monkey see, monkey (try to) do.

monkeys are smart creatures.

and sometimes, i underestimate them a little too much.

this monkey was drinking from the water cooler!! & he refused to budge! i came to within an arm's length of him!

and, here is a short little picture story of my encounter with the monkeys at the victoria falls (this will be entertaining for those of you who're reading this! but i'm just really glad it wasnt a re-enactment of regina's encounter in cape town!)



This is what i was so intensely looking at (and anticipating their movements)

and this was what was happening!


monkey: HMM. WHAT IS THIS??

Monkey: she looks oblivious, i think its safe to touch!

STILL oblivious. dont ask me how... i still dont know!



thought leon was taking a picture. well, he WAS... but for reasons that i only realised AFTER!

talk about being pre-occupied eh...

a beautiful home.

a picture of me on the mountaintop with my camera. i like this muchhh. (:
quite aptly describes where i am in life and with God these few months.
but today, i need to rush my take home test like mad. and i am lostttttt. so, i will update the story behind this picture (and the many other stories that i owe) tomorrow, when the madness subsides for a while. another 2 hour night ahead.. eish! is it!

but i've come home from spring break into a purple eden. (: the jacaranda flowers are in bloom. think tree-lined avenues filled with lavender-purple instead of the usual green. its beautiful!

some stories from the UGC!

most.amazing.outreach.of.my.life. (so far! there's more to come.)

some links from stories posted on the OM South Africa website

 - our KwamHlanga outreach it was really such a huge highlight for our team! & especially for me (:

 - overall highlights in the UGC blog  + 2 stories from my team! the free hugs & the holiday one from my teammate

 - orientation! slideshow of what we went through during the 3-day orientation. it was amazing! btw, the photo of me was taken really early in the morning. embarrassing just-wake-up face....

anyway, updates, my laptop adapter died on me a few days ago, i went to get it repaired, but the guy did a really shoddy job & there's SPARKS coming from the exposed wires. freaky. & hence, i am not touching it until i bring it back for a PROPER fix. i really hope the guy is honest & repairs it properly this time. ): its got to last me another 3 months!!

and its quarter 4 here in Tuks (the university of pretoria). i've had so many changes in lecturers & module contents that i am quite confused. but there's also been an increase in workload especially for the international economics module.. honestly, i dont know if its good or bad because the assignment is definitely a huge chunk of work thats more than its worth (grade-wise), but its practical, exciting & promising. they're getting top officials to come and see our presentations on the trade policy here! so.... i'll see how it goes. no more slacking.

and the weekend was just fantastic. (: interesting night at hatfield square with my camera, apartheid museum on sat with m-l, many great conversations, thought-provoking message (again) by Ps Jabu, and frozen yoghurt after church with a housemate & church friends (a very small step towards inviting my housemate to church!).

one last thing, SPRING BREAK NEXT WEEK! wooohoooo! excited much! victoria falls, kalahari desert (anyone remembers sec 2 geog??), camping, rafting, horseback riding & more fun stuff!

what a friend we have in Jesus!

He blesses, just because!

cycling!

its been an AWESOME weekend. like reallyreally awesome.

just 2 bummers:

1. MY BELOVED FILM CAMERA IS ACTING UP AGAIN. pft. dont ask me how a mechanical camera can die when i havent done anything to it. but it has. the rear shutter doesnt fire unless i switch it to bulb mode or to the fully mechanical shutter speed of 1/90s. which sucks. because, 1 day it was working, and the next day, it wasnt. ))))):

2. MY BIKE HAS A PUNCTURED TYRE. after the amazing day out at Groenkloof nature reserve, it decided it had enough & i've got a flat rear tyre.

now that i've ranted about those, let me get to the awesome stuff. (: friday i met up with marianne, the other singapore girl who was on the 5wk outreach as well. (5wks outreach, another 5wks in Zambia helping out in an OM ministry and then another 6months at OM training!.. and she's just finished her A's last year. THAT is what i call amazing). ok anyway, so hanging out with another singaporean just rocks lah! hello singlish. haha. we didnt do anything special, but having such company is really quite cool. & i need to go to Zambia after hearing all that stuff! (but i will. soon.)

and kofiehuis (i've learnt the correct spelling) at night was great too. the church service was real african-style & i just loveee this song that they sang. There's no one like Jesus. in Sotho (which we sung that night) its Ahona ya tswanang le Jesu, and in Zulu, Akeko ofana na Jesu! i reaaaally love this song! & seeing some of the men sing so loudly & doing the actions, just amazing. another meaningful conversation at night with a guy who was getting off heroin, well, m-l did the talking & i didnt because i have absolutely no idea, but it was such an eye-opening experience.

on saturday, i went mountain-biking! its the real stuff with freaking crazy slopes & turns & scenery. a few highlights: getting there early (and safe). i cycled about 50min to get there while the rest took a cab & since i was early, i started biking & admiring the nature. it was SO peaceful & beautiful, and it STILL amazes me that God has brought me here!! so, the others got lost etcetc (whats new right), and eventually we started on the route about 2hours later than planned. better still, we went on the 21km route without realising it. very good.... but the adrenaline rush made up for it. a few scraps along the way, but we made it out just fine.

going to Groenkloof became a plan because i heard that you could cycle & see wildlife up close. (not lions or meat-eaters, duh) but giraffes etc. things like this, you hear about it but sometimes it never really happens or you find out it was an exaggeration etc. in this case, it was SO true! and even better!! as the front 2 bikes rounded a sharp bend, they braked really hard such that their back wheels skidded in the dust and it nearly caused me to collide into them. their reason for doing so: 3 HUGE giraffes crossing the dirt path barely 10metres away!!! and a lot more giraffes on both sides of the road. amazing or amazing!! it was a magical experience when i got off my bike and started walking nearer.. to see a wild giraffe eating right in front of you, its just an indescribable feeling of being so close to nature & to see what God has created. i've never marvelled at animals in the way i did. the giraffes were so close i could see their fur & muscles & those insanely long necks & legs. i'm not a gd storyteller, but with experiences like that, i wish i was better. so, anyway, pictures will help. (:

i look kinda weird here because i was unprepared for the shot but i'm glad i have at least 1 pic from the day. well, the girl wasnt really all that interested to help me take a photo anyway. (and yes, i am a little bugged, but not dwelling on it).

and here's another picture of someone else just to show how close we were to the giraffes! SERIOUSLY.

my bike (when we took a break).

and thats us when we FINALLY got to the end point after an amazing ride. i am soooo going to do it again. it was exhausting, but great.

the punctured tyre. i really thank God that the temporary patch survived the ride home! i cycled my heart out because it was getting late & i really didnt want to be stuck in the middle of brooklyn with a flat tyre. but i got home within 35min.