Sizzing Vaccination

There's something scary about a medical center that I can't quite put my finger on. It seems every time I'm there a bad memory is created.

First I'd only go because I'm feeling under the weather, so that in itself is an unfavorable start. Contrast that to going on a shopping trip... no prize for guessing which I'd prefer... or anyone would prefer for that matter. My childhood memory only fuels the unpleasant feelings. Mum said I was in the hospital a lot when I was young; from the NICU to having a very high fever that mum was by my bedside for 3 days straight, the wires and heart monitor thing that made me miss out multiple sports classes, needles, stitches, motorbike accident, and of course, Dr Wang from Chinese herbal medicine center who magnified the pain from a sprained neck and wrapped funny herbs on a sore thumb. Looking back now God's grace is evident in so many stages, only by His grace I am still alive today.

Now days I hardly get sick. In fact, I don't even remember the last time I had a cold, although I did sprain my neck during Christmas, went to the ER for severe tummy ache a few months back and cough from time to time because of a bronchitis 6yrs ago. OK, so maybe I'm not bullet proof, that's probably why mum booked a vaccination appointment for me 2 days ago.

As usual, my brother and I were mucking around in the doctor's office while mum and dad chatted to him. We were measuring our heights, weights and playing the "do you know your organs" game (courtesy of the huge poster on doc's wall). Then he sent the nurse to give us our vaccinations. Mum and dad were as relaxed as if they were having a dim sum lunch, Stevo had to wait till next week due to a small fever. I was all smiles, took my seat, rolled up my sleeve but as soon as the nurse took off the cap off the needle, I chickened out. I absolutely refused to let her come near me, wriggled around in my chair and covered my arm with my hand. The nurse was least sympathetic and instructed boldly for me not to move or she'd miss and I'd suffer... I was in tears and she comforted me not, how unprofessional? (LOL it was my fault acutally :P) In the end challenged by Stevo's smart comments, I had to let go. "Just like a bee sting" I self-hypnotized, "AWWWWWWW" and screamed ever so loudly when it WAS NOT LIKE A BEE STING!!!

Seeing the cotton wool being sticky taped to the needle puncture was great relief, finding out I had 3 more shots was not. I urged mum to quickly make payment and left without making a formal booking, "YES!" I thought, Julia 1 : Medical Center 0... : Julia's health 0. THAT'S IT, I'll ring up next week to make appointment for next week's next week, that'll provide 2 weeks of self denial, i mean prep.

For dinner, we had Sizzlers. The buffet hype is still well and alive. Dad wasn't impressed, he likes his food from a hot wok and has little love for cold salads and tiramisu. Mum tried to eat heaps but felt the same as dad, I was happy with lots of ice cream drowning in strawberry topping =)

The night ended with a full stomach and sore arm... t'was all good!

Wii-ll go a Vroom Vroom... "Here we GO!"

My last entry mentioned briefly about Mario Kart Arcade (see above) which resides in Timezone alone, much to my disappointment. I remember the first time Yorks told Rowas & I about how it takes photos of the players and then let them battle it out on the racing course I was intrigued. "What awesome idea" I thought, "too bad we don't have them in Perth". Well, you can imagine how excited I was finding them in Freo on Saturday night. When Caleb, Adrian, Terry and Stevo (in that winning order) challenged it and threw banana peels and turtle shells at each other, I watched with great enthusiasm. I remember back in the ancient N64 days then a long pause to the NDS MK version where Stevo beats me in every race by taking short cuts, the game has been forgettable... until TODAY!

Today the Suns decided to hit city for a bit of shopping and lunch after finding out that Myer's having a sale on a couple of games. We purchased 6 wii games and 9 xbox 360 games from Myers (rather cheaply) then Stevo went to JBHifi to get Vegas2 and Condemned2. There, I saw Mario Karts for Wii and all my childhood memories came flooding back (good and bad ones both). True, MK for Wii has been announced long ago and true, MK has been advertised for pre-orders for a while now but only today, I came out of my shell :)


So there you have it, on Thursday I'll be officially reunited with Princess Peach for a little catch up session :) I was suggesting to Stvo that we should have a MK and Scene It? battle over butter popcorns! The next game that I'm looking forward to is Wii Fit!! O it's on like Donkey Kong :)

April is the fourth month of the year and also the month that Julia went broke. There appears to be a few April babies and a wedding too. April babies (that I know of) include myself, Juanita, Merilyn, Darrell and Terry. Yesterday we went to celebrate Merilyn & Terry's bday.

For our beloved Merilyn, Regens + Vicks (y180 rep) headed nice and early to Bluewater Grill for some hot buffet Breakfast. We were pleasantly surprised to find that we have been given a nice "room" with open access to the alfresco dining area complete with awesome view of the hill + river. The food was nice and fresh, although having lamb chops for brekky was a little weird!

After brekky Rowas and I decided to crash Y180 + CYPG's outing which was just around the corner from where we were. As soon as we got there seeing how busy they were playing their games plus we weren't in our gaming clothes (ie in heels + boots + skirts), we opted for a light stroll around the river banks then hit Garbo with a force!

At Garbo we met up with Shirls and gave her unhelpful advises on 2 jackets, bought a pressie, "tried" to bargain hunt, walked around some more then decided to call it an afternoon! Both of us were rather tired from the big breakfast and had to reserve energy at night for Terry's bday dinner at Freo.

Dinner time came around pretty fast so Stvo & I drove down to "Cappuccino Strip" where we've arranged to meet outside Timezone at 6pm. As I wasn't too familiar with Freo's parking system, we headed off with time to spare and after a few confusions in the car not able to find "cappuccino strip" in the street directory, Stvo called CJ just to be laughed at by them. Well, apparently, Cappuccino Strip = South Tce. DO'H!

Terry the birthday boy was fashionably very late. The Chengs, Truc and Suns stood in harsh cold wind waiting for the unknown. But thank God, He provided an opportunity for Truc & AJ to talk to the "mushroom man" (toy) vendors. Truc gave them the This was Your Life track and bought a white little mushroom man for Terry as his pressie! The vendor tried to upsale by tempting Truc with the old "u-buy-a-couple-i-give-u-good-price" trick of the trade, our smart little Truc stood her ground, gave a million dollar smile, and thanks but no thanks. It was a pleasant little interlude to the evening's main event... or was it the other way around!

For dinner we had Italian. Food was alright, maybe cos I've never really been that passionate about pizzas or pastas. The only one place that I really liked was Sienna's on Beaufort Street, their pastas are soo yummy! Afterwards we went to the Merchant cafe to continue fellowship, Stvo and Vicks bought out a choccy mini cheesecake thing with a candle and we sang Terry the happy birthday song.

Since we started with Timezone, we finished with Timezone. There, we saw the much hyped about Mario Karts (courtesy of Yorkie). Rowas & I challenged the motocycle racing game and it was really fun! Nicole lost to the sneaky skill tester and I won 170+ tickets with just $1! My parking ticket had expired 2 hours ago and thankfully I didin't get a fine. Stvo & I got home and chatted in my room till pretty late and the night was complete!

The week that was...

The week that was... was very busy. 2 assignments, 1 exam, a couple of outings left no time to blog. So after Monday's exam, I was more than happy to be heading off to Seoul BBQ Buffet for my belated b'day dinner. I must say, the place was nice, food was yummy and I overate once again. There were heaps of food to choose from and on the table we have the choice of BBQ hot plate or steamboat. Since my dad is Korean, we eat Korean food ALL THE TIME so for me to praise a restaurant, it's definitely worth a check out for those willing to try.

The best would have to be bbqing the massive prawns! They reminded me of back in Taiwan how we used to bbq 'em!! The fish was nice too so were the squids (not the octopuses). Finishing the night with a cup of black tea and some ice-cream, i was barely in walking condition! That night I couldn't sleep well cos of indigestions but no regrets, I had a really good time!!!

the small 2-4

Happy birthday to me, Happy birthday to me, Happy birthday to Juliaaa, Happy birthday to meeee!

Yupp, no prize for guessing that it is my birthday... actually, it was, on Saturday the 5th. This year my parents had wanted to treat my friends & I for a nice dinner with lobbies & crabbies but since David & Maryann chose 5th April to be their wedding date (nice choice by the way, best date of the year!), mum took me shopping instead. I also found out that Juanita is 4 days younger than me so we figured that next year for our 25th we should do a combined celebration :)

Saturday began with good old Maccas brekky at 7:50am (cancelled y180 SSS due to the rain). We had a nice time of fellowship over golden hash browns and coffees when suddenly Fred & Jon delivered a pink cupcake in front of me and everyone sang the happy birthday song. I was totally embarrassed but felt very loved! Thanks guys!!!

1pm was the wedding ceremony, I was 5 minutes late but 40 minutes earlier than the bride!! When Maryann walked down the aisle with her mummy, it was such a beautiful moment. Maryann looked absolutely stunning and David couldn't wipe off his massive grin!

After the ceremony a few of us headed over to the Merchant cafe and Formosa before arriving at the Dinner reception @ Jade Dynasty. The night was going fine until I got "jellyfish poisoned". I'm still feeling gluggy today hence the crappy blog entry... I blame the chef!

Happy 3rd Brithday Regeneration!

Last night was Regen's 3rd birthday and we met up at Merilyn's place to count God's blessings (with no parental supervision as Uncle Jimmy & Aunty Florence were out of town :)... not that us responsible working adults needed any anyways!)

Walking in I was met with good old Rowas' happy "Julia Goolia" greeting, then saw big Mix sitting comfortably on the couch. Apparently he's taken time off his busy schedule from being Dr Vet in HK to see his much much muchly missed brothers and sisters in Christ at Perth BP... yeeaahh right!! He's here more becos of Dave & Maryann's wedding in a week's time!

The night began by singing songs from TSMS, some sharing then Mazaks' message on Obedience and Blessings. Greg Mazak has always been one of my favourite speakers plus the bonus of having on-screen notes, I got a lot out of last night's message.
Here are a few dot points of what I learnt (and want to apply):

• Trust the Lord (Prob 3:5,6)
• We do not need to understand, all we need to do is to lean on God who will make our paths straight and bless us with success in the things that the Lord wants us to do: to glorify Him
  
• Fear the Lord who blesses us with personal prosperity (Prob 3:7,8)
• Make the choice to fear the Lord
• Humility: Low opinion of who I am
• Reverence: High opinion of God
• Repentance: Turn away from evil
  
• Honour the Lord who blesses us with physical prosperity (Prob 3:9,10)
• Honouring God is a "choice"
• It is not a prosperity gospel; we give because we want to honour God who is worthy of all honour
• Chastening is proof that God loves me
• It is not the punishment of sin (that was taken care of at Calvary)
• At times, the righteous does not prosper but that does NOT negate the message that the pathway to blessings is obedience to God
• In all things, big and small, I want to acknowledge God (which I do not now). Often it's only the big things or things of uncertainty that I commit to God while leaning unto my own understanding for the rest. How dumb is it for me to rely on my limited, fallible knowledge and not consult my heavenly Father who knows all things?
• Obey. full stop.

That's right, obey, full stop. This reminds me of the song Trust and Obey and the chorus goes: "Trust and obey, for there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey". Amen!

After discussion we had some party pies, sausage rolls, cake, fruits, finger foods & this "yeast-free" bickies. Jason made a point of how they are like the jumbo version of the ones used for Lord's supper which I thought was quite funny cos I didn't see it before! Adrian reckons that sausage rolls always taste nicer at other people's house and Micah was just happy to see meat pies smothered in dead horse (FYI dead horse = OZ slang for tomato sauce). John took our orders for coffees and they were de-li-sh, Rowas went the extra mile to put the cream from the cake into her flat white. Nice move Rowas, nice move!!

A few people had left by this time so the rest of us decided to play iMAginiff after the discussion had turned to hospital maggots and motorcycle accidents in Taiwan. I must say, it was another nice move from Rowas to introduce the game.


This is how the game works: a dice is rolled and a player is chosen as the "subject" of a question. The question has 6 choices and each player vote on the answer they think is correct. Players will score if they chose the most popular answer - even if its politically incorrect, the tribe has spoken! This was fun as you get to see what others think of you and how well you know each other. Some questions were easy and some were tricky. For example, the group was unanimous on Merilyn building a snowman on a ski trip, Micah disputing the amount upon receiving a $10k inheritance, Julia the cookie monster, Darrell wanting an Elvis Pelvis, Rowena the Wonder Woman and Wendy being Tweety bird if she was a cartoon character. Other questions were total guess works that divided the group, questions not even the subjects themselves knew the answers to. Truc led the scoreboard by far and despite a few sabotage attempts to challenge her that saw her reverse a number of steps, she soldiered on and claimed the winning title. This game was hilarious with no need of banks (monopoly) nor dictionaries (scrabble). But it did require the very basic of logic thinking: ie, if your cards are orange, you move the orange thing on the board and not purple, Darrell. If you are the dice thrower and you get the question correct, you move 2 spaces not 1, Darrell. *lol*

Only Agnes from Adelaide (or was it Melbourne) could decribe Regen's 3rd birthday. She says and I quote: "Awesome Man!"

UWA Fellowship

Today was the first time I joined the UWAF this year. Normally it's held on Tuesdays @ 1pm but today at the request of a few others, it's moved to Wednesdays @ 1pm! And... of course, Julia goes *yay*

Meeting up with UWAFers mid week really does make being at uni more bearable. I called it:

The final-year-student syndrome

Symptoms include but not limited to:

- a large number of broken alarm clocks due to frustration
- an increased frequency of attending stream 2 lectures because you have overslept and missed stream 1 in the morning
- reduced walking speed, the skip in your walk is long gone
- the reduction in size and possibly complete absence of a physical "school bag"
- extreme mental alertness at any "quarter-to" hour

My apologies for the crude generalization of tertiary population. Maybe I'm the only victim to this final-year-student syndrome, or maybe the infection rate is 90%... But one thing I know for certain is that UWAF shines a beam of light during school weeks. A light so bright and pure that arches the corners of my mouth upwards.

Thank God for UWAF. Thank God for blessing UWAF with willing hands who strive to return glory to Him. I pray that I'll play a part in this service to Him and be of encouragement to other brothers and sisters. To be more on the giving side and less on the receiving side.

- All Glory To God -