贊贊贊！

選擇，要靠著信心走下去O~~
天天都在面對選擇和決定。。啊！快瘋掉了！昨天讀 Purpose Driven Life（第２２天）時，說到決定和行動。我們經常會在害怕和軟弱時問，“神啊，我們該怎麼走呢？”其實，我們該抱持著信心，做對的決定，不該坐著等事情發生。上帝總是在等我們帶著對他的信心，踏出那第一步後，才能幫助我們。

過了一個好忙的周末，卻很充實。Tina終於走了。今天崇拜後，大家擁抱道別時，都難過地。。掉淚了。是的，我是水做的啦！ 雖然相處的時光很短暫，感情卻很深。。


感謝姐妹們給我這個机會，要求我為她做個蛋糕，也讓我了解到，我，真的可以。 雖然沒有很美，但對我來說，已經很不錯了哪！沒有任何訓練，單憑，呃。。亂來一通。。嘿嘿。。
三層的海棉蛋糕，草莓奶油夾心，奶油Icing。。我的最愛！從星期五晚，弄蛋糕，到星期六設計蛋糕，下午三點半，才弄完。很累，卻很開心，滿足。接下來呢。。就要投資了。。買多幾個模型，買個提蛋糕的盒，再。。去上課啦！！這個月又不能開課，四堂中的兩堂，我都不能去。。嗚。。可惡。。上個月不行，這個月也不行，是怎樣啦！算了。。都是為上帝做事。。還好，還好。

睡覺啦。。累死了。。整個周末都沒怎麼睡。。忙到晚上九點才回到家。。垮了。。晚安。。

My 1st Easter Basket

My first Easter Basket, received on Monday 5a.m. KM surprised me by placing the basket in my car the night before. He went out the night before to buy me some medicine for my sore throat. I waited for a looong time and he hasn't returned. I started to worry as there are news about robbery in Houston and all those negative stuff. I gave him a call and he said he is on his way back. Didn't think much, of course, as I was so tired and ready to sleep.

The next morning, as I get into the car, Hehe...there is the Easter Basket I was jokingly asking him for while we were shopping for grocery the day before.

As you can see, half of the candy are gone. Here is part of the culprit:

My coworker. I took his picture while he was chewing the candy. Hehe...Everyone loves it since they are the Good chocolate --> Dove & Kisses

Unfortunately, with my sore throat, I can't really eat any. >_<

I took out the bunny after I took the picture yesterday. I don't think I would be happy if the 2nd surprise accidentally walks away with someone. =)

While driving back, I looked down at my gas tank...It's full. Thanks, my dear...for everything. =)

Dedicated to My Mum & Dad

Since I found out my mum is checking out my website, I might as well show her some pic via my website. Easier, isn't it? That way, she doesn't have to learn to use FB to see our pic...So, here you go, mum:

Family Reunion under the SA Christmas Tree

The one being bullied:
The one with iPhone:
The one with Gigantic Camera:The Pose:
The Old...Hehehe...
The young...
And the...WEIRD ONE!
The Childish Two:
The Murderer:
The trio...

Paintball = Painball

The sign of Paintball!! What an exhausting day...

We started journey out to the paintball field around 9.15am and it is about an hour East from SA. They said it is the nation's best paintball field. We got there and there were 2 others teams there. So, we joined them and started playing.

We went through a few fields and it was quite easy. We won all the games. The other team has too many kids and of course...there is no such thing as mercy in war field. I got shot on my fingers and my gun on the first field and I have to walk away cause my gun got problem on the second game. The next game, while I was cocking my gun, someone shot me on my arm but it was not that bad.

The last one, is the Kill House. It is a big trailer build like a maze where the defender can hide inside and start shooting at you when you are turning corners. The shots are wayyyyyy closer than any shots we ever encountered. We were attacker and we went into the house as soon as the game started. We were trying to turn on a corner and D got shot, so, he was out. There left 3 of us girls, and we were trying it again. I was trying to be more aggressive because those games before this, was not as aggressive and it gets a little bit boring. So, as I was trying to turn, the guy started shooting. I got 3 shots at once! The first 2, were not bad, but the last one, on my hand, I was literally screaming and almost dropped my gun! When i saw the pieces of the bullet, the paint and blood running down my hand...I decided, I am done! Haha...

We were all exhausted and quite dehydrated at the end of the day. I came back with a headache and a big bruise + cuts on my hand.

I had a great time and would definitely go back but...next time, with GEARS!!

多謝了，老友！

收到一份令我蠻意外的禮物，很美也很有心思，多謝了，Ｍ兄。下次不可以這麼破費了。你每次寄來的東西，都是令我意想不到的，而且也很能表達你單純的心意和關懷，令我很感動。
不好意思，又玩了你一次。。嘿嘿嘿。。江山易改，本性難移嘛！
別擔心，依我們的格性，即使十幾年不見，也不會改變我搗蛋你的習慣，更不會減少我們比賽吹水的談話方式。

今天很無聊地，就開始整理家和電腦，也順便去下載一些歌。聽著剛下載的李聖傑的歌（其實是很舊了的歌），腦中和耳中回“響”著的卻是我家親愛的小瓜殺雞般唱著這幾首歌的聲音。。和他高歌的模樣。。真不知是喜還是悲吶。

July 4th!!! Hilary!!!!

Guess what? I met Bill and Hilary Clinton today and I shook their hands today. If that's not enough, I had a picture taken with Hilary!!! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Try to top that!!
That feeling was...indescribable!! I was literally jumping around after that. How many chances do you get to be able to see the President, shook his hand and even took picture with an ex-First Lady/Possible-Future-First-Female-President? On top of that, I am a foreigner!!! This is one of the best July 4th I ever had.

I called EH early before the parade started and told her I am going to see Clinton today. She wasn't very impress. I called her after the parade and told her about the picture...WAHAHAHAHAHA... Jealous?? Lalalala....Told you to come..That's how close I was with Bill Clinton. I am regret now that I was too chicken to ask Bill for a picture. Hehe..My friend got the newspaper signed by Bill though. He had to sign it with his own pen. He cannot sign it with the pen we handed him because they afraid we might put some bomb in the pen. One thing weird when I met Bill Clinton was that he stared at me for quite some time. I guessed seeing a foreigner in a small town like this is not very common?? Hmm..

The price to pay for the pic? I got very tanned...

I went to the Carnival after that. They have many different rides and band playing in the band shell. They even have funnel cake and different kind of food. At that point, I really miss KY!!! I was planning to wait till 4.30pm for the dance performance from the dancing school in this town but I was way too tired after standing under the sun for so long. I ended up went back home and took a looong nap. Haha..

The Carnival will still be here till Friday night. I probably will stop back again to get the Funnel cake. I sneaked a bite off my friend's and it was better than the one I had in CR during the BBQ festival. Anyone joining me??

I watched 2 fireworks and both of them were great. The one that I watched last night, is on my one of the best firework list. It was over a high school football field, so, they have several firework set on the field that shoot up in addition to the one that they shot up into the air. The whole picture was really great. They even have a stand up firework that shoot the flag of America at the end. I didn't take any pictures because I am staying too close to the firework and wasn't able to capture the whole picture nicely. Before the firework, they have some performance. One of the performer had performed in Oprah's show before.

The second one, I watched it over the lake tonight. They set 3 different stations on the lake to shoot up the firework. It was shot from 3 different directions and at 3 different timing. I was sitting on the grass field. The view should be better if I sat at the dock where they park the boat. I saw the reflection of the firework on the lake and it was great. Too bad I wasn't sitting closer to the lake.

Having people who cared about me, is what make the whole July 4th the best thing ever. Thanks, everyone.

Iowa State Fair 2006

The long overdued Iowa State Fair posting. Finally..edited some pictures..and here is the Iowa State Fair posting.
Iowa State Fair is one of the biggest state fair in the nation. To me, is nothing special except...the FOOD!!!
We got there around 11 or 12pm a day before the fair ends. We were pretty lucky. There were two ladies standing near the ticket booth and they were selling the early bird ticket($6) for half the price of the entrance fee($10). Anyway..the money saved was invested into the food, of course.
We start our day by having our BRUNCH! MUAHAHAHAHA...Lots of food!!!!
Well, 6 gals, with no control on their diet...guess what "should" happen??

Walking around, buying food.
CL and Mb ate that huge turkey leg together..No worries..they are definitely straight. ^-^ Of course, they can't finish the turkey leg by themselves. Help are always kindly offered throughout the process.
KY and EC with the Strawberry Funnel Cake. They look good, but I still prefer the plain funnel cake with no topping except the icing sugar.

Clockwise: CL with Wings, KY with Corndog, SY with "Fried" ice cream (not the delicious Malaysian type).

Clockwise: Pam with Chicken on a Stick, EC with Gyros, Mb with Turkey Leg.

More food..Having Pig on a Stick after all those food. Hehehe.. Damn GOOD!!
CL modeling with the Caramel Apple..YUMMY!!

The fair:
We were trying on hats and playing around with the toys..
YEAH!!!! We all got a Cy tattoo on our cheek. CYCLONE SPIRITS!!!!!!! Go CYCLONE!!!
The watermelon were huge (114.2 lbs.)!! Wonder if they actually taste good? You know, with all the water and stuff, diluted out the sugar content in that watermelon.. Ok..stop the science here.

CL with the Strawberry Banana Smoothies..Emm..is just ok..I made it better...Hehehe..
EC with Llama, some animal that you wont see in Malaysia..They are very tame and gorgeous!! They are just so stunningly elegant when they are standing there quietly. They look like a gentleman or, a royal, a prince, maybe. At least that's how I felt when I look at them while they are standing there staring back at me. I suddenly find it hard to take my eyes off them. Am I in love??
KY was trying to take a picture..but..Of course we wont let her take it by herself! It is just so cruel to let her take a solo picture, isn't it? =P
The huge pumpkin (970 lbs!!) Unbelievable!!! I guess country with a higher obesity rate does have a lot of obese vegetables and fruits...Hehehe..Just Kidding..

Most unusual Vegetables (quite cute):

The Art Pieces made with Corn:

Art Pieces made with food (Clockwise): Gingerbread House, Mr. State Fair made with butter, Puppy made with beans, Spongebob made with beans and rice, and the famous Mr. Superman made with Butter..
Butter Superman..wonder how strong they are when it comes to rescue someone out from a fire..

We saw some supersized bull (3090 lbs.), huge boar (1199 lbs.), elk, horses and some other SUPERSIZED animals. Animals here are obese too..Isn't it inhumane to do that? Felt sorry for those animals. I felt sorry for the elk too. It was kept in such a closed container that its antlers were injured (can they?). Anyway, not much good pictures were taken. Too many people around the animals.
There are also art competition, flower competition, llama competition and things like that. They also have live concert featuring the band playing that song in Shrek, yeah, THAT song (I..don't remember the name..I am a believer?? Something like that). You have to buy tickets for those. They also have people performing acrobatic stunts too. I am just too lazy to put up all those pictures. Hehehe..

This ticket booth outside Beer Tent caught my attention. Guess when you are over 30 years old, you should look old enough, don't you? Sorry to those baby face people then..

Overall, my advice is, if you have never been to one, then you should go. If you had, then, unless you really like the food, which I do, if not, it is not really worth to go again.

My B'day Gift!!!

A LOoong overdue post. Too busy and too lazy to take the pictures. That's why it took me so long. Guess what I got for my birthday this year from all my dear friends? Hehehehehehe...A 4gb IPOD NANO!!!!!!!!
My favorite song..Hehehe..

With my name engraved on the back. coOL, Huh? (The blurred part is my name) Too bad that they can't engrave their initials on it too..Can't believe they really bought me an Ipod. Sigh..guys, don't spend so much money again, alright? It is a wonderful gift. It is not because of the price of the gift that counts, is the thought behind it that makes it a wonderful gift.

The bday card is also one of the best I have ever got thus far.

It is not the size of the card, it is not the price of the card, it is not the length of the card, it is...the number of people signed this card that makes it so special. The numerous greetings that I got from this card makes it so special. Unfortunately, Nat is not around to sign the card. I got a great card from her too..hehehe..

For privacy purpose, the resolution of this picture is extremely low. You can still try your best to read the writings on the card..if you are really that "curious"/nosy. Have fun ruining your eye sight. *winked*

BACK!!

Back from Florida!!!!
Yohoooo!!! We saw Alton Brown!! He was the speaker for the opening ceremony. The speech was incredible! He gave me a whole new perspective on how to deliver the scientific knowledge of food science to the public. Great ideas!! No wonder he is so popular. People waited for hoursss just to have their book signed. Crazy, huh? Of course, I am not one of those people.
The best part of the trip is, the food: Lobster Feast, Wolfgang Puck, lunch buffet, Bahama Breeze and, of course, Cocktails!!! Everything is paid for. I still don't find lobster tasty. The texture of the meat is too hard and quite tasteless compare to crab meat or shrimp. The dinner in Wolfgang Puck is very very delicious! I had my best cheesecake ever in the lunch buffet. I didn't spend more than 50 bucks on this trip!!
Our team, ISU, won 2nd place on the College Bowl Competition. UCDavis is stronger than us. Anyway, our department chair bought us drink that night. Alcoholic, or non-alcoholic..hehehe..
Another best thing is, met some old friends that I haven't seen for years. We had a great time. Hope to see you guys again next year.
I really needed this vacation. Time well spent.

My professor, Dr. B, Me, and Dr. P, in front of my poster.

Aren't we cute? Hehehe..

24th..

My 24th B'day...how did it go?

The night before, KY lost her "virginity"to me!!! MUAHAHAHAHA!!!! Aiyo, what were you thinking? She lost her "virginity" in baking cake to me-lah!! This is her first cake. Very successfull, gal!! Way to go!

Poor Marco, the cake carrier. See, how badly they were trying to remind me how old I am.

Cutting the ice-cream cake from KY!!! Very very tasty indeed. Good job, gal!! Thanks for making me "THE" ice-cream cake.

The next day, Cheryll brought a cake for me. People from the department celebrated with me, again! I felt so spoiled..

Very tasty. Marbel cake from Dutch Oven bakery. Haven't have my name written on a cake since...don't know when.

Thanks to everyone..My boss put the candles on. Remind me again, I am 24, or 42 some said. No good pictures were taken cause those pictures were took with my cellphone.

The evening, was the so-called Hickory Park dinner. CL, too bad, I really know you too well. Too hard for you to surprise me now. I am just playing dumb to not waste the efforts you guys put into. Hehehe..

BIG BIG BIG THANKS to all my friends. Sorry to have you guys went through so much troubles. Next time, I will just invite everyone so that you guys don't have to do all the preparations and hidings. It is a great birthday, I would say. Never expected such a great and wonderful celebration. Everything was very perfect, except for the stupid act of mine.
Thanks again, everyone. For showing up, for helping out, for tolerating me, for forgiveness, for acceptance, for EVERYTHING.

That's the water-gun that causes my stupid acts..
To those who called or greeted me from far far away in any ways, thanks for remembering.
I love you guys..

Fell from rollerblading. Elbow was bleeding, butt was swollen, gonna turn black-green tomorrow. Next time, will wear the elbow protection too. Haven't fall for a long time. Haven't had this kind of bleeding experience for quite some time.

I need to master the skill of "THINK, before you ACT". Did some very outrageous thing today. Still felt really bad about it. There were no excuses for my act. Very very sorry, CL and Js. Still love you guys, hope you guys still love me despite of my outrageous act and words today. I understand that kept saying sorry is not going to help, trying to change and not doing it again is a better solution. That's my goal this year.

Thanksgiving..

**Updated: Nov 26, 12.04am

Just came back from Cheryll's house. She invited CL, Nat, Jose, SL and me over to her place for thanksgiving dinner. Nat brought her brother, D with her and CL brought KY to the dinner. It was a lot of fun. Cheryll prepared the turkey and we prepared the rest of the meal. It was fun cooking in her kitchen and messing around. I can't believe I could spend more than 12 hours in somebodyelse's house, especially someone who I respected so much without getting myself into troubles. I am always afraid that I might say something wrong or did something bad, but this time, I think I did fine. Best of all, I was being myself.
We had a really great time. SL and R left early and then the rest of us, we just hang out and play games. We played the same games for more than 4 hours! Amazing, huh?! None of us felt like leaving but Cheryll was too tired, so, we decided to leave. Sigh.... I haven't been laughing so hard for a long long time. I can't even recall the last time I had so much fun and laughed so hard. We played the game called "Catch a phrase". It was something like taboo but there is no limitations on how you describe the word. So, we pretty much came up with anything. I even guessed "chicken" while KY was giving the hint that this thing could fly. -.-" It became the joke of the night. CL also used many different funny hand gestures that no one could understand her and it just cracks us up. It was funny to see how others mind work. Some of us try to make it simple, some of us make it much more complicated. It was fun and it also make you realize how little you know about things around us. I gave them the hint that Milan is the capital of France, and I said that New York is the capital of US. -.-" Quite stupid, huh? Just realized that I really need to read more about current events, geography and also histories. What a frog under the well!
We were having so much fun and Cheryll asked us to come back again when we have time. Unfortunately, none of us is going to be here for Christmas. If not, we could have done another Christmas dinner. Hehehe...
Will post some pictures tomorrow. Gotta go to bed now..tomorrow need to wake up early and go shopping!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving y'all!

CL, Nat and me with Cheryll's Turkey.

That's what our tummy look like after the dinner.

Group pictures before we left.

The day before Thanksgiving, we have another Thanksgiving dinner in CL's house. Yeah, speaking about gaining weight!
Part of the group left before we took this group picture.