Love this song by Nelly Furtado

First heard this song on radio and it really grew on me. Enjoy!

SAY IT RIGHT! I love YOU TUBE! *snapping my fingers to the song*

Happy Golden Pig New Year!

Today was Day 1 of Chinese New Year. It wasssssssssssss.....Fun-tastic!!

The house was so lively with my little cousins galore. My mum is the eldest in her family so her siblings came in the morning to "salute" her and of course, everyone stayed for vegetarian lunch because its such a killer meal even though its ALLL vegetarian. My little cousin Cheyanne was wearing a korean dress and much to the amusement of everyone present, she performed a korean bow that she learnt from the "DA CHANG JIN" drama serial. And Jerome who was so handsome in his outfit performed his "practise kung fu" and piano song. Note: Jerome is the sweetest boy with the shyest smile. I'll try to paste some pictures later on.

The cutest was, of course, my baby niece Vera. Everyone was oooh-ing and aaah-ing away and Vera was such a sport- just smiling and smiling away. She was wearing a silk suit that I bought from her in Shanghai (very expensive ok!) and this nice socks that my mum bought from another part in China...and this cute red pin on her head.



Here is 3 month old Vera, the center of all the attention. The little cutey.

Packing packing...cough cough

Chinese new year!!!! I have never been happier to hear that CNY is just around the corner.

When I was younger, I would fret about buying new clothes - trying not to look a freak in those RED RED RED RED "Hongbao" clothes (you see, the Mother would nag every year: Girl ah!! No black, gray, white, blue coloured clothes.. its CHINESE NEW YEAR....you think somebody just died and u are in mourning ah.......no no no just choose RED colour, you won't go wrong. Trust me...it would be lucky for you this year).

I also associated CNY with naggy relatives, helping my parents out like a slave/maid during their many house parties-playing the part of the good dutiful daughter. As you can clearly see, I'm a "happy-family" humbug.

But this year....its soooooooooooo different! I'm looking forward to CNY:
1) 4 days of public holiday
2) Lotsa yummy food to eat
3) Extending extra 4 days of vacation in Malaysia
4) A surprise party in store...

I'm so excited I actually bought my CNY clothes 2 weeks before the actual date. Its fantastic...and its going to be this weekend....happiness...............

OLE OLE OLE....Singapore is ASEAN CUP 2007 champions!!

I don't like soccer much....

But the patriotic me was glued to the telly when the Asean Cup was playing.. Singapore versus Thailand. There were 2 matches played.

On 31st Jan, the first game was played in the Singapore National Stadium. The score was initially tied at 1-1 and at second half the MALAYSIAN referee called for a penalty against the Thais near the goal post. The unhappy Thais walked off the pitch in protest and had to be persuaded to return to the field. Despite the chaos, the referee stuck his grounds and Singapore scored a penalty shot by Mustafic Fahrudin ending the game at 2-1.

On 4th Feb, the second game was played in Bangkok and although Singapore managed a goal in the first half, it was declared offside and void. The Thais were leading 1-0 towards the second half. 8 mins to the end of the game, Amir from Singapore scored a one-man show superb goal, crowning Singapore as the 2007 Asean Cup champions.

Ole Ole Ole...Ole....Ole.....

Singapore is 2007 Asean Cup Champions!!

I still don't like soccer much..................and actually I'll admit that I think that the Lions were super "heng" (lucky) this time round. As far as I could see, the Thai team was the stronger team. But never mind, "heng" is also a skill by itself. :)

However, granted that the Thais, for many various reasons, were really hungry for the championship, I still think they could have behaved better on the pitch.

All in all, the end result is that the Lions are crowned re-champions for Asean cup 2007.

Hip HIP HOOORAYYY!!!!

The Last Templar by Raymound Khoury

In 2003/2004, I had the impression that Dan Brown's Da Vinci code took the literary world by storm and started the religion conspirarcy-theory ball rolling. Everywhere I went and every flight I took I'd see at least one person (regardless of nationality) holding onto a copy of that book. I've read that book twice myself and heard countless Christians tell me that the book is blasphemous. Its an enjoyable read nonetheless. :)

Recently I've finished another book written on the same premise - That the Roman church is trying to cover the true story of Jesus Christ. I would highly recommend it as a fascinating read except that the ending was a little disappointing to me. But due to the highly controversial nature of its content, I find that not surprising.



Veritas Vos Liberabit - the truth will set you free. (Latin)

The Last Templar starts off with the fall of the Knights Templar in 1291 - Acre (Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem). Interspaced with events occuring in the era we live in today (21st century), it explores the rise and fall of the Knights Templar.

According to the book, in 1118, The First Crusade is over and the Holy Land is back in Christian hands. Baldwin II is the King of Jerusalem , people across Europe are jubilant and pilgrims are flocking to Jerusalem. Unknown to them, the crusading knights have considered their vows fulfilled and went back to their homes in Europe with their plundered riches. The area is precariously surrounded by hostile Islamic states and the Turks and Muslims, who have lost much of their lands to to the Christian armies, wern't about to forgive and forget.Many pilgrims were killed on the dangerous roads between port city of Jaff (coast of Palestine) and the holy city of Jerusalem.

Nine pious knights led by Hughes de Payens arrived at Baldwin's palace and offered their humble services. They announced that they had taken the 3 solemn vows of chastity, poverty and obedience and had added a fourth: a perpetual vow to protect the pilgrims on their journey from the coast to the city. King Baldwin was impressed and gave them quarters in the eastern part of his palace, which stood on the site once occupied by King Solomon's Temple. They had become known as The Order of the Poor Knights of Chris and the Temple of Solomon, more simply the Knights Templar. (The Temple of Solomon has an interesting history on its own).

What is interesting is that the Knights then ended up spending 9 years locked up in the Temple of Solomon.............digging.......and they found a treasure so magnificient that would result in their eventual doom on Friday the 13th. Was it gold? Was it proof that Jesus had fathered a child with Mary Magdalene. The book keeps you hooked and the suspense is well worth the wait as it turns out to be none of the above and instead brings into a picture another very interesting possibility. (I'm certainly not going to spoil it for you here so find it out yourself!)

This book is a touch and go on the Jesus bloodline, the Gnostics, the Gospel, the Bible, history of how the concept of our modern financial institutions (banks) came about, a little something of everything to spark your interest to read more.

For more information: http://www.lasttemplar.com/home/index.asp