Looking back on the year

say hello to the first anniversary

I am proud to say, I've just renewed my domain name, meaning this website has been here for exactly a year (as of December 25th, yes! www.hazelchazel.com is a Christmas baby!) Sorry if you guys were having a little trouble accessing this site, and ending up at an odd white, red, and green website that shows weird search related items such as Breaking Glass, Hazel Show, Hazel DVD, and Hazel Contact. I apologize, it kept on slipping off the tip of my brain to renew this domain. I trust that, if you're reading this, you've accessed the website. :)

Anyhow, Christmas this year was quiet, simple, and sweet. :) Which was good enough for me, for who needs loud, fancy Christmases when you've got joy, love, and presents! :P Plus, to top that all off, I had three scrumptious meals. Lots of smiles. :)

So this is just a quick note to all those who are going through major transitions in their lives. Jon Teh, I hope you're surviving. :P Michelle, all the best in Australia. Do your best in everything you do, and God will be there to help you. :) And Daniel, take care at NS. Although I've only known you for less than 3 weeks, I know you're strong and will be a witness to the people around you. Don't let others influence you, you do the influencing. We PKs are amazing people. ;) Will be praying for all of you.

Enjoy your last of week of holidays before school reopens. :)

Merry Christmas!

I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. (Charles Dickens)

Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas. Throughout this special day, my simple wish is that, while we celebrate the birth of Christ, we'll remember those out there who don't know the true meaning of Christmas and pray that somehow, someway, they may come to know the person who, 2010 years ago, came to earth to die for us.

♥ Hazel Chang

Profound

"Did you ever stop to think,

and forget to start again?"

A. A. Milne

Light of the World

Our hearts grow tender with

childhood memories and love of kindred,

and we are better throughout the year for having,

in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time.

Laura Ingalls Wilder

#o1. It's hard to believe that Christmas is only 5 days away! They say the time from Thanksgiving to Christmas goes by in the blink of an eye, and my! are they right. It hardly feels like 4 weeks have passed. Before we know it, Christmas will be over and the new year will be here.

#o2. My December has settled into some sort of makeshift routine. I either wake up with work to go to, some outing to attend, or a busy day at home. It's been so busy these holidays that not once did I find myself commenting that the holidays are so boring. (And that usually happens often!) There's still a million and one things I want to do, but I have like only 3 days available.

#o3. News of the week: Jonathan Teh is in America. Like, askdnakdas. One second we're chatting about next year plans, and the next week he's like, "Hi, I'm in the US." -.- Imagine my shock. I should do that too - fly off to the USA all of a sudden. :P Now I'm all alone in my odd exhibition of attending school after graduating already.

#o4. Oh well, I only have about 6 months to go. :)

#o5. Heading off to the shopping mall in a few, to do my Christmas shopping. :D After that, back home to decorate the cookies I baked this morning. I loveee Christmasss. ♥

#o6. Even in all the haste and hurry, cliche wishes, and background music - don't ever forget the true reason of the season. Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we're here for something else besides ourselves. (Eric Sevareid) Blessed holidays! :)

Moments

December has been a busy, yet enjoyable month.

Decorating for Christmas with lights, snowflakes, fireplaces, and SNOWSPRAY!

@Nando's + movie + sleepover ; ipod touch ftw. :)

 

For NARNIAA! :)

(I'd rate it 7/10, except why do they always change it from the original book?!)

I came across a startling conclusion this morning. I haven't talked to a single person from school since school ended. I mean, other than the ones at camp or the ones I've bumped into. My MSN is practically half dead, I'm serious. I don't have any chat history for the entire month of December. I feel very antisocial. :O

Last couple of days haven't been very pleasant. I fell sick on Friday, causing me to skip work. My temperature went up to a soaring number of 102. I've had fever on and off for the last 4 days, including today. I'm physically very weak. Whenever I try to do something, I become extremely weak after 5 minutes of concentration. I'm terribly behind my schedule, and that's not a good thing considering the hundred and one things I have to do. I have work tomorrow, and I'm hoping I can muster enough strength to survive for 7 hours. I need your prayers!

College application essay and personal statement are calling. Till later. :)

Of PKs, sand, and roomies :)

Just came back from an amazing 3 days at camp in Kuantan. It was probably the first camp I where I didn't know everyone - as in a school camp or church camp - and people are from everywhere around Malaysia. However, there was one particular thing we all had in common - we were all PKs. Somehow that simple common trait made me feel I could relate to them in a very real way.

I could give you this huge description of what we did throughout the entire time, but that would be pretty boring. Therefore, just as a summary, here's a few things that I count memorable during this time.

#o1. PKs should never be stereotyped. I went to this camp telling myself, "DON'T STEREOTYPE." And indeed, I'm really glad I didn't. Because we are all so different, even if we share a lot of things in common. We had the queer category which consists of David Low, and only him. We had the extremely extrovert ones (that kept everyone awake on the bus). And well, we concluded that we are all weird and unique in our own special way.

#02. PKs should never be held down by the expectations placed upon them. I think that's a big weakness in me that I broke away from during camp. So many time, we as PKs, are pressured by all these expectations upon us, we act and do all the right things. We get a spirit of control and become like a puppet pulled by strings, doing everything as a routine, an expected thing from us. However, we should break out of such a spirit and do things simply because we have such a strong relationship with God, we want to do it.

#o3. PKs are special. God has a soft spot for his sons and daughters and we as PKs are sons and daughters of pastors who are sons and daughters of God. (If that made sense to you.) God has given each and everyone of us a different destiny, and it isn't always in the ministry. That has got to be a stereotype: you go into ministry if you're a PK. But in fact, God has given us different gifts in different fields, even in the secular world. We are to be the light in the darkness, in every field in this evil world.

I was truly blessed by this experience, and I hope all the others who went were blessed too. :) Don't forget what you've learned from this experience, and continue impacting the world. :)

It's 9.45pm and I'm working tomorrowww. :O

Blissful Glee

Visited my website yesterday to see that it was snowing! :) Made my day.

My December so far has been busy and productive. I haven't had a day when I could drop on the sofa and go, "I'm so bored." Nahh, no such thing as being bored when you have such an eventful life like I do. :P

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

First day of my intern job at VOGA Kitchen. Arrived at 9.30am, work only starts at 10am. Walked around, waited. Colleagues arrived, and I had to explain like 5 times who I was and what I was doing there. Waited for my boss for 1 and a half hours doing nothing. -.- She arrived, and gave me a huge stack of interior designing books to read.

Went to lunch with the colleagues which has got to be an experience to remember. They could only speak very limited English, so here I am, eating lunch with them and not understanding a thing they were saying. They occasionally asked me a few questions, all centering around where I was from, how old I am, and the language I can speak. Which happens to be only English, and a little French. Somehow I created the impression of being a foreigner, and they were constantly asking me about it.

Stayed up to 1am, watching the candidates for the 2022 Host County give their presentation. Australia's video was very creative, Her Royal Highness of Qatar was extremely convincing, Landon Donovan's replay of the goal against Algeria gave me shivers yet again, and Bill Clinton's speech was dreadfully long.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

- Christmas deco + major cleaning

- College and OG applications

- Watched England's presentation. It was really good. They had Prince William, Prime Minister David Cameron, and David Beckham. It's a hige pity they didn't get it.

- World Cup Host Announcements: Russia ('18) and Qatar ('22) Bummers, cause I really wanted England and USA respectively. I think England really deserved it for 2018, although I had a gut feeling USA wasn't going to get it for 2022.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Took Bible 1208 LPT, making me feel very productive. :)

Headed to Ebenezer with the mom. The bus took ages. Public transportation is so unreliable. Lots of walking. Vegetarian lunch. 1 and a half hours at the bookstore. Bumped into Cindy. Bought two John Eldridge books, a notebook, and some stickers for the little cousin. All for my RM80 vouchers. Very very satisfied.

Note to all those with Ebenezer vouchers: You should go before Christmas. There's sale. :) So I got like, 20% off.

Daddy's birthday today. Having a steak dinner. ♥ Giving him one of the Eldridge books. And when you do read this Daddy, I hope you had a very wonderful birthday. Thank you for being the greatest Daddy on earth. Love ya!