The Fish Tank

Hurray!!!

2007-11-06T18:37:00.001+08:00

Finally can post successfully after 1 year plus..... hahaha

Testing Post

2007-11-06T18:33:00.001+08:00

testing testing 12345........

Friday night

2006-08-18T02:18:00.000+08:00

At the end of work, I realised that today is Friday, and there is no CG. No district, no unit or CG CG! Didn't really thought of it cos was too busy during the week. Felt weird going home early on friday night.

Confirmed with Ming that today no CG and no activities over SMS. He said he's on the way home already and suggested I find someone to have dinner with. At the same time, I messaged Merv over MSN, but he said he has dinner appointment with his friend. argh... so sian to go home, no programme on Fri night!!! Was feeling a bit sad...

Then I saw Huiqun online. Hasn't met her for some time cos of her busy schedule, so took the opportunity to ask her out to have dinner. (Not dating hor.. she got steady bf one...) She said she has an event to attend. When I saw that, I was disappointed. Then, she said that if i can wait, she can meet me at 8, by sneaking out early. Wah... so touched, that she made that effort for me! (though partly cos she dun really like such social events..) There was a point when we were contemplating smuggling me in the event (some high class one leh.. with ambassadors and such..), but we gave up the idea cos I dun think the attire or even my big office bag will blend in!

We met up outside Lido, and proceeded in to the 3rd or 4th floor, to one of the Japanese restaurants (can't rem the name). The place looks very cool, with nice ambience. It took us some time to order our food. We were so hungry by then, cos both of us had not taken our lunch. When the food came, I was thinking, "So much! Dun know if can finish..." Evidence as follows:

The food was very good, made perfect by the hunger we have! Had that egg thing again.. can't rem what is it called again.. 3 bucks only and is much nicer than Sakae! She commented that she won't bring me some place to torture me, sure will be good food! Of cos man... she writes for a food magazine, high class dining kind.. and she a food lover.. paradise is supermarket, cos surrounded by food.. haha

Something interesting above.. had to grind the sesame seeds and then pour sauce, then mix it with the grinded seeds to make the sauce mix for the meat. Never had to work for my food like this before. Exercise before eating... haha

After dinner, I overheard her calling her bf, asking if he's done with whatever he's doing.. wah.. At least his bf doing something, else I'll feel guilty for taking some time away from her precious moments with her bf! I took the north bound train so as to be able to sleep in the train all the way, while she went to Dhoby Ghaut to meet her bf.

Pictures

2006-07-15T22:09:00.000+08:00

Some post that is long overdue... Pictures I took at a relative's wedding.. Lazy to write too much (rather, not in the mood for essays).. so... just enjoy the pictures...

Think lighting and set up very good, not to mention my angle... me sitting right beside it... so took this.....

The appetizer : Plaza Hot and Cold Deluxe Combination 文雅冷热拼盘(Mayonnaise Prawns and Fruit Salad, Drunken Chicken, Chilled Salmon Sashimi, Fried Shark's Fin Omelette, and Mini Octopus)

Braised Shark's Fin Soup with Fish Bladder 红烧鱼翅鱼鳔汤

Steamed Coral Garoupa in Teochew Style 潮式蒸深海珊瑚斑

Stuffed Chicken wrapped with Lotus Leaf 蒸荷叶八宝鸡

Crispy Large Prawns with Green Curry Sauce 泰式青咖哩大虾

Braised Bai Ling Mushroom and Broccoli 蚝皇白灵菇与时菜

Fried Seafood Udon in Black Pepper Sauce 胡椒海鲜乌冬面

Finally... Yam Paste and Gingko Nut 白果芋泥

Usual questions of when is mine... and also realised that I dun know or dun remember many of the relatives.. the younger ones, I mean..

Night Out

2006-07-14T23:48:00.000+08:00

Enjoyed the last minute decision to go out and celebrate Ming's and Jerilee's Bday. Ming was sending us home when he mentioned that no one celebrated his bday yet. Pris then insisted on celebrating for him. He drove us to Cineleisure. Jerilee and me alighted and bought 2 cakes from the Coffee Club outside California Fitness. We also got a lighter and some drinks from the 7-11 nearby.

We then proceeded to Marina South Pier to celebrate for them. Can take a look at Ming's blog for details. Nice place there..

We concluded the night with a "shriek" (someone screamed so loud that think the geeko or lizard that was the cause of it went deaf! haha)

Hmm... everything seem to flow so well

2006-07-02T23:14:00.000+08:00

30th June, Friday, Fire Conference 2006

Today after work, me and Irving rushed to the Fire Conference together. We joined the others who had already arrived. The preacher introduced a video series that's supposed to rock the world, and showed us trailers. The story is about a pleasure boat that was asked to save a sunken ship's passenger in a heavy storm as it was the nearest ship. There were many rescue boats and men, but only a few are willing to go, while the rest are happy and comfortable in the safety and comfort of the pleasure boat. So, out of think 20+ rescue boats available, only a few, less than 10 boats are launched to save 90+ people (i.e. cannot save everyone). Its a reminder that the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Christians are not willing to step out of the comfort zone of their church services, CGs to step out to reach out to people.

He also quote Matthew 25 which says that if we use what we have been given to serve and harvest, we'll be given more to harvest more. On the other hand, if we are not willing to use what we have, no matter how little, even that will be taken away from us. He urged us to dig up our hidden talents, if we're hiding them, and use it to gain more. He also said, the reward for work well done is... guess what? MORE WORK!! hehe... God will give us more work when what little we have if we "pass the test".. he mentioned that he started preaching to a handful of people, and over the years, it slowly builds up to more and more people. Now, he's evangelizing to millions!! Powerful eh???

1st July, Sat, Unit Core team meeting

Arranged with Pris to meet up and go together to the meeting at Joo Chiat Church office. We waited for the bus for a long time (i.e. chatted for a long while also.. or is it Pris telling me alot of stories? hehe). The bus finally came, but alas, it was so full!! Dun know what's the occasion. Anyway, we decided to catch a cab down instead. We passed by the National Stadium and saw a lot of people there... no wonder the bus was so packed!! When we reached the destination, we were 30 mins early. Called and messaged Elaine a few times before she came out to fetch us in (the door was locked and no one answered when we tried knocking earlier). Jon and Grace was already there. We had a short tour of Elaine's office, where she sits. The rest of the people arrived later.

We were showed a video talking about being a dream releaser. What I learn from the video is that to do powerful things, we need to have a dream. Dream is something that drives us forward, and its waiting to be released. We start by using what we have with passion and God will fill what we dun have with a miracle. One important thing is to not compare with others, each has their own unique talents and situations. When people grumble about what they dun have, they will fail to see what they have and not cherish it. So, start by using what we have!!

To be a dream releaser, we need to train our eyes to see the potential around us. We need to learn to see the good in situations, in people. Its only when we see things in a positive light that we can influence positive changes. God sees us in out potential, what we can become, not what we are now (A lot of examples of heroes, powerfully faithful men of God, in the Bible who started out as someone very humble). Therefore, we should do the same for others.

We should be coaches of character, and not judges of character. Too many a times, we judge others according to our standards and "condemn" others. What we should do instead is to help the person grow by mentoring, guiding patiently in the ways of God.

When God sees that we have used what was given to us well, we'll be given more authority to do more!! (sounds the same as the Fire Conference hor??)

After the video, Elaine summarized the video and also told us the unit direction and upcoming events. After the meeting, me, Ink, TY and Pris went for dinner together with Khanh and Angie at the Muthu Curry in Little India. Khanh is Pris's Vietnamese friend from UK (here for a holiday for 10 days, which by Pris standard is like eternity to holiday in Singapore.. true though.. hehe) and Angie is her colleague. The deco of the restaurant is quite good. The food is good, other than some dishes which is quite salty. After the food, Irving went home with TY to feed Ashley. The rest of us decided to walk around in Little India.

We went to Mustafa to take a look (First time I've been there as I seldom go Little India cos not convenient to go, and also I dun like to sqeeze with crowds). I was stopped by the security guard and asked to seal my bag before I can proceed in. I gave him my bag and he sealed it with a plastic strip, the kind u tie POWs with. The problem is, he sealed the zip of the other cover of my bag, the inner part, which is the main compartment is not sealed!! I told Pris, the security sealed the only part of my bag which I dun use!! hahahaha

We went to the souvenir section and helped Khanh choose (I think he's such an easy person to talk with.... nice some more..). He ended up with a few items plus shirt.. hehe.. We continued on and also tried searching for jasmine flowers as KC had asked Pris to help him get. We gave up looking in there and started walking along the shophouses to look out for it. We finally found one and Pris prompted bought it.. It was a relief that its sealed, else dun know how to bring it home, not to mention to church the next day! hehe

We walked Khanh to the MRT station to see him off and the 3 of us then went to take bus home.

2nd July, Sun, Church Service

Today's sermon is about having joy in our life. We can trust the Lord to provide for us, that we will have joy in him. Jesus had come so that we may have life and have it to the full. In whatever things that we do or whatever problems we face, we can trust the Lord's hand is helping us to come through it. He will never allow us to be tested beyond what we can bear!! When we face problems/trials, there's a purpose. That our love for Christ flows, our trust in Christ grows, and the joy in Christ shows. Besides, how to have a TESTimony without a TEST? hehe

During lunchtime, a few of us geeks played and touched Jerilee's new laptop. Ordered food at the new Japanese stall there. TY, Pris and MC also ordered from there. The food was so so only. Next, I asked Ink if he wants dessert, and Yami yogurt was suggested. I ordered the largest serving, with 4 scoops of 2 peach and 2 plain, with some fruits and nuts in it, and shared it with others like Elaine, Ming, Ink. Gina and Pris ordered their individual singles due to hygiene concerns.. haha... (think Gina also ate from our yummy order.. can't resist temptation leh.. hehe)

After lunch, me and Pris went to the restaurant at Istana Park to pass KC the jasmine flowers. Then we joined Merv and Jerilee at the Macs at PlazaSing. We shifted our base of operations to Marina Square as the Macs at Plaza Sing didn't have wireless internet. We struggled for a while before figuring how to connect to internet at our new location. After we finished with that, we went to play pool. I think today I seem to be more accurate than usual, more able to focus. Pris on the other hand, was unusually missing a lot of shots.. think she's tired. Merv had to go off early. Think Jerilee never or seldom play this, so she didn't know how to play it. However, she learned very fast and managed to get a few balls in on her own.

Jerilee had to go off also. Left me and Pris. We check out the bowling alley. There were like 5-6 bookings before us, so we decided not to play that. We proceeded to the cinema. We decided on 2 choices, a chic flick or a show by Antony Hopkins called "The World's Fastest Indian". The chick flick only left the 1st row, so we chose the Antony Hopkins' show.

We bought a popcorn combo. when we went into the theatre, it was one of the smaller ones and it was not packed. So, I was thinking, maybe this is not a good show... boy was I wrong!! It was a very good show showing how a man with a dream can soar. He's a New Zealander who has a dream that his motorbike can break the 200km/h mark, and breaking the world record in the process. People around him didn't really believe he can make it, although they supported him. They helped him raise the money to send him to the USA for an event (can't rem what's the event called.. some event to compete in the fastest vehicle and had equipment to time it) in the Salt Lake in Utah where he can really test his bike. Along the way from the port to the event, he met a few people, and with the sincere way that he treats people, he made a few friends and touched a few hearts.

Over at the event, he didn't registered for the event cos its halfway around the world.. how is he supposed to know have to register? However, a friend he got to know earlier can see his heart, a true enthusiast. So, he helped him to get registered. However, when they were inspecting his vehicle, they found that a lot of parts were self made from kitchen, a cock as a fuel cover, tires with tracks cut off to make into smooth ones for high speed, no parachute for brakes.. actually no brakes.. like what he said, he thought its meant to go faster, not to brake!! They wanted to reject him due to safety concerns, however, seeing how determined he was (the chief official said that he had never seen a determined person like him before!). They allowed him to test run to see if his vehicle is worth the risk. He passed with flying colours and they scheduled him for a run thats going to record his top speed!

On the day itself, he took off after help with a push from others. As he sped faster and fster, the engine exhaust is so hot it burnt his leg (He took off the asbestos cloth that was meant to protect his leg earlier cos cannot fit his leg in the bike if he do that). He was so determined to do this thing that he cringed and took the pain. As he went faster, his bike began to wobble due to some physics thingy.. he raised his head up from the windshield to correct this problem and his goggles flew off.. he continued on riding blindly (he had to close his eyes). He finally broke the 200 km/h mark, but he didn't know, continuing on. He finally stopped when the bike turned on the side when he lost control and he skidded for some distance. He crawled out of his bike and we can see his leg badly burnt, but he was laughing happily as he had achieved what he dreamt abt for 25 years!! He went on back to USA to try breaking new records again for i think 6 times. The movie end with a statement saying that his record still remains since 1967!!

After the movie, we decided to go home. We chatted and walked all the way to City Hall MRT to take the train home. It was such a wonderful outing!!

On reflection, I find there seems to be a continuous message. Fri, Be a soul winner, dig up ur hidden talents. Sat, Be a dream releaser, Be a dreamer and do powerful things for God. Sun, A dream can be so powerful it can change the people around you even if they dun believe you at the start. All 3 days also talked about using what little you have and make the most of it, and you'll be given more. Maybe is God trying to tell me something... hmm..

The Sky Has Fallen!!!

2006-05-24T11:17:00.000+08:00

Indeed, last night, the sky has fallen..

I went home as usual, and switched on the computer. I found that the internet doesn't seem to work. So, I switched off the router and switched it on again. I did this for the modem also. It was not the first time that this happen before. I had long concluded the router is temperamental, and cannot take stress, so this didn't surprise me. After doing other non-internet-based stuff, I checked the connection and still there was no internet access. I tried switching the hardware off and on again, to no avail.

After pondering for a while, I suddenly remembered something. I checked my bills, and found the bill I wanted. I was due for payment by 18th, and now is the 23th!! Oh man...

My mind was so totally occupied for the past few days, I totally forgot to pay the bill for this (the other bills are settled automatically, other than the credit card bill, but i overpaid that one last month). Haiz.. Got to get my internet connection back again asap... feel so unconnected.. but one thing good about this, I get to sleep earlier.. haha.. Now I know why people in the past sleep so early, cos basically nothing better to do!! hahaha

So far so good..

2006-04-20T21:30:00.000+08:00

Prayer is powerful!! I had prayed for the whole week, everyday before starting work, that my boss will not ask me too much abt the current project, that she won't nag at me. I didn't wan any distraction or her affecting my mood for work. I also pray that I'll do my work smoothly and have clarity of mind to do the job well, and also not to get stuck on any part of the program. Basically, everything will be god. Guess what? I have the most peaceful, happy week in a long while. The boss seems too be of cheerful mood, and doesn't nag at all!! Prayer is powerful sia.. must do more of this.. trust the power of prayer!!

hmm... Interesting....

2006-04-17T21:26:00.000+08:00

Arranged since last week by Merv and CS to meet up today cos Laura is in town! If I’m not wrong, she’s here to take an exam of sorts.

I was on the way to meet the guys at Orchard. I took out my book to read, a book on the Christian church in Nazi Germany. I was standing at the side, facing the seats reading the book. Suddenly, the man sitting in front of me talked to me. I was a bit slow, cos I totally dun expect anyone to talk to me, some more he’s a Caucasian. I dun know many Caucasians. He repeated himself, saying that he can’t read my book cover with me keep moving around. So, I held the book steady for him. When he’s finished, he told me some interesting stuff. He mentioned that actually the western leaders were glad that Hitler took power, cos they hoped he’ll lead Germany out of the economic mess it was in, which he did. (I hoped I heard correctly cos the train was quite noisy). Then he mentioned that the US has a facilitator, I think, to Germany to facilitate conducting businesses in the country. And guess what? That guy is the grandfather of President Bush!! Then he mentioned that industrialists supported Hilter cos they believed he can help build up the economy, which he did. American industrialists were there also, and one of them happen to be some ancestor of Kennedy (didn’t catch which Kennedy is it)! He mentioned that when reading a book, there’s always a bias to it. He told me to note what is the bias in the book I was reading, and also read other books to get the whole picture. (Wisdom of the day man! Hehe..)

While the train was reaching Somerset, he stood up, and offered his hands to me to shake. I shook his hands and commented that he must have read a lot of books! He said, that’s cos he used to be a teacher (no wonder!!). then he passed me a slip of paper, and said that I can contact him to talk more. (up to now, I haven’t tried.. me shy… hee)

Reached Orchard and called the guys. Got to the Vietnamese restaurant that they were in. They were already halfway through the food. After I settle down for a short while, Pris thanked me for treating!! I was like, huh!?!?! Thinking… now… what happened before I came... what evil scheme did they think of before I arrived? (end up was nothing.. haha)

After finishing our meal, we still didn’t feel like going home, and so went to a pub for a drink. Me and Laura ordered a drink called the Honey Perrier. At first, when we thought it was honey with Perrier water, but when we asked the waitress, the ingredients sounded tasty. Immediately after hearing the ingredients, we decided on this drink (can’t rem what are them liao). We lingered for a long while, basically chatting and “wasting” our time. It was very late when we decided to go home. We said our goodbyes to Laura and split. CS and Merv took a cab, Laura also. Pris walked home (living so near orchard is such an advantage!! Hehe) and I took MRT.

David Allbritton's Boldness

2006-03-13T21:06:00.000+08:00

Be bold! That's the message of the sermon. Went to a talk by David Allbritton, an American evangelist. The topic of the sermon is how to win souls. He gave a lot of examples of how he approach people, how he took opportunites to witness to people and winning their hearts and saving their souls. He tells of how he is guided by the Holy Spirit to do certain things at certain time. Like how he joined a company to sell vitamin pills. He became successful in the business by witnessing and selling the pills at the same time. What a great way to earn money, can earn and save people at the same time! After some time, the company organized a company gathering in the form of a conference. It was then that he took had the opportunity to witness and teach the goodness of Jesus and saved 5000 people!

He's also into saving his neighbours. There was one time just after he moved house, he invited all his neigbours to his house for a house warming, get-to-know ur neighbours gathering. He took this opportunity to tell them abt Christ and saved 16 people out of 17... Amazing!!

The thing that i learn from this sermon is to learn to listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, to follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit and also be BOLD to witness to people.

PS. I got the book that he wrote, which has a lot of examples of how he evangelise, and also teaches a few techniques on evangelizing. An inspiring and must-read book!

Cycling outing

2006-03-04T19:18:00.000+08:00

well.. dun really rem what happened liao.. here's some pics then...

ok.. maybe I rem a bit.. I rem that I was crazy enough to walk from Eunos MRT to East Coast to meet up with the rest of the guys... I took my time to enjoy the scenery although it was a full blast of sunshine (i.e. extremely hot). Saw this building and decided to take a photo. Learned later from Meng Chong that this was an estate owned by an Arabian. There was another house that look similar to this across the road. Meng Chong said that that was part of the estate also!! This means the Arabian estate must be very very big, probably a few HDB blocks!!

Now, a few photos of the cycling session.

oops.. I only took photos of the sea!! haha...

After the cycling, we went to Outback around suntec to have our dinner.

Caught Junming with his favourite activity.. hehe

Without any other activities that we can think of, we decided to go home. More of the outing can be read on Junming's blog

Beijing, here I come!!! Part 3

2005-12-16T23:35:00.000+08:00

Finally last day of work! For the past few weekdays, was busy installing software, conducting training and also troubleshooting the problems that came up. The client was so kind as to invite us for dinner, with both the companies we were working with (2 different companies in the same group of companies). We went to a restaurant for steamboat (shiok man, in this kind of freezing weather). They are a very fun bunch of people. One interesting thing i notice is that they like to call their boss (zhong3) like if surname is Zhang1, then he'll be Zhang1 Zhong3.

So hungry!! how come the food is not here yet?

Finally it came and everyone dig hungrily into it. The chinese experience of steamboat is different in that they emphasis alot on the sauce that goes with the food.

Final group shot after all that beer and good food.

Last day in Beijing. Woke up early in the morning and then proceeded to the shopping for cheap and good stuff. My colleague's hubby brought us to THE place for cheap winter wear that I'm supposed to help my friends get. The place was huge!! There were so many shops and it stretched as far as the eye can see (I can't see far though with all the shops and people blocking my view.. haha). There were also accessories and food.. And u can get major discount. Imagine I got a trench coat for 250 yuan from a starting price of 900++ !!!

Proceeded on to look for Peking Duck to eat. Die die must find man, else can't tell people that I've been to Beijing!! haha

Took pictures along the way. This is near the Forbidden City (think its the red building in the background)

Found the shop we were looking for. The display basically trying to say this shop is very very very very oooooooooooooooooooooold.................

I see light!!

Looking like a MP wannabe

A view of the food process

Collected our luggage from the hotel and went to the airport. Beijing airport look not bad right?

Home sweet home!!

Beijing, here I come!!! Part 2

2005-12-11T01:04:00.000+08:00

Woke up early today.. er.. at least early for a non-working day.. hehe
Had breakfast which was bought last night and then went to the hotel lobby. There's a counter there where we can book short tours, and we chose a tour package covering the Ming Tombs and the Great Wall.

The bus came around 10, and we boarded it. There were some other tourist also.. We even stopped at another hotel to pick up more tourists.

This is the tour guide trying to explain to us the history of the destinations..

First Stop. Jade Making...

I guess this kinda stops comes with all tour packages.. but found some interesting info.. hehe.. This is the process of Jade making, basically, they have to slowly shape the jade from a square block of jade. There's even a piece that is a ball within ball kind.. very interesting... can be up to 5 layers, i think.. Look at that huge carving of a chinese junk!! its longer than my height!!

The birth stones and what each means, if anyone wanna know

and also.... Me trying to act cute..

Ming Tombs, visiting the dead.. hmm...

Travelled a long road. Was told by the tour guide that in the past, nobody is allowed to settle in this area cos of the tombs. In the past, the government is bigger, now.. the people is bigger.. at least in this aspect.. hee

Long long road sia...

Look at the map.. there are altogether 13 Emperors of the Ming Dynasty (1368A.D. - 1644A.D.) buried here.. Changling Mausoleum is the biggest, and the first of the tombs, containing Emperor Zhu Di and the Empress, and also the largest in scale.

Cannot see the tomb itself.. only the entrance or front part.. the tomb itself is not touched... as the tour guide says, the best way to preserve something is to not touch it at all.. This the greatest of the Ming Emperors.. the others who are not so significant are explored though.. life is cruel.. hee

Some items that were excavated from other tombs. I was fascinated by the gold ingots, as they dun look like what i see in chinese dramas. There's also gold utensils that a drunkard Emperor used..

Not forgetting the woman behind the "successful" man..

The man itself...

Can u imagine those pillars are whole trunks?? noticed the floor is elevated, and the pillars are protected.. they are serious abt preserving this place man..

I like this photo.. the scenery is very good.. :D

Other nice scenery

Lunch..

Time for lunch.. We arrived at some factory area, and entered some factory manufacturing vases. Its interesting in that it uses thin strips of copper and then paste small pieces one by one, the thin side, onto the vase. Then colour dye is added onto the vase and its placed in the kiln for firing.. After that, more dye is added and then placed in the kiln for firing again.. this process is repeated over and over again until the vase is smooth and the stips are flushed..

All that hard work!!

We had rice wine on the table.. It was a small bottle and our cups are so small.. I only took sips at a time, and can already feel the strong alcohol effect.. imagine drinking the whole cup at one time, think i'll faint!!

Great Wall of China (不到长城,不是好汉) (translated: those who have never been to Great Wall of China is not a man! hehe)

Starting point.. just looking at the length sweat liao..

Getting there!! *pant pant*

Finally at the top!! (at least the highest i'm going.. hehe) how come i see no dragon?? oh yah.. have to see from space.. haha

What goes up.....

Must come down!!

Final Stop of the day.. Tea Shop..

We had a final destination of a tea shop. Sat down and then watched tea ceremony and also walked around the shop.. After some looking around, I inquired abt some item i'm interested in buying. The shop assistant girls mistook me for the tour guide!! I figured it must be the winter coat I was wearing.. cos its my dad's one which he bought in China and looks like what the locals will wear.. haha.. They gave me discount though cos they say we're all Chinese.. I think it pays to be able to speak chinese also.. hehe

After the tea shop, we were brought back to the hotel and have our rest.

Beijing, here I come!!! Part 1

2005-12-09T01:01:00.000+08:00

1st Day (9th Dec)
Finally its here, this day, I have to fly off to Beijing to work. Its been a long week as I prepare the materials for this trip. I had been apprehensive of the trip, as I'm supposed to be giving training on some software that I'm not even familiar with!! Dun know is it cos of overconfidence or blurness, I didn't object when my boss asked me to do it. Now, I'm here right now at Changi Airport, with all my "preparations" and boarding the plane. And so, off I go.....
(Side Note : All the while thinking what game is the CG playing right now, cos there's a boardgame night today... miss CG already..)

2nd Day (10th Dec)
Touched down at Beijing Airport at around 6. The minute I stepped out of the plane, I can feel the chill already.. Its like opening the non-freezer part of a fridge and going in it! I can also feel my nose starting to have "reactions" to the cold! Did all the arrival procedures and proceeded to collect our baggage. Had difficulty identifying which luggage is mine, cos they all look the same.. hmm.. I was thinking, next time must either mark the luggage bag or buy one that is not so common.

Stepped out of the airport, and wham!! The full force of the minus zero cold hit me.. My colleague and her hubby who was travelling with us walked further down to get a cab. There was a taxi stand there, with Chinese Army soldiers(i assume so, or is it just the uniform) guiding us to our taxi. I noticed they also issue some card to the taxi driver (I guess its some log sheet). Probably they are regulating the taxi drivers in preparation for the 2008 Olympics. Before I got into the taxi, a sudden gust of wind hit us.. wow!! that was sooooooo cold!! I could feel my ears freezing, like alot of needles poking my ears!! I quickly got into the taxi, and immediately felt appreciative of the heater in the car.

Arrived at the hotel (Holiday Inn Lido Beijing) and checked into our rooms.

Look at this hotel door, you know what country is it liao...

Not long after, we took the hotel's shuttle bus. This bus stops at various locations in the city. We stopped at the Oriental Plaza. Went in to take a look. It felt familiar, like a shopping centre in KL.. haha.. had our lunch there, and walked around a little.

shop shop.. but didn't buy anything other than lunch and bing tang hu lu (that lovely stick of red dessert)

Left the shopping centre, and took a long walk towards Tiananmen. Along the way, we took some pics and then took some more pics.. haha.. boliao (nothing to do) mah.. besides, the scenery is good..

cool right?

Finally we reach our target, the Forbidden City.

Tour Time!! Forbidden City

I'm sure most people will recognise this

As we walk through the giant doors, I marvel at the hugeness of it, the gates, the walls, the buildings.. the pillars are basically tree trunks, huge ones.. We had to pass through 2 huge gates like this before we reach the main entrance..

Cold sia...

er.. what can I say? The Entrance? hehe

Walked through the gates and wow!! What a huge place it is!! All the memories of dramas, movies, documentaries that I've watched over my past years came to my mind.. All these look so familiar..

There's this device that I rented that can explain to me the history of the place I'm standing at. It uses a sensor to detect which part of the palace I was in, and then play accordingly.

This place is huge man.. no wonder the emperor can live in here his whole life (by right.. by left they sneak out often, if chinese dramas are true.. hehe)

A show of how cold this place is.. the canal is frozen solid!!

Guess what is this? Its a vat to contain water.. can see this all around the palace.. for fire fighting purposes.. may be heated using charcoal in winter to prevent the water from being frozen solid..

The throne of the Emperor.. wonder how it feels like to sit there.. hmm.. hehe

Actually all the buildings look abt the same to me.. haha.. ok.. this one is the place where the queen sleeps..

Walked around the palace to the imperial gardens, the different buildings where the Emperor lives, hold court, empress's room.. and many other buildings for different purposes. Also went into a small shop for a while to stop for a hot cup of coffee cos it was soooo cold!! considered ordering a hot bowl of instant noodles also.. but decided against it cos its ex and we're going out already...

On the way out, we saw this... What a HUGE door lock!! hehe

Final shot before I left the palace

Went around to shop and just walk along the streets.. interesting things to see... and also got some back alleys selling stuff..

Stopped over at Macs for dinner.. nothing better to do, and so took a photo of myself while waiting for my friends to buy back the food..

Went into a back alley, cos attracted by this.. recognise what is this?

and other creatures that supposedly can eat also.. I didn't test though.. stuck with lamb meat.. hehe

This concludes my first day in Beijing..

Bday thoughts

2005-12-07T23:52:00.000+08:00

Nothing much happened today... got the usual congrats, the usual wishing of bday.. somehow, feeling quite low.. dun know why. Celebrated with my family by going to Sakae Sushi last night to eat, ate so much there I felt bloated.

After work, I didn't feel like going home, so I contacted either Merv or Ink, forgot who. Had dinner and found out that there's a CG practice tonight. So, I followed along to Ink's house and stayed around there. Played a bit of the guitar, a bit of the computer. Then they started practicing the P&W and the discussion team came into the study room, where I was, to discuss. I can't help but overhear what the discussion team(MC, Wee Leong, Pris) is talking abt and tried to contribute a bit of what I know. My spirits was somehow lifted up after a while. Maybe it was the P&W singing, maybe it was the discussion topics, maybe both. I figured that probably what can lift up my spirit is a Godly gathering, where people praise God, and talk abt God. I guess it makes me feel more positive, and forget to be depressed!

Lion City 2005

2005-12-04T12:21:00.000+08:00

Lion City 2005!! Its like THE major dancesport event of the year in Singapore!! This year, Lion City 2005 is tasked to hold the finals of the Grand Slam series. Its a series of dancesport competitions held over a few countries, I think 6 or 7 countries. Its basically a competition of the world's top ranking couples. From what I understand, this finals is by invitation only.. meaning u have to be one of the top ranking couples to be able to even join this competition!! I would dare to say u can miss all the dancesport competitions in Singapore, but u can't miss this!! If you're interested in dancesport, that is...

As usual, we have all the other events like the Grade D, C, A events, as well as the junior events. These are interesting events, good to look at.. but.. these are the appetizer only. The main course is the Grand Slam event. Dancesport is split into 2 categories, the Standard and the Latin. I was very excited after watching the Grade A events, and very inspired. However, when the Grand Slam event started, my jaws dropped!

One of the Standard Ballroom events

World ranking couples are really very different from normal competitors! They can do all the cool moves and make it such that it looks so easy and so natural... They even look like they're just fooling around, and playing with the audience! Whenever the couples come out and start competing, I was like.. wah... wah.... and wah.... they look so elegant and beautiful in Standard, passionate and full of energy in Latin. I especially looked out for Maurizio, who's my idol in Latin dancing. He's so cheeky and energy-filled, in his choreography as well as his facial expression! The funniest part is the last part, after all the competitions is over. The last event is the Grand Slam Latin. After the competitors finished their last dance, they formed a line and ran towards the audience on one side to bow. Then they turn and ran towards the other end to bow. And you know what Maurizio did? He limped all the way as though he injured his leg.. limping with his right leg, and dragging his left.. it was so funny!! haha..

Maurizio Vescovo & Melinda Torokgyorgy (Hungary) in action!

Another pic of them. Can see Maurizio ghostly image, cos he's moving quite fast.. haha

Haiz.. really enjoyed this event, haven't felt this way for a few years. Think it'll be a long time before I can enjoy a Dancesport competition like this again!

CG on fri

2005-11-25T02:56:00.000+08:00

Actually can't really remember what happened on this CG liao.. haha.. today is 22th Dec liao.. my memory is failing me.. hehe

I rem that there were 5 songs that we sang for P&W. The thing that struck me the most is that I still rem the first song that we sang. Occasionally I will also recall the song and started humming it. It's called "I Love You Lord". Pris led us, singing this first song without any music. I felt that its a good start. It helps us concentrate our thoughts on God and also on the words that we sing.. cos sometimes even music can distract us from God.

Guitar practices

2005-11-22T00:48:00.000+08:00

Arranged with Pris to go to Irving's house to practice the P&W for this fri. Got the song list from her on Mon, but could only find the chords for one song. Pris then send a link to the chords for each song in a website. hmm... useful website.. so resourceful...

Went to Irving's house on tues to practice.. I must have been such a jialat guitarist as i dun know many chords and lack of practice. Luckily Merv was there to teach me some strumming techniques as well as chords. He was so patient!! Pris was also trying to reassure me that its ok, and telling me not to be so stressed up, that this is abt praising the Lord, so should be happy and joyous. I know she herself is quite stressed worrying abt singing in the right tune, singing loud enough, and also leading well.. still she considered my feelings also.. I also know that Merv needs rest but still take the time to guide both me and Pris, and to reassure us as we prepare.. Both of them are so amazing!!

Wed night, the 3 of us doing the P&W come together to practice for the final time. Ming and Pris did some tuning of songs, and running through, while i practiced on my own my part. I believed if i'm not wrong that we took out some Willie Wonker bars and took some funny pose with it (Pics are for personal laughter, not to be displayed in public places.. haha) Practiced together with Pris later. The 3 of us also run through a bit what we're going to do in terms of flow. What a practice we have, with Irving joining us also for some laughs.. haha...

WCG

2005-11-20T21:31:00.000+08:00

Went to WCG or World Cyber Games 2005 after church service. Its held at Suntec Convention Centre. Today is all the finals for Counter Strike, Warcraft, etc. watched the CS finals with CS.. hee.. the US team is really good.. they trashed the Kazakhstan team (hope i rem the correct country).. hehe.. the way they play, they'll trash the gang that played CS last night with me, maybe like 10000 to 0?

Anyway, got tired watching all the action and went back home to rest. For a more exciting description of the event, go to Ink's version

Singing and fragging bout

2005-11-19T21:30:00.000+08:00

KTV today!! Thats the programme for the day as suggested by the programme manager, Pris. Together with Merv and Pris, the time to meet is set. We met up at the KTV and proceeded in. Basically, I have a problem with KTV... Due to my memory leak with regards to names, I dun know what songs to choose!!! So, I left the choosing of songs to the KTV queen (guess who is that... actually not too difficult, there's only one female there!). Ming, MC and CS joined us a while later as we sing our hearts out. It was so fun singing so loud (without the mic of cos), one song after another. For pics, go to Junming's blog

Done with the singing, its time for dinner. We were all starving. The place we chose, Carl's Junior. The burgers were huge man.. I had difficulty trying to finish it, I'm sure the rest also has the same feeling. Pris even had to abandon the burger-gorging!! What a waste!! hehe.. juuuust joking...

Finished with dinner, we had to think of some entertainment. We went to the WCG at Suntec to take a look. The competitions for the day has already finished. The time and event for tomorrow was noted so that we can plan for tomorrow, to know what time to come.. hehe

Still not willing to go home, we went to a LAN shop and played CS.. I mean Counter Strike... not Chang Shiung.. haha.. We did a random assignment, and Merv was teamed up with Pris and MC, me with CS and Ming. The top scorers of the day was Merv and CS. Merv, with his irritatingly good aim and good strategy, and CS's good aiming.. luckily at least one of the top scorers is on our side!! haha.. Pris also showed her prowess, and killed me quite a few times.. dun play play arh..

well.. thats all for the day as Ming and MC sent all of us back home. Poor Ming has drive even though he got a headache from the Counter Strike game!

Personality Test 2

2005-11-16T23:49:00.000+08:00

Another personality test I did from Ink's blog

Your personality is Phlegmatic-Sanguine

Overall:
Melancholy:6
Phlegmatic:17
Sanguine:16
Choleric:1

Strengths:
Melancholy:1
Phlegmatic:8
Sanguine:10
Choleric:1

Weakneses:
Melancholy:5
Phlegmatic:9
Sanguine:6
Choleric:0

Can't believe I'm so young!!

2005-11-15T16:35:00.000+08:00

Did a personality test on Ink's website.. jialat man.. I'm still a kid! Ink's page

You Are 16 Years Old

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe.

13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world.

20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences.

30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more!

40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

Eventful Day!

2005-11-12T00:36:00.000+08:00

Quite an activity packed day today.

IPPT

First, IPPT. The dreaded part of NSmen, at least those who dun exercise much. haha
Had to wake up early as I had chosen a 7:30am slot. Arrived on time (took a taxi to do that), but I'm already no. 111! Did all my stretching and .. stretching.. and more stretching... as I wait for my turn to go through the static stations. The 1st station I had to do is the shuttle run.. got a 10.5 secs!! I was thinking, I must be too relaxed when I ran. So, unsatisfied, I requested to run again. This time, I got a timing of 9.9 secs. Now.. this is more like it.. Satisfied (Like I got choice, cos cannot try more than 2 times.. haha), the next station is the situp. I managed to do 39 in one min, to get the maximum points for this station, nothing more, nothing less, to conserve energy for the 2.4km run later. Then came the easiest station for me, Standing Broad Jump. I got 243cm for that to got the max point also.. hee.. The last stationary station is 1 of 2 I dread most, Pull Up, cos I never train at all this time. With anxiety and fear of failing, I managed to do 6, barely.. phew.. pass!!

The last station, the 2.4km run. As I said before, I didn't train for this. So, basically, I have to depend on sheer determination to finish and pass this cos I know that I have tendency to run out of breath. My no. was 111, so I get to start first. On signal by the PTI (Physical Training Instructor), I started. This 2.4km run is on the road in the camp, with one up slope and a corresponding down slope. The first round was quite ok, physically, timing was 3:41 min (ok.. slow, but considering never train, ok lah for 800 metres). On the 2nd round, I was starting to feel my lungs trying hard to pump air. I had to constantly force myself to keep my mind blank and eyes unfocused so as to concentrate on breathing regularly and not get distracted, to pace myself. In my mind, I also ask God for strength to finish this, as I cross the 3rd lap mark. Time, 7:56...

The 3rd round was torturous. I had to really force myself not to stop, as I know if I stop, I may fail this test already (calculating from the last 2 laps, I may fail this just barely). I also prayed harder for strength to continue (I had told God earlier that I'll give whatever incentive money gained to him, and also that I dun wanna waste time coming back again, time which can be better used to serve the church.. hee). Every breath I take seemed like its going to be my last. As the finishing line became closer and closer, my determination became stronger and stronger. I gathered all my strength for one burst of speed. I ran like there's no tomorrow, and finally cross the finish line. Normally, this time, I should be feeling happy and relaxed, but no.. I was desperately gasping for air! How I wish there was an oxygen tank nearby! I looked at my time.. 12:19.. Ooh.. I barely passed, as the time for a pass is 12:20 min.. or so I thought.. I went to take a look at the standards chart to double check if I pass. Guess what I saw? The time to pass is 12:40 min!! wah liao!! I had so much time left, and I nearly died from lack of breath!! haha.. oh well.. thank God I pass.. grinz..

Movie

Arranged with Pris and Junming to watch movie at Junming's house in the evening. Elaine also came later. We watched the show where Andy Lau acted as a boy who grew up in 3 days, and learning the adult world. I feel the show is teaching abt not looking at things on the surface and to appreciate ur family, that every member in the family is important in forming the unique characteristics of each family. We then had dinner with Junming's mom and his neighbour cum junior (Junming is such a good host hor??). We then watch Dark Water.. I still dun know who chose this show? thought we were going to watch Cinderella Man? haha... Anyway, the show was not scary at all.. Its more of a tragic show than a horror show. The fun part though is seeing Pris using a pillow to cover her face whenever there's a potential scary part, and also Elaine's attempt at scaring me.. haha.. (I couldn't find an opportunity to scare Elaine cos the show dun have scary scene). By the time we finish the show, it was quite late, so we decided to go off and not to impose on Junming and his family further.

Salsa

I checked my hp and found out that Hazel is confirmed going to salsa tonight. As I had already promised her to go with her a week ago, I took a taxi to meet up with her at Union Square. I was the first to arrive.. hee.. waited outside of the bar for her. I saw Andrew leaving and tried to call hiim, but he couldn't hear me, and his hp is not on. I couldn't wait, so I went into the bar first to take a look.

First thing I noticed is that I dun recognise any of the people inside. Must have been a long time since I visit this place! These people are cool though, dancing beautifully to the beat. After Hazel arrived, we danced a little as she patiently encouraged me as I had almost totally forgotten how to dance this. She helped me recall some basic steps to do and we tried them out (heng she patient arh). After a while, I felt a bit embarrased as its supposed to be her night. Cos after this, she may not get to come here for a while. So, I encouraged her to find her friends to dance with, so that she won't feel obliged to stay with me. A few guys also invited her to dance (shows how good she is, in dancing and in looks.. hehe). Met Michael who I know from Ballroom Dancing during the Uni days. He also taught me some moves that I tried out with Hazel.. (Salsa is abt more variations, the more u know, the more fun it is, else becomes repetitive, something which I can't stand.. hehe). Enjoyed the night but had to go back early cos got to go Church the next day. Hazel also wanted to go back rest, and so we called it a day.

Civ 4

2005-11-07T09:33:00.000+08:00

Today Civ 4 is out!! Not that I'm following the game. However, I have 2 very onz people who informed me of the launch date, Ink and Merv.. must be in the blood.. haha... We met up at Peninsula Plaza as Ink went to Funan earlier to buy for us. Then we had dinner with TY at the food court in the plaza, while at the same time savouring the feeling of opening our "treasure" to look at the technology maps, the manual etc. btw... saw an old TV actor there also..

Concert

2005-11-03T09:33:00.000+08:00

hmm.. actually nothing much to add.. hehe.. This is a concert by Paradise. Went with the CG.. Only know 1 song out of the many they sang.. "One Way".. haha.. So, its a challenge to enjoy it, as compared to the normal church service. hehe. This ends the day for me, as I go back home to unpack the luggage.

Reservist - Ex Wallaby, Australia

2005-11-03T09:32:00.000+08:00

Day 1 (18th Oct 2005)

Gathered at the airport to prepare to board the plane. Supposed to wear a collared shirt, but forgot.. hee.. :P . Panic for a while, but after thinking a while, conclude that its not serious, not like i'm wearing slippers and beach wear.. haha

Day 2

Arrived in Rockhampton Airport early in the morning. Some of the people were randomly chosen for bag inspection. They had to take out everything in their bag, to check for soil, foodstuff, etc, cos Australia has very strict rules regarding these. From my tone, its easy to guess that I had that "innocent" enough look to escape from this.. hee

Arrived in camp by coach, and as expected from experience from last time here, the base camp is basically tentages. There are quite a big of changes from 10 years ago though. The camp is bigger, and there is tap water and toilets with flush! It used to be huge tubs and toilets which are basically holes in the floor, and with worms breaking the shit down. The bathing facilities are the same though, which is basically bag with sprinkler at the bottom. We have to pour water into the bags and then hang it up. There's a mechanical knob to turn the sprinkler on or off to allow the water sprinkle down until there's no more water.

The "Famous" pulley system shower

Work started immediately after we've settled down. I found out that a lot of the work had already been done for me, with some loose ends that I have to tie down. I had been so worried that this ICT will be very tiring, cos my able assistant is not here for this ICT. Thanks to a good friend, Ker, as well as prayer request email sent by Pris, I have much less work to do.

Subsequent Days

The rest of the days are quite routine.. going out for field exercises, going back to camp to prepare for the next one.. doing alot of checking equipment and changing faulty ones and test again. Gratefully, I have a few friends, who I made since years ago, who are very helpful, else I'll be so overwhelmed with so much to do. During the exercises, I kept looking out for some form of animals, like kangaroos, or wallaby, or emu. I was not so lucky...... haiz.. seems like all the kangaroos are hiding somewhere, cos my friends keep telling me that they saw one or two!

Anyway, the exercise is tiring due to the need to travel long distances and the summer heat. Its very cold, more accurately, freezing cold at night.. imagine very hot during the day and very cold at night.

But it was interesting also, cos I got to know a fellow soldier better. Seems like he's serving in an organization that helps Jews who want to be Christians, or help other organizations like churches to minister to Jews. I learn from him that Jews have very different views with regards to the Bible. The structure of how their books are arrange are different, not like what we have. He also gave examples of the significance of some festivals to Jews, festivals that we non-Jews may not feel is important. I remembered a comment that he made, that there are also a certain sect of Jews that believe that the Messiah (Jews won't know the word "Christ" cos it came from a Greek word) has already come. However, that sect believe in another person and doesn't fulfill all the prophecies. To be the Messiah, all the prophecies has to fulfill.. all as in ALL!! An example of a festival

Aspiring photographer trying to take cool pics

hee.. a nice pic, only my friend will know who this is.. hehe

Last Few Days

Yay!!! The tiring part of the whole ICT is over since the exercise is over, or so I think. The handing over is just as tiring! I even had to work overnight and catch like 1 or 2 hours of sleep. There are people who dun get to sleep at all too! But the thought of doing everything well and be able to get out here smoothly kept us going. There were alot of administrative things, equipment checks, coordination, counting and recounting of everything to be returned. Finally we're able to finish everything, and can relax.

R&R (2nd Nov 2005)

We have one day of R&R or Rest & Recreation. The Army paid for a guided tour to the Heritage Village, the Cultural Center and a trip to a shopping mall. The Heritage Village is interesting. They recreated the past, with horse carriages, Smiths, tractors pulling tour coaches, even games that involve driving tractors (too bad we didn't have time to play that). I even had my first horse ride!! (ok.. I sua ku, ok?). Will be more fun if can gallop though.. through a forest in Europe kind.. hehe

Antique Car Exhibition..

Farmer learning how to feed a goat

Imagining myself riding through the woods.... actually trying not to get thrown off the horse

Didn't do much at the Cultural Centre though. Threw boomerang (Deja vu cos did that at the same place 10 years ago!!) and walked around looking at exhibits of the aborigines' history. Next we were taken to a Shopping Mall. We have abt 3 hours of shopping time. With a sense of urgency, we proceeded with our shopping. One of the things I desperately needed was a pair of shoes, cos mine is currently held together by some ingenious tying using strings thought of by a friend. Found a very good one that was quite cheap. Then I started my food shopping. Bought alot of chocs for CG, family and colleagues. So much that I felt a bit embarrassed when I went up on the coach later. My good friend, Wengang, who's shopping with me wanted to buy a sunglass, and so I helped him choose one, giving my opinions as best as I could (like I know sunglasses.. haha).

"Artistic" shot near the place we had dinner.. nice right? The houses and the sea, I mean..

Another shot at the same place, people doing para-surfing.. looks fun!

This SAF-sponsored tour ended with a night's stay at a resort hotel, the Ridges Capricorn Resort. It was a beautiful hotel with nice pools and palm trees. Not a bad place to stay, if u're looking to just relax. Wee rested there until abt 3 plus where we had to wake up to take a coach to catch our plane. Did all the necessary checks and boarded the plane.

Attempt at 15 secs shutter exposure at the Resort Hotel..

Rare chance to take a plane up close

Shots from plane, taken with help of friend, cos my seat is at the wing side, same as when I came!!

Arrival (3rd Nov 2005)

Alighted the plane and all of us went to take a look at the duty free shops. I bought a few bottles of liquor (This is the first time I'm doing this, so asked a lot around.. haha). Took a taxi home. Messaged Irving that I'm back, and he told me that the CG is going for a concert at Nexus tonight. I agreed to join after I put my stuff back home.... To be continued.....

PrisK... I mean Risk again??

2005-10-17T02:25:00.000+08:00

After the boardgame night on Fri, there was an unsatisfied feeling cos we only had one game of Risk (actually, come to think of it, more like Pris has this urge to play before she start her exam hibernation.. hehe). So, after service, me, CS and Pris took Ink's keys and proceeded to his house for Risk (with his permission of cos). Before I continue the story, look at Pris's website, with her geeky specs.. cute.. hahaha

Now, back to the story... We played 3 rounds of Risk. 1st round, I was very lucky. I had a mission card to conquer the North and South America. It was quite a heart stopping moment when I had only 2 soldiers left to kill off one enemy. Those who played Risk before will know how much chance I had. I took the gamble to attack one final time (cos I figured, if I dun, there won't be another chance again.). And guess what? I won.. haha

For the 2nd and 3rd rounds, guess who won? It was Pris! Me and CS was busy fighting each other while Pris was doing her maneuvering. Together with her geeky specs, she was "innocently" capturing one by one territories that at a glance looks insignificant. Although me and I think CS also, find it unusual, we didn't think much of it and still continue to "plot" against each other. And surprise surprise, Pris won by capturing enough territories to win, not once, but twice!!! hmm.. innocent-looking Pris won.. wonder was the wearing of the specs timed for this.. hehe..

We took a break from Risk and decided to play Umbra.. However, after a while, we found that its using too much of our brain power (brain dead already arh) and decided to stop. By this time, Ink is back. He suggested that we watch anime, FF7 movie, which we readily agree. Hearing that Jon is coming over, we asked him to help us buy dinner (thanks Jon.. :D). It was a good show, somemore with Jon's potato chips, with all the excellent and realistic graphics.

After the show and dinner, Jon wanted to play Risk also after he heard that we came to specially play. This time, me and CS decided that its not advisable that me and him fight with each other already. If we don't fight against each other, at least one of us can have a good chance of winning.. hehe.. This theory proved correct when CS won the game. This time, we're quite tired (also not to disturb Ink, TY too much) and called it a day.. so, for today, the score is Gab:1, Pris:2, CS:1, Jon:0.. Overall winner is..... Pris!!

Boardgaming nite

2005-10-14T02:25:00.000+08:00

Ink decided that this fri, we should have something special. So, he thought of doing a Matthew group style CG, and decided on a boardgaming night. He has a lot of board games that a normal person will never even heard of before.

I started off with Settlers, playing against Changky, Wee Leong and MC. It was so funny, cos we were complaining how we're blocking each others path, and also moving the robber to deprive resources for the other party. Changky got hit by the robber most, cos there was this period where we had I think abt 6 or 7 continuous turns where he can't get resource cos of the robber that i placed there (me so bad right? but how I know timed so perfectly, cos the streak started right after i placed the robber there). Somehow, I managed to win this game. hehe..

The next game was Risk.. but cos of waiting for Changky to finish his round of railroad building (hmm.. wonder how he managed to start playing this while still playing Settlers huh), me, Pris, Wee Leong and MC decided to play very fast Blockus. 5 mins, Changky said, so we planned a 5 min Blockus. It was very fun trying to think so fast. forgot who won this though.. By the time we finish, Changky still hasn't finish with his railroad empire.. so, we had to play a few more rounds of Blockus.. hehe

Then, after some time later, its time for Risk. The contenders are me, Pris, Changky, Reina, Irving, and Andrew. We played the mission cards, and I got the card to wipe out Reina!! hmm.. how?? dun have the heart to wipe her out, cos she's playing for the first time.. some more she's a girl.. haha.. so i just play around, creating my own mission.. like taking Europe, just for the fun of it.. hehe.. what makes this game amazing is that Pris managed to survive in Asia, and very well some more.. dun think i've seen anyone settle in Asia, without a continent, surviving so well!! Another amazing thing is that MC took over Andrew's pieces(cos Andrew had to go) and he managed to turn an army that's so scattered and few to go on to win the game!

After this game, we dun feel like going home, so the few of us stayed and went into Ink's study room to play Blockus. After having fun with fast Blockus earlier. We decided to try lightning Blockus, where everyone has only a sec to think. It was so funny watching a kan cheong Blockus.. haha

By the end of it, we were so stoned and chatted until quite late. Then its time to go home. I stayed back though. Me and Ink tried to play a game, but changed our minds cos we're already half-dead. So we proceeded to sleep, and I went home the next day.

Our official boardgame night photographer, Ink , took quite a no. of pics. Nice ones.. He also managed to capture one pic of a Sadako.. scary.. haha

an old friend, a new sister? / A new life is born!

2005-10-09T11:45:00.000+08:00

What a surprise I had when Ink told me that Hazel has asked to join us for service today! Apparently she's been going around to many churches and looking around, so here she is coming to check out our church. I'm on urshering duty this day, so when ink and her arrived at the church, I was at the door waiting, and shaking her hands to welcome her.. hehe

It wasn't until after the service that I get to talk to her again. We (the whole CG) went downstairs to grab our lunch. Over lunch, Ink was explaining to her some aspects of Christianity as well as clear some misconceptions she has. I was also sitting beside Hazel and listening to the Godly wisdom that Ink is exuding, in the process, learning some things from him also.

After lunch, Ink and TY wants to shop for their baby, so me, Reina and Changky went with them to shop. Well.. lets just say me, Ink and Changky ended up looking around in the toy section.. hehe

When we were done, we proceeded to Joel's home to see his new-born baby. The baby was so small, and sooooo cute.. hee.. Joel demonstrated how to feed the baby, and Evelyn told us of her experience during the delivery. Guess who has the most questions? Its Tze Yee.. the mom-to-be.. haha

Junming, Pris and Merv came later, as well as some others like Faye, Yap, etc. They had to wait a few more hours for the next feeding session. Meanwhile, we watched 2 movies of Robots and Monster-in-law, both very funny shows. After imposing on Joel and Evelyn, and baby Edna, for a few hours, its time to go.

Faye and Junming gave us a drive to Great World City, although they didn't join us for dinner. So, me, Pris, Merv, Changky, Ink and Tze Yee (how come no one call her Ariel?) had a very sumptuous dinner at dun know what restaurant. I remember having Angel hair with beef, and some other ingredients (a name which I find interesting, making me choose this). After dinner, changky went off, while Ink and TY went to find baby stuff.. again.. haha. Pris wanted to go window shopping, so me and Merv escorted her all the way, while teasing her by saying that we're going to help her watch her spending, and she keep insisting that she's not going to spend. haha. Merv and me took off the moment we reach the Zara shop entrance, leaving Pris to her earthly heaven. Reaching Tiong Bahru by bus, we went home separately (well.. Merv is already home! haha)

2nd time guitarist

2005-09-23T14:04:00.000+08:00

My turn to be backup guitarist. 2nd time I'm playing for the CG. Had a good practice on wed, though I kinda struggle with it cos of lack of practice. I managed to play it reasonably well later on.. even tried different strumming styles at home after that.

On actual day, which is today, I have to go on site to a client to install and configure some software. This took abt the whole day, and even stretched into OT as there were many problems with the configurations. As I was doing, I was looking at the time.. gonna be very late!! So as soon as I can, I rushed off and had to book a cab as the place was too deserted to see any available cab.

When I arrive, I saw the rest doing testimonies, mainly Elaine.. hehe.. I thought I was in time.. but I was told later that they were actually waiting for me!! When its time to worship, Merv started playing for the first song. At the 2nd and 3rd song, its my turn. I played quite badly, I feel, as I couldn't concentrate. I hadn't had lunch and dinner, and was feeling a bit of headache. I was drifting in and out of concentration, and I think missed or played wrongly a lot of parts. Nevertheless, I finished my part, and Merv completed the P&W with the last song.

What a disastrous 2nd debut I had.. realised that I need time to quieten down my heart, as my heart was still in the working mode after such an intensive and frustrating day... also, I need to practice before the whole thing start to get into the mood.

First Guitar debut

2005-09-16T01:29:00.000+08:00

We have a special CG today. Due to the unexpected change of plans, our programme today is a campfire style P&W and a workshop by our dear Ink. Junming thought of the idea. All those who went for the Believer Music courses are to play the guitar and the rest shall sing. During the practice, we tried to play together at first. Merv was horrified (he was helping us to make this last minute thing possible), we were so out of sync with each other. wonder how we manage to follow the instructor's beat.. hmm.. we decided that its best that we each play a song. And it kinda turned out ok.. haha.. though with alot of tries on my side..

So, today, on our actual day, I was the first one to play, to start the P&W. We were seated all around instead of standing. I was a bit nervous, though I told myself that I've competed in dancing in front of total strangers before, this is nothing.. but then again, these are people I know, and this is something sacred, dun wanna spoil their atmosphere of worship!!

So, I played my song in a simple March 2 strumming (those who went for Believer Music will know whats that). Surprisingly, I managed to finish the song without any major glitches.. hee.. feel so happy abt that.. so the next was Reina's. She played 2 songs with more complicated strumming styles. This is followed by Tiger Ming, also with more advanced strumming style. Tze Yee didn't play cos she's the P&W leader. The whole atmosphere was very good with TY leading, and Reina and Tiger playing.

Key to evangelism
Ink conducted a workshop for evangelism to prepare us to do what all christians should do, evangelise. His topic was on the forgotten key to evangelism. It goes like this..

What some do is to tell other people that they need to be saved, that if they dun accept Christ, they're going to Hell!! This is not productive, cos people either get offended, or they feel they dun need, cos they dun see what they did wrong.

Ink gave an example.. if someone came over and tell u that u have a fine of $20,000, but the good news is that it has been paid for by someone. What u'll think is that why should u be fined, cos u didn't do anything wrong, so u won't feel any gratitude or reason for someone paying for u.

However, if that same person tell u that u've driven above the allowed max speed, say 60km/h where limit is 30km/h, over a stretch of road where there are schools and children's pedestrian crossing. Then u'll realise what wrong u've done and will appreciate the help that was given.

So, in the case of evangelism, what we need to do is to fall back on God's laws in the Bible. To know and show others what wrongs they've done. Not to force it down people's throat or condemn people (Christians are supposed to have a gentle heart, so should be gentle to others), but to "inform" them with regards to their life. Hopefully, and with the help of prayers and the Holy Spirit, that person will realise that he need Jesus, and be grateful someone paid for his sins, and also that God is so gracious.

Wireless Card hunt

2005-08-28T15:15:00.000+08:00

Went for wireless card hunt today. After sun service and lunch, Pris wanted to buy a wireless card for her laptop so that she can use it in her school. So she asked me, ink and merv along to help her choose. We took a cab (cos very hot, well.. at least for me) there. Went to Fuwell and took some time to choose which one to get, as me and irving was debating the pros and cons. We decided that its better to get a cheaper one over a faster one, as she dun need so fast, as broadband speed is so much slower than the wireless transfer speed. Besides, Pris is on a budget.

I got to buy some stuff there also. (You must be thinking I'm tempted by all the hardware around me) I had to buy Norton Antivirus 2005 upgrade version for my company... haiz.. no money to get all those cool gadgets.. haha..

We then take a look at the cameras in the shops downstairs.. camera window shopping.. both Pris and Irving were looking at the cameras longingly.. haha

Feeling hungry, we proceeded to the foodcourt downstairs to have our dinner. I took dessert as I have a dinner appointment with my family. After the meal, we went home (well.. I went home to go out have family dinner.. haha)

Relationship with God

2005-08-26T15:19:00.000+08:00

CG discussion today is about pride. Whatever prideful things you can think of. The one statement that strike me most is that we should offer the best to God. We should offer what we are most unwillingly to let go. Different people have different things they are not willing to give up, whether it be time, or money or other things. It is only through giving that we receive. Not only in Godly blessings, but also it releases us from the psychological barrier that holds us back from a closer relationship with God. I guess I need to reflect on what holds me back from Him, to be able to receive the fullness of life that God wants us to have. I want to feel what I've heard from other christians but never fully felt. The supreme, uncontrollable joy of God's presence!!

Caring CG..

2005-08-12T12:05:00.000+08:00

I was feeling very very ill yesterday. My head was spinning, my whole body was aching. Basically, I felt terrible. I even had to go back early after finishing my work there, instead of going back to office. When I was walking back home, I felt like my home is so far away, and I felt like fainting. When I reach home, I quickly bathe and went to sleep.

I woke up a few times to drink water and go to toilet, but I had a total of about 16+ hours of sleep. During the night, my dad gave me some medicine to eat and also a cloth that he placed on my forehead as I was having a fever also. He took such good care of me and I felt much better the next day, although I can still feel my head spin. At least, I felt good enough to see a doc to get MC (I couldn't the day before cos I felt that I only have enough energy and determination to reach home)

The whole day, I was resting at home and trying to recover. The I received a lot of sms-es. Basically the whole CG was messaging me, asking after me and also that they will be praying for me. I know it was TY who sent out the information (She's like the "Mother" of our CG). I felt really touched that so many people are concerned abt me, and its people that matters to me.. I guess its when people are ill that they can really feel lonely and want some form of assurance that people care abt you.

Seems like a lifetime ago

2005-08-05T10:07:00.000+08:00

It seems like a long time ago that I attended CG. I've been busy with the preparations for the SGDF preparations that I had to miss the last CG, and even not attending the same service. Our CG has become like a family and something thats part of me already. Even not seeing everyone for 2 weeks seem like a long time has passed!! Really enjoyed myself with this "reunion"!! hee.. :-D

SGDF Competition: A Competition to remember!!

2005-07-31T15:35:00.000+08:00

Woke up very early cos had to go to the competition venue at Raffles to do preparation. I had promised Celia to go early so as to help her to arrange the trophies. When I reach there, there were already a few people helping to carry the stuff from the ops room to the ballroom. There were peopl setting up the reception area, the competitor changing room and the ballroom itself. Everyone was doing final checks on what the hotel had provided for us and to do some fine-tuning.

I had to get to my position as the competitor coordinator. I may look cheerful outside, but inside I was close to panic liao.. I dun really know if I miss anything cos this is the first time I'm doing something like this!! Luckily I have a savior, Jonathon. He came straight here from the airport to help out with the competitor coordination as he's the only experienced guy who's available. He taught me some of the things I should look out for and do and also coordinated with the hotel staff on how to arrange the place where the competitors go into the dance floor.

As the competition starts, the real work began. We had to call out to the competitors to inform them of what's the next event (we have event schedule pasted up also, with cancellation of the event that was over with marker). As I was having a cough, I always cough after shouting for the couples' no. or for the competitors for the coming category to get ready. I learned alot from Jonathon, my "mentor". Without him, I think I'll be so stressed and panicky as there were so many situations that I never thought of! The most important lesson I learn is to be calm and to not want everything to be perfect, to learn to let go and be flexible (being too perfect can make things worse as cannot move forward).

Well, on the whole, good to say the day event was good. And also Kelvin and Rosanne managed to get into the 3rd round of their Standard category, which they didn't expect, so was happy for them (mind you, its an international competition, not easy to get into round after rounds). Kelvin and Rosanne also had something funny happened. They had 2 events back-to-back, as they figured they probably won't get into the round anyway. However they did, and this situation happened. They had to compete in the Standard category, then after that, they had to change into their Latin costume to compete in the Latin category. While they were changing, the other competitors waited for them. The MC was trying to fill up the time by entertaining the guests with talks and introducing the couples that were already on the floor. He also explained the situation to the audience. When Kelvin and Rosanne went in, the audience was clapping very loudly for their spirit, the competitor spirit, the spirit of taking up both disciplines in competitions, which is not easy and is very rare in Singapore!

Now, the night event is the interesting part. While in the day, I had Jonathon to be in control to help me, at night, I'm on my own as he has something on! So, there I was, trying to look brave, and consolidating my mind on what I learned in the day and try to learn to apply it when I need it most... which is NOW!!

It was a very adrenalin-filled night. I thought since there are fewer competitors at night, the job should be easier. How wrong I was! Me and my assistants had to call the competitors so many times to assemble them at the competition hall entrance for each of their events (I was told they are supposed to know their own event and assemble there themselves). It was fun though.. I was shouting and coughing at the same time. Thinking they must be thinking this is the most comical competitor coordinator they've ever seen!! I've a new found respect for this role. Its really difficult trying to organise so many people and keep to the schedule.

The whole competition, I didn't really have a chance to watch the dancing. After the prize presentation, the champions are to do their honour dance. The Latin IDSF Open is won by MAURIZIO VESCOVO & MELINDA TOROKGYORGY from Hungary and the Standard IDSF Open is won by DOMENICO SOALE & GIOIA CERASOLI from Italy. Maurizio and Melinda started by doing rumba. I was thinking at that time that this was not going to be interesting, as I prefer their high energy dance routines like Jive and Samba. I got my wish as they progressed into a high energy packed routine. It was fabulous and exciting to watch them dance.. so full of life!!

Domenico and Gioia did their honour dance with Waltz. It was the most beautiful standard dance I've ever seen. They were telling a story with their dancing. It progress from courtship to dating to romance and ended with Dominico turning Gioia and then hug together, with him hugging from the back. They look so lovely together!!

Happy me.. hehe

Everyone's eyes fixed on dance floor

Competitors coming out after a round of exhaustive dancing

Hectic Day at Ops Room

2005-07-30T15:35:00.000+08:00

Today is the day when all the competitors for the SGDF competition have to register and collect their number tags. When I arrive at the ops room, they were all unpacking the stuff and setting up the room for receiving the competitors. We also have to put all the items to give to each couple and adjudicators in their respective envelopes. While doing all that, I saw the news paper article of sharon and connie, isabelle and xavier in the New Paper. It was featuring siblings who have similar hobbies, in this case, ballroom dancing. Cool sia...

The first competitors start to arrive. This registration exercise last until night time, so the couples come in small streams (at least we have time to breathe). We have competitors from Australia, China, Taiwan, Phillipines, some others i dun rem now, and of cos Singapore. There were others, but those are more high-level ones (top world ranking dancers), but they come later or next day.

I didn't really help out much with the registration (hmm.. wonder why I was there.. haha), only helped with the starting preparation. Then I was told that I had to help organise the march-pass of the couples in the Asia-Pacific competition, to showcase the countries taking part. So, when the first Australian couple came to register, I quickly introduce myself and brief the couple on what will happen and what to do, as they were the first couple in Alphabetical order by country. It was nice and fun talking to them, and they were very obliging and friendly.

At about late afternoon, something interesting happened. We saw the National Day parade march-pass by the vehicles of Police, Civil Defence and Armed Forces from our large window! Our view was fabulous, as we were in a room in full view of the road where the vehicles are moving pass to the Padang area. Then I rememmbered today is the National Day Preview(Irving and TY are going for this). Cool man.. Didn't expect this!! :D

Around evening time, it was time to go to the Church service to make up for the service I'll miss tomorrow. I was slightly late, but I managed to catch a glimpse of some drama they were playing on stage. My first thought was, "They are so natural in their acting man!! They are young adults only.. Got potential for musicals and dramas!!". As this is the tertiary service, the pace and beat and atmosphere is very high and exciting. Its like if you dun jump and do alot of body movements, you're the odd one out. This is so unlike the adult service where its the oppposite! Feel a few years younger when with these people who is full of energy.. hehe

Fun day!!

2005-07-23T02:09:00.000+08:00

Botanical Gardens

Recently, Pris is crazy about walking. So, this time, we were pulled in to join in her obsession... just joking.. dun water bap me cos of this.. haha..

She suggested one day that it'll be a good idea that we go walk walk and have a picnic. We finally decided on Botanical Gardens cos of the excellent greenery and atmosphere.

Our meeting point was at Tanglin mall. Altogether, we have Pris, Ink, TY, Merv, Jerilee and me. We went to the supermarket to get some food for our picnic. There were so many choices, and we took our time to pick and choose what's nice and suitable. After getting paying for the food, we walk towards our destination.

As we were walking, the sky became dangerously cloudy and dark. Then a few drops of water fell on us. We stopped and gather in a circle to pray for clear skies. Well.. we didn't see the sky suddenly become clear all of a sudden (that'll be cool man.. hehe), in fact, it started to pour heavily. We had to run to the nearest shelter which was a bus stop.

While waiting, we chit chatted and Merv enjoyed playing with his camera. We saw this pram with anti-rain shelter, look so cool!! (Ink, get this for your child for all the outdoor activities that you'll have.. hehe). Not too long after, the rain miraculously stopped!! Thank God!! (It was really raining very heavily)

Finally we're able to proceed to the Gardens. We walk around and took a number of pictures. There were many beautiful places and scenery.

Strolling leisurely

Drunks who can't walk straight

Finally, we saw the amphitheatre with a few groups of people resting there and decided to set up our picnic there. Somehow, nobody was around after a while. We were then only ones left at the stage!! (Come to think of it, if people were not there at first, we may not dare to go there to set up our picnic!!) Guess what happened next? It rained again!! wow!! We are soooo lucky to rest here, else will be like some of the people we saw, have to run to shelters. Somehow, even with all the rain, nobody came to where we were for shelter.. strange..

proceeding to our private stage

beauty on the stage

Anyways, we had a great time eating and chatting. It was also a time of taking pictures and playing games. Jerilee brought some pancakes and we all did some art on it. (See Ink's webpage)
(Andrew joined us at this time) Played the card game called High Society (forgot the name but Merv told me). Had so much fun trying to psycho people and confusing them.. so evil right? hehe...

everyone getting comfortable

After much fun, its time to go. We slowly made our way back. I even took a video of the walk. The rain started again and we had to find shelter. (All this time Pris occasionally took my camera to take pictures.. very artistic ones..) Pris took this opportunity to take some nice pictures of the surroundings. When the rain got lighter, we continued our walk back and split up.

see who can fit into the bin!!

Family Dinner

I happen to have an appointment with my family to have a family dinner that night, so the next stop is to meet up with my family. However, I went home first to meet up with my dad and bro and his gf. We then proceed to the Bukit Timah hawker centre. On the way there, my mom and sis boarded the same bus!! (this was not arranged) Its been a long time since our whole family are together in an outing like this!

The hawker centre was very crowded (shows how popular this place is). Once seats are found, we decided to order food that everyone can share and split up to do so. Dun know is it a good idea or not, but we ended up with tons of food!! It was fun taking pictures and eating and sharing the food! I like this kinda feeling! This is also the last major meal before my bro will fly to Australia for his course, so we treasure every moment with his presence. There was so much food that I think all of us had a tummy after that.. hehe..

see the variety of food we had!!

happy and satisfied faces

Here's some of the artistic photos that Pris took.. hee

Breakthrough Campaign

2005-07-17T01:05:00.000+08:00

Today is the start of the Church's breakthrough campaign. We're encouraged to make a pledge to have a breakthrough, no matter what the breakthrough is, and also it can be broken down in periods. For me, I guess a breakthrough will be to be closer to God, have a closer relationship (I think I'm greedy, cos with better relationship with God, all other good things will come.. Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well - Matthew 6:33 hehe..). Aiming to be able to talk to God until people think I'm crazy or something.. haha

Blading mania cum Dancesport temptations

2005-07-16T01:02:00.000+08:00

Finally, today is the day when i once again put on roller blades and try it on the bumpy East Coast Park trail. It has been a long time since i bladed (as though i bladded alot.. haha.. bladed only 2 times before!!). I was late and decided to take a taxi as I dun wan to reach the place and end up blading for a little while only.

I called Chang Shiung when i reached and got to know that Merv and Ming will reach soon, and so i waited for them. Me and Merv proceeded to rent the blades. It was very scary when I first stood up and tried to walk around.. although i should already be used to the balancing from experience in ice skating. The down slope from the shop to the pavement was the scariest, cos I dun know how to brake!! I nearly got into a collision with some bicycles! So there me and Merv started our baby steps (Ming already expert, Merv was first time). We went in the direction where I think CS and Pris will be (They arrived first).

Making slow progress, Merv and me moved inch by inch towards the direction of where the others were (Ming was with us, but his is not inch by inch, his is like flying!!). The humps were not as scary as I thought (had very bad experience with it the 1st time I tried blading). Saw Pris and CS down the road and the next aim for me was the end of the trail. After a looooong time, finally reach the end! hee

Made a U-turn and continued back to the original starting point. Ming went ahead and bought us all cold drinks (So nice of him right?). Andrew joined us at this point (CS went off and Pris went Macs to rest) and we tried the other direction. Bladed halfway before we decided to give up.. no strength already.. need to reserve some for the journey back!!

Me and merv returned our blades and then joined the rest for drinks. After drinking and chit-chatting, its time to go.. Pris called her friends, merv and I joined her in a ride to the MRT in Yan's car. All the way, Pris and her other female friend in the car were worried abt Yan's wrist injury (I learned later that it was quite bad, had to put cast). Reached MRT and I took the train to studio.

Another night of temptation at the studio. Was so restless the whole time cos of the beat of the music and the atmosphere. Well.. tried to dance abit to release that pent-up energy, but dun know what moves to use, cos no routine and no partner, so end up just do simple steps. Ended the day with the Super cool music in my head!! haha

Re-living the past

2005-07-09T23:47:00.000+08:00

Went to studio today to help out in a workshop. Jinjin had asked me abt it, saying that Gladys asked if I can help, so I agreed without really knowing what I'm helping. On arrival, I saw a few of the guys doing salsa steps in the small room. Only then did I realize I'll be helping in salsa!(I only know basic salsa.. haha)

We went through the steps that will be used for the lesson. Luckily all are basic steps. We then waited for the "students" to come. When they came, I see that most of them were in their middle or lower middle age. From what I learned later, they're from the Herald Tribune coming for their conference from overseas branches. This workshop is organized by the organizer of the conference, as part of their activity. (How nice to have a company that arrange such things...). We had fun partnering the "students" and teaching them the steps. I especially enjoy it when they enjoy themselves and is very eager to learn, and willing to try even though they made a lot of mistakes.

At the end of the workshop, we even had a mini exam/competition where 2 couples go out to dance while the others watch!! After the class ended, the lady whom I partnered even gave me gifts of a keychain and a paper bino-culars from their goodies bag.

I stayed in the studio until nighttime to settle some admin stuff for the coming competition that the SGDF is organizing. Today happen to be Saturday, so there's the Saturday night practice, where they will dim the lights in the dance floor and put coloured lights. The whole atmosphere is very good for dancing with good lighting and good music. Couples, especially competitors, who wanna practice will come on this day to practice what they've been training for the whole week. I can really feel the thrill of dancing amongst them, among people who can dance really well, and who gives off such a feeling of energy and also with the different feel that each of the different dance gives. (Waltz, Tango, Viennese Waltz, Slow Foxtrot, Quickstep for Standard section, and Samba, Cha cha, Rumba, Paso Doble, Jive for Latin section)

Each dance has its unique characteristics, giving different feelings of serenity, excitement, passion, romance, aggressiveness, playfulness, cheeky, feeling of wanting to fly, even the thrill of jumping around!! A friend even commented that Waltz is like a roller coaster ride! Listening to such nice music, such good atmosphere, and such good dancing, kinda makes me miss dancing.. I think its the only activity I did that gave me such a range of emotions, from anger to joy, from sadness to happiness, from feeling so lousy to feeling so good about myself. I started to dance a bit of basic steps, but got tired of it, cos no partner, no routine, kinda got bored.. so i just enjoy other people dancing with my eyes though my body is reacting to the music.. haiz.. but its ok.. I have other priorities now. I'll be back if I can, hopefully with my future wife!! Now... thats a nice thought!! :D

First Time Chair-mei-ing

2005-07-08T23:45:00.000+08:00

Went to Irving's house right after I knock off. Very apprehensive today cos today is the first time I'm chair-ing for the CG! I had prepared notes on what to say, what's the sequence of events, etc. I was informed abt chair-ing on wed, when I met up with Irving.

He had told me before the meeting that he's going to run me through the things to do, which I assume is how he plans the CG and what he intends to do for the workshop. Then he started telling me the sequence of the CG, how to go about it in the view of the chairman. Halfway through, I started to suspect something is not right.. haha.. but I didn't say anything. When we had finished through the sequence of CG, I asked him why is he telling me all these, sound like I'm chairing for the CG. Its then he revealed to me that I'm chairing for this coming CG. He said,"You mean I didn't tell you? oh.. You're chair-ing for the CG this week!" I was like.. huh???? hahaha.. But I was also thinking, after going through the sequence, it seems easy enough. We (or rather he) also brain-stormed the things to do for the workshop on evangelizing.

Ok, back to present... After much waiting to start the CG, we finally started, and I tried to help people relax by asking them to talk abt their past week. Pris and Grace talked abt their respective trips (Pris came back on thur, Grace today). Pris talk abt her holidays in Europe while Grace talk abt her experiences in Dubai. After everyone has settled down, its time for P&W. Reina took over and started with a prayer to prepare our hearts and go into the Praise songs. Zhiyi then took over the Worship songs and I had a good time feeling the presence of God amongst us, with our prayers and singing.

With our hearts prepared, Ink start his workshop on evangelizing. This is a continuation of what Elaine did last week. We were split into groups, given different scenarios and were asked to evangelize to the "non-believer" in our group in 10 minutes. I was assigned to merv's group together with Yixi. Our scenario is doing volunteer work. Me and Yixi are supposed to evangelise to Merv. Me and Yixi were at a lost on what to do, and keep asking Merv for advice. Though we didn't really thought of how to evangelize to him, we did agree with assumptions of the scenario, and Merv is called Ah Beng, me Ah Seng, and Yixi Ah Lian.. hahaha.

All of us were then called to give feedback. We realise that its difficult to evangelise and different people used different methods to do it. Even different scenarios for the same people may have different methods. Ink, then start his teaching. I learned that there are methods to evangelising, and its suited to different characters whether is the believer or the non-believer. I think I'm suited for a mixture of the methods.

We ended with announcements and prayer. Then Pris, Grace and Kaidy brought out the goodies from their respective sources. Pris from Europe, Grace from Dubai, Kaidy from Australia. But first, Me and Pris went to Macs to get fries for the sauces that she brought. With the fries, we started our Food Fest.. I never had so many different snacks in one day before man!! yummy!! Thanks so much to Pris, Grace and Kaidy!!

Londoners Unite

2005-07-07T23:44:00.000+08:00

Went to Studio today right after work. Luckily met Melvin on the way there, cos the studio is empty! The instructors are away for some function, and the others are performing at the IOC stage in Raffles City (Kelvin and Rosanne are performing at NAFA, if I'm not wrong, for the Lee Foundation). After putting down my stuff, I went over to Raffles City to watch the performances (Performance by Roger & Connie, Xavier & Rianne).

Before their item, there's the rope skipping team (they look quite cool with their rope skipping stunts), as well as the wushu team. After the wushu team has finished with their item, I was like... huh??? Cos all they did was walk around do some warm up punching, and kicking, then do some simple punching and kicking with pads, and thats it!!!

Xavier and Rianne went up to perform after the wushu team.. they danced the cheeky, playful cha cha, and look quite good, with that confident look a dancer should have. After that is Roger and Connie dancing the sensual Rumba. They look so loving as well as confident and showy.

After the items have finished, the MC went on stage and did the closing speech. Then he said something that shocked me, he said that there was a bombing in London and asked for a minute of silence. I was suddenly afraid, cos Pris is on holidays in Europe, and I'm not sure if she's flying back from London, cos I think that is her final stop. During the minute of silence, I prayed very hard for her as well as the Londoners. When the minute is up, i took out my handphone and want to message Irving to see if he knows anything abt the status, as well as to pray for Pris. My hp is as usual, crazy and gave me a "insert SIM card message", I took out the SIM card, clean and put it back again a few times before making it work.

Then a message came in... "I'm back" from Pris.. wow.. I was suddenly relieved and glad that she's alright.. Its times like this that u start to appreciate ur friends more.. I went back home and searched the internet for news, and was quite sad at the sufferings, and angry at the terrorists, at their distorted, inhuman theories. Stupid People doing Stupid Things!!!

SGDF Vision

2005-07-03T10:20:00.000+08:00

Met Rosanne and JinJin for lunch. Went to have some Pizza at the basement of Raffles City. Leting joined us, but decided to go to food court to find food instead. Kelvin came just as we were finishing our food.

After all that pizza, its time for dessert. We went up to Haagen Daaz to get some ice cream. I treated Rosanne to some strawberry ice cream as a birthday present and have some choc brownies for myself. The brownies here is really very nice, must try it again when got the chance!

The indulgence in sinful food took some time as we slowly enjoy it. We then proceed to the Carlton Hotel for the SGDF AGM. The AGM went as normal AGM would, verifying and approving the various documents. This time, we have a voting of new AGM Executive members also. The people were nominated before the AGM, and since every post has only one nominee and no new nominations, and no objections, it was passed. I am now officially an Exco member.

Shawn was then asked to tell us the direction of the dancesport scene as he's the presidium of IDSF(International Dancesport Federation) and our official coach. We were told that the chance of getting dancesport into 2008 Olympics is a no-go. He also told us about the coming IOC conference, that there's only a slim chance of getting into the 2012 Olympics cos of the limit that was set to the no. of sports to be hosted in the Olympics. We were also told about the coming SEA games, which has Dancesport as one of the events to be hosted. After that, we broke for refreshments.

The Exco members and the potential athletes to represent Singapore for the coming SEA games proceeded back into the conference room after the break. Robert, the President of SGDF, told the athletes of the rules and regulations set by the Olympic Council. He stressed the importance of remaining contactable at all times in case there is any surprise doping checks. He also reminded them to work very hard for the games as he had fought very hard for the sponsorship for the lessons and competitions overseas. He expects them to spend almost everyday at the studio either practicing or taking lessons. I was impressed by his determination to provide the best possible support he can to the athletes, and the ingenuity in making it all work (Dancesport is not very well known compared to things like soccer). Although he sound harsh to the athletes, I feel that its cos he wants to see his efforts pay off, that they'll appreciate what he has worked so hard for.

As all of the athletes are my good friends, I wish them well, and hope they'll see their efforts pay off, and make Singapore proud. Go Team Singapore, Go!!!

Evangelizing

2005-07-01T10:19:00.000+08:00

Today, Elaine gave us a talk abt the importance of evangelizing to other people. Well.. the thing that I remember the most is abt the analogy to a pile of cow dung. Cow dung is useless unless it spread out to fertilize the land, just like we're to go out into the world to spread the good news. She's telling us not to stay in our comfort zone, but to bring new people into the Care Group, to do God's work!

Dancing Baby

2005-06-28T12:23:00.000+08:00

Today, I went home early after work. Took a long nap and when I woke up, I saw a very good news on my phone.

Earlier during work, Tze Yee told me over MSN that she's going for her regular checkup today and ask me to pray for her. Now, Ink sent me an sms, telling me how his unborn child is playing inside its mother's womb!!! Its hands and legs have formed and it is moving, turning, probably kicking inside the womb!! (maybe even somersault.. haha) So naughty.. just like its dad! hehe.. Such an active baby! Maybe its a potential dancer! hahaha

Community Day

2005-06-26T09:43:00.000+08:00

Community Day.. A day where you immerse yourself in the community, be part of a community. er... nay.. thats not what I feel. Its more like activity day to me.. haha

The event is held at Punggol community Centre, which is in Hougang (Weird right?). Took MRT from home to Hougang station. After coming out of the station, I saw some pasar malam stalls in near the station exit, and proceeded to buy some food cos I hadn't eaten anything since I woke up.

The guys in the morning shift were serving some residents when I arrived. Our item is called Bamboo Rock. Its a combination of Limbo Rock and Bamboo Dance, with some "transportation" of water using cups for added fun. We had expected some spilling of water, but what I saw was a flood, so much that they have to sweep away the water quite frequently.. haha

I think I was the first to arrive for the afternoon shift. The rest of the guys gradually arrive, and we took over the stall for the afternoon. There were a lot of people coming to our station, aunties, kids, young parents, etc. I took some time off to explore around the other stalls, I even played at the soccer section (supposed to hit at specific targets, I did, but I hit while aiming another one.. hahaha). By the end of the day, we were a bit tired. We took some photos and started dismantling the stall. I know that there'll be line dancing later on, but no one wanted to stay, so we proceeded home.

While walking to the MRT, there's this Caucasian who came from behind and commented that we're going off. I thought he was being friendly, but realized later that he's kinda drunk.. haha..

Tertiary Service

2005-06-25T09:42:00.000+08:00

Was late for the tertiary service. When I went in, the place was dark. They were having a drama performance. The actors and actresses on the stage were so natural, really feel like I was watching somebody's life flash across my eyes. The statement that touched me most is that God is hurt when you are hurt, God is sad when you are sad. God feels what I feel, he feels for me, he's always there for me, 24/7!!

Something that Pastor Jeff said makes sense also, that the Church is the only organization that people accept you the way you are, no matter how ugly you look, how "weird" you are. Everybody is accepted and loved!! Guess this is what God intents heaven to be, thats why he only wants people who believe in Him and love Him.

Artistic appreciation

2005-06-24T09:41:00.000+08:00

Met CG around evening time. Went to have dinner together. Today we have a visitor, Kailin, from Hope Sydney joining us. She's here for holidays for a month. After our dinner, its time for art appreciation.

We're at the Asian Civilization Museum for the Vatican Art exhibition, "Journey of Faith". This is an attempt by our dear CL to expose Christian art and history to us. When we went in, we saw a lot of Asian cultural exhibits. After a while, we realised that this is not the Vatican Exhibits! Realizing that, we moved in further and found it. The place was quite serene. As I moved to the 2nd exhibit, I saw something interesting. This exhibit came from Priscilla, Rome!! I guess this place will definitely be one of the stopover points if Pris ever visit Rome!! hahaha..

I went through the exhibits one by one, reading every single description of the exhibits. There were a variety of them, paintings, sculptures, ornaments, pieces from tombs, clothes of Popes, carvings, and even 2 small pieces of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The scrolls were so tiny though that I almost miss it though! Before I was even a quarter way through the exhibits, the security guards start to chase us out, cos its the closing time. I took a quick glance across the rest of the exhibits before I walked out with the rest.

With no other plans in mind, we strolled to the City Hall MRT. Along the way, Chang Chiung and Merv started to talk abt interesting topics like the history of the different versions of the Bible. I also got to know what Jesuits did before, terrible people!! They also talked abt the history of the Christian world, abt the different denominations of Christians (including the Catholic Church). hmm.. come to think of it, we talked quite a lot. Must have been a very long walk!!

Pris going Europe!!

2005-06-22T09:40:00.000+08:00

Had to go to Laguna Country Club in Changi to visit a client. So far away from my home!! After finishing my work, I took a cab to Changi Airport (haha.. so coincidental that this is the first time I had to travel to the east side of Singapore to visit a client). Today, Pris is flying off to Europe for her long planned vacation. I'm meeting her to bring my camera and accessories to lend her (no camera how to enjoy fully?? hehe..), as well as to send her off.

I arrived very early, so I started to explore the airport as well as have my dinner. Pris recommended me to Popeyes. So, I started searching for it. I searched from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2 and yet couldn't find it. I managed to find a booklet with a map and found out that its at Terminal 1... argh... (Pris also told me that its at Terminal 1 cos I told her my plight.. but well, I managed to explore almost the whole airport.. hehe).

The food was very good, but when I had finished, I still have a lot of time to waste. So, I went downstairs to the sofa that I remembered I saw. When I reached the sofa, from what I saw, it seems like the coffee joint beside it own the place. So, I ordered a chocolate drink just so I can sit on the sofa, and to enjoy reading my book. I took a short nap as well before Pris called me asking me where I was. She came and sat down, while I showed her the camera and how to use it. We then joined her colleague who's going with her on the trip (Irving and Merv are on the way at this time. Pris was not supposed to know. I messaged Irving urgently to tell him to hurry up!)

After Pris and her friend had checked in their luggage, her friend suggested going in early, which made me panic (I quietly messaged Irving to inform him of the possible disaster, and to HURRY UP!!!) Luckily, they finally decided to have their dinner upstairs at Popeyes (I informed Irving of our destination). After Pris and her friend had ordered their food, they settled down to eat. At this time, Irving and Merv came from behind and scared Pris (Pris guessed Irving was coming cos I kinda leaked the news, but she didn't expect Merv.. I think I suck at keeping my face straight when in conspiracy.. haha).

After finishing their meal, we proceeded to the departure gate to send Pris and her friend off. She keep turning back to wave at us (so fast miss us liao.. hahaha). Happy holidays Pris.. enjoy yourself.. dun miss us hor.. hahaha

Last lesson of Beginner Guitar

2005-06-20T14:47:00.000+08:00

Last lesson for our Beginner Guitar course. For this whole session, its all abt playing as many different songs as we can. There were many different songs, with different timing and strumming patterns. Had a hard time catching it, but it was very fun! We were given a "Believer Music Graduation Pick" at the end and took a photo to remember this day by.

Art and Craft

2005-06-19T14:46:00.000+08:00

Attended sun service as usual. After the service, we had lunch at S11. Then we split up to settle things that needed to be prepared for the community day on the following sunday. Me, Ink, Pris and Alfred went around trying to find some cardboard and paper(to do the instruction and scoring board for the game we'll be doing). We had to go all the way to the Popular in Orchard MRT station to find some!

Following that, we had to find somewhere to settle down to draw our cards. Before we did that, we went into a shoe shop. Ink wanted to get a pair of shoes for Tze Yee. (So nice right? not any special occasion, he just felt like doting on his wife!) He got Pris to help him. He knows which shoe his wife was eyeing the last time he and TY came though. (its kinda uncomfortable cos in the whole shop, we're the rare guys.. like real.. haha.. my skin quite thick when it comes to this.. hehe).

We finally settled in the coffee joint in the Orchard library to start on our "project". Pris started her magical hands on the paper, drawing the border. Ink and I had to leave Pris alone to go for our community day volunteer briefing at Nexus. After we were finished, we contacted Pris to meet up with her. She told us that she's wandering around cos the staff of the coffee joint had chased her away!! (boycott that joint man) She managed to finish one piece, and handed to us before proceeding to meet her friend (She had to meet her friend, and yet helped us!!).

We then went to the Taka's Macs to settle down and to complete the other piece. Reina and her friend came to join us to help us with the art (Me, Ink, and TY were not confident enough to draw after seeing Pris's one). Reina got some inspiration from some patterns she saw on her way here, and drew a very nice border, with some help from her friend (Ink commented that luckily he never try to draw). There wasn't enough time to write the words, so we went back after the borders were done.

Singlehood and BBQ

2005-06-18T14:45:00.000+08:00

Unit event today! Started the day by going shopping with Mark and Peishan. We met at Carrefour as we think we should be able to get everything we need in one shot. However, although the store is very big and has alot of things on display, we had a hard time finding bbq items. They are all placed so far apart from each other!! We had to walk the whole of the 2 floors to get everything!!

We then proceeded to the bbq venue in Dover. After putting some stuff into Grace's house (the host of the bbq venue), we went down to the ktv room of the condo's clubhouse. When most people had arrived, our dear CL started by describing his own experiences of pursuing his life partner (did i mentioned we have a 3-part series of singlehood and what we should look out for when finding our life partner). He described how he started searching for love from a girl, and didn't have it. And how he only found it after he started to search for love from God and to start serving Him. I remember one thing that he said Tze Yee, his wife, asked him, "Are you a Godly man? Godly men make good husbands!" I guess it goes the other way round too!! I would want a Godly woman also, cos a Godly woman will have or strive to have a Christ-like character!

We then went on to watch a video by Joshua Harris, the author of "I kiss Dating Goodbye". Although I haven't read the book, from what I heard, I think I'll agree with what it says. In the video, he talks abt obedience to God, abt patience and waiting for God's timing, as well as faith in God to give us the best if we wait for him. One example I remember from the video is abt marshmallow (we're going to have that during the bbq.. hehe).

There is this scientist who did an experiment. He assembled a group of kids, and gave them a marshmallow each. Then he told them that he's going out for a while, and that if they wait for him to come back, he'll give them 1 more marshmallow. The kids had different response to the instructions. Some never even wait for him to go out before popping the marshmallow into their mouth. Some covered their eyes, some looked at the ceiling, trying ways and means to avoid being tempted. Those that were able to restrain themselves got their 2nd marshmallow when the scientist came back. After this experiment, these kids were monitored as they grew up. Those who had been patient during the experiment were more successful as a person. They were better in studies, as well as emotions. Those that didn't wait to pop that marshmallow into their mouth turn out to be more emotionally unstable, and their studies were not good also.

This story is telling us that the kids who waited had faith in the scientist and were rewarded in the end. In the same way, we should wait for God's timing, to have faith in him, and we will be rewarded in the end. What I learned was also that God will know when is the right time for me to meet my future spouse, when I've been well-trained in terms of character. Also, having a closer relationship with God will make me a more stable, dependable person.

After the video, we were split into 2 groups, the all-guys and all-girls team. We were to list out things we look out for when looking for a spouse. We were also told to list out what we think the other gender will look out for in a spouse. What I can say abt the list the guys wrote is that 80-90% was written by Andrew. hahaha.. (see Tiger for the list. Things like "must have artistic appreciation", I dun expect, cos I dun do that also.. haha. Its good to see Andrew so enthusiastic though :D). The girls were shocked when they saw the list of the guys' expectations. I don't blame them, cos I will be shocked if I were them also.. haha. The list of what we think the girls want in a guy however, were quite accurate in terms of matching what the girls listed. (cos contributed more evenly by the guys.. collective wisdom). Now if I were to have my own list...
- Kind (kind to people around)
- Honest (honest but not cruel, and certainly not sacarstic, related to kind and positive)
- Sporting (willing to try stuff like sports, games, even jokes which seem to make fun of her)
- Intellectually Stimulating (must have, else will become silent companionship liao)
- Has a sense of humour (Understood, no comments)
- Positive thinking (too much negative feelings can affect me, positive thinking can motivate me)
- Patience (important.. cos I'm slow.. hahaha)
- I'll be a hypocrite if I don't mention pleasant-looking girl. But I believe that a good character makes a girl more and more beautiful.
- did I mention Christ-like? haha.. if can be Christ-like, then all of the above and more loh. So, in conclusion, Godly woman will be good. hehe

In retrospect of the exercise, I also need to reflect whether I'm good enough for my future spouse. I believe I need to seek God, and his ways more so that I will be worthy.

Just when things were getting more interesting in the discussion (Battle of the Sexes), we had to clear the room and proceed to the bbq. We had a hard time starting the fire, but after much effort, we got a fire so hot, it hurts just trying to bbq marshmallows. Pris showed us a wonderful bbq dessert, by cutting a trench along a banana, with its skin still on, and stuffing chocolate and marshmallow in it. She then proceeded to wrap it in aluminum foil and bbq it (think its 9 mins). I had doubts abt how it'll taste like, but it turned out to be fabulous! (well done again Chef Pris).

Pris, Irving, Merv, Chang Shiung and me left early to catch a movie. We went to Ink's place first for a rest, and then together with Tze Yee, watched "Mr and Mrs Smith". It was quite a comical show, and I enjoyed the clumsiness of Brad Pitt, and the precision of the Mrs Smith (dun know her name). What I learned from the movie is that keeping secrets from each other in a marriage is very damaging. It can even lead to the couple trying to kill each other!!! hahaha

Care Group

2005-06-17T14:44:00.000+08:00

Its Care Group time again!! Yippee!! hehe

We started by sharing thoughts and events these past week as well as the experiences of those who went for the Church Camp and those who didn't. It is followed by the P&W.

Today is Pris's first time leading P&W. She has been nervous and praying very hard for Godly help the days leading to today! (as you can see from her blog Pris). She did a magnificent job, and she has a very nice voice, contrary to what she keep saying. I'm sure with more practice and confidence, she can sing like a diva (imagine Mariah Carey). :D

A joyous occasion this is. Its Alfred's first Holy Communion leading also! I was kinda surprised that he's able to lead so well in prayer! (I think its cos he's quite a quiet person, to hear him speak so well is "unusual".. haha).

Next, as usual, we come to discussion time. Today, we talk abt Simon the magician. The topic is abt bargaining with God. However, we covered quite a fair bit abt the lure and influence of the old ways, to get out of it, and to embrace our new life as christians. We also talked abt Holy Spirit Baptism. Tze Yee and Reina shared abt their experiences as they were the only ones who were baptised in the Holy Spirit (Our group has Alfred, Jerilee, Tze Yee, Pris, Reina and me) Jerilee also shared abt how surprised she was when she first heard people speaking in tongues, thinking what strange people these are. She came from a traditional setting, something like me, so what she said also speak to my heart.. haha..

We had to hurry our discussion as we had something to do. Its Merv's bday celebration today!! (though its belated by 1 week) Its sabo time!! We all conspired to hide wherever we can in the house, as Merv is in his room with his door closed (me, Pris and Alfred hid in the storeroom, the rest hid near the main door). Then Ink called his bro out to help clean up. Wee Leong leaped out when Merv went near and gave him quite a scare!! hahaha. We proceeded with the singing of bday songs and cutting of cake. We also took out the KFC food that Wee Leong had ordered. While eating, we gave our affirmation. I think I can safely say that all of us had in one way or other experienced his selflessness, in giving, in that he's quiet-looking but will always be there for you. Happy Birthday Merv!!

Funeral

2005-06-15T14:41:00.000+08:00

Arranged to meet Irving for preparation of discussion on Fri's CG. Went to Delifrance to have our dinner as we discuss. He came from his home cos he went back to take his stuff. Tiger, Merv and Pris were practicing their P&W on friday. Ink told me that Pris has a very beautiful voice, something like Evelyn's.

We ordered our food and settled down to discuss. We didn't cover much, cos I was too busy talking to him abt other things, which took alot of time (forgot what I had said, but probably self-reflection, discovery, mixed with complaints.. haha). We had to suspend the discussion to be continued the next day as we were going to Andrew's granddad's funeral.

The pastor, I forgot his name presided over the funeral. His closing story impresses me. Its a story of Father and a Son. There's this man, who try his best to bring up his children, 2 daughters and a son, to live the christian ways. However, his son did not live like a christian and went abt his rebellious ways. When the father is on his death bed, he called his whole family. He said to each of the members, "Good night, see you in the morning!" (i.e. see you in heaven). When its his son's turn, he told him that he had tried his best to guide him to the path of salvation, but to no avail. When he finished, with tears in his eyes, he said to his son, "Good night, and Good Bye!".

The son cried to the father, "Why do you said, see you in the morning to the others, but to me you said good bye??". The father replied to the son that its cos of his wicked ways, that he'll not be able to join the father in heaven. When the son heard this, he wept and asked for forgiveness from his father and from God. The son felt a sense of serenity and happiness. The father on seeing this said to the son, "Good night son, see you in the morning!"

Moral of the story is, are you going to tell your family, your relatives, your friends, "Good night, see you in the morning!" or "Good night, and Good Bye!"?

Another interesting point I noted is that the pastor said that funerals are not for the dead, cos they're in heaven already, but for the living, to be a testimony to the living and a chance to convert them if they're not christians yet.

Pack Bag

2005-06-08T18:36:00.000+08:00

Nothing much to write today.. went home after work with the full intention to pack my bags for the Church Camp. Guess what? I end up doing alot of things other than packing bags. haha... Still stuck at Zuma lvl 12.. hehe

Still I managed to finish packing the bags at abt 3am.. haha

Celebration Time!!!

2005-06-07T17:49:00.000+08:00

Arranged with Irving, Tze Yee, and Pris to go have a celebration dinner at Coffee Club at Raffles Place (after much communication to and fro.. hehe). I arrived very early, since I'm supposed to be the organizer, to recce the place, cos I have totally no idea where is this Coffee Club. I wandered around, trying to search, along the way, I admired how much change there is since the last time I was here. I also saw 2 policemen standing and 2 indians sitting down, with alot of pirated cds lying around!! Must be another bust! Anyway, I managed to find the location, after wandering around alot in the wrong directions.

Irving, Pris and I ordered our food. I had a Squid Ink Pasta set (as suggested by Pris.. hmm.. maybe Irving should have ordered this, since his nick is Ink.. haha), while Irving and Pris had the Garlic Prawn Pasta. Well.. my food taste good, maybe my hunger contributed to it also (my food was pitch black, Pris said like fried kway teow). But when I look at Pris and Irving's one, I felt I should have ordered theirs instead. Tze Yee joined us from her haircut. Ink commented that its exactly what he wanted her to cut, that it looks very good (must learn from him at pleasing girls... haha.. but I must admit, it really looks good). Anyway, she ordered her food. can't recall what is it called, but its very creamy stuff! Me and Ink then ordered muddy mudpie.. yum yum.. Pris wanted cheese cake but they dun have (Think on the good side, less calories intake.. hehe). TY also ordered her soft shell crab.

We talk and joke alot while eating. When it was getting quite late, we decided to vacate the place, and we slowly strolled to the MRT.

Ups and Downs

2005-06-06T17:43:00.000+08:00

Today got so pissed with my boss again (Pissed me last friday). At least its end of the day when she did that. Asked to do something stupid, that I told her is not possible. She insisted on wanting her way, so I gave up trying to convince her, and just do what she want me to do. Why some people just has this block of wood in their head when people are trying to tell them something, especially when I have the expertise and she doesn't??? And also always tell me must have quality in our work, but compromise when actually do it!!

Anyway, the day went well in the end. Why? cos I hear 2 good news in one day from friends that are close to me. One is the pregnancy of my best friend, Irving's wife... cool right? The other is the excellent result that another very good friend, Pris, got after worrying so much. It sure lifted up my spirits that day, as u can see from my nick that day (*Gabriel* Yippeee!!!!). If anyone notice, there were 3 others with the same nick, just replacing the name part.. hehe...

Night time comes, panic... cos today is the presentation day in the Guitar class that I'm in. Everyone is supposed to play on their own while the others sing. It ended well though.. everyone played very well. I need to learn how to sing and change chords faster while playing though.

Decoration Time!!

2005-06-05T01:11:00.000+08:00

After the morning service and lunch, Yixi, TY and me went to TY's house to do the decorations for our stall for the community outreach programme. Reina and Alfred joined us also. We're supposed to do a banner. It was decided then that we should get cardboard to wrap with the aluminum foil for the words. So Alfred and I were assigned the task of finding cardboards. We went downstairs and search but couldn't find a large items bin!

We went to the fruits stall to ask the uncle, but he wants to charge us!! Alfred and I decided not to take the offer (cos dun wanna pay something that people wanna throw away!!). We ended up going to the back of NTUC to get he boards. We were feeling so embarrassed carrying the cardboards back!

We were ready to start the Operation Banner. The girls had printed some letters by searching some fonts from the internet. However, we discovered that its too small, and we have to enlarge it. So, Reina, our in-house designer started to do freehand enlarging on the cardboard. Yixi also joined in the freehand styling. And so, we draw, cut, and wrap the aluminum around the cardboard. Finally, we paste the letters on the cloth. I looked at the finished product, satisfied with a job well done. (imagine black colour cloth with silvery words "BAMBOO ROCK").

Ink and Yi Hong then came back (We had cleaned up the house by then... phew..). The few of us left (Reina and Yixi had left, Alfred also went off later) went to Tiong Bahru Market to have our dinner. I ordered chicken rice with Ink, and I witnessed how a pregnant woman can eat! hehe..

Badminton workout

2005-06-04T22:44:00.000+08:00

Me, irving and Pris arrived at the Tanjong Pagar CC. Pris and I started playing, while Irving was happily taking photos of us (aspiring photographer leh). Andrew came in later and we then split into two teams, me with Irving, and Pris with Andrew. I was thinking, this is so unbalanced, me and Irving are the more experienced badminton players, but then this is the luck of the draw.. hehe

The game came out quite well... Andrew with all his energy, and Pris with her coolness. They're fast learners, mind u... we played for most of the time like this. Pris then took a rest and to take pictures also, so I went over to Andrew side, and we started our bullying of Irving... haha... must make him exercise mah

Pris joined back in with Irving, and we have an even match, looking at the shuttlecock moving to and fro. When our allocated 1 hour is almost up, I challenged Irving to a singles of 30 points. Man do I regret that... haha.. he trashed me until I was so tired and asked to reduce to 15 points (I can be so over-ambitious.. hehe). I think the last score was 8 - 15, with Ink winning of cos. Then Pris had a game with me, to help train her court movement. This girl arh, dun know who training who, made me run around the courtand i still have to do ball placement at the same time!! hahaha

After the tiring session of badminton, we sat outside to cool down. Andrew ahd to go off at this time. The 3 of us then decided to go to the food court in Amara Hotel to have our lunch. Pris recommended me a dish called Bibimbap (delicious man), which she ordered herself also. Ink had his California pizza (dun know how u can have pizza only for lunch man.. hehe) The dish that Pris recommended was very good, people. u can ask Pris what to eat if u're in Tanjong Pagar, cos she's the di4 tou2 she2 of Tanjong Pagar. Me and Ink then had Ice Kachang, its like heaven, considering we were so hot before! After the lunch, we went back home.

CG Nite

2005-06-03T02:55:00.000+08:00

As usual, we gather on this day for Care Group. I reached Irving's house quite early, and wanted to play a bit of the guitar, cos coming mon will be the guitar class performance and I haven't really practiced!! But then Irving told me to do my homework, i.e. the discussion worksheet (I read through already, but didn't print out). So I just obediently do it loh(obey ur leaders mah... yaaahhh riiiight.. just scared later Pris will whack my head if I dun do cos she's the Facilitator for my group... hahaha)

Today was a bit special as Merv invited guests, not 1 but 4!! All the people leading reacted well to the unexpected visitors. Our chairperson (u know who u are) was quite nervous... haha.. cos this is the first time since the re-org, that we have visitors, but she handled very well. So did our Praise and Worship team and our Discussion Leader of the day.

During the Discussion of the Bible topic, Caleb and Joshua, we had quite a deep sharing. We shared the "giants" in our lives and how is it preventing us from experiencing fullness of God's glory.

After that, we had cherries and grapes and a photo shoot to come with it. Then some of us went down to have our supper (dinner for me and Irving). What a "fulfilling" end!! :P

Practice Night

2005-06-01T23:07:00.000+08:00

Got off work on time cos boss was not around. Walked from office to Tiong Bahru Plaza to waste time and see if I can get anything. Deciding that there's nothing to buy, I went to have my dinner at a coffeeshop. Chicken rice , add rice...

Proceeded to Irving's house. Tze Yee was the one opening the door. I exclaimed happily that I was on time. I had a glanced at the clock in the house and saw 7:15!! I was 15 mins late??? I was confused for a while, and took a look at my watch... chey... their clock was faster by 15 mins!!

I then proceeded to play around with their guitar. Pris came after me, and they start to read the discussion passage. Well... tried to anyway, cos at the start, Pris was too distracted by me cos I keep engaging her in a conversation.. hahaha... Tze Yee nearly fall into that also until she realised why Pris couldn't concentrate... :P

Well... I wasn't really that jialat lah.. i hope.. hehe.. Tze Yee invited me to join in reading the passage also, Numbers Chapter 13 and 14. This is the story where the Jews rebelled against God, and did not trust in Him to give them the Promised land. In the end, God punished them by banishing them back to the desert for another 40 years, until all the peopel who had rebelled and not trust the Lord their God had died. Then their children will be the ones to conquer the Promised land! (How lucky Jonah was that God didn't punish him too harshly when he disobeyed, but I believe that its cos God knows Jonah's heart, that Jonah loves God despite his shortcomings)

I then went back to practice my guitar. Wee Leong and Yixi came. They prepared a few songs and selected a few to use. Yixi has such nice handwriting, even better than computer printed ones! Got colour somemore. Me, Irving, Yixi and Wee Leong then started practicing. Yixi has difficulties singing and leading, I guess cos of nervousness (its her first time leading). However, under the expert guidance from Irving, and the encouragement from Wee Leong, she got the hang of it.

While Yizi was struggling with the singing, I have my own struggle also. I have problems playing the guitar!! the strumming is so fast!! me only beginner leh... but I tried to do my best to follow the speed. (All this while, Pris and Tze Yee are earnestly discussing and preparing for the CG Discussion on Friday).

I went into the room to practice the only song where I know enough of the chords to play, while the rest continue to practice. Wee Leong then joined Tze Yee and Pris for discussion after his practice. Yixi and Irving, together with me continue practice in the room. Irving start to teach me and Yixi some method to practice (Yixi can change chords and strum very well leh). Then he left us to practice. I practiced with Yixi and we managed to play the whole song, by backing each other up (At any point, at least one of us will be playing, while the other is trying to find the chord.. haha).

We kinda demo-ed our "result" to the rest. By this time, Merv also came back. All of them watched me and Yixi play while they sing.. Somehow, our playing is worse than when we were alone... haha.

Its late, so we left Ink's house (Pris, Wee Leong, Yixi and me). On our way to the MRT, we suddenly decided to have a drink. So, we went to the nearby coffeeshop. We had an enjoyable, and fruitful chat over the drinks. When it was abt 11:10, we decided that its very late, and so we proceed to the MRT to go home.

Finally finish a book I was reading. Its about all the questions that people ask, a lot of which are questions that I ask at times, but forgot about it. Basically it explains supposed contradictions, abt evidences that proves the Word of God is 100% accurate, abt Catholic beliefs and how it either contradicts the Bible or that the Bible never state. It also explains God's actions, especially abt the Old testaments, the "cruel" God in the Old Testament. Conclusion... very good book... worth reading!!

Oh... the book is called "In Defense of the Faith: Biblical Answers to Challenging Questions" by Dave Hunt. I got this from Tecman in Bras Basah Complex.

2005-05-31T23:20:00.000+08:00

Your Deadly Sins

Sloth: 80%

Envy: 40%

Pride: 40%

Gluttony: 20%

Greed: 20%

Wrath: 20%

Lust: 0%

Chance You'll Go to Hell: 31%

You will get bugs, because you're too lazy to shoo them off. And then you'll die.

How Sinful Are You?

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to those who are unbridled, untrammeled, and free.

In love, you feel the most alive when your lover is creative and never lets you feel bored.

You'd like to your lover to think you are loyal and faithful... that you'll never change.

You would be forced to break up with someone who was ruthless, cold-blooded, and sarcastic.

Your ideal relationship is open. Both of you can talk about everything... no secrets.

Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment.

You think of marriage as something precious. You'll treasure marriage and treat it as sacred.

In this moment, you think of love as commitment. Love only works when both people are totally devoted.

What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

Done this on http://www.blogthings.com/howsinfulareyouquiz/outcome.php and http://www.blogthings.com/keystoyourheartquiz/outcome.php respectively.
Pris, wonder how come u can always find such interesting websites.. hehe

er... I think i need ur help in creating a nicer table format.. dun know why I got so much space between tables.

Pamplet Day

2005-05-29T23:02:00.000+08:00

Went for church service. The sermon was abt belonging to a church, abt church membership, we also had our CG pledge (didn't we had one.. hahaha...). After that, we had our lunch. Merv told me that his tummy abit funny when we had the breakfast before the service. Then Irving also told me he couldn't sleep, and i also learned that Pris also didn't get much sleep (she looked so drained, has that anytime-can-doze-off look). Hope its not all cos of the dinner the day before :P

We then proceeded to practice and refine our bamboo dancing idea for the community outreach programme. We splashed so much water on the floor doing the bamboo dance and limbo rock with water cups!! (mental note to bring mop on actual day)

Then its time to distribute pamplets. We took a taxi to hougang with me and Andrew dropping off first. By that time there was a very heavy rain! I didn't see any covered walkway to the block I was assigned to go, so I had to run through the rain. By the time I reach the destination, I was totally drenched (imagine running ur hand through ur hair and got water dripping from it). I got to the top floor and started distributing. This block has 144 units, ie. 12 floors x 12 units. I had to put the pamplets on the metal grilles cos the floor was very wet. It all went quite well except one unit where there was this indian lady who completely dun understand english and refused to take my pamplet.. hahaha... Guys from another care group, Yi Hong's group, also joined us. After Andrew was also finished, we proceeded to Macs nearby to meet up with the others.

Me, Irving and Andrew then took a cab to orchard to meet up with Merv and Tze Yee to watch Star Wars Ep 3.

We kinda missed the 1st 10 mins of the show, but i guess its ok. There were quite a no. of ??? in the show. I can't believe the Jedi are so useless to be backstabbed by the stormtroopers so easily man!!! (dun they have the Force to sense the stormtroopers' intentions???) Anyway, after the show, we went home. On the way down the escalator, a lady had to step on my sole and my sole finally came loose. I had to walk all the way back like a crippled to hide that fact (at least people won't laugh at a person with an injured leg rather than someone with a half-attached sole). What a day!!

Cook-Out

2005-05-28T23:46:00.000+08:00

Had cook out at Irving's house today. Reached the MRT station at 5:30, then met up with Pris and helped take over the groceries from her colleague, think he's called Yan (seems quite a funny guy). We then went to Irving's house to prepare to cook. But we found we dun have enough meat and ginger, so I went down to get. By the time we started, I think its about 6:30 already.

Pris started by cutting the broccoli into smaller chunks. She also cut the beans into bite size. And we moved on to the meat, the chicken fillets and breast meat. She demo-ed to me how to cut and I proceeded accordingly. And guess what? I discovered how to tear off the tendons... hee..

Later, Pris prepared the tendoori chicken's sauce while I was in-charge of cutting the garlic, ginger, and onions. Tze Yee had to teach me how to cut the ingredients before I could even do it. haha.. The onions can really sting the eyes man!!!

We started cooking after preparing all the ingredients. Tze Yee started cooking the vegetables. Tze Yee and Pris experimented with different sauces, and amazingly it turned out very well indeed!! I tried my hand on cooking the tendoori chicken. This is my first dish in my entire life, other than instant noodles and plain rice!!

Pris tried a new dish. A dun know what marinated chicken with glass noodle. I can't rem the name, except that it has sweet chilli in it... hahaha... Anyway, she cooked the dish very well, although we were constantly thinking if the meat is cooked or the sauce is tasty enough (we tried it to make sure). After this dish was cooked, we were prepared for dinner, finally. Oh... and Alfred came at about this time too, just in time for dinner... haha... Time check, 8:15

Altogether, we cooked 5 dishes. A fried rice with broccoli, a soy sauce vege, a tendoori chicken, a beans with shrimps, and Pris's dun know what chicken with glass noodle. What a spread!! We tucked in and managed somehow to finish all the food. Tze Yee suggested a evaluation of the food, so that we can cook better next time. The review came back very well indeed, with Pris's dish highly praised! Personally, I like the beans, cos i'm biased towards crispy vege.. hehe... no offence Pris... :P

After dinner, Alfred and Merv wash up. Me and Tze Yee went to play guitar and clavinova. hmm... dun know where's Irving, probably playing with his comp. Pris was bathing, cos of her morning blading. After everyone is done, we proceeded to have gelato... yay!! We shared some jokes over the gelato, mixed with a cake Alfred bought. It was so fun and the food is so good... thanks to Alfred and Pris (Pris bought the gelato... she's so nice hor...). After gelato, its game time. Junming also came at this time (he came earlier, but went off for something).

Then came the games. Irving and Pris was playing this cool game, some game similar to the bubble gun game. What attracted me to go and look at what they were doing is Pris's screaming and screeching... hehe.. its always interesting to hear Pris scream... haha...

We proceeded to play a card game called High Society. There were 4 of us, Pris, Merv, Irving and me. We're supposed to get the highest points using the fixed amount of money each of us have, without ending up having the least amount of cash. That was a tough game man.. with all the others outbidding each other and me. I think very slowly one leh.... so slow Pris actually hurried me when it was irving's turn... haha (meanwhile, Tze Yee got addicted to the bubble gun lookalike while junming is playing with the guitar, think Alfred also) Merv won the game, guess who got the least money? hehe

After the game, it was very late. Junming, Pris and me shared a cab home (Alfred had already gone back by then). This was a very fun day, and I'll be looking forward to more cookouts!! I'm sure Pris will have more recipes from her friends, or other sources... hehe

Sub-District Care Group

2005-05-27T14:17:00.000+08:00

Today we have a Sub-District Care Group at Fairfield Methodist Church in room 401. Right after work, I walk to Irving 's house, to see if he's at home as my hp ran out of bat. Luckily he's at home, he looked kinda weird with his stiff neck... hee...

Merv was already there when we reached, just waiting for his guitar delivery man. I went down to get some food for us. My hp went dead at this time when Pris called to ask where were we... haha...

The session started with an ice breaker game by Elaine, using 2 soft sponge balls. The person getting one of the balls will move it around the body twice, the other ball will be moved around once. When one of the person end up with both balls in hand, there'll be a penalty. Then came the praise and worship. There were a no. of new songs that I find difficult to mimick.

We then proceeded to Pris's testimony abt serving God. She mentioned alot of things, abt what was she thinking when asked to serve and also what she learned abt obeying leaders. What impressed me very much is the candidness and honesty in confessing her thinking and the courage to do so (I also noticed alot of "yah... riiiiight" in her testimony when she mentioned abt leaders or sermons or lessons tell her abt serving and obeying leaders... haha). I also felt sincerity in her sharing what she experienced and the willingness to do so, so as to benefit others. Overall, it was a very real-to-life sharing and what we learned? To serve and to obey ur leaders (Anyway, God won't let u go and will call u time and again to serve, judging from the pattern in Pris's case.. hehehe... hmm... mine too, come to think of it).

Next we had the video clips of the South African misson trip that Elaine went to. I noticed that the South Africans can really dance and sing!! There was even a scene where they worship outside a zinc-built house in the slums, in the dark!! what a spirit they have!!! They even had to sqeezed into the small house with a lot of people sitting on the bed. Elaine also shared abt her experiences, how it refreshes her faith, and her wish for us to have that kinda spirit.

Lesson of the day: Serve God to be feel closer to Him, and to have a better understanding of the will of God.

We were over the time allocated to us when it ended. We proceeded to have supper and then went back home.

MBTI Test

2005-05-26T23:33:00.000+08:00

Took some personality tests for fun:

1)
http://similarminds.com/locus.html

Locus of Control Test Results
Internal Locus
41%
External Locus
59%
In the 60s Psychologist Julian Rotter developed a theory called Locus of Control of Reinforcement. His theory centered around whether someone thinks their life is more influenced by external factors like fate, genetics, luck, environment (external locus of control) OR by internal factors like effort, tenacity, and free will (internal locus of control).
Your results suggest you tend to believe that genetics, environment, luck, fate, or other external factors define you more than internal factors like drive and free will. Thus, you have an External Locus of Control

Pris told me that she learned from her studies that External Locus of Control means i tend to blame others. Dun think so leh... but then again, I may be in denial... haha

2)
Took a MBTI test also, at http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp
Got this result

Your Type is INFP Introverted Intuitive Feeling Perceiving
Strength of the preferences % 22 12 50 56

INFP type description by D.Keirsey
INFP type description by J. Butt

You are: slightly expressed introvert slightly expressed intuitive personality moderately expressed feeling personality moderately expressed perceiving personality

but then i took another website's test and got ENFP. So, I guess I'm both introvert and extrovert... hahaha
Pris happily told me abt being the 2-3 % of the general population with a ENFJ result (Teacher). Guess what Pris? When I checked my type, mine is 1% of general population (Healer)... haha... I'm so rare!!!

She also gave me this website to upload photos
http://www.imgspot.com/
Thanks so much for taking care of a blogging newbie like me... (Pris, blogging veteran liao)

KL Trip Day 3 (Competition Day)

2005-05-01T15:12:00.000+08:00

Woke up very early. Washed up and then had porridge for breakfast at Auntie Celia's room. Everybody boarded the coach and headed for the competition venue, Olympic Sports Complex,Wisma OCM. We reached the venue of the 9th Malaysia Open 2005 Dancesport Championships at about 9am.

I promptly tested the floor, by dancing my cha cha and jive routine. The floor was quite slippery, but quite manageable, I also estimated where would be a good place to start my routine. My partner came (she was staying in another hotel) and we practiced some more with the floor. It was very crowded with us almost hitting people everywhere we turned!!

We collected our no. tags and then after practicing a bit more, decided to rest. People taking part in other dances in the competition also practice when their music came on. There were many kinds, like hip hop, line dance, all with different styles and categories. There's also the team or individual categories. I saw quite a few kids dancing hip hop and line dance, and of cos ballroom dancing, especially the latin ballroom. Didn't realise Malaysia has such a vibrant dancing scene!

After the rehearsals, its time to take a short rest before the actual competition events. We were ushered to the competitors' room to rest. I took a short nap. When its about time, I put on makeup (to make myself look more tanned, like a latino) and costume. Auntie Geok Ting bought sandwich lunch for us, so nice of her. After all has been prepared, and eaten, its time for battle!!

I actually feel a bit nervous, even after competiting for so many times! but then after some time, i felt tired and sleepy, cos the events were delayed, and everything was pushed back 1 hour.

Finally, its our event. After doing some last minute practice, we waited in queue to go onto the dancefloor (we were in heats 2). We walked out on the dance floor with confidence, and positioned ourselves. When music started, we start dance our cha cha. Halfway, I discovered our path is blocked by 2 couples!!!! We were stuck and couldn't do our routine properly. I felt like I didn't get to show what I can really do, but i tried to focus and smile and dance. After the cha cha, we got out of the dance floor and waited for the next round of jive. This time, I was determined to stay clear of other couples, but somehow, during the jive, we managed to get stuck with other couples again. This time, a lady even somehow managed to poke her finger into my eye. For a moment there, I was afraid my contact lens will drop out. Luckily it didn't, but I was so traumatized by it that I dance the wrong steps at the point of the routine that I love most!!! (so sad...). To make the story short, we didn't get into the finals. We took some photos with the others in the comp and proceeded back to our hotels.

Hanna said that she wanna go shopping and asked me to go with her after we rest in the hotel room for a while(be her bodyguard as well). I waited for a long time in my room, and when I called her room, she said that she dun feel like getting out of bed liao. So I decided to go down to the market myself, with my camera. I started to take pictures and tried all sorts of settings. I even walked to the comp venue hotel, where some of my friends are staying but they were not in the room (it was quite far from my hotel, and the road is quite deserted). I proceeded back to teh market and walked the whole stretch, all the while taking photos. I had wanted to buy something when i came out, but dun see anything interesting, so i end up only buying sugar cane. I went back to the hotel and took some photos from the hotel of the night market also.

After the rest came back from the night event (those finalists and higher grades), we went out to have supper as one of the couples had gotten the champion and has a cash prize of 1000 ringgit. After the supper, it was very late and so we retire back to our rooms.

KL Trip Day 2

2005-04-30T15:59:00.000+08:00

We arrive at Hotel Malaya at around 2am. The coach stopped at a road perpendicular to the hotel and we had to walk to the hotel. After some confusion on the hotel admin side, we managed to get our rooms. The rooms are better than what I was expecting, as my friends were describing this hotel until so jialat. I share the room with Jin Jin. After taking a bath and unpacking some stuff, we concussed on the bed.

We woke up a few hours later to have breakfast downstairs. The food was quite spartan. The organizers had arranged the coach to take us somewhere to shop. We were taken to Times Square. The place was huge, its a huge shopping mall with all kinds of shops. It even has a theme park housed inside. Hannah, Riane, Xavier, Isabelle, Timothy, some other kids and me went into the theme park to check it out. We tried out a lot of rides. I couldn't take some of the rides cos i was carrying some stuff (they have a rule that we mustn't carry pouches or things in our pockets for safety reason). I didn't even try the roller coaster!! The bumper car ride was fun though... hahaha

We went for lunch and went around shopping. We even walked to other buildings to check them out. We passed through a building with stuff that you'll see in Sim Lim Square in the past (i.e. shops selling pirated cds). We went back to Times Square again cos the bus will be waiting there to fetch us back to the hotel. I was still thinking abt the roller coaster ride, so I got Celia(Isabelle's mom) to go with me, and left my stuff with another kid's mom. One of the kids also follow us to go for it (even kids has more guts than me!!). The ride was fun with all the twisting and turning... it goes 360 degrees leh!! However Celia and me got a headache after that... haha

We went back to the hotel to rest and prepare to go for dinner. Hannah got me to accompany her to get perfume that she saw in the street market (Chee Cheong Gai) that was just outside our hotel, before the rest come down to meet to go for dinner. We went to a store and he offered 40 ringgit for a perfume that she asked. She tried to bargain, but the guy only lowered until about 20 to 30. she whispered to me that she saw somewhere selling 10 ringgit only, just that she saw it from the bus (i.e. too far away). So we walk off to go back hotel. That guy was persistent and chased us, and keep lowering the price until abt 15 ringgit. Hannah decided to buy, so we went back to take a look again. The guy sprayed the perfumes on Hannah's hands until there's no where left to spray. So, Hannah asked if she can spray on mine, i agreed. All this while of choosing I keep remind her of the time. We finally got the perfume and walked back. We were talking on the way back, some guy at one of the stalls selling DVDs heard what she said and repeated it loudly, and keep repeating it (think she's too pretty, and the guys are trying to flirt with her). We ignored that and kept walking. After apologizing to the others and explaining, we went about to find out food.

We couldn't find the stall that we wanted, so we went for alternative. We settled on a Bak Kut Teh shop. The food was superb man!!! I was thinking, "Singapore's one is just pepper soup!!" After dinner, we went shopping. There were a lot of things, but the shops repeat. Generally, they sell watches, bags, clothes, sunglasses, DVDs, CDs and souvenirs. I bought a shirt with "SWAT" on it. We retired to our hotel room after that, and prepared the stuff that we need for the competition tomorrow.

KL Trip Day 1

2005-04-29T17:20:00.000+08:00

Planned for this trip for 2 over months already. Finally, today is the day! I woke up as usual for work. After taking a bath and freshing up, I took a last look at my half-packed bag and stepped out of my house. At the office, I felt so relaxed cos I took half day off to finish packing and have a good rest(well... I end up playing DOTA.. hehe). At 6:30pm, I left my house to join the others. There were so many young people in our group, all the polytechnic guys and girls.

We boarded the chartered coach and go through the Customs at the border. I notice that the males at the Malaysian Customs seem to work much slower than the females. Iris told me she had to ignore the guy at her counter cos he smiled at her(the big grin kind and she's kinda pretty. I was in the queue at the same counter, he never even look at me). We passed the customs and boarded the bus, preparing to go. Then a small incident happened. The people organizing this trip asked me, "Where is your partner?". I was like "Huh?" cos I wasn't sitting with her, or even same customs queue as her. I got off the bus and helped look for her. We found her wandering around trying to find us.

Finally, we get to move on, the driver switched on the TV and prepared to play a movie. But of all movies that this piracy-infested nation has, he has to play "Grease"!!! (the dancing and singing parts were interesting though). I was sitting at the back with some friends, and we had fun talking nonsense. There's this part where we were trying to teach a Russian friend, Vasily, to speak chinese, it was so hilarious!! Slowly, all of us got tired and we fell asleep.