6pm-ish
In my room, Weir House, the craziest hostel in the world
Preparing for dinner and being girly
It was a rainy day. I was hoping that the rain would stop, but it seems that the Wellington weather didn't show me any kindness. I spent the past hour trying to look nice. After a long, hot shower, I put on the new white tube dress that I just bought. After having tried on far too many styles of dresses over the years, experience told me that there are only certain type of dresses that will fit the body that I have. Tube dresses are one of the very few. I love them. Fi was kind enough to lend me her accessories and her most expensive pair of shoes. It was a white pair of heels with pearls from Blay. Images of that small shop in 1U flashed in my mind. "I miss home", I thought. But I didn't dwell on such thoughts. I wanted the night to be a good one. I spent quite a while putting on make up, trying on different stylings of hair. Do I put my hair up? What do I tie it with? Hairband? I settled for a white hairband. It's been so long since I wore one. Some mishapes happened which involved a hairdryer and detergent, but let's not talk about that. No one noticed. Jeremy was kind enough to give Fi and I a ride. It would be horrible to walk all the way to Oriental Parade in the bad weather.
6th of November
7.30pm
Fisherman's Table, Oriental Parade.
Earlied 20th birthday dinner
I heard different views about the food in Fisherman's Table. Some said it was really good. Some said it was absolutely horrible. Most said that the portion was too small. One told me that the portion was so large to the point that I should start starving if I were to have dinner there. I don't know who to believe. In fact, I don't really care. I don't even eat fish. The only reason I chose Fisherman's Table was because it was near the beach. And everyone who knows me well knows that I love the beach, especially at night.
Some people who said that they'll come didn't come, and I had some last minute cancellations, but around 30 people came. It was a good turnout. The Kia Maians came abit later, but it was all good. I was the only one who didn't have seafood for dinner. I think I had apricot chicken or something like that. It made me feel weird in a "special" way. But it didn't matter anyway. I was special that night. Haha..It was all about me. Everyone came up and told me that I looked stunning. Instead of saying "thank you", I said "The shoes and accessories belong to Fi. Half of the stuff on me is not mine." They just stared at me and laugh. Elaine told me to shut up and not tell anybody. Just say "thank you very much." I told my friends that I don't eat fish. Any other kind of seafood is fine, but not fish. Then in a loud voice came the question, "then what are we doing in FISHERMAN'S TABLE?" Everyone laughed. All I did was pointed to the sea. The view was astoundingly breathtaking, but crappy Wellington weather had to destroy it. Ah imperfections.
Some people left early. Apparently there's another party at Stafford House. For those who stayed, they got to hear me giving a speech and other people giving speeches about me. It was hilarious. I don't know whether they really do mean the stuff they said or they said those nice things because they were compelled to. However, I will take it all as compliments :) Thank you Elaine, Ching Wen, Karen, Leesha, Jia Yin, Peng, Esther and Fi for the speeches and kind encouragements. I was touched. I felt loved. Amor, ergo sum. I am loved, therefore I am.
The night ended with Grace saying the closing prayer. In her usual, bubbly manner, she asked everyone to hold hands and said a really funny and interesting prayer, asking God to be with me for the years to come. It was a good night.
I am still 19. I don't turn 20 until the 26th. The birthday dinner was held because I'm going back home straight after SLC, and some of my friends are going home soon. So I won't say much about the 19th year of my life. I will leave that right until I officially hit 2-0.
6th of November
10.30pm
Daniel Po's apartment
After Party
I spend a few minutes opening up the presents that I got. I got a pink handbag from Amanda and Jia Yin (pink. Haha!! You guys know me well.), a bible from Li Hui and CK (they're not christians, but I used to complain about how bulky my bible was. Li Hui remembered. *touched*), earrings from Shanny, a book from Hannah, a beautiful turtleneck sweater from Vivy (which I don't dare to try on because it looked small and I'm afraid I'll look fat in it), a BodyShop gift set and a handmade card from the Kia Maians and Pods from Peng (He said, "I picked up something along the way."). Lil Melvyn drew Kurosaki Ichigo from Bleach for me and wrote "To Francesca a.k.a. Franny". It was the most beautiful drawing I've had. It's the ONLY drawing that I have. =) I thought of Emma, who couldn't come to the dinner because she's back in Auckland. She gave me the book "The Time Traveller's Wife" by Audry Niffeneggar. I'm itching to read it.
We played RISK. Fiona kicked our asses. I wanna play it again. The game lasted for so long and it was full of broken alliances and crafty moves. Dan kept on blaming me for making him lose. Ah well.. midnight is not a good time to play hardcore strategy games. However, the boys seemed wide awake. I think that's because of years of training when playing DOTA. We went back at 3am. It was a long night.
7th of November
3.30am
In my room
Reflections
Thank you Lord for a great birthday dinner. I hope that You were glorified through my life. I know You were present. Thank you Lord for all of the people who have shown so much love and care to me. I am so grateful for the friendships that I have. I've been blessed. Thank you Lord that he came, and that I was able to look at him and talk to him as if nothing happened. As if I was never hurt. Thank you Lord that we're still friends. I guess things will never be the same anymore. But that's life. It's full of ambiguities. You are the meaning of my life dear Jesus. I know that no matter what happens, it's all for a greater calling, and I will go through whatever you want me to go through. I know I will be given enough grace and courage to face the plans you have destined for me.
7th - 8th of November
1.30pm on the 7th until 8.30pm on the 8th
Committee Retreat
Leesha's Humble And Yet Fancy Abode
Being on committee makes me think. It makes me think about everything. Vision, missions, intentions, purpose, evangelism, being missional and intentional etc. It blown me away. I never though that it'll be so hard. But God is an overflowing source of strength and wisdom. I have so much that I need to do, and I'm not sure how I'm suppose to go about doing it. But it's wonderful to know that God is guiding us, and He'll see us through. He always does.
The most beautiful thing that happened during retreat was when they gave me birthday presents. Birthday presents are always beautiful. The committee gave me a cute Roxy handbag and a card. I know all along that I have a wonderful roomate. But she almost made me cry when she gave me the new John Mayer album, entitled Continuum. I'm listening to it now. It's triggering lots of emotions. I really wanted the album but it was 30 dollars. Coming from a family who has no respect whatsoever for copyright laws, I wasn't willing to spend that much money on a CD. Knowing Fi, she won't spend money unless she has to. And I know buying the CD as a gift for me was a great dilemma for her. THANK YOU SO MUCH. xoxoxo. You're a God-given roomate!!
So Mang cooked us dinner for the two nights. This guy can really cook. Oo the sweet taste of chicken marinated in korean spices..oo pasta and fried chicken meat.. sigh retreats make people fat.
Other than thinking and eating, I spent most of my time on Leesha's guitar. Ah the love I have for music. I learnt how to play Hotel California sang by Eagles and Back to One by Brian McKnight.
The night ended with me typing up this ridiculously long post. I probably have lost your attention halfway through this post. Let's call it a night.
Labels: heart soul mind
