Looking through the travel classifieds in the staff lounge today, the relatively cheap offers caught my eye - then i looked at the dates offered (July, August, September...) and realized that in my (at least) near future, i won't be able to take advantage of such good deals anymore - instead i'll be competing with the tons of S'porean families at marked-up peak period prices to go to places during the december holidays where chances are i'll encounter some of these families again, making a beeline for the nearest Chinese restaurant and the cheap shopping as well, not failing to embarrass themselves (well, if not themselves, then definitely me) and cause real negative impressions of S'poreans to form in the eyes of locals in the process, prompting me to try and distance myself from them as far as possible, putting on a fake accent for starters. Hmm of course it's not as exaggerated as that (or at least i hope not), but the general idea is there.
And i'd admit, my personal need to get out frequently (re: at the very least, once a year) from here for a sufficient (re: at least two, unhassled weeks) break has been one of the key factors behind me constantly saying that i don't see myself in this job for too long a period of time - it's too monotonous and restrictive for me in that way - how to trek across Europe/ do a roadtrip across the States (of course i'd need to learn how to drive first for that one) like that?
At the same time, there's the possibility of being called to other things of a less secular nature by then, something that has been at the back of my mind ever since Urbana - but for that think the next few years would entail a lot of (particularly spiritual) change on my part - ah but these are still early days yet so won't go too into that now.
In any case, the past two weeks have been real helpful in helping me to put into perspective what i'm about to get into - real thankful for that cos think that's something i needed in the wake of all that's been going on recently - so the next two weeks ought to be real exciting =)
Showing posts with label missions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label missions. Show all posts
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Visit Philippines 2008
There's a histo paper due in just over a week's time which better judgement urges me to continue (though so far have just been doing some reading - no planning or writing) working on, but i've decided rather to ramble on a bit about other stuff and we'll see where this leads to...
Well i've been meaning to talk a bit about my recent trip back to the Philippines for like the longest time and then some right - well just the other day i heard about the bomb blast at Glorietta in Manila, and it troubled me quite a bit, cos especially ever since i came back from there i've been trying to push the Philippines (apart from Mindanao at least) as a safe and worthwile tourist destination, touting, among other things; the tight security at malls. Well, obviously that tight security still fell flat this time round.
Had taken a pic of the Atrium at Glorietta
(the mall complex where the blast happened) when i was there
Eh this picture really doesn't do the terraces justice, but it'll have to do for now
That actually was to me one of the main highlights of going back - the chance to go up to Ifugao Province and take in a bit of the scenery and all. My cousin put me in touch with a local pastor who is involved in work with many of the tribal people in the surrounding hills, and so he showed me around the terraces and put me up at his place for the night. What i was really blessed by though, was his sharing with me a bit about his ministry - stuff like Bible translation and hiking to various villages to screen the Jesus film, among other stuff. The stereotypical awareness of how much i'd taken things for granted in S'pore hit me - yup and to that end this song came to mind (taken from here btw - and since it's more than 100 years old i shall assume am not infringing on copyright restrictions by putting the lyrics here - is that the way it works?):
So anyways, this aspect of ministry really got me thinking about stuff - and i'd like to think that this is something that i would be open to doing if the Lord ever calls me to it (although there'll be a great deal of language-learning to do first haha). Pastor Ardo did say that if things allow for it, maybe one day i could accompany him as he goes about one of his trips - that got me excited (though of course it really is as the Lord leads la - dun want to go just because it sounds cool).
And of course, this aside, i'm really keen on going back real soon (maybe a grad trip? though i'd like to do this on top of another trip to another, more distant place) to hike around a bit of the rice terraces [the terraces i went to were the most accessible ones, and coincidentally (or not), also the least fascinating ones] - there's a far more ulu yet still nearby town called Batad with far nicer terraces along with other cool (literally) stuff like waterfalls and all which i'd like to hike to the next time. And maybe while i'm in the Philippines can see some other stuff like the Chocolate Hills (nope, sorry Debs, they're not made of real chocolate =p) and Yoda's close primate relative. And of course this whole post is so tourist brochure-y for a reason - am also advertising for any possible travel companions - do give it a thought ya =) I can settle most of the arrangements and also communicate with anyone who doesn't speak English with my (laughable) Tagalog (seriously, while i was there, everyone thought i was a local - and hence always talked to me in Tagalog - leaving me smile embarassingly and mutter whatever i could in reply - which usually amounted to "yes", "no" or "no more")... Anyways, if and when this happens, it'll be in May 2008 earliest so there's plenty of time to consider...
Let me know, salamat po ;)
Well i've been meaning to talk a bit about my recent trip back to the Philippines for like the longest time and then some right - well just the other day i heard about the bomb blast at Glorietta in Manila, and it troubled me quite a bit, cos especially ever since i came back from there i've been trying to push the Philippines (apart from Mindanao at least) as a safe and worthwile tourist destination, touting, among other things; the tight security at malls. Well, obviously that tight security still fell flat this time round.
Had taken a pic of the Atrium at Glorietta(the mall complex where the blast happened) when i was there
In any case though, i'd still say that a great deal of the security and safety concerns that many people have about traveling to the Philippines are stretching it a bit. Media reports tend to give the impression that the entire country is a no-go zone cos it's unsafe, but that's really not the case. The south - Mindanao island and all that's below it - yes perhaps the security situation there may be more questionable, since that's where the hive of seperatist/terrorist activity is (although even within the island there are places that are still relatively safe). But much of the rest is really pretty safe.
Ok, maybe after the latest blast Manila may not be everyone's favorite place to go to (and it was not really one of mine even before the blasts) but it does have good shopping (eh and yup i know that's exactly where the bomb hit) - but seriously, the malls there are ginormous (if that word has been accepted into general parlance yet). And beyond Manila there's a lot worth seeing - i personally regretted spending so much time in the Metro Manila area (even though i was with relatives) and hence not seeing enough of the rice terraces to the north - and to that end a return trip in the near future is definitely a goal of mine.
Ok, maybe after the latest blast Manila may not be everyone's favorite place to go to (and it was not really one of mine even before the blasts) but it does have good shopping (eh and yup i know that's exactly where the bomb hit) - but seriously, the malls there are ginormous (if that word has been accepted into general parlance yet). And beyond Manila there's a lot worth seeing - i personally regretted spending so much time in the Metro Manila area (even though i was with relatives) and hence not seeing enough of the rice terraces to the north - and to that end a return trip in the near future is definitely a goal of mine.
Eh this picture really doesn't do the terraces justice, but it'll have to do for nowThat actually was to me one of the main highlights of going back - the chance to go up to Ifugao Province and take in a bit of the scenery and all. My cousin put me in touch with a local pastor who is involved in work with many of the tribal people in the surrounding hills, and so he showed me around the terraces and put me up at his place for the night. What i was really blessed by though, was his sharing with me a bit about his ministry - stuff like Bible translation and hiking to various villages to screen the Jesus film, among other stuff. The stereotypical awareness of how much i'd taken things for granted in S'pore hit me - yup and to that end this song came to mind (taken from here btw - and since it's more than 100 years old i shall assume am not infringing on copyright restrictions by putting the lyrics here - is that the way it works?):
-
- 'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,
- 'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
- And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
- 'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
- When true simplicity is gain'd,
- To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,
- To turn, turn will be our delight,
- Till by turning, turning we come round right.
- 'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,
So anyways, this aspect of ministry really got me thinking about stuff - and i'd like to think that this is something that i would be open to doing if the Lord ever calls me to it (although there'll be a great deal of language-learning to do first haha). Pastor Ardo did say that if things allow for it, maybe one day i could accompany him as he goes about one of his trips - that got me excited (though of course it really is as the Lord leads la - dun want to go just because it sounds cool).
And of course, this aside, i'm really keen on going back real soon (maybe a grad trip? though i'd like to do this on top of another trip to another, more distant place) to hike around a bit of the rice terraces [the terraces i went to were the most accessible ones, and coincidentally (or not), also the least fascinating ones] - there's a far more ulu yet still nearby town called Batad with far nicer terraces along with other cool (literally) stuff like waterfalls and all which i'd like to hike to the next time. And maybe while i'm in the Philippines can see some other stuff like the Chocolate Hills (nope, sorry Debs, they're not made of real chocolate =p) and Yoda's close primate relative. And of course this whole post is so tourist brochure-y for a reason - am also advertising for any possible travel companions - do give it a thought ya =) I can settle most of the arrangements and also communicate with anyone who doesn't speak English with my (laughable) Tagalog (seriously, while i was there, everyone thought i was a local - and hence always talked to me in Tagalog - leaving me smile embarassingly and mutter whatever i could in reply - which usually amounted to "yes", "no" or "no more")... Anyways, if and when this happens, it'll be in May 2008 earliest so there's plenty of time to consider...
Let me know, salamat po ;)
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
CCC 101
Was watching a Frasier DVD just now over lunch when i heard a squeal coming from the dining room, where Bingo was loitering about. Figured that it was just one of his routine muscle-aching moments (at his age, they seem to come pretty regularly nowsaday, especially if he has just accidentally slipped or something), so i didn't give him much notice. But then he continued to squeal and squeal (usually it's just a once-off thing) so i went over to take a look at him. Turns out his right rear leg was probably seizing up for some reason or other (cramp, sprain etc...) and he was hobbling around the house and unable to even lie down, cos whenever he tried to do so, he'd just aggravate the pain and howl even more...
Eh so i really had no idea what to do as he went on like this for the next five minutes, beyond laying on of hands and prayer (seriously). He seriously looked to be in great agony, and i hadn't a clue as to what else to do. Heck, i didn't even have the number of a vet with me, nor could i bring him over to one since i can't drive.
Yup so as i was saying, the best i could do was pray that the pain would go away... And thankfully after five minutes or so he finally calmed down and appeared to be in less pain, another five minutes and he was lying down once again, as if nothing had happened...
In retrospect, i was somehow reminded of MEET and all that was said about effective communication and contextualization. Obviously my skills at canine communication and contextualization are sorely lacking, which turned out to Bingo's detriment since he could not convey to me what the problem was, nor could i try and massage his leg or do anything that in my eyes constituted as treatment as he would not understand that it would be for his own good and hence would probably try and bite me. Any desparate attempt at barking and head nudging on my part in order to let him know what i wanted to do would probably not be well-received by him at all...
And bringing this into a missions context, it reminds me of the futility of trying to share the Gospel to a foreign people group sans at least some knowledge of their language/culture etc since if i tried to do so my attempts would fall on deaf ears. I'd really have no other recourse than to pray for a direct revelation of the Gospel Message via the work of the HolySpirit. But the effective communication barrier would still be an issue whatever the case. Similarly, all i could really do for Bingo was to pray for the end to his pain by the grace of God as without proper communication, nothing else was a possibility. So when all things are considered, i guess my point is that ultimately our human efforts are finite, and it is God who is in control of everything... He succeeds where we fail, and the opposite is never true.
Hmm and where Bingo is concerned, i seriously dunno how things will be in the future, especially after we move and if he ends up still with us... Ah well, that's all in God's hands as well - we'll see what happens...
Yesterday we had a MEET Prathet Thai reunion thingy with Alan, Bessie and Hannah, with whom we spent a month with exactly a year ago. Went along with the previous team, like mine also amply stocked with thursday cg peeps. Anyways, it was great to catch up and remember some of the things we did back there. Haha those were some crazy times, but at the same time the lessons that i've learnt from way back then still have had an impact on where i am today by God's grace. It was really that trip that got me thinking that missions (on a longer short-term/long-term basis) is something that i'm actually open to, as the Lord leads, something cemented by my time at Urbana. Yup of course the mechanics and all of that stuff of it is still very very fuzzy (for starters the earliest i'd probably consider actually doing so would be after my bond is up - which is in 2013 so wait long long ah...) but well, if it's something the Lord wants of me i'm sure things will become clearer in His time... Dai mai? Dai!
All of us who were there yesterday - we ended up at Va Va Voom Vietnamese
Eh so i really had no idea what to do as he went on like this for the next five minutes, beyond laying on of hands and prayer (seriously). He seriously looked to be in great agony, and i hadn't a clue as to what else to do. Heck, i didn't even have the number of a vet with me, nor could i bring him over to one since i can't drive.
Yup so as i was saying, the best i could do was pray that the pain would go away... And thankfully after five minutes or so he finally calmed down and appeared to be in less pain, another five minutes and he was lying down once again, as if nothing had happened...
In retrospect, i was somehow reminded of MEET and all that was said about effective communication and contextualization. Obviously my skills at canine communication and contextualization are sorely lacking, which turned out to Bingo's detriment since he could not convey to me what the problem was, nor could i try and massage his leg or do anything that in my eyes constituted as treatment as he would not understand that it would be for his own good and hence would probably try and bite me. Any desparate attempt at barking and head nudging on my part in order to let him know what i wanted to do would probably not be well-received by him at all...
And bringing this into a missions context, it reminds me of the futility of trying to share the Gospel to a foreign people group sans at least some knowledge of their language/culture etc since if i tried to do so my attempts would fall on deaf ears. I'd really have no other recourse than to pray for a direct revelation of the Gospel Message via the work of the HolySpirit. But the effective communication barrier would still be an issue whatever the case. Similarly, all i could really do for Bingo was to pray for the end to his pain by the grace of God as without proper communication, nothing else was a possibility. So when all things are considered, i guess my point is that ultimately our human efforts are finite, and it is God who is in control of everything... He succeeds where we fail, and the opposite is never true.
Hmm and where Bingo is concerned, i seriously dunno how things will be in the future, especially after we move and if he ends up still with us... Ah well, that's all in God's hands as well - we'll see what happens...
Yesterday we had a MEET Prathet Thai reunion thingy with Alan, Bessie and Hannah, with whom we spent a month with exactly a year ago. Went along with the previous team, like mine also amply stocked with thursday cg peeps. Anyways, it was great to catch up and remember some of the things we did back there. Haha those were some crazy times, but at the same time the lessons that i've learnt from way back then still have had an impact on where i am today by God's grace. It was really that trip that got me thinking that missions (on a longer short-term/long-term basis) is something that i'm actually open to, as the Lord leads, something cemented by my time at Urbana. Yup of course the mechanics and all of that stuff of it is still very very fuzzy (for starters the earliest i'd probably consider actually doing so would be after my bond is up - which is in 2013 so wait long long ah...) but well, if it's something the Lord wants of me i'm sure things will become clearer in His time... Dai mai? Dai!
All of us who were there yesterday - we ended up at Va Va Voom VietnameseSunday, March 11, 2007
still lost in transition
Today for church i went to SAC again, but this time to check out the later and more contemporary service. The rest of the family went for the earlier service, so i was more or less alone this time. While the service itself went well (it was the church missions Sunday which was nice, felt reminded of MEET), i couldn't help but feel irked to a certain extent, because there i was having to try and get used to yet another church environment (which is the main reason why i'm somewhat reluctant to say i'm really leaving SHC just yet) - after like five or six church moves one tends to get somewhat weary of it... It takes so much to settle down, to get to know people and to find one's place within the whole structure of things; and yup, assuming at the end of the day the Lord wants me to move on to SAC (which i feel is more and more the case), this will mean a grossly long integration process for me i fear...
So you know when people ask me if one feels pressure being a pk, while the answer to a certain extent is yes, at least for me it's relatively easy enough to keep a low enough profile, so in my opinion the far greater problem is getting used to (at least within the Anglican context) having to be shuffled around so very often and the difficulties that arise with each move.
And speaking of moving, i also had my first look at the new house - oops, i mean apartment. Yes after 23 years i no longer will be staying in a house with a garden, and probably not for the forseeable future either. Actually the place itself exceeded my expectations (which were set very low anyways cos i was, and still am, dreading the move away from the east to some funny knoll in the far boondocks of town...), it's bigger than i thought, and after a decent renovation it shouldn't be too bad... That being said i still wish i could stay put...
Was a tad overambitious just now with the run, and was trailing far behind for much of it. Predict aching calf muscles for tomorrow when i wake up... And ate so much for dinner that whatever was burnt has probably already been replaced. Bah.
So you know when people ask me if one feels pressure being a pk, while the answer to a certain extent is yes, at least for me it's relatively easy enough to keep a low enough profile, so in my opinion the far greater problem is getting used to (at least within the Anglican context) having to be shuffled around so very often and the difficulties that arise with each move.
And speaking of moving, i also had my first look at the new house - oops, i mean apartment. Yes after 23 years i no longer will be staying in a house with a garden, and probably not for the forseeable future either. Actually the place itself exceeded my expectations (which were set very low anyways cos i was, and still am, dreading the move away from the east to some funny knoll in the far boondocks of town...), it's bigger than i thought, and after a decent renovation it shouldn't be too bad... That being said i still wish i could stay put...
Was a tad overambitious just now with the run, and was trailing far behind for much of it. Predict aching calf muscles for tomorrow when i wake up... And ate so much for dinner that whatever was burnt has probably already been replaced. Bah.
Sunday, July 16, 2006
changi tales
Think that over the past week I've become so used to waking up at fiveish that it's become almost second nature already (of course once i say this i know that tomorrow i'll end up waking up much later than fiveish) which is quite amazing, especially since i am able to hear my alarm clock every morning, since previously almost one out of every two times when i set the alarm i end up sleeping right through it (methinks that in my semi-awake state i turn off the alarm without realising it and going back to sleep again)
Well, today called for an early wake-up cos i had to get a lift from Sida to the airport to welcome the MEET Mongolia team back home at sixish in the morning. Good to see them back, since haven't seen them in close to two months already. I realised that i was at the airport to send off/ receive every single MEET team as was possible (i.e. when i was not away in Thailand) - that's what you get for living (relatively) near the airport...
After that we went down to ecp to run - quite pleased with myself, cos was able to cover longer than i have in recent memory, and actually managed to keep running for 55 minutes straight without tiring out or cramping halfway - think that this sets a new non-army-related running distance and time record for me heh - from the far end of costa sands to the sailing centre and back again... Once again by the end of it my shirt was so wet i looked as though i had fallen into the sea. Think that running shouldn't be a problem for ippt anymore - ironically, it's those dreaded pull ups that could pull me down...
Then we had breakfast [i had breakfast! - and i've actually been having breakfast for the past few days in school - somehow the moulding process makes me feel hungry - in fact yesterday in school i had two breakfasts (one bun and then one plate of spaghetti plus chicken chop) and one lunch (cai fan) within the span of three hours...] at killiney kopitiam - my first time eating there ever - not bad lah, but sooo much butter in the kaya toast (Eunice, sounds familiar? =p)
Slacked almost the whole rest of the morning and afternoon at home - got some much needed sleep (actually only an hour) since this whole week i've been averaging five hours a night - thankfully the whole module mapping process is nearing an end - the past few days (or at least the free time that i've had while in the staff room) have in large part been spent carefully crafting emails to the relevant people from both schools - it's quite a headache i must say... At least with some progress made, exchange becomes much more of something to tangibly look forward to...
And while we're on that topic in the evening made the trip back to the airport again (the second time this year i've been to the airport twice in a day btw - for the sake of totally useless trivia) to see Debs off - quite a number of people were there - basically summed up as lots of arts people, past and present, plus Damien =p Had fun, most of it at the expense of certain individuals who shall remain unnamed. I shall keep quiet as to who exactly =p. Debs, if and when you read this, have a blast...
Huh - so my turn is apparently next - it's actually in a very short while, though it stil seems like eons away thanks to the visa and mapping stuff that requires completion, as well as the travel plans finalization process - hopefully by once the dreaded ippt passes i'll be more excited - 18 days left and counting...
Well, today called for an early wake-up cos i had to get a lift from Sida to the airport to welcome the MEET Mongolia team back home at sixish in the morning. Good to see them back, since haven't seen them in close to two months already. I realised that i was at the airport to send off/ receive every single MEET team as was possible (i.e. when i was not away in Thailand) - that's what you get for living (relatively) near the airport...
After that we went down to ecp to run - quite pleased with myself, cos was able to cover longer than i have in recent memory, and actually managed to keep running for 55 minutes straight without tiring out or cramping halfway - think that this sets a new non-army-related running distance and time record for me heh - from the far end of costa sands to the sailing centre and back again... Once again by the end of it my shirt was so wet i looked as though i had fallen into the sea. Think that running shouldn't be a problem for ippt anymore - ironically, it's those dreaded pull ups that could pull me down...
Then we had breakfast [i had breakfast! - and i've actually been having breakfast for the past few days in school - somehow the moulding process makes me feel hungry - in fact yesterday in school i had two breakfasts (one bun and then one plate of spaghetti plus chicken chop) and one lunch (cai fan) within the span of three hours...] at killiney kopitiam - my first time eating there ever - not bad lah, but sooo much butter in the kaya toast (Eunice, sounds familiar? =p)
Slacked almost the whole rest of the morning and afternoon at home - got some much needed sleep (actually only an hour) since this whole week i've been averaging five hours a night - thankfully the whole module mapping process is nearing an end - the past few days (or at least the free time that i've had while in the staff room) have in large part been spent carefully crafting emails to the relevant people from both schools - it's quite a headache i must say... At least with some progress made, exchange becomes much more of something to tangibly look forward to...
And while we're on that topic in the evening made the trip back to the airport again (the second time this year i've been to the airport twice in a day btw - for the sake of totally useless trivia) to see Debs off - quite a number of people were there - basically summed up as lots of arts people, past and present, plus Damien =p Had fun, most of it at the expense of certain individuals who shall remain unnamed. I shall keep quiet as to who exactly =p. Debs, if and when you read this, have a blast...
Huh - so my turn is apparently next - it's actually in a very short while, though it stil seems like eons away thanks to the visa and mapping stuff that requires completion, as well as the travel plans finalization process - hopefully by once the dreaded ippt passes i'll be more excited - 18 days left and counting...
Friday, July 07, 2006
the obligatory FOC reflection post
so i was thinking of delaying typing this to tomorrow morning - but knowing me and my (severly deficient) data retention system, i figured that i'm better off reflecting now [ahem, and also because i just realised that my missionary biography review is due tomorrow and i'm only like a few chapters into the book as i type this, and i figured there's no way i can complete the book and the review before tomorrow, so shall instead do something that is more feasible to complete...]...
well, i did share some reflections just now, but as usual my extremely slow data processing system meant that a lot of what i wanted to say was not said since had no time to think about it so i shall maybe say some of it here if i can still remember it.
yup basically was very much looking forward to this camp, at the least since it provided a good opportunity for me to attend a cf camp as an ordinary camper and nothing more (my second chance to do this after last year's ANNTIC) because, as i shared, being an ordinary camper allows for much better data absorption since you are not so bothered with duties and what not (of course i am not saying that you should only attend a camp as an ordinary camper because taking up some kind of role has its own great benefits too), especially so in between periods of extreme activity (MEET trip, SEP prep, teaching, SEP itself) - the camp provided a little respite of sorts, whereby i had no way to be distracted by email checking and all that nonsense. And maybe the fact that i'm flying off so soon added to the whole relaxed atmosphere for me...
Of course, now i realise that in anticipation of the camp, i had not once ever expected anything from the teaching - or in fact given the teaching and the theme little if any thought. Well thankfully the Lord had different ideas and used his servant Edmund to minister in very deep ways to myself (and i believe every other camper too). Things that i often tended to ignore and not give a second thought about doing(or a first thought, for that matter), like eating sweets and candy bars in the library suddenly came back to slap me in the face as i realised that even for these leetle things are still in their own leetle ways means of disregarding authority figures. Additionally, at the moment when he was talking about that, i chuckled to myself when i thought about the many times when the question "Shall i jaywalk or not?" when i am at the crossing is answered in my head with "well, that depends upon whether you are wearing a Christian shirt, isn't it?". Well, that answer is wrong, the correct answer HAS to be a big flat NO... Hmmm... And these are but two of the myriad things that in fact all add up to one huge level of mediocre holiness. At the heart of holiness is obedience - and my disobediance in these things that i brush aside as merely trivial is simply unacceptable in God's eyes...
The Lord also challenged me with regards to my over-indulgence in the features of my own comfort zone - in areas such as interactions with other people - whereby i tend to shy away from unfamiliar people and all the more from so-called unloveable people. Well, now i am reminded that all of us, of course with myself included, really ought to have been unloveable in God's eyes because of our inherent sinful nature, which cannot coexist with God in His holiness. Of course, even in our own unlovable-ness, God still in His amazing love sent His Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross to redeem us from our sins - n act of grace so undeserved considering how unloveable we actually should have been in God's eyes. And so, who am i to ignore God's example and brush off such unfamiliar and unloveable people? It's a great challenge, that's for sure, but again as i always say (and you can never say too much of this) ultimately it is not up to us to put in all our own effort in doing this because it counts for nothing - the attitude of humility and total surrender to God is what is needed, for only He is able to surmount our human weaknesses (for His power is made perfect in our weakness - 2 Cor 12:9)...
Also with regards to evangelism, to be more aware of the situations that God has placed me in and to be more convicted of the spiritual reality of those who do not yet know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour - that they will spend an eternity apart from Him. Even in the little things - how can i show myself to others to be a Christian - and possibly from there to share the gospel? It can be through simple things like wearing a Christian shirt (and not jaywalking whle wearing it haha) when you go and meet up with friends (which is by the way what i intend to do for my primary 6 class reunion on sunday night...) or through subtly dropping Christian stuff into conversations or emails or things like that... And of course to actively and consistently pray for my pre-believer friends...
Oh well, apart from some of the things that the Lord challenged me with in the course of the theme talks, there also were the worship sessions which once again really spoke to me - i can honestly say that no session passed without me wiping my eyes - because the Lord was reminding me through the songs and through other means of the great harvest field that we have even in campus (and by implication the ultra-enormous harvest field beyond campus) and how His desire is for all these people to be like us and sing from our hearts songs of praise to our God. I was sharing a lot about taking spiritual ownership of campus - but i suppose that given that evangelism forms an essential part of taking this spiritual ownership, that perhaps i'd be like Mr Black Pot talking to an audience of kettles... The vision of the multitudes from all nations endlessly praising His name in Revelation - we have a part to play in the eventual fulfillment of that - but what is done in response to my recognition of this?
On a less serious note, the camp also provided for me the opportunity to get to meet many new people, both freshies and seniors - since this time i was not occupied with organizing games here and writing a song there [of course, even among the new people, certain familiar things remained - for example - if i threw a stone at random, chances are i'd hit an ACSian (though, knowing my throwing skills, possibly not because of the sheer abundance of ACSians, but rather because i'd somehow hit myself instead =p)] My group Moses was filled with a great and somewhat diverse bunch of people, most of whom i either did not know or was only merely somewhat acquainted with prior to the camp - i always lament as to how during cf camps i always seem to be put into groups where i do not know most of the other people - but now i realise that perhaps this is God's way of - as mentioned earlier - making me get out of my puny comfort zone and be in a way forced to get to know unfamiliar people. Well I am really glad to have met and known every single person in my group, and i thank God for each of them =) A minor regret perhaps is having to be away to do annoying SEP stuff on the first day such that i didn't get to be around for a good portion of the icebreakers and perhaps know more about them... Also, of course to see so many cf people for the first time since i came back - that was great too... And also i felt rather encouraged to see many of the ex-freshies step up to serve as comm members and ogls and what not - it's like the passing on of the baton - which of course also makes me feel really old *bleah* But seriously, their enthusiasm and energy is really very heartening to see =)
The unfamiliar bed syndrome struck again during the camp - i found myself taking quite some time to fall asleep even though i was dead tired every night, and always woke up hours before sunrise. Of course i looked forward to this so that i could go for a pre-dawn run (ippt two weeks away and counting) since at home my bed is way too welcoming for me to even think of waking up early to run. Good to get some exercise - because i seriously am quite worried about the silly thing itself - even to merely pass... But i digress... Anyway, the wake up meant early run which meant early shower which meant early and longer quiet time, which i really appreciated - MEET trip made me realise that i was not spending enough time in personal prayer time with God - tried to do more of this during FOC to limited success - worked for a while this morning but i was too sleepy - such that i had to drink a whole can of Nescafe Ice (which tastes strange btw). The beach also was a great place for quiet time - cool enough, peaceful, without much distractions, fairly clean [as opposed to ecp, which doesn't really work for me (but then again, i can never wake up early enough to get to the beach in the early morning anyway)]
Anyway, it feels strange to have left the camp, which is strange since i don't think it in total lasted more than 80 hours... Suddenly there's no one around but Bingo... *woof*
well, i did share some reflections just now, but as usual my extremely slow data processing system meant that a lot of what i wanted to say was not said since had no time to think about it so i shall maybe say some of it here if i can still remember it.
yup basically was very much looking forward to this camp, at the least since it provided a good opportunity for me to attend a cf camp as an ordinary camper and nothing more (my second chance to do this after last year's ANNTIC) because, as i shared, being an ordinary camper allows for much better data absorption since you are not so bothered with duties and what not (of course i am not saying that you should only attend a camp as an ordinary camper because taking up some kind of role has its own great benefits too), especially so in between periods of extreme activity (MEET trip, SEP prep, teaching, SEP itself) - the camp provided a little respite of sorts, whereby i had no way to be distracted by email checking and all that nonsense. And maybe the fact that i'm flying off so soon added to the whole relaxed atmosphere for me...
Of course, now i realise that in anticipation of the camp, i had not once ever expected anything from the teaching - or in fact given the teaching and the theme little if any thought. Well thankfully the Lord had different ideas and used his servant Edmund to minister in very deep ways to myself (and i believe every other camper too). Things that i often tended to ignore and not give a second thought about doing(or a first thought, for that matter), like eating sweets and candy bars in the library suddenly came back to slap me in the face as i realised that even for these leetle things are still in their own leetle ways means of disregarding authority figures. Additionally, at the moment when he was talking about that, i chuckled to myself when i thought about the many times when the question "Shall i jaywalk or not?" when i am at the crossing is answered in my head with "well, that depends upon whether you are wearing a Christian shirt, isn't it?". Well, that answer is wrong, the correct answer HAS to be a big flat NO... Hmmm... And these are but two of the myriad things that in fact all add up to one huge level of mediocre holiness. At the heart of holiness is obedience - and my disobediance in these things that i brush aside as merely trivial is simply unacceptable in God's eyes...
The Lord also challenged me with regards to my over-indulgence in the features of my own comfort zone - in areas such as interactions with other people - whereby i tend to shy away from unfamiliar people and all the more from so-called unloveable people. Well, now i am reminded that all of us, of course with myself included, really ought to have been unloveable in God's eyes because of our inherent sinful nature, which cannot coexist with God in His holiness. Of course, even in our own unlovable-ness, God still in His amazing love sent His Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross to redeem us from our sins - n act of grace so undeserved considering how unloveable we actually should have been in God's eyes. And so, who am i to ignore God's example and brush off such unfamiliar and unloveable people? It's a great challenge, that's for sure, but again as i always say (and you can never say too much of this) ultimately it is not up to us to put in all our own effort in doing this because it counts for nothing - the attitude of humility and total surrender to God is what is needed, for only He is able to surmount our human weaknesses (for His power is made perfect in our weakness - 2 Cor 12:9)...
Also with regards to evangelism, to be more aware of the situations that God has placed me in and to be more convicted of the spiritual reality of those who do not yet know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour - that they will spend an eternity apart from Him. Even in the little things - how can i show myself to others to be a Christian - and possibly from there to share the gospel? It can be through simple things like wearing a Christian shirt (and not jaywalking whle wearing it haha) when you go and meet up with friends (which is by the way what i intend to do for my primary 6 class reunion on sunday night...) or through subtly dropping Christian stuff into conversations or emails or things like that... And of course to actively and consistently pray for my pre-believer friends...
Oh well, apart from some of the things that the Lord challenged me with in the course of the theme talks, there also were the worship sessions which once again really spoke to me - i can honestly say that no session passed without me wiping my eyes - because the Lord was reminding me through the songs and through other means of the great harvest field that we have even in campus (and by implication the ultra-enormous harvest field beyond campus) and how His desire is for all these people to be like us and sing from our hearts songs of praise to our God. I was sharing a lot about taking spiritual ownership of campus - but i suppose that given that evangelism forms an essential part of taking this spiritual ownership, that perhaps i'd be like Mr Black Pot talking to an audience of kettles... The vision of the multitudes from all nations endlessly praising His name in Revelation - we have a part to play in the eventual fulfillment of that - but what is done in response to my recognition of this?
On a less serious note, the camp also provided for me the opportunity to get to meet many new people, both freshies and seniors - since this time i was not occupied with organizing games here and writing a song there [of course, even among the new people, certain familiar things remained - for example - if i threw a stone at random, chances are i'd hit an ACSian (though, knowing my throwing skills, possibly not because of the sheer abundance of ACSians, but rather because i'd somehow hit myself instead =p)] My group Moses was filled with a great and somewhat diverse bunch of people, most of whom i either did not know or was only merely somewhat acquainted with prior to the camp - i always lament as to how during cf camps i always seem to be put into groups where i do not know most of the other people - but now i realise that perhaps this is God's way of - as mentioned earlier - making me get out of my puny comfort zone and be in a way forced to get to know unfamiliar people. Well I am really glad to have met and known every single person in my group, and i thank God for each of them =) A minor regret perhaps is having to be away to do annoying SEP stuff on the first day such that i didn't get to be around for a good portion of the icebreakers and perhaps know more about them... Also, of course to see so many cf people for the first time since i came back - that was great too... And also i felt rather encouraged to see many of the ex-freshies step up to serve as comm members and ogls and what not - it's like the passing on of the baton - which of course also makes me feel really old *bleah* But seriously, their enthusiasm and energy is really very heartening to see =)
The unfamiliar bed syndrome struck again during the camp - i found myself taking quite some time to fall asleep even though i was dead tired every night, and always woke up hours before sunrise. Of course i looked forward to this so that i could go for a pre-dawn run (ippt two weeks away and counting) since at home my bed is way too welcoming for me to even think of waking up early to run. Good to get some exercise - because i seriously am quite worried about the silly thing itself - even to merely pass... But i digress... Anyway, the wake up meant early run which meant early shower which meant early and longer quiet time, which i really appreciated - MEET trip made me realise that i was not spending enough time in personal prayer time with God - tried to do more of this during FOC to limited success - worked for a while this morning but i was too sleepy - such that i had to drink a whole can of Nescafe Ice (which tastes strange btw). The beach also was a great place for quiet time - cool enough, peaceful, without much distractions, fairly clean [as opposed to ecp, which doesn't really work for me (but then again, i can never wake up early enough to get to the beach in the early morning anyway)]
Anyway, it feels strange to have left the camp, which is strange since i don't think it in total lasted more than 80 hours... Suddenly there's no one around but Bingo... *woof*
Sunday, June 25, 2006
of pigging out and sliced guitars
Lots of things happening over the past few days - resulting in a lot of people met and a lot of $ drained from my wallet and ezlink card...
Finally got to watch X3 with the team on Thursday - it was very entertaining, though not always necessarily in a good way - a little too campy for my tastes but fun nevertheless. I especially enjoyed Callisto's death because i absolutely couldn't stand her when she was alive (and the glowing piercing was farny too). The scene when Jean Grey seduces Wolverine was also strangely reminiscent of Goldeneye, since in both cases Famke Janssen's character (in Goldeneye the very intriguingly named Xenia Onatopp) wraps her legs around men when seducing them, although in the case of Goldeneye she then proceeds to crush them to death with her thighs (a good testament to the effectiveness of the thighmaster =p). Camp!
Yesterday, met up with Sida for lunch and dessert to catch up. Lunch was a very full plate of chicken rice with shao1 rou4 added at lagoon. Then we went to use my $20 Häagen-Dazs voucher at Siglap, since it was expiring that very day. Melon flavour is rather good actually - though nothing really comes close to Macadamia Brittle. Yum.
For dinner i somehow found myself at a Japanese a la carte buffet place called Honjin on Robinson Road with Renshao and Hannah - as usual indecisive me had no opinions as to where to eat and eventually we ended up there - not my ideal meal (cos it's $32+++) but was good nevertheless. You can order as much of many stuff as you like such as sashimi, sushi, zaru soba (my favourite), yakitori, tempura etc... And keeping with my 'always hungry' persona that plagued ("plagued" because it wreaked havoc on my weight) me almost throughout the MEET trip - i just kept on eating and eating, and at the end what stopped me wasn't the feeling of fullness (which never came) but rather the last order time... I even almost single-handedly devoured a complimentary stewed salmon head - even though as some of you would know i don't really like fish, particularly if it's fishy (both literally and figuratively), maybe unless it's fried to eradicate traces of fishiness... And can you imagine, i had that appetite more or less throughout the whole trip (yet somehow, according to my mother, i lost weight)...
Today, went over to friends' house to compare notes regarding our respective trips and to see his trip photos and videos (Thailand trip ones coming soon btw...) Before that had lunch at the nearby hawker centre, where as usual indecisive me had no opinions as to where to eat (sounds familiar?). Eventually we settled on chicken rice, and the two of us (with me again being in my 'always hungry' mood, and friends, well, being friends =p) managed to finish half a chicken... Oh well, it's always good to talk to and pray with friends =)...
After that joined the cell for gathering at Daniel Vai's place. More food (i claimed to be full but still ate like crazy anyway...), this time cooked by him. Good stuff. Also great to see everyone again and catch up after quite some time =)
I had a bizarre dream last night. Dreamt that we were still in Thailand, and somehow someone with butter fingers (the team would know who this is...) dropped Alan's (our host missionary) guitar and case. And the guitar as a result got sliced in to at least four pieces. I showed it to Alan, and he somehow looked annoyed, then rode off with the broken guitar on some sort of giant white animal (the exact variety i forget - think it was either a horse or a swan) and disappeared in the nearby woods (which btw looked nothing like Thailand). Maybe this has something to do with the sheer amount of time i spent there playing guitar - played almost every day till now the calluses on my left fingertips are so thick that i get a numb feeling whenever i touch something with them, and my right index fingernail is practically flattened from all the strumming on the acoustic guitar strings. Of course on the upside i'd like to think that i've improved quite a bit heh... Though now that i'm back to using the classical i have at home it just sounds bad whatever i play on it (except the opening lines of qing tian, since they're plucked and the classical is meant for plucking), because the acoustic just sounds much better in comparison...
Got my attachment school assigned - am posted to an established boy's school in the siglap-east coast area. Knew i'd get a school near my house but never thought it would be this one... Ah well, we'll see what happens...
And i know this is like the millionth time but i really need to exercise if i am going to attempt to even pass ippt in slightly less than a month's time - i feel horribly unfit in any case, and i eat so much nowsaday that i'd better start doing something - any running/swimming/cycling kakis?
Finally got to watch X3 with the team on Thursday - it was very entertaining, though not always necessarily in a good way - a little too campy for my tastes but fun nevertheless. I especially enjoyed Callisto's death because i absolutely couldn't stand her when she was alive (and the glowing piercing was farny too). The scene when Jean Grey seduces Wolverine was also strangely reminiscent of Goldeneye, since in both cases Famke Janssen's character (in Goldeneye the very intriguingly named Xenia Onatopp) wraps her legs around men when seducing them, although in the case of Goldeneye she then proceeds to crush them to death with her thighs (a good testament to the effectiveness of the thighmaster =p). Camp!
Yesterday, met up with Sida for lunch and dessert to catch up. Lunch was a very full plate of chicken rice with shao1 rou4 added at lagoon. Then we went to use my $20 Häagen-Dazs voucher at Siglap, since it was expiring that very day. Melon flavour is rather good actually - though nothing really comes close to Macadamia Brittle. Yum.
For dinner i somehow found myself at a Japanese a la carte buffet place called Honjin on Robinson Road with Renshao and Hannah - as usual indecisive me had no opinions as to where to eat and eventually we ended up there - not my ideal meal (cos it's $32+++) but was good nevertheless. You can order as much of many stuff as you like such as sashimi, sushi, zaru soba (my favourite), yakitori, tempura etc... And keeping with my 'always hungry' persona that plagued ("plagued" because it wreaked havoc on my weight) me almost throughout the MEET trip - i just kept on eating and eating, and at the end what stopped me wasn't the feeling of fullness (which never came) but rather the last order time... I even almost single-handedly devoured a complimentary stewed salmon head - even though as some of you would know i don't really like fish, particularly if it's fishy (both literally and figuratively), maybe unless it's fried to eradicate traces of fishiness... And can you imagine, i had that appetite more or less throughout the whole trip (yet somehow, according to my mother, i lost weight)...
Today, went over to friends' house to compare notes regarding our respective trips and to see his trip photos and videos (Thailand trip ones coming soon btw...) Before that had lunch at the nearby hawker centre, where as usual indecisive me had no opinions as to where to eat (sounds familiar?). Eventually we settled on chicken rice, and the two of us (with me again being in my 'always hungry' mood, and friends, well, being friends =p) managed to finish half a chicken... Oh well, it's always good to talk to and pray with friends =)...
After that joined the cell for gathering at Daniel Vai's place. More food (i claimed to be full but still ate like crazy anyway...), this time cooked by him. Good stuff. Also great to see everyone again and catch up after quite some time =)
I had a bizarre dream last night. Dreamt that we were still in Thailand, and somehow someone with butter fingers (the team would know who this is...) dropped Alan's (our host missionary) guitar and case. And the guitar as a result got sliced in to at least four pieces. I showed it to Alan, and he somehow looked annoyed, then rode off with the broken guitar on some sort of giant white animal (the exact variety i forget - think it was either a horse or a swan) and disappeared in the nearby woods (which btw looked nothing like Thailand). Maybe this has something to do with the sheer amount of time i spent there playing guitar - played almost every day till now the calluses on my left fingertips are so thick that i get a numb feeling whenever i touch something with them, and my right index fingernail is practically flattened from all the strumming on the acoustic guitar strings. Of course on the upside i'd like to think that i've improved quite a bit heh... Though now that i'm back to using the classical i have at home it just sounds bad whatever i play on it (except the opening lines of qing tian, since they're plucked and the classical is meant for plucking), because the acoustic just sounds much better in comparison...
Got my attachment school assigned - am posted to an established boy's school in the siglap-east coast area. Knew i'd get a school near my house but never thought it would be this one... Ah well, we'll see what happens...
And i know this is like the millionth time but i really need to exercise if i am going to attempt to even pass ippt in slightly less than a month's time - i feel horribly unfit in any case, and i eat so much nowsaday that i'd better start doing something - any running/swimming/cycling kakis?
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
i'm off the jet plane
ok actually i am a little tired and a little sick (more on the latter later - hey - latter later - i like the ring of that - latter later latter later latter later - heehee its even more fun to type - ok enough nonsense) but i know that if i don't start recording stuff down now i'll soon forget it so here goes:
firstly, updates on the stuff that i thought that i would be missing since i was away:
Exam results:
Ok checked these online after coming back from the first English session that we had - before that was alternating between eagerly anticipating them (in hope of all As) and downright avoiding them (in fear of all B minuses or worse). Anyhoos, i was initially quite disappointed because after all the drama of the past sem - the unexpectedly high CA grades amidst the utter lack of time to even do these things, and then the whole severe mood swing right around exam time - i had somehow gotten the slight gut feeling that this sem's results would be the best yet - but instead they were the second worst (or for the optimist - third best). To make things even more unsettling - i got the lowest grade for the level one ss module (once again, this history major vows never to do another soci module ever again - and beat me with a stick if i stupidly even consider breaking this vow again), B+s for my three level 2s, and the highest grade for my level 3 hist. But after prayerfully considering all things, i realised that i still can be thankful that i'm still fairly safe in the desired range, and by most accounts my grades are actually quite okay... And i've also come to the conculsion that the more i desire better grades for my own personal gratification (which is what i feel was the case in this case), the less i'll be granted them...
American Idol: Oh well, Kat lost - but from what my mother told me - serves her right for singing the same old safe and boring stuff - if she sang more cool stuff like Black Horse and the Cherry Tree for her final repertoire then maybe she'd have done better? I donch know - and i'm a sore loser i guess so i won't bother to check out exactly what happened in the finals... In any case, i still cannot stand the other guy.
Singapore Idol: I seriously can't be bothered - even with the sisters who may be my distant relatives...
World Cup: Darn, thought i could escape this one - but world cup fever was just as bad there as it was here four years ago when i was subject to soccer-crazed bunk-mates and the like - think i dislike the sport more than i've ever before...
French Open: Quite cool huh - i correctly predicted the winners (Henin-Hardenne and Nadal) and my other favourites all reached at least the fourth round =) If i could be so accurate for soccer results (that is, if i cared), maybe i'd be a rich man now heh... Caught a glimpse of the fourth round results on Thai TV and later saw a picture on a newspaper of the winner and runner-up of the women's singles - and even though it was all in Thai (duh) at least i'm happy there wasn't an information blackout...
Ok apart from that there of course is a lot of stuff that happened with greater relation to the trip itself - which i wil probably talk about at a later date (or else you'll just have to wait for the presentation heh). Here are some little snippets first:
The trip saw my first time:
-eating guava [i hereby retract my previous claim that i do not eat all tropical fruits - rather, i do not eat most tropical fruits, save for stuff like rambutans, peeled guavas and fried (i.e. not fresh) bananas]
-riding a motorcycle (albeit only for two two-minute trips to the market and back, but still, a trip's a trip)
-being called 'handsome' by someone not of the cheek-pinching auntie variety (though the caller in question was instead of the male variety so i don't know whether to be flattered or to flee...)
Also the 'latter later' stuff:
I fell sick towards the end of the trip, and was fluctuating rapidly between mildly well and horribly delirious over the last three days. Some insisted that i must be homesick but i said no - how can i be homesick when i am often so sick of home? Well, today i was still sickish, but by the time we touched down, my bad throat was now barely noticeable, and the other ailments were all but gone - all this to such an extent that i was able to follow my parents to Sizzler to eat steak for dinner - and round it off with ice cream furthermore (this is all the more ironic considering how my last meal before falling sick was steak...) so in short, maybe i was subconsciously homesick after all...
Ok, i do want to elaborate much more, particularly on the ministry and how the Lord has really blessed me through the trip, but i shall leave that for another day - nitey...
firstly, updates on the stuff that i thought that i would be missing since i was away:
Exam results:
Ok checked these online after coming back from the first English session that we had - before that was alternating between eagerly anticipating them (in hope of all As) and downright avoiding them (in fear of all B minuses or worse). Anyhoos, i was initially quite disappointed because after all the drama of the past sem - the unexpectedly high CA grades amidst the utter lack of time to even do these things, and then the whole severe mood swing right around exam time - i had somehow gotten the slight gut feeling that this sem's results would be the best yet - but instead they were the second worst (or for the optimist - third best). To make things even more unsettling - i got the lowest grade for the level one ss module (once again, this history major vows never to do another soci module ever again - and beat me with a stick if i stupidly even consider breaking this vow again), B+s for my three level 2s, and the highest grade for my level 3 hist. But after prayerfully considering all things, i realised that i still can be thankful that i'm still fairly safe in the desired range, and by most accounts my grades are actually quite okay... And i've also come to the conculsion that the more i desire better grades for my own personal gratification (which is what i feel was the case in this case), the less i'll be granted them...
American Idol: Oh well, Kat lost - but from what my mother told me - serves her right for singing the same old safe and boring stuff - if she sang more cool stuff like Black Horse and the Cherry Tree for her final repertoire then maybe she'd have done better? I donch know - and i'm a sore loser i guess so i won't bother to check out exactly what happened in the finals... In any case, i still cannot stand the other guy.
Singapore Idol: I seriously can't be bothered - even with the sisters who may be my distant relatives...
World Cup: Darn, thought i could escape this one - but world cup fever was just as bad there as it was here four years ago when i was subject to soccer-crazed bunk-mates and the like - think i dislike the sport more than i've ever before...
French Open: Quite cool huh - i correctly predicted the winners (Henin-Hardenne and Nadal) and my other favourites all reached at least the fourth round =) If i could be so accurate for soccer results (that is, if i cared), maybe i'd be a rich man now heh... Caught a glimpse of the fourth round results on Thai TV and later saw a picture on a newspaper of the winner and runner-up of the women's singles - and even though it was all in Thai (duh) at least i'm happy there wasn't an information blackout...
Ok apart from that there of course is a lot of stuff that happened with greater relation to the trip itself - which i wil probably talk about at a later date (or else you'll just have to wait for the presentation heh). Here are some little snippets first:
The trip saw my first time:
-eating guava [i hereby retract my previous claim that i do not eat all tropical fruits - rather, i do not eat most tropical fruits, save for stuff like rambutans, peeled guavas and fried (i.e. not fresh) bananas]
-riding a motorcycle (albeit only for two two-minute trips to the market and back, but still, a trip's a trip)
-being called 'handsome' by someone not of the cheek-pinching auntie variety (though the caller in question was instead of the male variety so i don't know whether to be flattered or to flee...)
Also the 'latter later' stuff:
I fell sick towards the end of the trip, and was fluctuating rapidly between mildly well and horribly delirious over the last three days. Some insisted that i must be homesick but i said no - how can i be homesick when i am often so sick of home? Well, today i was still sickish, but by the time we touched down, my bad throat was now barely noticeable, and the other ailments were all but gone - all this to such an extent that i was able to follow my parents to Sizzler to eat steak for dinner - and round it off with ice cream furthermore (this is all the more ironic considering how my last meal before falling sick was steak...) so in short, maybe i was subconsciously homesick after all...
Ok, i do want to elaborate much more, particularly on the ministry and how the Lord has really blessed me through the trip, but i shall leave that for another day - nitey...
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
i'm leaving on a jet plane, i know when i'll be back again...
Have actually been thinking about what i'll be missing while i am away during the trip =======> for quite some time now - so thought here before i go i shall list them all down -
Exam results:
They're out like two or so days after we arrive there - hmm and on the one hand i have a feeling that i'll do better than ok so am a leetle eager to get them back (which is possible) but on the other hand if my feeling is totally off then i'd be all mopey and sullen for the rest of the trip if i did check them so i dunno lah...
American Idol:
Am missing the final by a matter of a day or two - actually i would not be that eager to catch it anyway cos my gut feeling (which i hope is seriously off) is that Taylor will win [and i am probably more anti-Taylor and his affectations (which make him look like he's having a seizure or indigestion or something like that) than pro-Kat], and also that the idol song that both of them will have to sing will be high up there with much of the rest of them idol/idol-contestant-sung songs such as "I Believe", "Inside Your Heaven" and the worst offender of them all, "8th World Wonder", in the sheer cheese factor...
Singapore Idol:
After catching chunks of it on tv, i am so glad that i won't be subject to a lot of its nonsense - imho, even most of those who made it to the next round simply don't even pale, but basically fade away in comparison to their American counterparts (and i'd like to think that coming from choir, i have slightly more credibility in my opinions than the average Singaporean. Way too much oversinging which results in strained voices that tend to go flat or sharp on a regular basis... The only potential sourse of excitement for me is seeing methinks three filipinos among those who went through (my kababayans - and honestly, filipinos in general have really good voices), and furthermore, two of them share my mother's surname - Pelaez - and my mother informs me that in all likelihood, they are probably somehow related to her, and therefore to me, but still, there are many filipinos who can sing way better than they did - maybe the dull singing environment of Singapore had a negative effect upon their vocal quality (my mother - to borrow a page from the PM's book - remarked that in terms of singing quality, S'pore is stil very much of third-world standards)
World Cup:
The last time i was still in the army, and was practically the only bochap guy in a sea of soccer-crazed course mates. This time, i dunno how readily available soccer coverage and the like will be over there but whatever it is, i'd be glad to not be in S'pore while it's on...
French Open:
On the other hand, am sorry to miss the French Open - have become somewhat of a closet tennis fan as of late - since unlike badminton i am able to serve and hit the ball over the net occasionally - but owing to it's relative unpopularity when compared to (imho) silly games like soccer and golf, i never get to see it on the telly save for short highlights on the useless channelnewsasia since i don't have cable. Clay court tennis is realy intriguing - and allows for some really long rallies and that's always fun to watch... Ah well... But anyway, let me go on the record as saying that i am rooting for Federer, Davydenko and Ancic for the men and Clijsters, Hingis and Myskina for the women (though i predict Nadal and Henin-Hardenne to win)...
Okies, so that's it from me for now, thanks for all the prayers and encouragement smses and what nots - they're very much appreciated... Be back in a jiffy - ta! =)
Exam results:
They're out like two or so days after we arrive there - hmm and on the one hand i have a feeling that i'll do better than ok so am a leetle eager to get them back (which is possible) but on the other hand if my feeling is totally off then i'd be all mopey and sullen for the rest of the trip if i did check them so i dunno lah...
American Idol:
Am missing the final by a matter of a day or two - actually i would not be that eager to catch it anyway cos my gut feeling (which i hope is seriously off) is that Taylor will win [and i am probably more anti-Taylor and his affectations (which make him look like he's having a seizure or indigestion or something like that) than pro-Kat], and also that the idol song that both of them will have to sing will be high up there with much of the rest of them idol/idol-contestant-sung songs such as "I Believe", "Inside Your Heaven" and the worst offender of them all, "8th World Wonder", in the sheer cheese factor...
Singapore Idol:
After catching chunks of it on tv, i am so glad that i won't be subject to a lot of its nonsense - imho, even most of those who made it to the next round simply don't even pale, but basically fade away in comparison to their American counterparts (and i'd like to think that coming from choir, i have slightly more credibility in my opinions than the average Singaporean. Way too much oversinging which results in strained voices that tend to go flat or sharp on a regular basis... The only potential sourse of excitement for me is seeing methinks three filipinos among those who went through (my kababayans - and honestly, filipinos in general have really good voices), and furthermore, two of them share my mother's surname - Pelaez - and my mother informs me that in all likelihood, they are probably somehow related to her, and therefore to me, but still, there are many filipinos who can sing way better than they did - maybe the dull singing environment of Singapore had a negative effect upon their vocal quality (my mother - to borrow a page from the PM's book - remarked that in terms of singing quality, S'pore is stil very much of third-world standards)
World Cup:
The last time i was still in the army, and was practically the only bochap guy in a sea of soccer-crazed course mates. This time, i dunno how readily available soccer coverage and the like will be over there but whatever it is, i'd be glad to not be in S'pore while it's on...
French Open:
On the other hand, am sorry to miss the French Open - have become somewhat of a closet tennis fan as of late - since unlike badminton i am able to serve and hit the ball over the net occasionally - but owing to it's relative unpopularity when compared to (imho) silly games like soccer and golf, i never get to see it on the telly save for short highlights on the useless channelnewsasia since i don't have cable. Clay court tennis is realy intriguing - and allows for some really long rallies and that's always fun to watch... Ah well... But anyway, let me go on the record as saying that i am rooting for Federer, Davydenko and Ancic for the men and Clijsters, Hingis and Myskina for the women (though i predict Nadal and Henin-Hardenne to win)...
Okies, so that's it from me for now, thanks for all the prayers and encouragement smses and what nots - they're very much appreciated... Be back in a jiffy - ta! =)
Monday, May 22, 2006
presenting the duh statement of the day
And i quote directly from the televised excerpts of the news conference on mediacrap just now where the person in question said:
"Our people will grow up to be the men and women that they will be for the rest of their lives"
Aiyoh, how to connect with the populace by making them understand you if you will churn out nonsensical soundbites like this on a regular basis?
Anyways, the past few days have been spent in minimal (and i couldn't emphasize the word minimal any more...) preparation for both MEET as well as exchange, together with housing Greg at my place in transit between trips... In fact, i went just now to the airport with Sida to send him off back home to Charlotte. After sending him off, as the two of us were stoning by the viewing gallery and watching five or so garuda planes balek kampung in slow progressive succession, i realised that the two times when taking a flight out of Singapore would be as unexciting for me as ever would both be for flights to Thailand - back in 2003 when i was flying to Thailand for exercises at Kanchanaburi Training Base for a month, and in two days' time, when i'll be flying to Thailand for MEET trip to Salokbat (see post below).
For the former, well, that's only expected given my general aversion to anything to do with military training (though in retrospect i'm glad i spent that one month there). And for the latter, well i am looking forward to it to some extent, but at the same time there are so many unknowns and semi-knowns that make the whole pre-trip picture that much more hazy and complicated, and which at the same time prompt you to look to God even more... My general negativity towards unfamiliar situations is probably why i remarked to Bobbert that i really meant every ounce of what i said when i told him that i can't wait till the next time i see Greg - cos apart from the fact that i'll see him again is also the fact that the next time will also be when i'm finally in NC, after MEET, moulding the future of our nation and exchange prep will all be over...
Another highlight of the past few days? Meeting up with my ALLO buddy Melvin before i leave - and taking the opportunity, since we agreed to meet at Pasir Ris, to cycle there and back from my house, since i predict a general lack of exercise for me within the next month or so [the only exercise i foresee possibly happening is people jio-ing (sp?) us for soccer while we are in Thailand, which is an experience hardly anywhere on my list of my most highly-anticipated things to do while over there =x...] But i digress, anyway, it was a good time catching up with him after almost a month methinks, and the exercise was good too - Katong to Pasir Ris by bike in 35 minutes - which depending on the circumstances may even be faster than taking bus 12 over there from my house as it meanders in and out of Tampines and Pasir Ris before finally reaching the interchange... Quite fast hor - any takers come the next time?
"Our people will grow up to be the men and women that they will be for the rest of their lives"
Aiyoh, how to connect with the populace by making them understand you if you will churn out nonsensical soundbites like this on a regular basis?
Anyways, the past few days have been spent in minimal (and i couldn't emphasize the word minimal any more...) preparation for both MEET as well as exchange, together with housing Greg at my place in transit between trips... In fact, i went just now to the airport with Sida to send him off back home to Charlotte. After sending him off, as the two of us were stoning by the viewing gallery and watching five or so garuda planes balek kampung in slow progressive succession, i realised that the two times when taking a flight out of Singapore would be as unexciting for me as ever would both be for flights to Thailand - back in 2003 when i was flying to Thailand for exercises at Kanchanaburi Training Base for a month, and in two days' time, when i'll be flying to Thailand for MEET trip to Salokbat (see post below).
For the former, well, that's only expected given my general aversion to anything to do with military training (though in retrospect i'm glad i spent that one month there). And for the latter, well i am looking forward to it to some extent, but at the same time there are so many unknowns and semi-knowns that make the whole pre-trip picture that much more hazy and complicated, and which at the same time prompt you to look to God even more... My general negativity towards unfamiliar situations is probably why i remarked to Bobbert that i really meant every ounce of what i said when i told him that i can't wait till the next time i see Greg - cos apart from the fact that i'll see him again is also the fact that the next time will also be when i'm finally in NC, after MEET, moulding the future of our nation and exchange prep will all be over...
Another highlight of the past few days? Meeting up with my ALLO buddy Melvin before i leave - and taking the opportunity, since we agreed to meet at Pasir Ris, to cycle there and back from my house, since i predict a general lack of exercise for me within the next month or so [the only exercise i foresee possibly happening is people jio-ing (sp?) us for soccer while we are in Thailand, which is an experience hardly anywhere on my list of my most highly-anticipated things to do while over there =x...] But i digress, anyway, it was a good time catching up with him after almost a month methinks, and the exercise was good too - Katong to Pasir Ris by bike in 35 minutes - which depending on the circumstances may even be faster than taking bus 12 over there from my house as it meanders in and out of Tampines and Pasir Ris before finally reaching the interchange... Quite fast hor - any takers come the next time?
whassup with me...
Hi fellow brothers and sisters in Christ,
Thank you for your kind support for our team in both prayers and finance. Indeed, it has gone a long way in equipping our team to be a channel of God's blessing to the Thai community at Salokbat town, Kamphaeng Phet province in our upcoming mission trip.
For the past few months especially, the pace of trip preparation has picked up as our departure date has drawn ever nearer, and it is truly by the grace of God that we are able to come and work together. Most of things at hand have fallen into place. We have managed to come up with some creative English and teaching plans that we will use to reach out to Thai students during our trip. We will be conducting a day English course in ten schools in the area, and hope to share God's love with the students as we do so. Our individual testimonies and sermonettes will also be used in sharing God's wonderful work, love and truth to the Thai community. Concurrent with this, some worship song dances, skits and mimes have also been prepared for further Gospel presentations too.
Though we are ready with much necessary preparations for the trip, there are still many aspects that we still need to look into. And one of these areas is prayer. We would like to invite you to continue to uphold and intercede for us, both as a team and individually, as well as our one month mission trip to Thailand, for we realise that our ministry has to be founded upon the Lord and prayer if it is to be one that is for His glory.
Please pray with us that the work and will of the Lord in our lives at this juncture, as we trust and obey Him to walk by faith through the one-month mission trip ahead, will be done.
You can pray for us in these areas:
Our final preparation before departure:
-For our individual sermonettes and testimonies to be well done, that God will use them to touch many lives in Salokbat.
-That our hearts and minds will be in tune with God, with our hearts filled with love for the Thai people who we are going to reach out to.
-That we will be prepared physically and mentally for the trip.
-That all necessary things will be packed, and yet that we will be able to travel light.
-For journey mercies back and forth.
While we are there:
-That we will work together as a team in the love and unity of God.
-For spiritual focus, that we will seek God first daily, and that we will forget about self. (as in Romans 12:10-11 says, "Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above ourselves. Never be lacking in zeal but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord." )
-That we will be sensitive to the prompting of the Holy Spirit to response to any situation, and be able to adapt as any circumstances may call for change.
-For God's strengthening in our spirit and health.
-That we will be aware of Thai culture and customs as we go about our ministry there.
-For the ability to apply what we have learnt and been equipped with through the missions training over the past few months to the effective reaching out to the Thai community.
-For the Thai people's hearts and minds in Salokbat to be receptive to God's Word, and that they too will be led to Christ.
-For God's favour, protections and blessing to be extended to our host missionaries -Alan, Bessie, and their daughter Hannah, and to their ministry there. That He will meet all their needs as they continue to trust and obey Him.
Even though it is quite a long list of prayer supplications, we hope that this may not be a hindrance for you to interceeding for us and our one-month ministry in Thailand.
Below is our brief programme for the trip, starting from our date of our departure (24/5) to the date of our arrival back to Singapore (21/6)
24/05 Arrive in Bangkok and travel to Salokbat
25/05 Preparation and orientation Evening Bible study
26/05 Chum Chom Srithara school
27/05 Visitation
28/05 Church worship in Kamphaeng Phet Church(Testimony)
29/05 Chum chom WanKhru School
30/05 Rest and church prayer meeting in the evening
31/05 Wudonsap school Khlong Lan
01/06 Visitation and evening bible study
02/06 Pang Ma Kha Wittayakhom School
03/06 Children's program (not confirmed)
04/06 Church worship (Testimony)
05/06 Rakraysong school Khlong Khlung
06/06 Rest and prayer meeting in Salokbat church evening
07/06 Pang Sila Thong School
08/06 Visitation and evenong bible study (testimony)
09/06 Thung Sai Wittaya School
10/06 Visitation
11/06 Sunday Worship (Testimony)
12/06 SakGnam School
13/06 Rest and Church prayer meeting in the evening
14/06 Khlong Khung School
15/06 Visitation and evening Bible study
16/06 Salokbat Wittaya School
17/06 Visitation
18/06 Sunday Worship (Testimony)
19/06 Khlong Lan patanacinasat School
20/06 Team evaluation
21/06 Travel to Bangkok and home sweet home.
Our flights to and from Bangkok are on Tiger Airways, departing Changi Airport Budget Terminal on flight TR118 on 24th May, Wednesday, 1.05pm and arriving back in Singapore on 21st June, Wednesday, 6.15pm, flight TR119.
We truly appreciate all of your prayers and support in many ways from the depth of our hearts.
God bless you and keep you safe in your pilgrimage on earth!!!
To God be the glory!
With love,
Deborah, Huishan, Matthew, Melissa, Pamela and Zhiwei (MEET Thailand team 0506)
Thank you for your kind support for our team in both prayers and finance. Indeed, it has gone a long way in equipping our team to be a channel of God's blessing to the Thai community at Salokbat town, Kamphaeng Phet province in our upcoming mission trip.
For the past few months especially, the pace of trip preparation has picked up as our departure date has drawn ever nearer, and it is truly by the grace of God that we are able to come and work together. Most of things at hand have fallen into place. We have managed to come up with some creative English and teaching plans that we will use to reach out to Thai students during our trip. We will be conducting a day English course in ten schools in the area, and hope to share God's love with the students as we do so. Our individual testimonies and sermonettes will also be used in sharing God's wonderful work, love and truth to the Thai community. Concurrent with this, some worship song dances, skits and mimes have also been prepared for further Gospel presentations too.
Though we are ready with much necessary preparations for the trip, there are still many aspects that we still need to look into. And one of these areas is prayer. We would like to invite you to continue to uphold and intercede for us, both as a team and individually, as well as our one month mission trip to Thailand, for we realise that our ministry has to be founded upon the Lord and prayer if it is to be one that is for His glory.
Please pray with us that the work and will of the Lord in our lives at this juncture, as we trust and obey Him to walk by faith through the one-month mission trip ahead, will be done.
You can pray for us in these areas:
Our final preparation before departure:
-For our individual sermonettes and testimonies to be well done, that God will use them to touch many lives in Salokbat.
-That our hearts and minds will be in tune with God, with our hearts filled with love for the Thai people who we are going to reach out to.
-That we will be prepared physically and mentally for the trip.
-That all necessary things will be packed, and yet that we will be able to travel light.
-For journey mercies back and forth.
While we are there:
-That we will work together as a team in the love and unity of God.
-For spiritual focus, that we will seek God first daily, and that we will forget about self. (as in Romans 12:10-11 says, "Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above ourselves. Never be lacking in zeal but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord." )
-That we will be sensitive to the prompting of the Holy Spirit to response to any situation, and be able to adapt as any circumstances may call for change.
-For God's strengthening in our spirit and health.
-That we will be aware of Thai culture and customs as we go about our ministry there.
-For the ability to apply what we have learnt and been equipped with through the missions training over the past few months to the effective reaching out to the Thai community.
-For the Thai people's hearts and minds in Salokbat to be receptive to God's Word, and that they too will be led to Christ.
-For God's favour, protections and blessing to be extended to our host missionaries -Alan, Bessie, and their daughter Hannah, and to their ministry there. That He will meet all their needs as they continue to trust and obey Him.
Even though it is quite a long list of prayer supplications, we hope that this may not be a hindrance for you to interceeding for us and our one-month ministry in Thailand.
Below is our brief programme for the trip, starting from our date of our departure (24/5) to the date of our arrival back to Singapore (21/6)
24/05 Arrive in Bangkok and travel to Salokbat
25/05 Preparation and orientation Evening Bible study
26/05 Chum Chom Srithara school
27/05 Visitation
28/05 Church worship in Kamphaeng Phet Church(Testimony)
29/05 Chum chom WanKhru School
30/05 Rest and church prayer meeting in the evening
31/05 Wudonsap school Khlong Lan
01/06 Visitation and evening bible study
02/06 Pang Ma Kha Wittayakhom School
03/06 Children's program (not confirmed)
04/06 Church worship (Testimony)
05/06 Rakraysong school Khlong Khlung
06/06 Rest and prayer meeting in Salokbat church evening
07/06 Pang Sila Thong School
08/06 Visitation and evenong bible study (testimony)
09/06 Thung Sai Wittaya School
10/06 Visitation
11/06 Sunday Worship (Testimony)
12/06 SakGnam School
13/06 Rest and Church prayer meeting in the evening
14/06 Khlong Khung School
15/06 Visitation and evening Bible study
16/06 Salokbat Wittaya School
17/06 Visitation
18/06 Sunday Worship (Testimony)
19/06 Khlong Lan patanacinasat School
20/06 Team evaluation
21/06 Travel to Bangkok and home sweet home.
Our flights to and from Bangkok are on Tiger Airways, departing Changi Airport Budget Terminal on flight TR118 on 24th May, Wednesday, 1.05pm and arriving back in Singapore on 21st June, Wednesday, 6.15pm, flight TR119.
We truly appreciate all of your prayers and support in many ways from the depth of our hearts.
God bless you and keep you safe in your pilgrimage on earth!!!
To God be the glory!
With love,
Deborah, Huishan, Matthew, Melissa, Pamela and Zhiwei (MEET Thailand team 0506)
Saturday, May 20, 2006
the four-fold obstacle course beckons
I am in another of my will-do-anything-but-what-i-am-actually-supposed-to-do moods today, the what-i-am-actually-supposed-to-do in question being exchange stuff of which i hope to complete as much of as possible before flying for Thailand on wednesday (full trip details appearing on this blog by the time i leave so watch this space!) or else possibly run the risk of being deported back here upon arrival to the states because of visa complications or some thing like that...
Went for arts comm retreat at the floorball place on thursday. Realised that the week that had gone by so far had been full of other people staying over at my place for various reasons - a total of four over the three weeknights - some kind of record methinks... In fact the whole week, and more accurately, the last few days before leaving for MEET was and is going to be very packed - squeezing as much as possible in before being gone for a month...
The retreat was no exception. Though i was only there for the first day, and expected to be merely extra, it nonetheless was a good time of reflection and encouragement and fun. I am seriously very heartened to see how the Lord has been continually guiding us along in the right direction, and to see how He has been working in the lives of everyone, especially the soon-to-be-year-twos - they in particular have been encouragements to me during the retreat. Floorball as usual was great - and for the first time since i dunno when i actually was on the winning team, and not only once but twice [i normally always end up in the team opposing some powerhouse player(s) who inevitably easily win the day for the opponents by thrashing whatever team i am in] haha, and on top of that i just weighed myself on my home scale (which hopefully ain't koyak) and found out that i have lost 2kg since the last time i had to take weight, which is always a good thing heh... So all in all, methinks that next year will be a very exciting year for at least arts CF, and i believe that the Lord will indeed do wonderful things in the ministry if we earnestly seek Him in all we do... Pity i (hopefully) won't be around next sem to see it, but it's exciting nevertheless =)
Am really glad and thankful to see the MEET team and everything related to us all coming together bit by bit by God's grace - there's still much to be done, but am feeling less and less uneasy about leaving as the day draws nearer and nearer... =)
Was good to meet up with the other UNC-bound peeps to discuss our (lack of) progress with regards to prep, and also to brainstorm and formulate any possible corporate travel plans. I did feel a bit paiseh cos it turns out that quite a few of the places they want to go to both in the West Coast as well as in FL are places that i've been to fairly recently and hence have no wish of revisiting this summer - but anyway there's a very tentative plan that i have to faster consider cos there's a lot to do yet not a lot of time to do it... All in all, before i leave for exchange, i'd have to clear a four-fold set of bureaucratic obstacles - that of nus, unc, the folks who mould the future of our nation and the us embassy, a process that i am not looking forward to - though it does make finally going there feel that much sweeter...
Yay tonight is my lola's (lola = grandmother in tagalog) birthday dinner, whereby honestly the biggest draw for me is the food, which includes ayam buah keluak, beef rendang and filipino pork satay, among other stuff... That also means that i'd better squeeze in at least one more run before i leave, or else the 2kg that i lost during retreat will make an unwelcome return after tonight...
Went for arts comm retreat at the floorball place on thursday. Realised that the week that had gone by so far had been full of other people staying over at my place for various reasons - a total of four over the three weeknights - some kind of record methinks... In fact the whole week, and more accurately, the last few days before leaving for MEET was and is going to be very packed - squeezing as much as possible in before being gone for a month...
The retreat was no exception. Though i was only there for the first day, and expected to be merely extra, it nonetheless was a good time of reflection and encouragement and fun. I am seriously very heartened to see how the Lord has been continually guiding us along in the right direction, and to see how He has been working in the lives of everyone, especially the soon-to-be-year-twos - they in particular have been encouragements to me during the retreat. Floorball as usual was great - and for the first time since i dunno when i actually was on the winning team, and not only once but twice [i normally always end up in the team opposing some powerhouse player(s) who inevitably easily win the day for the opponents by thrashing whatever team i am in] haha, and on top of that i just weighed myself on my home scale (which hopefully ain't koyak) and found out that i have lost 2kg since the last time i had to take weight, which is always a good thing heh... So all in all, methinks that next year will be a very exciting year for at least arts CF, and i believe that the Lord will indeed do wonderful things in the ministry if we earnestly seek Him in all we do... Pity i (hopefully) won't be around next sem to see it, but it's exciting nevertheless =)
Am really glad and thankful to see the MEET team and everything related to us all coming together bit by bit by God's grace - there's still much to be done, but am feeling less and less uneasy about leaving as the day draws nearer and nearer... =)
Was good to meet up with the other UNC-bound peeps to discuss our (lack of) progress with regards to prep, and also to brainstorm and formulate any possible corporate travel plans. I did feel a bit paiseh cos it turns out that quite a few of the places they want to go to both in the West Coast as well as in FL are places that i've been to fairly recently and hence have no wish of revisiting this summer - but anyway there's a very tentative plan that i have to faster consider cos there's a lot to do yet not a lot of time to do it... All in all, before i leave for exchange, i'd have to clear a four-fold set of bureaucratic obstacles - that of nus, unc, the folks who mould the future of our nation and the us embassy, a process that i am not looking forward to - though it does make finally going there feel that much sweeter...
Yay tonight is my lola's (lola = grandmother in tagalog) birthday dinner, whereby honestly the biggest draw for me is the food, which includes ayam buah keluak, beef rendang and filipino pork satay, among other stuff... That also means that i'd better squeeze in at least one more run before i leave, or else the 2kg that i lost during retreat will make an unwelcome return after tonight...
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
six days and counting...
The past few days have just been a flurry of activities - they've all gone by so fast that recounting them is quite a process indeed...
A week from now, the Thailand MEET team will be in, well, Thailand - and there's a lot of things going through my mind now that i can't fully make sense of or note down verbally, but basically the preparation has really been ongoing - sometimes i do yearn for a break from time to time, because seriously it can get very draining - these past few days have been so packed with stuff like MEET that time with God has ironically been severely compromised in terms of both quantity and quality - i just can't get myself to have a proper time, cos am tired and/or distracted waaay too often.
Sending off heyfrens' team today reminded me yet again that my team's turn looms near - at the same time however am reminded not to keep looking at these quantifiables such as number of days left, or number of things left to prepare - but to take a look at the big picture - the picture that ought to have Christ at the centre.
The budget terminal is seriously budget man - visited it twice today within the span of less than twelve hours - it felt more like an exhibition of how an airport should be run located within a large warehouse, hangar, or expo hall, than an actual airport terminal per se... And the lack of cash card scanners at the car park? Come on...
Thought it was very farny how Daniel's little taxi ride cost more per unit mileage than his flight - that's one times happy taxi uncle...
Did you know that tiger sells wine only out of a can? Thousands of miles away Frenchmen all over the vineyards of France are having heart attacks. "Ah, mon coeur! Sacre bleu!" And they only serve Carlsberg instead of Jessica Alba's preferred brew (you have very bad taste, btw Ms Alba...), the logical choice given the identical feline appellations, for some strange reason...
People have commented how i like to blog about little mundane incidents such as the one above - but seriously, i can't even remember what the other ones today that they said i'd confirm blog about are...
Just remembered one - Clement White accidentally winding down the window a total of three times with his elbow.
But can't remember anymore leh - too many things to remember - forgot one big thing that i wanted to blog about...
And too many smses sent out too - 119 (excluding mass smses) within a week and a half - considering i only have 100 free per month...
Sleep cycle out of whack!
A week from now, the Thailand MEET team will be in, well, Thailand - and there's a lot of things going through my mind now that i can't fully make sense of or note down verbally, but basically the preparation has really been ongoing - sometimes i do yearn for a break from time to time, because seriously it can get very draining - these past few days have been so packed with stuff like MEET that time with God has ironically been severely compromised in terms of both quantity and quality - i just can't get myself to have a proper time, cos am tired and/or distracted waaay too often.
Sending off heyfrens' team today reminded me yet again that my team's turn looms near - at the same time however am reminded not to keep looking at these quantifiables such as number of days left, or number of things left to prepare - but to take a look at the big picture - the picture that ought to have Christ at the centre.
The budget terminal is seriously budget man - visited it twice today within the span of less than twelve hours - it felt more like an exhibition of how an airport should be run located within a large warehouse, hangar, or expo hall, than an actual airport terminal per se... And the lack of cash card scanners at the car park? Come on...
Thought it was very farny how Daniel's little taxi ride cost more per unit mileage than his flight - that's one times happy taxi uncle...
Did you know that tiger sells wine only out of a can? Thousands of miles away Frenchmen all over the vineyards of France are having heart attacks. "Ah, mon coeur! Sacre bleu!" And they only serve Carlsberg instead of Jessica Alba's preferred brew (you have very bad taste, btw Ms Alba...), the logical choice given the identical feline appellations, for some strange reason...
People have commented how i like to blog about little mundane incidents such as the one above - but seriously, i can't even remember what the other ones today that they said i'd confirm blog about are...
Just remembered one - Clement White accidentally winding down the window a total of three times with his elbow.
But can't remember anymore leh - too many things to remember - forgot one big thing that i wanted to blog about...
And too many smses sent out too - 119 (excluding mass smses) within a week and a half - considering i only have 100 free per month...
Sleep cycle out of whack!
Saturday, May 13, 2006
wasting time
Ok Thailand looms ever-closer - as of this point, we leave in eleven days time - went to send off the first team yesterday - and they looked like they were very ready and prepared - was quite cool to see so many people sending them off (and by implication supporting them - which in a sense adds to the pressure cos you leave not only with your own expectations but also with the goodwill and support of so many people), yet at the same time it reminded me that there's a lot of stuff to do before we ourselves get our grand farewell (though maybe not so grand since we're using the budget terminal)... Better get cracking...
The atl's birthday party was last night - after a lot of mind-cracking i just wore the black-and-white striped shirt that i bought for crossover retro Valentine's Day party last year - and have not worn since - my alter ego for the night was "ca lair fair (sp?) zebra from The Lion King" - lame i know but best that i could come up with from a thorough scan of my wardrobe (though once i got to the place itself a lot of cool ideas came to mind but alas, they came too late - next time maybe - if there ever might be a next time?) And i also dunno how yours truly, who probably spends as much time watching soccer as JG spends checking his paperwork, somehow recognised Maradona and Batistuta among the guests at the party...
As usual, was too stuck to my bed this morning to even harbour any hope of a morning run - think that i'll have to stick to running in the evening - unless by some miracle i can ever get myself to sleep at nine so that i can wake up by fourish in the morning - a tall order? I think so too...
Just checked put the idol tour dates and it turns out that they'll be in NC when i will (hopefully) already be in the states - one show each in Greensboro and Charlotte - but the thing is that i may not be in that area yet since i only have to be in UNC on the 16th (and UNC is in neither Greensboro nor Charlotte anyway) (all the later dates are in the midwest and west coast - too far from where i'll be), and i think i am not all that crazy to catch them (anyway the chances of Kat winning are now much less since angry Chris supporters will now, if they still vote, certainly not vote for her - and if so i hope it's for Elliot that they vote for and not for the prematurely-aged and visually-annoying Taylor) - i suppose if i somehow do end up going, it'll be for the mere novelty of it. Anyway, i already do carry with me a piece of idol memorabilia - an autographed poster of Jasmine Trias from when Denise went to catch the idol show in PA while she was there for exchange... Ah well, this all reminds me that there's a lot of exchange stuff that still has to be planned, including visa, travel, insurance etc *yuck*... I need to wave Debs' magic wand so that all this stuff can automatically be done for me - then all that's left for me to do is just to go =)
The atl's birthday party was last night - after a lot of mind-cracking i just wore the black-and-white striped shirt that i bought for crossover retro Valentine's Day party last year - and have not worn since - my alter ego for the night was "ca lair fair (sp?) zebra from The Lion King" - lame i know but best that i could come up with from a thorough scan of my wardrobe (though once i got to the place itself a lot of cool ideas came to mind but alas, they came too late - next time maybe - if there ever might be a next time?) And i also dunno how yours truly, who probably spends as much time watching soccer as JG spends checking his paperwork, somehow recognised Maradona and Batistuta among the guests at the party...
As usual, was too stuck to my bed this morning to even harbour any hope of a morning run - think that i'll have to stick to running in the evening - unless by some miracle i can ever get myself to sleep at nine so that i can wake up by fourish in the morning - a tall order? I think so too...
Just checked put the idol tour dates and it turns out that they'll be in NC when i will (hopefully) already be in the states - one show each in Greensboro and Charlotte - but the thing is that i may not be in that area yet since i only have to be in UNC on the 16th (and UNC is in neither Greensboro nor Charlotte anyway) (all the later dates are in the midwest and west coast - too far from where i'll be), and i think i am not all that crazy to catch them (anyway the chances of Kat winning are now much less since angry Chris supporters will now, if they still vote, certainly not vote for her - and if so i hope it's for Elliot that they vote for and not for the prematurely-aged and visually-annoying Taylor) - i suppose if i somehow do end up going, it'll be for the mere novelty of it. Anyway, i already do carry with me a piece of idol memorabilia - an autographed poster of Jasmine Trias from when Denise went to catch the idol show in PA while she was there for exchange... Ah well, this all reminds me that there's a lot of exchange stuff that still has to be planned, including visa, travel, insurance etc *yuck*... I need to wave Debs' magic wand so that all this stuff can automatically be done for me - then all that's left for me to do is just to go =)
Thursday, May 11, 2006
talk about a lack of customer knowledge
samplings of a text i got this afternoon:
"Get the latest World Cup news and results sent 2 u @ only $6.30 for e entire season"
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Good exercise today - went over for another swim (comments directed at me at the end of the exam period like "hmm you look so pale" have semi-motivated me to get out more into the sun - and not solely because darker colours are purportedly supposed to be slimming - and i am talking nonsense so i shall end the parentheses here) with some science cf friends at Gary's house - good change of swimming environment from school - water tasted much less salty and chlorinated, good fellowship too - and back of neck is starting to tingle now which means got burnt...
But indulge me now while i continue to complain about IPPT - booked it for July before flying off - but will be in the midst of attachment, and some more it's right after MEET, and i dunno how much training i could get done there... And haven't really done a single proper pull-up since the last time i did IPPT, and running timing has not improved either - so looks like i'll just be aiming for a pass so as to get the silly thing out of my mind while i am away...
And as usual there's still a lot to do in prep for both MEET and exchange - for the latter i know what has to be done but i just can't motivate myself enough to do it - thankfully there are the other unc-bound peeps who are reminding me of what has to be done... For the former - oh well, chugging along slowly - it's definitely a great learning experience - can't help but feel so easily worn out though...
The first team leaves tomorrow - so quick! Which means that it's all of 13 days till our team leaves - gosh...
Shall attempt to run in the wee early morning tomorrow at ecp (i.e. before sunrise, weather and my body permitting, of course) - on the way home after night cycling realised that ecp just before dawn is a great place to run at... Hopefully timing has improved...
Still dunno what to wear!
"Get the latest World Cup news and results sent 2 u @ only $6.30 for e entire season"
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Good exercise today - went over for another swim (comments directed at me at the end of the exam period like "hmm you look so pale" have semi-motivated me to get out more into the sun - and not solely because darker colours are purportedly supposed to be slimming - and i am talking nonsense so i shall end the parentheses here) with some science cf friends at Gary's house - good change of swimming environment from school - water tasted much less salty and chlorinated, good fellowship too - and back of neck is starting to tingle now which means got burnt...
But indulge me now while i continue to complain about IPPT - booked it for July before flying off - but will be in the midst of attachment, and some more it's right after MEET, and i dunno how much training i could get done there... And haven't really done a single proper pull-up since the last time i did IPPT, and running timing has not improved either - so looks like i'll just be aiming for a pass so as to get the silly thing out of my mind while i am away...
And as usual there's still a lot to do in prep for both MEET and exchange - for the latter i know what has to be done but i just can't motivate myself enough to do it - thankfully there are the other unc-bound peeps who are reminding me of what has to be done... For the former - oh well, chugging along slowly - it's definitely a great learning experience - can't help but feel so easily worn out though...
The first team leaves tomorrow - so quick! Which means that it's all of 13 days till our team leaves - gosh...
Shall attempt to run in the wee early morning tomorrow at ecp (i.e. before sunrise, weather and my body permitting, of course) - on the way home after night cycling realised that ecp just before dawn is a great place to run at... Hopefully timing has improved...
Still dunno what to wear!
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
anyhow hantam again
being random as usual...
when i went to get the jabs for MEET, i barely felt anything (and thankfully since i only needed two shots they were just one on either arm - none on the derriere, which might have been a different matter altogether). As i have often lamented, i subscribe to Queen Hadassah/Esther's "If I perish, I perish" philosophy, and hence if i were left to my own devices, i would not bother with immunizations/safety flights/ insurance - that sort of thing - cos if it's His time for you to go, nothing you can do is gonna stop it from happening, and even after you go - He will still be there to provide for who you've left behind. But of course i do agree that this is a rather selfish way to see things, which does not take into account the others around you who may possibly be affected by your demise/incapacitation etc... So i let it be...
games day was way fun - good to see this year's FOC comm (do visit their blog over there =======> by the way) in action and dedicated and all that... And after the weigh-in at the clinic where i found out that i had gained weight (if not then either my home scale or the clinic scale is koyak), i was more determined than ever to play my heart's out. So i did (and each team that i was in lost - four out of four) but it was fun nevertheless - except for my sprained right fourth finger what i obtained while trying to catch a long pass. I dunno how i can hate sports so much but yet still like playing (some of) them... I guess it's all in the fitness and weight loss...
agm was interesting to say the least - have been to quite a few in my lifetime and this one was by far the most animated and to some extent, the most uncomfortable - but of well, it was nothing that was overly serious and monumental so no worries - in any case - congrats to the team who shall lead us forward in the upcoming year - prayers are with you all...
and i officially also got a one-year's notice (and i'd be lying if i said that i didn't see it coming) but it is still a year lah, so am gonna take it slow - and meanwhile i have to iron out tons of issues...
by the next day my finger had swelled to 150% of it's normal size - and swimming was no easy feat - for the first time ever i actually felt like stopping halfway cos of the pain in the finger and nothing else... writing too was proving to be a very tedious process... but got through with it by God's grace... And finger's more or less ok now =)
btw, has anyone seen my big fat black and blue pilot shaker mechanical pencil? I dunno where it disappeared to but am positive it was lent to someone whom i forgot who him/herself forgot about it. I am most annoyed when stationery is lost cos it happens ever-so-often with me...
some of my Filipino relatives are here for a visit and once again was experiencing minor Chilipino blues - which happens anytime a pinoy comes around and i am stuck with deciphering the 5% that i can gather from the conversations that they have with my mother and grandmother. This is basically why i cringe at the very mention of the phrase "mother tongue" cos, my dear future employer (shhh!!!), my mother, or my whole family for that matter, doesn't speak anything remotely similar to mandarin and yet you subjected me to the torture of learning a fictional mother's tongue for a whole six-and-a-half years (nine-and-a-half if you count kindergarten and nursery)?
my parents took the exercise bike out of my room (to wherever - out of sight, out of mind) and pushed the giant box that has been sitting in the middle of my room since we moved in more than two years ago to one corner and when i got back to my room, my jaw dropped - i never realized that my room was so big - and it'll look even bigger once Greg's stuff goes and i find a way to dispose of my father's two large filing cabinets... However, knowing me, my proposed re-arrangement of the layout will probably not come to fruition for a long time more...
had Japanese food just now for dinner - at this good Japanese restaurant (my criterion for a good Japanese restaurant is that Japanese go there) called Waraku across the road from my house [the dining oportunities here are endless =)]. Thankfully managed to spot one-and-a-half wayward small shrimp in the okonomiyaki before eating it. And the cold soba + katsu don portion that i had at $15 was huge (though admittedly still not enough to make me full). Have concluded that cold soba is my favourite Japanese food - and the best that i have come across so far is at this place (though think in total i've only eaten it from three other places, one of them being arts canteen and another being sakae so cannot really compare lah) even though i suppose it's all carbs *pooh*
And let me say a little more about the elections and stuff, now that things are starting to quiet down a bit - from reading people's blogs realised that my persistently non-political content is far more persistently non-political than theirs - so i shall take the liberty to be a little more open (though i shall only err on the side of caution)
Firstly, i am very glad that SL has decided to take up the ncmp post, even if it is in a way against what the party believes in. Use whatever way to gain exposure - and i think in this case it's a smart move (just hope she doesn't end up in some silly self-defeating scandal like SC or i'll just cry). From what i've gathered from the reports both in mediacrap and the state's times (even those unapologetically-pro-establishment-to-the-point-of-being-nauseating articles that CMH churns out on a regular basis) as well as from the rally, she is very capable and has raised and (i believe in faith) will raise tough and critical issues as an ncmp. At the least so far she has touched on a lot of the grouses i have harboured for the longest time... And methinks from today's paper she was quoted as saying something and then ending off with "God willing" which certainly sparked my interest, no matter who she was actually referring to...
And while we're on the topic of religion - let me also voice one of the many reasons why i voted the way i did - i simply cannot reconcile purported adherents of the Christian faith giving their support for schemes that they should know fully well run contrary to what their faith teaches. Yes and i am talking about people like you - IN (edited to change initial - got person's name confused with the comedian IA - though from the hilariously telling and ridiculous statement that IN made as reported in the forum today - maybe this person can be a comedian too). What were you thinking by supporting this decision in the interests of pragmatism? Of course, for every IN there also were others who stood firm in their faith like LMS, and, to the shame of people like IN and VB, even pre-believers like TSK but still, the fact remains that the party you belong to went ahead without even allowing you all to express your approval/disapproval via a whip-free vote because it is supposedly a matter of "national interest". Well, let me just say that if it is truly a matter of "national interest" then you'd jolly well let the nation make it's views heard via an official channel such as a referendum, or at the least via the supposed representatives of the people - the MPs (though in our case much of the people didn't elect them in any case - but that's another story).
Also, i cannot stand arrogance - and pardon me, but high-up people like WKS, NEH, and even higher-ups whose names are too easily deciphered even behind the veil of acronyms, have exuded it aplenty. Go and show proper respect for your opponents, refrain from calling them names and passing your own imperfect moral judgements on them as well as threatening to 'fix' them then i'll consider voting for you in future... You did not make Singapore into what we are today by yourselves, nor do you know all that's best for our country, so don't act like our survival is dependent on your existence. Get a reality check and humble yourselves accordingly.
At the same time, i knew that despite how my heart was already firmly on one camp i had to be really prayerful in my decision and not anyhow hantam - and to that extent was praying very hard about how to vote - and at the end of the day - and taking everything into prayerful consideration - i simply had no other choice.
To end off - i'd just like to congratulate the young female curly-haired and stone-faced employee of the ED who's gotten much more than her fair share of screen time over the past week or so thanks to the JG affair - you could be a star - considering how i've seen more of you on mediacrap this year than the entire gan si dui amk team and Zoe Tay combined...
Oops better stop now before the already-loosened floodgates are opened fully... Hope that this was persistently non-political enough...
when i went to get the jabs for MEET, i barely felt anything (and thankfully since i only needed two shots they were just one on either arm - none on the derriere, which might have been a different matter altogether). As i have often lamented, i subscribe to Queen Hadassah/Esther's "If I perish, I perish" philosophy, and hence if i were left to my own devices, i would not bother with immunizations/safety flights/ insurance - that sort of thing - cos if it's His time for you to go, nothing you can do is gonna stop it from happening, and even after you go - He will still be there to provide for who you've left behind. But of course i do agree that this is a rather selfish way to see things, which does not take into account the others around you who may possibly be affected by your demise/incapacitation etc... So i let it be...
games day was way fun - good to see this year's FOC comm (do visit their blog over there =======> by the way) in action and dedicated and all that... And after the weigh-in at the clinic where i found out that i had gained weight (if not then either my home scale or the clinic scale is koyak), i was more determined than ever to play my heart's out. So i did (and each team that i was in lost - four out of four) but it was fun nevertheless - except for my sprained right fourth finger what i obtained while trying to catch a long pass. I dunno how i can hate sports so much but yet still like playing (some of) them... I guess it's all in the fitness and weight loss...
agm was interesting to say the least - have been to quite a few in my lifetime and this one was by far the most animated and to some extent, the most uncomfortable - but of well, it was nothing that was overly serious and monumental so no worries - in any case - congrats to the team who shall lead us forward in the upcoming year - prayers are with you all...
and i officially also got a one-year's notice (and i'd be lying if i said that i didn't see it coming) but it is still a year lah, so am gonna take it slow - and meanwhile i have to iron out tons of issues...
by the next day my finger had swelled to 150% of it's normal size - and swimming was no easy feat - for the first time ever i actually felt like stopping halfway cos of the pain in the finger and nothing else... writing too was proving to be a very tedious process... but got through with it by God's grace... And finger's more or less ok now =)
btw, has anyone seen my big fat black and blue pilot shaker mechanical pencil? I dunno where it disappeared to but am positive it was lent to someone whom i forgot who him/herself forgot about it. I am most annoyed when stationery is lost cos it happens ever-so-often with me...
some of my Filipino relatives are here for a visit and once again was experiencing minor Chilipino blues - which happens anytime a pinoy comes around and i am stuck with deciphering the 5% that i can gather from the conversations that they have with my mother and grandmother. This is basically why i cringe at the very mention of the phrase "mother tongue" cos, my dear future employer (shhh!!!), my mother, or my whole family for that matter, doesn't speak anything remotely similar to mandarin and yet you subjected me to the torture of learning a fictional mother's tongue for a whole six-and-a-half years (nine-and-a-half if you count kindergarten and nursery)?
my parents took the exercise bike out of my room (to wherever - out of sight, out of mind) and pushed the giant box that has been sitting in the middle of my room since we moved in more than two years ago to one corner and when i got back to my room, my jaw dropped - i never realized that my room was so big - and it'll look even bigger once Greg's stuff goes and i find a way to dispose of my father's two large filing cabinets... However, knowing me, my proposed re-arrangement of the layout will probably not come to fruition for a long time more...
had Japanese food just now for dinner - at this good Japanese restaurant (my criterion for a good Japanese restaurant is that Japanese go there) called Waraku across the road from my house [the dining oportunities here are endless =)]. Thankfully managed to spot one-and-a-half wayward small shrimp in the okonomiyaki before eating it. And the cold soba + katsu don portion that i had at $15 was huge (though admittedly still not enough to make me full). Have concluded that cold soba is my favourite Japanese food - and the best that i have come across so far is at this place (though think in total i've only eaten it from three other places, one of them being arts canteen and another being sakae so cannot really compare lah) even though i suppose it's all carbs *pooh*
And let me say a little more about the elections and stuff, now that things are starting to quiet down a bit - from reading people's blogs realised that my persistently non-political content is far more persistently non-political than theirs - so i shall take the liberty to be a little more open (though i shall only err on the side of caution)
Firstly, i am very glad that SL has decided to take up the ncmp post, even if it is in a way against what the party believes in. Use whatever way to gain exposure - and i think in this case it's a smart move (just hope she doesn't end up in some silly self-defeating scandal like SC or i'll just cry). From what i've gathered from the reports both in mediacrap and the state's times (even those unapologetically-pro-establishment-to-the-point-of-being-nauseating articles that CMH churns out on a regular basis) as well as from the rally, she is very capable and has raised and (i believe in faith) will raise tough and critical issues as an ncmp. At the least so far she has touched on a lot of the grouses i have harboured for the longest time... And methinks from today's paper she was quoted as saying something and then ending off with "God willing" which certainly sparked my interest, no matter who she was actually referring to...
And while we're on the topic of religion - let me also voice one of the many reasons why i voted the way i did - i simply cannot reconcile purported adherents of the Christian faith giving their support for schemes that they should know fully well run contrary to what their faith teaches. Yes and i am talking about people like you - IN (edited to change initial - got person's name confused with the comedian IA - though from the hilariously telling and ridiculous statement that IN made as reported in the forum today - maybe this person can be a comedian too). What were you thinking by supporting this decision in the interests of pragmatism? Of course, for every IN there also were others who stood firm in their faith like LMS, and, to the shame of people like IN and VB, even pre-believers like TSK but still, the fact remains that the party you belong to went ahead without even allowing you all to express your approval/disapproval via a whip-free vote because it is supposedly a matter of "national interest". Well, let me just say that if it is truly a matter of "national interest" then you'd jolly well let the nation make it's views heard via an official channel such as a referendum, or at the least via the supposed representatives of the people - the MPs (though in our case much of the people didn't elect them in any case - but that's another story).
Also, i cannot stand arrogance - and pardon me, but high-up people like WKS, NEH, and even higher-ups whose names are too easily deciphered even behind the veil of acronyms, have exuded it aplenty. Go and show proper respect for your opponents, refrain from calling them names and passing your own imperfect moral judgements on them as well as threatening to 'fix' them then i'll consider voting for you in future... You did not make Singapore into what we are today by yourselves, nor do you know all that's best for our country, so don't act like our survival is dependent on your existence. Get a reality check and humble yourselves accordingly.
At the same time, i knew that despite how my heart was already firmly on one camp i had to be really prayerful in my decision and not anyhow hantam - and to that extent was praying very hard about how to vote - and at the end of the day - and taking everything into prayerful consideration - i simply had no other choice.
To end off - i'd just like to congratulate the young female curly-haired and stone-faced employee of the ED who's gotten much more than her fair share of screen time over the past week or so thanks to the JG affair - you could be a star - considering how i've seen more of you on mediacrap this year than the entire gan si dui amk team and Zoe Tay combined...
Oops better stop now before the already-loosened floodgates are opened fully... Hope that this was persistently non-political enough...
Saturday, April 29, 2006
You have broken the chains (in more ways than one)
Finally ended exams today - marking the official end to by far the worst (and yet also the best) sem i've had so far. More on that another time when i am in a more introspective mood, for now it's just my thoughts on today.
Woke up early today to try and have my quiet time before leaving the house - just very distracted again, hopefully now that school has ended things will be better.
Took bus to school for the first time since tuesday methinks, good chance to do some last-minute revision though i didn't really make good use of the time - too sleepy. There were nus people peppered around the bus who were far more successful...
Got to the library, was thinking of looking through notes again but no mood la, so went and read yesterday's newspaper instead - catch up with what's going on in the world that has gone far ahead of me in the past month or so...
I have decided that MPSH stinks as an exam venue, primarily because it is all but impossible to evade people who are frantically studying last minute or asking one another "hey, did you study so and so", or complaining "i'm so dead for this paper" or stuff like that, stuff which for all intents and purposes i'd rather avoid, and at the end there always are a sea of people asking how the paper was, what question they screwed up and all that nonsense which is just not my cup of tea. No, for me once you get to the exam venue, to pardon the lack of a better phrase, your fate is sealed, and no amount of this or that nonsense will make any difference, so why bother? Might as well maintain whatever joy you have for as long as possible and agonize only (if need be) when the results get in.
Oh and MPSH 5 in particular is badly in need of renovation - it looks like you could film an episode of "Growing Up" there, as obviously it has remained untouched since it was first built, but i digress.
Paper was interesting, i could more or less manage all the questions, though for an open book exam the questions were strangely straightforward, as in the open-to-your-notes-and copy-and-you're-home-free variety. Something tells me the bell curve will be thrown a curve of its own in grading this one...
When i got home i was browsing through some songs when i came across another one in the haven't-sung-since-i-was-a-little-boy category. Like it cos it is a Christian song that makes a lot of sense (something that is hardly a given today) and celebrates our victorious life in the risen Christ. Shall sing it in the next possible opportunity =)
You Have Broken the Chains
Oh God, Most High, Almighty King,
The Champion of Heaven, Lord of Everything,
You fought, You won, Death lost its sting,
And standing in Your victory we sing:
You have broken the chains
That held our captive souls.
You have broken the chains
And used them on Your foes.
All Your enemies are bound,
They tremble at the sound of Your Name,
Jesus You have broken the Chains!
The power of hell has been undone.
Captivity held captive by the Risen One.
And in the name of God's Great Son,
We claim the mighty victory You've won.
Woke up early today to try and have my quiet time before leaving the house - just very distracted again, hopefully now that school has ended things will be better.
Took bus to school for the first time since tuesday methinks, good chance to do some last-minute revision though i didn't really make good use of the time - too sleepy. There were nus people peppered around the bus who were far more successful...
Got to the library, was thinking of looking through notes again but no mood la, so went and read yesterday's newspaper instead - catch up with what's going on in the world that has gone far ahead of me in the past month or so...
I have decided that MPSH stinks as an exam venue, primarily because it is all but impossible to evade people who are frantically studying last minute or asking one another "hey, did you study so and so", or complaining "i'm so dead for this paper" or stuff like that, stuff which for all intents and purposes i'd rather avoid, and at the end there always are a sea of people asking how the paper was, what question they screwed up and all that nonsense which is just not my cup of tea. No, for me once you get to the exam venue, to pardon the lack of a better phrase, your fate is sealed, and no amount of this or that nonsense will make any difference, so why bother? Might as well maintain whatever joy you have for as long as possible and agonize only (if need be) when the results get in.
Oh and MPSH 5 in particular is badly in need of renovation - it looks like you could film an episode of "Growing Up" there, as obviously it has remained untouched since it was first built, but i digress.
Paper was interesting, i could more or less manage all the questions, though for an open book exam the questions were strangely straightforward, as in the open-to-your-notes-and copy-and-you're-home-free variety. Something tells me the bell curve will be thrown a curve of its own in grading this one...
When i got home i was browsing through some songs when i came across another one in the haven't-sung-since-i-was-a-little-boy category. Like it cos it is a Christian song that makes a lot of sense (something that is hardly a given today) and celebrates our victorious life in the risen Christ. Shall sing it in the next possible opportunity =)
You Have Broken the Chains
Oh God, Most High, Almighty King,
The Champion of Heaven, Lord of Everything,
You fought, You won, Death lost its sting,
And standing in Your victory we sing:
You have broken the chains
That held our captive souls.
You have broken the chains
And used them on Your foes.
All Your enemies are bound,
They tremble at the sound of Your Name,
Jesus You have broken the Chains!
The power of hell has been undone.
Captivity held captive by the Risen One.
And in the name of God's Great Son,
We claim the mighty victory You've won.
Lyrics courtesy of my head.
Anyway, have a whole load of things that i am supposed to/ want to do during the break, now that school has ended for me, here's a partial list (in order of when i remember them):
-Prepare for MEET
-Get my SEP course application settled
-Clear IPPT
-(And therefore exercise like crazy before that)
-(And also exercise like crazy after that given my likely ballooning in size when i am on SEP)
-Clear and rearrange my room
-(Finally) take basic theory
-Play guitar better
-Improve quality of quiet time
-Plan trips while on SEP
-Meet up with people to talk and pray
-Other stuff that currently evades me
Happy holidays, everybody...
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
dazed and confused
I dunno why but have been (once again, i know) out-of-sorts today: three (that's three more than usual) people commented on how i looked all dazed.
What's the cause of all this? Why so downcast oh my soul (though admittedly i don't feel that bad myself)?
Is it my ongoing frustration towards the annoying essay that, at this moment, still lacking in even a single word in even the title?
Is it the above, coupled with the fact that its inertia from its current state of stagnancy means that my revision is seriously in trouble?
Is it something in my spiritual life that i am unaware/subconsciously aware of which is eating away in me?
Is it the headache-inducing white computer screen that i was staring at for a good half-an-hour?
Is it plain tiredness?
Or is it some unknown factor?
Chances are, it's a combination of all the above...
Ah well, hopefully tomorrow's meeting will clear some issues up...
Put your hope in God =)
By tomorrow morning, i hope to at least finalize my essay question and formulate a viable thesis and know where to get my information from...
Saw Sze-li off just now at the airport... Dunno when she'll be back, but anyway, it was really great having her back for the past week or so, on top of having her around again her visit also meant that i got to catch up with so many people, and recall so many farny things that happened during those crazy two years in acjc... Got to eat Popeyes Chicken (yes Ade, Popeye, the one who eats you-know-what =p)
Send-offs at the airport nowsaday make me think to when it'll be my turn, just think it's so cool... Of course, i won't be so bu2 yao4 lian3 (joking, joking...) as Sze-li and schedule a departure timing that wil facilitate as many people as possible coming to send me off =) Yup, chances are, if anyone's seeing me off, they'll have to put their sleep schedules out-of-whack cos will probably take the graveyard-shift United flight, which possibly means more siao cluedo-playing people eating Popeyes heh...
In closing, would like to draw your attention to the two new links on your RIGHT =======>
Please do support in prayer and any other way the Lord may lead you to. Thanks friends...
What's the cause of all this? Why so downcast oh my soul (though admittedly i don't feel that bad myself)?
Is it my ongoing frustration towards the annoying essay that, at this moment, still lacking in even a single word in even the title?
Is it the above, coupled with the fact that its inertia from its current state of stagnancy means that my revision is seriously in trouble?
Is it something in my spiritual life that i am unaware/subconsciously aware of which is eating away in me?
Is it the headache-inducing white computer screen that i was staring at for a good half-an-hour?
Is it plain tiredness?
Or is it some unknown factor?
Chances are, it's a combination of all the above...
Ah well, hopefully tomorrow's meeting will clear some issues up...
Put your hope in God =)
By tomorrow morning, i hope to at least finalize my essay question and formulate a viable thesis and know where to get my information from...
Saw Sze-li off just now at the airport... Dunno when she'll be back, but anyway, it was really great having her back for the past week or so, on top of having her around again her visit also meant that i got to catch up with so many people, and recall so many farny things that happened during those crazy two years in acjc... Got to eat Popeyes Chicken (yes Ade, Popeye, the one who eats you-know-what =p)
Send-offs at the airport nowsaday make me think to when it'll be my turn, just think it's so cool... Of course, i won't be so bu2 yao4 lian3 (joking, joking...) as Sze-li and schedule a departure timing that wil facilitate as many people as possible coming to send me off =) Yup, chances are, if anyone's seeing me off, they'll have to put their sleep schedules out-of-whack cos will probably take the graveyard-shift United flight, which possibly means more siao cluedo-playing people eating Popeyes heh...
In closing, would like to draw your attention to the two new links on your RIGHT =======>
Please do support in prayer and any other way the Lord may lead you to. Thanks friends...
Sunday, January 15, 2006
lelong lelong
Had some of the MEET team over to do the samples of the proposed food for our trip's fundraising. On the menu were mini spring roll thingies filled with pork floss (whose actual name evades me) and cornflake cookies with raisins (raising funds with raisins heh)
Some of the firsts today included:
first time i've ever folded a spring roll or anything similar to one (whenever i am at a gathering that involves the making of popiah i normally just place all the fillings in the centre of the skin, bundle everything together like a bag, and stuff the whole thing into my mouth)
first time i've ever played a significant role in the baking of anything (licking the mixing bowl clean after my mother's finished with it when i was younger doesn't count here...)
first time i've ever seen a raisin metamorphose into a round, black ball of carbon after sitting pretty on the baking tray for a mere 30 minutes in the oven
first time i've ever fried an egg, or more specifically, three egg whites sans the yolks that were used in the baking process
first time i've ever cooked something from scratch (i.e. the three egg whites fried with fishcake that i plucked from my mother's bee hoon) that actually tasted rather edible, and (at time of typing) has not made anyone (i.e. me, since i was the only one who dared to eat it) ill
first time i'm advertising for the sale of anything on this blog
Which brings us to:
MEET Thailand team, together with the other MEET teams, is embarking on its fund-raising drive. And to that effect, we are selling two delicious varieties of snacks, for your eating pleasure during Chinese New Year (while you tahan the relentless assault of CNY songs) and beyond. There are the aforementioned mini spring roll thingies stuffed with mildly-spiced pork floss with sesame seeds ($12 per jar), and cornflake raisin cookies ($15 per jar). You can also get a jar of both at the special price of $25... For enquiries/orders, you can contact me through this email address: potatoeatermatt@gmail.com (i'd put my hp number up but dunno if any weirdos may end up calling me should i do that). And do look out for more CNY foodstuffs being sold by the other MEET teams, and for other cool fundraising stuff as well from us =)
Some of the firsts today included:
first time i've ever folded a spring roll or anything similar to one (whenever i am at a gathering that involves the making of popiah i normally just place all the fillings in the centre of the skin, bundle everything together like a bag, and stuff the whole thing into my mouth)
first time i've ever played a significant role in the baking of anything (licking the mixing bowl clean after my mother's finished with it when i was younger doesn't count here...)
first time i've ever seen a raisin metamorphose into a round, black ball of carbon after sitting pretty on the baking tray for a mere 30 minutes in the oven
first time i've ever fried an egg, or more specifically, three egg whites sans the yolks that were used in the baking process
first time i've ever cooked something from scratch (i.e. the three egg whites fried with fishcake that i plucked from my mother's bee hoon) that actually tasted rather edible, and (at time of typing) has not made anyone (i.e. me, since i was the only one who dared to eat it) ill
first time i'm advertising for the sale of anything on this blog
Which brings us to:
MEET Thailand team, together with the other MEET teams, is embarking on its fund-raising drive. And to that effect, we are selling two delicious varieties of snacks, for your eating pleasure during Chinese New Year (while you tahan the relentless assault of CNY songs) and beyond. There are the aforementioned mini spring roll thingies stuffed with mildly-spiced pork floss with sesame seeds ($12 per jar), and cornflake raisin cookies ($15 per jar). You can also get a jar of both at the special price of $25... For enquiries/orders, you can contact me through this email address: potatoeatermatt@gmail.com (i'd put my hp number up but dunno if any weirdos may end up calling me should i do that). And do look out for more CNY foodstuffs being sold by the other MEET teams, and for other cool fundraising stuff as well from us =)
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
the twelve drummers are yet to drum
A belated blessed Christmas to whoever reads this =) [anyway i figure that there are 12 days, and today's still the three calling birds day, so am not too late la]
Of course the reason why i am doing this late is because my Christmas this year was, for the first time in my 22 years, spent away from home. More specifically, i was at MEET camp.
So how was MEET camp?
hehe actually cannot say anything about it (or at least dunno what i could say) => *zips mouth* *on second thought realises that zipping the mouth has no effect upon my typing hands* *keeps mum anyway*
if you want to know more, why not consider joining MEET next year =)? If the Lord is convicting you of the importance of being obedient to His call for us to be His instruments in the reaching out to the lost multitudes. Anyway, you've got lots of time to pray and think about it...
all i think i can say is that it was a good time for me lah, particularly from a spiritual and relational point of view.
Well, anyway, am rather tired, and methinks that i should sleep early (i.e. while today is technically still in existence). Might be bringing my Filipino relatives [my cousin and her 18-year-old son (i.e. my nephew - makes me feel so old)] who came to stay over Christmas (what great timing, they came and then i left) out tomorrow, probably shopping at Mustafa Centre and Sim Lim (the latter of which i have not even stepped in to as far as i can remember), especially since parents are away (they left for Malaysia just as i was coming home) (more good timing there).
Then there's IBS which i may or may not be attending since i have a nagging in me telling me to rest while the opportunity affords itself...
Meanwhile there's module bidding as well...
Then so long to the year.
Of course the reason why i am doing this late is because my Christmas this year was, for the first time in my 22 years, spent away from home. More specifically, i was at MEET camp.
So how was MEET camp?
hehe actually cannot say anything about it (or at least dunno what i could say) => *zips mouth* *on second thought realises that zipping the mouth has no effect upon my typing hands* *keeps mum anyway*
if you want to know more, why not consider joining MEET next year =)? If the Lord is convicting you of the importance of being obedient to His call for us to be His instruments in the reaching out to the lost multitudes. Anyway, you've got lots of time to pray and think about it...
all i think i can say is that it was a good time for me lah, particularly from a spiritual and relational point of view.
Well, anyway, am rather tired, and methinks that i should sleep early (i.e. while today is technically still in existence). Might be bringing my Filipino relatives [my cousin and her 18-year-old son (i.e. my nephew - makes me feel so old)] who came to stay over Christmas (what great timing, they came and then i left) out tomorrow, probably shopping at Mustafa Centre and Sim Lim (the latter of which i have not even stepped in to as far as i can remember), especially since parents are away (they left for Malaysia just as i was coming home) (more good timing there).
Then there's IBS which i may or may not be attending since i have a nagging in me telling me to rest while the opportunity affords itself...
Meanwhile there's module bidding as well...
Then so long to the year.
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