Thursday, July 29, 2010
Our bible study group went to Central Coast last weekend on a social+bible study trip, and it was really fun! Labels: focus
First off, we loaded our luggage into Jordan's car, before 11 of us went to take the bus to Central Station to catch the train to Wyong, while the other 3 were in the car.
The bus was late, so we didn't have much time to get to the platform after purchasing all our tickets, so we were half-running down the tunnel to the platform - that was fun!
The train ride was pretty long, and some people slept, while some of us played bridge. Chris seriously has the strangest way of playing bridge I've ever seen! The mystery of how he can bid like 4 diamonds, while possessing weak diamonds, calling the heart of jack for his partner when his hearts were already strong, all because of only having two clubs still astounds me.
We reached Wyong in time for lunch, and finally decided on a fish & chips shop, where the owners were really friendly and gave us complimentary tartare sauce! They suggested that we go to the riverside where there were sheltered benches for us to eat. I also bought 2 books at a secondhand bookstore that we saw.
After lunch, most of them went to catch the hourly bus to the place, while Chris, Ade, Dior, Jordan and I went shopping for groceries for dinner. Our plans changed to have a bbq, due to newfound knowledge that the house had a bbq grille! While choosing foods, I think Jordan received a call saying that the others had taken the bus the wrong way, so they had to go back the other way! Poor things.
When we got to the house, the guys were playing games, while the girls were organising the foodstuff - how separatist! Then we continued playing games, and I learned how to play this game called Saboteur - pretty fun, but I was a Saboteur both times, which is hard!
We continued our study overview of the Bible from Friday's one, until quite late, and then we had dinner. Josh and Simon did most of the bbq-ing for sausages/meat/pineapple, while the girls did the other stuff like vegetables/rice/watermelon/mashed potatoes. I really enjoyed the mashed potatoes that Rachel had supplied us with, "in case you guys screw it up", LOL!
After dinner and washup, we finished the 2nd part of the Bible study, then took a break to take turns showering and playing Monopoly Deal, and then had a time of sharing in a circle, almost like a campfire!
At the end of that, some went to sleep, while others stayed up to watch the VCD of 5 People You Meet in Heaven that Shawna brought. I think the movie was a bit draggy at certain parts, with a lot of cheesy lines, but still quite nice, and I presume the book is even better. Weibin, Janelle, Chris and I were the only survivors til the end of the show!
The next morning we had a great breakfast with eggs, pancakes, toast, leftover mashed potatoes etc. It was followed by the 3rd and last part of the Bible study, and then we had to clear up everything in order to catch the bus and train in time.
But the bus was really late, so Christie was warning us we'd need to run once the bus reached the station. We chionged into the station, only to realise that we needed to be at the platform on the other side of the tracks, and the overhead bridge linking there was outside the station. So some people ran to the bridge, while some of us ran to the lift and made it to the other side in time. Except for Shawna and Christie who were buying all our tickets for us, and Simon who was dunno where. We were yelling at them to run, and thankfully we all got onto the train!
The train ride back started with us eating Subway that Jordan had got for us, followed by a lot of bridge playing and/or sleeping. We finally got back well in time to get to church.
The trip was really fun, and I learnt a lot about God's big picture in this overview of the Bible. I guess it's interesting to draw the graph of the progress of the kingdom of God, and to see the promises God makes and keeps.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Unfortunately, my holiday is over as of today, and I have to start school tomorrow. What a depressing thought. Labels: family, new zealand, university
I spent the last 3 weeks in NZ at my sister's house. It was really great to have both my parents, my brother, my sister and brother-in-law. And of course the latest addition to the family - baby Caleb!
Having a baby isn't all it's cracked up to be. Sure, he's adorable and has big eyes and smells nice, but he cries a lot, and has to be carried around, and strapped in the car seat, and there's a whole bag dedicated to him: milk, pacifier, warmer, cloth, diapers, changing mat, rattle etc.
I spent most of my time waking up later than everyone else, reading my sister's books, watching Yang Jia Jiang (while not understanding it), and eating out with everyone.
Parents, Brother and I went on a 3 day trip; first to Mt Ruapehu in an attempt to take a beginner's lesson at snowboarding, but the winds were too strong and the slopes were temporarily closed, so we didn't do it in the end. Then we moved on to Lake Taupo and spent most of the time watching the free DVDs provided by the motel. On the way back to Auckland, we visited Hamilton Gardens.
I'm really glad I got to eat lots of Chinese food, whether cooked or bought. I'm especially thankful to my uncle for cooking carrot cake for our breakfast, and my aunt for making chicken rice TWICE!
Among other things, we went to Mt Victoria, visited Queen street, did two jigsaw puzzles, had fish and chips by the sea, bought oysters from Clevedon, and saw lots of sheep, cows, horses and alpacas!
Parents left on Friday, and I left NZ this morning. We had to wake up really early just to get there by 6:15, only for me to find out that my flight had been delayed by 1 hour 15 min! I spent a lot of time just sitting around waiting for the gate number to be shown.
Spending these three weeks with my family makes me miss them all the more now that I'm back in Sydney. Four months to go!
Saturday, July 3, 2010
I probably should be sleeping now, but my body clock seems to be adjusted to Sydney time still, which is 2 hours behind Auckland. Labels: family, friends, new zealand
I had my first flight by myself from Sydney to Auckland on Sunday, and I'm thankful that I was kept safe throughout. Plus I had an impressive welcoming party at the airport of 6 people!
I've spent the last week or so staying at my sister's house, staring at my nephew, eating, watching The Big Bang Theory, using the Internet and reading books. In particular, I've read about 14 books since Monday, I think.
Today Mummy, Brother and I went to my uncle's house, where my mum and uncle made pumpkin cake, and I finished the jigsaw puzzle (with 2 pieces left over, imagine!) and read my sister's newly bought Poirot murder mystery. And my aunt and uncle made chicken rice for dinner, where we were joined by my sister, brother-in-law and baby!
My younger sister was on the phone in the evening, and she told me that my ex-classmate from MGS, who was also in GB, recently passed away due to leukaemia, after being critically ill. It was shocking to hear this, especially because at the age of 20, you don't expect ANY of your friends to be dying from illnesses.
While I wasn't a close friend by any means (the only memories I have of her is that she was impossibly skilled at Five Stones, which was a post-exam activity in primary school), I just felt really relieved that she was Christian, I'm pretty sure, which means she's in heaven. My condolences are with her family.
Thanks to all the blogs i referred to (countless) for html code help :) (esp. cyn' and sixseven)
Adobe Photoshop Elements for supernatural abilities
