Keep Her Trim and On Course...

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

She Shatters Chandeliers...

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!!!

When You Come Home...

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!!!

Paul, Timothy, and who?...

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!

Break water!...

For today, we had Dragonboating training at Kallang. My Dad dropped me off at the entrance of the sports centre and oh, good ol' memories startes flooding back. I know this is my third session this year already, but it's been a long time since I've seen Kallang under the morning sun.

Everyone else who came earlier were seated along the sea wall with Mr. See, while everyone was waiting for Mr. Goh to come to unlock the gate. When he finally came, he unlocked the gates one by one, followed by us rushing into place our bags into the wooden cage to be (un)safely locked up. We were then told that the day would start off with running.

Joon Kiet was rather pale from the sound of that, so he asked me how far we were going to run, in hope that I'd tell him something slack and comfortable. To his disapointment, I pointed to the Benjamin Sheares bridge and told him that that would only be our turning point (In other words, we had to do double the distance). Then Joseph came in and told about how he remembered the Sec 2 seniors of last year had to run all the way to the Esplanade and back.

"Wait a minute," I said. "Doesn't that make us the Sec 2 seniors this year?"

JKiet quickly started saying "No!" in great hopes that he was right tosay so, but to his dismay Joseph was right. No, we weren't going to run all the way to the 'Durians' themselves. We'd run all the way to the second half of the Ben Shearse bridge, but that's nevertheless painful. And coming from me, that means it really hurts.

Good thing, though, was that JKiet survived the run. Yay! But Samuel didn't. So much for 50% attendance, Mr. See would say. Poor guy. Once back, we all took off our shoes and exchanged them for our water bottles and seats. We then divided ourselves into the 'A', 'B' and 'C' Divisions, so as to make it easier for Mr. Goh to assign us our boats for today.

There was a shortage of "B' Div, while there was (as always) extras from the 'C' Div, so Nick Ng and Leon went over to their boat. And that leaves Eugene and me to be the front rowers. And front rowers always break water. ('Breaking water' refers to having the first strokes on water surfaces. You see, in a theory, people at the front of the boat paddle still water towards the back of the boat to pull the boat forward, and while the people at the back are suppose to do the same thing, they end up pulling 'moving' water since the front rowers have already pulled on it.)

'Ah, that's gonna hurt.' The common thought Eugene and I had.

But somehow, I think we also survived this one. I might have sped off at a few moments, but at least we survived. And we even beated the 'B' Division boat by 1.5 boatlengths! But after the races, Mr. Goh floated pass our boat (he was onboard the 'B' div boat) and told us not to feel to lucky, because we were actually using the lightest and fastest boat in Kallang at that time. Wow, an honour!

It was rather interesting seeing all three coaches standing at the front of the dragonboats while we were racing - Mr. Ismail on the 'C' div, Mr. Goh on the 'B' div and Mr. See on the 'A' div (of which Mr. See commented was the first obease team he had to train in his whole canoeing life) - all of them like a General Washington of their own, posing like frozen chess pieces stuck on the bows and shouting back to us mistakes we might end up commiting. Rather interesting, if you ask me.

Once we were done with the training, we had a short debrief on what and what not to bring to Kallang the next time we train here. After that, Mr. See went to unlock the cage, and we got the bags out for us to shower. I forgot to bring my plastic bag to store my wet clothes, so I wrapped my towel around the things, a mistkae I was soon to realise.

I made my way to the MRT station for a train to Dover, where I took a bus towards Joel's house for the History group meeting. But then I checked my watch and saw that I still had over an hour left before the meeting time, minusing the time it'll take to walk from te main road to wherever depts Joel's condo may be. So I decided to go and have lunch at KAP before moving back to the place.

JKitt called up a few times during the whole trip. Some calls about purchasing of guns, some about where to meet and even one about whether he could meet me at KAP for lunch too. After my meal, I headed straight back for Joel's place, of which I met JKitt at the junction between Clementi and the road which Joel's condominium is at on the other end.

We journeyed our way to the edge of the road, as far as it could take us, until we found the semi-curved buildings which housed Joel in one of its appartments. We called for Joel, of which he responded by meeting us down there at the bottom of the building to guide us back up to his house. At his house, we met up with his granny and bro before making our way to his room.

Then the first part of the meeting started. Games. Wait, games? Command and Conquer, yeah games. JKit and Joel were enjoying one game before we could start, and so while waiting Shil (who arrived about 15 minutes later) and I went to the off-pitch piano to play a few scores before we were called in by Joel to start the meeting.

When we were gathered, all I could ask was fort he effects of the software Joel would be using to edit the videos. Rather nice tricks int here, I must say. At least I now know that some of my scenes can be made possible. But automatically after that, we had nothing much else left to talk about, so Joel and JKit continued playing again for th erest of the 'meeting'.

I felt so bored. I mean, most of the time when I say, "I'm bored.", I ussually mean "I'm bored, but I still have imagination and creativity in my head to entertain me!" (so even when I look bored, I'm most of the time actually rather entertained), but this time, even my imagination didn't know what to play around with. I literally went mad in the boredom, so I won't go to detail on the horrifying things I did for the remaining hours. And Matt (Joel's bro) made things slightly worse.

When it was all over, and Shil, JKit and I walked our way out and towards the other side of the road (again), I was starting to regain my sanity bit by bit again, so I was breathing somewhat calmly again.

When I got back home, I quickly went to the Bible and prayed to the Lord for something that will regain my full sanity again (hey, after four hours of madness...)

And I had 2 Chronicles 20:17;

17You will not have to fight this battle. Just take up your positions and wait; you will see the LORD give you victory. People of Judah and Jerusalem, do not hesitate or be afraid. Go out to battle, and the LORD will be with you! "

That made me feel a lot better, and so I ran normally again for the rest of the day. Well, I guess that's about it now. God bless y'all!

Major Flashbacks...

I was working at my Mom's office again yesterday. At least she allows me to bring my laptop along and provides free lunch. And this work ensures that I still get my allowance throughout the holiday. And with a raise! A 25% raise! (Don't ask how much that's worth; I still appreciate the money.) But don't get me wrong; I'm not a money-minded person. Or at least I hope I'm not... Nope, I'm not.

But while I was helping my Mom cutting the flyers, folding the flyers, chopping the flyers and slotting flyers into other flyers into other flyers, I suddenly had flashbacks from my old Primary days (If your following the American Grade System, that would be from Grade 1 to Grade 6). The good ol' days when compositions only required 180 words, when a class could be divided into different cultures like the Smarts and the Dudes, and when I was still concidered as the class's 'Multi-Oscar Winning Mr Bean'. Well, I hope I can get back to the 'Mr Bean' stage now in the Secondary hours (AGS = Grade 7-10, and sometimes it merges with High School). Somehow that seems to be fading away...

But anyway, I started thinking back on those days and thought how much God had truly blessed me with them, and how through those events He could bring me to where I am right now, besides my Mom's office.

I remembered the different 'kingdoms' that my class consisted of, like the Union of the Irritants, the DreamTeam Council, the Shooting Star Alliance and so on. Up till now I still don't know which 'kingdom' I was concidered to have citizenship with! As sociable and funny I was back then (and hopefully, still am right now), I was welcomed in most of the 'kingdoms' and was thus able to make more friends, visit the different cultures and see how the different 'kingdoms' worked. You could say I actually had an 'International Citizenship'! This was how I was able to learn many interesting skills like Rubber Band Weaponry Engineering. Now I know how to build a number of designs like the Henry Park Trigger, the Anglo-Chinese Clip Release and the Nanyang Flick. I also managed to combine the designs of the Trigger and the Flick to produce a weapon most similliar to the real thing.

I know I was reprimanded by a couple of people for actually going to visit and make friends with the Low-Life Rebbelion. I understood their side of the story as the people in the Low-Life Rebbelion were known to be quite irritating by a fair portion of the class. In fact, they even tried to irritate me for an entire Term! But personally speaking, once you find a link between them, something which both parties have in common, friendship will quickly come into the picture. I remembered how I made friends with one of the Rebbels.

It was a night during the Examination Period, and I was praying to God in bed for my results. Then suddenly the Rebbel came into my mind, and I decided to pray for him too for the hope that he would stop irritating me. The next day, I saw this show called 'Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century' and thought it was a nice show. Back then, I had know idea who this Holmes guy was. Then the day after that, the class had another paper, and it was of standard difficulty. So after the paper, when everyone was dismissed for recess, I turned to this Rebbel, who was sitting beside me during the exam, and asked him how he found the paper. He said it was "Okay".

Them I replied, "Well, I found it to be 'Elemetary, my dear Watson'.".

"What?!" he responded. "You watch that show too?!"

Then we started chatting about the previous epesode throughout recess. In due time, we soon found out that we also liked 'Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?' and 'Spongebob Squarepants'. From then on, we were somewhat good friends. Thanks, Lord!

Then there were also games invented back then which were played after the Final Examination, when the teachers didn't really bother much about us anymore. The best game that I could remember was a game known as 'The Battlefield'. Something like Rise of Nations or Civilisation.

Battlefield

(2-6 Players + 1 Observer)

Materials needed:

1. An entire classroom (This includes the black/whiteboard)
2. A ruler (30cm ones are preferred)
3. The playing pieces of the boardgame, 'Risk' (Troops, Horsemen and Cannons)
4. The dices from the boardgame, 'Risk', but only one Defence dice and two Attack dices
5. 4-9 School Files per Player (Doesn't matter if there are worksheets inside)
6. 6 pens+issosolise set square per Player (Pen must have clip end)
7. A token of the Players' choice to represent him/her (Phone, sharpener, wallet, ect.)
8. Two halves of a piece of fulscap paper per Player
9. 3 pencil box for each Player

Setting up terrain:

• Clear off all the desk and chairs of the classroom, EXEPT the Teacher's Desk and Chair, and move them to the back of the class.
• Claim a plot of territory. A territory MUST have an area of FOUR STUDENT DESKS and must be AT LEAST TWO DESKS APART. Choose your plot carefully; concider distances between you and your enemies or allies(if any).
• Build a fortified wall using the school files. This wall will protect your token from the battlefield, so think carefully on construction design.
• Fix each issosolise set square with each pen to make it resemble a plane. These 6 aircrafts will be a player's 'Airforce'.
• Place your Barracks and Airfield in your territory. One of the pencil box being the Barracks and one of the 1/2 of fulscap being the Airfield. Every Aircraft, Troop, Tank and General starts here at the begining of the game.
• Each player starts with 25 Troops, 6 Tanks, 5 Generals and 3 Aircrafts. The rest of the pieces go to the Observer, who in this game acts like a 'Banker' in Monopoly.

How to play:

For Player:
The youngest player starts first, and the oldest player starts last. When it's your turn, you can;

- Move your units
~You can only choose to move either land or air units per turn.
~For land units, roll the Attack dices. Calculate the total and use the ruler to move your pieces cm at any direction desired exept up or down. You can only move groups of 5-20 units at a time.
~For air units, roll all three dices. Calculate the total and use the ruler to move your pieces cm at any direction desired exept up or down. You can only move 1-6 planes at a time. When in flight, the aircraft/group of aircrafts would be 'suspended' by being placed on a chair/(s).

- Build camps at the battlefield
~If an army is at least two student tables away from its base and strikes a 12 when it trows a dice, it can build a camp or airbase where it is. But make sure you choose your location carefully; you only are allowed two barracks and an airbase to build outside you base.

- Attack!
~Roll the Attack dices. Calculate the total and measure if any enemy army is within a cm radius from anyone of your armies. If there is one, you may declare war at him!
~ For land-to-land combat:
#The Attacking army gets to roll the Attack dices while the Defending army rolls the Defend dice; the Attacking army rolls first. If both Attacking numbers are larger than the Defending number, then add both Attacking numbers together, multiply the Defending number by 2 and subtract the Defending total from the Attacking total. That would be the number of Troops that the Defending army lost in that battle. The Attacking army gets to choose which pieces to remove from the Defending army and pass to the Observer, keeping in mind that 1 Tank is equal to 5 Troops and that 1 General is equal to 10 Troops. For...

To be completed...
Thats if you want me to...