I SO MISS CAMBODIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'd usually do a day-by-day post on my trips but this is way more than just an overseas trip, so I'll do so in parts.

Cambodia Part 1 - Hello Cambodia! (Phnom Penh -> Koh Kong, 19/12)

It was a long, long time of travelling from Phnom Penh into Koh Kong. But I must say, the stars there are simply gorgeous. Talk about starry, starry night. It was also nice looking at cows along the road. And I wish I could have riden on a tuk-tuk! But, never mind. Hahahaha.

Cambodia Part 2 - Day at the Beach (Bak Klang, 20/12)

I was really blessed by how friendly the locals are. A few of us were taking a walk down the village when we met a couple of youths from the Bak Klang church, and they offered to bring us around. We shopped with them at the marketplace, visited the school there, and went to one of their houses. Even though there did exist a language barrier, it was still a great afternoon, thank God for their warmth and hospitality!

The kids there are great too. We probably looked like martians to them initially but it wasn't long before our youths and the kids were playing together so happily at the beach! It was both a heart-warming and amazing sight. It's really wonderful, the pure, innocent, sincere joy on the children's faces. These people, they don't live in the best conditions, they're poor financially, but there's this bond among them and a contentment that can't be found in the people here. There, it just takes an afternoon at the beach to make a child so happy but here, a hundred PSP's wouldn't do the trick. Not to mention the warmth shown by the villagers to us, making us feel at home even in a foreign land. And glancing at the sea, we no longer see Singaporeans and Cambodians, but rather, we see a group of friends gelled as one. It's so beautiful seeing the love shown by the youths to the children, I was really encouraged and moved. It's truly the love of God that shone through, a love that transcends all language barriers and background differences. Thank God for the day at the beach, and for creating such a beautiful sunset, the best I've ever seen. Oh, and I'd never appreciated rice and gravy so much till that night.

Ain't the sunset and scenery just so beautiful!

I'm leaving on a jet plane~~~

Only it's not entirely a jet, and I do know when I'll be back again.

HAHA.

I'd wanted to blog an emotion-filled post but looking at the time now... Nah. I'm starting to feel excited, I can't wait to see how Cambodia is like! And, I really need this trip.

You guys better miss me!

Till the 28th! :D

Oh man oh man oh man...........

I'm really sad cos I won't see some people for 10 days or more and I know it's stupid but I'm sad!

:( :( :(

Really encouraged by this video, one of Hillsong's Worship leaders talks about her experience on losing an unborn child and how she saw a bigger God through her circumstances. Do watch it! :)

"And He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

2 Corinthians 12: 9, 10

Thank God for the weather yesterday! It was our actual GESL event, thank God that the rain only came when we were done with the activities. And it stopped just before we boarded the boat back to the mainland! Woohoo~

It was fun! Besides the miscalculation of timing, but even that was amusing. We'd estimated that the amazing race would take 5 hours. Being in charge of the second last station, Jesslyn and I went to find the rest of the Chek Jawa station masters to play cards and slack around. We thought that we'd only return to our station slightly before the 4th hour or something. Who'd have known that the first team would appear at the Swiss Cottage (the station before ours) in the middle of our slacking session during the 2nd hour! We were totally shocked and had to dash to our station in case the team beat us there, which would have been hilarious wahaha. Samantha's reaction at seeing the teams was really funny. It was like, "Oh." *after a few more seconds* "OH!!!!!" *picks up the flags and dashes to her station* It was just really funny, everyone's shock at the arrival of the team, then rushing around like mad hatters packing up all the rubbish lol! So, from the estimated ending time of 5.15pm, we actually ended at 3 plus hoho. But we stayed till 7 plus before leaving, having a rollercoaster ride on a police van, playing bridge, and getting terrified by dogs in between.

Hmm. It's unbelievable how the Cambodia trip's only 3 days away, how the year is coming to a close, how school is starting soon, how my holidays just flew by like that, how the whole year just zoomed by. I guess, this holiday has been different. Maybe it's a good thing. Maybe I shouldn't sleep so much. Haha.

We don't know the reason but God does.

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."

2 Timothy 4: 7

I did the craziest cycling ever in my life at Pulau Ubin today. It was absolutely exhausting and several times I thought I was gonna faint of dehydration and starvation. But I came out of it very much alive. Words couldn't express my joy when I discovered that we'd finally returned to our starting point!

Thank God for the weather, safety, wonderful company, the experienced policemen (and woman), thank God for the trip! It was great (minus the uphill biking) and the view at certain places was simply gorgeous. Not to mention the moment of victory I felt when I successfully completed the course of our biking! It was as though I'd just conquered Mount Everest when I'd actually only cycled in Pulau Ubin hahaha. Thank God for my GESL mates, they're just awesome. :)

Ain't about how fast I get there

Ain't about what's waiting on the other side

It's the climb

Oh, yeah.

I'm so gonna wake up aching all over tomorrow. Wish I could stay at home and stick to my bed but well, pressing things to do! Heheh.

"Let's go bowling and bowl Sarah in!"

I honestly find that very funny. Lol.

So we (Amantha, Sarah and myself) had this spontaneous decision to hang out somewhere to countdown to Sarah's birthday. Amantha's parents picked us up in the car, drove us back to their place, after which Amantha took the car and we were on our way to East Coast Park! We didn't manage to reach by 12am, so Sarah had the privilege of a birthday song sung in the car. Hahaha. Speaking of which... It's so cool to be able to drive!!!!!!! Imagine driving out for supper in the wee hours. But anyway, we had Round 1 of supper at Murphy's Cafe, followed by chilling (some distance) from the beach. Then the crazy idea of heading to Geylang for supper at one of the coffeeshops (can't remember the name) came up. And yeah, off we went, for Round 2.

That was really cool, the sudden decisions, chats, laughter and all. Not to mention that Amantha travelled from the east to west and back to the east again sending us home, and it was rather late. Thanks girl!!!!!! :) :) Thanks for the sharing too. :)

Well thank God for you two coming down for Uth today. And thank God for the message. So simple but time and time again we just lose our focus. It's indeed a reminder that while our journeys aren't gonna be a bed of roses, God will always be with us. That alone is a really comforting thought.

I really like this picture! Credit to Serene. :)

Blessed birthday, Sarah!

And blessed first to me, hahahaha. I can't believe, I can't believe, how an entire year just swept by. Wow!

:)