time for change!

ppl..i hv hopped on the bandwagon to change to wordpress le..

bravethechange.wordpress.com

i promise to try to blog more..heh...or maybe put up more pics..or u can email me for updates also ma..

anyway hv been having a happening 2mths here...roadtrip, moving hse, cooking, schooling, learning salsa...heee~~~dangle carrots in front of u...come come come..come over to bravethechange.wordpress.com k

Hidden meanings in my name!

What Grace Koh Hui Yen Means

You are deeply philosophical and thoughtful. You tend to analyze every aspect of your life. You are intuitive, brilliant, and quite introverted. You value your time alone. Often times, you are grumpy with other people. You don't appreciate them trying to interfere in your affairs. You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something. You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense. You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun. You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality. You are very open. You communicate well, and you connect with other people easily. You are a naturally creative person. Ideas just flow from your mind. A true chameleon, you are many things at different points in your life. You are very adaptable. You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together. You are a seeker of knowledge, and you have learned many things in your life. You are also a keeper of knowledge - meaning you don't spill secrets or spread gossip. People sometimes think you're snobby or aloof, but you're just too deep in thought to pay attention to them. You are well rounded, with a complete perspective on life. You are solid and dependable. You are loyal, and people can count on you. At times, you can be a bit too serious. You tend to put too much pressure on yourself. You are truly an original person. You have amazing ideas, and the power to carry them out. Success comes rather easily for you... especially in business and academia. Some people find you to be selfish and a bit overbearing. You're a strong person. You are a very lucky person. Things just always seem to go your way. And because you're so lucky, you don't really have a lot of worries. You just hope for the best in life. You're sometimes a little guilty of being greedy. Spread your luck around a little to people who need it. You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing. You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long. You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start. You are a free spirit, and you resent anyone who tries to fence you in. You are unpredictable, adventurous, and always a little surprising. You may miss out by not settling down, but you're too busy having fun to care. You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people. You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts. You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

My cosy little room!

my "little" hse from the front
the first room u'll see once u walk thru the door. not exactly the living room. more like a sitting room.
and..tada! my room..silk sheets with japanese ladies in kimonos printed on it. 

here's my little study desk..it's really little!

the kitchen..of which i only use the microwave..auntie bernie has sambal, balachan and some asian spices...yippy!

this is like the living room in which i'm nua-ing, watching Mr n Mrs Smith and blogging now..heh..i duno wad happened to the pic of my wardrobe...had it somewhere...

yep..here it is..my small little wardrobe..which will prolly fill up with clothes n stuff as the yr goes by...wahhahaha..well..i wont post anymore photos le ba..tired le..will show u my small little pool next time tho..hee...

And touchdown...

Well..i'm well n alive in sunny perth..have met the family..have seen my room.. settling down..went ard to visit some places..just to clarify..i stay with auntie bernie and wan xuan stays with her son, trevor and his family..her hse is generally bigger..there're kids n dogs in the family though. it's been really hot the first wk i was here. like REALLY HOT...like 30++ degrees..plus it's so dry u dun sweat and it's so glaring tt u simply can't survive without some shades, sunblock and cap..really can die de! now i noe y they m wear shades..not to look cool sial..really to protect ur eyes. somehow even tho it's so darned hot here..the highest spf they hv for their sunscreen is 30+ which is real strange when s'pore has like spf 130 n all and we're not even tt hot..

anyway shan't bore u with words first..

here's the family..from left to right: Di (trevor's wife), Liam aged 4, Auntie Bernie, Rhys aged 7, Trevor and Lukey aged 2.

the kids are really cute and pretty polite..lukey's only 2 but he speaks v confidently and his vocab for a 2yr old's not bad lo.. and they'll be made to say good morning and good night to us and they have to address us by our names..so just "gdnight" is not gd enuf..they hve to say "gdnite grace" haha..quite cute..Rhys is the most obedient kid..he's such a charmer lo..liam's more shy and lukey is like tagalong..he'll follow wad his bros say and he'll want wad they want..haha..

here's lukey..cute as he can be! ugh...blogger's playing punk with me! roars..

one more week

this past wk has been hetic...rushing everywhere to meet everyone...squashing 2 meet ups in a day... 

feeling the stress of leaving in a week's time..unable to plan anything..feel really stuck...wondering how it'd be if it was my last wk on earth..who would i say bye to...who would i meet..what would i wanna do?

am telling myself..i hv to do well in aus..have to work hard...have to be more outspoken..dun squeak..speak up girl...talk louder! hahah...

packing is.....daunting...and thus i havent begun...haha..also due to the fact tt i dunno wad to bring n how much to bring...but i need to change money asap! any recommendations?

no time no time...hyperventilate!!!!!

excited yet in denial

3 more wks till departure...pretty hyped out...everyone's been telling me...oh..so lucky..wish i could go...oh..so exciting.. but me, i feel excited no doubt...feel thankful nonetheless...but feel quite stressed too..so excited to be gg abroad..finally...my chance of being overseas for such a long period of time..finally can take nice pictures...hahahah...alwiz think tt once overseas..the backdrop for ur pics will alwiz be nice..wahhaha.... but but but...just feel pretty worried/ bu she de...

all this while..i've been the homebody...alwiz home while my bros zip all ard the world..and if i go overseas..the most also only for one wk...but now i'm gg to be living in someone else's hse..gg to be facing sch stresses all by myself...well..wan xuan, shiya, justin n minwei will be ard but they're not lin, von, sam or even ping, perk, mel, wan wan or even djd, dj, ej for tt matter...was not so close to wx also leh...got talk can click but just nv tt close..now have to xiang yi wei ming..but actually wx shld be fine...but i scared of shiya..hahah..lalalala...

i simply cant believe it's 3more wks...in denial abt it..trying to prolong each day..so have been sleeping at like 2+, 3+ in the morning even tho i make have like work or anything else the next day...cant get round to packing my things...more or less packed my room...just need to throw out more clothes..hahah...am seriously buying more clothes...prepping all my clothes for sch...getting tanks/ t-shirts...on a shopping spree!!!

jo asked me to list down the foods i wanna eat b4 i go...(ooh..sounds morbid there..) den i was wondering n wondering and the list gets longer n longer! wanna eat...

• katong laksa
• geylang beef horfun
• dim sum
• amk crab bee hoon
• holland v xo fish head bee hoon
• sashimi salad
• tissue prata/ murtabak/ milo dino

well if i ate them all..will get super round b4 gg...plus means i'll be super round for cny..yikes!!!

in the mood for raving abt stuff

lalallalalalala...am in the mood for many things..like rambling on and on abt how much I LIKE "it started with a kiss"...oh man...i think the storyline quite cute..typical taiwanese drama..but the cast v fitting leh..i think the main guy..joe cheng..seriously fits the role..and ariel lin also can act the impulsive bimbo pretty well too..hahah..and the supporting cast..i like the mama!!! v funny...she seriously crack me up..had such fun watching the show..made vonzie watch it with me the other day she popped by to deco gingerbread cookies and den we went to sam's hse to nua..and i made sam watch it too!! hahaha..and i soooo didnt want it to end..hahah..but not to worry...the sequel is out!!!! yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssss!!! but it's only just begun showing in taiwan so ppl are uploading in wk by wk...it's only till episode 3 now...roars!!!!! cant get enuf...roars!!!

the whole relationship btw zhi shu (the guy) and xiang qin (the girl) is like sooooo sweet at times..so frustrating at times too..but watching it by streaming means we can alwiz bimbotically skip unhappy bits..hahaha!!!!!

i realised i get drawn into taiwan dramas v easily..can watch till cry...like uh-huh la...but but but it's really v sweet and funny..and i like like like...am gg to get the first season from tingjun and b4 i leave get the remaining episodes of 2nd season from her too..*sigh*

i like jiang zhi shu...he has this irritating but v him smirk...and ariel lin is not exactly pretty but she can be quite embarrassingly adorable..hahahi like them being a cutesy couple...cant believe i can rave abt it for so long..haha..oh well..it just my current fave show..

The blessed life 2

my last day at cgh...was over in a flash..super duper slack last day..slack till i feel paisay...hahah...plus got treated my 2 seniors for lunch..let me choose wad i wanna eat and asked me to order wadever i wanted...ah..so shiok to be rich..halfway thru'out one of the seniors suddenly was like..so grace..wad can cgh offer u/ do for u..so that u will wanna come back to us after ur studies...

i almost spat my food out..hahah..so out of the blue can..den he was like..oh..cos we like u a lot ma..hor..*nudge senior #2*..and den they both agreed that i was likeable..and that they would like me to go back to work after studies..hahaha...kinda excited...always thot that i was a tad slow in my work..but simply v touched to noe that i'm wanted..apparently they think that i'm "hardworking"...feel like a cow when they say it...dunno why..oh well...still had a pretty enjoyable lunch even though was kinda stressed at first..cos usu juniors stick to juniors for lunch ma..

at the end of work..I GOT DUNKED IN THE HYDRO POOL....i didnt expect to be dunked lo..frankly..cos the 2 that left b4 me didnt get dunked..den they said..oh..tt's cos the big big big boss not ard..this wk big big big boss on leave..*insert lots of evil laughter* me, being the obedient junior that doesnt wanna be dunked in office clothes, changed into some pals extra t-shirt n shorts..and after a session of presentation by another colleague for sth...i got thrown in...struggle as i may...how can i be of any match to like...crazy colleagues? hahah..quite funny..it's the cgh tradition to run out after being dunked to hug all those that u can catch to make em wet too..haha..but the terrible floor was too slippery la..couldnt catch anyone! so had to make alliances and get others to help me catch some! hahaha..

after changing n showering n all..10+ of us dashed down to airport swensons for my farewell dinner..haha...their treat!! yay...so it was one whole day of rushing here n there and being treated and given small gifts...happy happy happy...

oh and guess wad..i'm gg back to work tml..hahahhaha!!!! as a research assistant..so i can wear pretty clothes and high heels cos i'll get to do bimbotic stuff like collecting data and all and i can sit most of the time and will earn...10bucks and hr..wohohoho...alwiz looking fwd to extra income..heh..plus i'd get super flexi hrs..work as and when i want/can..just need to let my seniors noe..happy sial..

this is a blessed life man..everything paved out..working in my favour.. =)

here's wishing EVERYONE blessed 2008!!!!!

The blessed life

it's 2008!!!! year of plentiful bountiful blessings...!

my lappy...chose of all days..of all times.. to konk out on me on sat..sigh...but but but...all it took was one call..."pa, my lappy's konked out on me...dunno wad happened..tried everything..hp svc centre hotline closed on sat.." and viola..my daddy was like arranging everything... turns out..he told me he was planning to ask my kid bro to give me his old lappy cos my kid bro bought a macbook for himself alr. so this jiejie, user of old IT stuff passed down from bros, was supposed to use his old comp..but den..my papa thought abt it and decided..weak lil girl like me shldnt lug big heavy lappy ard and hence he bought me a MACBOOK! OMG LA!!!!!!!! i was ever ready to just get my lappy repaired and continue using if not just use one of my bros' lappys but my dad was like buy u new one lo. 13''. light and easy to carry.. since ur bros are now both pro-mac...get u mac also..den can "share" the software with them...oh man..super touched la!!!!! turns out my papa had it pretty much planned out even b4 my lappy KO..mac has alwiz been like...out of reach la..designer lappy la..plus i nv get new IT stuff..hahaha... it's like a hot little bugger of a lappy..



so happy..so blessed...so planned out...had been so worried abt expenses of flying to aus and all..but seriously..now feel that i can trust my papa...that papa who doesnt say anything or seem to be actively doing anything..hahah...he's got it all planned out..how to fight with a man of experience..here i was..being smart alecky and all when my papa is alr planning stuff..hahah!

guess wad...have actually been struggling to understd God in the Daddy way cos my real life papa is like...not so loving and stuff..i mean like typical sg dad..doesnt show anything de..den was actually wanting to experience all this stuff abt leaving things to ur daddy God to settle..it's kinda hard sometimes to translate bible stuff to real life..like sometimes u just cant feel it if u've nv been thru it..den suddenly became crystal clear..it's like us humans..trying so hard with our own efforts to do this do that..struggle with this and that when all we had to do was just ask..and we'd realise that it's all mapped out..Daddy God went ahead of us to pave the way..make it smooth and trouble free and we're trying and trying on our own..haha..it's so simple when u get it and so mysterious when u're clueless..

more than i could hope or dream of...u have poured ur favour on me..
so blessed, i can't contain it..so much i gotta give it away...your love has taught me to live now..you are MORE THAN ENOUGH for me...!

update!!!

i forgot to update on my accomodation...heee...

so blessed i cant contain it! heeeeeeeeee! grin from ear to ear to ear to ear!

was actually offered a place in hostel..but have been hearing horror stories abt hostel life over there...plus the hostel's likely to chalk up extra expenses cos u gotta pay for linen (bedsheet, comforter, pillow) and also need to pay for using the recreational facilities inside...and if ur utilities bill exceeds that of the pre-set price..u gotta split the bill amongst ur flatmates...

den shiya (one of the girls i'm gg with...same batch, different class..i.e. not tt close) had a contact for her distant aunt over there..she's gg to stay with a cousin u see...anyway, i called this lady up...long distant call all the way to australia oh! kena her voicemail twice somemore..with heart a-pounding, i spoke to her and asked her almost everything...hahha...by the end of the conversatin, i could hardly stop smiling and was alr bouncing abt my room! hahah...

well..it's like this..she's offering her room at AUD120 per wk...sch hostel is AUD122 per wk..this lady has 3 rooms...she stays in one, one couple stays in another and she has one room to let. her son stays just next door and he also has one room to let. the couple tt stays with this lady...the husband works on an oil rig so he's usually not home..so it'll be mainly a girly environment..as for this auntie's son..he stays with his wife n 3kids..aged 7, 5 and 2...their room will have a private toilet attached to it though.. anyway the auntie seems really nice..she was like..for FIRST DAY OF SCH, i'll dirve u down and show u ard and show u where n how to take the bus back..ha! macham pri sch! and she says she's not v particular if we wanna kope a bit of her leftovers..heee...but if we want her to cook all meals and stuff, the rent will be AUD170per wk instead.. and then i just had to ask her abt HOUSEWORK..hahah... as u all noe..i'm hardly the domestic type..hahah.. so she SAYS dont worry abt hsework..i'll do all the cleaning for u..u just have to wash ur own clothes..but if u can't wash ur own clothes i can help u wash..with a washing machine, it's really easy! can u imagine how absolutely elated i was to hear that..tt woman must be God-sent! hahaha...and den she says...when u come here u're just like family..so u dun have to hide in ur room all day after school..come out..watch some tv..play some music if u want..and she ADDED...i've my own SWIMMING POOL and garden and my son has his own SWIMMING POOL and garden as well.. no words can describe how i felt when i heard that k! thot bubbles immed pops out...and i can simply imagine nua-ing in paradise...beside a fantabulous pool on a hot SUMMER day...(finally can experience seasonal changes) woweeeee!!!!!!!! superabundent blessings man! this is indeed the grace of God..undeserved, unmerited favour...

tt conversation really left me speechless..was so grateful..felt so loved..

and one last blessing on top of blessing was...u noe how if u take up space in the hostel u still have to pay a fee....well in Aus, the hostel expects us to pay the ful amt...AUD122 per wk even if we're physically not in the room.. however, this auntie i spoke to..she said that if we're gg for a short break like 2-3wks...she WON'T CHARGE us at all!!!!! but if we're gg forfew mths..she'll charge half the rental fee la.. and and and...her hse is located within walking distance from a shopping centre and is 10mins drive from school..she says it's too far to walk and may take ard 20mins on bicycle..and den she adds that we can prolly buy a car for 2-3k in Aus....soooooo tempting right..hahah...we'll see how den..but really blessings upon blessings upon blessings..

was at first quite worried abt swimming test..cos saw this really strict and crazy tester b4..den we got George for our swim test prep lessons so tot can't be him...den was praying like crazy cos not v confident abt lifesaving...and then...dang dang dang dang...it's GEORGE! hahaha...happy happy happy...

updates!

Settled my airticket le..

i'll be flying off on the 9th feb '08...flight's at 9am...

now i need to settle my student visa! i noe...it's v v late le..but simply didnt have the time to go down...almost done le..left the stupiakz health check up to go to..

tml is our lifesavings test le...we got George as tester...shouldn't be too bad...! yay...blessed blessed..=)

hopefully i get to go for first aid course with wan xuan...cos i'm a tad late in the registration..hopefully they take in an extra student!

once work contract ends...will need to start packing...and hopefully can hunt for some easy peasy part time job..heheheheheh....gggaaahhh..i'm such a terrible packer! oh the mounds of clothes and books!! *moans in despair* clothes are gg to be a big headache... need to bring enuf but wad is enuf? dun really wanna spend too much money over there...but SURE will spend money de! hahah! and the shoes!!! *gasp* will bring one pair of heels and flats and trekshoes and beachy slippers and gg out slippers...shld i bring my boots/ or just buy there? shld i bring one more pair of heels? wad abt make up?! hahh...make up not so bad cos i aint got a lot..but wad abt accessories?! eek..the thot of packing is driving me nuts! *faint*

totally having mixed feelings for school! on one hand...gg over, experiencing new things, new cultures..are alwiz wad i've been admiring my frens for..now finally my turn.. but the thot of leaving..leaving everything behind...leaving everyone behind..wad a harrowing thot.. i won't get to msg anyone here as and when i like/want to..Thank God for msn/ skype tho..i cant imagine having to uproot and head over to the down under for 1.5YEARS! sighhhhhh....my dearest, my bed, my family, my hometown, my room! =S shall not brood over such things till the time comes..bleah... will pray for everything to go smoothly like it should..lallalala....