Maybe that title's not entirely accurate since i never left church to begin with, but that's somehow how i feel after church today.
To cut a long story short, and since some people reading this would already know the whole story about what i've been doing in church over the past year or so, basically, today was the first week i attended church after the whole slew of VCF activities over the holidays had finally ended. Before this, much of my weekly attendance in church during most of the holiday period merely consisted of attending the service, then zao-ing to go home (which is just next door anyway =) either to do stuff related to some of the CF activities, or to rest after having spent the whole previous day doing the stuff related to the CF activities...
After having basically done that for a couple of months at least, i decided to stay for my youth cell, which is right after service, since i had no more stuff to prepare for now, as well as realising that i have really been too under-involved as of late...
Anyway, i really feel that today, the Lord was telling me that after such a long period of being rather invisible where church is concerned, that i had to get back into the whole flow of things. I prayed that i wouldn't feel so out of place, cos i really have hardly been around at church stuff as of late, and He definitely saw me through. First, he got Daniel Vai to ask me if i was going for cell, to which i responded yes, which meant that there would be no chickening out later. Then, could definitely feel the closeness of His presence during the time of worship, it just felt so awesome and overwhelming, i even was tearing away again (with enough tears to rival yesterday's onion cutting episode) while singing the songs, which somehow ministered to me much more than usual. I couldn't help but feel that He was assuring me that He would help me overcome any reservations that i might have had about going for cell again after so long...
So i went for cell in the end, and emerged greatly blessed by the time that i spent there. Any inhibitions that i might have felt prior to it were soon gone. The Lord even has blessed the cell with a couple of new members while i was absent, and it was so cool to see all of us actively contributing to the discussion.
I really thank God for His calm assurance when i was asking myself several "what ifs?" regarding church prior to today, as well as for erasing any potential doubts i might have faced regarding my role in church. Also for every single member of cell-u-lights for being such a blessing to my life. I will definitely aim to be a better cell-u-light from now on. =)
Sunday, July 31, 2005
i cried buckets today
yup i did, you do not read wrongly, although albeit buckets of lilliputian dimensions, maybe like with a capacity of 1-2ml or something like that...
Haven't cried that much in months, and i was constantly wiping my eyes with my sleeves, although the tears kept on flowing...
However, it was hardly some episode of Oprah, but rather my experience of, together with Debz, chopping up onions for the first ever time...
I find it so cool to experience something that you've heard about many a time, and read about as well, for the first time... Yup, indeed, i was like thinking to myself, "yay, so exciting, i'm cutting onions, and i'm tearing up too!!!" I wonder if onions are Huang Biren's secret to being able to cry in like every other scene that she appears in in those channel 8 shows, cos it's so easy to cry when you cut them...
Well, anyway, the event was the cookout for swordfighters and various other assorted CF pple at Mel's house in Kembangan this afternoon. Ruiyi cooked a very delicious (although not spicy enough for my tongue) chicken curry, which i eventually helped myself to at liberty (i think i ate at least six pieces, plus at least a whole tomato and some pieces of potato too, not to mention loads of gravy) The highlight for me was actually playing a small part in the curry's fruition, as i helped to chop up onions, potatoes, tomatoes, and chicken, miraculously without drawing any blood at all (save for the chicken's), as well as played the role of supporting curry stirrer when it was being cooked (and incurring a little battle scar of a pot burn on my right pinkie). So interesting, actually i think cooking is quite fun, but knowing my track record with attempting to prepare even the simplest of stuff, i shall not attempt to do any cooking without proper supervision...
Lot's of other great food too, like Ming Hui's romaine lettuce salad with magic japanese mystery dressing, and Kevin's salad topped with instant jellyfish, which tasted much better than it sounds, as well as the toasted tulip cocktail sausages (i like to call them little brats). There also was Fern's glutinous rice thingy,of which i only sampled a mushroom, since it also was full of dried shrimps, which i would never be able to stomach without feeling nauseous, but from what i hear, tasted really good too...
Anyway, it was a really good and relaxing time, which i think i sorely needed after the past hectic week of matric fair activities... Thank God for great timing.
After that, i decided to walk over to my Aunt's house where there was dinner. Although the place was also in the east, it still took me quite some time to get there, since i walked from Kembangan MRT all the way to near Chai Chee Sec (but anyway i don't mind any extra exercise that i can get, as well as any savings from not taking the bus).
It was there that i realised that all three of my cousins who are at the most two years younger than me have all gotten their driving licences already... Really it seems that everyone around me can drive nowadays... Ann, one of my cousins, even asked me why was i so lazy (in a joking manner of course), such that i had not gotten my licence yet, after all i had a headstart over all three of them by virtue of my age... Bleah... I really have to stop procrastinating and do something soon, or i may end up being without having done anything even after graduating.
That annoying "reach out for the skies" song keeps on ringing in my head, which is most discomforting... What could be worse than a bad catchy song that sticks in your head despite your best efforts otherwise? Well, the answer to that is a bad catchy song that sticks in your head despite your best efforts otherwise that is co-sung by Taufik... But something is even worse than that, imagine if this bad catchy song was sung by Sylvester... Eek! No contest, i'd then be avoiding anything to do with NDP whatsoever... Can you imagine tuning in to see a whole padang full of people sticking out their tongues while doing that devil sign with their hands? Positively stomach-churning. Thankfully, i do not know the highly amusing dance steps that come along with the song, i think it would be sheer torture to have those moves stuck in one's head... The only thing i'd be reaching out for would be the toilet bowl to puke into...
Haven't cried that much in months, and i was constantly wiping my eyes with my sleeves, although the tears kept on flowing...
However, it was hardly some episode of Oprah, but rather my experience of, together with Debz, chopping up onions for the first ever time...
I find it so cool to experience something that you've heard about many a time, and read about as well, for the first time... Yup, indeed, i was like thinking to myself, "yay, so exciting, i'm cutting onions, and i'm tearing up too!!!" I wonder if onions are Huang Biren's secret to being able to cry in like every other scene that she appears in in those channel 8 shows, cos it's so easy to cry when you cut them...
Well, anyway, the event was the cookout for swordfighters and various other assorted CF pple at Mel's house in Kembangan this afternoon. Ruiyi cooked a very delicious (although not spicy enough for my tongue) chicken curry, which i eventually helped myself to at liberty (i think i ate at least six pieces, plus at least a whole tomato and some pieces of potato too, not to mention loads of gravy) The highlight for me was actually playing a small part in the curry's fruition, as i helped to chop up onions, potatoes, tomatoes, and chicken, miraculously without drawing any blood at all (save for the chicken's), as well as played the role of supporting curry stirrer when it was being cooked (and incurring a little battle scar of a pot burn on my right pinkie). So interesting, actually i think cooking is quite fun, but knowing my track record with attempting to prepare even the simplest of stuff, i shall not attempt to do any cooking without proper supervision...
Lot's of other great food too, like Ming Hui's romaine lettuce salad with magic japanese mystery dressing, and Kevin's salad topped with instant jellyfish, which tasted much better than it sounds, as well as the toasted tulip cocktail sausages (i like to call them little brats). There also was Fern's glutinous rice thingy,of which i only sampled a mushroom, since it also was full of dried shrimps, which i would never be able to stomach without feeling nauseous, but from what i hear, tasted really good too...
Anyway, it was a really good and relaxing time, which i think i sorely needed after the past hectic week of matric fair activities... Thank God for great timing.
After that, i decided to walk over to my Aunt's house where there was dinner. Although the place was also in the east, it still took me quite some time to get there, since i walked from Kembangan MRT all the way to near Chai Chee Sec (but anyway i don't mind any extra exercise that i can get, as well as any savings from not taking the bus).
It was there that i realised that all three of my cousins who are at the most two years younger than me have all gotten their driving licences already... Really it seems that everyone around me can drive nowadays... Ann, one of my cousins, even asked me why was i so lazy (in a joking manner of course), such that i had not gotten my licence yet, after all i had a headstart over all three of them by virtue of my age... Bleah... I really have to stop procrastinating and do something soon, or i may end up being without having done anything even after graduating.
That annoying "reach out for the skies" song keeps on ringing in my head, which is most discomforting... What could be worse than a bad catchy song that sticks in your head despite your best efforts otherwise? Well, the answer to that is a bad catchy song that sticks in your head despite your best efforts otherwise that is co-sung by Taufik... But something is even worse than that, imagine if this bad catchy song was sung by Sylvester... Eek! No contest, i'd then be avoiding anything to do with NDP whatsoever... Can you imagine tuning in to see a whole padang full of people sticking out their tongues while doing that devil sign with their hands? Positively stomach-churning. Thankfully, i do not know the highly amusing dance steps that come along with the song, i think it would be sheer torture to have those moves stuck in one's head... The only thing i'd be reaching out for would be the toilet bowl to puke into...
Saturday, July 30, 2005
And that's a wrap...
Now that it's officially saturday, i can't believe that my ten consecutive days of being in school are over. I'll miss them, somewhat... But make no mistake, if i were suddenly to get notice to go to school tomorrow i would just burst into sobs on the spot. Ok nothing so serious lah, but i definitely wouldn't want to take 10 to school tomorrow, with all the annoying NDP rehearsal road diversions that add at least an extra hour to the journey to and from school.
Some parting words from these ten days:
Some parting words from these ten days:
- Above all, thank God for His goodness and faithfulness to us throughout the whole matric fair planning period and the execution, and even now as the follow-up process is underway...
- I am hardly keen to drink any more newater for at least another month, after downing it by the bottle in order to clear excess stock. (Thanks so much to Yu Mun for agreeing to store the many excess bottles of water for us in your room, which looks very well done up, by the way...)
- Was really great to meet quite a few people i know from different parts of my brief life who were matriculating over the course of the four days, including choir friends, army friends, church friend etc...
- I realise that i was talking rather fast whenever i approached a freshie during the fair, i hope they understood what i was saying, and didn't just respond blindly... (Anyway, my talking speed hardly can match up to Shawna's, no matter how hard i try...) I somehow always tend to get overexcited and talk very quickly and with loads of nonsense in such situations.
- It was really very encouraging to get lots of verbal and prayer support over the course of this whole matric thingy... Thank God for each and every single one of these people... It really does help.
- Wow, the follow-up promises to be a very exciting time... Pray that we will be faithful stewards of what the Lord has provided us with...
Well, today marked DAY TEN, and though admittedly i was a bit sian by today (or rather, yesterday), since notice of it came so late, by God's grace he led me to realise the importance of today. Thank God for all the CF volunteers who came down, despite the late notice, and for His provision of even more contacts, some of whom indeed want to know more about Christianity. To borrow from Deborah, yayness!
After the activity drew to a close, i went for a swim at src (for the first time in my life), which turned out to be the only really relaxing thing i've done over the course of these ten days. The weather was so inviting (warm, sunny, yet slightly overcast), and so was the price (free =), and i had someone to swim with (Ian), who is thankfully of roughly the same, ahem, swimming proficiency level as yours truly, if you get my drift... I even lost count of the number of laps because of the soothingness (such a word exists?) of it all, but i believe i've definitely bettered my old record of 24 laps. I think that it was around 32. I think my aching muscles may tell a better tale than me tomorrow when i wake up...
Seriously, the src pool is much better (cleaner and better renovated) than the old and mosaic-tiled (i just can't stand mosaic) Katong pool that i usually go to. The water also is much less salty than both Katong and the dubiously-flavoured waters of Wild Wild Wet. Furthermore, src's free, even the lockers, and i figure, might as well make my school fee moneys' worth by making use of nus facilities... It's just like last time at ACJC, when i made it a point to use the gym regularly, not to keep fit, but solely to not waste my ridiculously expensive quarterly sports complex fee of $33...
The only complaint i have, of course, is the distance... But anyways, i guess that by the time school starts, i may be practically living on campus anyway...
Anyway, another contribution to my happiness today was my going down to ntuc to buy delicious post cereal while it's still on sale (till today) at only $4.95 a box... Yay to honey bunches of oats and blueberry morning =) One of the few ways by which i'll actually eat breakfast...
Thursday, July 28, 2005
let's make it ten in a row
Wow, looks like today will be the first time in weeks, if not months, that i'll be sleeping before midnight... After four consecutive days of waking up at six-thirty in the morning looks like my body has decided enough is enough...
The past few days have been quite an experience, which i shall not comment on now owing to my rapidly bowing eyelids...
Rather abruptly, it appears that i'll be making it a ten in a row where spending part of the day in school is concerned. Off to school again tomorrow morning... But this is confirm plus guarantee plus chop the last one. Something just doesn't feel right about spending so much time at schol, during the supposed holidays...
My bed awaits.
The past few days have been quite an experience, which i shall not comment on now owing to my rapidly bowing eyelids...
Rather abruptly, it appears that i'll be making it a ten in a row where spending part of the day in school is concerned. Off to school again tomorrow morning... But this is confirm plus guarantee plus chop the last one. Something just doesn't feel right about spending so much time at schol, during the supposed holidays...
My bed awaits.
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
and now it's finally here
What's finally here? My first 2.4km run since ORD , which happened this afternoon, that's what. I decided to run since i had nothing to do while hanging around src during matric fair (today's DAY EIGHT of nine!!!). Furthermore there's a track conveniently located really near where i had to be in the first place. Timing wise, well, hehe 11'41"82 (i.e. 1.82 seconds away from a silver timing). Which i guess is not bad since this is only the second time i've run in more than a year, and as far as i recall my last ippt featured a 2.4 timing of close to 12'20"00 (i.e. the failing time)
So suddenly i feel like i may just be able to score some extra $ into my account by getting a silver come my ippt (which i still haven't booked yet, btw)... (a gold is as obtainable as Iraq's weapons of mass destruction are) But of course, knowing me, the more i talk about it the less i'll do about it so i shall just hush up, and try a little less talk, and a little more action (actually more like a lot more action lah - mainly of the tiring and heavily panting variety)
So suddenly i feel like i may just be able to score some extra $ into my account by getting a silver come my ippt (which i still haven't booked yet, btw)... (a gold is as obtainable as Iraq's weapons of mass destruction are) But of course, knowing me, the more i talk about it the less i'll do about it so i shall just hush up, and try a little less talk, and a little more action (actually more like a lot more action lah - mainly of the tiring and heavily panting variety)
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
two 'two mores' by tomorrow
The first one being that i have only two more modules to agonise over, after the successful allocation of my three history modules, as can be seen here:
Dear T** Q******* M****** L***, Please find your bidding result for Acad Yr 2005/2006, Semester 1 as follows:------------------------------------------ Allocated Modules------------------------------------------Module Code : HY3237Module Title: MAINLAND SE ASIA: SELECTED COUNTRYModule Code : HY2250Module Title: INTRODUCTION TO SOUTHEAST ASIAN HISTORYModule Code : HY2248Module Title: ASIAN AMERICAN HISTORY
Yup, so it follows that part of my projected ultra-bummer timetable has been all but confirmed... The level three module, for instance, features both a friday lecture *sobs* and an exam date on the last day of exams, in the pm slot, furthermore *double sobs*... Now all that's left is for me to be allocated my chosen cross fac module, which will mean the topping of my stinky durian cake of a timetable with a rotten gelatinous red cherry that is having an exam on my birthday yet again... (Hmm that makes it two consecutive posts with rather bizarre metaphors... I really must be in need of sleep...
The second 'two more', on a more cheerful note, refers to having only two more days to go in my nine-consecutive-day-long serial adventures in school, since there are two days to go for matric fair... Today went rather well, definitely less tiring than yesterday, since i didn't have to do much duty at the booth itself, since arts day is over... Once again, the Lord has been very gracious to us in many ways...
Today also featured me meeting the second and third people in two days who recognised me and greeted me in one way or another, but i had no clue as to who they were... The first (yesterday) turned out to be a law freshie who attended FOC, and who i suppose i must have talked to during the camp, although i now have no recollection of the event altogether... He tapped me on the shoulder yesterday and said hi, but at first i didn't know who he was, then i thought he was someone else, so i said "haven't seen you in a long time", since i was cautious enough not to try to say out his name for fear of being wrong... Well, it turns out that i was still wrong, and that i met him at FOC... Well, i think i pulled it off well enough for him to not realise that i didn't know who he was at all... So paiseh... Then today, some other guy also waved to me, this time i could recognise him, but i couldn't place where i knew him from, after much thinking i finally placed him at an moe thingy earlier this month, wehre it turns out i said hi and talked to him for a while (i only remembered this hours after seeing him). The third one involved another guy who i met on saturday, but again forgot about... I tell you, i am getting old...
Just got off the phone with one of my freshie army friends, David, who asked about the whole confusing and overtly ridiculous system that is cors... Explaining the whole modular process to him, i was amazed that i was actually able to do so in the first place... Looks like living in adverse conditions has really paid off hehe... Of course, i hope that i explained the whole thingamajig to him correctly, though...
Anyways, i realise that many people have asked me over the course of the past few days or so if i am tired or stressed out by the matric fair stuff. Well, honestly, i am, but the Lord has, by His grace, pulled me through so far, in spite of the busyness of it all. That being said, i really do appreciate all the care and concern. It's very comforting. And with regards to all the people telling me to get some rest, trust me, once all this is finished, i will definitely have a good and long breather. At least for as long as is possible till school starts...
Dear T** Q******* M****** L***, Please find your bidding result for Acad Yr 2005/2006, Semester 1 as follows:------------------------------------------ Allocated Modules------------------------------------------Module Code : HY3237Module Title: MAINLAND SE ASIA: SELECTED COUNTRYModule Code : HY2250Module Title: INTRODUCTION TO SOUTHEAST ASIAN HISTORYModule Code : HY2248Module Title: ASIAN AMERICAN HISTORY
Yup, so it follows that part of my projected ultra-bummer timetable has been all but confirmed... The level three module, for instance, features both a friday lecture *sobs* and an exam date on the last day of exams, in the pm slot, furthermore *double sobs*... Now all that's left is for me to be allocated my chosen cross fac module, which will mean the topping of my stinky durian cake of a timetable with a rotten gelatinous red cherry that is having an exam on my birthday yet again... (Hmm that makes it two consecutive posts with rather bizarre metaphors... I really must be in need of sleep...
The second 'two more', on a more cheerful note, refers to having only two more days to go in my nine-consecutive-day-long serial adventures in school, since there are two days to go for matric fair... Today went rather well, definitely less tiring than yesterday, since i didn't have to do much duty at the booth itself, since arts day is over... Once again, the Lord has been very gracious to us in many ways...
Today also featured me meeting the second and third people in two days who recognised me and greeted me in one way or another, but i had no clue as to who they were... The first (yesterday) turned out to be a law freshie who attended FOC, and who i suppose i must have talked to during the camp, although i now have no recollection of the event altogether... He tapped me on the shoulder yesterday and said hi, but at first i didn't know who he was, then i thought he was someone else, so i said "haven't seen you in a long time", since i was cautious enough not to try to say out his name for fear of being wrong... Well, it turns out that i was still wrong, and that i met him at FOC... Well, i think i pulled it off well enough for him to not realise that i didn't know who he was at all... So paiseh... Then today, some other guy also waved to me, this time i could recognise him, but i couldn't place where i knew him from, after much thinking i finally placed him at an moe thingy earlier this month, wehre it turns out i said hi and talked to him for a while (i only remembered this hours after seeing him). The third one involved another guy who i met on saturday, but again forgot about... I tell you, i am getting old...
Just got off the phone with one of my freshie army friends, David, who asked about the whole confusing and overtly ridiculous system that is cors... Explaining the whole modular process to him, i was amazed that i was actually able to do so in the first place... Looks like living in adverse conditions has really paid off hehe... Of course, i hope that i explained the whole thingamajig to him correctly, though...
Anyways, i realise that many people have asked me over the course of the past few days or so if i am tired or stressed out by the matric fair stuff. Well, honestly, i am, but the Lord has, by His grace, pulled me through so far, in spite of the busyness of it all. That being said, i really do appreciate all the care and concern. It's very comforting. And with regards to all the people telling me to get some rest, trust me, once all this is finished, i will definitely have a good and long breather. At least for as long as is possible till school starts...
Monday, July 25, 2005
one headache out of the way...
for now, at least, since i have apparently more or less settled my intended modules to take for next sem, after much anxiety and torturous agony i logged on to the confusing and overtly ridiculous system just now, changed my intended cross-fac module, and voila, no more problems, at least for the time being, until i possibly get outbidded or something like that... That will, rather annoyingly, require more visits to the confusing and overtly ridiculous system in time to come...
I can't, in the light of my cors frustrations, really grasp the fact that i've actually offered help to some of my freshie (sigh, that term does not apply to me anymore...) army friends i know who are similarly lost over the whole bidding process... It's somewhat akin to a rat teaching a gecko how to avoid being swallowed by a snake...
Anyway, today marked DAY FIVE of my nine consecutive days spent in part at school (i had, in my blurness, forgotten that i had been in school last wednesday too, to deliver the newater to src, hence making it nine days, instead of eight... It also was the first proper day of matric fair, and i really thank God for seeing us (arts, as well as law) through the day, and blessing us abundantly in terms of freshies' contacts obtained as well... Was also blessed with a team of very capable helpers for the fair itself, as well as a group of very supportive prayer partners as well. It really is very humbling, when i come to think of it, how in the end, everything has worked out solely by His grace, and with no part of my own...
This is totally unrelated, but anyway, i find it rather unsettling that URA decided to spend $400000 on a branding exercise that eventually relabelled 'Marina Bay' as, well... 'Marina Bay'... But, on the other hand, that kind of money is still peanuts =P
I can't, in the light of my cors frustrations, really grasp the fact that i've actually offered help to some of my freshie (sigh, that term does not apply to me anymore...) army friends i know who are similarly lost over the whole bidding process... It's somewhat akin to a rat teaching a gecko how to avoid being swallowed by a snake...
Anyway, today marked DAY FIVE of my nine consecutive days spent in part at school (i had, in my blurness, forgotten that i had been in school last wednesday too, to deliver the newater to src, hence making it nine days, instead of eight... It also was the first proper day of matric fair, and i really thank God for seeing us (arts, as well as law) through the day, and blessing us abundantly in terms of freshies' contacts obtained as well... Was also blessed with a team of very capable helpers for the fair itself, as well as a group of very supportive prayer partners as well. It really is very humbling, when i come to think of it, how in the end, everything has worked out solely by His grace, and with no part of my own...
This is totally unrelated, but anyway, i find it rather unsettling that URA decided to spend $400000 on a branding exercise that eventually relabelled 'Marina Bay' as, well... 'Marina Bay'... But, on the other hand, that kind of money is still peanuts =P
Saturday, July 23, 2005
three down, and five more to go...
At first i thought that it was two down, and five more to go, but then i realised that i had forgotten about the first one (once again, i say that my brain is failing me nowsaday...) So what am i talking about? Well, i am refer to the number of consecutive days that i have been/will be spending at least part of the day in school. During the HOLIDAYS... I don't even do that during term time, even in the worst of times (guess that also indicates that i haven't been studying enough, eh?) but now, certain involvements necessitate my presence in school for this long stretch (and it's not like a leisurely thing, i mean, i guess i wouldn't mind eight days of FOC - i think, at least... - though albeit with me as merely a supportive senior and not a comm member...) but i guess i have no right to complain cos this is something that i have taken up in faith, and i believe, in obedience to God, so i believe that the Lord will bring me through this...
But, anyway, to recap, DAY ONE (the one i forgot about) saw me going for council meeting to update everyone on the matric fair (this was after the whole prayer swimming thingy). Went okay, glad to share more about the fair, especially in terms of prayer requests - always feels so wonderful to know that others are keeping you and your ministry in prayer...
Then, DAY TWO saw me in school depositing some matric fair stuff that was at my house in the VCF storeroom, since it was quite heavy, and i wanted to take advantage of my father's offer of a lift to school cos he was visiting someone in NUH, rather than lug it on the number 10 bus myself...
But actually, the main story happens after that, when i left school to go for the long-awaited thursday CG retreat *cheers* at Woodlands EFC. Was quite looking forward to the retreat, at the least for a little relaxation in between FOC and the matric fair. Owing to my many other commitments, Meisi and Ade Fam thankfully helped to organise most of it, while i just mainly kair lair fair (sp?), apart from leading a rather hastily-put-together worship, which nevertheless, despite my inefficiency in putting it together, still ministered to me... Praise God for that...
We also had a good time of sharing with one another regarding how CG went the past year, reflections, feedback, and suggestions for further improvement, prayer requests, and then a final session that stretched well into the next morning, where if my memory serves me correctly we were supposed to share about how the holidays went... I dunno how that somehow digressed somewhat into the sometimes rather personal time of sharing that we (the remaining seven or so) eventually had. So, having so many things that i've wanted to air in the open, lacking only a listening ear, i gladly shared at liberty about some (yes there are more...) of the many things on my mind regarding various stuff. Although this sharing was hardly of the boohoo-boohoo-come-pass-around-the-tissue kind, i am thankful for the chance to just release some of the pent-up steam, so to speak, as well as share my myriad prayer requests... I dunno how long i ended up blabbering for, but i think it lasted at least half an hour... All in all it was a very good time =) Apologies to all those who were listening to my very random ramblings for so long...
Anyway, owing to the rushed nature of my leaving the house the previous day, i totally came unprepared to stay over, apart from bringing a fresh shirt. That means (yes, you can squirm now) one night with no bathing and no brushing of teeth (even though in retrospect, i could have used Meisi's fancy toothbrush hehe...
The next morning (i.e. today) after breakfast i had to go back to school again (DAY THREE) for another matric meeting. After that, i really had more than half a mind to take 10 home, quickly bathe and brush teeth, and take 10 back to school again in time for the IFG PRC thingy at three, cos i really felt quite disgusting... But, owing to nothing much more than laziness, i decided to just bum around in school...
So i decided to go to src to check out the newater supply and recce the place before the matric fair. After a while, i was on my way back to Kent Ridge terminal for the IFG PRC thingy when i realised that i had left my dear nalgene behind. So i went back to the toilet cubicle where i thought i left it, but lo and behold, it was in use, so i waited for at least 10 minutes before the occupant came out, then i realised that i actually left it somewhere else... By then it was already very close to three, so i decided to take a bus instead of walk to the terminal.
Of course toot me had to think that bus C went to the LT13 area... Only once i got on did i remember that i had thought the exact same thing last sem, and nearly ended up at Kent Vale instead... So i quickly alighted, crossed the road near the UCC, and took 151 to the terminal (and wasted precious ez link $ in the process...)
The IFG PRC thingy was, while, not by traditional notions, a success, still a really great event that showcased how God worked His plan so wonderfully in spite of us... Kudos to Mark Szto and IFG for a job well done =)... What he told me later regarding his thoughts on the event in retrospect echoed what i've been feeling regarding matric fair stuff as well, so yay! God even cares enough to affirm these small things that bring encouragement to an often weary heart like mine. Anyway, i definitely hope to keep in touch with my PRCs in the future, not out of obligation though, but rather, i dare say, out of love.
Well, now there are five days left, tomorrow is the deco day for matric, then comes the quadruple matric fair special... In the midst of this, i realise that God's perfect timing for spiritual refreshing, release, and encouragement just amazes me so =)
But, anyway, to recap, DAY ONE (the one i forgot about) saw me going for council meeting to update everyone on the matric fair (this was after the whole prayer swimming thingy). Went okay, glad to share more about the fair, especially in terms of prayer requests - always feels so wonderful to know that others are keeping you and your ministry in prayer...
Then, DAY TWO saw me in school depositing some matric fair stuff that was at my house in the VCF storeroom, since it was quite heavy, and i wanted to take advantage of my father's offer of a lift to school cos he was visiting someone in NUH, rather than lug it on the number 10 bus myself...
But actually, the main story happens after that, when i left school to go for the long-awaited thursday CG retreat *cheers* at Woodlands EFC. Was quite looking forward to the retreat, at the least for a little relaxation in between FOC and the matric fair. Owing to my many other commitments, Meisi and Ade Fam thankfully helped to organise most of it, while i just mainly kair lair fair (sp?), apart from leading a rather hastily-put-together worship, which nevertheless, despite my inefficiency in putting it together, still ministered to me... Praise God for that...
We also had a good time of sharing with one another regarding how CG went the past year, reflections, feedback, and suggestions for further improvement, prayer requests, and then a final session that stretched well into the next morning, where if my memory serves me correctly we were supposed to share about how the holidays went... I dunno how that somehow digressed somewhat into the sometimes rather personal time of sharing that we (the remaining seven or so) eventually had. So, having so many things that i've wanted to air in the open, lacking only a listening ear, i gladly shared at liberty about some (yes there are more...) of the many things on my mind regarding various stuff. Although this sharing was hardly of the boohoo-boohoo-come-pass-around-the-tissue kind, i am thankful for the chance to just release some of the pent-up steam, so to speak, as well as share my myriad prayer requests... I dunno how long i ended up blabbering for, but i think it lasted at least half an hour... All in all it was a very good time =) Apologies to all those who were listening to my very random ramblings for so long...
Anyway, owing to the rushed nature of my leaving the house the previous day, i totally came unprepared to stay over, apart from bringing a fresh shirt. That means (yes, you can squirm now) one night with no bathing and no brushing of teeth (even though in retrospect, i could have used Meisi's fancy toothbrush hehe...
The next morning (i.e. today) after breakfast i had to go back to school again (DAY THREE) for another matric meeting. After that, i really had more than half a mind to take 10 home, quickly bathe and brush teeth, and take 10 back to school again in time for the IFG PRC thingy at three, cos i really felt quite disgusting... But, owing to nothing much more than laziness, i decided to just bum around in school...
So i decided to go to src to check out the newater supply and recce the place before the matric fair. After a while, i was on my way back to Kent Ridge terminal for the IFG PRC thingy when i realised that i had left my dear nalgene behind. So i went back to the toilet cubicle where i thought i left it, but lo and behold, it was in use, so i waited for at least 10 minutes before the occupant came out, then i realised that i actually left it somewhere else... By then it was already very close to three, so i decided to take a bus instead of walk to the terminal.
Of course toot me had to think that bus C went to the LT13 area... Only once i got on did i remember that i had thought the exact same thing last sem, and nearly ended up at Kent Vale instead... So i quickly alighted, crossed the road near the UCC, and took 151 to the terminal (and wasted precious ez link $ in the process...)
The IFG PRC thingy was, while, not by traditional notions, a success, still a really great event that showcased how God worked His plan so wonderfully in spite of us... Kudos to Mark Szto and IFG for a job well done =)... What he told me later regarding his thoughts on the event in retrospect echoed what i've been feeling regarding matric fair stuff as well, so yay! God even cares enough to affirm these small things that bring encouragement to an often weary heart like mine. Anyway, i definitely hope to keep in touch with my PRCs in the future, not out of obligation though, but rather, i dare say, out of love.
Well, now there are five days left, tomorrow is the deco day for matric, then comes the quadruple matric fair special... In the midst of this, i realise that God's perfect timing for spiritual refreshing, release, and encouragement just amazes me so =)
Thursday, July 21, 2005
prayer swimming, perhaps?
Ok, as i have blogged about before, i have become rather accustomed to prayer biking (along the lines of prayer walking, except that i do it alone, and hence silently - not that i'd have the breath to pray aloud while cycling anyway). Well, today i didn't have anything to do before a meeting at school in the evening, so i looked into the sky, observed the unthreatening white clouds, and decided it would be a perfect time to go for a swim (especially in the light of my sudden recent compulsion to exercise)
So i decided to go down to the Katong pool before the meeting, as though i could swim for free at school, where i'd be heading to eventually anyway for the meeting, given the sheer amount of time i'll be spending there over the next few days during matric fair (while it's still the holidays, i mean - when school starts, bo pian mah...), i thought that i didn't want to spend any more time there than was necessary.
Then before i started to swim, suddenly this bright idea popped into my head (you know where i'm headed...) to pray while swimming... So i thought to myself that it wouldn't hurt to try it out, so i did... To rather little success, though...
The main reason behind this is that i can't really think about much else when swimming, for some strange reason, apart from telling myself to head for the other end of the pool. Maybe the sound of the water relaxes my brain and dulls the brain cells... I dunno... Also, i find breathing while swimming to be very distracting to the thought processes. So i'd be thinking of something and praying for it in my head, then i'd have to take a breath, and once my head was in the water again, i'd forget what i was praying for... Of course, this whole situation was hardly aided by the fact that there were several pesky children having swimming lessons in the main pool, all of them never bothering (actually can't blame them lah, still so young...) to look out for other swimmers trying desperately to span the length of the pool, whose way they were constantly impeding. The coaches also did nothing to stop the children from impeding our way. After having faced this situation many a time, however, i have now become rather adept at changing directions midway while swimming so as to siam the approaching children... This of course, also requires some thought processes, and hence also hinders proper and effective prayer...
So, to cut a long story short, i think that the whole concept of prayer swimming is quite inachievable for me... But on the upside, however, i did manage to complete 24 laps today, which is a new personal record (which actually isn't saying much at all, since most of the time i end up just lazing around at the side of the pool rather than actually swimming per se). Yay, that's 1.2 km (though if you include the added distance owing to having to change direction en route, i think i must have swam at least 1.25, if not 1.3 km today...). Additionally, i did find that (probably resulting from the same factors that caused prayer swimming to be ineffective) swimming today helped to clear my mind of many unecessary thoughts that were cluttering my mind =). So all in all, it was a good and refreshing time... Now the next task that awaits is to try to run twice today's distance (i.e. 2.4 km) and see if at least an ippt pass is within my grasp...
On a totally unrelated note, i forgot about the time after the meeting ended and subsequently missed my first ever episode of Lost... Bummer... Oh well, they'll be stranded on the island for a long time to come anyway... =P
So i decided to go down to the Katong pool before the meeting, as though i could swim for free at school, where i'd be heading to eventually anyway for the meeting, given the sheer amount of time i'll be spending there over the next few days during matric fair (while it's still the holidays, i mean - when school starts, bo pian mah...), i thought that i didn't want to spend any more time there than was necessary.
Then before i started to swim, suddenly this bright idea popped into my head (you know where i'm headed...) to pray while swimming... So i thought to myself that it wouldn't hurt to try it out, so i did... To rather little success, though...
The main reason behind this is that i can't really think about much else when swimming, for some strange reason, apart from telling myself to head for the other end of the pool. Maybe the sound of the water relaxes my brain and dulls the brain cells... I dunno... Also, i find breathing while swimming to be very distracting to the thought processes. So i'd be thinking of something and praying for it in my head, then i'd have to take a breath, and once my head was in the water again, i'd forget what i was praying for... Of course, this whole situation was hardly aided by the fact that there were several pesky children having swimming lessons in the main pool, all of them never bothering (actually can't blame them lah, still so young...) to look out for other swimmers trying desperately to span the length of the pool, whose way they were constantly impeding. The coaches also did nothing to stop the children from impeding our way. After having faced this situation many a time, however, i have now become rather adept at changing directions midway while swimming so as to siam the approaching children... This of course, also requires some thought processes, and hence also hinders proper and effective prayer...
So, to cut a long story short, i think that the whole concept of prayer swimming is quite inachievable for me... But on the upside, however, i did manage to complete 24 laps today, which is a new personal record (which actually isn't saying much at all, since most of the time i end up just lazing around at the side of the pool rather than actually swimming per se). Yay, that's 1.2 km (though if you include the added distance owing to having to change direction en route, i think i must have swam at least 1.25, if not 1.3 km today...). Additionally, i did find that (probably resulting from the same factors that caused prayer swimming to be ineffective) swimming today helped to clear my mind of many unecessary thoughts that were cluttering my mind =). So all in all, it was a good and refreshing time... Now the next task that awaits is to try to run twice today's distance (i.e. 2.4 km) and see if at least an ippt pass is within my grasp...
On a totally unrelated note, i forgot about the time after the meeting ended and subsequently missed my first ever episode of Lost... Bummer... Oh well, they'll be stranded on the island for a long time to come anyway... =P
randomly rambling about:
i have, in my head now, a vast array of both related and unrelated thoughts swimming up and down, to and fro, left and right, in circles clockwise and anti-clockwise, and what ever other way have you, through my head, and i shall now attempt to textify (the proper, gramatically correct word to use evades my failing brain) all of these thoughts that are getting much more exercise than i myself am and should be, here...
So this afternoon, together with Junyuan and law Mark (a.k.a. zanzoo), i went to the newater plant in Kranji to pick up the 67 free cartons of newater (it's not as much as it sounds) that we ordered for giving out at the matric fair for VCF. I volunteered the use of my father's 19 year old Suzuki Supercarry passenger van for the task, since it is actually an eight-seater, and hence can fit quite a bit of stuff (despite only being a one litre vehicle - which of course means it can probably be outperformed by a lame goat when laden with so much baggage).
Of course, as i often lament, i can't drive, and in fact have not even lifted even a pinkie to start the ball rolling towards getting a license. (How to even drive my father's old, power-steering-and-other-driver-friendly-devices-absent van being another story altogether) So thankfully, my father was free so he drove us to Kranji to pick up the water, then down to src to deposit the water, and then back home...
The carrying part actually wasn't that bad, though i heard the total weight of the 67 cartons of water is 360kg or something to that effect... Anyway, there was ample supply of water to drink in case of any thirst issues haha... (i don't think that so many freshies - more than 800 bottles! - would take the water anyway, so we'll probably have a healthy excess of water on our hands once the fair is over...) (there goes the need for a refreshment supply for ft... haha...)
So after that, since i already was sweaty following the water carrying, i decided to cycle around east coast park again, since i had little time and energy for anything more than that... I've come to the stage when i fell prompted whenever i go for one of these long and gentle rides to spend the time in prayer and praise, although admittedly i do get distracted by various stuff very often... But anyway, i thank God for the opportunity to pray at length about the upcoming matric fair, possible signing up for MEET, church issues, and other stuff at the Spirit's leading. I really do need to pray more... Also, some songs that i hadn't sung for the longest time, perhaps since i was a teeny little sec one or so youth at St. Paul's, suddenly came to mind, and it was really great to reminisce while reflecting upon their lyrics. Unfortunately i have already forgotten what songs they are, maybe the next time they will come back to me... Haha and of course, i was meditating upon the lyrics of "Love Compels" as well... Vested interest mah...
So this afternoon, together with Junyuan and law Mark (a.k.a. zanzoo), i went to the newater plant in Kranji to pick up the 67 free cartons of newater (it's not as much as it sounds) that we ordered for giving out at the matric fair for VCF. I volunteered the use of my father's 19 year old Suzuki Supercarry passenger van for the task, since it is actually an eight-seater, and hence can fit quite a bit of stuff (despite only being a one litre vehicle - which of course means it can probably be outperformed by a lame goat when laden with so much baggage).
Of course, as i often lament, i can't drive, and in fact have not even lifted even a pinkie to start the ball rolling towards getting a license. (How to even drive my father's old, power-steering-and-other-driver-friendly-devices-absent van being another story altogether) So thankfully, my father was free so he drove us to Kranji to pick up the water, then down to src to deposit the water, and then back home...
The carrying part actually wasn't that bad, though i heard the total weight of the 67 cartons of water is 360kg or something to that effect... Anyway, there was ample supply of water to drink in case of any thirst issues haha... (i don't think that so many freshies - more than 800 bottles! - would take the water anyway, so we'll probably have a healthy excess of water on our hands once the fair is over...) (there goes the need for a refreshment supply for ft... haha...)
So after that, since i already was sweaty following the water carrying, i decided to cycle around east coast park again, since i had little time and energy for anything more than that... I've come to the stage when i fell prompted whenever i go for one of these long and gentle rides to spend the time in prayer and praise, although admittedly i do get distracted by various stuff very often... But anyway, i thank God for the opportunity to pray at length about the upcoming matric fair, possible signing up for MEET, church issues, and other stuff at the Spirit's leading. I really do need to pray more... Also, some songs that i hadn't sung for the longest time, perhaps since i was a teeny little sec one or so youth at St. Paul's, suddenly came to mind, and it was really great to reminisce while reflecting upon their lyrics. Unfortunately i have already forgotten what songs they are, maybe the next time they will come back to me... Haha and of course, i was meditating upon the lyrics of "Love Compels" as well... Vested interest mah...
While i was there, i came across a big bunch of army people who were running for i think 14km or something like that (i saw the route marker people)... Got me thinking that i need to be running too... Still haven't booked ippt as well... Aiyah, how? This year, the only running i've done (apart from when the bus is about to leave me behind) has been that short distance from the field back to temasek hall during FOC... I definitely to do more than that, though i need to find the right weather, opportunity, and venue...
Anyway, in totally unrelated news, i just got off the CNN website that the actor who played Montgomery Scott, in Star Trek, better known as Scotty of "Beam me up, Scotty" fame just died... Not that i was, am or ever will be a trekkie, but my brother is, and i remember that guy with the funny rough scottish (i think - that explains scotty, doesn't it?) accent from when my brother used to watch it. I somehow remember one scene in particular, when he was reporting to Captain Kirk about the failure of the 'dilithium crystals' in the teleporting device, and i remember he said 'dilithium crystals' in the most farny manner, thanks to his accent... A classic childhood memory, without a doubt.
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
magnified modular madness
So i finally got myself down to seriously considering what modules to bid for, which i reckon is quite a wise thing to do considering that round zero (though i don't fully understand what it's all about) begins at 9am tomorrow morning...
And it's such a headache!!! Goodness, i seriously don't remember being in such a maniacal state during the last two bidding exercises... [Actually come to think of it, maybe i've just subconciously suppressed (gosh i actually just forgot how to spell that word - needed to double-check at www.dictionary.com, my mind has really been laying idle for far too long... in any case, is the correct word suppressed or repressed? -- It's official, i've become a bodoh...) all those bad memories in the back of my mind.
It's especially painful to see how my dream schedule of fridays off and no exams in december is most probably not to be, since one of the history modules that Sida has recommended me to take, which also is the most promising option for me for a level 3 module, has both a friday lecture slot and an exam on 1st december, which is in the afternoon furthermore, which means i'll be one of the last to finish... I also will probably be having an exam on my birthday too... What a bummer...
I also realise how lazy i've become when it comes to what modules to choose... I was suddenly so turned off by many of the modules that i initially had an interest in solely due to the fact that the module description on the ivle was rather alarming, in the sense that they listed so many things to do... Gosh, i miss the days of exposure modules, when the assessment was merely class participation, maybe the odd test or essay here and there, and the final exam. Nowadays, i have to contend with stuff like movie reviews, graded journalling, field trips and all sorts of other yuck stuff that my lazy self would rather not do... Of course, since there's not much choice left anymore, i will probably have to choose some of these dreaded modules. Anyway, i feel that i have been challenged by the Lord to get out of my comfort zone in so many different aspects, and this, i guess is one way that i can do just that.
No clue have i as to what cross fac module to take as well... I've alerady more or less decided upon roughly what i'll bid for in terms of my arts modules (two level 2 hy, one level 3 hy, one level 2 el) but dunno what to do for the dreaded cross fac module... I really can't stand doing non arts modules, and i really don't see how i could have gotten through my As if the policy of having to do at least one subject from outside your fac was around during my time. If i had ever thought otherwise, i was brought back down to earth rather abrubtly when i saw my B grade for science of music last sem... bleah....
Another thing that is weighing on my mind is my personal drive to do much better this upcoming sem after the wasted opportunity that was last sem. Honestly, i really want to see my cap to go way up there, but i know that my motivations are totally wrong. Perhaps God was teaching me a lesson for thinking that way even though i outwardly kept on saying that it was not about the results, by allowing for my cap to slip by 0.3. On the one hand i am pleased to see so many of those around me doing well, but there still is a tiny part of me that wants those results for myself... I definitely see it as an ongoing struggle, one of my Achilles' heels if you may, but whatever it is, it's certainly somethingthat i have to pray very hard about...
And it's such a headache!!! Goodness, i seriously don't remember being in such a maniacal state during the last two bidding exercises... [Actually come to think of it, maybe i've just subconciously suppressed (gosh i actually just forgot how to spell that word - needed to double-check at www.dictionary.com, my mind has really been laying idle for far too long... in any case, is the correct word suppressed or repressed? -- It's official, i've become a bodoh...) all those bad memories in the back of my mind.
It's especially painful to see how my dream schedule of fridays off and no exams in december is most probably not to be, since one of the history modules that Sida has recommended me to take, which also is the most promising option for me for a level 3 module, has both a friday lecture slot and an exam on 1st december, which is in the afternoon furthermore, which means i'll be one of the last to finish... I also will probably be having an exam on my birthday too... What a bummer...
I also realise how lazy i've become when it comes to what modules to choose... I was suddenly so turned off by many of the modules that i initially had an interest in solely due to the fact that the module description on the ivle was rather alarming, in the sense that they listed so many things to do... Gosh, i miss the days of exposure modules, when the assessment was merely class participation, maybe the odd test or essay here and there, and the final exam. Nowadays, i have to contend with stuff like movie reviews, graded journalling, field trips and all sorts of other yuck stuff that my lazy self would rather not do... Of course, since there's not much choice left anymore, i will probably have to choose some of these dreaded modules. Anyway, i feel that i have been challenged by the Lord to get out of my comfort zone in so many different aspects, and this, i guess is one way that i can do just that.
No clue have i as to what cross fac module to take as well... I've alerady more or less decided upon roughly what i'll bid for in terms of my arts modules (two level 2 hy, one level 3 hy, one level 2 el) but dunno what to do for the dreaded cross fac module... I really can't stand doing non arts modules, and i really don't see how i could have gotten through my As if the policy of having to do at least one subject from outside your fac was around during my time. If i had ever thought otherwise, i was brought back down to earth rather abrubtly when i saw my B grade for science of music last sem... bleah....
Another thing that is weighing on my mind is my personal drive to do much better this upcoming sem after the wasted opportunity that was last sem. Honestly, i really want to see my cap to go way up there, but i know that my motivations are totally wrong. Perhaps God was teaching me a lesson for thinking that way even though i outwardly kept on saying that it was not about the results, by allowing for my cap to slip by 0.3. On the one hand i am pleased to see so many of those around me doing well, but there still is a tiny part of me that wants those results for myself... I definitely see it as an ongoing struggle, one of my Achilles' heels if you may, but whatever it is, it's certainly somethingthat i have to pray very hard about...
Monday, July 18, 2005
I Have Decided to Follow Jesus
I have decided to follow Jesus (3X)
No turning back, no turning back.
The world behind me, the cross before me (3X)
No turning back, no turning back.
Though none go with me, still I will follow (3X)
No turning back, no turning back.
Yet again, the Lord has ministered to my heart through the lyrics of a song. This morning during Crossover service, and in preparation of a time of ministry, the guest speaker, Pastor Christopher Long, asked the team to play this song. I hadn't heard this song for a long time, but as i reflected upon the words of the song, i realised what a tall call actually is required of us as Christians, if we are to mean the words to this song, simple as they may be, deep from the heart. What especially struck me was the recurring phrase "no turning back". I find that it is very often the case when that's exactly what we do (myself very included) in the midst of our Christian walk, we turn back, which can be done in myriad ways. Sometimes the temptations that drive us further from God are really hard to bear. Even though the Lord will give us grace to stand up under the temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13), that does not free us from the free will that He has given us to choose which path we want to take...
Which brings me back to the lyrics of this song. I feel that to truly sing it with heartfelt conviction is indeed difficult, for although we may sing that we have decided to follow Jesus, so often we do so half-heartedly. Though we may declare that the world is behind us, so often we still fall victim to the temptations of the world. Though we sing that even if we were to walk the road alone (save for the eternal presence of the Lord with us, of course), that we still will follow Him, so often do we succumb to peer pressure, at His expense. My prayer is that in singing this song, that i will truly mean it from deep within.
No turning back, no turning back.
The world behind me, the cross before me (3X)
No turning back, no turning back.
Though none go with me, still I will follow (3X)
No turning back, no turning back.
Yet again, the Lord has ministered to my heart through the lyrics of a song. This morning during Crossover service, and in preparation of a time of ministry, the guest speaker, Pastor Christopher Long, asked the team to play this song. I hadn't heard this song for a long time, but as i reflected upon the words of the song, i realised what a tall call actually is required of us as Christians, if we are to mean the words to this song, simple as they may be, deep from the heart. What especially struck me was the recurring phrase "no turning back". I find that it is very often the case when that's exactly what we do (myself very included) in the midst of our Christian walk, we turn back, which can be done in myriad ways. Sometimes the temptations that drive us further from God are really hard to bear. Even though the Lord will give us grace to stand up under the temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13), that does not free us from the free will that He has given us to choose which path we want to take...
Which brings me back to the lyrics of this song. I feel that to truly sing it with heartfelt conviction is indeed difficult, for although we may sing that we have decided to follow Jesus, so often we do so half-heartedly. Though we may declare that the world is behind us, so often we still fall victim to the temptations of the world. Though we sing that even if we were to walk the road alone (save for the eternal presence of the Lord with us, of course), that we still will follow Him, so often do we succumb to peer pressure, at His expense. My prayer is that in singing this song, that i will truly mean it from deep within.
Saturday, July 16, 2005
"the stupidest device i've ever seen"
I quote the above statement directly from Mr Ong Kian Min, an MP (and formerly from ACS - just a random fact there =), as taken from today's Straits Times. He was speaking regarding a series of inverted-U-shaped barriers placed at the bottom of the ramps leading up and down the overhead bridge that crosses the PIE, between Tampines and Pasir Ris. He said this in the immediate aftermath of an incident that happened yesterday morning, in which a 40-year-old cyclist was cycling down the ramp in poor light (it was only 6:45am), did not notice the newly-installed barrier at the base of it (the genius contractor decided to install one set of barriers at a time - meaning that cyclists coming from the side of the bridge that did not have the barriers yet would be unaware of the presence of the barriers on the other side), hit the back of his neck against the barrier at high speed, i presume, and is currently in hospital paralysed from the neck-down.
By the way, this is the second quotable local quote of the week, the first being spoken by a certain someone who candidly said that a certain CEO's salary is "peanuts" (guess who... haha...)
But i digress, the point is, despite the choice of words that perhaps one would not normally expect an MP to use, i totally agree with what he said and his subsequent actions (he ordered another contractor to saw off the stupid devices - after the LTA, who ordered the installation of the barriers without first informing Mr Ong's town council, did not respond to his complaints for a whole day). Yes, i know, that by right cyclists should dismount their bikes and push them up and down the ramps, but let's face it, faced with the temptation of a smooth downward descent, who (including yours truly, who has used that very bridge several times without getting into a single accident) can resist zooming down the ramps? The problem lies with the less careful and responsible cyclists (mainly young teenage boys) who throw caution to the wind and blindly zoom down the ramps at full speed, posing a safety risk, and spoiling the party for the rest of us, through providing a basis for the installation of these stupid devices...
And i do feel that in this case, LTA has some explaining to do... I mean, either they didn't bother to dictate clear instructions to the contractor, or they failed to enforce these instructions, leading to the dear contractor to install the barriers one-side-at-a-time, leading to the accident. Furthermore, the silly barrier was painted the same shade of dark green that is used to paint many traffic barriers. In the poor light of dawn, how could the cyclist expect to see the dark green barrier clearly...
Speaking as a concerned cyclist, i think that some people really need to, if you don't mind the army speak, wake up their idea...
By the way, this is the second quotable local quote of the week, the first being spoken by a certain someone who candidly said that a certain CEO's salary is "peanuts" (guess who... haha...)
But i digress, the point is, despite the choice of words that perhaps one would not normally expect an MP to use, i totally agree with what he said and his subsequent actions (he ordered another contractor to saw off the stupid devices - after the LTA, who ordered the installation of the barriers without first informing Mr Ong's town council, did not respond to his complaints for a whole day). Yes, i know, that by right cyclists should dismount their bikes and push them up and down the ramps, but let's face it, faced with the temptation of a smooth downward descent, who (including yours truly, who has used that very bridge several times without getting into a single accident) can resist zooming down the ramps? The problem lies with the less careful and responsible cyclists (mainly young teenage boys) who throw caution to the wind and blindly zoom down the ramps at full speed, posing a safety risk, and spoiling the party for the rest of us, through providing a basis for the installation of these stupid devices...
And i do feel that in this case, LTA has some explaining to do... I mean, either they didn't bother to dictate clear instructions to the contractor, or they failed to enforce these instructions, leading to the dear contractor to install the barriers one-side-at-a-time, leading to the accident. Furthermore, the silly barrier was painted the same shade of dark green that is used to paint many traffic barriers. In the poor light of dawn, how could the cyclist expect to see the dark green barrier clearly...
Speaking as a concerned cyclist, i think that some people really need to, if you don't mind the army speak, wake up their idea...
why am i still wide awake at this hour
when i slept for all of four and a half hours yesterday, was dozing off throughout much of the day-long briefing that i had today, and was dozing off again when i was trying to settle some work that needed to be done all the way from midnight up till now?
SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!! SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!
hehe nitez...
SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!! SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!SLEEP!!!
hehe nitez...
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Woke up this evening feeling fine...
Yup i feel fine, albeit a littly dreary-eyed after staying up for the whole night last night during popiah @ the movies and only sleeping at around elevenish this morning (which is incidentally just around my usual wake-up time nowadays) (if you don't count the many times i nearly dozed off on the bus ride back home, despite standing up the whole way...) all the way to around sevenish in the evening just now, the sleep heavily interrupted by many smses and phonecalls that came my way (which i surprisingly was in a shallow enough of a sleep (opposite of deep sleep?) to actually hear and be awaken by... Of course, i think i must have initially made little sense to the people who called me cos i was still more or less half asleep at the time...
Anyway, as i already have said, last night was popiah @ the movies, the first corporate arts cf event of the new academic year [which btw cements my status as no-longer-a-year-one, but in my heart not-yet-a-year-two(much like that ridiculous Britney Spears song, which, much to my disappointment, i heard was co-written by Dido, of all people -how could she write such cheap drivel?)]. In short, things may not have gone entirely according to how we may have wanted them to, but thank God for His reminder to us to really pray and seek His favour and will to be done in everything, no matter what may be happening...
Well, in spite of everything, i do believe that there was a good time of fellowship and getting to know one another better, and new people as well... Nice to see many non-arts people there too... I also thank God for the lessons that He has thought us through this whole event...
The staying-up-all-night part, i suppose, was just waiting to happen, i mean, these kind of events often inevitably climax in some kind of all-nighter... This time, i spent it talking with people, going for supper at my old haunt (ok, not quite lah - actually i've never been to that coffeeshop before, although it was all of 5 minutes or so away from my old house at St. Paul's...), and then fulfilling the 'movies' component of the popiah @ the movies (actually, i realise i never fulfilled the 'popiah' component - the closest i came to doing that last night was eating lots of lettuce leaves stuffed with cucumber, peanuts, and lots of chilli - never have been one to wrap popiah) by watching the latter half of 'Any Given Sunday' which surprisingly featured a great deal - at least ten i think - of actors whose names/faces who i am familiar with (which means they must be pretty established) as well as a totally gross-out dislodged-eyeball scene, and then 'The Usual Suspects', which despite all the good stuff i've heard about it, i failed to really catch the full gist of what was going on (maybe i was too sleepy). Yinbing did, however recognise that the doctor in the show was played by a much younger looking version of the same actress who is the now-dead Mrs Huber in 'Desparate Housewives'...
One thing that troubled me, however about both movies, is the sheer amount of vulgarity in them... Is it really necessary at all? No wonder such over-colourful language is all-too-common nowadays, cos it's so easy to end up being influenced by them and subsequently adding such unchoice words to one's vocabulary (i myself admittedly did that a looooooong time ago too in school and in the army - but by God's grace that chapter is long gone =) All the more urgency, i feel, to pray against the bondage to things of the world, and the need to ask for His strength to be a positive influence to others, rather than be influenced by the world. We are, after all, called to be in this world, but not of it (John 15:19).
Anyway, as i already have said, last night was popiah @ the movies, the first corporate arts cf event of the new academic year [which btw cements my status as no-longer-a-year-one, but in my heart not-yet-a-year-two(much like that ridiculous Britney Spears song, which, much to my disappointment, i heard was co-written by Dido, of all people -how could she write such cheap drivel?)]. In short, things may not have gone entirely according to how we may have wanted them to, but thank God for His reminder to us to really pray and seek His favour and will to be done in everything, no matter what may be happening...
Well, in spite of everything, i do believe that there was a good time of fellowship and getting to know one another better, and new people as well... Nice to see many non-arts people there too... I also thank God for the lessons that He has thought us through this whole event...
The staying-up-all-night part, i suppose, was just waiting to happen, i mean, these kind of events often inevitably climax in some kind of all-nighter... This time, i spent it talking with people, going for supper at my old haunt (ok, not quite lah - actually i've never been to that coffeeshop before, although it was all of 5 minutes or so away from my old house at St. Paul's...), and then fulfilling the 'movies' component of the popiah @ the movies (actually, i realise i never fulfilled the 'popiah' component - the closest i came to doing that last night was eating lots of lettuce leaves stuffed with cucumber, peanuts, and lots of chilli - never have been one to wrap popiah) by watching the latter half of 'Any Given Sunday' which surprisingly featured a great deal - at least ten i think - of actors whose names/faces who i am familiar with (which means they must be pretty established) as well as a totally gross-out dislodged-eyeball scene, and then 'The Usual Suspects', which despite all the good stuff i've heard about it, i failed to really catch the full gist of what was going on (maybe i was too sleepy). Yinbing did, however recognise that the doctor in the show was played by a much younger looking version of the same actress who is the now-dead Mrs Huber in 'Desparate Housewives'...
One thing that troubled me, however about both movies, is the sheer amount of vulgarity in them... Is it really necessary at all? No wonder such over-colourful language is all-too-common nowadays, cos it's so easy to end up being influenced by them and subsequently adding such unchoice words to one's vocabulary (i myself admittedly did that a looooooong time ago too in school and in the army - but by God's grace that chapter is long gone =) All the more urgency, i feel, to pray against the bondage to things of the world, and the need to ask for His strength to be a positive influence to others, rather than be influenced by the world. We are, after all, called to be in this world, but not of it (John 15:19).
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
the biannual headache approaches...
This of course being the dreaded (at least for me) CORS (which i submit to you, stands for "confusing and overtly riduculous system") bidding process... Round zero (which sounds suspiciously like ground zero) begins in the middle of next week, and i haven't the tiniest clue as to what modules to bid for... (ok maybe that's overstating things quite a bit...)
I do know that i have to bid for history modules (cos it's my major, duh...) and english language modules (cos i need to do at least four in total - i've so far only done one - for the moe CS2 requirement) but apart from that i am clueless... Which history modules to bid for (for there's a lot of choice...)? Do i take level 3000s? If so, then how many (i don't want my cap to freefall)? Should i do another cross fac module (this time i'll play safe and s/u it, especially after my disappointing science of music grade last sem...)? Is it possible to plan for a free day (hopefully a friday =)? Can i bid only for modules whereby the exams end early enough (i.e. before december, so as to avoid being subject to "yay, exams over!" cheers by others at the CF library felowship come exam time, while i still am pouring over my notes - it's already bad enough that i may face the prospect of having to do a paper during my birthday again)?
Aah... So many questions, and so few answers... As usual, from the brief glance that i've given to the module list for next sem, it appears that all the attractive history modules either have exams rather late or have the lectures either early in the morning or on fridays... Looks like my ideal utopic timetable for next sem is not to be... Oh well, at least there's still a week or so before 'round zero' starts so at least i still have some time to plan.
Anyway, this thought strikes me now, even for seemingly mundane things such as this, who's to say that it's not important enough to pray about? I mean, i realise that God desires for us to lift up EVERYTHING to Him, including even these trivial things like module bidding... So i shall do so... =)
I do know that i have to bid for history modules (cos it's my major, duh...) and english language modules (cos i need to do at least four in total - i've so far only done one - for the moe CS2 requirement) but apart from that i am clueless... Which history modules to bid for (for there's a lot of choice...)? Do i take level 3000s? If so, then how many (i don't want my cap to freefall)? Should i do another cross fac module (this time i'll play safe and s/u it, especially after my disappointing science of music grade last sem...)? Is it possible to plan for a free day (hopefully a friday =)? Can i bid only for modules whereby the exams end early enough (i.e. before december, so as to avoid being subject to "yay, exams over!" cheers by others at the CF library felowship come exam time, while i still am pouring over my notes - it's already bad enough that i may face the prospect of having to do a paper during my birthday again)?
Aah... So many questions, and so few answers... As usual, from the brief glance that i've given to the module list for next sem, it appears that all the attractive history modules either have exams rather late or have the lectures either early in the morning or on fridays... Looks like my ideal utopic timetable for next sem is not to be... Oh well, at least there's still a week or so before 'round zero' starts so at least i still have some time to plan.
Anyway, this thought strikes me now, even for seemingly mundane things such as this, who's to say that it's not important enough to pray about? I mean, i realise that God desires for us to lift up EVERYTHING to Him, including even these trivial things like module bidding... So i shall do so... =)
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
You Rescued Me
You rescued me,
And picked me up,
A living hope of grace revealed
A life transformed, in righteousness.
O Lord, You have rescued me.
Forgiving me,
You healed my heart
And set me free from sin and death.
You brought me life,
You've made me whole.
O Lord, You have rescued me.
And You loved me,
Before I knew You,
And You knew me for all time.
I've been created in Your image, O Lord,
And You bought me,
And You sought me,
Your blood poured out for me,
A new creation in Your image, O Lord.
You rescued me,
You rescued me.
Words and Music by Geoff Bullock
As i have been reflecting more and more upon the lyrics of songs as of late, especially since "VCFFOC 2005 Theme Song"/"Love Compels" was written, the Lord just brought to my mind this song, which i haven't heard sung for the longest time. One of those older songs from, ahem, my time, now lost in the new wave of jumpy Hillsongs United and Planetshakers songs, among others. I have nothing against the latter, of course, just that i miss the older songs...
But anyway, the lyrics of this song just speak so beautifully about how where we stand now is entirely a result of the Lord's wonderful grace and mercy poured out upon our lives. It's also so comforting, and so humbling to know that we indeed have been created in the image of God. But do our lives truly reflect this? Do our unveiled faces really reflect His glory (2 Corinthians 3:18)? This brings forth a challenge to me to say the Lord, may i die to self and live for You, who died and rose again.
And picked me up,
A living hope of grace revealed
A life transformed, in righteousness.
O Lord, You have rescued me.
Forgiving me,
You healed my heart
And set me free from sin and death.
You brought me life,
You've made me whole.
O Lord, You have rescued me.
And You loved me,
Before I knew You,
And You knew me for all time.
I've been created in Your image, O Lord,
And You bought me,
And You sought me,
Your blood poured out for me,
A new creation in Your image, O Lord.
You rescued me,
You rescued me.
Words and Music by Geoff Bullock
As i have been reflecting more and more upon the lyrics of songs as of late, especially since "VCFFOC 2005 Theme Song"/"Love Compels" was written, the Lord just brought to my mind this song, which i haven't heard sung for the longest time. One of those older songs from, ahem, my time, now lost in the new wave of jumpy Hillsongs United and Planetshakers songs, among others. I have nothing against the latter, of course, just that i miss the older songs...
But anyway, the lyrics of this song just speak so beautifully about how where we stand now is entirely a result of the Lord's wonderful grace and mercy poured out upon our lives. It's also so comforting, and so humbling to know that we indeed have been created in the image of God. But do our lives truly reflect this? Do our unveiled faces really reflect His glory (2 Corinthians 3:18)? This brings forth a challenge to me to say the Lord, may i die to self and live for You, who died and rose again.
Monday, July 11, 2005
Wild Wet Waste
Today after church, Steven Shee, one of the Boat Coy medics from last time asked if i wanted to hang out and see how Downtown East Wild Wild Wet was like, especially since he stays three minutes away but had never been there before in his life... I thought why not, since i also was wondering how it was like, and had been dying to go for a swim for the longest time, especially in the light of my impending ippt, only to be foiled by either an uncooperative timetable or equally uncooperative weather.
So we met and went there... It looked quite promising at first, despite the steep $12.90 (excluding $2 for a one-time-use locker) entrance fee, but after we went on one slide after another. i began to think that it was actually quite crappy...
A lot of the slides there (well there aren't a lot of slides there to begin with, actually) are hampered by their lack of height, and hence lack of speed upon takeoff... Steven even got stuck on two of the slides cos his take-off speed was too slow... The disappointing experience on the slides was only punctuated by the subsequent plunge into a pool of wait-a-minute-why-does-it-taste-so-salty water...
One of the so-called attractions that amused me greatly was this thingy where, from a station on the second floor, you pedal your little tracked bicycle thingy around a circuit of an approximate length of just about 50 metres... What kind of a half-past-six panoramic view would one hope to get from that?
The high point (though it wasn't that high, actually), i thought was the wave pool, although the waves weren't that great (but the seaside experience was still helped by the extreme salinity of the water...). Actually, what was more fun was settling ourselves on one of those giant inflatable donuts that are provided in the pool and try to knock each other off into the water (which reminded me somewhat of the game 'joust' in Amreican Gladiators)... Yup, after all those water slides, the highlight of the day came instead from something that we invented ourselves...
Then of course, just as we were starting to have fun, Cat 1 weather arrived and that was the end of the Wild Wet wasted experience, less than 2 hours after entering [and bear in mind that we spent more time out of than in the water thanks to the long lines for the rides - i actually was bone-dry by the time we got to sit in the most popular ride. after waiting at least 20 minutes]...
So after that we went to Tampines Mall Seoul Garden to eat. I don't recall having eaten at Seoul Garden since JC1, and i don't think i will for some time to come... But that's another story, and i now want to sleep...
So we met and went there... It looked quite promising at first, despite the steep $12.90 (excluding $2 for a one-time-use locker) entrance fee, but after we went on one slide after another. i began to think that it was actually quite crappy...
A lot of the slides there (well there aren't a lot of slides there to begin with, actually) are hampered by their lack of height, and hence lack of speed upon takeoff... Steven even got stuck on two of the slides cos his take-off speed was too slow... The disappointing experience on the slides was only punctuated by the subsequent plunge into a pool of wait-a-minute-why-does-it-taste-so-salty water...
One of the so-called attractions that amused me greatly was this thingy where, from a station on the second floor, you pedal your little tracked bicycle thingy around a circuit of an approximate length of just about 50 metres... What kind of a half-past-six panoramic view would one hope to get from that?
The high point (though it wasn't that high, actually), i thought was the wave pool, although the waves weren't that great (but the seaside experience was still helped by the extreme salinity of the water...). Actually, what was more fun was settling ourselves on one of those giant inflatable donuts that are provided in the pool and try to knock each other off into the water (which reminded me somewhat of the game 'joust' in Amreican Gladiators)... Yup, after all those water slides, the highlight of the day came instead from something that we invented ourselves...
Then of course, just as we were starting to have fun, Cat 1 weather arrived and that was the end of the Wild Wet wasted experience, less than 2 hours after entering [and bear in mind that we spent more time out of than in the water thanks to the long lines for the rides - i actually was bone-dry by the time we got to sit in the most popular ride. after waiting at least 20 minutes]...
So after that we went to Tampines Mall Seoul Garden to eat. I don't recall having eaten at Seoul Garden since JC1, and i don't think i will for some time to come... But that's another story, and i now want to sleep...
Sunday, July 10, 2005
a photo fix
With reference to my last post, the latest update shows "Love Compels" leading the race to see who will replace "VCFFOC 2005 Theme Song" as the new name of the, erm, VCFFOC 2005 theme song... This is thanks to Ryan, who subconciously attached this name to the song despite the campers never being told that this was the actual name of the song, and to Ming Hui, who this morning messaged Ian and me to suggest this title for the song: 1) in rememberance of the camp itself, of which the suggested title also was the theme of, 2) cos the suggested title falls within the song's lyrics, and 3) since the song is about our response to God's amazing love. Of course, there are currently no other contenders in the race to begin with...
Anyway, i actually blog to lament over the surprisingly long time it took me to find a suitable photo to submit for this thingy which requires an individual photo of myself. The instructions were for me to email the photo over to a rep, who will in turn email it to the overall in charge person. This of course meant that i would have to source for a digital photo, since i don't have a scanner, and probably would not know how to use it even if i did have one... Additionally, the photo would have to be presentable and recognisable, since it would be screened in front of an audience.
So off i went sourcing all my (very limited) sources for photos of myself. I searched everywhere i knew, like the BCE CD ROM, the FOC Comm yahoogroups photo album, online photo galleries, and the CDs containing shots taken by the others during my trip to Orlando last year with Renshao, Jason, Ziqi, and Benjamin (which also contains my ghost laptop desktop photo that has been projected for all the camp to see) [my trip last month to the states yielded no digital shots of myself, since i was in charge of the digicam, and never can be bothered to ask others to take pics of me...]
Well, all my hopes for finding a suitable individual photo of myself were dashed, for all these photos either: 1)showed me looking away from the camera, 2) showed me looking silly, cos i was making funny faces or doing stupid actions, for example, 3)showed both...
So eventually i settled upon the above photo (the second one), which was taken at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure in Orlando last year. Of course, as is plain to see, i am neither alone nor looking all that presentable, with all the sweat-soaked shirt and all, but oh well, i suppose this will have to do...Maybe they can cut it in half for me (cos i can't for the life of me figure out how to do it myself). Or else they will just screen this photo with a big red circle around my head to identify me apart from Renshao...
The other option was the first photo, which was taken in the plane ride there with Jason, but i didn't like it cos one eye looked bigger than the other in that one (yes i am extremely superficial). So, did i make the right choice?
Haha anyway this also marks the first-ever photos i have posted on this blog... Another miniscule technological milestone reached in my stone age life...
Saturday, July 09, 2005
As yet untitled...
How can I stand before You Lord
When I am a sinner,
In need of Your mercy
In need of Your saving grace?
Draw me nearer to You
In the warmth of Your embrace
Surrounded by Your abounding love
I will be one with You again
Under the banner of Your love I stand
And I’m so humbled and amazed
That for me You sent Your Son to die
So now I’m saved just by Your grace
As Your amazing love compels my heart
Jesus this is what I pray
May I die to self, and live for You
Who died and rose again.
Now I can stand before You Lord.
Though I am a sinner,
You poured out Your mercy
You poured out Your saving grace.
Now I can be near You
Feel the warmth of Your embrace
Surrounded by Your abounding love
I am at one with You again
The preceeding is the FOC theme song, which unfortunately is lacking a proper appellation apart from "VCFFOC 2005 Theme Song", despite the best efforts of several people including the lyricist... "Love Compels" may have worked prior to yesterday's talent night, but after the sheer cheesy and corny pummelling that that phrase took last night at the hands of the ten groups during the talent night, not any more... =P (my personal favourite - Liebe: "bad breath repels, love compels..." [that has Deborah's name written all over it...]) Any suggestions from anyone?
But anyways, yes, FOC is finally all said and done, and the comm has said its long goodbye to the campers as well as to each other... After months of preparing, months of meetings, months of calling and contacting, months of thinking and troubleshooting, it's now officially "OVER!!!" (BCE people kindly indulge me)
Gosh, if i were to list all my thoughts, experiences, prayers, anxieties, thanksgivings et cetera regarding FOC i would just go on and on like the duracell bunny to no end, so i shall instead just, in my present sleep-deprived state, attempt to mention all that i can recollect at the moment...
Firstly, all thanks and praise has to go to our wonderful God, who definitely answered prayers in a way that was immesurably more than we could ever ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20). I am constantly amazed at His great faithfulness to us even when we often fail to reciprocate... Looking back at the camp, and seeing the comm's prayer scroll (which i haven't really had a chance to look at in depth since it's unvailing...), i think He deserves nothing less than our eternal gratefulness, for His tremendous provision in terms of campers (especially the freshmen) as well as in other areas, for keeping us safe and sound, for the fine weather, for the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and for so much more... He has truly poured His favour out on us, who are so undeserving of any of this... A humbling experience, to say the least...
After months of working closely together, and especially after the past five days of living together under the same roof (Ian's house + Temasek Hall), i think i will miss seeing them around that much. It has certainly been such a blessing in my life to know each and everyone of them, and i thank God for leading me to take that step of faith and join the comm in the first place early this year, for the returns, in so many levels, have been extremely satisfying, one of them of course being getting to know all the dear members of the comm better, even during the camp itself. If any of you are reading this, my sincerest thanks.
Seeing so many freshmen join the camp, especially after the whole mail run affair, was extremely encouraging, and as i told the campers, all of them, be they freshies or seniors, are most certainly all concrete example's of God's answering of prayer. If there's one regret that i will have after this camp, it is this, that i didn't have the chance to get to even get to know a large proportion of the freshies, due to inevitable comm duties, in fact, i didn't even get to spend much time with my group, and hardly ever got to talk to them... Being quite unskilled in the art of talking to new people only made matters worse. Despite this, however, i do believe in faith that i'll be seeing much more of a lot of them in the years to come in VCF ;-) Also, that being said, i still got to meet many new people, and get to know many CFers who i had already been acquainted with much better too...
I also thank God for His message spoken through Reverend Malcolm Tan. I got many new insights into 2 Corinthians 3-5, despite having read it several times previously... I also believe that it was a message that challenged both the freshies and the seniors to live their lives for Christ. Praise be to God!
And of course there are all the other little events that happened, like celebrating Alicia's, Min Zhi's and Shawn's July birthdays the night before the camp with spaghetti, salad, and an uneaten cake, sleeping on a hard surface (floor/desktop) for four nights straight yet still feeling rather refreshed in the morning, discovering that as intriguing a beverage as corn juice (uber gross!!!) existed, learning (or more accurately, relearning) that you need to press Fn + F10 three times in order to get your laptop image on the projector (and subsequently having my 'ghost' image wallpaper constantly projected on the wall for all the camp to see), hearing the most strange lines in the poem assignment to the groups at my station during the starlit treasure hunt (once again from Liebe: "I love you Rita, you are my cheetah/cinta, i will play the guitar, for you my senorita"), deciding on a whim to run (for the first time since i cleared leave in April 2004) back to Temasek Hall from the field after games, inspired by the need to get in better physical shape for ippt, completing the distance, with much panting and perspiration, in 9 minutes 14 seconds, and wishing i had planned more for the final skit to prevent the gut-wrenchingly corny (albeit in a positive way, of course) experience that was the groups' skits...
Yupyup there are just so many things... FOC has really been a wonderful experience. Thank You Lord for leading me to be a part of it.
When I am a sinner,
In need of Your mercy
In need of Your saving grace?
Draw me nearer to You
In the warmth of Your embrace
Surrounded by Your abounding love
I will be one with You again
Under the banner of Your love I stand
And I’m so humbled and amazed
That for me You sent Your Son to die
So now I’m saved just by Your grace
As Your amazing love compels my heart
Jesus this is what I pray
May I die to self, and live for You
Who died and rose again.
Now I can stand before You Lord.
Though I am a sinner,
You poured out Your mercy
You poured out Your saving grace.
Now I can be near You
Feel the warmth of Your embrace
Surrounded by Your abounding love
I am at one with You again
The preceeding is the FOC theme song, which unfortunately is lacking a proper appellation apart from "VCFFOC 2005 Theme Song", despite the best efforts of several people including the lyricist... "Love Compels" may have worked prior to yesterday's talent night, but after the sheer cheesy and corny pummelling that that phrase took last night at the hands of the ten groups during the talent night, not any more... =P (my personal favourite - Liebe: "bad breath repels, love compels..." [that has Deborah's name written all over it...]) Any suggestions from anyone?
But anyways, yes, FOC is finally all said and done, and the comm has said its long goodbye to the campers as well as to each other... After months of preparing, months of meetings, months of calling and contacting, months of thinking and troubleshooting, it's now officially "OVER!!!" (BCE people kindly indulge me)
Gosh, if i were to list all my thoughts, experiences, prayers, anxieties, thanksgivings et cetera regarding FOC i would just go on and on like the duracell bunny to no end, so i shall instead just, in my present sleep-deprived state, attempt to mention all that i can recollect at the moment...
Firstly, all thanks and praise has to go to our wonderful God, who definitely answered prayers in a way that was immesurably more than we could ever ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20). I am constantly amazed at His great faithfulness to us even when we often fail to reciprocate... Looking back at the camp, and seeing the comm's prayer scroll (which i haven't really had a chance to look at in depth since it's unvailing...), i think He deserves nothing less than our eternal gratefulness, for His tremendous provision in terms of campers (especially the freshmen) as well as in other areas, for keeping us safe and sound, for the fine weather, for the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and for so much more... He has truly poured His favour out on us, who are so undeserving of any of this... A humbling experience, to say the least...
After months of working closely together, and especially after the past five days of living together under the same roof (Ian's house + Temasek Hall), i think i will miss seeing them around that much. It has certainly been such a blessing in my life to know each and everyone of them, and i thank God for leading me to take that step of faith and join the comm in the first place early this year, for the returns, in so many levels, have been extremely satisfying, one of them of course being getting to know all the dear members of the comm better, even during the camp itself. If any of you are reading this, my sincerest thanks.
Seeing so many freshmen join the camp, especially after the whole mail run affair, was extremely encouraging, and as i told the campers, all of them, be they freshies or seniors, are most certainly all concrete example's of God's answering of prayer. If there's one regret that i will have after this camp, it is this, that i didn't have the chance to get to even get to know a large proportion of the freshies, due to inevitable comm duties, in fact, i didn't even get to spend much time with my group, and hardly ever got to talk to them... Being quite unskilled in the art of talking to new people only made matters worse. Despite this, however, i do believe in faith that i'll be seeing much more of a lot of them in the years to come in VCF ;-) Also, that being said, i still got to meet many new people, and get to know many CFers who i had already been acquainted with much better too...
I also thank God for His message spoken through Reverend Malcolm Tan. I got many new insights into 2 Corinthians 3-5, despite having read it several times previously... I also believe that it was a message that challenged both the freshies and the seniors to live their lives for Christ. Praise be to God!
And of course there are all the other little events that happened, like celebrating Alicia's, Min Zhi's and Shawn's July birthdays the night before the camp with spaghetti, salad, and an uneaten cake, sleeping on a hard surface (floor/desktop) for four nights straight yet still feeling rather refreshed in the morning, discovering that as intriguing a beverage as corn juice (uber gross!!!) existed, learning (or more accurately, relearning) that you need to press Fn + F10 three times in order to get your laptop image on the projector (and subsequently having my 'ghost' image wallpaper constantly projected on the wall for all the camp to see), hearing the most strange lines in the poem assignment to the groups at my station during the starlit treasure hunt (once again from Liebe: "I love you Rita, you are my cheetah/cinta, i will play the guitar, for you my senorita"), deciding on a whim to run (for the first time since i cleared leave in April 2004) back to Temasek Hall from the field after games, inspired by the need to get in better physical shape for ippt, completing the distance, with much panting and perspiration, in 9 minutes 14 seconds, and wishing i had planned more for the final skit to prevent the gut-wrenchingly corny (albeit in a positive way, of course) experience that was the groups' skits...
Yupyup there are just so many things... FOC has really been a wonderful experience. Thank You Lord for leading me to be a part of it.
Sunday, July 03, 2005
Wimbledon
The tennis tournament, not the movie that is...
Anyway, tennis is actually one of the few sports that i even bother about (although playing the game with even the teeniest ounce of a skill level is beyond me - as is the case with practically every other sport), so with the coming of Wimbledon over the past two weeks i have been rather glued to my computer screen, following what's been going on... (computer, not television, cos i don't have cable, and hence am mostly relegated to seeing the closing shot of the most important matches on channelnewsasia bulletins on the tv - so i just see the live updates of match scores on the Wimbledon website, instead of, say, watching it live on espn...)
So it was with some interest that i found out that Channel 5 would actually be televising a slightly delayed telecast of both the men's and ladies' singles finals. The last time i managed to watch a free-to-air match on local tv was when channel i was still around, and Anastasia Myskina beat Elena Dementieva to win Roland Garros (i believe the non-initiated are quite lost at this point - as i would be if anyone was talking about who won the *insert name of random european soccer league*) And the last time i managed to catch any real tennis action at all was when i was in the states watching, yup, espn coverage of the french open. [i am rather annoyed that local tv (in particular channelnewsasia) likes to air boring (in my opinion, at least) S League and golf tournaments, yet ignore tennis almost totally, especially when they air these silly sports in place of actual news bulletins, which totally defeats the purpose of calling themselves 'channelNEWSasia']
Oops i've digressed again... Anyway, i tuned in to the ladies' singles final just now between Venus Williams and my favoured player, Lindsay Davenport, who of course went on to lose the match, as most of the players that i favour do anyway... In any case, how the commentators manage to analyse the game by talking about stuff like the difficulty in Venus' returning Lindsay's flat forehands is beyond me. Speaking of commentators, i recall one particularly silly comment that one lady commentator made about Elena Likhovtseva (losing all the non-tennis folk again...) She said something to the tune of "she certainly knows how to play the game of tennis". I mean, what kind of a useless and pointless comment is that?
Anyway, while i am quite disappointed that Davenport lost, am at least glad that neither Maria Sharapova (grunting too loud) and Serena Williams (won too many tournaments and ungracious in defeat) [yes, i admit, i am shallow when it comes to these things...] won... And at least she's still the world number one. It would be great if she could win one more Grand Slam title before she retires, though...
Well, tomorrow will mark the first time i will watch Roger Federer play a full match. The finals versus Andy Roddick... Can't wait... (although if i do find out beforehand over the bbc that Federer actually does lose -highly unlikely, although my support of him may change matters - then i will probably not bother to watch the whole match, and just turn the tv off halfway, like i did today for the ladies final after i found out that Davenport was a goner) One thing i know, i will be looking out for his beautiful single-handed backhand (haha at least some of that tennis terminology is rubbing off on me)...
Anyway, tennis is actually one of the few sports that i even bother about (although playing the game with even the teeniest ounce of a skill level is beyond me - as is the case with practically every other sport), so with the coming of Wimbledon over the past two weeks i have been rather glued to my computer screen, following what's been going on... (computer, not television, cos i don't have cable, and hence am mostly relegated to seeing the closing shot of the most important matches on channelnewsasia bulletins on the tv - so i just see the live updates of match scores on the Wimbledon website, instead of, say, watching it live on espn...)
So it was with some interest that i found out that Channel 5 would actually be televising a slightly delayed telecast of both the men's and ladies' singles finals. The last time i managed to watch a free-to-air match on local tv was when channel i was still around, and Anastasia Myskina beat Elena Dementieva to win Roland Garros (i believe the non-initiated are quite lost at this point - as i would be if anyone was talking about who won the *insert name of random european soccer league*) And the last time i managed to catch any real tennis action at all was when i was in the states watching, yup, espn coverage of the french open. [i am rather annoyed that local tv (in particular channelnewsasia) likes to air boring (in my opinion, at least) S League and golf tournaments, yet ignore tennis almost totally, especially when they air these silly sports in place of actual news bulletins, which totally defeats the purpose of calling themselves 'channelNEWSasia']
Oops i've digressed again... Anyway, i tuned in to the ladies' singles final just now between Venus Williams and my favoured player, Lindsay Davenport, who of course went on to lose the match, as most of the players that i favour do anyway... In any case, how the commentators manage to analyse the game by talking about stuff like the difficulty in Venus' returning Lindsay's flat forehands is beyond me. Speaking of commentators, i recall one particularly silly comment that one lady commentator made about Elena Likhovtseva (losing all the non-tennis folk again...) She said something to the tune of "she certainly knows how to play the game of tennis". I mean, what kind of a useless and pointless comment is that?
Anyway, while i am quite disappointed that Davenport lost, am at least glad that neither Maria Sharapova (grunting too loud) and Serena Williams (won too many tournaments and ungracious in defeat) [yes, i admit, i am shallow when it comes to these things...] won... And at least she's still the world number one. It would be great if she could win one more Grand Slam title before she retires, though...
Well, tomorrow will mark the first time i will watch Roger Federer play a full match. The finals versus Andy Roddick... Can't wait... (although if i do find out beforehand over the bbc that Federer actually does lose -highly unlikely, although my support of him may change matters - then i will probably not bother to watch the whole match, and just turn the tv off halfway, like i did today for the ladies final after i found out that Davenport was a goner) One thing i know, i will be looking out for his beautiful single-handed backhand (haha at least some of that tennis terminology is rubbing off on me)...
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