New Pencil Case? PASS! :)

This was Jason's bday/Christmas pressie from me....atas notebook and pencil case from Prints. Matching somemore! :) Was glad that he was so pleased with his new gift. It was sorta like his back-to-school kit too as he starts his MBA. Why am I posting pics of a pencil box on my blog? haha! I know its strange, but I really liked the design of the notebk n pencil box....AND I love Jason's photos as usual. :)

Amazing how he makes simple stationery look so great in his photos.

Before...the old pencil box. *shakes head*

After....the new pencil case! Yay! :)

During our farewell dinner, Jason actually brought along his old, "cannot-make-it" pencil box. And we ceremoniously transferred his stationery into his spiffy new pencil case, before dumping the old one. haha! Yeah..this is gonna follow him to Melbourne, along with "Horlicks" the horse, who was last yr's gift.

Horlicks has his own 'glamour shot'! haha! Well-deserved for the little horse who has been getting quite famous. He faithfully accompanies Jason everytime he's on stage....so a lot of people have been introduced to him, and even look out for him now. Its quite cute how Horlicks is like part of the band now! haha!

"Trying To Pull Myself Away"

Last week over dinner at Blu Jaz:
=================================
Mich: *hands Jason his bday cum Christmas pressies...a burnt copy of John Mayer's "Where the light is" album is included in the bundle*
Jason: *eyes widen excitedly as he picks up the JM cd* There IS a God!
[this was AFTER he and his bro had watched, gone nuts and seriously considered
burning the JM "Where the light is" dvd which I had lent them.]
Mich: .......

I still can't believe Jason said that! haha! This is why people sometimes find us musos a lil eccentric. So funny lah that boy...we had a farewell dinner of sorts last week. Had a really good time catching up, learning the basics of photography (me), and discovering Tiramisu tea (oooh..it was good!) at a little cafe at Bali lane. I'm going to miss him when he flies off to Melbourne for God-knows-how-many-years. I felt seriously emo after we parted....I think my heart has been struggling with the series of goodbyes and departures I've had in a month.

I need a break from farewells...they're just emotionally complicated. Sigh.

The Bibliophile is Back!

I have one more week of leave left, and I'm going to try and do some serious catching up on my reading and dvds. I know I've had term breaks before, but I've been feeling particularly hermitty this round...really don't fancy the idea of going out much. Think I really need to get inspired again man!

Well, so here's the list of books and dvds I'm attempting to read/watch during my break. :)

1) "No Compromise-The Life Story of Keith Green" by Melody Green and David Hazard

2) "Good News About Injustice" by Gary Haugen

3) "Through Painted Deserts" by Donald Miller
(One of my fav Christian writers....this bk was a bday pressie from Andie!)

4) "Finding God in Unexpected Places"- Philip Yancey

5) 24 season 6
(Jack Bauer!!!)

7) Jason Mraz Live dvd

(This is from the limited edition 2 cd/1 dvd set. A smashing Christmas pressie from Shirley! As you can see, I'm preparing myself for Jason Mraz's real concert here in March.)

8) "The Swell Season- Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova live from the Artists Den" dvd

(This dvd features an intimate live performance from the two lead actors/musicians on the movie "Once." I've actually watched this twice already. But I'm quite in love with it, so it shall be on repeat mode for a while. I cried when Glen Hansard sang his first note. His emotional intensity is so stirring. Yet again, another fabulous Christmas present...this one's from Glenn.)

An Acousticky Christmas

Alarice and Deb Fung from Sydney, Australiaaaa!

It was a rainy Christmas eve....but Dawnie, Andie, Muffin & I managed to make it to Timbre @ Old School. Yay! The chilly air actually made it feel like Sydney, which is always noice. :) Anyway, I quite enjoyed the sets they selected. Apart from their originals, they played many of my fav songs by Bethany Dillon, Brookey Fraser and Corrinne May. Thought that was a nice surprise. Pity about the lousy sound system and even crappier service though. And I wish Alarice and Deb had done more imaginative arrangements of the Christmas songs....would have been nice to hear them put an acoustic spin on the Christmas songs.

Here are some pics of our evening....

The car-less crew prepping ourselves for the climb up the super long flight of stairs at Handy Road, which leads directly to Old School at Mount Sophia.

The neverending stairs....quite a daunting sight.

Dawnie still can pose for picture while climbing stairs. haha! But check out how lovely the view is from there.

We made it!!! And that calls for beer. :)

Alarice and Deb getting ready

Andie with a pretty backdrop of twinkle lights!

Just realized our clothes look quite Christmassy with the colours. Muffin, or as Deb Fung calls him, "the boy with the scarf," had Corrinne May's "Little Superhero Girl" dedicated to him by Alarice and Deb ah! haha!

Andie & I at Chijmes now, listening to Reg and Jeremy play at a Christmas gig on the lawn. We met up with Arun and Ivan there too. I wish we had taken a pic of Ivan wishing random pple "Merry Christmas" after the countdown (which was forced upon us by the singer. weird.)! It was mighty funny.

"Shall I play for you pa rum pum pum pum? On my drum..."
Life's tough for Arun and Ivan as Jeremy's roadies. haha! This is one cute pic!

Everybody Loves Pressies!

I just came back from a dinner at my grandparents, and I find it highly amusing that my grandfather hid the box of Marks & Spencer Instant Coffee Mocha Satchets, which I gave him as part of his Christmas gift. His plan was obviously to prevent my grandma or maid from drinking it, so that he would have it all to himself. haha!

And my grandma used her brand new Chanel nail polish immediately this morning, and she's very pleased with it. Yeah, that was her Christmas pressie from me. Its really funny to see grandparents get so excited and child-like over Christmas gifts eh?

Christmas Reflections

It's Christmas Eve...and the weather's a tad chilly and dreary outside, but the heart is filled with otherworldly warmth and joy. :) I spent the first few hours of Christmas Eve (as in around 1am) exchanging early Christmas greetings with good fwens online, and wrapping presents for my mummy and daddy. After that, I decided to watch the CompassionArt dvd, which was really inspiring and stimulating. I seriously couldn't sleep after that, and it was already 3am.

I felt compelled to spend some time with God in prayer....and I wasn't really sure how that would turn out, but I did it anyway. And then He gave me my vision for 2009, something I wasn't really thinking about to be honest. If 2008 was about learning to adventure with God, then 2009 was about releasing my art and my compassion, growing intentionally in my craft, and living out what we sing. I guess sometimes I get restless and moody because deep within, I have this need to create. And its something I haven't been able to fulfill lately.

And then, God surfaced all those tricky issues that we creative types sometimes struggle with....like building my ministry vs His ministry....writing songs/singing/serving etc. for the approval and applause of men....getting involved in Compassion and Justice ministry to gratify my inner "hero complex" etc. I laid down all my hidden agendas before Him...and yes, it was ugly, but necessary. I laid down my talents before Him, prayed for humility and wisdom, and that He would use the little I had for His glory.

Strangely enough, I felt this blanket of relief come over me. Like the weight of my self-agenda had been lifted off. And then the words started to flow....like my mind started to explode with an array of creative lyrical ideas, which I jotted down in my trusty moleskine notebook.

Then God gently prompted me to play the keyboard. At this point, it was close to 4am. So I went, "are you kidding me??" (haha!) And I believe He said something like, "do you not believe that I will bless you with a melody?" And yes, to be honest, I was a little doubtful because if you know me, I'm pretty ok with penning lyrics, but I've always struggled with the melodies when it comes to songwriting. But anyway, I headed to the keyboard (and turned the volume real low) and started tinkering around. The melodic ideas came pretty easily...and now I have a very raw skeleton to a possible song, with chord progressions and some lyrical ideas.

I didn't come away immediately with a song last night, but that short experience ushered me into the whole realm of songwriting which has illuded me for quite a long while. It felt like a mini workshop from God (seriously!), cos at every turn, He was whispering ideas and tips to me on how to make it better. And I treasure that learning experience. :) What an exciting way to start the year. :)

When I woke up this afternoon, the air was all abuzz with good tidings. haha! Muffin msged me to say that Jason Mraz was coming in March for a full-length concert at the Singapore Indoor Stadium! It really really tickled me cos I was just telling Dawnie that we should wait before buying more Mosaic festival tix, cos more new acts will be released later. And what if Jason Mraz were to come back again? But of course that was just a joke. BUT NOW, its coming true!!! haha! This is so funny. So after that I called up Glenn and Dawnie to share the good news. Dawnie couldn't stop saying "yay! yay!" which was so cute. haha!

(btw, go watch Jason Mraz's insane Christmas video. Hilarious.]

And then I came online to check my mail, and found out that our dear Corrinne May is six months pregnant with a baby girl, who's due in April!! I suspected it lah due her long silence of late. But I'm so so happy for her! :)

Alritey folks....that's all I wanna say now. I'm gonna get ready for my Christmas eve dinner and gig @ Timbre Old School with Dawnie, Muffin and Andie. After that we might be going over to watch Reggie and Jeremy play a Christmas gig on Chijmes Lawn with some of the other RiverLifers. I'm so thankful for this community. :)

Blessed Christmas folks....and may your hearts be aglow with the light of Christ. :)
I love you! *hugz*

Life as Advent

(Written by Charlie Lowell, taken from "Peace is Here: Christmas Reflections by Jars of Clay")

"For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now."-Romans 8:22

Every Christmas I'm reminded of the longing I felt growing up as I would anticipate this special day. And while I recognise that I was more excited about opening gifts than anything else, the longing is still appropriate. The days leading up to Christmas- Advent, or "waiting- are about anticipation, reflection, feeling the weight of the coming of the Christ-child. And though we immerse ourselves in the spiritual practice of waiting, we know that Jesus has already come. It's this tension that we live in; the in-between, the already and the not yet.

This season of Advent is a reminder of the broader groaning and anticipation we experience all life-long, for the restoration of this broken world. The Christian journey is a long-term advent- a patient longing for renewal and destination, for Restoration, when there is finally no curse and our souls are at rest.

However, lest we feel like we are stuck in a waiting room, remember that Emmanuel means God With Us. Christ has come, and we have a present peace and assurance through Him. May the hope of God-becoming-man bring us strength and joy today as we wait amidst the brokennes of this "groaning world." May the peace of Jesus bring light to the darkness that threatens to overwhelm.

The Burden of Hope

(Written by Matt Odmark, taken from "Peace is Here: Christmas Reflections by Jars of Clay")

"But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart."-Luke 2:19

Christmas comes each year with its dangerous invitation to hope. Yet for most of this invitation feels more like an inconvenience and a burden. In our busy-ness, we consider the burden of Christmas ourselves, even as Mary herself pondered the meaning of all of these things. I wonder how many of her personal hopes and dreams were on the altar at this moment. Surely this was not the life that she had dreamed for herself, and who could possibly understand the road that she was about to walk? Who would go with her? As she began to consider all that she would lose along the way, the invitation to hope must have felt callous and farfetched.

If you are like me, this is where most of my adult Christmases have been spent, burdened and heavy under the Hope that promises much but asks for everything along the way. Maybe this is your story this year; maybe your losses have been deep and painful. Maybe you stand in the reality of every Christmas from now on being a bitter reminder of those that are no longer with you. You grieve things that have been lost along the way.

If this is you, take courage from Mary, who somehow found a way to move from deep pondering and introspection to singing. Singing! Somewhere along the road the question of her life ceased to be "If you knew me and loved me, God, how could you ask this of me?" Somewhere along the way her hope was unfettered from all those good things that she had hoped her life would be and became anchored to God's hope for her.

"For he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed."- Luke 2:48

The Art of Compassion

Who are CompassionArt?
"We are a global community, an underground adventure, a map being drawn as we speak that connects wealth with poverty, art with hope, compassion with despair. We are starting with 12 of the best known Christian recording artists, creating an album and a book, with all proceeds and royalties doing to break poverty's hold. But we're not stopping here; CompassionArt is evolving to connet, inspire, and release compassion all over the world."

If there is only one CD you're going to buy this year, it oughta be the CompassionArt cd, which is out in Christian stores everywhere. All proceeds and royalties are going directly to charity...the songwriters and their record companies are not getting a dime. Its a powerful movement that joins the dots between art and compassion....something that a lot of creative types have been struggling with I think.



The CompassionArt Trailer


A live performance of "So Great," one of the songs in the CompassionArt album, by Chris Tomlin, Christy Nockels, Israel Houghton, Paul Baloche, Steven Curtis Chapman and Michael W.Smith. (they ran out of guitars, so poor Chris didn't get to play. he makes a really cute MC though. hehe!)

Singapore Flyer

And now, after my cuzzie's kiddy digi cam shots....we have the professional shots by Jason. haha! He's getting so good at photography. Awesome pics!

[Photo Credit: Jason Widjaja]