Faith is all you need.

One Aeroplane Clap...

2008-12-30T16:34:00.004+08:00

*clap*
whoo-whoo-whoo!
*clap*
whoo-whoo-whoo!
*clap*
whoo-whoo-whoo!
*clap*
Om-ba-pa-ei-ah-ei-ah, om-ba-pai oh!
Om-ba-pa-ei-ah-ei-ah, om-ba-pai oh!

Ah, the memories of surviving Pulau Ubin and Changi Beach. Few of the many memories I've had here in 2008.

Yes, it's been some time since my last update, but I might as well confess something - This blog's seriously in a coma. I mean, sure it's not updating as often as it would a year and a half ago, but I guess that's just the sacrifice for my busier schedules. My commitments are expected to grow stronger next year, and I can already smell the gists of the broth back here in late November. If the waves are starting to flood the decks, some things' gotta give.

Not saying that this blog has no meaning to me. (Being a guy who likes to archive memories so much until his 'memory box' is already bursting, this blog is the most practical solution to getting my views of the many special moments in my life at the time itself.) But then again, what's the point of archiving your life to strict accuracy if you don't have a life to live in the first place?

So my compromise? Termly updates, I guess. I'll just do whatever I do normally, and after every three to four months I'll just update whatever I can, like a set of minutes. And if there's something really special or if I still feel I need more events to fill up my 'report', I can always intercept or delay the rotation as I please. A bit like what I've already been doing for the past year really, just that it's an official plan with a proper layout.

So don't drop by everyday just to check for an update. (I can see from my cBox that everyone's already got the idea.) Now with that's cleared, let's see what I've been up to from the time of my last update to today...

For canoeing, I raced again this year in the Round Ubin Race! Ended up 5th this year, though. See, Ting Wei and I were expecting rough waves like last year, so the strategy was that we wouldn't get spray covers and just endure the entire course while trying to get a good lead till Chek Jawa, where we would encounter the really big waves and capsize. Once we recover on a nearby shore, we would have rested enough to go for a hard burst all the way to the finishing line in hopes to beating whoever's in front of us.

But the waters were calm this year, so without a wave to capsize us, we had no reason to rest and had to paddle the whole 22km non-stop (with water spashing into our boat). Joseph and Barnabas were somewhere behind us (like last year), but lost a lot of time when they didn't turn at the buoy marking the start of Chek Jawa. Lucas and Zhihong had a rather smooth ride behind them, and since it was Lucas' first time there it was probably an adventure for him.

And news also came that due to the Youth Olympics coming in 2008, all involved sports will have their tryouts around the later half of 2009, forcing all competitions of such sports to be pushed forward to the earlier half. THis means that the Inter-schools will be held around March again, but also means that dragonboating may be around the same month. As such, timetrials will be held more often now so we can quickly form up the team.

I'll be running for K2 and K4! Yay, K4 is really fun! When I first rode one, Winston (who's already left the team to pursue Fencing, God bless him) was the frontman, so I wasn't so scared. But now with new crew possibilities, and me being a more experienced frontman (hehehe), I'll probably be condemned as frontman for therest of the year ahead.

I heard the rumour that if you turned the rudder of a K4 too fast or too far to a side the tiller rope will snap. SO when it was my turn to try out the frontman position, I was really scared and didn't dare make the sharp turns I'd recklessly do with StingRay or Boaz. But after a few training sessions of using the boat, I got over the fear (just need to get use to telling the other 3 people behind me I'm turning before I actually turn).

Ooo, and speaking of StingRay and Boaz, Ting Wei and I have decided we're through with StingRay (sorry girl, it's time you had someone else to take care of you. Such good memories...) and we're now aiming for one of the Advance Kayaks! Yes, we're going for Boaz! But now we have to fight against Nick Ng and Eugene for that boat, so we'll just have to see how it plays out. Worst comes to worst, we'll have to settle with Hybrid (which Ryan and Victor gave up to get Nelo).

Now onto Prefects, I'm now HR (Assembly) Councilor!!! Haha, the election process was a little scary at some parts, but it was still a good experience. The speech in front of the whole Yr 3 cohord will always be in my memory, as it was the first time in my life where I can honestly say I almost fainted (backstage can really be nerve-breaking). But by the grace of God, I managed to pull myself at the last minute and did my speech on stage! At the last part of my speech, I did a mimic of the "Yes, we can" thing Barack Obama did for his elections. Hehe, fancy I was elected into Council the same year he was elected into Presidency...

After that was the interview with Dr. Ong, which I must admit was the weirdest interview I had. For some of the questions asked, I ended up asking myself later on, "What does that have to do with me being in Council?" But I just answered whatever I could and before I knew it the interview was over.

And on the last Wednesday of school this year, it was confirmed not only that I made it to Council, but I got the position I ran for: HR (Assembly) Councilor! So now I have a key to the boardroom, a key for my HR cupboard, a 'Prefect Councilor' badge and the licence to move around during Assembly! (Haha, so cheap-trill...) I'm also invited to go for a Global Young Leaders Conference in Washington D.C. next year! But it's not being sponsored, so I'm washing my godmother's car every week to earn a little money to ease the payment a little.

But I also had my responsibilities: Since being elected, I've had to create my set of 'Standard Operating Proceedures - Assembly', run a HR duty (Sec 1 Registration Duty, the second HR duty I was in-charge of after National Day Celebrations), slug out an Adventure Camp (which for once, the councilors got tekaned as well) and plan out an EOY camp while on holiday in Japan (especially the HR games).

Whatever the case, I still praise the Lord for the opportunity to go through this. I have faith that God will somehow bless me through this experience, hopefully to help glorify His kingdom. (Can I hear a good amen?)

Ooo, and I need to talk about Japan! It was AWESOME!!! My second time there, but this time we went to Hokkaido! And do you know what that means? SNOW!!! Haha, yeah I saw snow for the first time in my life!! It was white, and fluffy, and soft, and it was nothing like the fake kind of snow you find in Korea where it's just small chucks of ice: It was real snow!!! And mind you, this was not suppose to happen; my mom wanted a 'white Christmas' this year, so she claimed the holiday through Christ. And after a bit of searching (and a couple of miracles) she finally got the tickets.

To be honest, I was a little edgy on the idea of going overseas this year. Next year being my last year in secondary life (let's face it, there's a little form of isolation between the yr 1-4s and the IB batch), I wanted to just dig head-first into my duties (in canoeng, prefects or acedemically) and get through this golden year, afterwhich I can spam on holidays for all the world could care about.

But I guess Japan was required to relax me a little bit. Yeah, I also learnt snowboarding there, so now I can do that and ski as well! Also met up with a few family frineds, so we decided to have Christmas Eve Dinner with them (had the honour of saying grace, too). And somehow, I also met up with Joel Yap on Christmas Evening! Haha, he was apparently with a few family friends as well, and we so happened to have dinner at the same pizza house in that nice snowy night.

But when we were heading home, a heavy snow storm struck Hokkaido and as such our flight home had to be cancelled. Mom was praising the lord, cause she wanted to have more snow. Me, on the other hand, was coughing away in sickness, dissapointment and fear, as I didn't want to miss too much of EOY camp (esspecially since HR Games was under me, I absolutely could not miss that). Daddy was somewhere in-between: he was demanding the lady at the check-in desk for the best alternatives to get back to Singapore, but was thankful that we had more time to shop around for souviniers and delicacies we could give to our friends back home.

When we got to a hotel to last the night before our new flight the next morning, I quickly went to the internet service (500 yen for an hour) and checked out my emails to see how progress was doing for EOY Camp and other council matters. Also got a chance to get in contact with Clifton (Head Prefect '09!) through Google Talk and told him to tell the others I'd be a little late as I was caught in a snow storm (no surprise people kept teasing me with the phrase 'snow storm' when I got back).

Anyways, now that I'm back from both Japan and EOY Camp, I've lost my voice to a severe cough which is so bad, I cough everytime I talk. But in the name of Jesus, I'll be healed by the time school starts (which is when the first Fall-In proceeds!).

That raps it up for now, I guess. To one and all, a (late) merry Christmas and a(n early) blessed New Year 2009!!! Luke 7:50!!! God bless y'all!!!

Weekend Mix...

2008-10-12T21:50:00.003+08:00

Whoopee!!!

End of exams!!! Celebrations in the house!!! Freedom!!!

Fine, it wasn't that exciting (in fact, it was rather stale), but the Marking Days Weekends was indeed a rather decent period for us all to rest, no one could disagree on that. So what did I do during this period? Well, let's find out...

Tuesday
Immediately after the last paper, I went out with some of the 3.17 people (let's just call them Malachites) to watch Eagle Eye at the Cathay @ Orchard. The group comprised of Jen Yang, Jeremy Bin, Asher, Victor, Julian Lim, Sheng Yung, Junyi, Joshua Lee, David Tai (whom we met at the Cathay itself since he didn't have exams that day: darn 3rd-language students) and me. We quickly went to settle our tickets before grabbing a quick bite of lunch and running back up to watch the movie.

Overall, I'd say it was a well-made epic-rush film, and you can really feel the suspense of the characters as they tackle the climax of the show. Won't spoil the show for you, so go watch it! After watching the movie, we gathered outside the theatre to decide on what to do next. Victor decided to leave while he still could, fore-seeing that more nonsense was about to take place, while I had to leave because I wanted to collect my new school uniform from Bibi & Baba just a few blocks down Orchard Road.

So after lending my jacket to Joshua so he can hide his school uniform inside and play LAN with the rest of the guys, I travelled back up Orchard and trailed my way to the uniform store, where my pre-ordered package ofsize 14-and-a-half school shirts were waiting for me. Just as I was about to pay for the clothes, a whole bundle of doubt on whether I ordered the right size suddenly squeezed through my head in a split second, and I took back my cash with appologise to the cashier and with the request to try out the size again. Appearing a little shocked, she pointed to the rack of shirt samples next to the dressing rooms. I quickly snatched a 14 and a 14.5 and rushed into a cubicle to test out the shirts.

You see, my main problem for my current uniform was that the neck hole was getting a little tight for my neck, and so I'd always suffer from heatiness in the head because my neck can't release heat as efficiently since there's a collar strangling it. So I had to find which shirt size had a looser grip on my neck, and at the same time won't appear to have sleeves ridiculously long over my shoulders.

To cut a 15-minute story short (I could hear the cashier wispering to her colleague, "What's taking the guy so long?"), I finally stayed confident with my choice of 14.5, and made the purchase before dropping by Borders to listen to a few tracks in their music section and travelling on to my mom's office for a lift home.

Wednesday
Me and the rest of the Council Understudies had to come to school for an emergeny meeting with the Prefect Council for a briefing on what other dates we should take note of from that day till the day that the new Prefectorial Council 2009 is announced, and what to do for each event. The closest event was the Nomination Speech this Tuesday, where we had to deliver a speech each for the Year 3 level to decide who they feel should be part of next year's council.

That probably scared the socks out of most of us understudies (especially Arjun, who later claimed he would drop out to purposely miss giving a speech before coming back in time for the Interview with Dr. Ong).

After this meeting, Clifton asked if I was free to scout with him for umbrellas to purchase for the board, and I agreed (partially aware that that decision meant I had to stay in school for another couple of hours to wait for him to finish with Band practice). So to spend of those 2 hours, I first decided to play soccer with the other Prefects. It was a fun match (I've learnt I'm best as Right Defence), until the Year 6s suddenly gatecrahsed our game. Soon we could not catch up with their levels of activeness, and backed out from the game. By then, I still had another hour to kill.

So the remaining understudies stayed in the boardroom to joke about what they would do if they made it to next year's council, as well as a really funny session about what can happen if the wrong people got elected into power. Still another half an hour left.

Visited the library, bumped into Adrian and Liu Yang, chat with them about what they were doing and what I was doing and whether I should go for the Global Young Leaders Conference next year or not, brozed through the Reference Section, and vuala. 1 minute to deadline.

I made my way out ofthe library, and lo and behold Clifton walking in front of me, oblivious that the guy he's trying to call is standing right behind him. I followed him all the way to the Spaceframe before making it obvious that I was floating around, and he introduced me to his companion in the band before ushering me to the near-by shops to look for umbrellas.

After searching around and heavy pondering, we decided to take note of the common supplier of the umbrellas of the shops who we've checked, and order our own Prefectorial Umbrellas (maybe even cheaper). After chatting our way back to school to await for our own transportaions home, I rode away on a 74 before Clifton could say, "STOP TALKING ABOUT POLO!"

Thursday
My first day of Canoeing training in... 4-and-a-half weeks. And I tell you, training never felt this miserable. Not only was I the second slowest by a mile (and as Mr. See would say, "...with enough lag time for the competitor to still paddle back to you and run over you and steamroll you and gammar-ray you till you can officially say you've been owned!"), I clocked two minutes above an hour just to complete 10 kilometers! That's, like, 6 minutes and 12 seconds per km, and that's real disgraceful for a Racing Canoeist. Ah well, at least there's no running today...

Spent the rest of the day playing Rise of Nations (gasp), but after 3 hours of playing I had to shut it off and look out of the window to prevent myself from barfing. I then tried to look throug the internet in sites like YouTube or Facebook or Blogger, but got bored after 5 minutes of brozing. Man, I didn't feel like it that day.

Friday
Had to wake up early again, this time to go back to school and do a prefect duty: The Annual ACPS and ACSJ visit to ACS(Independent). The primary 6 kids were lively with the post-PSLE spirit - too lively, to be exact. I must admit that when I was starting to get to know the class I had to tour, 6C from ACPS with David Hu, they appeared like spoilt bratsshouting as they pleased. But after a while, I personally got use to them and sparked of as much conversations with them as possible to get their undivided attention. Even made friends with some of them, although I never really got to know their names (like as if they got to know mine) so I may never meet them again unless they make it into the school.

*sigh* By the end of the duty, all the prefects who had toact as guides for the students were slumped on the chairs of the CPA 2, lying as if we were in coma from the shock of how hard it can be to control a mob of childish youths. We were so smashed, we begged Michael to give us debrief on the spot instead of having to walk all the way back to the boardroom. I'm just happy that unlike Jamie, I can still smile and laugh about the experience...

After debrief and a proper resting, I decided to help out Cliftom and a few othe prefects in cleaning up and tidying the boardroom. After a nice hour-long clearup, I left back for home to rest from the tought of the P6s that I've met. Ah, the flashbacks were at it again...

Saturday
Another day of training, just that with Ting Wei in a double, and with an additional 4 km to paddle in. The good news was that we could still paddle the standard goal of 11kmph as Mr. See had set for us last year. The band news was that we hit the target exactly. I mean, ussually we'd be 11.5something kmph, and now we're exactly 11.0kmph. That's a real drop in power, we had to admit.

And besides that, we had to face the good ol' Dam Runnin'. Yeap, the good Dam never fails to make us feel like dammin' it. But hey, at least it was a group run, easy push for starters and no push-ups. After cooling down and the dissapointment speech of how long we took to pack up Lower Shed (I'd agree; we've never had to take 20+ minutes just to keep boats for an easy programme), T.W. and I registered ourselves for the Round Ubin Race '09, even though we weren't certain if we'd survive ("Aw, just for the fun of it, lah.").

Strange, weren't those the last words of the guy who decided to eat an entire can of milk powder, only to die the next week from kidney stones after not realizing that the powder was made in China?

Sunday (i.e. today)
Pastor Prince is still preaching in the Hillsong Conference, so a guest speaker from Down Under too his place today. He shared about the signifigance of the Kindom of God - that it didn't just relate to heaven only but the entire rhelm of what the Kinghood of God could control and how it opperated - and how we must radically change to the ways of His Kingdom, and not clique-ishly remain in the ways of the world, in order to see the manifestation of finished works in our lives. I'm bad at sharing messages right off the back of my neck, so I'll just leave those who're interested in listening to go to the New Creation website and download the sermon.

Besides that, I finished my speech (yay!) as well as read up and watched videos of the current Presidential elections in the U.S. of A. And I found this;

Very cute. I must confess that even thought I'm Singaporean, and even without this video, I'm up for Obama for Presidency based on what I've gathered about the elections. (Go, Barack! Yes, you can!) God be with America, as He has already been with Singapore! Matthew 6:25-34!!! God bless y'all!!!

Wait, He Know's Me?...

2008-10-06T21:14:00.000+08:00

Just beams daylight away from the final battle. And it just had to be the one with the twist. Ah, well. Best for last.

Anyways, after revising and memorising as much as I could for tomorrow's paper, I decided to rest by brozing through YouTube. Didn't feel like looking at music videos, so I just typed in random keywords that popped into my head.

*ehem* And now, here are the Top 5 Random Videos of the Day!:

No. 5

A mash-up of The Pussycat Dolls' 'When I Grow Up' and Cold Play's 'Viva la Vida'. Rather amusing how this person got two different genres (with obviously different emotions involved) to clash. I giggled at the first part, but I was surprized (in a good way) that the beats actually stays consistent throughout the video.

No. 4

The Queen's Guards doing a march-pass during her birthday. What amuses me the most is their 'L'-formations: I mean, instead of having the entire contingent rotate around a central position, or make it suddenly stop and then turn on the spot, these guys do it in an 'L'-shape. Amusing.

No. 3

Come on, it's funny. Well actually, this video was tied with this one:

And for those who don't get the spoof, here's the original video (which unfortunately did not win a position here):

No. 2

I salute this guy, seriously. I should try to do it too one of these days...
(Malgudi, Mal-Mal-Malgudi-Gudi, Boys take out you Mal-Mal-Malgudi)

No. 1

Yeah, please help me: I can cut down carbon emissions if you just let me! (For those who don't get the concept on how buying cork-sealed wine will help 'Miguel' save the environment, click here)

Mark 9:7!!! God bless y'all!!!

Journey's End...

2008-10-01T16:00:00.013+08:00

Honours' Day was last Wednesday, the borderline separating the portion of the year that would be spent academically, and that which would not. Before that Wednesday, teachers scrambled as much hints and tips as they could into the remaining hours left to count down; after that Wednesday, the Series of Great Battle begins.

Battles so terrifying, people had cried minutes before the first fire ignites.

Battles so exhausting, men have collapsed out of breath just footsteps away from the battlefield.

But most importantly, battles so important, our futures depend on the final outcome.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen. This war I share with you is none other than the Final Year Examinations. *climatic maestro*

But now that it's Hari Raya Haji, it really does feel like a seize-fire in the middle of nowhere. Suddenly so quiet, so peaceful. So now that I have time to relax, I'm just lazing around, taking a stroll in the park (and in Singapore, walking around your neigbourhood already qualifies as 'taking a stroll in the park'), and touching up on any parts of Advance Maths and History I haven't touched yet. And I still can't type out my post on Multi-Genre Music Appreciation, not enough time.

Oh, and I also updated a whole lot of pictures up on Facebook, as well as brozed through the photos of others' albums. Speaking of pictures, I might as well take this opportunity to archive a little on what happened during the F1 Singapore Grand Prix Finals which I attended last Sunday in pictures, can't I? Here's a brisk walk down memory avenue...

Ah, yes. Alex Loong, the only Malaysian F1 Racer up to date, giving us comments on what racing life is like (sry I couldn't get a clearer picture). He was part of a pre-race dinner programme laid out for us by Julius Bar, the bank that gave us the tickets to watch. After dinner (and some wine *hiccup*), we walked our way to the stands and took our seats an hour or less before the show began.
The Singapore Flyer towering above the circuit.
That's me.
And that's dad.
Cars from the old days parading along the track.

Oooh, Lewis Hamilton.
A parade of nations.
With Singapore walking alongside the F1 flags.
More pit-stops.
Even Austin powers came to watch the race.
Pit crews rushing onto the track to give finishing touches to the cars.
Pit crew setting up the pit stops for the race.
Only minutes to the race...
Chaotic pit crew on the track.
Fr those who can't see, PM Lee looking around the track, with representatives escorting him and answering his questions.
Singing the National Anthem.
Pit crew rushing off the tracks as the cars rev' up their engines (Man second from left starting to put on his ear plugs)
Race cars moving up to their starting positions.
Uh-oh, yellow flag. (safety car deployed)
Ah, yeah. Pit crew bringing back the hose yanked out earlier by a Ferrari. It was quite hilarious watching it from the grandstands: you see these cars zooming past you, then all of a sudden there's this obviously-slower pit crew chasing one of the cars. I tell you, the crowd was roaring with applause and laughter, which later died down when we realized what exactly happened.

However, of all the events I've had the privilege of going to, I've never seen as many middle-fingers pointed out in anywhere else than in here. But don't worry, it only happened because a couple of drunk Caucasian men were annoying the rest of the crowd by singing random songs in their language very loudly and very out of tune; even though the vehicles could easily drown out their voices, the both of them were nevertheless still annoying once the motors were an earshot away.

Man, I pitied the individual crowd usher who had to deal with the angry crowd by himself (he looked rather pathetic with the panicked smile on his face I assumed he was trying to use to calm the people down with). But I guess the sight of two full sections turning straight towards the drunk men sobered them proper, since we never heard their voices again for the rest of the race.

And eventually, the race concluded with Alonso as first, and with Hamilton at 3rd place (darn). Poor thing for Ferrari, though. Their two best drivers ended up crashing (the latter crash just 4 laps away from finishing), while the last car ended off at, what, 13th or 14th place? And with almost half of the crowd was wearing red (including red), many of us had to hide our caps and shout, "Viva Espana!"

Yeah, but when it all ended and the vehicles were parked back into their pits and the prize ceremony commenced and the champagne was shaken and poured over the crowd, my dad and I decided we better leave so I can sleep early for Language Arts and Core Maths tomorrow...

...after a few more photos on the tracks!
Me on the track directly in front of the Singapore Flyer.
My dad and I posing close to the last turn on the track (the rubber was still fresh and sticky, even my pants got a little stained)
View of the starting line, the crowd mostly condensed towards where the prize ceremony was.
Me running along the track.
Oooh, one of the damaged cars. ('Do-do you have a 1st aid kit handy?')
Another broken car (as evident by the missing right rear tire).
Policemen holding hands to stop us from moving any further.
Another pose with the tracks.
These dots are the rubber that the burning hot tires leave behind as they run along the tracks (now you know why they need to change their tires often).
Ouch, road kill. This critter was a fat moth the size of my palm, and compressed to the thickness of an average ball-point pen.
Posing with the safety car.
Hey, even Mediacorp artiste were present to watch the race (but I was too tired to ask them if I could pose with them, so I carried on walking).
Also having special passes to exit the race via River Taxi under Julius Bar, my dad and I sailed away from the crowded gates and into the relatively quiet hands of Clarke Quay (where we spent another 15 minutes searching for the MRT station to take us back to Orchard Road, where my dad parked the car). Here was a final shot of the tracks.

And that sums it up, I guess. All the best for the remianing half of the exams, fellow people-who-take-the-same-exam-schedule-as-me! Isaiah 55:8-13!!! God bless y'all!!!

Generally Speaking...

2008-09-13T13:48:00.010+08:00

*coughcough* ...dusty...

Ah. 'Ello. Woah, a term and a June Holiday since I last posted. Shows how much busier I've been these days (so those who intend to join IB, better be sure you can handle the heat; I've got Someone watching over me for protection, do you?).

Indeed many things happened throughout the time I was gone:
My 'B' Div Dragonboat got Bronze, just inching behind the 'B' Div seniors and Bukit Panjang Government High (by 0.03 seconds...).
Became a reserve in Inter-School canoeing (I blame Chinese 'B').
Raced and was defeated in Nationals.
Projects of many varieties filling up my diary, many of which my advantage of powerpoint cannot bloom in.
Did badly for Term 3 Art due to poor colouring.
And now, we're in Term 4.

But hey, those were just the bad highlights. Canoeing-wise, Ting Wei and I have been promoted with 2nd priority to the Boaz (that's a really good thing), and we're still paddling at around 11km/h in a Tiger so we're definitely qualified to race in this year's Round Ubin Race (I don't know about him, but that sounds good to me)!

The 'B' Division II Crew & The 'C' Division Crew (Dragonboat)

The 'B' Division Crew (Canoeing)

Social-wise, I've been going to a decent amount of gatherings lately (and at interesting venues, too). Had a Canoeists' 'End-Of-Inter-School' celebration at Wild Wild Wet, where we had extreme fun (especially at the Tsunami Pool!) and when I had my first theatrical encounter with a horror movie, having watched The Strangers in mid-afternoon ("Don't worry guys, I heard it's a great comedy!" - Davin). Also had Prefects Dinner Nite at the Mandarin Hotel next to Suntec City, where we all (or at least the enthu ones) dressed up in a Retro theme to party with the music (and make fun of the seniors using random song titles).

Me struggling off the tao-pok on Marcus.

Culture-wise, I did something which I think should not be witnessed or attempted by the faint-hearted. Please skip a few pictures forward if you do not intend to view an interesting item in Philippine cuisine: the Balut.

Basically, balut (say: BAlot) is like the typical hard-boiled egg. With a twist. These duck egg already went through fertilization. That's right, the egg now has an embryo.

Don't worry, we won't encounter live ducks when we open the shell; you boil it first anyway, so it'll definitely be dead once served. Here's the batch of eggs my grandma brought all the way from the Philippines:

After a few minutes, the eggs are brought out and broken:

Yeah, what my mom's touching is the egg white and the egg yolk. By now the egg white's hardened to much to be eaten, so that's taken out, while the egg yolk is rather juicy and has developed a few veins to make circulation between the chick and the yolk better (you do know that the yolk is the food supply of the embryo, right?).

'Speaking of chick, where's the embryo?' Good question.

Yup, that's the thing on the piece of tissue paper. Now with a partially-developed head (complete with eyes and beak), that's the main highlight of the whole thing. The main nutrients come from this chunk of a meat (actually, I don't know if it's considered meat yet), and it's supposedly something every mom would like to give her sick child (yeah, possibly to scare the illness out of them).

Ooh, a closer look int the embryo...

Yeah, the good stuff. Ah, well. Here goes my first try on eating this stuff...

Mmm, tastes like chicken. (Seriously.) I mean, the little bt of soup in the egg tastes like a nice salty broth with exposure to the embryo, and the 'meat' is kinda chewy (although the beak was a little annoying to spit out).

Yeah, I went for a second round. The flavour stayed in my mouth till the next day, even after severe brushing... And don't you stare at me with those 'you-Filipinos-are-barbarians' kinda eyes: did you know that this stuff originated from China? (Oh great, I'm still part of that race, never mind...)

Academically, my grades weren't that bad actually. In fact, I feel confident that Term 4 will be at my favour (In Jesus name, AMEN!). Health-wise, I'm still in good racing condition based on my results in the school's Annual Cross-Country Run (And my house won!)

CKS House
(I'm part of the crouching people at the center, next to Marcus Teo, who's directly above the guy with the towel, front row 4th from right)

Against my original thinking, I also ended up running for Council in the Prefects, and now I made it to become Assembly TransCouncilor 2008!

That means I'm (for now) Hadrian's heir, who's coincidentally also a canoeist and art student. As Assembly, I had to make a whole new Morning Duty List, as well as be I/C of National Day Celebrations (which was a little embarrassing 'cause I accidentally signed off my emails as 'HR Trans' instead of 'Assembly Trans', sorry Mike)! And the most interesting thing is... I get to be one of the Chief Instructors for Prefects' Recruitment Camp 2008!!!

Haha, unfortunately there's more to Selection Camp than meets the average student's eye, so I can't really write about the camp (otherwise I'd be spamming this blogpost with tonnes of stories). But what I can say is that I had my fair share of adventure and yes, I was FIERCE! (Don't believe? Have a look...)

Yeah, but besides those 'tekan' moments, I was busy with the logistics of the camp. Very busy.

Anyways, if you want to see more pictures, go to Facebook and check the albums that I've been tagged in. Ah, which reminds me, I've also now got over 100 friends (Currently 135) in my Facebook account!

Ah well, wanted to do a Mikipedia post about my oldest hobby, (Multi-genre) Music Appreciation, but I still gotta revise for Chemistry (exams are just a couple of weeks away!). Miguel, signing out for now.(gosh, how'd I sign off again? oh yeah-) Jeremiah 33.3!!! God Bless Y'all!!!

No. of bracketed statements = x
.'. Luke (x/2):(x-19) to (x+2) = Mig's favourite Bible story

Twist Yo'r Bodae...

2008-05-22T21:44:00.000+08:00

The results are out.
The points have been collected.
The subjects are at your mercy.

This - is Mid-Year Idol! *audience scream*

*theme song starts playing*

Hello, and once again welcome to Mid-Year Idol! This year, we've got 9 subjects on the line and it's up to our candidate to see if he will make it to the next round. First up, we have Language Arts! *audience cheers*

L.A., you sang about An Astrologer's Day by Malgudi. The Marker said that candidate tends to lose focus but that it was a good attempt at literary devices. The Teacher claimed that it would probably be just a good pass. The Candidate said it was a little shakey, but it should have covered the whole scope. The Examinors have voted, L.A.... you're in the bottom 3. *audience jeering*

Please sit over there at the stools. After her was Introdction to Human Societies! *cheers* I.H.S., you sang about weather Economic Hardship is the Greatest Resultant of Conflict. The Marker thought that it had a problematic layout and that validity wasn't touched on strong enough. The Teacher declined comment and allowed the class to watch The Mummy and The Mummy Returns after the Performance. The Candidate said that the best results could not be obtained as it was only found out at the last 20 minutes that there was yet another page of documents to concider on the exam booklet. The Examinors have voted... you're joining L.A. at the stools. *jeers*

Next is Physics! *cheers* You sang about momments, forces and formulas. The Marker didnt give much approval and said it just didn't seemed finished. *jeers* The Teachers said more time should be spent with the excersize books bought from the school. The Candidate said that the paper wasn't complimented with enough time. The Examinors voted... *points to stools* you're with them. *jeers*

Well, at least we now know that the rest of the subject are safe. *cheers* Let's see who's in the Top 3. Core Math, Marker caught a handful of careless mistakes in calculations. The Teacher carried on teaching about Alpha and Beta. The Student thought that it was a fun performance and that win or loose, things will still be fine.

Advance Math, Marker saw careless mistakes only in the toughest questions. The Teacher was glad that Goal 7 was achievable. The Candidate felt that the paper was reasonably fun. Examinors voted... you're both in the Top 3! *cheers*

Chemistry, the Marker commented that Section C was poorly handled, but the rest of the paper was rather decent. The Teacher said that it could have been done better, concidering that it was an easy paper. The Candidate thought that there was no real problem witht ehpaper and that it was one of the more straightfoward papers.

History, you performed about the French Revolution. The Marker said that points were rather vague and could have had more emphasis. The Teacher said that the flipsides of documents were not analyzed fully. The Candidate thought that there was enough relevant factors to write about in the essay.

Examinors voted... History... You're in the Top 3! *cheers*

And from the Top 3, winning by 13 marks, Mid-Year Idol 2008 is...
... A. Math!!! *intense cheering*

Yeah, finally that's over with. Overall agrigate points send me achieving the school target for this semester, glory be to God! Now to start thinking about my holidays. Recieved all my projects and assignments for Term 3 this week. The complete list would be;

A. Math Questions
C. Math Questions
Language Arts Coursework
Physics Coursework
Chemistry Experiment Proposal
Art (preparation for) Term 3/4
History Rebellion Research
I.H.S. (reaserch to prepare for) Model U.N. Confrence

Additonal things to do would be trainings at full blast for Canoeing Inter-School in July, as well as Project Reno with the prefects.

But looking at it from another angle, project works are to my advantage, and there's definitely fun for my end in this field. Project Reno's gonna be fun too, since renovating a room is reasonably the first step before taking on designing one. And StingRay's a fun boat to be with (Arguably the fastest rudder in our K2 Wave) so thank God I'm gonna be spending my birthday with her!

Speaking about my birthday, I'm concidering weather to celebrate it with friends or not. Based on my habits, I only organize birthday gatherings if I knew my current class for over a year. But this year, I guess I'm willing to make an exception. I won't ask directly, but if anyone is interested in watching Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on the Saturday Night, do feel free to contact me. If I get a response of over five people (i.e. six people and above), I guess I'll go ahead and watch the movie, and I'll call it a party. If not, then I'll just celebrate it with God (but both ways, He's always invited, and He's always there!).

Ah well, better turn in for the night. Luke 6:35!!! God b;ess y'all!!!

Yo' Jesus So Big...

2008-05-18T22:12:00.005+08:00

Well, the past week week had it's ups and downs. Free-periods coming about time after time, June Holiday/ Term 3 projects are slowly being revieled, canoeing trainings are kicking into full-gear in lieu of the competition 2 months from now (that's concidered as 'the last 2 minutes' in training terms; if you actually concider compressing all the hours of training left, you'd get 4 days or less) and the mid-year results (*gasp*) are in.

I feel that it's best I gave my parents the rights to be first to see the results in detail, maybe I'll share about the results another time. But for now, I must admit I had a great time today at church! But before that, I should start with what happened in the morning...

Basically, it was my (and Morriel's) test drive on (our) new roller blades! The family woke up early in the morning and had a quick breakfast before leaving for East Coast Park. Once parked, we found a good spot near by the shore in Section C and began putting on our equiptment. I said I wanted to explore by myself, so Daddy decided to rent his own set of skates to take care of Morriel. Uncle Eking also decided to rent a double bike to take Carlo around, leaving Mommy and Grams to look after the stuff while reading their own books.

I went as far out from our spot (somewhere nearby Marina Cove?) to the gardens out at Section F (the tower was real irritating to climb, esspecially while wearing blades) before turning back. Really interesting how many different characters you can see while moving along this stretch. Two youths racing against each other to the finish on their bikes, a young boy waiting beside the path with a dog on the leash, two lovers sitting beside each other alone in their lonely (but lovely) pavilion, while waiting for the catch of the day to pull against their line; The list goes on.

It's facinating what stories one can create just by seeing these small details of life. R. K. Narayan, writer of the novella Malgudi Days, once said that all he needed for his ideas was to 'look out of the window to pick up a character and thereby a story'. I truely agree with him, because I literally see it everyday. No matter what environment you're in, urban or rural, complex or plain, modern or traditional, even colourful or dull, there's always a story to tell: Let alone, a story to observe.

But we're getting too philosophical here. Back to my journey, passing through the 360 Ski Park, the Bedok Jetty, the Seafood Restaraunts, Castle Beach, the BBQ pits, the shore barricades and more, I eventually ended off my journey where I started it, greeting Grams with the words, "Do-we-have-water?" Realising that Mom wasn't there, I turned to see Dad trying to teach her to skate. I went over to try to help her out, seeing her slow (but steady) progress along the flat concrete road.

Also found Carlo playing at the shoreline with Morriel (who was lying on the sand and embracing the waves like something you'd see on Baywatch) with Uncle Eking and Auntie Lala supervising them. Apparently, Morriel fell once while testing her new skates, and did a little drama-mama on the impact, thus she decided to stop.

By around 11.30, we were packing up all the gear back into the car and decided to get lunch at Burger King. Little mis-communications here and there while getting the orders, but we eventually had our meal. After such (as well as a quick change of clothes), we headed for the city, where Dad dropped us all off a Suntec to goto church.

I told Mom that since it was 3rd Service, I'd might as well go into the main hall with my D.G. if it makes things easier for the group, so we split up and I went to the nearby collectables shop and looked around at silly scultures of Vandolf the Grey/White and Davy Jones and Luke Skywalker and King Kong and Venom and Alien and many other movie characters to kill time before meeting up with the R.A.D.I.C.A.Ls deep in the queue.

Been a long time since I met up with these people (missed sessions here and there because of competitons and exams and so on), so I thought catching up would definitely be a good idea. Apparently, Gab, John and Don (heh, interesting names for a trio) were interested in watching Indiana Jones' latest movie on the opening night. Hmm, better start thinking about those birthday plans of mine...

Since Sherrie had the queue ticket this week, she was frantically asking us to lend her items she can use to chope (local term for 'reserving informally') seats for us while we were (close to) the back of the line. We needed 21 seats for our D.G. today since we had friends wanting to join us, so we were really trying to find as much items we had to give her as possible (I gave here 3 Hillsong postcard invitations, my bible and notebook, my tissue packet and my sweater vest). Heavily loaded, she quickly stumbled her way to the front of the queue with all the jackets and bibles and notebooks and took her position with the ticket she had.

Finally, the 2nd service was fully flushed out of the Rock, and the queue was beginning to move. While walking our way to the gates, a friend told me that her sister had a picture taken dring the latest dragonboating competition, and apparently I was captured in it*raises eyebrows*. Others started questioning about how I happened to be there, and I had to explain about the canoeing team and how in ACS(Indep) both canoeing and dragonboating are one CCA.

Another good conversation sparked off had to be extinguished again as we then entered the hallway of gates into the auditorium. We slithered our way to the corner of the auditorium which is ussually packed with the youths of D.A.R.E. and the young adults of ARROW, and eventually found the full stretch of row booked for us. After sorting out who should sit where, we settled down minutes before Pastor Gabriel opened the service with the pre-service announcement.

Now I must admit, when I came into the hall, I was somewhat in a state of condemnation over a few things that happened lately, and was feeling a little doubtful of having a good week ahead. But boy, was today's sermon a GOOD ONE (and relevant, too)!!!

In a short summary (which I find hard since there's so much to say), Pastor Prince was showing how the words of Paul in Hebrews 10 explain to us that condemnation is no longer valid in our lives, since the price(s) to pay was all settled on the cross at Calvary and that we must thus keep our hope - direct translation, the joyful expectation of something good - firm in our hearts, since they will be satisfied. He also pointed to Romans 5:19-20 about how 'where sin abound, grace abounds more' - in direct translation, 'where sin abounds, grace abounds beyond measure, and still more on top of that!'.

Since we're now covered on all sides, sinning can no longer condemn us, and along with that the temptation to sin. But in the same way, if you accept the condemnations of sin, forgetting that Christ paid for everyhing on the cross, then you would also except the many other curses related to guilt. (So rebuke condemnation NOW!)

A good example of these blessing put into practice would be the life of Abraham, and how despite the lies he said which brought kingdoms into famine, he died as one of the wealthiest men of his time. Another example would be in Matthew 1:1-6 (a part of the geneology of Jesus as the promised seed of Abraham), where four women who didn't deserve the honours of being part of God's children were actually mentioned, instead of any of the other women in the timeline who were more likely to be permitted with these blessings. This shows how God can bring about your salvation even from the 'evil' situations of life!

The sermon was made more funny by the way all the youths screamed "Woo!" whenever Pastor mentioned Pastor Dan's (former Youth Pastor's) name, as well as after the announcements when Pastor's latest DVD sermon from last year's Zone concert was being introduced in a video (the later part of the video mentioned that the DVD had dual language in Japanese, and started showing Pastor Prince preaching in dual mode {hilarious}). Shawn then came on stage to perform a solo of the closing song, I Will Run to You, before Pastor Prince came back on stage to tell the church to rise (in Japanese) so he could bless us.

Dismissed with "Syonara! Arigato!" and an honourable bow, I quickly left the hall to meet up with Mom and the others at Carrefoure (is that how you spell it?), thanking God on the way for the new high He's given me to begin my week ahead! But just as I got out of the Rock, I heard Salsa music beking played. Apparently, the Samsung sales event downstairs had a performance of precaution instruments. It was so good, I could feel the Spanish blood I had in me tingling! I squeezed my way through the crowd that was forming alongside the raillings to have a better view of the performance.

"Mom can wait," I told myself. "No one of my type can resist such lively music." Boy, I stayed on till the performance was over, and by then I was literally drunk with the music. A great revalation with complimentary jive: I'm oh so prepared for the week! But giving myself a few seconds to snap out of it, I met up with the family and bought a dozen donuts to take back home to enjoy.

Well, that's about it for now. Until next time, whenever next time is, here's a little spoof for y'all dedicated to those Christains that are feeling spiritually low, or anyone for that matter who just needs someone to hold on to. As a word of encouragement, please don't lie to others (or God for that matter) that you've got no problems, and just Say His Name. (I don't have the technology to extract background music, so here's the original song - Say My Name. Just open this in another tab or something and read the words here along with the song.)

Romans 4:6-8!!! God Bless Y'all!!!

Say My Name by J.C.
(Chorus)
Say My name, say My name
When others imitate you, say "Jesus I love You"
No need to be ashamed
Say My name, say My name
You actin' kinda tired
Leave it to Messiah
Why treat me so strange?

Say My name, say My name
When troubles are around you, I'll be right there for you
Claim victory from My name
Say My name, say My name
You won't take long to find me
One quick call and I'm here
Quickly say My name

Any other day
I would call, you would say
"Jesus bless my day!"
But today it ain't the same
You don't read My Word anymore, by the way
Could it be that you left your whole faith on your Father at bay?

If your faith is low, first of all, let Me say
I am not the one to sit around while you're played
So tell the devil that I'm the Christ that you claim
And he'll return the thangs
That he stole from you yesterday

(Bridge)
I know you say that you're in control of things
Something's going down that's the way it seems
I should know the reason why you're acting strange
And distractions holding you back from me
Don't you know I'll be blessing you
With Deuteronomy 22
Why can't you just tell the truth?
Dont let satan tell you what to do

(Chorus)

What's up with this?
Tell the truth, why you sad
How would you like it if
I told you it's not that bad
Don't try to change it now
Sayin' you've already lost
When 2k years ago, I said "It's finished!" on the cross

It's hard to believe that you'll survive, by yourself
When I just heard the voice
Heard the voice of prayers "help"
Just this question
Why do you feel you gotta lie?
Fellin' caught up in your game
You just need to say my name

(Bridge)
(Chorus)

(Where my angels at) Yeah-yeah-yeah-yea-yeah
(Can you say that? C'mon) Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah
(Holy spirit say) Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah
(I can't hear ya) Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah
(All the angels say) Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah..yeah Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah
(Holy spirit say) Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah
(Break it down) Ohh ooohh oh ooh ohhhh
(J.C., take it to the bridge c'mon)

(Bridge)
(Chorus until fade)

[Boy, imagine Jesus breakdancing...]

Fizziques...

2008-05-05T21:45:00.000+08:00

Oh my goodness.

Exams have begun rolling, and Language Arts and Human Societies were battles poorly fought on Day 1. And now being Day 2, which starts off with Student Council Investiture duty in place/intergration with Chapel, Physics was the deepest drop...

I heard from many that they also found it just as hard, but I'd rather put it aside for now. After the paper, I decided to go over to Zheng Wei's house to practice a little more on Advance Mathermatics. I'll just have to go by faith that things turn around tomorrow...

Anyway, this spoof is dedicated to those who found the paper rather short and tough, and only had 4 Minutes to finish up. (This one would sound a lot more lame 'cause most Madonna songs have very few lyrics these days. Ah, well. Techno...)

Matthew 10:1!!! God bless y'all!!!

Local Student
Scholar
(Both students)
Teacher

I'm outta time and all I got is 4 minutes
I'm outta time and all I got is 4 minutes
I'm outta time and all I got is 4 minutes
I'm outta time and all I got is 4 minutes

I'm outta time and all I got is 4 minutes
I'm outta time and all I got is 4 minutes
I'm outta time and all I got is 4 minutes
I'm outta time and all I got is 4 minutes

Ha ha
Yeah
Ha ha
Write it down, come on

Hey
Uh
Come on
Ma' Scholar

Come on boy
I've been drawing a speed-time graph
For a bouncing ball

Well don't waste time
I need a sign
On how to answer free-fall, ooo

How can somebody read seventeen pages
Then answer it slow
There is no room for both

Well, I can handle that
But it's just sad:
20 more questions to go
(20 questions to go)

(Bridge 1)
If you know it
You already got it
If you thought it
It better be written right
If you see it
It must be real just
Write the word and grades will give you what you want

(Chorus)
Time ain't waiting
We only got 4 minutes to write the word
No hesitating
Grab a pen
Draw the curve
Time ain't waiting
We only got 4 minutes to write the word
No hesitating
We only got 4 minutes, 4 minutes

(Bridge 2)
Keep it up, keep it up, don't be a pri, hey
Inertia, uh
You gotta draw the line, hop
Tick tock tick tock tick tock

That's right, keep it up, keep it up, don't be a pri, hey
Inertia, uh
You gotta draw the line, hop
Tick tock tick tock tick tock

Sometimes I think
What I need
is a force interaction, yeah

And you know how to draw force resultant,
And that it's good, by the way forces move, ooh, hey

The ball that fell is paved with good displacement, yeah

But if I fry from fright
At least I can say I did what I possibly could
Tell me, how bout you?

(Bridge 1)
(Chorus)
(Bridge 2)

Pens down!
Yeah (tick tock tick tock tick tock)
Yeah, uh huh (tick tock tick tock tick tock)
You've only got 4 minutes to write the write

This Is Not A Drill...

2007-12-29T22:22:00.000+08:00

Will be gone for some time.
Don't ask.

Mig.

Keep Her Trim and On Course...

2007-12-02T20:33:00.008+08:00

Hey, back from Malaysia (again)! And boy, was Encounter Jesus III Camp a blessed and annointed one! Bonded very well with my new D.G.: R.A.D.I.C.A.L. (which stands for Rooted And Delightful In Christ's Awesome Love!)!!! The games were fun, the hotel service was shiok, and my friendship circle grew across other D.G.s, across other levels - HEY, even across other churches! Even the theme night was interesting - theme being 'Mismatched', I ended up appearing in an attire that others commented (and that I agreed that) I looked like a Suntec City Security Guard! Boy, it was splendid and beyond my expectations, just like how God is all the time!

Ooo, but I think I'll share about the camp in greater detail another time, y'know why? Well, 'cause today was - The Round Ubin Race 2007!!! This one was a treat indeed! To begin the story, I meet the ACS(I) Canoeing team, along with Mr. See, for the first time in a week or so at the Pasir Ris shore, where all the boats were alined and ready for launching. Apparently, Trident was given to an ACJC pair after a mishap in our team, so we were left to race in RedandWhite. Quite a shocker, but I've had the boat before and I trusted it enough to paddles the seas in.

Mr. Ismail came a few minutes later to assist us in fixing our wave-breakers onto our boats, and Mr. Goh came another few minutes later to brief us on an altered route - apparently the race course had to be done anti-clockwise instead of clockwise as the organizers felt it was best that racers completed Chek Jawa (the eastern coast of Pulau Ubin) first before she reaches her wildest waves in the afternoon winds. By then Mr. See and Mr. Goh were in their gear (they were participating in the open categorey).

Closing towards Race Time, Ting Wei and I gave RedandWhite a spin on the water, approving of her stabability and direction control. At the signal of ligning up between the Starting Buoys, we were positioned along with Joseph and Barnabas (New Tiger) and Victor and Winston (Old Tiger), accompanied by the K1s (Nick Ng, Ryan, etc.). Looking around, I prayed to God that all I wanted in the race was just to have a memoriable good time and fun: even if there's no medal or no glory, all I needed was just fun. At around the end of my prayer, a horn sounded, and within splitseconds every racing canoe gushed out to embrace a race one would never forget to tell his or her grandchildren.

And so begins one of my first journeys out at sea - although it revolves 75 meters on average away from Pulau Ubin, the mere fact that both Ting Wei and I did not attend Picnic Day (a training day when Mr. Goh toured the racers in the team around landmarks to take note of during the race) meant we were rather unexperienced and had a slimmer chance of being able to navigate the waters - being filled with obstacles from as minor as stilt houses and mini-islands to as major as megawaves and patrol boats - , lest being able to get a medal.

To both Ting Wei's and my surprize, the RedandWhite was making a good stand within the first 10 canoes for the first 2 kilometers or so. There was Mr. Goh, paddling alone right in front of us, so fast any non-AC racer would loose morale the momment he zooms past. And there was Mr. See, paddling at our Starboard with a constant acceleration, well enough to get ahead of us by the time we've entered Chek Jawa. The only boat that scared us, though, was the Old Tiger. Victor's a fine chap, but watching Winston paddle ahead of one's boat was concidered a disgrace, even to me.

But by then, we were conciderably within the high dangers of Chek Jawa, and within a few more strokes the RedandWhite encountered a wave as high as our armpits, maybe even higher. And yes, we capsized. Out at sea. But the good news was that we were still within boderline of Chek Jawa, so the water level was slightly less than chest level. But then again, the waves were extremely harsh, and so Ting Wei and I got hold of the boat and stumbled our way towards shore, of which was extremely rocky and extremely dangerous to board a canoe with.

Nevertheless, we quickly found the most suitable spot we could find and did our best to empty water and launch off, missing jagged rocks by hairwidths. Unfortunately, in our hastely attempt to catch up with Old Tiger, we capsized again halfway through Chek Jawa, this time in deep dark waters and with shores mostly blocked out by the 3 storey fences defending the grounds of the Outward Bound Singapore camp. Knowing that the powerful waves would eventually wash us towards land, we held on tighly to the half-sunken boat and our paddles and drifted towards the rocky shores, blinded by the saltiness of the sea and choking under the pounding waves, at one point even shoved underwater by the boat's weight.

At last we reached land, but that was just half the work done. We continuously kicked away from the rocks to avoid scratching the boat or ourselves, and after a couple of minutes or more we found a relatively less rockly place to empty our water and launch back to sea. We knew it was least likely that we'd see the Old Tiger again, so we decided to give up on the medals and take the race slowly. Along our journey, we saw other sad cases of capsized boats along the route; boats in scary positions and even one resembling the sinking of the Titanic.

Soon, we heard a familiar voice in the midths of the overturned boats: It was Barnabas! The New Tiger had capsized, and both the Goh Brothers were strugling their way to shore, trying their best to catch their wondering blades, bailer and water bottles in vain. Having pity on them, and without a momment to loose, we decided to assist them to shore. We made a sharp loop at Port and placed our right leg into their cockpits. While they proceeded to swim by themselves to shore with their belongings, we paddled both our and their boats towards the mst friendly shore we could find.

It was hard controling two rudders with the toes on both my feet, but we eventually all made it to shore. Ting Wei suggested to take a rest on shore too, so we all (struggled against the raging waves that constantly slammed our boats onto the rocky terrain, but eventually) carried our boats onto land and sat for a while to take in the scenery - scenery of what you'd see on Maroon Island, that is. Other victims of the waves of Chek Jawa came to our shore and had a chat with us: Reguardless of school, boat type or age, we were friendly towards each other and talked anthing under the sun accept accept giving the slightest concern of getting the medal(s).

After what we assumed was 5 minutes (of which we purposely tried to drag longer), we decided to launch of, that is until we saw Nick Ng's boat - along with Nick Ng, of course - drifting towards ourshore and requesting for help. We all then decided to take this opportuity to (slack off a little longer and) rescue him. His boat being a K1, which is much more vulnerable to the waves than us K2s, we had to launch him first before we could leave the shore, which gave us even more time to rest close to land.

As we watched Nick paddle off freely again, we decided it was about time we just got over the route and finished it before we continue baking under the sun. Due to the limited shore area that was favourable enough for launching, we agreed that Barnabas and Joseph left first,after which Ting Wei and I would follow closely just in case any of us capsized on our journey through the rest of Ubin. Launching through waves that kept crashing onto you was a struggle indeed, but when we could finally paddle 50 meters away from shore, we wre relieved that we were 'officially' launched and made our way to the watery nightmare ahead of us.

Our promise with each other was well and true: both the New Tiger and the RedandWhite kept trim with each other, time after time we'd be separated as far as 50m due to the waves, but we'd catch up again. Soon enough, we caught up with Nick, who was still struggling to keep steady amongst the waves. Thus understandably, he couldn't keep up with us, and eventually he became a mark floating behind us, until we came to the sudden edge of the island where we had to slam hard at port, of which he dissapeared behind the island. And so the two K2s were alone again.

Unknown minutes passed; eyes hurting from the saltwater and the sun such that our watches were practically a blur. Paddling non-stop without knowing how far you've gone or how far you've got left can make you feel as if you're at the brink of getting mad. Ting Wei suggested we paddled a final time towards shore just to empty out the water we collected from Chek Jawa, of which I originally disagreed to but then realised theat 1) it will help us get over this faster and 2) it will give my mind a rest from the endless and never-changing terrain ahead of me. Either than that momment, no matter how many strokes may pass, the scenery was constant for ages: Pulau Ubin on the left, Johor Baruh on the right, endless mass of water stretching forward, waiting for us to colapse from the confussions of speed and time...

I tell you, we had the greatest joy when we saw the cargo ships: it meant that the turn was just around the corner! And that meant we've completed over half the race!!! Hooray, the turmoil was almost over!!! It was a relieving momment of thought, until we met up with another island.

Originally, this wasn't a problem: common sense would tell you that if you rowed at port, you'd take a shorter route tothe finishing line. However, the momment we saw a couple of T2s rowing starboard and away from the islands, we started to panic. Both of us not having attended Picnic Day, and not being fully briefed on what route we're suppose to take, Ting Wei and I were questioning each other of the possibilities that the minature trench in front of us was not part of the route, of if the plot of land was not actually an island but part of a penisula, which meant that we would be paddling into a gulf or dead-end.

We turned to Joseph and Barnabas, who were both also confused by the route taken by the T2s. There was no other boat surrounding us, and we had no other person to tell us which way to go. But in the end, The New Tiger turned left, and thus we followed suite. When inside the relatively narrow strip of water, the whole scenery somehow became a lot more peaceful: whether it was because there were no longer any big waves to torment us, or that the flora and fauna of Ubin was more close to us, or that we could see yatches anchored along the Ubin coast like floating cottages, you be the judge.

But just when we thought the only tough navigational question was answered, we were proven wrong. The momment we got out of that 'cannal', we saw this:

Now we were really scared. We couldn't tell head or tail where the finishing line was: all we knew was that it was at the same shore we launched from, but finding that shore was gonna be tough. Thank God, we ended up paddling towards an official's boat, which told us which direction to turn to and that if we intended a final sprint, now would be the best time to start.

Both RedandWhite and New Tiger gave ech other a glance; we both knew that if the end was that close, we'd might as well break formation and start acting competitive again. And without a word, both boats made a dash for what we were to assume was the finishing line...

Finally, the Finishing Buoys were defined enough for us to see. The New Tiger was now a few meters behind us, but that didn't matter. As far as we knew, the medals were no longer in possibility our posession. Nevertheless, we just wanted to have fun in the race, so we continued the sprint. Just as we were starting to increase our power for a final burst, guess what we passed by:

That's right! The Old Tiger had apparently capsized just 200 meters away from the Finishing Line!!! As we heard Winston and Victor shouting phrases of dissapointment at us, Ting Wei and I assumed that they could still swim the remaining 200m without drowning, and so we carried on to the finish...

By 100m, we could tell who were the figures that were standing on the shore just ahead of the line: There was Joseph's/Barnabas' and Ting Wei's parents, cheering us on; there was Mr. Ismail, just about to leave to attend to Lucas and Weng Ai, who've just arrived earlier on; and there was Mr. Goh, who began making his way into the water to catch our boat: one appropriate way to signal to us to go full force.

--
-...

*this is the part where everything goes slow-motion and the only sound made is that of a heartbeat*

--
-...

--
craSHeeeeeeeeee!!! (Sry, dunno what sound hold-water ['breaks' in canoeing terms] makes...)

The momment we crossed the line, we quickly started to back-paddle to quickly get the boat to halt (lest we colide into the sandy shore once again. Good thing Mr. Goh was there to catch our boat (phew). We alighted from our boat and carried it onto a safe area on the beach before rushing back to help RedandWhite out.

After a few more minutes of rst, we brought our boat to a washing point and rinsed off the saltiness from the hull (and from ourselves) before carrying it onto one of the trucks that would bring it back to MacRitchie. We then helped other rowers who were finishing up and had a chat with them when there was nothing left to do. Nick Ng was complaining about how he lost so badly, and Eugene was commenting on how the 'rescue' boats were more of a hinderance than a help.

Within half an hour, most of the team was alread back on land, so we started having our lunch that was provided by the race committee. Gathered at a small plot of grass, we shared our different experiences on how many times we capsized sunk. While I was listening to the conversatin, Joseph's dad came over to me and asked if I was Raemiguel. I said yes, and he explained that Joseph told him that I rescued him and his brother, and thanked me for my help. When Ting Wei came into the scene and asked for his credit, both brothers claimed that they heard Ting Wei say that we need not help them, sending the three of them into a candid quarrel.

Wow, I thought to myself, we rescued others. I thanked the Lord for the opportunity in a short prayer before returning to the discussion at lunch. It was around that time when Mr. See, who had just finished complaining that he sacrificed the race to rescue our K1s that fell along the way, announced that he wanted 4 representaties to stay back for the prize presentation, while the rest of the team would board the trucks and goto MacRitchie to help put the boats back into their sheds.

He ended up picking Joseph, Barnabas, Ting Wei and me: The three others because they had parents already there to send them home on the spot, me because I just agreed to it. Basically, all we had to do was represent our school at the presentation and collect medals on behalf of any team member who wasn't present.

So after we finished our lunch and comfirmed that our full strength has finsihed the race, the four of us watched as the trucks proceeded inland. While waiting for the rest of the schools to settle into the area and for the stage to set up for the ceremony, we were all chatting about random stuff to pass the hot and endless time.

Finally, the presentation begain, and we all eagerly waited for which people to play as. Due to the extremely hot mid-day sun, all the participants were staying under the shelters surrounding the stage, which were at least 10 meters apart from each other. So you could imageing the humour we saw when we watched participants scrambling through this distinctly big and empty space and collecting their prize, many a times staying a few seconds longer for a photo shot just to stay in the shade the stage was also under, before running back to the shade lest they get fried.

We were happy when we heard that Mr. Goh won the 'K1 Open Mens' Categorey, and clapped wildly as we saw him skipping acroos the baked earth to recieve the medal. But once the announcer arrived at the 'K2 Senior Mens' Event, we had an interest to hear if we made it, even though we had great doubts for such.

And schocked as we were, Ting Wei and I were announced 3rd in our event!!! Apparently, we were the boat after Lucas' and Weng Ai's, of which was after an NJC pair. Ting Wei and I went up to the stage speechless but nevertheless joyful, followed later by Jo and Barney, who were acting as Weng Ai and Lucas (we were giggling when we saw this).

After the whole presentation, we all parted our own ways; except for Ting Wei 'cause his parents offerd to drop me off at the MRT station. I then called my mom to tell her the good news, of which we both praised God for, and so she told me to call a cab home.

As the kind uncle (who allowed me to board his taxi in my filthy and salty state) drove me back to Upper Bukit Timah, I started to reflect on what happened today. I mean, I paddled 22 km worth of seawater, survived a couple of capsizings, rescued a fellow pair, endured an hour of insanity and beaten Old Tiger using RedandWhite! I've definitely had an ADVENTURE, and I've surely had FUN!!! God certainly answered my prayer, and more - He gave me the bronze even whne I didn't pray for it!!!

MY GOD IS AN AWESOME GOD!!!

Well, that sums it up for now. 1 Corinthians 15:57! God bless y'all!!!

Red - Actual Route of Race
Blue - Route Taken by RedandWhite

Too much to concider...

2007-11-14T22:35:00.000+08:00

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...

2007-11-11T21:41:00.000+08:00

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...

2007-11-04T22:06:00.001+08:00

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..........

You're Hired....

2007-10-31T23:59:00.000+08:00

Well, yesterday was the second of a two-day worrkshop for Peer Support Students, and I must say it was rather fun going through the different stations our future juniors would be going through on the first day of school next year! There was absailing, and teamwork games, and class-control workshops, and the sort.

Well, to be honest, I never fully volunteered to be a Peer Support Leader. For one thing, I told my Pastoral Care Teacher that I was willing to participate ONLY if it wouldn't pose a risk to my Canoeing training (especially at this season, when the Round Ubin Race is just around the corner).

How did she respond? She went to the Year 1 Level Head and quoted to her my situation, and so she in turn told Mr. See to excuse me during the workshop.

Well, at least Mr. See didn't look like he didn't believe my side of the story. But yet again, he didn't look like as if he believed it either. Nevertheless, he, as well as Mdm Goon (who was visiting yesterday's Land Training), warned me that this may take up some time during the 1st Term, and so I had to make sure it didn't effect my other commitments (Canoeing and Prefects respectively).

They both had a point. Listing down my commitments, I have;
Acedemics
Canoeing
Prefects
Peer Support
(Christianity isn't a commitment: God isn't in my world, my world's in God!)

And the fact that I also want to pursue high roles in at least one of my commitments (Maybe a Committee Member in Acedemics, maybe Treasurer in Canoeing, maybe Chairman of a Committee in Prefects, etc.), I really need to plan out my time evenly. And I know I can't do this on my own, so through Christ ALL things are possible!!! Amen!

I think I better go plan out the rest of my holidays just to ensure there are no collisions or anything of the like. (I already have 7 Camps, 3 Smart-Formal Events, 2 Part-time Pay-free Oriental Jobs and a Race to attend through the holidays! May the Lord my God be with me in the excitement!)

Well, Psalms 5:12!!! God bless y'all!!!

Picking Up The Fragments...

2007-10-22T21:41:00.001+08:00

Nothing much today, just that now I have regulars who drop by my desk for a round of Quixo. Oh, and also that Jonathan Koh participated in a kareoke competition today! That one was a rather entertaining event as he sang 'Gotta Go My Own Way' by High School Musical; for those who don't understand the comical part here, this song was originally sung by an Altoe teenage girl! And he struct every note correctly!!! I'm not making fun of him, but I'm rather much impressed with his talent (my mouth was dangling for half of the performance). Good job, John Koh!!!

Well, since there's nothing much left to say, let's do a few quizes.

http://www.thesuperheroquiz.com/

Your results:
You are Superman

Superman		80%
Iron Man		65%
Supergirl		60%
Robin		59%
Spider-Man		55%
The Flash		55%
Green Lantern		50%
Wonder Woman		45%
Hulk		40%
Batman		35%
Catwoman		25%

You are mild-mannered, good,
strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz
(That was just so coincidental... )

Your results:
You are Mystique

Mystique		44%
Venom		42%
Dr. Doom		41%
The Joker		40%
Apocalypse		40%
Kingpin		38%
Lex Luthor		35%
Juggernaut		32%
Magneto		31%
Mr. Freeze		29%
Green Goblin		28%
Dark Phoenix		26%
Poison Ivy		22%
Catwoman		18%
Riddler		15%
Two-Face		12%

Sometimes motherly, sometimes a beautiful companion, but most of the time a deceiving vixen.

Click here to take the "Which Super Villain am I?" quiz...

http://www.blogthings.com/worldsshortestpersonalitytest/

Your Personality Profile

You are dependable, popular, and observant.
Deep and thoughtful, you are prone to moodiness.
In fact, your emotions tend to influence everything you do.

You are unique, creative, and expressive.
You don't mind waving your freak flag every once and a while.
And lucky for you, most people find your weird ways charming!

The World's Shortest Personality Test

href="http://quiz.ivillage.co.uk/uk_work/tests/career.htm">http://quiz.ivillage.co.uk/uk_work/tests/career.htm

You would be very happy in a career that utilised your level-headedness, and allowed you to work mainly on your own. You want a career that allows you to be creative, without having to be involved with lots of people. Some careers that would be perfect for you are:

Artist
Historian
Banker
Novelist
University Professor
Photographer
Vet
Paralegal
Graphic Designer
Online Content Developer
Webmaster
Producer
Managing Director
Nutritionist
Advertising
Nursing

You like working and being alone. You like to avoid attention at all costs. You tend to keep to yourself, and not interact much with the people around you. You enjoy spending time with a few a close friends. You like to listen to others, but don't like sharing much about yourself. You are very quiet and private.

You are very practical, and only act after thinking things through. You don't like being forced to answer quickly. You have to evaluate the situation completely. You make decisions based on what you can verify with your senses.

You like to be deeply involved in one or two special projects. You like to be behind the scenes. You are very logical and fair. You feel you should be honest with others and protect their feelings.

You trust your gut instincts. You are easily inspired and trust that inspiration. You are very innovative. You analyse things by looking at the big picture. You are concerned about how what you do affects others. You worry about your actions and the future. You tend to use a lot of metaphors and are very descriptive and colourful in your choice of language.

You are very creative, and get bored easily if you don't get to express yourself. You like to learn new things. You don�t like the same old routine. You like to leave your options open.

Mark 16:17!!! God bless y'all!!!

Colours of the North...

2007-10-21T18:56:00.000+08:00

Played host to Tim for once. Now that he's shown me around at Lighthouse (of which I joined, but later left, both ways compelled by the Lord) I guess it's just for me to fufil his request to visit D.A.R.E..

After half a week's worth of grade-calculating, quixo-lending, course-atending, whiteboard-drawing, holiday-planning, whiteboard-erasing, re-paddling, subject-comparing, particulars-sorting and Exodus-assisting (Ooo, Exodus! I remembered Genisis to haave had been a failure last year, but Exodus was more or less a great improvement this time round! Good job, Marcus!!!), it was finally the weekends. And what better way to begin it than to continue my catching-up training with my new partner! A good spin with the New Tiger with backman Ting Wei, and I guess we've got ourselves a good paddling.

Then after training, I changed into something comfortable and made my journey to Suntec City, of which I did some window shopping to kill of the extra hour I had to wait for Tim and Samantha with. I was having fun viewing minature models of movie characters when Tim finally called and requested a good meeting point.

I told him to describe where he was ("Is there a map of the world on the floor?" "Yeah, it looks something like it... there's a red pillar in the centre of this place." "Erm, that pillar's gonna change colour, y'know." "Oh... Erm, yeah the place with the big coloury pillar."...), of which I promised to meet him there within 10 minutes (a promise I sheepishly broke when I passed by another replica shop filled with replicas of colonial swords and ball-bearing guns :P).

When I was within the area, I spotted the two of them at the 'red pillar'. I then grinned a little and sneaked quietly behind Tim before suddenly grabbing his shoulders and exclaiming, "Okay, so where do you guys want to eat?" I leaned on the railings of the pillar fountain like what they were doing, from the corner of my eyes noticing Tim staring at me. Then realising I was too soft at the 'so where do you guys want to eat' part, I stood up again and asked properly.

They replied with the casual 'I'm fine with anything' statement, of which I gave them a rough plan of what was available. Getting the same response, I decided to bring them to Subway, which was 6 floors directly under where D.A.R.E. was held.

We ate, and we chat, and we made many laughs. But soon after, we proceeded up to the 6th Floor Overflow room, of which along the way Samantha giggled noticing that Tim and I swivel and wieve our way through the crowds while she was simply walking straight through.

Once upstairs, we met up with my D.A.R.E. group (dg), CIA. I told them I brought some visitors, of which they said they could join them during the service. Shortly, Tim and Samantha noticed the loud music in the background, of which we all creeped towards the Overflow room. After much observation, I turned around and said, "Oh, don't worry; we're not late. It's just the rehersals." They both were slightly shocked but went along with it.

Later on, the crouds were starting to build up so they began a SMS competition while waiting for the service to start. We waited through the contest for another half an hour, of which Samantha met some friends from her school while Tim and I just lazed around at the counter.

Soon enough, the doors of the Overflow room swung open, and the trademark call of "DOORS OPEN!!!" surged through the area. I rallied the other two along and stayed within the current of youths until we were flushed at a good spot near the stage.

Samantha was looking through the instruments from where she was seated, and according to her there was apparently no synthesizer on the stage. Tim was also viewing the instruments, but with a different response. Being a very sensitive listener, he became concerned about the possible noise levels we'd be encountering during the praise and worship segment. So looking around, he asked where the speakers were.

There was one portable speaker a couple or more meters away from us, but that was facing towards the stage. What he needed to be more concerned about were the imbeded speakers on the ceiling. (Hey, these overflow rooms were built to ensure sermons reached every corner of the area: Can't blame them.)

But then again, these kind of ceiling speakers were definitely weaker than those you see in concert, and I doubt they'd be mad enough to raise the volumes up till nosebleed-sonic, so the matter was laughed off.

Within minutes, the service began and we started with singing of songs. Tim noticed that some of the songs weren't usual songs you'd find in worship sessions. I explained to him that the worship ministry in this Church had recently released their latest album, I See Grace, and so some of the songs would be from the album.

After lots of singing and jumping and 'saywhat, saywhat, saywhat-saywhat-saywhat!'s and 'who-OAH-oah's, Pastor Dan came to the stage and gave his little chat before he began his sermon. For today, he was telling us his stories of him at a Hillsong Australia conference which he accompanied Pastor Prince to recently and had just arrived back from.

After that, he was telling us of how he missed us all and that he loves to preach to his homeland. He stated here and there of how proud he was to be in such a Church and that he knew it was God's assigned blessings for us to be here. But soon after, we began on our sermon. The sermon was about the definitions of prase and worship, and also how it differs from definitions modern society creates.

A number of people believe that worship is just to surrender to the Lord any items that you may 'worship' more than you would to Him (time, money, addictions, etc.). But that's actually half of the story. God also gives us back something when we give Him our trust and praises, and these include blessings that are abundant beyond measure! But above all, He gave the very vessel that permit us these blessings: His one and only Son!

It was extremely funny, with the usual dosages of Greek and Hebrew words, hilarious explainations for certain definitions and even some participation from the audience!

After the sermon, there was a final song, followed by a final prayer, followe by the offerings, followed by the announcements, and then we were officially dismissed. The three of us went down to the main floor, where I broke off with them since we had our different routes.

On my way to the bus stop, I was thanking God that everyhting went smoothly and that things went rather well. The fact that I was respectively new to the youth service, although having joined the main service for three years or so, could only mean that it was truely by the grace of God I made it through to help guide Tim and Samantha along the way! Praise the Lord!!!

Well, I'd better rest today now. Just came back from main service, now I feel somewhat tired (Sunday's seems so beautiful for rest!).

Malachi 4:17!!! God bless y'all!!!

She Shatters Chandeliers...

2007-10-17T22:35:00.000+08:00

Wow, recieved my results for EOY Common Test. And I must say, the results were AMAZING!!! I truely praise the Lord for them!!!

Just to get straight to the point, I recieved a well and sturdy amount of points to get me promoted to pre-IB, and I guess that's all I need at the momment! Praise God for His blessings!!!

So just as much as I'd be celebrating with my family later on, I'd just post a music video I found recently. Yes, I'm aware it's the same song as those shampoo cemercials, but hey. The video's quite nice, or at least it's interesting for an artistic person like me. And the song itself? Hmm, I'd say it's worth listening to in my opinion. Good job, whoever the artist was (yes, I don't know who sung the song: how ironic :P)! Enjoy;

I am unwritten
Can't read my mind
I'm undefined
I'm just beginning
The pen's in my hand
Ending unplanned

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

Oh, oh

I break tradition
Sometimes my tries
Are outside the lines
We've been conditioned
To not make mistakes
But I can't live that way

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

The rest is still unwritten
The rest is still unwritten (continuous repeat, fade out)

Now to remember to bring the Quixo set I promised to play with Zeng Rong... (I told him I'd bring it when it was all over, and told him that 'it ain't over till the fat lady sings'. But now that the scores are released, I guess bringign the game has to follow...)

Luke 17:6!!! God bless y'all!!!

Mourning into Dancing...

2007-10-16T22:55:00.000+08:00

Well, I'm all tired and worn outafter today's training. Some can say I deserved it. So I'll just try to keep this post short.

Let's start with Sunday! Yeah, at least that gives a very happy beginning. It was both the outing day for AJ's group back in Lighthouse promised since the group was really fast in their study, and the party day for the Believers to celebrate the success of their (I take it I no longer have the rights to say 'our') latest musical, 'Thief of Always'.

It starts with me beign dropped of at Middle Road by my mom while she, Uncle Alex and both my sisters were on their way to New Creation Church. Journeyed my way to Prinsep Street, where I found the same ol' Prinsep Presbyterian Church standing like she used to.

Walking through (or more like 'stumbling through', with so much nervousness in my heart), and seeing that I was rather early, I decided to head to the Library to wait till the Main Service started. But finding out that the Library was still locked, I decided to tuck myself in the side alley of the Church where there was a bench swing.

Rocking myself to and fro, I tried my best to sing my nervousness away. I sang as much as I could remember of the songs from the Ron Kenoly tracks I recently bought, and soon enough after snging an average of 4 rounds per song, I calmed down well enough to get me walking properly again.

When I walked back into the main building, I saw that the Library was finally unlocked, and so decided to take refuge in there while I still could. I rested for a while and watched my watch closely to make sure I didn't miss my timing. And in a while's time, it was reaching to 9, so I went out and met Tim along the way.

We went up the building and sat along side Thedyus (is that how you spell it?) during the session. The sermon was about the disciplines required within worshiping God and was using the story of Moses' journey up and down Mount Sinai. I didnt really hear much about grace this time, so I must admit I wasn't able to catch much.

Once the main service was over, Tim went to the back to train a new techie while I stayed where I was for Lighthouse. Hmm, to think Eric would have trained me too if I stayed on. But I still know where God wants me to be, and so I shall follow.

After the worship session, the different groupswere dismissed for their lessons while AJ's group met downstairs before leaving for our outing. I heard many proposals through Tim, many about bowling or TCC or beaches, but this day was a different plan altogether.

This day, we were going to eat out at McDonalds! Heh, it was a good plan for many of us, but Zeik didn't like it since he had just eaten breakfast there. While AJ was taking down our orders, Zeik was bending his head away in preparation to puke at Thed.

During our meals, we socialised a bit and in the midths of the chat Zeik wanted to ask if we could go play billards at the billard station nearby. AJ soon agreed, and I agreed to chalendge Zeik. After finishing my apple pie and french fries, we went down and rented a table for half an hour or less.

Through the game, we (Zeik, spectators and me) had a great time and we soon tied in our winnings. But at around that time, it was time for us all to head back to Prinsep and call it a day, and so we journeyed back. Along the way, ___ talked with me about how I was doing and which Church I've moved on to, and so I told her about New Creation and D.A.R.E. and how God prepared it just right for me to come in.

Once we arrived at the Church, Tim and I went to search for the room where the Believers' party was suppose to be held. After much deduction, we found the room and so I tried to sit around while Tim searched for the remainder of Lighthouse members who were also Believers.

While being alone, I found myself leaning against a pillar in the room totally isolated from the pack. It felt torturous just to walk forward, and everytime I tried I ended up falling back on the pillar. In the end, I finally found grace with another table of Believers and sat with them as we all ate the buffet lined up for us.

Once finished with the main meal, I went on to the desserts and soon found myself stuck on the same pillar. By now, a fair number of the Lighthouse boys who were believers were present, and after awhile they called me to sit with them. I slumped myself on a chair and ate the remainder of my partially-crushed egg tart.

Soon, it was time to review the filmed version of the musical 'Thief of Always',and we all proceeded up to the hall to witness what we all looked like from the audience's perspective. After viewing what it looked like altogether, we proceeded with a little worship time with a few familiar songs.

Once done, Auntie Lisa gave us a short presentation on the aims and objectives of the Believers, and what was concidered achieved through this year. We then started our games session, of which was truely ripping fun and I must say I lost most of my nervousness through!

Before the games started, we were first divided into two groups, and then asked to give each group a name. The group I was in decided to call ourselves Milo, based on a regular catchphrase in the play, while the other group called themselves Soon Hock, based on what the nurse in the play tried to pronounce Boon Hock's name as.

It was also agreed within our group that whenever someone shouted, "Milo!", we'd all respond with a loud, "Marvelous!" (which was also blended in the catchphrase). And gradually in response to that, Team Soon Hock always responded with a "Fresh!" whenever their name was called. :P

Games included attempted re-enactments of certain scenes in the musical (which were fun to make fun of, since the actors we were using weren't the originals and more of dancers or backstae people!), quizes about the musical (which Milo ["Marvelous!"] had a great advantage in because most of the actors/actresses invovled in the question were in our group! :P) and even a 'pass the message'-cum-'sherades' game (which was extremely hilarious when you see people messing up while passing on the actions! My group even ended up composing our very own bhangra!)!

But after a couple or so hours of family entertainment (Which, I must say, was worth the effort! Good job, Shaun!), we closed in prayer and proceeded downstairs to finish off the buffet and feast on Uncle Collin's cake celebrating his child's 1st month! After much conversation and lollipops (hehe, we had candy for the winning prize, which both teams tied and both won!), we went our separate ways and went home.

Yeah, I must admit that Lighthouse and Believers were very nice groups to join and be with! I admire their hospitality and am willing to be called upon if I could possibly be of any help in the future! But as much as I'm grateful for them, God's prompting for me is to goto D.A.R.E., and please don't take me the wrong way but I'm excited to know what better gifts God has in store for me as I move on! Indeed, God will always love me and will never leave me!

Now for the sad part.

Monday. Well, I'll keep it shorter by just getting to the point. Monday was supposedly the extended deadline for the traning cards in Canoeing. You see, before Canoeing made a shutdown to give more time for us to study, Mr. Goh gave us cards listing simple drills we can do at home to prevent our fitness from dropping as much as possible. These included push-ups, sit-ups, running, back extentions and so on.

Beside each item, there was a quantity of how many of the item we were suppose to excecute. And beside these terms was a calendar of the entire period of time we'd shutdown for, excluding the exams itself. For every item we did each day of the shutdown, we had to mark it out on the calendar. And by the time we came back from exams, what should be expected was cards colourful with pen markings of mostly, if not fully, completed programmes.

And now the exams are over. So, what about my card? Well. My card. Let's put it this way: It's as good as white.

Well, as much as I did push ups and sit ups and running 2.4km once a week, the card still looked rather white with the many other items I missed out, and the number of days I missed them out by. That's as good as white.

And after secretly handing my card up after training to Eugine, who helped gave me a slower sentence by sliding it somehwere in the middle of the well-coloured stack (Thanks, bro), I quickly but calmly rushed back home and retired to my desk in great prayer that whatever Mr. Goh does or says to punish me for what I've done (or for this matter, what I've not done), I desperately wanted to cling on to the faith that God would still be there with me.

And that leads us to Tuesday. But before Tuesday's training is firstly school. Didn't recieve results today, but had a couple or so of briefings or so about what we'd expect next year as students. One of the things discussed was an Edusave test which promised that if passed, would garuntee my parents a smaller pay for school fees.

That made me look at the test more seriously. Normal secondary schools in Singapore pay roughly about $7 per month or so, as much as I've heard, and unfortunately for this case I'm not in a 'normal' secondary school. The school fees are as much as $300/+, and the priveledged lot are able to get through the fees well enough.

'Priveledged' is defined here as those who are rich or under programes that help to pay a portion of the fees. And as much as I'm in the Intergrated Programme, I'm still not a Gifted Education Programme student, nor a Music or Art Elective Programme student, and my PSLE score was still 260, 2 points away from an automatic application to the Edusave Scholarship.

And thus as far as the committee in charge of these payment priveledges are concerned, I am not woth the expense.

But PRAISE be to GOD, I have another chance! This scholarship will help my parents out a little more, and I am confident that God has lined it up perfectly as another one of His many gifts for me! And this means that by His name, His stripes and His blood, I can get through this test and claim my blessings!

But this excitement that relief was soon enough slowly died off when school ended and I proceeded to the MPH1 for Land Training. There as I was changing into my tangtop, Mr. Goh called for my name while looking down at the stack of cards in his hand. I said a short prayer, placed my clothes aside and made my way in front of him.

He looked up, and slit out my card from the deck, asking me if the crosses I marked meant that I did the excersize or that I didn't dot he excersize. I checked the tensions in my face to make sure I didn't give the wrong face, and I slowly admitted that it was the former. He then looked down and gave a short chuckle.

(Mr. Goh scolds somewhat like dad: both of them appear happy even when they're shouting and giving sharp comments. And also that they both don't scold that often, but that's not the point.)

He then commented on the lines of me givning him an empty piece of paper and chuckled again before sliding my card back into the deck and turning his attention to Mr. Ismail, who just entered the area at around the same momment. I took it that I was dismissed, and joined the queue of the chin-up bars.

When training started, Mr. Goh announced right after our Warm-up that he was greatly dissapointed that we did not do our programmes during the shutdown, pointing out a few particular dissapointments that included me and my 'empty piece of paper'. I bowed my head down while he was mentioning these dissapointments, but raised my head a little when I heard what he was going to do for running today.

He said he wanted us to run 10 laps on the track (that's 4km, for those who don't know) to see how fit we were in running. Good, I thought to myself. A chance to redeem myself. On Mr. Goh's mark, we jogged to the starting line, where we lined up with the C Division. And at Mr. Ismail's famous whistle, we dashed off for our longest dash since a month or two.

I ran at a good speed; although I didn't time myself,I was beating a good number of seniors and so I took it as a good sign. By the time we were done, it was starting to drizzle, so Mr. See asked us to proceed back into the MPH1. Inside, Mr. Goh was saying that our running was not up to expected and reveiled that today's programme was going to be the same programme as in the cards.

Again, although rather exhausted this time, I thought to myself that I could somehow make up for my 'empty' reputation by giving a good performance today. And so I did everything to my best, not that it differs from what I ussually do but that this time I had my cauntience of my killed reputation in my mind.

Once we all completed the programme, which Mr. Goh made us do twice each, everyone could point out thir own weankeses and strengths. For me, I was weaker in my abdominal power but stronger in my arms and legs. Nevertheless, I was well-relieved during warm-down that it was all over.

After training, I changed back into my dry uniform and bought a hotdog bun to nibble on before leaving for the bus stop. At the bus stop, I met up with Cliff and Abraham, who first greeted by quoting Mr. Goh's 'empty card' statement on me, but later commented that I was pretty fast during running, somewhat too fast for a blank card.

I smiled back, not saying much just in case that they were being sarcastic. At the same time, I praised the Lord that He gave me enough strength to go through today's training and out of it in one piece. It was around this time when I realised what the slow music in my MP3 were meant for. It was more or less a sense of comfort after a tough day of training: I even found myself skipping the fast-paced songs on my way home.

Ah, well. I'm just relieved it's more or less over. May the Lord be with me if there is more judgement to come next training (which is now Saturday this wekk, since Mr. See has to go for a meeting in school to decide a few grades here and there this Thursday). Now to look forward to the good things God's gonna bless me with: Tomorrow's Results' Day, so I'm claiming by faith that I'd get what I requested for!

Isaiah 43:2!!! God bless y'all!!!

Going Down East...

2007-10-13T22:13:00.000+08:00

Went cycling with Tim today. Never expected myself to be lagging behind that badly. :S But I guess it's because I've never cycled in a long, long time.

The day begins with me waking up at around 7.15 to quickly change into something light and packing my slingbag with snacks, an extra shirt and a towel. While packing my stiuff, my parents were suggesting that I organise an event of my own to respond to the many events of friends I've been going to.

I then explained to them that as a matter of fact, I was also thinking around the same lines. I have two proposals in my head to give to them, but can't seem to see which is more suitable, let alone which is more likely to be successful.

In Bid A, I plan to invite friends over to my place for a day to help me redo my room! This would involve the moving of furniture, 'part-by-part' re-assembling of my desk and even the painting of my remaining white walls with a shade of blue! The capacity has to be limited, though, since I wouldn't want too many people in my room. The only problem with this plan is that Cashew Heights is still under probation for En-Bloc sales, so it wouldn't be worth it if all the fixing and assembling and painting to not last even half a year.

And in Bid B, I plan to invite more friends to meet up at Bukit Timah Hill, where we'd spend the whole morning (and maybe a part of the afternoon if more rest is required) hiking on Singapore's highest peak! I could guide them to special areas on the hill which are extremely beautiful and which you'd never expect to find on this island, and the fresh natural morning air would do everyone good! The flaw in this plan now is that Some of my friends aren't really that keen in hard activities such as hiking, and wouldn't want to come. Then friends who would only go if these friends went would also back out.

Hmm, anyone has any advice?

Discovering that we didn't have anymore bottles of Ice Mountain water in the kitchen, I asked dad if we could drop off at a petrol station on the way to Tim's house to 'fetch some resources', of which he agreed to, and we were off.

Along the way, dad was teaching me about the market and how pricing of high-ticket items were judged by. Yeah, that's the good thing about dad: He teaches more than what you asked to learn, so you actually become more knowledgeable on the subject then you actually requested to! This is very useful as you never know when those extra details come in handy, and trust me I've already been proven that dad's abundance is always useful!

Say, this actually reminds me of our Heavenly Dad in heaven. He is always willing to bless you, and when you finally turn to Him for his gifts He'll pour out an abundance of it! Not just the measure of it, but an ABUNDANCE of it!!! Amen!!!

Anyway, back to today, dad soon arrives at Siglap, of which dad made a circle or two before we avoided missing the entrance. By now, Tim was calling me since I was 15 minutes late. By the 20th minute, I paced at Villa Marina's entrance and called him to tell him I was finally present.

He went out to greet me with a smile, one which I later realised my face never returned back, and we both went to his house so I could leave my bag there. Taking along with me a bottle of H-two-O and a munchy bar, I followed Tim down to the carpark to check out the available bikes for use (I don't own a bike, mind you, so I had to borrow one from his family).

Tim unlocked both his parents' bikes to see which were fitting for me, during which I was praying to God that I wouldn't mind embarassing myself, but as long as we could enjoy ourselves I'd be thankfully happy. After giving his dad's bike a spin, I chose it for my mode of movement, while Tim choosing, most sensibly, his own bike. We then took the lift up and cycled our way through to East Coast Park.

Along the way, we passed by a mosque which was celebrating Hari Raya. The atmosphere was very strong, and you could definitely tell how united the muslims were (on my way with dad, we both spotted an entire strech of road double-parked with cars!).

Once at ECP, Tim laid out options for our route: Left or right? I looked both ways blakly, then gave a mumbled yes before riding off behind him. Ah, yes, I tought to myself. A very fine day to cycle once again. Let's see what we've still got.

To my shock, however, whatever was still left was nothing much compared to what Tim already had. While I was struggling to keep up, he could easily dash ahead of me at will without realising he actually dashed ahead of me at will. And within a few minutes, my legs were starting to hurt.

I then remembered that I had just ran 5 laps on the Dam Wall at MacRitchie yesterday and so I'm still at recovery stage if my stretching wasn't done properly enough. Which apparently, it partially wasn't. Nevertheless, I gave all I could to keep up, sweating my paddles forward to as close as I could get the boat to Tim's.

Time after time, he had to circle back for me and then crawl foward, before realising he's overtaken again and cycling another loop around me, just so that I won't get left behind. Half of me was comforted with the fact that I was actually helping Tim with his routine by entending the trail everytime he loops around me. The other half is rather obvious.

When we finally came to the edge of the park, which wasn't exactly the edge but we stopped anyway since we were blocked by a costruction site, we rested for awhile so my legs and I could calm down.

"Man, it's definitely been a long time since I've cycled," I mumbled before taking a big gulp og H-two-O. Tim then comforted me with the notification that the other route mentioned earlier on would have been longer, so I was thankful to God for allowing me to take a better choice. We then cycled back down east and parked/locked our bikes up at McDonalds, where I bought myself a breakfast a couple of times much bigger than Tim's McSausage.

Tim stayed at our table to help chope (reserve) it, while I went throughthe queues to tackle my way for the most important meal of the day. When the food came, Tim asked how much he owed me, of which I accidentally tolm the truth of a bit over a couple of bucks. The thought of having the burger on my bill never crossed my mind, and I only realised it when I tucked the cash into my pocket, of which I concluded was a sign to show it was too late to insist. During the meal, we chatted a little here and there about current affairs and movies and cBoxes and so on and so forth.

Once done, we both got to our bikes to unlock them, of which Tim recieved message from Zeik that there was rain coming and that the event had to be cancelled all along. But from where we were, the sky was still a beautiful shade of blue and not a raincloud could be spotted. Until we stood up from the locks, that is, when a tree did not block our view of a rather big and dark one. But even that cloud was obviously very far away, and Tim and I agreed that it'll only rain by the time we finish.

We carried on our journey further east to see how far we could go till we needed to turn back home to arrive at what we arranged to be 10.30 am. Everytime Tim sped up ahead of me, I'd look down at my legs, of which a muscle would twitch from, a sign I've gradually learnt to mean, "Don't you even dare try."

When we estimated it was time to turn around, we could see an entire fleet of stormclouds heading towards us from North-West. But the sky still consisted mostly of the light blue of a beautiful morning at the beach, and so we still rode comfortably back to his house to end of the journey. Locking up the bikes back where they came from, we went to the appartment to tone back down.

"Announcing the arrival of two cyclists!" exclaimed a softly enthusiastic (Tim's) mom as we walked through the door, and after a few seconds the rain began to fall. The three of us were praising God in our own ways; one saying it aloud, one mummuring the agreement tones and one standing silent but with a thankful heart.

Tim's mom then invited me to use their bathroom to wash up in, of which I accepted. She brought me a guest towel, showed me to the toilet and gave me a mini-'guest tour' around the area. She was pointing out the different shampoos available. Once privately on my own, I locked myself in and did all I needed to (let's just spare the details, shall we?).

While bathing, when it was time for me to shampoo my hair, I tried to remember the characteristics of each bottle and brand. The most distinct of the bottles was a blue bottle that was supposedly pH-neutralised so as to suit many, if not any, forms of skin irritation. I was rather aware that Tim had a certain condition after hearing he needed medication during the OEP trip this year, but I never knew what condition it actually was, let alone what exact measures he took against it.

Neverhteless, I chose what I saw the most familiar: Heads and Shoulders. Once done with the soaping as well, which was made easier with only one bar of soap, I gave a final rinse and quickly went out of the shower to change into a new shirt and stuff. I tried to get out of the toilet when I was done, but accidentally forgot that it used a double lock. WHen I finally figured how to get out, I caught a slight glimpse of the family present giggling, something worth the disgraceful misguidance of unlocking a toilet door I guess.

I then observed around Tim's room while he had his turn of bathing. After a few more minutes, everyone was all changed up and ready to leave the house, Tim's family because they had to attend something of family affairs. We then proceeded down to the carpark as a bunch and drove off in their car.

They dropped me off at Kembangan MRT Station, where I stumbled my way to a west-bound train with pre-exausted legs. Instead of taking a simplified route of dropping off at Dover and taking buses back home, I decided I might as well get a haircut while I still had the time. Afterall, my hair was rather in a mess, and I had to clear it up before I returned back to school this coming Tuesday.

After trimming up at the $10 barber at Bukit Panjang Plaza, I bought myself a peanut butter pankake before walking back home for a nice and relaxing final bath and a good rest in bed. The afternoon was more or less topped off with a round of Rise of Nations for the first time in almost a year!

Highlights of the night was just me asking my mom of the possible opportunity prices that we'll have to pay if I wanted to learn an instrument, of which she said that both she and dad were willing to support me in these matters (music passion). How touching! But still, after she laid down the things I'd have to concider, which mostly consist of time management issues, I've limited my options to either the Guitar, the Saxaphone or my Voice. Gotta make a good choice, 'cause I'm willing for all three, but I want the one that'll have the best worth.

Anyone has suggestions in this area too?

Ah, well. Need to attend to other stuff now. Will leave you with this song titled 'Sing Out' by Ron Kenoly. (Yay for Soul Gospel!!! Man, after buying an approved collection of his hits, the songs are still paying in my head. Wonder how long this would last...)

Sing out
The Lord is near
Build Him a temple here
A palace of praise
A throne of thanksgiving
Made for the king of kings

Sing out
A joyful song
He’s love goes on and on
When praises abound
He’s glory surrounds us
Building His temple here
Sing out
The Lord is near

The Lord inhabits the
Song of His saints
And lives in their praises
The Lord inhabits the
Song of his saints
And lives in their praises

Sing out
The Lord is near
Build Him a temple here
A palace of praise
A throne of thanksgiving
Made for the king of kings

Sing out
A joyful song
He’s love goes on and on
When praises abound
He’s glory surrounds us
Building His temple here
Sing out
The Lord is near

We come to worship
Together as one
With Music and singing
Rejoice in all that the
Father has done
Let's lift up an offering

Sing out
The Lord is near
Build Him a temple here
A palace of praise
A throne of thanksgiving
Made for the king of kings

Sing out
A joyful song
He’s love goes on and on
When praises abound
He’s glory surrounds us
Building His temple here
Sing out
The Lord is near

Ezekiel 34:14-15!!! God bless y'all!!!

New Mate Onboard, C'ptain...

2007-10-12T20:03:00.000+08:00

Ah, finally (haha) my first Canoeing training in a month! And rather splendid, indeed!

Starts off with me arriving rather early at the Chin-up Bars near the Paddle Lodge. Mr. See was sitting comfortably at the mouth of the pathway, and when I walked closed enough he quickly asked what the 'meeting' yesterday was all about. I explained to him the 'messed-up' Boardroom story from the way I heard it, and his mouth slowly dropped as I went on about the messy details mentioned. Apparently the jaw-dropping was more because he thought I was reffering to Dr. Ong's Boardroom, of which people would obviously get the slaughter if it was meesed up with 'tables overturned' and 'football marks on the walls'.

I then asked him when the Round Ubin Race was taking place, of which he said 2nd of December. I then asked about what the schedule would be like, and he depicted a full-day event, which he added is only 'full-day' because the judges would have to wait for the very last boat to cross the Finishing Line before they could actually start distributing the awards.

Seeing how intense the day may be, I admitted my situation: that is, as much as I was definitely free on 2nd December and was upmost willing to give the tides of the Straits of Johor a good tackle, I would be indeed arriving back to Singapore from KL, Malaysia on 1st December after a 5-day Encounter Jesus Camp.

Understanding clearly what this would lead to, Mr. See explained to me that there was certainly no worries on getting a place and a boat in the registration and at the venue respectively, and so the only concern I should be having would be if I was physically and mentally prepared for a sudden island-span current-tackling harshful-navigating race once my body get's intuned to a relaxing-hotel mood for 5 trainingless days in KL.

I suggested I did more push-ups and sit-ups, but he rebutted saying that it'll take as much as running to keep as much fitness as possible, something dependably hard to find applicable in an outskirts-of-KL hotel. He then said he'll ask Mr. Goh for advice to see if I'd be in good condition to race, at which I nodded in agreement and proceeded to do my chin-ups.

Ghah, just like many others I've lost a bit of strength after not training for a month. My chin-up max. number has drastically dropped, and I'm not in a determined state to believe in God that I can work my way back up to tiptop shape within a month or so! Fellow Christians, please pray for me! :)

At the usual timing the lot of us were given the order to launch, of which I along with a small group had to stay with Mr. See and Mr. Goh to see which boats we'd be using today. At the end o the line, I was permitted any K2 Tiger. Partnering Ting Wei.

Hey, cool!, I thought to myself. Another new partner to try! Let's see what he's got.

We both got our stuff and went to the Upper Sheds, where we took down the Old Tiger and re-configured her to suit our needs before heading out to the pontoon to launch for a rather easy programme to start us back to the training mood. On the water, I was thankful to God that all I could remember about paddling racing-style came back rather smoothly after 250 meters or so out at bay. Steering was more or less auomatic, and my feet knew what to do if I encountered obstacle-situations in the water, especially rescuing capsized boats!

After doing a few laps and beating a few K1s along the way (not much glory for a K2 to beat K1s, but it was nevertheless a good cheap-thrill to start the season :P), I was rather impressed with how syncronized Ting Wei and I were in strokes! Well, Ting Wei would need to work a bit more on timing, and I'd need to work a little more on direction-keeping, but I must say we were rather well-opperated!

After training, Mr. Goh also told me in person that he felt we were very good on the water. Ah, another possible new chapter in my Canoeing life, eh God? Let's see how this one goes...

Once the boats were packed up, we got our shoes on and went running. Ooo, running! A long time since I ran! (a week and a half, but hey!) And where else to run but at the Dam Wall! Haha, the puns were ringing along as we jogged our way to the venue. You could hear phrases like;

"Hey, where're we running today?"
"At the Dam Wall!"
"Dam it! Dam the Dam Wall!"

And we'll all be laughing at the puns we could make up. Once at the Dam Wall, we ran a few laps on the Dam. I came in 4th place! Just behind Neil, Sheng Yi, Ray and Lucas, and just a head of Ting Wei. Once done, we went down the Wall to do a Warmdown and Debrief before eing dismissed.

Decided to rinse before leaving MacRitchie, since I was really stenched with sweat. Rather cooling, but wasn't really worth the towel. Once at home, I rested in bed with satisfaction on how training went today for an hour or more before getting up to eat lunch, after which dad called home to tell me he has left a little assignment beside the computer.

I checked and found a new Samsung printer box ready for unpacking and assembling! Hey, there's more stuff to do! Yay, activities! Haha, at least I wouldn't be bored for the next half an hour or so. Reading the manuals and diagrams, I fixed the cords and wires and cartridges respectively and downloaded the software into the main house computer.

Once everything was assembled, I congradulated myself by not wasting the activation of the house computer, simply by watching a bit of Rowan Atkinson on YouTube. (Come to think of it, a better reward would have been to play Rise of Nations. Darn...)

Ah well, nothing much left to report, just that after dinner when my parents came home, my dad gave a good inspection of the printer and approved of it's standards (Yay, dad!) and also had a chat with mom over what I'd want to do when I reach pre-/post-/University. Apparently, my parents want me to take the Air Force course when I go for National Service, but I still want to go to the Navy. Hmm, wonder how this'll turn out. :S

Well, before I sign off, might as well be faithful of a friend's request, 'ay? Enjoy;

1. Time of starting This?
10.17 pm

2. Were you named after anyone?
Both parents, really. Rae came from the first half of my dad's name, and Miguel came from the fact that it started with an 'M' like my mom's name.

3. Do you wish on stars?
Absoultely not! I trust in the Lord my Heavenly Dad for whatever a want and need and get! Let me hear an 'Amen', p'ple!

4. When did you last cry?
About a couple of months ago, when I was told by my parents that if I couldn't manage my time properly I would be stopped from joining Believers. Apparently, though, I was soon prompted by the Spirit to move on to D.A.R.E., so it doesn't make much difference anyway. But as much as I'm enjoying D.A.R.E., I really miss the people back at Prinsep. I tell you, I have never met such friendly people since the time I visited Japan! But I know very well that if God wants me to move on, it's because He has something better in store! I just pray that I won't miss Prinsep too badly in the proccess...

5. What is your favourite meat?
FISH!!! Yay, fillets!!! Horah, sashimi!!! Bravo, broth-steameds!!!

6. What is your most embarrassing CD on your shelf?
I'm not sure about CDs. But for casset tapes, there's one with a recording of what I sounded like as a young kid. The unthinkable will happen if it fellinto the wrong hands... :O

7. If you were another person, would YOU be friends with you?
Hmm, Mig seems like a nice person. I'm not sure, but he's always a kind person to others, and many a times talking about God's grace. Yeah, I guess we are sort of friends.

8. Are you a daredevil?
Depends, actually. I'd take my chances if it is really important to me that I do something particularly daring.

9. How do you release anger?
Complain to God. I'd just tell Him what's bothering me, ask for better alternatives and then end of saying that no matter what happens, I'm still aware that He's still got my back and is still protecting me. Usually works for me, ;)

10.Where is your second home?
I'm at the state where I'm more or less at the same level with all the societies I'm involved in, so I'm not certain of it now.

11. Do you trust others easily?
First impressions do count, but it's rather easy to raise my respect for a person, along with raising my trust.

12. What was your favourite toy as a child?
My security blanket was a bolster I named Finchy (which still sleeps with me to this day, come to think of it), but the toys I played with most were my building blocks. Loved to build things, then get the mega fan to blow it down and see which structures could resist the winds the best! Yeah, good childhood memories...

13. What class in school do you think is totally useless?
I have absolutely no idea.

14. Do you use sarcasm a lot?
Time after time, I guess. Just to keep a slightly funnier athmosphere, supposedly.

15. Have you ever been in a mosh pit?
Wazzat?

16. What do you look for in a guy/girl?
Christ-centered, bubbly, supportive, very active and whom the love of God has favour with everytime I see her! Ooo, and if she's also genre-flexible and can sing, that'll be beautiful!

17. Would you bungee jump?
I made a vow that if I ever returned to Queenstown, New Zeland during summer, I'd give the jump a try. Wonder if I'll ever fufill the promise in my lifetime at all :p

18. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?
Nah, too troublesome.

19. What's your favourite ice cream flavour?
Chocolate Chip/Vanila Cream/Caramel

20. What is your favourite colour?
Navy Blue! All hands on deck!

21. What is your least favourite thing?
In my possesion? A particular book that is kept high up in my shelf. I plan to throw it away soon. Maybe rip it apart first. It contains something I'd recomend no one saw or remembered.

But hey, PRAISE be to God that he's set me free to this day, so I can spread the joy of God to those I meet!!!

22. What is your favourite number?
8, the number of new beginnings!

23. What do you miss most right now?
The friends I can really use for company right now. :D

24. What are you listening to right now?
Give to the Lord by Ron Kenoly. Yay, Soul Gospel!!! (Y'know, one thing I'd want to experience in my lifetime is to see an African-American Church chior perform some joyful gospel music! That'll just be so cool!)

25. If you were a crayon, what colour would you be?
Navy Blue! All crayons on deck!

26. Whats the weather like now?
Dark and cloudy, but cooling nough for a comfortable good night's sleep! That's a good reason why I praise the Lord for this apartment: it's positioned in such a way that natural elements make living so comfortable!

27. Last person you talked to on the phone?
Tim, about meeting him tomorrow for a good mornin' round of cycling.

28. The first thing you notice about the opposite sex?
Gentleness. :)

29. Do you like the person who sent you this?
Yeah, I respect him as a good friend greatly. :D My face is just too cold to show it. :(

30. How are you today?
Blessed and loved by God!!!

31. Favourite drink?
Ice Lemon Tea! It's such a favourite, I usually reserve it for special ocasions.

32. Favourite alcoholic drink?
White wine. Sweet-tasting, yet doesn't loose the warm effect wine should have. Cheers.

33. Natural hair colour?
Asian black.

34.Favourite colour?
Navy Blue. It's the second/third time already.

35. Wear contacts?
Nope. Never intend to.

36. Siblings?
An elder and a younger sis!

37.Favourite month?
May! My birthmonth!

38. Favourite food?
Char Kway Teow!!!

39. Last movie you watched?
Can't remember, but the next movie I'd be watching would be Balls of Fury! :P

40. Favourite day of the year?
My birthday!

41. Have you ever been too shy to ask someone out?
I had difficulties trying to invite classmates to my birthday. Comprehendo's?

42. Scary movies or happy endings?
Don't they both usually go together? I'd prefer happy endings, though. :)

43. Summer or winter?
Depends on which country. Some are suited for summer, some for winter, and some so special they're still lively through both!

44. Hugs or kisses?
Hugs for now. I'll reserve the kisses for my love-to-come...

45. Do you want your friends to write back?
Their choice.

46. Who is most likely to respond?
Dunno.

47. Who is least likely to respond?
Dunno.

48. What book/magazine are you reading?
The last book I read? The Bible.

49. What's on your mouse pad?
I don't use a mousepad.

50. What did you watch on TV last night?
Last night, nuthin'. The night before, Boston Legal. (Haha)

51. What's your favourite smell?
Smell of good food! Haha, the typical Singaporean answer...

52. Do you regret ever breaking up with someone?
At this stage, it can only apply to best friends, so yeah I miss a couple of friends I've left behind in my past.

53. Time of finishing?
11.17 pm (Cool, one full hour just to finish a quiz! But hey, I was chatting with my mom inbetween, so that's just cheat.)

Isiah 54:10!!! God bless y'all!!!

Five, Six, Seven, Eight...

2007-10-11T21:53:00.000+08:00

Heh, first day of the post-exam break. Suppose to last 5 days long, and if you can't find anything to do at this period of time, you've not only about to waste over a hundred and twenty-five hours of free time, but also about to suffer the painful agonies of boredom. Something I particularly feared about last night.

But I guess I'm slowly being proven wrong that my break's gonna be stale. In fact, I'm starting to see that God's sprinkling a little - or should I say a lot of - adventure into my day!

The day starts off with me changing into my tangtop and shorts for the first Canoeing training I've had in a month. Slightly excited, and slightly lethargic, I stumbled around the house trying to remember the gear I would usually bring to morning training.

While searching fora second set of clothes to change into after coming back on land, I remembered the SMSes Ben Sim sent me about an emergency meeting for 'ALL prefects' at the Boardroom today at 7.45. I wasn't sure if I was suppose to go, or if Mr. See somehow fought the Canoeist Prefects out of it, but I took the latter opinion.

But then I felt a slight sense of insecurity, and so I decided to bring a set of my uniform just in case. Getting a lift from my Dad to MacRitchie, I strolled through the paths and to the chin-up bars, remembering the small details a regular to MacRitchie would notice.

Ah, yes. The beauties of the flora and fauna of a century-old man-made reservoir. Then just ahead at the last path, there's the rough outline of Mr. See pointing out to Brandon the different kinds of cloud formations in the sky. Ah, and there's Eugine telling more lame 'Kevin Beck' jokes, and there goes Mr. See in response by sub-strangling him with his left arm. Oh, he sees me here.

Wait a mintue. He's frozen seeing me. I wonder why. Walking towards him, he walked towards me as well, but without the need of much distance he asked in a loud but gentle tone why I was present. Before I could answer, he told me that Davin called him yesterday and informed him that the Prefects couldn't go for training today. I shortly asked back if he didn't excuse us, of which he answered back that it was organised by Mr. Samuel Sim so it was best if he didn't get us into trouble with him.

After commenting that he really appreciated the fact that I made the effort to come down for training today, Mr. See dismisssed me on the spot and so I ran my way to the bus stop. I checked my watch: 6:45 a.m.. Praise the Lord for an early dad to drive me to 'work'! Once most of the passengers behind me had already got off the bus (which was when I was nearing K.A.P.), I started putting on my uniform over my tangtop and slipping my gadgets (wallet, phone, MP3, blackbook, pen, badges and tie) in their respective places.

If anyone else was watching, they'd probably be thinking I was a very late student who couldn't tell if it was Sports Day or half-day. It took about three stops before I finished the full uniform, just about another five stops before arriving at school. At the final stop, I alighted with a slight sprint to the traffic light, before dashing across Dover Road and across the AstroTurf on the mark of the Green Man.

Along the journey, one of the cooks from the SAC (canteen) was cycling to work beside me, and we both had a short conversation in Chinese, of which I was so proud of God for giving me the ability to speak even that much without making myself unclear! Praise the Lord!

Arrived at the Boardroom just in time, with Ben Sim asking where I came from, and with me telling the whole story in a jumble of mutters. I then asked around what the meeting was all about, and David Hu said it was because the Senior Admin caught the Boardroom in a tragic mess, of which Mr. Samuel Sim was going to scold us on.

Ah. So I skipped training for a scolding, I thought to myself. But I was already there anyway, so I might as well just go through it. After socialising with other Prefects in a hustling atmosphere while waiting for a few more Prefects, attendance was checked and Mr. Sim soon arrived. Lined up into our respective committees, we stood up and greeted Sir before sitting down on the floor again, this time in echo silence.

He then introduced the matter in a formal tone, which was that a member of the Senior Admin once paid a visit to the Boardroom and found it in so bad a mess she started taking photographs of it with her handphone and showing them to Dr. Ong, who later called in Mr. Sim and Mr. Bongard for an explaination of the matter. They were both then reminded that if the maintainence of the Boardroom could not be sustained, then the Boardroom would soon be taken away from us.

Mr. Sim then added a footnoting that he wasn't going to scold us but rather point out an emphasis on a lesson we have to learn. He concentrated on the matter of how we had to take care of our assigned properties and not take it for granted, or it may jolly well be taken away from us again.

He tried using an analogy of a small girl with a big appetite to show how we had to maintain a good reputation by being first and foremost a good example, of which a Chinese scholar or to couldn't understand due to such specific bombasticness. Mr. Bongard later joined in and gave comments somewhat similiar to Mr. Sim.

They both then left us with a task: To clean and re-arrange the entire Boardroom from top to bottom within the next 3 hours.

We too the job seriously yet excitedly, and so the Trans-Council came together for a minute or two to discuss how the proceedure was to be carried out. They then divided the Prefectorial Board into 4 groups, of which were the respective committees, and they assigned shifts and roles within the shifts for each group, so that not too many people would be working inside the Boardroom at any one time.

Plans were slightly mis-communicated at the start, but after a few minutes or so we started catching well. As part of the Fund Raising Committee, I was involved in the cleaning and movement of the cupboards and shelves. Also had to help try to borrow custodian equiptment from the Estate Office, but by the time I arrived they they had already given out all the stuff to the previous batch that came.

After clearing out and cleaning the shelves, we brouht them outside along with the other items so as to allow the Student Act Committee to mop the floor. With the shelves and cupboards removed, the Boardroom looked a whole lot bigger than before. The SAC and another committe then scrubbed away busily while I went to rest along with the remaining Prefects at the Round-a-bout Dumpsite where we temporarily moved the furniture of the Boardroom to.

It felt rather weird sitting on a sofa in a surrounding that could easily allow cars to run you over, but it was nevertheless a good rest ith other Prefects. Some of the enthusiastic ones tried playing Table Tennis with a real tennis ball and the Council Meeting table just to kill the time, while some were playing a sport that was a mix between Soccer and Cricket with a rubber duckie, while some were standing at the window of the Boardroom watching the other Prefects mop the floor and pretending that they were making fun of them so that they'd get paranoid, while some were like me and sat on the sofas chatting about the current matters in our lives.

Soon, the mopping was done a Phrase 1.2 of the 'Renovate My Boardroom' plan was complete. While waiting for the floor to dry so we could bring in the furniture, we had a short break at the SAC, where I tried for myself a plate of baked rice fromthe Italian stall, of which tasted rather good but wasn't exactly worth $3.

I then went to the piano, where I saw the Prefects who could play piano show their stuff. For one thing, I never knew David Hu could play the piano. For another thing, I never realy realised how geonrome-flexible Prefects were on their taste of music. It was rather cool listening to them talk about a rather big spectrum of music, let alone watch them play it on the piano.

But before I could play He's A Pirate, we had to go back to the Boardroom in a jiffy. When we came, strong volunteers were called to help in the movement of the heavy furniture, of which I volunteered for. Removing my shoes, I went into the empty Boardroom with other strong and big-sized boys and we tugged in the shelves and tables and sofas and cupboards and so on and so forth.

The place slowly took shape, and I must say it was fun rushing around the room trying to move stuff to that perfect spot for that perfect feel! Slowly, but surely, the Boardroom took a new shape, and we were soon satisfied. We actually managed to rearange the tables in such a way that now we have a new Council Meeting arrangement, which is now a hexagon UN-shape instead of the old rectangular 'Mr. Trump'-shape! It was so cool, since now our Committee/Level/Prefect/Mentor Meetings could be held in such a more modernised format!

Soon, Mr. Bongard came to inspect the place, of which he gave a rather emotionless but comforting approval. He then emphasized that we had to make sure it stays this way, and make sure our mistake never repeats itself again. Hadrian then gave a debrief by stating that Phrase 1 on the Renovation Works is now complete, and that there was more to expect such as painting the walls!

We were then dismissed, of which I went home by bus along with a group of Year 3 Prefects. Arriving back home, I read the Bible at 2 Samuel 7:18-29, a segment where King David thanks and praises God for his victories after bringing the Covenant Box back to Jerusalem. The prayer comforted me in certain uncertainties I had for the past week, and I was at great peace and love!

I then went to sleep to rest after a good workout back at school (which was pretty fun while it lasted, if you ask me :D). My mom then invited me for high-tea at the Toast Box just nearby her office after fetching my younger sister from school, and we had a good meal to ease off the afternoon.

After the meal, we went to the Christian shop a couple of storeys up and looked around for stuff, of which Morriel found a manga comic of the Gospel, while I found another Ron Kenoly CD (Yay, Soul Gospel!!!). We then went to mom's office so she could fix a problem with the computers, since Kip McGrath sent us a new programme to include into the study plan but apparently didn't send clear instructions on how to run the programme.

While waiting for her and dad to fix the problem with help from a techie-on-the-line, Morriel drew more pictures of unicorns while I listened to my new CD in glee (Hehe!). Once everything was thankfully fixed, we headed for the Botanical Gardens for dinner at the Hawker Centre underground.

After meeting up with a coleague in the midths of the meal, we finished up and left for home. And that brings us to me going to my computer and typing out this post. Hmm, I guess God's really got control over the envents for the next 5 - sorry, next 4 days of emptiness and will be filling 'em up with activities to keep me entertained after all! Nothing to worry 'bout!

Well, after a fun and exciting day of redoing the Boardroom, and a calm and relaxing night of food and soul, I guess I better turn in now.

Psalms 91!!! God bless y'all!!!

What Time Is It...

2007-10-10T14:04:00.000+08:00

At last.

It's all over.

The Final Common Test, is finally over.

Good, now we can all relax and enjoy the next 5 days of freedom to ourselves. But I must say, God was truely with me during the paper, if not truely with the lot of us! The papers were a lot more easier than expected, and I can confidently say I can make good grades for this test, most likely even heading my targets! Ah, well. It's now in the markers' hands, so the only thing I can pray for at the momment is that God would give favour to the markers. :P

Anyway, I doubt I can type out all I missed out for the past 2 or so weeks, so I'll just try to draw them out. (Hehe, a picture is worth a thousand words...) I'll try to upload as many as possible, see if you can guess what the events were (take note, I'm not good in drawing faces accurately, appologies...):

[3 more pictures to upload...]

Ah, well. Better get rested for tomorrow! Wouldn't want to miss my first Canoeing training in a month! Ah, I'll get to meet StingRay again! But wonder who's gonna be my new partner...

John 14:11-14!!! God bless y'all!!!

Church is the people of God...

2007-09-23T21:42:00.001+08:00

Heh, visited Han Jie's Church yesterday. It was pretty cool and I'm greatly impressed with the fact that almost everyone in the cell group knows how to play about every instrument in a band! Very talented people really, and very social too! Jokes came very often once in a while, and I must say some even remind me of other people I know. For one thing, a guy named Marcus looked a whole lot like Ryan, but a lot less horse-like of course. :p

Anyway, gotta go study for the upcoming exams, so I'll just leave you with a quizcourtesyofLamentationsahaahaahayoucantblamemeforstealinganythingHA! Enjoy:

20 Questions
1. Someone knocks on your door at 2am, who do you want it to be?
Jesus, telling me it's time to come back home and enjoy Paradise!

2. Your boss tells you he/she will give you a $20 raise if you'll do your job naked, do you stay and take the raise?
Nope. I treasure my privacy.

3. Put yourself in a nutshell.
Hmm, that's an odd quiz question.

4. Ever seen a ghost?
Nope, but I've felt the Holy Ghost run through me! It was a shiok feeling!

5. Happy with your body?
Muscles here, medium Asian-black hair there, hazel eyes and a few speckles of birthmarks on my arms. Yeah, I'm pretty satisfied with the way God created me!

6. A reason to move to iceland.
With all due respect, I'd prefer New Zeland. Yay, Queenstown!

7. A place you've lived you miss ?
I can't remember much about what it was like living back at Island View, so I don't think I can say I miss staying there, now can I?

8. A job you never do, no matter how much you were paid?
Anything against the ways of God.

9. a band/group you thought was cool when you were 13.
Hmm, a year ago, eh? Dunno, I forgot :P

10.you have a nightmare, who's the first person you think to call?
Jesus! He saves! Butn most of the time when I have nightmares, I usually realise it's just a dream a few minutes before I wake up. :S

11.wanna have kids before you're 30?
Depends on when I get married and how stable my income is.

12.a memory from high school.
Not applicable at the momment.

13.ever had a crush on a friend's parent?
Not applicable at all.

14.do you look more like your mom or dad?
My Dad, actually. I once got a shock when I was wondering what I was doing in a black-and-white photo of MacRitchie when I later found out it was my Dad at 12-years-old! :S

15.something you've always wanted to learn to do.
Learn how to play the Saxaphone or the Guitar. Slowly giving up on the guitar, though :(

16.how you'd like your life to be in 10 years.
At the age of 24, eh? Successful in a good university, I guess.

17.something you learned this year.
*digs through textbooks* "Simultaneous Linear Equations". Cool.

18.what do you want for your birthday?
God to show me once again that He love's me! :D

19.name 4 things you did yesterday.
Visiting Han Jie's Church is all I can remember now, sorry :S

20.last item you bought yourself.
A couple of bottles of H-two-O to nurish me along my trip through Henderson Industrial Park.

Luke 8:48!!! God bless y'all!!!

Emergencia: Seguir Siendo Por Favor Tranquilo...

2007-09-23T21:32:00.000+08:00

*static*

"Saludos, pasajeros. This is your pilot speaking.

"Thank you for flying with us on SpadesAir, but unfortunately this blogcraft is under heavy examination-revision turbulance. Please return to your seats and strap on your seatbelts properly. The crew wil be doing our best to maintain the flight back to normal as soon as we can navigate our way through the exams. For now, there must not be any posting at all within cabins.

"This is crutial for our navigation as it will afect our flight (and my IB status). Please remain calm and grasp firmly on the chairarms.

"Thank you for your cooperation, and we pray that you'll have a safe journey ahead. May God be with us al*static*..."

The next Step of Faith...

2007-09-16T17:29:00.000+08:00

Tried out D.A.R.E. yesterday! It was extremely fun and the sermon had great dept! I even found out I have friends there already! But all this leads to another question...

Anyway, let's start from the beginning. (Yester)Day starts with me eating Breakfast and all at around 8. The family was discussing as usual on events that we'd be involved in for the day and questions would be raised if the car would be near-by for pick-up. That night was going to be the gathering of a few of Mom and Dad's ex-schoolmates from back in their NUS days, so we needed to be sure the family could arrive at Uncle Jo's house by 7.

I then raised that before I went to Mom's office to meet Dad to collect my new pants, I needed to go to BPP to get a haircut. So they decided to assign me the task of buying doughnuts for the night's deserts along my way, giving me extra change before leaving for work.

At around 10, I packed my slingbag with my Bible, my pencilbox, a notepad, a piece of Chinese fulscap and an unbrella (since by now it was already pouring). I arranged with Auntie Lala to meet her and Morriel at BPP at 11.30 since we'd need to go to Mom's office together. I then left for the bus stop and took a bus to BPP (Bukit Panjang Plaza, for those who still haven't figured out) and went to the '$10 barber'.

On the way there, I passed by the Missy Doughnut shop and checked the variety of doughnuts I could choose from. Dad told me to buy a couple of 11-doughnuts sets, so that gives me a lot of flexibility on what to get. After typing a rough list into my phone, I went on the barber to get a slight trim.

After that, I went to Missy Doughnut to collect the doughnuts and pay for them. I then staggered around the plaza with the big plastic bag of doughnut boxes while calling Auntie Lala and telling her I'd meet her at the Taxi Stand.

We then waited there in the queue for the next few minutes before getting a taxi to Mom's office. Once there at the office, I helped Dad out with some accountings before we went off to HarbourFront to collect the tailor-made pants Dad ordered for me. To our frustrating dissapointment, however, the tailor was a 'good-for-nuthin' cheapskate who didn't even tailor the pants the way we wanted it.

My Dad specifically wanted me to have buttons at the waist so I could easily adjust the rim whenever I go to gala buffets and all. But not only did this guy ignore that instruction, he also made the waistline just right to fit my waist, making it conciderably tight if I even ate a spoonful. (Note to inexperienced tailors: When your customers say that the pants fit just right, you're in BIG trouble. This is code for 'Punk, this thing will burst the momment I breathe!')

My Dad and the tailor quarrelled in Hokkien, and they somehow could still sustain smiles amist the shouting. I praised the Lord for the smiling part, because there were European/American tourists passing by and from their looks I could tell they thought my Dad and the guy were best friends that were having such an exciting conversation. I just gave the poker face back at the tailor, then followed my Dad out of the stall before having a meal with him.

He then dropped me off at Suntec City for D.A.R.E., and as I walked into Tower 3/4 I sighed frightfully. For those who don't know, D.A.R.E. is the Youth Ministry of New Creation Church (the Church that owns the Rock Auditorium, which also owns the latest development at onenorth.). It stands for Dead And Resurrected Eagles, and quoting from the Church website they 'believe that we are called to rise up with wings as eagles, soaring high above the circumstances of life. We are no longer who we used to be because we are dead to our old nature through Christ’s death for us on the cross. Because of Jesus who gives us His resurrection life, our lives are characterised by strength and victory! We are therefore dead to sin and alive to God!'

In the 3 years I spent in New Creation Church, (Oh boy, flashbacks...) I knew that the Youth Ministry exsisted. It was just that, I was too shy to join. Too scared to join an environment I'd have no one there to introduce me to, even if God Himself was the one in charge. And with the fact that I graduated from the Children's Ministry back in City Mission's Fellowship before this, this left me to join the Main Service to see Pastor Prince himself preach the Word of God.

Then around the start of this year, I decided it was about time I spent my walk with Christ with a cell group to, 'cause the Joy of the Lord must be shared with fellow brothers and sisters of Christ. So I prayed for God to lead me somewhere, and soon enough God took me to Ben's Church at Beauty World Plaza and Tim's Church at Prinsep Street. With my shyness, I avoided trying out D.A.R.E., thinking that it was too hard for me to re-addapt on my own.

Through a verse, a few people who never knew my 'quest' and a song, God then prompted me to stay at Prinsep Church and also to join the Believers. I somehow became excited and immediately told Tim I was joining. I then did my best to heal from the culture shock and learn to addapt, later to learn that these things are best left for God to deal with.

Then the musical came, and rehersals at the Believers were taking the whole of my Sundays, so my Mom was telling me to change Church since Dad was already feeling very concerned. And Dad, being a non-believer, wouldn't understand how my relationship with God would help me. So I worked rather hard in the musical to make sure it was something that'll tell them that the time was well-spent.

It was also during this time where I got to know the Believers better (and in the process, learn a few names :P). I must say I've truely made a few friends, although at some points I thought I was being looked down at. Even Auntie Uli was a great comfort to talk to during these times, impressively blending God and reality such that there was no distinction between the two; The correct way we're suppose to live our lives!

On the opening night of the musical, Mom and Dad were there with Morriel to watch, and they were very amazed with what the Believers could do. While we were out for supper after the show was over, they admitted to me that they had always supported my decisions and where I wanted to go, but their only concern was if I could plan my time out wisely to siut my needs along with the needs of my commitments.

I knew very well they were sincere about their point, and was willing to take the chalendge on. Then I realised that the coming Saturday, the D.A.R.E. group was meeting at the Rock Auditorium for another get-together-and-know-the-Lord kinda thing. I somehow had to courage and eagerness to want to go, just this once. My Mom also asked me to go too, so I decided I might as well give it a shot.

And there I was, standing in front of the Rock Auditorium's doors, wondering why they were locked. I went to the Christian bookshop nextdoor and asked the counter if they knew where the service was. They told me to take the lift and go up to the 6th floor, of which with my prior experience I knew was the Overflow Level.

I went as instructed, and in the lift there were a few teenage girls talking about Christ so I knew I was in the right direction. The momment the doors opened at the 6th level, Christian Rock music blasted towards us, making me jump a little. I then saw that there was a crowd around the lobby due to a breakdance competition, so I tried to make my way though it to somewhere less dense.

While walking, I was suddenly tagged on by a stranger who asked if I was new to the place. I said yes, of which he told me his name (which I couldn't hear in the midth of girls cheering for their dancing mentors) and so he led me to the New Comers' Lounge. And lo and behold, I met two people in the lounge who I knew rather well.

David Hu and Zack Tan was (by the grace of God) there, and the momment I saw them I was greatly relieved with the comfort that there were people in D.A.R.E. who I knew. i then sub-registered myself to the club ('sub-' since I was already a member) and then they told me a rough guide to how things work around these parts.

We then went out of the lounge to join in the party, of which was about the same time the doors to the Overflow Room were open for us to enter for the service. I rushed into the room quickly before the crowd trampled over me, and found a spot with David and Zack somewhere near a stagelamp stand.

Once everyone was settled, it was apparently time for us to stand up and do a little dance. Instructors on stage thought us a few moves before letting us try it out, and I have to admit a lot of ice in my heart was broken at this point! We then did worship, where we sang a few songs from Hillsong. Unlike many Churches I've been to, even the middle-aged people would jump during the jumping parts of the songs and scream, "Woot! Woot!" whenever appropriate!

Man, the joy of the Lord was with them all, and with them all in ABUNDANCE!!! It felt so good to worship the Lord with such excitement and love! There was no opportunity for me to feel stiff and quiet, which I felt was a good thing as that's how God wants to celebrate with us!

After that, we had a sermon on Annointings, of which I feel was a long time since I had a sermon so deep and involving! Also unlike many Churches I've been to, the people listening to the sermons will shout out a great, "AMEN!" or "HALLELUJAH!" when they feel the revelation of the preacher's statements! And for one thing, everyone LAUGHS! It's not the stiff kind of setup wherewhen the preacher preaches, the floor must be silent. No, God wants you to shout with joy and raise His name when you see how He works in your life!

Pastor Daniel was very good in the preaching, and was a very funny guy, besides Pastor Prince! I felt ministered after the sermon (which was about how the annointing of the Lord will give you supernatural features), and sang more songs of praise with great joy and excitement! The leaders then gave olive oil annointing to us students for the upcoming exams, of which I felt God touch my heart when they prayed for me so I fell to the floor under His power! (Haha, pity rhe leader who had to catch me from behind... :P) IT WAS SHIOK!!!

When I got back up, along with the rest of the people, we prayed together as a body of Christ for our exams before moving on to the final batch of songs and the Offering. There were then the announcements before we were dismissed. The last announcement was about the Encounter Jesus 3 Camp, which was already fully booked but they still wanted to encourage more people to come.

Zac, David and I decided to sign u for the waiting list and see if God would like us to go as well. Now it's all up to him! We then walked our way down to the first floor to go our seperate ways. On the way, David asked me how long I've been in NCC (3 years!), of which after answering I asked him in return how long he's been in D.A.R.E.. He told me that he also hasn't been with the place for quite some time as well, and that he somehow ended up coming back on this particular day.

In my mind, I could map out a rough image on what God's plan was: The fact that He made David come only from this particular day. Maybe He heard the prayers of the Believers that they needed more cast for the musical, so you can say He answered them partially with me. And now He brings me back here to get closer with Him and learn more about Him!

It was a sweet thought! To think that God actually planned this out for all of us. Then I realised one thing: I've still made many great friends back at Prinsep. Some I'm still trying to remember their names, but nevertheless they were all very friendly. The laughters, the joys, the socialities. They were so kind!

And then I thought to myself again: Would they really miss me if I suddenly left? After all, I only joined Lighthouse and Believers for a couple of months or so. Lighthouse should be easy, since only a small cell group knows me. For Believers, I guess it might be easier since I'm only known as 'a guy who helped out in the musical'. Wouldn't be much change, right? Right?

After splitting up from David and Zack and making my way to the pick-up point to be fetched by Dad, I was 3/4 excited and happy after being touched by the Lord, and I somehow couldn't stop myself from smiling! But there was still this slight thought of confussion to which Church God wants me to join: One had all the relationships, the other had all the knowledge of God. I didn't know which to choose.

Soon enough, Dad's car came with the family inside, and I hopped into the back with my Mom. We then chatted about how the service went, and also about Encounter Jesus Camp 3 (Mom's also in NCC, so she knows what's going on around there a lot better than I do).

Once we arrived at Uncle Jo's house, we brought in the doughnuts and hat some small talk before having a tour around their renovated palace. Their dinning room was the best feature! Located beside the pool, it had a natural setting with a wide window facing the back garden and a landscape painting on one wall of a Mediteranian coast, complete with traditional wooden furnishing and minature African statues: an amazing place to eat your dinner at indeed!

I then went up to join Uncle Jo's children along with Morriel, of which we ended up watching the Asian premier of High School Musical 2. I must admit, the songs were rather catchy at certain points, and if at anytime the lyrics were inappropriate the melody is already good enough to hear! The dance steps this time were also very complicated, so I must say they put in a lot of effort in this one.

Not to reveil much, the plot circles around the wildcats having a part-time job at a hotel during the summer hollidays, of which ladidadidah happens and ladidadidah unfortunately results, but ladidadidah and everything resolves again and we're all happy again! But I thought the part about working part-time with friends during the holidays was a great idea! Spending time working together as friends would be cute!

But then again, barely any of my schoolmates would be interested in something like this: going to the great outdoors as pals and enjoying teamwork together. Sad thing, really. Sad thing.

I then joined the adults (since comparedto the kids, I was a whole lot older) and chatted along with them. I even had the honour from Uncle Jo to get a large glass of wine, even larger than what the others had! Mmm, red wine!

Soon, once the dinner was servered and the supper was delivered, we were contented and drousy. Ending off the conversations, the uncles and aunties bid each other goodbye before going to the road outside to collect their cars and head back home.

And now here I am today, revising Life Science for the upcoming exams between me andmy IB status! Lord be with me as I study (and as I try to find out which Church He wants me to join...)!

Isaiah 43:1-5!!! God bless y'all!!!

Project Megaspoof...

2007-09-11T20:34:00.000+08:00

Ladies and Gentleman, Boys and Girls! Presenting...

Project Megaspoof!!!

Dedicated to Joel, in memorance of his pains and troubles editing the History Project. Thanks goes to the original actors: Tim, Shil, Joel, JKit, Pete and Me! Most importantly, Glory Be To God!!! :D

For other news, today was a rather splendid day! Swimming was refreshing, L Sci was 'thrilling', ePOD was very social, ISO was calm, CL'B' was slightly less noizy and LangArts'A' was progressive!!! Praise the Lord! (btw, I drew the Lord onto the Homework Board today: har, har!) Also went downstairs to the new cafe by the pool with Yu Song, and had a few rounds of Billards! Made a couple of new friends to play against as well!

Man, God is good, all the time! And all the time, God is good!

Daniel 4:3!!! God bless y'all!!!
(P.S., post about Believers' Musical coming soon...)

Get down...

2007-09-07T12:08:00.000+08:00

1. where is your real dad right now?
Just left for work, dropping off Mom to work along the way.

2. name the last person you hung out with:
Hmm, the Believers', I guess.

3. name 5 things you did today:
Wake up, wash up, breakfast, holiday homework, chat on Msn. Should have asked during the later part of the day.

4. last person u text-msged?
My tution teacher, on post-poning my tution.

5. what kind of phone do u have?
Sony Ericson K610i (Thanks, Mom and Dad!)

6. what do u smell like?
Hmm... *sniffsniff*... Fragrance le Miguel?

7. what colour are your eyes?
Hazel! Mmm, hazelnut chocolate! Haha...

8. do u have a chair in your room?
Two, as a matter a fact. Need one?

9. what are u doing tmr?
Believers' Musical - 'Thief of Always'! :D

10. do u know someone named betsy?
Sorry, wrong number.

11. do u have a dog? breed? name?
Dog? I wanna cat! Say meow, y'all!

12. do u remember singing any songs as a kid?
Yep, the good ol' days when your voice box could reach almost any note within range of center C.

13. are u married?
Nope. Will reserve that for a decade or so from now.

14. do u play an instrument?
Recorder and piano: that's as far as I've learnt, and only a small number of songs each. But I'm interested in learning guitar or saxaphone!

15. do u like fire?
It has its funs here and there, I must admit. Like blowing a crater into the road of the carpark downstairs (Ooo, I'll remember that one for a long time...). But I'm still a water person! (Yay for ships!)

16. are u allergic to anything?
Used to be allergicto cement powder and and a certain species of grass. Now I'm healthy by the grace of God!

17. do u have a crush on anyone?
Not at the moment, no.

18. do u take science all 4 yrs of sch?
I'm still Sec 2, but yeah I'm still with the sciences. Having trouble with Life Sciences (Bio) though. :S

19. do u like butterflies?
They're beautiful for mostof the time, but I still love cats! Meow!

20. do u miss someone right now?
Yep, some people actually. Not badly, but more of just a momentary memory of the past. Good ol' 4C, I'll miss y'all. But hey, let's just look forward to another brand new day!

21. do u think they miss you too?
Some of them, maybe. If they could even remember me, at least.

22. ever seen your school counsellor?
Back in Nanyang, on a weekly basis. She and my mom were good friends, so whenever we met up during recess we'd have a small talk or so. Come to think of it, almost every teaching staff in my school knew my Mom. And why? Well, because they somehow each had a turn to be her partner during MOE teacher workshops, as I've heard. Even the principal knows her well. And that placed a little social pressure on me, but I guess I played the role of 'Mrs. Myra Lee's son' well enough.

23. have you ever wanted to be a teacher?
Nah, I've seen how stressed up Mom gets with her schedules and workload, and as much as I can handle stress relatively well, I think I'm not that suited with this kinda stress. And also seeing how students can hate teachers so badly, I'm not sure if I can endure that much hatriate. Being a teacher's son, I've seen what it looks like behind the staff room's doors and I must say I have a sense of respect for teachers. More specificly, the teachers that deserve the respect (I also agree that there are some teachers within the system that do not opperate well enough to deserve the status of 'teacher').

24. what is one thing u've learnt abt life?
God is good, all the time! And all the time, God is good!

25. what is your favourite colour??
Navy blue!!! *sailor salute*

26. is anyone jealous of u?
Not that I hear off. But if there's really anyone out there jealous of me, don't harm yourself. Jealousy destroys you deep inside; I've been through that and I'm thankful God saved me in the nick of time! If you wanna know how to get whatever I've got that you want, seek the Lord (He's got everything and more to spare of whatever He gave me, surely He'll give you the smae if you believe! :D)

27. what does ur mum call u?

Miggy (Most casual)
Miguelsito
Raemiguel
Raemiguel Lee Fusheng (Most dangerous)

28. what do your friends call u?
You wanna know? You really wanna know? Okay, you asked for it.
Here they are (in no specific order);

Raemiguel
Ramigel
Ruminigar
Raemichael
Michael
Miguel
Reami
Ream
Rae
Rae-man
Rae-sist
Ra
Mig
Migz
Migzter
Miggy
Mike
Fusheng
Fusion
French Captain
Doctor
Tall Sunshine Noodle
New Kid
Michael of Spades
Superman
Reignz
His Beloved
Mr. Bean
Gen. Yamashita
Lang. Arts Rep.
"The quiet muscular guy"
Submarine
Who-Lives-In-A-Pineapple-On-The-Ground
Sherlock
Pinky
Hashbrown
Commander
Boss In Black
Waiter

29. what does ur hair look like right now?
Frindge brushed towards the right?

30. has a friend ever used u?
Don't know. Probably. God bless him, anyway.

31. has anyone ever told u they liked u more than a friend?
As a matter a fact, yes. My mom and dad love me very much!
Seriously, as a matter a fact, yes.

32. what have u eaten today?
Breakfast, Lunch.

33. is your hair naturally curly or straight?
Straight. Rather annoying once it reaches a certain length.

34. who was the lst person u drove with?
Family, from East Coast Park.

35. the song u've been singing most to urself recently?
When You Come Home. Like I said, I still can't get myself to stop tearing when Auntie Uli sings it: *sniff* it's... it's so touching... *sobsob*...

36. what do u currently want right now?
Now? Hmm,
1. To see as many people as possible get saved before He returns.
2. To get over with the exams as soon and as sucessfully as possible.
3. To be able to sing Ancient of Days in the right octave.

37. are u hungry? what would u like?
Ham and Cheese Creepe!!!

38. what is ur current annoyance?
The renovation works just a couple of blocks away. :P

39. are u waiting for someone right now?
Yep. For the management to complain to the renovators. XP

40. name one thing ur looking forward to this week:
The Believers' Musical - 'Thief of Always'!

41. can u make friends easily?
Honestly speaking, it's not that comfirmed. I'm a rather shy person, and find it painfully hard just to even go up to people who I highly respect and say, "Hi! Wanna go down and have a bite?" And yet, I find myself being asked the same question, of which I ussually accept and end up making friends in the process. Makes me sometimes wonder why they want me to go eat with them in the first place.

42. what would u do if your friend turned gay?
I'd tell him what the Lord says. He chose your sex, so live up to it already. And if you think you can't cope, remember God never gives a situation too tough for you to handle.

43. do u plan out what u wear the day before u wear it?
Sometimes, depending on the occasion.

44. have u ever fell for ur best friend?
Greatly respect my best friend, absolutely. God always provides enough love for friendships.

45. if u had a chance to save someone significant to u, would u?
If the Lord permits, yes.

46. how many times do u eat each day?
On a school day:
Breakfast
Recess
Lunch
Post-Training
Dinner
Supper

On a non-school day:
Breakfast
Snack Minor
Lunch
Desert
Snack Major
Dinner
Supper

47. how do u cheer someone up?
I just do whatever God tells me. If He tells me the que, I tell the person the verse He wants me to tell him or her, or I tell the person I'd be praying for him/her and would try to show how the situation isn't so bad. If He says nothing, I say nothing.

48. is it easier for u to fall asleep or be woken?
Fall asleep. Unless you use my Mom to wake me up.

49. think of one person, stick with it, you dont have to say the name, would u pick him/her up alone 100miles away even if it was ur birthday?
I guess, since I don't really celebrate my birthday (exception being this year).

50. have your best friends ever hurt your feelings?
There were the times. But nevertheless, they're still my best friends.

51. give two reasons why u get distracted in class:
1. Topic is too complicated, so I end up daydreaming.
2. Classroom too cold, so I fall asleep.

52. do u think its funny when ppl get hurt?
Nope. Pain is, well, a painful thing. I don't want to be the cause of someone else's un-necesary pain, even if it's towards someone who wronged me.

53. if u had to guess, how do u think ur gonna turn out in life?
With my life in God's hands, I can never be certain. But if you're asking how I'd pray for it to be, it'd go something like this;

NS was comparatively easy, physically thanks to Canoeing and phycologically thanks to Prefects.

Graduated in a nice university with a couple of degrees or so.

Met the perfect girl, (Size honestly don't matter for me: she can be as fat as Jupiter and I'll still love her. I'll only be looking for the bubbly character inside! :D {One thing I won't tolerate for physical features, though, would be if she's extremely skinny. Anything thinner than a model and I have doubts on their thermal survival. }).

Got the job of actor! Heh, played a few good roles. Remembered in the press as the kind and God-fearing man starring mostly in comedies but sometimes in dramas.

Family life's good! Had three kids; a daughter and two sons. Spending time together's rather easy, and once a fortnight we'd visit the grandparents at a meal somewhere worth the time! Hopefully, Mom and Dad loved the new house Choppy and I bought for them!

Christian life is very rewarding as well! Gone out for many ministry camps, helps sponser for them too, and I guess God has used me in a powerful way here. For the other small details, I think I've helped out many friends in need, and so've they for me.

At the ripe age of 55, bought myself a yatch. When my grandchildren came around, I'd sail them along the coast and teach them the art of the boat, and time after time I'd tell them stories of the great adventures God gave me back in the days when I was their age.

Died in my bed, got cremated, attendance of my cremation unknown but hopefully a great number. My urn placed in my eldest offspring's home, in loving memory of me.

(How'zat sound?)

40 secrets abt yourself, be honest no matter what.
1. what is your natural hair colour?
Black.

2. where is your default picture taken?
Japan!

3. what's ur middle name?
If I had one, Serverino.

4. what colour do u hate most?
Safety Violet. Even Ultra Violet beats that colour.

5. does ur crush like u back?
I don't have a crush at this point, so let's leave the question to later on in due time...

6. what is your current mood?
Drousy-happy.

7. what colour do u like the most?
Erm, Navy Blue? Didn't I just say that?

8. what makes u most happy?
Seeing God work His miracles in my life again!

9. look at a poster in your room. who's on it?
Poster, poster, poster... Oops sorry no posters. Can photos count?

10. if u could go back in time and change something, what would u change?
I believe God made the right timings for the right intentions, so I wouldn't wanna change anything or my present state may never exsist. (Heh, blending God and science-fiction...)

11. if you must be an animal for one day, what would u be?
MEOW!!!! *nibbles tuna fish*

12. ever had a near death experience?
A couple or so, I guess. Freezing to close death. Boiling to close death. Almost falling of a cliff to close death. Yep.

13. something you do alot?
Breathe.

14. the song stuck in your head?
When You Come Home. Aunti Uli sings it the best! *teartear*

15. what is your desktop background?
A picture of an island. Very nice to look at.

16. what are you wearing?
Green shirt from Church of our Saviour, dark green pants I just recieved from my Dad (thanks!) and my trusted Watch.

17. when was the last time u cried?
Last musical rehersal, when Auntie Uli sang When You Come Home.

18 have u ever sang in front of a large audience?
Group, yep. Sang with the Children's group 'Who Will Love the Children', which made many parents cry. Solo, however, I guess nope.

19. if u could have one super power what would it be?
Flight!

20. what's the first thing u notice about the opposite sex?
Response to a new character.

21. what do u usually order from starbucks?
Hot Chocolate, followed by the cake with the most promising coat of chocolate.

22. what's your biggest secret?
Why should I tell you?

23. favourite colour?
*sigh* Nah.

24. isit sunny or raining?
Partially cloudy.

25. do u still watch kiddy movies or tv shows?
Define your boundaries of 'kiddy'.

26. what are u eating or drinking at the moment?
Water.

27. do u speak any other language?
Chinese and slight Tagalog.

28. what's ur favourite smell?
The smell of Char Kway Teow sizzling and ready for my consumption!

29. if u could describe your life in one word what would it be?
Faith.

30. when was the last time u received a hug?
When I helped Morriel fold an origami chair. Worth the trials.

31. have u ever kissed in the rain?
Yep, when I kissed my aunt goodbye before leaving for my flight back to Singapore from Manila.

32. what/who are u thinking about right now?
AB=(2x+6)

33. what should you be doing?
Remaining homework.

34. what was the last thing that made u upset/angry?
Me messing up at the rehersals. I have every right to feel shy now.

35. how often do u laugh?
As often as I can, I guess.

36. do u like slacking in the yard?
No time. Still got work to do.

37. if u could have any last name in the world, what would u want?
Leonard.

38. do u act differently around ur crush/significant other?
Yeah, I guess.

39. name one song that reminds you of an ex?
How To Save a Life.

40. who was the last person to make you cry?
Auntie Uil. How many more times must I say this?

When You Come Home...

2007-09-05T18:39:00.000+08:00

Hey y'all!

Sorry about the mega-lag of posts. Was going through some spiritual warfare and had some things to settle in my walk with Christ. But I think I'm better now! Praise the Lord! Now my only worries at the momment would be a) finishing my holliday homework and b) doing the best I can to addapt to the Believers. But hey, with Christ in me ALL THINGS are possible!!!

Man, I've got LOTS to post about, like a couple of funny things God showed me, my times with the Believers, some mishaps at Canoeing, maybe a sad case within the point10ers, AND LOTS MORE!!! But since exams are around the corner (5 weeks is already counted as 'around the corner' at this age...), I can't promise that this blog would opperate properly just yet. In fact, I could predict another Hibernation Period coming soon. Yep, this thing's sure deter-rotating. [For those who don't get the joke, come to the upcoming Believers' musical - 'Thief of Always'! It'll be this Saturday and Sunday (8th and 9th September) at 7.45p.m. and 4.30p.m. respectively! Venue is Paya Lebar Methodist Girls' Secondary School (296 Lorong Ah Soo)'s Concert Hall, for those girl-minded people out there, and for those typical glop-till-you-drop Singaporeans, do come early as dinner WILL be provided! So come on down and get ministered by this touching drama this Sat or Sun (or both!) to watch Tim dance and me act like a waiter in a French Restaraunt! (I smell YouTube!...)]

So anyway, to make up for the missing posts (which I will somehpw try to get posted), here's a picture I drew up for you all:

Haggai 2:5!!! God bless y'all!!! Nite!!!

What reputation....

2007-08-14T21:29:00.000+08:00

Ghah!

*sigh*, Raam B., for the last time NO we're NOT reviving the Detectives' Case! No one is interested and almost everyone has played a villan already, so there's more or less no point to it. Just leave it to the past and concider it a treasured memory once and for all, I say.

Apparently, Raam was going around blogs like Tim's and mine under the name of 'Nobody' and posted a few odd-structured sentences in the cBoxes. For Tim, he had;

13 Aug 07, 21:07nobody: oh yah found ah kong's blog
13 Aug 07, 21:07nobody: any1 wanna kno ask me this old ah ah
13 Aug 07, 21:08nobody: not realllly old tho13 Aug 07, 21:08nobody: but rather at an age similar to those who post as thy lamenting song of the sea (or of thy girlfriend)
13 Aug 07, 21:09nobody: does thee has 1? referring to lament master goh timothy?13 Aug 07, 21:14nobody: aaaahh tim i thot u didnt have any, d= so how could u guys have wacked part Cs with ur ball???xdld)::()

And for me, I had;

13 Aug 07, 20:59nobody: this is nobody here. nobody is sending this message in Leemiguel Raefusheng's message cbox. This is nobody here reading these blog posts. This is nobody here doing nothing.

I wasn't online last night, so I only found out about this this morning during P.E.. Tim was telling me he suspected it to be one of the Detectives due to the way the messages were typed out. And true enough, the common guess of Raam was right. I don't know if this was part of a plan to revive the Detectives, but NO NO NO we are NOT starting up again, and that's that. (Hmm, maybe I should post about the Detectives one of these days...)

*sigh*

Anyway, on with the post. I've been having doubts on myself, so I shall just type it out like a journal to relieve a bit of the stress. Please don't mind philosophical text.

Recess
I've come to discover why I go through sudden emotional changes during Recess, why I could have sworn I felt happy a minute ago, but at another momment during the Recess period I can suddenly feel somewhat sad. It's because of culture shock.

For the first half of Recess, I'd ussually make my way down to the canteen to buy myself a snack to last me for another quarter of a day. It's during this time that, after buying my food, I get a chance to go sit around with friends and classmates at a table and chat with them. Or even if I can't get involved in the topic because of no prior background knowledge of the subject, I can still rest in the thought that I am welcome to listen and see if my pinion can have a stand the moment I know a particular aspect in the conversation.

In other words, this is the only time in Recess where I can socialize with my schoolmates. Take a seat. Chill out. Have a talk or so. Invite more people so as to raise the variety of the chat. A few laughts here, a few points there. Overall, a nice social conversation to relax with, to show that you still have good friends indeed.

Then once I finish my food, I slowly place the plate back in the collection bucket, or crumble the paperbag into the bin, and make my way back to class. As I walk back, I may meet up with more friends and we'd probably tell each other a few comments on current affairs like training and duty schedules or how life's been to us. If there's no one, then I'd just smile to God and thank Him for the satisfying chat I've had in the SAC.

Then comes the sad part. The moment I step into my classroom, I here the shouts of people engrossed in their computer gaming in their PCs, telling each other how impressive the other's moves were and how their moves could have actually been better. Time after time, I hear opposite corners of the class reminding the main party their reservations for their next game. Time after time, I hear the screams of harshly-defeated gamers that regreted giving their opponents that tiny chance that meant their own downfall. Time after time, I even hear mini-fights which spark off due to these disaterous dissapointments.

And how do I join the club? Well, basically put, I don't. Or at least I can't.
True, it's partially because of how, as a prefect, I follow the rules. And yeah, it's also partially because I don't want to jam up my computer with all those space requirements. But take note when I said partially.

My main reason is more of my incapabilities with computer games. For one thing, I never got use to games that required me to press a series of keys to unleash a special force a number of times within a limited time frame, ussually limited because the opponent is also attacking you. I ussually find myself whacking the keys/joystick buttons randomly in great despair and hope that I could survive under the grace of God, and half the time it works for me.

Then there's also the fact that games get more and more complicated as time passes. Even though it's been about four years since I've started playing Worms, I only have the trial version. Eeryone else has the full version, some even with the 3-D version, and so they've got more experience on new weapons and features I never heard of. In the end, I'd still be averaged out as a person with no experience of the game and tossed aside.

Rise of Nations? Bah, everyone's taling about Command and Conquer II already. No point going around saying, "I play Rise of Nations!" when everyone else has something even more advance.
And how about the point that I still have this 'side-effect' with playing computer games.

Basically, once I finish paying a very complex computer game after a few hours or so and leave the screen, I feel rather dizzy and sometimes loose my grip on the meaning of life at times. As in, life suddenly looses its meaning and I seem to loose track of where it started or left off. I just loose direction until my mind regains contienceness within an hour or less, most of the time sped up if I quickly read my Bible. This effect doesn't really happen for simple games like Solitare or Pinball or even Diamonds; it happens more on games which are, well, 'complex' - Rise of Nations and anything beyond, as far as I've tested.

Now, obviously I can't spend hours on a computer game during a minaturely-compared recess, but for the situation in school there are a couple of problems I'd still face. One, well, there IS no Bible in the classroom, and unless there's a signifigant important reason I don't think I want to risk bringing my Bible to a class terrain. Two, I mentioned that it takes an hour or less for the 'life-is-meaningless' mindspell to wear off. And how long is recess? 40 minutes. Take away the half I use in the SAC, and we get 20 minutes. Take away the time that will be spent to play the game, and we'll be left with, well, nothing.

No time for me to ease my head before the next lesson starts. I may loose my optimism. And it's my optimism that keeps me working through the lesson. No optimism, probably no survival. Christ IS my optimism, and I think I'll keep Him in my mind as constantly as possible, especially during school hours when I need it well.

Don't get me wrong at that point: school isn't miserable to an extent that I'm struggling to strain out the joys in it. In fact, I think it would be if I introduced computer gaming to become a part of recess life. It would make things harder for me to cope in my studies, so I thinkit's best if I never try starting.

So all that was said in the last 8 paragraphs could be sumarised to one simple stand: I can't and won't play majorly complex computer games during class. And wha does this result to? Me having to stay in a restricted solitude of muteness, while the rest of the class carries on staying 'busy' on their tablets. Solitude that I can only spend on homework and (when I don't have anymore homework by memory) draw things on the Homework Board.

It's here where teachers miss the phinomenon where pictures 'miraculously' appear on the Homework Board to astound their eyes, changing their themes once every week. The one of the Kraken. A couple about Castles. Another couple about Ships. And even another about the Class Flag I composed a couple of weeks ago, which apparently Chairman Tim finds high interest in and demands the creation of more flags for the different clans of the class, something I'll get to once I can switch off the 'Philosophy' in my typing.

Yes, all of those pictures that ended up on the board were there because of me. Or more accurately, because of my loneliness. People drop by once in a while to critic, providing comments from how accurate my art is to how I can improve on some details to even what I can add or erase to make it more interesting.

True, it's those moments when I can talk to someone, and maybe from there spark another conversation that involves other topics, and maybe from there invite more people to join in and increase the fun in the chat, and maybe from there we even go so engrossed in the conversation we end up singing to the tune of 'We're All In This Together', which for some reason is playing in the background.

(*walks to Living room* "Morriel, turn it down!" *walks back to computer*)

Now, where were we? Ah, right. Yes, my actions of drawing on the Homework Board may result to an easier and more enjoyable recess that doesn't involve the misery of watching others play Marvel vs. Capcom while I stand there thinking hard for the next theme to put up. But I promise you, that is NOT my main intention for doing so.

I guess this period of silence is good for me - I can reflect on what I've done in the past few hours or so, I can finish up on work before hand, I can sit down and spend time with those who don't feel like gaming for reasons more emotional than practical, I can practice my drawing skills in hopes that I can start drawing comics again like how I tried back in Nanyang, I can even rest along side the window and draw its curtains to see the sunlight streaming through and praise the Lord within the silence for the fact that He'll always accompany me wherever I go, and will 'never leave you nor forsake you'!

I can't change others' lifestyles just so that mine feels a lot more comfortable. That would just be concidered a non-socialized decission, which would then be a greed, which would then be a sin, which would then circle around to mean one thing: I didn't trust God.

Well, overall I'll say I trust Him with my heart. And I'll also say I trust Him in how he handles my heart. And that, in my terms, would include a comfortable recess worth having before begining another half of the school hours. Besides, the drawing tips are coming really handy! Yay for drawing! :P

I guess all I can do is cherish those moments in the SAC, and after that walk back up to class, upright and dignified, with the mindset that everyday's a gift from God, even if it means you wouldn't spend it with others you really feel like spending it with. Maybe God's got something for them, and it doesn't rquire me as of the time being. I shouldnt interfier with His plans, for they're the best of the best of the best of plans. (For those who haven't believed, you have NO idea how awesome these plans have been to many Christians around the world and time...)

Or maybe it's because God wants me to pay more attention to someone else in the classroom, maybe someone sitting at the back corner of the room, sitting by his desk head in arms and waiting for God to help him out in a problem. I'll never know, or at least until God tells me so since He always instructs in many ways pre-hand.

Whatever the case, I'll always be thankful that Christ is still there beside me and is still listening to anything I'm concerned about in His plans. He's probably preparing a way to prove me wrong that my recess always have to be half-gloomy right this very moment!

Lunch
Say, it's during these second-halves of recesses which I wonder why people would actually want to friend me so much that I even end up being asked day after day wether I could go for lunch with them. I have a rough idea how God's changed me so much that I've become a good friend to others. I'm friendly, flexible and willing to go the extra mile for the satisfaction of pure intentions. But what is it from these that make me so, well, 'friend-attatching'? I know it's got something to do with my friendliness, but what exactly, I do not know.

[End of ePOM (Yes, for once this really IS an Extended Essay.)]

Well, to think it takes so many paragraphs just to write 'Recess' and only a couple for 'Lunch'. Very ironic, indeed.

Now on with archiving. For yesterday, painting in Art was cool, as I've leart how to paint shading! (Yay, art!) Kept singing the theme song of Pinky and the Brain with Tim and ZWei 'cause either Shil, Raam or ZRong made a special shade of pink. The singing annoyed ZRong to extents, let's just say. Raam was certainly playing around with the rest of the colours, I remember, and so he ended up with an entire tray of brown, of which the rest of us almost sang the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory theme song (chocolatey goodness, mmm...).

It was also around this time when my picture of the Flag of the Dan Empire was drawn onto the Homework Board for display as written somewhere above. Tim asked what the different elements in the flag meant, but another class started before I could say anything. Well, I never did write an explaination about the flag, so here's my say;

The White Cross: 1)Unity within all corners of the classroom. 2)The Roman Numeral of '10'
The Red Thirds: 1)Distinctly different variety in student population despite unison. 2) We're on the Red Level.
The Green Third: 1)Peace within the heart of the class. 2)Path for the snake [see Red Snake].
The Red Snake: 1)Read Genisis 49:16-17, and it says that the tribe of Dan 'will be a ruler for His people' and that 'Dan will be a snake at the side of the road, a poisonous snake beside the path, that strikes at the horse's heel, so that the rider is thrown off backwards'. 2)It faces upwards to show the class' progression towards a better class environment and our strive for the best.

Hopefully, that answers the questions. Tim also asked for another two side flags to be drawn at the sides of the flag. Hmm, I'll take it the two flags would be the Royal Standard and the flag of whichever cluster in the class is the greatest. Will see...

For today, PE was a fun round of Tennis, besides the 'Nobody' investigation. Paired with ZWei, but eventually had to move to the grouping of Shil, Raam and ZRong. Half-way through the game, I helped Shil with his NAPHA on Sit-ups, of which he gave up on because he was shagged from the Tennis, especially one with Raam and ZRong (because you always had to run an extra mile to catch the misguided ball). Had a practical test later in the Life Science Lab with Justin, and I guess things went pretty smooth (good job, Justin!).

Also had a rough estimate of how Mr. Ang found my group's documentary after hearing his splitting comments. Hopefully they were accurate enough, my predictions I mean. ISO was good since the new mentor was giving me more tips on how to improve my presentation, although he said it that there was nothing he found bad about it - it's only that it can do a lot better, that's all. For Maths, we wer told to do a lesson plan on Trigonometry, which got me praying 'cause I, along with a large portion of the class, had no head or tail on the topic. And glory be to God that Tim, the guy who kept complaining that his tution centre gives him 500-odd questions of Trig for homework, nudged my leg and asked me to be his partner! Praise the Lord XD!

Training is still standardly confidential, but let's just say that Kenneth and I have improved in our strokes! We're still crossing our arms, but at least our catch is more or less balanced! Now to work on co-ordination...

That's about it for now. If it'll thrill, the first person to tell me how many times I said 'time after time' gets a sweet from me XP! Mark 13:11! God bless y'all!!!

Paul, Timothy, and who?...

2007-08-12T22:19:00.000+08:00

Continuing from the last post, I ate an early breakfast at 4, then fell asleep again. x_x*

Woke up again at 8.15, slightly dissapointed that I wouldn't be able to make it for the Main Service today. At least there's still Lighthouse and Believers! So I ate a second round of breakfast, then took a bath before hitching a ride with Mom to Bras Basah Road.

We left the place at around 9.30, so reaching Bugis would mean... 10ish?

As I walked to Prinsep Presbyterian Church, I prayed that God would teach me something special today in whatever that would happen in Church. Let's just say I still had a little doubt to satisfy for joining PLH.

On the way, I felt rather thirsty and remembered that the last time I drank water was about 7 or more hours ago. So checking that I still had enough cash, I droped by at a nearby 7-Eleven to buy a drink.

In my wallet, I had a 2-dollar, a 5-dollar and a couple of 10-dollar notes. Making sure I had enough for offering and lunch, I looked around to see what I could buy with the 2-dollar note. I finally found a bottle of Jasmine Green Tea ($1.70)and brought it to the counter to pay.

At the counter, the Malay lady attending the stall said that they're selling those kind of drinks at an offer of an extra bottle for another 20 cents. She adviced me to take the offer, and despite my concience about not knowing if drinks were allowed int he halls of PLH or not, I took it up.

Packing the two bottles of Green Tea into my slingbag, which was a lot more than I expected rom just $2 at a 7-Eleven stall, God then told me, "Today, I'll be teaching about My grace in prosperity and peace! Get ready!..." (As if learnt in my walk with Christ, this is suppos to be one of those momments when I get excited 'cause I know something interesting's gonna happen soon!)

Once at Prinsep Church, I went to the Library to relax and wait for the Main Service to end and for Lighthouse to begin. While waiting, I decided to do the Bible workbook which they gave out. (Man, it's been a long time since I've seen these kind of books. About as long as the last time I've been in my previous cell group...)

The topic we've last left off was about the 'Conditions of Prayer' and 'For Whom Do You Pray?'. And what other ways can you ask for prosperity and peace than through the words of prayer?! I read along and saw the questions that went by, and was impressed by the way they organized their facts.

For example, Question 7) asks, "What conditions of prayer do you find in the following verses? - Psalm 66:18, Matthew 21:22, John 15:7, John 16:24, 1 John 5:14-15" Lets look at the verses now, shall we...

Psalm 66:18

18If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened;

Matthew 21:22

22If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

John 15:7

7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.

John 16:24

24Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.

1 John 5:4-15

14This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

It was interesting how many details I saw with the book, but when I was finished with the topics covered for today, I kept my book back in my bag and got out my MP3 to listen to for the remaining time. And just as I looked back up, Tim's sister was just right infront of me!

At first, I didn't recognise her so I didn't respond when she kept staring at me. Then she said a soft, "Hi!", of which my memory was jolted back and so I said, "Hi!" back to her again. We then chatted for a while and looked around at other books and sceneries before she ended the conversation and I sat back in my chair to listen to more MP3 tunes.

Soon, I notice that the crowd was increasing outside the Library, so I assumed that the Main Servie was over. Tim's dad came into the room and attended to Tim's sis, who pointed at me and introduced the both of us again. We then had a short chat about Tim's mom and the History Project I did with Tim, before I told them I had to go for Lighthouse, of which TIm's dad pardoned me off.

And coincidentally, the momment I turned around to get to the door, Tim popped out. For a momment, I felt like those oldies' scenes when the cops confine a criminal with their cars and shout out, "Alright, Mugsy! Surrender now - We've surround'd the house! Put'cha hands up in the name of 'eh law!"

I gave the ussual short salute as he walked in and met ith his dad and sis. I then walked out of the room, keping close to Tim so I knew what was going on for now. As we went up to Lighthouse, along with other PLHers like Zeik and friends, I admitted to Tim that I woke up extremely early this morning so I might be drousy for the latter half of the day.

And at the same time, Tim handed over the notes for today's sermon in the Main Service. What shocked me the most was that the Opening Song was none other than Ancient of Days! For a little introduction, Ancient of Days had played a great role in motivating me through my first year in ACS(Independent) and as such I highly reguard and like that song.

And it was played in the service I missed! My stomach sank, along with my heart if it had wanted to join in. But I told myself God might not have wanted me to come for a reason anyway, so the guilt of not being able to attend passed off.

For Lighthouse, we sang songs (as ussual), welcomed each other (I always have a hard time in this one, but I know I'll have to go through this one time or another. Now, how many times did I tell myself, "It's just a handshake, stay cool..."?), did worship, then dismissed to cell classes.

At around this time, we also found that Kirby's now with Han Jie's Church. Well, good thing he's found a place to settle down at! As long asthe Grace of Christ is taught there, it should be fine for him...

Anyway, we had loads of fun back in class, and jokes were shared here and there at good timings. I'm apparently titled now as the Migtionary in this class with my assumably greater knowledge in vocabulary and Biblical references. Especially when I saved everyone from doing homework by answering A.J. that the word 'hallowed' means 'sanctify'.

Then sometime later, we came to the topic of a meet-the-parents session later in the year and who's parents A.J. knows already. He claimed that he has met all of our parents, of which Zeik rebutted with the two new Chinese-educated guys that have just joined us and me.

"Well," he said, after stating that he's even met the moms of the two boys, "I don't need to meet with Miguel's mom - he's already ived up to his name."

Tim turned and asked, "What does 'Miguel' mean, anyway?"

"Michael means 'Who is like God?'", I responded softly, turning back to A.J. when he continued proceeding through the book.

Soon, we had to be dismissed and Tim and I went down to check when we had to return for Believers. While Tim was asking, Zeik asked me why I keep following Tim around most of the time. Tim then told him I was also joining Believers, of which Zeik emphasized, "He can sing?!"

I was a little wobbled, since I was still stuck in my 'lower-than-what-the-piano-can-play' situation. But then we soon ended the conversation, and Tim and I went to an Ah Mei's nearby to eat fried rice, then headed back. We took the elevator, with Tim commenting that we "Dunnid to burn calories, lor."

Once upstairs, told us to go to Sim Lim Square to buy CDs to burn the music for the musical, so we had to go down again, of which I told Tim back that we "nid to burn calories after all."

After searching around a couple of storeys of Sim Lm Square in search for CDs, we found a good shop and bought the stack of disks before heading back to Church, commenting on the History Movie along the way.

For Believers, I tried singing some of the songs, but could clearly see the frame which my voice was limited to so far. Going low was no problem for me (I can go about 3-4 ctaves low, as I was to find out later...), but it's the high notes I need to practice on (Can't even hit the plain C).

After some singing, we then practiced on the dance steps. Time after time, there would be food breaks, of which Tim would go to the back to shake me up and try to teach me the names of the Believers. I had a rough idea of who's who, but most likely I'll be forgetting again. It'll take me some time before I remember them all anyway, so no rush I guess.

On one of the breaks, Tim looked at the piano score of Go Light Your World and saw how low the bass hand had to play. Qurious, he decided to play the note and see if I could swoop low enough to sing it. It was a D note about 4 octaves under the middle C, and I reached i flat on the note!

Yay! For once, I saw where I was special in singing! For now, I can reach notes very low, somewhat beyond the grasps of Tanners, and so even I have notes only people like me can touch! But then Tim played The Phantom of the Opera on the same octave, and I was scared in a split-second.

In my mind, I was like 'Hey! Tryin' to emphasize sumthin, punk?' kinda surprized. For one thing, I take it that that was the correct octave to play The Phantom of the Opera. That means that songs that I can uniquely blend in would be... opera?

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!

NO!!! I do NOT want to join OPERA!!! I mean, with my greatest for some of the greatest scores in the Romance Era, I'll feel and look creepy for an opera singer...

Back to rehersals, there was more dancing, more breaks, more dancing, more break, even more dancing, even more breaks, and soon we called it a day. Aunty Lisa (I hope I got this right) asked us to form into groups of 4 so we could each 'hallow' our efforts for today. For once, I managed to pray for the team(!). God bless us and our musical!

The singers were then dismissed, but TIm and I decided to stay back a little longer to watch the drama rehersals. I caught a glimpse of the script, and also of the play as it was acted out, but soon we had to leave since Tim's parents needed him back by theshold-hour.

It's interesting how everyone in the hall, whether rehearsing or just resting, was friendly enogh to wave goodbye to us as we walked out! Yeah, this place sure is friendly. Split off from Tim at the first light-junction, since I found that Douby Gouht (Is that how you spell it?) and the 700 was just the same distance from the place, but in the wrong direction.

Once at home, ate bee hoon dinner with mooncake and watermelon supper. Never had something so traditional in a long time.

Well, better do that piece of work Mr. Tay assigned me with. The cover page for the GEP 2008 booklet is at hand!... (I need help: What's the first image that comes to your mind when you hear the word 'Stereotypes'?)

Oh, and if you're interested in wathing the musical, Thief of Always, 8th & 9th September (Sat & Sun), 7.45pm & 4.30pm resectively, Paya Lebar Methodist Girls' Secondary School (PLMGSS) Concert Hall, BY ALL MEANS ask me or TIm or any of the Believers/PLHers with brouchers and invitations! I've seen it bit by bit, and I garuntee a night to remember!

Matthew 21:22! God bless y'all!

Overtime...

2007-08-12T02:24:00.000+08:00

Ghah, I think I slept way too early yesterday. Even missed dinner. Well, that's time.

Anyway, yesterday didn't really have much either except that we finally found Derek's missing paddle in a neighbouring shed (which also resulted to the team's '10' push-ups) and that I went to JKit's house for the first time for the Geography project on the movie review on An Inconvenient Truth.

Somewhere deep in the heart of Holland Village, the home was a typical HDB set-up complete with modernzed furnishing. When I got there, I greeted his parents and grandparent before proceeding to what I took was the Study Room, while he went to his room to change into something light.

We then watched the movie through his computer, after which we started researching with his laptop and writing the main draft of the review on mine. Time after time, we also ended up looking at blogs and random websites (wait, demotivate.com?) whenever we needed a break. I also had the chance to see his NCC (Sea) No. 1 uniform(!).

Once we were roughly done, I was escorted out of the house, of which I was told to pretend that I didn't know the way back to the bus stop(I guess this had an obvious reason). JKit and I strolled down Holland Village again, passing by a few shops and dropping by a 7-Eleven for a light snack. Once we reached the bus-stop, the 75 came just a couple of minues later. Talk about accuracy.

Once at home, the only thing I can remember now is that I took out my Bible and ended up reading Acts 9-10. Chapter 9 was about how Saul was converted from a brutal christian-hunter to a preacher so convincing that even the Jews couldn't answer him back.

1Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest 2and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"

5"Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked.

"I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. 6"Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."

7The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.

10In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, "Ananias!"

"Yes, Lord," he answered.

11The Lord told him, "Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight."

13"Lord," Ananias answered, "I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. 14And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name."

15But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. 16I will show him how much he must suffer for my name."

17Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit." 18Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. 20At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. 21All those who heard him were astonished and asked, "Isn't he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn't he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?" 22Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.

23After many days had gone by, the Jews conspired to kill him, 24but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. 25But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.

26When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. 27But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. 28So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. 29He talked and debated with the Grecian Jews, but they tried to kill him. 30When the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

31Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord.

32As Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit the saints in Lydda. 33There he found a man named Aeneas, a paralytic who had been bedridden for eight years. 34"Aeneas," Peter said to him, "Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and take care of your mat." Immediately Aeneas got up.

35All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.
36In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which, when translated, is Dorcas), who was always doing good and helping the poor. 37About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. 38Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, "Please come at once!"

39Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.

40Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, "Tabitha, get up." She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. 41He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called the believers and the widows and presented her to them alive. 42This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord. 43Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.

Chapter 10 was about Peter and the vision of the carpet of ritually unclean foods, and how we shouldn't concider other people 'unclean' when God Himself sacrificed His Son to make us ALL 'squeaky clean'.

1At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. 2He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. 3One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, "Cornelius!"

4Cornelius stared at him in fear. "What is it, Lord?" he asked.

The angel answered, "Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.

5Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. 6He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea."

7When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants. 8He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa.

9About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air.

13Then a voice told him, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat."

14"Surely not, Lord!" Peter replied. "I have never eaten anything impure or unclean."

15The voice spoke to him a second time, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean."

16This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.

17While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon's house was and stopped at the gate. 18They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there.

19While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Simon, three men are looking for you. 20So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them."

21Peter went down and said to the men, "I'm the one you're looking for. Why have you come?"

22The men replied, "We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to have you come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say." 23Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests.

The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa went along. 24The following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. 26But Peter made him get up.

"Stand up," he said, "I am only a man myself."

27Talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. 28He said to them: "You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean. 29So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?"

30Cornelius answered: "Four days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me 31and said, 'Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor. 32Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, who lives by the sea.' 33So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us."

34Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right. 36You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. 37You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— 38how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.

39"We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree, 40but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. 41He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 43All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."

44While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. 46For they heard them speaking in tongues

and praising God.

Then Peter said, 47"Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have." 48So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.

Comes to show that just because a particular situation or person doesn't seem related to Christ, doesn't mean that that situation or person isn't in tune with God's great plans!

Then I somehow woke up and saw that it was still 2.30 in the morning. But since I already slept for 7 hours, I decided I might as well just post this post. Better get ready for Lighthouse now...

Haggai 2:9! God bless y'all!

National Pressure...

2007-08-10T23:02:00.000+08:00

Nothing much to report today. Might as well just drag the celebrations of NDP a little longer...

Isaiah 40:27-31! God bless y'all!

42 years of Red and White...

2007-08-09T14:13:00.000+08:00

Singapore. The City of Possibilities.

Heh, this country's moving strong these days. Yeah, it may have some bad points, but that's out-numbered by many other good qualities. It's tropical, beaches surround the country, global cuisine is just about $3 away, every 5 meters on average has a tree, finding races speaking other languages is the norm and everyone can say he can drive around the coast of the island within an hour.

And there's more. But writing all that would end me up in the risk of being sued by travel journalists.

Anyway, Happy Blessed National Day, Singapore! May God bless us all like how he's been doing for over 4 decades!

Well, better go join my family to mingle around or something. Remember, grace is unearned and undeserved favour. So if you feel like you've failed in life and don't deserve any relations with God or anyone or anything at all, be happy that you now fall under the criteria of someone who needs grace, something God will come to give you as you believe! (Hey, I should type more about it some time...)

Galatians 2:19-20! God bless y'all!

You tell me...

2007-08-08T12:50:00.001+08:00

Today was the OneACS National Day Celebration.

When I got there at Queenstown Stadium, I searched t=for the rest of the prefects, which I found at the canteen. We then had a short briefing on our duties before being led out to the field. My duty today would be 'Miselaneous', basically being that I do whatever I'm told by the teachers in-charge of us, for this case Ms Goon and Mr. Bongard.

Walking down the steps of the stadium, I saw all the many different uniform groups in their uniforms and props, and it looked cool. On ground level, I walked past ACS (Independent)'s cluster of students, and found Tim, Matthew, JKit and Raam. I tried to force myself to say a "Hi" or something, but I was somewhat so amazed at the uniforms that all I could do was just wave without even smiling.

We then went to the opposite end of the stadium, where we met up with Mr. Bongard and a few Student Councilors from ACJC. The councilors then taught those who were having cheering duty a few new cheers. Man, their version of Dynamite is a lot cooler than ours.

I, along with the other Miselaneous people, were then told to protect the back gate of the stadium, making sure non-ACS people don't enter and ACS student don't exit. We did it in half-hour shifts, and I was one of the people on the first shift. And coincidentally, the marching started half-way in my shift.

Thankfully, I was still able to watch the marching from where I was. But it wasn't as grand as how it'd have looked like from the breachers. One thing that facinates me about marching is how different groups of people can come from different directions and somehow end up at a standardised position by the end of the music. Ah, well.

Then there was the waiting of the GOHs and the speeches, which took up one and a half shifts. By the time it was the March-Past, I was seated down on the track eager to watch what was going to happen. And so the music started playing, and the March-Past was on the road...

As I watched the contingents march by, I had a sinking feeling in my guts. I knew it was because I was so awed on the systemacy of the whole thing that I thought to myself how cool it was to wear one of those uniforms and say I did something important in them.

As they marched off the tracks, they slowly loosened up and became more mobile again. Soon, troops of white and black were taking off their caps and running for their bags that were in piles beside the back gate. Yeah, it really does look cool, even when you're easing off.

I watched them as they left for the buses at the back of the stadium, around the same time I took on my shift again. Protecting the gate, I looked back time after time to see friends from the different UYOs. Tim and Matt were looking sharp with their riffles for NCC (Land), JKit and Raam were bright in their white attire for NCC (Sea), and even Faraaz looked neat in an NPCC (Sea) uniform, along with Sanjev and ZWei.

And what do I wear? Berms and a white shirt saying we're 'Igniting the ACS Spirit'. If I was told to wear a blazer, at least I could tell myself I was still wearing a suit. But compared to the UYOs, I was just in civilian clothes. I felt deprived. I felt naked. I felt... I felt...

Yes. That was exactly how I felt. Couldn't draw so better myself. But soon my shift as over so I had to report back to the breachers, thus I departed from the misery of watching my uniformed friends.

For the next hour or so, I watched the games that carried on for the OneACS thing. Being positioned on the opposite side of the stadium, I didn't really get a good view of what was going on, let alone know what was going on. But soon after the hours ticked by, prize presentation was quick gone, and we were all dismissed school by school.

By this time, all the UYOs had already dissapeared. I walked my way to Queenstown MRT Station, where I took a train to Dover and caught a 74 to Clementi to change to a 75 or 184. And it just so happens that when I reached Clementi, Joel and Kirby were on the next bus!

They then told me about the documentary preview in class. They mentioned details like how we were going to be pinalised for typos in the subtitles, that the class clapped when I slammed the table, that Mr. Ang laughed many times through the film and even that Toj whistled when he saw me naked in a blooper. And when the bus came, Kirby was still there to tell me rough details on how things went.

That cheered me up a lot, I guess. Well, I better brush up on my ISO Report now while I still can. John 2:13-22! God bless y'all!

No, I Wasn't...

2007-08-08T00:01:00.000+08:00

No fair.

They all had a chance to run cross-country and excert their strengths, and what do I do? Duty.

And even worse, I get blamed for being a slacker.

The first four sentence circulated my head as I left Turf City after Cross-Country Run today to go eat at a MacDonalds before leaving for training at MacRitchie. But let's just say God was able to thrill me back to my happy mood after the lunch. (God, You never fail to amuse me...)

Now on with what happened today, from the top. Starts with me sucessfully waking up at 5.30! After weks of oversleeping, I finally got myself to wake up early with the help of an annoying alarm clock! But sadly, the momment I switched off the alarm, I woke up to realise I knocked off the momment I switch off the alarm. And when I checked my watch, I found out it was already 5.55!

And I needed to reach Turf City for Prefect Duty at 6.30! And to get there in time, I needed to leave at 6! Alarmed altogether (har, har...), I rushed out of my room to eat a quik breakfast. My Mom then got out of her room, all ready to send me to the venue, only to find me still dunking a chocolate sandwitch in a cup of Horlicks.

She then told me I was really stretching myself too far, of which I responded by gulping down the remainder of Horlicks and rushing to my room to gert changed into my co-operate T-shirt. There were no lessons but training today, so I didn't have to pack much of a bag except a small one for my water bottle. For training attire, I just did the ussual thing I'd do - wear it underneath my uniform (or for this case, my co-op T).

Once finished with settling this stuff, I, along with my Mom, rushed down to the car and drove off. When we arrived at Turf City, the place was still in moderate darkness, and Mom had doubts on whether there was even an event at the time. I got off at the drop-off point and checked the area, later finding another cluster of prefects and so I called Mom to tell her all was fine and she could go.

After some more waiting, all the different clusters combined to form one group along with the Student Council, and we all had a combined briefing on the duties we had to do. For me, I had to do parking, basically guiding parents' cars (and subsiquently student that are lost on the roads)to the round-a-bout we're forming in the carpark.

I ran with Calvin and Andy to the main road areas to help students andteachers to cross the road, and also to secretly keep watch for the Senior Administration and other VIPs. For the first hour, it was rather exciting to gather the students bundle by bndle and then running in the middle of the road to risk your life in front of cars just to help them cross.

Then came a subsiquent half an hour, where the traffic, along with the number of students coming in, were dieing down. Easing off, but still maintainable.

Then came the next half hour. There were rarely, if not barely, any cars on the road, and we were literally stoning there and doing nothing. It was miserable, and so we were thankful when the people back at Turf City called Andy to tell us to head back. We walked back and gathered with the rest, later to be told that we were going to the shopping center's interior to chase out loitering students.

We tried to chase them out, but many have already lined up at 7-ll. It was somewhat funny to watch them all compressed inside the stall, but we had to try to get as many people back in the tracks as possible. We then moved towards the tracks to get the student assembled for the remaining races, making sure we had a controlled path for people who needed to go to the toilet.

I was told to guard one of the exits and make sure no one goes in or out from that way, telling anyone who wants to do so that tey needed to go to the controlled path. I was able to do it for the next hour or so, with the help of listening to the music being played. (Heh, there were some funny songs played, like one which kept on singing, "Chocolate Rain!")

But after that, I was starting to get tired standing still. I was watching all the racers on the track as they were finishing off their runs, and I looked down to watch how my feet were screaming at me to start joining them. I sighed and stayed at my spot, soon allowing students to pass through me if they wanted to. And when I saw that the senioors were moving away from their posts, I got my bag and went to their direction.

Loosing track of time, I sat on a railing, watching the runners walk pass me to go to the toilet. They were well-exausted from the run, and seemed to have enjoyed themselves. I knew I was missing out on a lot, and so I stared don again.

Finally, the announcement was made for people to report back to the grounds for prize presentation. All the prefects went down to chase the students out of the building, assisted by a couple of teachers or so. But once it was done, we had a debrief on the opposite side of the building.

After the debrief, we saw the students flooding through the building and knew it was time to get dismissed. Finally! I could walk again at free will, and so I went off to the bus-stop to eat at MacDonalds at Coronation. A quiet meal by myself, and I was off for MacRitchie for training.

I was suppose to report to the chin-up bars at 1.45, but it was still 11.55 when I got there. So I decided to walk around MacRichie to visually entertain myself. And I must tell you, MacRitchie looks beautiful in the afternoon! Walking past the food stall, the countless benches, the 'zig-zag' bridge and even Lim Bo Seng's grave, it was good enough for me to say, "What a wonderful world!" I should have taken photos, but there were many timeless locations around the reservour perfect for group outings, such as picnics and re-creational activities!

As of now, the only four places I know are best for picnics would be Bukit Timah Hill, East Coast Park, West Coast Park and MacRitchie Reservior.

MacRitchie is if you're with an artistic group and want a peaceful meal in a beautiful landscape.

Bukit Timah is somewhat similiar in beauty, just that this is suited for those who want an adventure just to get to their breakfast.

West Coast is for those who want adventure, but in a more convenient and simplified (playground) manner.

East Coast is more towards re-creational activitise like fishing and cycling. There's also a great variety of food to feast on throughout the stretch, so meals aren't a problem.

Back to where we left, I later found a spot up a hill and sat down to get a good view of the reservior, then taking out my MP3 to listen to some jazz and country music to enhance the mood. My annoyance of not being able to run was long gone, and I was praising the Lord for saving this momment for now.

"Lord, You never fail to ammuse me!..."

After a while, I tried to sing along with one of the songs an octave higher to train my vocal cords, just as Tim had been advising me through the past couple of weeks or more. But I could tell I was sounding annoyingly squeaky, so I decided to stop and pause my MP3 for a while. Just then, I saw from the corner of my eye that someone was walking past. I turned to look, only to bite my tounge to see that it was, well, Mr. See.

"You should have sat somewhere over that area," he told me smiling as he pointed out a bench a few meters away. "You'd have a better view of the water there, and it'd have shaded out the sun."

I quietly followed him as he walked down the hill, biting my tongue even more with the thought that he might have heard me singing squeaky if I wasn't careful back then. We then talked about the cross-country run, which lead to him telling me about how it was like when he was once Assistant Prefect Master, which lead to the story of how he was somewhat against the double-CCA policy in ACS(Independent) when it came to application back in 1999, about the same time Canoeing started in the school.

We then met up with Michael at the Carpark toilet. Mr. See then remembered that Winston lost his spectacles somewhere in the bushes in the area, so he asked us to help him do a brief search. By the Grace of God, I found them seated beside a tree, and so I passed them to Mr. See, who later called Winston to tell him to buy 4-D and that any punishments he'd give me would go to Wins for the next week or so.

We then ran up to the Bags Shed, except Mr. See who can't run because pof his leg injury. He called for me, then took out the keys from his bag and toss them to me, later giving the 'opps' face when he over-shot me by a bit. I unlocked the shed and we placed our bags inside, while Mr. See told us about how rental fees for these sheds were increasing, yet still worth it.

We then went to the chin-up bars behind the Paddle Lodge to, well, do chin-ups. Mr. See left us there while he searched for more canoeists from our club. After doing a few sets, more fellow canoeists came, and soon the group was alrge enough to justify us to get back to the sheds to get out our boats.

For today, I took StingRay with Kenneth after we bargained with Mr. See and a couple of Juniors. We launched off and did our sets, although in the middle of sets Kenneth would swear in anxiety that his strokes were somehow wrong. Through the programme, I was praying to God for peace in my boat, and soon enough it came around the last two sets of 2K.

Basically, what is wrong with our strokes is more of our timing together, and that we need to stop crossing our arms too far over the opposite sides of the boat. Individually, Kenneth is apparently pulling beyond his waist (I don't know if that's true 'cause he's Backman so he's obviously not in my view) while I'm still punching too high and, as quoted by Mr. Goh, "You're too stiff in the boat. Relax."

Well, at least we were able to keep pace with Derek and Ryan. It feels nice to paddle sets alongside another friendly boat. Once finished with our sets, we packed up and got the boat to Upper Shed. Kenneth then made a dash for the toilet, while I got the sheds unlocked and the life jackets and blades brought down to the Lower Shed. Soon, the rest of the team came over with their boats, and within 10 or so minutes we packed up everything.

Only to find out that there's a missing blade.

After a short debrief, the Sec 2s went to comb the entire grounds of the launching area to search for Derek's paddle, only to find nothing. Mr. See then told us that we'd have to share the cost of the $700-odd paddle. Ah, well.

After changing up and catching a bus home, I got back home by about 5.45 or so, of which I went to sleep the moment I sat on my bed. When I woke up, I somehow had a few random doubts about life in my head, and they went around until I knew something was wrong so I quickly called out, "Good evening, Lord!"

And instantly my mind was calm again. Heh, comes to show you can never start a day right without starting it with God.

Well, since tomorrow's a sub-holiday in many schools, Dad said he'll permit me to watch TV late tonight! Yay, CSI and Criminal Minds! Well, I've just finished watching the shows, so I better turn out now. Can't be late for tomorrow's (sorry, today's) duty at the OneACS thingy. G'nite and God bless y'all!

A Sneak Preview...

2007-07-27T19:25:00.000+08:00

Hey, I was bored-random today, so I decided to make these;

The Flag of the Dan Empire

The Flag of the R.A.T.S. Empire
[also known as The Royal Standard of the Chairman (Dan Empire)]

The Flag of the Henry Park Boys Society (Dan Empire)

The Flag of the Rejects (Dan Empire)

Hey, maybe one of these days, we should propose to Mr. Tay for a Dan Day. Hmm, 2nd October 2007 seems like the right date (2-10-2007). Yet again, who's gonna be willing to march out in the open with these flags/'class'ical instruments/bamboo poles (swords/guns)?

(Filler post.)

Blood and jeansley flesh...

2007-07-22T21:58:00.000+08:00

First day as a proper member in Lighthouse. Hmm, went rather average, if you ask me. Let's start from the (end of the) beginning...

Woke up at around 7.45, and was informed by my Mom that she could give Kirby and I a lift to the church on her way to New Creation. I said I already arranged with Kirby to meet me at the bus stop down Petir Road to take a 700 to Bugis, then fell asleep again.

The second time I woke up, I went to wash-up and eat a quick breakfast before going to change/pack up for Lighthouse. My Mom then re-offered her lift proposal to Bras Basah, which is conveniently nearby Bugis. I soon gave in after realising that this would give Kirby and I an extra hour to rest first before we leave, so I tried to SMS Kirby about the new plans.

Soon, it was time to go again, and Mom and I left for the car. I informed her that I still haven't recieved any comfirmation that Kirby recieved my calls/SMSs, so we decided to drive by the bus stop just in case. When we got there, I checked the bus stop (and also the neighbouring one) with no Kirby in sight, and after calling for many contacts to find Kirb's house number, I couldn't find it at all. I knew that Tim had his nuber, but I doubt he'd respond in the middle of the Main Service.

Having done all that I could, I asked my Mom to drive past Kirby's house just to check one last time if he's out of the house, which he apparently wasn't, so we then drove ahead without him. Mom dropped me off before the National Library, and I walked the rest of the stretch to PLH (I hope I got the spelling correct).

Once int he building, I went to the library room, which Tim told me (and Kirby) to meet up with him at. While waiting, I went to look around at the variety of books they had. It was more or less Christian journals on one side of a wall, and Christian stories on the other. Another corner had cassets and CDs, and the last corner was, well, the door. Having a seat on one of the roller chairs, I scrolled sideways towards a book titled 'Pursuit for Holiness' and started reading the first few pages.

While reading, I heard the voice of what I thought was an upper-primary boy swearing a lot and saying how much 'I give up on life'. Hearing it over and over again, I decided to see who was muttering all the racket. I lowered the book I was reading, only to be surprized that it wasn't a young boy, but a girl.

I knew it was normal for an older girl to sound like a younger boy, but what shocked me was how she was blunting out all those comments about giving up her life and all, and I almost had the mind to stand up and tell her that "This is a house of God, and I would very much appreciate it if you gave the life God gave you a little more respect."

I mean, by all means share about your problems in life with fellow brothers and sisters of Christ in a Church, but don't so candidly talk about suicide or cursing until it becomes too much a habit that about every conversation involves a sadistic thought. But I saw a bit of the book in my hands that told me not to get too caught up on the situation, so I stayed with the book.

Later, a few people from the same Bible Stuby Class as me came in and was fetching someone from the room, when they saw me and said that Lighthouse was about to start, so I followed behind them and went out of the room. But then I remembered that Tim still wants to meet us here anyway, so I went back inside again.

Preparing myself for the Bible Study, I dug out a pen from my bag and placed it into my pocket, which was around the same time Tim, Zeik and another tall ang-moh ('Western-looking') guy walked in to see if I (originally 'we') were present. I explained to Tim I tried to find Kirby, but he was apparently MIA. He called Kirby's house (finally) and found out that he overslept.

Well, at least that answers a question or two. After being omfirmed that he was going to come next Sunday, we al went up the stairs to the hall up in the roof. On the way up, Tim was explaining to me that the new character was Hudson, and that he wasn't exactly a new character - just that he migrated to the States about 4 years ago and now the only things he remember of this Church was Zeik and Tim.

Well, I guess I wasn't gonna be the only one nervous this morning.

During Worship, we sang a few songs (and half-way through, we sang the welcome song, which was starting to creep me out in the sense that I - being a new kid in the block - was partially in a state of panic after not knowing which hands to shake) and then singing a few more songs and giving the offering. It was followed bya few announcements on Church affairs around the country and then a few verses to remember for the week.

We were then dismissed to our classes, of which I went alone since Tim had to go for a Youth Committee meeting first. When I got to the room, Zeik was beggin me to sit between him and the girls, of which the girls were requesting me not to do in response. I didn't know which was better - sitting beside Zeik with the satisfaction that I saved a life, or watching him suffer from being attacked by smacks and jokes by the girls - but I just decided to stay my ground since I was already comfortable where I was seated.

Soon enough, everyone who needed to be present was present, and we began lessons on how the Bible will help us in life. This went rather well, and time after time we all had a chance to answer the questions. One thing, though, was that I wasn't sure if we were being thought the Book of Laws, or the Gospel of Grace. There's a difference, but they're both in the Bible, and one acts as an introduction to the other, the other being the perfect redemption from the first.

We finished early, and after a closing prayer we were dismissed early as well. Tim and I went out to eat lunch before we would come back for Believers. Tim told me a list of eat-outs around the area we were in and asked what I'd like to eat. So noticing that my legs were still slightly shaking from the fact that I was still shy back there in Believers, I span around and tried to see where I'd end up pointing towards.

"Subway."

We walked down a few junctions and prayed that Tim remembered the way, which was ironically answered with a large sign above our heads reading 'SUBWAY'. We went to the shop and bought our stuff, which I did first because Tim needed to go to the toilet first. I bought an Italian B.M.T. without the meal (opps...), said Grace and ate.

I then had a chat with Tim about the music scores and thigs related tot he sort (Note: When I say 'chat' during a one-to-one situation, always expect large chunks of silences inbetween the conversation.) and he showed me a few scores to look through. Once we were done with our sandwitches, we headed back to PLH, along the way meeting lots of people also from PLH.

Once at the 'music room', we saw it was bare, and so we played around with the piano and practiced a few scores. Time after time, we'd display our best pieces; his being The Phantom of the Opera, and mine being He's a Pirate. He also tried to teach me how to read notes, but it was more or less the same thing everyone tells me. The only problem with me reading notes isthat I'd have to read every secific note from the 'C' or 'Doh', and that's a lot more pain-staking than just playing out of memory or by ear.

Soon, more and more Believers came to the room, and the different ranges were forming their groups; the Sopranos giggling away in their lady-chat manners (something you wouldn't mind watching/listening to at all) and the Basses making active jokes here and there with their flexible heavy voices.

Tim asked Shaun (or is it Shawn? Oh, for those who don't know, this guy is the, well, recognised Embassador of the Basses? Yeah, I'll put it that way) to comfirm that I'm a Bass as well, and after saying, "Hi." he was truely certain, later singing to the tune of Drunken Sailor as Tim was playing it on the piano.

Soon enough, practice started, and we sat in our ranges. Shaun was sharing his scores with me, so that he could help me pitch with them. But after singing a few rounds, he noticed that I always sung one octave lower than the required notes. Asking me to sing a few notes higher, I ended up having nothing coming out literally. I was declared out of range, which isn't a bad thing 'cause I can just try to expand my range day by day, but being a Bass 4 means I'm just as good as an opera singer.

Looking through the score, I saw that there was no note within my reach until two songs from then, so I patiently waited during the other two songs. And even on that particular song, the part of it within my range is at the back fo the score, so I'm more or less useless at this point.

So this is why I never sing along to the music I play. The reason why I don't speak that confidently when at casual with new people. The reason why no one actually finds me singing at randomly appropriate timings like Hao Qing or Kenneth or Marcus Chua. I'm just too low to sing a modern pop song. WHat scares me now is that if my octave really is that low, I'm right now only useful for Opera, Honkeytonk and 50's Souls. Which creeps me out imagining how I'd look like performing them respectively.

Soon, it was time for dancing lessons. Was told not to share too much, so I'll try to keep it simple. I didn't have a role in the upcoming musical the Believers were setting up, so I went to the back of the class to watch, which for a few seconds made me feel like Mumble from the movie Happy Feet. I then watched as the rest of the guys were figuring out ways to blend the dance steps together wit the music, which in the end they found out how.

We then had a little 'derief' on what would be covered next week and the events to come for the group. We closed in player, and were dismissed, shortly told to come back to celebrate the birthday of one of the seniors. Ice-cream cake never felt so hard, but the cookies-and-cream flavour worked well enough.

I went off with Tim to Bugis MRT Station and had a small conversation about PLH/Believers/School affairs before leaving our separate ways (of the Green East-West Line). I took a train to Somerset and was about to get a 700 home when my parents called to say that the family was going to eat out at Orchard for dinner, so I took a bus to Borders and went to Isetan's Food Republic to help get a table for them.

When we all met up, we bought some stuff to eat (ghah! Their Fried Kway Teow is spicy!) and had supper at the Toast Box, later dropping by some digital product shops to look atround. (I thought I heard my Dad saying he intends to buy a Play Station 3. Oh no - I don't know how to play...)The ladies then went down to buy a watch, and we all left for the car in Dad's office to go home.

On the drive back, while Morriel was playing some of Choppy's Japanese Pop songs, I was telling the rest of the car about my day with the Believers. They then each also shared their encounters with their own choir lives - Mom had traumatising momments with the nuns at her old school and their methods in ensureing the right pitch, while Choppy had faint memories of Mr. Chew back in Nanyang and also of her solo which she performed live on a National Day about a decade ago.

After the drive, we went back home to empty out and relax for the week ahead. Well, to sumarise what I felt about PLH today, I was slightly alarmed on how much we touched on the Laws in the Bible. We now live in the New Testament, and as such we should be following the Grace, not the Law, of Christ. Wasn't that the reason why he died on the cross in the first place? To pay the price we all owed the Law so we could all be worthy to enter God's precense, and through so we could recieve His eternal love?

But that was just one day. I'll come again next week and see if the same thing happens. But for now, I'm still satisfied that I've not only found brothers and sisters to worship God with, but also that I've found another method of praising His name and spreading the Good News!

Well, that's about it. God bless y'all, and g'dnite!!!

Miguel 101...

2007-07-14T23:24:00.001+08:00

Hey, I'm having a little trouble with Mr. Time over this period of the year (Ghah, projects and assignments...), so I'll just temporarily (or so they say...) leave this place for a while. During this period, I'll just close with this list. Knock yourselves out.

Miguel 101
Got nothing much to do? Well, here's a list of rarely-noticed details about me, so you can have fun reading through if you're really that bored. See which ones you've already figured out. (Do take note that this list is listing defaults, so if they don't appear when they're suppose to don't panick.)

1) Miggy looks at his watch often with the watch at his eye-level, not wit his head tilted down. He has a personal reason for this.

2)He loves ships. His favourite ship would be the Vamley, a French Naval Sails Ship of the 18th Century which is still currently the largest wooden battleship ever built. THis interest for ships would explain Point 12

3) He holds his wallet like a pistol when he draws it out of his pocket.

4) Whenever having a conversation with another individual while walking, he only looks 45 degress towards the person instead of staring at the person directly. This is to avoid walking into road barriers during the conversation.

5) Any slingbag he wears is always worn on his left shoulder to his right waist.

6) The zipper for those slingbags (if any) are zipped forward to the front of him.

7) He closes his bags by zipping the zipper to the side of the bag, not the center.

8) For a rough estimate of his mood, check the hole which his watch is strapped to. If it's in the First Hole, he's more or less alert and ready to work (class, duties, etc.); if it's in the Second Hole, he's in a calm and relaxed mood but is ready for any action coming his way; and if it's the Third Hole, he's serious and is ready to take on the tough (i.e. canoeing).

9) Tense muscles may accompany the Third Hole if strapped in the morning.

10) From Point 8 and 9, you can tell that if you see him adjusting his watch, it means that he's changing his mood.

11) Unless in an energency situation, the watch always stays on his left wrist, exceptions being when he's timing his laps during training or bathing.

12) When standing, there are momments with him swaying slightly sideways.

13) He whiffs his hair to the right at intervals.

14) He scrolls his fingers on his right hand at intervals.

15) He rubs the bridge of his nose using his right thumb and index finger at interval.

16) He loves chocolate, so don't be surprized if you see him running after a MilkyBar.

17) For chocolates, his favourite would be milk chocolate, while his least would be dark chocolate (he's allergic to dark chocolate).

18) He walks with heavy footsteps, but can easily change into silet footsteps at will.

19) At a certain point of either excitement or dissapointment, he'll act as if he's holding a sword (notice his right hand for this one).

20) He tries to snap his fingers when he has another interesting song in his head.

21) Personally composed songs from his head only last for at maximum of 10 minutes up there. Very few songs have actually survived for more than a couple of days, and only three made it through a month (Island 52, The Danny Way and Western Freedom).

22) His most favourite subject is Mathermatics, although his best lectural subject is History and his best practical subject is Art.

23) He cannot pay attention to hard work for more than 20 minutes at temperatures below 20 degrees.

24) He has never lifted a fist out of anger on anyone in his entire life.

25) The fiercest he ever went in anger was to whack someone with a hard stick.

26) The fiercest he ever went with innocent intentions, though, would be when he tackled someone down during his first P.E. lesson on Monkey Ball.

27) The 'u' in Raemiguel is silent. So for those who always pronounce, "Raemigwel", it would be kindly appreciated if it stopped. But no worries, I'm still use to being called the latter.

28) As of this day, there were only three periods in his life which he was referred to as 'Miguel': Primary 1, which Ms. Lee used the term; Primary 5-6, which Yu Song tried using; and mid-Sec 1-present, which Tim and Mr. Ang are still using. It's a surprise to him that more people are now addressing him as 'Miguel', but he doesn't mind as long as the 'Rae' is remembered still.

29) He can't read music scores. Instead, he learns how to play certain songs on the piano purely by ear and memory.

30) The first completed piano score he learnt was Doh, Rae, Mee, while his most advanced score would be He's A Pirate.

31) He runs faster in groups than when all alone.

32) His favourite animal is the typical house cat. Meow.

33) He has acted in a couple of church musicals, attended the Act 3 Academy twice and even had a chance with the Singapore Repertory Theatre and an audition for a role in the local musical, The Forbidden City. Unfortunately, he lost contact with SRT when they moved location so I never had that chance in the end. The exams were around the corner during that time anyway, so I guess nothing was lost.

34) He sleeps with a bolster, which he names Finchy. Right, Finchy? (*nods bolster*)

35) He was once a hard-core Roald Dahl fan. This would explain why he has half a library shelf worth of RD books in his room, and also why he went Wonka during the release of the movie, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

36) With the exception of trainings, he laughs lightly in between sets of push-ups.

37) Whenever calling his house, never ask for "Rae". The response you would probably recieve from the other end would be something like;

"Well, there are four 'Rae's in this family. Which would you like? The father, the son or either daughters?"

38) His taste buds are more sensitive to the acidic effect of chili and pepper than the average person.

38) He has tasted almost every kind of wine moderately available. All appreciated.

39) Beer, on the other hand, only had three different brands to sucessfully reach him. Two had his approval of satisfaction.

40) The largest drawing he has ever drawn as of today would be a ful army bunker design he drew on a classroom whiteboard during the point10 Camp in school. Drawing was approved by Mr. Tay.

41) The smallest drawing was of a dinosaur drawn to the scale of an old Singaporean 1-cent coin. A magnifying glass was used in the process.

42) The first comic srtip he drew was about a mishap of a basketballer. It was previewed at Primary 6. Name of comic and character not specified for personal and social reasons.

43) His favourite categorey of music is the Soul Family. This includes Jazz, Rythem 'n' Blues and Gospel.

44) Do not go strict on Point 43, though. He is flexible to almost any type of music and is able to appreciate them all. His only extents would be the most dragged tip of Rap and the most demonic end of Heavy Metal. (Note: He doesn't mind Rap nor Heavy Metal, just that he doesn't like Rap WITH too much drag and Heavy Metal WITH demonic screaming.)

45) Musicals, being a combination of both music and drama, has been very well appreciated by him. Types of music involved can vary from as Traditional as the Forbidden City, to as Modernised as High School Musical.

46) He has low-tolerance for the squeakiness of styrofoam. He doesn't mind holding it or cutting it or breaking it, but when you sratch it he softens a lot.

47) He jerks back before he starts crossing a traffic-light junction.

48) His favourite colour is Navy Blue, for probably obvious reasons.

49) His favourite number is 8 (Number of New Beginning), followed by 7 (Number of Finished Works), then 5 (Number of Favour).

50) With the exception of Life Science Practicals and 10 minutes before LS Prac lessons, he wears his laboratory coat without putting on the sleeves.

To be continued...

The Perfect Storm...

2007-07-11T21:48:00.000+08:00

As the StingRay sinks defeated into the dark waters, the Mosquito sets voyage at yonder for her avengence...

Yup, Hao Qing and I didn't make it to the Finals. 4th place at the Heats didn't get us much. But hey, the fact that we got 4th compared to other pro rowers says a lot by itself already. And besides, even if I don't get my name in the papers or a trophy of sheer colours or a fake scroll at Honours' Day, I feel like that doesn't matter as badly. And why?

Because God and my parents came to watch.

And that's all I needed to be satisfied. Even if they saw me lost, they were still there. And after that, I rushed back to school to help out in Inter-Class Debate which we won, so I didn't loose everything today! But enough with the mushy-mushy, let's get into the action...

It all starts early in the morning. I recieved an SMS last night telling me to report to Bedok at 7.30 for briefing and warming-up. A quick rice-based breakfast and I went to my room to pack my bags. I checked my time-table to estimate what lessons I might miss, and so packed accordingly. I ended up with two sling bags across both sides, and soon set off with my paddle to the reserviour. Once I got there, I walked alone the rubbled path towards the newly-installed boat sheds about 400 or more meters away.

Just then, I almost startled in shock when I heard Mr. See's voice. "I see you, Raemiguel," he said in a calm tone. Looking towards whereer the voice came from, I saw Mr. See beside a still electricity generator, looking at his phone. Observing the other bags in front of him, I assumed we were to gather over there, so I went over to place my bags and paddle down.

Monkeys then started appearing around the sheds and were making a slight racket in the place. "If you want, I can do a live disection in front f you," said sir, who took his eyes off the phone just when the monkeys were reaching our school's shed. I mumbled a soft laughter, then got down to my bags to check that everything was there.

Mr. See saw that I brought my tablet bag, so he wondered why I'd be bringing my laptop all the way here. I explained to him that they were my files and that I was going to return to school after this. He nodded with a firm, "Hmm." and went back to his phone. He the told me that Daniel and the others who were already here were further up the path to search for the 500m Mark, and adviced me to check it out.

For those who haven't seen/notice Bedok's tracks, they're not the kind that's convenient to paddlers around here. For one thing, the buoys aren't at specific intervals, so you have to commit to memory which particular buoys of the entire set are the 500 buoys. I agreed, and ran off to Daniel to see where the line was, after that returning back to the generator to wait for others to come.

Slowly, but surely, they came one by one or pair by pair or cluster by cluster, and soon most of the 'C' Division, along with much of the 'B' Division, were present. By around this time, the staff in-charge of the equiptment around here were starting up the generators, so Mr. See told us to move further up the road so we didn't get dosages of carbon monoxide before our races.

He later gathered us close and pointed out a few things we had to take note of in the race, using twigs and his pen for lanes, starting/finishing lines, boats and etc.. Another thing he pointed out was that the racing course wasn't the typical rectangular shape, but more of the inconvenient parallelogram shape.

At MacRitchie, we have our very own Mr. Goh to help us straighten the lanes and maintain it time after time. But in Bedok, not many people give as good attention to it as in MacRitchie, and even those who'd bother aren't in charged or permitted to be in charge of Bedok. Thus, as time goes by the buoys may loosen and end up twisting the shape of the course.

And as a result, you can never be certain that your bow had passed the finishing line yet by just looking left and right. Mr. See highlighted a mistake Abraham made yesterday. It was a tight match for third place in the heats between Chinese High and him, and AB was just at the lead of the two. But just as he was about to reach the finishing line, he looked left and right and thought that he made it through first already, so he slowed down thinking that he had already finished.

Well, he did finish before the other boat IF you were looking at it from the perpendicular view. Unfortunately, thoguh, the judges would only take the finishing line itself as the rough measurement of who came first and the sort, and that means the parallelogramic view. And it so happens that the tilt of the line alowed Chinese High to pass through first before Abraham did, even though AB was supposed to have crossed the perpendicular line first.

And which would the judges take? The parallelogram reading, of course! Why, they only have one camera to tell then who came first, and that camera is only in-line with the slanted finishing line, thus after watching the video over and over and over again, the judges decided to make Chinese High win over AB.

"So always make sure you sprint through the finishing line, gentlemen," noted sir. "If you want to be safe, wait till the boat is one-third through, then you can slow down. In fact, even one-fith through is good enough. Just one-fifth."

"In other words, till the line reaces you or your front rower," said Daniel, who was trying to help out as Captain.

"Yes, just one-fifth in, gentlemen. And then we also have wind conditions to settle. You all better have learnt your draw-strokes well, because here is a good place to use it."

Winds at Bedok are rather wild at times, especially in the afternoon. They always blow from the right of the lanes, and with the stern's greater exposed area this causes the boat to turn towards the right if you're not careful. Thus while you're lining up for your event, you shoudl always observe if you're drifting, and if you are then respond to where and at which direction you are drifting to - correctiong your direction while starting a sprint can cost you up to 3.5 seconds.

Soon, the organisers came to the area and unlocked the metal fence that protected the sheds which held our boats, of which canoeists of all schools of life rushed towards the area to collect their boats for warm-up. Right behind Saint Joseph's Institution, ACS(Independent) huddled towards the gates and went for our shed to grab out the lifejacks, seats, footrests, wingnuts, paddles and most importantly, boats.

After searching for where our items were within the scattered stack of equiptment, Hao Qing and I carried out the StingRay and assembled it somewhere nearby, later launching off for a rough warm-up. As can be seen as we walked closer to the shore, the wooden dock which was temporarily built along the shore was removed, so launching was going to be a lot harder and longer.

As a K2, we both went to this special pontoon which floated off the shore by a bridge. The only problem getting there was that the organisers haven't brought the key for the bridge yet, so with the help of coaches from other schools we had to climb over a fence with the boat securedly on our shoulders. A little funny tackling our way through the fence, but once that was over we paddled a couple of laps before returning to shore.

By now, the pontoon we launched from was already crouded with tonnes of other K2, so we had to pack up at a concrete slope near by. The problemS with this place is that on the slope, I may be able to feel the ground with my paddle, but Hao Qing may not AND that even if I wanted to paddle towards the slope, there were tonnes of boats also tryign to get out the same way. In our attempt to try getting on land, we ended up capsizing but quickly got the boat out of the way before the waves made it drift towards the rough concrete surface.

Back at the sheds, we gave Mr. See ezLink cards for registration. Placing the boat at a rack somewhere nearby, we proceeded to warm up along the coast as the first events began on the water (Go Ming Sheng, GO!). Mr. See later chased us away to another end of the coast when he saw that we were too close to the generator, which was producing enough gases to give Mr. See headaches on end.

Event after event went by. We watched, we cheered, we estimated. And in due time, I went to my bags to get my handphone just in case my parents SMSed me, which they apparently did. They were wondering if the competition was still on because it was raining moderately at their area, but I reassured them that the races were as normal where I was.

And around this time, it came to our event. Nick Ng just left, so now our turn is just around the corner. Event 14 could be called any minute now. Soon, Mr. See gave us the 'go' sign to launch off for our event. But as we bought the boat down from the racks, it began to drizzle. The winds were picking up, and the rain was increasing by the minutes. But haven' being told not to stop, Hao Qing and I continued to go launch.

As we were carrying the boat towards the pontoon, we had to tilt ourselves to the right to make sure the wind didn't blow us away along with the boat. I was giggling slightly with all the irony around and with the fact that rain meant a lot to me. Especially at a time like this. But as we went down the pontoon, the coaches were telling us to turn back, signaling that it was too dangerous to paddle now.

By now, the sky was extremely grey, and one couldn't speak without having 50ml of water going into the mouth every three sylabuls one says. It was rather scary - something like The Perfect Storm just that reduced to the scale of canoes - and so we turned and headed back for the sheds. When we arrived, we saw many canoers trying their best to hold down the boats onto the racks with their lifejacks or bare hands.

Not realising how strong the winds were, HQ and I placed StingRay on a close rack, only to realise 4 seconds later that it was just about to fly off. Nearby to the bow, I quickly ran back and caught the bow just in time to keep it from slipping off. Unfortunately, the stern was still free and it flew off by a couple of meters towards the neighbouring rack. At least it wasn't as bad as another boat which flung off and barely missed Mr. See by an inch or so, or the SJI rack that collapsed in the middle of the storm.

Thankfully to God, the rudder didn't have contact with the ground, so it didn't snap off. A couple of people rushed for the boat and slightly lifted it to allow me to slide the bow off the racks, then slowly release it onto the ground so the wind can't effect it anymore. With lots of people helping to keep the equiptment safe, Mr. See told the remainder of us to go to the ol' Pavilion just a little sprint away.

We all ran there, and soon the Pavilion was crouded with loads of ACS(I)an rowers trying to brave the cold temperatures (water freezes faster than air, so having both elements together...). Time after time, we would imitate the penguins in Happy Feet, saying lines like, "We remain!" or, "Keep your eggs warm!" or even, "Nah, I know you like it!". But despite whatever jokes were said, our skins still felt like 14 degrees or so and goosebumps were the norm.

After half an hour, te rains were starting to calm down, and we were greatly merry that the temperature was rising again! Soon, rain was back to a normal drizzle, and Nick Ng, HQ and I were called back into the water.

While Nick was getting to his event, HQ and I kept paddling around the 500m Mark of the tracks to wait for our turn. And as soon as ever, our time was up. We slowly paddled towards the Starting Line. After an entire year and three months worth of training, it all came down to this. This was it.

I could faintly hear the commands of the started at my farthest right.

"K2 500m Heats 1, alert!"

I looked straight towards the Finishing Line, making sure I had a straight route.

"Starts within 10 seconds!"

All paddles were raised in one swift move, and we were ready to launch off at the sound of...

*air horn*

Here we go! All the boats burst out in a rage of fury as we raced for those three chances to make it to the Finals. We padddled our hearts out, but I could tell that my boat was already burning out by 250m. Nevertheless, we paddled on.

Sadly, we didn't make it for even 3rd place, but just 4th place. Somewhat dissapointed, I held water and looked down in slight defeat. But then as I paddled towards the packing-up area, I noticed two distinct people within the slight croud. They were smiling at me, and one was holding a camera towards me. It was my parents.

I assumed that after that delay from the storm, they might not have stayed longer for my event. But they actually came, and in my presence! The momment I saw them, I lighted back up again, still defeated but nevertheless still loved. The feeling of being appreciated by your family no matter what you get is an honourable feeling, and that satisfies a medal hands down.

As we got out of the water, I carried my boat along the muddy path (and posed a bit for my parents to take photos) before arriving back at the sheds. At the shed, we placed g'd ol' StingRay back on the rack she was placed originally before reporting to Mr. See for debrief. He stated that "this was your whole year's work summed up, and it equals you both to 4th place. There is no disgrace in that, as long as you did your best."

We were then permitted dismissal, of which I searched for my bags and later found at the Pavilion. Over there, I decided to stay a little longer to cheer on Joon Sin and Kenneth for their K2 500m event. Might as well cheer on my avengers. They had a third placing, and after so I headed back to the shed to take my shoes and leave for the bus stop (which was a looooooooooooooooooooooooooog walk away).

If you've forgotten, I now needed to go to school for the Inter-Class Debate Finals. The fate of the class rested in my hands, since after all the replacement was Kirby (Hey, I'm quoting from others, so don't blame me for being blunt!). So my original plan to get there was to take a 67 to Bedok MRT Station to take a train to Dover, then take a bus/walk to school.

But just as I was about to board the 67, I realised that my ezLink card was still with Mr. See! I quickly got off the bus and stomped my way back to the shed, which mind you was the same looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooog walk away. This time I didn't care: I walked through all the grassy patches in the park and didn't follow any roads. My main objective was to make a straight line for the sheds, and no roads were gonna stop me in the state I was.

Once back at the shed, Mr. See didn't need to look up to see I was there, and immediately got out my card with a sarcastic, "And I was wondering when you would've realized." I responded with a soft, "Opps." and collected my card before making my looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooog way back to the bus stop again. By now, I didn't think I'd arrive at school early enough for the debate, so I decided to take Plan B! And what is Plan B?

Take taxi, lah!

I hailed a cab at the bus stop, and I hadf a friendly conversation with the driver in Mandarin (Yay! The fact I could hold a 10-minute conversation with the guy without any mess-ups is a great miracle! Praise the Lord Almighty!) Later, I also asked if I could change in the cab, which he willingly allowed (or at least he sounded like as if he was willing). I first stripped of my shirt and replaced it with a uniform shirt, then worked my way down until everything I wore for the race was replaced with a uniform's item (exception being the watch, 'cause it's practically under both categories).

After changing, I took out my Debate notes and read through them over and over again so I knew by scratch what I needed to say. And within minutes, the uncle alerted me that we were near by, so I had to help direct him to ACS(I) instead of ACJC (both are near-by each other, for those who don't know). I told him to drop me off at the school's bus stop, placed the finishing touches onto my uniform and made my way down and up the ramp to school, slinging my large water bottle from the handle like it was a Western pistol.

I seemed to have blended in rather fast, like as if I had always been in the school during the morning. Or did I just have a Sportsman's Immunity which repelled the security guards or something, I don't know. From the Space Frame, I met up with most of the class, which was making their seperate ways to their respective Enrichment Programmes. They informed me that the classroom was lcked, so I had to place my bags in my locker for the time being.

On my way, I met up with Ryan, who was shocked to see me at school, when he knew very well I was suppose to be at a competition, or else already dismissed and headed home. I explained to him I had somehtings to attend to in the school, so he teased me as a workaholic. He then asked what I got, so I said I didn't make it to the Finals. He was shocked again that I wasn't afraid he'd do something because of admitting my failure, but nevertheless went back to his lessons later.

I kept my stuff in my locker and made a dash for the 'unkown-area-somewhere-in-the-boarding-school' room (man, I still don't know the name of that room...) for my EP of Billards. When I arrived, the Mdm in-charge was just about to take attendance, with her back facing the door. Perfect! While she was still talking to the rest of the students that were surrounding the pool table, I quietly took off my shoes and quickly tip-toes towards the table, slowl leaning against the edge in a relaxed position as if I had been there all this while.

After she went through whatever she needed to go through, we queued up for our ques (har, har) and got our balls ready (har, har, heh). With alert instincts fresh from a race, I caught a triangle or two before it fell on Mdm from the top of the shelves. Man, race instincts feel good.

For me, I tried Billards first, then a simple game of Pool. Well worth the hour, even though I couldn't score that much. Yet. When we were done, I went back to class with Raam to class for LAA, and boy was Mdm Kavita angry. She mentioned a few dissapointments she had on this class, then turned to the Chairman (Tim), the Language Arts Rep (Me), the Favourite Student (Jai) and the Worst Student (Kirby) in one go, saying that she was dissapointed in our roles.

Those were just some of those moments when saying, "You're fired." isn't far from the subject at all.

After the dragged lesson, Tim, Niranjan and I were about to go to the class of 6.2 for the debate when I discovered that I had just lost my debate notes! Thankfully, Niranjan leant me a piece of fulscap, along with his own set of notes for me to copy with. We then went to the venue, permanantly registering in our heads that if the finals are post-poned one more time, we're gonna quit.

To cut the story short by half an hour or more, we won! By 2 points, but that's besides the point! When it was all over, we told the joyful news to Mr. Tay, who in response started laughing here and there, and later treating each of us with a dollar each for a drink down the SAC. We all thanked him, and he thanked us in return for our efforts, also legalising the Class T-Shirt again.

The whole team went down to the SAC to celebrate our victory, whole team being;

1st Speaker (Me)
2nd Speaker (Tim)
3rd Speaker (Niran)
Stand-by Speaker (Kirby)
Supporter (JKit)

And since I'm already out of the competition, I can now break embargo! Woohoo, feasting the anti-embargo way rocks! Haha, yeah the good times! We then chatted around before leaving for our own homes. And now here I am typing into my blog what happened today: I may have lost the Canoeing Inter-Schools, but I've won the Debate Inter-Class. Whether that's a fair exchange, you be the judge.

I'm just happy Mom and Dad were there to see me race.

G'dnite, and God bless!

The Violin family...

2007-07-09T20:15:00.000+08:00

Let's try to make this post shorter this time. How 'bout making spoofs again? Hmm, I think I've got something. See if you know which song I'm spoofing...

Story of my life
'fore I met the Light
What will this avoiding be
Sorrow, leave my soul
Cause I need to join
Prefectorial company

Duty now more sian
Since I must speak enough
For morning call to make it through
I sat around with Tim
Because I'm Assemblin'
And to him my voice can't be true

and I know that he knows I'm Bass 3 too
and it kills him inside
to know that Prefect camp's gonna have one more try
I can see him sighing

I don't wanna loose Hist anymore
I don't wanna be the reason why
Every classmate walked out the door
I see Kavita teaching more in pride
I don't mind Ms. Yeo saying more,
"I don't wanna take away earth's life
I don't wanna be...a murderer"

Zeng Rong fell off his chair
As I'm trying to stare
At eco-mindmaps we all made
Mr. Tan gave a freak
He teared reluctantly
as he stared at my workbook's fate

They said he spent too long
Just lagging mathy terms
A lie they didn't have to tell
Because we all know
that art was 10 to go
and we know it very well

cause I know Art 'cher saw I took control
of the colours inside
to know that Justin's happy to splash other guys
I can't see him trying

I don't mind to do this feedback form
I don't mind to be promoted guy
Once I've done, I walk out the door
I see Mr. Ang very 'morse inside
We don't wanna hurt him anymore
I just wanna 'take away' this lunch
I don't wanna break...embargo list

Prata
Fried stuff
I might as well take a bun and put it through my head
Get it over with

I think I might puke this
Even more (even more)

I had never done the talk before
I had never shared my reason why
Me before I walked towards the Door
And how I died but Christ made me alive
But it still just hurts him not to know
When to go and make anew his life
Conversation with...a sufferer (a sufferer)

No no no no
Yeah eah eah...

Answer Key: Unfaithful