Day 3!

This is me, sitting on the top of the Hippo Bus. It’s actually topless so there’s no roof to the bus. Really fun experience and it makes driving down ANYWHERE so much more exciting and enjoyable. :) Went back to office to take some stuff down to the circuit area and so we [eva and i] took the hippo bus. Imagine that, 2 people, 1 bus. It was all ours la! Haha…
Here’s a video of my hippo bus ride. Tee hee


Then what do u know? The muttons walked in. I’ve emailed Vernon A before asking him to come to the SingTel Race party and all but to be talking to him in person was a different story. I like to meet radio personalities. That day also met Hamish Brown… and hearing them talk is quite entertaining. Listening to the way they talk and how they are articulate and all really makes me want to better my speaking skills too so that maybe one day I’d be a DJ or a newscaster. Quite a dream of mine. But anyways, they’re nice people and I realized that most celebs are always very welcoming with photo taking. As much as they are tired of getting interrupted in their walk, they never fail to stop, make u feel special and snap a photo. :) another side of PR I must pick up too.. but of course no one stops me to take photos with me la. But u get the point.

The following 3 pictures are just bored employees cam-whoring. Ashley and Jeanie are such nice people to work with. So much so that I’d find it so easy to work with them thru the long hours and all. :) the people u work with really make a difference to how it goes and I’m glad that I was plonked here in the lifestyle area with the girls and guys of vm&sd and Samsung. :)




Then since it was the last day and we needed to get high before customers started walking in, we decided to take pictures in the F1 Race suits. We normally let customers wear them and snap a shot but we’ve never done it before ourselves so we decided to. :) snap snap. Haha. Us looking dumb.




Later on in the day, PM Lee Hsien Long walked in. I was pretty surprised coz I thot it was just some Caucasian VIP walking up with all his bodyguards and all. Then my eyes shifted and saw the Caucasian man was talking to this other guy… HOLY SMOKE! THAT’S THE PM!!! Haha.. and we all weren’t expecting it. So it was quite a fun happy surprise. I managed to get my fren to snap this pic while I walked to position myself. Haha. :) quite an interesting experience.

And the highlight of the night. We managed to get ourselves into walk the pit. The pit is where the drivers actually drive thru and pit. So the crew were all there and it was just literally AMAZING to see how the inner workings are and all. :) We walked the whole pit walk and when we got to the Hamilton / MacLaren booth, HAMILTON himself was standing there talking with the crew. What a treat! We wanted to take pictures with him but he went off and the crew stopped us from coming in. But it was like WOAH! THAT’S HAMILTON! Haha…



Here’s a video and some pics of the pit.



And here’s a video of one of the crew of one of the teams getting sprayed coz apparently it was his last race. Haha wow… such friends. :) It looked quite gross too. I think it’s the fire extinguisher kind of stuff and sludge. Literally sludge… dunch know why they use sludge but it was GROSS. Haha poor guy



This shot was taken way back before the F1 actually started. It was taken before the teams got in and all la. Prep stage of F1 but still really nice photo. :)


Yup. So that’s that for F1… wonderful experience and I’m SO glad I took up this internship. It has been great! :) VROOM!!!!

Day 2!

F1 Race Day One and Two!

Sorry, busy now but here are some pics and videos to tease ya'll. :)

So far, day one has been a blast. :) whee!

Day 2

Today's a real tiring day but then again, it's the hype that gets us all going rite? :) Denise Keller is going to be doing a LIVE interview with the simulator peeps in half an hour and the crew's all set up here. we're all pretty tired but there's a job to do and we gotta do it. :) Don't worry, there WILL be pictures. :) whee.alrite! F1 to the max! vroooooom!

Finally, the party's On!

This is the day i've been looking forward to for quite a while now. My SingTel Race Party is finally happening tonite. It's gonna be a blast, lots of fun and ultimately, a good chance to network, meet people and have a good time out of the office. :) There's been Ots, there's been frustrations, there's been scoldings but it's finally come to this point.

A few hours away and i'm still settling the guest list. To print it all out and make sure it's easy to check against when the guests start coming. I'm really looking forward to getting this party kick started, off the runway and over with. Will check back into reality when this is over and the F1 race has run its course.

Vroom, there goes my life. :) ahha the pinnacle of my whole internship actually is tonite. But yet, it's such an anticlimax of expectations. Maybe i've just made it more of a duty than an enjoyment like my first week of work was. Whatever it is, let's party hard!

SingTel Race Party! We'll see you there!

Powerful words: Father Forgive them

You know, often times we don't really take into account a lot of things. When we hear the words "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do" we tend to think, wow. God's great. He forgave us at the Cross and He's a wonderful savior. Nothing wrong there. Just that, do we understand the propensity of that statement? Could we really see what He had gone thru just in those few days before the cross and could we even begin to think how much Strength He needed to have to say those words?

We spat at His face, spat.
We mocked His words, His title, His being.
We laughed at Him and called Him names.
We accused Him falsely of so many things.
We speared His side and beat upon His back with whips that would tear flesh.
We pressed a crown of thorns upon His head until it bled down his face.
We let Him hang there for so long and traded His garments.

Now if someone did all that and so much more to you, would you say "Father, forgive them?"

Regards,
Joel Tan

Starting the day right

Today was so easy to be closer to God. don't really know why but maybe because i woke early, had time to talk to my best brother about his r/s life. It was good to encourage him that what he was doing was the right thing although it tore at his heart. I can't share who this is or what he has to do but i just want to say that when the beating of your heart and the desires of your flesh goes against that which is said in the bible, you really do need people around u to help u focus on God because the screams of the world can be so loud and tempting.
I pray that my brother will find peace in the Lord and ultimately, satisfaction in knowing that although the narrow road is hard, it is the path that leads to righteousness and life eternal.

Then there was the weather. Cool, breezy with a sniff of light rain. It was wonderful and maybe i should have just walked all the way to the MRT this morning. Just that short 2-3 minute walk i had was enough to refresh me and make me real glad to start the day fresh. It was like God's breath breathing down upon me and gently urging me onwards. It was such a great feeling to feel God so early in the day.

Then, there was N.Chan who was innocently standing there waiting for his bus. For some funny reason, i thot i'd see him today. Managed to have a real quick word with him and that was enough. :) It's nice seeing a familiar face and just saying hi.

Then the train ride and now i'm at work. Spent some time this morning doing QT too; something i haven't done in a bazillion years. I'm glad that God let me have that time alone.

oh but my boss jus spoilt my day. :) never mind, won't let her. I've got God on my side. heh

Have a good day peeps!

Sing's 21st

Just came back from Y.Sing's 21st birthday party. I knew that this party was one that couldn't be missed due to who she is to me and many other reasons. It was also a good time to catch up with some of our mutual friends whom i haven't seen in bazillion years.

But sumthing nagged at me and bit at my conscience as the weeks progressed towards the actual day. Bits of me were quite reluctant to go and actually as i drove there today, i was almost half hearted about it. I actually thot i'd feel quite out of place because most of the people i knew there were coming with their significant others... and i just knew that they wouldn't be able to entertain me or catch up proper. So half of me was actually thinking maybe i just shouldn't go. but i wouldn't and couldn't miss this party. so while driving there today, i honestly was having an internal battle knowing that yes, i'll reach there and attend but how much of it would i enjoy? haiz.

but thankfully when i reached there, i realized i knew so much more of her friends than i actually thot and catching up with some of them proved to be ultimately very very refreshing. what shocked me more was how some of her friends i haven't seen in close to 2 years still remember me and how when we talk, it's like there's no barrier at all. Wonderful.

Got to meet some people i've yet to meet too. like Simon... he's someone i've been hoping to meet ever since A.Chew got together with him. so today was like a treat, managed to learn more about him as well. I'd say that she's in good hands and i thank the Lord for him and her coz she looks real happy now. managed to catch her and the rest of the girls laughing away gleefully and all :)

yup. it makes me think how much friends mean to us. we don't say it but we all hope that we'll have enuf frens to make us feel wanted or make us feel like we impacted someone. something her sister said while she was talkin to me stunned me. she said that she wouldn't have enuf close frens to throw a 21st party even if she wanted to last year... made me think, my my... frens ARE that impt to us all. and that's why i was sitting there tonite... becoz of who sing was to me. and becoz i know that if i didn't make the effort to support her and keep her in my life, she'd drift away as well, just like every other fren who has.

scary stuff.

So God brings u new frens, but He also wants u to remember to keep up with those He's already blessed you with.

Happy 21st my dearest Y.Sing. Here's to many many many more years of good, rich, edifying friendship. you mean the world to many people, myself included.

Updates - Ping Pong!

Thanks for reading... i'm sorry this hasn't been updated in a while. honestly, i keep seeing this page everyday and telling myself i've got to update it. but yet i don't. :)

so here goes.. for the sake of the superman [who's actually a girl. weirdo. lolz], the panda and the onion. [woah. what weird people i attract to my blog] haha. jus kidding.

Recently not much has changed. i've picked up table tennis [ping pong] again and actually went to buy myself a ping pong bat. i believe investing into something would make u want to learn it better much more... it's like... u feel the pinch if u pay for the bat and u dun justify it's use? :)

other than that, work has been so-so... been trying to get more interns in to join us but i'm not liking what's to come coz i'm actually real happy with where we are now. with my colleagues and all. but due to some circumstances and situational changes, my goodest fren as to leave us. so bleh... :S but i guess it's also a good opportunity to break out of my comfort zone and get to know other people. kinda like prepping myself for overseas. :)

speaking of that, i'm still waiting my results for the applications. hopefully it's gonna come back with options to choose from then i'll have to pray and pray pray for God to help me make that decision. as for now, i'm jus gonna wait on Him and His guidance and soft prompting...

Yup, so i guess this is about it. thanks for reading and thanks for bothering. i pray that God finds u well wherever u are and that His glory is seen in my life and yours.

My Office Desk

That's a picture of my desk in the office. They say you can tell a lot about a person by looking at his desk. Some people's desks are crazy messy, some are super neat and tidy. Where they place their stuff also make a difference, what's within reach and what's chucked in a corner.

So here i feature just a bit of my desk. The 2 mirrors that make sure i don't get caught by some silly sneaky colleague. I have to say how USEFUL this is. it tell me who's behind me and all that jazz and it also makes sure i'm in the know if anyone's staring at my screen. haha... it has also saved me quite a few times from being caught not working. haha.

My 2 handphone cradles. One bought by J.Chen and one by me. It keeps my handphones upright and always ready to be answered. :) i kinda like the fact that it keeps it propped up instead of on the laying flat on the table. :) haha... i must say that these 2 cradles have cause me quite a bit of frustration trying to get them. it isn't easy buying cradles i tell you! haha.

And finally, the crane that's stuck to my laptop. This has some history coz it was made for me by a colleague of mine during a very stressful period of my work. It was like all the work was crashing down on me one by one like waves hitting the shore and i was just taking them one after the other. My colleague was on her last week of work and so had set up tent next to me sharing my desk. So quietly she just took my notebook, tore off a bit of the paper and while i went hectic crazy on my side of the table, she jus silently folded a paper crane for me. She left it on my keyboard while i wasn't typing and it made SUCH a big difference to me i just stopped everything i was doing and appreciated the moment. It was really really heartening to know that amidst all this nonsense, there was a glimmer of care and concern shown by my fren. I promptly stuck it onto the laptop making a promise to myself never to forget that i still had frens with me. It has so far gotten me through a lot of frustrating times. just looking at it puts my mind at ease even though my fren has already left the company. :)

So that's just a rough run down of my desk... it is quite neat thankfully and i intend to keep it that way. :)

Welcome to my 8.30-6pm weekday life.

Just another day in the office

Yesterday was a smashing day out. Real packed and quite tiring coz it was LONG!!! but i'm glad i did wad i did yesterday. big changes.

Had church service in the morning followed by a good time of fellowship at the fellowship hall. Then we moved up to the roof for CE class, which is ALWAYS good. Just reading and discussing about God's Word with likeminded and intellectually stimulating Christian peers are always a joy and highlight of my Sundays. We managed to cover stuff that were surely debatable like whether or not Peter's vision of the food being called unclean was also literal... did they then eat unclean food after that vision or not.
Even talked bout dreams and visions which we promised to carry on discussing thru email though no one has shot anything out. mmmm bad.

Then after, i rushed down to Orchard Hotel for the Aust. Unis open house. real glad i went coz i was able to apply for the ones i want and get a clearer picture of everything.

Met up with a fren there and we [a.yeo, n.chan, r.wong and l.kwan] all went for dinner. After the nice delicious dinner, we proceeded to try to watch a movie but there weren't any suitable and good shows to watch so we bus-ed to Minds cafe and spent an hour there over fun and games.... wow. it was a happening night and i'm glad everything went well. :)

God puts people in your way so you won't miss them in the crowd. Just a random thot that popped into my head. :) i gotta run to the airport now. ciaoz peeps.

Thank God for friends. they keep me going and pointed to God coz without them, i wouldn't have the discipline to seek God... which is sumthing i'm trying hard to change. :)

Office Olympics

I found this extremely funny. It's taken from the most recent issue [Aug 21st] of 8 Days.

Devotion by Max Lucado

Read this for QT yesterday but was too busy to blog. have a read, it's real simple and easy... but speaks volumes... quite a cool parallel of Adam and Jesus; some we know, some new.

My father taught me the lesson early: Don't create havoc in the garden. You can play ball in the yard. But the garden? Leave it alone.
Satan learned the same lesson: Don't mess around with a garden-especially a garden that belongs to the Father.
The Bible is the story of two gardens. Eden and Gethsemane. In the first, Adam took a fall. In the second, Jesus took a stand. In the first, God sought Adam. In the second, Jesus sought God. In Eden. Satan led Adam to a tree that led to his death. From Gethsemane. Jesus went to a tree that led to our life.
Satan was never invited to the Garden of Eden. If he has invaded a garden in your life, then invite Jesus to reclaim it. He will enter and do what He did at Gethsemane. He will pray, and He will protect, and He will reclaim.

Take off my clothes. joke

LOLZ. wad a stupid joke. but it got me laughing. Enjoy

My wife came home the other night and told me to take off her blouse.
Then she told me to take off her skirt.
Then she told me not to wear her clothes anymore.

Forgiving and Forgiveness

Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God;
He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.
After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.
John 13:3-5

I read an interesting bit of info in today's QT. it was talkin bout how Jesus washed the disciples feet. we all know how it was a servant's attitude that made Him wash the feet of the disciple but 2 points struck me today.

1. He washed the feet of the disciples. not the hands, not the head, not the arms... the feet. the most dirty part of a person's body that's caked in mud, grime and dirt. Imagine those times, people walked from place to place either barefooted or in sandels. The dust kicked up everytime someone shuffled their feet or ran. Apart from being the same beige color as the ground, i'm very sure the disciples feet were as cracked and cast in mud. To wash the feet of a disciple was reserved for the servant and it was unheard of for a host of the house/party to wash the feet of his/her guests.

2. We will never be able to wash the feet of those who have hurt us until we allow Jesus, the one we have hurt, to wash ours. That is so true. how often we forget that sinning and making Jesus die on the cross [though technically we can't make Him do anything He doesn't want to do]
hurt Him and God. To see His Son dying there and to actually BE dying there must have hurt God and Jesus emotionally. And then there we go screaming, kicking and whining complaining about how this or that person hurt us and how this or that person is so unfair. We wallow in self pity and always esteem our problems higher than others... now we jus need to take a step back and ask Jesus for forgiveness and let Him wash our feet, to make us clean, to teach us humility.

Powerful QT today. thank the Lord for this wonderful book given by J.Goh... He's such a blessing, and thus, I should be one too. :)

Job Description

Since Angel asked... here's a chat i just had with a fren....

::† Prisoner Of Freedom †:: Vertically Loved. Horizontally Blessed. says (12:29 AM):
from now till end nov... intern at SingTel to do the F1 race.

*May Ann* says (12:29 AM):
in what area?

::† Prisoner Of Freedom †:: Vertically Loved. Horizontally Blessed. says (12:29 AM):
it's Really quite exciting and fun. i'm workin there now la. and we're quite understaffed.
::† Prisoner Of Freedom †:: Vertically Loved. Horizontally Blessed. says (12:30 AM):
well if i'm not mistaken, she'll / he'll be managing the GRID Girls, websites, the F1 simulator [really cool] and party and events that lead up to race day and post race stuff

*May Ann* says (12:30 AM):
heh.. it does sound interesting

::† Prisoner Of Freedom †:: Vertically Loved. Horizontally Blessed. says (12:30 AM):
coz that's what i'm doing and we're all working on it.

*May Ann* says (12:31 AM):
heh.. weekends?

::† Prisoner Of Freedom †:: Vertically Loved. Horizontally Blessed. says (12:31 AM):
yarh give me a heads up?
::† Prisoner Of Freedom †:: Vertically Loved. Horizontally Blessed. says (12:31 AM):
no no. normal work day.
::† Prisoner Of Freedom †:: Vertically Loved. Horizontally Blessed. says (12:31 AM):
8.30am to 6pm. but work kinda only starts at 9. or 9.30... whenever our supervisor comes in.

*May Ann* says (12:31 AM):
at where?

::† Prisoner Of Freedom †:: Vertically Loved. Horizontally Blessed. says (12:31 AM):
it's cubicle job... Somerset Singtel Building.

*May Ann* says (12:31 AM):
what's the pay like?
*May Ann* says (12:31 AM):
haha..

::† Prisoner Of Freedom †:: Vertically Loved. Horizontally Blessed. says (12:31 AM):
but like i said, grid girls, parties, road shows... so it's not always stuck at the desk.

*May Ann* says (12:31 AM):
the most impt qn

::† Prisoner Of Freedom †:: Vertically Loved. Horizontally Blessed. says (12:31 AM):
if i'm not mistaken $800 a month.
::† Prisoner Of Freedom †:: Vertically Loved. Horizontally Blessed. says (12:32 AM):
singtel canteen is DIRT cheap. and it's REALLY good. so pay's not that big an issue la. it's really the exposure and the chance to say i was SO involved in the first night race in spore.
::† Prisoner Of Freedom †:: Vertically Loved. Horizontally Blessed. says (12:32 AM):
singtel is the sole title sponser of the F1 race. the first ever night race in spore.
::† Prisoner Of Freedom †:: Vertically Loved. Horizontally Blessed. says (12:32 AM):
needless to say, it'll shine on the resume.

*May Ann* says (12:33 AM):
hehe.. alrighties =

::† Prisoner Of Freedom †:: Vertically Loved. Horizontally Blessed. says (12:33 AM):
bosses are GREAT and our big big boss [head of corporate comms] is an openly religious Christian sunday sch teacher from BarkerRoad meth.

*May Ann* says (12:33 AM):
nice =)

::† Prisoner Of Freedom †:: Vertically Loved. Horizontally Blessed. says (12:33 AM):
please, pass the word around and get back to me if u have anyone.

*May Ann* says (12:33 AM):
sure =)

::† Prisoner Of Freedom †:: Vertically Loved. Horizontally Blessed. says (12:33 AM):
thanks.

Need Intern!

URGENT....

if you know of anyone [girl preferably] who is starting school in Aust in Feb OR who's ok to work 8.30am to 6pm job from now till end nov, please let me know ASAP... the company I work for, SingTel is looking for an intern.

CALL ME if u have someone in mind. We're in need of help. thankies! Trust me, the job's a blast.

Pipe vs Bucket

I was on my way to work yesterday when I was treated to the likes of Bob Sjogern. Finally disciplining myself to continue where I left off, I plugged in my phone's MP3 and 'sermon-ed' my way to work today. It was good just filling myself with the Word as irritating people squeezed me in the MRT. However, I wasn't going to let the surroundings affect my mood and concentration on the gospel. As it filled my ears, I made it a point to let it fill my mind as well. Listening to the Word as the first act of the day [minus brushing up, changing and leaving the home] really does make things different... perspective of the day just changes in some indescribable way. Well, enough bout that... about the sermon...

He was speaking about how there's a TOP line of a message and a BOTTOM line of the message. How the Bible isn't 66 books but ONE solid book. And just like every other book, this book [the Bible] has an introduction, the main content and the conclusion. But that's another story for another day. The TOP line of the message is that God blesses us. yay whee we win. God loves us yipee... ah but we often forget the BOTTOM line of the message. Which is to say, we bless others. Take for example this simple example of how the 'Levi' people were priests. They were given the right to meet God and to be the middle man between God and people. However they were also given the responsibility of preaching and giving the people the Word of God. likewise, we are also priests. We're given the responsibility of preaching the Word to others also.

One more point i thot was really good was how he likened us to Pipes instead of buckets. We don't jus collect and collect and collect the blessings from God. rather, we should be like pipes and channel the blessings to others as well. so as much as we are blessed, we should bless others as well. This is Christ's work in us and through us. :) Amen to that.

Benefits of Work

Woot! today was QUITE an interesting day. I got 2 things from my work place... first of all, i managed to get some car seats... long story and i dun intend on going into details... but i might jus get some new seats in my car... for free! haha.

But what's more... umm cooler [no.. not those kind u keep beer in]...i got a work line. means i have 2 phones now... so when i call u work line, dun be surprised. it's jus me being cheapo and trying to save money at as many places of my life as possible. :) what is ultra cool is that it turns out the phone they gave me to use [after whining to my boss Eva about not having a phone to use] happens to be the exact same model as mine, jus that it's in red color. oh my goodness.. was so shocked when she took it out.. i was like WOAH! THAT'S MY PHONE! haha... so now i have 2 w760i phones... oh goodness *faints* :)

i am a happy man today. oh and i got my job scope liao. haha nope, i'm no longer in charge of the grid girls [i'm actually quite happy bout it]... i'm in charge of sumthing else i dunno if i can reveal. so i shant... but it's working with people too la. so it's quite the happening. real glad. haha... hope the 2 interns coming in to replace my colleagues are good looki... i mean.. umm presentable and nice people to work with. :) grinz. apparently, they're employing 2 girls. grinz (x2)

whee!

Bcoz M.Chan complains how i always retard [make a photo retarded looking] with my face... here's one without me

birthday wishes

Didn't do much this year. worked till bout 6plus then had to go church for singing practice. was treated to good fellowship in the night and that's a summart of the 31st of july 2008. :)

Thanks for all the love and wishes from so many ways [sms, email, in person, over the phone]...

specially to:
tricia, adrian, sab, joanna, jamie lee, jodi, daphne, arthur, ian, harold, nick, auntie dawn, ivan, zhi han, angel, wendy low, meliza, cheryl, mavis, yvonne, jamie, joella, marcus, chelsea, vera, yan sing, yuan, joash, michelle, nick, chun kit, shawn and others... i only recorded a bit.

I'm grateful for everyone's wishes but seriously, a birthday is just another day. nothing that special about it... so dun feel bad u didn't wish or wished late... to me, it doesn't matter. :)

Things i'm glad for over this week [totally off the top of my head]
Hair is growing longer... yayz finally. hope it all works out
future plans for after work are getting more and more interesting with where i might go
work has been interesting and fun, colleagues are a super fun bunch.

crickets are tasty... kinda. :)

Traffic Jam Party and 1st Day @ Singtel

So the past few days have been quite interesting… Needless to say, the weekend was much looked forward to. We had YF on Saturday and we ended the day LANing at the Tsao’s place. It was pretty fun coz we just hooked up the coms, laptops and stuff and jus gamed away. :) But Sunday was truly memorable.

This Sunday, I finally managed to go for the Daughtry traffic jam street party. It was AMAZING… it was loud, funky, happening, hip, exciting It was everything I asked for in a concert and I got to see Daughtry live in person. now THAT was pretty neat. We started queue-ing up at bout 6.30 and finally when the gate opened, we were ushered in. The party started shortly after with some local bands opening for Daughtry. I must say that it was a tremendously long wait but we were kept entertained. the bands were good and they really got the dead crowd moving a bit and singing along... not bad at all considering how Singapore is like dead la. But i did enjoy the openers and appreciated the style of rock and loud music.

Then finally Daughtry took the stage at bout 9... goodness, how did i survive standing for so long? Anyways, He rocked the house and it was pretty neat how He managed to own the stage with his band. They were just taking control of Armenien Street like they owned the place. One thing I have to mention is that girls scream really loudly and everytime a song started/ended or when he came on stage, the screams and cheers were deafening. Then they say sumthing like "Are you reaaaaady?!?!?!" and that jus urges them to scream louder. goodness. haha deafening to the max. haha but still, all part of the environmental experience.

So we partied hard and it was great jus letting loose. Although yes, my mind and body was still watching out for my fren, but that didn't mean we both didn't have a smashingly awesome time. Sad to say half of our party group had to leave early coz of work the next day but [refer to above] that don't mean the rest of the group [now 2] had to stop partying. haha So yeh, we rocked the night away and rocked the town down screaming the songs and feeling the atmosphere rise with each song he sang. To wrap up, they walked off stage and then finally after much more screaming and cheering, they came back to sing Home and another song to end it all off. wowz... that was great! i was so happy they sang Home... coz it was sumthing i was dying for.

Post-party found us both realizing how much of our hearing was actually gone... like seriously it was weird not being able to hear much but we were countin the cost... and we knew to get the experience we did, we'd have to sacrifice sumthing. haha


yeh so that was sunday's party. Then come monday [yes the next day] i started work at Singtel. And since then, i've been working there. it's real fun i say... this is already my third day and i'm still excited about what i do. I basically am in charge of the Singtel Grid Girls for the F1 race coming up... And well, there are a lot of behind the scenes stuff people dun see so dun think i'm jus being paid to hang with the girls coz i haven't even properly met them yet... it'sjus settling their uniforms and schedules and blogs and stuff la... so yeh, not like i'm a pimp. I think we are all professionally employed and the way Singtel is run, it's real great. My fellow interns are all Christians and so is my big big boss... Really cool coz it affects a lot of things la. But whatever rite? So on the ground, my immediate bosses are real nice, i love the working experience of having meetings with clients and event organizers and stuff.. real cool that i'm expanding my network too. at least getting the exposure of how people [my boss] represents singtel and goes around trying to get people to work with them yet still keeping enuf info on our side to know that the ball is still in our court as to who we choose. really cool manipulative mind games that go on in board rooms too. haha

but yeh, so far, life has been pretty great... enjoying working la. the interns are great... and i'll be sad when people start to leave. but till then, i'm gonna make sure i get the best experience i can. :)

Yayz!!!

Doh-Tah, holy smoke

Oh goodness. take a listen/watch at this... it's SU-PAH far-knee... haha i'm looping it jus to hear it over and over again.... hahah even now as i type this entry. :)

credits to A.Pua for blogging the vid on her blog. ahaha supah farknee. :) enjoy.
holy smoke.... HAHAHAHA
p.s. i will be blogging bout my past 2 days.. but later la. i'll blog from work. HAHA. :)

Should I?

---

Pa won't like it
A farm boy accidentally overturned his wagonload of corn. The farmer who lived nearby heard the noise and yelled over to the boy, "Hey Willis, forget your troubles. Come in and visit with us. I'll help you get the wagon up later."
"That's mighty nice of you," Willis answered, "but I don't think Pa would like me to."
"Aw come on boy," the farmer insisted.
"Well okay," the boy finally agreed, and added, "but Pa won't like it."
After a hearty dinner, Willis thanked his host. "I feel a lot better now, but I know Pa is going to be real upset."
"Don't be foolish!" the neighbor said with a smile. "By the way, where is he?"
"Under the wagon."

Watch-a-holic

So maybe i like watches. So sue me. :)

I WAS using only one for a long time. :)

p.s. go try gothere. it's a wonderful tool now that streetdirectory.com is gone. :) i'm highly impressed by gothere. so useful. :)

Behind the Scenes by Fancesca Battistelli

P.s. Sorry this is only 30-seconds long.... it's to make sure people dun steal this great song off the net.
This is a wonderful song. I've been listening to this new artist... she's 20. goodness.. but she's a Christian singer and her songs are really nice easy listening, plus... them being Christian help me remember some stuff that I often forget. I recommend this album to anyone... and if u want a preview or the whole album, let me know. u can bring your thumbdrive and i'll pass it to you...

enuf bout that, when i was listening to the album, this song really spoke to me. It still rings very true... It's like those songs that u find that's specifically written about you. This song reminded me that although you put yourself in the limelight, you lead, you stand in front and be the figure that people know and associate with 'good leadership and Godliness', i'm just as sinful [if not more] than any one around. No one really knows my sin except me and God and this song is just a reminder to me that putting yourself in the forefront doesn't make you any more Godly than anyone else, it doesn't excuse your sin and more importantly, it doesn't erase anything you've done. Every one sins, myself included, but as leaders, do people expect us to be superhuman? Coz they're not.

It's my prayer that as we listen to this song and ponder, may we strive to be perfect, to be faultless so that no man can question your motives, source of strength and trust. God is God, we are man, but that doesn't excuse us from all the sin in our life, no matter what 'position' we may hold in this human life. We are all equal sinful sheep.

Lyrics:
You may think
I’m just fine
How could anything
Ever be out of line?

I take my time
To set the stage
To make sure everything
Is all in place

Even though I’ve got the lines rehearsed
A picture only paints a thousand words

(Chorus)
Things aren’t always what they seem
You’re only seeing part of me
There’s more than you could ever know
Behind the scenes
I’m incomplete and I’m undone
But I suppose like everyone
There’s so much more that’s going on
Behind the scenes

Sometimes I can’t see
Anything
Through the dark
Surrounding me
And at times I’m unsure
About the ground
Beneath my feet
If it’s safe and sound

When it’s hard to find hope in the unseen
I have peace in knowing it will find me

(Chorus)

You may think I’m just fine
How could anything ever be out of line?

Debz and Airy are back!

So here i am sitting in coffee bean at the airport... it's 12.32am. an hour since debz and airy's flight was supposed to land. I actually was supposed to have almost an hour of free time to myself and NISS before my parent's flight comes... but here i am, left with less than half an hour before i gotta run off to budget terminal. :S haha but i guess it's better than nothing and with the free time i have coz of ORD!!!! i can do NISS another day la. :) just gotta wake up earlier... say... 8am? grinz.

okok so Nick has been complaining i'm being proud about my ORD and being so free.. but seriously... i'm supposed to be. i will NOT hide the fact that i'm super happy that i'm no longer an NSF and i'm so glad i dun need to go work anymore... i'm sorry nick, as they say in the army... suck thumb... haha but yeh, i'll gloat LESS when i'm in your presence. hahha.. like u said jus now la, u dun understand how i feel about ORD coz you've not gone thru what i have... and likewise, you will... so when yours comes, you'll understand what ORD means...

But with that said and done, this entry isn't bout ORD coz that was the last entry... this entry is more about the 2 groups of people who are coming back tonite...
Debz and Airy - 2 people i really miss quite a bit. and the absence makes the heart grow fonder... totally.. haha... it feels like forever since i was able to fellowship properly with them so i'm immensely glad that they're back. As much as i tried to, i couldn't hide the fact that my heart jumped for joy when i saw them walk thru those pearly gates of... oh wait... no no i meant the glassy doors of the airport arrival hall. hahaha. :) no but seriously, i think both of them represent sumthing in my life that i've lacked since quite a while ago so them being back would hopefully help me to get those areas of my life back on track.

For my parents who are touching down in T minus 23minutes... The week that they have been gone has put me thru some thinking. as much as i loved the liberation of them gone, there were SO many times that the thot of 'what if' crossed my mind. esp with my sister gone to chicago... i kept wondering... it's fun... it's great... but what if this was permanent. what if sumthing happened and i'm left alone in this world without a family.. would doing loads of laundry still be exciting? buying chicken rice and da bao-ing home to eat in front of the TV still be a novelty? would having extra cars in the driveway make sense? It scared me to think la. what would i do without them...
Yeh, and it also made me evaluate whether i can take care of myself all alone... whether my income would run out and how then? work and survive alone? so yeh, as much as i loved the freedom this week brought me, it also helped me think thru some important life questions... and of course, i still conclude [even before they left] that i still treasure them and need them so much in my life. My dad took the house keys and with it, the mailbox key. so i haven't been able to check snail mail in a week.. how much are we talkin bout? i have NO idea... lolz.

and the time is 12.45... so i should go... but jus to prove that i was here in the airport blogging... here are random dumb pictures!

ORD LOH!

It's finally here. It's finally passed and I'm finally free....

After waiting 2 long years, I'm finally out of the army. I guess it's safe to say that I've learned much from the 2 years in the army. I've learnt soft skills like how to deal with people, how to make decisions for the team, how to solve problems based on the situations in front of me. I've even learnt hard skills like how to repair vehicles, how to fire a rifle, how to throw a grenade and how to follow commands and march like, no, as a soldier.
To say that the past 2 years were a complete waste of time would be really insensitive and selfish. Coz as much as I'd like to, i have to say that the Army has helped me grow into a more mature, more decisive and less flippant person. The leadership there may not have been the best, the worst actually, but that only showed me how to work under and with tough management whom i might not agree with.

so to sum it all off, the past 2 years are all over and i'm glad i've finally got my freedom back. now... we'll see what awaits.

ORD LOH!

1 Day to ORD

Do I even need to say anything? :)

Rambles from Subway

Went down to the Creative store today at Marina Square... i'm actually in marina sq now. haha but whatever... had a look at the Zen X-Fi... it's sweet seriously... the look is nice, the size is to die for and the screen, wow... so sharp, clear and crazily vibrant... when i was browsing the pictures, it was like i was watching a tv or sumthing. kudos to Creative on that.

however, i really didn't see the need to upgrade to this considering how i already have a good working player which can do everything this one can [music, video, pictures] and it has the same screen size... yup... so i shall jus bite the bullet and wait for a better player to come up... aybe one that can surf the web and send emails. :) yup. thankfully i didn't jus buy it on impulse or sumthing... it does look sweet though so if i didn't have an already working-fine mp3 player from creative, i'd seriously have put some thot and possibly cash into it. :)

that aside, i'm glad that thingsa re pretty smooth sailing now. NISS is keeping me in touch with God. Thank God for this solid CE Bible Study Program in the youths and i pray that we'll all benefit 110% from it to learn more about God and to learn God. we can't jus know ABOUT God. we must know God.

a good friend's grandma just passed away. sigh. funerals always make me a bit sad. esp when i get the answer 'no' when i ask if they were a believer... u really are accountable to the time u have here and how many people u share Christ to. it's really sad to see them leave coz u know wad's awaiting isn't heaven. sigh... sorry to bring this down and make the mood low, but this truly is the essence of my feelings now. the sense of despair that there's nothing left we CAN do...

on other news, been receiving quite a lot of bad news recently too. personal life, friends, family... lots of things aren't going the way we planned. but i guess we still have time to affect and effect changes... just pray that with the time we have, we can use it for God... thankfully the Bible is keeping me and us all strong... stronger than we could ever be without Him.

Zen X-Fi... mine please?

OH MY GOODNESS...

guess what news i got in the email today... a new Zen's out... and by golly, she's a smoking hot-ness...

Zen X-Fi


go.. take.. a... look... GAHHH i want. i want i want i want!!!!
HELP ME.. eeps. *rolls around in uncontrollable materialistic desire*

7 days to ORD

oh my gosh. I opened my firefox web browser just now and look at what greeted me...



Woo! that's a week away. how weird is that. never thot it would be so close. ORD is like within the next week manz.. like totally. haha all i need now is to hear from my company that we've been given the next week OFF. ahaha but i dun think that'll happen. never mind. ahah.. at least i'll be done with it all in a week's time. wonderful news.

today I spent time with 2 good frens over the period of the day that reminded me that friends are people u normally take for granted. It takes special effort to keep a frenship going and though it looks easy sumtimes, i think it takes 2 hands to clap for a frenship to work. so here are my 2thots that came from it..

negative
when the other hand doesn't clap and doesn't seem to think a frenship is worth keeping, or says it only and does a different thing. then maybe u shouldn't waste time on it anymore. Maybe u should invest your time into people who really care and bother. To those people, you mean sumthing and therefore, these are the people who should mean sumthing to u rather than those who are just too busy, or always have a convenient excuse to give, or just plain ignorant to your efforts.

positive
To those who are your friends, you share with, you know that when u go, they'll miss you and want to meet up again. It could be just to catch up over morning breakfast, to update you on their life, to hear more about yours, to jus call u to tell u that they've bought a new phone which sounds like yours or just to enjoy a movie together with nothing planned later except chilling and sharing of lives. there, these are the people who you know can echo the phrase ,"it doesn't really matter what we do, it's good coz the time is spent with you."

Now back to the army. i think it zaps alot of our life away from us, we turn into vulgar, rude, mindless animals that can snap at anyone with a string of dialect so cohesively put together you'd only guess it's coz of the frequent use of it. But when we get out of here, every father's/mother's son should be a mature man, ready to face the challenges put to him in the near future and beyond.
Do I feel that? Well, as much as i'd love to slam the army and the way it's run, i think i have to say that yes, it has changed me. maybe not physically and spiritually [thank God for that] but it's helped me see a lot and when u see things, u learn from them, you grow and you understand that maturity should therefore stop u from making other mistakes in the past.

So yeh, with 7 days to go, i better start applying into the CCC.... what you don't know? Well, it's the Civillian Conversion Course duh... hahhaa... :)

7days to ORD!!!

11 days to ORD

my goodness. i'm a DAY away from being 10 days to ORD... can't believe it's actually happening. i understand it'll be anti climax and the first day of ORD will be super like 'what am i going to do now' kinda thing... sumthing like today. but still, i can't wait to take off the green on me.

why bother

Sometimes, i wonder, why bother? There are loads of times when i think there isn't a reason why we should carry on trying. trying to better the situation, trying to get something out of it.

and then i realize, i should just be content with what i already have and actually, anything more than this would just make things complicated. so just bugger off, let people live their lives and i just be accountable for my own life.

i mean, why bother when it takes so much effort to get the other hand to clap. everything's fine now, why change things.

why bother?

w760i MINE!

So, i finally bought myself my ORD gift... the gift i've been waiting for for the past 2 years... and specifically this particular gift for a few months ago... Today, i ran out of the house [fully using my one day of leave] to go and buy myself... the much coveted ....

w760i

woo! i'm the proud owner of this smashin phone. whee! haha okok it's not THAT great a phone, but seriously compared to the one i have now, it's amazingly great. ahha okok, so the samsung is SO lousy la... no camera, no walkman, no loads of simple functions [do u know that old samsung phone can't ring and vibrate at the same time, they ring ring ring then when the melody is over, it vibrates... wow, how did they approve manufacturing of that?!?!]... so yeh, the new phone i have is really a treat for myself. :)

now, at least i can enjoy messaging without having to worry if the button i pressed was really indeed pressed coz the samsung i have is really not working anymore [buttons]... so yeh, pretty glad that i've bought myself a new phone. now, i just have to transfer the stuff into the new phone and we're all set to start using proper phone functions again. :) here's a pic of the proud owner and his old and new phone. please ignore the background, i'm in simei eastpoint. :P

and just the phone alone...

Clearance Forms

Just came back from Jurong Camp. I'm on leave today but because some big shots aren't around for the next two weeks, I had to go down to camp today to get them to sign the form. It was quite cool actually, walking around in Civilian... everyone there kept asking me, "oh joel! you ORDing ah?" and it was quite nice to know that all the big shots kinda knew who i was and was kinda sad to see me go. Funny though coz the thot 'i would have been so much happier working under you' came up time and time again as i chatted with some of the officers there. Not that work life is TOTALLY crappy in my unit, i just felt that i'd prob have a much enjoyable time under those officers.

Nonetheless, clearance form is a direct symbol of how little time u have left and i would always envy those ORD personnel who were walkin around the workshop getting people to sign their forms. but here i am no, 15 days away from ORD... doing exactly that. heh...

it's funny coz the 2 years seems to have flown by really fast.. but when i think back and think of the day of my enlistment, wow... it feels like forever since then. One thing to note, Rachel and Dinesh were still in spore when i left for the Army and matt was still a 2LT. lolz. haha.. i've got pictures of my enlistment.. but i think i'll save it for my ORD post. :P in 15 days time. whee! hahha

I really thank God for a lot of things in the army. take for example now, the situation in my company isn't really good... lots of people not too happy and morale is generally low la... hard to explain without sounding bitter and angry [coz i'm not] but it's really hard to find joy working... and there's nothing the management is doing about it. there are times that i'm jus SO so so glad that i'm leaving.. but then i think of my juniors and what nonsense they'll still have to go thru when we've left.. pity them. But i hope that things will change la. we never know, things jus might change for the better. But seriously, there are loads of times i can hold myself back from saying sumthing bitter or angry because of the peace God gives me. Things aren't good yes, but complaining about it isn't going to solve anything. So i just pray for strength and wisdom on how to deal with decisions and God always comes thru for me.

Yup, so 15 days away from ORD and i've just went to buy my ORD present to myself. haha... but you prob have already read about it since this entry appears AFTER the most recent one. so yeh, yayz. haha

ThankGod for life.

Remembering Friends

Just penning down some thoughts because i haven't been doing that in a long time and also coz things have made me think of certain issues. I recently picked up a journal i used to have a long time [2 years] ago and reading what i wrote, i chuckled at my sillyness about some stuff and reflected on other.

What struck me the most actually was how much i treasured a friendship i had back then. I wrote how much i thanked God for it and how it has made me closer to God and stuff... and sad to say, i barely have friendships THAT significant nowadays let alone friendships that so obviously point me to God. maybe it's coz of who i am now and how much i've changed [if i have] or maybe it's jus coz i'm more jaded with life and friends. I dunch really know but i guess things do look they're going on an uphill climb. from here on forth, i see a road that's kinda set before me that will take effort and dedication, but i plan on taking that route up because it doesn't make sense to stay here in the valley. But i know that initiative is everything and initiative in the right friendships. More so than not, i dun seek God first in a friendship [in the sense that it isn't the top priority when i decide on how to spend my time with a friend]... but i pray that God will soften my heart and let me hear Him when He speaks to me. I know these all sound random and haphazard but i pray that God will focus my thots by blogging.

Friends change, friends leave, friends come back. i'm just glad that God doesn't and that friends who point me to God don't leave God coz if they do, i dun really know how i'd get back there. To summarize it all, i'm glad that accountability is coming back and trust and honesty will be closer to home than it was before. Glad that once it's come back to me and once it's all back to normal, i'll continue to live a live accountable to a fren and more importantly, God. May we FOCUS on being who we are in this world with the help of those around us.

And a friend's a friend forever, if the Lord the lord of them.
And a friend will not say never coz the welcome never ends.
Though it's hard to let you go, in the Father's hands we know.
That a lifetime's not too long, to live as friends.

LR thots

LR was great. as always. apart from some issues that were seriously bugging me bad, i think it's jus Satan's way of putting distractions in my mind so that i couldn't/wouldn't focus on God and the work He's doing in Shalom. But thank God that He can always turn a bad thing into something blessed for His purpose... so in the end, everything was ok and i was able to change my outlook of things and make sure LR worked for me and the rest of the exco. i just wanted the exco to be able to spend time together as an exco and bond so that we could face problems next time with one mind and one idea.

I changed my personality profile. shocking enuf, i'm no longer a high I... but i think i should do the PROPER test la. the one we did was super not enuf and totally... DUH... it's like... today i feel like being a D therefore i shall ans all the column 1 answers with a high rating... duhz... lame la. but i tried my best to answer it properly and now i'm a S-I... which is interesting coz ju and cheryl seemed to think i'm a higher C than a year ago. i agree... and i think i attribute that change of character to 3 things... Being Chair last time, being secretary now and growing old. yes... growing old... maturity sumtimes saps some I-ness away from you... but like i told them, i want to be a high S instead of I... why? i'm not too sure. guess i'm jus kinda tired of being labelled highly enthusiastic and ignorant to other things around me. it's time to pass on the flame and let others have a shot at being the crazy limelight one. i'm more quiet now and though there are many times, when the situation calls for, i can still invoke my high I-ness and shamelessly do something, i think it's more of a character quality i can call up instead of it being me. :) so it's like a skill more than a character now. not sure.

other than that, as of today.. i've for 27 more days in the army. i'm really looking forward to gettin out coz i guess i'm a bit jaded and sick of the life there. there's been lots happening at my camp and they've really strained a lot of the relationships of the men and the leaders and stuff. and i jus want to leave it all coz it's really taking a lot of my time, emotions and friendships away from me. good news is, the workload of the workshop is gonna hit a high period soon so we're going to be working our butts off... jus before i ord... so yeh, i have no idea how to clear the remaining measley 4.5days of off and leave before i ord. yup, it's that sad. haiz. whatever rite? 27 more days. jus bite the bullet rui... ok, not literally coz that could get me charged.
*p.s. i have NO idea how people can go 2 and a half years here. dun even talk bout signing on.*

yup. so my life's been like that la. nothing much happening i guess. jus wondering how things will change in a year's time. quite a huge change for me.. but we'll see.

yup, i got much to do actually... so blogging is really not sumthing i should be doing now. but i know it's been forever since i did. so here's the much anticipated [yeh rite] post... oh... i bought a new pair of pumas... first ever. :) ducati can. haha check it out.



have a good weekend peeps!

Off to LR! Leader's Retreat

Hey peeps... i'm off to a 3 day in depth focus on God's Word and the YF. :) Yup! It's our annual YF Leader's Retreat once again. I can't say how much i'm looking forward to this camp too. guess it's a bit coz of how i need to discipline myself and these camps normally do the job... and of course coz it's for the youth too la. the reason we plan things, the people we reach out to and the things we do are for the youths. :)

So keep us in prayer as we brainstorm activities and the focus for the next YF year!
Benjamin, Zhi Han, Rui, Cheryl, Julia, Arthur, Jamie, Michelle.

Glory to God above!

Reflections on Church Camp 2008

Glad that i'm all back safe and sound from church camp. this is surely one church camp i'll remember for a long time. not so much because of the people and the activities we did in camp but more coz of the planning of the camp and the things i learnt in the camp.

First of all, i must say that this year has been ultra tiring and very often quite stressful. I thought that publicity wouldn't be so busy during camp itself but since everyone was pretty busy, i took over roles that really took up my time. i'm not complaining here, i'm jus recollecting the experiences in camp. Yeh so throughout the camp i was running here and there making things happen seaminglessly. :) it was pretty stressful seriously... making sure that everything ran according to schedule and stuff.. really didn't have free time at all except the last day... but then again, that was only an hour coz the rest was taken up. Nonetheless, i still managed to find time to go to the gym twice. YAYZ. hmm i should go to my home gym too la. but no time now. shucks. stupid random thot. anyhoo... thank God that everything went well coz it wasn't easy shuttling from projector to guitar to zen [to record messages] to stage for HOOKs and SKITs and back to my seat to copy notes for the workshop after the sermon. :)

And then the other issue bout this year's church camp that i'll remember isn't really a sweet memory. it's more of a confirmation to me. to not be so distracted by the people around me. Focusing on God [even in church camp] can be so hard. So often, i confess, i get lost thinking what others might think or what others might wanna do before i ask what God wants me to do or what God thinks [if He does even need to think] at that point of time. Sometimes bad thoughts creep into my head and then my thots gets turned from God to that bad thot... and it's not good coz it's fruitless thinking. There are always easier things to do than to worry bout what my brain tells me but i just can't help it sometimes, i'm human and humans fail and fall.
Just need to be more focused on the right things and not be distracted on the way.

Glad that quite a number of youth could make it for church camp. Their presence really did play a big part in the ultimate enjoyment of camp. Tiang was a fabulous roommate. ass. locked me out on the last day coz he was such a log sleeping away while i was furiously spamming the doorbell outside for 20 minutes. ahha... haiz. what to do? he was tired, can't blame him totally.

So yeh, here i am, back to reality. Back from the retreat with God and His people. everyone wishes it could last longer but God calls us to a short retreat and thus, we should all enjoy how much time we've been given. Just that sometimes when we're thrown back into this world, the distractions get so much louder than His small voice. Just hope that i can keep trusting God and focusing on Him. don't wanna lose it.

p.s. photos from church camp will be up shortly.

LEADER'S RETREAT IN 2 WEEKS!!! WOOTZ!

At Church Camp 2008

So, as I hoped, there's internet here and i planned to blog one day during the camp. At least to jus say that i've blogged from malaysia, saujana... so here's the post... finally have some spect of free time... waiting for e.kang to come down to my room now so we can go practice for tonite... putting up a skit that apparently a lot of people like [thank God for that] and so we're working on expanding it all for the sake of humiliation, shamefulness and a good time.... of course those are all on our part, all they do is laugh. :)

But church camp has been a blast... really... it's been fun and tiring all at the same time and like always, i never want it to end. just glad that i'm able to enjoy myself and learn more bout God and the Scripture. I really do wish i could spend more time with certain people and less time in debrief meetings are rehearsals for some skit like the one i'll have real soon... but you know, someone's gotta do it. :)

so yeh, i think i have learnt quite a bit from the camp, from running it and seeing how it's run in the background. We all know how camps are run but when we run a christian camp for our home church, there are lots of things we need to be sensitive about, and we sometimes really see the bad side of people... just reminds me that Man can fail us or disappoint us but God never.

Hoped that during this church camp i wouldn't be too distracted. oki gotta go. ciaoz!

Off to church camp!

Hey hey hey! guess who's finally getting a break from army life and everything else singapore related? Let me give u a hint...

ME!

mwhaha! yuppers. i'll be out of your life and uncontactable by phone from the 2nd to the 6th of june. I hear there's internet so i'll prob still be online when i can... and if there's really sumthing SUPER urgent, email me... but please, allow me to run away from you for just ONE week... please? haha..

yup! i can't wait to go tomolo.. been dying for church camp since well... since the last one ended i suppose. haha... yayz. it's been a year of waiting and a year since HANsome and RUIdiant was formed. amazing huh? but well, time flies... so yup, jus posting to say i'm not around. don't call me.

Take care yo!

We were as one babe
For a moment in time
And it seemed everlasting
That you would always be mine

Now you want to be free
So I'm letting you fly
Cause I know in my heart babe
Our love will never die
No!

You'll always be a part of me
I'm a part of you indefinitely
Girl don't you know you can't escape me
Ooh darling cause you'll always be my baby
And we'll linger on
Time can't erase a feeling this strong
No way you're never gonna shake me
Ooh darling cause you'll always be my baby

I ain't gonna cry no
And I won't beg you to stay
If you're determined to leave girl
I will not stand in your way
But inevitably you'll be back again
Cause ya know in your heart babe
Our love will never end no

You'll always be a part of me
I'm part of you indefinitely
Girl don't you know you can't escape me
Ooh darling cause you'll always be my baby
And we'll linger on
Time can't erase a feeling this strong
No way you're never gonna shake me
Ooh darling cause you'll always be my baby

I know that you'll be back girl
When your days and your nights get a little bit colder oooohhh
I know that, you'll be right back, babe
Ooooh! baby believe me it's only a matter of time

You'll always be apart of me
I'm part of you indefinitely
Girl don't you know you can't escape me
Ooh darling cause you'll always be my baby
And we'll linger on
Time can't erase a feeling this strong
No way you're never gonna shake me
Ooh darling cause you'll always be my my baby....

You'll always be apart of me (you will always be)
I'm part of you indefinitely
Girl don't you know you can't escape me
Ooh darling cause you'll always be my baby
And we'll linger on (we will linger on....)
Time can't erase a feeling this strong
No way you're never gonna shake me
Ooh darling cause you'll always be my baby

Always be my baby

Zhng my car's sound system!

Woo! Yesterday was my first proper experience with Zhng [modifying] my car... took a half day off and went down to the workshop with Leonard to zhng my car... Leonard was so kind to pass me his old speakers and active sub... these things aren't cheap i tell you.

So anyways, spent bout 3 hours at the workshop waiting... watching them strip the car down was interesting... my door became this piece of metal that jus looked so ugly.. really saw how the cosmetics of a car or any type of vehicle makes it look so much nicer. ahha... then they took out my chair so they could put my sub underneath it and it was quite hilarious coz in the morning, i actually took out my workshop's vehicle's chair too. ahha so it was like the same thing happening, jus that now instead of my military vehicle, it's my honda fit. :)

so anyways, to cut things short, i spent $150 on putting 2 more speakers in, 1 active sub under my seat and 2 tweeters in front... now my sound system is like OH MY GOODNESS. :) but my butt constantly vibrates coz of the sub la. but who cares... hahaha whee!!!

love it.

8 Weeks to ORD

Save the NS Boy, Save the world.
ORD in 8 weeks. goodness. it's gonna pass by really quickly. :) 53days left... :)

p.s. now i've got free time after ORD... anyone wanna take a short trip somewhere? malaysia shopping? haha... come la! lolz.

Dealing with Disappointment [local 'U's]

I'm not gonna let Satan get this one. He will NOT steal my trust away from God. There is nothing that will make me forsake the God of Abraham and though I walk through tough times and mountains that loom overhead, I will fear only of the consequences if I don't trust Him now. Though the path looks grim and weary, I will push on for I know the Lord watches over me and gives me the much needed grace for the next day.
Though every inch of me tells me to be depressed, I will find joy in the Lord for He is my maker and my deliverer. He will be with me through my life and I will trust in Him.

The verses below have given me encouragement and I pray they will the same to you if you ever feel disappointed. Amen.

Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD.
I will be joyful in God my Savior (Hab. 3:17-18)

Reply from NUS

Application status

The general stages for the application status are
Application received --> Application processing --> Outcome of application

Your current status is Admission denied.

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:) This is going to be interesting. I'm pretty down right now. I dunno, I'd rather not blog. Guess I'll have to consider my other options now. Oh my... I've reached the end.

come back soon?

I miss you much.



come back soon. please?

Life's a game. Roll on!

Sometimes you feel like you have no control over things. sometimes u feel that life is jus a game that u can't plan or arrange. That your next move is just as simple as a roll of the dice yet whatever square you land on can have dire consequences. You sometimes land on 'Chance' and an oppotunity knocks at your door. Or you land on 'Go to Jail' and have to face the music for a 'crime' u might have committed. You can't predict your next move, you can't plan ahead. All you do is roll the dice. turn after turn.

Sometimes we feel that way don't we? Sometimes I do. Sometimes i feel like i've got no control. i feel toyed? played around with and forced to make a decision or plan my next steps based on what square i land on.

But it's that the whole point? that all we CAN do is leave it up to the game master. the one who has all the 'game' planned out. the one who knows the start and the end and knows that whatever square you land on, it's for His plan and purpose. And though we feel toyed, it's coz we dun see the end goal, the finality of it all. The 'Pass Go and collect $200' sign. We just see the situation we're in.
So now, let me ask u and myself.. issit that hard to play a game knowing that the game master's your Heavenly Father who loves you? well, yes it is. but it's not impossible. trust.

easier said than done huh? Well, guess wad. You rolled a double 6. you get another roll.

Reply from SMU

Your application was not successful. Unfortunately, we received many more applications than there are places.We will be notifying you in writing shortly. Thank you for your interest in SMU.

:) 2 down. NUS left.

Reply from NTU

Dear Mr Tan

APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION TO NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY IN ACADEMIC YEAR 2008-09

Thank you for your application and your interest in studying at our university.

We appreciate the time and effort you took in applying to us. Each application we receive has its merits. With the record number of applications we received this year, competition for limited places has been very strong.

We have reviewed your application thoroughly but regret to inform you that you have not been successful in your application. We assure you that the University Selection Committee had considered your application to the fullest extent before arriving at this difficult decision.

With best wishe... blahblah [not impt liao]

Yuppers. Glad that finally I got a reply. At least i've cleared one uni out of the way. 2 more to go. Thank God that He's closing doors and stuff coz really, it's harder to decide when everything's open. And He does make His plan clearer for me. :) I'm happy that at least the first to reply was NTU... the one i had no hope of getting into anyways. so there's still hope for the other 2. :) Let's jus wait and see what happens la. Whatever it is, I love God.

'if we win, we praise Him; and if we lose we praise Him. Either way. We honor Him with our actions and our attitudes.' - Facing the Giants.

p.s. please do not send 'i hope you're ok' smses or tags or what. Honestly, I'm FINE! So please... frankly it's irritating to get pity-messages. :)

Email from NUS... false alarm

I got an email today from NUS. once i saw it in my inbox i flew downstairs to call my parents... mum followed me to my room to open the email. and it was a super stupid false alarm.

Some dumb survey they wanted me to do to see how well their admissions campaigning exercise went. WAH LAU... i seriously thot i finally got a reply.

haiz... whatever man... praying God will just help me accept whatever comes.

Today, met up with Y.S and Mel. very interesting discussions we had... Got me thinking quite a bit. I pray I'll stay close to God as I continue to grow... it's a scary world out there and I realized today how much I didn't wanna lose God. haiz. praying hard for me, frens and those who need God.

Disappointed with Studies taking top priority

I guess people will always let you down and disappoint you won't they? Simple things can seem so.. obvious yet when crunch time comes, people act and respond in such shocking ways. It was just last week that we all talked about a certain topic taking God's place as first in your life. We spoke about how we shouldn't put studies above God, we talked about how some people put so much priority in the wrong things in life.

yet, here we have it... a week after that same discussion that I hear someone saying to me that they can't come because they gotta stay home to study. I'm just a bit disappointed. Don't say sorry to me, dun say sorry i can't come. Coz really, you shouldn't be saying sorry to me, not to me. You should instead direct your apologies or excuses even to someone else... someone who you should be staying accountable to... and that's not me, that's God. I understand why you need to study and all... and the reasons i hear are legitimate.. don't worry. I'm jus saddened about the issue and I want to blog bout it coz i'm jus sad it has to happen.

I'm not pointing fingers at anyone coz i'm always guilty of such too. but i'm just disappointed that sometimes we can be so convicted about sumthing and then when it demands our commitment, we turn our backs. :S

Leonard raised this point during one of his sermons that i brought up during YAF today... he said, and i don't quote coz these are my words paraphrased from his point...
'People want changed lives but yet, they don't want their lives changed'
'People are willing to follow Jesus until it costs them something'

myself included. We're all sinful... but let's all press on to try to be who we are when it's most needed. Walk the walk we talk.

Uni Applications Bugging Me

NUS says:
Application status
The general stages for the application status are
Application received --> Application processing --> Outcome of application
Your current status is Application processing.

---

SMU says,
Thank you for your interest in SMU. Your application is currently being processed. We will inform you of the outcome of your application in due course.

---

NTU says,
well... NTU doesn't say anything coz they dun even have a page that tells u whether you're awaiting a response from them...

---

I am so sick of seeing these on the Uni application webpages... it's like... INCONCLUSIVE! let me know whether i'm in or not soon please!!! :S I've been waiting for a reply from NUS, NTU, SMU for the longest time.

mood: in suspenseful shit

W760... mine.... soon.

I will own this in a few weeks time... :) why? coz i'm going to buy it when i ORD. :) which is in a few weeks time... to be exact, it's 11weeks time.. that's like 2 plus months! wootz!!! haha anyways... i really quite like this phone. seems like quite a nice match for me. i've always wanted a nice walkman sony ericsson phone... so till i find something wrong with this phone or find sumthing better, this shall be what i'm aiming for... hopefully when it DOES properly come out, it won't be expensive. we'll see now shant we? ahha

Need a good phone coz mine has wanted to ORD from me for a long time... it's been crapping up, lousy reception, bad keys, no functions, useless battery... the only good thing about it is prob the look of it, the fact that it's a flip phone and the size. :) other than that.... hmmm. haha

We'll see how la. will save money for it and try to pay for it coz i never like to make my parents pay for anything i own... except the car and laptop. haha coz u know, they run into the thousands so there's no way i can pay for them. :S haha... and i am very grateful for everything i own which isn't paid for by myself... which is everything around me actually. like the house. HAHA...

Talkin bout that, i bought meself a trucker cap! yayz... ahha slowly completing my hiphop waredrobe.. which right now consists of 1 cargo pants, 1 trucker cap, 1 pair of shoes and 3 ankle socks... yarh. managed to grab some socks the other day too. i need want new shoes coz the insoles of the one i wear is gone... i need want new cargos coz having one cargo pants is just not enough... so sian.


On other news, i'm glad i'm off tml coz i have NO mood to go back to work. i guess it's coz we slogged quite a bit at work the past few days so that we could earn this off... and i'm glad i dun have to go to work coz i'm pretty sick of it. :) it's not so much the ORD mood, it's the fact that there just isn't anything to work for. i could go on and on about how i am TOTALLY not satisfied/contented/pleased with my workplace and the people there but i dun wanna be arrested... with 2 more months left... who wants to be a bellringer? and i'm not talkin bout some glam gameshow here... :)

Apart from that and all, i'm pretty ok with life. it's slowly moving i suppose. frens come and go rite? likewise for many things in life. ah... who am i kidding, when i've reached this point of the blog post, i just dun feel like blogging. hahah hope the top section has given u enuf to not demand for a 2nd post. :)

Here's a cool vid i found. It's for those people who love drifting... check it out yo. It's a truck... now how pro is that!