Well, I'm off to Singapore for holidays for the next three weeks now.

Maybe I'll blog, maybe I won't.

Maybe I'll be too busy catching up with family and friends, feasting on the wonderful meals and celebrating Chinese New Year.

Catch ya in March!

My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets this morning when I saw the news headlines on smh.com.au

Heath Ledger dead.

The actor, Heath Ledger.

I'm not really a fan of Heath, but I did like a couple of his films and although I don't keep track of his life, it's still a bit of a shock to realise that the dude is dead!

I'm still trying to figure out if it was a mistake or an early April Fool's joke....

I like alpacas. I really do!

Boy throws party for a few friends while parents were away.

Few friends turn out to be 500.

500 friends end up scaring neighbours.

Neighbours end up calling the police.

Police end up bringing in the riot squad and get this, a helicopter.

Now parents are possibly facing a $20,000 fine.

This is insane. And somewhat hilarious, especially when you watch this interview with him, post party.



News article here.

The giant’s garden in Tasmania

I was exhausted, sore and desperately needed a shower.


But I also felt alive and strangely refreshed.


I had never done anything like this before. Throwing on big backpack and hiking in nature.


Being completely self-sufficient, relying only on what I can physically carry.



Pitching a tent virtually anywhere I wanted and setting up camp for the night.


I had just undertaken a three day hike into the Walls of Jerusalem National Park in Tasmania, an hour or so drive from Launceston airport.


For a girl who grew up in the city and worked in an office, heading into the Australian bush was an experience I would never forget.


I was afraid I would get gnawed on by a Tasmanian Devil, or even worse, be the one to discover that the Tasmanian Tiger isn’t extinct, by being eaten by one!

I consoled myself that at least I was on the hike with a friend who lived and breathed outdoor adventure and would most likely wrestle the thylacine away from me if that happened.


Unfortunately, my introduction to the hike was far from pleasant. The first morning was pure agony. The two kilometres of gradual uphill nearly killed me. After all, my only form of training for the hike was sporadic visits to the gym.


But everything changed when we emerged from the dense forests into a clearing.


The beauty of my surroundings hushed my voice but awakened my senses. The bright green of the grass,


the brilliant blue of the sky, the many clear trickling streams and the fresh mountain air caused me to wonder if I had stumbled into an artist’s painting.



There were moments when I felt like Jack in Jack and the Beanstalk, trespassing and exploring the giant’s magnificent garden.


All around me were trees and scrubs, some that I hadn’t seen before.


There was a sort of random order about the place. The cobalt blue lakes sparkled to my left,


the rocky peaks of the Walls towered over me on my right


and the scattering of pine and gum trees all around me made me feel as if, like Jack, I had entered a place I really shouldn’t, but it continued to draw me on because of its promise of more beauty.


We spent three days and two nights in the National Park, hiking, strolling, laughing, panting and simply soaking up the awesome beauty of a place relatively untouched by man.


Three days I will not forget in a hurry.





This is the second time that I’ve visited Tasmania, but I don’t think it will ever be the last. The beauty of the island continues to call out to me. The friendliness of the people will never fail to make me feel welcome. The amazingly sweet supply of fresh cherries, raspberries, nectarines and apricots available for purchase right by the road during summer will always be a drawcard.


Of course, there are also plenty of other hikes to conquer.


1 February 2010 update: This article has been published!

Interesting food for thought over at Church Marketing Sucks.

When you preach salvation, people come to know Jesus.
When you preach about loving Jesus, people become better lovers of Jesus.
When you preach prosperity, people want to be prosperous.
When you preach about the second coming, people get ready.
When you preach healing, people will be healed.
When you preach hope, people are more hopeful.
When you preach about tithing, people tithe.

What you talk about is what people are going to respond to. In other words, you get what you preach for.

This is not about communication manipulation. This is about communication transformation.

So, friends, what are you preaching for?
What are you communicating for?

Indeed, what am I communicating for?

What am I communicating about?

New article published! Read it here.

When you think Will Smith, you think action.

You think save the world type of movies, along the lines of aliens or malfunctioning robots.

You envision explosions and guns, not the horror, zombies out to eat you type.

So when Daniel and I saw the trailer for I Am Legend, we thought it would be another one of them "armageddon-esque" kind of movie.

We were really looking forward to the day it opened, so that we could go watch it.

There really was no need to read the synopsis of the movie, because well, it's Will Smith. You kind of know what to expect.

But when less than 30 minutes into the movie, the character Will Smith plays looks at his watch and races home before the sun goes down, I started getting slightly suspicious.

Imagine our horror (pun unintended), when the sun does go down, he had to bolt lock his doors and use metal roller thingies to close his windows.

Then the horrible screaming typical of zombie movies started.

And everything just went downhill from there.

We ended up sitting through 1.5 hours of horror. Of people turned into monsters that eat other people that were not turned into monsters.

Should have watched Alvin and the Chipmunks instead.

Should have read the movie synopsis before we decided what we were going to do yesterday evening.

I feel duped by Will Smith.

I only have one question - what are we going to do about Kenya?

It feels strangely like Rwanda all over again...