Good morning Adelaide

I have been rostered OFF today! :)








Guess what I did in the morning?!...








I woke up really early this morning and went to the central market with my camera. Of course, me and my camera. This has been what I wanted to do for ages, to capture the very first heartbeat of the central market.








My huge zoom lens and big camera have obviously attracted a fair amount of attention, including that of the security guard hahaha...








It was such a wonderful experience. I talked to a lot of ppl, asked them to pretend as though I wasn't around and most of them didn't mind to pose for me. One of them gave me a peach.








I made a few new friends too. A cafe owner made me a cup of mocha free of charge. There I was sitting in this very small homely cafe for almost 1 hour. Another regular dropped by for his routine cuppa, opened his very expensive MacBook and showed me his short films and photographs.








This is a beautiful market. A beautiful place. Beautiful ppl.

He made me a cup of mocha...

www.siewwai.zenfolio.com

Mocha and peach...

www.siewwai.zenfolio.com

The owner of a bookshop


www.siewwai.zenfolio.com


It doesnt take much to be happy, I dun need anything, just God in my life, and a heart to love and appreciate the beauty of life. A cup of mocha in a small cafe brings me smile. Life is simple and good.

25/2/08

I was meant to write this post a few days ago, have been living without internet connection at home for a good 1 week!


A few ppl have already shown their concern re: my last post...Hehe:) My apology if I sounded aggressive.


Well, I must say I have had a rough week. So much was going on and it was all too overwhelming to me. But all in all God is with me and has again and again reminded me of His faithfulness.


The reason of me being upset and discouraged was I found out that this year I am not eligible to apply to the surgical training program for 2009 because I am not a PR. That means I will have to wait this year, get registered next year; and if everything works out well (hopefully), I may then start my surgical training in 2010.


This is only gonna happen IF I have accomplished this and that in order to increase my eligibility for the selection, given that the competition is very very intense.


Yeah...to cut the long story short, I'll have to anticipate hardships ahead of me.


Nevertheless, I've become even more determined to stick to this path after knowing the challenges and hardships that I will have to endure. I have seen how God's been guiding me onto this path and as soon as I know and am made certain about this, I will just do it. That's just my character. If God says Go, then nothing can stop me.


I am gonna go all out for this. If it means I will have to put in 10 times more effort , I will do it.


Many ppl have advised me against this decision. I have been bombarded with questions like 'are u sure?.....u are a female, it's gonna be hard to have a family!...is it worth it? ...Can't u just do something easier? u can still be a missionary doctor...dun have to be a surgeon... etc etc etc'


Well, I just think , if God has given me the resilience and the surgical personality, why waste it?
Why not aim for the highest/most difficult, and do my best with the help of God? Why tell myself I am gonna fail even before the beginning of the battle? Why succumb to the lies of the devil if God is atually on my side?


Without God, I am just a tiny lil Asian girl who doesn't stand a chance at all amongst the huge white men (this is a male dominated field); I m certainly not the most intelligent one, and probably not as articulate as them.


But with God, I am more than a conquerer. With the name of God, King David killed the giant with just a sling and a stone. I can do the same can't I? :)


2008 and 09 will be tough, there will be many giants to kill and many mountains to climb. God has already shown me the way and given me the resources, all I need to do is just to walk the journey myself.

19-2-08

I guess it's time for me to update a lil bit about what i've been thinking.


Frankly speaking life has not been smooth sailing. Actually I shouldn't be surprised by this fact. Just that it's been full of drama lately, certainly unexpected ones, and one came after another.


Yesterday I was just so stressed up, was thinking, awww, is this part of growing up? Every now and then I'll have this moment of cowardice, wanting to go back to my parents and forever hiding under their wings. Well, just fleeting moments of weakness.


Then I went to the gym and worked out really hard. To me, I think physical exercise is a brilliant way of releasing stress. It's usually when I exercise that God ministers to me.


There I was running and running on the treadmill, faster and longer than usual. I heard God asking me, 'SW, why are you stressed about life? and worried about your future? '


' I dunno, I am just scared.'


' What are you going to gain by worrying and being anxious?'


'. . . '


'Trust in ME.'


All of a sudden my clouded became clear. And I realised the root problem of my anxiety/stress was that I have lost my trust in God and hence the loss of perspective. The whole time in the last few weeks I felt as though I was merely floating in air. And that's an awful feeling to have.


I ran faster and faster but my physical body was more and more energetic. Trains of thoughts went through my small brains.


I'll rise up again, and run the journey of life just like how I am running now. And hey, I can't control my circumstances but I do have full control over my emotions and I CAN decide how I wanna view the situation. I used to teach the younger ones that we are made to be overcomers, not losers; have I forgotten what I taught?


Just whenever the devil tells me 'No SW, you are not gonna win', I will shout back to him ,' YES, I WILL WIN. Try stopping me and you are not gonna succeed.'


God is good :) I'd better go back to the operation theatre now...my boss is waiting...

Valentine's day

Not today...but 3 days ago.

On the Valentine's Day, I took my half day off (not that I celebrate it, neither was I slack, but the department was really quiet..thats another story) , went home, walked to the gym, and walked home again after my workout.

I made a very interesting and unusual observation as I walked back and forth between the gym and my home, and the duration was approximately 30 mins altogether for both ways.

In the span of 30 minutes ( exclude the time that I spent in the gym), I saw 4 ambulances passed by King William St. all at different time. Very very unusual.

That many emergency cases? Are they all suicidal? Esp. that it's Valentine's Day. How many hearts are broken?

Just wondering...

Back here

My dog Brownie was standing on her hind legs by the dining table, drooling, eyeing my lunch , struggling to reach the food.

She was forced into a basket.....

My dearest sister and her daughter

Day 2 post arrival. I am missing home. Every single bit of me is missing home. It doesn't help that I have lived here for 4 years and 1 month.




I knew I had to sort out a lot of paper works as soon as I get back in Adelaide. Things like visa, rental lease, bills, work related admin crap etcetc...that made me reluctant to come back.





The great Adelaide aiport seemed so unreal to me. Didn't get much sleep at all on the plane, I was extrememly tired when I touched down in the morning.





As if it wasn't bad enuf, out of no reason I couldn't make any call with my mobile, my ATM card was not working, my credit card payment wasnt approved for one of the transactions...got home and quickly went online to check my bank account. Great, guess what, the internet was NOT working.





Worse still, there was a pile of letters and bills awaiting me on the table.One of them was from the Court. The Court fined me for not paying for a traffic offence earlier on, stated I was convicted of that traffic offence.





I had only half a day to sort out everything before I started on my job the next morning. I was dashing around like a mad woman, going from one place to another , making phone calls after phone calls.





In my exhaustion, I asked myself this question again. Why am I in Adelaide. If I were at home at least my family would back me up for everything. EVERYTHING. I am by myself here.





This was just a fleeting moment of weakness. And in my weakness I wept. I have not cried for a very long time for any circumstances, for God through trials has toughened me.





I talked myself through this, or , God talked me thru this. Don't look back. Don't pity yourself. Don't be too comfortable. Don't speculate about the thousands of 'what if's. Don't stop now. Don't reason. Don't live on feelings. Keep walking! Keep trusting in God!





God is good. Eventually I got everything fixed up. The Court's fine was withdrawn because I did actually clear the fine earlier on. Mobile and internet running fine again. Rental lease renewed. Bills paid for. Work admin stuff cleared.





I realise I did actually need to see miracles to be encouraged, nevertheless in my moments of weakness I know God has magnified Himself through lil things.

I don't have to have everything I like

This has lately become my motto , 'I don't have to have everything I like', and I have said it so often that it has almost become like an advertising slogan.


'What I want' and 'what I really need' are two different things.


I have FINALLY understood this after spending an awful lot of money on my camera stuff. Not that I regret buying them, by no means. But it was ever since I've 'lost' that huge amount of money that I began to think twice before I spend another dollar.


I mean, I am now in KL where shopping is great, everything barely costs 50% of the normal price for a similar item in the Aussie Land. It is easy to fall into the trap of spending unnecessarily just because everything is so cheap after converted to AUD, even though I know at the back of my mind I have already had something similar at home, I don't actually need it.


So every time when I am tempted to buy something, I would literally mumble to myself like a mad woman, ' I don't have to have everything I like'.


God tells us clearly in the Scriptures that our hearts are deceptive, contrary to the teaching of the world that tells us to listen to our hearts and live according to our desires, nothing should come in our ways as long as we are happy.


Shopping is just an illustration, there are many other things I could have said. Life is greater than our own desires, greater than our limited understanding, greater than our twisted perspectives. There is a PURPOSE.


Must I have everything that I believe I need? What do they mean to me? What if I had the whole world in my hand, yet my soul died of spiritual thirst and starvation?


After all, there is one thing I've learned. To draw close to the Creator, the Giver of lives, is like having the treasures of the whole world combined...naw, it is more than that.
Nothing is more refreshing and satisfying than to come to the Living Water and drink from Him.


I don't have to have everything I like, that's my latest slogan. But I certainly have to have my Lord.