ohreallyah's Xanga

Office cubicle

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 07:14:09 GMT

For those who want to know how my office cubicle looks like :P

Visitor's view

Me in my office jacket (which we, according to the HPB policy are not allowed to wear it in the public..huh??)

My view

My trip back to KL

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 07:04:06 GMT

Some pics of my home back in KL :) I think I have made an association between food and love. Maybe it's just how chinese families tend to show how much they care for you...:))

The orchid plant at my home which blooms during CNY!

A total of 8 orchids! There were 6, and 2 were starting to bloom...

'Candlelight' Steamboat dinner at home...haha..together with some 'red wine'

My beloved piano

Somehow the house is full of my graduation pics...feels really farny and weird lahh

Cool effect and I don't even know how I did it haha :P

Commencement 2007

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 17:39:06 GMT

I felt as though I was getting married. Smaller scale though :P No invitation cards were sent out but i asked Christina to be my photographer. And i had my gown...which I ironed for almost an hour!! *grr* Had a signed certificate at the end of the ceremony... No husband though..heh....

Anyways..enjoy the pictures :) There's a video too of me accepting the scroll. Yes, i know..i was walking a tad too fast.

Preparations for de Day

Ironing......-_-

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Thu, 12 Jan 2006 10:40:59 GMT

Be warned: a very long post ahead...just a daily record of what I have jotted down during my trip to East Timor

Day 1

Only 3 hours of sleep due to last minute packing! Sleepy yet psyched up for the trip! Reached the airport. Went to Burger King where Mich supposedly was but couldn't find anyone I could recognize. Turns out that I was at the wrong terminal!!!

Sigh...this was just the start of me being clown of the day...let me tell you why....

- Grace (one of my team members) laughed her head off when I put 'Pasport Malaysia' as my passport name when it should be Aurelia Ong...

- I sat next to Pastor Benny Ho and didn't recognize him at first. Instead I asked, 'Are you from COOS (my church)?'. Feel so embarrased just thinking about it and he being one of my fave speakers doesn't help either.

-And yet another nickname (Samson) due to my 'incredible strength'. Broke one side of the cupboard *oops* and fixed the tv by banging at the side of it :P

Enuff about me...

East Timor is absolutely gorgeous. On the plane before we landed in Dili, we could see green lush mountains and blue seas! (But this pic is actually from the plane back to Sg :P)

Day 2

And even more green mountains and blue seas after we have landed!

Day 2 was the tour day around Dili (the capital of ET). We first went on an arduous climb up to the Jesus statue (well, not so difficult for me since I get my training from climbing up to dear King Edward 7 Hall!!). Our next destination was Tasi Tolu (a lake which beauty masks its scars and wounds), then Arte Morris (a non-profitable art school cum gallery). We also visited an orphanage and later in the evening a village named Alecrin.

From the walk up (over 700 steps) to the Jesus statue...

Beside the steps leading to the statue, there were engravings on something which looks like copper which tell of our Saviour's road to Calvary...

and a few more...until His resurrection!

The hills are alive...with the sound of music...

One of our modes of transportation- the 'Angguna' (not your typical SBS or Trans island buses)

Tasi Tolu

From the pamphlet that we were given:

"Tasi Tolu would be the setting of ET's ghost stories, if there was such a publication. It's believed that this is where mass graves are located. Till today, few Timorese dare to venture into the area, because they believe it's haunted. This may be just a body of water according to your physical eyes, but this place has been associated with violence and death....Interestingly, ET's independence ceremony was held in Tasi Tolu. Dignitaries who attended the ceremony included UN Chief Kofi Annan, former President of the US, Bill Clinton, and more significantlym former Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri. (For those who don't know about ET's struggle for independence from Indonesia...click <a href="http://www.time.com/time/asia/features/east_timor/">here</a>) ...."

Beauty for Ugliness,

Love for Hatred,

the Sweet for the Bitter,

Courage for Fear,

Strength for Weakness,

Pride for Disgrace,

and Hope! For not all have been Lost.

Arte Morris

Many paintings were of pain and confusion. Like this one-

Dominican Orphanage

Sometimes, I wonder how it feels like...not having parents.

Don't take your parents for granted. Love them, obey them, make them proud! These kids don't even have parents or are separated from them due to financial circumstances.

Look into their eyes and they will tell you- love me, hold me, care about me...

Alecrin Village

One of the first few thoughts running through my mind after a local asked me in Bahasa "Why are you all here?"

-Are we treating these people like a poster painting or specimen? To observe them from afar without really getting to know them, without giving any real help?

After chatting with this local, I got to know that her husband was working abroad and they have not seen each other for 3 or more years! Then I thought about the question she asked...It is as if she was saying "even if you all are here to give us food, you cannot help bring my husband and the father of my children back."

Song and dance by the Timorese gals-

Day 3 (a day travelling from Dili the capital to Maliana (one of the villages in Bobonaro-the district)

Not only the lives of the East Timorese were taken away from them but foreigners as well...

And again..while talking to another local, he mentioned with tears in his eyes about how his father was not around when he grew up.

Children we played with

Day 4

If only there were pictures to show you the toilets and water we had to use while we were at Maliana.

There was no flush system and no running tap water! There wasn't even electricity after about 11pm as electricity was run on a generator and in the night, the streets are pitch dark with no street lights or even lights from the houses.

Anyway...we went to a school called 'Beremano Memo' i think which was very near the border between West Timor and East Timor. And there were only 9 teachers for over 400 students! <strong>Teachers or teachers to be! There would be a mission trip to East Timor middle of this year..what are yall waiting for?</strong>

The journey to suco memo

The name of the school

Getting curious stares and smiles from the children

Saying our goodbyes...till we meet again?

Off we headed to the 'Youth Centre' which was not operating anymore for our lunch. Delicious food again! These ppl can really cook! After our lunch, we played with the children who were living nearby. And oh boy, did I feel like a kid again :P Hmm..no pic but some of these children created their own version of a chapteh (a small weight with some feathers on top which you try to bounce by kicking it with your legs) by taking some weeds and tying them with a rubberband!

Day 5

Visited the market in the morning. It was a Saturday and markets were only on Saturdays and Tuesdays i think...

One of the shops owned by a Chinese! They are everywhere i tell you- these chinese :P

Meeting with the 'chefe' eldear' aka Village Chief!

We met one of Maliana's village chiefs and turns out that he was actually from Kalimantan, Indonesia! hmm...

He brought us to his village on foot! But it was one of my best walks ever! If there was such a thing :P

Piggy!

This village was very near a water irrigation system and here is the translation (erm, not sure whether its correct) of the plaque below- "With the blessing of the Most High God, this water irrigation system has been made official by the Young Minister of National Development, Head representative of Bappenas."

The village chief is in black furthest left

And we walked

And we climbed

And finally we have arrived at the top to look at this

Day 6

Today is Sunday which means Church! Erm..actually since I go for Sat's service in Sg...

We went to a Catholic Church. The ETimorese are predominantly Catholic due to the Portugese rule in past years. The whole service was in Tetum (main languages besides Portugese) and sat next to Apolli, one of the interpretors and he translated parts of the sermon to me :P And boy was it funny and interesting! For example:

-women should go to church. If not, men would have no incentive to go to church. <em>(What is this la...wrong reasons then!)</em>

-Should spend less money on cigs and booze. Give your money to God. No the money is not going to me (the priest).

-You youths should not drink but study hard in order to develop ET. You are ET's future!

Radio station

These guys do not get paid for giving out news to Maliana! And yet they are doing it...

Celebration night

This was to mark the end of our stay at Maliana. We performed for each other and exchanged tokens of appreciation :)

Day 7

Back to Dili

Day 8

Dili Aiport

To the airplane

Our arrival at Singapore

This is my team! The people I have bonded with in such a short span of time :)

Random shots

Many goats around :)

The house where we stayed in Maliana

Better not mess around with me :P

Group photo (one of the rare ones with Pastor Bee in it)

Sometimes, all we need is to be deprived from something in order to treasure it even more when we finally have it .

Do we really mean it when we sing "All I ever need is You, my Beginning, my Forever."? How can I truly differentiate my want and my need?

Thursday, September 29, 2005

Thu, 29 Sep 2005 03:12:11 GMT

http://aurelia.blogsome.com/

Hahaha, shameless advert on my new site ...

Friday, September 23, 2005

Fri, 23 Sep 2005 00:00:54 GMT

“Psalms 23, the Antithesis” by Marcia K. Harnock

“The clock is my dictator, I shall not rest.

It makes me lie down only when exhausted.

It leads me to deep depression, it hounds my soul.

It leads me in circles of frenzy for activity’s sake.

Even though I run frantically from task to task,

I will never get it all done, for my “ideal” is with me.

Datelines and my need for approval, they drive me,

They demand performance from me, beyond the limits of my schedule.

They anoint my head with migraines, my in-basket overflows.

Surely fatigue and time pressures shall follow me all the days of my life,

And I will dwell in the bonds of frustration forever.”

PSALM 23

A Psalm of David. (the original version ;))

THE LORD is my shepherd;

I shall not want.

He makes me to lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside the still waters.

He restores my soul;

He leads me in the paths of righteousness

For His name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil;

For You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

You anoint my head with oil;

My cup runs over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

All the days of my life;

And I will dwell* in the house of the LORD

Forever.

At times like these when reports, assignments and CAs pile up on top of each other; I just feel that I’m running aimlessly without even taking a second to breathe. Being sick (yes I’m down with flu L ) actually made me take more breaths in between the “hectic” schedule I have and put things into perspective. “There is a right time for everything” J

I hate to say it but, 24 hours is supposed to be enough for each of us.

Tick tock, it doesn’t stop for us;

so plan well, and prioritize carefully,

or risk being sucked into an endless race against TIME.

Monday, September 19, 2005

Mon, 19 Sep 2005 05:31:22 GMT

OK, you can slap me left and right :P hahaha…

While disappearing for a few weeks, I have created another blog for myself! However, it’s not really up and about yet …still under construction…but please post your msgs on the tag board there ya! I go to that site more often than I do here now…only come here for html purposes ..hehe...Wished I knew more on html tho..they can do wonders I tell you!

Any comments on the new site? Just shout it out there J Would love some help and comments ..esp on the aesthetic part! Haven’t figured the gist of it.

Ohya, the new blog : http://aurelia.blogsome.com

YES! I HAVE THAT AS MY ADD! How cool is that? At last, I don’t have to succumb to another ohreallyah or aureliaong or aurelia84 as my addy :D

Thursday, September 01, 2005

Thu, 01 Sep 2005 04:26:41 GMT

Gosh, am I wasting my time or what?

Breakdown on how I ‘waste’ my time

- Blogging unnecessarily… I lived w/o blogging and now?! My fingers get itchy if I don’t! *scratch scratch*

- searching Chinese songs on www.baidu.com . For someone who doesn’t really know how to read Chinese, it feels like an aimless search every time I go there. But managed to find some nice songs J Try FIR (wo men de ai and flyaway) and Tong Hua.

- having morning naps. Had one today after my 8 am tutorial. Got back to my room at about 11 something and slept till 12:30

- Had a sudden urge to watch Sesame Street and hear the theme song Sunny Day? Haha …. Looked it up on Google and heard it. Funny enough, it actually turned me off :P

Listen it for yourself http://www.mp3.com/tracks/1742105/dl_streams.html Quite irritating ain’t it?

- Stoning and thinking of what I should do for the day and not doing it after the whole day has gone by. Talk about self-discipline.

Reason on why I say that I’m wasting my time is that I realized that I spend less time with God and with my studies… So, this is my last entry for the month. If I blog before September ends, PLEASE SLAP ME! PLEASE DO…

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Tue, 30 Aug 2005 05:53:17 GMT

Academic to-do list:

- Finish 1^st Chinese exercise, study for Quiz 2 and finish character writing

- Microbiology lab report

- Photocopy questions for Human Physiology

- Read lecture notes for all 6 modules

- Start in Complementary Health and Medicine project assignment

- Photocopy info on herbs learnt

- Prepare for Ecology practical

* Got an academic mentor today *

Dear AURELIA ONG CHI-EN

The following staff is your mentor:

Assoc Prof Yang Daiwen dbsydw@nus.edu.sg (LIFE SCIENCES (CONCENTRATION IN BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE))

Please contact the mentor if you need any academic advice.

Mentorship Student Query link: https://neon.science.nus.edu.sg/intranet/student/ams/index.html

This is an auto-generated email. Please do not reply.

Err…so how ah? Can help me in my assignments? Haha

Sunday, August 28, 2005

Sun, 28 Aug 2005 10:20:54 GMT

Feeling better J

Yes, I’m feelin’ better already… (yeah, that's quick, which is good too :P)Thanks to those who were concerned! Esp Faith J

Here’s something which is superb! Wonder how they did this? Anyone who knows, lemme know!

http://www.bellagreetings.com/1/card.php?ID=99