My laundry basket

Just testing the image posting on my blog.
Anyway this is a photo of the basket of laundry that I was describing previously.
If some of you have a similar basket, you would notice that its tall and skinny. Mine's the same... Except that its full of heavy and cold clothing, and kinda got deformed when I lugged it up and down.

The Art of Washing Clothes

I am currently suffering the result of doing laundry with insufficient skill.

All I can say is that I never knew washing clothes was so... difficult.

Here's a list of steps leading to my situation now:
1) In such cold weather, I wear many layers and though I don't change every one that often, it just piles up. Besides, cooking so often makes my clothes smell.
2) I don't have enough clothes so I have to wash when I run out of a certain type of clothing.
3) I normally split my clothes into light and dark colours, but somehow I didn't bring a good mix so there aren't enough light-coloured clothes.
4) I have to pay about S$3 each time I run the washing machine.
5) The laundry area is in the block opposite mine, so I have to lug the clothes 4 stories down, across the carpark and 1 storey up, opening and closing 9 doors in the process.
6) The laundry basket I am currently using is lined with foldable wire and it sags and deforms badly when I try to carry it with too much clothing inside.
7) I have to put on a huge coat, socks and shoes every time I go out and it always happens to snow everytime I want to do my laundry.
8) I don't have a scoop for my washing powder so I have to use great estimation skills when I pour the powder.
9) When I walk out into the cold about 45 min later to collect the clothes, they are even heavier than before and freezing with the cold water.
10) I have to move them 1 storey down, across the carpark and 4 stories up, opening the same 9 doors, and to make things worse, I need a key to open 4 of them.
11) I hang all my clothes in my room which barely has ventilation and I have limited hangers.

As a result, this is my situation today:
- Seriously aching arms.
- My laundry basket is probably unable to take even one more round of clothes, so I have to think of alternatives.
- Soapy dried clothes. I need to improve my estimation skills. It feels like there is a layer of wax or something and it seems to make my clothes hard and starchy.

My aim is to not be so 狼狈 the next time I wash clothes.

Results of spacing out on 18 Jan early morning

Just attended my first Christian Union meeting today. It was good! Today was a fellowship session since there were a lot of new students. We had dinner prepared by one of the members, and the leader (a guy from Wales who married a Norwegian lady and who works at BI i.e. my school!!) shared about Norway. Haha... quite insightful cos their culture is really quite different (more about that next time) and he was funny too! Fellowship was fun! Managed to try some Norwegian food and learn more about churches here. Its like so many different cultures - Korean, Chinese, Brazilian, British, Norwegian, African - coming together, despite the cultural differences, and just because we are all placed here in Oslo by no coincidence, to have good clean fun and share our lives. I even know the Chinese aren't Christians but just popped by... Its amazing. The love of God. I believe God is there with us and will touch their lives! Yeah... so no bible study or praise and worship today but looking forward to it next week!

Hmmm... other than that, just kinda thoughtful tonight. It feels weird, being away from home (as in Singapore in general), and yea, kinda having fun, or at least more or less being rather relaxed. Well, its not like everything's smooth-sailing. Life's not like that or we will never learn anything. There's the culture shock, the weather, and even among the 3 of us Singaporeans who sometimes seem so united, I believe we are still getting used to each other's living habits and stuff.

The weird part is that I know that many things are still happening back in Singapore. I have very long nights here and it just drives me crazy when I know what my friends are going through or doing, but I cannot do anything except sit here. Stare at a computer screen and eat biscuits. Argh. Sometimes I wish I can just press an "Undo" button or something and get teleported back for a while to talk to a friend, to take something that I forgot to bring, to join an activity......

I so know how you feel and I just want you to be happy... I really do know. Yet I know that even if I'm back, I might not be able to really help you... I'm glad you found your answer in God. Only He can provide true peace and strength. He helped me through my nights and I know He will help you through yours... Let the joy of the Lord be your strength :) And remember that you are where you are for a purpose and a reason - I need to remember that too and stop thinking of going back but just be more useful here (haha).

Through the years, I realised that everyone has his or her own story to tell, his or her own personal problems. Some problems may not seem as significant to others, yea it depends on perspective, but also on how we have been brought up, what we have gone through in our lives. Sometimes we honestly want to help each other, but because of the way we see things, we are just not able to provide the right solution. Of course, friends mostly help to cheer you up, in the best way we know how! But in the end, all things come back to God and only He can provide the best solution and the perfect love and peace our hearts thirst for. If only we open up our lives and our hearts to Him, He will come and restore the order that He originally created. "Seek and you will find, Ask and you will receive." Just thankful that I have Jesus as my Great Friend to walk this road with me.

A guide to walking on ice

Snow is nice and soft to walk on. It's white and beautiful.

Water's not too bad either... It splashes but is easy to walk on cos it has no form.

But what happens when snow melts, and before the process is complete, the weather causes it to refreeze into ice? Ice is a whole new territory. Its hard, slippery and sometimes not clearly visible.

The past 2 days, I've been walking on ice a lot. And I discovered there are basically 3 solutions:

1. Don't walk at all. Go back to your room and just stay indoors for the whole day. Which I was so tempted to do when I slipped after taking only 2 steps out the door. But how long will you last in there? The winter's only beginning.

2. Get someone to carry you. But not everyone can and is willing to... And not everyone is heading for the same destination as you. There are paths you have to learn to walk alone.

3. Just move on ahead. Praying hard and trusting God to catch you. Also taking care by using common sense while you walk, so you won't fall too badly. Which is my choice.

As I walked, I realised that walking on ice is like walking through challenges in life. When you first face a challenge, natural human reaction is to want to escape it cos we don't want to fall and fail. But if you stop to think, most of the time, that will take you nowhere except back to where you have been. What's the point? On the other hand, if you pick choice 3, you'll realise there's so much out there to see and to learn, and so many more places you can go.

Firstly, it's only when you decide to walk on ice that you begin to experience God's presence and power over your life. When you slip, sometimes one foot after another, and with both hands in your pockets so they couldn't have helped you balance, yet you strangely never fall, as if someone supported your back and propped you back upright, there's nothing to say but, "Wow. Thank God!"

You'll also begin to appreciate the small, seemingly unimportant things around you. Like your firm foundation from a pair of good shoes. Like the little pebbles thrown on the stairs and pavements to help you get a grip (you'll be amazed by the power of these stones which seemed unnecessary and irritating in normal weather). Like the guy who drives the tractor and pushes most of the snow to the side each night, so the whole road and pavement won't be one big block of ice, but at most just small humps of ice. And even some things that you might not have seen visibly - the possibility of someone scattering salt on the ice and snow to prevent it from refreezing... These things all help you get to your destination with minimal heart-leaps and injury.

And you begin to appreciate the friends around you, who warn you not to walk on certain paths which they have tried and tested. Friends (and sometimes strangers) who grab your hand as you are about to fall and try to teach you how to walk better. Naturally, you begin to watch out for them too! Well, after all, many brains and experiences work better than one. And the idea is for all of you to arrive safely at each of your destinations.

One thing's for sure though: haste will get you nowhere except on the floor with 4 limbs towards the sky (it's a translated Chinese idiom). But if you really fall, well, get up! Yeah, you'll have to clean your clothes when you get back, but do continue walking... and try to use more common sense. Faith is not without reason. If there are better paths that will lead you to your destination anyway, don't go and purposely test the most difficult one. You don't have to prove to anyone that you can walk well on ice. There will be enough challenging paths to walk in life...

And most importantly, instead of sulking, enjoy the walk and the company of your friends walking with you! Plus be thankful for the grace of God that you have already walked a few metres or even a few hundred metres without falling! Sulking won't get you metres ahead, walking will (or new methods like sliding along sometimes), and laughing at yourself will make the journey so much easier!

Besides, the more you walk, the more skilled you get and the more developed your faith muscles will get -- to know that God is there to catch you. On the same road, you can now walk slightly faster, and you can conquer new terrains, like icy slopes and maybe even ice skating or skiing! One of the greatest satisfactions comes when the ice crushes beneath your feet too!

Walking on ice seems not so bad after all right! I can now only recall laughing with my friends at all our experiences and jumping on crushed ice. I'm so thankful as well, to realise that actually, I have not fallen down. Haha... so what do you think? Drop your comments! We all could do with some... After all, the winter's only beginning, I still have a lot of ice-walking to do and I'm sure all of you will get this chance to walk on ice at some point in your life!

My first gin tonic

We went for a party in school tonight in a kinda pub/club. i hit my highest drinking record thus far. 1 glass of gin tonic! but i wasn't high. my legs are kinda soft now but think i drank so little at a time to really be affected in my mind (which is good since i can't stand the feeling of not being able to control myself anyway).

It's interesting to see how pple wanna dance, yet they must consciously make themselves drink more SO they can dance. erm... so do they really enjoy dancing or its just being high then they enjoy it? hmmm... don't know. i can't dance for nuts... haha! just feel too conscious? maybe i lack that "cast-training-to-open-up" element? but yeah... think i'm more high when i'm "drunk" on coke/water/insufficient sleep, which often happens in hall, as compared to tonight.

The closest rush of "highness" probably came when we stepped onto the dance floor and they played....... "no no no no, don't phunk with my heart"! think i was like a mad person standing there laughing to myself. so many memories flooded... haha... learning the dance (which is way different from how pple dance at the club), performing at schools, and just 2 months ago, when i played the song a million times for clara's slideshow, until i was so high in my own room i tried to recall all the dance steps!!!

Ah well, still enjoy hall drinking sessions more though. those few we had, seems like a long time ago. when pple sat down much more quietly and talked and laughed etc... even despite the fact that i don't really like the taste of alcohol. hmmm... but i must say it is a super effective warmer. just a sip can warm your insides... perfect for this weather.

Beginning this journey

I've been wanting to start a blog since I knew I would be away in Norway this semester, but never got down to it. So finally, here I am now! I set this up late last night, despite having to wake at 6am this morning... Nights really hold special moments for me ya. I always end up doing crazy things (though mostly with crazy people)... Haha!

This journey didn't begin when I arrived in Oslo on 1st Jan, maybe now I've just reached the body. My long introduction through the application process, passing my last exams in NTU, and especially through December -- the tour to Egypt which taught me many things, followed by the madness carolling, meeting friends, packing and recovering from stomach flu... I really have to thank God for bringing me thus far. And considering that deep inside my heart, I never fully believed that I would be right here studying in Oslo until the day exam results were out on 28 Dec -- and I flew on 31 Dec, how surreal it felt...

As my msn nick once displayed, I have mixed feelings about the thought of leaving, especially in my final semester of school. Still do... Samuel summed up exactly the way I feel in his blog! Haha... so san mao, let me quote what you said k... "and inside, within my heart, it (too) is in a state of division. on half looking forward to learning new things and seeing new sights. the other, wishing that i won't miss out on all that will be happening right here, while i am over there."

Yeah... so basically, I'm missing everyone!!! But its really quite an experience here though, everything's quite different from what I'm used to. Plus I think my parents will be very happy with my new lifestyle! I'm sleeping earlier and waking MUCH earlier (without pple having to wake me) and no worries about me skipping meals -- the cold is making me so hungry that I keep eating... And guess what? I cook! It's not just instant noodles k... And so far, the food's pretty decent. Haha... We'll see again when I try something with high difficulty level like curry...

That's all for now. I wonder how some of you manage those short, sweet and funny entries. Enjoy reading all your blogs and its a great way to keep in touch, so keep it going k! Haha... Ok, I think I always somehow end up being too long-winded. Anyway, enjoy the photos on the main page!