These Are The Last Days

Walking towards my hall building few hours ago, I noticed my room's light was off. I thought my roommate Tinglin was asleep already. However as I got in front of the door, I noticed her shoes were gone. I unlocked the door and instead of seeing her, I saw only plushies neatly tucked under her blanket. OH NO! She left without me having a chance to say good bye. I'm not gonna lie, but I got a little teary when I read her note. The morning when I woke her up with my arrival and the luggage noise that I made seems to be really fresh in my memory, just like yesterday.

So with that being said, this is very likely to be my last post written in Singapore as I'm leaving in 2 days. I've spent the past week just studying while being tourist at the same time: visiting places on my list that I haven't gotten a chance to visit. Among them are the St. Andrew's Cathedral, Peranakan Museum, Asian Civilisation Museum, and the Treetop Walk at MacRitchie Reservoir.

Saying goodbye is never easy, but I've been handling it well so far through some of the goodbye dinners I had this week.

Now that it is all about to come to an end, I can't even imagine how my life would've been if I didn't make the choice to come to Singapore in the first place. I wouldn't met these awesome new friends, nor would I traveled to these amazing places. I would've just been a typical Fransisca: clocking in and out of co-op for the rest of the summer, overworking myself with ambitiously packed schedule, looking for jobs that would pay me well after graduation, and just sticking with the status quo.

This semester has definitely been the highlight of my Drexel career and changed my life. My Singapore experience has changed the way I view my life and the ideas of rest, life calling, and community. I've also been challenged to step out of my comfort zone and complacency in many situations and without God's providence, I would never had the strength to go through it all. In a way, I'm sad to pack all these memories with me as I leave this place. But on the other hand, exciting stuffs are waiting for me in the States. Talking with friends back in Philly as we plan things to do this winter has definitely helped in getting me pumped once again for the  rest half of my senior year.

Good night, Singapore! I will miss you just like a migrated Singaporean does.

Happy Thanksgiving from Singapore

I know it's a little bit belated, but happy thanksgiving to you all in the States! I really miss my American thanksgiving: thanksgiving day breakfast with my church family, hosting my best friend Ei for thanksgiving dinner at our home, staying up for black Friday shopping, decorating the house for Christmas, and heading to perform Balinese dances for the annual Bali to Bala opening night. I didn't get to do the traditional thanksgiving meal here since 1) I don't have access to a kitchen, 2) Restaurant thanksgiving meals are pricey, 3) When I found out supermarkets were catering it, it was too late to place the order for thanksgiving day. Believe it or not, turkey dinner here is more of a Christmas fare so this time around they have just started providing the service. Despite of the absence of  thanksgiving meal, my heart was so grateful for all these places, faces, and experiences that God has blessed me with. They were more amazing beyond I previously imagined. I'm also thankful for whatever God has in store for me next.

One and a half week left for me in Singapore. Everyone has been busy preparing for the finals. I only have 2 exams,which are on the 29th and the 5th. So much time to study that I've became kind of scared that I'll forget things I'm reading up now comes the real exams. This is where lecture videos come in handy. I've been putting it on as I do my chores and start on consolidating/throwing my stuffs away. On the brighter note, I'm really looking forward to spending a month in Indonesia and more importantly going back to the States. So here's what my life looks like post-exam:

• Dec 6th: Flying to Jakarta in the PM
• Dec 7th-10th: Being tourist in Jakarta with Diana, an exchange friend I've been travelling with
• Dec 11th-13rd: Bali with my mom
• Dec 13rd-20th: Mostly Jakarta, but I might drop a visit to Bandung as my sister ends her semester and coming home
• Dec 21st-29th: North Sumatra to visit grandmother, relatives, and some times of family vaca

Breaking My Singapore Bubble

America, it is.

This past week I've been thinking of things that are going on back there a lot. It all started with the Hurricane Sandy hitting the Mid-Atlantic. Even though I was spoiled by Singapore's 90 degree days during that disaster, I was with you folks. I kept a close eye on the news while praying for your safety. I missed the historical Drexel closure and worked intensively on term projects and papers instead, boo! (I did celebrate Halloween with my neighbors, though. Eastern State Penitentiary should start hiring them; they did an awesome job scaring people off and turning TV lounges into haunted houses).

Election was another thing. You'd never know how much the international community is watching your election from here, America. Students from all over the world gathered at our Global Lounge nervously watching the votes being counted: many celebrated at the end, while few were disappointed. I had a mixed feeling towards the whole thing. However, a key take away is that no matter who the president is, God is still in His throne and Christ reigns over all. I had never felt such overwhelming gratefulness that my citizenship is not of this world, but is in heaven ruled by my Savior Jesus Christ.

Lastly, I have only one month left in Singapore and two months in Asia. It's time to register for courses to fulfill my degree requirements. I'm already set on staying full-time until graduation since the senior capstone course that I needed was closed for Winter term already; making it 2 courses that I really need for graduation to be postponed to Spring. I've also started  to look through the application for the year-long ministry internship which was quite lengthy. God has definitely been making me realize more than ever of my great insufficiency apart from Him.

This Singapore comfort bubble needs to be broken. Time for some real stuffs  to kick in.

Back from Discovery Weekend

Another week of Singapore awesomeness was just behind me. It's been raining every single day, but today the sun was shining so brightly. A call to do laundry for me haha :D Anyhow, class assignments and readings have started to pick up their dynamics as groups are being formed for our various term projects. Praise the Lord that I got into that one Friday morning class that I thought I wouldn't get. I know the timing sucks, but I need it to graduate. I also joined another club on campus called Deli Aprecio. We had our first meeting this past week, and I'm excited for the activities planned for this club. Woaa, so busy lah. And in the midst of all, I was able to fit a weekday lunch with Giang, a fellow Dragon ending her co-op abroad with Scoot. I visited her during her lunch at Changi and we went for some Japanese food. She's flying back to US in a week or so, and as for now I just don't wanna imagine myself doing the same yet. Send my regards to Broad St., Giang!

A backpacking trip for recess week is being planned as well. I would spend 10 days in Southeast Asia with my girls Diana and Rensy. The original plan was to do Vietnam-Cambodia-Thailand, yet due to safety reasons we've just decided to call Cambodia off and spend more time exploring the other 2 instead. Definitely exciting stuff!

By the way, I've just came back from an overnight Discovery Weekend organized by the lovely campus staffs here at Singapore Cru for college seniors. I heard some cool testimonies as well as talks that were intended to equip all of us to discern God's calling for our lives after graduation. Something that God has put in my heart since last year's Radiate conference was to dedicate a year post my graduation to intern with GAiN. Somehow, I dismissed that call and insisted that it wasn't for me until a couple weeks before I left for Singapore. I felt like God was really pressing it hard on my heart during those times until I couldn't stop thinking about it and finally fell on my knees. After some period of struggles in prayer, I finally forwarded the long-abandoned email from a GAiN staff I met through Radiate to another person in-charge of the interns. I guess we'll wait and see how God's plan for me in this unfolds as we pray for His will to be revealed in my life.

Solo Adventure Followed by Another Great Week

Last Monday was a public holiday here in Singapore for Hari Raya observance. Since everyone else decided to sleep in, I took that opportunity to just explore on my own  some interesting faucets of Singapore that others most likely won't be interested in visiting. My adventure that day began at Chinese Garden, which is just a few MRT stops away. It's a really refreshing place to run, bike, and picnic. I almost forgot all the dynamics of industrious Singapore as I climbed the main pagoda and saw so many green :)

From Chinese Garden, I hopped on the MRT to Haw Par Villa or Tiger Balm Garden, which happened to be a tourist trap. Other than the not-so-aesthetically-painted Chinese folklore statues, there's really nothing else to it. However, after entering one of their attractions called "10 Courts of Hell", my heart was just amazed once again as I was reminded of how deep my Father's love is for me. He could've just poured all His wrath on me because as a filthy rugged sinner, I deserve punishment. As vivid as they were, the kinds of wrath I saw through statutes at that place would not probably compare to what I deserve. But the good news is He chose not to. Instead, He poured it our on His perfect son Jesus Christ so that I can be one again with Him and experience His grace and mercy.

As I continued to think of His love, I moved on to my next stop: Singapore Botanic Garden. For the interest of time and mom's love of orchids, I purposefully zoomed into just the Orchid Garden. I was really glad I went there since there were so many colorful and rare collections from around the world that I haven't seen before.


As far as campus life goes, this past week has been very dynamic and fun, thanks to Campus Clubs and Activities Fair. Beyond the freebies and free food, I think I've became interested in joining Deli Aprecio. Class activities have also picked up and I made more non-Business friends through my Engineering classes.

That's about it for now. Stay tuned for more updates on my Malaysia adventure this weekend :)