Just came back from vcffoc [SIGN UP HERE!!!] comm overnight retreat at Minzhi's church in Siglap. Feel that it really was a very refreshing time, both physically and spiritually. Got to see some of my fellow comm members who i haven't seen for quite some time, and there really were great times of planning, prayer, meetings, and (as Shawna Chew would attest to) fellowship. To begin the retreat proper we had a good Spirit-filled time of worship, which actually was the first worship session that i have been to for almost three weeks, since i did not get to attend church while i was away. Thank God for the spiritual refreshing that He gave me at that time! Especially since the holiday was, despite all its goodness, regrettably also a time where i drifted somewhat away from the Lord due to not even keeping up with good and effective quiet times for various reasons. But that's really another story altogether...
Well, as stated above, this was an overnight retreat. Of course, it is often understood that at these sort of things one would tend not to sleep due to getting caught up in fellowship and all that. But i never expected in the course of all this to remain solidly awake over the whole night. Granted i did have my nodding off moments, but once the threshold of sleepiness was passed, at around 5am or so, became wide awake and not sleepy in the slightest... [This is a bit of a silly reassurance for me as in many recent stay up all night events, i have fought valiantly against the evil wiles of the z monster to no avail, or at least emerged victorious but badly wounded, and have put this all down to getting older... At least now i may be reassured that after being wide-eyed and awake all the way from seven yesterday morning to around two this afternoon, that a certain jeunesse has not departed me yet...]
Anyway, the early morning hours were mainly spent in the company of good music, featuring Ian on pretty much every musical instrument available in the church, Minzhi, Alicia, Claris and Shawn, with varying degrees of expertise, on the guitar, bass and drums, and yours truly with some token one-hand-and-one-finger--at-a-time keyboarding. Part of the morning (just after crossing the threshold) was even spent recalling some Chinese songs (people who know me often are rather surprised that i actually listen to Chinese songs - well i do, some of them are really quite nice, but the problem is i don't understand them and have no idea what most of their titles even are). I particularly like guo huo (i believe that means 'pass the fire') by Jeff Chang, who is one of my favourites actually where Chinese music is concerned (i even know by heart more of the lyrics - or at least i think i do, don't really know if they are correct) - how he reaches some of those notes that are i am more familiar with in an alto's high register is really beyond me... And there were various other favourite Chinese songs too, most of which, as i have said, i appreciate solely for the way they sound since i have not the faintest clue what they are talking about.
In any case, i realise that my database of Chinese songs can roughly be divided into two categories - those old ones that i somehow heard in my childhood either somehow over the radio (though i never listen to Chinese radio) or through being theme songs of old channel eight shows, as well as those newer ones that i picked up during ns years when i was typically the only chiak kentang one around and hence largely at the mercy of my fellow army mates' song choices...
Well, in any case, at least that's one area of the entire sinosphere that i find myself not totally abhorrent to or allergic of... jiang hua yu...
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