Independent Living

Heey All! Long time no see..eh..blog.

Wednesday and Fridays are my only 'free' days aside from weekends.. Just ponned my genetics lecture cause it's too easy. Nah, actually I went for a Meet-the-Mentor session: what for?
The freebie!
Ooosh! No T-shirt or stupid mugs. 1GB thumbdrive: just when I wanted to buy one! Wow. And it thought it was some wulu(unknown) brand...it's SanDisk..better than nothing eh? Haha. So cheapo. They weren't strict about giving out... If you were here you probably would have gotten one too! Unless you have integrity ;x

Anyway, so I ponned lecture and went back to hall. Bought some hangers and gonna attempt to try my first laundry done by myself. MYSELF! Woo. Me. Laundry. First Time. CooL.
BRB. I'll go check on my clothes...

Check it out...the laundry room!

My Dirty Laundry! Eeee.looks like a potty hole ><

Anyway, u guys at NTU..we should meet up soon :P
Alright peace..hope to see u guys soon


I almost forgot, here's a pic of my block! The yellow one, third window from the left. hehe. Level one that is...


Jonathan

14-65-1339

Puzzled at the title? See these pictures:



That makes me the resident of Hall 14: Block 65, unit 1339. DANG. I missed 1337(LEET) by +2!
Here I am, first day, 1 lecture from 930 - 1030, then I got nothing to do, so I go coop up in my room to slack. Well actually - I just finished my first lecture revision - sorta. Caught some animes, and napped a little. So cho4 bo2 (hokkien for not-doing-anything). Can't go socializing with girls if not my dear will kill me haha.

Anyway I realised that I'm quite the loner in the lecture haha. Only know 2 people - Matthias and Steven. Should have gone to CBE school camp ...sigh. Well I managed to assess the mugger/geek level of the cohort, I must say I'm impressed. A pretty high mugger face score of 8/10, geek level of 7/10 (-1 cause I'm inside!). Well in any case I'm off for a good start. Not too good actually I didn't manage to get my lecture notes in time. Sigh now I wish Elsa or Shaun's here to photocopy for the whole CG..or any rep for that matter..heh.

Well, good luck to all starting school..and erm. You're all welcomed to visit us ;p As in, Ren De and me are roomies if ya didn't know.

Cheers

Guns & Nuts

The Guns.

29th Jul:

JON:Sunday! It's a special day. Why?? I woke up at 7.30am!! Ain't that amazing? Attended church service at 9am for the first time in years with my dear. It was a special Sunday treat to a skit performed by Dramalight titled: Probably Heaven, Maybe Hell. More on that next time.

We then went to whitesands to meet up with Daniel and gang to have lunch. Had a funny encounter with the counter-guy who couldn't speak English and thought that the discount card Hsiu Huan presented to him was a credit card and he was mumbling something that it was ok for me to pay for her lunch. "first time ah? nvm la..pay for her la! ish ok!" Then I said "eeh no..discount card..did u count the discount?" He said "nvm la! u pay la..no credit card". Me and dear just stared blankly at each other and sighed. Oh well. Good lunch anyway.

HH: Next, its the highlight of the day - we headed down to the Discovery Center for the Crossfire PAINTBALL!!! its our first time paintballing. mentally prepared to get all bruised and dirty since chinlin said it'll hurt. so i brought my most garang long sleeve and pants, ready to get dirty!

so we went in to report and were brought to the area for briefing - my dear's turn:

JON: Well, we were divided into 2 groups: 5 V 5! To be honest, when the instructor first pulled the trigger on the M4 Carbine I was startled- cuz I thought it was blank. (Hey, dun think I was the only one...) In any case, we're all hyped up and ready to go - with only the stupid indemnity form in our way to play. After going through the motion, we had ourselves dressed up in a stinky and wet helmet and a vest. 4 M4 Carbines that shoots 10metres and 1 T85? that shoots 20metres - and hurts MORE. My team consists Hsiu Huan, Daniel, Alex, Zhi Rong, and...ME. The other team had Darren, Rende, Chin Lin, Mei Lin and Shaun.
Oh. It was an urban assault layout - FIBUA! The two homebases were the castle on one end and the fortress on the other: the middle being a little maze with low walls and the referee's homeground.
The first game was silly: shooting at each other's balloons placed at the homebase. The terrain was obviously more strategic and advantageous to the team from the castle! Hmmp. And it was a waste of bullets too! 20 rounds of 2 magazines ;(
The second game was a dash and grab the flag game. CTF ftw! Then run back to the homebase without getting shot.
Needless to say, the 3rd game was THE GAME. Elimination round, A.K.A, kill all you can kill buffet. Oh, I forgot to mention that every game has 2 turns, each time swapping the team's base.
The first round of elimination was really fun; I managed to run to the back whereas my team went forward. The opponents (the other team) didn't see me from behind and I was taking potshots at Darren and Rende - knocking Rende out early in the game! Wee - Backstab successful. Little did I know that my team was getting trashed on the frontlines - sad. I managed to hit Darren and that left me with 3 V 1..ooo..I felt like I was Rambo..prowling and squatting and running here and there to siam the paintballs. Alas, all heroes die. Me? I got shot in the chest by Mei Lin.
The second round was a little sad; I realised I expended all my ammunition and had to sit out for this round. Nevertheless, let my dear continue abt round 2...

HH: So...i was left with quite alot of ammunition in the rifle and passed the extra magazine for Zhi Rong. Round 2 was like I'm finally playing the game! haha. ready to go try give some good shots... usually i was hiding but this time i stood up more to shoot. But sadly, somehow while trying to aim at Shaun, I got shot in the face...the purple paint covered the entire of the left eye region on my visor. The impact was rather great and I felt my head flung backwards a little. haha. Great shot Meilin! ;p and so I died...reluctantly leaving the game and leaving my rifle with Daniel...who won the game!!!
And looking at the time, we didnt really have the full 2hrs to play...sadly, but its fun and pretty memorable (and very tiring - my and dear's legs are still aching till today)
Next, after showering (some pple didnt shower...haha), we got in the car to head down for some Hagen Daz ice cream somewhere. Part of our plan was to go for Jon's sister penthouse house-warming, but on the way, his sister called and said the family was leaving already, and so we joined the class for the chocolate fondue! :) - dear! your turn!!


JON: Dinner was suggested by ME! Pepperlunch- or..PepperDINNER. Only Alex, Daniel and Meilin were surviving. Rende and the rest all pang-sehed us. Well, Alex and Daniel and Meilin were virgins to pepperlunch: first time! It was great though: check out the pics:

Before:

After:

Anyone feels hungry??

Well, what happened after that was that we had the virgins tried Yummi Yogurt too! First time! Hehehe. Great stuff. Miss.Sweet Tooth Esther had to get herself some soft ice cream from PepperDINNER; caramel flavoured was the way to go. Green Tea, and Sesame? EEww.
We then proceeded to the rooftop terrace at Esplanade where many couples go to to do kinky stuff - at least that's what we saw near the bushes in the dark! Anyway, what happened there was exclusive to 1803 people who were there. Kekeke.
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The Nuts

31st Jul Tues:

HH: My first time queueing for donuts! I arrived at Raffles City before dear, and thankfully at this early hour (arounf 11am), the donuts queue was still considered short; only abt 10 people before me. I bought some Subway cookies and started queueing, and dear came shortly.
He brought the rest of the chocolates which I got for him on his baptism (Sat, 28 Jul). We finished off the remaining few pieces...YUMMY!!! then we ate the cookies too while waiting...
Soon the donut shop opened. We didnt know which flavours to get...until when we reached the counter and looked at the menu. They look cute and mouth-watering. We got a dozen of assorted flavours - 2 spicy cheese, 2 double chocolate, 2 apple cinemon, 2 hazelnut chocolate, 1 Mocha lotus, 1 almond chocolate, 1 strawberry white chocolate and 1 orange white chocolate.


Excited and feeling a sense of achievement from getting the donuts, we were eager to try one of them there - the spicy cheese. Tastes like pizza. Not bad.
So off we went to take a bus down to Harbour Front Vivocity. We are ready for a donuts picnic at Sentosa beach ;p

(dear is still resting as I type now... Mr. Piggy. haha)

We took the monorail from Vivo in to Sentosa Beach. The weather was fantastic. A little sunny but not hot, most importantly, it was quite windy...
We found a nice spot under one of the mushroom-looking pavilion. The sand, sea and everything feels so Hawaii; totally not like its part of Singapore. I felt like I'm actually on a honeymoon... haha...



We spent the whole afternoon at the beach, just lazing under the shade and enjoying the nature. They was a group of youths, like our age, playing some games like FOC camp. Some of them look familiar to us, but couldn't recall who were they...

And we ate more donuts... Hehe

that was the hazelnut chocolate one. yummy ;p

Somehow the day passed by rather fast... I had a chance to sun-tan a little, while dear played his psp. We forgot to buy some drinks to bring over, so dear was kind of thirsty the whole day... Thankfully I had a small bottle of water so it was like water rationing on Sentosa island. Those of you who wants to spend an afternoon on the beach, do remember to bring along more water and food, unless you want to spend extra to buy there.
By evening, we decided to leave and head back Vivo for dinner. Last few nice shots of the beach...

Beautiful ending...


(and Mr. Piggy woke up)

JON: Oink!

to be continued.....

No Holding Back: are you curious?

Academic year 07 is starting soon; busy busy busy. Yet one thing I feel so happy about: The joy of the Lord is abundant! Somehow I can't keep that all to myself.

Therefore, no holding back! Give glory(rightful credit) to whom it deserves. I suppose there are misconceptions about Christians - Christianity, but our understanding does not shape who God is, but what we THINK God is; right? I guess most of my friends know Christians aren't stuck-up closet Christians who's part of this elite exclusive community (although there are people who perceive that misconception). Some may have encountered persistent friends, or people tracting on the streets following you around. In short, bad experience. I beg your pardon, because I'm convinced that they are not doing it out of any ill-will, but rather with less-than-desired tact. Nonetheless, consider their hearts; why do they even bother? It's the unspeakable joy, the abundant blessings, the purposeful life, the truth that sets your heart free. They want to share all that goodness with you; and someday I hope to do the same too.

Life is meaningless without God. Life may be successful for some of us, as success that is defined by man, namely, in material possessions and corporate achievements. But in all that struggle to slog and achieve something for ourselves, all that money and wealth to amass, have we forgotten, that we all live to die? At our age, I'm sure we have the maturity to understand, that all our bodies will frail with age. Have you honestly NOT thought about death? How shall we take all the earthly possessions with us when we die? For they are things that will rust and rot; earthly material possessions. Life is fleeting and short in the light of eternity. You may not believe in life after death; but nevertheless the Bible teaches us that there are two eternal destinations (I'm sure we all hear this way too much, but:) Heaven, and Hell. If you do not believe in the "afterlife", consider this: Don't you think that life is unfair if we are just made to live and die and then POOF! Our existence and memories just disappear into nothingness; you wouldn't even remember existing; you become nothing. Somehow we are all hired-wired in our souls that we think that would be unfair: life had to be more than just dying and poof!, because that is exactly what it is. There is more to life that this one on earth. Stop and think. Isn't it wise to stop for a minute to consider the possibilities - what is a minute compared to eternity: in the wrong place?

I know of people that I have talked to about religion; aside from those of a certain faith already, that fall under the category of agnosticism. It basically means that they believe in the existence of a supernatural power or being; something greater than we are, yet cannot or refuse to pinpoint which God is it, out of the many different religions. I believe that many people fall under this category, especially those that profess to be "free-thinkers". Again, our beings are hardwired to acknowledge a supreme being or power greater than ours. There are many religions, and in the rage now are new-age theology, that teaches that we ourselves are god or can become god. Or that god is some unseen force impersonal force driving the universe that all of us can be part of. It is derived from human pride. Does anyone honestly think that man can become god, ie, greater than god?

I know of a friend who claims of such a stand as an agnostic: don't want to point a finger on which god is true or which is false.He said Christians are arrogant and absurd to claim that theirs is the only true God. At that time I didn't really answer his question. But now I'd like to pose a challenge. The Bible is the final authority of what Christians say and do, and claim. Why we claim that Christ is the only God, it's because the Bible says so. The Bible is known as one of Mankind's greatest literary works(if not the greatest) of archaic times. There are far superior evidences in numbers, the manuscripts(copies) of the Bible; 5500++, the earliest completed ones dating around AD 325/AD 350: 250years from the time of composition. Seems very long, but as compared to other literary works of that time: The earliest copy of Caesar's The Gallic Wars dates 1000yrs after it was written. First complete copy of Odyssey by Homer; 2200 years after it was written. The point being; apart from the great numbers of manuscripts of literary works as compared to the other works of that time( 5500 as compared to say; 3 of Catullus - earliest being 1600 after he wrote, 8 of Herodotus- earliest copy 1300yrs); The Bible is far more reliable based on archaeological records. Yet, the other classical works people hardly ever dare question it's authenticity; why so the Bible?

Hope that didn't throw you off. Now consider the next thing. Try an experiment: bring 10 people from the same locale, having similar backgrounds, speaking the same language, same culture. Separate them, then ask them to write their opinion on just one controversial subject such as the meaning of life. The results, conclusions are more than likely different, or if some, contrary to each other. Right?
The Bible has about 40 different authors, written over 1500 years, of different background, culture, education, languages, and many hundreds of subjects not just one. Yet, the Bible is united. 66 books in ONE book. Yet the books do not contradict each other in the subject matters. This speaks volumes to me; I'm not sure about you. It necessitates a divine author; a hidden hand behind the entire book. - Taken from a book titled Answers&Reasons(Esther's). It nonetheless strikes a chord in me, and makes absolute sense, so why not?

In short, dare to try validate or disprove the Bible. I assure you, there's no going back if you try. In fact, I hoped you skipped reading the above 2 chunky paragraphs but rather decide by your own will to desire to know the truth; then listen and try to validate. Some people say religion is for the weak; on the contrary, to be a Christian takes much courage and faith to declare we are indeed unworthy and are sinners. People don't even try to refute the fact that Jesus Christ existed (and He exists) 2000years ago. It is an irrevocable historical fact that even non-believers did not try, even Islam acknowledged that Jesus existed 2000 years ago (it's in the Quran). History resounds of His existance; take a look at the calender: BC, AD.
And Jesus said:"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." John 14:6. Man is naturally skeptical as anyone can claim to be god. But Jesus, in all the miraculous works He did substantiated all His words by His actions.
So if today you are feeling lost, hopeless, and that life is meaningless, why don't you consider Jesus and the words He spoke?

You all know what Heaven and Hell is. If death is inevitable, so are the two places. Surely it is wise to stop and reflect; "What if this Man, Jesus, was speaking the truth?" Why don't you consider the truth? Christianity is not about foolishness, it's neither absurdly forgoing logical thinking. God wants us to rationalize with Him; which means; to believe and to have faith -not blindly- but out of understanding and out of truth. So if one fine day you feel so tired of life and have not known Christ, why don't you try drawing closer to Him to know the truth? Try Him out and you will not be disappointed. I can assure you that. Ask a friend to bring you to church; try it out for a few weeks. Ask more. I'm certain that you will come to understand the simple Truth. Yup. God shows Himself to earnestly seek Him.

Yep. That's for updates. I can't hide it, can I?

Update! Or..Not?

Well as request..UPDATE!
but this is what I updated..used the classic layout:
http://crazyblue.freehostia.com

Can't blame me right..I'm an anime freak.

Anime Listing FTW!

Alright. I have a site of my own! It's my anime listing and...(drum roll@#@#@#@#..)
http://crazyblue.freehostia.com/

Do check it out..it's in the midst of building as most of my animes are not with me. Tell me what you think! hehe.

Upcoming Baptism

Starting this year I've had the conviction that I should go back to God. My mind and soul is weary from turning away, running away - I felt undeserving of God's grace and forgiveness. Yet I did, starting with going back to church. Spending time to go for worship lessons, and making an effort to study the Word - need more discipline on this though. Anyhow, it has been a blessed year thus far, with good things coming my way. Unknowingly, this verse came so true:

Matt 6:33
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Anyhow, out of obedience and of readiness to live my life for Christ, I decided that I would get baptized this year. Also, having gone through (am going through) the new believers class in Lighthouse, I have been enlightened in certain areas, such as the Holy Spirit, QT n stuff. Even though I am not exactly a new Christian, I wanted to be as a child, to be humble to start afresh and learn vital, important things new Christians ought to know and do that I might have missed.

It will be on the 28th Jul, at Lighthouse Tamp. Not sure the time though, around afternoon I think. All's invited even if I didn't ask you. yups..details to be confirmed later.

How well do you know me?

Click on the following link to find out!

CLICK HERE

Have fun and do tag my blog when you've done it!

Life is Short

Today, I received depressing news that Andrew Tham had an accident. I've got bits and pieces of information: He had a road accident while driving bike. The other vehicle is a taxi supposedly. He is in Changi General Hospital, Ward 33 - ICU. He had just undergone emergency trauma surgery and currently in coma, told to be stable by friends, I'm not sure. Will be visiting him tomorrow evening, hopefully he gets well. Daniel painted the usual description, "head swollen, full of tubes." Do pray for him guys.

Andrew was one of my best friends in primary school, but gradually distanced over the years. I think he was in 4C in St.Hildas? Oh, that makes him 21 this year...what an unfortunate thing to happen. Life is full of the unexpected, and this incident reminded me that us humans are not superman, and definitely not invincible, it's so easy to lose one's life. Touch wood on that though.

I bet his loved ones, especially his parents are worried sick for him. He's the only child, if I recall that right. So guys if you know him you might wanna pop by to see him, and erm, even if you don't do say a quiet, even if quiet - prayer for him.

Alright Peace-
Jonathan

PLAY! A Video Game Symphony.

PLAY! A Video Game Symphony. Here from 15 - 16 Jun 2007, my and my friends got lucky at got 3 ticket for box seats, seating directly above the orchestra - Singapore Festival Orchestra, and the choir - NUS choir, on the 2nd level. For fear of copyright laws I shall not link any pictures, but i will give the webbies. (PLAY! website as linked above) Singapore Arts Festival 2007. (Ignore that, it's all over youtube! Check out the links below for links to youtube, i'll try my best)

I enjoyed the following programme thoroughly, very very nostalgic for a 2nd generation gamer such as I:

Play! A Video Game Symphony! (Prelude)
Super Mario Bros(Suite)
Shenmue and Shenmue II (Sedge Tree)
Lost Odyssey (Main Theme)
Sonic the Hedgehog (Suite)
Metal Gear Solid(Main Theme)
Blue Dragon (Main Theme)
Kingdom Hearts (Suite)
Final Fantasy VI (Dancing Mad)
------------------------------
Daytona USA (Piano, Takenobu Mistuyoshi* Guest Appearance)

Elder Scrolls IV:Oblivion (Suite)
Chrono Trigger and Cross (Suite)
World of Warcraft (Suite)
HALO (Suite)
Castlevania (Suite)
The Legend of Zelda (Suite)
Final Fantasy VII (One-Winged Angel)@

*ENCORE
SHINOBI!!!!! (Suite)

*Suite means a combination of pieces, much like a medley.
*ENCORE means...check the dictionary.

A couple of Youtube vid's I'd like to highlight:

This one cause the music simply rocks:


This one cause it's MARIO! Like Amos said, every one MUST have at least tried Mario!


This one cause it's so simply CLASSIC! ZELDA!:


*These links are NOT the ones heard today, but are somewhat representative. Nothing beats being there of course. Do check these out, they ROCK!*


Well to sum it up, WORTH EVERY PENNY! Tickets were snapped up pretty fast in May, we got lucky! Like as mentioned, it is very nostalgic for older generation gamers, while the newer gamers were not left out either. Notwithstanding, non-gamers I'm positive enjoyed the experience thoroughly - it's energetic and dramatic and quite unlike classical symphonies which probably would drive ME to sleep. The big difference? They play CGs and gameplay videos while the orchestra plays, in-tune and matching to the scene. The opening Mario Brothers is sure classic! I saw Mario throwing turtle shells at the enemy and the flower eating fire spitting Mario! As well as 3D N64 new-generation Mario. What a thrill!

And there's SONIC! That was one of my childhood games around 4,5 onwards when I got my SEGA~ HOW VERY NOSTALGIC!! AHHHH PULLS HAIR!! and ZELDA! AHHH!! They screened the OLDEST ZELDA I EVER(actually, never!) seen in my LIFE! Way before "Link from the Past - SNES" The later generation games were equally stunning. MSG was full of suspense, Lost Odyssey was new to me but the music was fabulous, as with the rest. W.O.W was just so reflective of what I have played from 2005-2007, except that I have totally ignored the music. And HALO! Of all things HALO 2! I mean, I just started the game and they were showing animations/CGs about the ending. Thank Goodness I caught on quick and shielded my eyes from the spoilers - but twas great anyway!

Then comes the finale. One-Winged Angel from FF7 by Nobuo Uematsu. I'm certain many of us have heard it before. But guess what? It is ABSOLUTELY STUNNING when you hear a live performance from an orchestra. There's so much energy, so much anticipation and suspense, and so climatic, just from hearing and FEELING the music. YES! FEELING the music! Totally different from hearing from an mp3. And *APPLAUSE*!!*APPLAUSE*!!*APPLAUSE*!!*APPLAUSE*!!*APPLAUSE*!!*APPLAUSE*!!*APPLAUSE*!!

Alright. ENCORE! WEEE.

And Mr Arnie Roth - Music Director and Conductor, came back stage and mumbled something i yet cannot catch, again. And, they actually played SHINOBI!
Anyone who owns a SEGA around 1990s and has played SHINOBI will tell you it is absolutely classic. A great game. And was another one of my favourite childhood games then got stuck in my memory and got fuzzy until I recently tried it again on PSP. NOSTALGIA TO THE MAX! What a great day. Honest. Worth every penny, and I'm sorry to those who did not manage to get a ticket - so far, Matthew - , and also to everyone else who regretted not going, hope to see them come by again for their World Tour 2008! I'm definitely going again.

Final Fantasy Alert!

For those who's played or heard about Final Fantasy, or of Zelda, or are just plain interested in a very hilarious RPG parody, check this out! This is the 1st of four parts be sure to check the rest out!




Anyway, went to the Blood Bank at HSA for........blood donation, duh.
Right after doing the blood test (for iron density), a lady approached me and asked if i would like to donate my platelets and if I have the time (Pheresis donation). The whole process takes about 7 cycles which is a total of about 70-75mins on average. I was like, sure, why not? Oh I went with someone, and it's up to you to guess who was it! That someone was under 51, so, I was the only one suitable for pheresis donation. And they need good veins due to the long process - the veins might collapse. And so, I went, and the other person to the regular blood donation.

Oh, have you seen the pheresis room? It's so posh! Every bed has a TV with pretty up to date movies to watch, cool. (free movies if u wish, lol.) Anyway, every cycle consists blood draw and blood return, each cycle about 10mins. It is quite painless really, like regular blood donation, and you can opt in if you are >51kg and have suitable veins and have 1hr+ free time! Bet you didn't know. There is a dire need of platelets due to cancer and the recent high cases of dengue. Above all, you can donate every month as opposed to every 3 months for regular blood donation. Anyway, it is painless, except then when the blood returns, it is the strangest feeling yet. Just imagine feeling something flowing back into your veins. Yup. And after a few cycles I started to shiver every time the blood returns, it's probably due to loss of heat, I just start shivering uncontrollably, throughout my whole body. And the last few cycles were taxing on my veins, nonetheless I am MAN ENOUGH to finish it! AND I WILL BE BACK!

Anyway, that someone felt faint during my 4th or 5th cycle, and had the nurses attend to that someone. Lips having turned totally pale so suddenly it was scary. To think the doctor diagnosed someone with low blood pressure around 90+ and allowed someone to donate. Sigh. Anyway, someone collapsed on the MRT home. My goodness it was so sudden it was really scary. One moment someone looks alright, the next moment the lips turned pale, the eyes closed and someone just slid into unconsciousness for a few seconds. Really scary. Anyway, can someone please take care of someone?

Right right.

OK! Yesterday I went down with Hsiu Huan to Paya Lebar Airbase for the NATIONAL RUNWAY CYCLING 2007. (We skated actually). The night before, Jude, and then Ren De messaged me and said they were feeling not so well, so, only we two ended up going. Actually, I was slightly flu-ey too, but decided to go ahead anyway, since I've never NEVER seen the insides of an airbase before.

My goodness it is really huge! (I have to watch what i post here lest i be dragged out of my house and court martialled). Cycling, skating on the runway is perhaps the biggest, longest piece of smooth flat land you can find in Singapore. It makes me wonder how can someone fall twice on that! Hehe. I took some photos but I better not post it up (apparently it is ok to take photos since everyone was doing that), so if you wanna see some, let me know :P. Hmm just realised it's nothing big really, photos are available on safra webby anyway. Anyway, we kinda like completed the 6km family route and someone decided it was too tiring, while I was just getting warmed up, hehe. Nonetheless, it was a memorable event, being able to view the insides of the airbase, and actually skating on them. And ohh, my fingers don't hurt anymore- yes, I fell - , someone must be feeling guilty right now. HAHA.

Oh yes, don't be a hypocrite, a liar, or a backstabber, I wouldn't want to be your friend.
Alright peace.

Got my K800I, BROWN!

My goodness! BROWN! Was brown ever my in my favourite colour list? NO!
But the more I look at it the nicer it looks. Too many people has black anyway.
Anyway, time to go mess around with my new phone. Laters.

A little update on my life.
Still slacking, looking forward to school now. Hoping to be doing something more meaningful than just slacking around. I'm available if you want to go out for a meeting or anything, or even if you need my help, feel free to ask. Life's great when there's a direction, a purpose. Now I have TWO! Thank God for showing me some light. Life is great when you know Christ is in control.

Cheers!

I told you, boring Blog!

Due to popular demand, I'm back to make an update to a boring blog!

Past few weeks were really enjoyable, a lot of stuff, a lot of events, but none of blog material. These were things to keep within my own heart - fond memories, so I'm sorry people! Not all things are meant to be shared after all!

I finally decided on a phone to get...the K800I. And no, I'm not getting that horrid bronze coloured one that Dominic has (I have decent tastes). I wished they had white and orange though, I thought those phones look nice on the eye. Hope to get it soon!

Well than, 20th May just passed. Guess who's 21st? Hsiu Huan's! We're invited to her church at Costa Sands - Ren De, Jene? Jeen? Jean? Geen? Gene?, and me of course. My goodness. Waking up at 8.45am is a torture, but well, it's for someone's 21st, even Ren De could wake up, why not me? Hah. Went to capitol building to eat some at some Taiwanese Chicken Rice stall...'famous' for it's pork rice? How strange. Wasn't used to the pork though, too thin and crispy, felt like eating into crispy fats to me. Ugh. Exotic taste.

After that we headed down to Marina Square, and decided to do some bowling. Mind you, it was a long time since I last bowled. Funny, place was unusually empty for a Sunday. Anyway, there we were, Jean/Gean/Gene/GEE, Ren De, Esther(Ester!), me, 4 noobs playing. Guess who got 3 strikes in the first game? Esther! Who said she doesn't know how to bowl. Ya right. The highlight of the bowling? On the last game on Ren De's turn (we both decided to swing high, and use FORCE!), he swung his arms back. Ohh, the moment of truth! The ball SLIPPED RIGHT OUT of his fingers - yeah, they were wet he said ...i would have guessed so anyway - and flew back. I was anticipating that to happen just when he swung his arms and kind of withdrew myself even before the ball flew. It kind of like...fly a little, landed, and landed and rolled to the group of people playing on our left. I bet they were equally stunned as Ren De, rolling and laughing there and he commented he couldn't feel his fingers touching anything and dared not look back lol.

Went for pool after that. Great pool really. Me was on form~ And the girls did great, learning really fast, especially for Jean/Jeen/Gean...Gene? So much for physics student hah? Ren De had fun teaching her I bet? Anyway, rushed off for church after that. We're kind of late, but better than nothing. Good sermon, was about hope. Hope in Christ. I'll touch on that next time. Anyway, Esther came with me - my sister and friend was there. Hmm, Esther did something ewww in church...see if u can guess what it is! Hah.

Lost My Phone

I think I'm losing things more and more these days. First I dropped my sister's giro-enabled EZ-Link card, which caused some problems for my sister cause she had to cancel all her cards cause we/they/she had no idea which one. Then i recently heard there were more problems regarding that cause there was some deduction made. No idea what's going on really.

Today, went blading with Daniel's friend and his friend's friends. And Alex told me he was dragged along to make up for the numbers, haha. Took 854 from my house down to Bedok. Very absent-minded, cause I left my house without my socks and my cones, how to skate?! Hai. Stupid me had to walk back and because of that was kind of late. Ya..so..854..and sleepy me sleep all the way till somewhere near Kambangan(sp?), then I msg'ed Daniel that I will be there in 5. Then sleepy me actually dozed off. When I actually got off the seat, I dropped my wallet cause I realised I wasn't holding it nor was it kept. Very naturally, I picked it, and alighted. When I tried to call Daniel (I was kind of late), AHA! I realised my phone was missing.

I jay-walked (ya gaywalk..cause we aren't supposed to cross the bus interchange right?) and went to look for the bus. Surprisingly the backdoor was open (it was one of those ultra-long TIBS buses) and went to search the area, but to no avail. Thought the driver picked it up. Went to the information counter. I found it very strange that the SBS guy had to direct me to a TIBS counter which HAD NO ONE! Very disturbing because I assumed they had a flow control somewhere for sure, someone that could help me proper. In the end I asked for the phone to call my HP....it rings! But no one picked up. This time I decided to leave it ringing while I go look for the bus. AHA! CRAP! Bus left! Time seems to work against me. I went back and he suggested I call a certain number, and dialed and passed the phone to me. Now this irks me, because the guy on the line can neither speak clearly or audibly. This particular TIBS guy directed me to YET another number! (I heard something about servicing center and what not) And I couldn't remember what was the model number, and that the bus just left the interchange how could it be at some 'service-center'? Yup. So I kind of brushed it aside *thankfully*

And because I was late, I thought I couldn't meet Daniel at the supposed place. And, I had no means to contact him as I didn't remember his number offhand. Thankfully, I called Esther and she got his number, and helped me arranged things. She was also worried for me and ya, I'm thankful for all you've done, and Daniel too.

But I felt strangely peaceful through it all, I think when the spirit is right with God, I felt peace. I knew he was in control and I decided to trust in him. And I learnt that we should always give thanks in any and every circumstances. God is good, all the time, and all the time, God is good. How true. I was actually singing and feeling good about the incident which led me to realise these things. Though I must admit that the numbers that were lost were a little troublesome, especially having lost some of my doctor friends' numbers I met in NS, and the other guys, and all my messages. Yet I realised another truth in the event. I was much more willing to lose something so material, and keep things more precious such as love, friends, family, my soul, and above all, God.

Mark.8

[36] For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

And when I reached home I had to wake up my sister from her sleep to cancel the line. Sigh. I'm such a trouble.

-Update-
While in the midst of writing the blog, I decided to give the number that the TIBS guy gave me a try. Though in my mind I thought it would be futile, as having called my phone repeatedly no one answered, and I was pretty sure someone found it in the bus, unless it dropped into a drain while I stepped out - which would be really suay, according to Daniel. So I explained my predicament to them, tried to describe my phone (and I couldn't tell them the model number cause I can't remember). The guy went and asked around, and in the background I heard about some blue coloured phone..thought it was predominately silver?! (Honestly, I can't even remember what colour my phone looks like!) When he asked me what is my home number, I repeated it to him. (At this juncture I really thought they found my phone already.) He told me...ah I don't think this one. (Then my heart sank...it just went through a corkscrew roller coaster) He asked me, "got any message?" And I fumbled and tried to say that I left a contact number and he asked "got name?" and I thought and replied, "ya, Daniel Wong".
Then he said, "ya, we found your phone".
Edit: I just realised something. If I called earlier when the guy gave me the number, it would have been fruitless because the bus had just left Bedok Interchange, and I would definitely not call the number again, which means I WILL NOT find the phone. Ya. Time wasn't working against me, it was working FOR me.

After all that calling of my phone, and no one picking up. Messaging, and no one replying, and yet if someone had no intention of returning the phone (as in keeping for themselves) I would think they would have turned the phone off already. And ya, after all that, I actually managed to trace my phone. Miraculous. I'm thankful I maintained my trust and faith in God, for I know He is in control. I felt I actually gained from this incident than lose. The importance of giving thanks in ALL circumstances. Yup.

Oh, I actually started looking for new phones when I reached home. I thought it was high time to get a new phone anyway. Now that I got my phone back (tomorrow rather), I would like some suggestions so I can make an informed decision. I'm looking at SE...any recommendations?

Close Brush With DEATH

Today I had a close encounter with death. Only armed with my wrist guards, I went downstairs to blade supposedly leisurely - slowly and safely.

At the first bus-stop at Buangkok Green, I took a left turn and headed down a slope. By the time i went 10metres, I realised that the slope was pretty steep and I was fast gaining speed. I was a little afraid now, as I continued to gain speed at an alarming rate while noticing 3 things. Firstly, the speed that I was going was so fast now, that it felt my heart was about to jump out of my mouth. I could not slow down with T-stops and heel drags, I only went faster and faster and faster. I contemplated a grass-stop, but realised that I was going too fast, and the sudden change in momentum will throw me flying into the air, possibly into the road. Next, at the end of the 400m(I think.) it was a pretty sharp left turn, 10metres of pretty uneven pavement, and then a rectangular S shaped(extremely tight) turn.

I continued to gain so much speed, a tiny gap, unevenness in the ground, even the covered drain platform might just throw me flying if my wheels get jammed in the slightest wrong angle. You could imagine how close i felt to being critically injured, not having worn any guards (I even thoughts the guards would have been insufficient cause I didn't have a helmet), or worse still, death. As I approached the end of the slope I DIDN'T manage to slow down! But I managed to maneuver the left turn, almost lost my balance but didn't. Somehow by the grace of God I managed to slow down enough to tackle the very difficult S (the path was narrow and uneven) and didn't fly into either the longkan or the road. But I was so shaken after that I couldn't stand straight. Gee.

Next, I went around the blocks towards Hougang Point and back towards my home. Having decided prior to leaving my house that I ought to check out the multi-storey carpark at it's top level, I did. (I hope you have a visual impression of the new multi-storey carparks for purpose of explanation) Going up the slopes each level was a chore, because of the very uneven surface made by the 'circle patterns'. When I finally reached the end, I was panting. Real tired. And I could see into my house! It's the same level as the last open air level of the car park. I went close, and realised that the edge was dangerously low, way below my thighs near my knees and I instinctively stepped back (rolled back actually). When I had to return, I contemplated going down the slopes. I knew I just had to try one. I knew also it was rather steep but I thought it was manageable. I guess I was wrong! I underestimated the slope and when I went down I gained speed at an alarming rate. I had to do a sharp turn by the time the slope ended in order to avoid falling 6 storeys down. It could have been a nice parallel slide but sadly I wasn't proficient in that *nor was the speed and angle I was going anywhere near safe*. I'm thankful I got away with just an abrasion on my left elbow and my knee. I could have been flat on the ground..ground zero. Well after that when I saw the slope down to the bottom level, I was like "OH NO WAY!", not only because I just fell, but because the end of that particular slope is a drainage that had it's covers removed*probably stolen and that gap is just waiting to devour me and fling me into the air.

That's my elbow if you actually thought it was my knee. HAHA.
Not that it's anywhere near funny though. Skating downhill is REALLY SCARY.

Migrate?

Just went to look at the mp3 player code at MySpace. It's pretty nice overall. Like a friendster+music/video/normal blog all squeezed into one. Should I...we migrate? Seems to have more functionality. Opps. I wonder if this post is actually allowed. Later get banned from blogspot haha.

New Addition

Forget about the angst post below. I decided to put some mp3 in my blog (think you'll need apple quicktime if you don't), say - updated weekly or every few days or so. Got requests? Let me know..now playing..last week 2 weeks lesson...Title's at the bottom if you're curious. Yup yup..

Oh I'm sorry.. 56kb users I hope I don't kill your connection ><

Christ Forgives

Everything that used to be in this post - deleted. If Christ can forgive so willingly, then I as a Christian should also strive to be Christ-like, yet not perfect, but made perfect in his graciousness. Therefore as our sins have been blotted out so completely by the Blood of Jesus Christ, then also this issue blotted out completely - yet remembering the lessons learnt. Over the past few days I have read, seen and heard rather miraculous things, and I know divine intervention was in play, is, and will be to come.

It's such a privilege to be able to receive God's love with grace, and indeed it is very true that the human heart is made such that it needs God and his gracious love. Devoid of it, life has always something -empty-, knowing that death creeps closer every second and not knowing the fate that lies thereafter. Everytime I turn away from Jesus and slide away I begin to suffer like those without Christ. Life begins to feel so meaningless and I question the meaning of it - when I look at the suffering of myself and others, of war and chaos- the homeless, the oppressed, the fatherless and the widowed. Yet thankfully I do know Christ, and by his love will always somehow draw me back to Him. And I am more grateful for that someone who always reminds me and draws me back to Him. But I feel for those who refused God's love, and with it, the meaning of life and the promise of salvation for the life after. God is real. I'm thankful that while many Christians have seen miracles that some people may attribute it to 'coincidence', I have seen and heard many that are tangible and irrefutable, (some of which I can't share yet.). I have also felt God's presence being very real and tangible in the form of the anointing of the Holy Spirit. It was during a song worship...and I was really cold, close to the point of shivering, but not. And suddenly I felt this wave-like force wrapping my whole body and it felt like electricity rising through my body towards the head - and it was very warm - and no, I wasn't shivering..I wasn't cold anymore. I was quite afraid, yet excited, but was somehow fixed in place somewhat.

Anyhow, that incident tells that while faith in God is of paramount importance, when I started to want to feel God tangibly and felt that, it was a reminder to me that, through physical experience, God is real. The other extreme though, I have seen dozens of people (like south with of indoor standium?) - the city harvest choir being slained all at once, they all fell back at the same time. And so did the other sections. And I saw pastor Kong(sp?)- CHC's pastor being pushed backwards, off the ground, together with 2 people supporting him. I reasoned and knew that the angle and force, the height of how he was 'flying' backwards, with even 2 people supporting him, is physically impossible. Unless perhaps you challenge my knowledge in Physics (Though I believe even an observant secondary school student could tell..), or that the whole thing was staged (which is even more far-fetched, but I will not say why), then there was an unseen force..something very spiritual. However, I was overwhelmed then, but now, decided that I should not attribute everything spiritual in nature to be of God. The devil knows the spirituality of human and makes use of human superstitious behavior to deceive them away from knowing the true God. Thus it is indeed very dangerous to take everything at face value (speaking to Christians), that we should have our foundations fixed on the Word of God- The Bible, that we should put on the full armour of God, and judge the person's teachings (but not the person) and discern if his teachings are of God or not.

In closing this episode...

2Tim.3
[16] All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
[17] That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

that I would rather face the problem and correct the wrong things, wrong attitude from any side then run away from it. And Jeremy you did that somewhat. That's good. Daniel, you have much to learn my young padawan.

Falling Sick

Oh great, signs and symptoms - and I think I am falling sick soon.
What, you ask?

Yesterday my throat started itching, starting from the palate, right at the back of the throat (it feels dry and itchy...which sucks).
Today, my throat felt itchier, and now it's quite painful.
It probably looks red and swollen now.
Tomorrow, it will probably be a sore throat - coupled with a hoarse voice.
And there after, intermittent fever that fluctuates throughout the day (signs of bacterial infection. - a doc explained to me it's due to fluctuating bacteria levels. But most URTIs are caused by viral infections like common flu, can someone explain why the fever fluctuates? - Shera? Pradip? Anyone?)
I may start coughing. Or I may lose my voice, or both.
Then the coughing gets severe, triggering a mild bronchitis.
And then I cough a few weeks until I recover.

Say. What is it?
My classic signs of an URTI - upper respiratory tract infection. Most of the times it stops there.
I used to have recurrent tonsillitis too, until I had them removed last November.
But when it gets worse, my lungs(lower tract) get affected as well.

I am one weak kid, sad right?
Will the above happen?
Stay tuned!

Updates:
17/April 07 - 12:10pm

I just woke up. Very Groggy. The Uvula - that bally thing at the back of your throat - is like, twice the size. Sore throat, and rather red. (The bally got so big after my tonsillectomy I couldn't breathe...Yup. Almost covering the whole mouth, choking me when i sleep cause it's extremely lax.) Mucus was green (oh no ...infection) .. but i saw some brown/red substance I couldn't really discern what it was. Blood Probably. But that's unusual, except during the week after my tonsillectomy, that was normal. We shall see!

18/April 07 - 10:30pm

Hmm...feeling sore, but better than expected. I normally lose my voice by now. Which means, all's good! But every morning I just wake up feeling horribly painful in the throat. Ew. Coupled with sinus problems - me having to breathe through my mouth - just makes things worse.
But.. all's good!