Cause for Celebration

The experts did these!! (i made THREE ^_^)

Can't wait to eat ... YUMMY!! ~~

Last Sunday, we had a warm gathering at Stephen & Hwee Hsia's place. Thanks to their hospitality, we had a great evening catching up (and making fun as usual) of one another.

There were many causes for celebration - both em and us got a new flat; em and stephen got a new job; sean and my bday; karen's speedy recovery; ronald & janice's coming wedding, and lastly my little baby!! We don't really need reasons to party but indeed we have quite a lot to give thanks for!

Needless to say, we gorched ourselves with so much food ^_^ And we were happy to have some sisters from ShanDong to help us make dumplings!! If you look carefully, you might find the THREE dumpling i made (hint: the ugly looking ones ... haha)

Thank God for the warm fellowship in His love :)

Liquid Cafe

Hearty portion of seafood marinara

Cheezy baked rice ... very tasty!! Definitely will order this the next time round ^_^

Linguine Carbonara ... slightly bland for my taste

The desserts saved the day!! New Yoke Cheese cake! Not too sweet and not gelat!

Tiramisu is soft and creamy .. melts in the mouth ... mmmm

Of course, my queen of cakes ... chocolate fudge served warm!! i ate 60% i think ... hehe

We have lots of July babies in our workplace. Our manager Mok is so nice to give us a treat at Liquid Cafe along Sembawang Road. I've never been there before so i'm looking forward to treat my taste buds! Be warned though this place is so far away, near to the Mandai Zoo, and beside the Thai Shark's Fin restaurant.

Mok highly recommends the baked rice, which really tasted great with lots of cheeeeze (my fav)!! i had the carbonara which i think is so so. The rest of the team also commented that the food is "ok la". The upside is we had the whole restaurant to ourselves (we thought Mok booked the entire place in our honor ^_^). The downside is it's got an open kitchen so i smelt like bad fish at the end of the 2 hour lunch :(

Gladly, the desserts were good. We ordered three cakes to share and all were so yummy. Texture was good and not too sweet. i would recommend coming to this place for desserts but bring your own bathing cap to protect your lovely locks!!

Thank you Mok and friends for the wonderful company!

1/2 of a Milestone

Baby bump!

Yoohoo! ~ I'm into my 5th month today :) It's amazing to know baby grows by the day and i'm already at the halfway mark! According to books, the arms and legs of the baby have grown to be proportionate to the body and most of the organs and features are already properly formed. For the remaining months, baby just grows bigger!

Before that, mama grows bigger first of course ^_^ Tummy now measures 35" and i can't really locate my waist ... woahahaha .... People have told me the baby bump is beginning to show :)

Some days at night lying on the bed my mind would wander and wonder how delivery would be like. Time flies and before i know it another 5 months would have past!! ARGH >>> would i really be ok through the pain?!?

Oki, i'm paranoid, ignore me, but please pray for me :)

Happy Birthday to Me! ~

ACF July babies - Susan, tracy, Mel

Cass and Michele whipped up such a spread! AMazing! ~

This is handmade by Cass - so professional right??

Oooh this is my first handmade popiah! Looks not bad right ^_^

Now the 师傅 is demo-ing the right way to make a popiah

Michele's first attempt at home made otah ... tastes great!!

Carrot tomato soup with lots of wolfberries - good for baby!

I had four servings of the glutinous rice ... burrp! ~~~

Ta-Da!! Rose from hubby! See my pimple? i'm still very 青春！

It's another year wiser for me last Saturday 12July. Celebrations began on Wednesday when ACFers did a fantastic "home-cooked-affair" in the office. Cass and Michele had so painstakingly prepared a cake, popiah, soup, glutinous rice, otah and we all just couldn't stop gorging ourselves! Thank God for such great cooks and lovely sisters in our midst!

On Friday, we have home bible study class and hubby surprised me by getting a cake and guess what? A bouquet of flowers for my bday! It's really rare for hubby to buy flowers so i'm actually pleasantly surprised by his gesture of love ^_^

We have a church gospel rally on the actual day so all of us were busy since morning in preparation for the event. Though there weren't many celebrations this year as compared to previous years, i am very thankful to God for all the brothers and sisters in sharing the joy of the Lord with me.

My birthday wish is to grow more in the Lord, to be a godly wife and mother! Cheers! ~

Little Miss Scatterbrain

I bought quite a lot of fruits from the supermarket recently because people have been telling me how important it is to eat fruits for the baby.

The next day we have to get out of the house to leave for church and after finishing breakfast downstairs, i thought "Hm maybe i should bring the kiwis with me so i can eat in the church office, just in case they go soft from being too riped."

So we went back up to the house, i took the fruits, and after taking a quick turn in the bathroom for fear of letting hubby wait, i was like "Ok let's go!". We locked the door and got out, the 2nd time.

At the lift, hubby said "Er, where is your fruit huh?"

"Opps, still at the door I think ^_^."

I have totally forgotten the thing i came back for. Went back to the house, got the fruits, and got out again, the 3rd time.

I'm not exactly sure if this is a pregnancy deficiency coz i think i might be capable of doing this before too. Anyway i couldn't stop laughing at myself all the way to the car, in the car, and through the journey. How brainless can i get? Poor baby, better not inherit this part of me ^_^

关在台湾（二）

Yummy smooooth Dou Hua in Taiwan!

We spent most time of the trip visiting and catching up with friends. Not exactly the kind of "holiday" you would imagine me to have in Taiwan (the usual thing to do is hang out at Xi Men Ding, Shih Lin or Taipei 101!!), but i enjoyed myself very much getting to know Eric's friends. One of his classmates actually have a triplet of girls! They all look alike and super cute! Gosh how blessed is that?!

We also managed to try some local food. Eric's friends are all so hospitable and we were even treated to Hyatt for a super luxurious Japanese buffet lunch!? We thank God for all these wonderful friends and the love they showered on us over the few days.

Still the same verdict: i love Taipei and would really love to go back again soon. Maybe in 3 years' time when baby is good to travel! For all the action, check out the photos!

http://picasaweb.google.com/erkuan/Taipei15July?authkey=3GrYqFJq6Qs

关在台湾 (一)

No pun intended, but yes, the Kuans were in Taiwan last week ^_^

When Eric studied in Taiwan in his younger days, he stayed with a pastor whom was also his guardian. The pastor is Rev Kuan's classmate in the seminary, and both families had very closed ties.

The pastor Rev Shen went to be with the Lord and we attended the thanksgiving memorial service last week. The experience triggered some heartfelt thoughts :

1. There were more than 300 guests at the service. i had about that no. during my wedding but i wonder how many people would attend my funeral?? Rev Shen is a godly servant whom has touched the lives of many, who all came from all over (some from Hong Kong, Philippines, Tai Chung, Kaohsiung etc) to mourn. Would i have made a difference to people's lives by the time i die?

2. Rev Shen would get up each morning and do his devotion. He would sing hymns albeit out of tune but his joy would ring through the house. His moral is "pray in the morning to be close to God; pray in the evening to give thanks to God" (早上祷告亲近神；晚上祷告感谢神) An amazing learning for me!

3. I met Rev Shen once when i visited Taiwan two years ago. Though it was a brief interaction, his positive personality and cheerful laughter left a great impression on me. His legacy is clearly seen in his family. We stayed with them on the trip and they showered much love on us. The family is full of warmth and love for God, serving fervently in the church. Surely the Lord's blessings is with the family!

Rev Shen is a great godly servant whom is a role model for all of us. His life is characterized by strong faith in God, a prayerful heart, and a burden for lost souls. He will surely be missed by all. May the Lord continue to watch over the Shen family.