Thursday, May 29, 2008

Healer

I was looking for a song tat I already hav, lolx... Still went to Google one line of the lyrics... Anyway here it is, the song by Joel Houstan's fren, composed when he supposedly had six months left to live... Lyrics below, song on the right... Enjoy! =)

Healer

You hold my every moment
You calm my raging seas
You walk with me through fire
And heal all my disease

I trust in You
I trust in You

I believe You're my Healer
I believe You are all I need
I believe You're my Portion
I believe You're more than enough for me
Jesus You're all I need

My Healer, You're my Healer

Nothing is impossible for You
Nothing is impossible for You
Nothing is impossible for You
You hold my world in Your hands

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Challenges...

Flu is reli quite irritating, esp. when it doesnt go away after a few days... Hav been down with it since Monday and the bugs are still not completely gone yet =( Anyway I shall try my best to function as per normal, lolx...

Got my driving test date ytd, and its on the 14th of June! How coincidental can it get? The Youth Camp is from the 11th to the 14th! Anyway I toked to Kaiqi and now the plan is tat I'll attend the first 2 days of the camp... B4 and after tat will be intense driving lessons... I do hope tat I'll pass on the first attempt =/

Then Youth Day Service I'll need to arrange for the worship team to play for both services, which is quite a task for me... And I want to give the newer musicians more exposure through this event oso... There are juz so many considerations, and I reli pray for the wisdom to noe how to coordinate this whole thing...

Monday, May 26, 2008

HILLSONG UNITED!!!


First time I had the chance to go for a purely Hillsong United Concert and it was a blast... Met the rest at 5 and thousands of calls juz kept coming in all the way till 6 plus... Thank God Si Hui bought dinner for me and I could eat my Mushroom Swiss Double b4 going in... Gave away the fries and half of the drink, lolx...

When I finally went in at ard 6.45pm with JP and company, we received a goodie bag which was way cool la! =) Got lightsticks, a notebook, a drink and some other hillsong stuff... Then initially we were abit disappointed cos we had to go sit in the back section... Then Thomas called me and said tat they were at the front section and there's still alot of space, so we went down and joined them...

The lights went out and ppl started throwing their lightsticks ard, and screaming and shouting like mad... We had the Arrow Dancers up on stage and it was quite cool to juz watch them perform... After tat it was LIGHTS OUT and the band came up!! (U can hear ppl screaming hysterically now, and making all sorts of human sounds/noises possible)

First song: THE TIME HAS COME
Followed by a few other praise songs b4 going to the worship songs... I clearly rmbr the first worship song: MIGHTY TO SAVE... It was played in a totally different style and still as nice if not nicer than the original version... The song touched me and I teared as I sang it... The first line "Everyone needs compassion" made me think abt the ppl in Myanmar and China suffering... It was as if the whole song was my prayer for those ppl suffering out there... I reli do hope tat more ppl will receive the salvation even in the midst of all these suffering...

Mighty To Save

Everyone needs compassion
Love that’s never failing
Let mercy fall on me
Everyone needs forgiveness
The kindness of a Saviour
The hope of nations


Saviour
He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever
Author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave


So take me as You find me
All my fears and failures
Fill my life again
I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in
Now I surrender


Shine Your light and let the whole world see
We’re singing
For the glory of the risen King


Anyway this song reli opened up my heart to the whole worship and after tat I was able to surrender myself wholly to Him... The message by the Pastor was oso simple: Step into the Zone and receive God's undeserved favour... Its all abt making tat choice to step in and then thanking God for wad He wants to gif u... Thought the part abt us being like Jesus was quite cool... "Jesus is cool, so are you. If you wear Addidas today, Addidas ic cool. If you wear Nike tml, Nike is cool. All becos Jesus is cool, so are you"

There was oso this part where Joel Houstan shared abt his fren getting cancer but did not gif up... Instead he went back and composed a song which we sang and I think was super cool! Cant rmbr all the lyrics but would reli like to hav tat song, so if anyone has it let me noe! =)

The last part we worshiped somemore and ended on an ultra high note with Saviour King... I was practically shouting and not singing anymore, lolx... The Pastor came up but the crowd wasnt satisfied... So we got 2 more songs: One Way and Solution... First time hearing Solution so didnt reli like it tat much, hahaz... But still praised Him and gave Him my all cos He's worthy =)

After the whole thing finally ended, ppl started going out and it was seriously crowded, I think more so than b4 the concert started when we were coming in... I saw diff gps of Agapians but after Elsen and me went to the toilet, everyone was gone, lolx... So I walked with him, then saw Yi Yong and company... Continued walking until I was past the Zebra crossing then saw Weilin walking alone... Apparently she was quite lost and the worst part was tat she didnt have a phone with her =/ My phone already died by then so got Elsen to call Kailin and thank God she came shortly after with Gillian... Then I told them to take bus home cos they wanted to walk initially... (can u imagine 3 young gals walking back after 10 plus at nite? Gosh!)

We made our way to the bus stop and finally it was onli Elsen, Joel, and Noel going to 85 with me... Met up with Li Juan, Chengyi, Li Yun, Felly, Si Hao, Enguene and Song Kai there... Ate the usual Ba Chor Mee and shared a plate of carrot cake... Then cabbed home with Chengyi and Si Hao... Totally enjoyed myself tat day!!! =)

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

A flurry of events!

It's been quite awhile since my last entry... So many things have happened over the past few days...

17th May Saturday
Cant rmbr much except tat I was juz in time when I reached the airport to receive Simon and Calvin... Nick was already there... Went to Simon's place to watch all the Myanmar videos and pics... After tat went for dinner and was late for worship prac... Hp no bat and I give everyone a scare, lolx... Went for supper with Mavis, Yilin and Yixin after tat at the Dim Sum place... Apparently the standard reli dropped =(

18th May Sunday
Slacked around after service then went to watch Accuracy of Death at ps with Yong Jie, Xin Hui, Jing Hui, Li Yun and Yi Qi... Didnt noe it was a Jap movie, lolx... The Grim Reaper loves music, and the way he enjoys it is well, quite cute and funni, lolx... One of the nicer movies amongst those tat I watched this yr, with an interesting twist near the end... Toks more abt life instead of death in spite of the title... And I suppose the sun will eventually come out after the rain =)
*Listen to "Sunny Day" on the right! =D

Ate Mos Burger then tar powed for Simon and Calvin at the fd court... It was reli heartbreaking to watch the Myanmar stuff again... Life is reli so vulnerable, we muz learn to treasure and cherish the things tat are dear to us every single day, lest we dont get the chance to do so in the future... Anyway we stayed till v late, then Calvin and me stayed over at Simon's place... We went for supper at 1 plus and came back at 4 plus... Think I onli slept at 5 plus...

19th May Monday
Woke up at 11 plus and got ready to wait for Xiu Hui to come and fetch us to the airport... Luckily we reached in time and Jasper wasnt out yet... After tat went back to his place first to unload everything, then we proceeded to Novena to eat at this famous chicken rice place... The fd was reli delicious! =) After tat I was abt to head down to Kailin's place but her Dad called saying she got fever so went back to Jasper's place... Watched finish the last part of 老师嫁老大, then after tat they watched Iron Man but I watch liao and oso feeling super tired so I fell asleep... It was already 7 plus when I woke up, but I was still very tired, lolx... Had dinner at their place (the stew was fantastic!) b4 heading back home to sleep more... I basically slept away my Vesak Day, hahaz...

20th May Tuesday
It was almost futile dragging myself out of bed to make it in time for my driving lesson at 8.30am... Had my first lesson in the Circuit... Did the S-Course plus parallel parking... I thought it was not too bad... After tat I went home and slept for one hour b4 heading down to St. Andrews' to bring my Grandma over to SGH for her appt via an ambulance... Met with one of the longest waiting times ever (close to 90 mins), maybe cos the day b4 was a public holiday... By the time she finished and we went back to St. Andrews' it was close to 7pm already... My aunt came down and we went for dinner at Expo after tat b4 she sent me over to Calvin's place to attend the wake service... There wasnt alot of ppl on the first nite...

When Xiu Hui and Jasper came down I found out tat Enz and a few others were meeting at the aiport to receive Gab... Decided to go down too... In the end, there's onli Enz, Chengyi, Kaiqi and me... Gab's mum was there too... We met at 11.30pm and waited almost an hour b4 he came out... After tat we went to eat BK (Gab left with his mum) and I realised tat the Tendergrill set meal was quite nice la! Haha ok tat's random! But its seriously nice! =P Shared cab back and I again had a late night, slept at abt 2 plus...

So now I'm trying to write this post b4 I forget too much of wad happened... A few things tat I personally hope for...

1. For the aid tat we're planning to be able to reli reach those who need it the most in Myanmar

2. To reli get my driving right, I'm seriously quite laggy =(

3. To take deep breaths when I need to, esp when I feel that things ard me are becoming overwhelming

*Looking forward to Sat's concert =)

Friday, May 16, 2008

Passion!

Went to play badminton at the newly renovated Sports Hall in Tampines today from 3 to 5... Apparently there was some inter-sch badminton tournament going on as well... Its been ages since I last watched a gd badminton match... Think overall I watched more than I played, lolx... It's reli fascinating to watch badminton at their level and I think I can watch for hours! N it can reli get quite emotional... I can imagine tat... Training for hundreds of hours juz for that day! Watching them reli brought back the dreams I had of becoming a badminton player, lolx... Anyway, I managed to record some parts of the match, one doubles and one singles but I think wad u'll see is juz 4 ppl moving around in a frenzy in a court and some white blur flying around, lolx... Check it out below anyway =)

Oh ya I invited Leonard, which I knew for barely 2 weeks to come play oso... Turns out tat he's a natural talent... His strokes are reli quite accurate, and he noes when to use the right amt of force... Trust tat he had a great time with us =) After tat went KFC for dinner... Was kinda craving for KFC cos v long nv eat liao, lolx... Tried the new Fish Zinger in the end and I think I still prefered the original Zinger, maybe cos I'm not a fish lover, lolx...

After dinner most of them went back while I hanged around with Thomas and his cousins... Its reli quite cool how I'm starting to get interested in meeting new ppl... Was totally turned off last time and didnt noe how to initiate conversations... Now is definitely much better, although there's always rm for improvement =) Met Jing Hui and Li Yun after tat (they went off first after dinner) and watched "Made of Honour" at CS... Late by 10 mins but we watched it anyway... Thought it was funny and nice...

Then after tat we went Mac to get some drinks (and fd and ice cream) b4 heading home... Used the time to reli interact with his 2 cousins... Apparently one of them is in Team Singapore... Cool rite? Realised tat it aint so hard to tok to ppl u dont noe... Juz be genuinely interested in their life and everything else comes quite naturally, lolx... Anyway, Simon and Calvin are coming back from Myanmar tml and I get to receive them at the airport! Initially thought I cant go cos of worship prac but due to 颂泉 now I can! God's timing is perfect! =)

Badminton Doubles

Badminton Singles

New Look!

Finally changed my skin! Not exactly wad I wanted but the more I edit and refine it, the more it looks better, hahaz... Added a search box on the right which I thought was quite cool... In its default mode with the checkbox checked, you can search my blog and all the posts, otherwise it works juz like going to the Google homepage... Oso added a list of upcoming events to look forward to, together with the dates, and some of which can be clicked to bring you more details on the actual event... No. 1 upcoming event: HILLSONG UNITED concert!! =) Anyway now I have 3 columns instead of 2, so got abit more space to play around with... Will continue to explore and finetune stuff... Anyone with any suggestions feel free to let me noe! =)

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

The Last Lecture

Finally chionged finished the book in 2days! Juz cant stop reading! N the short chapters makes it alot easier =) For those of you out there who have never heard of Randy Pausch, he's this computer science professor from Carnegie Mellon University who's got pancreatic cancer and doesnt have much time left... He then went on to give a last lecture which is superbly inspiring... Would recommend all to go watch it on YouTube and buy his book... (I can lend u oso la)

The title of his lecture was "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams", and it wasnt abt dying, but abt the importance of living your life to the fullest... There's juz so many practical bits of wisdom in the diff chapters but I'll juz focus on those which I think are the coolest! =)

"When you see yourself doing something badly and nobody's bothering to tell you anymore, that's a bad place to be. You may not want to hear it, but your critics are often the ones telling you they still love and care about you, and want to make you better."

"The brick walls are there for a reason. They're not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something."

"Don't complain, just work harder. Complaining does not work as a strategy. We all have finite time and energy. Any time we spend whining is unlikely to help us achieve our goals. And it won't make us happier."

"Almost everybody has a good side. Just keep waiting. It will come out."

"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity."

"Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you want."

"Show gratitude. Go out and do for others what somebody did for you."

"As I see it, a parent's job is to encourage kids to develop a joy for life and a great urge to follow their own dreams. The best we can do is to help them develop a personal set of tools for the task."

"A bad apology is worse than no apology. Proper apologies have three parts:
1. What I did was wrong.
2. I feel badly hurt.
3. How do I make this better?
Yes, some people may take advantage of you when you answer question three. But most people will be genuinely appreciative of your make-good efforts. They may tell you how to make it better in some small, easy way. And often, they'll work harder to help make things better themselves."


For more info, check out this website: http://thelastlecture.com/

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Memorable Day!

B4 I even start, let me wish all the mums "HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!" =) It is totally a day for remembering all tat ur mums hav done for u, all the things big and small... I reli thank God for my mum n all tat she has done! =)

This is such a cool day la! During the morning service the children performed this super cute song for Mothers! (Check it out below) Then after tat I went to eat with Jasper and Shirlena at this Dim Sum place near our church... I dont usually eat breakfast on Sunday, so to me the fd was simply fantastic, and I dont hav to pay a single cent (thanks Jasper for the treat!) One of those rare days where I dont hav to play for the worship and I'm totally enjoying and relishing every moment, esp. the time from 11am onwards (cos I'll usually be in the main hall by then) Apart from eating, I managed to gif out lots of the hillsong tix...

After service went for the Global Day Of Prayer... No offense, but I thought tat they could hav given us more time to pray together (I thought tat was the whole point) instead of singing so many songs and praying in so many diff languages at the end (I almost fell aslp, and I dont fall aslp easily, lolx) Thought tat last yr was better, at least we had more time to pray for Singapore, our churches, our National leaders etc.

After tat was the highlight of the day! We went to Fish & Co. at Suntec to celebrate Chengxin's 21st Bday... The New York Fish & Chips super nice la, with the cheesy toppings... Then the gals somehow alerted the staff tat we hav a Bday boy amongst us and apparently one of them came over... Chengxin was made to stand on this very very tall chair and given this sparkler to hold, lolx... Then the staff came out and announced to the whole world tat it was his bday and they came out with this cool cheer =) After tat he had to stand on the chair and blow out this candle tat they put on some ice cream... Quite cool huh?

So after tat we decided tat it wasnt enough and decided on a further "prank"... To cut short the whole story, Han En and Jing Hui went to buy a cake under the pretense of having a stomachache... We also got whipped cream and I helped them to "decorate" the cake... Guessed our agenda yet? Anyway it was super funny cos we lit 21 candles and by the time we traveled back to the Fountain of Wealth, there was wax all over the cake and it became a total mess! By now I suppose it shd be quite obvious tat we were planning a smashing time with him, lolx... He knew but he was sporting and used his mouth to remove the candles after he blew them out... In the end it got real messy but Si Hui finally managed to smash the cake into his face, and it topped by the whipped cream across the back of his neck and hair! We spent like 15 mins clearing up after tat, hahaz... And I think the cleaner was prob thinking y we were snatching her rice bowl, lolx... Ultra funni la, and I've nv done this b4 in my entire life! Some of the simple things that spice up our lives! =)

On Top of the World


Ice cream with candle


Happy 21st Birthday!


That is a cake I swear!


We styled and waxed the cake a little bit too much =)


It all boiled down to this...


什么都叫妈咪!

Celebration at Fish & Co.

*Btw I managed to get Randy Pausch's book on "The Last Lecture" =) Going to chiong finish it... Anyone interested can borrow the bk from me =)

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Some updates...

Juz reached home after tuition... Super tired over the past 2 days but it was satisfying =) Ytd spent 3 hrs at Yi Yong's place then tar pow dinner over to Kailin's place and spent another 3 hrs there, lolx... 6 hours of Math!! :D Then Today was 3 plus hours at Nashirah's place and 2 hours at Ivan's place... Ultra looking forward to my unofficial break tml, though still got tuition at night...

Anyway its confirmed that we cant go to Myanmar anymore... Wad a time for the cyclone to hit! :( When I heard abt it on Sunday from Jasper and Chengxin, it was most worrying =/ Thank God tat we received news that Simon and Calvin are safe and sound... Whew! Cant go cos there's like nothing there? No water, no food, no electricity... Boos :( The cyclone reminded me once again abt how vulnerable life reli is... One natural disaster and thousands of ppl lose their lives juz like tat... All the more so we shd live for Christ every single day and not waste our time here on this temporary place called Earth... Made me reflect quite abit, and there r some ppl tat I reli wanna reach out to with the gospel... Maybe God is using the cyclone to speak to me...

On a lighter note, I JUZ RECEIVED A LETTER FROM NTU!!! :D Thought I can finally go matriculate or something but its juz SPMS (my sch) telling me which course I can be exempted from...


"The School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences is pleased to inform you that you are eligible for exemption of courses in the programme of MATHEMATICS & ECONOMICS."

Apparently I'm exempted from onli one course called "Tackling the Odds: Inside Statistics" Nothing much, but I suppose its better than being exempted from nothing, lolx...

Oh ya not forgetting tat I attended two 21st Bdays over the past weekend... Sat was Aik Joon's Bday at Downtown East Costa Sands... Had the chance to meet up with my platoon mates and get some updates... It seems that physical appearances may change but everyone's still very much the same, in terms of the way they act and behave, lolx... Too bad not everyone from the platoon could make it, but it was cool to be able to see so of them... I'll be seeing them once every yr for another 10 yrs anyway, lolx...

Sunday attended Owen's 21st at Costa Sands Resort in Sentosa... Nv been there so it was quite an interesting experience... Hung around in church until 4 plus then left so reached at abt 5 plus... Was wondering if I'd see any of my other sec sch classmates but apparently I was the onli one who was able to make it there... Saw Jeremy from the next-door class in ahs and Yu Chou hu was from 4D... We chatted awhile with some china guys (Owen's frens from some workshop) b4 proceeding to play soccer... It was quite cool... Initially I was thinking how I could try not to disgrace myself while playing but then I dismissed the thought... Does it matter? It's Owen's 21st and I'm juz out to hav some fun, even though its the first time in this yr tat I'm touching a soccer ball, lolx... Surprisingly, I thoroughly enjoyed being the defender (tat's the onli role I noe) on my team though we were not exactly winning... This is one of those times where I realised that some things tat u learnt in life stays with u throughout and doesnt go away, lolx... Reli had a great time defending on my team! =)

After tat we went back up to the Resort and slacked around for awhile... There were always ppl BBQ-ing at the pit and its all thanks to them tat I hav fd to eat, hahaz... Talked to this guy whom I noe to be Daniel... Apparently he was oso in 42 SAR, but I think 2 batches b4 me... Chatted abt many other stuff too... Either he's very friendly and keeps talking to me, or my PR skills have reli improved, lolx... I thank God for either, or both =) Then he told me tat he'd get back to me and it was onli then tat I realised he was the MC, and it was time to sing the bday song and cut the bday cake...

I oso managed to tok to quite a few other guys... Initiated quite a few conversations and I'm glad for the opportunity to practise my Mandarin =) Reli made quite a few new frenz, esp this guy Leonard who knew Owen for 13 yrs since P2... He's oso a badminton freak like me and hopefully we can 切磋切磋 someday, lolx... I reli see tat there are alots of opportunities to spread the gospel thru such gatherings and I do hope that God will lead me and guide me to do His will... It can be kinda exciting u noe? =)

Anyway I noe its getting random cos my thoughts are not exactly well structured in any way, but I juz wanna say tat I finally "revamped" my whole rm, lolx... Usually I juz rearrange the stuff on my table and make it neater, but now I literally packed up and made my WHOLE rm, lolx... Told myself to onli put wad I reli wanna see everyday on my table, the rest of the stuff would be hav to be placed somewhere else... Then arranged the 2 wooden cabinets I hav by putting in all my files and CDs... I realised I have tons of Mathematics tat I kept over the yrs, lolx... From Sec Sch Math to JC Math and even abit of Uni Math tat I managed to "kope" from ppl, hahaz... I think its gd too tat I have Isaiah 40:31 and Proverbs 3:5-6 prominently placed on my table where I can always see them =) Hopefully this time round my rm stays neat for a longer period of time!

*No more spare tix for Hillsong concert liao, if everything goes well, shd be able to pass u guys the tix this Sunday =)

Friday, May 2, 2008

Amazing week! =)

It has been a superbly amazing week! God is my provider! =) On Monday I was quite affected cos my Grandma was admitted into the hospital but God worked wondrously on Tuesday... First he provided another tuition opportunity after I canceled Tuesday night's tuition, which was simply amazing cos I totally didnt expect it... Then after we went down and prayed for her, my Dad juz casually mentioned tat I was going to Korea and guess wad? Both my aunts sponsored me on the spot, with a total of $300!! WOW!! Tok abt God's provision! It was simply fantastic! I was quite stunned too! =) But deep down I knew that God was working, and I reli thank Him for it!

And He didnt stop there... He went on to use me even in my tuition... Amidst all the busyness, God let me teach with joy! =) I'm actually quite excited when I face my students, cos I know that God is going to use me in some way, although I may not know how exactly... I begin to see that He has his purpose for putting me into each and every one of my students' lives... It reli seems tat everything is falling into place... And I reli learnt not to take all this for granted, to know tat there is a God whom I can trust, who never fails, and whose love is everlasting...

Anyway, last night at abt 12.30am, I received a call from Ben saying that he "reached Singapore waters liao" Sounds so cool rite? Hahaz... Thank God for bringing him safely back! Heard tat he reli exp God during his Taiwan trip and cant wait to hear from him! =) Then juz now went for prayer meeting... Watched the chinese version of "Father's love letter"... It was juz as amazing!! God's love transcends all languages amen? =P I reli see tat we hav to respond to this wonderful love that is given so freely to us... Its reli amazing tat when we fully trust in Him and cast all our cares to Him how he will intervene and provide! When we hav the right focus, everything else will juz fall into place! =) I think God made me understand abit more abt wad is said in Matthew 6:33, tat is to "Seek the kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need" (NLT) Indeed when we know God's will and submit to it by surrendering ourselves to Him, it says that He WILL provide ALL our needs... It doesnt say that He MAY, or He MIGHT, but He WILL!!! But of cos we need to play our part, and tat is to seek His will and His righteousness... Always knew this verse but personally experiencing it gives it a whole new perspective! =) I shall continue to seek Him daily and be assured that my future is already in His hands!

*Btw ppl I can onli pass u guys the tix on the 18th, cos wont be around on the 11th...