.. 45th day in Adelaide ..

Today is the 45th day since I reached Adelaide, and I wanna thank God that I have settled in well.. Thanks to the prayers of many people. Initially I find it really tough with the new changes & environment... But thank God that I am able to find a room in this hostel, where I met some really nice people.. Thinking back, it is really the hand of God upon my life. I am really thankful. :)

I just got to hear from Pok Pok that Peifen & Weiqiang's dad had passed away this afternoon. I was really saddened by the news.. I knew that their dad's condition has worsened, but, it is still a bit too sudden I felt.... It is moment like this that I wish I could be in Singapore right now... That I can go and give some support in whatever ways....

Lord, may your love, strength, peace & grace fill the family I pray... Strengthen them throughout this period, especially their mum...

Assignments & tests are coming up over the next 2 weeks. Praying for God's guidance and wisdom!

99 days more to go.. Gambatte Elaine!

.. My Adorable Nephews ..

Had a very good chat with Wen Wen yesterday over msn... So long never chat with her already... I miss chatting with both my sisters!!!

Anyway, yesterday I saw Daniel as we did a video call. Oh! Daniel can smile now! He's so adorable! Still remember before I left, Daniel is always sleeping... He has grown chubbier than before!

And Wen Wen told me that Samuel seems to be looking for me at times. Cos I used to sleep on the upper deck of the double bed. Sam Sam would go to the room, look up and say "Ah Yi, Ah Yi"... Oh my Sam Sam! I wonder will he still remember me when I return in July.. Hee hee.. Must bring him to the playground everyday during the 3 weeks! :P

105 days to go! :)

.. :) ..

I just came up from the hostel's dining area. Spent some time talking to Janice. It was just a casual talk actually. But it turned out to be a ministering session. I think it is my first ministering session since I came to Adelaide. I just feel so glad that I can share with her about God. :)

She is going through so many challenges on the inside of her. So alike to mine, but I guess I am so much more blessed than her. At least all my family members are so supportive of me. That is the most encouraging thing I would ever need, to know that my family are there with me and for me.

And of course. I have God.

I prayed for Janice. Gave her a hug. I hope she is feeling better. And I pray that God is doing something in her heart right now........

Tonight she is going to church. I asked her to be open and allow God to touch her and speak to her. I pray, let tonight be the night she will give her heart to Jesus Christ.

And I think, the most encouraging thing for her now, is to receive a sms/call from her sister who is in Bangkok. Lord, I pray you will touch & soften her heart now. Janice needs her understanding and support.

Lord, I commit Janice into your hands. Strengthen her. Let her experience in Adelaide be an awesome one. She indeed can achieve something great here! :)

.. Test Blog ..

Testing Testing…

Does this work? I'm using Microsoft Word 2007 to blog!

If this works, I will use this to blog going forward… It's so easy to use! :P

I miss Sam Sam!

.. 3 weeks have passed! ..

I'm into the 3rd week of my semester, and things are getting better now. As in, I'm getting more used to the education system here in UniSA. Though still have not make any Aussie friends, thank God for good hostel mates that I can chat with...

Now I understand why, when playing Sims, when the "social" need of the Sim is running low, the Sim will become very frustrated, and we need to get the Sim to communicate with the other Sims so that that need can be met. Haha. I can understand now because I am experiencing that too. I talk so much lesser than ever before. I think it is really not very healthy. And recently Pastor Kong taught us that women need to talk 30,000 words a day is it? I think I didn't even reach 1/3 of it?!!

Haha...

Anyway.. I will be missing church's Easter drama this year. As in, not able to catch it "LIVE" in church. I think the drama is going to be awesome as usual. I hope many will experience the love of God this Easter once again.

Time flies! This year marked the 10th year of my walk with God. It has indeed been awesome, adventurous, meaningful, fulfilling and exciting. Though challenges have been going on, God has been faithful and true.

I missssssssss City Harvest so much. I miss my zone and my CG!

I'm excited... and looking forward to going back to serve in church in 2 years' time. I hope I will be better equipped with more experiences, and more excited to serve than ever before.

The greatest thing in life to me, is still to see how lives have been changed and impacted through the sharing of the Word, the sowing of my love and serving.

15 weeks to go! ;)

.. More than conquerors ! ..

Patsy lent her guitar to me, and I spent some time praying today with a GUITAR!! It feels so good! :)

I was really burdened and stressed. This Bachelor program seems to over-whelm me quite a bit and I was shocked actually, cos when I came over, I was so excited for school! Now that school is already in the second week, I find myself not myself. I kind of lost the joy in me. I just wish to go home NOW.

But, praying is always good. I told God my struggles, my deepest feelings. Like what the Bible teaches, we can be so real before God. No pretense or anything.

"When the stage is bare tonight.. there's no one else,
just You and me...
When the curtains close behind, there's no pretense,
I'm on my knees.."

The Holy Spirit brought to me, remembrance of the many verses that I knew all along, but today they became rhema words to me for the situation that I am going through.

I am more than a conqueror in every situation that I am going through.

My faith is the strength that will help me to overcome.

And I can definitely do all things through the strength that Christ gives me.

I really look forward to going back to Singapore in July. I miss home so much. But today God somehow enlighten me, to switch my focus to completing my studies for now. I guess, the thought of going home is "hindering" me from giving my best to adapt to everything here in Adelaide? Maybe it is. Yah I think it is. I really need to move on because I should make the best out of every situation that I am in!

I really want to!

I need to remember why I am here. My goal: To complete this degree. And I will!

So for now, my focus will be on completing this 3 courses. I really do not want to just "barely" pass them, I want to do well. But I will manage my expectations because this program is not like the Advanced Dip! I will do my very best.

I will conquer Econs. Though it's driving me nuts now, I WILL!

I am so glad I found strength in God today. It's such a blessing to have God with me.

It's not a religion. It's a relationship.

3 courses down. July comes! I look forward to see my loved ones.

Another 4 courses down. Dec comes! I can see my loved ones again.

Another 6 courses next year! And I will complete this bachelor! Yeah. I am looking forward to the day where my family can take a portrait together with our graduation gowns!

I love my family. I want to be able to provide for them in a greater measure financially when I am back.

And my friends. My church. I look forward to serve them again together in the house of God.

For now. Focus! --> Complete the courses every semester!

... More than conquerors in Christ Jesus! ...

.. Sam & Dan ..

Finally Mad uploaded their pictures! Hee hee... Look at them! They are sooooooo adorable aren't they??

I miss them soooo much! July come fast fast!! :D

.. My Hostel Friends ..

Last night @ 12.30am many of us gathered to celebrate Shermayne's birthday... She is not in this picture because we gathered "secretly" in this room to write her birthday card. It should be a secret, but I guess Shermayne already knew it and she was just waiting in her room for our "surprise"!


The people here in this hostel are really nice and friendly! Thank God for this place! :)

.. My IKEA trip! ..

I have no Friday classes and thus I arranged with 2 of my hostel mates for a trip to IKEA!
I always loved shopping at IKEA! :)

We were hungry, so we ate something before we shopped!
The hotdog here is huge! Twice the size than that of Singapore @ the price of A$1!
The ice cream is also A$1.
Soft drinks @ A$1 and coffee @ A$1.50. And they are re-fill able!

These are the things we bought!

This IKEA is similar with IKEA Tampines..

Then we decided to go to Harbour Town.
It is another shopping paradise!

This is Patsy! She's from Indonesia.
She is the first hostel mate whom I got to know when I first shifted in.
She is a very nice person! :)

The girl laughing behind her is Man Yi, from Malaysia.
She and her sister Jia Yin arrived in Adelaide the same day as I did.
I enjoy chatting with the both of them.. They are great! :)

There are a LOT of shops here!!..
But we did not shop for long, cos we want to rush back and prepare for Friday Night Church.
But we will arrange to go visit Harbour Town to continue our shopping again!
Hee hee...

These are what I bought today!

Clock - A$6.95
Desk lamp + blub - A$19.90

5 Hangers - A$1.95
Organiser - A$1.95

T-Shirt @ A$5

3 containers - A$1.95..

.. to put my favourite snacks!! hoho...

It was a great trip today! Fruitful cos I bought quite a number of things! Hee hee...

We are planning to go to Henley Beach next Sunday.
It's a GREAT beach they say! :)
Will post pictures again.

.. Heavy Rain in Adelaide ..

Ever since I reached Adelaide on 12 Feb, this is the first time where it rains in Adelaide! It was sooooo HOT last week, it turned cold 2 days ago. So the last 2 days just felt some droplets of water only. But today the rain came!

I had a lecture at 10am today. So when I left home, the rain was quite heavy. I took the usual walking path to campus, and it proved to be a wrong choice. I was half-drenched! So I was feeling so cold in the lecture hall! My Nike shoes were wet!

Lesson learnt. I will wear my Croc shoes next time when it is raining. And, I just bought 2 cheap raincoats.

It is soooooo COLD! My threshold for cold is really weak I realised!

My umbrella was nearly blown away.

But I realised the people here dun really carry unbrella. Ha.. They just wear a wind-breaker and walk in the rain! Maybe because their unbrella was torn apart by the rain previously? Haha..

Anyway. My hostel mate told me that this rain is nothing... Wait till I experienced hailstorm! :S

It's turning autumn now I guess.. Winter will be here in June. :O

.. School has started! ..

School has started today...

Initially I was really excited... Haha. But halfway through the lecture today, I felt sooooo sleepy! I think I did fall asleep for about a min?.. My head "dropped" and it woke me up! :P

I need to work on understanding the accent of the Aussies here.. Sometimes they speak so fast, and they are like mumbling away... I don't understand what they are saying!

I reached campus before 12pm today, I supposed to have a tutorial at 12pm. But the lecturer only came in at 1.10pm! So few of us were in the room, staring into the space most of the time. We did some self-introduction... But after that a few Aussies started chatting and they mumbled away! I really don't get what they are saying?.. I was thinking oh no.. If the lecturer also speaks like this I will be "dead"! But after a while I figured out that they were saying that for tutorial class, the 1st hour is actually for doing some exercises and the lecturer only comes in the next hour.

There were 11 students in this tutorial class today. And I am the only international student! It's really such a weird feeling!..

I really look forward to Dec.. Haha.. Wanna come back for a loooooong holiday break! I miss my family soooooooooo much. I miss being in Singapore.

Alright.. I believe it will get better!! Tomorrow is Econs lecture at 10am-12pm. Then after that I am FREE! Hee hee....

Elaine.... 加 油！！！ Gambatte ! ! !

.. CCC Unley ..

I visited CCC Unley this morning. Unley is a suburb in Adelaide. There are a few Christian City Churches in Adelaide... But a few are too far away from the city. This Unley branch is one of the nearer ones...

This is the main audi - the stage..

The man in black shirt is the pastor of this church.
He is also called Pastor Phil!
And... His style of preaching is soooooo much like Pastor Phil Pringle!
The DNA is there! :)
I enjoyed his preaching. I am blessed by the word!

The cafe area

View from outside

This cross is painted by Pastor Phil himself.
Seems familiar?? :)

Today I felt really ministered by the service. The very moment I stepped into the place, it takes just a while for the presence of God to flow tangibly.. It is something I have been seeking for since I came to Adelaide for the last 2 plus weeks.

I felt so recharged after the service! Yeah!

School starts tomorrow!! I am soooooo excited! :D