The Seventh of October

Holy columns of crabsticks!

To me, birthday is like a normal day, you will still have to get through it with or without celebration. If you live your life to the fullest everyday, there is basically not much difference. I can only say that I am living my life quite fully at this stage of my youthful years. Though I am lazy at times, so, this explains why I am not really living life to the fullest every single day. I should though.

Celebration with no surprise element
You would expect to know what exactly is going to happen, and you are sure that is it going to be a feast, it's going to be fun and it is something that you like, you definitely like it. I had a special dinner with my family on the 6th. There was a long queue even for people who have booked a table. The dishes were like those from a Chinese style wedding dinner. Cold dish, Shark's fin, (thai-styled fried) fish, chicken (herbal stew with mushroom), (oatmeal) prawns, sea-cucumber, San Lao He Fen (literally 3 toss hor fun; 3 items are fish slices sprouts and the hor fun), and dessert (canned longan, lychee, rambutan). Like I've said, it was a feast, we did not eat the San Lao He Fen there and we asked the staff to pack it up as we predicted that there was too much food on the table. The last dish before the dessert was the famous herbal + wine steamboat. It is the shop's recommended item. The taste was not bad, as you can really taste the herbs and also the Chinese wine, it tasted even better with all the ingredients added into it.

Celebration with family members is simple, without mess and fast. They get down to do the 'job' and leaves as soon as the 'job' is done. Not an extravaganza, just straight to the point. It was a very cosy experience. They will not go to the expense to make things extra extra special, but they make it a point to make it important. And you know it.

Basically there was nothing much to write about because all was openly said and done.

Celebration with surprise element
There is another method of celebrating birthdays, and I got this one too this year. In a surprise celebration, people around you would start to act weird, they would not behave not like they are usual. They get uneasy around you, and you do not know what they are up to until that thing happen. Hao Jie acted weird, he is very insistent, unlike the usual guy that everybody knows. We all know that he is very easy-going and would often go with the suggested opinion. But not this time, he insist that I go to Vivo city to meet with Jason and maybe have dinner with him. Not very him. I said that I felt uneasy spending the time to celebrate the occasion with someone I do not really know. I would rather spend the time with someone I really know if that someone really want to celebrate the birthday for me. Otherwise it is fine that I stay at home and spend time with my family. Next, it was strange that Min Hui did not send a second message to ask more questions after telling her (on sms text) that I am not free on Wednesday when she texted me on Tuesday. The usual her would ask when would be a better day, then what time could I make it, what I was doing that I could not come out on Wednesday etc. These are the questions I hypothesized that she would come up with. None, none of that, so I knew that something was amiss. The next next was this: none of those present at the surprise treat sent me sms birthday messages or called me to wished me. Forgotten? Too busy? Sinply do not care? Okay, I accept these reasons. Haha. On sunday, at church, so many of them disappear after Bible study, which is out of the usual practise, as they would hang around church until at least 4 pm before leaving.

I have observed some of these phenomenon (1, 2) when that happened and realised that there is something cooking. I only realised (3, 4) after the thing had happened.

What happened was, they got me to go to Vivocity and gave me a treat at Terra Cafe. Hao Jie and Min Hui are responsible to get me there and keep me under the blanket all these while to let me not make silly suggestions and make them deviate from their original plan. I have suggested to go crystal jade and Esther's reaction was (i should say) normal, as she is usually the one who rejects impromptu ideas of going somewhere else for diner. Nice one, just the right person for the right show. The rest of them just gets to the place earlier to snatch up the table and await our arrival.

3 more events that raised my suspicion was how nervously Min Hui appeared in church on Sunday. Here's the 3. When I enter mission room and she was hiding behind the stairway door preparing something (which i say and happened to be a notice board meant to be my birthday gift). Jia Hui was there too. She then pushed the both of us out of the stairway door and locked herself inside there. Next was that she tried to ordered me not to walk around in church. Lastly, the most unnatural one and the funniest one is this. I approached Pastor Ruth for help in the BS topic, she was also there, apparently asking Pastor Ruth to write something. Then she went panicky and reached for any Bible that was on the table and started flipping to a random page. I did what I wanted to do so I asked Pastor Ruth about the topic. Then out of the corner of my eye, although I was concentrating on what Pastor Ruth was telling me, I can make out that Min Hui is very uneasy as she wandered about the room and flipping random pages on the Bible and try to do nothing.

Min Hui was there, Sherman was there, Constance was there, Qin Yi was there, Jian Wen was there, Daryl was there, I was there, Hao Jie was there, Esther was there. Addison came the latest, he had choir practice. Maybe you all did not took part in the underground project, but you all took part in the fun, that was great.

Although I sort of guessed that something was happening, it was still fun. I am happy that I can bring excitement and laughter to my friends around me even though the surprise was not a very shocking one as I kept them on their toes. Are you all happy? I is not the success of the surprising element that make a good celebration. I am happy that I can bring them good memories, laughing times together.

Chalet

1724 Chalet. So, what are the preparations like? Pack bags, go through checklist and stuffs. In the end, some of us still forgot to bring some of our items. Say, Constance, Jian Wen and I. We forgot to bring our tooth brushes. We bought ours on the way there while we were at the supermarket shopping for the BBQ ingredients.


Dreamy.
I'm sure I'm not the one with the many photos. But I'm sure that this is one of the better few.


Forming sentences and memorising Bible verses from Titus. By the way, that is the book that we studies on for the duration of the camp.

My first day of school is on 29th Sept, which is the 2nd day of the camp/chalet/retreat. I was again late because I do not know exactly how to reach the place. I asked the station staff for directions to go there from the MRT station by bus. I followed the instructions, but that was not really a good way, as the bus leads me further away from my school. I took the taxi to school again (I took it also when I go to the orientation.)

I forgot something when I left the chalet for Church, my towel. Good thing is that Daryl took it for me. Phew!

Random

That night after watching Starsearch 2007 at the studio, we (Daniel, Min Hui, Addison, Me) went to have supper at Thomson road, Prata House. While we finishing our prata, I saw 2 cars coming into the carpark with some familiar people in there; some of the Starsearch contestants arrived, and I they seemed to be patronising the Prata House too. But there was none of them of whom I really support. Though some of them are good actors, I support the 2 girls (Hong Xi and Mei Ling) because they are attending the church I'm attending.


There they are.

And by supporting them (the 2 girls), I think I am showing some biasness against the other contestants. But hey, so what, they are really good too, so my actions are actually justified, because I support people with substance. I consider they somewhat acquaintances as there is a very faint and distant affiliation (attending the same church).

Thursday, I cooked Lunch for myself. It was good. Fishball, mushroom, minced meat, cream cheese spaghetti.


I cooked and ate my lunch after watching the starsearch repeat telecast.

Belated Celebration for the Sept's

Settler's cafe we went to. There are 11 of us. The 2 B-day peeps are Han Wei and Min Hui. Then there are Constance, Sherman, Esther, Hao Jie, Cheryl, Aubrey, Jian Wen, Addison, and me. When we first arrived, Constance told me that the place smells, as in it has a weird odour, like cookie(which is her dog). I agreed. I guessed that it might be due to all the board and card games items.

You see, Settler's cafe is a cafe where the main attractionis not their food. It is their games. Board and card games.

The smell disappear when we started to have fun.

To tell you the truth, I am not good at reaction game. I have relatively slow reaction compared to the rest of them. Haha. I was not as fast and witty as before.

I do not know the names of the games that I played, it is also very hard to describe all. i can tell you some. Do you remember this entry? Okay, one of the game is identical to that game. Instead there are dedicated animal picture cards instead of poker cards. We need to make animal sounds, but I (knowing that I am now slower) suggested that we call out the animal names instead of calling out the animal sound. At first, Han Wei was the one who got the most cards. This was because he kept on laughing and laughing and laughing and could not react in time to the card. But in the end, I was the one who was laughing and could not concentrate well. In a folly's moment, I "deprived" Han Wei of all his cards. I think you can read the other games and how they are played from the officail settler's website , or from the official website. The other one is about hand actions. Players must perform out the hand actions on the card, the slower one take the card (similar?). Actually the first game we played is some sort of a brick game board game. But it's quite different. I do not know how to describe.

The other interesting thing is how the 2 of them tried to blow out all the relighting candles. The challenge was that if they can blow out all the candles, we will be treating them, otherwise, they will the ones buying the bill. But of course we did not really want them to pay up. We just want them to have fun, trying to blow out all the relighting candles. After the thing, Han Wei told us that he thought that he had extinguished about half the candles, but when he turned his head back after he took his breath, he was surprised to see that they are still there, strong and lighted!

Things that make my stomach ache

Hey, those people who can't stand shit, haha.. please refrain from reading this entry.

Although this is a very casual topic, this is no over-the-tea-time type of topic. It is kind of funny even for me to be sharing this. But I just want people to know a bit more of how some part of me works, physically.

1) When I am in a very cold environment.
I usually sleep in air-conditioned room. In the wee hours of the morning, I would wake up in a sudden, because I have stomachache. Even when I am in a very cold place not necessarily while sleeping, I would have that stomachache feeling. Not every time, sometimes, when the air gets real cold and chilly. It affects my stomach.

2) When I did not cover my abdomen area and belly button with something when I sleep.
The other times I would experience stomachache in the wee hours of the morning is because I did not cover my belly button up well. Either i would have to have my jacket on, or I would need to use an extra pillow to cover my belly button. I guess the 'wind' gets inside me. It affects my stomach.

3) When I ate a very hot and spicy meal.
My mouth can take the hotness and spiciness, come on, give me more. My mouth is not afraid of hot and spicy stuffs! Well maybe I am not afraid if it, not at the moment, but I usually will be afraid the next day. I think my mouth can take the spiciness, but my stomach cannot. tI am guessing that the capsaicin gives me the pain. It affects my stomach.

4) When I eat a mean at a friend's house.
I do not know why, but whenever I am having my mean, towards the end of the meal, there would be rumbling in my stomach, just like butterflies flying violently around in the abdominal cavity. I am guessing that it is psychological in nature. I respond well when I eat outside, I respond well when I eat at my relatives' place. I am not very used to eating at friends' house. It affects my stomach.

5) When I think I ate something that was not properly processed.
I think everybody understands what this means, right? Sometimes, you knew that you have ate something wrong when have the runs, and you thought and guessed that you know exactly what that you ate made you in excruciating pain. It is those kind of food that you knew that you should not have ate. It affects my stomach.

6) When it is time to do it.
Well, it just affects my stomach.

Twinkle Twinkle so many Stars

I went to the market along Hougang Ave 1. It is called Hainanese Village. I went there with my sister and cousin for breakfast.

Due to the fact that I did not have enough sleep (bad habit of mine; sleeps at 2-3 am , then I have to wake up @ 8-9 today), I just walked past the crowd because I was concentrating on getting my breakfast when I reached the market. Escaping my vision was the cast and crew of Mediacorp staffs, filming. I guess it is for 手足 2, since they are the same bunch of artists, and some of them spot the same image/hairstyle as in 手足1. When I was approaching the stall that I have decided to patronise, then my sister asked me,“ 有没有看到？” This was when I walked back to check it out. We stayed around the set for a while so see how the scene was being filmed. Lin Ming Lun was being smashed with eggs. Poor thing. A lot of times, at least 10 eggs, at least.


Can you see the egg shells on his head?


Can you see the egg yoke on the floor?


"When will it be my turn?" *scratch scratch*

Actually that was not Lin Ming Lun's only egg-smashing scene. This is only the beginning.

After we bought our food (Hup Li bee Hoon for them, and Vegetarian Bee Hoon for me) , we sat down at a table quite near to the set so that we are able to watch most of the filming process with ease. Then we noticed that the main characters of that particular scene are only Lin Ming Lun and Cynthia Koh. The rest of them have minor parts in that scene, so they are taking a rest after they have done their part. They gathered around and occupied a table. I saw Liu Zi Xuan queueing at the famous kopi stall. After a long while, she is still queuing at the kopi stall, but it was already her turn to order. We continued to watch the "performance" of egg throwing and squabbling. Cynthia was scolding at the auntie who threw eggs at her "husband". I got myself a cup of soya bean drink while I continue to admire the sights. Cynthia's line were “你够了没有啊！” Then she went forward to confront the auntie. The director tried different ways of doing that scene. One was to ask Cynthia to scold the auntie. Another was to snatch away her bag of eggs. I think they ended up doing the scene which shows Cynthia smashing an egg on the auntie's head, causing the latter to walk away mumbling to herself.

In the end, we decided that we have to take photographs with some of the artists.


Too bad my cousin did not want to appear in the picture. Wow, Xiang Yun did not look a year over 30! I think that Ann Kok had lost some of her fans, because of her taking a break from acting a few years ago. And Liu Zi Xuan is very pretty, even though she ought to be appearing as a boyish character. (look at her nautica watch!)



Girl meets girl


I have got such a big head, I guess a few strands more hair and I will be a proud owner of an Afro! Somehow, she seems to look puny beside me.

After She took photographs with us, she commented that we are all very tall. Haha. And asked us how old are we. As my sister could not really remember what her Chinese name is (Zi Hui? Zi Shan? Zi Si? Zi Xuan?) as her real name is sort of similar to her 7pm show name which is Zi Hui. So she told us to just call her Jessica. What a gal.

What a morning.

Relive the moments

I decided to go for a swim today, since the weather is so good, with the big bright illuminating godsend sun high up above the sky so high. But I was in for a deep down the ocean floor seabed disappointment when I come to know that all Singapore Sports Council (SSC) facility are closed today as it is the SSC family day, I could not even go to the other branch even if i wanted to. I saw the notice when I went swimming last week, but I could not remember that is says that it would be on the 6th of September.

Okay, now, to relive the moments. About 3 weeks ago, I saw this


at Suntec. (remember this pic from my entry titled "Series of fortunate and unfortunate events"? Remember me telling you how much I wanted a V-neck tee? )

A few days later (13th Aug), I went shopping with my mother and sister @ Bishan and I bought a white version of this V-neck long sleeved tee. Another few days later, I went to Suntec again and saw this


Exactly the one that that I bought

I did not really get a shock when I saw that Pastor Ruth's nephew and niece went missing (again, that is why I was not so shocked) on the 6pm news. Made a short prayer. I did not want to call up Pastor Ruth, as I did not know how to talk to her. But seeing that they found the pair from the 10 pm news. The news made a mistake by saying that they are twins. They are not. One is P6, one is P4.

Ok, that is all folks! (",)

Gua Tai

Whhooaahh!!

I accompanied my mother to watch the "Ge Tai" just now!

It has been a long time since I watched a Ge Tai. This is because I am not a great big fan, the content is about other gods, not very Christian content (eh, hokkein, chinese, ge tati leh, what you expect??), and also simple there are not really many Tai near my place, need traveling. As for today, my mother have plans to watch a Tai, so she suggested that we go to eat at Potong Pasir (the Ge Tai's area) before going to watch when I asked her where should we go for dinner.

We were quite late when we reached there and had our dinner before proceeding to the stage area. We were quite lost as were not very familiar with Potong Pasir. We depended on our hearing to find the stage area. Cool, right?



The singer when we arrive at the Ge Tai


Can you recognise them?

They both acted in 881. The guy (Lin Li) acted as the host for the Ge Tai when the Papaya Sisters and the Durian sisters are having the final showdown. The lady (Lin Ru Ping) acted as the mother for Big Papaya. Both of them are quite famous in the Ge Tai field, according to my mother (you think I would know that?? No way! Actually I only know Lin Ru Ping is famous)

The 2 hosts, they brag about the quality of tonight's show. Saying that the band is the most expensive Ge Tai band, the 2 of them are the top hosts (they are like talking about each other, but kept denying that they are that good, quite humble though, haha.. don't know if it is for the show, or they really felt that way). That the singers tonight are of top grade. The male host also say that every year on the 19th of Lunar 7th month the Rong Hua Ge Tai will always be held at Potong Pasir. Uuually when the other Ge Tais are on random dates. They say the organiser insist on having one there every year. They also brag that the cost of this Tai is very expensive, easily 7 to 8 thousand. Lightings 900+, Band few hundred, stage material, few hundred, singers/hosts. Sometimes you can wonder how come those Buddhist and Taoist can be so generous when it comes to organising their religious events. Then you look at our own people.


Look! A male singer. Before he steps on stage, my uncle is already telling me that his singing is good. You know, his voice is hoarse after what (today is the 19th day of the 7th month), I guess 19 days of singing. He can barely speak properly, but somehow, he manages to sing very well, except a few slip notes on the harder-to-reach parts.


Another actor of the 881 cast. She acted as Karen in 881. The lady who got kidnapped by the Durian Sisters.

I watch it until about 9pm, then decided that I should go home first. Haha, the song are unable to stir up further enthusiasm for me to stay. Although I only know a few songs, I enjoyed the performance overall. Again, I shall state this fact: I am not a Lao Ah Pek. I am not an old man. It just happens so because my parents listen to their CDs at home regularly and subconsciously, I learnt those songs. I also went there to see how the stage was put up, how the lighting are put up, how the musicians play. Can rope in some tips for Christian Worship, although it might be hard to integrate those few small pointers.

Come back to the generosity problem. This is a very good point that Christians can learn. Although I cannot find any verses to support my view point now. I still think it is a good trait. Ever went to Chinese funerals? You can see that they give 'white gold' in 50s and 100s. But it is a sad thing to see Christians giving 2s and 5s during Christian Funerals. Some Christians ask them to give weekly offering is like wanting their life. What happened to Jesus's teaching about the old lady in the temple? Are you thinking that he is only joking and only wanted to compare her to the rich people? Numbers may not be the problem, sincerity and attitude is; maybe this is the way you might say to argue back to say about Jesus's teaching. 2s and 5s? Really, do not kid yourself, you cannot kid God. Yea. I just hope that I will not become some who is so stingy with my money that I will not fork out money for Christ's sake.

Relive the moments

This is not an impersonation of an antelope. It has got to be at least a reindeer. Because of the antlers. Antelopes have horns. This was taken in IKEA the week before when I went there with Addison and Min Hui.

Moments like these. Captured on film (digital film here) are memories. Some of these memories that do not come by often. Fooling around, having fun. Harsher moments are harder to capture, but usually people would not want to remember those bad times. Who would keep an ablum of their family members fighting, pictures of yourself frustrated or loved ones in hospital beds? Not many. Relive the happy moments, nice photographs bring back happy memories. Relive the interesting moments, queer photographs made you wonder why you choose those as your picture's subjects/do those actions.

Back to the reindeer topic. Christmas is coming. Soon. Soon enough to start preparations. Start the preparations, any takers? Takers to participate. Participate in the Christmas Party? A Party that should make a difference. Differences between Christian and non-Christian? Christ.

(",)

Swing

How to swing, alone? Here's how.

1) Find a swing. If have a childhood, you would know what it look like. It seems that the generation of today are not so well-acquainted with the swing, simply because they are seemingly missing from the child-safe playground.

2) Sit on it.

3) Either a) Use your legs to pivot yourself away from the ground. Placing your feet flat on the ground/sand at the spot where your seat originally form a perpendicular with.

4) Release yourself.

5) This step teaches you how to gain altitude. When you are swinging bend your knees to "keep" your legs. As you swing forward kick both of your legs forward too. Then you "keep" your legs as you swing backwards. Make sure to kick hard so that there is a force to move your higher.

This chapter is also considered housekeeping because it is something you can do to relax and enjoy as you housekeep.

Practise and perfect it. Your kids will thank you in the near future.

OIA, MIA

Missing in action. Sigh.

We were supposed to do some preparation for John 3:16. I believe not much people did. Rev. Yang asked who did the homework. He repeated a few times, waited for a few minutes. No one raised their hands. Then i believed that those who really did, did not dare to raise their hand/s. We got a mini lecture from him. He was talking about the hardships and trouble and life-risking events that Martin Luther has to go through to make the Bible a household item, a book which is meant for all of God's people instead of only the Clergy as God wants everybody to know his word. That is why he felt heart-broken on behalf of Martin Luther.

The New Balance

The New Balance


Balancing Act


N-LOCK


1223

Series of fortunate and unfortunate events.

Ice-cream. I scream. We screamed. Too much already. If you go around checking out some of my church friend's blogs or their personal message. It would be saying things like "no more ice cream for next 6months" , "I have enough of ice-cream" etc. We had so much ice-cream on Saturday for our ice-cream 8 course dinner and we did not even finish all 8 courses. Imagine 4 tubs of 6 litres plus around 15 tubs of 1.5 litres. I guess that was quite an accurate estimate of how much ice-cream we bought for the event. I think we managed to finish ½ of those.

I was the usher for Sunday Church service. While doing so, I noticed one lady who looked like Felicia Chin (but she is not, She looked tanned and a bit older compared to Felicia Chin). What first caught my eye was her colourful rainbow coloured tee she was wearing, next was her make-up, then was her look-like-Felicia-Chin face. I wanted to confirm her identity but I could not get a better look as I was engaged in my duty. At the end of the service, I saw her talking to some of the Pastors and Uncle Shan Ping. So Lunch came. Its the birthday celebration. We catered Nasi Lemak from Kovan Hup Li. Guess what, there are still ice-cream left from the previous day. So Hao Jie initiated to play the game they played yesterday. It is sort of like "follow the leader" where the leader will give a specific set of instruction such as : use your right hand to take the spoon, pass it to your left hand, scoop the ice-cream eat it put the spoon down after you say 'thank you'. If people did the action in the wrong sequence or missed out an action, they will have to repeat and thus eat more ice-cream. He managed to clear a lot of ice-cream using this method on Saturday, he is trying it again. Haha. After lunch we had combined Bible Studies. Reverend Yang taught us the OIA method to study the bible. His focus was on O: Observation that day. Some of us were amazed some of us were shocked, some of us were simply just doing the worksheet. We were asked to read Matthew chapter 2 and there was questions like: how many kings went to visit the child and mary; did the star led them to where they were; how many types of gifts was presented; the gifts was present to who. Do you know the answers? Next was describing the picture like that of an oral examination. The picture was about a car accident. MAN, there was much disagreement going on as to who is to be blamed for the accident. Homework is to read John 3:16, using the 6H, list down our observations. After bible study, most of the other peeps went home, the committee stayed back for meeting. Such a long meeting. we discussed about how are we going to operate during the renovation months, the plans for next your, rooms to use, camps, follow up for events and the upcoming Christmas event. It was about 6:30pm, Reverend Yang did not join us for dinner. The few of us; the 1724s (proudly) finally decided to eat at Thai Express.SLURP SLURP. When I got back home, I MSNed and chated with Reverend Yang, I remembered that he might know the Felicia-Chin-lookalike is. He mentioned that she seems to be a finalist form this year's Starsearch. I was like,"oh really ah, no wonder wear until so colourful".

Went swimming on Monday. And what is the worst forgetful thing that you can do there? Forget to bring the swimming trunks home. And that was what I did. I realised it only after I reached home and was unpacking my bag. I have to walk back to the pool, asked the staff to let me in, go to the toilet's second cubicle to retrieve my supposedly lost swimming trunks.

Wow, Tuesday is an eventful day. Went to cut my hair @ Tampines by Steven, my favorite hairstylist. Nice. Nice. I proceeded to Queenstown/Queensway to meet Hao Jie. 1) to look and take measurements of desks and swivel chairs from IKEA. I was thinking of buying AMON table top 30$ to fit with GALANT frame 40$ and A-LEGS 15$/pc. For the chair, I was thinking of buying either the ALLAK (synthetic leather) 128$ or the KARSTEN (mesh back) 238$. Hao Jie have been wanting to introduce one of his favorite drink of all time to me. Durian Milkshake from block 120 opposite IKEA. He seems to know a lot about the 2 stalls operated by 3 brothers. 1 is the Ba Kut Teh Stall, next to it is the Fruits & Juices stall, owned by 3 brothers. We had Ba Kut Teh with rice, then next, wah. Next wah, comes the wah, thing. The Durian wah Miklshake. Wah. I ordered Soursop Milkshake. Soursop Milkshake taste refreshing, but wah, Durian Milkshake wah wah is very powerful wah. Each mug is only 2$ very worth the buy! Wah. Must try. I got a feeling the SF people will be able to try it, maybe within this year. If you know what I mean. Haha! The wah surprise. Wah² Wah²! I wanted to buy a new pair of running shoe for a long time already, my targeted shoe is New Balance 1222. It was quite an old model, as in it was around the market for about 1 year plus, so not many shop carry the colour (lime green lines with white base) that I wanted nor do they have the size (13). All along I thought I was a 13, but then after what the uncle said, I was convinced I am a size 12 new Balance wearer. He said that if I wear 13, after a while, I would have to tighten my laced to make the shore "re-fit" my feet. But with a 12, I do not need to do that. Since my NS time, I have been wearing size 13 New Balance, and this problem really occurred to both pairs of shoes. What worries me is the length of the shoe, the truth is that any shoe will expand after it is seasoned. Here come s the tricky part. I am a flat footer and have wide feets. Some shoes comes in different wideness (measured in 'E's. Common sizes are 2E and 4E.) 1222 only have 4E. Uncle recommended me 1223 size 12 2E. Good. Haha. It fits. I missed Tuesday's 9pm show on Channel 8 cause I was just paying the uncle @ 9pm. Tsk.

Tell you one thing. Next time you go to Queens to buy shoes, go to the 2 shops manned by 1) Mr Singh and the other shop by the Indians. They give better deals than the Chinese and Malays. It seems so. They give better advises and seems to be more experienced at the shoe business.

Today, wow, woke up at 7am. I had a job interview with a*star company at Buona Vista scheduled at 9:30am. The interview lasted ½hour, it went so fast. I didn't even know if it was good or bad. It was a hot morning, I was sweating as I was on my way, and I was still sweating when I was at the table talking to them. Was an unsightly view. After the interview, I went to Raffles City to have BK breakfast, a little treat for myself. The wrong thing I dis was to got down at Raffles Place MRT station instead of City Hall MRT station. After brunch, I took a walk down to Suntec. I bought a CD: Olivia from HMV. http://oliviaong.com/index.html The CD I bought is the Singapore release, which is not reflected in the official website. I saw Zhang Fend (NS friend) along the way and Danny (church friend) at G2000Blu. One thing caught my eye. This:



I had always wanted a V-neck long sleeved tee. It gives the causal look a new definition. Cool and casual. Then I continued my journey into the pointless window shopping and saw this nice picture at a art gallery/shop just beside minitoons.



It may not be well taken here cause I was using my k750i and it's not really a neat camera. Just good enough for blogging and such. The next thing I know, I was in the DC comic shop, selling all the DC superheros stuffs. There are Superman, Green Lantern, Flash tees going from 9$ to 19$. You know why it is so cheap, because the new stock are going for 80+$. They are those black tee with "diamond studed" Superman "s" logo. Wow. Ex Pen Sive. Another thing that I had always wanted to own is a neat Superman Belt Buckle. But they are slightly on the expensive side. The buckle is 89$ and the leather strap is 30$. There are the smaller and not so to my liking ones going @ 29$ per buckle. I did not get any, no budget ah. Wait till I get my job. Went home!

I did not go swimming today. Lazy is the word; I was thinking that I should give myself a break. My sister went out after her ½day at school and got home at night and she packed a half-eaten Chicken & Mushroom Fusilli from Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf.



Yawn! I took such a long time to complete this entry. Because I was blogging, watching TV and MSN-ing at the same time. AND guys are not so good @ multitasking. Haha. That explains. I dun think I'm gonna bother about any spelling mistakes in this entry. Remember. lazy's the word.

(",)

Housekeeping 101

How to clean your fan.

1) Remove the front frame by un-clicking the clip holding the front frame to the back frame (it is found at the bottom edge), then unscrew the cap of the blades in a clockwise direction, then take out the blades, them unscrew the nut holding the back frame, then remove the back frame.

2) Bring the items to your cleaning ares, preferably your toilet or somewhere you have got a hose and a basin and a sponge. Oh, and water.

3) Use the wet sponge to clean both frames. Clean in a big circle around the surface of both the front & back of the front frame and both the front & back of the back frame. The dirt should and will come out all stick to each other, forming some sort of a string of threaded dirt. All the dirt in one line. How smart.

P.S. If you are using 3M product, the one with a green scrub surface and the yellow spongebob squarepants surface, use the yellow spongebob squarepants surface.

DO NOT CLEAN ALONG THE SPIKES! THE DIRT WILL NOT COME OUT!

4) Rinse the cap and the nut. (The NUT, not YOURSELF!!)

5) Use the hose and spray onto all 4 items. Hold the frames at one edge, hold it up and spray water on it. Just spray the cap and nuts as you would spray anything else.

6) Give the frames a good beating, as if you are the nurse beating the bottom of a newborn baby, to shake off excess water.

7) Use a clean cloth to wipe off the water still clinging onto the surface of the items.

8) Put the back frame back first, then screw the nut back in a clockwise direction, then put the blades back, then screw the cap back in a anti-clockwise direction, then hook the front cover back and secure it.

9) Turn the fan on to see if it works (Yes! Turn it on).

10) Tell your parents that they do not need the maid anymore.

I hope enjoy your fan-cleaning process, do it often and you might get the hang of it. Do it regularly enough and your parents will start to ask you to clean the whole house.

For more housekeeping tips, please go through NS! Thank You!

Dragon

Went to eat Sizzler @ Suntec yesterday. The 3 of us went in first, as Jason was late. It was the first time I'm eating at this restaurant. But to Hao Jie and Eugene, it was not. They forgot how it was. Earlier on, Hao Jie had asked me along to eat Sizzler's buffet. I was the earliest guy to turn up, so I went to check out the restaurant. I realised that there was not "BUFFET" sign at the entrance of the shop. I was telling them that when we met up. They did not believe me and said that they had always remembered that Sizzler served buffet. Hao Jie went in and ask. They do serve salad buffet. We were all puzzled. Then suddenly Hao Jie remembered that we are entitled to the buffet when we buy a main course. We went in without Jason after he confirmed with us that he will be late.

Next destination after dinner is the Arcade. We threw baskets. Haha, they were hooked to the basketball game, and I sort of like joined in the fun. So Jason issued a challenge. Our 3 combined score multiplied by 1.5 vs his score. The loser does push ups. In the arcade.

We did push-ups in the arcade. Lost to Jason. I got 93, Eugene got 98, Hao Jie got 104. Jason got around 475. So we need to do 31 (the difference) multiply by 2 times of push-ups in the arcade. We cheated by doing only 21 each, so totaled up to 63. Good thing it's the closing hour!

Jason and Hao Jie asked me to go over and learn how to steer the dragonboat. I was hesitating whether to go or not.This is because, firstly, my mother would not like me to associate with Dragonboats. Secondly, I would not have time in the future to help Jason, even if I go learn tonight. You see, I study night-school and most of his sessions are in the night.

I did not go, that is why you see my post here.

(",)

Me

This week, not so able to go swimming much. As you know, the news reported that the this adnormal rainy period will continue for at least 1-2 weeks. Well, there was once I went to swim, and saw Samantha See and Candice there. The weather turned for the worse just when I changed out. But when they left the clouds moved themselves away. Haha. What coincidence. I think the clouds saw them leaving and decided to follow them and let the sun out for me. Ops.

Anyway, if I'm not wrong I only went swimming on Monday, and that is when I saw them. I did not managed to go because of the other rainy days. So I was only able to do some simple exercises at home using my gym-ball and my floor.

That was the major part of my everyday life: exercising. I use the computer at night. Mainly to watch "Whose line is it anyway".If you still remember the show, it was absolutely hilarious. really. Scenes from the hat, Questions only, Two line vocabulary, Let's make a date, Party Quirks, Hoedown (I don't really like this section), Greatest Hits (this too), etc. Scenes from the hat is really a test of their improvisational skills, they need to randomly come up with really funny one-liner that made sense. The one that is really good, always is the two line vocabulary. You should really go check it out.

That was some funny night-life.

I was with my mother at the provision shop last night when Reverend Yang spotted us! Then he came and greeted my mother. He then returned to his seat at the coffeeshop. Shortly after, Reverend Huang and Reverend Liu came from the direction of the Church. Reverend Liu also greeted my mother. Both of them complimented me to my mother. Then, both me and my mother was sort of smiling on the way back home. My mother hear praises about me when I'm around, and I seldom hear myself being praised when my mother is around. It's sort of weird, like caught off guard; don't know how to react, first time experiencing this. Then just now, my mother was like," you very guai one right, go cut mango for me."

Haha!

(",)

Deano Martino

This is a picture taken by Dean's N70 @ the Chalet.


Daniel, Me, Dean, Sean and Michelle

The Toilet paper in Daniel's hand is actually of significance. You see, after the game, when it was time to go, we had to take a picture (this picture). So we stood up. Dean accidentally kicked the cup of wine. So Daniel and I cleaned it up with that roll of toilet paper before we can actually take this picture.

Enjoy! (",)

Close and Open

Ok, Polling is over!

Hey, I'll tell you the results in a while's time!

Have you seen Aloe Vera Before? Well. if you have not, there are 2 potted ones planted at the backyard of my grand's place.



Oh, I was wrong. There was 2 pots of giant aloes, and 1 pot of normal aloe. Please do not go and steal them.

Saturday was the celebration of Dean's Birthday! Dean was there, Daniel was there, Aloysius with his new love was there, Sean was there, Michelle was there. There are other MJC ppl, his other classmates. We played a card game, and I lost once out of 2 rounds. Here is how it goes. All of us sat in a circle and think of a nickname, round 1 we used animals' name and vegetables' for round 2. I was Dinosaur and Chilli. Dean gave out the cards (he combined 2 decks) one by one in a circle. It is like modified SNAP. When he gave your card and the number coincides with another person's card, the last personto call the other's person's nickname will get all the card from him/her. The round ends when all the cards are given out and the loser is the one with the most cards. I got slow reaction after the drink. Haha, to add on to it I've got only above average reaction reflex when I'm normal and I've already down 2 cups. Haha. I'm not stating excuses, I'm only saying why I lost. Fun! Daniel lost the first round, I lost the second. Sean almost lost the first round, but he got "lost" all his cards to Daniel during the end of the round. Michelle and Chin Hao have the best memory and fastest reaction.

I was the worship leader on Sunday. There was one part that I made mistakes, the Apostle Creed part. I did not memorised the creed, so I sort of like recite wrongly totally.

Esther promised to lend me (us: Her Boyfriend, Daryl and me) to read the book : "for men only" by Shaynti & Jeff Feldhahn. So I opened the book and read the first 2 chapter last night. Hmmm... Interesting... Finally Alien language understood. Haha, and all the jokes resolved. Not that I need to learn this now. The tag line for this book goes like this : "*flash flash*SHOCKER! *flash flash* Women can be understood!" if you visit the book's website. www.formenonlybook.com .

Back to Sunday. We went to watch Harry Potter after Combined BS. Thank Samuel (if you are reading this) for lending me the SAFRA card, so we could book the tickets at a discounted price on weekends. Right after we finish the BS, we dilly dallied to the bus stop (as usual). But then, even if we never did so, I do not think that we will reach Bishan on time too. You see, we waited for a long time for the bus.

At the Cinema the others went in before Min Hui and I; we went to the toilet. After that, as we do not have the ticket stubs, we do not really know which theater our show is showing. I decided to try my luck by going into the first theatre on the left. It was showing Transformers, the part where Sam just brought the girl home, or so I thought. If not, it would be the part where he brought the Autobots home. Then we went to the first one on the right. It was showing alright, but somehow it does not seems to be the starting; Harry was there battling already, I thought that it was the ending. Nonetheless, we walked down the right aisle to the supposedly our row, but the people seated there seems to be not from SF, and it looked too full to be that row. So we went back out to make verification. We went to the correct theatre, just the wrong aisle. They saved the seats on the wrong, or rather the left side for us.

The show is not bad. Unlike what people said. They said it was very bad, not good, lousy etc. I saw what I expected to see. It's up to my expectation. And Daryl you are wrong. It is up to my expectation. I did not expect more. When we reached S11, Supergirl remembered that she left her wallet on the Cinema seat and I accompanied her to retrieve it. She can be nominated as Daryl number 2. Nominations starts today! We had noodles for dinner after the show. To me noodles is just noodles. Ba Chor Mee and Wan Ton mee, makes no difference to me. We had Wan Ton mee. Jian Wen had 2. Haha.

(",)

Fastfood Frenzy

Before I start, let me remind you to take the poll (on the right panel) if you have not! It would take you about 3 minutes! Thank You!

Actually there are some other minor details about the production lah. Like when I was having lunch that day with Hao Jie. We went to Kovan to get some food ingredients for the production's refreshments, so we decided to have MacDonalds lunch.


Lovely~ Heart-shaped fries!! (or is it fry? haha)

We were able to take a walk down town because there was not rehearsal! We are all free by 4 O'clock. Min Hui, Addison and I went down to Suntec for a walk.

Should Doughnut Factory be considered a fastfood chain? I guess not, the queue is almost never-ending, even for the new Suntec branch. We wanted to queue for it because the poor Qinyi had asked us to help. Then we checked out the entire shop, there is another counter, which allow people to buy takeaways limited to 2 pieces each person. So we joined that (no) queue and bought doughnuts that way. Fast.

Dinner! @ BK.

This taste like the old MacDonald's Fillet -O-Fish, because the new Mac's Fillet-O-Fish taste like processed fish; like bits and pieces of fish meat pressed together and then frying it after dipping it into a layer of batter. The tartar sauce is also not so good already, too sour. This BK Fish taste like the old Fillet-O-Fish because the fish taste fresher, more whole piece rather than bits and pieces, thus the "may contain fish bone' sticker. The sauce is tastier, not only sour.

Oh, ya, till date, 11 person voted! It is in favor of "change" haha!

(",)

Vote

I've put up a poll! So, please gladly take it! It's on the right side-panel, on top of the Tagboard. (it's about the tagboard, of course I must put it there!)

Thank you!

seven seveN sevEN seVEN sEVEN SEVEN

A piece of advice. Do not volunteer to be the logistic in-charge. Tonnes of work man. Haha. But you have no choice, just do it in a efficient way.

You see, this department has to make sure that stuffs are brought in and returned every rehearsal and till the end of the production (Good thing that the preparation of props is done by Props department, not under Logistic). So as the in-charged person, even when my helpers have left the place thinking that the Logistic's role is done, I have to clear back the items. Haha. This is the downside of this Department. I'm sure that there are downsides to the other departments. I just do not know yet.

I watch Transformers: The Movie with , to all the people out there who cannot wait patiently to find out who then I suggest that you read on, someone that I know very well like been there with me, to the people who is still trying to find out whether if he's a gal or she's a guy then I think it's better for you to read on to find out that he is Daniel, who else would go to watch such a techy show with me other than another fanatic, other than he who has already book me to go watch with him, to those who still did not get who I went to watch the show with and still ask me like you need to know the answer like that of your exam question, please read upwards.

By the way, I watch that show last Monday. Just did not have time to blog it down.


Live Earth wear Green and use green

Do you know eating this:

will give you durian pee and poo? Haha.

My family had durian, I think on Tuesday.

Went to the library yesterday to borrow books on frontpage. I hope that it will help in my renovation of Eternity. So far so good, I just finish reading and trying out Chapter One. haha

(",)

Autobots! Transform and roll out!

I want to "transform" my blog. So, I guess, it will be labeled under construction for a while!!

Tears in Heaven

I cried in Church Sunday. Not many saw it. God, maybe Addison, maybe Jess. Part of the sermon by Reverend Huang (Huang Mu Shi) is directed to us, the youths. All of that part hit me. You see, Rev. Huang is a very charismatic speaker, and everything he said made sense. God was leading him. This is what God told me through him *LINK*

After he finished, Huang Mu Shi led us in the response song (or rather response hymn) 委身之歌

When the congregation was singing the song the second time. I could not open my mouth and tears started flowing out of my eyes. I felt so useless that i could not do much for God since i believe till then. God consoled me telling me that it is okay to be weak. Because we are all humans, and are susceptible to sins. "Come to me! Great things shall be done by your hands! Have faith in your God Almighty!" “Do not be dejected, because this is not the time to be.I am going to use you."

The Father spoke to me about His Son through the Holy Spirit.

Finally!

I've received the acceptance from PSB academy / UWA. So I'll be starting school in September. PUSH. Pray Until Something Happen. Lord you knew that I needed this long before, and you gave it to me. Thank You.

Thank You.

I attended a wedding dinner last night, there are belly dancers there. Kind of reminded me of Hao Jie, his Belly Dancer song ring tone. So irritating (the ringtone).





I've gone down to PSB academy to make my 1st payment. I did know that transactions more than S$2000 is not allowed when using NETS. So I have to go down to the POSB to withdraw cash of S$4567.50. Since it was near the closing hours, the teller did not have much big notes, only 1 was left.



and many S$50 notes. (71 to be exact)


It's like, you will only see a bundle of notes in the movie when people borrow money from the loansharks.

Felt like continuing

It felt that something is missing. This is because I think that the camp entry is unfinished.

Did I mentioned that I had a haircut while I was at Malaysia? Nope right? Okay. I did, and I thought that it took me quite some bit of courage to do that; I always thought of myself as someone who would want my hair to look good, and I didn't know what will the haircut end up looking like. It was satisfactory, it was not bad.

Phew! Finally I got that sense of unrest off me. I thought that it would not do my experience justice by not telling out everything. I'll do more justice and be a just person by posting a few more pictures!


Lowflying aircraft. Rather low stagnant aircraft.


Jian Wen (centre) edited this photo before sending it to me. That's Daryl sitting down. This train is found beside the train. At the front of some kite museum.


Inside St. Paul Church.


AARRGGHH! The Black Pearl.. As if.


Programmes of the last night! See all so excited. This is something like the appreciation night. It's also the father's day special programme. They gave out this "gift voucher" which is written by the kid and the presenter will present it to the father. Simply voucher which reads, "This voucher allow you to exchange for a*something" *something like a hug or a massgae by the child. Also there are pregrammes present by the different groups. The kids presented some songs and skit. Our student group lead a modified twister game. It was twisty chaotic.


We had a good lunch on the way back to prepare us for the endless walking during the shopping hours!

Hey, it felt good to go church! All the fellowship made me feel that a Christian is a very sociable person.

The rehearsal for the 7th July production was getting better and smoother. It was actually okay to watch, compared to it was unbearable to watch it initially. Everybody gave in their efforts. Very good, well done. Rev Huang was there to help me by giving us some tips on the singing part. We practiced till quite late on Sunday. After that we had a very long conference to decide where to go for dinner. We ended up going to Bishan MOS burger. We wanted to go take some rides at the Uncle Ringo amusement park but the cost is too high. it's like 5 or 10 dollars per ride.


We did not ride, but we shot photos!


Shot by Jian Wen


This is a very interesting shot. Jian Wen positioned his phone(cam), then ask me to take the shot. Then he and han Wei went in to make the kill, i mean they went in to pose. After I've shot it, I took a look and said," It looked as though the 2 of you were 'photoshoped' in." Haha.


Hao Jie and I wanted to ride this, but it was too expensive. So we just stare at the bumper cars.
SMASH!! CRASH!! WHACK!! SCREECH!!

Whew! it's 5:30pm already. I shall prepare myself for dinner. Meeting Min Hui and Qin Yi to eat before going to Church for meeting.

(",)

In a week of Fun

Hey! Sentosa! The Amazing race. SF have an Amazing race at Sentosa. Cool.



We had fun although the team I was facilitating got the last position. I must apologise for not reading the clues in advance (cheat a 'lil... haha). That is why we went to take the lunge straight away after going up the skylift. We should have went to the Dragon trial after taking the skylift.



I got a tan from that day, which lasted till now (2 weeks). Then I only got to shed my skin today. Delayed skin reaction. Funny skin of mine. Anyway, one more event happened in the meantime I was waiting for the skin to shed.

Church Camp @ Malaysia!

Aubrey, Daryl and I shared a room. From the few days we spent there, we can conclude that Daryl grinds his teeth hard, real hard and loud.

This is the first time I have attended the Church Camp. 10 years in Church and this is the first time. My initial intention was to ask my mother along. Which then was so unfortunate that my uncle has to go to China and the shop which my parents shared with them still require tending. My mother said that she should stay in Singapore to help out at the shop. Next, I asked my father if it is a good idea to close the shop for a week and then the whole family can go to the camp. It seems that the shop cannot be left unattended because there are other vendors coming to rent part of the shop space, so someone have to be there to take care of this matter. Thus both my parents had to stay back.

Attending the camp makes me realise that being a 'whatever' infectious, contagious or influential Christian is even more important now than in the past. I'll have to sub 'ous' for this adjective because I do not know which is the correct one. Being a 'ous' Christian. Reason being that the world is changing the Christian point of view, changing the quality of Christian. So we must stay true to the teaching and follow the bible. The world easily sway Christian off their feet telling them the importance of making money. Spending time on work is more important that spending time with God. Labouring till we are dead tired and spend no time on Bible study everyday. This is the World view of how a normal person should live. Faith is just secondary. The world tells us that believing is using the heart, there is no need to live it out, just use your heart. Believing that Jesus is the savior is sufficient, there is no need for further actions. This is the world talking to us, with a louder voice that the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit has been muted by all these external factors. It made Christians think that these Christian values are obsolete and are not functional in modern times. Spread the word, be a 'ous' Christian. I wanna add another ous to it. Serious. Christianity is like black and white. Either you are, or you are not. It is an identity, Either you are a someone or you are not at someone. You cannot be a ½ someone. (I'm a ½father? I'm a ½student? I'm a ½vegetarian???) When you believe that Jesus Christ cleansed your sins once and for ever, you are a Christian. Nothing less, nothing more. So, living as a Christian is how our lives ought to be, because we are one. My logic is simple: you are a male so live like one, you are a student behave like one. You are a Christian so live like one. Know your role and do it well. Remember the world is looking at us. So is God. Be responsible to the people or be responsible to God. Take a look at this verse.

Hebrews 13:5-7 (New International Version)

5Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,

"Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you."

6So we say with confidence,
"The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?"

7Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.

Us it as a Reminder.

The sermon was good. Then the walk-tour around the place is not bad either. On the second day, Jian Wen, Daryl and I walked around during the free time. As were tired of the food from the Hotel, we had food from Pizza Hut. Then we were supposed to visit the "Red Church" but Jian Wen sort of forgot his way. We visited another Church though. St. Paul Church. It is an ancient building, no longer in use. Daryl was saying that he remembered he took a photograph when he was "this small" at the square window, and he wanted to take another one when he is "this big" now.



There was a Treasure Hunt on the third Day. We had to go to St. Paul Church again for the first stop. The last station (museum) needed quite some time and only a few representative needs to do it, so the rest of the team just sat around the outside of Christ Church Malacca aka Red Church which is the ending point.

While waiting most of us would either have a Chendol drink or have an ice-cream while waiting for the few at the Museum to finish. Got to know some weirdos.


Weirdos have fun! Haha!

(",)