I made it through 2 years!

March 26, 2006 was my 2nd year anniversary of having survived being in NZ. What an extraordinary 2 years it has been and how quickly it has flown by...

For those that I keep in touch with quite frequently (whether overseas or in NZ), what I'm about to put on this post won't be anything new. But for those that I haven't had that opportunity, this will be a good chance for you to have a bit of an insight of what I've been up since being in NZ.

I'll start with uni. I'm currently in my final semester. If I don't screw up, I'll be graduating with a Diploma in Culinary Arts in June later this year. Being the geek/nerd that I am (who would have thought, eh?!), I'm still loving being at uni and learning even more. At the moment, we are in the midst of completing the Patisserie component of this semester. After the Easter break we'll finish up with the Hot Kitchen component. Though it is some what exciting that I will be finishing up my studies and heading into the real world, there is some reservations too. But I'm sure it'll be great. I'm definitely looking forward to never having to hand in assignments anymore! They suck, big time...

A kinda flow over from uni is work. At the moment I work at Celsius gastrobar. It is a restaurant/pub that opens 7 days a week from 12-3am. I've been there since before Christmas last year and I'm enjoying it. Though I haven't learnt much in terms of new items of food, I have gained some valuable speed during service. I enjoy that rush of adrenaline. Sounds crazy, I know, but I guess you have to be in the industry to know what I mean.

So what's in stored for after I'm out of uni? I don't know... The only person that can answer that questions would be God himself. Some ideas I have are to just hang round NZ til this time next year. During that time I'll be working, gaining experience and building up my CV. Then when March 26, 2007 rolls round I'll be putting in my application for a NZ citizenship. Why? Because on a NZ passport, it'll be a heck of a lot easier to work in Europe, USA, Canada etc rather than on a Malaysian passport. I know I'll never hear the end of it from my Aussie mates but what can you do? I've had to endure it for 2 yrs now so I'm quite immune to it.

Gym. Well, at the end of last year I finished up at Howick Gym. This was the gym I was coaching at when I first arrived back in 2004. I didn't seem to be getting along with the head coach and many of the other coaches. I received little to no support from them either. Despite having some amazing girls, I had to make the decision to leave. It was hard leaving the girls but for my own sanity I had to.

However, I am still coaching. This year I started with Botany Gym. So far it's been great. I am coaching what I've wanted to coach-girls aged about 7-9 yrs old, doing competitive gym. These girls are great! They are well behaved, talented and just an absolute joy to coach. Unfortunately I have only been able to coach them for about 7 weeks. I've had to put coaching on hold for the rest of the semester due to a nasty uni timetable. But I'll be back with a vengeance next semester. I can't wait!

How's the saxophone going? GREAT! I'm still loving it to bits. I'm hoping to get Rhett to start this band of his so I can get more practice too. Apart from that, I'm hoping to get good enough to be able to play on the worship team...But we'll see.

Last but not least, church aka cessioncommunity. This place has been my source of sanity for the past 2 yrs and will continue to be so for many more years to come. They are an answered prayer. When I first decided to move to NZ, I made a pack with God. I said that if I had to move to NZ, which I didn't want to but had to, I wanted to have a bunch of people I can call friends. And they couldn't just be acquaintances but true friends. Having gone through a phase of sifting out who my true friends really were when I first moved to Melb, this was rather high on my priority list. So I can now safely say that through being part of cession, He has answered that prayer.

At cession, I am apart of various different ministries and relationships. This year I took on the role of ministry leader to cessionchow. I have been involved with chow since I've been in NZ and have now been given the opportunity to lead this awesome ministry. It is by no means an easy task but it's a learning experience, and a good one at that. I'm looking forward to see what bigger and better things chow will get up to.

Another ministry I'm part of is cessionconnect. I have always loved singing but never had the opportunity to have lessons. But through being part of connect, I've been able to hone my singing skills and develop a real heart for worship. Authenticity is such an important factor in worship but I have never been exposed to that until I came to cession. I've always had a desire to write my own songs and being part of connect has given me that opportunity. I'm grateful to be apart of this team.

At cession, we have various cell groups that run through out the week. I have the privilege of meeting up with a great bunch of girls fortnightly. Our cell group is led by Kristen and she does an amazing job. It's somewhere where we get together to learn about His word but also keep each other accountable.

Other people that have played a significant role in my life these few years are Melissa and Sarah. Melissa has been mentoring me for about a year now. We meet on a regular basis and we basically talk about anything and everything. I feel so honoured to be in this relationship with her as she offers guidance, support and most importantly genuine love and concern for me. Nothing more I can ask for! And Sarah...Well we've known each other for bout 9 months now and we get on like a house on fire. We are so different yet so similar. Aside from being each other's friend, we are accountability partners. We check up on each other regularly, making sure neither of us are about to kill ourselves. We are also there for each other to off load on, having a shoulder to cry on and to share good times together.

So, it's been another eventful year filled with many ups and equal amount of downs. Keep checking up on the blog for any latest news! Here's to another crazy year to look forward to.