Assisting the Shepherd, Reaching the Sheep

Answers to the tough questions

2009-09-12T21:43:00.003+08:00

Okay, I know I still owe a literature essay for my previous post but I guess I've been quite busy lately and didn't have the time to do it. What I can do however is present my own answers to the questions that I asked earlier although some of my friends have already done quite a good job at explaining as you can read in the tagbox.(my answer is quite long but read on if you are interested)

1: Regarding this question let us look at this from God's perspective. What does God stand to gain out of our worship and adoration alone? The answer is: nothing whatsoever. Think over this with me, what would the Almighty God of the Infinite as well as the finite, much much much greater than we can even imagine gain from the puny, in fact, comparatively pathetic worship that some tiny creatures living on a floating speck of dust in the tiny universe that fits in the palm of his hand? Nothing, absolutely nothing.

Even if He were a sadist(which of course He is not) that gets a kick out of making lesser beings worship him I don't think he would even heed us. We're too tiny and puny! And he wouldn't bother making us if adoration is the only thing he wanted right?

It would be like making a computer software to praise yourself that goes "You are wonderful, you are marvelous, etc" on and on and on without stopping and if I may say, that is a very very sad case and even if we were that, we are obviously very faulty products.
As I heard lately "I(God) don't make junk"

First of all, what is true worship? There are many instances in the Bible where God actually REJECTED his people's "worship" of sacrifices and praises because it was not true. S obviously, he's not self-absorbed. But what is worship? The Bible tells us that "to obey is better than sacrifice" so one aspect of true worship is obedience. It's like how a father wants a child to be obedient to him, not because the father is a control-freak but because he loves the child and want whats best for him. With our human father we call it obedience, with our heavenly father we call it worship.

So why worship? The answer lies in the one most mysterious and incomprehensible aspect of God that is, Love. Why did God make humans in the first place? to share His Love and have a relationship with them. God can very easily talk to us and show his love to us, after all, He is God; but what about our side?

Originally, it was easy. Notice that in Genesis in the creation of man, God never once said to Adam and Eve " Thou shalt worship the Lord your God" at least not in the truest sense of the word "worship", no that came later in Exodus. On the contrary, Adam and Eve talked with God face to face and God walked amongst them in the garden. So what happened? Man sinned and were unable to communicate directly with the Holy God. Obviously, a relationship can't continue with only one side of the party talking to the other, it must be a two way thing. So how can man communicate with God again? You got it, worship. Be it praying, singing, obeying his word and so on, that is the way sinful man can communicate with God.

And why MUST we communicate with God? Aren't we good on our own? Well the answer is no. There is a saying, "Humans are the smartest creatures on earth. They are the only ones who can develop faster, more efficient and more creative ways of killing themselves." Without God's repeated intervention, we would have blown ourselves up a long long time ago. Worship helps us keep track of who we are and who God is; that he is greater and we are lesser. As his masterpieces, the work of his hands, we are obliged to glorify his name. Does a good painter or musician make a work of art with the purpose of putting himself to shame? of course not. As the Bible puts it

"You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, "He did not make me"? Can the pot say of the potter, "He knows nothing?"

So don't see worship as a self-centred thing on God's part, it's the only way we can communicate with our loving father and at the same time, experience his love for us.

2. Jesus once said "...I am gentle and humble in heart..." He did not just talk the talk, he walked the walk. In the greatest show of humility in history, the God of all the universe became a mere human and died a painful and shameful death for the sake of all people. So quite obviously, God is in fact humble.

As for how he can still demand our worship and that we do not worship any other if he is humble. Well, I've already clarified what worship is, so let me ask this question. Is it arrogant for a husband to demand his wife to give him and him alone an exclusive intimate love and is it arrogant for the wife to demand the same of the husband? Quite clearly no, it is not arrogant of you to demand an exclusive intimate love from your spouse otherwise it would be called adultery.

It is the same with God, as his beloved people, he demands us to love him exclusively as God, not because he is a self-absorbed egocentric, but because we ought to.

Chew on these

2009-09-03T15:35:00.004+08:00

Okay, lately I've been thinking of some tough questions and I urge all Christians to chew on these thoughts and reflect on it. First of let me say that it is good for us to think deeply about our faith so as to understand ourselves better.

1 Why does God demand our worship? Does this make him an egocentric?

2 Is God humble? In that case how can He demand for worship and adoration?

3 What if after it's all said and done and we're all in heaven, what if Man is to fall again?

4 If an elder brother goes into a forest and nobody is there to see him, is he still a doofus?

Hrmm.... indeed these are very tough questions(especially the last one). I've thought of an answer to the first two questions. Feel free to tag your thoughts, just make sure it won't be too offensive=)

"O" Level Mother Tongue Results finally out

2009-08-19T16:32:00.004+08:00

Well, the mother tongue "O" level results are finally out, after many days of tension so thick I could bang my head against it.

My results actually kinda shocked me.

First let me say. Thanks to my wonderful elder brother, guess where I was 12 hours before the mother tongue paper? That's right! The land of the rising sun! Japan yay!. And thanks to that I completely missed out an entire week of mother tongue drilling that all my other peers went through. And I kinda got stunned during the malay orals and stoned for a few seconds.

So, as you might guess, this morning I was EXTREMELY nervous about my result. I really didn't want to retake Malay paper. So anyways, we were finally called to the hall to receive our results. The teacher was there lecturing us about the average grades of all the mother tongue subjects.

When he reached Malay, he said that it was 100% passes. That hardly gave me any comfort.

My fear was not in failing but it was that I receive a horrible pass and be forced to retake the paper. Then he said that the percentage of distinction was 45%. Somebody very helpfully pointed out that that means about only 4 people got As in the malay class. I wasnt bothered, It's definitely not me right?

I kept thinking "Stop preaching to us and show us the results danggit!" I just wanted to rip off the rubber band.

Earlier in class, I was praying "God I know that whatever grades I may receive, it is what I deserve to receive and I will praise Your Name no matter what it is Lord. I just pray that I may glorify you through my results,"

So anyways, FINALLY the teachers started calling the names of students to come up and see their results. I waited, and waited, actually I didnt have to wait for long cause 2 names after the first student, the teacher called out: "ALVIN!"

I was confused at this part, there are 2 Alvins in my class you see. So the other one went up and then sat back down. Then again I waited and waited and waited as names were called and cries of both sorrow and joy echoed through the hall. My heart was beating quickly within me. Finally the teacher called out the other Alvin's chinese name an I was like"HEY!!!! Why didnt anyone tell me that the first Alvin was me?". So finally, I walked up to the teacher and I asked what rsult I got asI scanned that piece of paper.

"You got an A1,"

I could not believe my ears! I got A1?!?!" and the teacher replied "Yes, you got an A1" My hands were trembling as I signed beside my score, everyone could see that.

I literally leapt for joy as I left and shouted "HALELUYA!!!!" and I can testify that it is truly only by God's grace that I got an A1. hahah, expected differently didnt you? Although, after that, alot of people gave me abit of contempt cuz I skipped a week of intensive driling going on holiday... But all I can say is this, I had worked hard before that and even then, it was not just because of my effort that got I the A1, it's all thanks to God's grace. I never stopped telling them that.

Out of the class of 10 only 4 got A1 an I was one of them=D Ironically though, 3 of the 4 people who aced malay were Chinese haha.

Praise God

The Bible as a Literature Text

2009-08-18T16:42:00.004+08:00

Yeah, you read the title right. From now on, I'm gonna use the Bible to practice Literature.
One theing I'm going to do is post a passage from the Bible(or should I call it prose?) every now and then and put some questions beneath it. All Christian Lit students, feel free to try it out=D

I'm gonna start with John 21

John 21

¹Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias. It happened this way: ²Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. ³"I'm going out to fish," Simon Peter told them, and they said, "We'll go with you." So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

⁴Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.

⁵He called out to them, "Friends, haven't you any fish?"
"No," they answered.

⁶He said, "Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some." When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.

⁷Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, "It is the Lord," he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. ⁸The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. ⁹When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.

¹⁰Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish you have just caught."

¹¹Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. ¹²Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." None of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Lord. ¹³Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. ¹⁴This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

¹⁵When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?"
"Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."

¹⁶Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?"
He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."

¹⁷ The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you."

Jesus said, "Feed my sheep. ¹⁸ I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." ¹⁹Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, "Follow me!"

²⁰Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is going to betray you?") ²¹When Peter saw him, he asked, "Lord, what about him?"

²²Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me." ²³Because of this, the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?"

²⁴This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.

²⁵Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.

1 What are your impressions of the disciples ?

2 Explain at least 5 ironies in this passage

3 What other literary devices are used and how do they enrich the passage?

4 What is the significance of the last paragraph?

(I'll post my own answers soon=)

you are not you, you are just a mask

2009-08-15T22:50:00.001+08:00

Monday, you're starting your gig
your lips are purple on your sullen cheek

Tuesday, prancing, yellow and gay
your face is radiant though your mind's a fray

Wednesday, pleasing the upper hand
orange smiles with many knives in the sand

Who are you?
such a hypocrite
I've never known you
get out of my sight
What is real and what is fake I ask
You are not you, you are just a mask

Thursday, you're impressing a maid'
you're not blushing yet your face is all red

Friday, already you're running dry
your eyes' are all grey yet you refuse to cry

Saturday, and you're pious white
On your knees you pray, pray that snakes won't bite

Who are you?
such a hypocrite
I've never known you
get out of my sight
What is real and what is fake I ask
You are not you, you are just a mask

So tear it off, before these masquerades crash
waste away the mask and bare the rotting flesh
it eats away your face, and replaces your skin
till you're not you but you're just a mask

Sunday, the canvas void of paint
Take it off now or do it all over again

What's wrong with this scene?

2009-08-12T20:47:00.002+08:00

I've had some funny experiences the past week here are some pics I'd like to share with you guys. Spot what's wrong with them.Apparently somebody's been serving hotdogs in my bathroom. I know some people bake bread in there every so often

I have no comments on this, make of it anything you want. I don't even want to think where the water comes from.

That's right, I took this at the Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station linkway. Okay any normal person would look at this picture and think "Oh GAWSH!! The woman is nearly naked! I can't believe they would show such a promiscuous picture in a PUBLIC area!" and maybe some people would think "Oooh the woman is nearly half naked, heheheh..."

But guess what my mother thought?

1st reaction: "Oh my GAWSH! the woman is eating ice-cream on her bed!!!! The OUTRAGE!!!"
Indeed!! What would our innocent ice-cream and bed deprived children THINK when they are expose to such OUTRAGEOUS pictures as someone eating on their beds!!! Childhood obesity people!! And think of all the ANTS!! The horror....

2nd reaction: "She left the ice-cream pack on the FLOOR!!! Who's gonna clean that for her?!?!?"
SIN!!!! She LITTERED!!! In her OWN HOUSE!!! How degenerated our society has become to leave ice cream packages all over our houses tsktsktsk.

3rd reaction: oh hey, she's nearly naked, they really shouldnt screen this in public

So there you have it, give a round of applause to my mom=)

To Singapore with love

2009-08-08T10:44:00.003+08:00

Okay, so yesterday was Singpore's 44th national day.

I had quite a fun time actually during the SL farewell especially. But I genuinely enjoyed some of the programs especially the songs( NOT the new ndp song which has the unanimous vote of being "interesting" if you know what I mean)Anyways when the song "Home" played, I did a short reflection on my time spent in Singapore since I'm leaving this place soon. Indeed, Singapore has been a won

derful home to me in more ways than one. I've spent half of my 16 years here now and there really hasnt been a place quite like Singapore I must say. It's not so much my family that makes this place feel like home tho, cuz they are always on the move and I always feel at home with them.

The education, amenities, environment and whatnot aside. What I've truly come to appreciate the most here are the people I've met and the dear friends I've made. They are the ones who truly make this place worth calling "home" and I cant thank them more for that.

Singapore will always be a part of me wherever I'll go to and I know I have a home here among the people. But I also know that I must make other homes for myself to even as i move from place to place. Each of them is unique. So indeed

this is home, truly~

Anyways, I had lots of fun at the SL farewell party too. I really want to thank all my juniors as well for making it such a splendid moment for all us old birds haha.

look at all the notes!And thanks for all your notes! I'll keep them with me for as long as I can so I can remember all of you always=D Thanks also, for your "Most Confident" Award haha(although I'd have much prefered a "Best Singer" Award XD, kiddin), I think the trophy is really creative=). All my blessings go to the SL council and the new EXCOs whom I know will lead the council to greater glory.

Yours truly, The Turtle KingXD

Pilaf anyone?

2009-08-01T09:06:00.003+08:00

AAAARRRRRGGGHH I have a craving for Turkish food!!!!
Anyone knows where I can find a turkish restaurant in Singapore??

hahahhhahaha nevermind, being completely random.

Anyways, yesterday was my piano exam at Funan mall. Weeeeeeell it kinda sucked for a lot of reasons.
First of all I was SUPER NERVOUS, I can't remember the last time I was that nervous haha. My hands were shaking so bad I could hardly hit the right notes sheesh....

Second reason being it was the national APBEDPE program again which stands for:

Annual Penguin Breeding Engagement During Piano Exams

And OF COURSE they have to set all aircons to full blast for fear that the penguins would realize the effects of global warming or the hostility of a tropical climate and(here's where they've learnt a little Singapore mannerism) complain and do absolutely nothing including refusing to reproduce(I heard that nowadays the penguins are bullying their penguin maids to destress instead).

So anyways, there were other reasons to but I'm sure you have better things to do like admiring the polar bears I've released in Funan mall or cleaning behind your refrigerator, so I'll stop my ranting here.

By the way do turkish restaurants serve penguin meat?

Under the Dentist's Drill (III)

2009-07-30T00:30:00.002+08:00

Went back to adjust my braces again today. Yay they're orange now!

Anyways I finally got all my teeth braced up. Before this, two of them were left free cuz they were kinda in a tough spot. My teeth should be quite straight in two months time. But before those two, months, GAWSH, it's tough to chew. Apparently, the dentist inserted some kinda cement like thingy on my upper back teeth so I couldnt bite together and interfere with the movement of the two teeth I mentioned earlier.

The dentist said that I might experience some slight "discomfort"

Now we come to what seems like the favourite phrase of the entire medical community, "slight discomfort". sounds harmless enough, like sensation of sitting on a remote control. I will now demonstrate to you how to use this phrase as the professionals use it.

"Mr Henry, I'm about to insert a 5 cm thick tube up your rectum and swirl it around WITHOUT using anaesthetics. You might feel some slight discomfort,"

"Ms Erika, we will have to bash you repeatedly on the head with a sledgehammer until you recover your memory, you might experience a slight discomfort"

Safe to say, the last time experienced such "slight discomfort" involved a hammer, a nail and my thumb. So anyways, I cant bite properly now and I have constant "slight discomfort" that feels like ten thousand miniature people ripping my gums appart. So I'm just on cloud nine right now=D

Home

2009-07-27T18:28:00.003+08:00

What is the function of the Christian Christian church and who is it made for? What do you think? There are some who say that the church is only for holy people who live good lives to attend to meet with their holy God. Others think that it is a place for silly and cowardly goodie-two-shoes people to go to to avoid the harsh realities of life. And yet others think it is a place for deluded people.

Well amazingly, none of these are true. So what is the church for?

The church is not a place for holy people.

Here is the criteria for people who the church was made for, let's see if it's made for you:)

1 you have lied(white,grey or black) at least one time in the past seven days
2 you have stolen things before(this includes watching pirated DVDs and downloading music online)
3 you have had sexual fantasies/immorality and/or indulged in pornography
4 you have been jealous for other people's popularity/status/belongings/etc
5 you have been so angry you abused someone verbally or physically

If you have fulfilled the even one of the criteria above, congratulations! The church is made ESPECIALLY for YOU and you have an exclusive invitation given out personally by God.

I'll tell you who the church was made for, it was made for sinners. That means you and me.

Just as the hospital is meant for sick people, the church meant for sinners. It was never intended to be a place for holy people, they don't exist. Jesus said

"It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

The church was build for those who are broken-hearted, those who know they have no hope, those who cry out at night but nobody hears them, those who find no meaning in life and in themselves, those who are weak and tired, those who are plagued with fears they dare not face, those who are haunted by the past and have nowhere to run, those who have hundreds of winning medals but are still a losers in their mind, Those who have everything but know something is missing, those who are constantly surrounded by people but know they are lonely inside, those whose friends have left them, those whose loved ones have been taken away from them, those who are grief-stricken, those who can't seem to stop doing the wrong things, those who ashamed that they are downright filthy inside. Those who want to be truly changed from their current state.

Those who know that they are sinners

These are the type of people that Jesus came to save and the type of people that he built the church for. To give hope to the hopeless, to comfort the broken-hearted, to grant rest to the restless, to give strength to the weak and courage to the fearful, to complete those who are incomplete, to give love to all those who need it.

To grant forgiveness to the sinner. He will heal you and transform you from the inside out

That is what a church is and is for. So if you fulfill the criteria for going to church, what are you waiting for?

Beautiful in it's time

2009-07-26T00:34:00.005+08:00

Beautiful in it's time

There is a time

to laugh and play.

There is a time

to weep and pray

There is a time

to keep silent

and there is a

time to speak

However I know
above it all
My Father, my God
Is at His work
Always bringing
much good
Unto all
who love Him

During the times

That I received

It's different from what

I had perceived

During the times

there is no answer for

"why must this occur?"

However I know
above it all
My Father, my God
Is at His work
Always bringing
much good
Unto all
who love Him

Perhaps,

I don't understand

what is this that I

am going through

Even so,

I know this for sure

My Father's love will

ever endure

I will

surrender all

my anxieties

unto you Jesus

Because,

I know this for sure,

All things will become,

beautiful in its time

Life by the river Chpt I

2009-07-23T19:02:00.004+08:00

Waddle-waddle-waddle sit!

"hrmm... so this is my new home?" thought the duck

He got back up on his feet and waddled along, observing the calm river.

"hrmm..." he thought to himself "not bad, this river is quite clean and it's cool and breezy too! I hope I can make a good living here, the other residents here seem quite ok."

It was migrating season and all the creatures of the woodlands were finding a new home. This particular river was one of the many places the creatures checked out. It was quite a small river or it would be more appropriate to call it a stream. It was tucked away in a quiet corner of the woods and was rather remote, not the most happening place definitely. But that was enough for Bill the duck, his previous home was no better than this. So he was waddling down the stream checking out who his new neighbours might be when suddenly....

"Quack! what's that?" He squinted to get a better look. It seemed like a large stone but with perculiar markings on it. "It's moving!" he thought to himself. So he waddled closer towards it, taking care to keep his distance, but without warning! It turned around and a head came out of the stone.

"Quack! Well, it turns out to be a box turtle. He looks... quite fierce, I think I'd better stay away from him..."

So Bill carried on with his tour when a large mother goose swooped down onto the soft grass and with her loud voice called out

"AHEM!! ALL CREATURES WHO HAVE JUST RECENTLY MOVED INTO RIVER DIVAN PLEASE ASSEMBLE BY THE APPLE TREE QUICKLY FOR A QUICK TOUR OF THE RIVER SQUUAAAWWWK!!!!"

So all the creatures of the woodlands came hopping, scurrying, crawling, gliding and of course, waddling to the apple tree. Then the mother goose started counting all the creatures.

"Squaak! Everything seems to be in order, come let us proceed with the tour!"

Bill waddled along with the entire group. They went to many of the landmarks of the river, there was the field of clovers, the great oak tree, the crystal fountain and many other charming features of the river. Then, the mother goose led them to the eldertrees where the history of the river was carved on the trees for all it's inhabitants to see. Mother goose puffed up her chest, brimming with pride as she started speaking about the history.

"Now, this river is a relatively young river, only 100 years since it's formation when the rocks of Rush mountain burst forth and......" Now it just so happen that Bill was standing quite close to the turtle he had seen earlier. He kept his cool but in his heart he kept wondering what it would be like to live with a brute such as him. He observed the turtle from the corner of his eye but the turtle did not even notice him. Bill had nearly calmed himself, listening to the mother goose's tale when suddenly the turtle remarked quietly,

"This is so depressing....."

Bill giggled quietly, "well THAT was unexpected!" he thought "Looks like life by the river is going to be truly exciting and hey! It's only just begun."

Racial & Religious harmony, often misunderstood themes

2009-07-21T17:14:00.002+08:00

Okay since today is racial & religious harmony day, I'd like to blog some of my thoughts and feelings about it. Now I am aware that this is a sensitive subject and discussing it is like skating on thin ice but don't worry, I don't intend to be arrested or to start a riot or to get my tagbox being filled up with curses therefore, I won't say anything that may be offensive.

Okay, I'll start off by saying that I cannot begin to express how important racial and religious harmony and tolerance is in a society. why do I say these two themes are often misunderstood you may ask. Simply because, many Singaporeans think that racial and religious harmony is one and the same thing. While it is true that in Singapore, most of the adherents of a certain religion are mostly from one of the major racial groups (e.g. Chinese and Taoism/Buddhism, Malay and Islam), it is not true that the entire race is of that religion.

For example, I know a Chinese man who happens to be Islam and quite happy to be so; and there are other examples too but I will not state them here. The strange thing about racial harmony is that racism takes place even within the confines of a religion, for example the racism that happened previously in the Christian church of the west where, the blacks are segregated from the whites. Remember the Chinese man I spoke about earlier? I heard that when he attends the mosque, while most adherents are friendly towards him, some still look at him in bewilderment as to what a Chinese man is doing in a Malay majority place.

As the races in Singapore become more and more united, such things will definitely occur and we must be ready for it. More people will be interested in the other religions and may decide to even join them, although I doubt any major conflict of racism within a religion will arise here. So we should really take off the stereotype that a religion is designated only to a certain race.

I too have experienced this stereotype. Because I take Malay as my second language despite being Chinese, some people mistakenly think I was Islam. Although it gets tiring explaining the reason as to why I take Malay despite my race, I must admit it is fun watching people's bewildered expressions.

Moving on to a deeper misunderstanding that unsettles me though, there is something I must say. This next line may or may not offend you but if it does, before you release a zoo into my inbox and call the cops on me, please read my explanation first.

Religious harmony is important, Religious integration is a joke.
What I mean by this is that yes, while it is important having the adherents of different religions living side-by-side in harmony, there is no need to bring it a step as far as integrating the religions. I have heard of some people and organizations which try to merge all the major religions and create a universal doctrine or religion.

This is a flawed concept as anyone who puts weight into their religion knows that it is not possible to merge their own doctrine with that of another religion because that would involve perverting and compromising the authority and integrity of the doctrine. A similar problem is in saying that all religions actually worship the same God/s but in a different form or in different ways. This is untrue because the perception of God/s in the different major religions are often too different to be reconciled and integrating the dieties of the different religion will also involve perverting the religion.

This is true for all major belief system making them mutually exclusive. In other words one cannot say, "I belief in Jesus' teachings but I also belief in Buddha's teachings" at the same time because both their teachings are essentially different from the other. You can't have your cake and eat it.

Now don't get me wrong here, I'm not trying to say who's wrong or who's right.

It is similar to an arithmatic question, you can't decide to have two solutions to the same question; you have to choose one and stick with it, unless of course, you change your mind.

However, just because we have different beliefs does not mean we can't respect one another. The key is to be understanding and patient with one another, forgiving a person if he unintentionally does something that is offensive against your belief. We also have to make a concious effort to learn about the religion of others' and respect them for what they believe in, afterall, we are all human and no one is inferior or superior just because of what they believe in.

Love, the universal principle
All major religions teaches love and the other basic human morals. Love is the universal principle. Anything that teaches otherwise, that is to teach one to hate another human, are false and are destructive and potentially deadly. Maybe a good example would be the Sarin gas terrorist attack in Tokyo. Love is the only principle where all major beliefs can find common ground.

Therefore, let us honour our own beliefs by loving each other and living in peace with each other.

Happy Racial and Religious Harmony Day=D

Capek...

2009-07-04T01:04:00.002+08:00

Shalom!! Gue kan blog dalam bahasa indo yarh? Kalo gak tahu cemana baca yaaa.... Kasian de lo! hahaha.

Yah, akhirnya abang gue pergi ke auzzie. MERDEKA!!!! Kamar jadi milikku!! haha s'karang tilamnya mau ku buat apa ya? haha gurau aja deh. Tahun depan sudah giliranku untuk pergi. Tadi saya lihat rombongan farewell untuk abang sih, sedih juga yar, giliranku harus lebih meriah! Tapi, untuk sekarang gue mau rayakan merdeka gue dulu haha PARTY!!!! Makasih yar kor, selalu tolong saya=D

Minggu ini agak sebelin deh. Belum belajar benar-benaran lagi. Minggu depan sudah stel, harus belajar dengan sungguh-sungguh. Mate saya sudah mahu mati ini. aduh sebel amat. Saya cuma boleh bekerja keras dan berdoa supaya Tuhan bantuin saya, kalo ngak, dah bables saya. Capek bener, gak dapat tunggu sampe boleh pergi ke gereja.

Yesus, tolong bantu saya lebih rajin dan berdisiplin. Saya telah bertekad untuk membuat hidupku sebuah persembahan yang harum bagimu. Amen

It is well with my soul

2009-06-28T19:37:00.003+08:00

The new bgm music I chose for my blog, time and time again this song has picked me up and comforted me even through the most deepest sorrows and hardships. It always reminds me, eventhough I go through this suffering, it is only momentary. It will pass and it cannot harm my soul because God is with me.

I was even more touched when recently I learned how this song was composed. It was written Horatio Spafford after several traumatic events in his life.

The first was the death of his only son and that is followed by the great Chicago fire that ruined him financially and forced him to file for bankruptcy(he had been a successful lawyer). Two years later, the ship in which his wife and four daughters were in collided with another vessel and quickly sank, killing all four of his daughters. Shortly after, Spafford travelled to meet his grieving wife and on top of the waters where his daughters perished, he was inspired to write these lyrics:

When peace like a river, attendeth my way

When sorrows like sea billows roll

Whatever my lot, you have taught me to say

It is well,

It is well with my soul

It is well, with my soul

It is well, it is well with my soul

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come

Let this blessed assurance control

that Christ has regarded my helpless estate

And has shed his own blood for my soul

My sin, O the joy, of this glorious thought

my sin, not in part, but the whole

is nailed to the cross, I bear it no more

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! O, my soul!

And Lord, haste the day, when my faith shall be sight

The clouds be rolled back as a scroll

The trump shall resound! And the Lord shall descend

Even so,

it well with my soul!

More Pop arts!

2009-06-27T11:27:00.004+08:00

Meet Torvin's Uncle!!! haha

"Psst swine flu is coming!" see Mark 5:11-13

Thus the birds were born

yay! another Chinese word series! can you spot the chinese word? it has something to do with the verse!
I know that I alrd posted this pop art before but it was not as in a pop art post yet so here it is again!

That's all the pop arts for now:D

Guitar lesson at Wei Jie's

2009-06-23T23:33:00.003+08:00

Yeah! finally got guitar lessons from Wei Jie haha. Okay, so I am learning together with Bryan and we went to Wei Jie's house for the first time! haha was quite exciting.

When we saw that Wei Jie lived in a condo, we were quite surprised haha. Thought he would be living in a HDB flat.

The view from Wei Jie's house was SPECTACULAR

Unpacking the guitars

Guitar hugger!! The Guitar Huggers hahaha

YOUTH CAMP 09!!!!!!!!!

2009-06-15T18:28:00.003+08:00

Haha finally got back from AMKPC Youth Camp 09!

It was lots of fun:D I got to do many things that I've never done before, among them are:

1Play tchouk-ball
2Stay up till 5 in the morning
3Taupok Ben and Micah XD
4Be Taupoked by Ben and Micah
5Vacuumed up an entire plate of chin-chow into my mouth
6Dreamt of being attacked by chin-chow(it was all black....(no Bryan, I'm not being racist))
7Have maths lesson in the park (which I have a profound distaste for=__=)
8Walk into a pole on my way home

and so as you can see, I had a great time in camp.

Most importantly of course, I got a deeper insight into the camp theme that is "By Faith". It was a good reminder for me of what faith truly is. It's not just a way of thinking or an inner state, it is something that has to be acted upon. As the Gospel writer puts it:

"In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."

actually, I'm quite surprised that they didn't use this verse throughtout the camp, I thought it was very relevant but oh well. I'm sure God had convicted the hearts of many during the camp as he did with me

Cant blog about Japan

2009-06-15T17:51:00.002+08:00

Soooooooo sorry folks, I realize it is near impossible to post about Japan due to the ludicrous number of photos I have t upload 5-by-5 onto blogger

So I'll just upload it onto Facebook and if you're interested to look just see my facebook account. Or if you want me to send it to you via picassa then just tag

Things I've learnt

2009-06-06T18:41:00.004+08:00

Foolish people love to show others how "wise and sophisticated" they are

He who refuses to admit weakness will never be strong

He who refuses to confess sorrow will never know joy

He who refuses to speak will never be understood and can never be helped

He who refuses to be put to shame will never be glorified

He who refuses to let others know
how unlovely he is can never be truly loved

He who refuses to look foolish will never
be looked upon with awe

Wisdom dies,
Sophistication vanishes,
Glory perishes, but love lasts forever

He who trusts only in himself,

will live only for himself,
be left only by himself,

be loved by only himself,
be utterly dissapointed only in himself,

will hate everyone besides himself,

and will die only by himself.
There is little hope for such a person

2009-06-01T20:07:00.001+08:00

I'll be posting about my Japan trip pretty soon, so keep a look out:D

Crapping

2009-05-22T15:26:00.002+08:00

BABY FOOD!!!!!
haha yeap, I just got some new "accesories" attached to my braces and it hurts like getting circumcised with a guillotine to chew. So, I'm forced to eat baby food for now until I get used to the pain. Aside from tasting, smelling and looking like yellowish mush, it's actually not that bad, I mean hey, it's nutritious and non-fattening right?=)

Haha well, my results were just revealed to me today at school and it was quite appalling... It was okay for me to fail maths but I didnt expect to get such bad grades for english. here are my grades:

English: C5
E Maths: E8
A Maths: F9
Malay: B4
Chem: B4(MIRACLE)
Physics: C5
Lit/SS: A1
L1R5: 27

Oh well... well, I thank God for my one A1 and I pray and work hard for more As. haha I was quite surprised when Mrs Ang announced that I scored the highest for Literature in the level and I don't really think I deserve it. The irony is that throughtout the exam period I didnt touch my Lit materials even once. And before the Humanities paper, while all the History and Geography people were busy mugging their final notes, I went up to them and said:

"Okay, time for me to do my Literature preparation"

then I sat down,
and slept. haha oh well. I did that quite wisely since I have a curse of being dreadfully sleepy during the second paper which literature just happened to be. So due to the sleeping, I was wide awake during the lit paper=D.

hahaha yay going to Japan tmr quite excited. I only have one thing against the trip and that is that I would be missing 2 weeks of church:(..... oh well.

well enough crapping for today, signing of. God bless you alll!!!!:D

Feeeelings, woahwoahwoah, feeeelings

2009-05-21T22:53:00.004+08:00

"I don't think I like my wife anymore!"

Dan looked at his friend, furrowing his eyebrows,
"Go home and love her,"
"You don't understand, I have no feelings for her anymore, It's not what it used to be,"
"I didn't ask you how you felt about her, I asked you to go home and love her,"
"But then I'd be emotionally dishonest to myself if I treat her that way when I don't feel the same way!"

Dan furrowed his eyebrows again and continued,
"Robert, does your mother love you?"
Robert was abit offended by this question,
"Of course she does!" He answered
"Well, a few weeks after she brought you home from the hospital you were screaming at the top of your voice in the middle of the night with dirty diapers and she had to wake up dog tired, trudge on the cold floor, change your miserable diapers and feed you a bottle- did you think she really got a bang out of that?"
"No..."
"Well, I think your mother was being emotionally dishonest to herself,"

The Light of the World

2009-05-19T17:34:00.002+08:00

Recently, I read a very meaningful poem in a book. It went something like this:

The night has a thousand eyes

and the day has but one;

The light of the whole world dies

with the setting of the sun.

very cheem but try to understand it:)

It's OVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER

2009-05-14T22:06:00.003+08:00

YEEEEESH Mid years is OVER!!!! SLACK TIME

haha I wish, still got O lvls to prepare for although I'm not as crazy as SOME people who start revising the moment they got home from exams =___=
I'll start revising during the second half of the first week of June hols.

Today's paper was the worst.... Killer A maths paper 2. Well, I studied the day before and in the morning. But before I went into the exam hall, I already accepted the fact that I was very likely to fail the paper, but I promised myself to give it my best and so I did. In the end it turned out exactly as I foresaw it sigh... worst 2 and a half hours of my life. I'll polish my amath during the hols which is one thing I can look forward too:)

Kays I'll list out the highlights of my holidays

24th May: NIHON TRIP
That's right! You read correctly, I'm going to the land of the rising sun(I always wonder why they call it that). My mom suddenly decided to go to Japan today and is bringing me and my bro along, so dun forget to check out my blog when I return:D
P.S. (pray I dun get swine flu >.<)

12th June: AMKPC YOUTH CAMP!!!!!!!!!!!!
YAY cant wait for youth camp:D Although, it is abit of a bummer that it has to be held in a Secondary School but oh well, I'm sure it'll be fun. I guess they can't hold it elshewhere cuz of the flu threat(darn swines....)

Every Sunday: Church!
haha I know this is abit dumb cuz it's not really a holiday highlight but church is always a highlight for me at any time:D

WE HATE SWINE FLU!!!!! Let's all go kosher:D

Kay, time to have fun and after that MUUUUUUUUUUUUG from dawn to dusk. Can't wait to get the 'O's over and done with.

MYE

2009-05-08T16:37:00.003+08:00

MID YEARSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!

haha it's been the loooooooongest time since I last blogged haha. 4 days of exam has come and gone. english, malay, SS, Chemistry and Amaths paper 1.... and one more week to go!! haha

I really hope I'll do well for maths this time round.

Hrmmm.... cant wait for the exams to end. Lately, I've been learning to slowly live my Christ in line with how God wants me to live. Learning Sincerity.

I've been feeling very hypocritical, not practicing what I preach. God I hope this will change. I'm tired of living a double life.
I discovered that it is what you do when no one is around you that defines who you truly are. And sadly speaking, I'm not acting like how I ought to be. I will do my best to strive towards Christlikeness=)

okay that aside, I finally entered in the captions to all the pictures in my malaysia trip pictures so go check it out if you were confused before

2009-05-02T22:13:00.001+08:00

I miss heaven, I miss His face.

Strange how I can miss a place and a person I've never seen before

Ashmara

2009-04-24T23:00:00.004+08:00

"Lord Emanias, please rise"

"With pleasure your Graces" bowed Emanias as he rose from his seat "Your Graces know of the affairs of the land, much trouble is boiling in central Antia,"

"With all due respect Lord Emanias, there is no problem in Antia other than that of your own fancy," The High Prophetess spoke in the lull of a song, through the breeze of her ornamented fan. "Honestly, if there was any trouble in Antia, the Sacrisanc council would have been informed eons ago through the messengers"

"Lady Shardina, it is rude of you to interupt me whilst I was delivering my report. In any case, it appears that the prying eyes of your messengers have conveniently missed out the unrest in Antia, the state of the Nevians? There is great tension between the Ashmarans and Nevians,"

"I am completely astonished that you would doubt my messengers and imply such an appaling thing! Honestly, Emanias, there is no ill will in me. Only the will of the Shaddai through the Shaddai's chosen ones the 4 Sancrosses(blessed forever)!"

"We MUST send help to Antia NOW! Send forth Medics, Helpers and Guardsmen from the Cathedral of Apocalypse. The people are suffering and a civil war may start should we wait any longer!"

"This is preposterous Emanias! Sit down! Do not display such words and acts of contempt in the presence of the Sancrosses(blessed forever)! Our fine warriors should be reserved for times of war and we have even yet to verify you report," Suddenly concious of her tone, she continued "If anyone needs to be sent, we shall send the Strong-towers to terminate any trouble there might be"

"No more of this Lady Shar-"
"Enough of this!" rang the crystal voices of the 4 Sancrosses in unison "Let there be no quarrel in our pressence and in the presence of the Shaddai"
"My apologies you Graces, your servant begs your pardon."
"You may continue with your report,"
"Thank you your Graces, as I have said, we urgently need to send as many civil servants as possible to help and calm the people of Central Antia. And let there be peace making between the Nevians and Ashmarans,"

For a short moment, the Sancrosses gazed at each other, a silent discussion. Then they turned back and spoke.

"Unfortunately, Lord Emanias, we cannot grant your request. We cannot verify the report you gave"
"Your Graces! Do not treat your servant with such doubt. Go to Central Antia and see for yourself your Graces"
"Enough is said Lord Emanias, please be seated. We refuse your request,"
"Then so be it your Graces! I can see that the presence of the Shaddai has left the Hallowed Citadel. All ye Sacrisancs are corrupt with greed and power"
"Enough Lord Emanias"
"Ye Lords and Ladies pervert justice and distort the word of the Shaddai"
"ENOUGH! Lest you be punished most severely!"
"Enough? I hereby abdicate my place in the Sacrisanc council! This is no place to serve the Shaddai or even the people!" Emanias stripped off his divine diadem and tossed it to the ground where it shattered across the Grand Hall.

"How unfortunate that Lord Emanias should depart from us," Uttered Sancross Gamaliel
"Indeed, very unfortunate" resounded the voices of the other three
"The poor chap, he does not know what he is doing" whispered Lady Shardina, a sinister smile curled across her face.

Malaysia Trip

2009-04-17T19:16:00.031+08:00

I just arrived and it's Christmas time in KL!!! look at all the fancy deco! They even had a sit on santa's lap session which we dun have in a certain childhood-deprived place, KIDDING haha but all the deco was still quite meaningless if you ask me. They did not have the first sillable of Christmas. Christmas in Singapore RAWKED.FISH REFLEXIOLLOGY!! so fun! the feeling was like hundreds of little mouths nibbling on your feet. Haha , look at my bro's emaciated face. This was an authentic Korean BBQ restaurant run by real Koreans. SUUUUPER nice:Dand of course, how can you say you've been to KL without trying the famous Bak Kut Tehdun go to the kitchen though, or you might just lose your appetite:PCHRISTMAS DINNER!!!!!! By my mom no less!!! YUM!!! Roast Turkey with special stuffing and Lobster Angel's hair pasta.A plate of turkeyCarving a work of artand of course, which Christmas dinner would be complete without a log cake?:DPRESENTS!!! YAY!!!
haha The next day we went to Cameron highlands. These are a few shots of itthe lobby of the hotel we stayed inthe hotel buildingsThen we went to a tea plantation. IT WAS MESMERIZINGthen we went to this place FILLED with flowers and we could have teas and muffins among them.afterwards we went to a rose garden.roses are redand pink and whiteand blue and indigo and violet:Dthen it's the bee farm buzzbuzzthe bee's home, each of those boxes got a queen. haha reminds me of the line from "Bee Movie": "That's no Queen! It's a guy in a dress! It's a drag queen...."
After the bees it's the birds!!! nah it's the butterfliesthe butterflies here are really friendly! either that or they have completely lost the will to live...They got snakes too!!We even got to see a butterfly struggling to get out of its coccoon, so cool.After that we had dinner at a local steamboat place the view was gorgeousafter that we went to Smokey's, a rustic style hotel come restaurant openned by the westerners who once settled here. It was really homey and really nice We were waiting here for ONE HOUR for a table, thankfully the scenery was good and the food was.........mouthwatering, I ordered roast lamb shank in french style I thinkhaha the BB guys will love the next picThen it was time to go to our hotel, another rustic hotel aptly named......Bala's!! no pun intended the hotel was reeeeeallly nice, all of us were staying in small houses the Scones were SUBLIME, add milk tea and a table atop of a hill and it's PERFECT.After Cameron Highlands we headed to Penang but made a quick pitstop at Ipoh. I dunno but the sky in Ipoh was unnaturally blue. It was beautiful but weird somehowOf course, we tried the famed Ipoh horfun. It was NOTHING like Singapore one. I didnt particularly like it cuz of it's slimeyness and the thick sweet and pungent sauce.The Penang bridge, ooh the next pic is super funny.Specially dedicated for wimps!!!!! look out, that guy at table 5 looks like he's about to give you a wedgie!!!we stayed at a hotel called "g hotel" the name is just gThat night, we went to a local hawker centre to try out all the local delicacies such as Kway Teow, Laksa, Satay and so on. This particular shot was taken at a Lok Lok shop. beats S'pore hawkers hands down!Next day we went to some clan house. AS expected they got plenty of traditional and antique cheena stuff in there and some pretty scary pictures as well. I think Jordon would love this place:pYay! this is more of my kind of thing! The St George's Cathedral, it was beautifulThen, we headed towards the fruit farm, and on the way, stopped by this waterfallfruits! so much fruits!!His royal Highness!! The King of Fruits!!The cactus fruit
The tree cursed by Jesus or rather, it's great great great great great great great great great great great great grand nephew's great great great great great great grandchildFruit buffet!Fruit Juice!!! they had this strange red fruit which looked like a sharpe-edged paprika but is as small as a cherry, when they blended it with together with the other fruits the taste was so fresh and tropicalThen we went to another butterfly farm in Penang. the butterflies here had more life though haha look it's my distant cousin!!and these are Ben's distant cousins hahais that a tribes person? or an insect? you decidehaha just a fun shot outside the farm. We even bought this Beautiful encased butterfly which is at my house nowAfter that we went to the toy museum. They had all sorts of toys! new and old. My brother and I even saw alot of toys we used to play with when we were children! the nostalgia....sigh....

Gawsh... I used to have at least 4/5 of these when I was younger

Well that brings us to the end of the Malaysia trip and a start of a new year!! Happy NEw YEar!!!

I gaze upon my fallen lords

2009-04-17T19:10:00.002+08:00

I gaze upon my fallen lords

at all my chains and idols

all fallen to the holy sword

The crimson battlefield

whence my lords were slain
whence to my true Lord I yield

Now lift up this diadem of praise

And crown the Lord of Life

That saved us through His grace

haha super random and I think many ppl wont understand

Silver, Woohoo!

2009-04-17T18:38:00.002+08:00

Yays! my choir got silver for syf haha. After 4 years... we finally achieved a silver. Well, I guess this makes conducting the choir and for 2 years worth it. I thank all my choirmates who gave it their best for the performance:D

haha in any case, this week has been somewhat interesting. Aside from syf on wednesday, itturns out that Sern's house is being renovated, so he'll be staying over with me for a week. haha we've had a few days of extreme mugging lol.

The holy week so far

2009-04-11T19:55:00.002+08:00

I'm one day late but HAPPY GOOD FRIDAY!!!!

haha had a wonderful time at the Presbyterian Good Friday convention yesterday, bumped into Jethro. Didn't know he was Presbyterian lol.

Anyways, I actually wanted to post about today. I woke up at 6.30 today to do some quiet time with God in the garden underneath my apartment.

I was going on behalf of some frens that I invited to church. I brought the petition before God that He'd bring them to church. and after that I read the Bible.

God answered me in a way I'd nvr expect.

First off, I landed on some psalms of David crying out to God to answer his prayers. I could identify with him until the emo parts where he started saying "I'm being dragged down to the grave" and such.

But then something amazing happened. I flipped and landed on John, the part where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. It was a familiar passage, and I had read it quite a few times.

Mary had sent a message to Jesus "the one you love is sick"
when Jesus heard the news, he stayed where he was a few days more before finally visiting Lazarus. By that time, Lazarus was already dead.
The two sisters, Martha then Mary, came to Jesus to tell him what happened. The amazing part was that, neither of them blamed him for not coming to heal their brother. In fact, they put their trust in Jesus' power.

At that moment I felt a tug at my heart, and when I reached the sentence "Jesus wept" water started coming out of my eyes.

I don't know why, tears just started flowing, and I couldnt stop. It was the first time I honestly cried in ages. Then Jesus said

"Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" I knew He was going to act on my prayer. He also said

"Father I thank you that you have heard me. I knew you always hear me" I know that God is listening to my prayers and cries.

I kept on tearing

Then the final moment came "Lazarus, come out!" and the dead man came out. The next line Jesus said, really struck me.

"Take off the grave clothes and let him go" I could feel my soul saying these very lines to satan regarding my friends.

Let them go, let them go. I had to control my crying tho since a lady was there. I decided to go back up to my flat.

That moment I knew, that whether my friends actually accept my invitation, God will still save them. Amen

Song: Set The World On Fire

2009-04-09T20:22:00.004+08:00

No, it's not a death metal song about a crazy arsonist. It's a Christian song sang by Britt Nicole that really touched me. Here are the lyrics:

I want to set the world on fire

until it's burning bright for you

it's everything that I desire

can I be the one that You use?

I, I, am small but

You, You are big enough

I, I, am weak but

You, You are strong enough to

Take my dreams,

Come and give them wings

Lord with you

there's nothing I can not do

I want to feed the hungry children

And reach across the Father's land

And tell the broken there is healing

and mercy in the Father's hand

I, I, am small but

You, You, are big enough

I, I, am weak but

You, You, are strong enough to

Take my dreams

Come and give them wings

Lord with You,

There's nothing I cannot do

My hands, my feet,

my everything

My life, my love,

Lord use me

For a moment

2009-04-02T19:57:00.003+08:00

My soul arrived for a moment

life's first cry as I entered the world

the beauty of a pearl

engraved by the hands above

My soul is empty for a moment

this land so dry, so much pain surround

me as I walk, I hear a sound

that calls me to His side

Still so much time to choose

time to laugh and time to loose myself

having an entire lifetime to live

My spirit's high for a moment

I feel so high I could touch the sky

I'm touching heaven

with Christ here by my side

Still so much time to loose

time waste and time to seek forgiveness

when I only have this lifetime to live

My spirit's dry for a moment

the journey's long and I'm not feeling strong

I need your strength

Can't fight this on my own

You don't have the time to loose

time to waste or time to loose yourself

when you only have this lifetime to live

I'm at death's door for a moment

the battle's long but I'm nearing the end

and very soon

I'll be at my father's side

You don't have the time to loose

time to waste or time to loose yourself

nearing the end of the line

I will be here forever

n'er again will sorrow and pain

take hold of me

within my Saviour's arms

Now is the time to live

time to lead a life of love in Christ

now that you've got eternity to live

Under the Dentist's drill (II)

2009-04-02T19:39:00.002+08:00

Paaaaaaaaaaaaain.............
It's like my mouth has been locked in an iron maiden...

Just got my anchors(back braces) and they huuuuuurt. It's like the feeling of taking a grater and start rubbing it inside your mouth.

I was late for the appointment too. I had thought that the appointment was at 4pm and it turns out to be 3pm. I think the dentist made it extra painful for wasting her time haha.

I can't believe I have to bear with this pain for an entire year=__= everytime I chew...... you can imagine. all for the sake of my impacted teeth and also for straighter teeth.

oh well, I will trust in God to help.

A World That Enjoys Hurting Itself

2009-03-26T21:26:00.006+08:00

Wherever I look nowadays, I find people emoing. Even my closest Christian friends have been drowning themselves in sorrows and anxiety. I admit, even I myself do that sometimes.

I'm convinced that we are living in a world that enjoys hurting itself. Smoking, drugs, self-mutilation, fornication, these are all the ways people enjoy hurting themselves. to the extent that they boast to each other of their own suffering. I’ve heard people saying "I have been through much more pain than you" or "you don't understand the pain I'm going through". A generation that enjoys wallowing in despair.

Sometimes I also tell others “woah my class is so stressful...” or “woah I have to wake up so early every morning...” then I would wonder: Why am I saying this? Is it just to relieve stress? Or am I actually boasting about it. Don’t other people go through nearly the same thing?

Why do we not tell others about it and put on a facade when we are in pain? I will now reveal the ugly side, it's because we enjoy it. We enjoy it when we suffer, I will list several reasons I sometimes do this and I’m sure I’m not alone. It makes us feel special, it makes us feel important so that others should pay attention to us. If that's not the reason then it's because then we feel superior to others because we feel we have more burdens than them. And if that's still not the reason then it's because we have someone to blame. We make ourselves "MARTYRS" and then say that society is putting it on us.

All lies. So what if I can suffer more? I am just boasting that I am silly enough to put on myself more than I can carry.

This is wrong. It is so wrong. How could God's people, the people He Himself handpicked to carry the Joy of Heaven into earth, be drowned in sorrow and anxiety?

It doesn't make sense.

Why are the people who carry the Joy of Heaven so easily put down by the things of Earth? Why if we have received the gift of eternal life are we still afraid of the people and circumstances around us?

It is RIDICULOUS.

Sometimes I fear that if I do not live up to the expectations of the people around me, I would be a bad vessel of the Gospel? Is that it? So instead of showing them I am not strong enough to break my limits I show them that I am a push over subjected to judgement? Am I not already free from the ultimate judgement? Then why fear the judgement of man? I must remember that God is sovereign and will still draw people towards Himself even though I am weak.

If you ever find yourselves in my shoes, brothers in Christ, do not allow yourself to be drowned in sorrows. For the sake of yourself and for the people you want to reach out to, DONT. I do not think it is very attractive if all we have to offer is a bunch of weeping martyrs who keep a mask of happiness? Let your love and joy be evident to all. Be Joyful always. Even when we are sad we still can be joyful because we have a hope of a better tomorrow. The hope that Jesus gives us

And to those who are not Christian, please. There is SO MUCH MORE to life than sorrow. look past your sorrows and find that other things can give you fulfilment besides suffering.

Voice

2009-03-25T19:58:00.003+08:00

The child tugged at the ropes and asked

"How do I know it is you Lord?"

"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand."

The Kingdom of Wumbada

2009-03-23T21:50:00.011+08:00

Once upon a time there was the kingdom of Wumbada. The Wumbadites were very happy people. One day, there was news spreading around the city about the obscenely huge killer ponies approaching the kingdom. the Wumbadites were terrified. They had heard stories of how the killer ponies can wipe away entire cities with a swish of their blonde ribbon braided tail. And how with it's twinkly eye it could turn peoples into lollipops, eat them and fart them out as gamma radiating rainbows. And now it was on it's way to Wumbada! how terrible!!

There was one hope however. Legend has it that there was a certain elusive, magical, radiant golden banana that once eaten would make the eater invulnerable to all the attacks of the obscenely huge killer ponies. This magical Golden Banana was worth faaaaar more than any diamond or gem.There was one problem however, nobody has ever found the golden banana and nobody knows how or where to find it.

There was one Wumbadite boy though who was determined to find some golden bananas to save himself and his family. So off he went with the permission of his parents to search far and wide for the golden banana. He went around from wise man to wise man, from library to library, searching for clues as to how he could save himself from the killer ponies. Some of the wise men were really strange.

Some of them said that you had to Plant as many banana trees as you can and eat 5000 bronze bananas and 5000 silver bananas from those trees without eating a SINGLE rotten banana then you would stand a chance to find a Golden Banana. Bronze and Silver bananas were not too hard to find if you're looking for one or two, but that much was quite impossible to find or eat for that matter. Their worth pales in comparison with that of a Golden banana though

Some of them said that everyone was once a monkey and had eaten lots and lots of rotten bananas so they couldnt find the Golden Banana. Apparently, one man had been able to get rid of all his past rotten bananas by planting and eating even more bronze and silver bananas.

Some also said that there was no need to find a Golden Banana because everyone is a Golden Banana and the Golden Banana is within everyone. You must look within yourself and find your inner banana, then you must do the banana dance a million times to transcend itno bananaland and then groom the eternal Banana tree and it will give you a Golden Banana.

Some even said that you had to attain a state of bananahood where you become one with the Great Banana Tree and you your self turn ~~Into a~~ banana. You must concentrate real hard till you think of nothing else but bananas to get bananahooded then the ponies won't harm you.

Still some said there are no Golden bananas and no killer ponies and that everyone's father was a butt-scratching monkey.

The boy noticed something queer about all the wisemen. They were all very wise but they all kept talking about people who had found the Golden banana and ways to find it but none of them have seemed to actually find it for themselves. So he decided to continue with his search.

One day the boy was stopped by a man.

"Hullo I heard you are looking for Golden Bananas?" asked the man

"Yes I am. Do you know anything about them?" asked the boy drearily, expecting to hear another long winded story of people who had found the Golden banana and ways to get it.

"I know where to get the Golden Bananas, would you like to know?" The boy's eyes
brightenened.

"Yes! What must I do to get one? Should I plant a banana tree?"

"You do not have to do anything, I have planted all the Golden banana trees. All you have to do is eat it. Come, follow me" The man answered

Confused but curious, the boy followed. When he did, he found himself in a HUUUUUGE Banana plantation, but the bananas here were strange. They were more beautiful and looked more luscious than any other fruit he had ever seen. Whole bunches of bananas shone Golden colour under the sun. The boy couldnt believe it, he knew without a doubt that these were the elusive Golden bananas. All this time he had been searching so hard for the Golden bananas and now trees of them were right in front of him. The boy wondered if the man would give him some of the bananas.

"These are the golden bananas" the man said "Please, give me some of the Golden bananas" the boy begged

"There is only one condition if you want a Golden Banana"

"What is it?"

"You have to give me all your silver and bronze bananas, even the rotten ones."

The boy was shocked, although the Golden banana was worth so much more than the silver and bronze bananas, he still liked the bananas he had. But the boy grit his teeth. For the sake of his mission, he traded all his inferior bananas for the Golden one.

"The magic of the banana is that it is only possible to eat it once and then you will be forever immune to the killer ponies but take as many as you can" said the man "and give them to as many people as would receive them. Tell them to come here and pay me the same price you have paid. Another magic in the banana is that you will not be able to eat it until you surrender all your other bananas. Be fast, the obscenely huge killer ponies are coming soon!"

The boy then peeled one banana and ate it. Instantly, he felt a change in him and he knew whatever killer ponies would not be able to harm him anymore. he thanked the man, took a whole bunch of bananas and ran back to all the wise men to give some to them. To his astonishment however, the wise men mocked him and laughed at him. They said his Golden bananas were fake. All these years they've been working and have not attained the Golden banana, how could the boy in such a short time get it? This was the same case for many of the other people in the kingdom. But many of people the people also believed and took a Golden banana and ate it.

Of course, soon the obscenely huge killer ponies arrived and destroyed the town and all those who didnt eat the golden banana were turned into lollipops and farted out into rainbows. Only the boy and those who ate the Golden bananas survived.

And so, they witnessed the destruction of the city. Everyone was tremendously sad that many people had not believed their story and ate the Golden banana. The ponies were still prancing about the devastated city looking for more lollipops to eat. Suddenly, the man who owned the banana plantation appeared and said to all of them.

"These obscenely huge killer ponies have been rampaging for too long. We must rid this world of them." Then he took a banana launcher and Blasted all the ponies to smitherines with Golden Bananas. He told all those who had eaten the Golden Banana.

"You all are wise to have eaten the Golden banana. Now you can all live in a new world free of the fear of the obscenely huge killer ponies."

And so it was, everyone rejoced that the dreaded ponies are finally gone and they lived happilly ever after.

The End

2009-03-21T23:20:00.001+08:00

SCREEAAM!!!

Under the Dentist's drill (I)

2009-03-20T21:41:00.003+08:00

Arrgh.... so...much...blood....

Sheesh, did the dentist install a raspberry syrup factory in my mouth or something?
Just had 2 of my teeth extracted. I'm gonna be gettng braces and had to have 4 of my teeth removed...

Whoever said modern tooth extraction is completely painless, well, he lied. haha

when I first entered the room I was realistically expecting a not pain free but sophisticated and civilised extraction, none of that yanking out your tooth procedures that is often portrayed.

At first he took out a reeeeeeeally scary needle of anaesthetics that hurt like ten degrees of hell. no problem, I'll just clench the arm rest hard and hope it doesn't break.

I thought that the extraction would be the dentist loosening my teeth gently with some high-tech tool or drug and when it was loose enough, simply pluck it out, But when he took out the PLYERS, that's it I wanted refund. but I didnt, anyways, he started twisting and turning my teeth till I heard several crack sounds and dislodged the tooth. Ouch... and that's not the end yet, I still have another tooth to extract and even then it's not over. I have to return tomorrow for a second round of extraction. God help me

So here I am with two gaping holes in my mouth biting a piece of tissue expecting the next round of extractions. oh well....

SF guys outing

2009-03-20T21:11:00.002+08:00

haha, the SF guys had an outing last wednesday and it was AWESOME!!! haha
we went for dinner at Pepper Lunch and then went to watch Witch Mountain in Shaw house. The movie was OkAy~ but I'm sure everyone enjoyed the fellowship:D

Before that, I went with Mig Hui to the Japanese supermarket and helped ourselves to the free buffet~ sweet~! Call me cheap, the food was still goodXD

After the movie Ming Hui, Micah, Bryan and I stayed behind and chilled out at Starbucks. I have no idea how we came to talk about gay bars and ass slapping ut that's beside the point=___+. Anyways, it was fun hanging out at Starbucks, it was quite late so we were pretty much the only customers left.

After that we finally decided to go home but guess what?? Bryan and Micah decided to stay over at my place. Oh well, and so it was. I think we stayed up till around 3am... maaaan was tired. haha was a great outing.

Meet the turtles

2009-03-19T13:58:00.000+08:00

Pop arts

2009-03-14T21:28:00.003+08:00

woah, it's been how long since I last posted poparts? okay here are a new batch:First off, meet Torvin! he's my new tea-sipping turtle mascot This is a special pop-art. There are supposed to be 2 characters in the middle which I had to censor out for now, not because it's graphic but because the real picture is going to be a gift to a good friend of mine when this picture is fulfilled.haha it was real fun making this pop art, I had some trouble finding a suitable verse tho

this picture reflects the state of my heart sometimes

The name of this is "sheep without a shepherd" any questions?

50th post!!! my Birthday!!!

2009-03-14T21:09:00.004+08:00

Yays!!! my birthday celecbration was great!!! yays it's my 50th post!!

Can't believe I'm 16 now....

Although the party was kinda bumpy at the beginning, everything wen't great afterwards. haha this is my most memorable birthday so far. Thx to certain friends who

1 pushed my face into the cake

2 dunked me into the pool

3 poured flour over me afterwards, choking me in the process=___=

Thx ALOT guys. haha but thx for making my birthday truly wonderful. You guys are the best:D

I learnt alot from this party. One of them is NEVER PUT YOUR FACE ANYWHERE NEAR THE CAKE. haha kiddin. I actually messed up the planning. The worship session was supposed to be at the beginning but unfortunately, the food was getting cold so I had to push it to the last event.

I learnt how to plan better. Learn from my mistake:)

Of course I got some great gifts from the guys. haha as expected they gave me turtles, turtles and more turtles.

yay! new additions to my turtle family:D

haha I got other presents too of course but I won't show them here. This was an awesome bday party thx for making it awesome guys and thank you God for granting me this sixteenth year of my life and for blessing me with so many wonderful friends and everything:D

finally, a resolution:D

2009-03-08T17:33:00.004+08:00

Yesh my mind is cleared again. Grace and Peter had a chat with me today and I now realize my mistake. As for that dreaded post, I've deleted it. the guy who tagged me about telling it to my pastor face to face was correct.

I apologize to everyone offended by that blog including my pastors of course and I hope you guys understand that I am human and I do make mistakes. I also hope for your understanding that I only did so because I wanted the church to grow but I know the the way I did it was wrong.

anyways out of all these I learnt alot of lessons the main one of course is to think carefully before I speak. Another is that God answers prayers and yet another is that I should tell a person directly to them when I have something againts them.

But I've been wondering, ironic isn't it? When I blog nice harhar posts, hardly anyone ever tags. But the moment I type something that is the least bit offensive, the tags start pouring in like a flood trying to maul me and even then, they are not willing to state their names. thx guys, you guys are the best. Okay before I start another flood of tags I better change topic

In any case today, church was fun. After saying so many bad things I'm gonna sing praises then. Pastor Veron's preaching has definitely improved which I am grateful for, yay pastor Veron! keep it up:D and worship was also very nice today. Oh yeah and in my oppinion, discussion has grown substantially since the new splinter group system was introduced. I do hope this goes on:D

Okay that should be about all I gotta blog about, God bless:D

Hrmm...

2009-03-06T22:04:00.002+08:00

Wow, long week, finally got to use the com again. Okay I'll admit it I allowed my old-self to resurface and rear its ugly head. I had allowed my tongue to lash out cruelly. I'm appologizing to any reader who had been offended by my previous post, and restrain myself more.

I have committed it to God that I would change. I do not deny that my choice of words were poor and insensitive, that is my fault. HOWEVER, I still believe the essential meanings of the posts stand true.

Can't believe someone told me to grow up though haha. I promise you guys I will.

And please, if there is something you have against me, approach me in person and do not hide behind the veil of a screen, you know me, I ain't the violent type I will hear you out and do my best to be better. moving on

Speaking of growing up, my B'day is coming! yays! looking forward to it.

Come home, come home. All who are weary come home...

Allah Perduli

2009-03-04T16:40:00.004+08:00

One Indonesian Worship song that really touched me

Allah Perduli

Banyak perkara,

yang tak dapat 'ku mengerti

Mengapakah harus terjadi?

Di dalam, kehidupan ini

Satu perkara,

yang kusimpan dalam hati

Tiada sesuatu 'kan terjadi

Tanpa Allah perduli

Allah mengerti

Allah perduli

Segala persoalan yang kita hadapi

tak akan pernah, dibiarkannya

ku bergumul sendiri

s'bab Allah perduli

Dibukanya jalan ku,

s'bab Allah perduli

In case you're wondering what all that means, I made the translation

GOD CARES

Many things that I

just can not understand

Why must all these things occur?

In this life of mine

One thing that I

keep deep in my heart

Not a single thing will occur

Without God caring

God understands

God cares

All the trials that we are

going through

Never will you be

forsaken by Him

my thoughts wrestle within me

That God would care

He has open made straight my paths

for GOD CARES

Turn Your Eyes From The Storm

2009-02-22T16:39:00.007+08:00

I've been travelling so long

on ice so thin it feels like water
on and on
All around the storm resound, shouting
"You CAN'T hold on much longer"
on and on
My foot is slipping in cold water
Then His voice rang louder than the thunder

Turn your eyes from the storm
look to me you will not fall
trust in me and hold my hand
walk with me and you will stand
The sun will rise the clouds will fade
The pain will make you strong
Turn your eyes from the storm

On and on and on my way
Stumbling here and there along
on and on
the waves are coming up my waist
I feel the wind's choking song
on and on
I cry out 'Lord O Lord O save me"
Then His voice rose above the song

Turn Your eyes from the Storm
Look to me you will not fall
Your grip on me is slipping loose
but I am holding on to you
The sun will rise, the clouds will fade
have faith, have faith
Turn your eyes from the storm

Prayer Meeting!

2009-02-20T23:13:00.002+08:00

Yay! had PM at Hui Sian's house today, was very fun! after a week of no PM. We finally got a new member, which is Keric. erh guys, get more lower sec ppl to form their own PMs lerh, must accomplish this before we graduate!

In any case, we had a smashing time of praise and prayer. Afterwards Hui Sian very kindly cooked some spaghetti for our dinner, was quite scrumptous yumyum. I pray that PM will keep growing stronger till a revival starts in this school. The Lord iniated this project and I believe that he will make it come to pass, let any obstacles be felled!

Irritating day at choir

2009-02-16T21:34:00.002+08:00

Well choir practice today was same as usual, the choir would just keep yapping and yapping and yapping and well, you get my point. It's a MIRACLE that they never run out of things to talk about.

Throughout warm up, which I unfortunately as the student conducter have to conduct, they were chatting away. When I was working on the Sopranos the Altos would start talking and when I asked them to shut up, the Sopranos would in turn start talking and the baritones just couldn't stop playing the fool. It's like a game of whack-a-mole I tell you=____=. I also had to keep getting their attention by punishing them with dog-pants. As a result the warmup session dragged on for 1 whole hour.

Later on in the day after Mrs Erp, our conductor, evaluated us she scolded us for not giving her the quality and focus that we were supposed to have. Afterwards she told us to write on the board the reasons we were not able to deliver.

When I approached the board however, some members started accusing me and saying that it was my fault for dragging the warm up session and taking away time for them to do sectionals.

I was soooooooooooooo irritated by this, I replied to them that it was not my fault since the choir could not focus and I had to spend so much time shutting them up. As the student conductor, I had to ensure that ther voices were in top condition by the time the conductor arrived, even if it meant eating some extra time. Besides that, the conductor arrived late today.

I didn't say this, but judging by their standards of discipline, whatever sectionals they had would not have accomplished much anyways. I'd rather have them do warm ups where I can make sure that their voices won't suck. Ironically, if I had done the opposite and stuck to the half an hour, their voices would have sucked and then they would blame me again for not giving them proper warm up. see the dillema I'm in?

Then they started saying that I wasn't doing the warm ups but only ordering people around. I answered, I didn't do the warmups because I had to listen to the choir and ensure you are singing correctly. My mind isn't able to do so many things at a time. On a side note, whenever I punished them with dog pants, I ALWAYS did it with them.

Then they accused me with the thing that made me ticked the most and that I feel have no relation whatsoever with the issue. saying, 'Aren't you an Express student? Shouldn't you be able to do that?" I flipped, but on the inside. Composing myself, I told them. "Just because I'm an express student does it make me any more of a human than you?" Indeed I do not believe that NA/T students are inferior in anyway to express students, their just equally gifted in a different way. In any case, their argument was absurd and prepostorous. Just because I'm in an express stream they shouldn't expect me to be some all-powerful being.

It's just so annoyin of them to pin all the blame on me, sigh. Oh God, how long must I contend with these people? I pray for the patience to deal with them. I have Keric and Ilene there as my witnesses that I am innocent of their accusations. Choir is getting more and more dreary for me sigh. But I guess I must also try to do something but I do not know what. Anyone got any suggestions?

How maths class became spelling competition

2009-02-11T16:33:00.002+08:00

haha I had a super fun maths class today. It all started normally and Mr Ian Soon was going through his lesson on vectors until he said we could use Pythagoras' theorem to find the length of vectors(see, I do pay attention in class:P).

Then some guy challenged Mr Soon to spell Pythagoras. Rolling his eyes, he quickly took his marker and wrote on the board: P-Y-T-H-A-G-O-R-A-S. He then promptly challenged the class to give him an English word that he could not spell correctly and if we did, he would treat each of us to a free drink. But if we were to ask him to spell 5 words and he could spell them all, the class would have to treat him.

Being the secondary 4 teenagers we are, the entire class got into a frenzy of English words, all of which frankly, were quite easy to spell. One guy even shouted "tumeric" and Mr Soon quite happily wrote the word on the board, he was looking quite confident by now. Then the whole class hushed as the lesson continued and as he was teaching, the people in my row kept nudging me for a word to stump him and I promptly took out a dictionary and smiled. Then, as he finished one of the topics he wanted to cover, Wei Kwang shouted out

Wei Kwang: 'Cher! You have a new challenger

Mr Soon: What? hurry up

Me: denouement!

Mr Soon:What??

Me: DENOUEMENT!!( the whole class was in an uproar at this point)

Mr Soon: what's the definition?

Me: the final outcome or resolution of a play

He then wrote on the board: D-E-N-O-U-M-E-N

Me: Sorry, wrong

Mr Soon: Hey that's not quite fair you guys gave me a french word(you can imagine the state of the class)
Me: It's from the ENGLISH dictionary!

Mr Soon: Yeah but it's still french, you guys have to give me a purely English word. (talking to the class) like can you guys spell me rendezvous?
the class went into a frenzy of letters again, I wanted to spell it but my voice was drowned out.
Mr Soon: See? none of you can spell it so you must give me a pure English word

Me: hey, you can't say that, all English words originate from other languages like Latin or Greek so there isn't a "pure" English word.

Some Guy: Good one Alvin!

Mr Soon: (in an "argh, fine, you win" type of tone) You know, I really hate your class=___="
but I tell you something, if you give me any Malay word, I'm sure to be able to spell it.

Raudhah and Me: Oh, Sure!!
Of course we didn't challenge him yet since we wanted to get on with the lesson. After that Ian, not the teacher, said something that I can't remember and Mr Soon went on on how Ian disgraced the 'Ian' and is the epitome of suckiness and how he himself was the epitome of greatness. He then challenged us to spell epitome, which I spelled wrongly as epitomy(my bad) but Beverly managed to get it right. Then as the period nearly came to an end...

Me: Mr Soon! We haven't give you the Malay word yet!

Mr Soon: fine... give it

Me: menganiayai!
Mr Soon then gave me a blur look and the class broke out into fits of laughter.

Mr Soon: you know, my epitomy of greatness also involves lying right?
then the entire class got stunted by his lameness haha fun.

It may seem that we are bullying Mr Soon but really, we are not. It only made the lesson more enjoyable and I'm sure he didnt mind. Besides that we also learnt quite alot about vectors during the lesson. haha this type of student-teacher spelling competition should be used as an official English teaching technique, it really was fun and I learnt quite a lot.

My Treat at Clarke Quay

2009-02-06T23:23:00.007+08:00

Finally got a chance to blog againg, I'll post the reason after this post. Anyways, true to my promise, I treated the PM gang + Joseph to dinner @ Clarke Quay after PM. Sigh, who knew that their stomach could to defy the laws of Physics...sigh... I shall not complain, the Lord likes a happy giver:D Photo courtesy of Hui Sianour first stop for dinner was Pasta de Waraku. browsingstill browsinghmm...maybe if you stare at the menu hard enough, the food will pop out!

haha, cute, NOT=______= treating you free food already still sleep! okay larh! haha jk
haha acting cute
A picture with the "wise" king Solomon my dish happilly eating awayfather and son?

after that we went to Azabu Sabo for desserts. Yum!

OhohohoJoseph...stop acting cute=_____=haha after that we just walked aroud awhile oh yeah and Joe fell in love with this bear

It was a great time at CQ, I really enjoyed myself. I hope to hang out with me awesome brothers and sisters more!

~~~~~~~~~~DO NOT CLICK

2009-01-31T00:09:00.006+08:00

DO NOT CLICK

here!

I'm SERIOUS, DONT CLICK IT!!!

Cheena New Year

2009-01-28T20:12:00.007+08:00

Haha I guess I have one of the most carefree Cheena new years living in a Christian family. I can enjoy all the benefits of Chinese new year without adhereing to all the inane regulations like

avoiding books, avoiding medicine, avoiding brooms, avoiding blacks(that didn't come out right).

Yays! I had quite alot of fun with the PM gang on our celebration, here are some pics,(photo courstesy of our dear ducky) the Yu Sheng that we had preparing,still preparing.....brown gold!simply having funShao Long, I can see into your nostrils.....going after the "ah beng" lookhaha, finally a serious fun picture, wait did that make sense?Lao Hei!! usually people would be shouting crap about good fortune, but we sounded like a crappy church choir shouting HALELUYA!HALELUYA!! haha good fun STEAMBOAT!!!!! believe it or not, all the ingredients we bought amounted only to around $29 which is around the price of Pizza hut delivery. who says you can't have cheap and good steamboat?I have NO IDEA why ben took this photo and of course, with new year comes, WINE WINE WINE!!!!!! haha dun worry I didnt get drunk and am not intending to get drunk. but I like wine, it runs in my family, although I'm only 16 haha, a toast to the new year!!!well that's all the pics of the PM Cheena new year celebration.

after that I had another Cheena New Year Celebration dinner, this time with my family. photo courtesy of my bro all the dishes you see are made by my mom

This Yu Sheng was purchased from Sushi Tei and it was goooooooooooood

Fish maw & Abalone soup!!! yum! This is not steamboat but a dish call bhen chai. also by my mom, it was AWESOME!
The Yusheng ready to be mixed why do I look so weird? just add gold! Lastly, we had Baked Alaska for dessert, It tasted like a piece of sweet cloud, drooool... we ended with some healthy fruits after that oh-so-sinful dinner.

haha that was more or less my new year celebration besides the ang pao and visitation. Me and my big mouth promised Joseph that I'd be treating him plus the PM gang to dinner if I collected more than $1000 worth of ang pao, and then it came true, oh well. treating them this friday, so annoying. haha HAPPY CHEENA NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!!

Names

2009-01-26T23:41:00.003+08:00

Hey guys, I seem to notice a growing trend in people giving me nicknames. So I'd like to list out the names I dun mind being called and names that simply will make me pull out your tongue.

Okay Nicknames: Laiman, Turtle, Turtle King, Panda, Holy Panda, Turtle Panda
Irritating Nicknames: Lemon, La Mian, Lehman=_____="

while I'm at it, I'll list down the names I call other people

Benjamin: Ben, Duck, Bendustbin broom, Benducky
Solomon: King Solomon, Salmon, Solo
Christopher Sern: Sern, Chris, Bubble

haha that's all for now

The conclusion of the matter

2009-01-26T16:46:00.002+08:00

Hey guys, sorry for scaring some of you with my emo posts, I already received an answer from God regarding which church I should go to. It seems that it is not yet time for me to leave the Presbytary. God gave me a verse, 1Kings2:26, telling me to return. sigh, how long must I contend with this? God please start a revival soon in AMKPC.

Sweet Presbitry

2009-01-25T15:05:00.004+08:00

Today, I went to AMKPC. I talked to my leaders about what I felt. They advised me that if I wasn't growing, in this church, they recommended me to go to the church I could grow better in. I know you may think it sounds harsh but actually they said it very nicely to me. So, I guess this is it huh? God is calling me to another church? Shall I transfer to Trinity now? I don't know I'm just so confused and heartbroken. Heartbroken not because my church has abandoned me but I am abandoning my church. I guess I foresaw this, I just never expected it to happen.
~
My heart was breaking within me as I made this poem, to the tune of "Sweet Hour of Prayer"
~
SWEET PRESBITRY
Sweet Presbitry, Sweet Presbitry

My roots have grown so deep in thee

You were a guide a home to me

I always found my God in thee

Yet in the years I hoped to grow,

I nary found a single soul

To laugh with me and cry with me

My deepest secret to bear with me

Sweet Presbitry, Sweet Presbitry

I could not find one with the same zeal as me

And now I long for another Tree

I beg thee do not cry 'Adultery!'

Yet I cannot bear, for me to tear

myself from you my tribal share

Yet I found God in yonder elsewhere

So cry me not, my dear, my care

Sweet Presbitry, Sweet Presbitry

I pray you'll grow well without me

You may forget me but I will never thee

Farewell, Farewell Sweet Presbitry

Farewell,

Sweet Presbitry.

Visit to Trinity

2009-01-25T00:33:00.002+08:00

Once again, God has provided me with an excellent day. Thank you Jesus! I visited Trinity today and had tons of fun with my pals there. However, the meaningful part only came much later. After the visit, we went for dinner and I went home along with a good friend. I will call my friend 'J' to protect J's identity. J, you know who you are.

So anyways on the bus we began chatting, then the subject turned to how we came to know Christ and our personal testimonies. Even when I reached my stop, we decided to walk around Kovan so we could share for abit more. I must say, the time of sharing was very meaningful for me and I'm sure it was also to J.

As I told J how I came to be in AMKPC, it was a reminder to me that God placed me in my church for a reason. I have to admit, my loyalty to my church has been quite shaky lately and I have been tempted to join other churches, like Trinity... but today, I renew my commitment again to AMKPC. But it's ironic isn't it? I have more close friends in Trinity than I have in my own church. Sometimes, I just dun feel that I'm growing very much in AMKPC. I just pray that a revival would start soon in AMKPC and I will strive my best to be part of it's initiation. but to all the AMKPC-ians that are reading my blog, I'd like to say that I am human and my patience has its limits.

Anyways I have a message to J:
I know that we haven't known each other for that long a time, so thx much for entrusting me with your testimony, I know that it isn't easy to tell. I promise that I will keep it confidential and pray for you as I know you'd do the same for me. I want you to know that I believe that whenever God gives us a bad situation, it is for two reasons. To strengthen us, and also so that we can help others who are in the same situation in the future. So keep on persevering for the sake of the Gospel. God bless!

Well I've blogged enough for now, signing out

Failed........

2009-01-20T22:30:00.003+08:00

It's official... I failed my Amaths qualifying test - HORRIBLY- 15 out of 100. I've entered my emo mood again, tho I'll probably be back to normal after some sleep. sigh, I'm just not a maths person I guess. The LLT still has a hold on me.

God help me, I'm so lost right now. If I don't take Amaths I doubt I'll be able to get into a JC. I pray that they will allow me to continue to take Amaths but what are the chances of that happening? I have to admit that I have not been doing my best to study maths. If they do allow me to continue, I will work hard. I dun guarantee a distinction, but my hardwok is what I'll promise. sigh....

God gave me this familiar verse today:

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "

plans to prosper you and not to harm you,

plans to give you hope and a FUTURE.

Quite ironic huh? since I just posted about my future dreams. Perhaps God has different plans for me? God, I may not know your plans, but I will trust you. I know you will give me the best future for me. I'll work hard!

My plans for the future

2009-01-16T23:37:00.002+08:00

I know that the future is unknown to me and that God's will will ultimately be done, but a guy is still allowed to have dreams right? I have a rather unusual dream but you'd understand why if you know me well enough.

First of all, after secondary school, I hope to go to a good JC or Poly. My targets are, in descending order: ACJC, AJC, YJC, Ngee An Poly. But judging from my maths mark now, It'd only be by God's grace if I were to get into any JC. God help me. If I were to go to Poly, I would take up psychology.

Afterwards I plan to go to University and study Child Psychiatry and hopefully get a degree in it. I aim to be an excellent child psychiatrist and help many children grow up normally and happilly. After I'm more or less stable, I plan to also enter bible college and be a good pastor to my church. Then once I have enough money I'd like to set up an orphanage foundation, yes an orphanage, and hopefully God would allow it to grow all over the world. Availing good home and shelter to many abandonned children all around the world. Then I can live out the rest of my life doing the Lord's will and helping others until He should call me back home.

My biggest dream is to set up an internationally known orphanage to protect and provide a loving childhood for many children and forming them into men and women after God's heart.
Of course all these are not set in stone and I haven't included unpredictable details like when I'm gonna get married and bla. And I know it is only by God's grace if I were to achieve my dream. Although being a pastor for a neighbourhood church and a chairman of several international orphanages would be a big juggle, I am ready to give my life to God and do whatever he wishes for me to do. God's will be done!

School song?!?!

2009-01-16T23:24:00.003+08:00

Breaking news! I have been chosen along with some other choir members to sing my school song for recording! I can't believe it! The ENTIRE school will be listening to my voice EVERY tuesday after assembly!

Pardon my rudeness, but did I mention that my school song sounds like it was composed by a deaf-mute person with a cat stuck in his throat? And that the original recording sounds like it was sung by a drug-high eunuch? I can't compare with a eunuch on drugs! I am NOT exagerrating, okay maybe just a little but you get my point. AARRGH!!!!!! God bless my soul

He went away

2009-01-14T20:34:00.004+08:00

okay, this poem/song is dedicated to a certain someone:

~~~

I heard the news,

he will go away.

far away, a place to shake his past loose.

To go to a paradise he could choose.

what can I do? but watch him go

and keep my tears from flowing, so slow.

Just keep running, keep on running,

when will you stop and look,

you've already found your heart's desire.

Keep on searching, you'll start hurting

if you just stop and look.

Don't be afraid, through hurt you'll grow stronger

but you just will not stop and look

I pray to God you'll not loose your way

when you went away

Zero hour came

he's going away

fading from hour hearts, fading from our minds

he wish we'd forget, but we never could

they gave him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh

but I could only offer him this prayer

Just keep running, keep on running

but do you know what you

are running from? when you've passed your heart's one desire

You kept searching, never finding

you will not just fade away

when you went away

And I pray to God you'll find your way

not to leave the path but each day to pray

for strength to face the day

Just keep running, keep on running

do you still know what you are running for?

Just stop searching, and start finding

just remember what you're searching for

You're no longer here but you can still go there.

And I pray to God you'll find your way

when you went away

don't fade away

Stressed.....

2009-01-12T21:49:00.002+08:00

Aaaargh!!!!! A-maths QT test coming up!!! guys, I know that I always seem like I'm relaxed but I REALLY am worried right now. If I flunk this test I can forget about taking A-maths T-T. God help me, I know your plans for me are good. I'm studying hard! Sern, Ben, you guys help me erh!

More reflections

2009-01-07T23:14:00.005+08:00

I can't believe it, I'm gonna have to sing "Apologize" for sec1 orientation for the choir accapella! The HORROR. Can anyone imagine me pulling that note? Even I know that the moment I sing it the glass is going to shatter and everyone's gonna wanna rip their ears out and drown themselves in the ocean just to escape my voice!

okay that is exagerating but you get my point.

These are some friends in my life that I'd like to thank and encourage but never really got the chance to( in no specific order):

Benjamin Voon: why I'm starting with you? Well, I guess you're my first genuine friend. Thx for always supporting me all these years! Keep persevering and remember you're never alone.

Christopher Sern: Hey Bro, I'm really glad to have a brother like you. Keep on drawing people to Christ, you're doing an awesome job!

Christopher Chen: Chris I keep praying that you do not let people look down on you because you are young but set an example for all in SPEECH, LOVE, and LIFE. keep maturing in Christ kay?

Dennis Yu: hey bro, I'm glad I met you in 108. you've been a great friend ever since. You may be young in Christ now but I know you will rise up as a great leader for Him to be a "kor" to many.

Solomon Soh: Solo! You've always been a good cheer to all of us and have been a great help. Thx much! Bring Christ's joy and music to this lifeless world

Micah: haha I guess you're kinda like my best friend in church. You have much brain knowledge of the bible, let it turn more into heart knowledge kay? Let God's word always be your guide.

Bryan: I am very encouraged by your courage to leave your gang and follow Christ. I know you may never read my blog, but I just want to say I'm glad I know you and I pray you will keep growing in Christ

Hui Xian: Yo sis! you are also young in Christ but I know that your zeal and thirst for Him is your great strength. Keep thirsting for Christ and his church.

Pan Yong Zhi: hey bro! it's great that you can finaly attend church! I know that the Lord will use you for great things. Continue to trust in His Word.

Loong Guat: LG! I haven't forgotten you! haha. always remember that you are made in the image of God. He loves you and wil bring you to great things!

LeeWei Jun: haha we're kinda stuck together for another year. Thx for being such a good sport all these years I appreciate it. Dun worry! You'll grow taller!

Well that is everyone for now. I really thank God that you guys are in my life. I pray that we will remain

The year so far

2009-01-06T21:52:00.003+08:00

Well, it's been a great year so far. Finally got a maths teacher I can understand, a renewed zeal to study, great friends around me and most of all, a God that loves me:D God has been answering my prayers!
Yong Zhi was finally able to go to church for the first time!! Haleluyah!
Today I went to Tammy's birthday lunch at PizzaHut and we had a smashing time. Christopherx2, Dennis, Jordon, Alvin Phua and Jethro was also there. It was all laughs when we saw Tammy's birthday cake and ice cream that was a little profane if you think dirty when the waitress stuck a candle between the two. We were all making lewd jokes about the cake/icecream that I have come to feel abit guilty over. I wonder if God minded? Oh wells. in anycase, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAMMY!!

Have A Blessed New Year

2008-12-31T10:10:00.002+08:00

Have a blessed new year everyone! 2008 has not been the best year for most people, but thank God you're alive! I can sense that 2009 wikk be a great year for many peoples. Make your resolution and stick to it! And if you have not found that one thing that makes you happy and completes you, I pray you will find it this year. to all a HAPPY NEWYEAR! I'm in Malaysia right now, will post all about my trip when I get back.

Merry Christmas!!!!

2008-12-22T22:54:00.002+08:00

Yays, it's Christmax time! Yays, look at all the bright lights! Yay, Ben finally returned me my battery! Jokes aside, I had a wonderful time at orchard road these few days, all the bright lights, Carolers, dances, drama really shout out: HEY!!! IT'S CHRISTMAS, PEACE ON EARTH GOODWILL TO MEN!!!! CHRIST IS BORN!!!!!!
I especially like one musical I watched on the 20th telling the birth of Jesus Christ in a not-so-conventional way. It was hilarious, touching and wonderful, I can't believe they're not getting paid for it! They used secular songs to convey the christmas story too. I can't remember which church it was but bravo to them! Anyways, I could really feel the Spirit of the living God moving through Orchard Road and I believe many people were touched by the many performances.
with all that said
PEACE ON EARTH GOOD WILL TO MEN

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

God Answers Prayers

2008-12-14T20:29:00.003+08:00

This is actually quite personal but I feel like sharing it with everyone. Quite sometime ago I was reading an article in Reader's Digest about an orphan boy. Because of the prison-like treatment of the orphanage he was in, even after he was adopted he suffered from a psychological condition that prevented him from loving his adoptive parents or anyone else. However, after years of persevering love and hardwork on the parents' side, the boy was able to grow up well and say to his parents "I love you".

No, the boy isn't me and that is not why I'm posting. After reading that article, I reflected on how many children around the world also does not receive the proper loving childhood that they need and this mars them badly through the rest of their lives. My heart really went out to all of them and I was filled with an indescribable sorrow and love for all the suffering children of the world. So I got down on my knees and prayed, pray that God will help them, pray that He will give them the love that they need andbring them out of their suffering.

You might say "Hey, who do you think you are? You think your one prayer can help the children of the world?". Well guess what, I'm sure I'm not alone and even if I am, my ONE prayer does count, because I pray to my eternal Loving Father in heaven. Last Saturday I was at YCK CC for my piano lesson when I approached the news stand where the elderly folks would gather to read the news. There was only one available paper which was the "World" section of The Straits Times. Guess what the first page I turned to read? It went something along "Terrorist Vow to Stop Recruiting Children". It was very elating, God was answering my prayer!I didn't read in detail tho cause I was going to be late for piano but I got the gist of the entire thing.

Now you may say "Hey that would have happened even if you didn't pray for it, besides that's not the WHOLE world," Well, what if it DIDN'T happen? In any case I'm just glad my prayer had contributed to that. And I know it's not the whole world but it IS a start. Next time you feel sad about an event that's happening around the world, don't hesitate to pray for it. YOUR PRAYER IN CHRIST MAKES A DIFFERENCE.

Luke 13:34
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!

The Scarlet Scarred Hands

2008-12-13T22:38:00.008+08:00

I know that I may be superficial to say this since I wrote this poem, but this is simply beautiful

In the beginning they were there

hands that formed the the skies so vast

Hands too big for us to comprehend

became flesh to be scarred for us

Behold the scarlet scarred hands

nailed upon the cruel cross

Hands that made the very men

that would bring His death across

That our broken hearts He would come to glean

His scarlet hands have made ours clean

Come see the scars in His hands and feet

He is not dead nor does he sleep

Behold His hands reach out in love

they come to comfort, indeed to serve.

Until now I still stand amazed

How could God's hands fit into mine?

That He is mine to love and hold

The scarlet scarred hands put all sins behind

It's raining cat's and dogs!!!

2008-12-12T20:44:00.007+08:00

Yays!! I met up with Darylene, Jordon and Shamien today to visit the furry critters of SPCA looking for a nice Bila bilabong to addopt. Not really we went there for a Student Leader project to help out as volunteers. We were first greeted by the glam-mama Ms Sebastian and told how we were to help out. So anyways we found out that were to escort several sec 1s around the kennels and catteries. So of we went to brave the perils of excessive fur and saliva. all the cats were either veeeeeeeery hyper or veeeeeeeery lazy, one of them scratched me! Oww...A lap catA towel cat....Just a moment ago he was playing "prey and predator" with the towel, guess who won? And now their fweeeens ain't it sweet?:DObviously an "old" man like me couldn't keep up with the hyper cats so I only took pics of the "garfields" man I'm sooo tempted to throw a piece of this pop art I made into the cattery and watch what happens next:D.BUNNY!!! HE'LL BITE YOUR NECK OFF!!!A beautiful but not so modest husky who's a major culprit of crotch sniffing. It even went under my friend's skirt on a separate visit He's a male by the way Yet another beautiful husky, this one's a bitch(seriously, maybe I should have used the term "female dog") An ever exubarant and bright-eyed cock spaniel.

It has been a great visit. I think my pants have some kind of dog pheromone in it, almost every dog I went close too was all over my pants, biting and otherwise, which left me in a ticklish dillema. Thank God I wore long pants. Do bear in mind that all these animals are the result of irresponsible pet ownership. Personally I care more for the well-being of humans rather than animals but bear in mind that these little critters are creations of our one God too so cwe must love and care for them. On behalf of the SPCA I would like to give 2 messages "Do not buy a pet on impulse" and "To you, he might just be a pet but to him, you're EVERYTHING"

Give Me Your Love

2008-12-09T23:56:00.002+08:00

This is the Poem I wrote in Surabaya,

Give me Your love

to love those unlovable

Give me Your love

to reach out to the lost

So sweet Your love

that enables the unable

I need Your love

to tell them You've paid their cost.

Missions Surabaya Reflection

2008-12-01T22:30:00.016+08:00

Shalom! I'm finally back from Surabaya. It has been such a fruitful trip, it was a pleasure doing the Lord's work. To start of, this mission trip is actually a medical mission in which we will give free consultation and medication to the people living in the slum area. Rest assured, our team is made up of fully qualified Singaporean doctors(whose names I will not mention) from hospitals like TTK and Mount. E.. In any case this is an outline of the 3-day trip. PS I will not disclose any names(except me and my mother of course) and location of the medical centre due to publicity issues. Day1: Arrived at the vicinity at around 9am after landing in Surabaya. Okay! I'm here! But frankly speaking I had no idea what they're goonna ask me to do hm...The makeshift medical centre is actually inside a local secondary school.On that day, they were giving out free haircuts on the second floor, sweet!This is the registration and this is where we measure the patients' blood pressure and temperature. Why's the woman glaring at me like that?.....After that the patients are off to the health talk. As they say, prvention is better than cure.Look it's me!! haha I found out that I was going to be an usher and to call the next patient. Pleeeease dun call me a nurse-__-" A doctor hre examining a patientAnd then it's off to the apotechary.medicine! of course they dun leave just like that, for those who are willing, we send them for counselling.Then for those are willing we pray for them. Sigh one disturbing fact was that, women were breatfeeding all over the place!! At first I thought the babies were just biting their moms' clothing, wait a minute! That ain't clothing!!! At around 4.30pm we ended all operations. There were alot of flop ups on the first day, at the beginning, all the patients were holding on to their cards so the ushers(me) had to run around searching for the right patients.... So frustrating.... Yeah then we got smarter and took away all their cards and everything went MUCH better. So this proves that even(especially) when you are doing work for God you have to have good management and planning skills, God won't appear and clear up all your messes for you just like that. My greates ordeal was the first day, as the crowds died down, there came an old lady decked in a green kebaya. I sesed there was something not quite right about her, when she touched my arm, my arm, my nose mulfunctioned, She smelt as if she hadn't bathed in months! But I know that the Lord calls me to love these people. So no matter how hard it was, I guided her to the psychiatry doctor(she was mentally handicapped) and I hoped that we were able to touch her. In any case I felt quite guilty that night, you know why? Just look at the next pictureYES!! THAT was my hotel! I felt really guilty when I thought of how those village peoplee had to call that slum their home... So that night I reflected on all that has transpired that day... and I wrote a poem down which I will publish in another post. Day 2: alright so we made a few adjustments to the consultation room. now it's muuuch spacier and the system was sooo much more efficient.the ushers' corner this bottle of disinfecting gel was FULL when we arrived. the patient's card.
After the crowds died down, I went from Usher, to Pharmacist, to GARBAGE TRAMPLER, and after that I'm STILL out of job!

There was a very sad scne on that day tho, one female patient was paralyzed with AIDS. She was carried to the back curtains so I did not see her. It was very sad. Otherwise everything was quite similar to the first day. Except for a few incidents that transpired. Question, when a big guy takes control of your post in a way you don't like, what do you do? a) Stand up to him and tell him to the face b) suffer under his system c) run off to a beauty spa. guess which choice my mum took? Then that night, there was an EXCEPTIONALLY sinful dinner. We went to a portuguese(did I spell that right?) diner that night where the rib eye steak costs FIVE DOLLARS!!!!! yumyum. haha even the others said that my mom was giving me a wrong example of what missions should be like. haha I was telling them "hey all those books on missionary I read never involved any buffet breakfast and eating medium well rib eye with dessert!"the doctors and Irelaxing after a hard day of work. the sinful delights we had bought for the children in the orphanage my mom helped to raise.

Day 3, The last day was ironically the most efficient day as the system was already firmly set.ALRIGHT! Let the multitudes come!me being a makeshift interpreter.my mom giving the health talkA fellow usher and I prescribing the patients to the specialist doctors. For lunch me and my mom did something quite sinful, we sneaked of to Shangri-La hotel to have a buffet lunch and only after that went to the orphanage to pick up some sick children:P.the staff and children from my mom's orphanage.one of the children and I.

Well, had the best beginners, missions that I could ask for. There was one other thing. Throughout the second and third day, the media tried to video us but we denied them access no matter how persistent they were. I just hope the people of the village dun suffer anymore because of them. Anyways I truly enjoyed serving God. I can't wait to go for the next missions. If you are a follower of Christ and you haven't went for a mission trip, I highly recommend you to go for one. Well for now, it's home sweet home for me:D The view I took from the plane.

In Surabaya

2008-11-29T22:54:00.001+08:00

haha finally got a chance to use a computer. I'm blogging from Surabaya nowXD. Helped alot of people, more than 800! The trip has been VERY enriching so far. Can't wait to get home and post more about it. Gotta go now.

Missions Surabaya

2008-11-28T07:23:00.002+08:00

I'm blogging from inside Changi Airport lol. In any case, I'm going on my first mission trip to Surabaya. It is with my mother and her friend's church group and It's basically a medical mission and we will be helping out at a clinic to medicate the people in the rural area. It is a dangerous place and the persecution is very likely, so dear brothers and sister, please pray for me. That we may serve God well and that many people will be saved, physically and spiritually. Well I think my plane's going to leave me if I take any longer, so until next time. I'll come back with lots of pics.

Shepherd of my soul...

2008-11-25T23:33:00.002+08:00

This song truly encapsulates the meaning of God being our Shepherd I love it. This is where I drew inspiration for my name AGS.thx pinoy4you!

Time of testimony

2008-11-24T10:31:00.002+08:00

Last Thursday, the PM guys went to Ben's house for an outing. To start of, we watched "Bruce Almighty" but the point of the outing came much later. Oh yeah not forgetting the pop-corn incident, sorry Ben, I'll buy your mom a new pot! In any case at around 6pm I asked the guys to share their testimonies about their past, how they met Christ and how Christ changed them. This was the higlight of the outing. A lot of dark pasts were uncovered and laid in the open, a lot of dirty secrets were told. Of course I'm not gonna mention any of them here but I realized something while this was going on. None of us had a very happy childhood and what more, many of us went through nearly the same secrets and mistakes! I really do not think this is by coincidence. I believe that many of the things that a guy in the concrete jungle has to face is not faced by him alone. I could really identify with my friend's experiences and I'm sure they could also identify with each other.

Then I wondered "How could anyone ever use the term 'You Think You Understand Me? You Think You Know What I'm Going Through? Well You Don't!'" It sounds like a cheesy line from a chinese soap opera but many people still think this way. Indeed no one can understand another person fully, only God can do that, but ironically, how could a person not understand someone when he is going through nearly the same thing? When a friend seeks to counsel or comfort you next time, try to listten to him/her and correcting some points first before blowing your friend off.

Every person living in the same place has to wade through the same pile of crap.

Brastagi/Lake Toba/Medan Trip

2008-11-20T08:34:00.021+08:00

Woohoo! I had a trip back to my home town recently. It's amazing how much more you see of it once you've grown up. Thank God it didn't rain the ENTIRE week I was there! Here is my fuzzy recollection of the series of events...

Day1: Arrived in Medan International Airport. It turns out that I would be staying in a villa that belonged to my relative. It also turns out that my relative owns a huge farm and is a major vegetable exporter to Singapore, Japan, etc! When I arrived at the villa my jaw dropped. It was HUGE. The Living room, or maybe I should call it the lounge?The SECOND Living RoomThey have 3 dining tables, THREE!This is just one of the FIVE bedrooms there.

It's great to have rich relatives, but I'm content with my small condominium haha, did I mention they have also have a large backyard full of different types of orange trees? I didn't take a full view of the garden but I took a picture of the orange tree.

This is the view from their backyard, their BACKYARD!!! Imagine getting up everymorning seeing this!!!!!

Moving on, we went to the soon to be Pearl of Lake Toba Resort which will be completed end of next year(I think). anyways, eventho it's not completed yet, you can see how great it will be already. Here are a few snapshots of the place

The lamppost is NOT why I took this picture!! me and my brother The Cafe there

Chilling out. The two women at the front are my mom' friends. The woman in black and whte stripes is my mom.

There are other facilities, some still being built, such as golf course, farm, etc. Btw, here are some interesting facts about Lake Toba: 1 It is large enough to hold 3 Singapores. 2 There's even an Island in the middle of the Lake.

Day2: We went to Brastagi which is a mountain near Lake Toba. Uncle Rio(the relative in whose villa I'm staying, He's not as old as his name would suggest) kindly brought us to his farm. Usually it would be strictly off limits but since we're relatives, he's giving us a special privilege, yay! He even let us pick some of his fruits and veges, yum! Btw Uncle Rio has SEVERAL farms these are pictures not just from one of them.Cucumbers! We got to harvest some of the cucumber, wash and eat directly! They were soo sweeet:D Citrus! Tomatoes!
Paprika!Me Picking the Paprika Shades of my shirt! The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few indoorOutdoor
They have an interesting technique to reduce usage of pesticides on crops in the farm. They will grow bright flowers such as the marigolds above along side the hothouses. Apparently, pests will be more attracted to the flowers and stay on them rather than the crops. The flowers are then sprayed with pesticide to kill the pests. Thus the crops need less pesticide Aww...Ain't it cute and the next moment it's DEAD MUAHAHAHA!!! Just kidding:DSeedlings Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

When we got back for dinner in the villa IT WAS GREAT! The freshly harvested vegetables were quickly cooked and they were soooooo different from the veges we have here. For once in my life there were more vegetables than meat served on the table, and I enjoyed it more!!!
Day3: Okay so we have seen where the vegetables are planted, but where are they processed and packaged? Well that is what I found out on this day. Uncle Rio brought us to the packaging site. Here is where YOUR vegetables are picked for qualityBusy at workWhere your veges come inProcessed

Then packaged in these. Workers are required to pass through this water gate to ensure hygieneThis is where water from the factory is disposed. The water has to pass through 3 pools before disposed into outside. To ensure that the water is clean before disposal, they breed fishes in the third pond.

That's Uncle Rio explaining everything to us(I bet he's younger than you expected haha)

After that we went to a famous fruit market in Brastagi. I've been here before long, long ago when I was a wee child, ahh good times. It's so different how much more I see, now that I'm 15 though the market itself has not changed abit.
But what surprises me the most in Brastagi is the number of churches there! Nearly every kilometer we traveled had churches. Granted these churches are quite small and aren't as fanciful as the ones we have in Singapore. Later I learnt that long ago the Batak people(inhabitants of Brastagi) were canibals. Missionary after missionary came to give them the gospel, many of them ended up on the dinner table(assuming they HAD tables) but one day, the Batak people aactually sat down and listened to the message of the persistent missionaries. That was when God did his work in the Batak people's lives and changed them to be what they are now. YES that IS a church I know that some of these shots are not very good but give me some credit! I took it from inside a moving car!

Oh yeah one last Highlight off the trip was going to a restaurant at the edge of the Lake and have some scrumptious fish. We had fried goldfish! Not the chubby little goldfishes you find in aquariums but the more slender ones that somewhat resemble a koi. We got to see them catch the fish, beat it, scale it, slice it and gut it, All while the fish was alive!(actually it was already half dead) Wohoo! NC16 action! haha. It was goooooooooooood but I don't think you can get any tour guide to bring you here, it is a restaurant only locals would know. I was to busy watching the fishes get battered to take any pictures so sorry.

Day4-6

We left Brastagi and returned to my hometown! Medan! I missed it sooooooooooooooo much. The good thing about Medan is that no matter how long you've been away, you can still find everything nearly the same. All your favourite eateries you went to when you were a child. It's so great. Original Christian CDs are also waaaaaaay cheaper than in Singapore. One could cost about 50000Rp-75000Rp. 6000Rp is S$1 you do the math and yes they ARE ORIGINAL. I even got too see my old house!!! Too bad I couldn't enter, someone else is living there now. It's soooooooooo nostalgic. I can't believe someoneelse is now sleeping in my room... Well that's all for now the trip was very enriching and so nostalgic. I love my hometown no matter how bad some people may picture it to be.

Mum's Cuisine:D

2008-11-17T10:04:00.004+08:00

YAY! I dun like to boast but my mom's cooking is just the best:D Yesterday she served us prawn and mango salad and chicken pastrami. Actually, she substituted the original ingredients. The two dishes were christmas meals and were supposed to be lobster and mango salad and turkey pastrami, but whatever. As long as they taste good I dun bother.

ARHH!!! my aunt's arm is in this picture! Anyways it's quite obvious that this is the prawn & mango saladThe Chicken Pastrami (dun ask me what pastrami is, I dun hav a clue)

mouthwatering:D? haha food cooked(properly) at home is food at it's best. I thank God for such a wonderful mom as mine:D

Love, The Greatest Gift

2008-11-14T19:27:00.003+08:00

Love is the greatest gift a person could give and when I say Love, I mean real, undying, un-withholding , selfless love, not the warped definitions of Love people so often mistake it for. The google bar is just on top, I challenge you to enter "Love" or even "Love thy neighbour", even with strict filtering you get all sorts of lewd definitions/pictures of it. So what is love? Instead of tiring my fingers typing it out, why don't you just flip to 1 Corinthians 3:14? Today, my Love for God was just renewed. It only takes such a simple activity as singing songs to Him in your room and committing your life back to Him, surrendering all.

Only when you love God can you truly love others for who they are, images of Him. It's like looking into a portrait of your beloved, it's not perfect but it's there. Anyways, I could swear, you will want to hug every person on the street and tell them how much you and God loves them when you have the right love for God.

Why is it so hard to find true love in this world? Probably because people don't want it. The type of love people want is the love with "no strings attached" where they can get out of it when the going gets tough without making any sort of real commitment, yet they keep going on about how they want a love that LASTS, a love that is TRUE, a love that is bla bla bla so on and so forth. It's standing there in front of them but they do not accept it. That sort of Love can only be found in the open, nail-scarred arms of Jesus. Does this sound like you? Just look at any true Christian, they are always joyous(not in the retarded manner of course) in every circumstance, it is only because they have found true love.

Even in our relationship with God we can have a superficial love for Him. What is Love? how do we define it? It is forgiving when you are not forgiven, it is reaching out no matter how "unworthy" someone seems, it is helping even when you are despised, it is holding on even when it hurts, it is not giving up even when it brings you to tears, it is to cry with somebody who is hurting holding on to his/her hand, It is to give even when you have nothing left, it is to die for a friend the list continues. That is true love and it can only be perfectly found in Christ Jesus. It can only be given once it is received. This is the Love that I and so many others hold on to. Won't you accept this amazing Love?

(I don't wanna brag but the picture above is taken by me, I found the idea on the net so credit doesn't go to me....)

ZZZ

2008-11-13T23:26:00.002+08:00

Hey guys just to clarify, I won't post unless there's anything worth posting so pls dun mind if I only post on my blog every so often.............

Mock ASEAN Conference

2008-11-11T16:17:00.007+08:00

Yesterday was the Mock ASEAN conference for the N6 cluster. It was great to be part of the team. My school represented Indonesia haha what a coincidence for me to represent my own country. In any case I was ~~saboed~~ chosen to be the Foreign Minister, in other words, the guy that has to give a 3 minute speech to summarise the results of the discussions(THX A BUNCH GUYS). Although I have been on stage many times before, this time was EXTREMELY frightening. Much of it was due to the fact that I had written down the wrong things for my speech! When I heard the other foreign ministers speaking, I was thinking "Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, God help me," Fortunately, I was able to do an impromtu change on stage which involved scratching away the ENTIRE first half of my speech which I stayed up all night to prepare,(I could hear a tear through my heart)':) and changing it into something else. Fortunately when the chaiperson called for me, I was able to reply cooly in my most profesional and not monotonoust voice "Firstly, Indonesia would like to thank Laos and..." Haha, I could really imagine my heart wanting to eject out of my mouth and run out of the hall. I thank God for giving me the courage and quick-thinking to go up there and give a speech.

Here's a part of the conference many people do not know. While taking my place on stage, I talked with another Foreign minister that was sitting next to me and we were quite friendly toward each other and quietly encouraged one another before our speeches. After my nerve wrecking speech, we kept on communicating to each other on stage via writing whilst the other FMs were droning their speeches away. When she saw me doodling on my lecture pad she wrote on her paper
"Are you really that bored?" and I replied
"Nah just pretending to write" At this point, she was desperately trying to hold her laughter and fortunately, the lights were so glaring and the audience so bored that even if you broke into fits of laughter and rolled hysterically on the floor nearly no one would notice. Well it was an exciting conference all together(especially the free food:D) and I truly enjoyed it.

Pop Arts

2008-11-05T15:52:00.008+08:00

Shalom! I'm back with more pop arts! This time tho, I only made 1 Christian one, the rest are random stuff I made. Enjoy! and please comment:

I'll start off with the very first pop art I've ever made. It's actually a mascot for a geography project to promote ... I think you can guess what it's supposed to promote haha. It may be simple and in some ways, grotesque, but it is what sparked my interest in pop art making. Thx to Desmond and Weijun , my teammates at that time for their support too.His name is Bon-bon. :D

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I love this pop art haha. I created it for my Literature presentation for "To Kill A Mockingbird" ain't it cute? If you like this picture, you'll love the next one.

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I call this one "Killed A Mockingbird" haha, I ended my presentation with this picture. you may now call me a sadist:D

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Ever heard of a fat vampire? Well considering that blood is rich in fats, vampires should be BOUNCING BALLS OF LARD(my apologies to fan-girls who had the "beautiful beasts of darkness" mindset. Even the original stories picture vampires as bloated. So all these inspired my next picture ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Haha this is the only Christian pop- art for now, It's inspired by the plague of darkness in ExodusThat's all the pop arts for now thx for taking a look:D

God bless

Who Can Stand?

2008-11-01T21:06:00.009+08:00

Felt like writing a random poem here goes!:

I stand

Among a thousand others

Taking their stand

Against the raging seas

~~~

One question remains

Who can stand?

Who can stand?
When mountains tremble and giants fall
Who can stand?

When----- all around you disasters -----call
The -------mountains melt like ------wax
The ---------valleys split ------- ---asunder
Among it all,
Who can stand?

~~~

The time has come

Dark clouds on the horizon

Yet it comes

Before your eyes are open

One question remains

Can you stand?

~~~

He can stand

And the way -----to Him is open

He can--------- stand

Eventhough --------all else fails

The mountains------ melt like wax

The valleys ------split asunder

Among it all --------He can stand

And in himHim-------I will stand

He is ---------my stand

In you I ------------will stand

Jesus you-----------are my stand

~~~

Haha is sounds more like a song than a poem, maybe I will turn it into a song, haha. Problem is, I'm terrible when it comes to making tunes. so a poem it will be:)

A Walk In The Park

2008-10-31T15:08:00.008+08:00

There is something about Punggol park that attracts me to it. I went to Punggol Park the other day. The park was simply awesome and surpassed many of my expectations of a quiet walk. Everything I expected and failed to see at Fort Canning Park I saw there. The palm trees just seem to give you a standing ovation when you entter or when you leave and I didn't know any park in Singapore could have a pool that big.

I gotta go fishing there sometime! Anyone care to join? Maybe SF can go for a fishing outing here? Just to get a literal feel of the name 'salted fishers' someone get the salt!! Then again we have the nearer Bishan Park to go to and some of us don't have the patience to just sit down by the edge of the pond and wait I suppose. There also some frightful moments, I was walking along the above cattails when all of a sudden there was a huge "SPLOSH!!!" Which scared half the life out of me haha. I also found the remains dead fish. cause of death: unknown(head is severed)

It seems to have had its head bitten of by a predator and since this headless fish is quite large, it makes me wonder: just what type of ferocious huge fishes live in those murky waters....

Aside from that I found some strange pinkish stuff on the stem of the cattails. Anyone care to explain what they are?

All in all it was a pleasant experience going to that park and I learnt a few things too. I highly recommend anyone trying to find some peace and quiet or just looking for a place to do quiet time or bible study to visit this park.

Humaneity

2008-10-27T21:17:00.002+08:00

I was watching a program on NatGeo today about a serial bomber that detonated at least twelve bombs over a span of 20 years killing many people. One of the description they used for him was 'inhuman'. This got me thinking, is it really "inhuman" to kill sadistically? Inhuman is made up of 'in' and 'human' meaning 'not human'. Don't get me wrong, I'm not promoting crime, but isn't it perfectly "HUMAN" to kill, steal, lie, lust, to step on others and to exalt oneself above others? On the other hand, it is 'inhuman' to love all peoples unconditionally, to give without expecting return, to always tell the straight truth, to think of others before self. What person do you know does all the positive things I list without fail? Yet it is impossible to find a person who have not lie and lust, in fact the one who says he have never lied is the biggest liar of all. Ironic isn't it? That is why Christianity to me teaches us to be 'inhuman' bu rather to be "godly". Because only God can do all the "inhuman" things without flaw. Let this be our goal to rid ourselves of our old sinful human nature and follow Christ who though became human, preserved his purity and innocence in him.

I've Read Finish The Entire BIBLE!!!!

2008-10-25T22:54:00.004+08:00

It is a journey that started a year ago at the prompting of a speaker named Victor Tan and today is finally completed. The arduos journey of reading the entire Holy Bible, Book by book, Page by page, chapter by chapter, you get what I mean. When I look at back, I still can't believe I have read through every page and processed every word in my head. It has truely enriched my soul and increased my faith. The journey was definitely not easy and it required me to set aside a portion of my day everyday to read at least 3 chapters of the Bible. Granted there were days I just was too busy(i.e. lazy) to read it but I some how managed to pull through! All by the Grace of Christ. This calls for a celebration!! I strongly encourage Christians who have not read through the whole Bible at least once to take up the challenge of reading it through. You can follow my method of 3 chapters per day for an entire year or follow your own study plan. It will benefit your walk with God substantially. Dun tell me it's impossible or you're too young you knw it's a lie. And don't even start saying you are too busy cause if you are abll to read books on vampires(as if there aren't enough bloodsuckers in real life), over-dramatic romances, secret societies and/or people waving wands around while shouting words that sound like "asparagus", you have time read the Bible. Of course, I'm not forcing anyone, do it at your own free will.

I wonder what I'm gonna do now that I've finished. Ok then, ONE MORE TIME FROM THE TOP!!!

Everything is crashing down~crashing down~crashing down.

2008-10-21T12:55:00.007+08:00

Lately life has been very hectic. Economy crash, Market crash, Plane crash, Car crash, Relationship crash, the next thing to crash is this world. Amidst all these it's very difficult to smile isn't it? I'm sure everyone has experienced some type of crash. Most critical now is the worldwide market crash(fancy a 15 yearold talking about it). My mother works in DBS bank, fortunately due to God's grace and her hardwork, her possition is still quite stable despite people being retrenched all around her. The other day she was just joking with me about the news which showed protesters holding sing boards saying "DBS Bandits" scratching away the word 'Bankers'. This psalm came back to me:
.

7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.

Indeed, my mother stood firm in God and did not fall, yet she observed all the "wicked" bankers, those who invested their client's money unwisely, fall away. Surprisingly the Bible only mentions the word 'crash' 2 times but one of it really struck me as applicable throughout this age of crashes.

Matt 7:26-27:

26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great CRASH."

It is a familiar verse but few realize that this verse is applicable outside the church and our faith. Houses are things that makes us feel secure, safe and protects us from the harsh elements .We are all building 'houses', be it in the next investment, exams, relationships or even literally houses. The same thing applies: Are you building your house on the Rock? By following following Jesus instructions in everyday matters we are infact building our 'houses' on His strong foundation. Yet there are those who cut corners in building their houses thus metaphorically "building a house on quicksand" It may be easier to build a house on sand, that is to cheat, cut corners and/or not follow Jesus' instruction, in fact such houses are faster to build and look prettier but they do not last long and ALWAYS end with a CRASH. Remember the Si Chuan earthquake? The school that collapsed and the school that stood, what difference did they have?

So how have you been building your 'house'? The only way to protect yourself from this age of crashes is to firmly establish your foundations. Please do not think this is childish, it is quite true indeed.

The other use of the word crash is quite interesting. It seems to foretell of a market crash.

Zeph1:

10 "On that day," declares the LORD, "a cry will go up from the Fish Gate, wailing from the New Quarter, and a loud crash from the hills.
11 Wail, you who live in the market district; all your merchants will be wiped out, all who trade with silver will be ruined.

but I certainly wouldnt say that this is a prophecy about the market crash haha.

AGS

Bali Trip

2008-10-18T21:13:00.018+08:00

I just went to Bali recently and it was superb! The Beach was sandy white, the waters were crystal blue, the scenery was majestic, truly one of the places you can go to to experience God's majesty and glory(You DON'T HAV TO WORRY ABOUT BOMBINGS). I cant exactly remember the sequence of events but this is the hazzy outline of it all:
Day 1
Arrived at Niko Hotel.The buildings here arre only one floor high due to cultural reasons so the hotel had to be build downwards down a cliff(The view was fantastic)!
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So it will go 1, B1, B2, B3, B4 so on and so forth. I didnt take any pictures of the hotel tho... WARNING do not go there if you're afraid of insects! There are no bugs in the rooms but since it's beside a cliff the open air corridors have quite a number of bugs. I got out one morning and found a huge praying mantis, I took a picture of it but it was so blurry I deleted it...Other than that the hotel was fantastic, had a huge pool(I dun know why you would swim in a pool next to the beach tho) and you could got to the beach anytime
Day 2
The highlight of the day was watching a Balinese dance called Barong. It was a Balinese equivalent of a lion dance and of course with the captivating movements of balinese dancers

Day 3
We visited the Seaside Hindu temple which name escaped me(IOW I forgot). There were many Hindu pilgrims there and they gathered beside the beach and worship towards the temple which is build on a large rock separated from the beach. They also worship a "Holy Snake" there which lived in a cave. They allowed us to enter the cave for free. I went in and found out that the snake lived inside a hole and when I saw it, it was smaller than what I expected. It was a banded black and white snake(they even alloowed you to touch it!)
Day 4
We took a glass bottom boat ride(There wasn't much to see at the bottom unless you're interested in rocks and kelp) to a turtle farm and this part of the trip I truly enjoyed. I finally met up with my own kind(for those who understand what I'm saying, keep it to yourself)! It was an effort to save the sea tutles in Indonesia not to eat the turtle if that's what you're thinking. They allowed us to carry some of the smaller turtles, which were not so small(They were heavy!), feed the larger turtles in the pond and for those who could, carry the large turtles!

arriving there on the boat

The one on the right is me

turtle soup....

bite the kelp not me!

These group of aspiring weight lifters attempted at the large turtles(poor turtle>.<)

Besides turtles, they also had other animals there such as Hawks, Iguanas and most prominent is the fighting cocks(don't think dirty, or should I use the rooster insteead?-_-"). We even got to see the roosters in action!

A mighty hawk!perched on its, well, not so grand wooden stand it surveys the curious tourist. the term lack of privacy comes to mind

the woman must be thinking "EEEK! a demoralised, most-of-the-time-caged iguana that's supposed to be twice my size but over here I'm twice the size of!" just kidding

These guys have to caress the roosters repeatedly to rouse them to fight(again, DON'T THINK DIRTY, this blog is still to glorify God you know...)

FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!

For dinner we went to Ganesha Restaurant(for those who don't know Ganesha is the Elephant headed god of Hindu). We were literaly dining on the beach with the crashing waves a few steps away and the food was oh so gooooooooooood.

Pardon my smug look I had no idea about it

The view from the restaurant, you might want to give glory to God right about...NOW!

Day 5
I'm not sure if it was today but I think it was a sunday and we attended a balinese church there and it was not as I expected. They were singing "Friend of God" need I say more? but it was meaningful to know that even in the place you least expect it, there is a group of saints not so different from yourself. Sorry no pictures, hey when you're worshiping, you dun take pictures of it.
After that it was a complete day of beach games! We went to jetskiing and it was FUN! When I was jetskiing it was truly an amazing experience. The ocean was so borderless and wide. Eventhough it was so exciting and bumpy, I could not help but feel very, very small in such a vast ocean. That was when I really thanked God for being so big. For those who have never tried jetskiing before, I highly recommend you to try it out and if you're worried about safety, there's a staff sitting behind you to make sure all goes well.

After that we rode the stingray, a sort of float that is pulled through the air by a speedboat.

coming back from the stingray

in the background you can see another stingray if you're interested to know what it's like

Day 6(my last day)':)
On the last day, We left Niko hotel and went to visit BVLGARI resort, not to stay but just to experience high class lodging(yes we're that sad...). If you ever go to Bali I STRONGLY encourage you to stay at BVLGARI resort if you have money to burn. you don't stay in rooms but personal mini villas and you are driven all around the resort in a go-kart! These are just SOME of the views there

The swimming pool is facing the ocean so it feels like you're just floating away like a jellyfish

those are not huts you see at the bottom right but the villas to live in

That's the cafe

And then it's time to say goodbye to Bali a really lovely place shattered a few years ago by the horrible bombing. but today it is still as beautiful as ever and truly one of the most beautiful places in this world. Bali is truly a side of Indonesia I never knew for the 9 years I lived there until this trip.

I'm Back!

2008-10-16T19:06:00.006+08:00

Wohoo!! Finally, the exams has ended and I'm back. Though my results were less than spectacular, I THANK GOD I topped my class for English! Haleluya! Ok so moving on, Here are some of my very first pop-arts, feel free to use whichever you like: Haha this is my very first Christian pop art. It's the result of minutes of fiddling with my calculator(maybe this is why I failed my maths-_-")

That's supposed to be a zombie if you dun know. Yup I enjoyed the word play:D For those who know, I actually based the zombie on an emoticon I once saw.

This is the First of my chinese figures series. As a Chinese myself, I wanted to get in touch with my own culture abit more andwhat better way? haha the second of my Chinese figure series. It's the same Living water theme as the first but I like it:D
The Third in my Chinese figure series I think someone took this Idea before but I can asure you I made this myself.
So far perhaps maybe my cutest work, I spent 3 hours on it! It maybe cute but there is much meaning behind it. This unfortunately, is how a lot of people picture the devil. It may be tough for us to imagine the devil in this modern world but his power has not waned at all. He is still dangerous and cunning andif we are not careful he CAN cause us to fall. The only way we can protect ourselves is to put our faith in God's strength and live a life of obedience to God. So stop thinking that the devil is an obese guy with horns about to die from stroke at any moment okay?

Well that's all my pop arts for now. I'll create more over these two months. Hope you enjoy them! Pls comment kay?

My 1st Post!!!

2008-09-28T21:17:00.002+08:00

Shalom all!
This is my first post and I will just introduce my blog abit. This is the product of wanting to share my thoughts and homemade christian pop-art. I will be posting Christian cartoons and those feel free to take if you like them:D( I hope you like them). I will also share my travels in this blog and suggestion of where to go in the countries I've been to. I'd like to thank Dennis from my church ffr helping me through my blog and also Ian for helping me out with this blog too, Thx guys you're the best! Weeeeell, as you can see, my blog is not quite done yet and I wont be posting in awhile due to exams so pls wait patiently:D
God Bless
AGS