Family Camp at Le Grandeur

After we touched down in Singapore, we left for our church camp in JB the next day. I remember us both being very very tired, and still a little bummed from losing the camera. There was so much going on, and we were already rushing to the next place. In the morning, we just quickly finished the packing for the camp, and off we drove towards checkpoint. I actually am thankful for the long journey there. It gave us a good 2hours to warm up in the car, chat, and get ourselves out of the "Finland vibe" and prepare ourselves for the family camp. We stopped by Pulai Spring for lunch, and greedy us ordered so much because we missed Asian food!

Finally, we reached Le Grandeur at 4pm. It was SO WARM!! Apparently there is a heat wave in Malaysia, and it does not help that we just came back from the coldest country ever. Got ourselves settled in, and we joined YAG for the special performance practice- singing the song "If My People." Then we had dinner- more Asian Food!!

The messages at camp revolved around Jeremiah. Jeremiah was young and he felt inadequate to do God's calling for him. However, God had consecrated him even before he accepted God's calling. We need to have a relationship with God, and have good knowledge of His word, to be able to receive His revelation of our destiny and purpose. After we receive, we have to react appropriately and put in our best for His work. God will bless us with skills and gifts to do His will for us. Another important message is about Interactive Prayer. Oftentimes, our prayer is adhoc and occasion-tied. For example, saying grace, or praying for something. We need to maintain the discipline and desire to communicate with God through prayer on a regular basis to build that relationship with God.

At camp, J and I also got to know so many more friends from Bethany! The organising committee was also thoughtful enough to prepare a honeymoon suite for us! Look at how pretty the room is!

At consecration night, we responded to God's call to consecrate our lives to His purpose. I think this is especially timely for me since I am moving to a new work environment soon. I take it as a chance to reset my priorities in life, and strive to reflect Christ in my everyday living.

I also am extremely thankful for God's grace, that I am able to attend Family Camp as a wife. I look at JJ sitting next to me, and I am thankful for him. I look back at what I have done for God, how I have behaved as a daughter of God, and I am reminded of how merciful and loving He is. Even when we have nothing, He still loves us enough to give us the best.

May J and I build a family that is anchored in God's words and His way.

Honeymoon- Finland

We decided on Finland as our honeymoon destination after the report about the diminishing lights came out. According to those reports, the Northern Lights will diminish for the next 10 years after 2016. That kinda made the decision for us, as we were deciding between Finland and South Africa.

Thank God for the extremely timely trip. J is doing his research year, so his schedule is a little more flexible, and for me, I am waiting for my transfer to Mount E Novena so I have less on my plate. Both of us have never been to such a cold country and we were extremely excited! Chose to go on a tour with Dynasty instead of self plan because we were just too lazy. It was a good move because we had nice travel mates in the group! 

Dynasty travellers have access to the SATS lounge, and so we went in earlier to just enjoy this privilege. Unfortunately, we didnt find anything that we really liked, so that was quite a bummer. 

Flew Finnair, and I thought it was quite alright. Straight flight to Helsinki, and as usual, I slept almost throughout. We arrived to see that it was snowing! I was super excited because that was the 2nd time I saw snow. I dont know why J was so excited too even though he has seen it many times in NY. 

We went around the Helsinki city, and they are as pretty as the other European cities I have been. Somehow the architecture just makes the whole city look more grand and.. cultured? We enjoyed the weather in Helsinki because we were very well prepared. Enjoyed playing in the snow and just leaving foot prints everywhere! 

The tour guide shared that there is an awesome burger joint- Naughty Burger that we must try. Us being the greedy us, we decided to buy that for tea, and then explore a place for dinner, whilst the rest just had Naughty Burger for dinner. We thought the burger was alright, but J loved the chips. We went for Jap after, because my husband has the most Asian blood ever. 

The next day, we made our way to Ivalo, where we would find our glass igloos. Before we reached the igloos, we stopped by Santa's home, where the elves showed us the homes of the Samis. We also went to a reindeer farm to try and get close up with them but were not too successful.

The glass igloo is one of the highlights of the trip, as we were all so excited to experience living in a small igloo. J had sinusitis upon arrival at the igloo, and was not even well enough to go for dinner. Was quite disappointed, as I went with the rest. Brought back the food for him, and was happy to see that he felt better after the sleep. J woke up to eat his dinner, and we made a wise call to take a nap before trying to wake up at 11.30pm to try and catch the lights. The weather forecast did say that it was going to be cloudy the entire night, so our hopes weren't too high. J's alarm rang at 11.30, but we did not wake up. At 12, i sprung up and waked J to go take a look. Everyone else was asleep by then. We walked out and we saw a beautiful blanket of stars above our heads. This was a sign that we could possibly catch the Northern Lights. We tried to capture the stars with our camera, but realised we could have the wrong setting and went back to the igloo to fix that. When we came out again, the clouds were back and no star was to be seen. We were so disappointed! Just then, JJ saw a milky green beam in the sky. We took our camera and tried to capture it, and tadah! It was the Northern Lights! We snapped a few photos (tried waking people up while snapping but failed) and the Northern Lights disappeared. It wasn't the most beautiful display, just a strip because of the cloudy night. But we are already thankful as that was the only time it appeared, and for the next few days, everyone waited but it did not appear again.  

The third day, took a reindeer ride before we left the glass igloo. The reindeers were so cute and docile, peeing everytime they stopped. It was a nice way of going into the woods to appreciate nature the way God created. 

We made our way to Levi, where we were going to stay for 3 nights. The hotel is right on the ski hill, and aptly name Panoroma Hotel. From here, the trip was a very relaxed and free and easy one, with just a few activities each day. Everyday, we would take the gondola (cable car) to the city centre, which is a small town with cafes, restaurants, and some shops. 

The fourth day, we gathered to ride a snow mobile into the wilderness of Finland. 2 to a vehicle, so J rode and I pillion, then we swapped on our way back. All snow mobiles were to move in a single file, and we were lucky to be vehicle no.1 so we could go quite fast. Unfortunately, we lost our camera, so no photos of the snow mobile :( 

On our snow mobile, we reached a frozen lake where we attempted ice fishing. Holes were drilled into the ice, so that we could reach the water. Nobody seemed interested in fishing except me though. J was leopard crawling in the snow and insisting I play snow with him. Others were taking photos of the pretty scenery. But i also didnt manage to catch any fish :p 

The fifth day, we went husky sledding! The huskies were much much smaller than I imagined. They were Alaskan huskies instead of the Siberian ones, so they look more like Boxer. Made me miss Boxer so much. The huskies would stop to poo at times, and we will have to emergency break when that happens to prevent accidents. J forgot to do so at the start, and he got a huge scolding haha! But I love how the owners looked after and cared for the dogs. I actually considered if it was animal abuse to be doing husky sledding, but the doggies looked so happy and excited to run, and they look so loved too <3 

The sixth day, we made our way to Santa Village on our way to Rovanemi, where we spent one night before flying back to Helsinki the next day. Santa village was quite a disappointment because I was expecting a very fairytale place with lights and all. Instead, it kinda felt like a desolate piece of land with some wooden cabins where Santa Claus was, and the post office, and souvenir shops. We went to the post office to write 3 cards, one to J's parents, one  to mine, and one to ourselves (which will be sent Christmas this year.) We also crossed the legendary Arctic Circle. 

In Rovanemi, we just chilled most of the time. Went to the Northern most Macdonalds in the world- in Rovanemi. Ate nuggets as usual, and they have nice sauces like cheese, sour cream etc. Flew to Helsinki, before flying towards Hong Kong to transit Singapore. 

It was in Hong Kong that we realised our camera was gone. J had it in his jacket in Helsinki airport, and it was missing when we left the plane in Hong Kong. It was really a big disappointment, as we have not transferred most of the photos. Made a report, and at the time of writing this, the reimbursement is approved and on its way. Of course, as anyone would expect, its the lost photos that hurt the most. We are still hoping that we will find our camera somehow, but we have sorta gotten over this episode together. First disappointment as a couple... 

Overall, the trip was extremely amazing. Possibly the best holiday I have ever had. The pace of the trip and the food and accommodations were lovely. The people are nice. In fact, 8 of us younger ones have kept in touch and are going to meet again soon. And of course, we 2 were blessed to see the Northern Lights in the most impossible weather. I asked myself (asked J too), was I satisfied with the strip of lights? Looking at the Northern Lights photos of anyone else, they are usually a pretty and majestic display, not just a small strip. However, I know I am satisfied and thankful, because we believe this is God's blessing upon us, to allow us to see this sliver of light in the most impossible time. It is a reminder of God's grace. God can do amazing things in His time and His will. The postcard that we wrote to our parents just arrived in Singapore yesterday (22/3). Mummy was feeling a little down, and she actually teared reading our card (Northern Light design) because we shared with her that God can do wonders even when it seems impossible. Glad it brought her comfort. It was also on the last day of the trip that we got the HDB approval for our dear Lorong Chuan flat! Yay! 

Thank you God for calling us your children. Thank you for being so sovereign and almighty, to create the amazing nature that we have witnessed in Finland. Thank you for being so personal and loving to take our matters in Your hands. We are blessed, because You love us. 

Looking forward to our next trip! 

Start of a new chapter- Marriage

I have been wanting to do this for awhile now, starting a blog/diary to note down some of the memorable events that happen in my life. The inertia to start was huge, but Grace's blog made me realise how much I really want to do this. So here it is, something that we can look back on in future.

We got married 6 Feb 2016. This date marked our 3rd year dating anniversary, and the first day of our married life together. The wedding day zoomed past super fast, though it took a year to plan. Did wish the day could last longer!

The day started at 5am, when I had to wake up to get my make up done. I slept in gujie's house, which was daddy's old house as it is more spacious for the whole group of people that are coming. Carla (makeup artist) came and started working her magic.

Daddy was super quiet and i can tell he is feeling the bittersweetness as he watched me put on my white gown. Mummy on the other hand, was her usual kanchiong self, hustling everyone along. They covered my veil, as I waited for my husband to be to come and pick me.

I planned all the gatecrashing game, with the inputs of my lovely bridesmaids. The games were all planned to be things that JJ was either good in, enjoyed doing, or love eating.

Game 1: Charades
Game 2: Draw how you imagine Cassandra to look like in the room
Game 3a: This wasn't planned by me, but papa wanted J to do 100 push ups, and he did with his friends.
Game 3: Suan Tian Ku La (with all that JJ can drink- not meant to be yucky)
Game 4: Write down the values our household should abide by

JJ forgot to bring the bouquet! But he brought something better- a painting of me dancing ballet that he painted all the way till 2am the night before. <3

Papa mummy gave me a big hug before we left the house to the photo taking.

We set of for some photo taking at Tai Keng Gardens with our dearest bridegrooms and bridesmaids. The photos turned out lovely!

Church service started at 11am. I thought I would be nervous, but Pastor Mitch told me, to just focus on God because this is after all a service and a worship to God. It is not about me. He told me to be steadfast in the Lord. That really set my perspective right, as I walked down the aisle looking forward to praising the Lord and giving Him all the honour.

It really felt special having daddy walk down the aisle with me. I believe it is every girl's dream, for their daddy to walk them down. That moment felt like forever (also because I had a long aisle at Bethany!).

Pastor shared a very personalised message with us. He taught us how we have to remember to fear the Lord. When we fear the Lord (not fear your wife, he said), we will walk in the light of the Lord and we will be greatly blessed.

Pastor then married us, and we marched out with the entourage behind us, on the traditional wedding march.

After the service, we had our tea ceremony, where I wore my new mummy's old kua. She wore it for her wedding, and so did her sisters and Yunqi. It is so unique and stunning, everyone went "WOW" when I walked in. The tea ceremony was a form of thanking our families for being our best supporters as we grew up. The well wishes they gave us were very heartfelt.

After the tea ceremony, we proceeded to Four Seasons Hotel, where I removed make up to put on a fresh coat. Carla skilfully dolled me up, while I finished up my speech. I went down by 6.15pm so that I could greet the guests to maximise interaction time with them. Since the wedding date is 2 days before Chinese New year, many had to reschedule appointments to be present and we are extremely thankful.

Had 3 march ins despite strong advice not to for fear that the wedding will drag to 12midnight. Having the operations blood in me, I was confident things would be within my time plan, and went ahead. Thankfully everything went superbly well, and we finished up all the activities by 10.40pm. So 3 march ins, cued the parents and my first march in by myself, danced in on the second with little Joanne, and finally the conventional march in with JJ only on the third. 3 beautiful gowns thanks to Bqueens! A dance with my husband and another with my dad. Had my brother sing to the song papa and I danced to. It was just so moving and family focused- just like how I like it to be.

And finally, we bid our guests goodbye, and left for our beautiful suite. That was the end of the wedding day. We were dead beat when we reached the room, and we drifted into our sleep with the sweetness of the day lingering...

To J, I am so glad I married you. Our relationship in itself is a testimony to God's love, and the hearts of acceptance and love that He placed inside us. J has been the most supporting person ever, with his usual lame jokes (that usually only I catch), and his acts of services that he uses to express love. I love how we can predict what one another is going to say; it is just such a special bond that only marriage can bring out in us. May we continue to grow in our relationship with God, be forever sweet (even if the world thinks we are Siamese twins), we continue to do what we know is pleasing to Him. And being in love with my husband is something God likes too!

May we always love God, love our families, and love one another.