What is a beautiful life to you?

What makes a beautiful life to you?

Is it having lots of money and lots of good times? Travelling? Having a family? Having a boyfriend or girlfriend? Getting married? High fly career and high paying jobs? The list goes on…….

Whatever your pursuits may be right now, whatever the circumstances, may you have a peace of mind and quiet confidence. I say go for your dreams but take a break and rest if you need to….

Just like hiking a hill, we can’t see what is ahead straight away, but if we persist on, we will finally reach the peak and as we take in the mesmerizing sights, all our hard work and efforts are worth it. You may not see immediate results now but if you continue your good work, you will definitely reap the harvest. Enjoy the process.

Pursuits are endless, everyday we struggle in life. How do we make a beautiful life?

It is not having more and more possessions, it is having an embracing heart, letting go of our past hurts and forgiving ourselves and our offenders. Really it is having an inner happiness and joy.

I do not have a great career. I am not rich but neither am I poor. My beautiful life is spending time with my beloved hubby and mother, travelling, encouraging others through writing this blog and giving a helping help when necessary. Having an active and healthy life through exercising and eating a balanced diet. I guess I must say I am not there yet but will keep moving forward.

Let’s press on! Keep it up! You are doing well.

 

Positive note of the day:-

If you fail many times, should you think that you are a failure? If you do not have a career, are you a failure? If you are fat, are you a failure? If you lost a job, are you a failure? What makes a failure? It is not what you did not achieve making you a failure. You are successful not a failure because you treat others with respect and kindness. You do not cause harm to those around you. You have already succeeded once you decide to take charge of your situation and move forward, making best of your circumstances. You have succeeded once you decided not to dwell in the past, you let go and move forward. You have succeeded once you don’t give up and kept going on. You have succeeded by staying positive and thinking positive thoughts. You have succeeded once you make even a small baby step towards your goal. You stopped beating yourself. You have succeeded by forgiving yourself and others, by this you have removed the poison in your body. Most importantly, you succeed by loving yourself and being kind to yourself. By taking care of yourself.

Cheers!! Cheer up!! Chin up!!

🎊🎉🎉🎊🎉🎉🎊

My happy face after jogging. 😊

I’m back! Missing in action for about 5 years!

Dear readers and viewers of my blog. Before I go any further, I wanna thank you for coming to my blog and thank you for taking your time to read my blog.

When I first started writing my blog, I just rushed head on to it. I had no purpose. I just wanted to become a profitable and successful blogger. I do not know how to go on.

When I visited my own website again, I saw in my stats I had about 200 visits to my blog. I saw I had 11 readers from Singapore and USA, 8 from Hong Kong and some from Taiwan and etc, I was so grateful for you. I even had 10 followers, sorry I abandoned my blog for 5 years. And thank you for following me. I am just so grateful now.

I thought to delete this website and start anew but after reading my own blog again, I have a general idea what I wanna and gonna blog about.

I have decided to start blogging again with a purpose. Not for hitting record no of visits, not for profit. I did try to learn how to make money by blogging, I googled to learn, but it is too tough for me. I don’t think I know how exactly to. Things like adgoogle (did I get it right?) I don’t think I want my blog to be cluttered with advertisements and do I have control over what services or products are advertised. As you can tell, I don’t have much knowledge on this. WordPress has a new feature where readers can pay subscription to you but…but I am no expert in any subject.

My blog is free.

I even did not know how to tag my posts which I thought I knew how. After googling for 5 years I hope I have a better idea now.

I want my blog to be real and sincere and relevant. I am gonna keep each post short and sweet and to the point. I just wanna do what I can to reach out and encourage my readers. I hope my blog will be useful and informative to you.

Even if today you are my only reader, I am happy too as long as I can reach out and encourage you.

I find blogging can give me a sense of purpose in life.

I am going to do what I am good at. I’m good at encouraging people.

During a gathering with some friends many years back, a friend commented that I can be a motivation speaker.

It struck me, I don’t think I can be a motivation speaker like Anthony Robbins but I can definitely encourage you and make you feel better about yourself.

It struck me that words spoken have a deep impact in our lives just like what my friend said randomly made me realised about myself. Words can build and can also destroy. So I am gonna write encouraging and positive words and stories. I hope my blog will be useful in making your day better.

I am going to be real to you. I am not going to paint life as a bed of roses, it is not. Everyday is full of struggles but we can be happy and contented amidst all our challenges.

I read our love story again and I felt it was surreal. My marriage is not smooth sailing and has its own problems. I will share with you soon.

I hope I can help you and encourage you by sharing my own struggles in life. In fact, I am not glamorous at all, I am very ordinary and average. I will share more soon. I hope I can be some help to you. Or at least give you some reading pleasure.

I am going to post something positive and encouraging every day. I hope I can do it. If one day I have nothing, please forgive me. Haha!!

Thanks again for coming to my blog.

Take care! And come again!

♥️💗♥️💗♥️💗♥️

Taiwan (Nov 2014) Part 3 – Taipei

We stayed at CityInn hotel in Taipei. It is about SGD80 plus per night. The Taipei Bus Station is just opposite the hotel. We took the bus from there to the airport on the last day. There are shopping centres nearby. Can also shop at the underground and the subways.

The room is very small. But the bed is comfortable. And it is very clean. They cleaned our room everyday when we were out. On the second level, there is free coffee and tea and can fill our water from there. There is also washing machines and dryers there. If possible the next time I stay there I would go for a bigger room. Need to book way in advance to get affordable price and availability.

Taipei Zoo….Convenient take mrt to Taipei Zoo Station and it is within walking distance.

NT60 per person. Hahaaa…. less than SGD4. Hmm…….I enjoyed the Zoo. It is clean and has many animals.

From the Zoo, we took the gondola. OOOOOO…….can’t describe. The bottom of the gondola is made of glass and made me feel like Avata. Haha…We bought the round trip tickets and we can stop at the 3 stops. NT100 per person.

National Treasures Museum. NT500 per person. We went to the restaurant on the second floor, the food is good. The Museum was very crowded with Tourists from China and Japan. We need to squeeze into the crowd to see the ………..”cabbage” Hahahaa……..

Below is at Ximending….

Yap. I had Ah Cung Mee Sua.

There are other places that we went that I did not post here. It would be too many. For the whole trip we went about by BMW – bus, mrt and walk. At Hualien, we took cab from the central to our Minsu, it is very affordable – NT 150 to NT170.

I thank God for this trip with my hubby. We really enjoyed the trip. The most important thing is that we have each other and Jesus in our hearts.

Taiwan (Nov 2014) Part Two – Hualien

Our first meal at Hualien – steamboat comes with free flow of drinks and ice cream. One steamboat is about NT150 to NT170. We ordered one set and later ordered other side dishes. We spent NT255 in total – SGD11+. Throughout our stay in Hualien we had steamboat. It is nice with the rainy weather. Lots of vegetables, 4 medium sized prawns, pork slices, mushrooms, fish balls, meat balls, etc…If you go to a more expensive resturant, the ice cream is nicer and creamier. Slightly more expensive only.

Our Minsu at Hualien. We booked thru agoda.com. The room is big and the bed is comfy. It is about SGD60 per night. It is a distance from the central. We walked about an hour to reach the night market. However, Ah Yee’s service and helpfulness more than over compensate for the distance. She bought us local breakfast every morning. Very patient with our questions. On our day trip out, she even gave us sushi and titbits for us to eat on our way. She even helped us book our train ticket to Ruifang so that we could get seats. And on our last day it is so sweet of her to give us sourvenir.

At Hualien, we used the local tour which we booked through our Minsu. We went to Taroko Gorge and East Rift. NT700 per person. Both are one day tour and they will either drop you at the night market or the central at the end of the day.

The cliff is beautiful. Very windy. Amazing.

At the seven stars lake. OOOOO……. don’t know how to describe. The pebbles on the beach. We will be fined if we take the pebbles.

East Rift…..

The above pictures are taken at Liyu Lake. A picture says a thousand words…..

The place where logs are transported. The trees have a nice fragrance and they are lasting. I really can’t remember what kind of trees. Hahaha… Tat’s me.

Yummy!!!! This used to be a sugar factory but later converted to a  ice cream factory. They know how to make $$$$$. NT45 – SGD2. Hee Hee…..

We also went to Rui Shue Farm. I was so engrossed with having coffee and cheese cake and due to the limited time I had no chance to go and see the cows. Hahaha…..We bought the nougats I wanted so badly to buy them.

Ah Yee bought our train tickets to Ruifang and told us the places to go at Ruifang before we proceed to Taipei but we were tired and we did not stop at Ruifang, we still boarded the train and when at Ruifang station we bought tickets to Taipei from the Captain in the train. We have to find other empty seats as our seats were actually bought by another gal. Thank God, the train was not full and we sat all the way to Taipei. From Hualien to Ruifang the train tickets cost NT768 for both of us and the additional tickets cost NT152.

Taiwan (Nov 2014) Part One

This is the first minsu that we stayed in Jiaosi. The room has an attached hot spring bath. It is quite big and we really enjoyed soaking in it. Jiaosi is the Hot Springs area in the county of Yilan. We arrived at the minsu at around 6.30pm. We took tiger airways flight to Taoyuan Airport. We arived at the airport at around 1.30pm. The return flight cost around SGD710 for two persons with 20kg check in baggage and a hot meal factored in for the return flight to Singapore. You definitely need to check in your baggage for the return flight as you will have more baggages than when you first arrived. Hahaha……

From the Taoyuan Airport, we took CitiAir bus 1960 from the airport bus terminal to Taipei City Hall Bus Terminal. After we arrived at the airport, we took a lift down and reached the bus terminal. Near the bus terminal there is a local 7-11. We bought some food to eat there.  The journey took more than an hour. It felt quite long as it stopped at several hotels along the way in Taipei.

From the Taipei Bus Terminal, we bought the Capital Star bus tickets to Jiaosi. The journey to Jiaosi is about 45mins. There is free Wi-fi on the bus. Just need to log in to Capital Star website, no need password. The bus ticket to Taipei City Hall Bus Station cost NT145 per person and Jiaosi bus ticket cost NT90 per person. It is very affordable and yet so comfortable. NT100 is about SGD4.

The minsu is very near to the Jiaosi bus stop where we alighted. However. the minsu does not have its own lobby. It is actually in a building. We stayed on the forth floor of this building and the owner stays on the second floor. Jiaosi Shuiyue Hotspring Minsu. SGD83 per night incl. of breakfast. Breakfast is Mos Burger which is very near to the minsu. If you top up NT100 for two persons, you can have a small buffet breakfast served at a shop house near the minsu.

Website add: http://shuiyue.okgo.tw/Email: shieh9599@gmail.com. The owner will watsapp you and will pick you up from the Jiaosi bus stop.

Near the minsu, there are areas for feet soaking in the hot spring water and there is a fish spa. I did not try the fish spa so don’t know the price. The minsu is a traffic light from the Jiaosi Train Station, about 5 mins walk away. Outside the train station are shuttle buses to the nearby attractions. On the second day, we took the bus to Wufenqi. It is about 20mins away and costs NT20 per person. The shuttle bus arrives in hourly interval.            

This is Wenfenqi, it is the waterfall area. It took us about 45mins to hike to the top. Worth the effort for the breathtaking view of the waterfall. We took the shuttle bus back to the train station. You need to check with the bus driver the time it departs from Wufenqi so that you can plan accordingly.

From the train station, we took another shuttle bus to Layang Museum, below. We bought the tickets for NT100 per person. It is informative about the eco-systems and nature of Yilan. The surroundings are scenic, sorry no picture. I was excited about the museum because of its unique architechure. I am really not a museum person. Hahaha……..

At the other side of the Museum is the Wushi Harbour. From here, you can take a day trip to Turtle Island or go dolphin watching. But it is cheaper to buy the package from the minsu. But the package does not incl. transfers to and from the minsu to the harbour. Have to take a cab which is around NT200. We skipped Turtle Island and dolphin watching. Right at the end it a grey sand beach. Serene. There are restaurants and cafes nearby and it is quite affordable to eat there.

Can try the fresh seafoods and sashimi. From here we wanted to go to Luodong night market, but thank God we chatted with the gals at the cafe and they adviced us to go to Yilan night market instead as it is nearer. And written for us a list of snacks that we can try there. That’s the friendliness and helpfulness of Taiwan culture.

We took the shuttle bus from opposite the museum at the smelly tofu resturant to Tocheng Train Station and from the train station we took the train and alighted at Yilan train station. We walked to the shopping center there as it is still early. But we had KFC, must try Mala chicken. Only available in Taiwan. Yummy!!!

After walking until tired, we took the train back to Jiaosi Train Station. One station apart only.

Things to buy at Jiaosi are Hotspring tomatoes (dried ones lah) – NT500, cow’s tongues (a type of biscuits)- NT100 for 4 packets of different flavors, dried mangoes (delicious) – NT500, dried guavas – NT450.

We bought train tickets at Jiaosi Train Station to Hualien Train Station – NT235 per person. The journey is about 1 and half hours and we enjoyed the scenery along the way. The journey does not feel long at all. And they sell tit bits and Rice Bento Boxes but we did not try as according to my hubby it was fatty meat “loh bah”. There are toilets in the train. We were allocated seats. It is comfortable and clean. Must say that Taiwan has clean toilets even in the parks.

No difference (Last Part – Radiant face)

I read my post again on this topic and realised that I wrote this post in April 2014 and now is December 2014. It is been 8 months and honestly I don’t see much difference in my size. And due to the lack of progress, I have been feeling down and I can sense the devil is hovering his depressive clouds over me. Today, I have been greatly blessed and encouraged by my Pastor’s message – Radiant Face. Now I can sense the dark clouds are dispersing and my face is becoming radiant from looking vertically upward to my beautiful Lord Jesus!! The more I am with my beautiful Jesus, the more I will reflect his beauty. Honestly, the dark clouds covered my face and I was feeling so down I did not attend Cell Meeting in the last week of November and they were going to celebrate my birthday. I wanted to seclude myself. And honestly, I missed church for 4 weeks. And I thank God today I went to church and received his blessings. There is no condemnation in Christ Jesus. He did not come to condemn but to save.

I am beginning to understand my Lord’s discipline on me. Now instead of being angry with him for not making me slim, I am thankful that I am still the same old person. Why? I realised that if trying to slim down is poisoning me with negativity, I’d rather be plump and happy because the latter can make me live longer. I want to have a healthy BMI and I am trying to scale down to from being dangerously obese to overweight (only 1 to 2 kg down), but in the process, I constantly feel down and out and self condemn, instead of leading to long life it is counter-productive to my well being. No matter fat or slim, I prefer to have the peace and joy of the Lord. You can be slim and good looking but are you really happy? He is the only one who can give me long and healthy life. He is my healing. I want to have a radiant face from the Lord and be his witness. Radiance that comes from being close to him. Radiance that comes from having a peace that surpasses all understanding. Radiance that comes from having the joy of the Lord. All this that comes from being sure of His love for me and being sure that I am saved forever and is forever righteous in Christ. Being radiant is different from being good looking. You can be good looking and slim but do you have the radiance from God? You can be plain but if you possess theo radiance from God, you are beautiful because He makes you beautiful. He makes us lovable by loving us and supplying exceedingly beyond our expectations what we need.

I wanted to slim down because I think I would look nicer when I am in my late fourties to fifties. I really don’t want to look like an “aunty”. I want to look elegant and well maintained. He makes me unique just like everyone’s fingerprints are unique. I prefer to have a radiant face from him now. It is better to be mature, plump, radiant and happy than old, skinny, depressed and grumpy. Being on the weight loss journey really makes me grumpy and unhappy. I will continue eating healthily and exercising but stop worrying about the number on the scale.

I was so filled with jealousy towards others who are slimmer, richer and smarter. I can’t explain why I have become like this. It crept stealthily into me. Scary.

I want to be thankful and grateful to Jesus instead of being angry and bitter towards him. I thank him I am forgiven completely, past, present, future, forever, as far as the east is from the west so far has he removed my transgressions. Peace with him and myself. I thank him for being my Abba. He is my provider and woah He is rich man!! And I am also really thankful to him for blessing me with a wonderful hubby.

Today, I present my 3 requests to my Abba.

I want to be healthy, no sickness, no surgery of any form. Having the ability to enjoy life by being able to do daily tasks and meaning, able to walk up and down stairs, being agile. Able to enjoy high impact exercises such as Zumba, Bokwa and jogging. Having stamina. I pray for my hubby, my mum and brother likewise they have good health and will not suffer any sickness of any kind.

I want to have peace, joy and a radiant face and to be a witness for Christ. I know he is working in my life.

Regular income for my hubby, myself, my mum and brother.

Progress may not be in sight, my stamina has improved greatly through regular exercises. I am now training my 5 km. Now I complete my 5 km in about 47 mins. I hope to improve this timing. The thing that I really hope for is that I can be agile even in old age. I recently injured my knees and have difficulty climbing up and down stairs. Lord, I know you have heard my cry, you will heal me as you had aredy done so at the cross.

I don’t know why I did not ask for a slim body. Hahaha…….

Actually. I have 4 requests.

Lastly, I don’t have a regular quiet time with Jesus. Mine is random. The reason is because I really don’t like to read the Bible. I try to see Jesus in the verses. Somehow, it is dry. Having said that, I did not read the Bible for more than 10 years. Every time I read the Bible, I read I must do this and that or must not do this, must do that – law and judgement, until in 2013, thru’ my Pastor’s teachings because he draws me to beautiful Jesus thru’ his message, I started to read the Bible but stopped at Leviticus. HAHAHA…. Then I went to the New Testament. I did finish the New Testament. But….hmmm not much revelation. I pray Jesus will draw me closer to him. I pray more often than I read the Bible. I know I need God’s word. Lord, help me. Amen!!

No difference (Part 2)

The last time I posted this thread was 18 February and my weight was 72 kg. Today on 3 April, my weight refused to come down. Hahaha. Something like a plateau. It is kinda of upsetting and frustrating and I felt like giving up. Again I confessed that Jesus loves me unconditionally and in my heart I repeated that the Lord will help me realise my goal. I rested in him and I am not anxious any more. He told me to persevere and not give up. When I try to do more after I have done a lot, I will confess that Jesus has taken my punishment on his broken body, I need not to punish myself any more. I keep trusting in him in my weight loss efforts. I have peace.

I thank him that my fitness has improved even though my weight did not go down but I am fit. Now I am able to jog 3km in 30 minutes. And one day I even jogged twice, each time 30 mins and in total the distance was 5.9km. I thank him for giving me the passion to jog. I feel great after jogging and walking.

The health benefits of exercising are great even without weight loss. Exercise improves your heart’s strength, reduce cholesterol, increases bone density and muscles, releases endorphins which improves our mood, alleviates depression, improves sleep and etc etc….the list is inexhaustible.

Let us adopt exercise to our life to improve our health not just as a means to lose weight.

Weight loss is adopting a lifetime of healthy lifestyle of eating healthy and regular exercise.

I know I need to keep doing what I have been doing. Eating healthy and exercising. I enjoy exercising because I feel good after the sweat.

Pasir Ris Park

Uncommon trees at Pasir Ris Park.

Rest

Do you find yourself repeatedly doing a certain thing year after year? It is like a vicious cycle. I have this problem. I kept wanting to take courses after courses, chasing the certificates. But in the end, I did not achieve anything. Okay, let the light of Jesus shine in this area. I want to find rest in Jesus. I cast all my cares on him because he cares for me.

The reason for this actually stems from me wanting to achieve something in life. To have the approval of relatives, friends and others. I guess it is pride. I feel I needed to be somebody, somebody important. Yes, I am, I am the Princess of my Abba Father. I am important to the one who created everything that exists. How loved I feel right now.

If my Abba Father did not withhold his son from me, how much more will he not “freely” give me all things that I ask? He has given me the most precious and valuable gift in this world, how much more will he not give me other things that are “chicken feet” to him? Hahaha….

Well, ask yourself what are you chasing in life right now. Are you happy and fulfilled? Cast all your cares on him because he cares for you.