Adventures In Collegeland ©

laura is...

2010-05-28T11:13:00.000-07:00

laura the traveller. :D

laura is in the airport
laura is wide awake
laura is jet-lagged
laura is surfing the net
laura is updating her blog
laura is going to stay up all night
laura is people-watching
laura is listening to people speak Singlish
laura is amused that she is among so many SEAsians
laura is almost home.

ps. yes. laura has nothing to do.
also destressing from finals week and packing
:D

announcement.

2010-05-27T02:36:00.001-07:00

Laura Tan is....

finally done with Sophomore year!

:)

finals

2010-05-22T23:33:00.000-07:00

God...
Sustain me.
Fill me up with your joy. For your joy is my strength.
Teach me to walk in your ways, in my words, thoughts, and deeds.
God...
Sustain me.
you are God and I am not.

I ought to...

2010-04-12T00:38:00.000-07:00

I felt that I ought to post something...
partly because I'm kinda awake... partly also because school is starting in the morning, marking the end of Spring break ㅠ.ㅠ
It's raining today... windy and cold, when it was sunny and warm two days ago... Californian weather amazes me...
But all these little things around me are the ones that make me realize how blessed I am... to be out here, in a different country, experiencing the cold, the dry air, the super hot sun... all in the span of a day or two. o.o

God... you're amazing! <3

some procrastination... ;]

2010-04-10T17:51:00.000-07:00

The past two days for me has been cooking, homeworking, nail arting, sleeping, and eating....

O.o
But two nights ago, at around 10pm-ish... Tiff, Paul, and I, with nothing to do, decided to walk to the grocery store 20minutes away to get ice cream... On the way there, we found a shopping cart by the sidewalk. And okay. I'm pretty predictable.

...

it was scary cause on the way there were 3 police cars chasing somebody

tiff was running waayyyyy in front just to get a picture.

and of course we got to the store

Long story short. we got our Haagen-Dazs Dark Chocolate and Chocolate Ice Cream which was uh-may-zing!!!

and now... I should probably get back to doing some more homework. =)

oh spring break!

Love, Laura

Quick Update!

2010-04-07T16:21:00.000-07:00

I've been a bum. not blogging. but not exactly a bad thing... since I'm blogging now...

Have been super busy since school started. But it's Spring Break now! :D
Lots of things have been going on.. But most recently, I went on an adventure downtown LA... went to Little Tokyo, the Walt Disney Concert Hall, found the Grand Central Market, and the Angel's Flight, and we did all these by Public Transportation which was amazing cause EVERYBODY DRIVES IN LA! :/

at a super super BIG Catholic Cathedral
Walt Disney Concert Hall

more pictures uploaded on facebook. :)

oh... and yesterday my friend and I baked egg tarts!!! omy~ now i can have eggtarts whenever I want. yummmyummm. :))))

Cross my fingers I'll be going out to play again at a theme park! Hopefully we are able to make it... and if I do, hopefully there'll be pictures uploaded on facebook and some more updates here :p

Should probably update more often. :S

Laura.

Vacation in Vancouver~

2010-01-16T21:55:00.000-08:00

Hey Y'all~
a picture's worth a thousand words.
photos uploaded on facebook :D
go check it out and leave a msg or two!

Laura

CANADA

2010-01-09T19:10:00.001-08:00

whee~
I'm in Vancouver, Canada!! :D
blog soon.

What if I had SHORT hair?

2010-01-05T18:41:00.000-08:00

That's right!
What if I cut my hair short?
...
...
...
...
...
...
...

...
...
...

errr..
I don't

I went to the San Diego Zoo...

2010-01-03T18:36:00.000-08:00

Went to the World Famous San Diego zoo yesterday!

My first time there!
The Zoo was ginormous!!!
It was an amazing visit to the zoo.. Felt exceptionally proud when the information of the animals showed that the animal was found in Malaysia/South East Asia. :D <-- Country pride bahhh... Saw orangutans :) they've traveled a long way. o.O To think that I've seen close up orangutans so many times. Seeing them at the SanDiego zoo just felt different. haha.. The animals were really really cute and beautiful!
*Note that these are only few of the many animals that were in the zoo

Gorillas Tiger
Okapi
Panda!! SO CUTEEEE~
*edit: dedicate this panda to AhBoo*Polar Bear. He was really dirty.The sleeping one. Look at his paw. LionJumbo <3Camels
Beautiful Snow LeopardChinese Leopard

Look! It's New!

2010-01-01T01:20:00.000-08:00

Blessed New Year Everyone!!
I'm officially 1 hour 23 minutes into year 2010 now.
and i felt like I ought to post a post.

Love y'all! <3

5.1

2009-12-30T11:13:00.000-08:00

Dear 2009
...
Thank you for all the good, the bad, the ugly memories that you've given me.
...
I truly appreciate them and will treasure them well
...
I've had a good year!
...
College.Friends.Home.Travels.Family.God.Food.Events.Dramas.Etc.

Dear 2010
...
I pray that you bring me another wonderful year, and not let me down.
Even if I'm let down, help me stand up again...
...
Let me do well in all that I pursue
...
Help me grow and be a better person
...
...
...
and work towards the fulfillment of 5.1*<-- oh augehtay, you might be the only one who knows this <3<3

Jesus is the reason for the Season <3

2009-12-25T21:03:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas again.
Second Christmas away from home.
Last year, I was celebrating Christmas at Northern Ireland.
This year, I get an American Christmas in Southern California.
We went for Christmas Eve service... no service on Christmas day. :(
but I got to open presents in the morning. <3<3<3 got a stocking full of goodies. :D
then we frosted the cookies Dana baked two nights ago. 100+ of them.

Anyways...
Wishing you all a very blessed Christmas <3

Real Christmas Tree at the Reeces. =)

Christmas Eve service at Saddleback church.

Time Flies

2009-12-19T22:45:00.000-08:00

Time flies....

I have just completed my first semester of Sophomore year, sent out graduating seniors, who will be greatly missed. And now, am chillin at roommate's house.
Just watched the DEYC video posted by SamV. on his facebook page and started to realize how fast time flies. The first time i joined my first DEYC was the year I moved back to KK, Dec 2006. Then, I also realized that my family have moved back for almost 4 years now.
Sometimes, I just think that it's so scary having time going by so quickly. *breathheee*
Then, at the same time, it is so exciting as I am able to look back and see how much I've grown, and how far I've come about till this day.

Just over this semester, I've grown so much, learning how to deal with people from various background, resolve conflicts, treasure friendships, relearning humility, love, patience, endurance, and many many life lessons....
All that I've experienced has definitely reflected how faithful God has been in my life.
There are days when I could just sit down and start to count my blessings, and I always came to a conclusion that there are never ending blessings! :D

I haven't been blogging for a long time... Yes.. partly because I've been very busy/lazy ><
and partly also because I don't really know if whatever I'm writing on here is relevant or if it is uplifting or bringing others down. Of course, I don't have the intentions of shutting down this blog just yet... But probably would reconsider topics to blog on.

Life is interesting here. It really is.... But there is so much more to the events that happened, not only "what fun events I've been doing" but "how have these events affected my life?"

updates again soon <3

chef of the day

2009-10-17T23:22:00.000-07:00

Sleeping over at one of my friend's apartment. So have been here since 10a.m.
Andd.. we cooked all our meals today. *smiles*
It's pretty rare for us to cook all our meals in a day. Cause it takes too much time cleaning up usually. But today was a pretty chill day, and we didn't have anymore meal plans left to eat at the cafe, so we cooked.
Omelets and Pancakes for brunch (I rediscovered my egg/pancake flippin' talent o.O)
Dumplings for lunch (ok. we just tossed the dumplings in. not much work needed here)... ooh. but I made the dipping sauce for the dumpling.
then beef curry for dinner. + rice = yumm yumm.
and then. right now, we're eating late night supper. I made garlic bread. from scratch. woooot~ proud of self. from mincing the garlic to melting the butter to mixing the basil and i forgot what and slicing the bread and spreading the mix. and baking them.
(right... I know many of you could cook better stuff than that)
but.... considering I haven't cooked in ages. haaaa!
ALL i have to say: Homecooked meals = delicious. and satisfying. and makes you feel accomplish.
of course the rest of the day was filled with homeworking. but oh well.
laura gets food. laura happy.

<3

When My Blog lays Dead...

2009-09-01T19:05:00.000-07:00

I've been back to the States for almost 3 weeks now.

Getting over jetlag, preparing to facilitate in the Int'l student orientation, getting ready for classes...
and now.. classes have started, I'm working.. and I figured out that I probably should attempt to update this blog.
Would be really busy this semester... 20 units of classes, 6-8 hours of work, and leadership responsibilities for the International Students Assoc. really uses up a lot of my time. But.. I believe I'll survive.

orientation week. Indian dinner. the rest lining up for Pink's hotdogs. We finished dinner and they were still in-line. Everyone got their hotdogs after 1.5 hours. So you can imagine how long the line was.

surprise party for Tomoko, a freshmen from Japan but lived in Indonesia and Philippines.

Disneyland and Korean bbq was a must. But this time, we did not do that well eating. Haley, Tiff and I only managed to eat 3 of those big plates of meat that you see in the middle, and 3 plates of those marinated ones by the corner. The one covered in brown red. But that's still alot though.

anddd... best of all.. Last Sunday, we had homecooked chinese meal at Tiff's apartment. and Sheeba's indian dessert. It was Good. :D happy laura.

off to more homework. then ISA meeting at 9pm

It's Kinda Weird

2009-08-09T15:28:00.000-07:00

Since I have time to spare... why not blog?

Blogging from Incheon Airport. The last time I was here for 13 hours. today... 10. but. Dahye's bringing me out. :D
Wahhhh.. going out into the arrival hall/going up to the departure hall and being surrounded by so so so so many Koreans feels kinda cool. Cause I'm not Korean.
but... it also feels kinda weird. cause people thinks I'm Korean.. until I speak English.
like in the plane, I was sitting next to this married couple around their 30s, the air stewardess gave the uncle next to me only one declaration card. he told the air stewardess to give me one. She told him that "one family only requires one" and from my POV saw the wife who kept on shaking her head and hand. The uncle told me that they had to say that I wasn't their child or something. I thought it was funny. then she gave me the card in Korean language. and of course the kind uncle had to call her back and tell her that I wasn't Korean. NEED ENGLISH. not nice. no special non-korean treatment. eeek.

the airport already so busy even early in the morning. I arrived at 6am. now only 7.30am.

aiksss. better stop now. do other things first.

Laura in Korea.

Back...

2009-06-25T23:03:00.000-07:00

Back in KK
Back blogging..

Haven't been updating lately.
and.. might not be updating as often..

but...
just to inform you guys who read this blog. for whatsoever reason..
I'm back in Malaysia for the summer.
Well... i've been back for a month. heheee

ooh. and i'll try to post photos on facebook.

so.. yeah.. xD

when you have a 13 hour lay-over in Incheon airport, you will survive..

2009-05-25T09:49:00.000-07:00

As many of you might have known,
I had a 13 hour layover in Korea.

So... basically, I survived... and this is what I did. starting from 5.30a.m.
1. skyped with Dahye and Dana.
2. Went to the rest and relax place and slept from 7+ to 9+
3. walked around the airport. *many shops - chanel, burberry, coach, etc*
4. skype again or msn or facebook
5. found the traditional cultural experiencing zone - for tourists only
- did their crafts
- tried on hanbok
- made a friend with one of the staff there
6. lunch
7. walk around again
8. hung out at the traditional cultural experiencing zone again
9. uploaded photos
10. facebook, skype and msn again.

then I boarded the plane at 6.30p.m.

I survived.

ahhhh... earthquakee!!!

2009-05-17T21:03:00.000-07:00

remember the last time I experienced a small 3.0 scale earthquake?
I don't remember if I blogged about it. but i'm pretty sure it was on my facebook status.
that was like nothing.

today.. I experienced a 5.0 scale earthquake. the building was shaking for 15 seconds.
okay. it was scary.
well.. not like my life was in danger or anything.. but you can feel yourself shaking back and forth.... back and forth.
it wasn't fun.
but.. still fun at the same time now that it's over

Conclusion: I would never wanna experience an earthquake more than a 5.0scale.

but... this earthquake proves to be good. cz this would mean that the earth already released some pressure, and there won't be a very severe one coming up. :D

Love,
Laura who is still very much alive. :)

Pranks.

2009-05-16T20:13:00.000-07:00

Woo... another week!
But this time... no more Disneyland..
Still.. I had a pretty fruitful Friday and Saturday with small groups.

\\\Friday///
At 1.30p.m.
Kidnapped Dahye.
around 2-ish.
arrived at Cue! to take photo stickers.
then Boba a.k.a. Yoyo or Easy way status drinks.
then... around 4 something
headed out to Huntington beach..
7pm-ish
Back to Biola to pick up 4 more girls
8.30
Guppy for dinner
10p.m.
came back and hung out with the ISA guys who wanted to hang out with us....

AND>>>>>>>>>
they pranked all the girls...
staged a fight.
played with our emotions. =(

but after that, we played many games.. till
2.30 a.m.

as usual. we all had a great time.

BUT>>>>>>>>>>
we got back at 2 of them today. :D

read on if you want to know what happened.

technically, we got 3 girls to call the guys out for dinner at the cafe at around 6p.m. and stall them for an hour and a half.

In the mean time.....
6 other girls, me included headed off to the dorms of the boys. with plastic cups, wool, and toilet paper.

the PLAN: fill every inch of the room that has floor space with plastic cups filled with water... and block their door with wool.

so...
we set to work.. filling the cups..
bringing it to the room..
arranging the cups...
oh.. and we did not forget to include a note and apples at the very last cup.

Y?
cz in apples in korean, when said, is exactly like apologize in korean.
sagua (apples) = sagua (apologize)

we finish our "job" and ran out.... waiting for them to come back to the dorms with our counterparts.

THE REACTION:

All I heard was a LOUDDDDD scream! and we all ran...
hahahahahha.. and here am I blogging.
apparently one of the guys thought that it was a floor prank, wanted to go call the RAs...
SO not sporting =='''
but. we'll wait and see. hahahhaa.... de-stress during finals week.

for some pictures.

the notes

the setup

before

during

after

the door

escaping...

If you read this post thus far... I hope this "entertained" you in one way or another!

Love, Laura

I'm back... It's been a week <3

2009-05-08T20:16:00.000-07:00

Hey all!!

It's been a busy week for me! completed an 8-10 Hermeneutics paper, submitted 2 history reactive essays about the Nixon Library and the Midway, Pre-calculus test....
and.... now for some pictures from Friday afternoon outing.
Where?
yeah.. that happiest place on earth..

Twilight zone Tower of Terror

In line for Toy Story

California Screamin'

Visiting Kelly at work.. Can you spot tigger?

Space mountain! We had to pose.

This might be my last Disneyland visit for the Spring semester and the Summer.
I bet it's a relief for you readers huh?! heeee...

Laura.

This might be another boring post~

2009-05-01T21:14:00.003-07:00

ijustgotbackfromdisneyland....

LA Adventure with Dahye

2009-04-28T00:25:00.000-07:00

Just some quick updates..
On Saturday, went to LA with Dahye.... well.. just some fun time of hanging out and spending time together.. =D
We hung out at the Grove mall.. High-end shopping place.. Of cors for us only eye shopping la..
and.. my first time seeing an Abercrombie and Fitch shop.. hahahaha... ask me 'what about it' if you're ever curious.. lol..
anyway... picture to be up soon if im not lazy...
oohooh.. we got back safely.. wheee.

that's all for now.. time to sleep.
*tomorrow is housing day. need to reserve my dorm room for next sem..

Laura.

USS Midway. Train Rides. Hike

2009-04-16T20:51:00.000-07:00

UPDATED w/ PHOTOS

yeap!

all in a day!
back from San Diego!
tired... but all satisfied.

Dana and I got up around 6.30am. then rode the train to San Diego.. arrived at 10+a.m. took us about 1.5-2 hours. Then walked to the Midway.. it is a retired US marine navy ship.. pretty exciting =) and interesting ^^

train tickets.

first Midway pic. on upper deck.

anchor.

helicopter.

smiley face.

Then met up with Cassie. went to In-n-out burgers. <-- Best burger place EVER. only in CA xD then went to Cassie's house. went for a short hike.

walk walk walk.

arrived at waterfall.

Then went and catch our train back... BUT..... traffic jam.. So we arrived at the station at 4.48pm. Train left 4.45pm.. Then there was another train line. But by the time we got to the counter, the train left at 4.53pm. ㅠㅠ Missed TWO trains in one go. So no choice. Next train at 6.45pm. So go lepak in another fast food restaurant... and yeah. dinner. there's no meat patty. Instead, they serve slices of roast beef in your burger. yummm..

Dana at Arby's

heee... that's me!

Then... at last... boarded the train. *all smiles* and there were several military guys on board.. wuaahhahaha.. some of them were cute with bald head. yeahyeahhhh.. xD and now I'm back at Trabuco. blogging about my day. =)

<3
Laura

Spring Break Adventure

2009-04-15T16:57:00.000-07:00

Updated Photos...

I know right? Never ending adventures...

muahahha.. jkjk..
But It's Spring Break!!
Just some quick updates...
I'm down at Dana's house for Spring Break.
And.. on Monday, we went to the Richard Nixon Presidential Library for a history assignment.
It was pretty interesting. Seeing all the presidential souvenirs, helicopter, birthplace, etcetc... *refer to facebook for pics. Will try uploading photos when I get back to the dorm. Forgot to bring cable*

that's Mr. Richard Nixon.

sent people into the moon.

Portion of the Berlin Wall.

Mao Tze-Tung and Mr. Nixon.

His birthplace. Ori. The white color house.

Mr. and Mrs. Nixon's grave.

The Helicopter Mr. Nixon left in.
(we got to go in btw)

Home sweet home.

04.15.2009
THen... then... Then...
today Dana and I don't know where to go or what to do..
So we decided to just hop into the car and drive around. Then yours truly came up with the idea to drive according to 'directions' to 'destinations' to take pictures... heeeee..
eg. 15 traffic lights, turn right, pull over. or 3 lights, turn right, 5 lights left, pull over. *geddit?*
And that's what we did. So we took pictures at parks, on the 'island' in the middle of the roads in a housing area, in front of a brick office building, etc..

stop 3.

stop 4.

And guess what? We found our way to the beach!!! Dana point <-- Name of the whole area/ harbor... *cheers* wuahahhaha... Got down for lunch. =) fish and chips and clam chowder. So big portion oh. We shared also can't finish oh. *Bet some of you are thinking that Laura is always associated with FOOD. I don't deny it* whahahhahaha.. LUNCH.

Anyways... after food, we SS la of cors. But hor.. So COLD oh.. the wind was so strong!!! So quickly run into the car then drive off to another spot and get down and SS again. This is all along the beach.. =D

Harbor.

It was Coldd~ The wind was Strong.

Long time didn't SS liao. SO... instead of snapping other people's photos, snap self first la..

At last, we decided to find our way back home. Just so you know.. we were kinda lost. Not very lost. But kinda.. Imagine how many streets we've turned, how many cities we've passed to get from home to the beach. So we decided to get on the freeway north... and as Brilliant as we are.... WE GOT HOME!!! SAFELY!!!!

Moral of the story is....
Laura had fun yet again in the United States. :p

*San Diego tomorrow*

<3
Laura

Easter for me.

2009-04-12T18:56:00.000-07:00

yay!! Easter!!
I am at Dana's house, easter and spring breaking. =)
In the morning, I received my Easter basket. Lots of GOODIES delo.... HAHAHAHA..

and then in the afternOon We had Easter EGG hunt. MORE CANDIESSS =D
Oh.. BTW, went to one of Saddleback's Saturday Easter service. They have 46 services over 2 days. =='' So geng.
Upload photos when I get back to the dorm..

xoxo
Laura

Yet another Adventure....

2009-04-08T00:20:00.000-07:00

It's 12.21a.m now.
And...
I just came back into the dorm from a fire evacuation.
==''''''''
apparently someone burnt their toast. and the alarm went off.
I bet that person must be feeling so bad now. poor kid. whoever he or she is...
At least I wasn't asleep yet. Or else.... *you don't wanna know*
But, come to think of it... what if a real fire took place? or earthquake? I realized that no one took this seriously *although it's just burnt toast* grumbling and groaning, disturbed from their sleep.
but yeah.. I learnt something from tonight's fire alarm... =)
And yes.. time to go to bed.

love,
me.

Yours Truly

2009-04-06T23:54:00.000-07:00

Tired......
nuff said. time to go oioi... Spring break is next week!!!! =)
anyways... last push of hw!hw!hw!

아자 아자! 화이팅!!!!!!!!!

love,
yours truly.

Biola VS APU!

2009-03-28T19:22:00.000-07:00

I went to APU today! APU - Asuza Pacific Uni. They are tight Biola rivals. It has been really common to compete against APU. They are about 30minutes away.

So, the reason I went today was to watch a soccer game between Biola's international students and APU's. So to cut the long story short, we lost ==''' 4-3 I think. but.. here are some pictures...

The team.

Ika and I =)

Dahye, Ika, Tiff!

okiess.. homework time.

xoxo
Laura.

Missions Conference//Small Group

2009-03-22T13:43:00.000-07:00

I'm back... =)

Had been really really busy for Missions Conference. So you see... I was volunteering as MC staff. and there were so much work and preparation to do. I was in charged of the Ireland booth, and I decided to bake food instead of buy them as that would be cheaper. So baking it was... till 3am!! But I had fun during Missions Conference.
So this year's theme for MC was OSME- Fragrance of the New Covenant, taken from 2Corinthians 2:14-16, 3:4-6. It is a metaphor used by Paul to describe our identity in Christ. As Christians, there will be times when some people like the aroma, and some will not. However, whenever we bring forth truths, it will be pleasing to God. This year's MC, the 3 main speakers were George Verwer from Operation Mobilization. Heard of Doulos? Logos? or Logos Hope? The ships and their floating bookstores? Anyways... yeah.. George Verwer was founder and former director of OM. Wow.. He just has his own style! During the first session, he took a bottle of water and poured it over his head, spoiling the mic that he was wearing. -.-''' wonder how much will that cost.
And then there's Marilyn Laszlo. A missionary with Wycliffe Bible Translators. She was in a village in Papua New Guinea for 24 years, learning their language and translating the Bible for them. Now, the Sepik Iwam people from Hauna village are Christians who are trying to preach the word of God to people of the neighboring villages. Her testimony was amazing! God is so good. Lastly, Grant Porter, an Australian but now based in Europe spoke for 2 sessions. I do not know much about him speaking as I was on duty during his sessions. Missions Conference really helped me grow and challenged me to the calling that God has called all His people for - that is to preach and share the good news to those who has never heard of it. I might not have been called to be directly in the Missions Field, but through my career and vocation, I can also be a missionary. But if God ever calls me into the Missions Field, then yeah.. "Here I am, Lord..."
Three days of MC went by quickly. I am looking forward to next year's MC!!!! This time just as a participant, not as an organizer. =)

and at night... we went out for Japanese Ramen =)) The bowl of Ramen was SO BIG. haha.. but i finished all that was set in front of me... lololol... and then after that.. we went to this place called CUE! to take photo stickers. And these are some of what we took. Joshua is half American half Japanese, Yuto is 3/4 korean 1/4 japanese.. and Sarah, Dahye and I! *just so you know*

Then the next day, I had small group meeting, combined with another small group.. and... we went for Korean BBQ!!! yummmy.... Kalbi was sosososo good. Pfft.. Talking about it makes my mouth water. No pictures... but check for FB if I'm tagged or something if someone remembers to upload photos... and then after Korean BBQ, we went to Berry Cool which is a frozen yogurt place. BTW... all these were freeeeeeee... because it was under the small group budget. Oh.. and the BBQ was eat all you can for $10... so of cors us nine girls managed to eat around 7 dishes of meat that was around 30cm in diameter. and not forgetting the kalbi, that is marinated placed in smaller dishes.. That, we ate about 6-7 dishes too! and then all the side dishes that comes with it.. *****slurpssss***** yeah.. power of girls eating in America.. all of us Asian except for Sarah and Emma! haha.. we did welll... xD

okay.. that's all for now I guess..

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUMMY!!!!

xoxo
Laura

Valentine + Saddleback Church!!!

2009-02-21T00:05:00.000-08:00

Yay for V-day!

...
Well... I spent V-day at Dana's place with Dahye and Cassie =) and joined by Chloe!
So... on V-day we went out to a Chinese place for Boba aka Pearl tea in Malaysia. =)))
and thereafter to this place called Kitty House to take photo sticker!!! heheh.. how fun is that? first time taking photo sticker in the States... xD
Then, we went to the Spectrum, that's the outdoor Mall. and then home for movies, games, and snacksssssss...

The next day.... Sunday!!!!! and I got the privilege to go to Saddleback church! Saddleback? Does this name ring a bell??? Rick Warren?? no? hmmm.. Purpose Driven Life???
yeah.. got it?? yeapyeapyeappp.... and just nice Rick Warren was speaking that day.. and he preached a simple but powerful message that so many people in the economy downturn now could relate to. >< It was about the prayer of Dependence, that is the line "Give us today our daily bread." in the Lord's prayer. 3 points. 1. Seeing God as my source. 2. Trusting Him for today. -Worry about nothing. -Pray about everything. -Thank God in ALL things. -Think about the right thing. 3. Sharing whatever He supplies.

Now for some pics...

Chinese Food place. The food was quite good. ><

Where Dana and I got our Caramel Apples at the Spectrum.

Posing and eating Caramel Apples. They were good.

Saddleback church.. The Stage. Left is like a small orchestra.
The person in the middle, in between communion table and pulpit is RICK WARREN.
Of course I had to take a photo. xD

That's just about it..
Update again soon.

GOD IS GOOD.

xoxo
Laura.

Disneyland!

2009-02-11T13:58:00.000-08:00

Sorry to those who reads this blog.. Have been really busy like a beeee.. =)

Took some time out before class to update.
Well.. This is more like a Disneyland post!
I've been to Disneyland 3 times now! and I believe many times to come..
I'm blessed to be staying 15 minutes away from this magical place.. maybe some of you might think that "once is more than enough.." or "what's so nice about Disneyland that she has to go so many times?"

But to me, Disneyland's amazing!!! I've not even finish riding all the rides in Disneyland and California Adventure yet. Have ridden on all the awesomely thrilling rides like Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Nightmare before Christmas, space mountain like many, many times. =)))) and on the roller coasters, I've even learned to pose for the picture taking.. wahahha.. xD

and another fun activity at Disneyland is to find and count how many groups of Biola students that we can find..

anyways... no pictures of me disneylanding this time.. but do check facebook for me getting tagged or something. =)
but here's a photo of my "first visit" badge, "I'm celebrating" badge for going during Dahye's birthday and *drumrolllssss*
My DISNEYLAND ANNUAL PASS!!!
toodles =)

xoxo
Laura.

New Semester on CNY.

2009-01-26T13:00:00.000-08:00

Haven't been blogging for a while. Should have been uploading photos of my trip to Northern Ireland. But, I've obviously been to overwhelmed with so many things to not have time to update this lil bloggie.

So, today is the first day of classes, Spring '09. It is also the first day of CNY.
*yay for those celebrating CNY away from home.*
and... I am experiencing the infamous jet lag!!!! boo for that. Have been up at 5/6am these few days, nodding off at 3/4 in the afternoon and going to bed at 8.30 at night. I really hope I get over this fastttt!!!!

This semester will be a really busy semester. I am taking 18 units of work, that is 6 classes.
Arranged a pretty good schedule, but it's the workload that is laying out there to challenge this "Asian of the Malaysian persuasion". =)

Anyways... into this New Year, God has really worked in my life though it's just January. xD
Sometimes, I wonder how the people out there who do not know God cope with life and all its' ups and downs. I am really grateful and thankful to have God in my life and as the center of my life.
Having to deal with school fees, traveling alone, and coming back to school have not been easy. Throughout all these insecurity and worries, God was, is and I dare say will be there for me.

GOD IS GOOD!!

okay.. just took some time off to update. =) Next class is at 3pm. and I hope I'll find time to upload some pics from Northern Ireland. on here and most of facebook. xD

恭喜发财
万事如意
新年蒙恩

xoxo
Laura.

OLA 2009!!

2009-01-01T09:13:00.000-08:00

Wheee.. Although nothing much to post.. but.. First post of the Year..
Celebrated most of New Year in the Car... why??? Because we went to different places.. Firstly, went to this place called The Pheasants for lunch. It was really neat. With a fireplace and stuff. =))) liked it there!!
Then, went to Marks and Spencers to find it closed.
Then we went to this place but I forgot what's the name. And to another mall. Can't remember it's name too.. Well.. although I did not get anything for myself, but I still had fun!! You can't beat family time. Wheee~~

Anyways.. off to watch another Poirot movie soon I guesss.. xD

xoxo
Laura.

Happy New Year 2009.

Travel to Northern Ireland && Christmas

2008-12-26T08:50:00.000-08:00

wow.. it has been quite some time since I blogged.

First of all, Merry Christmas and happy new year 2009!!
so I'm now in Northern Ireland with my aunt and her family. =)))

Okay. so I flew from LAX to Chicago. and at Chicago get a connecting flight to Dublin. But, at Chicago, my flight got canceled due to some engine problem. And it was 12am when I got rescheduled for a flight the next day and received my coupons to stay at Hyatt hotel and money for food. anyways..
So that night was my first encounter with snow. It was freezing. But beautiful view.

view from hotel window

Next day, I made my way to the airport, was really excited with the thought that 'at last I'm flying out of Chicago!!!' and the time came for the plane to take off. BUtttttttt.. while taxiing, our plane's (an airbus) right wing crashed into a small plane's tail!!! it was so dramatic. But I did not even bother to take photos. I was too tired, having been in the airport for 8 hours already. and we had our plane's wing checked and stuff, and the engineers decided that it was too dangerous although it was the tip of the wing. So, my second flight got cancelled. ='(((((

Talk about having 2 flights canceled not because of the bad weather (it was snowing and windy) but because of technical problem 2 nights in a row. =='' sounds ridiculous, but it sure did happen.

But. all is well now. I got on my third flight the next evening. and now here I am at Northern Ireland.

Christmas was pretty sweet. Everyone got up at 7.30am to open presents. Got lotsa presents!! =)) really awesome! and then at 10.30am, we were at church for Christmas service. and then to my cousins grandparents house for lunch. a.k.a Dinner to them. *apparently big meals are dinners* Opened more pressies, and popped crackers, and went for a walk. It was good. and I passed out as in went to sleep while everyone talked. haha.. just like after thanksgiving meal. =))

7.30am presents opening ceremony. >< Foood.

Cracker!

Countryside. =)

xoxo
Laura

Friday Night Fun~

2008-12-12T23:22:00.000-08:00

Finals are next weeek!!
But Christmas is coming soon tooo! So there are like many events happening.
Tonight I had my own floor - The Beat White Elephant + Ugly Sweater Christmas Party.
White Elephant is the give exchange game. it is fun!!
After that, we went to Hart Hall at lower campus to join in the fun at Deck the Havens.
Deck the Haven is an event organized by the first floor on Hart hall - Haven, a boys floor, where they decorated their rooms and the hallway with lotsa lights and creative stuff. and each room had a theme. There was a polar express room, a room showing the movie White Christmas, Starbucks room, Mistletoe room, etcetc. and there was Santa! xD
It was really fun and exciting! My first Deck the Havens. everyone who went in were given a Ballot to be filled in. There are 4 categories:-
1. Best light display
2. Most hospitable room
3. Best room theme
4. Most sexually Suggestive Room *okay. I know this is ==''' *

Well, I did not remember the room numbers and so no vote from me.

And now... I'm back in my room. and for some photos.

Haven Hall Entrance..

Sarah and the Beatles

Decors!

The Polar Express Room

Oh.. and I had some fun photoshooting time this afternoon with Joshua and Yuto and Dahye and Sarah!!
Photos are on facebook. Go check it out people! xD

Merry Christmas!!

Xoxo
Laura

Christmas Tree Lighting at Biola

2008-12-05T23:16:00.001-08:00

So.. tonight we officially lighted up the Christmas tree at Biola. The whole night it was really fun. =)) really feel the Christmas mood here. After that, we went back to our dorm where we had the upper campus Christmas party. and there was lots of candy.. Yummm.. and fake snow.. haha..

that's the big real pine tree. decorated with lights and ornaments =)

me, candle and christmas tree.

Dahye and I! <3

That's my dorm! yay for Horton!!! *hosted the upper campus party*
and you can see the snow machine blowing fake snow.
hehehe.. =D

Well.. that's all for my fun-ness I had for tonight.

~I love Biola and Christmas~

Xoxo
Laura

The 'anticipated' Thanksgiving~

2008-11-29T16:24:00.000-08:00

so I said I'd blog about thanksgiving. so here it is. It's been like two days since the big feast!
Thanksgiving was goooood. =)

So this year's thanksgiving, I spent it with the Mcmillens. On that day, we went to Sarah's mother's parents house at around 12.30pm. Waited till 2pm to have lunch. So while we were waiting, we talked, played, sit around, introduced ourselves, etcetc. Then after the 'early dinner', we hung around till like 5.30pm and proceeded to Sarah's dad's parents house. =) This is house were a lot noisier than the previous house because all her cousins were around our age. while before that, her cousins were either married and therefore not there this year or really young. 13 was the oldest. But in the second house, everyone was talking on top of their voices, shouting and even screaming! haha.. and that night, we watched Wall-E who was super cute. ^^

So for the foood stuff,
there were lots of food. Turkey, ham, turkey stuffing (i don't like it), mashed potatoes and gravy, and lots lots lots more.
Deserts were even better. I had chocolate fudge, peanut brittle, mint ice cream pie, apple pie, dried apples, etcetc.. they were sooooo goood.
The highlight was pumpkin pie. but yours trully here have not acquired the taste for pumpkin.
*good la. other people can have more mah.*

So, that concludes the thanksgiving post!

WaiT!!!!!!

okay. so.. the day after thanksgiving was Black Friday.
just by Hearing the word black friday is like super creepy this. When I first heard about this term i was like 'Wadt?'
But yeah. Black Friday's awesome! This is because a lot of malls and departmental stores open as early as 4am in the morning. and the things sold on that day is like super cheap! I heard people tell me that got people would line up at 3am just to be one of the many early birds to be able to grab good bargains. =='' So maolit ooh.
butbutbut.. being the Malaysian who have not witnessed such stuff before, along with the Korean, of course we curious la. so.....
we went shopping tooo with all the crowds. The sensible Americans whom I am staying with did not want to get drowned by the crowds. So they only dropped us off at the mall. ahhahahh..

Oh. FYI we went around 10am la. who would want to sacrifice sleep time ler?
ok. so.
Dahye and I went into the mall, and started shopping! yay!! It was really fun. the lines were so long. When I say long, you must imagine about 40people in front of you waiting to check out from the store. so yeah.
But, at the end of the whole shopping experience, Dahye and I concluded that there weren't that MANY people compared to the weekends at Midvalley Megamall or everyday in Korea. hhaah..
So we went back around 1pm *thats the time the sales end*

We were happy but tired shoppers.

Now, thats the end of my thanksgiving and post thanksgiving blogpost.

oh! oh! oh! Announcement: Laura finish crocheting her very FIRST scarve. muahahahaha..

XoXo
Laura

Dim Sum with ISA! =)

2008-11-22T17:02:00.000-08:00

Okay.. It's amazing that I blog 2 days in a row. But sometimes exciting things just happen one after another... so.. this is another exciting post! well, it is exciting for me as you can see... its a Dim Sum post. --> FOOOOOOD!! More so.. CHINESE FOOD. Authentic ones in LA.

So, I havent ate Chinese food like forever. More so Dim Sum. But today, ISA brought the first 40 people who signed up out for Dim Sum at this place called Ten Ten (天天)Restaurant to eat Dim Sum. And we did not need to pay. =) Thank God for ISA who is so so so so so generous. Oh. in case you don't know. ISA is International Student Association.

Siu mai, ha gao, cha siu pao never tasted so good before.. hahahah.. =))))) But of cox Foo Phin ones are really good. So take note all those reading this. Bring me out for DimSum when I'm back.
Who knows when. ^^

Dim Sum!!!

Happy Dim Sum eaters. =)

The 40+ people who went for Dim Sum!

This was my exciting day! yay! Well, for me maybe. lol.
But yeah.. that's all for now!

XoXo
Laura.

TGIF!!! =)

2008-11-21T21:55:00.000-08:00

yay!! so its Friday again. Last night at this time I was rushing an assignment on Worldview Analysis due at 12.01am. I made it!! ONTIME! It was my first time ever rushing an assignment. *prays that this would not happen again* WELL... it's all because I kept putting it off. Procrastination and its TOOOOOO HARD! But.. yay! Its OVER!

So.. its been a while since I blogged. I've been busy. busy. busy.... @.@
but this afternoon, I took an 'afternoon off' to go to the Norton Simon Museum at Pasadena for another ARTS100 project. We took lotsa pictures inside the Museum this time. Posing all silly or weird. haha.. but the exhibits were really nice. this time round, Heather (Sarah's oldest sis) brought us there. Visiting an art museum with an artist --> Heather, has proved to be a more fruitful and different experience with the art works. =))))
Conclusion: Art museums are not that bad after all. The works are really very interesting. Malaysians should start to be more exposed to art works. Our mindset are too 'Scientific'. We should pay more attention to ARTS too! If not we are very ulu la...... =='''

Okay. for some pictures

Pond in The Sculpture Garden

Heather and Sarah

That's all for today! Anticipate my Thanksgiving post! Wheee~

Xoxo
Laura.

My 25 hours 18th Birthday =)

2008-11-08T21:21:00.000-08:00

This is a Belated post. The following events happened on Nov 2, 2008.

So you might ask: "She doesn't know how to count. There's only 24 hours in a day! How could it be 25? But indeed, I do know how to count. The 25th hour came from the change of Daylight saving to standard time. So on Nov 2, 2a.m. the clocks turn back 1 hour. and so it became 1a.m. again. so... we got to sleep for an hour more!
Well, firstly, I Just wanna thank all of you who wished me on fb or fs. and to those who msgd me. and to those who mailed me gift. and to those who wished me through MSN or Skype. Thank you guys so much!!!!
★★★
So this was what happened on my birthday. A normal Sunday. We planned to go to Sarah's house to bake and make PINEAPPLE Tarts! That's the first time! and so we did. and we succeeded. The americans tried them for the first time. and they loved it. I think we did a pretty good job! It tasted just like Chinese New Year to me! =) *note to self: make more pineapple tarts soon*
Then around 3p.m. Sarah said we should go back to campus to get lots of homework done. No kidding you all. I still do homework on Birthdays! haha.. anyways.. so that's what we did. Then as usual, around 5.30 we went to the cafe for dinner. We stayed at the cafe for a really really really long time that particular day. We only went back to the dorm at around 6.30p.m.
To cut the long story short... When I opened my room door like I usually do, I open it to find about 10-15 people in the room! I got so freaked out. And surprised of course.
SO...
I did celebrate my 18th birthday after all.... It was amazing. Then around 7.30, after all the cake eating, doritos and chips munching, soda drinking, we went out to play 'SARDINES' all around campus. That was really fun. People hid behind tall hedges and bushes where it was like impossible to find. The last person that hid, it took me and my partner 20 minutes to find while it took everybody else who played the game around 50minutes to find. So we were hiding in the dark, behind a tall hedge against the wall for like forever..

Really wanna thank roomies, Sarah n Dana, and of course Dahye onni. who helped in this whole surprised party. *I couldn't imagine how they sneaked the cake in the laundry basket w/o me knowing*
LOVE YOU ALL!

★★★
Anyways... the whole point of this blog post is...
I HAD AN AMAZING 18TH BIRTHDAY!
★★★

This is What we Do on Halloween. =)

2008-11-01T19:59:00.000-07:00

And so this is like my first official Halloween.

there were really alot of people who dressed up. and of cors... I dressed up too!
So Dana aren't in any of the pics as she went off campus to her sis place.
Sadly, I did not go trick or treating. although I would love to. =)) but we did have fun. went to yamcha at night at a Boba place. Its like the pearls from yoyo or easy way. bt mushier. they are tapioca balls. maybe its just this particular shop that doesn't serve good Boba. because the one Dana brought us when we were at her place one weekend was better than the pearls we get at home. hehehe.. =D

anyways.. here are some pics.
This is at the all girls dorm next door. Alpha Chi. They have Candyland on Halloween for children to go trick or treat-ing. That's Lydia! .
Pirate, Princess, Gypsy

Sarah with her Boba

Kyo wearing the pirate's eye-patch. He has a sword in his hand.

So that's Halloween for me. =)

XoXo
Laura

Getty Center Visit~

2008-10-27T23:06:00.000-07:00

Went to the Getty Center on Saturday. Its in LA.

I went to do an art project, so Kyo drove us (Dahye, Dana, Sarah and I)! Since we went into the special exhibition hall about Bernini and the Baroque Portrait Sculptures, no photos could be taken inside.
We did not go into the normal galleries this time round
*you could take pictures of the exhibits there.*
But we spent alot of time at the Gardens.
Its beautiful!!! Of cors we took lotsa photos. So here are some of the view from the Getty.

The Flowering Maze on a Reflecting Pool

Waterfall~

Flowers

The Getty from the Gardens

Its LA from the Getty!

Flowers growing on wall on 'That Forbidden Path'

Us lying on the lawn!

So... that's all for another blogpost.

XoXo
Laura

Oh My GOSHHHH..

2008-10-24T00:45:00.000-07:00

Ok.. And so after LOTS of pestering of starting a BLOG. I've finally decided to start one. =) Don't know if I'm going to succeed. But... OH MY GOSHHH. my first blogpost!!

Okay. So.. that was dorky.

Now for an intro, my blog title is copyrighted. You ask why? Inspiration came from Sarah.
Sarah who? Mcmillen.

For those of you who don't know where am I, Im now in collegeland. In the most wonderful college in the world!!!
B.I.O.L.A.
30 minutes to Downtown LA
20 minutes to Disneyland
15 minutes to the Beach
and
many other cool places on earth.

But.. but.. but.. I've only been to LA and the beach but not Disneyland!!!
*crossing my fingers that I would be able to go some weekend*

so.. I've been here like for 2 months. What have that girl been up to? Here's some of the things that I've been up to!
Intl Student Orientation
- Third Street Promenade
- Getty Museum
- Griffith Observatory Center
- Watts
- Sept 1 Labor Day Picnic (All-American Bbq)
Other Memorable Stuff
- Intl Student Fall Retreat
*this was where I was involved with a car accident on the way there and was in the hospital for 6 hours till 4a.m. But Im good now =)*
- Dodgeball a.k.a Nationball
*its a competition between residence halls (hostels) and this fall semester... [drumrolls] HORTON dominated! That's where I stay =)))*
- Visiting an American-African Church with First Year Seminar class and Korean Bbq after that.
*Food was Good. But the church experience was even better*
- Going for GYRAD. Get-Your-Roomate-A-Date. at Venice beach.
- Visiting Trabuco Canyon
*That's where Dana lives. The OC (Orange County). 45 mins south Biola. Visited Laguna Beach too*
- The Newest: Torrey Bible Conference Oct 22-24, 2008
*No classes in sessions these 3 days. The conference was AWESOMe!*
Other Random but Fun Stuff
- Ran in the sprinklers *no rain in CA. Sprinklers needed*
- Laid down on the lawn
- Ate saltwater taffy and the filling of my teeth came out *the taffy was too sticky. This particular one was coffee flavor*
- Learning to crochet
- scrapbookings
- received friendship bracelets *wearing 2 now*

*of cox i've done many other nice stuffs but tooo many to list down*

So... who do I do those fun stuffs with?
3 closest friends here as seen as the header picture.
on top of me is Dahye *read as Dah-heh*
&&
to my left is Dana
&&
to my right is Sarah!!!
Dana and Sarah are my official roommates. Dahye is the 4th.

Dana! Its Pink Day.

That's Sarah!

Me!! Fluor Fountain of Faith Behind =)))

Can't find pics of Dahye. But coming sooon I guess. ^^

Oh welll... I think that's all for now!
I hope that I would find my way back here next time..

XoXo
Laura