welcome to my tiny corner of the world (:

north vs east! /facepalm

2010-04-26T23:14:00.000+08:00

it's been a while since i posted. (:

Time Extended

2009-10-27T17:38:00.003+08:00

u know how in daytona whenever u drive under a gantry there's this awesome-sounding "Time Extended!"? that's how it feels like. haha.

i'm gonna be missing it for another year, quite likely 2 more. and, cos i missed it, i won't be able to go for whatever's planned in place of it.

sighs.

nah, not bitter about it. there's only so much u can be bitter about before u turn into a bitter gourd.

but i really wonder if there's something deeper that God wants to teach me through this tremendously long wait. i THINK it's been 6 years, since J2..

gosh, it's longer than i've been praying to God for a girlfriend. haha.

2009-09-22T22:40:00.002+08:00

oh hey! haha.. didn't notice i already crossed the 100 post mark. remarkable, when i think about it.

it's day 2, and although i know the overall count is actually very low, that missing bit still makes its non-presence felt.

on a lighter note, i started on Philip Yancey's Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference?

i've always studiously avoided books on prayer. i know and acknowledge its importance, but long books about prayer just don't really appeal to me. but i looked at my bookshelf and realised that over the years, i've gotten no less than 3 books on prayer. and seeing as i have a lot of spare energy now, i thought i'd get started on one. only one chapter so far, but it's been good. will blog about it as i get through it.

philip yancey is a rather good writer; his premise for writing the book is the same as why i'm reading it. so that makes it easier, i guess. heh.

2009-09-21T12:56:00.000+08:00

Hmmm. Haha.. This is difficult.

Learning a difficult lesson. When the Lord prompts me to do something, I find that I just cannot ignore it. As difficult as it may be to do it, the Spirit just weighs so heavily that it makes it impossible to do otherwise.

And there is a sense of freedom when I do set out to do what He told me to. It's not like it makes it easy or anything, but it does show me that it's what the Lord wants me to do.

2009-08-10T15:26:00.002+08:00

I lift up my eyes to the hills- where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of Heaven and earth

He will not let your foot slip- He who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord watches over you- the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day,nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all harm- He will watch over your life;
the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

Psalms 121: a song of ascent

happy birthday dilys

2009-07-19T00:09:00.002+08:00

HAPPY 19TH BIRTHDAY DILYS!!!

happy birthday my dear cousin.. on this special day just wanna wish you all of our great God's love and blessings, and just wanna say that you're such a blessing and joy in my life. i pray that as you grow another year older in the Lord, our Lord will bless you and keep you safe in His hand and bring you to higher heights in His love.

smile dear pretty princess! and i love you, dear cousin!!!

2009-07-18T02:00:00.002+08:00

ok this post is gonna be a little incoherent, but heck.

the cell had a very interesting discussion today, which culminated in the merging of 2 cell groups for the interim of half a year. now, here's the main thrust of the discussion..

what is it that is NOT keeping our young adults anchored in our church?

i won't go into details and all that, but pastor matt proved patient and understanding, and i came away from the discussion with the knowledge that the young adult congregation is gonna change.

for one, i'm gonna make sure i prepare myself as adequately as possible, so that when future generations of youth transit, i can do all i can to help mentor them and help them stay anchored in church. we've lost far too many youths and almost one generation of young adults in the past, and that's too much to endure in the future if i don't do what i can.

on the drive home, i realised that the rangers style of mentoring is so effective because the older leaders DO LIFE together with the younger leaders. sure, we've sat through our fair share of lessons and trainings, but week in and out, we work together and pray together and sometimes even cried together as we sought God's will and laboured to bring His love to the kids entrusted in our care.

perhaps that's what the young adults need to do now, and rise up to the occasion and touch the lives of our precious youths, before they choose to seek elsewhere for fulfilment.

and so it begins

2009-07-07T19:46:00.004+08:00

sch's resumed! 8.30am lessons means i have to wake at 6.30 to prep dad and then leave in time for lecture.. getting difficult to resist the temptation to drive :P

i resolve to give my best this sem, and to do better than i did all the previous sems. not the least of which is juggling DTC with projects/tests, as usual. haha. but God is so good. i just don't have the words to express His goodness.. (:

weekend with the family was good! although some miscomm led to a bit of a mess up where the CRR and roundup appreciation was concerned. definitely something to work on there..

poor girl.. she was sick but she still came out to eat with us.. towards the end of the meal she was simply sian-ed.. piggied her back to the car..

thanks!

2009-07-07T19:43:00.004+08:00

a long list of thank you's.. in no particular order..

dilys
joshua
shawn
leon
sam
cheryl
qing
sheng
jon
clar
edina
ivana
stef
nana pang
shafik
li
wen kang
sylvia
uncle chong
aunty tres
pohmayting
dal
hadley
anne chua (xbd!)

ok.. i'm sure this list is not complete.. there are many more that i'm sure i failed to mention.. but xide remembers all and thanks all.. thanks for making this a great bday!

i was especially touched when i walked into the p2 room and they broke out into an uncoordinated but lovely song.. (:

penguin

2009-06-27T00:08:00.000+08:00

hilarious. hahaha. thanks pohmayting

garlic

2009-06-23T00:31:00.000+08:00

i'm not eating any of ur food, shawn!

uh oh, le hot dog!

2009-06-23T00:28:00.000+08:00

uh oh.

training to be soldiers, fight for our laaand..

2009-06-09T22:02:00.005+08:00

training to be soldiers, fight for our land
once in our lives, two years of our time

remember this old bmt song? well, they forgot all about the reservist and ippt and rt and mob mannings. it's not TWO years. sorry, guys, we all got lied to. it's more than that. HAHA

well.. reservist is coming up and i'm gonna be missing round-up. quite disappointing, really. our armed forces really picked a bad timing to call me back. ah well.

been occupied with trying to clear what i can before i leave for kranji camp III. hahaha. probably the only good thing i can say about that place is that it has nice bunks (from what i remember la)

things to do: booklet for roundup, and finalising all the stuff for roundup, since i won't be there.. :( gonna miss the kids so much. it feels.. wrong that i cant be there at the camp with them.

on a lighter note, i'm stuck in a pleasant dilemma

or

??????

both not released in sgp yet though. hahahahaha..

LG GD900 Crystal: http://www.gsmarena.com/lg_gd900_crystal-review-352.php
iPhone 3GS: http://www.apple.com/iphone/iphone-3g-s/

of cos if they both come out like 900+ then i can forget abt it la.. lols

2009-06-03T12:05:00.001+08:00

so.. let's try and see if i can blog via email. heh.

reservist is looming. tried to defer, but the date keeps coming and there's still no reply. why is saf so slow when it comes to these stuff?

had a good long chat with uncle chong on monday. there's a lot of different aspects of the GC role that i still haf to work on, and while it looks uber daunting to me, i know i must rely on God's strength and not my own. He's gone ahead and won the battle for me!

that's it for now. if this works the way it's supposed to, i might start posting from here instead. makes life a lot easier (:

In His service and love,
xide

xide is thinking

2009-05-24T23:28:00.004+08:00

where to begin?

certain issues were raised. quite a few, as a matter of fact.

it's like what jon said, the basics must be observed again. cos once we settle the basics, the rest will then fall into place.

i really need to talk with sheng on this..

i was thrust into the role from a very operational point of view.. but i need to work on the 'working on lives' part.. in fact, i need to work on it a lot.. i still focus a lot on the program, the nitty details that i should let my LCs handle.

say wat u want, i guess somewhere deep down inside, i'm still a.. high D? i still want to do it myself so i'm reassured it's done well.

and values and expectations need to be realigned with God's. i've lost sight of that along the way. before i speak with sheng, i need to be very sure of that first. cos the program is the Lord, ultimately.

it is a time of growth, really. i need to integrate it.. before it overwhelms me.

dolce vita

2009-05-20T10:07:00.005+08:00

edit: i'm just reposting an old story.. no connotations, no hints, nothing.. hahaha..

this is quite an old story- when IRC was still the vogue! not sure how many of u still remember this story that circulated through email and all, but i found a complete (i think) version of it on the net.

for those of u who DO remember this story, here are some interesting facts about it..

the original version of this story was written by a taiwanese author (lazy to find the link and post here)
some enterprising s'porean rewrote it in singapore context
nobody knows who's the smart singaporean who wrote it, but rumor has it that it was a jc student at that time
the disease described in the story (ERYSIPELAS) is not as fatal as it sounds, but it CAN cause death

anyway, without further ado, i present the old story, DOLCE VITA (i did a bit of editting to make this story a bit more reader-friendly, but i'll try to leave the grammar and syntax as it is, to preserve some of the internet language u'd expect of the 90s)

===

I met her on the net, how?.. I can't remember. but it seems to me that it is this 'little theory' which I declared in the cyberspace that caught her attention.

If I have a million dollars, I would buy a house. do I have a million? No. That's why I don't have a house.

If I have wings, I can fly. do I have wings? No. so I can never fly.

If all the waters are drawn out of Pacific Ocean, but it still can't put off the flame of love between us. Can all the waters of Pacific Ocean be drawn off? No. That's why I don't love you.

That's me, a typical science student. First you come up with an assumption, then you fit a suitable conclusion. If the proposed assumption doesn't stand at all, then everything is just bullshit. I guess this is what they call 'unromantic'.

But she is an exception. she actually mailed me and said that I am an 'interesting' person.

'Interesting'? What a word to use on me, it's like using 'faithful' on Mr. Clinton. I thought this girl must be a low-IQ organism, or suffering from serious brain damage. anyway, her nick doesn't seems so bad -FLYINDANCE- that's quite a unique one.

But I was warning myself: hello, this is the virtual world of Internet. who knows what might be lurking behind a beautiful nick…

Talking from experience, most of the time it will be a 'dinosaur' in disguise… the only differences will be whether it is a carnivore or a herbivore but, I know she is way different from a 'dinosaur', she is special.

So I guess its time for the appearance of FlyNDance.

Ever since she mailed to tell me that I am 'interesting', I was always wishing to meet her in ajcrr. Too bad, lady luck was just not on my side. So I can only reply her letter to tell her that I will start to train myself to become an 'interesting' person, just to show that she is far-sighted.

She replied my reply, I replied her reply to my reply, she again replied my reply to her reply blah blah blah… Oh no, I just started a chain-reaction. Actually what interested me the most is this paragraph she wrote in one of the mails….

'I dance swiftly, amidst the crowd.
Your glance on me be it surprise,
be it admiration, it ain't going to stop my rhythm.
Because it's not your glance that made me dance,
it's my heart of youth.'

I simply cannot relate this girl to any of the 'dinosaurs'. But if she really is a dinosaur, I am willing to let her have her fill. Tye, my best pal unfortunately, noticed my little affair with FlyNDance, and has been perpetually warning me about this…. "HELLO!!!… you don't even know what she looks like, why take the risk??.. maybe 'she' is a guy!!… haha!!.."

I can't blame Tye for his ignorance. Ever since he was dumped by Sally in Secondary 4, he has become a renowned 'playboy'. As the saying goes: "Once bitten, Twice shy".

In this case, after Tye was bitten, he has mastered the art of skinning snakes alive, and make them into soup. But he got all the factors to be a playboy, I always think he is the 19 year-old version of Brad Pitt. Tall, handsome and got this tongue that causes diabetes in every women he targets. I don't think he can even remember how many girlfriends he has had.

I went online that night, log onto channel ajcrr and yesh!!… she is there. Before I can get over the surprise and the daze, she sent me a message…..

"hey slorr.. so late liao haven't slept ahh??"

Now what? Now what??!!.. okok, I had to calm down first. I swallowed hard on my saliva, took a few deep breath. Now where is that Tye when I needed him most at such crucial moment, somebody to tell me what to say to her. How am I going to attract her with my pathetic humour which has gone stale.

"slorr… me in a foul mood today.. can't sleep.. you leh??"

MOTHER'S(direct translation to chinese), what slorr slorr…

Now when I read it twice in a row, I am beginning to feel disgusted in that nick Tye gave me. Tye said that: "who knows.. it might attract some innocent gals in talking to you… haha.."

"I am not feeling very good too…. so lets sad together."

Finally squeezed a sentence out, but I can already feel droplets of sweat forming on my forehead. Actually I am not in a bad mood, I just wanna follow up her topic that's all. And if she ask for the reason for my feeling down, I can say:

"since you are feeling down, how can I ever be happy?…"

I know it sounds mushy, but Tye said: "MUSHINESS IS THE FUNDAMENTAL TO ALL COURTSHIP." And gals are a very weird species, they trust their ears far more than their eyes. So instead of doing 10 things to impress her, why not just say a sentence to move her.

"ok… but you haven't greet me leh…" DAMNIT!.. how can I forget simple manners to gals. To think they call me 'MR COURTEOUS' in school.

If this thing ever leaks out in school, I would lose all my female fans.

"nice to meet you… miss long-hair.."

"I've been wishing that she's keeping long hair.

Tye said that:

"FlyNDance… hmm.. she would either be long-haired or a desperado, 'COs when gals dance, only 2 parts of them may fly: hair and skirt. So if she doesn't has long hair, that means her skirt flies when she dances, AH-HA!!.. this has a certain sexual hint in it…haha.."

"eh?… how you know I got long hair?.."

BINGO!!.. heaven is on my side this time. It goes to prove that she is not a DESPERADO. yesh!!

"not only that.. I also know you seldom wear skirt.."

I increased the stake, if I am correct this time, peace on earth forever.

"err… I guess you are right lor.. but how you know one?.."

"just guess…"

"ok lor… hey slorr… tell you what.. me tired liaoz… you coming online tomorrow morning??…"

"ya… why??.."

"Please please please say the you coming too, if not I am going to kill myself for letting you go tonight. I'll see ya tomorrow at 10 am then…good night…"

"er.. should be today at 10 am.. ok.. good night too"

I just blurted out a last sentence ….Offline.

Suddenly I was so impressed by my performance just now. But is the season of spring really arriving for me??… I wish.

-=~@~=-

"slorr… what a coincidence ahh…"

"yeh… I am not late."

"ya lor… so qiao.."

gals are weird, I thought we already had an arrangement, why do I have to pretend that its not. they must have watched too many movies, and like to think that guys they met due to the thing called 'fate' is the best thing that can happen to their love life.

"slorr…. you talking nonsense lah…"

"NONSENSE???.. ok, let me tell you what nonsense. Summer's beach, the guy must be good at running, with broad shoulders, dark complexion with a tint of redness, sparkling eyes and loud laughter.

Then he will call out loud the name of the girl, running towards her, carry her and spin 3 rounds anticlockwisely."

"slorr…. you siao liaoz ahh??"

"I siao?.. ok.. lets change a location then. Deep in the mountains, the guy must have long hair, gotta have the look of an artist, carries a sketching stand, a few pieces of drawings, and you can see birds stop over at his side, admiring his work. and there will be a girl whose the model…. most probably naked."

"slorr.. but these all very romantic mah…"

"ROMANTIC??.. hello miss… romance only survive in novels and movies. In real life, the guy on the beach may step onto broken glass or the girl may be too heavy which tore his arm muscles. Birds may just clear their waste on top of the guy in the mountains, or he might get a thrashing from the girl because he comments on the excess fats around the waist and hips."

"slorr… you hate romance??.."

"I hate romance?… nope, I am just using my knowledge of statistic to get a deduction, that guys must be TALL to be romantic, not HANDSOME!!! Some love novels even portrayed the guy as normal looking, but no-one Dares to challenge the height of him!.. I object…. because I am not tall."

"-slorr…. objection overruled…"

I think I am really outstandingly bo liao, talking to her about these until noon.

"slorr… are you hungry?…"

"ya… you leh??…."

"yesh… guess its time for lunch…slorr.."

"then do you think we should….??"

"slorr… I am just asking… I don't intend to have lunch with you…"

"ok, good.. I am not romantic… neither are you."

-=~@~=-

I had lunch with Tye, we talk about the conversation with FlyNDance this morning.

"you moron… told her you are not romantic… you siao ah? You have disgraced me man. How can you make such a big mistake?"

"….I…I…"

Tye grabbed a chicken wing with chopstick, and I can see the trembling of the hand and the wing.

"there are 3 'don'ts' in chasing a girl… one…don't forget to be romantic,.. two …. don't be too honest… 3… don't be too stingy on the sugar in our speech… noticed number 1, you stupid?? what rubbish is that??…. In mandarin we say 'nan ren bu huai, nu ren bu ai', you should know this…"

"this I know, but it has been a controversial topic over centuries. women aren't really that… cheap.. so why would they only falls for 'bad guys' like me??…"

"that's because 'bad guys' are usually romantic… those 'nice guys' are usually…dumdums… so she would rather choose a romantic 'bad guy' rather than any of those dumdums… in maths we call this 2C1…understand?…dumdum.."

oh, Tye is talking about maths!!.. now I understand. No wonder I have always been left on the shelf.

"in another words… gals wouldn't mind if you are not tall… if you are not handsome… they can bear with your inconsiderate acts… can forget your stupidity… but they can never forgive if you are not romantic…"

"come on, this is so exaggerating."

"hey… most women have a 'knot' for romance.. just like most men have a 'knot' for virginity… to women they just can't understand how precious the thin layer of membrane is to men, same thing, men can't imagine how important women treats romance."

"this is bullshit! how come I've never heard of that."

"the key word is 'knot'…if you can untie it… fine.. but how many had actually succeeded in that… practically none…"

"ok, fine. now I've done it… so what should I do to remedy the situation?"

"face it… you are hopeless already… I promise you I'll have a drink with you when you and her are over…"

You SONOFABITCH.

-=~@~=-

Midnight. I am trying to concentrate on my physics notes….

F=ma, v=u+at…

It's really a wonder that nature can be explained by just a few formulas and equations, and this we call science. Then why is astrology and palmistry being labeled as superstitious? Science should only be one of the ways to explain truth, what can't be explained by science, it doesn't necessary mean that's its unreal….

Close to 1am. since I can't get anything into my head, I shall try my luck on net then, maybe she is there…

"slorr…you here"

"finally… good night to you…:)"

'FINALLY'? strange word to use it here. What is she doing here at this hour? must be feeling down again.

"yes… it is fate that brought me to you at this moment…"

I am trying very hard to convince her that I am a bit romantic.

"slorr… nothing to do with fate… I waited 4 you 4 one hour liaoz…"

"sure or not?.. for what?.."

"talk to you mah…or else I can't sleep…"

"you sick is it?… go see doctor lah…:)"

"slorr….let's continue our topic..

What do you think of relationships that began from the internet?…"

Oh my god… how should I answer her now?

"Its..its very… romantic…"

Indeed I am not a good liar, even my words are shaking now.

"slorr… you bluffing… you not romantic one mah…"

GAME OVER. I am finished!.. no choice but to drink with Tye.

"slorr…. you lagging?… or just daoing me?…"

"no… I am wondering why is the sky so chio tonight?.."

"nonono… don't try to shift the topic… slorr…"

sigh… I give up… I asked for it myself.

"Actually I think relationships started from cyberspace is considered as ROMANTIC, 'Cos romance gives people an impression of unreal, and cyberspace is virtual."

"slorr….that's interesting.."

"surfers keep a safe distance from each other and usually 3 types of people are produced in this way.

The first type…. The first type being those who present themselves on net with their 'secondary personality'. Usually all of us consists of multiple personalities, and in Everyday life, what we present to the world is the 'primary personality', with the secondary one being suppressed, or maybe we don't even realised this other Trait of us deep inside. so internet is the place where this side of us is revealed, both intentionally or without conscious knowledge."

"Is it true?… what about 2nd type?.."

"the 2nd type are those who will transform themselves into the kind of man/woman he/she would want to be. there's bound to be 1 or 2 characteristics that you particularly admire, too bad, sometimes these characteristics are just couldnt be found in you. cyberspace is the perfect location for this transformation to occur."

"slorr…. you blowing cow is it?.. type 3 leh?…"

"I am not blowing cow, I read it from an article of TIMES mag!! Type 3 will be those who transform themselves into characters which are impossible for them to become in real life. for example, if you are a girl, you may act as a man on net. you may even become BATMAN or SUPERMAN if you want."

"hm.. thats pretty amazing…"

"The first type is the 'faithful' type, 'cos its his own personality that is being presented on net. The 2nd type is the 'foolish' type, 'cos he knows only how to admire others, always forgets his own strong points. The 3rd type is the 'pathetic' type, 'cos he is wishing 4 some impossible."

"slorr…. den you belong to what type?… me leh?.."

"I don't wish to believe you are type 3, 'cos I am not. I crossed the possibility of type 1 'cos its too common, because I think you are special. being able to attract you, I think I am at least a bit special. so we belong to type 2."

"type2…. den who you wish to become?..slorr.." I certainly would like to become a person like Tye, humorous, romantic and eloquent, 'cos these are what I am lacking of.

"slorr…. what about me?.."

"you?.. I don't know. you want to FLY and DANCE, problemably that means you wish to fully enjoy your youth while you can. but if this is somethng you wish yet you can't achieve, den there's 2 possibilities: 1, you are aging, 2, you are leaving the world."

I think I said something wrong, cos she didn't sent me anymore message after this. I began to blame myself for being so perverted, why talk about these things?

I should have discussed with her whether ZOE or FANN, who should be the queen of caldecott hill. Damn that TIMES mag, poison my mind. Maybe she's lagging. so I waited… and waited. girl its just a few minutes, but it felt like several hours. I want to apologize, but do not know how to start. until she sent me this message:

"slorr… lets meet…"

Without hesitation, I used the hand that I had used it over 18 years to wipe my ass, typed 'O-K'.

I am supposed to meet FlyNDance tonight , 8pm, at the entrance of McDonalds, the one beside YMCA. That's the best time and place to meet a girl you have never met before, according to Tye, 'Cos they would have taken their dinner by that time which means we can simply go inside the Mac and have some fries and coke.

She will be wearing a whole set of coffee theme attire and I will be wearing my usual blues, this is our way of identification. she told me she is not those 'cute gals' I may think she is, I said nevermind, I am not Brad-pitt either. then she told me she has long ago given up on this hope already.

"slorr… you are early…"

While I was idling, a girl tapped my shoulders from my back.

Although I was already mentally prepared for anything that's going to appear in front of me, I was still astonished by this girl who stood in front of me now.

If not for the coffee theme and that 'slorr', I would think she is only asking for directions. She is one of those chio buz that can only be found on orchard road, which I usually see while crossing the road. Maybe I suffered from a serious concussion due to the heavy blow, my mind was extraordinarily calm.

"Had your dinner right?.. I think we shall go inside the Mac first…"

"You are pretty smart huh?… a good way to save money indeed…"

AIYA!~!… she knows me soooo well, I can only give her an innocent smile back.

Since she's so pretty, I ordered 2 LARGE cokes, and even ordered TWO packets of fries.

"this time you treat, next time i'll let you treat…"

I am not falling for that, miss… but I am glad she mentioned 'next time'.

"slorr… are you disappointed when you saw me just now?.."

DISSAPPOINTED?… are you drunk?..

"why do you think I will be disappointed then?.." "cos I told you I am not cute mah, so you must be quite dissappointed when you saw me.."

she is making 0 sense, but I know she is just trying to hint that she's actually cute.

"then why did you have to lie that you are not cute?"

"slorr… I said I am not cute… I didn't say I am not pretty.."

#$%$##%^*&%$@!!! "but you are also quite….decent looking what.. its not like what you described to me too.."

'DECENT'? a very vague word. to many gals, decent=boring. One good thing is that she didn't lie to me about the fact that she is keeping long hair. She also has a fair complexion which reminds me of HL milk I take almost everyday.

It is now only that I found out she is from ACJC, but had spent her first 3 mths in AJ.

Sitting in front of each other, we talk about many things. From her obsession with coffee to my hobby of watching movies. BTW, she had completely shoke off my misconception of 'if she is pretty, she is brainless'. She appears to be an attractive girl, both physically and character wise, talking, smiling to me, occasionally being a little sarcastic and nasty.

It's like a dream.

We left the Mac at around 10 pm. Since its still early, I decided to send her home and fortunately, its just Ang Mo Kio, two MRT stops from mine.

I would have second thoughts if she's staying at Pasir Ris.

"slorr… congratulations….

you are officially permitted to date me from now on…"

she said this before the lift door closed.

Back at home, I realized that I hadn't asked for her real name, maybe its the influence of that stoopid Tye.

Tye told me :

Never ask a pretty girl her name the first time you meet her, cos there are oredi too many wolves out there dying to know, so she will be more interested in you if you act bochap…

Then why didn't she ask for mine? Don't tell me there's a female version of Tye telling her not to? It's again 1am. Time to meet her in ajcrr.

"hi!… slorr.. you tired?…"

of 'cos I am tired after all the surprises she presented me, I would go straight for my bed if not for her. but why is she here also?…

isn't she tired too?..

"long time no see.. how are you?.."

"slorr you siao ah?… 2 hours only leh..miss me?…"

"A)yes.. B)of'cos.. C)abuden…D)dying to see you…E)all of above…. answer is E…"

";:)…"

seems like she is really tired, even the smiling face are yawning to me right now.

"you wanna go for a movie tomorrow?.."

maybe I should ask her now, while she is half asleep, hoping that she will blur-blurly click 'OK'.

"should be no problem… what show?…" HOOOOORAY!!… I am cheering for her fatigue.

"we decide what show tomorrow… anyway whats important is watch with who… not the show.."

Tye's fav line, I am just borrowing it.

";:)…"

"you should go sleep now lah…"

"wait one little while… you haven't tell me you tired or not?.."

"ok lah… a bit…. you leh?.."

"I am exhausted…. but have to say good night to you first… slorr..if not I can't sleep.."

"me too…."

I can't believe I am doing this SILLY business right now….

"ok I tell you what…. I count 1,2,3… then we log off together…"

"ok…. good night slorr…"

"same to you.."

"1…."

"2…"

"3.."

-=~@~=-

I never talk whenever I am inside a cinema, and now is the best time for my mouth to rest, so I spent the following 3 hours to admire this much-talked-about movie of the century, Titanic.

I am not a romantic person, so its perfectly understandable if I can't really appreciate this motion picture fully, except for all those stunning special effects. but something stroke me when Jack said to Rose before he sank into the deep…..

"Rose, listen to me… listen…. winning that ticket was the best thing that had happened to me… it brought me to you….and I am thankful, Rose….I am thankful…."

suddenly I felt much fortunate than Jack, 'cos I don't have to risk my life to board Titanic, all I have to do is to switch on my PC every night.

But he's one lucky guy too, 'cos he knows how to draw, and just look at how slowly he was drawing Rose, that made me blame myself for the lack of this talent. But to her, this movie wasnt just about drawings or special effects. I noticed that packet of tissue paper she was holding in her hand. and just when Rose said: "I promise… I will never let go, Jack… i'll never let go.."

She opened up her sling bag and here comes the reserve handkerchief. Damn that Celine Dion, why on earth did she had to sing that "MY HEART WILL GO ON" at the end of the show, for all the female species inside the theater, its like "MY TEARS WILL ALSO GO ON"

"Ok… movie ended… lets go…."

I stood up, speak to her gently, worried that every single word I breath out might just crush onto her, and kill her. she continued to sit on the position, looked at me with her beautiful eyes that just came back from a swim. after a while, she said…

"slorr…. movie ended….. but life goes on.. am I right?…"

I nodded my head… but I just wished somebody might give me some clue of what she was saying. finally we managed to leave Orchard cineplex, since its still early, we decided to take a walk down the street. along the way, she seems unusually quiet. so I guess Tye was right about the 'TITANIC FLU', he said that gals often got so mentally distressed after watching this show, and its the best time to launch an emotional attack on her, thats why Tye had watch Titanic for over 5 times roughly.

Her eyes were focussed on the path or the crowds but I know her mind was still left on Titanic, sinking with her, waiting for somebody to pull her up. I just kept my mouth shut 'cos I know I am not a good swimmer. we walked to Plaza Singapura. suddenly she stopped in front of a Christian Dior counter.

"slorr.. have you read a novel called 'fragrance'?…"

"err..nope…. why do you ask?…"

"look at this 'DOLCE VITA' from Christian Dior… its what the guy bought for her girlfriend in the story on her birthday…. and he told her 'DOLCE VITA' is french, meaning 'SWEET TIMES'…"

she pointed to a bottle of perfume at the counter, but I was more interested at the price tag around the neck of the bottle.

"oh… is it?…"

"slorr… then do you consider today as 'sweet times'…?"

"at first I do… but some points are deducted since you started crying…"

"that means it can only be considered a little bit sweet, i'll buy the small bottle then…"

I insisted to pay for the perfume as her bdae present from me since I know her birthday is coming soon, this kind of saves me a lot of trouble of finding a present for her. luckily its just perfume, I would have to pawn my underwear if that guy in the story gives her girlfriend diamond or gold bar."

"are you hungry?…. wanna sit down and have something?…"

"I don't have appetite… what about you?.."

"you eat, I eat…."

her eyes are red again…… I am such a fool. finally got away from the noisy crowd at the MRT station, walking on one of the steets of AMK Ave 6. contrastingly, its so quiet now that I even can hear the rythm of her heartbeat."

"slorr… do you know what's the correct way of applying perfume?…."

I shoke my head. in fact, I had never used a perfume or cologne before, medicated oil maybe.

"first you apply some behind your ears… then your neck and wrists… after that spray some onto the air, then walk through it…"

"sure or not?…

in that case this little bottle wont even be able to last you for 3 days…."

"slorr.. shall we try?…"

"'we'?… you go ahead… I am a MAN…"

she opened up that DOLCE VITA… behind her ears, neck then the wrist she applied some… and she really did spray some onto the air!!…

WABIANGZ!!.. expensive leh!… finally she stretched out her hands… facing up… like enjoying the raindrops fallling on her face…

"hahaha…."

"slorr… this is so fun!…. now its your turn…."

she went through the same procedures with me and I can feel the coldness of he fingers. maybe its the perfume… I guess.

"slorr… get ready… I am going to spray!!…"

I imitated her.. face up…and walked through my first perfume rain.

"slorr lets have another round!!…"

" WHAT!!… serious?.."

my money isn't easy to come by leh!!…. before I can collect the broken pieces of my heart, she had walked through her second round. she was even more excited this time, hoping around, like her nick…. a flying and dancing butterfly. late night of AMK, the streets smells unusually nicer right now. until we finished the whole of that DOLCE VITA.

"DOLCE VITA is exhausted…

I guess this sweet time shall end now too…. slorr.. i'll go up now…. tonight 1am. I wont be online, and you are not to do so too…"

"huh?….but why?…."

"go online at 12pm tomorrow..

you will know….remember… only 12pm…"

she turned and walked into the lift… at the same time… I saw an obvious pink patch behind her neck… which is visible only now be'cos she tied her hair. I looked up towards her window on the 4th floorfrom below, but it never light up.

-=~@~=-

I switched off the light in my room… engulfed in the absolute darkness… 'cos I wished to have the same kind of feeling as her right now… I realised in complete darkness… the easiest mood one gets… is loneliness.. she must be lonely right now… half asleep.. I almost can see a beautiful butterfly.. turning to ashes amidst the sea of flame… and that patch behind her neck.. from pink it became red… then burgundy..slowly.. it swallowed me…. was it the cause of that can of beer just now?… suddenly I felt cold… and shaky.. and that coolness seemed to have come straight from my heart… the rate of my heartbeat was an exponential function of time as it got closer to 1am… USE A DIFFERENT NICK!!… checked .. she isn't there…. my heart was beating fast… but the temp remained below healthy level……..

-=~@~=-

Finally its 12 pm, excited as I was, logged on the net, yet there was still no sign of FlyNDance. But there's a mail from her……

Dear slorr,

At first I thought it will be easier for me to settle down in the darkness… recollecting memories we have shared… but all I felt was loneliness…… can you feel it too?…

I still can't change the habit of logging on at 1am… so I used a different nick to sneak into AJCRR… you don't blame me right?…:P… you werent there… should I feel glad for your obidience?…. you said both of us belonged to TYPE 2… the foolish type…maybe you are right!… 'cos I really do admire those who dares to fight for their desires… I stroke my hair gently when you said that I am leaving the world… and a few strands of hair fell….. No!… doctor told me its not a terminal disease… and doctor aren't supposed to lie!!?… I still can live like a normal person… BUT CAN I?..

FlyNDance… is it really something I wont be able to do?… After the first meeting with you at Mac… I started to realise that you are not only a virtual being living in the cyberspace… in reality you are strong, gentle and sensitive…. I can feel the defense Wall of my heart is slowly breaking apart…. I am defeated… I tied my hair today.. 'cos my fren told me that I look more attractive this way…

I want you to remember my face as it is today… 'cos after today… everything may change…. But why didn't you ask for my real name? ..thats why I never asked for urs…

I am a girl mah..:P… do you realised how I wish to have something more than a nick to take along with me? …Slorr… thank you for the DOLCE VITA… finally got a taste of what sweet times are like… but I am really sorry….. I just couldnt bear to say goodbyz…..

since it started from a mail…. it should end with a mail too…. Its been 3 months and 2 days since the very first mail… not a very long time but it isn't short either…. our story began from me… and I will end it..

Maybe its what you said… 'internet is fast and convenient, but it isn't perfect'…. I can send you my thoughts right away… but not my tears… Its about 5.30am now…. time to go…. by the time you receive this mail… I would be trying to settle down somewhere else…. I don't know….Good Bye.

With lotsa love,
FlyNDance

After reading her mail, I felt as if I had just experienced a roller-coaster ride which almost derailed. she had shown me the other side of her, soft and sensitive.

For a couple of mths, I was trying to hypnotise myself, to suppress my feelings whenever I started to think about her again. Perpetually I was telling myself, she is just one virtual character that flys and dance in the net, but never in the real world.

I became a fugitive, escaping from my PC, escaping from the internet and anythng that has to do wih coffee. Hide myself behind the piles of lecture notes, behind the crowd of people, trying to get rid of this thought of missing something in life.

But I failed. I found out that its not that I don't miss her, its just that I had forgotten the passion that always comes along when you are having something hanging on your mind all the time. its like I cannot not breathe, its just that I had forgotten the fact that I have been breathing in and out for the past 19 years.

I can hold my breath for a while, but not forever. I have to find her.
-=~@~=-

"err… I am looking for … er..FlyNDance…."

"HUH??…"

'huh'…. this is the exact word I was expecting from her.

She seems to be FlyNDance's elder sister, 20++, looked quite a beauty too even without any makeup. But of 'cos, still can't be compared with her… I explained to her my purpose for knocking on the door and told her that I am no stalker whom she might think I am.

Surprisingly when I told her my disgusting nick, slorr, she appeared to be rather excited and quickly she scribbled something on a small piece of paper and handed it to me…..

"you should go and see her.." SGH, Room 3-425.

-=~@~=-

This is the first time i've ever stepped into the Singapore General Hospital. Its a dust-free space, everything looked soo clean, tidy and arranged.

But I don't like the feeling it gave me… I entered room 3-425, she was there, in a deep sleep… I stood by her, watching… her hair was still as long as before, laying across the soft, White pillow…

Her face looked roundish now, I know it's the side-effect of the medicine… and the pinkish-red patch that was on her neck had spread to her face… appearing in a shape of a butterfly..

nevertheless..she was still the most beautiful butterfly i've ever seen…

Her eyelashes twitched slightly.. she must be dreaming… what's that in her dream??…

Mcdonald's fries and coke?.. sinking Titanic?.. or the rain at AMK Ave? 6?.. The room was getting darker as the clock approaches 6pm..

I wanted to switch on the light… 'cos I hate to see her lying lonely under the shadow of a patient's room….

But I am worried that her dreams might be disturbed by the sudden light rays… while I was in a dilemma.. her eyes opened slowly… Her eyes were wide on me.. then she turned away suddenly..

I can only see her back at this moment… she lost weight… after a long time.. she turned to face me again.. rubbed her eyes… and smiled….

"slorr.. you are here!…"

"yes..nice weather today.. isn't it?.."

"ya lor.. sky also very chio today?..right?…heehee.."

"'SKY VERY CHIO'…

I can still remember this was the conversation we had in one of our AJCRR meetings…"

But she didn't realized that it's raining today…

"slorr…. why are you standing there.. sit down.."

Thanks for reminding me..

I just found out that my legs were numbed due to the several hours of standing…

"slorr… you lost weight…"

ME?.. I thought I should be the one whos telling this to her!!??….

"slorr.. you hungry?… had your lunch?.. food here isn't so good..

thats why patients like me always slim down a bit..

apart from that.. its quite ok..

but sometimes I feel really bored without a PC here to talk to you.."

"slorr.. hows your mid-year?.. sure did very well right?.."

WAIT A MINUTE!.. you are the one who's lying on bed right now!!..

not me!….Yet.. I had nothing to ask her actually..

'cos I was there to see her.. not to find out the answers to those questions.. maybe now its the time for me to utter some touching lines like whats in the case of a movie..

But I am not a Romantic person… moreover…

Movies are fiction.

Life isn't.

-=~@~=-

I just wished that she could leave this place as soon as possible… back to AMK ave6, back to ACJC, back to where she belonged…. and I promised she wont be alone anymore.. 'cos I will always be there…

After a while… her mum was here to see her.. around the age of 50, slightly overweight.. other than the cheerful smile… she didn't really remind me of FlyNDance…

"err… I think i've gotta go now… bye bye auntie.."

"You….You…"

she sat up straight in a sudden, like if she'd experienced a tremendous shock…

"i'll be here again tomorrow.. and the day after tomorrow… until you leave this place…"

Before I went back home, I went to Plaza Singapura again to buy that Christian Dior Dolce Vita… and i've got the biggest bottle this time, that she can even swim in it.

I try not to close my eyes that night, 'cos I want to go to her as soon as the first sun ray shoots into my room. I hired a cab, didn't want to waste too much time on bus.

"slorr.. you are here.. i've been waiting for you for a long time…"

"had a good night's rest?…"

"oh… I didn't allow myself to fall into a deep sleep… 'cos I know you wont wake me up when your here…"

"then you should take a rest now…"

"err… since you are here already… I don't think I can…"

I gave her the Dolce Vita, and we'd agreed that we would dance in the rain in front of SGH main entrance the day she's discharged.

I dare not look straight at her… 'cos there's a butterfly on her face.. it was only last night before I leave SGH that I found out she's suffering from an illness called ERYSIPELAS. What the clergymen would term the BUTTERFLY DISEASE…

But I what I like is the coffee butterfly that is able to dance around freely… not that pinkish-red butterfly that settled on her pale complexion… moreover.. whats a butterfly if it can't fly….

"slorr.. why are you looking at me.. and not talking?…"

I don't know… 'cos I noticed that shes getting weaker physically… I had a bad feeling about this…"

"slorr… I am thirsty… can you get me a drink?.."

I am not leaving her at this moment. I can still remember a movie about this guy who went all the way to get red bean soup for his girlfriend who's on sickbed… and to find her lying silently on the white bedsheet when he came back… never to wake up again…

"Are you trying to get rid of me… like whats in that movie?.."

"slorr… movie is movie… life is life…" MOVIE?. LIFE?….

"but I thought you just had a drink?… anyway.. so what can I get for you?…"

"Ultimate Ice Blended!!…."

This is a hospital leh!!… Did she think I can find Coffeee Bean everywhere on this island?… like Mcdonalds…whatsmore… coffeee wasnt suitable for her at that time…

"err…. coffee isn't good for health.. order something else…ok?

"so you know coffee isn't good for the body too… then you should cut down on your intake oso..ok?.."

I saw her smile appearing… and there's a shine in her eyes…

I realised that shes just trying to tell me not to drink too much coffee in the future…

My heart seemed to have suffered from a heavy blow…

This is not good… a taste of pH7 has started to fill my nose….. If this is not going to stop.. tears might be the next thing that appears in front of her… I recalled the chapter on reservoir and dam in physics textbook.. quickly apply the knowledge on me… even if its just a few droplets…"

"ok… I promise… i'll try my best.."

"and try to sleep Earlier in the future…and don't skip breakfast…

its important to you…and don't be too obsessed with Blue.. it makes you look.. troubled….and….."

this didn't sound good… its like giving the final instructions before she… I can't bear to let her continue…

"okok… i'll go get you a drink right away.."

"slorr… is the machine far away?… if it is.. then its ok.. I don't want it anymore…"

from my mental calculation…. men would take 67 steps while women would take 85 steps to reach the vending machine right at that corner.. plus the time taken to purchase… average would take a total of 1.8-2.1 minutes… not very far…

"quite near.."

"slorr…. come back quick…

I don't want to be alone for too long….

I hate that feeling.."

I didn't answer her…. I just increased my pace….

-=~@~=-

"eh… its late already… go to sleep.." my mum was nagging at me again.

"okok…. 10 more minutes…"

Until today, FlyNDance had left for more than 2 mths.

I still logged on at 1am everynight, but onto channel DOLCE-VITA which was created by myself, with slorr and FlyNDance being the only 2 nicks inside, for 10 minutes.

although she wont be able to fly and dance in real life anymore, but I still wish that she could continue to do so in the virtual world.

Even Tye has given up on me…

"she's gone…. why are you still doing this?.. for what?!!…"

Yet, even if thats the case, I can't allow her soul to be left at the corner of loneliness. 'cos she said…. she hate the feeling of being alone…

I still remember there was a heavy downpour on that day…. When I reached SGH… they told me… A coffeee butterfly flew away from her room at around 1am last night…. after that… I can't remember…

I just knew that I stood at the bus-stop for a whole day… and I was all wet because of the rain.. even my face..

I've been trying hard not to think of her over theses 2 mths.. I've been hoping that her face wont appear in my mind every moment that I breathe, but it's like hoping that…. the sky isn't blue; the grass isn't green; the stars do not twinkle at night…

Basically, I was hoping for something impossible to happen… I can't believe that I am of Type 2, even in real life..

Did I cry?.. NO WAY!..

I said it before, I am not a romantic person, and this may be due to the deficiency in the hormones that constitutes emotions… whenever I had the feeling of pH7, i'll browse through those FWDS:jokes… attention will then be shifted by those dim-wit, low-class jokes…

so now everything is back to the way it was before I met her 9 mths ago…

Tye is still flirting around, and I am still the old decent=dull me. But I've stopped taking coffee and beer.

"xing ah… is this for you?…."

My mum handed me a letter she picked up in the mail box this morning.

I was surprised when I saw 'To:slorr…' written on the envelope.

That's for me I guess. I opened it up, there was a piece of writing inside, and another coffee envelope.

Slorr,

I am FlyNDance's sister, I think this is how you are addressing her. I am sorry that I do not know your real name, although we'd met before.

When I was packing her stuffs a few Days ago, I found this letter with your name and address already written on it.

So I posted it to you, because I believe this is what my sister intended to do.

Best wishes,
Xiao wen

The letter was sent 3 days ago, and there was another:

'To:slorr…'

Followed by my home address written on the coffee envelope. But this handwriting was a lot nicer and the words seemed to be moving swithly…like in a joyful dance.

I have no time to figure out how she has gotten my home address. Did I give her in one of my mails?

I tried to control my trembling hands, slowly, I opened up the envelope. I found a photo, and a half of a movie ticket inside.

Apart from these, there was a blue letter… with the familiar DOLCE VITA smell on it. The photo Showed her, standing on a piece of grassland, wearing the same coffee theme attire on our first meeting at Mcdonalds.

Something was written at the back of it….

Dear slorr,

Coffee represents Pisces.. thats me. Blue represents sagitarius.. thats you. A blue letter inside a coffeee envelope…. know what I mean?… :)

seeing me… do you feel like drinking coffee now?.. stop drooling!… :P

FlyNDance

I smiled…. bitterly.. and the contents of the blue letter is simple:

If I have one more day to live, I want to be your girlfriend. Do I have one more day? No. Too bad. I can't be your girlfriend… not in this life.

If I have wings, I want to fly down from the paradise just to see you. Do I have wings? No. Sadly. I can never see you again.

If all the water are drawn out of the bath-tub, but it still can't put off the flame of love btw us. Can all the water in a bath-tub be drawn off? Can.

So yes. I LOVE YOU.

FlyNDance

My chest was torn apart… tears broke through the dam I constructed a long time go in a jiffy…

As proud, as emotionless as I was, I can't pull back the salty wet thats on the whole of my face anymore….

She has changed my 'little theory'… and gotten Back what i'd owed her… tears for 2 months….
-=~@~=-

Titanic has won 11 awards in the Oscar.. including best picture.

Yet, Rose wasn't the best actress under that category. So if it's sad in a movie, it may not be so fortunate too in real life. and.. in reality… should Jack hold on to Rose.. and 'Never let go?'…..

Maybe he shouldnt be worried about this… 'cos that beautiful coffee butterfly will continue to fly and dance in his heart.. forever…

~THE END~

utter stupidity not shown and/or endorsed

2009-05-19T00:02:00.002+08:00

life's simple pleasures

2009-05-17T18:51:00.003+08:00

simple pleasures in life #1: enjoying ice-cold water, listening to slow soft rock from 987fm, while driving home from a particularly siong but fun session of RT.

i blasted out an sms abt this to some ppl, and the common reply was 'siao arh.. so random'

but i really have to wonder. sometimes we try and slog and strive so hard to attain that next level, next award, next whatever, thinking that when we get there we'll be that much happier, that much more satisfied.

how often is that true?

a lot of times we blindly slog and work our backsides off to reach that point, only to realise it's not the end! there's something further down we have to achieve!

i'm not saying we just chuck it all up though. we're told to do all things as if unto the Lord.. to bring glory and honor to His name. and it makes perfect sense to do so. but don't get caught up looking at YOUR preconception of what the end point should be, that the journey becomes ugly and dull and just plain torturous.

take a lil breather, smell the flowers. appreciate the journey. or in my case, listen to music and enjoy a leisurely ride, even if it's just 5 mins long (:

i can conquer the world with one hand...

as long as you're holding the other

too fast....?!?!?!

2009-05-15T23:11:00.000+08:00

clever duck... quack!

leadership and management

2009-05-05T09:31:00.001+08:00

half an hour before my paper and i see something that made me laugh like mad..

You-Know-What, otherwise known as The-Thing-That-Must-Not-Be-Named

2009-04-28T17:23:00.001+08:00

EDIT: after much thought, i decided to remove this post after all. i still want to mark my bitterness at the point when i wrote it, but that was then. this is now. i've surrendered my bitterness to God and i'm reassured that He holds my future.

and i know Who holds my hand

grats

2009-04-21T23:03:00.001+08:00

grats norman :D

that's my King! do you know Him?

2009-04-10T18:28:00.002+08:00

This is a short version of a stunning 6min30s recital of all the qualities and attributes and names of the mighty Jesus. He's my King! do you know him?

=========================================

The Bible says my King is the King of the Jews
He’s the King of Israel
He’s the King of righteousness
He’s the King of the ages
He’s the King of heaven
He’s the King of glory
He’s the King of kings
And He’s the Lord of lords
That’s my King!
I wonder, do you know Him?

My King is a sovereign King
No means of measure can define His limitless love
He’s enduringly strong
He’s entirely sincere
He’s eternally steadfast
He’s immortally graceful
He’s imperially powerful
He’s impartially merciful
Do you know Him?

He’s the greatest phenomenon that has ever crossed the horizon of this world
He’s God’s Son
He’s the sinner’s Saviour
He’s the centrepiece of civilization
He’s unparalleled
He’s unprecedented
He is the loftiest idea in literature
He’s the highest personality in philosophy
He’s the fundamental doctrine of true theology
He’s the only one qualified to be an all-sufficient Saviour
I wonder if you know Him today?

He supplies strength to the weak
He’s available for the tempted and the tried
He sympathizes and He saves
He strengthens and sustains
He guards and He guides
He heals the sick
He cleansed the lepers
He forgives sinners
He discharges debtors
He delivers the captive
He defends the feeble
He blesses the young
He serves the unfortunate
He regards the aged
He rewards the diligent
He beautifies the meek
I wonder if you know Him?

He’s the key to knowledge
He’s the wellspring of wisdom
He’s the doorway of deliverance
He’s the pathway of peace
He’s the roadway of righteousness
He’s the highway of holiness
He’s the gateway of glory
Do you know Him?

His life is matchless
His goodness is limitless
His mercy is everlasting
His love never changes
His Word is enough
His grace is sufficient
His reign is righteous
His yoke is easy
His burden is light
I wish I could describe Him to you- He’s indescribable!

He’s incomprehensible
He’s invincible
He’s irresistible
You can’t get Him out of your mind
You can’t get Him off of your hand
You can’t outlive Him
And you can’t live without Him

The Pharisees couldn’t stand Him
But they found out they couldn’t stop Him
Pilate couldn’t find any fault in Him
Herod couldn’t kill Him
Death couldn’t handle Him
And the grave couldn’t hold Him!
That’s my King!

==================================

friends, words alone cannot describe my King. even as Christians commemorate Good Friday, we rejoice because we know a King who died for our sins and has risen again!

do you know Him? have you gotten to know this God-King who gave His very life for EVERYONE of you? His limitless love covers ALL our transgressions- don't miss out on this chance to know Him! He's wooing each one of us, to bring us into His fold. don't put it off anymore!

do you know where you'll go today, if you were to die this instant? life is uncertain. we don't know when our lives may come to an end. if you're not sure you'll go to heaven, if you're don't know the one true Saviour, then make the decision today!

don't be mistaken, friends, the Bible says that the wages of sin is death. eternal death. not oblivious passing away, but an eternity in hellfire and suffering. to be honest, with all our sins and transgressions, that's probably what we deserve. but God loved us so much that He sent His only Son to die for us, that we may have eternal life! only accept Him as your Saviour, and believe in Him and confess your sins, and He will cleanse us of all unrighteousness!

get to know Him today! come and get to know my King!

disciple sense..

2009-04-04T23:26:00.001+08:00

sense and sensibility..

simple!

2009-04-01T18:01:00.000+08:00

nothing else to say. hahahahaha.

tiffany being polite!!!

2009-03-26T22:42:00.001+08:00

oh my my.. so polite! not like the girl who SHUSHED gary.. muahahahahahhaa

jlta 2009, ajtc

2009-03-22T22:39:00.004+08:00

jlta 2009. what an experience. from the extreme low of finding out i'm not going for NTC, to an awesome high of seeing God move and touch lives over and over and over again.. words cannot do Him justice. neither can pics. i will endeavour to get hold of pics and post soon.

just some experiences from the camp..

*********
"wake up.. something's happened to M"

with that, i was jolted awake from my nap. a mad dash to the HQ, where we learnt that M had cut his hand quite badly with a knife. bandaged, but definitely beyond the skills of the 1st aid team.

snap decision made, i was to accompany him to the clinic. cmdr gary from fcbc drove us. along the way, i shared with M how i cut MY hand all those years ago. with an axe, no less. not sure if it helped him to relax, but it was heartbreaking to see him tremble as the cleaning and stitches took place.

uncle chong jokingly said i was the best person to accompany him. it made me think back, how all the commanders through the years have accompanied me, the countless times i 'cut' myself.

it's time to pass it on.

*********************

99 pieces of fruit...
this is the song that doesn't end...

the songs that ring in my head days after the orienteering has ended. it's an incredible feeling when u help push the kids to succeed. tiring though the walk was, it was awesome seeing them work together and push on, despite the fatigue and threat of rain.

the joyous singing at the end of camp was so uplifting, it was enough to make even tired commanders smile. how often do we seek to share in the kids' joy? miss out too often and they might not seek to include us any more. it's truly a blessing to see them smile and trust u. i never wanna lose that trust.

*********************

"T, u're a special kid and God loves u. dun let anyone convince u otherwise"
(one day later)
"eh de.. i shared with T about how special she is.."
"really? exact same thing i told her!"

God moves mysteriously. when i shared with T, i wasn't fully convinced it was God prompting me. the only reason i shared was cos the words given was different from what i prayed for the rest. when norman said he shared the same thing with her, my heart sang for joy.

God speaks. are we listening?

**********************

so many many more in the 4 days of jlta.

God is so awesome. He held the rain and gave it only when it was needed.
God is so good. He moved so strongly in the services, i believe lives were touched.
God is so faithful. some injuries occured, though none in ajtc. He protected lives.
God is so wonderful. He built friendships and blessed the commanders just as much as trainees

need i go on?

kids of ajtc 2009

gabriel tan
kaymond lim
takuya chiam
koh yong en
cheryl lim
glenda boey
crystal seah
shawn lee
timothy chua
gideon goh
jeremy low
davina pang
claudia loh
tifanny poh

u kids are AWESOME. it was a blessing to work with ya, and i believe God has a great plan and purpose for ur generation. trust and grow ur faith and rely on Him; dun return to where u were before the camp, cos u're capable of so much more. i will do my best to keep in touch with u kids, and i look forward to ur growth in the Lord, in church, in rangers and in ur families.

smile!

will post photos when i get them.

bitter

2009-03-15T17:56:00.003+08:00

i downloaded the exam schedule this morning, and look what it turned out like..

investment falls on the 2nd day of NTC.

there goes my NTC chance for 2009.

i got so bitter when i found out about it, it fairly left a tangible taste in my mouth. i remember
thinking "as if things haven't been bad enough, i have to miss NTC too? the one camp i've been waiting for since J2, since 2004, for 5 years? do i have to go through yet another year explaining to people that i can't do certain stuff cos i'm not NTC trained? do i have to get THAT look from people again?"

it was bad enough to affect my worship, and at that point God all but gave me the almighty tight slap!

who was i to question why God chose to do it that way? who was i to think that i knew better? i can be disappointed, yes, but if it actually affects my worship, am i in danger of putting it before God's importance?

i was so shocked and humbled, it really brought me so low that i had to repent.

so yes, i'm not going for NTC this year. i have a paper that falls on the 2nd day. i'll do my best to attend the next one.

it still hurts.

edina

2009-03-12T22:28:00.002+08:00

edina choo ai fen, i love you. a lot. i can explain why, but my fingers'd rot by the time i finish typing. just know i love you, dearest cousin of mine.

JA 2009

2009-03-11T18:01:00.004+08:00

this post might be a little late, but i was just clearing my smses and this particular one from cmdr wen kang really made me wanna blog abt it.

junior academy 2009 was a new experience for me. from the beginning when jonathan took on the task to plan for and execute it, it felt like stepping into foreign territory, trying to conquer obstacles that we didn't even know.

trying to distill an entire JLTA's worth of training into 2 hours was no mean feat. we really had to pray for God's guidance as we decided which topics should be focused on. in the end we did, and then came the matter of how the lessons should be approached and presented.

i have to admit i wasn't ready at any point to stand up in front of a group of young adults/adult leaders to teach them on stuff i think they already know. not having ntc is something that's hung over my head for years, and though we may joke about it, it's actually something that i really regret and that has hindered me from taking that step forward. this JA was a step in overcoming that, although i still wanna go for ntc.

throughout the whole process, it was truly a blessing to have input and support from all the mature commanders, to the point where they actually sat in during the JA, though they obviously did not have to. the whole thing wasn't perfect- far from it! but by God's grace, i hope we've set something in motion for future JAs.

it's also wonderful to see our dynamics at work through this event as well. in giving in and stepping forth as and when required, it was heartwarming to know that our bonds have grown in spite of our serving in different capacities in the ministry. a particular moment that stood out in memory was on the morning of the JA itself, when the 3 of them took the effort to wake early to meet and rehearse in Church, because i had a test in the late morning. i really thank God for wonderful brothers and buddies like these!

oh, and there is this thing that i really really love about rangers- u're appreciated for what u do, and any mistakes are corrected in love. having gone thru 2 decades of life has enabled me to appreciate that little fact. wen kang's msg and uncle chong's dinner was a clear statement of appreciation and love. (:

smile, all!

execute clothes..

2009-03-05T23:41:00.002+08:00

to inaugurate a new category, here's another normanwong msn convo..

bimbo!

2009-02-28T23:48:00.000+08:00

bimbotic to the max

God is good

2009-02-23T00:08:00.001+08:00

xide's in a very good mood. it's the small small things. God is good! update soon. (:

(:

(:

25/16

2009-02-01T21:30:00.000+08:00

ok this was done in facebook.. but some ppl dun read my facebook notes.. so here it is in blogger..

okay i got tagged a while back but i was too busy (actually too lazy) to continue with it til today. here goes..

Rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you.

Rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 16 random things, facts, habits or goals about you. At the end choose 16 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, its because I want to know more about you!

1. i'm a born-again Christian

2. apparently i have 2 names.. family and church friends call me xide, schoolmates call me hee teck.

3. i love reading.

4. i play maplesea (yes, you read correctly)

5. without my specs i'm as blind as a bat.. over 1k each side.. not sure of the exact degree. heh.

6. i'm afraid of roaches. not deathly afraid, but afraid enough.

7. i listen to the radio quite often. 987fm ftw.

8. i love to play with babies. favourite kids include ning, sherise, the 3 low kids.. trouble is, they're all growing up too fast ):

9. oh! i have (slowly counts) er.. (gives up) more than 10 wonderful cousins whom i'm close to, and (also gives up) almost the same number of them are on facebook.. i'll tag them later..

10. ok.. i love my cousins. haha.

11. i was an ACSian. in some ways i still consider myself one.

12. i'm right-handed.

13. in spite of 12, i choose to wear my watch on my right hand. feels weird if i wear it on my left hand.

14. i'm studying in SIM, doing business management.

15. i never wear long pants/jeans if i can get away with it. my standard sch attire is t-shirt, berms and slippers.

16. i have this habit of holding on to my wallet and phone instead of putting them in my pocket/bag/whatever.

===== 16 done.. 9 more to 25 =====

17. when i shower, i soap from bottom up.

18. i'm an only child.

19. because of (9), (18) doesn't make me feel lonely.

20. another reason why i'm not lonely in spite of (18) is cos of 3 buddies that i have.. the twins and jonathan. it's hard to put into words the bond that we share.

21. i was born in, brought up in, and currently serving in the Royal Rangers ministry.

22. i'm a member of Bethel Assembly of God.

23. i can't run for nuts. no stamina. no discipline. heh.

24. other than running, i can do everything else.. i used to pull 12 and jump 250..

25. (23) and (24) used to drive my JC PE teacher mad, drive my 2SG2 classmates mad, drive my Whiskey BMT instructors mad, drive my OETI instructors mad, drive my 2GSMC sergeants, staff sergeants, warrant officers, officers etc mad... u get the idea.

CNY 2009

2009-01-31T11:39:00.008+08:00

i jus realised i din post for Christmas and for the New Year.. so the least i could do is to post for LNY. let the pics do the talking..

NEW YEAR'S EVE

void deck of kk and stef's place.. i like this shot a lot!

down-up view of the flat..

beautiful (and empty) flat!

monopoly at sally-jie's place..

sherise running amok.. heh.

then over to my place.. to celebrate mum's birthday!

the.. erm.. visitation before the visitation?

DAY ONE

sherise and her cheeky smile!

the two brothers-in-law.. partners-in-crime?

a group cousins shot..

and a fun shot!

the beautiful ladies of the family (((:

and the ladies again.. they never get tired of taking photos.. (:

look at all the ang baos!!!!

all the handsome guys. haha. i'm in there too :P

sherise eating buffet.. walking around and eating from everybody's plates.. hahaha..

DAY ONE NIGHT- MOVIE AT TAMPINES

3 sisters and the niece..

the girls!

ning and myself.. after a dizzying spin o.o

classic shot.. (:

i dun need to say much. my family rocks. (:

i made a mistake

2009-01-20T12:48:00.004+08:00

Lord, i'm sorry. i should have listened to Your voice. i need to learn to trust Your timing. i'm sorry.

My Creed

2009-01-15T13:30:00.002+08:00

To learn how to live for today. To understand that I should accept the things beyond my control, and not take everything so seriously. To hold on to courage and hope, and not let doubt discourage me from doing anything I aspire to do.

To remember that the world needs the sunshine of as many smiles as it can get --- and to do my part.

To build bridges instead of walls. To see the best in others; to acknowledge their inner beauty with my outer appreciation.

To remember that without friends and loved ones, my world would be nothing; to be thankful that with them, it is everything. To realize that there is an entire lifetime ahead of me, but precious little time to be wasted.

To work for my goals, and know that they can be achievedl and to reach for dreams with ability, determination and belief.

And finally to know, in the end, that life will be good to me if I can do my best to be good to life.

- Laine Parsons

it's a new year..

2009-01-04T22:02:00.002+08:00

God is good. i'm entering into this new year relying on His grace. i believe that it will be good because of His great love. i will give of my best, and rely on Him for the rest. i will pray for my DR kids. i will take more time to build quality relationships with my peers and loved ones. i will seek His face everyday.

amen.

billboard..

2008-12-28T18:40:00.003+08:00

just saw this pic.. nearly fell outta my chair laughing.. hell TRULY hath no fury like a woman scorned..

ladies, choose wisely cos u deserve nothing but the very best..

somehow..

2008-12-26T11:42:00.003+08:00

somehow, in my heart of hearts, i still believe in the loving Almighty. for reasons i can't quite explain, my heart wouldn't let me believe otherwise. but other than that..

take time to love, and be loved; it is God's greatest gift

2008-12-21T23:20:00.004+08:00

Derrick Lim & Sandra Teo, 20/12/2008

the wedding yesterday was simply beautiful. a friendship of 15 years that culminated in a wedding of 2 hearts, 2 lives.. this really jus shows how God can work in our lives, and make it more meaningful and beautiful through bringing people who love us, for us to love, into our lives.

i had the honor of being a "Brother" for the day.. although Derrick's friends really made me rethink what role that really is.. helping or otherwise? hmm. haha. the church wedding was lovely, in spite of all the hectic-ness. the dinner, though my 3rd one at Novotel this year, was the icing that topped the cake.

when i walked out and shook Derrick's hand at the end, he hugged me tightly and whispered to tell me to approach him anytime i need help. i nearly teared on the spot.

where else can u find friends who remember u, ur hurts and ur plight, at the height of their happiness? in God's family, of cos! worldly friends may only remember u when they need help, when they're desperate.. not God's children! we have an Almighty Who constantly looks out and cares for us, and causes friends to remind us of His love.

thank you, Derrick. truly.. take time to love, and be loved. you are one of God's gifts that i treasure a lot.

i'm running on low.. dangerously close to empty.

stroke

2008-12-11T22:43:00.003+08:00

ok. just a quick update. my dad suffered a mild stroke couple of weeks back.

it was a right-brain stroke, and the blood vessel burst (cant be bothered to check spelling now), so basically the left side of his body is immobile now. there's sensory feeling, but no motor movement whatsoever.

he's now warded in amk hospital, undergoing physiotherapy etc. there's been no significant improvement, but the nurses and physiotherapist told me that it might take a while.

please uphold my dad in prayer, that God will extend His healing touch and heal my dad, and also for his salvation, that he will come to know and accept the Lord as His Savior in these times.

please also pray for my mum, that during this time she will not fall sick or despair, and that God will grant her strength.

i've been trying my best to support my parents, and not to add to their burdens. praise God for the results that were released last week; i cleared everything. at least one big worry is out of the way.

been shuttling to and from the hospital these 2 weeks, clearing up the house so that the dad will haf easier movements when he finally gets back, and spending time with him when i can.

it's so difficult. please pray. thanks.

changes

2008-11-27T13:57:00.001+08:00

changes. a lot of them. and i don't think it's gonna return to normal. ok. scratch that. i KNOW it's not going back to what it was before.

Lord, i need Your grace and strength. i have to be strong for my parents. i have to be mature to make the right decisions from now on because i can't screw up anymore. i have to be sensible and responsible for my DR kids. i have to be accountable to my family and friends. i have to be strong.

Lord, if it's not too much to ask for, will You take my hand and guide me through this?

dear readers, please keep my dad's health in prayer. thanks.

old friends

2008-11-23T22:14:00.002+08:00

this is an incredibly incredible photo.. not because it's filled by handsome guys and pretty girl, but because of the ppl inside. from left: lebbeus, daniel, jeremy, joshua, myself, lebbilie.

these 5 people form one of the earliest memories in my life; our parents all attend the same cell group, and back then they had a children's cell running simultaneously with the adult cell, so we got to know each other and grew up with each other, after a fashion.

i'll be the first to admit i have never made the effort to keep in touch and maintain the friendship with the rest of them. over the years, we slowly drifted apart. in the end, however, these few (with others like lemuel, joanne, etc who are not present) hold title to "My Oldest Friends", if not "My Closest Friends".

to all the yishun cell (whether children's cell or youth cell) ppl, i am glad and honored to call each of you "friend", and i pray we continue to remain so all our lives.

(:

promises..

2008-11-05T17:04:00.003+08:00

hopefully everyone can see the photo.. i was on the train to school this morning for my paper. trying desperately to cram and honestly felt a little hopeless when i saw this appear across my paper.. then i felt God's reassurance telling me that He's promised to never leave me nor forsake me. the rainbow is God's promise to mankind.. and to see it appear so suddenly reminds me that God never forgets His promises to us. have a great week ahead ppl!

council..

2008-11-03T09:20:00.003+08:00

the leaders' council last night was quite honestly a new start for me in my spiritual life. i've been struggling for years in the area of personal devotion and daily quiet time with God. somehow, along the way, i've subconsciously came to a point where i felt i already God's Word well enough, and that a cursory personal quiet time was good enough to keep me going.

how wrong i was.

Dr John Kirkpatrick shared last night on the importance for leaders to don the armor of God daily to sustain and protect us from the works of the enemy as we seek to serve God. when he touched on the Word, something he said struck me at that point- we can only give what we have. it sounds cliched, i know, but in the midst of so many other leaders, some that i really look up to, and some whom i have worked with over the years, and brothers who have grown with me and imparted so deeply into my life, amidst all of them, those words struck me as they never have done so before.

it is so important to be solidly grounded in God's Word when we work with the kids that God has placed into our care!!!

friends, i don't know if i can impress the importance of this into your lives, especially if you are a leader and God has placed lives into your care.

He spoke directly and specifically to me at that moment, that the leadership role He has given me is a tool to reach teach and keep lives for Him. and to bring it deeper, i have specific spiritual authority and covering over the kids, over ethan, amelia, kerryn, nicole, jediel, zhengjie, zeke, weiling, natalie and so many many many more of them! and i must MUST be grounded in His Word in order to impart the right values and teachings, and more, what He wants to say, into these young lives. to do any less would definitely be wrong!

God also reassured me that He has a plan for me; that my birth was not an accident, and that things that have happened happened for His reasons and purposes. what that may be, i know not right now, but i don't want it to be because i have not diligently studied His Word.

Lord Jesus, i recommit my life again to You and i pray that as i begin to study Your Word daily, i want to get to know You more dear Lord. i pray that You will reveal Yourself daily to me, and that i will come to hear and know Your voice, to know Your plans and purposes for me. i pray that i will learn Your truths, to pass them on to the precious, dear lives that You have placed in my care. help me to have the discipline to study Your Word daily, and more, to come to LOVE to study Your Word and not treat it as a chore. in Your Name i pray, amen!

st norman

2008-11-03T00:41:00.001+08:00

st norman strikes again..

colorgenics..

2008-10-30T11:43:00.001+08:00

Name: Chan Hee Teck
Date: 10/29/2008
Colorgenics Number: 01734265

At this time you are really feeling quite exhausted by all the conflict and quarrelling that is going on about you and you are looking for some sort of protection from this state of affairs. Ideally you are seeking a peaceful condition and a tranquil environment in which you can be afforded the chance to relax and recover.

Which ever way you turn you feel that you are being utterly thwarted. There is considerable conflict in the air but you will stick to your beliefs and not be deterred in endeavouring to attain your objectives.

At times one is burdened with more than one's fair share of problems and this would appear to be your situation at present. But you are adamant - you know what you wish to achieve - and by giving a little and taking a little you may well find that the realization of your dreams could become a reality.

For whatever the reason, you find it extremely difficult to sustain relationships - that is to sustain them in the manner that you would wish. You are a very gentle sort of person, full of feeling, sensitivity and susceptible to love and affection, looking and longing for a partner with whom you can enjoy 'All things bright and beautiful' - someone with whom you can seek out the more esoteric things of life. But up to now this person has only existed in your imagination. You are very choosy, appreciative, refined and extremely artistic in temperament and it is your hope to seek others who will allow you to form and express your own taste and judgement and who at the same time may assist you in your intellectual or artistic growth.

In the past your trusting attitude has often been misunderstood and so you have needed to protect yourself against your tendency to be abused and taken advantage of. As a consequence you possibly adopt an aloof and critical attitude and you are only willing to let your guard down once sincerity and trustworthiness can be assured.

-------------------------

took this test from goldinuniverse.com.. some pretty relevant points.. but nothing i don't already know. interesting though. haha.

personality tests may be able to help you discover more about yourselves, but dear readers.. please remember that it does not dictate our personality, because God is not done with us and He's got greater things in store for us.

interim update

2008-10-29T23:10:00.001+08:00

exams going on.. going well, actually, praise the Lord. that's why i've been kinda missing from my blog lately.

so i've been thinking it's time to beautify my corner a bit.. thinking of adding a pic as my banner on top, and some backgrounds.. haha.. stay tuned!

family

2008-10-22T21:13:00.002+08:00

gmail conveniently groups emails with the same subjects together. ladies and gentlemen, introducing the tech-savvy, geographically dispersed family, with members scattered across the world, in countries like hongkong, shanghai, norway, and at one point, italy. (: (: (: (: (: (: (: (: (: (: (: (: (: (: (: (: (: (: (: (: (: (: (: (: (: (:

disappointment..?

2008-10-21T19:13:00.002+08:00

i really don't know how to put what i'm feeling into words.

ok. let's try this.

"GOD gives, GOD takes. GOD's name be ever blessed" (Job 1:21, The Message version)

have you ever been disappointed because things didn't turn out the way you want it to? or you don't get what you want?

it can be as simple as a heavy rain, causing all your plans for the day to be scrapped. it can be something serious- imagine flunking all your exams (touch wood!). it can even be a sticky and tricky situation- you don't get the answer that you want, to a question that you asked.

disappointment can come in all forms, big and small. as Christians, how are we to react to disappointment? Job's famous quote came to mind as i pondered on this question. God gives, God takes. God's name be ever blessed. sounds simple, doesn't it? well, it's not.

i believe we are all quite familiar with Job's story- this is a man who's lost practically everything he's ever had and owned. belongings, family, health- you name it, he's lost it! in a short span of 7 verses (Job 1: 13-19, go count them!) he's lost all his possessions and his children. to make matters worse, Satan inflicted him with sores all over his body (Job 2:7)

through it all, Job did not ever blame or curse God's name. i personally feel this is a great accomplishment on his part. what was it about Job's faith that prevented him from sinning?

firstly, Job did not focus on his circumstances. when we set our hearts on our circumstances, we're bound to be disappointed. why? the answer is simple: because circumstances change! in a world of change, if we put our hope in our circumstances, one day we're sure to be let down. clearly, our trust has to be in the Lord. Psalms 20:7 clearly states "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God". we have to learn to set our hearts on God, and trust Him in all situations.

secondly, Job gave thanks. it might sound like a simple thing, but i believe it was an exceedingly difficult thing to do at that time. the apostle Paul wasn't kidding when he exhorted us to "give thanks in all circumstances"! (1st Thess 5:18) there may be time when we feel we don't have much to give thanks for. certainly Job didn't have much to give thanks for- but he still praised God his Creator and Giver. we have to learn to thank God. don't forget what He's done just cause circumstances now may be bleak.

thirdly, Job vented his disappointment to God. the whole of Job chapter 3 was in fact Job's lamentation. disappointment, if not dealt with, has serious implications for our faith. in time, disappointment will lead to discouragement, and even to despair and defeat. we're not created to bottle up our feelings and emotions inside us. neither are we meant to rant and rage all we want- imagine the friends that you'd lose! God is willing, and in fact wants us to confide in Him when we're disappointed. King David went through periods of disappointment in his life, and he beautifully put what he felt into words in many of his Psalms. remember, turn your eyes upon Jesus and look full in His wonderful face.

moving on, moments of disappointment can be powerful learning points in our lives. instead of trapping ourselves in despair and discouragement, as Christians we have a loving and almighty Father who has a great plan and purpose for our lives. these periods of disappointment are simply His way of telling us that this is not the path He has in mind for us, or that this is not His timing. instead of asking God "why?", let's take the time to ask God "what do You have in store for me?" instead.

(:

taking God for granted?

2008-10-14T21:12:00.005+08:00

God is good. on the onset of this post i have to make this fact very clear. the Lord is good, all the time.

i received my Organisational Theory results and feedback yesterday. this was one test that i absolutely dreaded getting back, for a number of reasons.

i) i wasn't able to get hold of a copy of the textbook before the test, so i relied solely on lecture notes to study for the test.
ii) the test was slotted in between another test and 2 major projects, so i didn't have a lot of time to study.
iii) because i studied in a rush, i left out one section in my revision that turned out to be A WHOLE QUESTION. i took one look at the question and wrote "i don't know how to answer this question" (I'M SERIOUS)

but in spite of all this, i got a Credit for the test.. in the wake of the miracle of HD for my finance test, Credit is low, but still, God is really good.

i shared this with edina, when she said something that made me stop and think, in the midst of my joy at clearing the test- don't take God for granted.

romans 6 came to mind. in short, the passage outlined the fact that although grace triumphs over the law, we have to do what leads to holiness because the "gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus"

now, although the passage talks about living a life of holiness under grace instead of as slaves under the law, the underlying principle is still the same. the Almighty has absolutely no obligation to allow me to clear the test, and in the light of the preparation (or lack thereof) that i put in, He has every right to flunk me and let me get in trouble. but in His sovereign Love, He chose to let me come under a lenient marker (i think) and in fact find favor with my lecturer.

it should follow, therefore, that because i'm living under His grace, i have to do everything within my power to ensure that i do what leads to excellence, in order to not just allow Him to take it and turn it into something better, but also so that what i do gives Him glory!

on my part i feel i haven't come to the point where i'm taking God for granted, but i don't want to unknowingly allow myself to ever come to that point. to me, this doesn't mean that i live in constant fear that God will finally get sick of me and give me one tight slap, but rather, it means that i have to constantly be thankful for what He's done, and in return make sure i try not to let Him down.

my utmost for His highest.

grins

2008-10-06T11:52:00.000+08:00

very very BIG grin. praise the Lord! trusting in His faithfulness as the exams edge nearer.

relieved..

2008-09-26T19:05:00.000+08:00

one very very VERY BIG burden off my shoulders. onwards to exams! (24th Oct)

patek...

2008-09-25T09:14:00.002+08:00

patek philip.. patek philippe's younger brother? (:

b-frame......?!?!?!?!

2008-09-19T07:47:00.005+08:00

i should have seen that coming...

HEY GORGEOUS

2008-09-16T21:20:00.001+08:00

and she was so happy when i told her she wins.. sheesh (:

Discovery Training Camp

2008-09-08T23:23:00.004+08:00

(photos are in absolutely no order at all. blogger messed up the order during uploading -_-)

DTC. brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. i was camp coordinator this round. frankly speaking, i'm STILL not sure exactly what that entailed, but i went along with it anyway.

my basic duties included making sure the lessons run smoothly, checking if instructors needed anything (they NEVER ask me for ANYthing), making sure program run smoothly (like checking if food is ready before sending kids to the canteen.. and of cos the food's always ready.. cmdr sandy is DA BOMBZS), yada yada yada..

there were several major major major hiccups.. put them here since i figure DRs dun read blogs. HAHAHAHA.

service and programme patrol.. basically totally forgotten about. haha. service patrol was to have gotten the flags up and down.. programme patrol supposed to notify camp abt next lesson/programme etc etc. yours truly here simply skittled right over those two things. i only let the service patrol bring the flag up on the 2nd day. programme patrol.. WHAT programme patrol? heh. really a learning point to take note of for next camp.

the first morning was also one big mess.. the rain put a damper on everything.. and i was a little slow on the uptake as well.. getting the kids to register and moving their stuff etc etc etc.

did i mention the patrol advisors' bbq? i wanted it to be an appreciation for the advisors.. but i din exactly keep it in focus.. became more of a gathering. thank God for qing.. he reminded me in time to keep them all to help clear up. if he and sheng and me ended up cleaning.. i would've felt worse than i already do.. cos..

sheng and myself and commander eng kiat (yes the NATIONAL COMMANDER) and commander sandy were the only ones to clear up the store.. with a little help from norman and gui hong. i forgot to ask the rest to stay >.<

through all this i was kept thankful. the weather, though bad at the beginning, turned bright and sunny for all the activities later on. the kids enjoyed themselves (i hope!) and it warmed my heart to see the advisors give so much from their hearts and bond with the kids.

i'm also thankful to God for great buddies.. qing and jon came down in the morning to help support me. they gave me moral support when i needed it the most, when i needed to exert more authority and give things a push. sheng and qing came during council fire.. and left at 2.30, after cooking and cleaning up for us (THANKS BROS!) and sheng came down again next day to help me clear up. someone once said friends are the family that you get to choose for yourself. i couldn't ask for greater brothers than these.

i also thank God for the opportunity to serve withe patrol advisors and young leaders. norman and jamin, in particular, really touched my heart this camp. norman for his lame jokes (actually jamin too) and his tenacity in making the wolves a GREAT patrol and jamin for being jamin. lame but super creative and funny, and never ever losing his temper at the kids. in fact.. not one single commander lost their temper this camp!

ok.. enuf talk i guess.. photos! with my lousy handphone.. so.. sorry if it aint clear. heh. shall post more when i get jamin's album links.. and cmdr san ho and daniel's photos..

big blurry mess.. it was a patrol corner, kids doing up their bolo ties and patrol standards..

the tigers drawing up their standard. the tigers were absolutely the best patrol i saw this camp. super motivated and they took initiative for their own songs, yells, etc etc.

the elephants! from outpost 1! and 2o! MY KIDDOS, in other words. cute, aint it? haha. they presented me a bolo tie at the end, but i pushed it to their advisors. regretting it now ):

rachel, natalie and janessa from elephant patrol (janessa was an assistant advisor, not a kid. haha) natalie has the coolest hair ever la..

andrina and dilys.. from elephant patrol again. andrina was their advisor, and dilys the assistant, to lend her advice and support!

natalie (from the back) can u see her hair? it was done up in BALI >.<

dilys again.. and nicole hiding behind her paper

elisse and janessa.. elisse was the other assistant advisor attached to the elephants to gain some experience as a leader..

the supreme falcons' patrol standard!

soaring eagles drawing their standard..

erm... hmmm.. what patrol was this? shoots.. forgot.. practising their yell..

i believe this was the bear patrol.. >.<>

andrina and wei ling..

another patrol drawing their standard.. i believe this was the.. gator patrol?

norman and his limp wrist. hahahaha.. i have no idea what he was doing, actually.. commander mark on the left, and adriel in the background..

adriel chan inspecting the wolves' standard

not satisfied, he adds on!

the bobcats! clark had one handful (ok, only one tough kid) to handle this camp. he sure did a GREAT JOB! with isaiah!

alright.. that's about all i have.. super lots of photos. haha. looking forward to rangers this sat jus to see the kiddos again. time to hit the books again. cya all!

zzzm

2008-09-07T20:59:00.003+08:00

did we make a wrong move?

2008-09-03T11:29:00.002+08:00

did we make a wrong move?

so we got pissed with the other 2 members.. and yes, they didn't contribute as much as the rest of us. we could have simply accepted it and moved on.

did we make a wrong move?

as the project neared completion, we found that it was getting harder and harder to work with the slipshod work they produced. i personally had to rewrite the 300words intro, and redo the entire reference list. we got even more pissed.

did we make a wrong move?

we toyed with the idea of submitting a letter to mention this. we asked each other if we should do it. no one said no.

did we make a wrong move?

we signed and submitted the letter. hanita now replied she needs a statement from those two. have we basically lost two friends?

did we make a wrong move?

i lost the chance to make a stand for God. i could've played the peacemaker but i was too irritated. i ignored the small Voice that told me to reconsider and in fact, be forgiving.

did I make a wrong move?

i'm waiting to hear the consequences. i pray it won't be that bad.

study study study..

2008-09-03T10:08:00.007+08:00

study pics! (evidence that i've been studying. muahaha)

paris has its eiffel tower.. we have our.. erm.. book tower? wahaha. afternoon in national library (forgot the date) working on Employment Relations essay (for me) and History of Management Thought (friends) (note: the lady in orange is a stranger. lols)

comic shots below..

xue hou totally terrified of the books.. maybe scared they'll fall on him? lol..

yawen, are you trying to kiss the books?

and me.. absoluuuuuuutely loving the books.. NOT!

studying (duh!) @ study room in SIM..

jeremy and xuehou sharing earphones.. so sweeeet..

tj hard at work..

tj having fun. LOL. totally loving tasty biscuit!

xuehou paying his respects using.. pocky?!

and xuehou acting NERD.. obviously "THIS ROOM IS UNDER SURVEILLANCE" sign has ABSOLUTELY NO EFFECT on us. (:

studying time has been split up between changi airport, study room and national library. now that MOST of my projects have been submitted (only one more left) i think i can cancel NLB off the list. hopefully airport too (the food there is VERY expensive)

haven't been able to take any pics of the study sessions in airport.. so sorry.. but TCC at T3 is a pretty good place to study.. if you can afford $6 drinks.. >.<

alright! that's all for now.. shall post some random shots when i have time.. meanwhile i'm STILL contactable via msn and phone. haha.. ciao!

monopoly lessons

2008-08-30T00:00:00.004+08:00

another msn convo. when dearest cuz popped out that line abt hotels, an inexplicable feeling spread from my stomach, as if something warm dripped in and fuzzed all the way out. no matter the distance, no matter the time, no matter the difference, we're all still family. i love you, dearest cousin. (:

busy. busy. busy.

2008-08-23T23:10:00.001+08:00

i know, i know. super no updates. im busy. be patient. i hate neglecting this blog too.. sorry.. my sincerest apologies, all. meanwhile i'm still contactable via msn and hp. would appreciate msgs now and then. haha. (:

yummy!

2008-08-15T00:55:00.006+08:00

i. am. so. backlogged. hahahaha.. been madly busy with projects and tests.. rushed out one individual report last fri, rushing one individual essay for tmr (later today, actually) and studying for test on saturday. then after that have to juggle two group reports and study for another test. stress? u bet. but i'm loving it! learning to rely more and more on God's strength.

it's only when we're weak that His strength is made perfect in our lives. when we finally realise how helpless we are. of course, this shouldn't be the case.. we should turn to Him FIRST in everything! still a learning point for me, i guess..

quick entry here.. went out for late dinner-cum-supper with the mum and her colleague last.. tuesday, i believe it was. we visited this place called Ban Leong Wah Hoe Sea-Food Restaurant, at 122/124 Casuarina Road. thus far i've only visited casuarina for the prata, thus when the mum suggested trying out this looks-like-zi-char restaurant, i had my doubts.

i was pleasantly surprised!

first to arrive was the chrysanthemum tea. the service lady claimed that it was self-brewed and kept in the fridge to chill.. to me it sounded like "we used powdered ju-hua beverage and the add ice to it" so u can imagine my surprise when it tasted exactly like ur downstairs-medical-hall ju-hua-cha that had that extra oomph cos they really kept it in the fridge for goodness know how many hours! sweet but with that slight bitter tinge to prove it was really self-brewed. i kid u not, dear friends. try it out when u're there and make sure u ask for the cold chrysanthemum tea!

verdict: 9/10 (i haven't found 10/10)

next up was the sambal kangkong. i guess somehow in my mind this dish has grown to be the yardstick for any restaurant or zhi-char store i visit. any one stall that can get this perfect must be THE stall to eat at.. at least i think so.. in this respect, Wah Hoe is there.. but just a little not quite there.. the taste is superb.. not too spicy (so maybe degree10 hotness freaks may be disappointed) and not too salty either- often the downfall of sambal kangkong is that it is too salty. the greens are definitely fresh and they din give us too much stalk. based on this alone, it merits a 7.5. however, the slight letdown was that it was too oily. haha. i noe, this doesnt sound like something xide shld be picky over, but it just irked me that that little oversight meant that the dish couldn't rise above 7.5. nonetheless, one of the best sambal kangkong i've had for a while. (:

venison hotplate was next on the order list. i love meat. venison is so alike to beef that it's easy to mistake one for the other.. so here's my very noob take on it.. venison is more tender than beef.. and very much more fragrant.. Wah Hoe pulled off a 8/10 with this dish.. the hotplate boasted savoury gravy that made the venison taste that much nicer, and the meat was cooked just right, neither under- nor over-cooked. the onions and other garnishing lent a spicy taste to it as well. definitely a must try!

next up.. their specialty mian xian.. i noe what most of u are thinking.. what's so special abt mian xian right? haha.. this one is fried just right, for starters. it's not to dry, nor too oily.. loads of ingredients.. very very satisfying, really. and look at the gobules around the side, guess what is it??

ok.. blur pic.. it's quail egg!!! not jus quail egg.. it's fried quail egg.. what they did was boil the quail egg, then peel, then fry it.. so it's got this covering like fried fishball, but it's quail egg!! lots of effort put into mian xian, dun u think? no wonder it's so nice!!!

last but not least.. since we come to seafood restaurant.. here's seafood- craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaab!

apparently this is some indo crab.. not sri lankan.. i dunno what's special abt indo crab.. but heck. IT'S NICE!!!! chili, of cos.. with all the delish sauce around. the crab is F-R-E-S-H!!!!! lots of meat too.. i especially enjoyed sucking the meat out of the leg.. no pincer- leg! i was actually cracking the shell and sucking some wayward tiny piece of meat when the entire bit plopped right into my mouth.. super nice!!! of cos, with so much sauce, we had to order man tou too. and the man tou...

definitely oily.. can u see the shiny sheen of oil? but that makes it crispy too.. and FLUFFY! i had to take this pic.. again not clear cos it's a lousy 2megapixel HTC phone camera -_- BUT BUT BUT the man tou was really really really (times ten to the power of hundred) nice! hahaha.. im ranting.

all in all, this was definitely a worth-it trip that really satisfied my tummy. i'll dig up the receipt some time in the near future and update.. but i recall it was very very worth it.. considering we ordered venison and crab. go try it out some time soon yeah? i'm looking for excuse to go back there.. lols.

msnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsnmsn

2008-07-30T12:18:00.002+08:00

another classic normanwong msn conversation..

seriously.. i wonder what goes on in that mind of his.. hahahahahahahahahaha..

today, i marry my best friend...

2008-07-28T23:49:00.004+08:00

Today I marry my best friend;
The one I laugh with, live for,
and love

(:

nope. not me getting married. i haven't even found a girlfriend! it was kk and stef's wedding. i shall update with more details when i have time. but i felt it was worth it to book a spot here and notify everyone. haha. i shall hunt for photos first then update. (:

update, with photos koped from dilys' photobucket. haha.

the couple, walking in for the dinner..

a toast! look at all the kiddos on stage.. lols

cousins! during the dinner.. haha.. we've grown together through the years. hmmm. we seemed to have left out the wedding couple! hahaha

so far the pics i chose were from the wedding dinner.. dun have pics from the church wedding though. hahaha. but here's one superbly nice pic taken on friday night, after decorating the church for the wedding..

shall post more pics when i find and kope them. muahaha. esp the pro photographer's pics, and nana jie's pics of the cousins' laser quest outing (:

midnight experience..!

2008-07-24T16:15:00.003+08:00

the mum's been hinting since forever about a middle-of-the-night excursion.. so since i dun have lessons on wed and thurs, i figured it'd be better to get it over and done with..

so, on with my number 4 pants, and my trusty combat boots (super seasoned since BMT) and off we went at 12am..

three hours later, here's the result of our hard work!

green treasures.. haha..

the happy mum holding up a particularly fine specimen

yeap.. durians!!! THIRTY OF THEM!!! guess who had to carry most of them? haha. ok, granted some of them were downright tiny.. but THIRTY DURIANS!! drools.

oh, here's a pic of what I PERSONALLY picked..

yeap, dear friends. ONE pathetic durian. ahha. i have absolutely no skill whatsoever for spotting these green gems under all that foliage. i have an exceptional sense of direction, being able to find my way out once i set foot in that place, but i have to literally stumble over these fruits to see them. hahaha. oh, and of course i can handle a heavier load than the mum. maybe that's why i was dragged there in the first place. haha.

really fruitful trip. ahaha. for one, i really enjoyed the durians.. but also was a great time to destress and appreciate God's creation in the moonlight. i'm more contemplative than some ppl think ok! haha. durians durians anyone? hee.

daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaark

2008-07-22T00:34:00.002+08:00

koped this off jaslyn's blog.. this.... this is uber cool. missed it today cos of project.. sheng and anthony watched without me.. so sad. haha. who else wanna watch? (and sponsor my ticket too? HAHA)

oh someone watch with me.. pretty pretty pleeeeeeeeeeeease?
(:

an update..

2008-07-15T20:39:00.003+08:00

i'm surviving.. i really need to pick up pace for my two individual projects, but looking at the progress so far, i really thank God for sustaining me.

i really enjoy my finance module.. i know this may sound mad to my friends, especially classmates, since finance was apparently a killer last sem, but i like calculating and getting the right answers; there's this undefinable sense of achievement.

the Lord really moves in subtle and wonderful ways. in so many different areas of my life, He's shown His concern for the little things that prove His great love for me. i was actually fretting over getting a good internship for the upcoming holidays, because i really want to get the relevant work experience at a good company, so that i can use it to apply for better internships (hopefully at a bank) in the future holidays, and ultimately working in the banking industry. lo and behold, during the Camporama celebration last sunday, a commander from another church, upon hearing my intention, generously asked me to contact her when i begin my applications. she works in a financial advisory company!!! praise the Lord for His provision!

i think the Message version phrases this passage beautifully "What's the price of two or three pet canaries? Some loose change, right? But God never overlooks a single one. And he pays even greater attention to you, down to the last detail—even numbering the hairs on your head! So don't be intimidated by all this bully talk. You're worth more than a million canaries." (Luke 12:6-7)

indeed, we have a loving and wonderful Father who cares deeply about each and everyone of us. i hope that this will encourage anyone who's feeling down right now! God loves you! (:

an apology..

2008-07-13T14:55:00.002+08:00

so sorry all.. for those that keep visiting in hope of new posts.. i've really been too busy to update regularly.. i know this sucks, but i'll get back on track posting once this busy period is over.. meanwhile pray for me please!

sweetness, sweetness.. all is sweetness..

2008-07-07T22:47:00.003+08:00

sweetness.. bakery near church recently started producing this jam donuts.. plain sugar coated donuts filled with jams and chocolate cream.. i've been craving for this since i last ate it in dunkin donuts in malaysia.. i know, dearest cousin edina, that donut factory etc has been churning this kind of donuts out for a while.. but i still love the simple stuff.. (: (: (: more food posts to come.. meanwhile dwell on what's been sweetening my days these past weeks.. yum!

excellence, looking unto eternity, victorious life (:

2008-07-06T08:50:00.006+08:00

started typing this in church.. lols. supposed to squeeze in some work for my project but then i realised that the sooner i put this in writing, the lesser i'll forget the details..

had a chat with uncle chong on friday night.. actually, had dinner at his place.. picked norman up on the way cos he and sheng were staying over at uncle chong's place too.. so.. after visiting changi prison and changi airport on the way ( we got lost) and after a cold dinner (we were late cos we got lost) and after some delish durians (that were in my van, meaning they followed us around visiting changi prison and changi airport cos we got lost) i sat down with uncle chong for that chat.

i kinda requested it, really.. when i felt that sch work was getting impossible (2 projects in 1 month) and that the future looked so tough and bleak.. what if i fail again? and if i do get through, what would my future be? would holding an SIM degree cause me to lose out to other degree holders? would i get a good paying job? and that's just regarding sch work.. haven't moved on to relationships, ministry etc..

surprisingly, the Holy Spirit spoke to me when i was doing the laundry.. He told me that this was an attack of the Devil, and that of course i would think this way if i were relying on my own strength- but i'm not supposed to! so i texted uncle chong and invited myself for dinner friday night..

to touch on some of the points that we talked about, and my take-away:

i) there is nothing that we cannot accomplish together with God

this really ties in with being faithful in the things we're given to do.. because God is faithful, He WILL honor our faithfulness.. it's not a matter of if.. it's when! despite this being a cliche, i have to repeat this ad nauseum.. God NEVER shortchanges us. all we have to do is be faithful in what we're given to do. for me, in this season, it means that i have to press on towards attaining my degree, no matter how tough it is.. this is especially more relevant in my life.. i've seen His faithfulness in giving me good results the past sem.. and in spite of the discouragement, i can rest easy knowing He is faithful (:

ii) i need to work towards excellence

i really have to. i've been getting away with the mediocre for YEARS and people around me have been telling me that i am capable of more.. i KNOW this but i have not been able to integrate it in my life.. but i know now that i don't just owe it to myself, but i also have to be excellent in all i do (and this includes my studies) to give glory to God..

iii) i have to look unto eternity in all that i do

our actions here have to be for unto eternity.. not just the here and now.. cos we serve an eternal God.. this is all the more so relevant cos we're serving in a ministry that touches young lives.. uncle chong encouraged me to look at the kids and see their eternal value.. my heart really swelled then, knowing MY commanders looked at me and saw my eternal value rather than that irritating, smart-aleck, bumbling scrawny fool kid that i was then.. (: eternity indeed..

this year's gonna be an exciting year; i can just feel it. my commitment to serve God with my singlehood til 23 is picking up pace; in my quiet time recently i've been asking God to show me how best to serve Him with my singlehood.

He answered, and boy, He sure did not hold back. a meeting in church last sunday showed me clearly that He had plans for me to serve Him very actively this year, and in a space of one week, my goals for this year have been clearly defined.. excellence in my studies, looking at my kids, and all my actions and decisions as unto eternity, and living a victorious, conquering Christian life..

great things are gonna happen- in my life, in Bethel, and in Rangers.. (:

Colossians 3:23

2008-07-02T18:25:00.005+08:00

first day back at school was horrible, quite frankly speaking. the notes for Employment Relations were not posted on the Hub, and the lecturer said he's posting it today.. guess when's the next lesson? yeap. tomorrow. where on earth am i to find a printer to print out all that nonsense?!

Work Integrated Learning was no better. to put it nicely, the lecturers had forceful personalities and were more interactive. to put it unkindly.. they were just plain irritating. and WIL is really intensive.. 5 workshops over 1 week, and we're to turn out one project by 6th August, complete with interviews etc. kinda reminds me of going back to J2, after jun hols, where the work piles up without warning!

having said all that, i really wanna give my all for this sem and more. mainly cos i have this crazy notion of overloading next year and to even remotely have a chance to do so i'd have to do well. at the same time it's also an important thing to do well in my studies, to give glory to God.

Colossians 3:23 "Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. " (NLT)

students who're reading this, jiayou! God is faithful!

joel posted this REALLY old photo on facebook. apparently it was taken during 2001 family camp..

man i look like a dork in here..

SIM sucks big time. as if the school fees weren't ridiculously expensive, they've stopped providing refreshments AND beverages during break times. to make things easier for us (SO THEY SAY) they set up food stalls outside the lecture theatres to sell snacks WHICH ARE MORE EXPENSIVE THAN THE CANTEEN'S. someone suggested writing a petition but i wonder if it'll do any good. really horrible to have the stomach growling away during lectures cos i absolutely refused to buy food for break. i'm a hungry boy right now ):

top 100 books..

2008-06-30T10:02:00.003+08:00

(The Big Read reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they've printed

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicise those you intend to read.
3)underline the books that you love.
4) Reprint this list in your own LJ/blog so we can try and track down these people who've read 6 and force books upon them

1 Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible (oh my goodness i just realised it's been so long since i read the whole Bible..)
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas6
6 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones' Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte's Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

i've always thought of myself as quite an avid reader.. but looking at this list, it sure doesn't seem that way! part of the reason is because most of the books i've read didn't make the list.. but then again, it just goes to show that i just might've been wasting my time on junk books. haha.

a new direction?

2008-06-29T18:32:00.005+08:00

since starting mytinycorner, i've consciously kept myself from blogging about my thoughts, partly because i dun have many interesting ones. HAHA. kidding!

through these years, from my own blogging experiences and reading blogs belonging to other people, i've concluded that it's so easy to fall into the trap of thinking too much when blogging..

like commander chong said, some people use blogs as daily journals, some use it to express their thoughts.. and to me, more often than not it's the latter that stand out more.. it made me wonder why i've kept from blogging about my thoughts, then i realised i wasn't sure if i had the discipline and discernment from keeping it becoming a mire of negative thoughts and lamentations.. like i've done before.

then again, by the grace of God, i believe i've matured over the past few years.. perhaps with the advent of the exciting changes going on, it might also be a good idea for this place to be not just my tiny corner, but God's sacred place, where i can not only express myself freely, but in a godly way too! so.. watch this spot for exciting changes, readers! and thanks for that confirmation, dearest Bethel and commander chong!!

honor roll..

2008-06-29T02:13:00.005+08:00

in no particular order, but with the deepest gratitude and greatest love..

a BIG thank you to:

dal
norman
liang sheng
chang xiang
shafik
hadley
qing
edina
clarissa
joshua peh
shawn
sa gu
ps aaron
ntuc income (zzz)
joyce koh
amy
magdalene
swee mun
anthony kor
aunty kally
rachel wong
jasmine koh
lebbeus
sheng
anne chua
zi hui
dilys
sis sylvia
wen kang
jonathan jiang
nadine
abigail moi
terence lee
ps elaine
cmdr sera
cmdr mark
cmdr julie
yuping

i really really hope i havent left anyone out.. xide really appreciates each one of u for remembering this day and making me feel special.. thanks!
(:

blast off...

2008-06-27T00:03:00.000+08:00

blast off... no feeling though. -shrugs-

1 more day.

2008-06-26T22:17:00.003+08:00

1 more day.

2 more days.

2008-06-25T22:45:00.000+08:00

2 more days.

412 Serangoon Central

2008-06-25T22:29:00.009+08:00

WAT a day! haha.. it's my last week of holidays so i guess my mum wanted to make full use of my availability? haha.. we dropped by 412 serangoon central, intending to settle the transport of some hideously heavy bed, but in the end it was ditched.. the mum realised it would make the room horribly cramped.. the trouble was.. how to tell the movers we din need their services any longer?

5 mins later, they called, saying it was too heavy, and most likely would have to dismantle it.. wat say we? haha.. it was like a prayer answered.. we simply told them to forget about it.. thanks uncle laurence for helping us to settle it!

i noticed this absolutely lovely orchirds whilst waiting for the lift..

sweet, aren't they?

so.. we went back home.. then out of the blue the mum decides to clean up the bedless room.. and shift a temp bed over.. so.. back to serangoon!

as usual, the xide trademark is to forget to take photos before starting everything.. so here's some that i finally took halfway thru..

dirty dirty cabinets..!!!

taking out all the drawers to air the cupboards.. bright sunny day!

the mum, holding up one of the dirty drawers.. wondering why she's smiling holding such a dirty thing? cos i ask her to smile for photo la.. duh!

mummy, hard at work cleaning!

so after a good 2 hours of scrubbing and cleaning, here's our achievements!

sparkling clean!

white so bright, it hurts the eyes.. yeah right!!

leaving everything to dry and air.. see the night sky! that's how late we stayed until!

well.. after all that hard work, we dropped by upper paya lebar road for turtle soup! enough talk.. here're the pics!

turtle soup.. the uncle's really friendly.. he refills the soup when it runs low!!

the tau fu.. the tau fu itself is bought.. but the garnishing is made by the boss himself.. yum!

kai lan.. fried to perfection!

satisfied look on mum's face!

and of cos.. the zhao pai of the store.. tai seng turtle soup!

i was introduced to turtle soup last year, at this very store.. that being the case, i have no idea what turtle soup is supposed to taste like, since i dun have anything to compare it to.

the turtle soup though, is delish! just the soup itself is enough to make one smile. thick with the taste of herbs, it has a fragrance to it that's hard to describe.. maybe the turtle meat itself? there's also a zest in its taste, thanks to bits of ginger, and (i suspect) ginseng. (note to self: ask boss for recipe on next visit, if he'll give it)

for the squeamish, turtle meat is so much like chicken/pork, it's easy to forget that the thing you're chewing on is turtle. it's meaty, definitely, yet tender enough to part upon a firm bite.

the menu is limited, i suspect, cos the store sells mainly turtle soup. there's also black chicken soup, and vege: kai lan and chye sim, steamed tou fu, and omelette..

since mum was around, we ordered kai lan and tou fu..

the kai lan was stir-fried to just the right degree.. but they laid the sauce on a little too thick.. lesser sauce would've definitely improved the dish significantly..

as mentioned before, the tou fu was bought off the shelf.. the garnish however, is a different story entirely. prepared by the store itself, it was just salty enough to counter the bland toufu taste.. yummy!

i wonder if there're anymore good turtle soup stores around.. anyone knows? let me know kkae? (:

3 days more.

2008-06-24T21:08:00.000+08:00

3 days more.

msn conversation.. again!

2008-06-23T22:08:00.001+08:00

must be a day for funny msn conversations today..

HADDY (: will NEVER stop thanking God. says:
coooolsss.
HADDY (: will NEVER stop thanking God. says:
hahahaa btw grace and pastor have already approve of me and gab!
HADDY (: will NEVER stop thanking God. says:
he actually called me GIRLFRIEND in front of his parents!
HADDY (: will NEVER stop thanking God. says:
HAHAHAH
xide.hee.teck.peixin.rosyth.acsi.acjc.2gsmc.sim says:
watever hadley.. hahahahaha.........
xide.hee.teck.peixin.rosyth.acsi.acjc.2gsmc.sim says:
corrupt small kids..
xide.hee.teck.peixin.rosyth.acsi.acjc.2gsmc.sim says:
hahahahahaa
HADDY (: will NEVER stop thanking God. says:
tskk, what corrupt.
HADDY (: will NEVER stop thanking God. says:
its educational okay.
HADDY (: will NEVER stop thanking God. says:
hahah
xide.hee.teck.peixin.rosyth.acsi.acjc.2gsmc.sim says:
haha
xide.hee.teck.peixin.rosyth.acsi.acjc.2gsmc.sim says:
im thinking of copying and pasting this conversation
xide.hee.teck.peixin.rosyth.acsi.acjc.2gsmc.sim says:
hahahaha
HADDY (: will NEVER stop thanking God. says:
and i believe your family will definately celebrate it for you.
xide.hee.teck.peixin.rosyth.acsi.acjc.2gsmc.sim says:
and post on my blog
xide.hee.teck.peixin.rosyth.acsi.acjc.2gsmc.sim says:
wahahahaha
HADDY (: will NEVER stop thanking God. says:
its just a maatter of time.
HADDY (: will NEVER stop thanking God. says:
HAHAAHH
HADDY (: will NEVER stop thanking God. says:
omg, pls do!
HADDY (: will NEVER stop thanking God. says:
hahhaahah
HADDY (: will NEVER stop thanking God. says:
ohmygoodness, hadley youre the best! :P
HADDY (: will NEVER stop thanking God. says:
paste this in tooo!
xide.hee.teck.peixin.rosyth.acsi.acjc.2gsmc.sim says:
bhb
xide.hee.teck.peixin.rosyth.acsi.acjc.2gsmc.sim says:
haha

hadley's so gonna kill me for this.. but hey.. my blog. HAHA.

4 days more.

2008-06-23T21:52:00.001+08:00

4 days more.

dedicated to norman wong:

2008-06-23T17:41:00.003+08:00

this post is dedicated to norman wong:

copy and paste of a msn conversation between me and norman:

xide.hee.teck.peixin.rosyth.acsi.acjc.2gsmc.sim says:
irritant!
norman; all this time you were pretending, so much for my happy ending. fresh meat :D says:
i take that as a compliment
norman; all this time you were pretending, so much for my happy ending. fresh meat :D says:
not everyone can be a successful irritatnt
norman; all this time you were pretending, so much for my happy ending. fresh meat :D says:
irritant
norman; all this time you were pretending, so much for my happy ending. fresh meat :D says:
irritant
norman; all this time you were pretending, so much for my happy ending. fresh meat :D says:
irritant
norman; all this time you were pretending, so much for my happy ending. fresh meat :D says:
irritant
norman; all this time you were pretending, so much for my happy ending. fresh meat :D says:
irritant
norman; all this time you were pretending, so much for my happy ending. fresh meat :D says:
irritant
norman; all this time you were pretending, so much for my happy ending. fresh meat :D says:
irritant
norman; all this time you were pretending, so much for my happy ending. fresh meat :D says:
irritant
xide.hee.teck.peixin.rosyth.acsi.acjc.2gsmc.sim says:
OI
xide.hee.teck.peixin.rosyth.acsi.acjc.2gsmc.sim says:
enu
xide.hee.teck.peixin.rosyth.acsi.acjc.2gsmc.sim says:
enuf
xide.hee.teck.peixin.rosyth.acsi.acjc.2gsmc.sim says:
haha
norman; all this time you were pretending, so much for my happy ending. fresh meat :D says:
hahahah
xide.hee.teck.peixin.rosyth.acsi.acjc.2gsmc.sim says:
i typing la
norman; all this time you were pretending, so much for my happy ending. fresh meat :D says:
i just proved my point
xide.hee.teck.peixin.rosyth.acsi.acjc.2gsmc.sim says:
-_______________-

you win le lor.. haha..

another saturday.. in rangers.. (:

2008-06-21T23:26:00.007+08:00

warning: image-heavy post ahead

one of the pleasant consequences of God's miracle (http://mytinycorn3r.blogspot.com/2008/06/he-is-more-than-faithful.html) is that the 'rents have allowed me to come back from my break from RR..

i have to admit though, these past few saturdays took a bit of adjusting-to.. i really have been away for too long. thank God that i can still relate to the kids, though. the first saturday that i returned, i took a group for Bible study.. God again showed me why He put me with the DRs.. and i'm thankful He showed me where He wants me to be at for this season..

the DR commanders met up to plan next quarter's program.. AFTER the commanders' meeting AFTER rangers.. so with such a long day behind us, we simply had to pamper ourselves a little.. or at least, pamper our tummies..

claypot rice!!! darn it.. i just realised i forgot to take down what block number, what's the name of the coffeeshop and what unit number the stall was at. haha. i got a pic of the stall though, sis syl!

this claypot rice stall is located at the coffeeshop opposite the hawker centre at GEC.. Bethelites will know which kopitiam i'm talking abt.. the one thing about being situated at geylang is that we take good food for granted.. hence my oversight. i'll return with the details soon!

some pics..

i was almost unable to take a pic of the rice before it's mixed.. we ordered THREE LARGE pots.. and two were already under attack by the time i took this pic..

when i say LARGE, i mean large! there's no point of reference within the pics here.. but each pot contained enough rice for 10 rice bowls.. maybe more!

the ingredients separated from the rice.. see the rice bowl in the background? now u have some idea of how much ingredients there were..

and the rice being mixed after the separation of ingredients..

my first time serving the claypot rice after being taught how it should be served (according to RS).. the ingredients should be separated, then the rice mixed and distributed.. then we'd pick our stuff from the central ingredients plate.. (:

the claypot rice here is fabulous! there were about 2 salted eggs hidden in each pot of rice.. when mixed with the rice, it simply tasted wonderful. the chicken was cooked to tender perfection.. i normally avoid breast-meat cos it's too dry.. but in this instance, the meat was so tender i actually din mind taking breast-meat!

there was also enough salted fish to give the rice that fragant taste.. and of cos.. the lap cheong (chinese sausage) that qing insisted on snatching from me ):

check out the satisfied faces..

ethan

marcus and ezekiel!

from left: allison's hands (camera too small to take her; she declined an individual shot later, that shy girl..) commander julie, marcus, ezekiel, commander cherry, commander daniel, ethan, laura and commander mark

from left: commander andrew, myself, commander julie, commander mee fong, qing, sheng

and of cos, the stall that made us all smile..

we were actually planning to return home after that, me taking a ride from commander andrew.. when commander julie told us about the arts fest closing performance at bedok reservior.. so off we went!

it was this play-acted-on-water.. we were late.. but there was some pretty pyrotechnics and fireworks.. and this HUGE puppet made of those plastic containers used in water dispensers.. halfway through the performance there was a huge spout of fire that could be felt like 20 metres away.. i wonder how the performers felt!

some pics..

a pretty lousy night shot.. shot using my phone, of cos.. can u see the huge plastic puppet in the middle? if not then admire the camera belonging to the person standing in front of me.. heh.

fireworks! my phone lags when taking photo.. so this one was a split second too late..

but this one was timed just right!

saturdays like this makes all the tiring saturdays worth it.. (:

chill and unwind.. and a little ugliness..

2008-06-19T22:51:00.004+08:00

today was a chill and unwind day.. went to Jacob Ballas Children's Garden @ Botanic Gardens with mum, aunt siew choo, na jie, ning and sherise!

the children's garden is a really really cool place. it's this pretty decent size garden that has 2 playgrounds, one water-play-area, a pretty cool tunnel with a small waterfall.. and lots of plants. haha. a good place to chill out, really..

most of the scene shots are with na jie.. hopefully can get from her.. post some random pics meanwhile..

ning and myself at entrance of the garden..

sherise smiling.. okay, okay.. so she's always smiling.. but at least i caught a pic of her smiling this time!

ning eating her own muffins.. she baked them herself! during the class at the garden..

and ning hi-jacking sherise's pram.. she's still so petite.. lols..

the cousins! ning carring sherise!

after botanic gardens, we went to bras basah cos na jie wanted to get some books from tecman. we then stopped by golden mile complex for some food. now.. this was some REALLY good food but i was so tired i din take and photos. idiot me. but i shall do a text-only run through anyway..

belgian waffles @ The Sweet Stone Parad Ice (01-76).. this is real, genuine, belgian waffles.. it's crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.. and there's choc dip! it goes for 2 pieces and a choc dip for 5 bucks.. which is pretty decent considering the taste is near heavenly..

chin chow.. no.. it's not the normal grass jelly drink u get at the normal hawker centre.. this is Zhao An Granny Chin Chow (01-58) made in a bamboo.. er.. bucket? dunno wat's the proper word for it.. it's GREAT. u can choose to have it plain, or with atap chee, longan, or sea coconut.. i chose the sea coconut.. the sea coconut was sweet enough that i din have to add the sugar syrup separately.. (u can tell them to give u the unsweetened chin chow, and they'll give u the sugar syrup in a separate container) the chin chow was served in one solid piece, and the texture is soft man! haha.. scooping out spoonful after spoonful was a wonderful delight.. the chin chow taste wasn't too strong, and the sea coconut taste complemented it perfectly..

alright.. i promise i'll take pics next time yea.. haha..

the day was a little too good to be true though.. some really ugly stuff happened after that half day of chill and bliss.. and sad to say, it left a bitter taste in my mouth, despite all the good food i had consumed.. oh well.. i guess we all need a little bitterness to balance all the sweetness in life.. >.<

yum yum yum

2008-06-18T18:04:00.002+08:00

went back to school today, with the mum in tow.. cos she had to pay my school fees for me.. muahaha.. it's quite empty.. then again, it's the holidays! lols.

for the first time since entering SIM, i drove the mum there! all the previous school-fees-payment trips were long and boring MRT and bus rides..

it's my second time driving to school.. the first being that commercial law test that i totally owned.. and somehow i took a totally different route to school.. -_____________- but i didn't get lost.. so that's still alright i guess?

went to jalan bukit merah ABC Food Centre for late lunch/early dinner.. we wanted to buy some of the famous bao zhai (small bao) back, but... yeap, u guessed it.. the dumb shop was closed.. from 16/6 to 22/6.. nonsense. waste of petrol.

so we ordered orh lua and char kuay teow.. pics below (:

orh lua!

char kuay teow!

alright.. first off, this was one weird stall! manned by this uncle that looked like a dark storm cloud.. he spoke in terse phrases.. not sentences..

me: uncle, one char kuay teow and one orh lua, more tau gay for the char kuay teow..

him: $4?

me: huh?

uncle: orh lua $4 or $5?

me: oh.. uh.. $4

and when he was done cooking, he went, " done!" to tell us to go get the food.. even though we were sitting right in front of his stall.. i guess he took the "self-service" sign seriously..

but for his reticence and lack of apparent service, the food was not bad.. not fantastic, but not bad either.. i felt some of the oyster wasn't warm, but the mum told me it's not meant to be warm.. cos then it'll be overcooked.. and the CKT (char kuay teow) really had extra tau gay.. uncle heard me after all! (:

we were abt to leave when i remembered we had to get food for my dad.. so off we went, up and down the rows of stalls again.. and the mum saw a porridge stall that she remembered being featured on some TV show.. so we sat down for a bowl of pig liver porridge..

forgot to take a pic before we started.. so all the stuff's mixed in already.. paiseh.. haha

good stuff! close friends and family members will know i dun exactly like pig liver.. never did like the taste of it.. but the aunty got it just right.. the taste was great! the porridge was piping hot too.. nearly scalded my tongue on the first spoonful.. there was also generous serving of shredded ginger in the porridge too.. now.. i normally dun like ginger.. but the shredded ginger was shredded at just the right size.. adds that zest to every mouthful.. for $2.50, it was one of the greatest bowls of porridge i've ever had!

haha.. after talking so much.. i realised i didn't take down the stall numbers of the stalls i talked about.. oh well.. go check out ABC Food Centre and search for them.. there're plenty of other stalls there as well, that i'm sure provide great food.. maybe when i start a food blog proper i'll take it more seriously.. heh.. ciao!

lousy mood...

2008-06-18T11:49:00.003+08:00

wat i was busy with this morning...

reservist call up.. sian la.. in october. have to submit this when i get back to school in july..

s'pore govt is so unfair to SIM students.. not auto-transfer to institute of higher learning list.. have to keep defering reservist and wat-not.. apparently the reasoning is that we don't have as many class hours as students from NUS and NTU and SMU.. wat nonsense.. my projects take up most of my time.. i even go to school on saturdays to do projects.. not enough class hours meh? grrr..

see the my mail button there? after dunno how many donkey years SIM finally providing students with email account.. but not up yet.. SLOW..

lousy mood right now. cheer me up, pls?

nb: pohtos for father's day dinner are up! (:

drools again

2008-06-17T20:19:00.005+08:00

http://www.sony.com.sg/product/vgn-tz37gn/sku/vgn-tz37gn%252Fbe1?site=hp_en_SG_i

sony vaio tz..
1.33ghz core 2 duo
2gb ram
120gb hdd
11.1" display (?!?!?!?!)
11hrs batt life (?!?!?!?!)
1.2kg with batt (!!!!!!!!)

serious drool.. hahaha.. now for the sucker punch

price:S$ 3,499.00

edina, wat was it u said abt salaries and bags? haha.. my version would be salaries and laptops..

drools...

peaceful day;

2008-06-17T17:51:00.005+08:00

i was just thinking to myself today that some days i REALLY hate to blog.. cos.. well.. my life these days tend to be quite uneventful (read: boring)

the Holy Spirit then checked me at this point.. all through the last semester i've been praying and praying and praying for a respite from studying, projects, studying, chores, studying, studying, studying etc.. now that i'm on (peaceful) holidays, i'm complaining about being bored! insanity..

haha.. i then took some random shots of views from my home.. even the weather was being peaceful! hmm.. wrong word.. it was sunny and all la.. haha..

view from my doorstep.. i'm quite blessed to have a clear view from home.. no buildings or trees to block my view!

a closer shot of the church that sits right on my doorstep.. quite amazing that i have a church right at my doorstep and yet choose to go to one all the way in paya lebar.. lols. but i love Bethel! wat to do? haha..

view from the kitchen.. the back of my flat, in other words.. again, relatively clear view.. thus my home tends to be breezy and cooling.. ((((:

wonderful mum cooked prawns today!!! ok, it looks a little messy and all here, but to heck with presentation..

now get this.. the amount of prawns there was after dinner.. after dad and me ate our fill.. that's how much she cooked.. haha.. but i have no complaints.. prawns rock! i could eat prawns all day long.. it's the one dish i absolutely lurve..

i rem when i worked at chevrons for manna pot.. there was this event.. some 10 course dinner or something.. after the event, the service staff and everyone else all attacked the SHARKS' FIN SOUP.. and there i was happily munching on cereal prawns.. that's how weird i am.. i prefer prawns to sharks fin.. lols..

so basically i was a happy boy today, eating all the prawns.. (i might end up a fat, miserable old man in the future.. but let tommorow worry for itself eh? haha)

so peaceful days are worth blogging about too!

n.b.: added photo of the present mentioned few posts back.. waiting on photos of cell-birthday celebration and father's day dinner.. stay tuned! (:

sunday morning

2008-06-15T20:35:00.005+08:00

Sunday morning rain is falling
Steal some covers share some skin
Clouds are shrouding us in moments unforgettable
You twist to fit the mold that I am in

But things just get so crazy living life gets hard to do
And I would gladly hit the road get up and go if I knew
That someday it would lead me back to you
That someday it would lead me back to you

That may be all I need
In darkness she is all I see
Come and rest your bones with me
Driving slow on Sunday morning
And I never want to leave

Fingers trace your every outline
Paint a picture with my hands
Back and forth we sway like branches in a storm
Change the weather still together when it ends

That may be all I need
In darkness she is all I see
Come and rest your bones with me
Driving slow on Sunday morning
And I never want to leave

But things just get so crazy living life gets hard to do
Sunday morning rain is falling and I'm calling out to you
Singing someday it'll bring me back to you
Find a way to bring myself back home to you

And you may not know
That may be all I need
In darkness she is all I see
Come and rest your bones with me
Driving slow on Sunday morning
And I never want to leave

-Maroon 5

this song's quite old, i think.. but still one of my favorites. each time it plays on the radio, i can't help but sing along.. and there's that goosebump feeling everytime. haha. enough nostalgia..

here's what we get up to in the media room..

this is super dark.. and meaningless if u can't see a thing.. me and sheng applying our feet to joel qin's butt.. haha..

a rear shot of joel's head.. norman's twist. hahaha

took this at my mum's insistence at giant.

we bought this step ladder there.. there were 2 price tags, and two types of ladders.. so naturally we assumed wat we took was for this price. apparently the item was out of stock, and our ladder was another price entirely. mum and me kicked up a fuss, quarrelling with the store cashier and assistant until the manager came out and gave us the ladder at the price shown.

i must take this moment to complain abt the attitudes of the assistant and cashier. they said that we should have checked the item code and known that it wasn't priced at $19.99. when we complained they said they're not interested in arguing with us. talk about being proud! and.. they were foreigners.. from.. china.

now. i'm in no way stereotyping our friends from china.. but there's no denying that a small minority of them bear an arrogant streak that really gets on many's nerves. just our luck to encounter TWO of them today. grr.

http://www.apple.com/iphone/features/
iPhone 3G.. US$199.. so tempting la. hahaha. I WANT.

mm yummy

2008-06-14T23:19:00.006+08:00

ok this is like obviously blur and dark.. wat to do.. HTC touch.. 2megapixels with no flash.. anyone wanna sponsor a better cam phone or a camera? heh..

THIS is much nicer. chocolate! my fav. haha. cousins and friends, rem my cake last year? heh.

my lovely cell celebrated birthday for all june babies. mine is still a while off, but it was sweet all the same that they celebrated it. i got a present too! but not opening till my actual birthday. but i know wat it is already.. shall update with a pic when i take a photo of it. too lazy right now..

edit: here's the prezzie! make a guess as to wat it is?

went out for father's day dinner just now. ate til i almost exploded.. no pics.. all with aunty kally.. shall get from her when she's free.. stay tuned!! (:

edit: got the pics from aunty kally! enjoy!

waiting for the food to come..

erm.. dishes on the table.. pork trotters, herbal chicken, steamed bass and sharks fin soup.. yum!

PRAWNS!!! ATTACK!!!

sa gu and dilys and sa kim enjoying the food!

uncle richard!!

er.. no pics of aunty kally cos she was the one taking photos.. oops.. lols

family camp 2008

2008-06-13T14:28:00.007+08:00

quite frankly speaking, i set off for family camp 08 with the mentality to slack, seeing as i just ended camporama the day before.. but slack it definitely was not.. it was refreshing and.. er.. i don't quite know the word for it.. but i believe everyone left feeling recharged.. (:

on the trip there. i was asst bus captain.. which means i got to count and count and count the number of ppl who board and alight the bus.. quite fun, really. i sat at the back of the bus.. hence the nice rear shot of everyone's SEATS. -____-

service! pastor ong was awesome. he's got the prophetic anointing on him.. and beyond that, what he shares is really practical and meaningful. (:

i kept sitting at the back.. i hate being stuck on those chairs.. wouldn't u? so i sat near the sound booth.. with all the kiddos!

must take a shot of princess chloe.. hahahaha.. she's taking some color pencils out of her pencil case here i think..

self shot of me and gabriel.. he's such a good boy this camp la.. no fuss, no tantrum.. obedient.. haha..

one of gabriel and norman.. norman's eyes were closed! just realised.. haha

a blurred shot of norman.. we were waiting for our lift. if there's one thing that irritated me abt the camp, it's the lifts. SUPER DUPER SLOW. all who agree with me nod your heads..

this one of the super random things we did during service. i was trying mightily to stay awake, and found some pins on the table.. tadah! haha. norman did a nicer one but it's private. HAHA.

pyramid shopping centre! ok. this is just the escalators. i was too blur to take good pics that day. we walked and walked and walked and walked and walked and walked... but check these out..

i have NEVER seen so many crocs gather under one roof before..

these crocs were HUGE.. talk abt grabbing attention. haha. my pose was inspired by a photo on jamin's blog.. http://applicationofjam.blogspot.com/2008/02/make-guess.html

supper.. we were all tired.. i played badminton, swam and went bowling that day. haha. norman doing a dilys-pose, but no bright smile to complete it..

family camp.. encounter God.. bond with friends and family (:

He is MORE than faithful..

2008-06-12T22:33:00.004+08:00

before i get on with the church camp post.. i really really really must take the opportunity to testify of His goodness..

5th December 2007
>
>
>

NN stands for FAIL.. so i failed marketing and law.. the other 2 subjects were just passes >.<

4th june 2008
>
>
>

distinction for law, credits for the rest..

(RMIT grading is High Distinction, Distinction, Credit, Pass, Fail)

He is so much more than faithful! i say more than faithful cos it's redundant ( u can't be more faithful than faithful) but our God is so mighty and faithful and loving. it's been a tough 6 months.. not just the mugging, but also missing rangers. now.. He's so gracious!

trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. (proverbs 3:5-6)

Camporama 2008 - Significance in Christ

2008-06-11T23:12:00.008+08:00

ALRIGHT.. let's do this bit by bit. haha. forgive me; i wanted to be consistent with this, but with 2 back to back camps.. it was nigh impossible. let's start with camporama.

4 days (5, for the advanced party)

170+ campers from bethel

close to 30 tents (again from bethel)

one football field

haha.. i'm just whacking (accurate) numbers in. but seriously.. the camp was AWESOME. average of 4hrs of sleep per night, but everyone was so positive and sensitive to God's touch, it really amazes me.

even with the "exodus" on the 2nd night, the kids maintained an optimistic outlook and had so much fun, it basically amazes me.

enough talk.. here're the photos. 1st few are of my kiddos doing a makeover, cos i'm still not quite handy with a camera.. so only took those few out of the 4 days..

jediel shocked everyone by asking for that facial.. -_-

and one photo of the older kids

like i said.. being a noob photo taker.. i have limited pics.. BUT.. got permission from joyce to kope some from her album.. so.. here they are!

stick em up!

i FINALLY know what happened to my white canvas bag.. is that leon in there? whoever it is.. you have NO idea what i used that bag to carry the night before.. LOLs

now that i've had a chance to recover from camporama.. i can really honestly say it was a GREAT camp.. many DR kids came forward for salvation, and baptism of the Holy Spirit.. it really floored me. it also touched my heart to see kids praying for one another.. kids!! 10 yrs old, praying for their friends! God is doing such a mighty work in the younger generation. praise His name!

edit: I FOUND A GREAT PHOTO OF OUR ARCHWAY (thanks and sorry for koping it joshua.. hahahahahaha)

i left halfway to settle admin stuff for outpost #01.. imagine my awe when i came back and saw the completed archway AND the tents all put up. at that moment i never felt prouder (sic?) of our ERs and ARs.. they pulled together and completed EVERYTHING with time to spare (:

Just a preview..

2008-05-30T18:08:00.003+08:00

front and back view.. from estimation for now, the real thing will probably be about 3 metres high.. BIG. (:

camporama's coming, and i'm simply too excited for words. the picture above is a scale model of the archway that we'll be building for outpost #1. lionel and shuyu came up with the concept, of using the Rangers emblem as a foundation. lionel built the model and took the effort to explain the details to jon and me yesterday.

camporama's coming, people! expect many many many photos (as many as i can remember to take, of course. haha)

i think there may be some who don't know what Royal Rangers and Camporama are.. i'll do a more detailed write-up either later tonight or tomorrow. needless to say preparations are keeping me busy like nothing before. ciao, people!

of blogshops and more;

2008-05-27T18:58:00.003+08:00

i've long toyed with the idea of setting up a directory for blogshops. many of these blogshops are the hard work of enterprising bloggers, but they receive too little traffic due to lack of advertising.

as i get mytinycorner up and running, i'll be approaching friends with blogshops for permission to link them from my site. it's my dearest hope that this "directory" will, by way of buyer reviews and sellers' advertisements, be an useful tool for blogshop owners to reach out to buyers, and also for buyers to look for products that they want, with a wider variety of choices. cheers, all (:

about mytinycorner

2008-05-27T18:11:00.001+08:00

to old friends from begin-anew, welcome back. begin-anew has been defunct for more than a year, and instead of trying to catch up or redesign begin-anew, i thought it'd simply be easier to start afresh elsewhere. expect the same quality of writing (alright, alright, maybe the quality was pretty bad), as well as a whole new plethora of other.. stuff. haha. it won't be just writings and musings and what-have-you's, but will consist of a wider range of.. stuff. haha. i don't really know a better name for it. if you have any suggestions, why not let me know? (:

to new friends: welcome. mytinycorner is an idea i've been toying with for ages. i've maintained a blog previously, but it kind of fizzled out for lack of interesting posts. it also didn't help that there were few readers. mytinycorner will be different in that anything and everything goes. i'll try and include as wide a range of posts as possible, for everyone to find at least something to read about. hopefully through mytinycorner, you'll find friends with similar interests (besides myself, of course) and get to share your knowledge and experience. check back regularly, won't you? (:

ps: i prefer to type entirely in lower-case letters. other than that, i believe my standard of english is good enough for the average reader. bear with this quirk of mine! (:

all about xide..

2008-05-27T18:09:00.003+08:00

xide is.. xide.

there's not much to say to describe him. he's the kind of guy you'd walk past on the street without a second look. yeah. that kind of person. but here's some stuff you might wanna know about him if you wanna know him.

he's a Christian. a Bible-believing, God-fearing Christian. he's no perfect soul, but he's trying. please, make his job easier by being a lovable friend.

he's a Royal Ranger, one who seeks to Reach, Teach and Keep Boys and Girls for Jesus Christ. why? because he loves kids. and he knows his Lord does too. (for more info visit http://www.royalrangers.com.sg/ and http://www.royalrangers.ag.org/)

he's a student. currently in SIM, reading Bachelor of Business (Management) offered by RMIT.

he was an ACSian. and is proud to have been one. his heart still swells with pride whenever he reads about ACS. sentimental? maybe. who cares? not him, for sure.

he was a soldier. 2 years given in service to the nation. he loved every minute of it. it helped that he was in a pretty relaxed vocation, but he would've gladly taken on more.

did i mention he loves kids? one in particular, of course, but almost everyone knows he's shamelessly biased towards her, but he loves kids generally. he has come to cherish the sound of a kid's innocent laughter and would without hesitation give all he can to protect it.

he loves his family. his parents, his aunts and uncles, and perhaps most of all, his precious cousins. he cherishes the incredible bond of love they share. people have commented on it, and he knows not why it is so strong, only that he thanks God daily that there are people who can love such an unlovable person like him and he loves them dearly too.

he loves his friends. he may not say or show it much, but he does. they have helped shape who he is, and he loves each one of them fiercely.

he has 3 friends, brothers in all but actual fact, that he loves deeply. he has grown with them in church, and in the ministry, and knows that God has brought them into his life for a reason. he would trust them with his life, fully and assuredly. people think the 4 of them are siblings; that's how strong their bond of love is!

that's about it. there may be more, but it probably doesn't matter much. at least not to him. try getting to know him? he's probably just too quiet for his own sake. (:

Drop of the day

2008-05-26T18:00:00.001+08:00

they say a picture speaks a thousand words.. this one represents 4 days of my time, 750k of my mesos and 10% of my exp. LOLs.

maple equip drops for this year sucks. the drop rates are obscenely low (though there're always those few ~~dummies~~ lucky ones who get a drop within minutes) and apparently only certain mobs drop certain equips. For maplers who're interested to know which are the mobs, check out this list which a kind PPF forummite compiled: http://forums.playpark.net/showthread.php?t=383626

now that i've gotten my shield, time to hunt for leaves to upgrade, then to sell. haha. the "ashes-get-rich" campaign goes on.

(since this is my maiden post in the Mapling category, maybe it'll be good to elaborate slightly. yes, i'm a mapler. a 22 year-old guy playing MapleSEA. haha. well, not exactly something to be proud of, but i'm not ashamed either.. it's just a game after all. i'll post interesting stuff about my mapling experience here, but don't anyone worry- i'm not addicted to the game. it's just a fun way to kill some time, and i'm not the kind to blow my money on a stupid game; i haven't spent a single cent on the game. and since this IS my tiny corner, it's only right to post time to time about something i like to do. cheers =) )