Dr ARB lunch time session

Asia Conference was simply awesome and there's so much learning that can be drawn from it. I will not attempt to post all the stuff here as there's simply too much .I will however, summarise Dr ARB's lunch time session last Sunday as I think not many ppl were there.

As I was doing other stuff, some parts may be missing.

Pst mentioned (I believe from Book of Revelations) that Babylon was a city that had a very strong culture and this culture was very influencial. It influenced other cities such as Rome etc... Babylon then subsequently fell and it was got rid off but its culture stayed on. The analogy was like a tree that was chopped off and though only the stump is left, the roots are still very deep and had influence over the other cities.

As we engage culture.. it is important to identify the purpose. Why are we doing so. In the midst of attaining an influence, like what Pst Kong mentioned abt the 3rd space on opening night, we will definately need to be somewhat rich and famous and have power. Now, the highlight here was this. If your intention was just to get fame money and status, then you are no where near doing cultural mandate. There are many ppl who want to do cross over without carrying the cross PK mentioned last time.. It's true. That's not cultural mandate. It's just wasting everybody's time. It's just giving yourself excuse to get soemthing that you always wanted and that's gold and glory. Not God.....

I was like wow.... More ppl should hear this. When you do cultural mandate, what do u want to achieve? The end results must be that God gets glorified. It's abt bringing the glory of God to earth..

Webcam fun

Ha, tried my webcam on my new laptop last night. Well, it is not quite new but I didn't have the chance to use it till last night and Qin was my audience. It's quite fun and I waved, showed her my tongue and then my feet and did shadow dancing last night too. Behaving quite like a kid though. Then the most fun part was to bite my pillow and then take out Qin's shirt and bite it in front of her (she has clothes in my house)... haha... Now, why am I bloging this? I think cos I'm too free in office liao.. Project delayed.. Everyone just sit back and drink coffee.. And hope no one else in Mumbai gets killed... also waiting for Thailand to open up the airport... So many things happening in the countries nearby. Thank God Singapore is still relatively safe.

Financial Testimony

Yay, just got my cheque for reinbursement for expenses of my previous trips. And guess what? I calculated wrongly.. First time making claims and I think that's y. But I'm so blessed cos that person who did it found the error, rectified it and I didn't even know until I got the cheque. Thank God man.. Also, I realised that I've got some allowances for the trips also. So after sowing to BF, some came back.. ha.. hoping for more...

Asia Conference2008

Last weekend was Asia Conference and boy it was good. I think I didn't have much sleep and rest and thus, my short term memory became even shorter. In the end, I resorted to sending myself smses to remind me of things. There are some revelations that I smsed so as not to forget. Can't really write down too. Why? Cos I was helping out as a security personnel. Counting, it has been more than 4 years since i last did security. This time, Kok Yew smsed and I readily agreed. The sessions I attended was Wed night, Thurs night, Fri night and Sunday whole day. I served for all except for the first night. Due to the fact that I nearly couldn't make it for AC but last minute managed to and so I'm not in Security Duty list for that day.

It's been great to be serving throughout the AC and the sessions were great too... I was really impressed and caught a few things as I was serving there. See, if the Sermon on the Mount was a test of true Christianity (in theory), then this AC must be the practical session to test true Christianity. As I was serving almost every time I was there, I gave my CG the liberty to sit on their own and basically it was OTOT carry on. This really showed where each and every was. Well, I think not only my CG but throughout the church it was like that. As the leaders became busy and helping out with many things (I saw CGLs having silver lanyards just so that they can fetch pastors on behalf of ZSes). Church staff were to their brim and everyone was busy like a bee... Then here and there, you'll see ppl loosing their cool and quarelling. Then you will know who are the sons and daughters of the house and who are those who are just mere visitors who so happen are attending CHC service and so happen are Singaporeans.

It really touches my heart when I saw security/bookstore/usher ministry ppl listening to pastor, standing at the back and also joining in the praise and worship whenever they have the chance. Yes, they are tired, but still they listen and joined in praying in tongues as that was where their heart was. I saw people serving with their eyes wet and I know that they are engaging in the service thus, thought they are serving, they are still engaging and they are touched. Here and there, you'll find some ppl mumbling and then realised that they are in fact praying...

Then there are some though, who just see what was required of them and when their job was finished, they just grab a chair and rested. Look, it is not about having the staminar or endurance to stand longer or anything, it's about the heart. For Security and usher, the peak period is before and after service. It is when there's max people movement and especially for security where you'll have to do crowd control. Many ppl after that peak will just sit down and rest. But this is when the service starts and the preaching begins. Those whose heart is really willing will want to listen and join in the session. This seperates the strong and the weak. It's just like Gideon's thristy army that just drank when they say water. Only a few bothered to continue defending the group. I'm really impressed by those who came to AC for a touch of God. That seperates them from those who come to serve cos their name is on the duty task list.

Now, there are some people who came just to see the celebrities..

Then there are also champions who just came for 2 sessions just to meet CG and Svc att.

Then there are also super champions who came just once for religious fulfilment purposes.

Leaving Ac behind, I walk away with a quote from Mr Thong. "No heart is stronger than a willing heart....."

Macau Trip

OK, the pics from Macau, but before that, why was there charles darwin theory in HCMC? Cos the ppl in HCMC are all very slim. You can hardly kind a plump one. In fact, the lady opening the taxi door was the fattest in the whole city that I saw. I believe it's cos of the tunnels they had. Only slim ppl can go in and all the fat genes were destroyed by the war...

So this is when I just reached Macau airport aka MFM. Touched down in the night and the tired look on my face tells all...

A view of the hotel. I didn't stay here but mine was similar..



A typical Cha Chan Teng..



Took many pics of my beef noodles while waiting for my colleague's dish to come. After that whack ah... Super hungry after a long day..




Suppose to be prawns but it looked more like cockroaches. Suppose to be a nice local dish, SG dun have one. Was so hungry so just ate... Not too bad but not much meat.





Just like in Las Vegas, the sky above is fake. It was way past midnight here in Venetian...



The next morning.. on my way to my colleague's hotel. For some reason we were in diff hotels...

When there's wind...

When there's no wind (Sands casino behind)


Famous St Paul's church. Left the main entrance wall only...

All time classic...







Some men sitting around:

Along the shopping street.. building at the back sells Giordano i think.




OK, my work related pic. Visited a plant there.

Ho Chi Minh City

It was last Wed that I left for Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). Left in the morning and man, I was severely lacking in sleep. SO, as promised, I'll be uploading photos / videos of the trip. It's a business trip, my first with this company and I must say I am blessed cos I spent about a thousand Singapore dollars in total.

Tired

I'm tired. Just came back from SGN (Ho Chi Minh City) last night, reached home at 2am and going to spend 1 day in SIN (Singapore) before flying off to MFM (Macau) tomorrow. Slept 4 hours for the past 2 days... and probably going to be like that also for the next 2 days.. I'm so tired but the last thing I want is to be caught sleeping during working hours.. My colleague took urgent leave while I can't due to probation... AND, 24 more hours to MFM but till NOW still can't find hotel room in Macau... How?!!?!?! Then a verse came to me....
Matthew 8:20 Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

Guess I'm going in blind. i.e. searching for hotels tomorrow. After touching down on Sat midnight, it'll be service and then lunch with Aunty Shirley.. hope it will come to pass. Then it's the end of the wkend.

Ok, I'll post photos of the trip when I have time. Saw Charles Darwin theory in Saigon... explain more again.

Chaoz

Final Exam Recalled

Ah, just read Laimeng's post on her final exams. I dun know y I keep writing abt other ppl's blog on my blog. Anyway, as I read on, I remembered my final exams too.

The feeling is just uncontainable. You want to shout it out that finally studying is over. You want to slap the lecturer who gave you so much work to do. You want to plan what to do after the papers.. Ha. Meng has feelings that she can't really express.. it's normal. The anxiety and the uncertainty...

When I was having my final exams just in April this yr, I recall a very anxious Kenneth. Planning for Job Interviews. At the same time coping with the FYP and the thesis.. Oh the all important and all irritating thesis. Ammending and ammending and still more admmendments. I think I can almost memorise the entire thesis. I also took a specialization module that required me to writea lot a lot a lot of words in the report. One was 100 plus pages and the other was 40? In the end, it was typing and lots of typing. To add to that I needed to boost my cap up to get better honours and so can't slack for the exams. In the midst of all these, I was doing my PPL and planning to propose. Got to get all the elements ready and the plan must not fail. All these things added up to make one really stressful life. the uncertainty of finding a jo was also there.

Glad that it's finally all over, but now, it's the planning for the wedding that is quite a headache. But I know I'm capable of doing more. Once capacity is stretched, haha... Now staying in office till 9 plus pm is nothing when I've stayed in NUS till 2am for FYP. typing reports is nothing after I've typed numerous reports b4. Stressed is nothing, after I've gotten my wings.. What can be more terrifying than flying to Malacca on your own and landing on the runway with only a map and watch. What can be more scary than sitting in a general handling test with captain Andrew Law for GFT? What's more exciting than stalling the aircraft at 3000 ft in the air? Been there done that bought the mug..

It only shapes us better.....

photos

OK, this was taken in City Link Mall. An Advert by RSAF. As we all know, the SAF is really talented at wasting money and here's one of the million examples. The picture shows somewat like a runway. Cos of the threshold (the piano keyboard thingy). Then as you walk along, you realise that the numbers are both 36 on each end!!!! Now, the number on a runway represents the runway direction. For example, at Senai it's 16 and 34. Meaning runway is pointing 160 and 340 degrees according to the magnetic compass. Well, in areas near equator, the magnetic direction is good enough since north pole is not near. Then in Changi Airport, it's 02 and 20, Left and Right. Now with a 3rd runway nearby, there's even centre.. But this RSAF runway has 360 and 360????? Confusing pilots and goes to show how lousy RSAF can be... Though you may argue that it's only an advert but hey, where's the professionalism? Top airforce? Ka Pui!!!! Waste civilian's money.