two things

recently someone said that he felt in the past year, i've been rather withdrawn and this thought was seconded by nl actualy. ahhaha... i guess it's something that's more felt than found out. have i been rather withdrawn? i think yes and no. i think i kinda give myself a one year break. was it a good thing or not? i don't think i know too but all i know was i felt i need a break from everything to put myself back together again. did i manage to do it? i also not sure. hahaha... confused eh? yeah. i think i'm still at the confused lost stage. i just felt tired of being the pillar and carrying all the responsibilities that i just snap under it and drop all the balls i was juggling. and so i withdrew. but there are many thigns in life that's not mine to say drop or not. cos there are things that are just parasite that suck the life and blood out of me no matter stage i am at.

living is really not easy. it's actually rather hard. there are many grounds to make a stand, many battles to fight, many weight that can crush, many expectations to meet. it's an endless stress. hahaha... no matter how i try, it will never be good enough, finish or made easy. there is no such thing as silver spoon in my life journey.

...

the second thing that happened was yesterday. it's rather funny... at least for me.
i drove to my aunt's house to pick my aunt. my cousin sat down and then asked me, "now u do second hand car dealer is it?"
i was like, "huh??!! why?" baffled and surprised cos everyone knows i work in the church.
he replied, "cos u always come here with different car. these past few weeks aldy see u come with 4 different cars."
me shocked face and then burst out laughing. hahahahahaha....
what to do lah.. people with no car is like this lor...

Keep Holding On!

A simple one hour practice from the dancers to all the CYW team! =)

1a.m. Dance team's version of CYW Kuching!

This is the 1a.m. Dance Team version of Change Your World Kuching!
it's been a super packed weekend for me especially. but we made it through and we are back in one spirit. hahaha..

if u've not heard, the dance team, 6 of us, missed the flight!! ahahhaa... due to various reasons and mainly the jam at the road to airport caused by the overturned trailer! so we all had to buy another ticket to kuching, flying again the next morning at 7:25am.

at first, i was super pissed and could not believe that I missed the flight! never in my own personal history or record that i would ever do that. but it happened. hahaha... so no point crying over spilled milk, we called kaz to pick us up to go eat hokkien mee! and then head over to church to camp for a few hours and waking up 5am to go airport earlier this time.

i cant believe this! Alor Star-ian don't know wad's fried taufoo??? so we made them both tried one piece each and they cant bite it but swallow the whole piece!! hahahaa...


after everyone showered and fresh, we did a surprise farewell "party" for JASMINE YOW!

Jasmine had been a dear friend + dancer in the time she's here. and her testimony had really touched my heart many a times. i known her since she was a kid (literally when she was still studying in high school and call me Sharon Jie Jie). and now she's all taller than me and going off to Adelaide to study. in the short one year she's here, she had touched many lives and boldly shared her life testimony and brought joy to all of us.



i printed a set of her pictures with various descriptions of "The Jasmine i know is..(adjective)..." and gotten each of the dancers to write something to her and then paste it into a piece of long ribbon. it's for her to hang in her room so that she will always remember who she is while she was here and to always keep this special part of her!
and each of us brought a small (travelpack size) gift for her and made her put everything on in the photo. earrings from rachel, key chain from doreen, pearly hairband from me, pink socks from yc, and braided book mark from manda. and later in kuching, nailin gave her a cute ladybug car... in remembrance of her being cute i think... aahhaha

after all the excitements and laughter, we went to sleep so that we can wake up earlier in order not to miss our flight a second time! hahahaha... this is rachel sweeping the floor after our camp night.


upon arrival, we went to lunch with nailin n wenji (ops, no picture of her) - sarawak laksa!

and then head straight over to Studio 23 to celebrate birthdays. i told jasmine, we are celebrating Nailin's birthday and then told nailin we are celebrating Jasmine's birthday (now u know why i was so busy? scheming all these..ahahha...) and so happen, serina's bday was just a few days before. so we tah pau everyone and celebrate together!
and then we did a surprise for Nailin as her birthday present + encouragement present (another scheming plan). we copied the choreo from Glee and put together one hour of practice with the song "keep holding on" for her. it's been a trying time for the entire cyw committee with many obstacles and many stressful moments and last minute changes. and as her team, we wanted to bring her something special to remind her we are with her all the way.
we sat her and serina down in front of us and we sang+dance the song for her. at the first line.. "you're not alone, together we stand..." she already cried like shower... and then I CRIED! wah liow ... why lah... then i cant sing anymore... just do the steps only.. ahaha... and we refused to let her shoot cos we wanted her to see + experience the whole song. and so she cried all the way till the end and we grabbed them in the end and hold her hand to tell her ... "we'll make it though, make it through..." then picture time! hahahaha.. ( i think i saw some red eyes on serina too!)
the only souvenir any of us bought was this packet of pepper powder! that is always cos we asked nailin to get it for jas earlier. no shopping time or even visiting around! hahaha... i think yc gotten 24 cans of sundrop orange juice by request too.


we had so much fun and laughter and taking pictures everywhere we went. and so much jokes. at one time, they were all laughing at my hygiene paranoia... how i dont share food/saliva and about jasmine's stinky socks and while were all standing in a circle having briefing, i turned around to ask neil a question AND HE BURPED CHICKEN RICE IN MY FACE!! eeewwwwww....... and all my dancers laughed the whole time tormenting me with the memory of it!! jor...

and then i got injured during rehearsal. i stepped on jude's cable on the floor on stage. when i step on it, it rolled and somehow made me injured my knee. and after that, my knee was painful and my right hand turned numbed! i got a little panic. maybe i hit a nerve? the team prayed for me and the event intercessors prayed for me. it just got healed after that. the pain was gone and although i was cautious on stage, i didnt further injure it. rachel wrapped it up with yc's roller bandage - complete with a little candy at the top! so cute right? ahhaha... the art of a nurse!



Jasmine was so proud that she did manda's make up! hahaha...
the trip would not be complete if we did not take tons of pictures! and the trip would definitely NOT be complete without taking tons of pictures with nailin!!! she was supposed to be in costume and in position on stage with us but due to various factors, she decided to do it at the back, off stage rather than on stage with us! but still, she's part of the team... the part that says "i love kuching" ... hehe...
halfway while pc was make-up-ing in the same room with us, we requested for her to spare us 2.26 minutes. then we sat her down at a chair and did the song "Keep Holding On" for her. at the first line, she aldy cried (see the red eyes...) and we end up in hugs and we were glad she was ministered to. we were happy we managed to encourage her!! even though kel was not there .. which was a spoiler cos it was partially our peace offering for missing the flight thing... hehehhe... our one hour of practice paid off! as we managed to minister to the two person that's closest to the team!! yeah!

after the second dance (Dream Big), we came down from the stage, changed our clothes and head straight to the airport - only to realise that our flight was delayed! hahahaha.... how we wish it was retimed while we were late in kl but oh well... so some of us went to clean up our faces, ate some buns and then lepak while waiting for the flight and head back to KL! all of us slept in the flight of course!

home sweet home. i miss my bed, my pillow, my bolster, my blanket.. all my smell.. ahahhaha...
more than anything else, i hope that every performance, every trip we take is more than just a performance or a trip but it's a time to touch lives, bring joy and fellowship to wherever we arrive. i am so proud of the team, the unity the team held on to, the love we share with one another.
1a.m. Dance Team, never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world!! indeed, it's the only thing that had been happening.... let's make ipoh, kl and beyond more and more happening!
doreen, so proud of u for staying in the right spirit even though your house was on fire and in ruins and u have presentations bugging u...
For the overall CYW Kuching post, please visit here.
for Jasmine's version of retaliation, please visit here.