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mickeyesther
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Name: Esther
Country: Malaysia
Gender: Female
Interests: glorifying God in everything!!!
Expertise: running away from you
Occupation: Student
Industry: Education/Research
Message: message meEmail: email me
Member Since:
8/15/2002
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| I am HOME!!!i am home, wheeee!!! with my family.
after being in taiwan for one week right after school ended, i traveled to
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the main reason for the trip to Qatar was for an interview with Cornell at Qatar. they have a six years accelerated medical program for undergraduate. SO, not knowing what to expect, i landed in qatar. people in Qatar speak arabic, which is totally foreign to me. but praise God, i was very fortunate to be able to stay with my friend Alyn who is currently working there. IT's HOT in qatar. it averages about 48 degree celcius, everyday!!!!! i felt like i was in an oven everyday when i stepped outside.
the interview only took two days, so i spent the rest of my two weeks there exploring different places. i went out to the dessert, which was ok because it was SO HOT! the water there is quite expensive...but i didn't really care because i was dehydrated all the time.
i also went to the corniche- which is "sea walk" in arabic. the arabian gulf is SO beautiful. the water is so clear but the BREEZE is not that cool. it's all hot breeze that makes people feel hotter.
there are only five churches in the whole countries. i was very excited to be able to go to one. it was so fascinating. since the weekends consist of Friday and Saturday (instead of Saturday and Sunday), people go to church on friday. about 200 people meet in this small little house, with a worship band and a pastor. it felt at home because everyone was speaking english, jumping up and down, singing and worshiping our God! as i looked around the room, there were all kinds of people- all different shades of skin color. there were people from brazil, US, UK, south africa, france, belize, malaysia, spain, egypt, UAE, Kuwait, India, Pakistan, ETC! i was so excited and overwhelmed by all the people i met. even though some of the people have to travel hours to get to the church, but they were glad to be there worshipping God and fellowship with other believers. PRAISE GOD!
the culture is very different. since it's an islamic countries, people dress very conservatively. showing one's elbow and ankle is actually a sign of seductive...SO, while i was in qatar, i was wearing long sleeves and skirts all the time- yes, under the hot sun. there's also a social hierachical in qatar....AHH...i have so much i want to write. if you want to know more, just ask me and i ll tell you.
AFTER being in the middle east for two weeks, i flew to
 Malaysia:)
i can't believe i m back in malaysia- the place where i grew up. it was definetely awesome seeing families and friends again. all my cousins are all grown up now- some of them have kids, some are getting married, some are in HIGHSCHOOL (they were still very little when i left malaysia). praise God for bringing me back and reminding me of his faithfulness. while i was at my aunt's house, my cousins showed me lots of pictures of us when we were little and pictures of me and my family when i was little. my brother flew in from taiwan to meet up with me. we traveled around malaysia, visited lots of families, ate TONS of traditional food, and hung out with our childhood and church friends. my cousin took us to the gravesite to put some flowers on my uncle, my grandma, and my mom's grave. i can't believe it's almost 10 years...once again, God healed my heart by reminding me of HIS uncondition love, especially during hard times.
me and my cousins...some of them
praise God also for the multiple opportunities he allowed for me to share the gospel with two of my cousins and two adults. it was quite an experience because i was afraid that they won't be able to understand my chinese- but praise God, they were very acceptable and not afraid to ask for clarification when it didn't make sense.
while we were in malaysia, two of our friends were getting married. it was so neat that we were able to be a part of their wedding. they were sisters and it was a double wedding. my brother and I joined the youth group of our old church and did a special song. they even helped me find a violin so i could play along while they sing. it was beautiful!!
my brother, helen, ruth, and me at the wedding:)
oh yeah- i met this really cool girl. she is 13 years old and she has osteosacoma-bone cancer. three weeks ago, her mom passed away because of cancer. my cousin took me to her house and asked me to talk to her, encourage her to persevere and remind her of God's goodness with my testemony. So, for an hour, i sat there with this little girl, telling her my life story and listening to her. she has lots of questions and doubts, about God and herself. you can see in her face that she is trying really hard to live and make sense of what's going on- there's no joy in her childhood. after sharing and praying with her, she finally smiled. tears rolled down my cheek- she reminded me who i was10 years ago when life didn't make sense, until HE came into the picture, turned my life around, gave me hope, and put a smile on my face.
elaine, yi chun, me, helen, grace. we took yi chun, the little girl mentioned above, out for dessert after the talk:)
the highlight of my trip was meeting up with my elementary school friends. although i didn't get to see all of them, but i was SO glad to see my best friends. ahh...good times. most of them are not in school now, some are. it was fun hearing all their stories and seeing their faces again. we also visited one of our old teachers. she is about 65 years old now. to be honest, i don't remember who she is- but according to my friends, she was our chinese teacher. i m sure she was....
my elementary school friends
while i was in malaysia, i went to
for a week.
Singapore is this little island country next to malaysia. growing up in malaysia, i have only been to singapore twice. SO, my brother and i and my two cousins decided to take a trip to singapore. the four of us were pure tourist- just there to spend money. we visited lots of places- singapore river, raffles place, hokka centres(which is an outdoor place with LOTS Of food stands), discovery center, singapore general hospital museum, orchard road (crazy shopping place), night safari ( we took the tram tour and also walking tour- we walked by lions, tigers, cheetahs, and HIPPO!!), sentosa island (we rode on the skyride and go cart and watched a 4D show and musical fountain), rode on a hot air balloon, went to CITY HARVEST CHURCH- everyone at church was under 25 years old, except the pastor- it's the largest in singapore, and took lots of pictures.
we also met up with three cousins and a friend. after trying to contact my counsin aaron for two days, we finally got a hold of him. however, none of us have seen him since he was little (i think the last time any of us saw him was in 1997). SO, we told him that we will wait for him at the MRT station, but we have no idea how he looks like!!! but, thankfully, we saw this guy walking around, kinda like looking for someone, and it was him. whew!
so, after leaving taiwan for five weeks, i am back in taiwan. praise God for the amazing trip. there's so much more details i can write (WORDS can't justify it....but you'll just have to ask me if you are interested in knowing more. God is truly faithful and loving- no matter where you are :)
God bless and peace ouT!
ps: my favorite cartoon!!
CHECK OUT MORE PICTURES at http://mickeyesther.blogspot.com/
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| Selamat Datang <---welcome in Bahasaalright, last stop before i go to taiwan- MALAYSIA:) after living in different countries for the past 6 years, i am back at where it all started. on one hand, it's been amazing being "home"- YUMMY food, great company, smalltown feeling, lots of laughs...; on the other hand, it's hard to deal with all the childhood memories, especially the not-so-pleasant ones. BUT, regardless of all this, He is faithful and He is still good:)
lotSSSS to update later. God bless and peace ouT!
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| Huan Ying!<--- welcome in Chinese:)Where's Waldo...or Where's esther?!
I am in Singapore! whoot.
quick update: I rode on a hot air balloon today
alright, more laterzzz! God bless and peace ouT! | | |
| MARHABA!!!<---welcome in arabicI am in Qatar:) (pull out a map if you don't know where that is. hint: it's in the middle east)
ps: i can't access facebook here on the university computer because "it's a dating service" and it can't be allowed. This can't be for real....:(
so many pictures i want to post and so much to say...but until then, God bless and peace out! | | |
| there's no place like HOME!after traveling for 24 hours....i m finally home. wheeee!!!
shout outz to...
peeps in taiwan: let's hang out soon!!!
boah chung: i m going for an interview next week....WHEEE!!(e-mail me and let me know how things are going!)
God bless and peace ouT!
ps: thanks to eric chen, i found my future best friend cameron the camel.
isn't he adorable?! | | |
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