BAYFGM 09

Today was quite good... we had our BAYFGM. We really were lookin forward to this event coz the exco had planned up a short little skit that would take us through the previous 6 months. :) It was cute and fun to act along and so we were hoping that not only would the YFers walk with us thru the last 6 months but also be highly entertained by what we presented. I personally was looking forward to how many parents would come and this year didn't disappoint either. we had roughly about 8-10 parents there today... a huge encouragement to me since most of them were not the normal ones we see all the time at AGMs or Elections. :)

Yup, i must say that M.Chan was really nervous about the whole AGM, and even yesterday during the dry run, she was still not sure of what to say and how to say it. but today, wow. i must say, she was highly impressive and it was really something that i was shocked by. When she presented her parts of the AGM, it was like she had no problems whatsoever. :) was really proud of her for that and I hope that the Lord will give her more opportunities to share and conduct public speaking. :) Good on you girl! knew u could do it.

Yarh, then after that, we had exco meeting and it was pretty hard to get our brains back on track coz we were all quite tired. :) but we managed to finish that and now i'm back home on a lazy saturday afternoon blogging and camming. :) Just had a bowl of Pulot Hitam Island Creamery ice cream... mmmm heaven in a bowl.. or close to it. haha

And now, i've got nothing planned up for today. yayz. hahah kinda tired but obviously i'll stay online to chat and stuff. :) haiz. tomolo might pop by army camp... see how. :)

Tired Fingers, thick hair

You know your hair is getting long and thick when your fingers start aching from the volume while shampoo-ing your hair.

tired fingers... but ah, i love the smell of my conditioner... mmm herbal essence orange flavour... mmmmm niceeeee.

it's in a bad stage now though. not short, not long.... faster grow faster!!! and this time, i'm not going to let some hair dresser ruin it again. :)

p.s. visa's confirmed. nothing stands in the way between me and my future studies. :) yayz.
37 days to go.

TOTALLY RANDOM POST

Ok so this post is going to be totally random... like the things that pop into my head would be translated to words. dun worry, i'll try not to let this be too long.

fish in the supermarket today weren't fresh. my balcony's kinda dirty coz everytime i step out to open the door, i take as little steps as possible. sky's pretty cloudy today, hope it doesn't rain. oh i'm going dancing today, 3 hours worth; hope i dun die. Hmmm maybe i should change my sms ringtone, getting stale. Bought bread today that was fluffy and nice. my floor fan's kinda cute, it moves when the wind blows but it's not on. ugly bobble head dolls on my table scare me. staring is a hobby, so sue me i like it. why do i have a torchlight on my desk when it doesn't work.

visa's taking too long to process, getting worried. signed up for unlimited dance classes today! woo! applied for overseas trip notifcation with the SAF, still need to call my unit to confirm it. i'm taking too long to read eclipse, keep getting distracted. sms just came thru, let me read. i love driving, and i'm going to miss it.

talking bout miss, i'll miss people, surely. But time and distance won't separate us i guess. effort, it's all about initiative and effort. hearing a person's voice is so much better than reading text. random blog posts are SO nonsensical but fun to do from time to time.

-fin-

40 Days

So i had dinner today with M.Seah, M.Ho and L.Kwan... the Melb people... wow. it was fun coz finally everyone could meet everyone and things would slowly feel like it's actually happening... i guess when i went to do the visas and the medical check ups and the applications, it still didn't really sink in yet... and i guess it still hasn't sunk in titanic style yet.. but i guess my departure, as quickly as it approaches, is heralding its date by feelings of excitement.

Today during dinner, just talkin bout the food we'll be eating there, the places we'll be going to, the stuff we'll be studying... it was jus so cool. We brought the baked rice to the poolside and there was a nice breeze there... jus the 4 of us... the 2 Uni of Melb guys and the 2 RMIT girls... and i was thinking, it's going to be like this over there... sittin there having a meal... all of us.. jus chilling and enjoying each other's company. :)

Guess there are lots of things that could change and people to meet... i had a fren who was scaring me today by saying stupid stuff like how i'll go there and meet new people or get too busy with my life that i'll find some other fren to talk to and some other person to spend time with... and that my fren now would be replaced... haiz. stupid fren. u know who u are i'm sure...
I dun deny that things will be different and yes i'll be busy... we might not chat or talk as much as we do now coz of the change in environment and all. but my frens are always frens and if u were special to me once, u'll always be special to me.... stupid worries i guess. but i pray that God will allow me to keep in touch with people coz i'd hate to drift from people... it's natural i suppose, out of sight, out of mind.

yup... so as the date draws nearer, i pray God will prepare me and remind me that i'm not going alone.. but with Him, and He's more than enough for me. :)

To Bella

Inspired by Twilight. Dun read coz it prob contains spoilers.

To Bella...

And so Edward said to Bella, 4 hours sounds like a very long time to wait for you. But Edward knew in his head that that 4 hours would be as long to him as it was going to be to her.
He sniffed and strained to smell the air. Alas, it's still as stale as it is. Knowing he hadn't much time, especially tonite, to continue on his conversations with Bella, he tried to redeem whatever time he had left with her.

He said, Bella, I may not always know how to react to you and sometimes i can't. But know that you are my life now and my world is slowly but surely revolving around you. I find you very fascinating and interesting. I could watch you all day and still not know what goes on in your head. I wish i could read your thots and feel your heart. Bella, i'll stay with you till u sleep and make sure that nothing ever harms you. When you're with me, my world feels that much more complete and even though i'm so much older than you, when we talk, i feel like the age isn't an issue at all. If i had my way, i'd spend eternity looking at you.

And so the lion fell in love with the lamb.
What a stupid lamb
What a sick, masochistic lion

Lord I offer my life to You

Today during service, this song really spoke to me and made me rethink on alot of things in my life. Recently J.Lim came up to me and reminded me [thanks ah chao ah lian] that it not only is my 6th year serving in the YF Exco.... but she was asking me whether i ever get tired of serving and stuff... but i told her that every year is different and every year has different people too so it's not like 6 years but 6 different years of different service. That in itself is enuf to motivate me to another year of service but Regardless of all said and done, only God has brought us all thru... the YF has really grown and changed over these years and I thank God only for that. :)

However, today during the service, this song spoke to me about how we should be serving God with our lives. what do we have that is not already His... that reminded me never to horde whatever we have because ultimately, what are we grasping onto so tightly? It belonged to the Lord and we should use it for His glory. :)
Also, I pray that as we serve God, we avail ourselves to serve God.

Oh no, michelle is scolding me for blogging now. hahaha ok so here, hope u're edified by the song.

Lord, I Offer My Life to You
Verse 1:
All that I am, all that I have
I lay them down before You O Lord
All my regrets, all my acclaim
The joy and the pain, I'm making them Yours

CHORUS:
Lord I offer my life to You
Everything I've been through
Use it for Your glory
Lord I offer my days to You
Lifting my praise to You
As a pleasing sacrifice
Lord I offer You my life

Verse 2:
Things in the past, things yet unseen
Wishes and dreams that are yet to come true
All of my hopes, all of my plans
My heart and my hands are lifted to You

Happy New Year!

Yo yo... it's 2009!!! 4.34am of the first day of this new year. wow. 2009. the last time we can write 1 digit as the year! soon it'll be 2010 and things would have been so different.

As i think back on 2008, the things that brought me joy and pain, laughter and tears... i remember that God was with me all the way and thru it all, He's never given up on me. I think it's during times like this where i sit back and wonder to myself how God, the creator of the world and my heavenly father, can bother with someone like me. I've sinned much and lost sight of Him so many times... and yet He still forgives and loves me for all my flaws.

And that's sumthing that rang true to me in 2008. When i left the army, i thot it'd be tough to get back to reality and stuff but i guess God provided and gave me what i needed to pull thru to 2009. And as i sit here in the chapel, with youths all around sleeping coz it's the new year's stay over, i thank God for giving me frens around who remind me of His love and grace. The service reminded me never to think of my struggles and issues as too big for God and to always look for chances that i can encourage people or help them thru a struggle in their lives. :) At times i wonder to myself how much i'll miss this warm community of believers and how much of this will be taken from me in a few months time. :) but i guess that's why God puts them here in your life, so u'll treasure them and cherish the time u have on this earth. :)

Yup. so a blessed 2009 to everyone and may God be merciful, gracious and blessed on all you. :)

poopoohead sucks

u suck for not answering my qn properly
u suck for saying maybe
and most imptly u suck coz u're such a poopoohead.
ewww that stinks.

Post Christmas Updates

So sorry i haven't been updating. Been a bit busy and my lappy died. Blogging wasn't really one of the things that were on my top priority. :) But i JUST got it fixed. the dude who came to fix it, left my house not too long ago. Thank God that it 'spoilt' before i went to Aust... otherwise that might have been a bit distressing. :)

Today i went shopping with some of the youths... it was quite a fun time jus going out and not really having much of an agenda for the rest of the day. [other than coming home by 3 to wait for Dell's technician]... but yeh. i had a really good experience that day. After all the normal meetings and lunch on sunday, i plonked my little butt down at whitesands Mac Cafe with my Zen and "New Moon"... that's the 2nd series of the Twilight Series. wow can. it was SO shiok. i just sat there with my book, zen and a tall Caramel Frapp... it was like heaven. Ended up reading like 1/3 of the book in the 2 and a half hours sitting there... once more, it was jus WONDERFUL sitting there reading and reading and not having to worry bout rushing off to sumwhere. i need more time alone like that. Chien Chong reminded me during YF on saturday that u can be alone and not be lonely. That's what we should strive for, at least for me, to not be lonely when i'm alone. Coz some people can be [like the Buble 'home' song says] surrounded by a million people, and still feel so lonely. :S Chien Chong shared with us about some church person who committed suicide even though she was serving and coming to church regularly. So scary to think who might be like that. who's suffering silently and just not taking their life yet... who? what about me? am i watching my spiritual and mental health too? neglect oneself and u'll end up worse off. :S

Christmas this year wasn't the best thing that happened to me in Dec. I dun wanna go into detail but i guess it reminded me that i can't keep wasting my life away on people or things that shouldn't be such a high priority in my life. I was talking to Ju and i was telling her that when u give and give until u've got nothing left to give and then u dun get anything in return or whatever, it gets very hard... but actually, u still give coz u dun give to get, u give so that the Lord gets. Tough man. really... esp when u give and u give and not only does it not get returned to you, but it's spat in your face or given to someone else. that's when it hurts. but why should my individual mortal hurt be compared to what pain God feels when we reject or neglect Him. So yeh... just a thot in my mind this Christmas too. If your reason for the season [or your life] is other people then when it doesn't turn out the way u planned, u crumble. But if ur reason is God... then even if it goes totally against what u planned, u'll be safely securely grounded in God.

Another thing Leonard said during sermon on sunday struck me. Religion doesn't get us to Heaven, Faith in Jesus Christ does.

As u can see i'm throwing out a lot of Random stuff that keeps popping in my head. But i'm glad to have a little time to myself today to just think and pour out some stuff in this blog. :)

Oh about that, my flight has been settled and cofnirmed. And I'm flying on the same flight as L.Kwan. Wonderful coz it was fully booked out and it looked like i was going to fly later... but God opened the window and i literally jumped thru it. Thank God for giving me so many things. He's really preparing me and paving my way to Melb. :)

I thank God for blessing me with friends and family during this christmas period coz i thot it was going to be a lonely one... remember, i said lonely, not a christmas spent alone... but i guess apart from some bad stuff that happened [which i'm putting past me] Christ has reminded me that He provides His love to me thru frens. And some of the most unlikely sources... from a certain young fren who keeps me happy all the time. MSN is really amazing i tell u. it bridges distance and makes u feel like u're just next to someone when u chat with them. I thank God for friends like poopoohead who keeps me happy and smiley even thruout the day. Yes, we may not be very similar in tons of ways.. but i think it's when u look past those things and jus chill and spend time cultivating a relationship with someone that u find joy and i really do enjoy the times we share on msn. it's like last nite... we chatted till 3am! hahah and then i woke at 7 to send R.yeo off at the airport. haha. :) Yup. so thanks for being special... u totally know u are... as am i. mwahhaa. :)

Blessed Christmas Every One! New Year's coming soon!

Youth Camp 2008

It's been a long time that I've blogged. goodness. But i guess it's also coz these 2 weeks have been mad for me. Youth Camp and Leader's Retreat have been taking up my time. Even now, i'm in leader's retreat. Taking some time off my sleep to jus update this coz there's been quite a lot of things that have happened that i don't wanna forget about.

I really do treasure the times i just go through my blog or my journals and all and see the past. what i wrote and how i felt at that point in time. it does remind me of what God was teaching me during that point in my life. :) so that's why i dun wanna forget to blog about youth camp and lr so far. :)

Youth Camp came and went and it felt like the longest camps in church that i've had in a long time. i guess i've been super looking forward to this one too coz it's prob my last and it's been a while since i've been able to attend youth camp proper. There was 3 years of poly and 2 years of army that really got in the way of youth camps. :) so this year was not only a time that I was in the camp comm but also a full time camper. What i realized half way thru the camp though was that I was the oldest camper there. so scary. but so blessed too. You know how they say that u should return to the next generation what u got from the generation above you? Well it's really true and it's honestly really blessed to see the younger generation stepping up to serve and lead. It's 100%-ly encouraging to see them just take over and take charge. I thank God that His work in Shalom is still going strong and i pray that He will never give up on them and likewise, they will seek Him first in all their ways, church or not.

Camp comm was something that i was glad to be in this year. Each one really did shine for Him not only in this camp but in every meeting. Nick, Debbie, Qiang, Julia, Joella, Arthur, Sherwin, Shannon. People who work together and pray together will ultimately see God work in the midst of them and be we are so thankful for so many instances where God showed us His fingerprints in our plans and in our execution. Thank God also for WONDERFUL weather that He blessed us with. So many times, we take for granted such a simple aspect of God's goodness...
My group was SO fun. :) we really made ourselves a little crazy for each other la. A lot of it was initiative and shamelessness. :) 22 years old but i felt that if i didn't do a lot of things first, the younger ones wouldn't. :) so my strategy to make CHARITY the most enthu group and most crazy fun group was to be the first to be crazy and fun. if no one's willing to be that, then the group would never have fun. :)

We had a great monitoress too la. chelsea was quite a roit and she truly kept the group alive with the "C is for..." song. :) yayz. ahhah. And i must commend her on her taking charge of the group too. :) i know it's not too easy to take leadership like that when there's not much preperation and things to do. but chelsea really did a fantabulous job at it. :) so i'm also quite proud of her. :) YAY! C IS FOR CHELSEA!!!!

Angel Mortal board was FUN FUN FUN. I was really glad that we did the board this year. It was real fun to encourage people and get to know more and more people thru the board. My angel rawked too. Gave me stuff like nice little 'mysterious' notes and MEI JI CRACKERS!!! haha. yayz. :) but yeh, it wasn't too hard to guess who my angel was la. as much as the handwriting was SUPPOSED to be changed, i guess i know the person and the way she writes to be fooled la. mwhehe. :) yeh. so thanks for everyone who wrote notes and all :) it was really something that i'll keep with me for a long time. A day before camp, i actually took out some of the old notes that i have kept. And i found quite a few angel mortal letters from like 2 years ago... camps that have come and gone. :) so surely, i'll look back on these notes i just got and smile even in years to come. :)

Yup, so i learnt much about how to be an example in this camp.Elder's talks were good and the workshops were also very interesting. :) I pray that the youth will learn that God is not only their God but also their friend and saviour. :)

1 Timothy 4:12
Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
Be An Example. YF Camp 2008

Starbucks day!

I'm TOTALLY there... totally.

A peek at 25th Nov

So J.Chen gave me this idea last time about leaving the blogger [for my case, email box] open the whole day and from time to time, jus come here and blog. so let's give it a shot. You are about the view a simple working day in my life.

9.47am.
Well it's not like i just walked in... but it's when i decided to try out this blog by time kinda thing... i'm here cutting post it notes coz i found like 7 boxes of uncut ones and i end work this friday so it's getting a bit stressful. ahha Z says jus try your best, not like it's that impt anyways... so good good. Xiu smsed this morn saying she won't be lunching and Cal's also not joining coz she's got an interview. So i think it looks like it's jus Phil and me. Looking forward to thurs when the whole gang [hopefully] would be lunching again. Yup. Kinda quiet in the office now. Z went for breakfast and i'm jus cutting post its.
Thoughts are flying to last nite and the chat i had with a fren. it's nice to know that things are all well and fine. Guess it gives me motivation to get online esp recently when there's not much to go online for. mmm. back to post its...
note to self, rhyme more... you need the practice. :)

11.08am.
Deciding where to go for lunch. today seems to be jus phil and i. so we're thinking of either cine or singtel. :) benefits for both i guess. hahaha. Just called up my IDP agent to clarify some course fees issue before i sign on the dotted line and apply for visa. :) it's actually happening. so cool. i'm looking forward to going really i am. but shhh k? haha... Currently i'm quite smitten with Taylor Swift's songs... they're real nice and the words are quite cool too. it's for the drop dead romantic la. so if you're not the sweet kind, u might not like it. I love "Our Song" "teardrops on my guitar" and "picture to burn" :) yuppers... work's pretty ok today. jus cutting post its. :)
just a glimpse into my emotional/mental state now. i'm kinda torn as to what to do. I have the part of me that says stuff should be resolved and i shouldn't be acting the way i am. But then i dun think it'll make a difference and it might make things worse... so it's either burn bridges or jus suffer in silence. mmm not sure. :)

1.27pm
lunch was good. bad coz i wanted chicken drumstick rice and there wasn't drumstick so it was jus normal chicken. but hey, who really cares bout the food la. :) Phil's great company. u can jus have lunch and he'll jus talk and entertain the whole way. :) all i need to do is laugh along and listen. haha. Guess i did stone for a bit coz he thot i was a bit stoic today. maybe i am, or maybe i'm jus stoning. not sure but i have a relaxed mind today. not willing to push it further than it needs to be to function. Or maybe i'm jus deep in stoning thot. Z jus messaged to say she won't be in the office till 3 coz she's at lunch. And i'm going to Taka later at 3 coz i need to go collect some stuff at the dry cleaners. So that means i have till 3 to slack/cut post its. Then at 3, i'll go to taka till bout 3.40? Come back and cut more... 4pm. Then it's jus another 2 hours till i'm off today. This week is DRAGGY. i thot today was wednesday lor. was making lunch plans for tomolo then i realized it's only tues. gahhhh. :) Anyhoo, i've thot about what it'll be like when i'm no longer in spore. So diff... no more chicken rice, hokkien mee, nasi lemak and prata easily accessible. The horror!!! but Phil says i'll get used to it. how true. Sigh. i guess i'll have to get used to not having a lot of things i have now. food, friends... mmm i'll make do. i've got my killiney ice coffee with me. Hope i dun feel sleepy today. This blog by timing is coming along quite cool. :) Super long entry i'm forseeing.

2.41pm
I'm pretty happy with the way my hair is falling today. Changed parting last nite so was expecting it to take a few days to get used to it... and the way it's falling now is much better than i expected it to. so i'm quite pleased. no huge change but it's a small change to make sure that when it gets longer [gawsh it's taking FOREVER] it'll fall the way i want it to. :) whee. random thot. thanks xiu.

3.40pm
Joel wonders to himself how he messed up so greatly. And he wishes he could go back to where we were a few years ago. He knows he's messed up too much to even have that. And thus he's sad. boo hoo. totally. haha

5.39pm
Just came back from Taka. Went to go collect some stuff that were pretty overdue. HAHA. :) who cares la. they keep it, i'll go collect it. I came back in a super good mood. dunno why. maybe it's jus getting out of the office for a short while that changes everything. Or maybe it's the fact that i'm meeting A.Yeo for dinner and catching up. Really treasure this BROTHER coz he's always been someone i've kept closer than a brother. And i'm glad that we're still really good coz i'd hate to lose a frenship/brother like him. Anyhoo, after that i plan on getting donuts and popping by to church to surprise the counsellors with nice yummy sweet treats. yayz! totally happy. hahaha. oki. back to cutting post its. work's ending soon. another reason to be happy. S.Soon came to my desk jus now and she was like JOELLLLL u've got 3 more days left!!! ahhh!!!! And i was like wah, you're counting down for me ah? ahah :)

5.54pm
Time to wrap it up. this has been an immensely interesting and fun way to blog. sorry it's so long but i must say that random thots the pop into my head pop out so quickly unless u blog it down. Today has been a good day. Frens talking over MSN and Emails... going to Taka and having long breaks in the office where it's jus me, the post it notes and my laptop [Taylor Swift serenading] :) and yet, the day is but half done. i'm so glad hahah whee! what a good day so far.

Till tomolo! [Might do this again since this is immensely fun] Ciaoz people and God Bless. remember, He will never leave you nor forsake you and He's holding your hand.

Regards,
Joel Tan
Brand Experience

Last week @ SingTel

So this is the last week that i'll be working at singtel and prob working at all before i continue studying. It's kinda weird to think that it's ending. I've only been at SingTel for bout 4+ months... But i've seen so many people come and go.

Inez, Sophia, Jason, Guansin, Sarah, Nathania, Aaron, Calista....

I've got so many farewell cards from each of them that I feel like a perm staff here. Haha. But i guess it's good too coz i've experienced F1 through and through. From the planning, to the actual event and now the post evaluation. :) it's been useful to say the least. Being in a department that I've never worked in before or have any experience in... It's been much more than an eye opener. :) My bosses and superiors have all been nice people. Save for a few occassions that have gotten me down by their demands or whatever, it's all good coz it's part and parcel of life or of work... It's also a learning lesson to manage and deal with your boss...

I'm glad for the people God has placed me with in this working life too. I've always been one who dreaded eating alone when i work. I was a temp staff at some insurance agency before doing paper work data entry... And i lunched alone every day there for about 4 months too. It was a horrible feeling coz it's like lunches jus mean putting food into my body and listening to my Zen... It wasn't even in a convenient place so there was little variety too... Gosh i remember those days... Not fun. :) But in SingTel, i've NEVER eaten alone. Can u believe that? :) It's either with other interns, bosses, colleagues or with frens from other companies... My lunch company these few recent months have been the highlight of my work days sometimes. It's a bunch of peers that are from everywhere around the somerset region. Cal and Xiu are from Dhoby Gaut and Phil's from Clarke Quay... But we meet for lunch every day without fail and I have to say that many times, they're also the reason why i come to work everyday not dreading it. :) Emails from them also help to make the work day SO much better. :) I'm just thankful for the friends that God places in my life, however unexpectedly. :)

Yup, so as i close this week, i pack my things with bittersweet feelings. To know that i made a difference here and to the people whom i've interacted with this 4 months, i hope i made a positive impact. It's interesting to know how each phase of your life ends and another begins... This is literal for me now. And whee! Can't wait for december... :)

SingTel, always bringing you the best.

Regards,
Joel Tan
Brand Experience

Cooler Heads Devotional

November 18, 2008

Cooler Heads

A man of understanding is of a calm spirit. —Proverbs 17:27

A Christian I know was angry with someone at his workplace over a perceived injustice. A colleague listened to his grievance and sensed that his temper still ran high. He gave him this wise advice to consider before confronting those involved: “Cooler heads prevail.”

As we interact with others, disagreements are inevitable. The discerning believer understands his own heart and takes steps to deal with conflict diplomatically.

Proverbs 17:27 tells us: “He who has knowledge spares his words.” This means keeping in check a multitude of opinions that could ignite further anger in others. Someone who displays wisdom will think before speaking, and then will share only insights likely to be helpful.

The Proverbs also give us wise counsel on the emotional side of controlling our frustrations. “A man of understanding is of a calm spirit.” A mature person exhibits understanding by keeping cool in conflict. Problem-solving is enhanced by an even-tempered approach.

The next time you become angry, stop and prayerfully reflect for a moment. Ask God for a calm spirit and the right words to say.

Remember, cooler heads prevail. —Dennis Fisher

The best time to stop an argument is before it starts.

Mummy's better

Yay, Praise God... Mum's back home and resting [kinda. Still running around although we tell her not to] Really thank God that the operation was good and now is the recovery stage. It was good that the infection wasn't serious and rectify-able... Coz it could have been MUCH worse.. And as always, i won't go into gory gross details about how the eye can be infected. Let's jus say it's an impt asset we all don't wanna lose. We so often take for granted such things like sight, hearing, voice... Those sorta thing... But thank God that He reminds us with stuff like this. We must always ask ourselves how God can get glory out of this and what can we learn about Him thru all situations.

Whether it be the fear of losing your sight or someone u love or to the simple every day issues of bitterness and the struggle of people relations... God always has a plan and a purpose for everything. It's just whether we want to go around walllowing in self pity/bitterness/blame-game or do we want to be mature spiritual people and seek God in it.

It's scary to think that we don't have control over so many things.. But i guess that's the beauty of it all no? That God's in control and when we think we steer our life, God rebukes us by takin over and showing us how helpless we all can be. :) You may think you have your life planned out, u know where you'll be in the next 2 years, 5 years maybe even 10 years.. Then everything can change overnight coz of sumthing that happens... Reminds me of like ants running along a long line towards the nest... Then on comes this human who puts an obstacle in the middle of the chain of ants... Routine, structure, organization is suddenly thrown in mass hysteria. But only for a while. Then the ants find another way and the chain just goes around the obstacle. Circumventing a problem... Ants. Just like us... But the difference is that the person who puts this 'so-called-obstacle' has our good in mind... And how often we think we know better. :)

I end work here at singtel in 2 weeks. My 4 month stint is coming to an end. Bittersweet feelings as always to leave. Don't know what's lying ahead of me and yet still happy to get some break from the drudgery of coming to work everyday. But i shall have to commit myself to certain self-improvement things when i'm free-er. Skills and training i guess...

Yup... Thank God for many things in my life too that are well, helping me to see God in the daily.

Regards,
Joel Tan
Brand Experience

Eye Operation

Mummy jus got wheeled into the Eye Operation... praying hard that nothing will go wrong, everything will be done painlessly and that she's get back her sight proper. :) Scared but God is in control.

I;m sitting here in the hospital ward waiting for her to come back. I've no "eye-deer" what time she's coming back and all and i must say it's scary. but i guess there's no way u can truly learn dependency on God if you've never really felt helpless. which is exactly what i feel now. :S

pray for her oki?

Shalom YF Camp 2008 Publicity

Dinner and Dempsey IceCream

So two nights ago, i managed to have the priviledge of taking a good fren out for dinner. It's been a while since we've been able to talk proper and catch up over a meal so it was surely the highlight of my week... And it didn't disappoint at all. As it always doesn't, the whole day was filled with happiness and surprises. Managed to get off work on the dot [like the past few days thankfully] and chionged home for the car. I'm glad i did coz there's no way i'd have gone to dempsey without a car. Trust me...

Girls, if u have a bf who can't drive, you're TOTALLY missing out on dempsey. And guys if u can drive, GO TO DEMPSEY at least once... It's a nice place... Jus dun go alone with a girl lest she get the wrong idea... Hahaha

Yeh so we had a simple not-so-cheap-but-i-thot-it-would-be dinner at a hawker centre. Which was great coz i realized that when i meet frens out for dinner, it's hardly ever hawker food... It's like a mental image i have to break... Why can't people still catch up over hawker food? Why must it be pasta mania or cafe cartel or fish n co... U get my drift... So yeh, the food was so-so but that's not impt rite? :) glad that i managed to get an update from my fren who was kind enuf to keep making sure that i wouldn't stray too far away from each other to stay accountable. :) And likewise, i updated my side of things [not much coz i live a boring life]... It's good to hear how people struggle thru things coz it shows their vulnerable side and when u see that, u know they trust u enuf to tell u certain things. It also helps u open up to share. And that's what a brother/sister in Christ is all about rite? Sharing in the body of Christ and working thru problems with the help of each other and God. God speaks thru individuals too and affirmations or rebuke can also come from these close frens u have. :) That's why it's always better to hear another's opinion rather than yourself.

Sharing pain is akin to sharing joys too and i'm glad that we were able to rejoice over a certain issue that my fren's facing... It's a good thing and we're just glad that God is opening up doors and yet still helping things remain in control and progressing ever so slightly. :) Just pray that we'll all keep close to God and that it'll all work together for good.

After dinner [which i felt was rushed coz of parking and also coz we had destination2 to go to], we drove by to pick up my fren's mother and sister and drove down to dempsey for ice cream... Ben and jerry's... What a way to enjoy life no? :) so it was a good time to fellowship over ice cream... And live band! What a double treat! Glad that we were all able to talk and enjoy each other's company. I will really seriously miss this kind of close fellowship when i leave... It's why i'm initiating such now... Coz i'm jus afraid that i'll have no time for it later and then when i fly, i'm gonna so regret. :) My fren's close to my heart and so is my fren's mother... It's something i dun wanna lose when i fly... So i'm glad that it was all possible. :)

But of course it's not so much about where we all went and what we ate that makes me want to record this post down. It's the fact that when i'm overseas and looking back, i'm gonna smile remembering that in spore, there are people i care bout and i want to remember never to stop being accountable even miles away... Coz it's when you're miles away that u need it the most.

Praise the Lord for friends and family.

Regards,
Joel Tan
Brand Experience

RollerCoasters

I guess i'm going through a state of mind now that's not very healthy. Things are pulling me up and down and up and down. It really feels like sometimes, i'm just riding a roller coaster and i never know when it's gonna shoot up to the heavens in an estatic state of joy or gladness or dip down low in states of personal disappointment or fear of what's to come. I wonder to myself sometimes whether this is all part of life. I wish to myself sometimes that emotions, feelings, moods and thoughts would jus be plain, simple and routine. Then I think how boring life would be without all these things.

But that's not impt coz we are all on the ride of life and it's whether we choose to enjoy it or not... Aint it? :)
Glad that a lot of decisions in my life has been settled in the past few days. Gives me a sense of comfort as to what's going to happen to me in a few days/weeks/months time... And i am really looking forward to the future now i guess. :) so different, so new, so exciting.

It sucks to see friends fight... Esp when they're all Christian. Like some movie character said... Why can't we all just .... get along?

People change, feelings change [that's a song btw] and i believe it to be very true. When i look back on myself a few years ago [yes, i was thrown into this state becoz i recently dug out some real old photos of me... You'll see them on facebook soon. Lolz, let me upload them]... I am amazed at some decisions i made and some friends i had. Not bad in influence. But more of where they are now. Lots of my sec sch frens are all living their own lives and i barely keep in touch with them. Thankfully there are still a few people who i regularly contact and have helped me along the way... Thanks matt. :)  And some friends i made then, those i was close to.. I look at them now... And i barely even know them. The choices they make, the people they keep, the lives they live. And i wonder to myself... If they can change so much, if what they said last time do not linger true now... Have i changed that much too? It pains my heart sometimes to see these friends becoz more often than not, i choose not to try to get to know them anymore. It's like there's no point banging on a closed door... So i just pray that God would watch over them and keep them in the Way [and no NISS class, i'm not talkin bout the jewish way. Lolz]

But then i look at the present and the future and i see so many potential people coming up and into my life that it's jus excitingly fresh. I saw potential in someone on Sunday that really made me think to myself whether my life should be about me and my plans. Or shouldn't it be to devote myself into people who can be guided towards spiritual maturity? Scary thot but i was likening it to how I was moulded by someone whom i respect so much... And i wonder whether or not it'll be even able to be someone like him, to someone else.... It's wonderful to think. :) mentorship is lacking in my church but what am i doing about it? Sitting and complaining? :)

Yeh, so that's just my thoughts at the start of Tuesday. Mid week [k fine, not really but let me lie to myself ok!!! Lolz]... I'm glad i have an outlet. Not a completely good way coz it's still a public outlet. But at least sumthing i can air my thoughts on. Have a blessed week.

By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. John 13:35

Regards,
Joel Tan
Brand Experience

Doubting His presence

When things start opening up and the light shines through the windows, then do you really get comforted by the fact that yes, God still cares and that He wants to let you know that He's there.

So why can't we remember Him in times of trying and times of uncertainty? Hasn't He proven Himself to us over and over again that there shouldn't be a doubt as to whether God's there? Yet, I find myself struggling over and over again to ask whether this is in line with His will, whether it's what He wants for my life and whether He'll be there to see me through it. :S

I dunch know what it is but i guess that's just my thoughts for now... And it saddens me sumtimes to think that we, as humans, are always doubting the fact that we are humans and not gods. And we're always thinking God's not god but merely someone we turn to when we need.

Mmm ok i'm getting random but i hope i made some sense. Sigh. :)

Regards,
Joel Tan
Brand Experience

Patience

I sometimes wonder to myself whether patience is worth it. Even Jesus got angry when righteously it was ok to be angry about a certain issue. Of course i'm not saying I'm Jesus but there are many times I feel my patience is just tried coz I just suck it in and let it out in a long sigh or a breath...

Consoling myself that it's just a short while till I don't need to worry bout these things.

But why does it seem like it's not worth it? I know snapping back isn't going to solve anything and thus I seldom... But it's not easy taking it and taking it. I'm scared one day, i won't be able to control myself and patience would be a thing of the past. Please God, cause me never to.

Regards,
Joel Tan
Brand Experience

Dance like no one's watching

I watched this episode of Cold Case a few weeks ago about this dude who was killed and only found a few years later. Story behind it was that this dude was an aspiring dancer and his father was very against the idea [bcoz his wife was a dancer and she died so he was all bitter and stuff]... But it really stuck with me because it also touched on the subject of dancing being the-end-of-the-line kinda 'profession' and ultimately not for guys.... But like all good shows, the father did approve at the end bcoz, ironically, he saw his wife in his son and didn't want that to disappear.... So sad that his son ended up dying. But yeh... Besides the point.

Dancing has always been viewed as a lesser form of the arts for males and is normally and commonly associated with the female species. Many have tried to break out of that mould and proved to the world that yes, dancing IS also a guy's art... But my point i'm bringing in today is that with so many MORE types of dance other than ballet... Maybe it's even becoming more and more accepted, socially and mentally, as a uni-sex hobby. Of course, you do get the occassional effeminate guy who prances around the stage in tights and a leotard... But i think it's more than that. Dancing is an expression and an outflow of feelings of a song or a dancer. Some dancers who REALLY put in everything and dance like they do, really portray the feelings of a song and do it wonderfully.

Then of course there are stuff like hiphop, street jazz, ballroom, salsa, breakdancing, j/k pop.... The list goes on. I think that dancing is great and dancing helps you be who you aren't in that little few hours... To feel the song and to, as cliche as this sounds, dance as if no one's watching... That's really something i enjoy and guard jealously. Like the instructor says.... For this hour or so, feel the music and want to be some celebrity or dancer you see on stage. Leave who you are outside the door and don't feel paiseh to dance. Coz if you hold back, you're gonna spoil it all. And i believe that is so true. Thankfully i go dancing alone so it's MUCH easier to leave who i am outside the door and jus go in ready.

Hmmmm. Jus spewing thots coz it's pretty lax at the office today.... And also coz i'm going dancing later. Mwhahha :)
I'm sad to think that this might all end in Nov and i might not be dancing for a while. Maybe I'll try to dance when i've left work. Grinz. So yeh, for those who are interested in joining dance, i recommend StudioWu... They're slow in pace and helpful... Jitterbugs is out of the way [for east siders] and Oschool is just a league on it's own... Too tough for beginners. :)

Dance Like there's no one watching... Coz honestly, no one watches.

Regards,
Joel Tan
Brand Experience

Pic of Desk Updated

Hey, just snapped 2 panoramic shots of my desk at work. It's 2 separate pics that's why u can see where they join.. But the desk is too big to take a nice panoramic shot of the whole table. If i zoom out, then u can't see the details like the pictures and all. Haha

<<desk.jpg>>

Whee! Can u see? There are SO many pics everywhere... My little memories of SingTel and the people i work with i guess. :)

Regards,
Joel Tan
Brand Experience

A Good Friend's Birthday

Thursday's my good friend's birthday. I only knew him thru the army and yet when i saw the facebook reminder, it tore at my heart. Both at how i'm glad it's his birthday and yet how i haven't seen him in such a long time. He was my little project in the army, my commitment to God and my accountability partner in my unit. Glad to know him as a friend and there are so much i wish i could remind him of and laugh about it. Thank God that He brought him back to the faith.

Met up with Lam, [an army fren] today for lunch and when i came back to the office and saw the facebook reminder of my other fren's birthday, i wished that i had met him up for lunch and laughed about the times in the army. How our superior would scold him for asking stupid questions or not knowing how to do simple maintanence tasking. How I would stand up for him and be the middle man between him and the bosses; the role of a sergeant i guess.

I remember how last year when we were still very close, i smsed him on his birthday; This time a year ago. He was stuck having an exercise outfield and i popped him a birthday sms. It was really fun to just poke fun at how he's sharing his birthday with mosquitos and wild boars. Now, a year later and i wish i could drop him an sms telling him how his uni life must be so damn boring or how he must be really sad coz we haven't gone out in a while...

It's good to have friends in life. They remind you of the good times and pull u thru the bad. It aches my heart to know I'll never be able to tell my fren to have a happy birthday. To remember that he passed away from a bike accident in feb. That that last birthday outfield WAS his last birthday. But his memory lives on and his face, we will never forget. Cherish those around you for u never know when we might have our last birthdays either.

Happy Birthday Alvin. I pray you're smiling down from heaven. Share this slice of cake with me and laugh over the times we had. In 2 days, we celebrate your birth, but more so, we celebrate your life. I miss your stupid voice Alvin.

Regards,
Joel Tan
Brand Experience

Part Time Work in Nov

Hi guys,

If anyone of you reading this has a job lobang for November period. Let me know ok. I'm looking for a part time job in Nov that pays $6or more per hour... But i can only commit to Nov.

So if you know of any, let me know. Thanks.
Other than that, it's jus another day at the office. There was a nice breeze when i was walking to work. Quite shiok. Reminded me that Mondays don't always have to be sian-i-fied. :)

Weekend was good. Thank God for a good message by Leonard. Thought i brought home was this:

Being Vs Doing.
If you BE what God wants you to BE, you'll naturally DO what He wants you to DO.
But if you DO what God wants you to DO, that doesn't always mean you're BEING who God wants you to BE.

Like always, it's a heart issue compared to an action issue.

Regards,
Joel Tan
Brand Experience

Webcam's fun

I must say that webcamming with frens jus make the conversation so much "fun-ner" heh.

MSN can't aptly portray the emotions and expression as video can. ahhaha. :) fun fun.
Weekend has been good so far. YF and christmas song practice. :) glad that it's going good i suppose coz i was looking forward to this weekend to break the work week.

totally gonna get it for posting this pic. :) but hey, where's the fun in life if u dun dare to live once in a while.

Blinker Blondes

OH MY GOODNESS. read this. super funny.
Two blondes were driving down the road.

The blonde driving looks at her friend in the passenger seat and asks her to see if her blinker is working. So the blonde looks out the window and says, ''Yes. No. Yes. No.''

Regards,
Joel Tan
Brand Experience

Nakama

I've been reading to catch up on my bleach manga and it's interesting coz there's this underlying theme that keeps coming up here and there in battles and lull periods of the manga... This word called "nakama". It's meant to refer to a fren who's as close as a brother or sister. Someone you fight to protect, defend to save and are willing to die for.

I personally think it's a powerful expression about how strong bonds are formed amongst people. To think of your life and to think who are your nakama you'd fight to protect. Those people you'd give up your life just to ensure that they have theirs. To fight and go through whatever is necessary for them. Scary to think of what you'd do just so that you know they're safe.

It also made me think of what God did for us. Sent Jesus for us. so much more than what we can ever do to each other as mortals.

It struck me today too that it's been quite a while since i've actually physically done things to show people i care about them. Maybe it could be coz i dun think i believe in 'nakama' being used flippantly nowadays. Maybe it's coz it's just a period of my life that i've mentally chosen to have very few close frens, thus less 'nakama'. But a bit of me tends to prefer this. But i dun wanna go too much into detail coz it'll just defeat the whole idealogy of having close frens. But doing something for someone recently just brought back that joy that i used to have a long time ago. There are lines that you shouldn't cross, but it's a pity when you limit yourself so much [for fear of what people might say or think] that you stop showing you care. Sometimes i think i'd much rather show care to my frens than to listen to what people might gossip or say. Words are cheap, attack someone else.

To those who mean the world to me, my nakama, you'd know who you are and i believe the lord has put you people in my life to give it more purpose than it already has. And i thank God for the blessings he gives me in the forms of angels in my life. Friends are everywhere but i believe that that's where they stop. Nakama aren't found around you, they're found in your heart. And your heart is interestingly not within you, it's found between you and your nakama. It's created and watered everytime you spend time with these close friends of yours and as it grows, it'll only get stronger.

To friends, to my 'nakama's, thanks for seeing me thru frustration, joy, pain... i treasure you and i pray that God would help me to be humble about all of this and to be a nakama to you too.

P.s. Happy Birthday to JiaMin and Debbie.

Regards,
Joel Tan

Holiday Backlot

Holy smoke. I get to work and i receive like a dozen emails with text that go sumthing like

"Joel: Please.... Blahblah"

And i'm like WTH. You go holiday and then throw everything back to me?!?! And it's like quite a lot of emails la.

Sigh. Jus spoils my mood la. Then both of them away. There's a rule where you're not all supposed to disappear at one time lor. Ah heck. Anything wrong i'll jus quit lor. :)

Regards,
Joel Tan
Brand Experience

Baby Reuel

Managed to take an hour off work just now to chiong down to Mount E to visit Kenneth and Yun. They both look well and good despite the little amount of sleep each had and the amount of entertaining they have to keep doing whenever someone visits.

Here's a picture of the cute little thing

He's like really literally wrapped up in swadling clothings and lying in a mang... Eh, no hospital push cart thing. Haha... :) he's real cute and it always makes me wonder how on earth we, sinful creatures, have been given the ability to pro-create. Wonderful gift from the Father that shows His love towards us. :)

Awww. So cute.

Regards,
Joel Tan
Brand Experience

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.