Hmm went for the long-awaited gathering w Qinlei last night. Rou already had some bday celebration with her friends, so by the time she ended (which was like 12.30am) we told her not to come cos Indochine was abt to close.

Anway so I still owe Qinlei a gathering at Timbre cos gun-cheong spider me thought it wld rain cos it started drizzling while we were in the queue. Yup, so we left and ended up at Orchard shopping n makan-ing.

I picked up all the nice dresses and asked her to try n show me. Grr... she kept avoiding the topic. Keep walking away frm me. Wong Qinlei, you better wear one n lemme see!

And she gave me the biggest bomb on our way back - asked me to drive her mom's car cos she was a bit groggy after drinking. I freaked out completely. Didn't dare look at her while I was driving. Eyes all peeled on the road. Thank goodness the roads were v quiet the whole journey back. And she was right to lemme drive cos there the traffic police was on the road summoning another guy for speeding. Hahah slow coach me trotted along at 70km/h the whole way back.

Anyway driving the car was quite funny. When we first left the carpark, I cldn't adjust to the sensitivity of her brakes and ended up doing a pseudo-E brake. Hahah she laughed at me and I panicked. Thankfully I managed to get a sense of it quite quickly. But my gawd, I was so scared the whole way home.

Hmm my arms are aching frm gym. Shall stop typing n put on the deep heat frm Pete. Pain pain.. Feels like I'm going back to rugby training n worse. Only that the gym instructor is a tad more smiley than Rong Jing Xing.

Tonight's Starry Starry Night marks YZ's 1st ever evangelistic garage band concert. Praise the Lord that everything went on smoothly. We had 2 salvation and 3 who indicated interest to know more abt Christ! Whee! All glory to God cos everyone were just the hands and feet to do His work; not ours.

This is also the 3rd gig we had in YZ. First was in 1998, the Waaahh concert which was a 70's theme. Second was in 2000, the Millenium concert which was more funk age. And now is the most big scale concert, with 100 over youths. Amazing..

Well the seeds have been sown (although I wished I had a chance to share, but somehow the youths at my table were not interested) so now we await God's perfect time to let those seeds grow and take fruit.

It was a good ride back home with Fred tonight. Although I was a little sian that we didn't join the rest for supper, I guess it was good time alone with him. Hahah, after he complained that I haven't been spending time with him as much nowadays. Got to talk abt his experience serving in a larger capacity this time round, and also learning how to juggle between demands in school and responsibilites in church. Fred also shared how Charles was telling him and the other guys that doing background work such as logistics was much 'safer' than those on the stage - because it's doing these things that you really serve God and is less likely to be carried away with personal pride. I thought it was amazing sharing from Charles (once again :P) and it was good that he shared with Fred, cos I cld see that Fred's perspective about service has changed dramatically. I hope it'll be something permanent and not just a 'spiritual high' that's temporary. Besides praying for the young ppl who have heard the gospel, Fred will top my prayer list. :)

Hmm it's time to take a rest and get ready for tomorrow's service. Wish it will be a laid-back Sunday after service so that can spend more time with Pork Chop, cos it's going to be yet another wk where we're like guys in army who only book out on wkends. Bleah. But then again, there's Starry Starry Night briefing. Wonder how long it'll take... Sigh, just live with it lor. Time is limited..

Can't believe yesterday was Eat with Your Family Day at work and I left work 2 hours after our official time off. I was probably one of the few pathetic souls left in office. Yucks, whole journey home felt so sian. Everyone's taking the opposite train to start the wkend chill out and I'm going home. Ok, only plus point was my mom was nice enough to help me dye my hair and I just watched TV with my brother as he was playing games. Anyway the dye didn't work - my hair's as black as ever. Maybe I shld just hv a bright blond streak like how I always wanted to try for fun. But then again, it's not a common sight at work and I'll stick out like a sore thumb. Bleah. Ok, I'll do that another time. No pink streaks cos they fade too quickly. Haha.. Randomness.

Life is so fragile. One day you're going to school, next moment the school collapses on you and that's it. End of the journey and no chance to see the world. I can't say for sure whether it's good - that you're back with God sooner, or that you've missed out on seeing more of God's creation..

But this doesn't change the bottomline; which is to appreciate the people and things around us while we can. Even as people stress over their worldly pursuits (money, career, house, car, club, prestige...) these aren't going to last. Imagine having the nicest and grandest house in the hit area of Suzhou or Myanmar. Whatever you've worked so hard for, or even gave up precious parts of your life for, is crushed and reduced to rubble in a matter of seconds. Is the satisfaction or joy that you had such posessions enough to see you thru the agony of losing the family when a tragedy happens?

I dont' think we even need to tread to the end of a natural disaster to realise that such pursuits are frivolous, temporary and empty. Just take a look at funeral wakes and you'll realise that there's absolutely no difference in the way a rich or poor leaves this world. We all just go back empty handed. Sounds cliche? But that's a fact of life.

I'd rather choose a close-knit family, love-filled, God-filled and meaningful life than an ostentatious life of the rich and famous. Hrmph, the rich have their problems too. Fewer possessions, fewer problems. Life is simple.

just when i'm whining about work and how i wanna laze, the scripture reading in today's devotion has reminded me to choose to be responsible and follow through the piece of work. guess God always knows when i start whining and immediately points it straight back at my face. but that's in a gd way - keeps me from being a 'soft and fluffy' believer who thinks i can get away with things..

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From Our Daily Bread:

I Don’t Feel Like It (Matthew 21:28-32)
He answered and said, “I will not,” but afterward he regretted it and went. —Matthew 21:29

Have you ever faced an unwanted chore and felt as if it were the last thing on earth you wanted to do? Mowing the lawn, doing the wash, cleaning the house, or even preparing a Sunday school lesson after an exhausting week can make us feel like procrastinating.
When this happens, my wife and I have a motto we repeat to each other: "I don’t feel like it—but I’m going to do it anyway." There is something about recognizing our lack of motivation and then choosing to be responsible that helps us follow through.
God’s value on faith and obedience can be seen in the parables of Jesus. Christ spoke about two sons who were asked to work in the vineyard. The first said no, but "afterward he regretted it and went" (Matt. 21:29). The second said yes but did not follow through. Then the Lord asked His listeners, "Which of the two did the will of his father?" (v.31). The obvious answer is the one who finished the task.
Our Lord’s illustration underscores a key spiritual principle. God is interested in our faith and obedience—not just our good intentions. Next time you are tempted to shirk your duties, why not say, "I don’t feel like it," and then ask God for the grace to do it anyway. — Dennis Fisher

O help us, Lord, to heed Your Word,

Its precepts to obey;

And give us strength to quench the urge

To do things our own way. —Sper
Obedience is faith in action.

nice blog template that reminds me to remember who i am in God's eyes. thank God that Shann was back in church briefly on saturday! credit to rach and sophie who made a surprise visit at Shann's place after BS. guess i've gotta spend more one-on-one time with the girls or arrange group outings like we used to last time :)

Taking a long wkend break is wonderful.. To take things slow and look at things around you. Went for the long-awaited cycling trip at East Coast with Pork Chop yesterday - amazing! The whole trip was really enjoyable. Taking in the things which we seldom see in the concrete city. Wondering why I never seem to have seen such lovely places in Singapore. No skyscrapers but nice sea view and greenery. Wished we just kept cycling and never got back to the city life.

Thanks for going with me Pork Chop!

Singapore's public transport is lousy to the core.. There's no frequent or even regular cycle for busses or trains and it's getting more expensive (check out SMRT's announcement on its bottomline today). Mere peasants like us are told to have confidence in our 'reliable' public transport system, but somehow I've had to leave my home 20mins earlier so that I can be at work early. If I had left just a little later, I'd end up late for work. Even so-called 'premium' busses don't work.

Need to gripe about the public transport cos I stood from the MRT right up to the bus ride home today. It was over an hour on heels, carrying my laptop. Now my lousy and frail backbone is aching. Sigh, even more tiring than running 2-over km on the treadmill. Thank goodness I was on the other end of the train carriage; unlike some very unfortunate lady who was stuck in the midst of many blangah workers (not that I'm being racist, but it's always very uncomfortable for a lady).

Meanwhile, I'll just bear with the public transport cos mere civillians like us can't do much except writing complaint letters which probably gets tossed into the trash bins.