Nature

Just saw the following qoute online,

"Opinions are like assholes, everybody's got one and they're usually full of shit."

Haha!



Tipa Resort, located in Ao Nang Beach in Krabi is a good getaway from the urbanised jungle that we constantly live in. Apart from the bloodsucking Culicidae family, the peaceful tranquility of its surrounding nature will not make you consider moving back to our little red dot for at least a couple of weeks.


Our little bungalow.


Night Nature.







All the calories consumed last week, its about time for me to return to my jogging routine soon.

Now seems to be a good time.

Burp

It's one thing to sing out songs of praises and worship to your best of your abilities for our Heavenly Father, yet on the other hand, there is certain expectation and performance standard that is required on the frontline ministry in church. I guess I still have to pull my socks up for the latter.

In the choir, or as event hosts, worship leaders, backup singers, instrumentalist, ushers, we know deep down in our hearts we aren't serving man. Except to our audience of One. This comes with some form of standard and effort for the Lord. For ushers, they have to put on the best smiles and their warm spirit to welcome the congregation and their friends, even if their mood has been fouled by some unforeseen mishap. For choir and singers, they have to practice and practice so they while worshipping, are able to minister to the people of the sanctuary and lead them to a time filled with praises and songs to God. What happens if we offer sloppy standards and at the same time assuring ourselves that "Hey we are serving Him only, and not to man."

With such shoddy standards, will God be able to use us to move and touch his people in the church? Will potential souls be lost due to our attitude as mentioned above?

Eugene. Wake up.




On another side note,


One thing i love about going on vacations overseas, is the fact that we can experience and taste new unique foods that aren't found locally! Krabi is no exception of course, the local ZhiChar style dinner is as awesome and cheap!!! Their Omelette is made specially that the condiments consisting of shrimps, some bits of spring onions, TangHoon, some small Vege, are wrapped nicely in a warm well-mixed omelette. Mmmmmm.


Chicken Nasi Bryani on Board the flight towards Krabi. Did I mentioned I do miss meals served in Flights and in Hospital wards?


Squirts of Pineapple Juices accompanying a mouthful of its fragrant rice. Mmm...


Marcaroni, Roasted Chicken, Baked Potatoes, Potato Salad, Chicken Fillet, and many more including Roasted Corn, salad, Ice Cream, Giant roasted Sausage, Chicken thighs, all for the price of 250 Baht. What a lovely dinner Buffet after a tiring day climbing rocks.


Yes, a Double Big Mac. I know its nuts for visiting Macdonals while overseas, but where can you find this in Singapore? Mmmmm...


Yes I love Stuffed crust pizza with Cheese. Jared too. Calaries overload.


Carbonara with thick slices of Bacon! If my memory still serves me right, previous indulgence with said dish elsewhere back home came only with pathetic fine bits of bacon.

I. Love. Pigs. Bacon.


A simple Breakfast at Tipa Resort. Toasts with Jam, Slices of Pineapples and watermelons, Chocolate Cereal with Milk, Eggs, Ham and Sausages. And with Pineapple Juice. Simple yet delactable.


More Pics to come!

KWS

Backaches, heavy head, slight temperature. Yes, that's me feeling all of the above mentioned now. What does it translate to?

Krabi Withdrawal Symptoms!!

Slept almost the entire day, Stomach has been feeling queasy too. Cant find the strength to do much, apart from washing my shoe. Must've ate something wrong the night before. But the fact that i've been going on a binge during the week in Thailand doesn't really help in determining what is the cause of my illness. Hmmm.



Reached home yesterday night, but didnt do much unpacking. Spend some time with my brother watching the old seasons of "Fresh Price of Bel Air" starring Will Smith. I guess apart from Krabi, I missed spending quality time with my younger brother too.

Krabi was awesome, another unique experience as compared to the shopping trip in Bangkok last month. Different from the Jungle trek and Village stay back in Chiang Mai 4 yours ago too. The pace of life is slow, something which you'll never find back home here. The sight of the beaches and the natural mountain terrain features never fail to boast God's creative abilities.



More pics soon.

Home!

Back home from Tipa Resort, Krabi, Thailand!!

Its good to be backhome, yet at the same time, sad to leave the slow-paced life back there.


Pics will be out soon!

On another note»

Back home from Tipa Resort, Krabi, Thailand!!

Its good to be backhome, yet at the same time, sad to leave the slow-paced life back there.


Pics will be out soon!






"Words can unknowingly be sharp,
It hurts deeply if they
aren't processed in the brain of yours.
You are smart, but work on your EQ,
Before my resentment soars."

« Less

No lights

Off to Krabi Island!

Be back before Saturday, 28 0100 June 2008.

Have a Victorious week guys!!!

Blurred

Came back from Pasir Ris park again, and tried working on some night shots.

And nope, attempting not to use any build-in flashes on the camera. Because build-in flashes tend to ruin pics at times. Natural lighting is always the optimal. Unless we can get the flash to bounce off some reflector and onto the subject, and that i guess would be another different story.

So yea, there was I, attempting to overcome my shaky hands, and tried to hold the camera body still, as I decreased the shutter speed to increase the exposure timing for more light intake. Yes, some may suggest for me to use a camera stand, but I'm trying to not use a Stand, since its not always very convenient.


=0.5 Seconds exposure=

Even for half a second, a slight movement and screw the pic up. Hmmm.



=One Second Exposure=

Hmmm. One whole second. Lots of time for minor shakes to make the final product blury. My brother managed to learnt the art of holding his camera so still, that his night shots with high exposure timing looked awesome. Gotta say no to Shaky hands!!

The breeze

Pasir Ris Park. A lovely place to get away from the city, the sun, the land and sea breeze complements the peaceful tranquiliy of nature. Perfect for jogs, leisure cycling, singing and playing the guitar along the beach, a simple barbeque...

But of course, there live inconsiderate people who spare no thoughts of preserving the beauty that our Heavenly father gave. A pretty disappointing sight. Oh well.

The Yellow Ball

The time that Ben booked the tennis court was the exact time I woke up. Eyes still shut, accompanied by the overpowering temptation to silence the ringing racket my cellular was making, only to realise that it was Lisa calling.

It was 9am.

At least im not the only one who overslept. Phew. Gave myself another 3 minutes to snuggle on my bed before getting up. SNOW practice was on the night before, I didn't cycle back home until after supper and lending isabel a mp3 recorder at the void deck.

Matthias was late too. And we began to wonder why we booked the courts at such early hours? haha.

Tennis was fun! Still trying to improve my swing! Must keep reminding my arm that it isn't playing badminton. This followed by Lunch at SuperDog at E!hub at Downtown east. Ended the afternoon by watching the "incredible hulk". Although Ben persisted that there wasnt any concrete stroyline other than Hulk attempting to escape from US army, while trying to cure himself, it was a prelude to a greater conflict in the near future. Where Ironman attempts to unite all other superheroes in the US together. Yes, for those who watched Ironman, you'll see a short glimpse of Tony Stark again. can't wait for another of Marvel's sequel.

Myocardial Infarction?

"A 20-year-old trainee pilot with the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) collapsed during jungle orientation training in Brunei and died on Wednesday, a day after an army recruit, also 20, fainted and died on Pulau Tekong on Tuesday, barely five days into his national service.

In Wednesday's incident, regular serviceman, Officer Cadet (OCT) Clifton Lam Jia Hao collapsed at about 5.45 pm and was given immediate first aid treatment by a doctor and a senior medic, said a Ministry of Defence statement on Thursday."
-The Straits Times-



My heart goes out to his parents. Losing a young son for no reason is a painful reality for any parent to accept. Even if he was my brother, will I dare to come to terms with his death?

A scenario which is familiar isn't it? Way too familiar. More than a year ago, another Officer Cadet also had a similar encounter during his jungle orientation training in April. Thank God he is still alive. I really wouldn't know what his parents would go through if he wasn't. Really.

Questions still unanswered. Why?

As we wait for more answers from their investigations and all, i really pray that there's isnt any cover ups or any hidden untold truth.

Just finished my liabilities recently, i'm disappointed to say that Cover-ups is a sick disease that's happening around in there.




On a lighter note, I just came back from watching "The Happening". Apart from the weak plot and writer's vivid imaginations on the many ways humans can end their life, I was quite annoyed at the acting style of the Protagonist. His expressions and emotions seemed abit unrealistic and exaggerated at times. The only "moral" of the story i can derive from this disappointing film is that the writer is sending a message to all of us, telling us that one day, mother nature may somehow strike back at us, for causing so much environmental damages around the globe. Deforestation, global warming for instance.

On another lighter note, I've finally debranded my Samsung U700 Phone! No more M1 and their user-unfriendliness nonsense in it! No more accidental internet access, no more redundant soft-touch options, no more sore-eyes caused by the stupid M1 logo on the phone screen. Yes, even the text-messaging is now a breeze! With lesser steps involved when sending a simple text.


On yet another lighter note, for dear friend Isabel is on Page 7 of the Life Section of today's Sunday Times!

Reminiscing

Another closure of yet another chapter in life. For I have finally collected my Pink Identity Card!! I have ORD-ed!!

Two years of liabilities, two years of memories.

Our time with the orgainization may have ended, but the experiences we have gone through, the hardships and challenges we have faced, the joy, tears and blood we have shed during training, the pain we endured under the harsh conditions during exercises, these will all stay deep in our hearts, and not be forgotten.


Just came back from a small ORD BBQ, organized by my BMT mates. The same group of buddies we met 2 years ago in Pulau Tekong. The Island I personally had the most fun in during my 2 years in uniform. Back then everyone was like a baby, new to the world, new to everything around us. We yearn to be fed, we want to learn how to crawl and walk. Competition wasn't in our dictionaries back then, all of us were making mistakes together, and learning from each other with the common purpose to improve in our skills and military knowledge. We were enjoying and having fun together. I am grateful that we're still in contact with each other. The wonders of technology, e-mails, MSN and cellular phones.











Speedlight GamesDay was challenging on sunday! Well of course we got trashed when playing Floorball, going against Temasek Poly's Floorball team was no practical joke! It was definitely a good workout, my slight backaches I had this morning can attest to that. I realised that I haven't been playing much sports since my Poly days. Still remember the times playing Squash, tennis, Badminton, back with YeeFung and gang during our free time while waiting for lectures or tutorials to begin Although we may not excel in the games, it was a good time to take a break from studies, work and an opportunity to spend quality time with friends. Following that we would usually head to lessons with perspiration still trickling down our forehead.


So many things to do this week.

• Edit and send out pictures for today's BBQ
  
• Edit and send out pictures for the Dinner at Ritz Carlton
  
• Do my finance and accounting, to check on my reserves and calculate the money I owe and the amount of Dough I need to collect from people.
  
• Continue with my informal piano practice from where I left off some months back.
  
• To finish the story of Final Fantasy VII
  
• To continue my jogging routine.
  
• To clear the slight mess in my room.
  
• Finish up Jon's Birthday Gift and Card.
  
• To continue contemplating if I should write cards to certain people in my NS camp.

Aslan the Lion

Tomorrow is Daniel's last day before he flies off to Australia for his National Liabilities. He is so blessed! Imagine staying in a hotel with a reasonably high amount of daily allowance for the next 6 weeks. Which other NSF stays in hotel during their term of service? Of course the condition of the hotel is yet to be known, but i believe it'll be comfortable for our dear brother-in-Christ to survive for the next couple of weeks.

Dear all, please include Daniel in our daily prayer list, for journey mercy, for health, for protection in Darwin, for work satisfaction, for healthy fellowship with friends.


Today's tentative schedule:

• Go to camp
  
• Hit the Gym
  
• Light Breakfast
  
• Finish up my ORD clearance forms
  
• Book out before lunch
  
• Lunch with Jared
  
• Munchkins with Daniel, Sivam and company.

-Lunch at LongJohnSilver-

Watched Chronicles of Narnia with GraceChen and Jared few days back, and it was good! Several significant symbolic events in the movie which relates to our faith we have in Christ. Just as how King Peter decided to act on his own strength and instinct to invade the enemy castle instead of waiting for Aslan and his Strength and instructions, the invasion failed in the end with substantial amount of casualty. We on the other hand, may work real hard in certain aspects in our lives, and no matter how much effort we put in, we seem to keep failing. That may be true if we continue to rely on our own efforts and strengths and not seek the Lord for directions and aid. On our own, we are incomplete.

With our Father, we are made whole will be able to soar to great heights!

Greenhouse

So much has happened in the past weeks. Honestly, everything is all a blur, everything is happening way too fast for me to grasp hold of reality. Life at the underground bunker, the Bangkok trip with my fellow brothers and sisters-in-Christ, the lunches with my NS colleagues, the Munchkins gathering, and today's Dinner with my brothers-in-Christ. And I can only wish for all to slow down. I want to take a break and have a pause, and let everything around me come to a standstill. And for me to enjoy and savour the differing moments. But I know it's impossible.


In exactly 9 more days, it'll be my last working day in camp.

I know it'll sound weird saying this, but I will miss working there.


It sucks to be emotionally attached to something/someone, and when it is time to leave and take a step forward and move on, it becomes so difficult to do so. Despite all the unhappy times and all the challenging times we faced back in the journey, I sometimes wish there is an alternative other than moving on.






-Dinner at Greenhouse @ Ritz Carlton-

I thank the Lord for the awesome dinner and fellowship with my fellow brothers-in-christ this evening. It was one of the best that I was ever blessed with. It was supposed to be a dinner 'celebrating' the fact that me and flannery was going to ORD in a weeks time, and to have a 'last supper' before Daniel flies off to darwin, Australia on Tuesday. It turned out to be a great session of fellowship and healthy sharing. Accompanied by a live band playing all the classic instrumental hits like the nostalgic "beauty and the beast" and the upbeat tune of Indiana Jones. Not to mention the great seafood and awesome buffet spread.

Special thanks to LieCong and Jared for your honest sharing. It was a good opportunity to come together and share with each other about your personal experiences in life, and what we can learn through the various hurdles we face when it comes down to relationships and situations which involve our future journey in life.

Music sets the mood and atmosphere. This wonderful tingling sensation of peace and joy just went through my body whenever the band plays. A violinist and a pianist, even without the guitar and the bass, those two make a perfect combination to any musical piece they play. I can't describe fully this joy which I felt, it was somewhat different from the 'normal' happiness I would feel when, for eg, I achieved good grades in secondary school or when i received a gift from a special friend. It was a unique and special feeling, an experience I don't recall having before. It was, heavenly. I guess the sumptuous dinner, the lovely instrumentals and the fellowship did attribute to this joy I was having.

"Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name."
-Psalm 100:4-



Bought the infamous Munchkins game recently, and managed to have a few games with Flan, Dan and a old Secondary school friend whom I haven't caught up with for the longest time.

Even when we are blessed with friends around us today, I think it is important to not forget those friends who was once with us years ago. For some reason or another, though we may have lost contact with some, I think I will try to make the effort to message some old friends and attempt to keep in touch with their lives. Well, guess I will have something to do when I officially finish my 2 years liabilities in army.





-Hideout Cafe-

Playing games with reallife friends. It is 16000 times better than involving yourself with online MMORPGs and playing virtual games with virtual fake characters with people you dont even know! Yes, there were a couple of times that I was tempted to reinstall back games like Warcraft III so as to play with my army/secondary school friends, I come to recall of the shithole that I got myself into last time.







-DimSum Buffet @ Excelsior hotel-

I think Jared was mentioning that the prawn fritters cost about 3 Bucks at the coffeeshop opposite church. Well, the buffet cost only 15 wads of Dough! With the rising cost of living, i think we must help one another source for cheap, affordable, and good food! Grace Chong didnt managed to stay for long due to her busy schedules at work, but together with Jared, we manged to meet up again after some time today! Didn't expect myself to watch Sex and the City though, but yea, me and Jared got dragged by her majesty.

Marriage. It's about you and your special someone. When one is taken out of the equation, the equilibrium is lost, and that's when problems begin to arise. I guess that also applies to any other relationships prior to marriage.

Oh well.











-Bangkok @ Thailand-

Isabel has beautifully described ou bangkok trip in a short summary. It was a haven for girls with purchasing power. With this power, comes great resposibility that no girl wants to take, for they will attempt to buy down the whole store whereever possible. Haha.