A peaceful night

Its friday midnight & in 1 day's time, we r going to church... amazingly, i feel tat i m a little excited to go church; perhaps it bcos i m going there wif my family & alice and her family & michelle & her family. Prisca has emailed me & i told her too, guess she must be 'praizing the lord' as she has been praying for me for a long time. Well, its kind of mix-feeling for me but this is d 1st time i look forward to going church!

Hi Alice, hope ur headache has since gone by now. I didnt do my gorcery at grantstone supermarket on thurs as my husband adviced me not to go there alone & instead we wil go to Cosco on sunday after lunch & church service.

My pineapple-tarts tasted quite good as commented by chirs & solomon. I've given some to susan & alice kwah. Its d 1st time baking pineapple-tarts & egg-tarts and the good results make me feel good. Its pretty fun baking & really not too difficult but it takes up quite alot of time.

Chris has reminded tat i hv not blog for few days... it shd b a daily thing?! Well, i guess i prefer to write my diary whenever i m free or when there's something i wish to note down.

Tonight is a peaceful night... solomon came home earlier than other nights, chris is feeling better now & i hv had a new dessert menu added to my skills-cooking-book. I pray tat all wil hv a peaceful night jus like me... and hope for a brighter tomoro.... hooray!

It just a phonecall but seems like a dream

Its 1.30am & while blogging, im stil trying 2 figure out whter im stil in a daze 4 i cant believe wat happened earlier..... my cell phone rang while i was watching news @ 6pm, it was solomon & he asked whter is it ok wif me to go church this sunday wif him & his friend Joseph who comes from texas & whose now in tucson. I hv no idea who's Joseph was; solo says tt he knew him since his younger amry days... I was kind of shocked & lost of words; solo knows tt i'll b disappointed to miss another trip to Mt Lemmon. Yes, i was disappointed but then i was happy to know tt he wants to attend church service! Its like a dream comes true! I was sharing wif Alice & Michelle not too long ago & when Patricia came over this afternoon to colour-dye my hair, i hv shared wif her too. It was unbelievable, i was amazed & in fact i was in a daze after the phone call. I told chris & he looked at me wif a surprise-expression.

Tk-U Alice, for praying for us, thankz to michelle & patricai too.... I m hving tis mix-feeling @ this moment but am looking forward to going church tis sunday, wif my family & fiends! Wow!

I dont know, somehow, the god whom i wanted to know so much when i was a teenager, is trying to reach out to me & my family, i think so. Could be another wonderful xperience, i guess...?!

Karen, my angmo's neighbour elderst son David birthday today. I promise to help her fry 'bee-hoon', it turned out to be so good, i toasted some bread wif luncheon meat/cheese, some longan dessert & some tibits.. It was fun having children enjoying the food & playing happily. I m going to miss karen & her family. Kayle, karen's 6yrs old daughter was sick recently & i gave her a 'hello-kitty' toy, she was so...happy. Gonna miss them as they're leaving tucson this coming monday, all the best, my neighbour, my friend.

Michelle & Chindra came over too this evening, to pass me the curry-powders tt chindra bought for solomon back home. Their sweet daughters isabelle & gabrielle were excited when i gave them each a pair of hello-kitty. Nothing can compare to the joy i found in a child's happiness; they r so innocent & pure & i sometimes could find myself becoming like a kid when i mixed wif them.

Well, i m happy & thankful for wat happen today, i mean yesterday evening. Now i m worry abt Chris coming down wif a flu & hope tt tomoro he wil b better. Solomon is stil nt home from work yet, he told me tt he might hv to work later than d night b4 as there r 2 aircrafts tt breakdown. Gosh, wat type of work is this, only if i can help... god, pls help him & all overcome these hard times...

Last full moon of the lunar year

Today is the 15th day of the last mth of this lunar year & it wil soon b CNY in another 15 days! I m looking forward to the reunion dinner wif my family & some of solomon's colleagues, single guys working here in tucson. I missed my in-laws & my mum, brothers whom i had reunion every year. Well, now we wil hv to enjoy the dinner amongst urselves. I was a vegetarian today & i m happy tat i managed to refrain from eating meat the whole day. I've read chris's hand-out from the church yesterday & i think it wil b a gd idea to fast for lunch & pray; for me, i wil pray for the victims of the tsunamic disaster & for peace in the world, less war & more love amongst mankind, & for good health for my loved ones.

Chris has attended church service again yesterday for d 2nd time & i think its gd for him to experience other religion; he is a big boy now & needs to know more & differentiate wat's rite & wrong. Life is not always a bed of roses & shd not b taken for granted. Hopefully he wil understand & learn & tat's apply to myself too; to appreciate life, goodness, love & friendship..... cheer!

I've met Cindy Omstead last november who is also a resident in rock ridge. She is a divorcee who has a 14yr-old daughter Eden & a 16yr-old son. Eden is staying wif her & her son is staying wif her ex-husband. Cindy who is 48yrs' old, is working on 2 jobs, although she is older than me, she looks pretty young at her age. She is happy wif her life now. I was invited to her house for a drink a couple of times but didnt visit until this monday nite. We had a 2-hr times of sharing & drinking & cindy gave me her contact numbers & a rock-steward's CD wif some of his old but famous songs. I m glad to know another nice friend like cindy.

Thinking of my late father

Sadness filled my heart while i was resting on my couch, watching wrestling @ 12midnight till 1am & was drinking a bottle of stout; i had just finished baking egg-tarts, had my late dinner of yam-rice & did my dish-washing (missed the news @ 10 o'clock).....& suddenly my late father's image came to my mind; i realised at tat moment my dear ah pa loved to eat yam-rice, egg-tart, drink stout & watch wrestling on TV. It suppose to be a happy moment for me after the 2nd try on baking egg-tarts for solomon, chris & my dear friends; but my dad's memories filled my mind & i knew i missed him so much. In 2001, he had bad diarrhoea more than 20 times after eating yam-rice at a coffee shop near his house @ toh guan road & eventually passed away 2days later after admitting to alexandra hospital for food poisoning.

I was never close to him when i was a teenager but we were closer after i got married & especially the last few years of his demise. I hated him for not taking care of the family & therefore my mum & us had suffered much. However, i now realise tat he was actually a much loving husband & father who just wanted to earn more $ for the family to tie over those hard times but many times, he did it in wrong ways. I have sinced forgiven him & wish him well, resting in peace & someday, i wil b able to meet him again.

I was sicked in mid september after coming to tucson & one night, he came to my dream. I was awaken & tot i saw him standing just in front of me & by giving me a wide & gentle smile, i went back to sleep. The next day i remebered the dream & found peace within me. Though i seldom dream of him, this dream has had brought me great comfort. I missed u, Ah Pa.

Feeling sweet eating homemade egg-tarts

So happy....thx to Loo's wife Agnes who taught me how to make egg-tarts yesterday evening! I've learned a new skill & made my own egg-tarts! Still, i didnt believe myself; though i took more than 4hrs just to make 16 egg-tarts & reached home almost 11pm, although i was tired but the 8pcs of egg-tarts tat i took home looked & tasted quite good...yummy-yum. This whole week was like a full year of those night classes I had attended back home when I studied PSC or HRM.... I cooked a total of 5 dishes of which 4 were new, 1st time menu on my table, eg. horfun, laska, meesiam, popiah & egg-tarts etc. Amazing rite; i've never experience the thrill of cooking till I finally tried, its a good start to my world of 'limited' culinary & life is begining to b more interesting now than i tot when i first arrived in tucson. I m also thankful for Alice who has cooked some nice food for my family.

Learning driving was a thrilling experience in july last year & now driving alone & exploring new roads/places make me feel good & brave. However, i know i wil hv to becareful on the road as it is always dangerous. Now learning new skills in culinary is such an exciting experience too....so I wld like to learn to cook more new dishes or someday bake a cake which i never dream tat i m able to do so as i m not a 'cake' person. I would also like to share the good food wif my new friends like Alice koh, her darling daughter Agnes, Michelle, my angmo friend Cindy...

New menu - Chicken soup for the soul...?! maybe someday lah, i wil go to church again coz i now hv a 'urge' to do so, although i m not a christian but it'll b gd for solomon. I believe he still believe in Christ & now tat his work is tough here & tat the fact he is sick of many 'bad' guys around his workplace. I know he is depressed & if he is able to find back the love & tolenrance & trust in Christ, he wil b happier & healthy mentally. I've recently took out the bible which he gave me some 22yrs ago! It has been shelved for so long.... my friend Noraini from ColinNg&Partners has shared abt god's challenge tat killed more than 160 thousand lives in the tsunamic disaster & she said it was prophesied in their koran. I was curious & took out the bible to read... didnt know where to start so i read the first chapter which talked abt the Noah's Ark. Well, i m stil confused & questioned god's challenge - it is a challenge too great & harsh to bear, isnt it?!

Its a wonderful Wednesday, January 19

Its Wednesday again! Life is half true this week but i hv had gained quite a bit of experience here in Tucson. Today is another wednesday but is a good day coz i had created my blog which i wanted to long ago, eventually, at last.

I've just get started & is excited about ppl reading my diary online, amazing rite?! Tks to my new friend princess Agnes who gave me the email add to register & my son Chris who helped me create & format my template. Agnes is a cute (lovely & adorable) & sensible girl & she is a new friend to Chris too. Agnes's mum Alice is a kind & simple lady jus like me! We got to know them less than a month but seems like we hv known them for years! Its really a blessing from god.