Too much to concider...

Daddy came back on Monday!

And you know what makes dad's arrival on Monday unique? Well, since midnight of this particular Monday, flights have been coming into Terminal 3 of Changi Airport. And yes, you've guessed it: Daddy's one of the first passengers to arrive at the brand-new T3!

Well, you can say it was an honour to be one of the first. But looking on the contrary, the terminal's still not complete.

I didn't really take much pictures, but there were absolutely NO shops! Not one in opperation at the time. Fountains still dry, stalls still flooded in bubblewrap, walls still smelling of paint fumes. Burger King was also still submerged in a cement puddle.

I watched from the viewing balcony as I saw the very few passengers entering the departure hall, only to realise that there was nowhere for them to eat, shop, read or even sit down at.

But hey, the terminal's a very huge project, and it takes time to complete it - even if it's beyond the expected deadline. And besides, the Official Opening is to be mid-January next year, so I'd recommend to everyone it's best you wait for it instead. (Unless, of course, you're one of those enthusiasts who're willing to go through any boredom just to tell your children, "Hey, I've been here first!" - happy sightseeing to you.)

But dad's back, and that's all that matters now. He says that Uncle Peter's doing fine back in Melbourne, and is giving a good response to his sound and light treatment (Amen!). Auntie Alice is next in line to taking care of Uncle Pete, so dad's now got her car to look after (Yay, a Merc!).

Besides that, the past few days with Uncle Jo's suddenly deteriorating in excitement, for some reason. I guess it's because I don't see Uncle Jo that often since he's got lot's of meetings to attend to. Nevertheless, if it's the bottomline I've definitely learnt new things each day! Design elements, components of a blueprint and even housing sales techniques (hehehe, now I know a secret or two of yours, Mr. Salesman!)!

But today, as I was taking a taxi to Uncle Jo's office, JKit called me to ask if I've 'moved'. In further elaboration, he's apparently moved class from 3.13 to 3.17, and wanted to know if I've gone through the same fate.

The reason for the move, he explained, was because of the overwhelming number of scholars in 3.13, which meant that some locals had to be moved to another class with the same subject combination and the same education status (Option E and Non-GEP respectively), thus 3.17.

Hmm, I thought to myself. Aren't some others who I know going to 3.17 already? Maybe Snil'll know. Or maybe it's Snil himself?

I asked how he knew about this, and he told me his dad was informed about it by the school, and from his dad to him. Asking a few more questions before chatting a little longer, we hung up, and I proceeded out of the cab to the office, taking dear note of the incident and remembering to ask daddy if he recieved any call first thing after my time with Uncle Jo.

When I got back home, I asked the household if they recieved any calls, of which they all said no. Until my dad came back from work, that is. After changing into something coortable and resting on the living room sofa, he called for me and told me that Mr. Liang Chew Man called from the school to inform him that I've moved class to (lo and behold) 3.17.

He added that Mr. Liang conveyed the information in such a manner that daddy didn't know if he was informing him of the change or asking him if he wanted the change. After consulting clarification, daddy got back a rather lengthy explaination, but got the main idea at the end of it all.

3.17. It's an interesting move. I still don't know who're the people there that I know (besides JKit) but for some reason I feel excited to go there. True, an extra $10 to pay for the change in OEP venue (From Vietnam to China), but my dad, who feel's it's safer to go to China, is willing to pay ("Hey! You think $10 too much for my dad, ah?").

But seriously, money aside, I have a strong feeling in my heart God's planned something exciting and new for me in this new environment! And thinking back, I guess there are some things I feel I need to correct in myself, so with God's help, restarting a part of my life is actually a good step.

Then, I recall a person I met at 3.13. Joshua Goh. What'll be of him if he doesn't move out? For personal reasons, he didn't want to be in 3.13, and for some reason of me being the only Prefect in the class, he was willing to stay because of me. Now that I'm leaving, how'll his hopes be effected?

I guess that's not what God want's me to bother with for now. I'll just have to trust that He takes care of Joshua, and that Joshua should do the same too. God bless that fella'! :D

There are some people I regret not knowing better while I still had the chance back in 2.10, but if God wants me to go another direction, I'd be willing to let go of everything and start all over with new characters (besides JKit)! Yes, the adventure awaits!...

Until then, I better turn in for the night now. Jeremiah 29:11-13!!! God bless y'all!!!

Build, Plant, Grow...

This week goes rather well, I suppose. Visited Uncle Jo's office at Architect 61, where he showed me around the life of what goes on in an architect's life. Being the Senior Vice-President (woah, I'm the son of the friend of a Senoir Vice-President of a well-known Singaporean architecture company! Rock on!), Uncle Jo has a very artistic office with a rather good view of the city! I mean, look at this view;


I'd be a happy boss if I had a view like this in my office! I could navigate my way around the city with less help from the directory! Uncle Jo also gave me some documents to look through: floorplans, brouchers, diagrams, etc. And like a typical young enthusiast, I looked through the documents with intent insight.

Hmm, it's rather interesting that this company has been responsible for many famous construction and restoration projects in Singapore, such as Capital Square, The Hereen, Caltex House, UOB Plaza, Raffles City, Hitachi Tower, The Fullerton, Cineleisure Orchard, Harbourfront MRT Station, Scotts Square, Marina Bay Front Bridge, Formula One City Circuit, Changi Airport Terminal 1 (Upgrades), People's Association Headquarters and Raffles Hotel (OHMYLORD, I held onto the blueprints of the Raffles Hotel Restoration Project!!!)

(sry, didn't dare pose with the plans in the office, so I had to take a photo of it back home while Uncle Jo lent it to me) Ah, one week of architecture down, one more week of architecture to go.

Today, I attended Family Day at Prinsep Presbytarian, since the Church apparently invited me to join since Im an ex-member. For Family Day, the whole Church (or at least the many Church members that signed up) was divided into 15-odd groups to compete with each other through mind-boggling, body-punishing, stomach-testing games! I joined the Believers' Group, which consisted surprizingly more chior kids than altoe adults.

After the main service in Church, our group gathered in one of the music rooms and got our attires ready. We've chosen to wear a black t-shirt and jeans, with stickers on the t-shirts saying 'BLAZERS'. Tim was telling me of the horror stories he had with the blades while trying to cut all the stickers the previous night, while the other girls were giggling their parts of their story on the stickers as well (yeay, there were only 3 males in the group, including Tim and me).

Topping our attire off with a mask each, we marched off to the MPHall whe the time called for the games to begin soon. Seated according to our teams, we were given a briefing on what to expect and opened with a prayer before racing against time to finish our games!

There were many games planned out ahead of us: There were wet games and dry ones, slurpy games and not-so-slurpy ones, word games and active games, games that required lots of skill, and games that required lots of patience. But overall, we had a very good game, and a very good laugh too!

I even had a chance to have a look at the main santuary!

But all things, no matter how gamey, come to a gradual end, and with a great triumphant cheer, we've achieved 2nd place! Everyone's a winner in the house of God (AMEN!), but nevertheless praise the Lord for our victory! Once the games were over, we rationed the prize items out evenly and soon parted our separate ways.

Before I left the building, Tim and his mom (who was apparently a station master) asked if I would like to have lunch with them. I accepted their offer, and so they (including Tim's sis, Stef) showed me to a recomended spot down the street. I was treated to a snack of pineapple tarts I decided to bring back home to share with my family first, and had some noodles and a bowl of herbal soup recomended by my hosts, followed by a sweet desert to loosen the chat with.

Once we were all done, I gave my thanks to them and parted my way home, attempting a new route I discovered would be somewhat faster than the 700 bus route I used to take.

Ah, well. I'm now home, and that's the best part for now: Rest. May God bless you with rest, that you may be still and for once notice the finer things in life you never noticed before, and know that He is God!

2 Samuel 6:11!!! God bless y'all!!!

I am Blessed...

Yeah, a Sunday. Finally.

Oh, hi there. Pardon me, I'm just tired after the past two days. I must admit, the Class Residential Camp was fun and even more necesary for the class. But I think it was a mistake for me to come. An extremly grave mistake.

It starts off with me and my dad being dropped off at Changi Airport by mom: dad because he's going to Melbourne with Uncle Peter to look after uncle while he goes through treamtment for his cancer tumour; me because I'm suppose to meet Mr. Tay here to help him welcome some Indonesian scholars to our country and school, along with a few other members of my class.

When daddy and I went in, he recieved a call from Aunti Alice saying that they were going to meet him at the next terminal, while I recieved sight of JKit a few pillars ahead of us. We exchanged farewells, and parted to our respective meeting points.

Jkit and I then continued aroiund the airport until we met up with Snil, followed by Tim. After some time, we decided to eat breakfast at Burger King while waiting for Mr. Tay's call. After finding a seat, we took turns to buy our stuff, and also took the opportuniy to top up our ez-link cards ahead of our traveling on the later part of the day.

After our meal and a few rounds of card games, we decided to ride the Skytrain back and forth Terminal 1 and 2, taking turns to call Mr. Tay until he responds every few stops. It ended when it got to my turn to call, when a sleepy Mr. Tay answered the phone to tell us to meet him at the Arrival Hall at the Terminal we were about leaving.

After reaching our destination, we met up with Mr. Tay and a few other members of the school, where we recieved instrutions to await for the scholars. To cut the long and eventless wait short, we helped to carry the luggages of our guests and boarded them on the bus, although this compared to the amount of translating the teachers did and the distances the scholars had to walk with their luggages without our help proves to be nothing much.

We all then rode the bus to school, where Mr. Tay told us to accomodate our classroom first while he settles the scholars into the Boarding School. We went and set up everything: the lights, airconditioning, tablets, xbox - everything.

Eventually along time, other classmates started streaming in. I also got the chance to obtain my new battery daddy bought for my tablet! Thanks dad! And JKit tried to introduce us to some anime about a boy who turns into a butler to a young girl to pay off a debt. There were many small things that happened during these few hours, but soon Mr. Tay called us up to meet him at the SpaceFrame for our departure to Plaza Singapura to watch a movie.

Changed and geared up, we proceeded as a class for the last time to the theatres to buy ourselves tickets to watch Stardust! But since the show was later in the night, we decided to go out our separate ways to entertain ourselves during the wait.

Toj wanted to go to a particular LAN centre, but in the process almost got half the class lost in the middle of the city. Not willing to go out just to get lost, I decied to turn around, but Tim suggested to go to Peace Centre instead, a centre a couple of blocks away from his Church. It proved to be useful, and so those who wanted to play LAn got their wish, while those who weren't game-tuned had a go at the arcade and billards.

When it was time to head back, we journeyed our route and collected our tickets before splitting up again to grab a quick dinner. At Subway, we took things slowly and chatted along our meal. I even tried proposing my hike to thosewho were sitting around me, and got a rather fruitful response. Once our meal was finished, we proceeded up to get ready for the movie, of which Kirby was still softly beging Mr. Tay to allow him to watch Halloween instead.

The movie was a lot better than I expected, I must say. True, it is a young fantasy, but the movie is rather suited for a wider age group. Shouldn't reveil too much, but I must admit I was stunned by one of the stunts in the show: how can swords fights be done lieing backwards?

The rest of the night outdoors was spent shopping for snacks and drinks, followed by finding the underpass to the MRT station, where we took a train back to school. People were competing on how late they can stay up playing with the xbox, while ZWei and Raam were teaching me certain drills they practice from their respective Uniform CCA Camps (NPCC[Sea] and NCC[Sea] respectively).

I also attempted to draw a scene of an island beach just to get the classroom into the holiday mood. I also wanted Peter to draw his 'Dan 'shroom' on the island so we could call it a class picture, but then I thought I better not disrupt his record of still being awake on Halo. Soon, I felt the drousiness upon me weighing down, and decided to quickly wash up and sleep.

Now, camp was suppose to continue the next day (or should I say 'that present day') with a cycle and picnic at East Coast Park through till the afternoon, when everyone was then free to go.

But unfortunately I still have Canoeing training in the morning to attend, followed by D.A.R.E. in the afternoon. And intending to gain more experience to survive in both my Ubin Race and my D.A.R.E. Group, I didn't want to sacrifice these two. Besides, Mr. See wouldn't allow me to skip for something like this, and there was to be a mini-briefing on the Encounter Jesus III Camp after D.A.R.E. service, so the more I shouldn't skip.

Wking up only 3 or 4 hours after I fell asleep, I quietly washed up and changed into my canoeing attire, packing my stuff into my bags before leaving for MacRitchie. When I arrived, I decided to drop a couple of bags behind the shed first, while bringing only one bag to the chin-up bars, just to avoid any comotion on why I look like I'm going on a water hike.

After doing a few sets of chin-ups (which I was surprized I could do despite the lack of sleep and breakfast), I went ahead of the team to place my bags into the Bags Shed before anyone saw my cargo, proceeding to prepare my boat and equipment with TWei as if I didn't bring in anything out of the ordinary.

Training was bareable (Thank God!), and I managed to get ome after training with all the weight of my bags in addition to the tiredness from both training and my lack of sleep. But it hasn't ended there yet, so I plopped my stuff on the floor, had a quick shower and lunch, and armed myself for another exciting D.A.R.E. service!

Well, the D.A.R.E. service was exciting. But I was so tired to get excited, I've no idea how many times I've fallen asleep during the sermon. Even during praise and worship, I was jumping by flesh but was begging for the music to stop by mind. I was desperately thinking of ways to get myself to stay awake: eating Clorets, pinching andscratching my arms, strangling myself with my crucifix necklace. All tried, and all failed.

I can't even remember what the sermon was about, just that it had something to do with worship.

So now I've learnt a very valuable lesson: As a canoeist, I must NOT participate in activities that ensure I'm awake the previous night of a training session.

And from this, I can also conclude that the Class Residential Camp was indeed one of the WORST mistakes I could possibly paticipate myself into. (Note: I said 'I could possibly participate myself into', not 'the class could possibly participate into'. The class definitely needed this last opportunity to be together, and I'll be more than grateful for that.)

Ah, well. No point blabering about it now that its over. God allowed mistakes so we could learn from them and make sure they never happen again, and if anything He's still our forgiving Abba Daddy no matter how severe the mistakes can get! So we'll just have to move on...

2 Chronicles 15:7!!! God bless y'allzzzzzzzzzzzz..........