Christmas Gift 2006

Since I joined Bandar Utama Chapel, I have been making Christmas gifts for almost everyone in the church. I still remember the first gift I made – a little booklet with Words of Wisdom. The cover was red with a green ribbon. In subsequent years, I have made bookmarks, boxes of God’s promises, calendars on wooden cloth pegs (2004), etc. Because of my pregnancy and the birth of Jordan, last year was the only year I didn’t make any gift. Instead, I ordered handmade notebooks with a personalised message in each of them. My sis and my friend Queenie helped me to glue the message onto the notebook.

This year, the gift was partially bought and handmade. I ordered the cut-outs for the boxes which were folded by my Mum, sis, bro and Lu Kenn. I bought 500 pieces of batik-printed paper cranes which were folded in the origami style. On the cover of each box, I stamped a picture of 2 hearts, and stuck 3 stars. Inside the cover, the message reads:

Taste and see that the
LORD is good;
(Psalm 34:8)
Mercy, peace and love
be yours in abundance.
(Jude 1:2)
Blessed Christmas &
Happy New Year
Seng Chor, Christine & Jordan.

The following are what I placed inside each box:

2 sweets – Taste and see that the LORD is good;
3 cranes (1 big and 2 smaller ones) – Representing Mercy, peace and love. The biggest crane represents love.

The cranes represent goodwill in the Chinese custom.
I pray that each one of you will be blessed by this gift.

Blessed Christmas and Happy New Year 2007 to all!

The Gift

Christmas Community Carnival

Our Bandar Utama Chapel Game Stalls - most well decorated.

One of the games was featured in the Star (Metro) newspaper yesterday - 27 December 2006.

My Growth Group's game - "Egg in the Hole".

There were coloured holes on the egg tray - 1 black on each tray, and a few green and red holes. Each person is given 3 ping-pong balls for 1 game token. If the ball enters a black hole, the player gets 3 points. Green or red gains 1 point. They can then use the points to redeem their prizes.
There was a long queue for this game. We had to close the stall earlier because we ran out of tokens. The poster was drawn by my sis. Well done, to all my GG members.

It's a Miracle!

The Christmas theme - It's a Miracle!

"Jordan, look here."

The manger.

Christmas tree. What else? *duh*

The three wise men, Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus.

" Blessed Christmas!"

Mum, sis Eva and Jordan.

The door gift - handmade bookmarks by Seng Chor's Growth Group.

I won a hamper? *pooph*

On Christmas Day, while most of my church members were at the Christmas Community Carnival at Kota Damansara, I had to baby sit at home. It was a tiring day. After lunch, Jordan was a bit restless. I think he was looking for his Daddy. Whenever he wants to sleep, he seems to look for his Daddy. I tried to make him sleep but he just kept on crying. In the end, we (my Mum, sis and I) took him to the carnival. He slept in the car on the way there. On arrival, Seng Chor came to the car to carry him. He woke up and was happy to see his Daddy. Seng Chor carried him all over the place. After getting some food, we left.

At night, we (Seng Chor, Mum, Jordan and I) had a sumptuous Christmas dinner at Uncle Soon Thye and Aunty Lai Hong’s house. It was one of the best Christmas dinner I ever had – roast lamb, turkey, grilled fish, prawn kebab, fried chicken, fried rice, noodles, special salad, ice kacang (it was finished before I could even lick it!), spaghetti, … I had so much that I couldn’t sleep well last night. We were also entertained by a group of carolers. We also celebrated Aunty Lim’s 86th birthday. She was happy to see Jordan.

There was another reason why I couldn’t sleep – I won a hamper and I lost it at the same time. During the carnival, I registered for the lucky draw. At the dinner, Aunty Sue told me the bad news – “You won a hamper”. I didn’t believe her. I thought that she was pulling my legs. I fell into her trap before. It seems that they called my name a few times. Then, Aunty Sue pushed Wan Yi to collect on behalf of me. When Wan Yi went up to them, they asked for my ic number but Wan Yi doesn’t know. So, I lost the hamper. *SIGH* AARGH! It was quite a big hamper as it was towards the end of the lucky draw. Three other church members also won – Ming Han, Xian Jiek, Sebastian (he was not there to collect too). Seng Chor should have stayed a little bit longer. Aiya! Well, the comforting thought is that - I have blessed someone else through my absence. :p

Short, simple and sweet

Friday (22 December 2006)
I was on medical leave – down with viral infection that causes stomach ache. So, rested the whole day.

Saturday (23 December 2006)
I wanted to drop by at the KBU Christmas carnival but I was still feeling weak. In the morning, Seng Chor went jungle trekking at Bukit Gasing with his ex-colleagues. I had to baby-sit with Mum. At night, Mum, Seng Chor, Jordan and I went to Tesco for groceries and dinner. Stomach felt better.

Sunday (Christmas Eve)
9 – 10 am: Congregational worship; followed by Christmas Eve lunch in the church. The theme was “It’s a Miracle!” About 100 people turned out. Food was catered from Loong Foong restaurant – not too bad. Glad that Mum and sis came. Seng Chor was the master of ceremony. Hmm… not an experienced one, though. Good effort for the first time. Our Growth Group (GG) gave out bookmarks sewn with the words “It’s a Miracle!” – all hand made by some of the members including Seng Chor. I think he even sewed more than me! That’s how we have been spending our nights in December – sewing and babysitting at the same time. On some nights, we took turns – one sews, the other baby sits. Jordan must have felt neglected sometimes. We let him play by himself in the playpen most of the time. Our chief designer was none other than our beloved Aunty Sue. She puts in the most effort with the final ‘magical’ touch on all the bookmarks. God bless her richly. Altogether we had about 180 bookmarks. The GG’s bookmarks were specially made by Aunty Sue – rainbow colour. Heeheehee!

Christmas Eve Dinner cum Gift Exchange. The usual gang gathered in our house at about 7 pm. We had a very simple dinner – Dominoes pizza, potatoes salad and special dessert by Lu Kenn and Eva. Then, the fun part began – gift exchange. For the last 2 years, we bade for our own gift using Monopoly money. The highest bidder gets the gift. This year, our creative guy Kevin suggested something different – each person selects someone to give the gift. The person acts like a guardian angel for that special someone. Kenny took the lead to coordinate. Below is extracted from his email:

“This year, let's try something different ... here is the list of people coming. Please select one person for whom you would like to buy a present. It is on a first come, first served basis (hehe). Please reply to me (as it is supposed to be a secret whom you are buying a gift for). I will let you know if the person has been selected already. Please keep it to yourselves too . :)”

When we were preparing the gift, we just wrote to whom it is for. We did not state who it is from. However, some of us wrote clues as to who the giver is and the recipient has to guess.

Kenny distributed the gift to everyone. For those with clues, we read the clues first, guessed, then opened the gift. The rest had to guess after the gift is opened. The guessing part was really fun. Some were really creative in presenting their clues. One of the clues is “Who wants you to be fatter?” Hahaha! Here is the list of who got what and from whom.

Seng Chor – voucher from Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf from Kevin
Christine – Keyboard brush from Kenny
Jordan – Long sleeves shirt from Lu Kenn
My Mum – blue coloured scarf with sequins from Jordan
Eva – Towel from my Mum
Lu Kenn – miniature golf set from Eva
Alex – Pen from Sahaya
Yoke Kheng – Cloth to make Sari from Pei Lu
Kenny – T-Shirt from Yoke Kheng
Kevin – Multi-purpose knife from Alex
Sahaya – Chocolates from Seng Chor
Yung Ling – Light-up Christmas ornament from Christine
Pei Lu – Book from Yung Ling

At the end, we took a picture holding our gift. It was a short, simple and sweet event.

Jordan's 1st Birthday - Film Loop [2]

Jordan's 1st Birthday - Film Loop [1]

Carolling at Bukit Beruntung

Last night, 10 (6 gals and 4 guys) of us sang carols at four different places at Bukit Beruntung. Dress code – white blouse/T-shirt and Santa hat for the ladies. We left Centrepoint at about 7 pm, and reached the first house at about 7:30 pm. We were half an hour late.

First stop: Home of the handicapped children
We visit them every year. Some of these children were abandoned by their parents. It’s wonderful to bring the Christmas cheer into the home. We prayed for them, and presented them with some groceries, distributed candy canes and snacks to the children.

Second: “Chicken Little’s” house
Whenever I look at Shin Peng aka Chicken Little, I think of Jordan. They have similar look especially the chubby cheek. Here, we sang to 4 of them only. As we were rushing, we were there for about 15 minutes only. Furthermore, we had to wait for this Couple for a few minutes before we could start. Terrible, lah. :)

Third: Mr and Mrs Loke’s groceries shop
This is my first time in their shop. Good to see them again. Their children – Simone and Nicky were there too. One of the kids there even took a video of us performing. After the singing, Mrs Loke offered us packet drinks from her shop. I had the refreshing apple juice.

Fourth and Last: Suet Li’s house.
Since this is the last stop, we sang all the songs – Joy to World, Angels We have Heard on High, O Holy Night, The Gift (Mandarin song), Christmas isn’t Christmas, Jingle Bells, We Wish You a Merry Christmas. Ah Siang (Suet Li’s mum) cooked Tom Yam fried noodles and red bean soup for us. She also made jelly. Yummy! So nice of her. The carollers had a good time eating and fellowshipping. The lovely couple was rather entertaining/amusing too. We had a group photo after that.

I arrived home at about 10:50 pm. Took my shower and waited for Jordan and Seng Chor to come back. They were at the Wongs’ preparing the Christmas gifts. On seeing me, Jordan kept on wanting me to carry him. He must have missed me. I miss him too. Seng Chor had to soothe him for awhile before he was willing to sleep.

Busy, busy Weekend

Seng Chor and I took leave on Jordan’s birthday – 14 December 2006. We spent most of the time staying at home. After lunch, we went to KLIA to pick up my Mum – Jordan’s grandma aka Popo. Jordan slept on the way there. He woke up when we arrived at the airport. On the way home, he didn’t sleep. Played with Popo. Popo was making some funny noises. Jordan smiled.

It was raining heavily. So, we didn’t go out until dinner time. At 6:30 pm, we went to Bangsar Village for dinner at Fish & Co – Seng Chor, Popo, Alex, Jordan and I. I had to collect some stuffs from a friend there. Our initial plan was Japanese food at Damansara Palm Springs. Jordan had some fish too. He didn’t really take his cereal. Poor him – I accidentally dropped him onto the floor while he was trying to wriggle away from me. He cried a bit only. Thank God didn’t knock his head – I was still holding him. It was not very high. I was sitting and he was lying on my lap, and suddenly he slipped away and fell. He probably got a shock, and cried.

We reached home before 9 pm. He had his milk and waited for his Khai Ma (Tracy) to come. She arrived about 9:30 pm. Then, we sang the birthday song, blew the candle and cut the Winnie the Pooh Jelly cake.

Three of us – Popo, Tracy and I, had a good time playing with Jordan. He was crawling around the living room, smiling, imitating us as we stamped our feet and shook our heads. We wanted to get him to say “ten”. Eventually, he did. Tracy held both hands out to him. He hit her hands and said “ten”. Then, my mum and I followed. He was a bit confused and didn’t know which hands to hit. Hahaha. He repeated the action few times. It was really fun to see him enjoying himself.

I had a busy weekend because of the College Open Day. Had to work from 10 am to 6 pm on Saturday. Then, 1 – 6 pm on Sunday, after church. It was pretty quiet in the College – not much enquiries. :( Not good. Hopefully, registration will improve. The next intake commences on 8 January 2007. I will be teaching C++ programming again for the Year 1 students, who will be in the second term.

On Friday night, Seng Chor and I attended his colleagues’ wedding dinner at Chuei Heng Restaurant, Old Klang Road. So, Jordan stayed overnight at the babysitter. Seng Chor picked him after 1 pm, and took him to College to visit me. Later, Seng Chor took him for a swing at the playground.

After the birthday celebration on Saturday, Seng Chor and I had fun time taking out all his gifts. Jordan was sleeping upstairs while all of us (Seng Chor, my mum, Eva, Alex, Lu Kenn and I) admired his presents one after the other. I took pictures of all the gifts – before and after opening them. Hahaha! He can’t play with all of them yet. So, the parents can play first. Will give him one at a time – so that he doesn’t get bored easily.

He has been ‘talking’ a lot for the past 2 days. Very funny indeed. None of us understood his jargon. Yesterday, he started to play with his new toys. He was really busy with them. We played along with him – trying to teach him how to put the blocks in the right place. He was quite amused with the spinning gears in the activity board.

Yesterday, in the church, he clapped along as we sang the song Ancient of Days. He stood on the chair and clapped together with us. It was a lovely sight indeed. As usual, a lot of people carried him – especially the youth. After church, Seng Chor took him along for the Christmas Carnival leaflet distribution at Kota Damansara. Jordan was in the car with some of the youth. It was quite hot actually. He took a short nap. Later in the afternoon, my mum played with him while Seng Chor took a nap. He was still playing when I reached home. It was truly a joy to see him after a hard day at work.

One year is over. More challenges and fun time ahead with Jordan.

Jordan's 1st Birthday

From Left: Winnie the Pooh, Jordan and I.

Hmm...what's so interesting up there?

Jordan's favourite thing - his thumb.

More photos in Jordan's blog.

First Photos of my Little Prince

Jordan's First Photo.

First Photo of Jordan and I.

Jordan's Second Photo.

Last day at the hospital.

First Photo at Home - in his cot.

First Photo of Jordan and Daddy.

The Birth of Jordan

One more day…actually less than a day, my precious baby Jordan will be One year old. Time just zooms by super fast. Last year, during this time I was still very heavy with Jordan. The gynae gave me 2 options – induce for normal delivery or caesarean. Chances of normal delivery are slim. After a short discussion with Seng Chor, we opted for caesarean, which according to the gynae is a better option. No stress for the baby and I.

Tuesday, 13 December 2006, night, I was actually leaking slightly but I ignored it. About 7 am the next day, Seng Chor and I left for the hospital for the scheduled caesarean at about 10 am something. I checked into a double bed room. I wanted a single bed but none available. In the room, I told the nurse about my leakage and she sort of scolded me for not coming to the hospital the night before. Thank God that Jordan was alright.

After the preliminary procedures, I was wheeled into the operation theatre at about 10 am. I was injected with epidural – an anesthetic put into the lower part of the back so that no pain is felt below the waist. That means I was fully conscious when Jordan was pulled out by the doctor. Seng Chor was inside the operation theatre with me. So, I asked him to describe what the doctor was doing – cutting me up, pulling Jordan out and sewing me back – lots of blood. *Eeek*. I heard a soft cry when Jordan was pulled out – 10:23 am. He weighed 3.625 kg = 8 pounds, 50 cm in length and his head circumference measured 34.5 cm.

The nurses cleaned him up before showing him to Seng Chor and I. He looked so much like his Daddy. He was a big baby. Then, Seng Chor left as the gynae continued to stitch me up. The stitching took quite long because he had to stitch layer by layer – our skin has multiple layers.

After the procedure, I was moved back to the room, and waited for Jordan. The pediatrician was attending him. I just couldn’t wait to hold him in my arms. Then, the moment finally arrived. He’s so adorable. I gave him my first kiss. Then, I started to breastfeed him. It was difficult at first because I couldn’t really move much. Gradually, I was able to handle him better. I was in the hospital for 4 days, 3 nights. During the time he was away from me, I missed him so much. After 2 days, I was able to walk slowly to see him at the nursery.

He was a healthy baby. He had mild jaundice but because he was a big baby, there was no cause for concern. We were both discharged on Saturday, 17 December 2006.

More on the birth of Jordan…coming soon

Lunch with PM…almost

Last Thursday (7 December 2006) I attended the MSC-Asia Pacific ICT Awards Presentation ceremony and lunch at the Palace of the Golden Horses Hotel. The MSC-APICTA provides a platform to simulate creativity, innovation and excellence in ICT in Malaysia, benchmark Malaysian ICT product and solution, and recognizes outstanding achievement in ICT.

The ceremony was officiated by YAB Dato’ Seri Abdullah Hj Ahmad Badawi, our Prime Minister. Because he had another lunch appointment elsewhere, he arrived later to present the Prime Minister’s “Best of the Best” Award. It’s a privilege to see him for the first time – in person. Obviously, he looks exactly like he’s on the television or newspaper but the feeling is different. I was pretty excited actually and almost couldn’t stop taking pictures of him. :p. The pictures are not very clear though – better than nothing. Some of the shots are below. I had an up-close view of him after the event. I was coming out from the ladies as he passed by with his entourage. He was just a few feet away from me!

Ok, why was I at the event? An Engineering final year project from my College has won the Merit Award in the Best of Tertiary Student Project – Software / Hardware category. The title of their project is Mobile Parking and Verification System. The project enhances the traditional parking system by allowing motorists to use their mobile phones/PDA for parking payment. Enforcement officers can use its real-time online payment verification system to validate the parking payment. Sounds cool? The system was developed by a group of 4 students from the BEng (Hons) Electrical and Electronics Final Year. Well done! They did the College proud with the achievement.

Two years ago, my brother’s group project has also won the same award. They developed a smart home system which can be controlled through the Internet and mobile phone. To demonstrate the functions, they built a small wooden house with some rooms – with lights, fan, temperature sensor, shock sensor and alarm. I like the house – not sure where it is now. It reminds me of a doll house that I have always wanted. That year, only my Head of School attended the event. This year, five of us went including our CEO. I didn’t enjoy the lunch much. Just glad that I got invited to witness the award presentation.

From Left: Dato’ Sri Dr. Jamaludin Dato’ Mohd Jarjis (Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation.), Prime Minister and YB Dato’ Sri Dr Lim Keng Yaik (Minister of Energy, Water and Communications).

Happy Family

Taken at Tai Pak's 70th Birthday Celebration

(18 November 2006)

Interesting Comment

This ‘exchange of words’ happened after dinner outside the Triple Round Chinese Restaurant at Bukit Beruntung on 3 December 2006. It was almost 9:30 pm – very dark. We had KidsGames before that. (Note: These are not the exact words.)

CPL: Let’s take a photo.

SHY: What? Here? Then, cannot see me.


On the way back to Bandar Utama,…

CPL: I was really surprised when SHY said cannot see him. Didn’t expect him to say that. Hahaha!

(Witnessed by The Inspired Educator and Dr Cabokia)


Both witnesses find the comment refreshing.

Birthday Blessings

Papa and Mama
Dr Cabo, wishing you a Very Happy Birthday n Numerous Happy Returns of the Day. Have a wonderful time. Affectionately, Ma & Pa.

Yoke Lai
Happy birthday to you and may God bless you and your family forever

Yoke Kheng
Just dropped by to say Blessed Birthday, Christine!

Kenny
Chirp Chirp. A little birdy told me it was your birthday. Happy bird day. Haha. God bless you Christine.

Pei Lu
Hi dear sister, may you be blessed as you wake up in the beautiful morning on your special day! Blessed Birthday!

The Chans - Selvi, Roy & Reuel
Christine, we wish you a happy and blessed birthday! Psalms 16:5-6. Much love, the Chans.
Psalm 16:5-6 (New International Version)
5 LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.

Yoke Teen & Nai Kyn
A very happy and blessed birthday to you! May God continue to bless you with every spiritual blessings and goodness in your life. God bless. From NK and YT.

Helen, Charmaine & Seb
A very happy and blessed birthday to you.

The Wongs
A happy and blessed birthday to you, love from us all.

Jenny
Blessed birthday.

Hui En
Happy Birthday Aunty Christine. Hope you have a wonderful day today. Enjoy your first birthday as a mum! God bless, n take care!

Li Yuan
Hi..tang sao..liyuan here...Happy birthday…Wish you all the best through this year…

Call from Susan
Happy birthday, Christine….

Email from my brother, Felix:
Hi Sis!
Happy Birthday! GOod health and wealth to all of u. Hope u have a great bday! See you soon.
Bro

A Hallmark E-Card from Mama & Papa:
Message:
Dearest daughter drCabokia, here’s wishing you a Very Happy Birthday and may you have Many many Happy Returns of this Day! May God shower you and your loved ones with many many more Blessings now and forever more. Good health, Good Luck and Eternal Prosperity be yours always. Have a great time today! Mama and Papa.
Card:
God gives us lots of reasons to celebrate…
…and your birthday is one of the best!
Happy Birthday!

A DaySpring E-Card from Romayne:
Message: May God shower you with his blessings today!
Card:
Just think…
You are not here by chance, but by God’s choosing.
His hand formed you and made you the person you are.
He compares you to no one else - You are one of a kind.
You lack nothing that His grace can’t give you.
He has allowed you to be here at this time in history to fulfill His special purpose for this generation

Happy Birthday.

================================================

Thank you all for showering me with wonderful blessings!

Birthday Dinner at Prince Hotel

On my birthday, I spent almost the whole day babysitting as Seng Chor had to invigilate a professional examination. It was a good time with Jordan. Changed him, fed him, bathed him and played with him. Seng Chor came back in the evening. About 6:45 pm, we left for Prince Hotel. The booking was at 7:30 pm – we arrived on time. The venue – Taishojin (Japanese cuisine). He booked the whole restaurant! Eh…actually we were the only customers there. So, it feels like as if we booked the whole restaurant. The rest were chefs, waiters and waitresses. I thought we were going to have Western food because that’s what we usually have for celebration. This is a second surprise. The first surprise is the booking.

I ordered smoked salmon, and Seng Chor had cod fish. I had my favorite Californian Roll and Miso soup. For dessert, I ordered Green Tea ice cream. I enjoyed the ice cream so much that I forgot to give some to Seng Chor. Oops! He sort of complained about it after the dinner. Ha! Ha! Ha! I really, really forgot about him. For Jordan, he had some rice and fish. He behaved well throughout the dinner. This is one of the rare occasions where Seng Chor and I could actually sat down quietly to finish a dinner. Jordan was sitting on the stroller the whole time. Guess what? The restaurant even provided babysitting facilities. Hee! Hee! One of the waitresses likes Jordan so much, that she carried him away, as he was making noises towards the end of the dinner. He played with the other waiters and waitresses as well. This boy of ours goes to anyone. Dangerous, eh? Good also as we can get anyone to baby sit him. As we were leaving the restaurant, Seng Chor wanted to carry him back, he refused and turned away! What a naughty boy is he! I think he can just follow the waitress home. Aiyo! In the end, he allowed Seng Chor to carry him.

The dinner was 50% off because we are members of the Prince Hotel & Residence Club – buy 1 free 1. So, the bill was reasonable. I enjoyed the atmosphere. Good service - well...we were the only customers. :) The night ended with shopping at 1 Utama – just bought some magazines at MPH.

Once again, another memorable birthday celebration. Thanks Seng Chor, and thanks to baby Jordan for behaving well.

tai sho jin japanese restaurant

My Birthday

Today is my birthday. How young am I? Eh...I'm in my mid-thirties. Surprise? How do I feel? I think I'm proud of my age, with all the experiences that I've been through and countless blessings from God. Today is the first time I celebrate my birthday with my baby Jordan. Got a surprise from Seng Chor - he has booked dinner at Prince Hotel, KL. :)

I would like to thank my family and friends for all their birthday wishes and blessings.

I thank God for watching over me all these years, and never let me go.


...'Give thanks to the Lord;
His faithful love endures forever!'"

2 Chronicles 20:21 (New Living Translation)