Living Nerdy in Sydney

Probably by now you would have seen articles and videos here and there about "hyper grace" and lots more refuting it as heresy, and even more trying to strengthen its claim of truth. The irony is that almost no article actually explains what "hyper grace" is, or actually even what "grace" is. After a while, it all becomes a mishmash of arguments what sounds like both side having a different understanding of what "grace" and salvation is about in the first place. So what is "Grace"? ... for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,  and are justified by his  grace  as a gift, through the  redemption  that is in Christ Jesus,  whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. Romans 3:23-25 Grace is a biblical term for unmerited, undeserving favour from God. This is predominantly shown through God's gift of salvation to mankind. Man have sinned (sin = rejecting God as rightful ruler) and

Families are an unbreakable bond of people who are put together by bloodlines. In almost every culture, families are core building blocks of society. In Asian culture, families care for each other, protect each other and have each other's best interest in mind. However, it's pretty common for people to be really unhappy with their family. Family relationships are not like friends where you can chose to walk away from them. Everyone's born into a family not by choice. With family, you expect members to care for you, respect you and have your best interest in mind. And when this does not happen, disappointment sets in. If not resolved, disappointment can turn to anger, and anger to hatred. Family feuds often happen when there is a new marriage or breaking down of a marriage, major illness or catastrophe, new birth or death. It's not unusual. Ask yourself, do you know of someone or something in your family which has caused a whole family to be upset? Unfortunately for pe

The Voyager of the Seas first maiden journey was in 1999. The ship then underwent extensive refurbishment in 2014. We had the pleasure of sailing on her during her 2015 Christmas cruise - 18 - 29 December 2015. My husband and I have been to Chops Grille on other Royal Caribbean vessels and have been very impressed by their food and service. It has been more than 2 years since our last cruise and we were craving for Chops Grille's Fillet Mignon. This craving has definitely been heightened by all the very positive comments about Chops Grille on various Royal Caribbean's Facebook groups. To maximise the "book ahead and get a % back" offer, we made 3 bookings to visit Chops Grille. (Do note that this offer has been replaced by the current offer.) Embarkation day - for dad's big birthday celebration, Christmas eve - just to celebrate and on the final day - for my birthday.  The great thing about going back 3 times with a party of 6, was that we got to try most of t

I love 7-day (weekly) planners. They are a great way of looking at what you have planned at a glance. With this printable template you can customize it to any way you like. This printable is designed for 12-hours of planned activities, but can also accommodate for things which happen outside your 12 hours of planned daily activity. Here's step-by-step instructions on how you might like to use it. There's plenty of space for creativity and flexibility. Step 1: Print Print the planner out on the right size of paper. The most common size is A5. If you don't have A5 paper, you can cut a A4 into half. You can be fancy and print on pretty paper too. Step 2: Fill in Headers Step 2.1: Fill in the Month on the top. Step 2.2:  On the first column add in the days of the week. You can start on whichever day you prefer. I've started on Monday here. Step 2.3:  Add in the days of the month in the second column. Step 2.4:  On the time row, add in the 12 consecut

Migrating to Australia can be very challenging and difficult for many. This is no different for Singaporeans (as elaborated on my first part of blog series) migrating to Australia. Most Singaporean migrants move to Australia for a better life. Some move because they are unhappy with the government, while some are after the elusive work-life balance. Right Mindset Step 1 to a successful migration is to have the right mindset. Australia is not like Singapore, you shouldn't expect a same lifestyle or way of doing things. If you are expecting the same, and would only accept that things would be the same, I would suggest you don't even bother trying to migrate. Having a right mindset also means to being open to a different standard of living. Most migrants do drop their standard of living in order to survive, but quickly build themselves and their families back up to thrive. Having a right mindset also means, to stay positive no matter what lies ahead. Drop the complaining, no

I've seen many friends from Singapore move to Sydney over the many years living here. Some come here to study in the many excellent universities, and then make the decision whether to stay on or not. Some others are young professionals looking for a different pace of life. Some others come in their golden years for retirement. Those who end up calling Sydney home, are those who truly exhibit the migrant spirit. This is the same migrant spirit which helped Singapore become a very prosperous country in less than half a century. From the mid 1800s to mid 1900s, many migrants from China and India moved to Singapore to seek work and a better life. You might have heard of stories of early settlers who worked as coolies unloading ships (苦力), housekeepers (妈姐), construction workers (红头巾), rickshaw pullers and rubber plantation workers. These people didn't have a comfortable life when migrating to Singapore, but they did make money to support their families. Today, in Singapo