :DDD

It was mummy's birthday yesterday, and she and daddy arrived in KT last night! And in just one night, they have fixed up most things that needed fixing, and even some stuff I didn't think need fixing. Not to mention the fact that I now have enough food to last me a long, long time. I have the best parents in the whole, wide world!

Koko and Niko didn't come because Koko is working and Niko has something on, but that didn't stop us from singing the birthday song to mummy together!

We Skyped Koko and FaceTimed Niko. Hahaha poor koko's face is weird and shiny and have things reflected on at weird places xD But at least we have a family photo from mummy's 56th birthday! :)

We went to church this morning, and I'm glad mummy and daddy could finally meet some of the people I'm always talking about because of what a blessing they have been to me since I started attending the church!

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY, MUMMY!

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!