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Tasmania

2011-08-10T19:53:00.009+08:00

Tasmania: Home to the Tasmania Devil. But the most common animal that I saw on the signs is not the Tasmanian Devil but the legendary Tasmanian Tiger.

Legend has it, that when explorers first arrived, they saw a wolf like animal with tiger stripes. I find this similar to how the "Singa" or as the world commonly calls it the "Lion" was spotted when Sang Ni La Utama arrived on the shores of Singapura. And like you can never find a lion in Singapore (except in the zoo, and lions live in the desert anyway), you can no longer find a Tasmanian Tiger in Tasmania anymore. Or anywhere else in the world as a matter of fact.

Still, the home to the Tasmania Devil is a beautiful place to visit. Having the priviledge of visiting during winter was wonderful as it is so hot in Singapore now. The temperature ranges from 6 to 16 deg Celcius and I was cool with that (all punt intended). The main downside to winter is the occasional rain and the constant grey skies which can be a bummer if you are planning to take lots of outdoor photographs. I was then very grateful for the day that we went up to Cradle Mountain: the sky was clear and blue when we reach Dove Lake and we managed a few beautiful pictures.

The sky became overcast quickly after an hour and we sort of regretted taking the 2 hour trek round the lake as it proved to be cold and tiring. It was quite an easy track with some except the up and downhillls towards the end of it. Some parts of the track took us to frost covered areas where we stumbled upon a wombat. It took us completely by surprise because it passed us silently while I was taking a picture of my friend tying his shoelaces. What first caught our attention was the fresh shit on the track, which must have been left behind while it was passing.

There were many sites, suggested by Chan Brothers, for us to visit. My friend did a wonderful job of printing out the google maps of the routes to these sites so that I can help him navigate. It is wonderful to drive in tasmania as the road signs are clear and not easy to miss. The main thing that we had to look out for were the wildlife that would jump onto the road from dusk to dawn. We had a close encounter with a small one and my friend swerved a little and managed to avoid hitting the little jumping creature.

Since we bought the car pass that allows us to visit all parks, plus the fact that my friend was the only person driving and that distances between locations were long, we decided to skip many of the sites like the wilderness park, cheese farm, wine and beer breweries. We visited mainly the parks and went to 3 water falls altogther: Liffey Falls, Nelson Falls, and Russell Falls.

One place that we regretted not spending more time at was the Curringa Farm that was near to Horbart. We stay in this magnificent house with a great hall with kitchen and dining room attached, and 2 wings for bedrooms. Every room has full length glass doors that over look a beautiful river. Imagine waking up to beautiful scenery every morning! However, that can only happen if you are not afraid and leave the curtains open throughout the night where the surrounding is pitch black. One thing that I really enjoyed about the house was that its equipped in every way: a full kitchen with stove, microwave and electric oven, fridge and even a dish washer. And all the time, the place has a toasty feeling as we make sure that the wood in the fireplace is burning to make sure that we don't freeze. If I had the chance to go back to Tasmania again, I would want to visit this place and have the full farm experience.

I would say that this was a wonderful trip. The only down side was the expensive food and the lack of variety; I think Singaporeans are spoiled for choice. I loved the homemade soups though. My friend said that I must have had at least 9 bowls of soup in the whole trip. On the whole I thoroughly enjoyed Tasmania and it was wonderful to see so much of nature and God's beautiful art pieces. I would love to go back again, but this time, I would choose Spring time instead of Winter; then I can see more clear skies and less rain.

Reflections

2011-03-09T21:02:00.002+08:00

I have been thinking about reviving my blog for sometime now. Its just so dead! However, I haven't got anything worth blogging about to motivate me to do so and therefore I didn't get down to doing it.

Anyway, it has actually been more than a year since I have posted anything on this wall. I think with the ease of facebook and twitter, not many people would bother to blog anymore. Least goes to say for those who used their blogs for a one-liner updates to gain attention; now they can do it via those channels, and through the ease of smartphones.

Moving on, since I last blogged, many things have happened. I was reading through my old entries and found that it was kind of a good exercise for me to reflect on a few things. I was looking at my last 2 entries about writing a passage for my friend's book and about simple things that made me smile and I remembered that we also wanted to write a book on how the simplicities of life can put a smile on our faces. I also visited TPY KFC a few times but the auntie is no longer there.

I got into a new job last april but went back to doing the same thing as before - working with youths. Having worked in a nursing home for 9 months prior to that has helped me to be even sure of my calling and passion in working with youths. Thinking about that, I thank God for stirring my heart for this when I was in primary school, and opening doors for me in terms of my work and education. I could really see how He has planned and built me up for all this since young and can truly appreciate that "all my days have been ordained for me".

I have also taken up the youth ministry in church. That is proving to challenging and at the same time a great joy for me. It is teaching me to be humble and that as much knowledge and as much experience I have, I have learnt that God needs to take precedence and He needs to move in His time.

Being around new people and doing new things with people that I've already knew has brought much joy and blessings into my life; some more than others. Whether in ministry or at work, I have come to appreciate the fact that work doesn't have to be difficult if people are not being difficult. And its good to know that there are people out there who choose to be nice and honest at the same time.

Last week an auntie in church asked me how old would I be after this birthday. I had to think for a while and realized that I'm already 33. I think I am getting old. The term "Uncle Kar Leong" is beginning to sink in and used more frequently. This serves as a good reminder to me that I need to slow down as I do not have as much energy as I used to have. I realize that I have been taking on quite a bit of responsibilities and ad hoc "projects". I am beginning to understand that I need to let go of some so that I can take time to go deep, instead of going wide; both spiritually and mentally, so that there can be wisdom in my knowledge.

All in all, God has been good. And a reminder from our youth cell group last week: He is my strength and my song.

Accepting Opportunities

2010-02-11T08:05:00.004+08:00

My friend has asked me to write something about Opportunity for her book. I was honoured and got right to it:

Accepting Opportunities

Many a times we are out there looking for the “right” opportunities: in our lives, our careers and even our relationships. Others, who taught me to be encouraging and to have a positive perspective towards life, taught me to look at situations, even in difficult ones, and turn them into opportunities.

You see, the problem with searching for the right opportunity is that it would always leave us looking for what we deem is big, fitting, easy, relevant and smooth-sailing for us. However, the truth is that opportunity presents itself even in times when things are not going well, in small ways, and when situations don’t turn out quite the way you planned it.

I have accepted many opportunities in my life, some of which had turned out what seemed to be unsuccessful at the end. By making the most of these opportunities and doing my best with them, even for the ones that didn’t go well, they have opened up many more opportunities and with them, the abundance and freedom of choice in my life now.

What I have learnt is that opportunities, no matter how small, beget opportunities. And they will only start working their way in your life when they are taken. So, the moment that you have accepted an opportunity, you have started a series of things going on for you in your life.

An opportunity is a chance, and as much as you want a chance in life, you have to take a chance at it!

One Random Act of Kindness

2010-01-01T13:39:00.002+08:00

I was at TPY KFC 2 days ago and I was served by an Indian auntie. I remember this auntie because she usually served with a smile and had great attitude whenever I was there in the past but that day, I could see that she was not very happy.

It could be because the customer before me was being difficult or maybe she was already feeling down before that. But when it was my turn, she kept forgetting my requests and if I wasn't served by her before, I would think that she was just giving lousy service. So I kept smiling at her because I didn't think that she was doing it on purpose.

As she was finishing packing my food into the plastic bag, she did the usually routine of putting chilli sauce packets into the bag and i stopped her saying that there I have not use for them and that I have lots from previous orders. She then thanked me and said that at least I bothered to tell her and I replied that those are money too. She became very happy and the smile came back to her face because she agreed.

She kept thanking me as I left and I saw that the smile remained on her face when she was serving the next customer.

It was really random, didn't meant it, but i felt good too after that.

Lousy Movie Experiences

2009-12-26T00:55:00.006+08:00

I watch quite a few movies recently and honestly, the experiences were quite terrible.

I watch Feng Yun and Avatar at Illuma Bugis last week and it seems to me that the screens are not tall enough because it was pretty obvious that the top of the screen is being "chopped" off. The characters were practically "hairless" during their close-ups as a lot of times, I could only see the face of the actors from the forehead down. It didn't look like it was done on purpose by the film makers, because, also, there were a few scenes in Avatar that seemed like they were chopped off the top too. I think I will boycott Illuma as much as possible.

Yesterday, I watch Bodyguards and Assasins. The film was being edited very badly and left a lot of scenes cut off arruptly, some were so bad that the link of the story was broken! Imagine that! So why should I pay for a lousy movie with so many scenes cut off when I can download the full movie and enjoy it at home?

Streets of Singapore Photo Trip and Dim Sum

2009-11-07T00:06:00.013+08:00

LF and I were thinking of going for a short trip but couldn't decide where. So I suggested that we go around to shoot and have dim sum. He went on Canon's site and found a competition on something about streets so that's what we did today. Lau also took leave and came along to test out his D90.

We walked down along North Bridge Road and went into the many allies along it like Arab Street, Haji Lane, Jalan Pisang, etc.

There were many groups students walking around cos there were doing their heritage tour. We walked past an empty shop but suddenly we heard a lot of noises. When we turned around, we saw many students crowding around the shop.

All of them were shouting, "Auntie, how much?" and their teachers were shouting, " Stop shouting!" It was quite a funny sight and the shopkeeper was really busy and I'm sure, made a lot of money.

We walked around and saw many interesting things in that area.

Finally, the dark clouds couldn't hold it anymore and it started to rain. So we took the opportunity to take a break before going down to Chinatown. We got pretty hungry by the time we reach there and so we went straight to Yum Cha for their dim sum buffet. It was quite nice and fortunately we decided to go early because there were people queuing for the buffet after a while. We were wondering how was it that those people didn't have to work.

After that, we continue with our little photo adventure. The streets were really empty because of the rain.

Finally, we went up Ang Siang Hill and it rained again when we were halfway up. We finally made a round back to Chinatown and found ourselves too tired to continue.

It was quite an enjoyable trip. The weather was great! The short episodes of rain made the weather really cool. It was quite a fruitful day and I got to really try out my new camera which I bought at the COMEX.

My Tank at Wk 3

2009-10-22T16:17:00.003+08:00

Went to rearrange the tank again... cos i think the seaweed look nicer back there. Anyway, bought some Ah Pek Grass, heard they are quite easy.... got a bit fed up with HC liao. Hope this one will be the last time I do anything to the tank.

MY Otos... cute right?

Rescaping

2009-10-08T22:34:00.004+08:00

I have just rescaped my tank today.

Main reason is because I was getting an external filter and I have more space in the tank, so I make some rearrangements.

The whole process, including buying and setting up the filter, got me working from 11am to 6pm. I even forgot to have lunch!

Now I'm waiting for the HC in the foreground and some plants at the back of the driftwood to grow and then it'll look perfect

Children's Day at Bukit Panjang Child Care Centre

2009-10-01T22:45:00.003+08:00

Today JC, James and I went to Bukit Panjang Child Care Centre to help organize their children's day party.

I was so fun, and so noisy! We played a few games and end with giving out balloons. Thank God that JC and James were available to help, if not I would have died there.

JC attracted little girls like ants to sugar.... shhh, don't tell Kimberly

Fish Tank Update

2009-09-17T14:18:00.005+08:00

This 7 weeks has been an exciting journey. This tank is the one that I did most research and spent the most money on. Maybe its because there's someone to do it with. Anyway, right now, the tank seemed very settled and a lot of plants are doing well. Now I just have to be very patient and constientious with my routines and look forward to the flourishing of the more difficult plants.

Good news is that my plants are pearling and the shrimps are still alive! Never had such successes with both before. Now, I would spend at least half an hour in front of my tank everyday!.

if you look carefully at the area of the blue background, you'll see a dotted line. That's the result of active photosynthesis: my plants were giving out so much oxygen that it was coming out as a line of bubbles

Haha, I Can Blog Again

2009-08-08T00:50:00.003+08:00

Hmmm, don't know what happened but I tried to blog 2 weeks ago but I could not. The web page was very messed up and didn't allow me to write anything.

Anyway, its been a long time since I last blogged. During this period, quite a lot of things have happened. First of all, we winding down the business as its not doing well. It was a fine learning experience and a journey of discovery that there's a lot more to the running of a business, and that I don't like running a business at all. It took me away from the things I like to do.

So what is it going to be from now on? I must say that I'm really blessed because I was offered positions from various locations and therefore I don't have to go job hunting. My heart is really set on a particular position but I shall not blog about it until I get a confirmation. I must say that I could really see God's guidance in the midst of all these; while I was still praying about my decision on the new job, I attended a bible seminar by Ps. Benny Ho which talked about discerning God's will. He really helped a lot with his systematic presentation of steps that I could use to know what God's will is for me.

As we approach the day of the end of the company, we have ceased operation and closed several projects with schools that we were working with. What's left are some contracts that we need to fulfill to the end of the year.

During this period, I've managed to pick up swimming again. Many thanks to Ivan's enthusiam to pick up the sport. I have been swimming with him, on average, once a week. His eagerness has helped him improve at tremendous speed and he is able to do decent butterfly stroke and for a few laps too!

I've also met up with Joel, thanks to Facebook and his interest in plant tank. I met up with him a few times to go buy stuff for our tanks somewhere in Jalan Kayu. As a result, I'm about $200 poorer thank I was.

My Trip To Sapa Vietnam

2009-05-15T23:48:00.007+08:00

Actually, I'm a bit lazy to write on the trip, so I'll leave it till another day. So now, I'll just put up some pictures and this shall be my draft copy

The Market Place of Sapa

The Fields Of Sapa

Waterfalls of Sapa

Children of Sapa

Precious Moments

2009-03-27T00:27:00.002+08:00

Ever since the closure of PDP under The Salvation Army, our company Treasured Journeys has taken over the programme to run in Pei Hwa and St Patrick's. I must admit that these few months have been very stressful for me. It is no fun to own a business, and much less to have to run it. I have had a few to many soundless sleeps due to the many stresses that comes with the business.

However, as I look back, I see many moments where God has blessed me with many things and opportunities. Tiding us through the many little crises we faced, opening doors for us, and showing us clear signs in the directions in which we should head.

There are also many moments whereby many people remind me why I should carry on with the programme; the many people who posted on my blog who indicated how much they miss the programme, Ivan coming to help out during his holidays, the Springfield kids who remember and celebrate their facilitators birthdays and the many breakthroughs that I see so often in the on-going programmes.

I shall keep all of these close to my heart and draw them on as strength for my future challenges. I also urge that you all do the same: to gather all that we taught you and apply them in the many upcoming situations, whether good or bad, in your lives.

Visiting Gau Sheng

2009-02-16T21:16:00.002+08:00

Last fri afternoon Rachel and I flew over to KL with Mr Ng, Gau Sheng's father, and stayed one night there before going over to Taiping to call on Gau Sheng's grave.

In this trip, I begin to really grasp that funerals aren't really for the dead, its more for the living who are left behind. The feelings, the emotions, the rituals, the words, the missing, all belong to the living and the living alone. To help them cope with the loss, the hurt, the loneliness, the pain, and to facilitate the process of letting go

Afterall, we come into the world with nothing and we leave the world with nothing. One thing that I take comfort in is that Gau Sheng is in heaven with Jesus now, cos he was a believer in our Lord when he was alive on earth.

Looking back, I remember hearing comments that its such a pity that he died so young, that its not fair to him cos he is a good boy. Many of such comments are based on our understanding of the world. The feelings of unfairness and pity are, but only based on the limited understanding that death brings an end to everything. Though, not everything, death does bring an end to many things; our contact with them, our life with the deceased.

The great thing is that death has also brought an end to many bad things, an end to suffering, injustice, sadness, pain, sorrow, bad experiences. Because with death, comes a new life where there is no more pain and no more sorrow, as promised in the Bible. Can you imagine, Gau Sheng playing soccer in the fields of heaven and in the streets of gold. I can only imagine how great things can be like in Heaven, but he is already there ahead of me, enjoying his new home, his new "life" and his new beginning, busking in the Glory.

He is truly home now.

Chinese New Year

2009-02-09T21:45:00.002+08:00

We're approaching the end of Chinese New Year now.

I decided that my sister and I are too old for Chinese New Year and so I bought my family members tickets to Genting so that we can miss the first day of CNY and make it back in time to visit my grandma on the second day of new year.

The idea is for us to miss CNy altogether but in the end, I still maanged to get quite a sum of red packets. In fact, slightly more than last year. Well, one good thing about this year is that my uncle invited my parents over to his place. This was a pleasant surprise as they haven't spoken in years!

There was a big quarrel in my family and this uncle of mine hasn't spoken or contacted us, and my 2nd auntie, ever since the death of my grandfather. I visited him once after my grandfather died and that was it. A few months ago, my cousin, his son, got into a very serious accident and was hospitalized. We got news of it from my 1st auntie and we went to visit him. That really broke the ice that was built up over the years. I was really glad, we're family after all.

Procrastination

2009-01-30T16:43:00.003+08:00

I'm a real Procratinator.

I know that the best thing I can do for myself is to make a list of the things I need and want to do and start prioritising them.

Hmmmm, I'll get right into it tomorrrow......

Jovin with His Diabolo

2009-01-11T17:28:00.003+08:00

Got tired from training, so I decided to sit down and play with the video cam on my phone. After a while, it ran out of battery and then Jovin asked me to take his video using his phone.

The original ones were much much funnier, but he didn't want me to put them up because of mentions of certain somethings... lol.... Anyway, this one is much cooler lah.

A Tribute to Ng Gau Sheng

2009-01-04T00:28:00.009+08:00

I remember Ng Gau Sheng

I remember him, a part of pur PDP family

I remember his enthusiasm.

I remember his leadership qualities.

I remember that he betrayed me in Halo.

I remember that he would not want to sit beside me cos I would poke him after that.

I remember him as a sporty boy, a true personification of a Kampong Boy.

I remember his dirty pants and socks from playing soccer.

I remember that he likes to play soccer barefeet in the field.

I remember him checking time on his watch because he wanted to catch the bus home.

I remember him trying to annoy me every now and then.

I remember him running away after that.

I remember how he would squirm under my arm whenever I asked "You know that you're my "Faaaavourite" student right?"
I remember that he always tries to dodge the camera.

I remember that he is always ready to help when asked.

I remember how he is always pretending that he has badminton training.

I remember his extensive number of pens of different colours.

I remember Nur Siti Hamida Bte Salim, even though she didn't exist.

I remember him always asking, "Why you Singaporeans like to say 'sia'?"

I remember Ng Gau Sheng, who went home to God on 1 Jan 2009 at about 9:15pm.

My Trip tp Puli, Taiwan

2008-12-15T21:11:00.013+08:00

Its been 2 weeks now since I came back from Taiwan, and I think I am finally ready to blog about it.

I was really glad that Jovin came along with me on this trip since unlike the previous camps, my buddies did not go for this camp. Afterall, we are all aunties and uncles now, too old to be going for youth camp. He was initially apprehensive about the camp cos he didn't know anyone, but it was only a matter of time before he made friends with many of them. But maybe he might have got too comfortable and started to be his racist self and made a young boy cry.

I must have been very nice to him cos many people were asking if he were my son, and commented that I treated him like my son. Well, what to do, the Chinese saying goes: 一日为师，终身为父。

Puli is an extremely beautiful place and we were surrounded by mountains. The lack of high-rise buildings has allowed us to enjoy the many beautiful sceneries and our Creator's art work. The weather was great as the country approaches winter. It was one of those very rare occasions where I enjoyed staying in the sun and not have to sweat.

Other than having a chance to see the many works of the Corps, we managed to visited many nice places there (many thanks to all the staff from TSA). One place where we really enjoyed ourselves was the Formosa Village. It is like theme park where, at one location is all the rides and the cultural village on the other. It was fun going to that place with the youths. So far, all except one of my theme park experiences were with youths.

We also went to Sun Moon Lake, which was a really beautiful place to visit during when the sun is setting. The ride on the yacht was such an enjoyable and relaxing time, that was until just before the sun sets as it got too cold for many of us, especially those who left their windbreakers and jackets on the bus.

Last but not least, we visited the earthquake museum. The museum was built to commerate a major earthquake that killed many people in Taiwan. It was also the event that sparked off TSA's work in Puli. There was one point in time where our guide got a bit emotional while talking about the event and she was surprised that none of the Singaporeans seems to be moved by what she said. Can't blame our kids, they were not able to relate to the severity of it all.

On the whole, I really enjoyed this trip and find that Nantou is a really relaxing part of Taiwan. I would like to visit the place once more. This time, hopefully to bless the Corps there with some service that I can offer.

Trip to Puli, Taiwan

2008-12-01T18:41:00.002+08:00

Wow, it was a real eye opener to see how wonderfully God has used The Salvation Army in such a marvellous way in Puli. It can only encourage us to really follow His calling here in Singapore.

The Corps there is really integrated with the community and society. By giving itself to really serve, they have become very prominent in the community. On top of that, the Corps and its social services are so integrated. Which led me to challenge the youths on where their "fields" are, and if they are doing anything to harvest these fields.

Well, guys, look out, cos we're gonna have a camp reunion soon.

P.S. If you guys are looking for pics, click on the the link to my photo gallery on the left. But no personal pics there lah, don't want to offend anyone. So if you want you personal pics, get them thru MSN or something.

Playing and Leading

2008-10-30T09:53:00.002+08:00

We were invited to play for Gracehaven's camp last night. Stephanie wasn't able to come play and Ben wasn't able to come practice on Sat, so I decided to play the guitar myself.

I enjoyed the worship, I think some of the youths did too, but not many sang and the feedback was that the songs were too new for them.

I don't think I will want to play and lead unless necessary. Cos I really enjoy just singing. To be playing at the same time is just too distracting.

Going on Trips

2008-10-27T10:47:00.002+08:00

Yeah! November is coming and I will be going for 2 trips!

First, I'll be heading for Hong Kong, where I'm going to attend some conference on Officership. This is a fully paid trip by TSA and haha, I'm so looking forward to all the delicious food!

Then at the end of the month, I'll be going to Puli, Taiwan with the youths for the territorial camp. I think thats gonna be one cool camp and my "godson" is coming along too!

So looking forward to these 2 breaks before rushing for new set-up by the end of the year.

Btw, anyone wants to work for me? I need a youth worker.

True Wealth

2008-10-15T21:47:00.002+08:00

I was watching a show today and the old man said that true wealth is not measured by how much money you have; but by the number of family and friends around you.

These 4 weeks and ex-student came to help out in the programme and he didn't ask for anything in return. His help was great and extremely timely.

Invest in others with a genuine heart. Not all will, but those that return will bless you greatly.

Updates

2008-10-06T08:33:00.002+08:00

I realised that I haven't been blogging much lately. Ever since the "retrenchment" from Salvation Army and setting up of the business, I have been relatively busy. Now that I have to wake up very early to be in school, I spend a lot of time at night stoning and going to bed early. Plus, my PC at home has gone mad, which is why I don't spend a lot of time online nowadays (Thank God for my new laptop).

The business has taken off quite well and we are slowly getting on route. Thanks to the many help we have along the way. The website is also done up, after sometime of figuring out the basics of Dreamweaver.

Have a look and please help to spread the news around. http://www.treasuredjourneys.net

Roller Blading Accident

2008-09-03T19:36:00.003+08:00

Today was the last day of roller blading lesson for Pei Hwa. We did the lesson at Pasir Ris Park, the place where I fell on my butt and hit my tailbone a few years ago. That incident had left me hurting for 2 months and a scar in my mind which I carry till today.

Therefore, I was very careful while I was going down each and every slope, determined not to repeat the same mistake again. Well, thank God that I didn't fall on my back this time. However, I did fall awdwardly while going down the slope and I sprained my knee.

Oh yah, must remember to thank Jolene, cos she was with me all the while encouraging me and checking if I was alright.

Pedestrian "Banging Down" a Motorist

2008-08-31T23:31:00.002+08:00

I was waiting at the bus stop outside of Sim Lim Tower yesterday afternoon. The down pour that started 15mins before that was then reducing its strength but had not exactly turned into a drizzle yet.

As usual, that road was congested with lots of vehicles trying to get into the city on a Saturday afternoon. An Indian lady, slightly bigger than I am, was trying to cross the road from opposite side of the road from where I was, attempting to move quickly to the bus stop and out of the rain.

She braved through 4 lanes of vehicles that were coming to a stand still due to the turning of red light less than 50meters ahead. The last lane that she was about to cross seemed easy as it was the bus lane and no law-abiding, kiasee Singaporean would be driving in it unless he/she is a bus driver.

The Indian lady started her dash across the road as she looked far down the road and saw that no bus was coming down that lane. You know the saying "you don't see what you are not looking for"? That was exactly what happened to her, she didn't see a motorcycle approach her as the rider was riding in between the lanes. As she took her first step, the motorcycle came in front of her and I saw her literally PUSHED the motorcycle down!

She then went off with a slight limp, seemingly from a sprained ankle. The motorist didn't seemed injured, but he crashed his side mirror and had to push his bike to the side of the road because it wouldn't start after that.

The poor man.

Wonder Kid Sungho Jung

2008-08-02T00:51:00.003+08:00

I came across this video of a fantastic 12 year old. I'm so impressed I just had to post one of his vids!

Check Out My New Fish Tank

2008-07-26T23:45:00.000+08:00

Bought this tank sometime ago, but didn't post any pics. Its bigger than my last tank, I think this is a 2ft tank. It's just gone through "refurnishing".

Thank You Cathay

2008-07-21T13:39:00.002+08:00

Last Saturday, I went online to book 2 tickets for The Dark Knight. When I was at Cineleisure to collect my tickets, the girl at the counter said that I booked tickets for 4am and not 4pm. She said that they timing at the booking website was in 24hrs format and not am/pm format.

Fortunately, they were willing to give me 2 tickets for any show I wanted. However, there was no more spaces for Batman and the earliest timing for for 12 midnight. So I got tickets for Hancock instead, which turned out to be quite a good show.

After Hancock, LF and I were bored and since we only had lunch at 4pm, we decided to go watch the Dark Knight at Prince instead of going for dinner.

It was quite a terrible experience as the seats were very small and I was sitting next to a body builder. Try to imagine how a body builder looks like; he was having difficulties keeping his elbow within his own space and invaded my zone of comfort. Oh, what a terrible 2 and a half hours! During which, I suddenly sneezed and the girl sitting in front stared at me cos some "wind" got into her hair even though I covered my mouth. Then LF kept laughing not because the show was funny, but cos he couldn't get over the fact that I blew into the girl's hair.

The show was ok lah, not too bad

Lessons Learnt Today

2008-07-10T23:04:00.003+08:00

1) Sometimes it is important to double check even though they understand.

2) Some people like to be ONLY on the giving end of lame jokes and doing lame things. They fall apart when on the receiving end.

3) Not everyone can accept your honesty when they ask you to choose. They rather you keep your opinion to yourself and choose what they like, even if they are your close friends. (Next time just tell me what I need to choose what you want, no misunderstanding going down that lane.)

Last Day at Bendemeer PDP

2008-06-30T21:17:00.005+08:00

Today was the last day of PDP over at Bendemeer. Some of the students, Vivian and I went to Pizza Hut for my farewell dinner.

The students gave me a very nice card. Luana, Lorraine and Jing Wen gave me a wonderful Goldlion wallet. Jovin and Joanna gave me a pair cool fibre diabolo sticks.

Thank you all!!! I will miss you and remember all the fun we had!!

Last of all, a pic to show how much fun we had..... We all tell from the chairman's face of how enjoyable PDP has been.

Street Magic

2008-06-29T20:52:00.002+08:00

I helped Samuel to do a vid for his Poly project. Enjoy.

My Hong Kong Trip

2008-06-29T17:35:00.012+08:00

Hong Kong is pretty much like Singapore. Things are just as expensive and the weather is just as warm and humid. This trip was pretty much a shopping and eating trip... didn't really shop much but ate until I'm broke.

I feel that its much more crowded in Hong Kong, especially when many people poked me on the head with their umbrellas. Also the building are all built so close to one another you can't tell one building from the next; its like a whole street of buildings linked together.

We wanted to go to Macau, but no thanks to typhoon "Feng Sheng", all the ferries were cancelled. So it was more shopping and eating in the rain.

Delicious Wanton Noodles at Wellington Street in Central. Big Wantons with 2 prawns inside, crunchy and fresh. Fantastic beef, very tender.... yum yum

My burger and onion rings at Bubba Gump - a restuarant with the theme of Forrest Gump. Good place to go for shrimps

White Curry Rice at Satay King. Nice and cheap place for dinner.

Mango with Coconut Pudding at 许流山. This chain store is kind of like Starbucks, you can find them around every corner. They serve fantastic mango desserts. We went at least 5 times, cos my friend was crazy over it.

Didn't really take many pictures, cos it was raining and I didn't want to bring my camera out. Plus, there wasn't much that I could take.

Leaving for HK

2008-06-23T06:04:00.001+08:00

Yeah, I'm doing this from the airport. See you guys when I'm back!

PDP Farewell For SPF

2008-06-21T22:50:00.008+08:00

Last night was the last night for PDP over in Springfield Secondary School.

The school sponsored a farewell dinner for all those in the programme and their parents.

I am really touched by the way the students showed their appreciation toward the Facilitators.

"Houses" made by the students, with many "Thank You" cards inside

The students prepared a powerpoint presentation for the Facilitators. Part of the presentation was their wishes for them (click for larger view).

Thank you Springfielders for being a wonderful group. I enjoy the times we had together. Remember each other and keep in contact.

BTW, some of you have been asking for my MSN. Its obliviondragon@hotmail.com

PDP Leadership Camp

2008-06-18T19:08:00.009+08:00

We just finished a 2 day 1 night camp with Bendemeer and PH Sec at St Pat's. This was one of the more relaxing camps for me. Generally because this is a short camp and the students were well-behaved.

We had fun playing games and learning from them. Things about leadership, looking out for one another and how to resolve conflict. Then in the night, we went over to eat at East Coast Lagoon. It was a feast! Mrs Vivian and I spent quite a lot of money and ordered tons of food. We totally enjoyed ourselves eating the stingray, chicken wings, wanton noodles, porridge, you tiao and cuttlefish, raw fish, and satay. Oh and mustn't forget, Jovin bought us drinks.

Then we went back for a movie screening. I think it was Bring It On 3 or something like that. Terrible movie! I didn't really watch it as I was writing the notes for the boys.

I had to sleep on the mattress on the floor at night cos my "personal assistant" didn't get me a space on any beds. But to be fair, it was really nice of him to pull his mattress down to accompany me on the floor, so thanks. We spoke till quite late, about 2am and then he slept. I couldn't really sleep as the air-con was blowing directly at me and it was terribly cold. Then at 4am, Mr Tan woke up and we started making sparks with the static on my hammock.

At the end of the camp, I said my goodbyes to the Bendemeer students. Today is the 2nd last day that I'll see most of them because I'll be going to Hong Kong next week and my last day will be on the 30th. I'm am really gonna miss you guys; my fake god daughter-in-law and her sister, the chairman, Potter and Ron, my agony and the rest whom I haven't nicknamed. And most of all my gayboy-godson-PA-dog-徒弟, thank you for your nonsense, and fun and joy you bring.

Hike at Southern Ridges

2008-06-11T20:20:00.007+08:00

Today Bendemeer went for a hike at the southern ridges. We started at Harbour Front and went up Mount Faber. We didn't go far, only to the Terrace Garden, cos we were trying to make it back in time to be dismissed by 4pm. I was quite proud of them cos we did the hike in good speed and everyone were still energetic after it all.

Pocky Monsters

Everyone was trying to throw Brian Lee off the bridge

Fruits of Love

2008-06-02T14:03:00.002+08:00

We were doing a presentation about PDP last week. We asked some of the students and parents to come help by saying something about PDP. One of the students from Pei Hwa said, "PDP facils are like our 2nd parents." I was nearly moved to tears.

A Blog About An Uneventful Day

2008-05-28T20:32:00.003+08:00

Joanna from PDP was wondering why I don't blog everyday. I'm just not one of those who would blog about my uneventful life, until something touches me or is interesting to me. But for her sake, I shall blog about yesterday.

I reached PDP at about 9am. It was quite boring as no one came in yet. As people started streaming in, the place got a little more lively. We had our usual study time before lunch. Toward the end of our study time, Jovin and Siti were bickering like husband and wife, so we starting teasing them; about how Jovin is going to marry her and that he needs to convert into a Muslim.

After study time, Jovin, Siti, Joanna, Kee Wei, Acemond, Favian and I went to have our lunch over at Bendemeer Hawker Centre. On our way there, Jovin jumped on a bar attempting to do a pull-up. While trying, he dropped his wallet. I immediately saw a window of opportunity for a prank. I quickly scoop the wallet off the floor and placed it behind my back so that Jovin won't see it. Siti then quickly snatched it out of my hands and kept it.

It didn't take long for Jovin to realize that his wallet wasn't with him. I was his first suspect. He started searching all my pockets trying to see if his wallet was in anyone of them. When he was checking out my back pocket, he felt my wallet and started squeezing it and at the same time, he squeezed my butt! Feeling indignant, I immediately confronted him for squeezing my butt and he attempting to push me off the bridge in his attempt to silence me for his misdeed!

We all went back to the cabin after lunch and waited till 3pm when I took them out to play "Build House". However, it started raining soon after we began with the first round so all of us went back into the cabin to make more noise. Back at the cabin, we started teasing Jovin again but this time it was with Joanna. I told Joanna that Jovin is a nice guy (in a jokingly manner but I really meant it) and that she should consider him.

When PDP ended, I took the bus with Jovin and went for my keyboard lessons. It was my last lesson for this round and I have decided not to continue straight away because I would be starting my RT and will be busy with work. On top of that, I would be missing a lessons because I'm going to Hong Kong!

There you have it, a blog about an uneventful day. Specially dedicated to Joanna Tan Min Zhuang from Bendemeer PDP. I don't think there was and ever will be another on like this.

Same Verse, Different Message

2008-05-23T00:13:00.004+08:00

Once in a while, people will ask me, "How do you know when God is talking to you?" Here's an example of how.

Just now, I was at a meeting. A friend of mine shared that she is struggling with a decision that she has to make. Spotting a Bible in the room, I told her to pray and ask God to give her a direction and to flip open the Bible to look for an answer.
She prayed and after she opened the Bible, she passed it back. "How am I suppose to know which verse to read?" I took the Bible and read out the first verse that my eyes set upon. It was something about wives listening to their husbands.
I thought that was completely out of point to her situation. Later, during the meeting, she shared that she had reached her decision because of that verse. That's because before that, she had discussed the issue with her husband and he gave her a piece of advice. So, after hearing the verse that I read, she felt that God had given her the confirmation on her decision.

So there you have it, God has many ways in which he communicates with us. We just need to ask and go to the right source.

Eventful Few Months

2008-05-20T22:23:00.002+08:00

First of all, SAY Out Loud Connect was a wonderful event!! Many were touched by the skit and message that night! Praise God!

Secondly, following the annoucement at the final school, I can finally declare that PDP is gonna close at the end of June! Yes, that means I'll be out of job by then. There are plans going on to start PDP under a private limited company. I went through a very tough few weeks trying to decide if I wanted to work in this company. I have finally reached a decision; going for an interview this thursday morning, really hope I'll get the job. Those who believe in prayers, please pray for me.

Felt completely lost in the things I've been going through these few weeks. Mainly because I couldn't get through the hurdle of my indecision and it left me paralysed for a while. It then finally dawned on me that I was held back by my feelings and probably the inertial of moving forward. In the end, I told myself that I had to be true to myself and go on the journey that I planned so long ago. Failing to do so, I would probably be unhappy.

S.A.Y. Out Loud: Connect!

2008-05-11T01:50:00.004+08:00

Don't miss this event! Its on 16th May, Fri, 730pm @ Bishan Salvation Army

Newly Decorated Waterfront

2008-04-26T22:44:00.004+08:00

The new canal (or river as some would say) in front of my block just went through a facelift. It is now much greener with lots of new plants which, makes the whole place much more pleasing to the eyes. They have also added a floating platform, a spice garden, and a little educational corner that explains how water was used to to generate energy and for irrigation in the past. They can also replaced the park benches with large stones so that the whole place has a very natural theme. While walking along the floating platform, I heard a lady exlpaing to her friend that we smell we caught a whimph of was the smell that was given off by the pandan leaves planted along side the banks. It is now just so rejuvenating to walk down that path!

The Singapore Flyer

2008-04-03T19:19:00.005+08:00

I went with my friend to take some pics of the new icon of Singapore; The Singapore Flyer. There was very limited as to what I could do, especially when I do not have a wide angle lens like my friend. Anyway, here they are.

I Am Sailing

2008-04-01T22:28:00.003+08:00

My life has come to a very exciting point. Many doors are opening up for me. The idea of venturing out into something new has never been an appealing motion for me. I am usually the person who plays it safe and would not take too much uncalculated risks.

However, I think the time has come where I am ready to sail into the unchartered waters in my world, and as I am getting ready to change the course of my life, many new routes are becoming available for me. Along with these routes came quests and adventures, beckoning me to take the step of faith and boldly explore the possiblilties and the riches that this world has to offer.

I believe that more challenges than those that I had foreseen would appear before me, but I am whole-heartedly ready to face them. In the midst of all these, I shall not be swallowed up by any storm nor be lost in the vast oceans of the aspects of life. For I have my Compass with me.

SAY Out Loud held on 19 Jan

2008-03-26T23:12:00.005+08:00

Here's the video for the last SAY Out Loud. Credits to Uncle Vincent and Colin from Settlers Cafe, and all the facilitators who kindly ran the game for us!

Because He First Believe

2008-03-24T22:41:00.002+08:00

Today Andy gave an enlightening statement; We believe in God as a response to His belief in us.

He believes that we can do all things through Him, and so He gave us that promise. He believes that we can put our faith in Him and to love Him back and so He died for us.

Psalm 139 says that He knows everything about us, our standing up and sitting down, our thoughts. Yet, He still believes in you and me.

Now that you know the Almighty God believes in you, do not let anyone, not even yourself, to tell you otherwise. And let us respond to His believe and His promises appropriately.

My New "Toy"

2008-03-14T22:51:00.003+08:00

I bought a new keyboard. It's sleek and slim with 61 keys. I got it because I just took up keyboard lessons with Yamaha. Won't write too much about it, gotta go play with it now.

Changi Corps Worship Seminar

2008-02-26T19:39:00.004+08:00

Woohoo! Check this out! Changi Corps' own worship seminar!
I'm quite excited over it, this means that its time for us to move to a deeper level as a Corps.
Since the "exodous", much attention has been paid to the development of the team and I must say that I am really proud of how far we have come through as a band. We sound so good now. Lots of credit to those who have been willing to devote themselves to individual and team development in many ways, especially to those who share and encourage my vision and ministry.

On top of that, the Spirit has been really moving in the congregation and the team. Therefore, I really believe that this is the season for us to conduct this seminar. Pray for us, join us if you can.

Jay Chou Ltd Edition Items

2008-02-19T19:12:00.003+08:00

PDP Bendemeer is raising funds for its programme. Interested parties may search for these items on Yahoo! Auction.

http://sg.auctions.yahoo.com/sg/auction/257993623

http://sg.auctions.yahoo.com/sg/i:Jay%20Chou%20Ltd%20Ed%20Figurines%20350%2F5000:257992908

初四 service

2008-02-10T23:33:00.000+08:00

I have decided to give a break to the whole worship team today. So today's worship was lead by Jie and I. I reckoned that the married ones would be busy entertaining guests coming for visitations and the younger ones would be busy invading families in their annual pillage to add to their pocket money. Therefore Jie and I were the best candidates, or rather the only ones left cos we're not married and are too old to join the young ones in their plunder.

"Time to get a wife," shouted Auntie Lynda from below the stage. I probably shouldn't have said what I thought on stage. It drew a lot of conversations around the topic of it being time for me to not be so choosy and settle down quick. The good part is that it also drew a few ang pows for me, haha.

Well, come to think of it, I am gettting of age. Maybe its really time to look at this seriously. So here goes, I'm open for application now. Haha.

Sentosa Flower Thing

2008-02-10T17:12:00.000+08:00

Went to the Sentosa flower show or exhibition, can't really remember what it was called.

Quite boring actually, most of the flowers looks half dead and there were too many people around; bad choice to go on a Saturday afternoon. I ended up taking a lot of pictures of bees.

Back From Reservist

2008-02-01T22:26:00.001+08:00

Woohoo! Finally, end of reservist liao!

I think i missed a lot of things while I was in reservist. Quite sad that the army took away 2 weeks of my life.

My buddy didn't go for reservist this year. He called up to find out why and they told him that there was enough people already. What rubbish! We were under strength. Its kind of different without him around.

This year I discovered something; my platoon sergeant is a very powerful ninja. He knows how to throw his smoke bomb well. He was chosen as the best soldier for the company and when the CO asked him what did he do best in this In-Camp, he said "I bonded with my men." The whole company broke out in laughter and subsequently, many used his statement when interviewed by the CO. But to give him credit, he is a really good PS and he takes care of us. Our PC is also very good. He impressed us so much that our trainer kept saying that he is a good PC and takes care of his men.

On the whole, I find this in-camp quite alright. At least it wasn't as siong and we all did quite well in what we were to do.

The Echoes Of My Heart

2007-12-19T22:40:00.000+08:00

I've been looking back at my life these past few days.

Many things touched me.
Things I am blessed with.
Things that molded me.
Things that helped me get through.
Things that brought me to where I am now.

I have been "investing" in people half of my life now. Come to think of it, that has always me something that I wanted to do since I was in primary school. The thing with these "investments" is that there are no "returns" guaranteed. But I must say that in these last few years, I'm beginning to see the fruit of it.

Don't be mistaken here, I'm not expecting anything back, just trying to say that what I get back is far greater than what I would ever ask for. Which is why I feel so blessed just moments ago.

But its not like that all the time
Sometimes its hard to "invest" in people.
Sometimes I tell myself that I haven't done enough.
Sometimes people just don't wished to be "invested" in.
Sometimes its about letting go.

Everytime that happens, I would wait patiently to be blessed again.

Some Pics From Leadership Camp

2007-12-17T22:04:00.000+08:00

The wind was blowing so strongly that day,our students couldn't stand straight.

Haha, Faris didn't get to do the peace sign.

I left my mark on Jovin.

Prisoners awaiting execution at Changi beach.

Unleashing Potential

2007-12-14T00:20:00.000+08:00

"Energy can only be transformed and not destroyed". I think it was something like that, one of the science lessons that I remembered from secondary school. In accordance to this theory, energy not in used is called potential energy.

Therefore, when someone says that he sees the potential in you, it also means that there are qualities or skills in you that are not being used. These potentials can be drawn out through opportunities and circumstances. However, the last stages where potential turn into skills or qualities, only happens when you decide to reach into yourself to unlock and release them.

Its kind of like a sleeping dragon (or maybe sleeping beauty for the girls); its prowess will never be appreciated till it is awake.

Leadership Camp 2007

2007-12-12T18:59:00.000+08:00

This year's leadership camp was a very tiring experience. Sleeping on hard wooden plank and the constant noise from the landing airplanes makes it an unpleasant place to sleep in. On top of that, there were some boys who probably need their brains checked out, woke up just after 5am and made a lot of noise. My guess is that they found it difficult to continue sleeping but that shouldn't an excuse for being inconsiderate and waking up everybody else before dawn.

The whole camp reinforced what I told the Springfield kids about Leadership Qualities; that common sense should be one of them. This camp spotted a lot of jokers who did many silly things, not connecting with the grey matter in between their ears.

On the good side, the teens were much more ready and energized in this camp. This could because the experience from the previous leadership camp had prepared them and also that they needed less time to break the ice in their teams since a few schools went on their Service-Learning trips together. There were many unexpected participation and some of them did things that brought their hidden "talents" to light.

The leaders in the groups were also very outstanding this year, not only did they lead their groups well in the activities, many of them also engaged themselves in helping out where they would go un-noticed. This speaks of the great inner strength that they possess and for me, this is true leadership, in a form of a lifestyle and not just out there for show.

Hollywood Nite was a great success, we all had great fun and Capt Hary encouraged the students and staff through his words and affirmations. The students had a great laugh watching the Facils as they mimick some celebrities and many were greatly encouraged in being nominated and winning awards for their outstanding qualities throughout the camp.

Borrowing the words of Capt Hary, it looks like this batch of students have great potential. It'll be interesting to see how they would be leading next year and I hope that a great year of training would equip them even more.

P.S. Hadi owes me $5 for using my inspiring words and not giving me proper credit for them.

Something Off My Mind

2007-12-10T11:56:00.000+08:00

The following is an inspiration from a conversation I had. Just thought its something "smart" that I came up with and gotta write it down somewhere, so don't think too much.

Anger and hatred are like Chinese Soups, the more you brew them, the stronger they becomes. At times, before you know it, all the soup would dry up, leaving a burnt mark in your own pot.

So, if you are carry a grudge against someone, serve him/her a bowl of soup (literally) before you burn yourself

My Farewell Gift For Springfield

2007-12-05T21:53:00.000+08:00

I spent the last 2 days getting the students started on the Be REAL concept and managed to help them to put together an art piece of the size of 8 pieces of A2 size paper. They were a great help and everyone had fun putting their palm print on the piece. Those who were not around, remember to leave your mark when you come back to the PDP room.

New Crocs

2007-12-03T20:28:00.000+08:00

Last Sat I was helping out at the Peacehaven carnival and Mui Lan bought me a new pair of Crocs to thank me for volunteering. Its one of the medical range that Crocs has produced; you can read the benefits on the pic. If you look closely, the crocodile is wearing a stetoscope.

Service Learning Trip to Malacca

2007-11-26T19:21:00.000+08:00

Springfield and Mayflower were in Malacca last week for a service learning trip. The trip was very successful and was fun for many.

DAY 1 It was mainly travelling and settling down on the 1st day. In the evening, we went for a river cruise and saw various historical sites of Malacca. We then went Makota Parade for dinner and bowling. The night ended with the performers practicing for their acts for the next day.

DAY 2 We split into 2 groups on the 2nd day. One group had a telematch with the children from the home in the hotel pool in the morning and painted in the afternoon while the other group painted in the morning and went to Hopehaven, a school for children with special needs, and performed for them. Sadly, I was in charge of the painting project so I didn't get to see any action other than painting. However, I am glad to hear that the telematch group had a lot of fun and that the performances went well too. That night, we all gathered for a great BBQ dinner by the pool side with the children from the home and we sent off the children with presents and balloon sculptures.

DAY 3 was a time to just relax before travelling back to Singapore. The Springfield group went up the A' Farmosa Fort and I had a great time taking picture with my "models". After that, we went back to Makota for bowling at 2RM per game. Oh yah, I also lost my handphone during that day. I realized that I didn't have it when I was at the Fort, *sigh* what a bummer.

4 parents came along for this trip and it was really wonderful to have them with us. They were really helpful in many ways and their level of participation was incomparable.

As for the students, they were great too! By the end of the 2nd day, they were so tired from the painting and running after the kids, but you could still see a lot of them putting in effort in taking care of the children from the home.

Round and round we go

2007-11-14T23:30:00.000+08:00

Ever had people who beat around the bush just to prove a point?

What about those who do that just to get you to admit that they are right instead of you?

These people are irritating aren't they? I tend to be more of a straight forward person and would tell others straight in the face and causing the least amount of damage possible.

I can't stand those who try to hide their intentions in their conversations and try to get me to say something that they are thinking, or something that I do not agree with. I find that truly hypocritical and demeaning, an insult to my intelligence; as if to say that I can't tell what this person is trying to do.

What I usually do in response is to engage in a psychological challenge with this kind of people. It is really quite complicated as I have to appear as if I do not understand totally what this person is talking about but at the same time, not look stupid or ignorant. Though irritated, I have to keep my composure so that I do not seem like I'm on full defence mode or that nothing will mot go through my skull.

The real weakness of these people is that they will try as many angles, tactics and stories to try to "help" me understand and be convinced. What they do not realize is that, most of the time, they more they try, the more loopholes and weak spots would appear. This is where I would tactically agree with some of the things that he/she said and make my stand by disapproving of the loopholes presented.

It really takes quite a bit of self-control and patience to pull off stunts like these. So if all else fail or when its becoming meaningless, I'll pretend to agree and forget about the whole situation. For there's nothing worse than an hypocrital self-righteous person except for a stubborn hypocrital self-righteous person.

Sentosa Outing with PDP MF & SPF

2007-10-30T20:29:00.000+08:00

Went to sentosa with my kids today. It rained before we went in. Thank God that the rain stopped just right before we reached the beach. The weather was fantastic the rest of the day, breezy and cloudy. Don't think anyone will get sunburn.

The lizard I made and my 2 helpers cum models

For more pictures, please click HERE

Thank You LJS Auntie

2007-10-23T22:04:00.000+08:00

Wow, it's been more than a month since my last entry.

This entry is dedicated to the nice elderly auntie at Long John Silver's over at Simei.

She was like any other aunties who work in fastfood joints even though she was of age to enjoy her golden years and retirement. However, I guess not everyone has the luxury of doing that in Singapore. Anyway, like other aunties, her job was to clear trays and clean up tables in the restaurant and didn't attract too much of my attention at first. The 'fast food' restaurant made me wait for 10mins for my order of 2 pieces fish and fries with the request of extra crumbs. Realizing that I was seated there without food for a long time, the nice auntie apporached me to ask me what I ordered.

On her way to the kitchen to check the status of my food, the counter girl who took my order finally came with my tray of fishes and fries, but no extra crumbs. The auntie then gently reminded her that I wanted extra crumbs. Ignoring what the auntie said, the counter girl served me the plate and apologised that there were limited crumbs left in the kitchen. I then thought to myself that it was impossible for them to not have enough crumbs since they were serving me fish that were just out from the fryer. Not wanting to make my day worst, I decided not to pursue my crumbs and started digging into my food.

After a while, the auntie came to me with a paper wrapper, the kind that they use to hold the fries. Inside it was a full packet of crumbs! That really made my day.

I started to enjoy my lunch and as I was doing so, I observed that the auntie approached another man and then went into the kitchen to check his order.

This auntie was really nice and showed professionalism in what she was doing. What she provided was definitely first class service. If the GEMS campaign was still going on, I would pick up a card and give it to her. So in the end, I went up to her to thank her again. She really made a difference to my day

Genting Trip

2007-09-19T09:26:00.000+08:00

My sister paid for this whole trip. This is the first time that we went on a trip as a family.

Cha(o-da)rity Bike N Blade

2007-09-13T08:46:00.000+08:00

Avande organized a fund raising event, for The Salvation Army, Ling Guang Youth Centre and Pertapis, whereby participants have to cycle or blade. There are 2 sections to the whole journey; 400km which was from Malaysia to Singapore and the last 40km from Changi Ferry Terminal to Habour Front.

We have been training for several weeks before the event and it seems that the training has paid off. Cos it turned out top be quite relaxing for us on the actual day and I seem to have lost some weight. Haha.

The Changkat boys and girl with our cool jerseys and helmets.

The TSA Team

Oh yes, and the hot sun that afternoon left me a mark. There're still very obvious tan lines on both my arms today

Uncle, Very Fun Is It?

2007-09-03T22:19:00.000+08:00

2:30pm. Pouring outside; the huge thuderstorm and water ankle high by the roadside kind.

Decided to take a taxi to go home from East Point. There were 2 cabs waiting at the stand. From a distance I could see the sign on Taxi 1 and says "Shift Change, Bedok". I went over to the 2nd cab and wanted to get into it. The uncle in cab no.2 waved his hand and ask me to go to the taxi in front. I tried to explain to him that cab no.1 was going Bedok, but he kept saying no and cannot.

At this point of time, cab no.1 horned, indicating for me to go to him. So I walked over quickly, still trying to get myself out of the rain, opened the door and asked, "You going Bedok right?" He then asked where my destination was and upon finding out, he waved his hand and said, "Cannot, cannot." Drawing from the frustration welling up inside of me I said, "Uncle, very fun is it? It's raining outside here you know?"

Uncle in taxi no.2 appaul me for what I did.

My First High Distinction!

2007-08-25T18:59:00.001+08:00

Yeah, I've got my first High Distinction in my University Education! So happy! It'll probably be the only one though, got one more subject to complete and I'll be done with my Masters. Don't think I'll be getting a HD for that subject :P

S.A.Y. Out Loud Progression

2007-08-23T21:24:00.000+08:00

Last night we had a meeting to review the S.A.Y. Out Loud first combined youth service held on 10 Aug. The feedback given by the committee and the data from the survey forms showed that the youths really enjoyed themselves and had a great time.

We then went on to plan for the next upcoming event that'll be on 8 Dec. I am very proud of the committee. They give great ideas, think deeply into the things that we are doing, honest and generous in their opinions, open in receiving feedback, willing to offer themselves to take up roles and work with others, and most importantly, they are a bunch of people with high enthusiasm and positive energy. The kind of spirit that'll flow down to the people we minister to.

I'm so looking forward to what's to come and I can see why God's plan was to have me start this and have others to see it through. Its so obvious, cos these youngER folks are so capable and equipped already!

Never "Never" and Never "Always"

2007-08-20T10:55:00.000+08:00

Something that I'm still bitter about and need to get it off my chest cos I never really got to address it. And its always better out than in, so here goes;

Remember "The American Tale" by Walt Disney? Probably not for those who are younger. That movie was likely the first one that I watched when I was young. You might not have seen the movie but I bet many have heard the song "Somewhere Out There" One other song that I remembered was one where the pigeon was telling the mouse to Never Say Never, the idea was to tell the mouse not to give up.

However, it is also about not using absolute words such as "never". Words like that leaves no space for hope, allows no room for improvement, creates no route to turn around, and provides no reason to try.

Same goes for words like "always". Last week, a friend was interested in something that I was doing, so I asked him to come along. He didn't want to and asked me to plan for something above of what I was already doing, so I did. He asked for my plans to motivate him, so I tried. And when it seems that the plans I made included benefits for myself, he said that I was ALWAYS thinking of myself.

I resent that. Why? Cos it is not true and it hurts.

Confusions

2007-08-17T00:01:00.000+08:00

People find me too long-winded sometimes.

But seriously, most of the time, I'm not. That gets me misunderstood on occasions. My MBTI test says that I'm INTJ; that means that I'm an intuitive and thinking person i.e. I think a lot and I look at the big picture, the outcome.

That's the way I tend to explain things to people, I miss out the details, especially the obvious ones and just emphasize on the outcome. Most of the time not even the full explanation of the outcome, just the parts that are important, cos the whole outcome would just be too much detail.
Most of the times, people just take what I say and trust me, or take a bit of to think through and understand, or see the parts I left out eventually.

Once in a while comes someone who is lazy or not so capable of thinking through, who would request for me to back track and explain, step by step, how I arrive at my outcome. I don't mind that. The irony is that these are the same people, whom when I explain things to them by the parts, often interrupt me with their "I know liao, I know liao!" in a tone that holds the hidden message of "no need to be so long-winded." Or when I reached the end with the outcome, they would ask "why didn't you just say so?"

P.S. The final 2 paragraphs are especially for those that I described in the 4th paragraph. Hope this is detailed enough for you, and I did say so; in the first 2 paragraphs

My 4 Days In Ipoh, Penang and Batang Melaka

2007-08-07T08:42:00.000+08:00

IPOH
It has been 2 years since I last went over to Ipoh. I was quite excited to go back to the boys' home as it is a very welcoming place to be.

Capt Hary, Uncle Freddy (who flew in from Australia for the SALT training), Candidate Fiona (from Kuching) and I travelled for almost 9 hours on fri to reach Ipoh at midnight. On Sat, we went over to the Boys' Home to conduct a game for the boys there. Their ages were from 9 to 17 and there were more than 40 of them that morning. I had a tough time thinking of a game that I could use for so many boys in such a wide age group. Thank God Bernie suggest, back in Singapore, that I should try out the Candle War and I did just that. The real war, however, was not with the candles, but with the explanation of the game. Not all of them could understand English and Mandarin, but all were fluent in Cantonese, including the Indian boys. There was no way I could explain in my broken Cantonese and so it took me long time to do the explanation. By the time I finished, the boys just went off playing with the candles and completing all the tasks without adhering to the rules! Then we tried explaining and playing the game another round. Slightly more successful but one group won without completing the tasks, so I had to declare the other group the winner. Thank God that Capt came in to save the day with his little message at the end.

After the game we had free time and I showed some magic tricks. There was a large crowd following me after that and I had to move from place to place to get the perfect angle so as not to give my trick away. Being with the boys was quite an experience. They were very interested in conversations and would crowd around to listen if there were not occupied with something.

In the afternoon, I did a Sexuality talk for about 30 youths, majority boys from the home and 5 girls from the children's home. It was interesting to finally be able to do a version from the Christian perspective. I was aware that I needed to be sensitive in what I was saying as some of them might have some issues and I was right about it. One of the boys wrote this in Chinese and put it in the Q&A box, " What's so good about sex? If it is good, why did my parent do it and then abandon me? Did they just do it for the pleasure?" At that point of time, my heart was filled with compassion and I felt sad for the boy who wrote it.

The picture on the left is of one of the boys who was very hospitable. His name is Boy Boy, for real!. It was hard to believe at first but then I had no choice but to believe it when I saw his name tag on his school uniform on Monday.

I told a story in Sunday school the next morning. The initial plan that Maj Leong had was for Didi to do the Sunday School but it was unfortunate that she couldn't come along with us. The main service was quite amazing. The congregation was majority boys and girls from both homes and less than 10 adults. They have an organ and some guitars but no one knew how to play. So the whole praise & worship was done in acapella. Capt and I agreed that we should bring a team to teach them music the next time round.

PENANG
Our next stop was Penang and we left after the service. The boys in the home there were quite different; more urbanized and reserved. Spoke with some of the boys who were at the camp. Didn't get to take any pictures there as my phone batt went flat after the boys in Ipoh spent hours transfering the Christian songs to their own phone via bluetooth. We then went for dinner with Maj Mary and her children. Carmen, Alicia and Caleb were sad that Didi couldn't go and I teased Caleb for being disappointed cos he missed one chance to see the 'love of his life'. LOL.

BATANG MELAKA
On Monday, we travelled a few hours to Batang Melaka. By the time we reached there, it was 8pm. Didn't see much of the place as there was not much to see. But gathering from Capt Chong, they also needed quite a bit of help in what they are doing. I admire him and his wife as Batang Melaka is so out of place and the support and resources they can get is very little but they are doing their best and obviously passionate in what they do.

While driving back I was reflecting on my trip. I feel so much to want to help these places, to equip them with skills that they can use in their work. They are in so many ways lacking in so many things that we just take for granted here; manpower, resources, skills, support, physical things. I would love to visit them again, to encourage and empower.

$1.20 Tissue Paper/ My Fish Tank

2007-07-28T20:57:00.001+08:00

I promised Priscilla Tnay that I would blog about this:

Some of my church friends and I went to Smith Street to have dinner with my mother and sis. Then one auntie came over and was trying to sell 5 packets of tissue for $1. After some time of refusing her, she finally gave up and walked away. Then one of my friends said out loud, "Auntie, not $1.20 meh?" (according to the price hike advert from McDees, lol!)

I don't usually put have 2 subjects in a single entry (P.S.(s) don't count), so this is one of the very few exceptions. I am very proud of what I've done to my fish tank. After more than a year long of meddling, experimenting, observing, designing and trying, I'm finally happy with the layout of my small tank.

I now have 7 kinds of plant in my tank, of which, I'm most proud of the lotus. I bought it as a stump and its the longest residence of the tank. And because of the stump, it keeps sprouting new stems even when I damage or accidentally tear out the old ones while changing water or "re-decorating" the tank. The lotus is not visible from here as it is still quite small and covered at the back of the tank. I shall take another picture to show the tank again once the lotus is full grown.

S.A.Y. OUT LOUD Service for Singapore

2007-07-25T21:29:00.000+08:00

The Cat Is Back

2007-06-27T18:35:00.000+08:00

Mimi is back and sleeping on my slippers again! For thos of you who don't know what I'm talking about, click the link to read this post >>> Biofeedback's Feedback: Where Is The Cat?

I saw her sleeping in my neighbour's shoe rack on Monday. On Tuesday, she came back to the corridor in front of my house, dragged my slipper to her favourite spot and slept there and drooled on it. When I went back to take a peek, I saw her sharpening her claws on my slipper. I saw her again today and she was half awake and was meowing at me :)

My mum said that maybe she had a fight with her husband and is now back at her 娘家 (maiden home).

Beautiful Wife

2007-06-21T22:43:00.001+08:00

My right hand is 98% healed now as it was a less serious one. The injury on my knee is alright too. Not painful anymore, just waiting for the hard skin to shed off. I managed to give a slight tear to my right hand on tues while playing with my student, so looks like it'll take another week to heal up.

Anyway, that's not what I wanted to say. On Tues, I saw one church Uncle after the media influence workshop over at THQ and so I went over to say hello. Out of the sudden, he said he knew why I was still single. He quoted the Bible saying that in one of his letters, Paul mentioned that getting attached would mean a hindrance to God's work. Therefore, the reason to why I do not have a girlfriend yet is because God has more things for me to do. The Uncle then went on and said this "If you hold on, God will give you a beautiful wife, just like me."I then replied: "Eeee, I then don't want! I don't mind a beautiful wife like yours, but one like you? I'm gonna ask God not to give."

P.S. yeah, this is my 50th post!

Mawai Eco Camp

2007-06-16T08:48:00.000+08:00

4 PDP schools went to Mawai Eco Camp over the last 3 days. The whole trip included climbing Gunung Arong, a water obstacle course, an an educational swamp walk.

I'm very proud of my Springfield boys; not only were they cooperative throughout the camp, there was almost no complain from any of them. The swamp walk was especially testing for a lot of the students. A lot of them were causing commotions because of leeches or becuase they got stuck, almost knee deep, in the mud.
But my boys were really having fun going around support those who were crossing mud patches by standing in the middle and sinking in slightly more with the weight of each person they supported, moving around with the salt that they have so that they can pull out the leeches of those who are paralyzed by the leeches sucking on them so much so that they can only scream but couldn't pull or flick the leeches off.
They were great bacause they were not just all talk and no action, and neither are they the kind who wishes other people's fate to worse as bad, or worse than theirs.

Bernie always said that how we play games is a reflection of life. I think thats true. And through this trip, I have fully experienced the meaning of the phrase: "empty vessels make the most noise"

Painful Shower

2007-06-06T22:27:00.000+08:00

I had one of the most painful shower just now because of what happened to my hands and knee.
I was playing Tchoukball and had to go after one stray ball that I threw. Then I stepped into a small pot hole in the grass patch and I fell forward. I remembered comtemplating if I should break fall or roll over. I chose to break fall, obviuosly the wrnog choice. Therefore, resulting serious abrasion against the tar jogging track.

Camp Pics Are Out

2007-06-05T21:29:00.001+08:00

Phew, after a few hours going through and resizing of the photos, they are finally out!

Please understand that I can't put all the pics up. This is because some of them are a bit blur and that there are just too many pics (few hundreds in total). So I've decided to just put up some pics that are interesting and would remind us of the events of the camp.

I will get Capt Hary to send a copy of DVD with all the pictures that were taken with my camera to your corps and centers.

Meanwhile, click here for the pics

Youth Camp 2007

2007-06-04T21:41:00.000+08:00

After weeks and weeks of meetings and preparation, the youth camp finally came to pass. I must say that it was great making new friends and meeting up old ones. And I can see that a "new" time has come, and how God has been preparing for it. Its wonderful to see how some of the youths have grown over the last few years, going through boot camp training and all, God moulding them into the leaders that they are today.

Very soon I'll have to pass the baton on as I'm not so young anymore :)

Here are some pics, I'll announce again once I've got everything onto my fotopic gallery.

The view from my room

Fun in the pool

Some of my new friends

Fried Rice And Japanese Curry

2007-05-29T16:51:00.001+08:00

Last Wed I made fried rice and Japanese curry for my cell group of about 10 people. They were almost all finished... haha

Steps for Frying Rice.

1) Heat up some oil and fry the ingredients. For this one I had bacon, luncheon meat and green peas. I fried the bacon first then the luncheon meat, then the peas. Didn't use too much oil cos bacon and luncheon meat will produce their own. Scoop every out after you're done. Don't wash the wok yet, cos it retains the flavour from the ingredients.

2) Beat up some eggs (in this case I used 5) with 1/4 portion of water. Heat up a bit of oil again and pour the eggs inside. Wait for a while then stir the eggs, you'll see some parts of it will look like scrambled egg. Wait till half of it looks like scrambled egg and half is still liquid then add in the rice and mix. By doing this, the rice will soak up the liquid parts, adding color and flavour to the rice itself (more eggs and less water to make it more yellow).

3) Add in the pre-fried ingredients, salt, soy sauce, oyster sauce and mix them well.

4) Fry till the rice looks moist and not wet or too oily.

Steps to make Japanese Curry;

1) Follow the instructions on the back of the box. If you can't read Japanese, please be smart enough to buy one that has English instructions.

How Come Leh?

2007-05-26T23:08:00.000+08:00

On wed night, someone called me. She sound like an old lady and she spoke teochew. Below is a translated transcript of the conversation between her and me;

Me: Hello

Auntie: Hello, Ah Seng ah

Me: Huh?

Auntie: Ah Seng is it?

Me: Auntie, I think you called the wrong number.

Auntie: Huh? How come leh?

At this point of time, I couldn't control myself and burst out laughing.

Me: Auntie, how would I know how come you called the wrong number?

Auntie: Huh..... You're disturbing me is it?

Me (trying to control my laughter): Auntie, you really called the wrong number

Silence....... Silence...... Duuuuuuuu, she hung up.

Lower Pierce Reservoir

2007-04-30T21:58:00.000+08:00

Now that Lie Feng has finished his studies and is waiting for emplyment, he is free to go on photo shoots with me.

That was about the only thing I took. We were kind of in a rush (partly my fault) and then he drove round and round the morth central part of Singapore and we reached there even later. So didn't have opportunities to take other things after the set up

Where Is The Cat?

2007-04-14T23:53:00.001+08:00

I wonder where is Mimi taking her afternoon naps now?

She used to come and sleep outside my apartment, along the corridor, right next to my door. She used to come between 2pm to 6pm, when the sun would shine upon the spot where she laid. Never really knew why. Maybe she wanted to add a little tan to her skin underneath her grey and black fur.

She was there, everyday, for a period of at least nine months, before the rainy season came. The rain would come in and would wet her usual sleeping place, and so she had to migrate. During those 9 months or so, she used to look up whenever my family members and I came in and out of our door. She would answer back whenever we called out "Mimi". She used to make herself very comfortable by pulling one of my slippers to use as a head rest. My slippers also acted as her nail files; I saw her sharpening her claws with my slippers, leaving holes in them. Sometimes I would feed her milk and on even more rare occasions, cat food.

Though it was a long period of 9 months or so, I've never managed to touch or pat her. She used to hiss at me and run away whenever I tried. May Ling said it might be because she had a terrible experience with human beings and is, thus, having difficulties trusting us.

Sometimes human beings are like Mimi too. Say we had a bad experience with something, then we start to stay away from it, or any other forms that are similar. We figured that if one is like that, then the rest must be so too. As what the Chinese would say "1 stick overturn the whole boat".

What's worse is that sometimes we don't understand that not every form that is similar to that thing is harmful to us, even when sometimes we receive advantages from them.

Don't really know if what I wrote makes any sense, but I'm definitely not re-writing it... too tired and too late liao. What I'm trying to say is that this week's lessons on Counselling Theories have really given me insights on how detrimental past experiences could be. And I see a lot of people out there, going through life like Mimi.

And as I gain knowledge, I pray to God that he will give me the wisdom to apply all of them correctly and effectively to all those that I help.

Friend Of Springfield

2007-04-07T19:40:00.000+08:00

2 Days ago, I was awarded the "Friend OF Springfield" Award by Springfield Secondary School.

I must admit, it did seem funny at first thought, most of my students didn't believed me when I told them that their school is giving me this award.

However, much later, I felt honoured and proud to receive this award. This is great affirmation and, to me, regconition of the work that I have done for the past years. In this line of work, we are usually giving more than we are receiving. Therefore, this award is a great encouragement to me.

Thanks Springfield

New Phone and Camera

2007-04-07T19:27:00.000+08:00

Woohoo, I got a new phone. Or should I say camera. The Sony Ericsson K800i

With Carl Zeiss lens built into it, it captures pictures of up to 3.2 megapixels. I bought this phone more for the purpose of the camera rather than the phone. And so far, I'm very happy with it! :)

Here's a picture sample:

Back To Being A Civillian

2007-03-31T08:45:00.000+08:00

Yeah, I'm back from my reservist!

Even though I was looking forward to this chance to take a break from work and all, it was difficult for me to wake up on Monday cos the guys from church took me out for a movie and dinner for my birthday on Sunday night. So it was quite late when I finished packing.

The programme for this year's reservist seems tighter and more organized. There was altogether less waiting around and more doing. Training programme was packed and the hot sun contributed to the fatigue of the platoon, while trying to recall our mortar drills. By the end of the 3rd night, 90% of my mates were already in bed by 9pm. We were fortunate to have rain on Thursday while we were out in the field and so we didn't get to do much. On the whole, the platoon did very well and got a recon 1 for our IBOS test.

Other than all the siong parts, we also had some fun. Some of my friends played Dai Di and the losers had to eat a share of the night snack (Tuna Sandwich); I stuck the scary picture of the lady of the "Quit Smoking" Advert on the cupboard of the only smoker in the platoon and scared him when he woke up to smoke at 5am; my stupid buddy kept waking me up when I fall asleep, and when I'm awake, he pretends to go to sleep and ignore me when I'm talking to him!

On the whole, it was a quite a pleasant experience, but I'm not looking forward to next year's in camp. It'll be high key and I'll have to stay 3 days and 2 nights in the field with no change of underwear and no where to shit.

My New Crumpler!

2007-03-23T23:05:00.000+08:00

Whoooppiiieee. I got a new Crumpler. Thanks LQ! Lovely b'day present

Fatigue

2007-03-19T21:31:00.000+08:00

I'm tired. Have been sleeping about 5 to 6 hours every night for about 2 weeks.

I want to take a break but work will pile up if I did.

I want to sleep more, in fact I slept at 11pm last night, but found myself wide awake at 3:30am.

I'm actually looking forward to reservist next monday.

Lousy Grades

2007-03-16T22:46:00.000+08:00

Quite stressed out this week. Failed my assignment after working so hard for it. The lecturer said that I wrote out of point. I was so depressed when i first know that. Few days later, found out that half my class who chose to wrote the same title as I did, failed. Not that I'm laughing at other people's misfortune, but that really made me feel better.

This incident sparked off a lot of hate mails about the lecturer amongst the students. First, she didn't give us the correct due date and cut it short by 2 weeks. Then she wasn't very helpful and was very offensive in her replies when the students asked for extensions. The whole situation has been blown up so huge that some of the students met up with the headmaster this evening to trash things out. Though I have been a quiet observer in this whole situation, I do hope that the something will be done to moderate the marks, if not I'll have a terrible scar on my transcript.

Meanwhile, I'll have to go read up for an assignment for another subject and then quickly go redo and submit the assignment which I failed. It will be due next week, and I'll have to put extra effort into it so that I can at least get a supplementary pass.

Pray for me please.

Let Us Shine

2007-02-28T00:02:00.000+08:00

I remember watching Coach Carter and was inspired by this quote;

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.

Your playing small does not serve the world.

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking

so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine as children do.

It's not just in some of us; it is in everyone.

And as we let our own lights shine,

we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Hope this inspires you too.

Friends Are There

2007-02-26T23:02:00.000+08:00

Here's the lyrics to the theme song of the cartoon "Garfield and Friends" shown in the late 80s and early 90s. Not one of my favourite cartoons, but definitely one of my favourtie theme songs. Love especially the highlighted part... Never figured out why though.

Ladies and Gentleman, Garfield & Friends.

Friends Are There To Help You Get Started,

To Give You A Push On Your Way. Friends Are There To Turn You Around, Get Your Feet On The Ground For A Brand New Day

They'll Pick You Up When You're Down

Help You Swallow Your Pride When Something Inside's Got To Break On Through To The Other Side

Friends Are Someone You Can Open Up To

When You Feel Like You're Ready To Flip

When You Got The World On Your Shoulders,

Friends Are There To Give You A Tip

Friends Are There When You Need Them, They're Even There When You Don't

For A Walk In The Park, For A Shot In The Dark

Friends Are There. Garfield: "I Don't Care"

But Friends Will Care For You-u-u-u-u-u-u!

Thanks for those who are there, whom I draw strength from, so that I can also be there for others.

2007-02-11T23:15:00.000+08:00

Diabolo Performance

I'm in awe! When will I get to play the diabolo like that :P Still stuck at trying to do 2 now. Haha

Whirlpool of Emotions

2007-01-31T17:11:00.000+08:00

I'm feeling a little sense of disappointment, a little sadness, a little frustration and a little helpless at this moment. It is very difficult for me to really understand what I am feeling right now and even more difficult to understand why. I'm just feeling a whirlpool of negative feelings twirling in my gut right now. And its all because of something that I've discovered.

I found out a certain something about a certain someone whom I considered a very close friend. Its not that I don't believe in keeping secrets, in fact, I think everyone has their own entitlement to a fair share of them, even between couples. What I am not happy about is when they would not admit to it when discovered.

Its not something that is actually a very big issue , which is why I feel that it is kind of sad that you cannot tell me. Are you afraid that I will look at you differently? Think differently about you? Or are you just too ashamed?

Then again, I think my feelings are just a bit overblown now, I have rationalized it all but my emotions are still nagging me about it. I know that I have grown to be a more FEELING person than I was. Not that I'm not a THINKING person anymore, on the contrary, sometimes I even think too much about my feelings. Its just that now, my feelings are more powerful than they used to be last time. So much so that the thinking won't help to much to ease the feeling.

So I guess, I will still be feeling lousy for a while. You know something, you can come to me. I might nag you a bit, but I won't judge you. But then again, you might not even read this.

Funny Things In MRT Stations

2007-01-29T23:58:00.000+08:00

I've discovered 2 things that are strange in the MRT stations of Singapore:

First, for some unknown reason, its not safe to sit on the benches. Every once in a while an announcement will be made that goes "...for your own safety, please STAND behind the yellow line"

Second, I've notice that there are always 2 quotes displayed on the LCD screen that tells you that the train is coming or how many minutes till the next one. However, the strange thing is that they only change one of the quotes and the other one is the same every single day, and it goes: "if you see anything suspicious, please inform our staff or call 999."

World View

2007-01-14T23:27:00.000+08:00

In one of my lectures last week, we talked about worldview. It means how we view the world as normal or acceptable. Which made me think of what I wrote in the last entry

Each of us sees the world differently, usually through the lenses of our moral values, beliefs, experiences and environment.

In that sense, what I was trying to say in the last entry was that there is no point in forcing our lenses on others. Unless their eyes are ready to adjust to your lenses, you are just going to hurt their eyes if they agree to even wear it for a little while.

Think about that.....

3 Things

2007-01-09T10:50:00.000+08:00

How does one determines what is right for another?

A lot of things in life are pretty subjective,

especially when the other person cannot see from your point of view.

So what's the point of telling people what's right or wrong

when you know that he or she isn't going to listen?

Who are you to be so high and mighty to decide what's

best for the other person?

And even if you force another to accept your perspective,

will it mean that the action will be congruent?

I have someone dear to me who does this magically.

And I think it all boils down to 3 things;

humility, patience and respect.

2007

2007-01-03T15:16:00.000+08:00

Looking back at 2006, I would say that it was eventful and satisfactory for me.

For one, I started studying again. Thanks to the many people who came through for me financially and made it all possible. Youth camp was a great experience once more, a time of great rekindling for the heart and passion for worship. Change of corps officer brought about a time of testing, even till now for many. Working part-time has proven to be draining financially but necessary. The year ended off with a great time during the watch-night service.

Watch-night this year was special, I felt a wind of revival blowing within the congregation. Throughout the service, I felt a warm sensation. My ears were red and hot, like when I blush. My "wife" said that it looked like I was glowing from where she was.

The greatest part of the service was not about me, but the congregation. They were singing back, and I think what I heard wasn't just simple singing, I could hear them crying out from their hearts. Thanks to my team, the songs selected for the closing was so appropriate and it really stirred my heart. And as everyone were meditating and getting into the words of "Spirit of the Living God Fall Afresh On Me", my mind was fighting notion of asking them to stand up. That didn't lasted too long as one of the members stood up and in an instant, as if making the same decision to my dilema, the rest responded by standing up too.

And during the sermon, I couldn't help but feel our heavenly Father smiling lovingly as the sweet aroma of worship ascended to His throne of grace. It was then that I felt that something is great is going to happen in Changi. So I prayed in my heart for God to really make it happen. And I know that things will happen as long as the hearts of the people are right for Him.

So far, it looks like 2007 will be a challenging year. So I pray for more grace, more mercy, more strength and more inspiration from Him.

What does 2007 have in store for you?

Christmas At Esplanade

2006-12-26T15:10:00.000+08:00

LF lost lots of his photos when he formatted his comp. So I went with him to the esplanade again to re-stock on his collection. The streets were pretty quiet all over from Bugis to Suntec to the Esplanade. Probably everyone had to work the next day. Either that or everyone was partying at Orchard where there was a road closure.

2006-12-26T09:18:00.000+08:00

I Saw Jie On Youtube!!

lol, following Zarrah's link for the canada video on kettling, i found another canada video about Myanmar. saw Jie and Jeff at about 1min and 16 secs into the vid