Thursday, 30 April 2009
Faith is the affirmation and the act that bids eternal truth be present fact. – Coleridge
Sunday, 26 April 2009
20.04.2009, Monday
First day of the new semester. I only had two hours of lesson for the day. My father allowed me to drive to school so that I could put my bowling bag in school. I also met up with Jun Tian, being her first day at school.
21.04.2009, Tuesday
Two hours of boring lecture made me feel like sleeping.
22.04.2009, Wednesday
We were made to write an essay in class on the third day of the new semester. I started off quite slowly because I have not been writing essays for quite some time. Slowly, I got the hang of it and managed to be the first to complete the essay in my class.
In the afternoon, I met up with Chor Boon to gym and later with Mou Wei for a 2.4km run. We completed the run despite the hot weather.
23.04.2009, Thursday
My group did quite well for practical lesson and we got the results we needed.
24.04.2009, Friday
No lessons for me today. Still, I went to school to use the gym and also bowled with Chor Boon. It was quite funny in the bowling alley though. There was this group of year one students bowling next to our lane and they called me to bowl the last frame for them. Out of curiosity, I asked them why they did not want to play and asked me instead. To my surprise, they were on a bet to win one of their classmates so that he will treat them to drinks if he loses. I bravely took up the challenge since they encouraged me to. I hit six pins which was not very encouraging, but that was enough to win the challenge.
I travelled home by bus instead of train with Kai Yuan for a change. My father took me out for a very late lunch at Boon Keng Hawker Centre shortly after I reached home. I came home and left the house within minutes to meet a friend and go down to Republic Polytechnic for the Asian Youth Games briefing.
All in all, I practically travelled around the whole of Singapore. The journey started from my house to Dover and back, then to Woodlands and back. All the travelling made me feel very tired.
25.04.2009, Saturday
Steam bath and swimming in the morning with Chester before heading down to Orchard. We walked around looking high and low for a suitable pair of shoes for me. Sadly, none of the shops had shoes that fit me. I must find another day to go out and get myself a suitable pair of shoes.
26.04.2009, Sunday
I met my mother for lunch before going to the supermarket to do grocery shopping. Sitting at the table where we ate our lunch, there was this man who started talking to me and my mother saying that we looked like foreigners. What a joke.
On another note, I saw a heart shaped puddle just behind the place the car was parked.
Saturday, 25 April 2009
Girls are like apples on a tree. The best ones are at the top of the tree. Boys do not want to reach for the good ones because they are afraid of falling down and getting hurt. Instead, they just take the rotten apples that are on the ground although they are not as good, but easy to get. This causes the apples at the top to think that there is something wrong with them, when in reality, they are amazing. That is why you just have to be patient, and the right boy, the one who takes time to find the good and right apple, will come someday.
Monday, 20 April 2009
A rich man invested a fortune in collecting art treasures from all around the world. One day, he read about a valuable art piece that he felt he must have, so he sent out his agent to find it and buy it. After months of searching, the agent reported that he had finally found the treasure. To rich man’s surprise, the masterpiece was stored in none other than his own warehouse.
Is this not also true of us? Are we still searching for treasures that we already possess, clamoring for yet another so-called ‘blessing’ when right underneath our noses are blessings that God has already given?
Some of us, in our pursuit of our own achievements, have missed the blessings God has given us in our homes and relationships. Many of us take for granted the greatest treasure anyone can have, that is our relationship with God and all that it brings. Through getting to know Him, God has given us everything we need for life and for godliness.
'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.' Ephesians 1:3-4.
Sunday, 19 April 2009
13.04.2009, Monday
This is going to be my last week of school holidays and work.
14.04.2009, Tuesday
Four more days of work before the new semester kicks in.
15.04.2009, Wednesday
Three more days of work. Work, work, work.
16.04.2009, Thursday
I took a half day leave from work to help out at the J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge. It was a good experience being a clothing crew. Helping to safe keep so many bags with valuables inside is definitely a huge responsibility. I was put on board the lorry being the only male in my group. This is so that the females can do the tagging of the bags, while I arrange the bags neatly on the shelves. It was really cramp and stuffy in the lorry.
When all the bags were loaded onto the lorry, another smaller lorry came to fetch me and the other volunteers to the end point of the race. To my surprise, the lorry which I was working on got lost along the way. It made it to the end point eventually, but there was already a long queue of runners waiting to collect their bags. I quickly got onto the lorry and distributed the bags quickly and systematically with the help of some other volunteers. On the bright side, although the lorry came in the latest, it was one of the first few to distribute all the bags back to the runners. After the event was over, Mou Wei and I ate our dinner provided by the organiser before taking a long walk to the train station and headed home.
17.04.2009, Friday
Being my last day of work, my boss brought me to Kovan Hawker Centre to eat the famous wanton noodles. It was delicious but the portion was very small. I will surely miss the time spent working. However, school reopens next week and I have to be ready for the new semester.
18.04.2009, Saturday
Power boating all day long under the scorching sun is certainly not the best activity to be done on a precious weekend. Nevertheless, my friends and I did it. Early in the morning, we set off from Poly Marina which is located at West Coast Park, to travel all the way down to Raffles Marina, which is facing Malaysia. The journey took about an hour. I did most of the driving while Benjamin helped me with the navigation of the power boat.
We arrived at Raffles Marina just in time for lunch before going out to sea again to help out in the regatta. When the regatta ended, we headed back to Raffles Marina for a buffet before heading back to Poly Marina. At the end of the day, we realised that the sun was so hot that it penetrated the sun block we applied on our bodies. It looks like I am going to suffer the after effects of sunburn once again.
19.04.2009, Sunday
I did marketing with my father before going home. For lunch, my mother cooked delicious fur which she bought from Vietnam. In the afternoon, I went to church with Chester, Ron, and Tse Yun. Thereafter, Chester and I went to Vivo City where I got myself a pair of running shoes from Mizuno costing $189.00. The shoes were free because of a voucher. I also bought for Chester a pair of socks.
I left Vivo City for Great World City shortly after for a family dinner at Kui-shinbo. Dinner was fantastic and I had a great time catching up with my cousins. Just being random here, but I went to four cities today, namely – City Link, Great World City, Suntec City, and Vivo City.
Wednesday, 15 April 2009
A man went to a barber’s shop to get a hair cut. As the barber started to work, they began to have a good conversation. They talked about many things on various subjects. When they eventually touched on the subject about God, the barber said: "I do not believe that God exists." "Why do you say that?" asked the customer. "Well, you just have to go out to the streets to realise that God does not exist. Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God exists, there would be neither suffering nor pain. I cannot imagine a loving God who would allow such things." The customer thought for a moment, but did not respond because he did not want to start an argument. The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop.
Just after he left the barber’s shop, he saw a dirty and unkempt man in the street with messy long hair. The customer turned back and entered the barber shop again and he said to the barber: "You know what? Barbers do not exist." "How can you say that?" asked the barber. “I am here and I am a barber. I just worked on you." "No." the customer exclaimed, "Barbers do not exist because if they did, there would be nobody with messy long hair like that man outside." "Barbers do exist. That is what happens when people do not come to me." "Exactly." affirmed the customer, "That is the point. God too does exist. That is what happens when people do not go to Him and do not look to Him for help. That is why there is so much pain and suffering in the world."
Sunday, 12 April 2009
06.04.2009, Monday
Another week of work lies ahead of me. At least it is better than going to school.
07.04.2009, Tuesday
My parents will be coming back from Vietnam tomorrow evening. I cannot wait to see them.
08.04.2009, Wednesday
I took leave from work for the whole day. Morning was spent in church doing the follow up for the Good News Week. I led the follow up session being my turn to do so. The children were quite distracted during the session, but I tried my best to keep them in focus. After the session, we all went to Bedok Hawker Centre for breakfast.
Sunburnt. I drove down to National Sailing Centre to help out in the transporting of the sailing boats to SAFYC (Changi). Getting the sailing boats onto the lorry was very difficult because of its size and weight. Nevertheless, everything was done by three in the afternoon. The lorry made two trips, carrying four sailing boats per trip. In the process of working under the hot sun, I got serious sunburns all over my body. I will just have to bear with the pain for the next few days.
My parents called me at about five to tell me that they have already arrived in Singapore before I could go and fetch them. Their flight landed more than an hour earlier than expected. I drove to the train station to pick them up before going for dinner. We ate at Boon Tong Kee and the food was so much better than what I was eating at home for the past few days. Heavenly food.
09.04.2009, Thursday
Working all day long. Tomorrow is Good Friday, which means that I do not need to go to work.
10.04.2009, Friday
Good Friday. I spent the morning in church. In the evening, I met up with Ron for dinner at Kallang Leisurepark before going to the Singapore Indoor Stadium for Good News Singapore. Tse Yun and her friend joined us in the queue shortly after we started queuing up. The queue was very long and I heard that the queue started at noon when the service only starts at seven thirty. After the long wait, we finally got inside and took the corner seats as it was the only seats available at that time.
The service was in English and Mandarin (which kind of irritates me). Other than that, the speaker was very anointed and he touched many lives. Hundreds of people accepted God and many were healed of their diseases and pains. I am truly amazed by the miracles that God can do. Nothing is impossible for God, nothing.
11.04.2009, Saturday
Goodness me. I cannot believe that I messed up in the regatta. Of the two races completed, I avoided the finish line because I thought that it was another course for other boats. I felt so silly but it is already over. I will cross the finish line tomorrow.
12.04.2009, Sunday
Easter Sunday. I am missing Easter Sunday due to the regatta. The weather was not the best and the wind conditions were not ideal for sailing. For a moment, the wind was quite strong and everyone was hoping that it would stay that way, but it did not. Light showers during the regatta dampened the day. All in all, I managed to finish the last race on a high. Thank God for making this possible.
Dinner was at Seafood Paradise. Delicious seafood dinner after a tiring day out at sea is a great way to end off the day. After dinner, my family headed to my grandmother’s house to eat mango pudding.
Friday, 10 April 2009
Difficult moments, seek God.
Happy moments, praise God.
Painful moments, trust God.
Quiet moments, worship God.
Every moment, thank God.
Sunday, 5 April 2009
30.03.2009, Monday
My medical screening is tomorrow. Dear God, I pray that you will keep me in the best of health and give me a ‘PES A’ status.
31.03.2009, Tuesday
Indeed, all things are possible. I thank God for giving me what I really need.
I spent the whole morning at CMPB because of the medical screening. In the evening, I went over to Daryl’s house to join him for a run. After running, we walked to Siglap for dinner. We had a really good time talking about a lot of stuff.
01.04.2009, Wednesday
I am back to work after one day’s leave. For lunch, my bosses brought me to Kovan Hawker Centre where we all ate chicken rice.
02.04.2009, Thursday
Work, work, work.
03.04.2009, Friday
I spent the whole day at work before going to Chinatown for cell group dinner. There is a very wide variety of food there, so choosing what to eat was very difficult. After walking a few rounds around the hawker centre, I finally decided to eat fried prawn noodles and cold cheng tng for dessert. When everyone had eaten, we when to McDonald’s to have our cell group session.
04.04.2009, Saturday
National Sailing Centre is quite messy now that there are construction works going on. Despite that, I still went down to teach sailing in the morning and also signed up for the upcoming regatta. In the afternoon, I met Mou Wei to go for the J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge volunteer briefing at the Asian Civilisation Museum. The place is really cool but it is quite a distance from the train station.
After that, I went to fetch my sister and friends from church to Mellissa’s house. We had cell group there till evening before having dinner. Fu Wei and Mellissa ordered two pizzas for our dinner. We stayed at her house to play a really fun game before heading home.
05.04.2009, Sunday
In the morning, I attended the first service at New Creation Church. The message was on the high priest series. Pastor Prince also healed a few people of their pains towards the end of the service. In the evening, Chester came over to my house to swim and for a steam bath. Dinner was at my grandmother’s house.
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
April Events
04.04.2009 – J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge Volunteer Briefing
10.04.2009 – Good News Singapore
11.04.2009 – ST Marine 6th SAFYC (Changi) Regatta 2009
12.04.2009 – ST Marine 6th SAFYC (Changi) Regatta 2009
13.04.2009 – Sport On! Ambassador Debrief
16.04.2009 – J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge 2009
18.04.2009 – Singapore Maritime Week Regatta