~Unmanned~

2008-10-03T11:04:00.003+08:00

It is a general perception that teaching is a vocation and it goes beyond the want to have a stable job. Though of course, for some educators, the stable monthly salaries attracts them into this job. However very often, we hear teachers complain about the endless hours spent marking assignments, preparing for lessons and having to deal with the perpetual amount of administration work. But the real beauty behind it is when you hear them say: At the end of the day, it's the students that matter and it brings me great joy to see them grow to become people for others.

I believe the key behind enjoying what you are doing is Passion: a strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm according to Dictionary.Com. Perhaps I do not speak for all, but when you have a strong deep desire within you to want to do something, you will go all out to do it even though its difficult and even if it means sacrifices on your part. However, sometimes the problem comes when we are searching where our passion fully lies and where our hearts and minds are. I guess this is especially true for university students like us deciding where to head on after graduation. I might be simplifying things a lot especially when earning a decent salary is so important and a lot of times, many have to trade off doing something they really feel passionate about for a job the pays decently well so as to have a stable income. And for many, they spend a lifetime in the 'rat race' of the financial world only to look back and regret not being able to let the fire that was once in their hearts burn. Of course, there are also many who will testify how much they love their jobs. For instance, a particular priest mentioned how thankful he is to be able to celebrate the funeral of others for in it, he sees his role as giving hope and support. You can just simply see from the sparkle in these people how passionate they are with their jobs.

For me, if there is anything I hope for, it will be doing something that I feel passionate about. Somewhere deep within me I really don't think I can sit down in an office everyday and repetitively do the same thing day in day out. I need to have a changing environment with different people coming in and out of my life. Thus far, I do hope that teaching is a right option for me, even though many have warned me before that this job does not just entail having to teach students, its much worse than it and it also doesn't pay as well as my fellow peers who have the same qualifications as me. Perhaps its really tough and stressful, which is why so many teachers are ending up in IMH. Nonetheless, I will just move on and take this step and see where it takes me to. Hopefully at the end of the 4 years of my bond, I can say that it has been worthwhile and I have let the passion within me burn.

2008-07-10T13:29:00.002+08:00

As I was walking down the pavement along a street after tuition and felt the wind blow against by face, I cant help but to feel a strong sense of peace and freedom - the sense of liberation. I came to a standstill and observed the setting sun in the distant horizon - the simple joy of life...

2 months into the long summer holidays but it seemed to just pass by in the blink of an eye. I have been so caught up in the many activities and events that at times, I feel that I do not even have time to myself, to just sit back relax and listen to my inner voice and reflect on the simple joy that existed in my life and yet I havnt been able to realise it. Ironically, it is only now when I am on my MOE school attachment, in my little cubicle with a desktop on my desk in some corner of the school, that I actually managed to find time looking back at the past semester and the holidays.

The past semester hasnt been all that smooth sailing with many ups and downs but one thing that I have gained from it is that all of these experiences both good and bad, only served to mould me and allowed me to grow as a person. At those times that I felt lost without a sense of direction, He has affirmed me - that in all things, He is always around guiding me even in my low times. I am thankful for the many friends that He has sent me to journey together with me - these friends or rather brothers in Christ were companions on this journey. On the topic of faith formation, being a CGL over the past 2 semesters has been a memorable and fulfilling experience. I have gained much from my CG members, through each of their sharings, through the weekly planning of CGs with Sam Tang, Max and Alex (Gal) and from my fellow CGLs. Even after 1 year, I would say that being a CGL is not an easy job at all, it requires lotsa time and effort but what makes it all worth it is when I realised how CG has made an impact on at least some of my CG members and it is such moments that I know that all these are all worth it.
(Gotta go for class... to be continued...)

2008-02-25T15:20:00.002+08:00

You are who you are for a reason.
You are part of an intricate plan.
You're precious and perfect unique design,
Called God's special woman or man.

You look like you look for a reason.
Our God made no mistake.
He knit you together within the womb,
You're just what He wanted to make.

The parents you had were the ones He chose,
And no matter how you feel,
They were custom desgined with God's plan in mind,
And they bear the Master's seal.

No, the trama you faced was not easy.
And God wept that it hurt you so.
But it was allowed to shape your heart
So that into His likeness you'd grow.

You are who you are for a reason,
You've been formed by the Master's rod.
You are who you are, beloved,
Because there is a God!

By: Russell Keffer

He had been more evident than ever to me over the weekend, He has placed people in my life for a particular reason and this time it is to remind me that He is always present, yes He is.. even when you think that He isn't. There are no such thing as coincidences for our God is an awesome God.

2008-02-08T16:55:00.000+08:00

'Coincidence is just God's way of remaining anonymous' Sometimes things happen too often that its hard to just ignore it and label it as a coincidence. The beauty of it is that when it all happens, you see a beautiful picture unfolding and at the same time displaying His wonders... That is when you know why lives are entangled in some ways or another - to form up His tapestry... in this journey called life, is it really God's plan or is it really our own free will? Maybe its a hybrid of both...

Hearts on Fire Rally 2008 'Let Him Shine' - It was a good rally and the PAC was mostly filled with youths from around Singapore and the 3 universities. It is really heart warming to see youths coming together to experience Jesus through the Blessed Sacrament and the Spirit through praying over and P & W. I was even more delighted when I saw youths from Holy Trinity there as well as some of my fellow catechists. Music Ministry did a fantastic job with the P & W even though it was their first time. Thankfully, the programme and all went smoothly according to plan. At first, I was undecided if I should go for praying over till I was encouraged by Ade. I approaced Bro Terence who later asked Bro Jude to pray over me together. At that point, there was this fear within me. The fear that I would lose control of myself and the thought of how embarrassing it would be. Jude then said, 'its only Jesus, what are you afraid of.' And as I closed my eyes, I totally lost control of myself even though I tried to resist. Tried moving my limbs but didnt work, tried opening my eyelids but couldnt, after trying a few times, I decided to surrender and rest. It was really a peaceful feeling, I couldnt hear anything else around me even though I was still conscious. These few minutes were really peaceful, a feeling that is unexplainable and its something that I had never felt it before...

Litany of Humility - Justin, Cheryl and Magic brought up this prayer during CG two weeks ago, at first I thought it was just some ordinary prayer but after reading it, I realised that its really not easy to pray it.. nonetheless, its a good reminder for myself especially during this period of lent... here it goes:

Litany of Humility
Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930),Secretary of State for Pope Saint Pius X

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being loved...
From the desire of being extolled ...
From the desire of being honored ...
From the desire of being praised ...
From the desire of being preferred to others...
From the desire of being consulted ...
From the desire of being approved ...
From the fear of being humiliated ...
From the fear of being despised...
From the fear of suffering rebukes ...
From the fear of being calumniated ...
From the fear of being forgotten ...
From the fear of being ridiculed ...
From the fear of being wronged ...
From the fear of being suspected ...
That others may be loved more than I,Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I ...
That, in the opinion of the world,others may increase and I may decrease ...
That others may be chosen and I set aside ...
That others may be praised and I unnoticed ...
That others may be preferred to me in everything...
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should…

2007-11-09T00:28:00.000+08:00

I have not been blogging so long that even my chatboard is down. Oh well, will probably get a new one in December when I have more time to blog.

With the passing of each new week, I reached a point where I actually asked myself what exactly have I been doing this semester. Have I been living each day without knowing what I want from it and achieving the most out of it? Just when I felt that life was monotonous, He has showed me how blessed I have been. At times I do not see the blessings He has showered upon me until the end of the journey. Fr Val told us to pick up small little blessings in our everyday so as to be able to see the goodness of life and help each other journey through difficult times. I guess He has provided me with many good friends along the way for me...

For the past years, I have always been teaching Sec 3/4 catechism but this year, it is my first time taking a Sec 1 class. I wasnt particularly excited or enthusiastic cos I expected them to be childish and I felt that I had to babysit them more than anything. I was so wrong, from their camp in September, I realised how much potential these teens have and how important it was to provide them with a good foundation right from Sec 1. The experience was different from the other camps I went, in fact I have learnt and grown a lot from them. Last weekend was the last class for the year, the girls in the class made a 'Thank You' card and gift for Danielle and myself. We were very touched by them as they were indeed really very appreciative of us. Guilty as I am for not putting much effort with regard to Cat class, it really was a great motivation for me to do more for them next year. I am glad that I will be following them up next year.

We also had our last CG this week. Being a CGL for the past 8 CGs has been an overwhelming experience. Its a different experience from teaching catechism, different from being in Artz Comm or any ad hoc comms. Its an unique and enriching experience in its own ways, so great that I cant be thankful enough for the experience and journey. Along the way, I realised that I questioned, worried a lot about things but in the end, the turnout was always different from what I had expected it to be, in fact, it was better than what we had planned. I have learnt to just do my best and let God do the rest. Really really, He has so abundantly bless me with the people in my CG of which I have gained and benefited from the various sharings, with wonderful vocals esp since I cant sing for nuts, guitarists to create a more melodious atmosphere and a great CG partner to work with who has creative ideas and making CG and CG planning so fun.

So what's there to look forward to now? Not much time to prepare for exams but I guess I do hope for it to be over soon so that I can just chill after that.

Holiday plans:
- Hong Kong Trip
- CSS Christmas Community Service
- Blood Donation
- Morton's Bar
- Board Game Cafe
- Night Cycling / Kayaking
- Christmas
- Catechist Retreat
- Artz Combine Thanksgiving CG

That's it for now.. will add on more later...

2007-09-11T23:36:00.000+08:00

Gladys just reminded me on Sunday that it has been awhile since I blogged. Hours and days seem to pass really fast ever since school started. In the midst of all the hassle of work, its already Week 5.

Looking back at the past few weeks since school started, being in Year 2 is kinda different from Year 1. Gone are the level 1000 mods where the lecturers and tutor are more relaxed, having one whole lecture/tutorial for introduction before going into the core of the module. Tutorials seems so much more difficult now, I can actually take about 2 hours doing just 3 econs questions. To top it all up, I had to submit one term paper last week. But somehow through God's grace, Elaine (through some administration screw up, ended up having to submit her essay the same time as me too) was doing the same essay question as me. Though we are each doing our own paper, having someone doing term paper with this early in the semester was really an encouragement and she has really helped me a lot in many ways. So thank you Elaine. I have 2 more term papers and 5 more mid tests to go - wad kinda life is this - No life!

Gladys also asked me this: Am I someone that constantly need to find things to do? Dont exactly know how to answer but I guess so. At least it gives me a sense of purpose and direction of where I wanna go. Looking back, what exactly have I been busy with - can only come up with these few - planning upcoming church camp this weekend, CGs, tuitions and school work. With regards to church camp, the planning of a camp is really not easy and definitely will not be possible without the help and co-operation of the other Con 1 catechists esp Russell and Gladys. Both of you have really assisted me a lot and it is always enjoyable working with you guys. Though school can get damn sian sometimes, planning for CGs and doing CG stuff never fails to brighten up my day. I realised that it is actually damn fun planning for CG. Well, at least there is something to look forward to every week.

Dunno when will be the next time this blog will be updated.. probably after Con 1 Camp. I am not exactly in the right frame of mind for a Confirmation 1 Camp and being there as a Facil and camp chief - dun feel prepared and ready somehow. But I think I really need to tune myself for camp . Just gotta pray, pray and pray.

2007-08-05T00:58:00.000+08:00

SJI Renaissance - it was actually quite disappointing, especially when you expected much more from the band's 50th Anniversary. The main band was really not very impressive but I guess the Alumni band made it much better. Somehow, the school spirit which made us outwardly proud of our school was absent that day. Felt quite paiseh, especially when I told people like Steph, Elaine and Rachel that they will witness the best school cheer and spirit around. Nonethless, I was a good gathering of old friends, some of which I have not met in years and also, it was nice meeting up with the teachers again.

The 3 Artz Holiday CG summarizes what I wanna say about this hols. CG1 - Relationship with God, CG 2 - Relationship with Family and CG 3 - Seeing God in our Friends. Attended the past 3 CGLs workshop conducted by Ben C and his team. It was really enlightening. I thought that being a CGL will be quite easy and similar to teaching catechism but I guess that is really not the case. Totally different roles and different approaches. We discussed about our fears of being a CGL and it all seem so real to me. Really have no idea how CG is gonna be like for next sem, whether we can outreach to more catholics on campus, the Year 1s and connecting with them. But I guess He has his own plans for everything and I should just leave it all up to Him. The Artz CGLs decided to take turn to plan the 3 respective CGs. I have came to realise the importance of having CGs during the hols - it is an avenue of bringing people like me back to God, otherwise I will be immersed in all the social activities day and night without realising that I am falling into spiritual dryness. It has also helped me to question myself if I have taken my family for granted.I remember typing an entry about taking family for granted a few months back. And when I look back now, I think I really didnt put in much effort in spending more time with my family. And now that hols are coming to an end, the same old routine of school will begin again with term papers, term tests, projects and family will not be my focus again. Time to do something about it - but the inertia is just so great, even though it is evident that my family care so much abt me. Friends - I must say that I am very blessed to have my family and also a fantastic bunch of friends - from primary school right up to CSS. The Bishop of Cebu celebrated mass in my parish yesterday - and in conclusion to his sermon - he said that 'There are no accidents in life'. And I believe it makes sense, everything that happens is not an accident - family, friends and daily happenings...

We had our final Artz Comm Meeting last week also - the 11th meeting. A year being in Artz Comm have come and gone. I am actually very thankful to the seniors in Artz Comm - Steph, Fel, Moses, Ade, Brian and of cos of SD - Fr Val. Right from the first meeting, I felt damn welcomed and it has definitely been a major stepping stone in bringing me closer to this CSS community. Though Steph said that she was a slave driver (perhaps all of us will agree.. haha), I think we all enjoyed ourselves being in this comm.. with all the laughter and nonsense. So just wanna say a Thank You. :)

Moving on to social activities - July is really a bad month to stay in Singapore. There are just too many birthday babies - from 1st July right up to the end of the month. I have celebrated and tasted more than 10 brithday cakes last month. I am sure Lyanna will agree with me. :) But it was great fun planning a massive CSS birthday celebration together with Moses and Lyanna on the last week of July. We wanted to just have a small birthday celebration but more and more birthday babies were adding on the list and so we did it - a massive birthday celebration for 14 July babies. And the latest social activity was the Dim Sum Buffet at Dragon Gate Restaurant - it was actually quite cheap and the food is reasonably good. Lotsa Year 1s joined us that day for the buffet, followed by CG at Cher's place. And yes, the SJI boys did one of the best cheer - Hail, Hail - at her place. Even the gals were impressed by us man - Ora Et Labora

2007-07-17T08:57:00.000+08:00

Celebrated Russell's 22nd Birthday last week at Hard Rock Cafe with the rest of the guys and Wan Yong. It has almost been 6 months since we last saw Nicholas, Wei Ze and WY. Its always nice meeting up again and carry on from where we last left off. We bought Russell the Swatch watch below for his birthday present (photo below - chosen by MArc Khoo and myself). I would gladly like to have this classic leather strap watch if Russ doesnt want it, but I guess he kinda like it too. Just looking back at old photos of us 7 years ago when we were in Sec 3, I must say we really have grown up quite a bit. Of course, still not uncle yet but it is evident that we have all grown up - our conversations wasnt as crappy as before and we started talking about different stuff - internship, career, family etc... Nonetheless, its amazing how we managed to maintain the friendship though we are all leading different lives now and how we always attempt to meet up as and when possible.

The aftermath...
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Attending mass at St Joseph (City) somehow gives me a very nostalgic feeling - seems as if I had frequently visited this place before in the past. Stepping into the church itself, looking around, you will find the statues of the many saints. The serenity of the place brings about a unique sense of calmness and peace - a phrase comes to mind - what is life full of care when there is no time to stand and stare - to appreciate the simplest things in life in the midst of our busy and hectic lives.
We were looking around the compound for the restrooms. After spotting the sign, we followed along a narrow alley to the back. The whole scene brought us back to that of the 1950s, 60s (see photo below). Gomes used her phone and took the photos - used black and white mode to further give the nostalgic feel.

Moses and I outside the restroom - waiting for the gals

Walking down Memory lane...

2007-07-08T21:10:00.000+08:00

Arts Gathering (28 Jun) - It was a great evening spent with some 30 others at Magic's place. Quite a number of freshies came. To prevent another round of stomach upset, potluck was stricter than the previous time - Moses and I wanted to Quality Control (QC) all the food, but in the end I think the food looked okay. And Steph surprisingly actually cooked her Black Pepper Crabs. It was not bad I must say, didnt know she can actually cook. Though I am not a big fan of crabs, killing crabs can be quite fun. Next time wanna kill crabs, just call me. Thankfully, no one had the runs after the event. We celebrated Moses, Frances, Carmie, Justin and Victor's birthday together. All the early July babies... something like a triduum already. Superb fellowship!

'Small Eyes' gang... Seems like Elaine has the biggest eyes!

Reunion of family members....

A big big community

OG Gathering at Helena's Place (30 Jun) - Seriously, I think my OG is super enthu and I must admit I am getting old already, cant match up to their energy level. We met up in the afternoon to buy presents to celebrate Shareen, Frances and Yvonne birthdays. (Another birthday triduum) We also decided to prepare our own dinner. And I learnt how to make Shepherd's Pie, which turned out quite nice. Will make this for upcoming potluck gatherings. Nick Lee, our head chef, prepared a unique version of pasta. We had a hell of a time after dinner. Yvonne introduced this game called 7th Grade Pig - a modified version of heart attack. This game got us quite breathless but it was fun. We also played mahjong, murderer and Polar Bear. I really like playing Polar Bear! Salimah is damn funny when it comes to Polar Bear - my great talk cock buddy during the game.

Fijians

Milk Run (1st July) - Elaine, Joel, Daryl, Ben C, Ben Huang, Albert, Debbie and I went for Milk Run. Some 12000 people turned up for the event. There was a massive congestion at the starting point, it was quite a distance before we could actually start running. We were blessed with a cloudy weather. I sprained my ankle again - old injury since FOC. I need to get an ankle guard soon. It has been quite sometime since I last ran, it was refreshing and it makes me wanna get my engines going again. Needa start running and training for IPPT next month. Gonna take it with Moses and Matthew and hopefully we will be fit enough to earn some money from the SAF.

Blood Donation / Minds / Transformers (3rd July) - Was supposed to donate blood together with Moses, Steph and Gomes. But in the end only Moses, Serene and myself went. And the best thing was, only Moses could donate. I can only donate 3 weeks after I recover from fever. Will be going again sometime next week, gonna get more people to go with me, right Steph and Gomes? More donors means more lives can be saved. :)
We met up with Gomes, Marc, Magic and Debbie at Minds. Having 6-7 people is a good number as it is an appropriate number to bring the fun out of most games. Ticket to Ride (Europe version) was a cool game. Talking about cool, nothing can beat Transformers! We were all blown away by the movie. It has been a long while since I watched such a cool action film. Simple plot of good vs evil but the whole idea of transforming a car to a larger than life robot is simply breathtaking. I especially liked Bumble Bee - he was transformed from a yellow chevolet. Perhaps, just perhaps, one fine day my dirty green Chervolet will transformed into some cool transformers too. Megan Fox is also worth the watch. Ratings for this movie - 5 out of 5 popcorns!

FOC Followup (4th July) - Follow up starts at 6pm but Fiji decided to meet up earlier at 3pm. This is the 5th time the OG is meeting up since FOC. Happening rite. We wanted to cycle but it took us quite awhile to find the bicycle rental shop. I realised PAsir Ris Park changed quite a bit, though I stay really near the park, I hardly ever use it. The few of us finally got our bikes and we headed for the playground. We were behaved like some over grown children - playing with the slides, climbing and jumping all around. We even climbed our way right up to the top of the spider web. At the follow up proper, I saw many few faces. It was a good gathering and I guess it officially marks the end of FOC but the start of a new journey for the freshies. Finally, I decided to go Mambo with the CSS peeps after BBQ. There were some 18 of us that went. I am glad I went cos the company was really good. And also, it was the first Wednesday that Zouk went smoke free. It feels good clubbing in a smoke free environment.

Deprived childhood?

At the top of the world...

Nice photo!

Enjoying life to the max..

And so, that's the happenings of my life the past week or so. Can someone tell me why is time passing so fast? It feels that the holidays are only just beginning...

2007-06-23T14:48:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, I met up with my Sec 3-4 form teacher, Ms Richards, together with Russell and Joseph. It was great just meeting up over a meal and talk about those good old days. It has been 6 years since we left SJI but I must say those memories from Secondary school days were the best. Talking about SJI, the military band performance, Renaissance, will be on 21st July at NUS UCC. Will be asking around who wanna watch then maybe we can go get the tickets together.

Initially, Russ, Joe, Rosie and myself had lotsa plans for this weekend - from eating at Katong, to Settlers, to Ubin Cycling, to Novena, to over night mahjong at my place but we only managed to eat at Katong and go Settlers. We were kinda tired from all the activities prior to our meeting up and to make things worse, my nose started to leak like a tap. I even had to grab tissue from the toilet. Fatique was setting in and the fever started to come up. So much for all the plans but nevermind, I will organise mahjong really soon.

Finally, I reached a point where my body tells me that I really just needa spend a few days at home to rest. It has been about 9 weeks since exams ended, been on a trip to KL, Vocation Retreat, Artz Retreat, FOC and a whole lot of other activities. Looking back I think there isn't one full day that I just stayed home and slack. Probably today is the first day but its because I am down with fever and this time cant ignore alr. Oh well, its time to just enjoy the comfort of home and to recharge myself for more activities to come before school starts.

2007-06-21T22:57:00.000+08:00

In the midst of recovering from FOC, I went ahead for my first Fiji OG outing last Monday. I must say Nicholas was really siao on to organise OG outing just right after camp, but it was really nice to see the freshies bonding well with one another. They actually missed each other after 2 days. We went to Miss Clarity Cafe for lunch. Finally had a chance to dine in there. I think the trick is to go there during lunch time and not dinner. Cos the cafe was relatively empty when we were there. We went to Minds cafe after that but Carmie and I left early for Artz Senior Farewell at Vivo. We had a nice cosy dinner at Vivo Marche but many of us were sick - the aftermath of FOC but we didnt really care. Had a prize giving ceremony for the seniors (thank you Fel for preparing the gifts for the seniors on behalf of Artz Comm) and photo taking session. We also played Polar Bear in the open area outside Marche. It was quite fun and comical.

Gomes birthday celebration was on Tuesday. I think we really surprised her. Things went according to plan although we waited about 2 hours for her. Actually we took out one item from her birthday gift - 3 fake cockroaches. We wanted to include the cockroaches in her birthday package but after seeing the strong reaction from the other gals, we decided to just do away with it. It was a good celebration with a fantastic Chocolate Indulgence cake from Secret Recipe. It was nice seeing her shocked, surprised and touched. We watched Fantastic 4 after that but it wasnt up to expectations. There was a lack of climax throughout the story. Perhaps the only good part about the movie was Jessica Alba.

Watched Oceans 13 yesterday with CSS peeps - definitely a better movie than Fantastic 4. We somehow got 10 complimentary movie tickets passes due to a 'boo boo' the cinema had made. We should use the passes for Transformers - a movie not to be missed! More activities in the coming weeks - Blood donation (long overdue), OG Cycling, OG BBQ/Stayover, Mahjong Sessions, Transformers, Artz Gathering (to welcome Freshies), Milk Run, Kushinbo Buffet and a whole list of birthdays coming up starting from 29th June all the way to 30th July. I need $$$$$, more tuitions needed to survive the coming month!

2007-06-16T14:33:00.000+08:00

NUS CSS FOC 2007 - It has been a long six days, running on pure adrenaline but at the end of it all, it was all worth it - the joys, the laughters, the sharings and the tears.I have gained a lot as a facil from this FOC. It is different from other orientation camps or any of my church camps cos CSS FOC is a hybrid of both. Amazing isnt it. Having a Christ centered camp in the midst of all the fun.

DaY -1 and 0 - Facil workshop started last Sunday and Monday with all the facils and some befrienders coming together to know one another better, learnt the funky mass dance as well as to know the programme for FOC proper. Raymond, Salimah (Frances), Helena and I were co-facils. At the start, I really didnt know any of them well at all, didnt even know how Helena looks like. (maybe a bit more for Salimah cos I always ask her whether she got sweep the floor). All of us had different characters but through FOC, we made use of each other talents and weaknesses to assist one another. I have learnt a lot from Raymond and of cos getting to know Salimah and Helena better too.

Day 1 - Initially there were only 4 freshies in our group (Fiji) - 3 gals (Serene, Yvonne and Joyce) and a guy (Nicholas). We were kinda worried that Nicholas will feel left out in the midst of the gals. But thankfully, He sent another person - another Nicholas. And both of the guys already knew each other in JC. At first, the freshies were really quite quiet. When other groups had already started 'Ra-Ra-ing' away, they were still very much reserved. At that point in time I felt a bit disheartened. However, during the session where they had to design their own group flag, I saw how they opened up to each other and they co-operated really well. They also came up with cheers by themselves. The best thing was that they did it all by themselves, we their facils didnt suggest anything at all. I felt they have bonded really well with one another and I am sure the other facils will agree with me as well. And I learnt something important, not everyone is 'Ra-ra' by nature, what matters most is how people bond together through the various activites and learn to love and care for one another.

Day 2 - The team-building games were really fun. Got really wet (thanks to Carmie and her team of gals at her station). Fiji bonded really well and the cheers were getting funkier. This day was faculty day also. We had faculty lunch at the forum. It was great seeing all the Artz freshies. Most of them were gALS with only 2 guys. Faculty sharing at night was really good. Though sharing at first was supposed to be just a general sharing about FOC, I am glad that it became more than just that. From the sharings, I came to realise that I really love this Artz community a lot man!

Day 3 - By this day, the facils were all becoming zombies and moving around in auto pilot mode. Nonetheless, seeing how the freshies were bonding and enjoying themselves, it gave me the energy to hang in there. Competitive games were fun under the blazing sun. I enjoyed the game of soccer cum captain ball a lot. Maybe we can organise such games in future. Was nodding off during the Choice Talk as well as Taize.
Of cos, the best part of every catholic camp I think will be recon night. This time I had the opportunity to be in one of the praying over teams. At first, I was worried that I wasnt spiritual enough to pray for others especially when I was terribly lacking of sleep. But I decided to just try. I got paired up with Piglet and the experience was good. While praying for those who came to us, I could feel the Holy Spirit working through us especially Piglet when she started praying in tongues. This is the first time that I witness someone speaking in tongues. Though kinda uncomfortable initially, I realised that it is actually such a wonderful gift. It gave me more encouragement to go for LISS.
After night reflection with my OG, they had to start preparing for their skit. I was really impressed at how they already had come up with a rough plot and a song for it. It was a great skit and I enjoyed rehearsing the skit with them a lot esp all of those bimbo moments that they had included into the skit. All of us started getting really cranky and I realised that the gals in my group really got potential to be excellent bimbos. Can join Steph and Fel bimbo club already.

Day 4 - Solemity of Sacred Heart - Archie came to celebrate mass but many of us were really nodding our heads away. As we were about to head to Sentosa, it started raining heavily. We gathered as one community to pray for good weather and sang How Great Thou Art. At Sentosa, the rained stopped and we were blessed with a good sun. All the groups displayed their skits and of cos Fiji got the best skit. :) Played with water bombs and threw people into the sea. And guess wad, we saw two rainbows in the sky. During last year FOC, it also rained and we also saw 2 rainbows in the sky. I remembered how Steph was exclaiming about how great God is by showing us the two rainbows. Back then, I just thought it was just a coincidence, but this time, I knew that it wasnt. I really felt that HE was watching over us throughout the whole camp and has bless our community abundantly.

It was really an awesome FOC. I came to this FOC without expecting anything but in the process of it all, I have gained so much. I have got to know many other seniors better from other faculties like Science and Law. I am sure other seniors will feel the same as me when our freshies affirms us that they have never attended a camp like CSS FOC and how they felt the love from everyone. It is also nice to know that the freshies really miss camp and the community like ours. Amen!

'I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed... How great thou Art!'

2007-05-28T18:35:00.000+08:00

Been quite awhile since I updated this blog. Lotsa activites in the past 2 weeks. Met up with good old friends like Joseph, Russell, Josiah, Chris Yeoh and Lydia. I realised that it was been about a whole semester since I last saw them and to really just chill out with them. Never mind, the holidays are still quite long, we can still meet up more often.

Went for another retreat - Artz Retreat 2007. There were about 20 of us at the retreat. Though the number is small, it was a good retreat. The sharings were very personal and it was very much prompted by the Spirit. It is amazing how the Spirit actually works, and how it allows each one of us, through our brokeness, be an instrument to reach out to others. Many hearts were unlocked and more importantly, it brought people closer together. I felt very recharged from the retreat, managed to get back to where I left off after CAW, it has been quite awhile since I felt the workings of the Spirit. Of course, there were lotsa crapping and fellowship as well. Like wad Bro Sam said, 'REMEMBER' is important, remember the experience, remember the memories and remember how the Spirit was so evidently present in this retreat. And I decided to sign up for Life in the Spirit Seminar (LISS). I never been for praying over before, and I hope I can overcome that fear or the reluctance to let go during LISS. We shall see how the Spirit gonna work through me then. :)

Played badminton today with CSS peeps, it was fun just to sweat it out. Needa re-string my racket already. After the game, got one big hole in the centre of the racket. We chilled at Macs after that and we came up with a list of more activities that we can do - street soccer, cycling at ubin, nite cycling, kayaking, roller blading (damn I gotta learn this first man), dry swimming (mahjong). And for charity - Blood Donation and Milk Run. Along with movies, suppers and FOC stuff... June is gonna be quite happening.

2007-05-14T11:06:00.000+08:00

Vocation Retreat 2007 - 11 - 13 May. The whole retreat was really a good experience and an eye opener for me. At first there was this fear of going but now that it is over, I am glad I went cos I benefitted a lot from it. Not in the sense of making new friends or enjoying yourself throughout the retreat but rather its sorting out many thoughts in my head.

Basically, the entire retreat was just sessions after sessions, followed by sharings within the group. They fed us really well with excellent food. The sessions were all about vocations, it was very informative and thought provoking. The main thing that caught my attention was that no matter which vocation we choose, we must be able to feel that sense of inner peace. And to really think about which vocation will allow us to be better persons to serve the people of God. But it came to a point where saturation actually sets in. It became too much for me, I didnt wanna think about vocation anymore. Wanted to just escape from the seminary from all the talks. There wasnt any games/sports, it was just talks. It was so bad that I even wanted to skip evening prayer. I felt disappointed with myself then and felt kinda unworthy also. Looking around, there were younger people around me, some even as young as 17 years old, trying to learn how to sing the psalms for prayers, people going to adoration room to really pray about it. I didnt feel like doing any of it, I just wanted to run away with Aaron who had to attend a wedding dinner that night. There was Recon at night but I didnt feel like going for it as well. During one of the Group sharing (I was assigned to Fr. Val's grp together with Aaron), we were suppose to share about what we felt was our call, so I shared. After that during tea, Fr. Val asked me again, and he said I was confused and needed more discernment. Haha. Though he was joking, that struck me quite a bit, I wanted to leave the retreat without such confusion.

The opportunity came during the prepration of Recon and the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, it was then that I felt God trying to speak to me. I managed to really pray and organised my thoughts, to really listen and decide wad I wanna do with my life and then offer it up. My plan may not be His plan, but I believe He will guide me through. With that, I went for Recon and I got Fr. Ambrose Vaz as my priest. He was amazing, he just spoke right through my heart and I felt that inner peace. Coupled with the Blessed Sacrament, it was the most awesome 'Down in Adoration' I have ever sung. It was amazing and I was confused no more.

On the last day of the retreat, Fr Ambrose was doing a session and he said this 'Walk with faith, not by sight', 'We see but do not look, hear but do not listen'. How true it is. I realised that the fear before the retreat, at least for me, its not wanting to pray about it and really listen to my heart, cos I am afraid of listening and to find out that maybe there is a calling. Now lookin back, it was a very foolish thinking, there is no point running or hiding, try to find out that answer and seek that peace of mind. You can run but you cant hide from Him. I believe if you ask any of us that went for the retreat, myself, Moses, Aaron, Ranneth, Netto, Ben C and Jason, we will tell you that its worth the time. I guess this will apply to gals as well. Doesnt matter what you want in life, we just need some time to really pray and listen to what God has called each one of us to do and what He wants of us- that is to serve his people in the way that is the most suitable for us.
Amen!

2007-05-10T10:15:00.000+08:00

Phantom of the Opera - somehow I am hooked on the songs. After watching it at Esplanade, I watched again twice on DVD. The whole stage effects at the Esplanade was splendid and awesome. Actually, I didnt feel that the love story behind it was that fantastic and I didnt feel much for phantom. But the songs were good. Its the kind that makes you wanna hear it again and again till you are sick of it. Now I understand why Marc and Lyanna can sing it over and over again.

My first hands on experience in getting a pizza out of the oven. Back in SJI, we didnt take Home Econs so no chance to learn how to cook. And when I am at home, I am just too lazy sometimes to really bother to learn. Nonetheless, it was great fun trying to make pizzas with Jem Pang, Gomes, Carmie and Rachel. We met up damn early. Before the gals joined us, only Jem and I were shopping for the groceries. Seems kinda weird but we didnt care. Went to Gomes house and started making a big mess in her place. We made a total of about 6 pizza and considering we are newbies in this business, I think the outcome was not bad. Though some parts of the crust was burnt and the kinda hard, but overall was edible. These pizzas were for Magic's birthday party. Some 30 over people came for the party, mass gathering of people in his house coupled with lotsa home-made food...

Posing with our first pizza, freshly out of the oven

Random shot

The 'before' look of our pizza

And I started relief teaching yesterday at SJI Junior, but its a day to day assignment. Hopefully I will be able to get a long term one. Somehow, I miss teaching a lot. The interaction with the students (though cannot smile - which is the hardest part) and other teachers make the whole working experience enjoyable. Of course, this is without all the other sai kang that full time teachers have to do.

This is the kinda holiday life man. Work as and when you want, relax and busk in the company of good friends and good food. But of cos after all the eating must go exercise also. Finally, going for Vocation Retreat tmr, somehow think quite a few people I know from both CSS and my parish are going. I think it will be a good experience and more importantly I hope that I can gain new insights over this coming weekend.

2007-05-03T00:10:00.000+08:00

Just got back from Kuala Lumpur two days ago with Daryl, Mag, Marc and Elaine. I must say it was really a good break from studying and exams. Being able to leave Singapore and just step onto the soil of Malaysia felt really good. Leaving everything behind and just rest and relax.

Day 1 - We came to realise that the 5 of us going on a trip together was really random. But somehow over the course of the day, we kinda enjoyed each other company with all the suaning and the nonsense. Mag and Daryl needed to leave on the following day so we cramped lotsa activities together. Checked in, shop - i actually bought the most from the trip man, planet hollywood, night market and finally Zouk. Communication with the locals was easy cos Daryl and Marc could speak in Malay while Elaine and myself in Cantonese. It made bargaining at the night market much easier.

Day 2 - We went for 8am mass at st John Cathedral. I had never attended mass out of Singapore before, it was a good experience. Though mass was very much the same, I just felt that the whole experience was wonderful and refreshing. I had A&W for breakfast.. it was good shit man, cant remember when was the last time I had their root beer float and coney dog. After Daryl and Mag left us, it was just Elaine, Marc and myself. We caught a damn crappy movie - Tornado (if it ever gets screened in Singapore, please do not watch it). We saw the indoor theme park at Times Square and both my seniors and myself decided to try the roller coaster, bumper cars and a 360 degrees ride. Cant help but to admit that I am getting old, when I was on the 360 degrees ride that rotated 16 times in all and hanging in mid air, I asked myself why did I actually put myself through this. But it was great fun. Visited Hard Rock- their band was quite good and finally we just chill off through the nite crapping till 4am.

Day 3 - Slept till it was time for breakfast. After breakfast, we slept till it was almost time to check out. I guess we really utilise the hotel room quite a bit. And when we was on the coach bus, we slept our way back to Singapore again. Hmm, we were really pigging out on the last day, just eat and sleep. Well, to catch up on the lost sleep over the course of studying for exams I suppose.

It was great company I must say. Got to know one another better and more importantly, this trip marks the start of the long holiday ahead.

2007-04-24T23:09:00.000+08:00

4 modules down and finally one more to go this Friday. The past 2 weeks has been really intensive.. studying in central library and sometimes airport. The scene in the library is overwhelming, every table is practically filled up with NUS students mugging away, making use of whatever time they have left to study for the exams. I belong to this group of students as well. But I guess it is always nice seeing familiar faces around - the CSS peeps. They have been great company, standing by each other through this difficult period esp when everyone is already so stress. And what makes this 2 weeks really different is going for evening mass everyday. Some how it has become a routine, always looking forward to mass... perhaps its the sense of peace and the rest that I hope to get at the end of a long day. It has been rewarding. Though, this sem has been a mad rush trying to finish studying, I must say I enjoyed this process though. Not so much the studying, but rather its the fellowship.

2007-04-02T00:40:00.000+08:00

Mag shared this with me today and it gave me an answer to so many things. Decided to blog it down so that I can refer back to it again when I need it in future and to share with whoever that comes across it as well. Here goes:

"There will be times when you will not see the immediate way ahead. You may be filled with panic, wanting to avoid what could be a disastrous step. Remember that you do not always need to see the road ahead. It is sufficient, for the moment to see Me.
When the time is right for a choice to be made you will know and I will assist you through it. Until that time be sure that keeping close to Me guarantees your moving in the right direction, despite questions and doubts raging in your mind.
When you cannot see clearly the next step, there is a good reason for My witholding that awareness. It becomes a time of trust... trust, very often, that I will simply cause My wish for you to happen! Do not feel the awful responsibility of choosing your path when that is not necessary for the moment. Just hide in Myself and know that you will soon see clearly... Until then, you are precisely what I want you to be."

Better give credit to the author or might get sued for plagiarism. Its from the book 'I Am With You' by Fr John Wooley. 'Trust' is the key word, no matter wad happens, trust in Him and know that someday somehow, He will show us the light, for us to walk our paths.

Glad that last week is over, and more importantly its the start of Holy Week. Paul asked me this yesterday: Christ resurrected, will our hearts resurrect with Him??? Yup, so for this Holy Week, am just gonna pray that as one community and one church, our hearts be united, and resurrect with Him during Easter!

2007-03-28T23:45:00.000+08:00

For every high, there is a low. I guess this applies to spiritual level as well. I was on a spiritual high during CAW period, just surrendering everything to His hands. But after CAW, it started going downhill without me even realising it. Perhaps its due to the crazy amount of school work to catch up, rushing to study for tests and doing term papers and finally to this point-trying to get started to start studying. Nowadays, I can be so cynical and even question wad is the point of fasting, going through all the daily prayers, stations of the cross, CGs.. all these just seems so routine and is there really a purpose for it? Am I doing this just because it is Lent and not really bother about the true meaning behind it? Didnt really realise it till Steph pointed out to me that I am actually losing focus from God. It got me thinking real hard the past week, yup its true that I have lost focus.. I felt it even more when I go for Novena every Saturday and read out the phrase: 'Mary, Let me never lose my God'. I guess when you lose your God, everything just seems out of place but when you are align with Him, even when things go wrong, you will still feel at ease cos you know that He knows what is best for you.

And so at this point, I guess its time to pick up from where I left off since CAW... and just focus on Him and exams which is 3 weeks away. From then on, its time for me to give thanks for a great Year One I suppose. For all the new friends I have made along the way, never expected my uni journey to be like how it is today and it will definitely will not be possible without all the people He has provided me along the way and allowing me to grow in this fellowship...

2007-03-23T10:43:00.000+08:00

Finally I have time to sit down and just spend some time typing here. Been spending hours in front of my laptop throughout the week. It seems that it has become my next best friend. My first time writing term papers this sem, sometimes i just wonder if it is worth putting in so much effort when some of the papers are just 10%. Must thank Steph, Fel and Marc for helping me out this week as well. And so, I am finally left with one more term paper for Understanding the Universe then its exams.

Yesterday CG's topic was on drawing strength from God. Through the sharings, it made me realise that I am really taking my parents for granted, esp my Dad. After spending hours in school, I just spend the rest of the night in my study room facing my laptop again, sometimes not even doing work, just some random chats on MSN. I literally face the laptop for more than half the day! I rarely even speak to my Dad. I will only approach him when i need $$$ or a ride to school... Always tell myself must change for the better but no effort done!

Death happens every other day. Someday somehow, it will happen to us and our loved ones. When it comes will I be prepared for it or rather will I be prepared for the lost? When things happens, we often use the phrases - its' God's Will and in all things he provides, draw strength from him etc.. cliche as it may sound, but I believe it does help. I guess the hardest thing to reconcile is the regret of not doing things like spending time, forgiving and loving.

Dun wait for things to happen, make things happen!

2007-03-11T23:00:00.000+08:00

This week was one of a roller coaster week - high stress levels, lotsa questioning, lotsa doubts, lotsa temptations but at the end of it all, HE allows us to make the choice in whateva we do and sometimes we just have to do what is right. Thursday CG was good for me, very much on personal reflection and it was an apt time for many of us who are experiencing many issues. We were asked to write petitions and thanksgiving letters to Our Lady and Magic will submit it for us during Novena. Always wanted to write but no concrete action till last CG...finally it is done.

Fr Val gave a great sermon on Friday and i believe it reached out to many of us that are feeling troubled, stress, worried about various aspects of our lives. All in all, HE can draw straight lines with crooked lines... ie, He chooses sinful people to make perfect His plans. Fellowship on Friday was excellent, somehow everyone just enjoyed each other company and were reluctant to leave after dinner at Holland V. But indeed it was great company, we had people from different faculties. Bro Sam was also there promoting vocations! Yes vocations, even for the gals....

Watched 300 and Letter from Iwo Jima this weekend. I enjoyed Iwo much more than 300 actually and in fact Iwo was better than Flag of our Fathers. 2 more movies to catch b4 the exams - Teeenage Mutant Ninga Turtles, Bean's Holiday. And somehow became the honourary member of Steph and Fel club together with aaron and daryl song with magic as the hon. treasurer. Another member joined today, bestest friend -Charmaine Khoo, for her classic moment.

2007-03-02T09:09:00.000+08:00

Happy 20th Birthday Mallery! Sam, Daryl and myself met up with Mallery to celebrate her birthday. Wanted to have dinner at the new Marche at Vivo but it was damn crowded, ended up with Sushi Tei instead with Ben and Jerry ice cream instead. We bought 2 pints of B and J and went to the open air 3rd floor of Vivo to eat.. The place is scenic at night man, damn suitable to bring your other half to just enjoy the cool nite breeze under the stars. :) In the midst of the mid term tests and assignment, it's actually a good break and to just relax and enjoy the good company, ice cream, scenary and just chat randomly. Brought back memories of good old JC days when you just do random and lame things. Ended up with the idea of wanting to start a blog for us to post photos and craps. The gals wanted to give the blog name... from Ah Huats and Old Maids at first to Ah Huats and Ah Huas... we finally decided on This This That That. As usual, ended up taking lotsa photos, so I shall just upload it here for you guys to download:

This Gals

That Guys

This This That That

2007-02-26T22:32:00.000+08:00

Year 1 Sem 2 Week 7 - back to school from the CNY break... Looking at my planner for the coming weeks, I kinda realised that its gonna be school work and more school work till end of term. 4 mid term tests spread across 2 weeks and 3 term papers - 2 of which due in March. Then its time for exams come end April. Cant wait for this sem to be over and for the long awaited 3 months holidays to come.

Today is the 2nd day Artz comm did Bread and Water fast for Lent. Fr. Val joined us in our prayer and 'break-fast' together with us. Think today is the first time Artz Comm actually came together for dinner without having meeting either before or after which I guess its a good time for all of us to get to know one another better. He brought up that there will be a Vocations Retreat this coming 11-13 May for tertiary students. He encouraged us to go(but its only for guys, gals can go for Choice retreat)... still considering but actually its not a bad idea to c what it is about. Even my cat class boys had gone for such retreats before.. Think it is not so intimidating if a whole group go together, cos like wad Fr. said, can hide behind each other. Anyone interested? And also we thinking of going to Genting (ideal place for Artz Retreat?.. haha) or anywhere just to R and R prob first 2 weeks of May...
More holidays plans - Church Con 3 camp in end May then CSS FOC in June. Finally thinking of LISS in July.... plus its time to start doing relief teaching during this break.

But reality sets in.. its only Day 1 of Week 7. 7 to 8 more weeks to go.....

2007-02-21T01:27:00.000+08:00

Great fellowship, great company, great food! Thank you Elaine and Steph for opening up your homes for us to gather together and have fun! Thanks for the food! And also thank you Moses for organising it! Playing In between was damn fun! haha.. i am sure Marc will agree with me and I dun think i am that suay a dealer la, need me to add money to the pile wad. So I am doing all a favour. Haha. It was just great fun! BUT, Epic Movie wasnt that good - damn lame and random dun really think it was funny.. watched it Daryl, Sam and Malo-ery.. while the others watched Letters from Iwo Jima, nvrmind will watch it next week instead. We should do this every year man!!

Josephians

4 of us taking random photos after Epic Movie

Fellowship!

Acting Cool? haha

2007-02-12T10:57:00.000+08:00

HE IS GOOD, ALL THE TIME! Yesterday's rally was amazing and awesome man! No words can really describe how I felt during the rally. Preparation for CAW and Rally itself started only 5 weeks ago, back then we had no clear direction of where we were heading. All we knew was to make CAW at a bigger scale and to make Rally that of a Shine Jesus Shine scale. Having that vision, we formed our Rally Team! Yes our amazing Rally Team - Publicity (Si Bei Fun peeps), Admin (Team Admin) and our Programmes (SJI dominated team)... without all this people being part of Rally and without their hard work, dedication and more importantly their passion to serve God, Rally yesterday would have been impossible.

Through this Rally, I really felt that God works in the most marvellous ways. Right from the start, we were worried about the numbers exceeding what CJC PAC could take. And our reservation list actually had about 770 people who signed up. We were worried that we would have to turn people away. But HE didnt allow us to turn anyone away and HE ensured that everyone had a seat including the organisers. Just looking at the auditorium filled with the people who came forth to experience really just brought a smile to my face. We were worried about so many other things, standing position of ushers, registration problems, programme flow etc.. but really in the end things didnt follow according to plan but it turned out sooo well... HE took control of all that we did. The spirit really got everyone's heart on fire, through the priase and worship and from the sharings, the exposition of the blessed sacrament and the praying over. Talking about praying over and resting in the spirit, I used to be quite skeptical about it and even when Fr. Simon was demonstrating it during his sermon, I had my doubts. Through a twist of events, I actually ended up being a prayer warrior together with Steph. Sometimes its better not to doubt. I was afraid at first but I somehow decided to get the courage and told myself to let the Spirit to take control of me. After witnessing the first person being slained, I realised that it was really the Spirit and I could feel HIS presence. As more people got slained, I started to actually feel the Holy Spirit working in me and I felt inspired by it. It was amazing!! Thought I never experience what it is like to rest in the spirit, but just being able to be part of it was really heartening. The atmosphere was high, real high, high on the eagerness to want to worship and praise him. It was awesome, simply awesome. At that point, I knew all the efforts placed by everyone was worth it for HEARTS were really on Fire.

Now that Rally its over, I am thankful for this whole experience, I have gained so much from it. Thankful for making us His instruments in bringing people to Him. Thankful for the angels He sent.
Think I must really thank my co-head, Steph, it has been great working with her, thankful for her support and for all e late nite phone meetings, those stressfull days, for all the prayers, those trips to adoration room, doing the 9 day novena and of cos for her bimbo-ness and her nonsense but really also for bringing so much joy to us all also.
Marc Khoo.. This Boss is one great support to Steph and I, he has been a great source of inspiration and a great role model. anyway.. SJI boy that's y!haha
Albert/Cheryl - Thanks for being around for us and supporting CAW right from Day 1. Outreach was a great success in campus and out of campus. Thanks for being around for us throughout this journey.
Publicity peeps - Moses, Elaine, Gomes, Rachel - mad rush to publicize rally in such a short time but you guys did it and it spread like wide fire. Registration and everythin was just amazing.. Thank you si bei funners.
PRogrammes peeps- Ewen, Ben Yeo, Chris, Marc, Dan Yeo. - The programme line-up was just great, it touched the lives of so many people including us man! Thank you for all the behind the scenes efforts too!
Admin peeps - Carol, Charmaine, Christine, Ryan, Ben C - Thanks for all the hard work in planning the admin and logistics for Rally, CAW Mass and for making everythin so professional. And Taking the extra effort in sourcing the stuff needed! Ben thanks for the website and all the gudiance too! You guys been great!

Amen! God is good All the Time, We have been his instruments in getting the youths' (young and old alike) hearts on fire! Now is the time - to worship, to witness, to rekindle, to experience. Youth Rally 2007 -

2007-01-30T01:15:00.000+08:00

Thankful for the weekend and the experience. Went to CJC on Friday to pay the deposit for Rally with Marc and Mag. After that, the 3 of us went to visit SJI. Been a long while since I stepped onto the soil of my Alma Mater. The feeling was refreshing. Marc and I got really excited, met many teachers and we had good chats. Ultimately, these are the teachers who had made a difference in my life. I miss wearing the all-white uniform, wearing the green tie and the awesome badge. Walking down the corridors of the classrooms brought back fond memories... But we didnt visit the chapel!!! We must go back there sometime soon again man.

Another highlight was donating blood at Blood Bank on Saturday with Moses. Elaine and Marc accompanied us too. My blood pressure was mild high while moses was mild low but they still cleared us to donate - think they are really desperate for donors, so do donate if u can. Its better donating at Blood Bank, the nurses are more professional and more skillful. Prob will donate again after exams in end April. :) After that, I attended the North District Youth Rally - their P and W was not bad and I must say that the youths were REALLY hyper. Maybe we are just getting old, these secondary teens were really enthu abt P and W man! Marc did a great job promoting our rally - when he spoke, Elaine and I could feel that that he has the makings of his uncle - Fr. Simon! and think e teens were kinda receptive to coming for our rally. Talking about Rally, I am really damn happy and thankful that the response for our Rally has been great so far, the numbers are comin in real fast by the hundreds. It really is a form of motivation man, more than ever I wanna contribute as much as I can to really make the experience a good one for all those HE has called. God is good, all the time!!

Of cos the highlight of highlights was Confirmation for my teens on Sunday!!! My second batch receiving the sacrament of Confirmation. Although I only took this class for one year, it was a great journey with them. Though there were times when I felt like giving up but just looking at them being sealed by the Holy Spirit, I knew that it was all worth it. I will certainly miss their nonsense, their crap and their fun-loving characters that never failed to bring a smile to me.

But of cos having a big class of 44 students, I will not be able to do it without:

Felicia - Thank you once again for being there for my class. You have been a great facil, in fact you went on to being more than a facil, you became their friend. That someone whom the teens could look up to as a role model and as a friend. You have in yourself been a great source of inspiration. Continue to be just you and I am certain that you will be making that difference to the lives of the teens in your care.

Gladys - Thank you for being around for my teens also. I am glad that you have became their friends and more importantly, really glad that you have decided to join back in this ministry. Thank you for all the support and advice and also thank you for the friendship that we share. Looking forward to yet another year with ya teachin in Con 1.

God - Thank you for the strength to sustain me throughout, it was a great journey. Thank you for sending me so many wonderful people, the Con 3 catechists, the teens. It was a great experience. More importantly, thank you for making me your instrument. :)

So with their Confirmation, I am back to Con 1 now. A brand new class - just had my first lesson with them on Sunday morning. Got a really small class now - only 26 teens. But I guess it is a good number to work with. Co-teaching with Danielle (Shanta) this year, together with Russ and Gladys in the level and 3 of the just confirmed teens are joining us in the level too. Kinda reluctant to teach Sec 1 already, cos the experience with Sec 3 is always better but well, everythin happens for a reason and I should just make full use of it.

Time for photos:

Con 3A (06/07)

Fellowship :)

Irwin, Ricardo n me

SJI Boys: Alastair, Me, Eugene

Me, Gladys n Russell

Felicia, Me, Gladys, Russ

Con 3 Catechists (06/07)

2007-01-21T23:42:00.000+08:00

During mass today, there was this boy, prob only about 5-6 years old, he was singing very very loudly - singing things like Alleuia, Holy Holy Holy, Our Father , Lamb of God.. and also he singing out of tune. But the beauty of it all - it brought about smiles on the faces of many around. I was one of those. Smiling to myself and just wondering how outwardly proud he was, proclaiming and singing, not bothering about wad people thought of him. That innocence of a child was so evident in him. It is sad that we lose that innocence as we grow up, being more conscious about the people around you, more cynical and skeptical.. I am guilty of it actually.. But oh well, on a brighter note, we are all still a child of God, no matter how old you are... so I guess its okay to bring out the child like side in us sometimes, I believe it will make us feel happier and also bring about more fun and joy to the people around you. :)

In contrast, after Cat class, a parent came up to me, asking me if I was free to speak to her. Her eyes were red, and as she spoke, she was on the verge of crying. I didnt know how to react, all I could do was just to provide that listening ear. I could see that she was upset, very upset with herself for not knowing how to communicate with her son, for everythin she says doesnt seem to matter to him. She was really concerned if her son is ready for confirmation and if he was mixing with good company. All I could do was to reassure her that her son was becomin more sensible as compared to when I first got to know him and more importantly, as a person I feel that he is also tryin to change for the better - in fact he actually told me that he wanna teach catechism next year - I was amazed but I believe God works in his own ways in bringing people back to him. Prayer I believe is the key word and having the faith and patience. More importantly, I understood that it is hard being a parent. Sometimes we always feel that our parents do not understand us but have we really tried to understand them. They are also learning very hard how to be better parents. I think I have neglected my parents a lot since uni started, but I am so thankful that sometimes they really try to understand me but I feel that I am not doing enough. After CAW, I guess its really time to just spend quality time with family cos at the end of the day, they mean the most to me...

Pulbicity for Rally was quite successful in Holy Trinity. The response turned out well, thank you Fel, Sherlyn, Jon, Gladys, Russ and Kyrin for helping me out with the publicity cards. Also, Fr. Tim helped us out and I was really motivated by the response of the teens. Think OLPS publicity went on well also.. Hopefully, 'the harvest will be plenty'. CAW preparations have started for about a month already and I think many of us are kinda losing steam but I believe we will pull through from the support of each another and lets draw strength from HIM more than ever esp during the next 3 weeks.

2007-01-16T23:23:00.000+08:00

Oh man, it has been a long time, prob since army that I started swearing and cursing. I finally did it just a few hours ago on the road. Was happily driving along TPE when this car was driving damn damn slow like 45-55km/hr on the extreme right lane.. I decided to flash my headlights but the driver didnt bother to change lane and remained. Just when I was about to change lane, the road hogger decided to do the same. So both our cars were in the middle lane now and I am still blocked by the car in front. I tried changing lanes 2 other times but that bugger followed suit. I high beam again and the car went even slower. I almost had to jam brake. I was damn du-lan. I finally got rid of it after about 500m later and as I was zooming past the road hogger, from the corner of my eyes, I realised it was a FEMALE driver. It got me even more du-lan! Few seconds later, I heard a damn loud and long horn. It was meant for her - from the car behind her then! That B**** deserve it. Sorry for e crude language here...! But yes, doesnt she understand that if she wanna go that slow on an expressway, then keep LEFT? Then again, who actually drives at such a slow speed even on e extreme left lane on an expressway? Nevermind, its over, just hope I dun meet such a driver again...

On a lighter note, I finally understand why I am an Econs major instead of any other disciplines in Artz Fac.. The reason is that I am just not discipline enough to keep myself still for hours and do my readings. Sociology and social work have tons of readings and I dun think I can even cope with the amount that perpetuates every week. In retrospect, Econs only require me to understand the theories and the math behind it. No such thing as a course pack (at least for the mods i am doing this sem). Nonetheless, I actually enjoy the issues that are covered in Soci, it broadens one's perspective and think I will do more soci mods in the coming sems...

Food for thought: Can you imagine the SJI badge being worn by gals? A parallel example would be asking you to imagine the IJ school badge being worn by guys. Doesn't seem or sound rite, does it?

2007-01-13T23:36:00.000+08:00

Less than 1 month to Rally and I am really getting excited about it. Meetings after meetings but I am glad that we are heading somewhere - at least I noe we are on the right track. Its only the first week of school and I think the time I spent at home is just 1/12 of my time. Well, I am really thankful to have a great Co-head with me, that someone who can be so bimbo at times... I am sure i dun need to mention her name u also noe who already.. but really, it has been great co-heading rally with her-updating each other of the progress every other day and motivating each other on! Though meetings never end but like wad Fr. Val said during his homily, God provides that strength, encouragement and rest from the people around. The beauty of any project I must say, is not only the satisfaction after the event itself but also the friendship forged during the process of planning the project. Seriously, I have been seeing peeps like Marc Khoo, Ewen, Steph, Moses, Carol so often this week that I realised that I got to know them much better. We always say 'Dun worry, God wil provide' , i actually came to realise more than ever that He provides through the people around me... seriously!

I am actually getting quite tired of giving tuition. About 3-4 times a week is really makin me damn exhausted. I need to reduce the frequency. I really dragged myself out of bed this morning man! And I wasnt even in the mood when I was teaching, kept looking at my watch hoping time will pass... This cannot be the case man, I must do something about it! haha..

2007-01-09T21:24:00.000+08:00

Back to Catechism class last Sunday, first lesson of the year with my Sec 4 class that will be confirming soon. As I was preparing for lesson, I came across something said by Pope John Paul II which I think is very meaningful, here goes:

For it is true that life is a pilgrimage of discovery: the discovery of who you are, the discovery of the values that shape your lives, the discovery of the peoples and nations to which all are bound in solidarity. While this voyage of discovery is most evident in the time of youth, it is a voyage that that never ends.... The world needs young people who have drunk deeply of the sources of truth.... So do not be afraid to commit your lives to peace and justice, for you know that the Lord is with you in all ways.

I guess the above really summarize what Confirmation is about, the start of a journey of discovery and its gonna be a journey that never ends. Looking at the teens, it came upon me how precious 'youth' is. It is the period of time whereby we should do and try out things. Of cos, not the wrong things but to really go experience and discover new things everyday.

Looking at the past week, CAW Team had started full strength, with meetings after meetings by both main and sub comms and it is really really amazing to see so many people involved in the various comms and everyone being passionate about it. Hopefuly, CAW this year will be a successful one ending with a power packed rally :) Been falling asleep during sermons !!! But its a good nap and as the quote goes "Come and I will give you rest". Back to school yesterday, had one lecture (Understanding the universe) and 2 Rally sub-group meetings. Quite a few of us didnt really had a good start to the new semester and in fact many strange things happened. Some of which we also dunno how to explain man. But anyway, I am quite certain that our CAW is really heading in the right direction, we really need to pray for a successful CAW and Rally. Like what Adeline said, WHAT CANT BEAT US WILL MAKE US EVEN STRONGER!... Amen to that and yes lets persevere!

Time to advertise - Youth Rally - Hearts on Fire: Now is the time! Registration will be done online, first come first served, so spread the word to everyone - over the mountains and the valleys and let all come together to witness, worship and experience! 10 Feb 07 - CJC PAC. Will post the website once its available.

2007-01-01T12:57:00.000+08:00

Yup, its 01012007, first post for the New Year! Went for Novena on Saturday and Fr. Simon gave a good sermon to wrap up 2006 and he gave us all a homework to do - that is to pen down all our petitions, blessings and thanksgivings for 2006. I guess this is a good idea cos at least we will be able to actually realised that even there might be tough times, we are actually very blessed in many other ways! The last few days of 2006 were well spent, went to Arab Street and watched Belly Dancing, of cos wad was damn hilarious was seeing Marc and Moses performing the dance as well. Besides the dance, I enjoyed the company too - Moses, Mark, Marc, Ade, Elaine... Been great going for weekly Novena with you guys last sem! Helped Steph out yesterday with her choir's Reflection session together with Ewen.. seriously, Steph, you have done a fantastic job leading the session, I could really feel the Spirit guiding you. Ewen and I felt that your choir members were really receptive and were responding well to the session. Thanks for having me over man! Decided to countdown with my family this year since I was practically not home for the whole Xmas... after that met up with Russ and Joe for supper then mahjong till 7am this morning - thanks for all e laughter and all the crapping. It was a good start to the New Year!

4 guys walking along Arab Street (where are e gals?)

Looking back at 2006 -
Jan - Apr 06: The last few months before I ORD, think my NS life was a good mix of both the army and the air force. Of cos, I enjoyed being in the Air Force more (Above all mah). But seriously, I learnt a lot through all the Ops and it gave me a bigger picture of how the Air Force works. One thing about RSAF which I think is worth commenting is the team work. Perhaps the nature of the job is as such that every man is important for a good take off, regardless of rank, everyone has a job to play. More importantly, my NS life will not be so fun without my course mates man - we went through lotsa 'shit' together as trainees - practically we did all the sai kang - moving furnitures to plucking weeds out from the fish pond, and getting punished every other day and of cos I will never forget being confined on New Year's Eve with Emmanuel and we only had the RPs to count down with to the new year 2 years ago!

May 06 - Jun 06: ORD lor! This time of the year was damn damn shiok man. Really can do what you want, no one to report everyday for rollcall, total freedom! Went for holiday to Hong Kong with family and cruise to Phuket and Langkawi with primary school classmates. This kinda life is really unexplainably enjoyable. :)

Jun 06 - Aug 06: Went for CSS FOC in June. Finally could become a student again and the whole going back to campus was a good feeling. Had lotsa fun with e UDON peeps and I believe it was a good start to my uni life. Decided to do relief teaching at St Michael Primary (SJI Junior now) as well. I always felt that teaching primary school was easy but I was so wrong man. 1 or 2 kids may seem cute or adorable but when you have a whole class of 40 plus and seeing them 3 to 4 hours straight in a day, its quite a feat! I also realised that pri. sch teachers are actually very important people in the growth of a child. They are the first line of defence to correct kids' bad behaviour. You really have to be patient to teaching them and yet be firm enough so that they dun take advantage of you. Not easy but like the chinese sayin goes 'ginger still the older one is better'(literal translation).

Aug 06 - Dec 06: Offically started my journey as a University student. Been a great semester, got to know lotsa peeps esp from CSS. At first, it seems that uni life is quite slack and easy but as mid term came, I actually realised that the school term was getting more intense. Hopefully, I will be able to manage better in Sem 2. Overall, it was a good semester, being in Artz Comm, Xmas Comm was fun and it has made Sem 1 a good experience. Most importanly, I have grown stronger in my faith.

Felicia told me once that at different stages, you will have different dominant group(s) of friends. I guess its true. For the past few months, I have spent lotsa time with my CSS friends and I really enjoy every moment of it. But I actually came to realise that I neglected my JC friends a lot, so this year, its time to do something about it and catch up on old times. All in all, it has been a good year!

Finally, Have a blessed and Happy New Year!

2006-12-28T22:31:00.000+08:00

Merry Xmas!!! Been a long long time since I really celebrated Xmas properly. Two years ago was in army and had to do duty and last year I was down with chicken pox. I can really understand the feeling of being sick during a festive season and not be able to celebrate it with your close ones. Xmas started early this year for me with Allume preparation followed by the event itself, watched Nativity and The Holiday,Midnite mass at Svdp, went for xmas celebration at chris yeoh place, Artz xmas gathering and celebrating xmas with my family... It was a great xmas spent with friends and family. I must say I really like the song 'When a child is born', heard it at midnite mass - svdp choir was superb and when they sung the song, it seriously has an emo effect. Everyone was super dressed up for midnite mass, and you can just feel that everyone is here to celebrate the birth of Christ. And during any festive season, wine and alcohol is a must rite??? Yes it is, and when everyone is indulging themselves with good wine and alcohol, drivers like myself can only enjoy drinks like mocktails, soft drinks or at most a few sips of red wine.. damn sad, so come CNY, I decided not to drive unless really necessary.

Lydia and me at Chris yeoh's place Xmas commers at Artz xmas gathering

So before you know it, Xmas has come and it is back to the CORS. Think next semester is gonna be damn fun - doing different mods with different friends. More or less confirmed my mods -

2 econs, soci and social work exposure and understanding the universe (that is i manage to bid for it). Counting down to 2007.....

2006-12-21T23:52:00.000+08:00

I received an email from a fellow catechist and she was just sharing the following:
"...receiving the gifts of the Holy Spirit is like receiving a present. If you never open it and just leave it on the shelf, you have not received the gift. Over the years, it will only gather dust. Once you unwrap it and start to use it, then you have truly received the gift. The same thing happens when you receive the Holy Spirit, you have to unwrap it and start to use it. Otherwise, it would just be doing nothing - gathering dust on the shelf."

This short sharing struck me quite deeply, esp after watching the Nativity yesterday. There was this part in the movie that mentioned about gifts. And it was said that all of us have a gift, and for Mother Mary, her gift is the child in her womb, for she so bravely received the Holy Spirit and said 'May your will be done!' and for St Joseph, his gift was to also to allow the Holy Spirit to be his guide. For some, they spend a lifetime in search for the gift, waiting for the gift, pondering what their gift is... when actually we all received it during our Confirmation but we may not have fully unwrap it and fully utilise it...
Have we fully utilise it? Have I fully utilise it??

2006-12-21T01:03:00.000+08:00

Oh ya, more stuff to add. I must say Ben and Jerry has a way of attracting customers man. Do you know that B and J does not employ male workers? Only the manager of the branch can be a guy. I found that out when my friends actually asked them if they employ guys. Anyway, we went to the branch at Vivo after Nativity to kinda of celebrate Netto birthday and we were served by this super hyper gal/scooper. She was damn enthu at serving Moses, Matt, Jem, Greg and myself and was introducing new ice cream flavours to us and also their promotion of buy 2 pints and get 1 free. She was super 'on' and was 'yaying' to practically everythin. Wad to do, she talking to 5 guys, how not to 'yay' rite. :) Well, good service makes a difference I suppose - GEMS (Go the extra miles for service). That aside, some photos:

Artz peeps @ Allume!

10 of us from Thurs CG

5 of us from Artz Comm (missing in picture: Brian)

Taken at Vivo with Santa, the elves and 2 other kids

2006-12-20T13:18:00.000+08:00

Allume! Weeks of preparations for yesterday's CSS Xmas Celebration finally came and gone. Looking back at the past few weeks, it has been really hectic but in the midst of it all - there were much joy and laughter. It was great working with e Xmas Commers - got to know many of them better - through the meetings, buying of DEcor and prizes and of cos filming the video with guest star - Rachel-the babe. And please I dun belong to HSBC!! haha. Seriously, I am really thankful to Him for making so it a good celebration, gathering all of us together remembering that we are rejoicing for His coming. The evening programme was good esp with Marc and Marian being such great MCs, of cos credit goes to Trina and Rachael as well for planning the programme singlehandedly. Elaine for getting us good deals at the Pines and for the beautiful decor, Jeremy, Teresa and Dan Tan for the cool Allume poster and the publicity, Johannes and his team in search for the many sponsors, Teresa, Brenda and Jared for helping us out for mass, Frances for e brownies and Carm and Sam for overlookin the whole picture ensuring everything is running smoothly and also Druce for guiding us along the way. At the end of the day, I am really thankful for the fellowship and of cos I think we complement each other very well too! Kudos to Xmas Comm 2006. :)

Watched the Nativity today - even though you may already know the whole story from the Bible, I think this movie is worth watching! Seriously, you can feel the bible come alive. Though there are some parts with comic relief effects, overall I believe you will feel for both Joseph and Mary. The movie really portrayed Joseph very well as a role model for guys to follow as well.

Footsteps for the next few dayz...
23th - CAW meeting, 7pm novena followed by flyboys
24th- Xmas celebration w relatives, midnite mass @ Svdp
25th - Xmas celebration at Chris place
26th - Xmas celebration at Magic Mark place
27th- release of exams results (damn!)
28th-Ubin!

Decided to join CAW for next semester... but prob just rally sub comm and see what the event is actually all about. And Artz needa fund raise next sem also., we intend to sell goodies like brownies (danielle can help us with that?? haha), cookies, new year goodies and provide services like revealing the secret magic tricks of Mark etc... so got more ideas or lobangs just suggest man!!

2006-12-16T00:38:00.000+08:00

You Are 19 Years Old

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe.
13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world.
20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences.
30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more!
40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

Came across this test and decided to try it... since recently a lot of peeps are calling me uncle so must c if really uncle not.. haha. but the test shows that i am still a teen man.. of cos! young at heart wad... 19 y/o quite close to 21.. so at least I am behaving my age. haha.

Went for my con class bbq today, spent a total of 120 bucks, good thing the cost is split between Fel, Nigel and myself or I will be super broke man. Nice seeing the teens again and we played Indian Poker. The dares that they came up with were damn disgusting. The winner will chew something and the loser will have to eat it up. And i kena two times - one was eating chewed sausages and the other was to drink Sprite that was gargled by someone else before. The sight of it was sick but when you actually put it in your mouth and try not to think that it was in someone's mouth b4 then it actually taste alrite. haha

And i finally applied for my UOB Campus Account - this means more discounts at restaurants. Totally online banking, they offer the highest interest rates in town for personal savings and they even gave me a personal cheque book. How cool is that. Okay, I sound damn 'shua gu'.

2006-12-11T20:44:00.000+08:00

Finally had the time to get my new tag board. The old one expired ages ago. So can just tag/drop a msg there. :)

Watched another 2 movies - Casino Royale and Flags of our Fathers. Didnt really enjoy Casino Royale but I actually like Flags of our Fathers. It is not your typical hollywood blockbuster war movie like Pearl Harbour with romance in it, this movie is more like a documentary - an account of the battle at Iwo Jima. What makes it interesting is the definition of the word 'heroes'. Who exactly are heroes during times of war - those who survived or those who are dead? It is also interesting to just think and try to picture yourself as one of the characters in a war movie, which character do you think you will be - the self sacrificing 'hero' or just the soldier who try to just keep himself alive. Oh well, guess u will never know unless you are really in the situation. Anyway, watched Flags with CSS peeps - 9 guys and Elaine... Its worth the money - at least to me. Have yet to watch Deja Vu, Saw 3 and Flyboys.

Update of activities:
- Finally the four of us managed to meet up and just chill out (Daryl, Samantha, Mallery and myself), we have been trying to plan an outing since FOC. The gals were crazy tAking photos, we took lotsa embarrassing photos (will post them up next time when i get the photos). Well, what Mal said is true, to be young and not be jaded by the immense stress from school, we should just have fun and do all the stupid things. Before dinner we had Ben and Jerry's. I realised that it is actually really really much cheaper getting a pint and share. You can choose and mix 2 flavours for just $12.80 and you can also enjoy the sinful ice cream in the outlet. Each pint actually states 'Hand PAcked'. Their ice cream is damn good man. Every scoop can bring you all the way to cloud 9. haha. We had dinner at Ichiban- ordered sushi as if it was a buffet and went bowling. Had a good time and a good laugh with them, I guess these are the little things that make life more interesting and make the holidays fun!

- Had my first tuition with the twins yesterday. They are really identical man. Their mum purposely made them wear different colour t-shirts so that i can differentiate them, but dun think it is much of a help. Can sense that their mother is super anxious for them to start studying and get good results for PSLE. They have tuition for all their subjects, and enrichment lessons at centres. Wad a holiday for them. haha. Went to Rochester Park for dinner with Gladys and Russ in the nite - my belated birthday treat. I agree with Russ that Rochester will be a nice place for wedding receptions, at least its not cliche. The ambience was fantastic coupled with good wine and of cos good company. Thanks for dinner Glad.

- Went to Ubin today! Rosie and Ya li pang sei us.. so only russ, joe and myself went there. Been damn long since we went last stepped on the island. Their bikes improved a lot, now with double suspension and all.. whole day for 5 dollars. Quite cheap. Though never go anywhere for holiday, at least got step out of mainland Singapore and into the rural ubin. It was fun getting all muddy. And those memories of my army days came back to me, walking along the muddy tracks, bashing through the trees, executing missions and being contacted. And of cos, we were also trying to find the different campsites used during SJI Aces Camp. That was when we were in SEc 2 man. Russ and I climbed all the way up to have a good view of one of the quarries. The water in the quarry was really blue (the shade of copper sulphate) and we had a good view of Singapore too. Thanks for a day well spent guys!

Upcoming stuff:
14th - Church Meeting
15th - Con Class BBQ
16th - Ian and Mervyn B'day PArties
17th - Artz Comm meeting
18th - Carolling with MM
19th - CSS Xmas Celebrations - Allume
20th - Artz Advent Outin followed by clubbing with CSS peeps

The holidays are too short for too many stuff. Sometimes, I really wanna just stay at home and just slack and read a book. Oh ya, wanted to buy a new book by Mitch Albom but it cost some 30 odd dollars... damn ex. Shall just wait for the price to drop. Enjoy the hols guys b4 sch starts again... :)

2006-12-06T14:44:00.000+08:00

Feels soooooooo good without having to study for exams. The feeling is just damn damn good. Just relaxin at home and not doing anything can be a real joy too. I miss these kinda days. Lotsa upcoming stuff this hols - preparation for CSS Xmas Celebrations, artz comm stuff, preparation for next year cat class stuff and gotta prepare for the Con 3 confirmation which is fixed on 28 Jan 07 at 6pm.

Watched Step Up yesterday. Cool dance moves and was really in the mood for clubbing after the movie. Was supposed to watch it with steph but went to watch with Lasap gang instead. We decided to go either Zouk or Double O next week. After the movie, I was just thinking how i should tell steph that i pang sei her when someone called me from the back. It was steph!! haha. Small world man, so we actually did 'watch' the show in the same cinema after all. More good movies to catch this hols - Saw III, Flags of our Fathers, Deja Vu...

And yes.. i declared my major already.. and these are the modules i should be taking next sem:
EC 2101 - Microeconomics I
EC 3303 - Econometrics I
SC 1101E - Making Sense of Society
GEK 1052 - New GEM module - Community service and social work (non examinable)
Sw 1101E - Intro to Social Work or a Statistics module...

Most importantly, i do not have any 8am lectures so far, all starting at 10am at least. I dunno how i survived coming to school at 8am almost everyday this sem. But the Sci, engine and medicine pple have lessons at 8am almost everyday also.. so i better shut up and dun complain. Secondly, no two exams in one day as well, its hard studying for 2 papers in a day. And hopefully they pre allocate me these mods so I dun need to bid...

18 more days to 2007..............................................................................

2006-12-01T00:07:00.000+08:00

4 down, 1 more to go. Had 2 papers today and both were not that fantastic. Had JS from 9-11am, chill out awhile at Subway with my Cold Cut Trio. (Think subway is the best lunch you can ever get man. Damn nice and healthy - eat it fresh!). Followed by a 4 hour mass information processing of Calculus into our brains (Russ, Josh and my brain). And came the dreaded paper at 5pm. The first few questions were quite ez and I was asking myself why the hell did I S/U Calculus and I got my answer really soon. Come Qn 4 till the end of the paper... the questions were bloody difficult. Think i might just fail the paper. Oh well, hopefully still can get a 'S' since i think most pple found it difficult too. Feeling quite numb, just glad that the day is over and so its just left with 1 paper.

And finally the long awaited hols will begin on Tues for me. Gonna highlight my hair and start giving tuition again. Got a new assignment, gonna teach a pair of twins (pri 6 next) starting from next week. Both of them are from St. Mike.. I need $$ so tuition must go on.

And yes today is the opening of IKEA (tampines). You can see it from my window. They are damn kiasu man, 3 big big signs stating IKEA and all 3 are facing at my direction. Shall take a photo of it soon. haha

Some random photos:

I like the background.. (Fel and my grp)

Con 3a /06'

Josephians!!

Its Xmas time in the city.........................

2006-11-27T23:32:00.000+08:00

Essays!! It has been a long long time since I wrote essays and finally the day for me to write essays again has come today. Real Estate LAw exam today, after writing one essay, I could feel my fingers getting sore but somehow still managed to pull thru the 2 hours. :) 2 papers down so far, 3 to go. Cant wait for Thursday to come and for it to be over, gotta do Japanese Studies and Calculus. Though one module is MCQ and the other S/U already, I am rushing for time to complete studyin for this 2 mods. Bear with it, Kelvin!

Cool photo rite? LaSallian spirit! Done by the boys from my Cat Class using tealights. Ora Et LAbora (Pray and Work)!

2006-11-18T12:48:00.000+08:00

It was a great weekend spent and really I must thank a lot people. I shall start with Friday - attended Exam Mass - Fr Val and Fr Simon celebrated mass. But before that, i met Fr Val at the carpark and he asked me 'so considering to join brotherhood or priesthood?' super random man. But dun think so at this moment. Fr Simon gave a superb sermon on exams - to visualize, actualize and prayerlize. It connected so much with me cos the last time that I actually had that strong belief was way back during the O level period. Its the kind of feeling where you know that you have done your best and really God will do the rest and HE will not disappoint you. Hopefully I will be able to have that kind of feeling again. After mass, there was praying over for those who wish to be prayed over. I saw many people resting in the spirit and I really wanted to go forward to just experience it but I guess I was afraid and probably wasnt prepared or in the mood at all, so I just stood at the back at the LT and watch and I just couldnt bring myself to walk down the stairs. Oh well, will see how during YISS next year.

Somebody once said this to me, the day you turn 21, the happiest people are actually your parents. So before I thank anyone else, I really really just wanna thank by dear parents, for all they had done for me and for all the love they showered upon me.

Usually, I just spent my birthday with my close friends, so I didnt really think of throwing a party and exams are just one week ahead. But seriously, when the clock struck 00:00am, I really had a big group of people with me. The CSS community was with me! :) Mostly Artz people but am really glad to have their company at that point in time. Thank you everyone who was there. There are too many to name all here but I really wanna thank Steph, Moses, Magic Mark, Matthew, Ewen (think got more but I dunno) for spending time to buy presents for the November Babies (Anthony, Rachael , Adeline and myself). My dear Artz Comm - Steph, Fel, Adeline, Moses and Brian and of cos Fr. Val - I am really glad thaT I am in such a great Comm with such wonderful people like you guyz!. And the photo is really nice man! And also Thursday CG peeps - Thanks for the present and of course thanks for all the sharing all the past sem, it was a great semester spent with all the CSS people and it has really make a difference in my uni life. :)

Thursday CG!

My SJI buddies - Russell, Joe, Josiah, Nic Foo, IaN, Chris Yeoh and Mervyn. Been eating a lot over the weekend, thank you russ, joe n rosie for a great dinner at Lawry's. Finally our dream to dine there have come true. haha It was a great evening spent and I really had a good laugh esp with Joe's driving and all the games. Nic Foo and Ian, great to have long distance chat with you guys over the phone. :) And chris and mervyn, great lunch at Hard Rock and I was totally pai seh there man. :)

The gals! haha. Lydia, Trina, PEi Ling and Xiao Wei - Thanks for your presents and of cos for your great company!!

My church mates - Russell, Danielle, Darius, Gladys, Felicia and Con 3a. Thanks for all your greetings and Danielle your brownies are superb!!

Fun fun fun... been having too much fun. Cant wait for exams to be over!! And I am so glad some of my class teens came for mass together today. Just sms a few of them yesterday and the turn out was good. A community that prays together stays together. Some of them are not regular mass goers but hopefully with company of friends, they will attend mass together. Hope this is just the start and more will join in the weeks to come. Really glad to see them bond so well. Amen!

So 21 here I come......

2006-11-14T21:51:00.000+08:00

Think this is gonna be a long post - post confirmation camp 2006 reflections.

Went to Johore for Con camp over the weekend and I am so glad I actually decided to go even though I was rather reluctant at first due to exams being round the corner. I have learnt so so much from this camp compared to last year. I was touched by the teens, by the facils and by God. Not in the very dramatic sense, just very subtle somewhere in my heart.

All of the Con 3 catechists were actually kinda busy with work and school, planning was basically left to russell, nick and me (actually i only did my part).. Seriously, thank you Russ for all e effort you put in for camp and helping me out when i was really busy with other stuff. You have been a great friend and really thank God for yet another camp spent with ya. From being students attending camps in SJI to being catechist/facils now. Thank you!!

Now let me talk about the camp proper - My dear Con 3a. They have been a source of motivation for me. I really really wanted to bring them closer to God and really let them understand e meaning of confirmation. Through all the sharing sessions, though they didnt really share their inner most feelings, I could see that they were ready - they knew exactly what they wanted to do as catholics after confirmation. 8 of them wanna join catechist ministry next year!!!!! Of course, it is not all of them. There are still a handful that i didnt manage to reach out to perhaps its because i made a mistake with the groupings. Nonetheless, seeing teens like solomon and simon finally opening up from their comfort zone and getting closer to the rest of the class really put a smile on my face. I really do not know how to express the joy but ya it just feels nice and heart warming esp to c solomon so enthu about the class bbq. I just mentioned about class bbq and the teens were really enthu about it. Sleeping in the same bunk with the teens at night was really amusing, all e gossiping on which gal is chio and their own little crushes. But well, such sharing brings people closer together. After Con camp, went for lunch with a group of them, was so surprised that solomon joined us (think his mum will be soooo glaD to see her son growing closer to God and his friends), after lunch really wanted to go home but they kept persuding me n fel to join them to arcade for awhile... Then we went to watch movie somemore, though i fell asleep, the fellowship was superb and I felt like I was baby sitting a bunch of hyper active kids. Well, I am really thankful for being able to just live a little mark in their lives at this point and i really 'lovez lovez themz lotz lotz' (tts what they always say man).

Next - Facils. Firstly, I must thank Felicia for being a great and wonderful facil for my class. Think her group and my group really 'lovez lovez her lotz lotz' also. Thank you for so willingly help me type mass slides in the late night and helping out whenever possible like P and W etc. You have brought much joy n laughter to the camp too - once again - thank you aunty brownie!
Russell - as mentioned above plus you have been a superb facil too. LEts keep the passion in us burning bright - 'Remember to keep passing on the passion'. I believe you too have inspired and touched the teens in your class too. Thanks for being always around and yup, heres a toast to our friendship again.
Gladys - I am sooooooooo glad you came and help us out as a facil. Really so happy to see you bonding so well with your group. Who says you cant connect with 15 y/o? Well, you did it. Hope you do come back and teach catechism soon man. I can see that love and concern you have for the teens. So hope you do consider.
Seriously, I hAVE also learnt a lot from the other facils during this camp, esp from nick, fiona, gerard and basil in their own ways.

And finally - God! I have learnt so much abt myself. I realised that I am not so afraid of using a mike and speak to a large audience. I was kinda afraid at least, but surprisingly i managed to put it off okay i think. :) I realised that I sux at AV stuff. Our AV set pang sei us and we spent almost 3 hours trying to fix it. I didnt fix it, basil and gerard did. They were great man, know what to connect to what, this wire go where and that plug fix where etc. So i decided to upgrade myself in this area. And i realised that just when you think that things were going wrong and God doesnt bother, HE actually does! The AV was fixed just in time and everything went on smoothly and though our P and W team was not around this year and we had to make do with wadever we had, the teens didnt mind and were actually damn enthu abt it. HE works in his ways i believe.

And so this marks the end of Con 3 camp 06 but the memories remain. Looking forward to bbq next month and their confirmation next year but so now time to focus on what is really important now - EXAMS. I shall do my best and leave it in his hands!!!

2006-11-10T23:11:00.000+08:00

The gift of family! I have a great dinner with my family yesterday with steam garlic lobster, salted egg crab, mango prawns etc.. seafood feast man plus superb red wine to go along. Though the food was good, i actually miss the company of spending time together as a family. Been a long long time since i really sat down have a good conversational dinner with my family, uncle and aunties. Though i have always been so busy with my own life, there are still ever so concern about me. ReaLLY am thankful for the family i have.

Didnt go to school today, wanted to stay at home to study but was really unproductive. Couldnt really concentrate. Really gonna park myself in the library till late or i will not get any work done. Going for Confirmation Camp this weekend in Malaysia, together with Russell and Felicia. Anyway, sincere thanks to Fel for being so willing to help us out with the camp even though exams are around the corner. So thank you again! Was just telling them that i am actually not in e mood or mindset for a con camp, perhaps too caught up with school already. Fel suggested going for confession first but oh well no time to do that. So i shall just pray and hope that it will be a fruitful and a safe camp. And i musnt have camp lag after that, needa start mugging.

2006-10-29T01:08:00.000+08:00

Had a long day today.. went for 5pm novena with arts comm pple followed by mass at cathedral followed by arts comm meeting. Holy holy rite.. actually no la. cos like steph said, a community that prays together stays together so we decided to go for mass together.

Was kinda inspired by the sermon given during novena, Father Paul mentioned that we should not worry about the future, regret about our past but just really enjoy the the gift of today - the present. At that moment, i felt enlightened man. And i told myself to really enjoy whatever i am doing and not worry about anything else.. it will seriously make you a happier person no matter how stressed out life in uni can be. Sermon at cathedral was about vocations. Yes, it is about vocations again.. it's e third sermon i am hearing about vocation in 2 weeks. Oh man, it is a sign? Nope, i dun think so.. hahaha

2006-10-28T10:41:00.000+08:00

Sleepless nite - that was what i experienced just last nite. Was actually damn shagged and tired, but too many thoughts were running through my mind. My mind was super active and my thoughts were in a mess. Seriously, things happen at the wrong time man. Sometimes life can be so damn complicated. But well, we learn through it all and most importantly i think - ask God for strength and thank Him for everything happens for a reason!

Decided to start going for evening mass whenever i stay back in school to study. Wanna get myself back in line with the momentum of praying and studyin at the same time. Counting down to December... for e season to be jolly.. fa la la la la la la la la..

2006-10-24T22:14:00.000+08:00

Studied at good old King Albert Park with joe and chris today.. Surprised at the crowd there man, there were families of all sizes, secondary, jc and university students. The queue was also damn long. KAP doesnt seem that nice a place to study after all. Wasnt really productive today, only did my math tut but i dont even know how to do more than half of it! Screwed man.

Exaclty 1 more month to final exams, too little time for too many stuff. Con 3 camp is round e corner in two weeks time(one weekend burnt) and arts comm meeting this sat plus xmas comm meeting sometime next week too. I wanna quit UCC but i just dunno how to put it across to Theresia - not very nice to just quit like that after going through the interview and stuff. But i seriously need to get into the momentum of studying.

I miss my studying partners back in SJI and JC. Friends like Nick Foo and Ya Li but well its hard to even find time to meet up these days . Remember those O and A level days when we used to attend daily mass after a day of studying. I need to start doing that already. Typical human behaviour huh, only seeking God during exam periods. But i really really hope exams are gonna be over quickly, cant wait for xmas to come! Oh well, gonna be a mugger for this one month plus!

2006-10-16T00:43:00.000+08:00

Finally finished all 4 of my mid-term on Wed. Decided to really just take a break for the remaining week before having to start mugging again. Dunno what results i will get but its okay cos think i did all i could, i hope.

Had a greaT thurs CG, e topic was on suffering and hope. We had some really good sharing and it really made me realise how fragile life can be and there are actually many people of our age suffering from terminal illnesses and yet we r complaining just because we r too stressed up over our mid term tests or term papers. We came to a conclusion that though suffering exists, it actually brings people closer together in hope and it will definitely be a good learning experience..

On a lighter note, met up with my air force buddies on Friday.. it was a damn last minute thing. Was actually having supper at chomps with e CSS pple when Jansen called at abt 2245 asking if wanna have a course gathering. So we went Wine Bar at Zouk and had a good catching up. Its been 5 months since ORD and our first greetings were all vulgarities.. Been too civilised for too long in the uni already... so need some form of release i suppose. Haha. But it was a nice feeling!

Watched 2 movies this weekend, Rob-b-hood and World Trade centre.. Would give e former 4 stars and the latter 3 stars.. Rob-b-hood was seriously hilarious.. a good stress remedy for those who had not laugh for a long time. Watched it w moses n marc khoo (boys day out) , initally was suppose to be a 'gay' outing w moses cos e rest of our cg cant make it due to all reasons.. haha. anyway, boss joined us in e end and i must say it was a good day spent cos we really got to know each other better!

Week 9 is approaching.. and tmr gonna watch another movie- The Departed. The show better be good cos i am sacrificing time for it.. Less than 1 month to Con 3 camp, gonna have meeting tmr.. hope its productive and not a bloody waste of time..

2006-10-04T00:49:00.000+08:00

Wow. It has been almost a year plus since i updated this blog of mine. Suddenly felt the inspiration to blog after reading adeline's blog. ORd-ed i have and currently i am in a brand new chapter of my life. But i am really really thankful so the many blessings i have in this new environment...Really glad to be part of CSS.. guess this community in campus is a gift from Him. The people i got to know are really sincere and genuine. But of course, it was nice being able to meet old sec. school and jc classmates again. But i am glad for a damn good friend - Russell - . Thank you for journeying together since Sec 3 and being more than what i can ask for from a friend.

8 weeks has passed since the start of school, time seems to zoom pass so so fast... sometimes u just lose track of what u r doing, neglecting the people who really matters so much to u and neglecting just the simple side of life. Oh well, tts what CGs are for i suppose... it keeps u back on track...

Met Warrant Seah just yesterday and i seemed like a long time since i ORD and stop playing with the unmanned equipments. I kinda miss those days... the pple, the laughters, the odd hours, e met warnings, e warrants and my fellow 19th NSF UAVSS. Met Tng Y when i sent off Ian Tan off last sunday, he is in SMU now.. damn busy with his projects.. life of a uni student is like tt i suppose. But i guess, the grass is always fresher, greener and nicer of the other side... oh well, i should be thankful for what i have.. actually, yes i should be thankful...

hopefully, my next post will not be next year man...

To my dear friends - nic foo and ian tan in UK... hope r coping well and till we meet in DEcember!

till then....

2005-03-07T17:55:00.000+08:00

We have finally decided go on a break to tioman on the second week of May... cost about 180 per person... guess it's quite reasonable... n heard it's a nice place to visit. we r just going there to take a short 3 days 2 nites break. gonna really relax n have fun w great pals... guess we all need a break from e organisation...

2005-02-04T18:27:00.000+08:00

My first entry for this month. been kinda busy ever since i completed my course and become a perm staff. the expectations are higher now, and everyone expects you to perform up to standard when it comes to flying... gone are the days where we can just slack n feel sleepy all the time... it's amazin how i went through all the sispec days n end up doing admin and more admin work here... but i guess i am learnin a lot everyday. how people react to stress situations, or rather how i react to it also. how conflicts occur, and all e gossips in the workplace... well, guess this is part of life and it happens everywhere...

haven't really been playin much the past two weeks... just took on another tuition assignment... gonna teach a normal tech student math n science for $150 for eight hours a month... kinda cheap huh... but well, better than nothing, getting really broke... learnin how to drive really costs a lot man. hope i can pass with just one attempt.

it's gonna be chinese new year next week... gonna take a good break from my daily routine... managed to get leave next friday... haha. no flyin for me next week man... haha

Have a great roooosteeer year!!!!

2005-01-27T18:54:00.000+08:00

had the COC parade today... finally after numerous number of rehearsals... my course has finally been poasted to squadrons and all of us are leading very different life now... it's kinda fun workin in a new environment and most important we can finally stay out and have all e freedom we always wanted. no longer need to march and sing, salute officers... no booking in timin... feels real good man. it's brand new start... hopefully we can all embrace it well....

2005-01-23T13:38:00.000+08:00

It's been super hot for the past few days n i managed to get myself tanner and my face is starting to peel. had quite a few parade rehearsals last week. The change of command parade is postpone to this coming thursday instead of monday. this meANs more rehearsals! talkin about parades, today is the commissioning parade for the officers... pple like mervyn, jon kAo, daniel seng etc are gonna get their one chocolate bar...

Stayed over joe's place on friday nite together w russell... played monopoly la, how bo liao rite... and it was the disney edition. Ever tried fried ice cream??? joe's mum makes superb fried ice cream, crispy and warm on e outside and upon biting it, the cold ice cream just neutralises the warmness,.. sensational man.

Had my church AGM yesterday, gonna be teachin SEc three this year... this is my fourth year teachin catechism (sunday school), been teachin primary sch kids for e past 3 years... so i guess it's gonna be different and more interesting... teachin youths about morality is definitely more challenging than teaching kids about the faith...

been spendin quite a lot on driving... about six hundred till date... gettin kinda broke and CNY is in two weeks time... hope can get more ang bao this year... haha.

2005-01-16T17:28:00.000+08:00

"Wad's life full of care, when there is no time to stand and stare... "

Very often we are all so busy with our lives that we do not even bother to stop and observe our surroundings... Was just lookin out from my window and stared at the surroundings for about five minutes... it has been a long time since i done that. Lookin at the greeny and the cars passing by, wasn't thinkin about anythin, just stood there and stare. it feels real good... well, maybe because i dun feel any stress at all... no studies, no nothing...

my course finally finished about 20 weeks and we can finally start our eight to five kind of lifestyle. book in and out anytime we like and stay in as and when we want. really thankful for this freedom man. been playin practically every night... all of us r hooked on to table soccer... we can play up to three hours of it everyday then followed my hours and hours of Risk... this explains y i have not been blogging since last sunday man. haha

went for driving with chris yesterday. realised that driving on the roads isn't as easy as i thought... gotta really look out and take note of lotsa stuff man. still a bit slow in my moving off but i will improve man... met up w fl after that, to get photos from her... and shopped around for cny clothes. watched the movie MY Brother, starring won bin, w pl... i thought it will be as good as brotherhood but it's not. it's rather slow moving, it will be better off being a serial rather than a movie...

just went to develop those photos i have taken since i got my digital camera... oh ya, takin my off-in-lieu for xmas tmr... thought i will just stay home and do some spring cleanin for new year but joe saw also took off tmr... and he asked me to visit SJI w him tmr... it has been a long time since i stepped into sji, kinda miss those days back then... the culture, teachers... everythin. it's been about 3 yrs since we left but it just seem like yesterday... it's the josephian spirit man...

3 more parade rehearsals before the actual COC parade... really dun feel like going for it but no choice cos i am of this organisation. ..

ORA et LABORA

2005-01-09T12:15:00.000+08:00

It's quite a boring weekend... was supposed to meet up with fl after bookin out on friday but my formation had a recall exercise. We were told that we will be called back anytime from fri nite to sat. It was a good thing that we were recalled back on friday nite. Went all e way back to camp just to sign a few pieces of paper. Brilliant man. Even postponed my driving lesson from sat morning to later this afternoon.

Went down to beach road yesterday to sew my sergeant rank... finally man. all my sispec friends had got their rank since like november... and i have not even offically promoted yet... caught up with some of the councillors at suntec marche. was supposed to be a council gathering but it e end only 7 of us were there. but it was still nice to see them after a long time.

well, this coming week will be my 20th week in murai camp... waiting to get posted out. Another two parade rehearsals for COC on the 24th. let's hope it rains....

2005-01-03T20:20:00.000+08:00

First entry in 2005. Happy NEw Year!!! Didn't know that spendin new year eve in camp can be so fun. Had KFC for dinner and the duty officer allowed the mess to be opened, so we played table soccer n surf the net. Watched quite a few vcds too.

Met up with russell, josiah to celebrate ya li b'daY which is comin in a few days time. We r all gonna turn 20 this year man... no more teenager already. nic lee came along n joined us and we took quite a few photos. came back to my house to play mahjong till about four in the mornin... didn't go to church on sunday.

it has been rainin throughout almost the entire weekend, unfortunately it stopped raining today. as a result, we did parade rehearsal from 7am till 11am and had a formation run in the evening. it has been a long time since we did our foot and rifle drills... well, gonna have a few more rehearsals for my formation change of command. think parades are a waste of time and it's not practical at all. however, there's nothin i can do about it. my course should be able to finish my latest next wednesday then i can start my 8 to 5 kinda of life.

2004-12-31T11:17:00.000+08:00

Last day of 2004!!! let's c what are some of the stuff that happened this year... woohoo.

jan - march: taught at various sch, worked at a warehouse and sold drinks during chinese new year... of course had lotsa fun too before enlisting

april- jun: at basic military training: didn't quite get use to a regimental life at first but life went on... always unsure wad the future holds during this period.. always hated waking up in the morning and always lookin towards book out...

jun-aug: at sispec during this period. though training during this period was much tougher than bmt... it was kinda enjoyable cos i had great friends in my section.. it was fun and memorable man...

sep - dec: been posted to the air force, dealing with unmanned planes... life has never been better this year till this period man. though it's still stay in, but most of the time i have nothin to do... always stonin. had time to do wad i wanted, started learning driving, had more time to catch up w friends that i have not met up with for a long time...

and so... it brings us to 31 dec 2004, the cliche new year resolution?? haha. well, wanna get my driving license, and already lookin forward to 2006 so that i can ord and become a civilian once again...

well well, wish you the merriest, the merriest, the merriest New Year.!~!

2004-12-30T19:01:00.000+08:00

It feels damn good after you have completed your course. been sleepin kinda late these few days cos life is good now man... no stress. playing table soccer, pool, making lotsa noise in bunk... woohooo... life is fun man even though i have to get confine tmr. but it's fine cos it's gonna be a brand new 2005 soon. lookin forward to it... new challenges,new people, new year. haha. will update again next year... enjoy! Cheers....

2004-12-27T19:13:00.000+08:00

Finished my final handling test today... finally completed my course, just waiting for the rest of my friends to finish as well before we get posted to squardon next year. feels good man, just like takin off a huge boulder off my shoulder...

WAtched meet the fockers with kl on xmas eve, funny show man... not bad must watched, think it is better than kung fu hustle. orchard road was swamped with people and vehicles. could really feel the xmas atmosphere. hundreds of spray cans were used. really pitied the gals cos they were seriously bullied .. all e guys just spray foam at them... but well... all in the name of fun. went to chris house on xmas day, together with lydia, mervyn, pl as well as his classmates, was a nice gathering. spent the evening with my family... was a rather peaceful xmas...

shall end with this,

Friendship is like the breeze,
You can't hold it,
Smell it,
Taste it,
Or know when it's coming,
But you can always feel it,
And you'll always know it's there,
It may come and then go,
But you can know it'll always be back.
- Terri Fanning -

2004-12-23T18:57:00.000+08:00

It's the eve of christmas eve. yeah man, two more days to xmas. though i don;t really experience the christmas atmosphere this year, i am still looking forward to it.

after xmas i will be taking my final handling test before i can pass out. just check that i still have 8.5 days of leave left this year which will be brought forward to 2005. gonna use it to go overseas man, got quite a few overseas plan next year but dun think i have enough money. haha.

countdown: 8 days to 2005

2004-12-22T20:04:00.000+08:00

Been quite some time since i last updated my blog. well, lotsa stuff happened man. Shall just start w yesterday- had nite off last nite but we left camp kinda late like about 8pm. Was waiting for my uncle to come and emmanuel was waiting w me as well. Waited for quite some time and we became kinda bored so we decided to do push ups in e middle of the road near our camp since cars rarely ever travel on e road at nite... dangerous rite... but being young guys, we carried on. unfortunately, we got caught by our officer... and he blew e whole matter so big tt we are gonna get confine on new year eve man!! damn sian but nothing we can do about it. so looks like i will be countin down w emma in our bunk... how exciting rite... it's gonna be an unforgetable new year man. haha.

met up w wai hong last friday and we bump into kae lyn and eunice at suntec. it a small small world, ended up having dinner together... it was quite fun... we laughed so much man. attended ms lim weddin on sat mornin w mervyn and chris, met lotsa primary sch teachers... feels old when u see your primary school teacher actually come walkin down e aisle. went for my first driving practical w chris, it was a damn fun experience man. can't wait to get my license.

I received a call when i was watchin oceans' 12 that a close primary school friend of mine had just passed away. Was totally blown away by the news man. Went for his wake on monday w mervyn and jason... saw his parents and it was really really damn sad. i came to realise how unpredictable and fragile life is. I can still vividly remember all e stuff we did together in primary sch and lower sec. it has been three years since i last saw him. kinda regret not meetin up w him earlier. never lost a close friend before... and it makes to treasure my friends even more...

'live as if there is no tomorrow,
dream as if u will live forever...' quote from michael

As the sun sets...

2004-12-16T18:44:00.000+08:00

It's a quiet day today cos almost everyone is at the SAFSA X country held at MacRitchie. Only flying crew remain in camp today and i am one of them. Had early morning flight today, woke up at 0430 and work ended at three. Hap a super power nap after that. My camp has a brillant view of the sunset. It is really magnificant. With only me, ivan and the RP around in camp, it's really peaceful. It is a really a rare opportunity to walk beside e runway and enjoy the sunset. Morning flight again tomorrow, but it's ok cos it's book out day already, gonna meet wai hong tommorrow for dinner.

FAIR

2004-12-15T18:49:00.000+08:00

the uav which we were flying today had a FAIR (flight accident/incident report)... there was no electrical supply to the plane, but we still managed to land it... but didn't clock any flying hours today. but because of it, had a whole of de briefing... flying tomorrow mornin again... just hopin it will not rain tmr and no FAIR or GAIR

had a nite off yesterday instead of today as there is an early morning flight tomorrow as well as the safsa x country run. Was supposed to meet wai hong and josiah today. well, meeting wai hong on fridaY before he goes back to australia on sat. and josiah is leaving for china tommorrow, only be back on 26th. Seems like quite a lot of people are going china. Been there 3 years back, went to suzhou, guangzhou and shanghai... lots of scenary to c but i guess visiting such places once i enough. xw is going to scotland today, everyone is going oversea and i am dying to get out of singapore also!!... nevermind, i will apply leave to go overseas next year.

Week 51

2004-12-13T20:06:00.000+08:00

ALoha, we are in week 51 of year 2004. The officers cadet trainees (OCTs) just got posted in. We have been waiting for their arrival for a long time cos the limelight now will be on them. The people here in my camp are just too free, they just love to gossip and spread rumours and make life difficult for trainees. Now that we are no longer the newest batch of trainees here, all e talk will be on the OCTs.

Gonna be kinda busy this week, am the course i/c this week and i have flying slots planned for almost everyday which means more preparation and stress. There is also a SAFSA marathon this thursday and we are involved in logistics for this event. (sai kang and more sai kang). I am just left with 4 more hours of flying before i can offically pass out from the course. 4 hours seems little but it's damn hard to clock due to weather and due to the hard demand of flying slots. So we kinda have to snatch for it. so hopefully i can pass out by xmas and get posted to a unit, start takin leave and start my eight to five work everyday... which means i dun have to stay in. haha. guess i will be stayin over at mervyn place quite often after i pass out. cool man, just waiting for 2005.

SUCCESS!
To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.

I first came across this thru peer support and i have always found it damn meaningful esp the last 2 sentence - Success is achieved when u know that someone life is made easier becos of your mere existance...

Snap shots

2004-12-12T18:32:00.000+08:00

Another weekend just past without you knowing . And it's about time to return back to camp and do all the same old s**t again.

It was quite an enjoyable weekend, met up w xw,pl, lydia and we went to rav. It's a pub behind boat quay, kinda cool, play damn nice R & B songs and the main singer was one of the s'pore idol finalist, nana. It's good place to chill out. Just got a digi cam today, been takin snap shots everywhere and e battery died out quite fast. I was practically playin w it e entire nite. And of course lydia and pl practically went mad in e wee hours of the morning, doing crazy things and sounding like a small kid. really couldn't stop laughin.

I supposed to have learnt driving aT the beginning of this year with chris and russell but of course being slackers, we delay it till now. Finally signed up for driving at ssdc w chris on sat, it's expensvie man. enrolment cost about $125 and each practical session cost 67 dollars. think i am gonna spent about $2000 to get e license. Though it's payday, i am feelin broke already . Orchard road is just swarmed with pple, it's so crowded that it's just so hard to shop properly. chris and i spent quite sometime decidin wad to buy for ms lim, after much frustration, we ended up buying a forever friends photo frame. haven't bought any gifts for anyone this xmas yet, weekends is just not the time to buy stuff. but well, i dun have a choice.

went for mass today w kae lyn and we went around takin photos w my digi cam at shops like preious thots and toys r us... haha. kinda fun but had to rush off to give tuition.

it's mervyn b'day tmr and so here's a happy b'day to ya first.. yup, will catch up w ya once u r posted to tengah air base.

Emmanuel's entry...

2004-12-09T19:14:00.000+08:00

Guess wad man... emma is behind me now... so it's like his entry. ALright, he is complaining... actually most all of us are... that we have to clean up the OCTs bunk. They will be coming in on monday and as usual the specs have to do the 'sai kang'. Mervyn no offence to u... haha. The only good thing was that we could slack in bunk after that... had a super afternoon nap. dun think i can sleep tonight already.

Yesterday was NJ prom nite (and my nite off)... but emma decided to stay in camp to play his game boy... (as usual). One year since my prom , i didn't really enjoyed my prom nite last year, maybe becos i was involved in plannin my seniors' prom so kinda know wad to expect already. Anyway, just went home for nite off... nothing much in particular.

And emma was OD(office dog) for today and he is flying three sorties tommorrow. Both him and shaoming are gonna be trained payload operators (PO) by tommorrow . *emma claps behind and jumps up and down*. BEing here for three months have trained us to be professional contractors and home movers man. SO need our professionalism, just give me a call. *emma claps behind again* Emma sounds like a kid huh... but he is la. anyway, i actually laid some telephone cables up in the ceiling from one office to another office. Well, this is e second time but this time i am more experience already. haha. Went to Tengah Air Base to try out No. 3 attire for the third time since August and we have yet to get it... This organisation is super effective man.

Enough crappin man... just waiting for book out. Got sortie brief at 0530 tomorrow!!! And emma got 3 sorties!

Angela's Ashes

2004-12-07T18:48:00.000+08:00

Been raining all day... been rather hazy today as well. Looks like it will be like that for the next two days as well. Reading a book that russell lent me... it's actually an auto biography, it's called Angela's Ashes. It actually about the harsh childhood of an Irish boy and how life tough life was being the eldest kid in the family... Am really damn free, got all e time in the world man... have never read so many books before is just a mere 3 months till now...

Wanna get a digital camera but kinda broke... hopefully rosie can get me a good discount since he dad deals w digi cam... Ms lim is getting married next saturday... chris, merv and me will be attendin but we have no idea wad gift to get her. will shop around for it this sat w chris i guess since we are intending to sign up for driving lessons. And mervyn is M.I.A for quite sometime man... anyway, merv if u r readin... go for her ya... we will be supporting ya. haha

Judging from the weather, seems like flying the UAV seems impossible (cos our UAV cannot take the rain)... just waiting for nite's off tmr and for book out this friday.

A cool weekend,,,

2004-12-06T19:28:00.000+08:00

The weekend was damn cool and fun man. Booked out on friday evenin then went to meet up with kae lyn. havn't seen her seen july man... her face looked so red but ok la, she still as cute as before la... ok, this will make her skin even thicker man... haha. We went to oriental hotel... apparently we could not have accesss to their lifts... and we ended up acting as some visitors who came to visit some long lost relatives. Went to fullerton hotel also... i seriously think that it is e nicest and e most grand hotel in s'pore man... and we checked out the cost of stayin in their standard room for a nite... it cost almost some 500 bucks man...

Saturday was even more fun man... meet up w lydia and xw at noon and we watched Umizaru. (chris pang seh us again... as usual... bet it is for some gal)... haha. Umizaru is a quite a cool japanese show, w all e cool dudes tt xw drool over. This show is only screened at cine. Good show with some cliches... Proceed down to east coast park and we cycled for some two hours... e kind of feeling is damn shiok man.. have not felt so relaxed for a long time. Of course, thiam hoew joined us after that for dinner... went to e beach to talked and lydia managed to dig up some secrets from him (V-Nation... haha). Hang around ecp, played a boring pool game and a fun table soccer cos the two thiams literally thrashed e gals.. haha.

Supposed to give tuition today but we persuaded by galdys and russell to join them for lunch... so pang seh my tuition kid. We went to raffles town club for lunch at e chinese restaurant... damn nice man.. and we played bowling after that... i must say gladys bowling is much much better than most gals man... Bought a pair of shoes at half price from timberland at $99... suppose to exchange a shirt for the shoes but ended up with both items... really broke now. haha.

And come today... it a black monday.. as usual. Paul was sick in e middle of the nite... apparently the pill he swallowed is stuck in his throat... he went to report sick and was sent to NUH man. Now we only have a strength of 6 people w jansen and zhi ming at SOT. Sgt Lim asked me if i want to be Ops Spec... hmm, didn;t know how to answer him man... anyway, i lookin forward to this friday already... haha... clubbin man!!

This is e season....

2004-12-03T11:06:00.000+08:00

Whooo...it's december man, it's been exactly eight months since i was enlisted... this eight months seems kinda long man... from bmt to sispec and to air force but glad tt those army days are gone... 540 more days till i offically ORD... still counting down by the days.

Met up with some friends yesterday... havn't really hang out with them for a long time, think it was june till now man. we went to jurong point (near my camp... gotta book in at 2300), ate at pizza place(wasn't really for e idea, but wad e hell) and had a giant earthquake at swensens. haha.... we really just sat down and talked. it's amazing how u can just come together and just talked about so much things even though u have not met for a long time... .haha. we decided on meetin up for cyclin this weekend, still tryin to get xw to come w us instead of going sentosa...i really can't wait to book out tmr!! i am really in e xmas and partying and having fun mood man... haha.

s'pore idol results is out and the mud won... but at least it is better than having sly to win. can't imagine sly representing s'pore in e world idol... and of course, joseph saw i also can't imagaine u joining s'pore idol 2... haha... but dun worry, if u go for it...i will support ya.

yup... 23 more days to xmas... and still countin down... :)

Long long day...

2004-12-01T12:05:00.000+08:00

It's a super long day today man. There was 6 hours of flying, but due to weather, the last three hours were postponed. end e day at 1930 hrs. Kinda tired and sleepy now. Of course, e army guys will be like thinking the air force is how slack and i can still complain. Of course, i dun deny tt life is better in e air force cos i was from the army too but air force has its own set of problems and stress too. Guess it is all about perspective.

Read a book on Quantum Physics today... it's not e kind of textbook format but rather it is animated so it feels as if u r reading a comic. It was really interesting compared to studyin physics at jc. Well, i guess that as long as u r not tested or need not sit for exam, it will be more of an interest. There shouldn't be exams man... it will definitely make learning more relax and fun. :)

Monday Blues

2004-11-30T11:50:00.000+08:00

Woke up real early this morning... at about 0430 for a morning flight that i am not involved in. Well, e good thing is that we can knock off at 1500. Was never for the idea of having a blog but since i got into the air force... i realised thaT I have too much time on my hand... so decided to start one to keep myself occupied.

The spent few months spent in Murai Camp (my present camp) has been really slack but the people here aren't really that nice. Well, what can i say, there are always some screwed up people in this organisation. My course supposed to have ended by the end of this week and i am suppose to get my 3SG rank too... but well i am still stuck in this course till Jan 2005 due to the bad weather this month. Bad weather equates no flying which means i pass out later... !!

The 'A' levels are over... it's been a year since i took mine. i can still vividly feel the kind of freedom and joy after the exams man. December has always been a time to rest and relax... have fun, go party, hang around, chill out etc... and of course to reflect on the year... but once again thanks to some organisation, i dun have tt luxury to have fun seven days a week anymore... really miss those long long holidays.

Spoke to Lydia on the phone on Saturday till quite late... had a good chat esp after such a long time since we met and talked...did nothing much during the weekend. Was suppose to meet up w Nick and his gf but my dad wasn't really well so decided to stay home... So filial rite. haha.

Nothin much to look forward to this week, except maybe one sortie (it means one flying slot) for me and i am waiting for Friday to book out...