The Good Old Days

Three Dollars' Unforgiveness

Pls forgive me for not having S$3 in my EZLink card and let me exit from the MRT station, please.

I beg you.

I am sorry I don't know this "new" rule.

Singapore, Singapore

Attempted to title this post after the much more famous, “New York, New York” but somehow I do not feel the same kind of effect being reflected here and so I am writing this down right now to tell my readers. J

Oh yes, I am back in Singapore for a three weeks visit after spending most of my time for the last two years in Utah, USA, mainly in the Salt Lake and Utah counties. I have finished up my first week and have another two more weeks to go before I will be ‘booking in’ again to Lehi, UT. This is my very first official ‘book-out’ since relocating to work in Lehi for two years.

The main thing which I miss in Singapore during my stint in USA is the F & B. Food & Beverage. I guess staying in Singapore; I do not really have to do much cooking as I can easily go to a nearby food court to get my food. In addition, the coffee in Singapore is more suited to my taste bud. In Utah, I only drink black coffee without sugar because the coffee there is too blend for me but looking back, I think I may be also too seriously intoxicated by caffeine that I need stronger coffee.

Besides F & B, I do feel good about being able to worship in my home church here. Worshipping with people whom you have known for a long while is great. I am able to connect better and also being able to hear from my pastor preaching the message again after some time is refreshing too. Sadly, I only have one more church service to go before heading back to Utah again.

After all this time spent in Utah, I am still praying to God about His direction and plan for me in this land of the West of USA. Hence, I will like to appeal for your prayers for me as I continue to stay in Utah for the time being. Pray for God’s leading in my future direction and at the same time, may He build me up as His effective witness in Utah. Thanks.

Keeping cool in HOT times

One week into coming back home to Singapore, my body is starting to get used to the hot and humid weather. It was a struggle in the beginning for me especially after spending a little over one year in a colder and less humid place like Utah. Even standing directly in front of the freezer section of my fridge, I am still feeling warm.

I thank God that now I am feeling less warm and also through this course of one week of ‘doing nothing’ at home, I managed to spend quite some time with my Father and learnt a few important things from Him. I thought maybe I can share it here since recently there is a pastor in Singapore who has ‘lost his cool’ in his preaching.

Well, everyone knows that there are two sides to a coin. Head and tail. Not so long ago, I was in fact drawing lots from throwing a coin after much prayer. ‘If it is Head, Father, then you want me to go to the workplace to minister but if it is tail, then it will be over to be a full-time minister in a Para-church organization.’ was my prayer at that point upon graduation from college. The result was head and the rest is history being written for my life.

Head and tail are the two sides of a coin. In dealing with life situations, I do believe there are also two ways of responses. Positively and negatively. You can be very positive to the life circumstance and move forward with it or you can also be very negative towards the situation which in turn is inducing a downward spiral of emotions which will affect others around you as well. I strongly believe that God will like us to response positively to all life situations because He is our Great Hope and He is the One who gave us the hope to share with all folks around us (1 Peter 3:15).

Under the hot and humid conditions in Singapore, I will want to continue to maintain my cool. I do not want to sound frustrated and impatient when things do not go my way but I want to still edify the people around me so that I will be the person whom people will like to go to. I will be the person with the HOPE which Christ has given to me through His sacrifice on the cross. Romans 5:8 says it well, “But God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we are yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Simply because of this verse, I have the hope to carry me through in life in the midst of economy crisis, wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes and other natural disasters, families breaking up around me and many other life situations. With this hope, I am called to respond positively to all issues.

As the coming of the Day approaches, I will really like to share with all true believers of our LORD to continue to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another. With this in mind, I hereby will like to encourage the pastor who was shot down recently due to his preaching, to respond positively to the criticism and continue to live out a godly life full of hope in the coming of our LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ Who will be bringing all of us to reign with Him for eternity.

To the glory of Christ, let’s continue to keep our cool in these hot times of the last days!

老虎不发威，你当我病猫?!

Today is the very first day of the upcoming Chinese New Year of 2010. The Year of the Tiger. I titled this post with a Chinese saying just to make the point of being a Chinese myself. For those whom do not know what the title means, feel free to email me and I will try to explain to you as clearly as I can.

I truly enjoy the time being with my family after spending an entire year in the states. A great time of talking crap (again) with my mum and also being nagged (a few times so far) by my dad. Also had an interesting day with my relatives coming to my place for a gathering and trying to convince my three nephews and one niece that I am not a stranger but their Uncle. Haha, what a day.

In spite of all these good times, Singapore’s hot and humid weather is killing me. Even when I switched my room fan to the maximum speed, I am still feeling hot. It has really been a long time since I start to feel the ‘sticky’ feeling of my body due to the high humidity. In addition, to enable my body to be adapting faster to the weather, I went out for a 5 km run in the high afternoon temperature of the day. The result is I almost passed out in the heat of the sun. Haha… I am becoming a polar-man soon, I guess.

My dad is born in the year of the Tiger and so if you know how this Chinese zodiac works, he is turning 60 this year. I was born when he turned 30 that year and if your math is still good, I will be 30 this year. Looks like I am lagging behind his statistical ripe age of 30 for settling down but it is God Whom leads in this matter so who am I to go against His Will? It is VERY important to settle down with the right person so I will take all the time I need to find the right one first.

As per the norm across all cultures (East or West), during a contemporary family gathering like this, you will have relatives to ask you when you are getting married or having kids and stuffs. My second aunt is even telling me that this will be her last year of giving me Ang Bao and the next year, I will need to be giving out Ang Bao on my own. I told her straight that I need more time. Haha. I rather stay single all my life than be married to the wrong person.

Besides all these trivial happenings back in Singapore, I am writing this post to remind all Christians that we cannot believe in any of the zodiac signs interpretation. No matter if it is from the Eastern Chinese zodiac or the Western zodiac. The simple reason is God Himself has told us to seek Him first in all things (Matt 6:33).

In concluding, I hereby wish all fellow Chinese across the globe a very happy and blessed Lunar New Year ahead. May all continue to be healthy and staying hopeful in the midst of turbulent times while awaiting for the coming of our LORD, Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:15).

Enjoy your time spending with your family. I am enjoying mine to the fullest now. =P

Ground ZERO – home SWEET hOmE

A big thanks to our Great Father Whom has brought me safely home all the way from Utah after a grueling twenty-six hours flight. Right now, I feel like an excommunicated alien who has just returned to his mother ship and warming all his familiar things up once again for a super cool three weeks!

Come Home - One Republic

Time for Snowboard Jumps!

Good Reference Link

Coming Home - John Legends