The Land of Sunny Days & Endless Beaches =D

We went on a long, long road trip this Spring! =) (Yes, finally winter is over!) All five of us packed into the car early in the morning and drove 10 hours – yup, TEN HOURS – towards New South Wales for the first time. I was so looking forward to this break for three reasons:

1. I was gonna’ get out of the cold Melbourne winter! Technically, come September its Spring, but for some sorry reason, the days are still wet and cold.

2. I was gonna’ get a break from all the intense school work, practice and waking up on cold early mornings.

3. We were going for another family adventure to the land of sunny days and endless beaches! =D =D =D

True enough, we got such a good, sunny break. It was sooo good compared to Melbourne’s unpredictable weather: it was almost a sunny day EVERY DAY!!! =D =D =D On the down side, as always when it comes to travelling in a car with 2 squawky sisters for 10 long, agonizing hours – yes I’m exaggerating – there were plenty of “hearty” squabbles throughout the trip. But hey, what’s a family without a wee bit of conflict, eh? =)

Anyway, there were plenty of “up” sides that made our first long Australian road trip a great adventure. We explored various beaches along the South Coast and Batemans Bay. We even made a further 2 hour trip to Canberra, the capital city of Australia, for our first time. It was simply the best to be able to go to the beach everyday! At Mossy Point and Broulee we climbed up and over rock formations along the coast and watched for whales. Amazingly, we actually managed to spot a whale and its calf as we were clambering along the rocks. It came so close! We never thought we had a chance to spot one so close to the bay. The surfers were right beside them!

Ever the photographer and the one trailing behind the rest because I kept stopping, I took a good many photos during this trip. I was ecstatic that it was sunny nearly everyday!!! All winter I’ve been waiting for spring to come. Talking about winter, I must say that I’m so thankful to God we made it through winter this year “without a scratch”. It’s been so much better compared to our first winter in 2009, stuck in that cold, old house. We’ve been so much more comfortable and warm with electric blankets and a better insulated home. Haha, I sound like a spoiled brat, but since we came from hot and humid M’sia, it’s no wonder I find the unpredictable winter only as warm as Antarctica can get!

Anyway, thank God for another great family trip exploring another new part of Australia! It’s like we’re in forever-and-endless-holiday-land. I find it funny how some of my friends who’ve been living here all their life haven’t bothered to travel to other parts. I guess you take it for granted if you’ve been born here. But for us one and a half year newcomers, this country is a holiday and adventure haven! Hopefully by the time of our fifth year, we would have covered all the major parts of Australia, including Tasmania.

Here are the photos we accumulated throughout the holiday. My irreplaceable Dad & Mum with me and my quirky sisters Janna & Jirene, the beaches and rocks, the sunny blue skies, flowers, whales and what-not in our memorable moments! =)

For the next month, its time to get serious with work and practice with all the exams and performances coming up!!! Will be back in the summer holidays soon!!! =)

Adele’s Farewell

For the past months in VCASS, I got to know many wonderful people who love music as much as I do and whom I’ve enjoyed hanging out with. One such friend is Adele, and she’s one of the awesomest cellists around! It’s sad to say that she has decided leave us and make a move all the way to Manchester to pursue her music studies and, practice like crazy… Hahaha. =) It’s been a privilege to meet her in VCASS and she’s made me and the other newbies feel so welcome!

Recently, the few of us Year 11 girls with Nicole and Sariah from Year 12, planned a farewell dinner for Adele. I only wish we had more time to hang out that night! Here are the memorable photos Nicole and Emily took that night, and my edited versions of them. =)

Altogether =) Top: Sariah, Emily, Janielle, Rachel, Adele, Nicole. Bottom: Justine, Tatjana and Kathy. The bottom row girls and I are the 2010 VCASS newcomers!

Haha, it was a pretty funny moment considering we were posing right at the tram stop!

There's another Emily in the photo beside me now. =)

We went to a nice Italian restaurant Tiamo at Lygon Street for Adele's farewell dinner.

Laughs.

Rachel Xu, Adele, me and Emily Lanham.

Emily and her awesome Tiramisu dessert which we made for us at Nicole's place after dinner!

Singing farewell to Adele!

Haha, this cracks me up. We were all shouting "We Love You, Adele"!

Our parting shot. =) Sariah Xu, Emily Sheppard, Emily Lanham, Adele, me and Nicole.

A memorable night. =) Hope to see you in the summer holidays, Adele! We'll miss your fun-loving company. =)

Finally, Winter Break!

After 20 months since November 2009, we’re back where we began our adventure in Australia. =)

For the last one week, my family spent our winter holiday in Mansfield Country Resort in the high country hills of Victoria. It was much colder compared to Melbourne, so we blasted the heater in our chalet and enjoyed ourselves watching movies every night. Haha. But thank God, we did manage to get outdoors and for the first time, we did real horse riding in the countryside!

Our horse riding experience was one of the best things I’ve done before. It was no boring, walk-round-the-field horse ride. We each had our own horse and we rode for 3 hours on countryside terrain up and down the hills, which were at times pretty scary cause’ no one could help us if we slipped. The best thing was the breath-taking scenery as we journeyed up along the forest to the hilltop and seeing the awesome panoramic view of the other hilltops around us and the rolling green plains below.

One of my highlights was seeing a large eagle soar over us and dive along the hillside! Like my mum said, I felt such a freedom riding my own horse and steering the horse on my own. The coolest part was horse-trotting, which is kinda’ like a slower-paced gallop. I love getting the rhythm of it, and once I get it, I’m no longer bumping along, but truly riding with the horse. So yeah, horse riding was the highlight of this trip, and we did three full-on hours of it!

The next thing we wanted to do was drive up to Mount Buller and see real snow for the first time. We were hoping we’d get to see fresh snow falling when we were up there – and thank God, we did! Fresh, soft snow falling on us! It was the coolest thing ever. The temperature went down to -4 degrees, which I think is the coldest I’ve experienced. In fact, it was snowing the whole time we were there. Mostly soft snow and cold wind, which I called a “blizzard”, although one of the regulars said it was considered light snowfall and pretty good weather… Hahaha. I can’t imagine how people in cold countries live like this! I’d be happy to live life without snow and cold.

I finally managed to warm up going tobogganing down a hill with my sisters and my mom, whom to all of our surprise, enjoyed the snow and the freezing cold weather the most!

For the first time in quite a few months, I was taking photos again. Here are some nice photos of the trip.

All in all, it was a really good break. But I think I’m not the sort of person who enjoys lazing around too much. One long week is long enough. I was itching to get back and get my hands on the piano! And school’s starting soon again. Term 3 is gonna’ be super duper busy. But it’ll be 10 more weeks before we go for the next holiday my mum has planned! :D Till then, hope the rest of winter goes by with warmer memories to come.

Be Still and Know

“Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10

I can’t believe its near the end of June now! I have survived the first half of 2010! Life has been rolling on and on for me. There’s barely time to pause and consider how far I’ve come by God’s grace. But still, I make the point to stop and be thankful that God has enabled me to go through this challenging 6 months of 2010 in VCASS.

Sometimes I am intimidated and just blown away by how good some of my friends are at music in VCASS. I wonder how I got here in the first place. Then I am thankful to God, because I know it is not by my own ability. Sometimes I wonder why I have to go the hard way. No matter how hard I practice, it seems I cannot overtake the others – some of them are just so pro at it. But is that all I want? To be better than the others?

I realize that God has other plans. I realize that I am blessed to have to go the longer way. I am blessed to be less experienced. I am blessed to have less. So that when I have more, I know that I have not attained it by my own strength, but by the strength and ability God gives. And when I have less, I learn to trust God all the more.

I know – yes, I am sure – that if I had everything, if I were good at it all, I wouldn’t ask God’s help. I wouldn’t look to God, I wouldn’t thank Him for the abundance I have. I would be a selfish, boastful stuck-up.

Sometimes, like most people, I wonder why I can’t be like a person who seems to have it all. But God has reminded me that each one has a different story. No one can copy another’s story. No one can write his own story. Remember that Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. If I stick to God’s plan and storyline for my life, I won’t go wrong. The problem starts when I try to write my own story and go my own way. No wonder life is often a mess, full of worries and fears, full of wrong turns and regrets.

This week I had my first ever solo performance to a real audience. For the first time the recital room was filled with other students and guests. It was my last performance for the Semester. After that, I can relax for 3 weeks before Semester 2 starts. I had completed academic and music exams, now this was the last hurdle on the list to complete! It was going to be the most nerve-wrecking one. I was praying hard that I wouldn’t stuff up the performance and that I’d end the Semester well.

I remember the morning of my performance, as my dad drove me to the train station, I asked him what he was going to preach about on Sunday in church. He said it’d be based on the Scripture in Psalm 46, “Be still and know that I am God.” As I sat in the train, beginning to feel nervous for the performance later, I pondered the verse. Be still and know that I am God. What does it mean to “be still”?

I knew I had to trust God with this. I couldn’t do it on my own. I don’t know how the others do it, but as for me, I know I can’t do it unless God gives me the peace and confidence to perform. I knew that no matter how hard I’ve practiced, in a performance, anything can happen. You can stuff up and slip a note or have a memory lapse any time round the next line. But coming back to the verse, how can I be still and know that God is with me?

The only way is to call out to God and have faith in my heart that God is able to work through me and help me. Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith, it is impossible to please Him: for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

God says those who place their trust in Him can never fail, because He is with them all the way. Even if I do fail, there is always something good to learn and that God can teach me from failure. I realize it is better to fail and learn to depend on God rather than to succeed and be self-confident. You are in your weakest, most wretched state when you think you are strong and successful.

I am learning to depend on God in the split-second moments when I am performing. I think that’s what this whole performance opportunity is for. So I’ll learn to call out to God in the split-second moments of life and trust Him to get me through. In performance, when I worry what the audience is thinking, or that I’ll forget and stuff up, I call out to God. And amazingly, each time I remember to do so, I manage to keep going and move on to the next bar without forgetting or making any mistakes. It feels like I’m an acrobat on a tight-rope. Any moment I lose focus and certainty, I can fall on either side!

When I came to VCASS and realized I’ll have to practice performing on a regular basis, I wondered why oh why did I choose to come here. But of course, I knew that this is God’s answer to my prayers 4 years ago. I prayed that someday I’d have the chance to perform. I can’t believe I’m doing it now!

All in all, I’m learning again and again to be still, to pause in the free moments of life (when I’m on the train or walking home) and look to God for strength, peace and guidance. I’m learning to not trust myself and think I can do it on my own. I’m learning to have faith in God alone, confident that God is able to help me. As I rely on God alone, I hope that I will be able to know His goodness and power more and more each day.