I can't believe how tired I was -- slept for over 17 hours -- I haven't done that since third year, I think.

Anyway, again, my classmates and I just got back from a 7-day Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Royal Caribbean Explorer of the Seas. Our ports of call were San Juan, Puerto Rico; St. Martin, Netherlands-Antilles; St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands; and Nassau, Bahamas.

San Juan is a quaint, historic city, and we took a walking tour around Old San Juan. The main interest points were La Fortelezza, which was originally constructed as a fort, but which is now used as the residence of the governor of Puerto Rico; and the Castille, which was the real fort which was constructed after La Fortelezza was found to be in a bad location for its purposes.

St. Martin / St. Maarten is a resort town -- very small, but has really nice beaches, so many high-end resorts are there. We went snorkelling here, and walked around the French side. St. Martin is interesting: half is owned by the Netherlands, half is owned by France.

St. Thomas is part of the U.S. Virgin Islands, and we mainly went snorkelling here... there were a LOT of fish! And since many tourists come here, the fish are not afraid of humans, and will swim up to us, so it was pretty cool to swim around schools of fish.

Nassau, Bahamas doesn't really need to be explained... high-end resort town, including the Atlantis Resort. We had the opportunity to visit Atlantis... it's huge and very nice! Very much like those big Las Vegas hotels, but with much better beaches, and an awesome water slide. Potential spot for our next vacation... =p

When we were not on shore, the cruise ship had a lot to do – the Explorer of the Seas has capacity for 3,114 passengers, and boasts an ice-skating rink and a rock-climbing wall. In the evenings, after the after-dinner entertainment, we were either people-watching in the Royal Promenade Café, dancing in the Chamber nightclub (when they weren't playing songs from the 70's =p), or in the Dizzy's nightclub, enjoying the Latin / Jazz band while watching people salsa / latin dance.

The average age on the Explorer would be the 40's… so the entertainment and music were mainly geared towards that age group, which made some things kind of boring. Good thing for Dizzy's nightclub, and ultimately, our companionship.

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

I'M BACK!

Cruise was awesome -- very good time with my classmates, and got a nice (controlled) tan.

More to come... very tired right now... =p

Until next time... tired...

PACKING IS SO [MAH FAAN]!!!

Very, very tired... there is way too much stuff in my room from moving back home... no time no time!

Haha... off on vacation with my classmates on a celebratory, post-UFE cruise to the Eastern Caribbean. Ina has a nice summary of our ports of call. =p Will be back in a week! =)

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Waterloo, I bid thee farewell... and I guess yesterday was a good day as any to experience what will probably be the last of my "machine mode" days -- the days are so much more difficult in full-time... and the body does not get any younger. =p

I will miss Waterloo. The barbeque yesterday reminded me about the community of believers that is there... this community that has been a major source of my growth over the past five years... this fellowship that never ceases to amaze me by seeing how much God has blessed it abundantly -- the number of ministries and the size of the events that are prepared, all by students (!) who juggle many, many other things at the same time… and the act of serving and how rewarding it is when we surrender our lives in service – I just saw how much I have neglected this area in the past few months… This fellowship will likely be the most dynamic fellowship that I have been a part of... whose members enthusiastically seek to strive for spiritual maturity to become men and women of God, and whose members are among the most talented people I know...

I will miss it all. But back at home lay challenges that we are destined to encounter, and whatever we have learned in the comfort of that community, we are to apply it elsewhere and to teach it to others -- no gift is useful if it is not shared... and the difficulty level is augmented as we need to juggle full-time jobs (!!) with everything else. And as daunting these challenges appear, God does not give us more than we can handle – and if he has given much more than we think is manageable, it is humbling to know that he does that only because he is willing to entrust us with those things… and all we really need to do is demonstrate faith.

But Waterloo, I will be back every so often to re-experience a glimpse of this community… And location has never changed how much care about people…

So until next time, this is (still the same) Gladys Yam. =)

T minus 1!!

Finally, the (first) day of the Uniform Final Evaluation has come -- essentially, the culmination of our university career!

Well, really, we just want to get it over with... this study period has been long enough. =p

Good luck, all... =)

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Joyce: The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing. -- Zephaniah 3:17

Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD ;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.

For the LORD is the great God,
the great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.

Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;
for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.

-- Psalm 95:1-7

UFE studying is coming along -- actually, getting tired of studying, and want to just get it over with! (One more week to go!) But I'm enjoying my remaining time in Waterloo though...

I woke up at 6:30 for some reason this morning, and managed to catch the sunrise:



So pretty, so peaceful, so nice. =)

It's also kind of amazing how I can manage to do stuff when i'm half asleep and without glasses. =p

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.