chocolate fondue~

hehehe.

big thanks to my darling flatties. amazing ppl. had a lovely dinner at Tokyo Garden. We shared a sushi and sashimi boat. On top of our mains. wow. i'm soooo bloated. Jap food is still the best~ nah. i don't need the real posh restaurants ;p and there's no mongolian restaurant here ;p ;p ;p

we were gonna walk to the octagon as part of our pre-dessert digestive activity. but it was simply too cold and grey's anatomy's waiting... quickly went to new world to grab some marshies.

nic faithfully turned on the tv once we got back and jason got the fire going. i was made to sit on the couch and while there was a bomb scare going on in grey's anatomy, i had a cake scare~ good thing it's just a scare. phew~ ;p

chocolate cake. 6 of us finished it. left behind heaps of cream though. this choc cake's not too sweet. and no, don't recognise this from il pani. it's frm the french bakery. mamamia~ c'est bonne!


so this is my new set of choc fondue~ we had an opening ceremony right away and with that amt of tealight candles they bought for me, looks like you won't recognise cq anymore. soon.


this actually works quite well, the choc at the bottom was real warm. although nic did melt the choc over the stove first. hehehehe... choc blocks in nz are too hard la~~ it's like having our very own tull's. just had choc fondue the last time i went to tull's. i always thought bananas' the best for choc fondue but no, it's the citrus fruits tt goes best. oranges, kiwifruits... the newspaper's jason's idea. well thought. when u have someone like me ard...


from left: jason, nic, cq, lisa, danny

from left: hsiao wei, nic, me, lisa, danny

it's been a real chocolatey night and i'm so chocolatified. in need of a workout. there's more food awaiting me tmr. not just food, yummy good food~

God bless my flatmates... :) I love you guys!!!

Nothing but God

Though a firm advocate of personal Bible reading and of biblical exposition in sermons, he [Tozer] always insisted that...

'it is not mere words that nourish the soul, but God Himself... The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in His presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and centre of their hearts.'

Got this from a passage written on AW Tozer (Encounter wf God). He's a writer that has deeply inspired me though i've only read one of his many books. The Pursuit of God really spoke to my heart and God had it that I was reading it while in the peak of my thirst for Him. It was such that my heart would "amen" with him as i read each chapter and after every chapter, there's just so much to journal down...

That little paragraph above really struck me in the bull's eye of my heart. It speaks of my current situation. How many times we've let QTs become an end of this road called spirituality and forget that that's not the main point. We find bible readings dry and on mundane days we don't seem to get anything out of it. We do it cos we know we should be doing it. Not to say we should stop reading the bible now but what really pleases God is for us to connect with Him and that we delight in Him as He delights in us...

"They... turn away in tears to hunt some lonely place and pray, 'Oh God, show me Thy glory.' They want to touch with their hearts, to see with their inner eyes the wonder that is God...

O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee, so that I may know Thee indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, 'Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.' Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have wandered for so long. In Jesus' name. Amen."

I would really encourage you to read The Pursuit of God. May this prayer be a prayer of ours... Never stop the pursuit of God until He turns around to catch us such that there is no longer a clear distinction between His pursuit of us and our pursuit of Him...

"konnichiwa!"

I was quite amused by the friendly "konnichiwa"s by the ushers and the strings of Japanese phrases that come after.

"Sumimasen, wakarimasen..."

I could only offer them an apologetic look and explain in English that my Jap is quite lousy.

It was quite a relief to see Daisuke there as well. wat a surprise actually! I brought him to the Japanese church in my first year but that was only once. He told me he's been going regularly since end of last year. He finds it quite interesting. May the Lord open his eyes and may the Holy Spirit touch his heart...

Worship was in Jap + Eng. I was secretly pleased that I could sing along to some of the hiragana lyrics. Couldn't read some of the Kanjis though.

I managed to find the book of John in the Jap bible. Could follow the reading a bit. Always got lost cos they read soooo fast! I'm always a sentence behind or something and my eyes would have to quickly skim through and fast forward. I suspect they read the shorter way (casual form is slightly shorter).

Had to rely on the English translation on the OHP. Could only catch some nouns frm the pastor but couldn't understand anything. it's tooo fast! At the end of it, i was made to introduce myself to everyone in Japanese. Not too bad i guess ;p

It was all in all a nice cozy little community. May God continue to bless them and use them to reach the Japanese community in Dunedin...

Rushed off cos wanted to go for Oxygen. Was almost reaching Elim when i got a txt saying tt the Phatties are studying in Clubs n Socs. I detoured and thought i'll just pop in to say hi and quickly leave since i din have any books with me. As I stepped in, Waning said "wow! I was just thinking about you and u came in!"

I reckon God brought me there eh... Waning needed a conversation partner to practise with and it was good for her to make me do it. I haven't actually started practising anything yet and I've got 2 conversations to prepare for. It's this THURS! somehow i've kinda chuck this aside with everything else going on. argh. God helped me realise how i really really need to get on with my oral practice...

Pray for me!

What is the chief end of man?

"The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." (Westminster Catechism)

Recently, this theme has been knocking on my door. It takes the foreground sometimes, but my mind wouldn't allow this to dwell for too long.

"The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever."

wow.

MY CHIEF END is to GLORIFY GOD and ENJOY HIM FOREVER.

What about me is glorifying God?

Am I enjoying God?

Maybe. Sometimes.

But how come it's not ALL THE TIME?

sigh.

The genuine love that I've received from God has compelled me to serve Him. Yet, why have I allowed myself to be bogged down by all the "DO"s and forget to enjoy God in the midst of all these stuff?

I question God all the time: about the frustrations I have, about the feeling of being unsupported, the feeling that I don't know where I'm going anymore... His promises? what promises?

I am suddenly that little girl sitting in that dark corner again.

It's when I don't spend enough quality time with my Abba Father that I lose sight of whatever He's given me. I used to think that daily devotions is good enough. You know, daily QTs. But I've come to realise that no, it's more than just reading the bible passage and the commentaries on it... it's about spending time sitting at the feet of Jesus and having a heart-to-heart time with God.

“You cannot be captured by the vision of God until you’re captured by the heart of God." -Ken Fong

Am I really not capturing His heart and His vision or maybe I'm just reluctant to let Him show me His heart and His vision because I'm not ready for it?

I just wanna get a fresh blank sheet and start anew. Put everything aside and say "I am happy. i AM happy. i am HAPPY. " in the shower (strategy by Ps. Mike - gotta do that 10 times). The conclusion I got from Brian Sze's document says:

"God’s pursuit of praise from us and our pursuit of pleasure in him are one and the same pursuit. God’s quest to be glorified and our quest to be satisfied reach their goal in this one experience: our delight in God, which overflows in praise. For God, praise is the sweet echo of his own excellence in the hearts of his people. For us, praise is the summit of satisfaction that comes from living in fellowship with God."

yea, let's pick up the garment of praise and make a joyful noise unto the Lord.

Creative Compromise

Numbers 32:16-42

This passage talks about how the Reubenites and Gadites told Moses that they wanted to stay in the lands of Jazer and Gilead after seeing how the lands were suitable for their livestock. They pleaded with Moses not to make them cross the Jordan into Canaan - the land flowing with milk and honey that God had promised.

Jo Bailey Wells wrote:

But they continue to prove faithful. Here they demonstrate that keeping God's commands does not preclude 'improvising' on them. They serve as a creative example to us for handling tradition. Being faithful does not always mean doing something "the way we've always done it". In some circumstances it may be more faithful to risk something new.
(Encounter with God, May 26 entry)

Weren't we taught time and time again never to compromise? Doesn't compromising kinda entail some lowering of standards? When we argue with God and propose our "creative improvisions", aren't we short-changing God and His perfect plans for us? But then again, Abraham argued with God didn't he? Does "negotiate" sound better?
This made me wonder, what exactly does "compromise" mean?

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary:

1 a : settlement of differences by arbitration or by consent reached by mutual concessions b : something intermediate between or blending qualities of two different things 2 : a concession to something derogatory or prejudicial

So when we compromise, it's a blend of God's perfect ways and our lowly human terms?

hmmmmm. I guess our God is a creative God (look at giraffes! the zebras! the differences in every person u meet!). We shouldn't box Him up and follow traditions blindly. But how do we know when a compromise is legitimate (if there can be a legitimate compromise in the first place)? How do we know we're not short-changing God?

It all goes back to having a close relationship with Him doesn't it?

another week gone...

yea. can't believe i'm only left with one final week of Sem 1.

finished up another assignment today. Praise God for that eh! I really like the finished product... and i love my partner. She's awesome! :) I suppose now that we've given our best efforts n time, I'm not too concerned about what the tutor says. I'll let God handle that part :)

so that's 1 down, another 2 more assignments to go. 1 oral exam. 1 final exam. I love how the way this list is getting shorter.

ok. it's been a rather good week. fair share of ups n downs. Real thankful that He has pulled me through. He's really faithful eh ;p week after week, He sustains me. Really couldn't have made it by my own strength eh. and though time and time again i do tend to forget about Him, or just chuck Him to the back of my mind, He's faithfully being just there at the background. Need to have Him at the foreground more...

time to rest. i need rest. for the first time in weeks, i'm making it to bed before 1am! (better post this fast and head to bed, it's 8 minutes to 1am ;p)

Oyasumi~

display of projects...

Project #3: Chilled Oreo Cheesecake.

I thought the fridge-room-temp here would keep the cake good. Left it in the kitchen of clubs n socs and by the time we actually had it, it was kinda soft already.

Most common comment: Too rich. I personally don't like the lemon rind. Should have just make do without. Since I din haf a grater anyway...

Conclusion: I wouldn't be making this if there's Secret Recipe around in Dunners...



Project #1: Hazelnut Brownie.

It was weird to bake my first brownie in many many years. Forgot the consistency of a brownie batter is much thicker than that of a muffin or a cake. Good for arm muscle training. Alternate between right and left hand to ensure equally toned muscles.

Shouldn't have added that glaze. It was actually the glaze for Hsu Ee's cake and I thought y not? since there's so much leftovers anyway.

Conclusion: Too sweet. Heaps of leftovers. Tim brought all home. Ah well. Kiwis love sweet stuff anyway~


So there you go! Project #1 & #3 sitting side by side. Unfortunately, project #2: Cappuccino Brownie, can't make it for the pictures. there was hardly any left. i wonder why. it's sorta too fudgey and sweet~ made me sick after a small slice. The crust's too dry and it doesn't look very nice. I reckon a bit of natural yoghurt will make it taste better.

It was a night of Kiwi quizzes. Man! I am so embarrassed by how much I don't know! My knowledge of anything, or rather, the LACK of any knowledge, is shocking. I couldn't even answer questions like: When did Malaya, Sarawak and Sabah come together? Which country in SEA isn't sea bound? What's the ocean connecting Africa and Americas? What's the 3 holy places of Muslims (sthing like tt...)? hmmmm.

Cake time! It's supposed to be a surprise. We lit the candles on the cake... Sab went in to turn off the lights. As I slowly made my way into the lounge, walking real carefully so as to keep as many candles burning as possible... Hsu Ee dashed past me and disappeared! So there I was, left standing holding a birthday cake with candles all around, with a roomful of people ready to sing the birthday song... BUT NO BIRTHDAY GIRL!

Sab finally made her come out. I like suprising people :)

Want some bakings? Come for OCF. Every Fri 7:30pm, Evison Lounge, Clubs and Society, Albany Street, Dunedin, New Zealand.

Sab bakes way better than me! :)