What a great youth camp this year! It was absolutely exhilarating to see God move through every one of the youths and igniting a fiery passion in each of their hearts! Though I could hardly stay throughout each of the sermons, i enjoyed very moment i was there. One of the days there was an altar call for the long-lost -and-far-off. I knew that was for me, my lifestyle had became so secular and God-exclusive during my 2 years in NS where it should have been the opposite! So i went up and as soon as my knees hit the floor, so did my tears. There and then, i made a re-dedication back to God. The Parable of the Prodigal Son really spoke to me, and i just melted when i thought about how God had always been waiting and looking out for my return. And the best part, this is the truth!

For you didn’t receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of Sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father” Rom 8:15

We talked about a massive impending revival in Singapore and everyone got so pumped up for it, i myself am pretty excited! Wished i could be there for the full sermons Being the quartermaster was no easy task, first to come last to leave. It’s kinda the job where no one notices what you do, until you don’t do it. But being a leader also means you are a servant to those following you, as emphasized by Amos. I am extremely grateful to my fellow committee who were really gracious and helpful in my course of duty, and to all others who voluntarily offered their help!

3 days whizzed past and then it was campfire night. We had our last sermon that evening, everyone was jumping and praising and so on fire and then when we came out we saw this! A total eclipse of the moon! Beautiful!

A total lunar eclipse occurs when the moon goes through the long shadow cast by the Earth and is blocked from the sunlight that illuminates it. There in the sanctuary we were talking about a revival here in Singapore and seeing this crimson moon slowly emerging  from the shadows to a fully lit bright new moon to me felt like God was saying, “Hey people! It’s time for a revival, now! No more being in the shadows, my Glory will shine valiantly for all to see!”

I loved it.

We cry out for this nation
We cry out for this land
Fill us now with your power
Send revival send revival

I ‘ve been waiting to change my phone for a long time now and have been wanting to get this. But for 2 weeks everywhere i went it was out of stock. I remember having this small prompting that told me that God provides, and that i should just go for the camp and serve God first. The MOMENT we broke camp, i got a call saying that the stock for the Galaxy Note had arrived and one set had already been reserved for me! My gosh i was awestruck! God is faithful and provides indeed!

Teehee! I’m a happy Androidboy!

You are the Apple of my Eye

Can almost imagine a parody of this show entitled “You are the Apple in my palm”. lol? Okay lame……..

I caught this show with Donna a couple of days back. For an NC16 movie it was entertaining as hell! While most teenage girls might have swooned over the love story, it was the idea of growing up that struck a deeper chord with me. You a myriad of people during those years, some you’ll come to detest, others you can live without, and maybe a special few you’ll come to fall love with. Skipping school, chasing skirts and being boys. Chapters ends and new phases take their place. What we’ve built up within each segment – friends, memories, relationships – we put on hold and move on. Some we forget, some we willingly let go of, and some we keep. At the end of the day, all the “what-could-have-been”s give way to deeper and ever-calming friendships.

How heartwarming it must be
for few friends to weather all
then returning together
just like the old times

And no i am not being love drunk!

Reminiscing the old times.

oh and @siewqinghui, i just realised the chinese name for the show had totally NOTHING to do with 你是我眼中的苹果. LOL  -.-”

After a gruelling 5 months of continuous work we finally get a one month break and the group of us decided to spend it abroad, away from the hustle and bustle of monotony for a bit. How we ended up deciding on Taiwan was a miracle itself! At first we were contemplating between Bangkok and Bali, after many weeks we chose Taiwan. And the week before our departure Bangkok become flooded, Bali got earthquake. Talk about divine intervention!

We’re so used to seeing clouds from below, feels good to be on top of them for a change!

The thing that i remember and yearn for most when i touched down was to indulge in this Cong Zhua Bing. It’s really like spring-onion filled Prata with fillings. I had the bacon one and it’s ZOMGWTHBBQWORX YUM! Ask for without though i found it better

Comes in a variety of flavours, and Uncle hard at work preparing our orders. Because all these push-cart stalls are illegal, they literally scramble off at the slightest hint of the Police. And they are darn good at it! 10 push-carts can disappear within 10 secs even in a busy street. There were a couple of times we were ordering and there were police patrols, they just and hid without collecting our money. But of course we found him and paid lah

The next day was a guided tour around Taipei as part of the package. The hotel provided us with breakfast, may look simple but it was really tasty! Self-prepared chicken cutlet sandwiches, soya bean and few other sides by the staff. The chicken cutlet was sweet!

First stop was…. erm…. this place. A memorial ground for Taiwan’s founding father. It was HUGE!

Only Singaporeans do these type of thing -.-

Mr Taiwan sitting on his throne. Beneath him at the entrance of his house are two guards, THEY ARE REAL PEOPLE! But they really can’t move AT ALL for their whole shift.

The view from outside Mr Taiwan’s house.

Random

Next was the Martyr’s Shrine, a memorial ground to remember their forefathers who got martyred for the efforts to form Taiwan. Again there were guards, two at the outer entrance and two at the inner court. In between, an open ground roughly about 500m?Here’s the best part…

Every hour there would be a change of guards parade and the new guards who march like this from the outer gate, to the inner court, and back out again… for every single step! SHAG TTM

Once at the inner court they would perform some fancy drills to change the guards, then go back out and do more fancy drills to change the other pair. The whole sequence? 30min. Speaks a lot about the culture of the people, their military is highly regarded and personnel do it with pride.

Next on the agenda was the mountain village of Jiu Fen. Truly a breathtaking view from the top!

See the bowls of soup and balls, it looks simple but it’s very delicious! The biggest ball is like a xiao long ball, got meat and it’s own soup wrapped inside! Oh and pets are like trend in Taiwannow, people take their dogs out for walks wherever they go no matter how busy the place. We were at the shopping districts and we saw people walking their pets, dogs in shops and some even put their pets in bags and carry them. I bought a pet-bag for my dog  but she just refuses to get into it!

The famous 50 Lan bubble tea! If you think Gong Cha is good……. you are right! But this is BETTER!

More pets!

It’s BABY in Taiwan!!

Hummer and Ferrari at shopping district XiMenDing, awesome!

Bumped into Mr Taiwan again

Oh and this is one interesting restaurant! The whole place is in themed Toilet. Check out the pics.

And it’s really good value for money too. The main course is about SGD $12 and you get a generous serving of hotpot and rice. And look at the size of the dessert! That costs about SGD $4 each only!

One thing about the Taiwanese people i really respect is their civic mindedness. I took this at one of the MRT stations and you notice that EVERYONE stands to the right, leaving the left clear for walking. And to add icing to the cake, NO ONE blocks your way when you exit the MRT, they actually queue up very orderly and patiently!! RESPECT

And by some ultimate strokes of lucks, look who we ran into!

Luo Zhi Xiang!

Lollipop F!

Hum sup friends going after girl

Oh and there was this cute drummer girl busking in the streets near Taipei 101! Female drummers are HAWT!

And before long it was time to head back to reality…

And after a longgggg longggg wait my threadless tees and BATTLEFIELD 3 has finally arrived!

And a surprise amidst all the fun at Taiwan, Donna bought me a Fred Perry shirt! <3

Yea it’s been long since i last updated, but here it is! Till my next update, see ya!

30 Oct 2011 | 9.30pm
Music: Stereo Hearts | Gym Class Heroes ft. Adam Levine

Prior to this i mainly had the idea of a 21st being just another one of those “grand” events in life. Suddenly i realise that it goes beyond the superficial exhilaration of turning fully legal. It is symbolic, a sign a growth, a mark of transition. No longer a child, or tween, or teen, but now a grown up to shoulder further responsibilities demanded.

Dad said, “You have a girlfriend now, please be serious and get your degree”

It’s time to get serious.

BUT FIRST, some thing less serious

Last Saturday was my 21st! And almost the whole weekend was spent celebrating with close friends, family and my dearest sweetheart

So hush now, pictures are talking!

Got to the a “Poly kid” for half a day! Crashed Temasek Poly with Donna and joined her for the morning psychology lecture. Interesting experience! It feels so good to be back in “school” again, everyone was just so…. carefree! We had actually planned to go wakeboarding in the afternoon but by a stroke of suayness, the boat broke down So we impromptu-ed to bowling and pool. We were really desperate!

At night the climbers and i met at Silverymoon where together, we opened 16 bottles of chocolate liqueur! Neemeng actually bought the chocolates for me some time back but they came in such nice packaging that i was reluctant to open them. Then i checked the expiry and got a pleasant surprise. It read “Best Before 16 07 2011″, in other words my birthday! I just knew i had to save it for a special occasion. And this was the time! A day before my 21st, literally stated the best to consume! The best for my best group of buddies!

The nex day we had a family celebration and ohhh i love my baby sooo much

Family photo, complete with 3 couples!

For lunch it was the MUCH ANTICIPATED Ah Yat Restaurant!

THE BEFORE:

A HUGE ASS LOBSTER!

To show you just how huge it is i used my hand as a yardstick.

Fresh Seafood of all sorts!!

That’s a live abalone!

And that giant whopper is called a Geoduck.

After you select the seafood you want they are trained to make their way out of the tank and into the kitchen themselves!

THE AFTER:

And at the end the whopping bill O.O

Then at night it was off to cell and BBQ!

Who cares about Taiwan plastic contaminants, Gong Cha just buy only!

I thought they all forgot about my birthday, but they surprised me in the end, like really really surprised me. And Donna had a huge part in it, totally got me into thinking the rest forgot!

And of course not forgetting the gifts =D Neemeng got me a Zara tee too but i hadn’t got the chance to upload it!

And to my dearest Donna, thank you for the wonderful quilt cover-cum-blanket! This whole piece was personally hand sewn by her, staying up into the wee hours everyday for 3 weeks.  You really make my heart nuaa~   She was telling me there were alot of times she felt like giving up and kept scolding my name, then i would call her (by coincidence) and she would have to act all nice. HAHAHA! Quite funny

That’s all for now. Thank you everyone who made my 21st a truly special and blessed one

12.05am | 19 July 2011

]]> http://godsdrummer.wordpress.com/2011/07/17/im-an-adult-now/feed/ 0 durianseeds DSC_0017 DSC_0023 DSC_0026 P1020902 P1020908 Ah yat P1020926 P1020927 P1020929 P1020928 P1020930 P1020931 P1020932 P1020934 P1020938 P1020939 P1020940 P1020942 P1020948 P1020950 P1020951 P1020933 P1020954 P1020960 P1020961 P1020962 P1020969 P1020970 P1020959 P1020972 DSC_0062 DSC_0083 DSC_0087 CSC_0139 DSC_0143 DSC_0148 P1020887 CSC_0142 CSC_0153 http://godsdrummer.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/6-more-months/ http://godsdrummer.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/6-more-months/#comments Mon, 06 Jun 2011 14:25:24 +0000 durianseeds https://godsdrummer.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/6-more-months/ ]]> I just found out something really cool today.

My next batch of recruits are enlisting this Wednesday and will graduate on 8th October. The following batch of recruits will be enlisting on 7th December. And my ORD is on 4th December. Which means….

When my recruits POP = My ORD!!!!

Now isn’t that interesting!

I was on Facebook and browsing through the status updates when i chanced upon a long time friend’s photo album. It was an album of photos taken on his latest trip (i’m guessing) and OH MY GOODNESS, they are super ownage pictures! Really awesome pictures and other effects. Which led me to check out his profile and discovered even more of such photos and drawings he’s done. Insanely cool stuff.

Browsing further, amidst the usual day-to-day happenings, i saw another who recently got engaged. And even further i saw another who’s getting married! (His wedding photos are insanely WOW as well!)

And then a thought hit me, hard.

“People are moving forward and accomplishing things in their lives. What am i doing with mine?”

I stared blankly into the computer screen for a couple of minutes. Pondering. I always say oh i’m just simple guy, your regular guy-next-door, i get by, living each day one at a time. I guess at some time it’ll come to a point where simple isn’t good enough. Regular wouldn’t make the cut. And the world may not merely be looking for people with passion, but rather people who are actually capable.

My long time friend with those amazing photos and drawings, these are the people i am pitting myself against. And at my current state, i have zero chance of fighting.

Hmmm. I’ll have to do something about this.

Anyways, might be a little old but i chanced upon this on a friend’s FB wall couple of months back. Gave me a really good laugh! Creativity FTW!

2 days and 30GB later and i’ve got F.R.I.E.N.D.S Full episodes Season 1-10! Yea i’m slow, i have never watched this classic sitcom ever before, but better late than never right!

And guess what came in the mail! Finally like after 3 months of processing my diving license is finally here! =D

It’s about time to book in, my last batch of recruits, and my last confinement period.

I’m really gonna miss my bed

6 June 2011 | 10.23 pm
#Missingyou,andeveryoneelse

Got the following picture from Donna’s FB album, one of my favourites!

It might be another 3 weekends before i see you again, but it has also been the best 3 weekends being with you since (:

2 May 2011 | 9.56p
Music: I’ll be back | 2pm

And perhaps that is about the most apt quote to sum up things up for me thus far! I remember coming up with a wishlist for 2011 at the start of the year and slowly one by one they are coming true, amongst other things that weren’t inside at all! I feel really blessed to have known whichever friends and people i’ve come to know, because at the most random and unplanned times they turn up with little surprises that just make me feel even more blessed. Be it at work, at church, ex school/class mates, or even new acquaintances, it’s the little things that keeps life interesting. There are still times where i still reminisce about the old and past, but well that’s okay because i’ve moved on. Many times i guess we get caught up and refuse to let go, fearing that we might lose forever what we’ve got. True perhaps, but in some cases, unfortunately, it impedes us to see the better things that was actually coming our way.

For better or for worse, Life throws us too many uncertainties that it would be a waste to be give them up by stubbornly holding on to a single few certainties. And that to me is the beauty of it!

Alright to be fair to those at the other end of the spectrum i admit i said that because for the most part, things have been going for the better for me

Things like…

Fostering new friendships
Friends who care and share

Deepening existing ones
New experiences, Tioman Diving Trip

Really generous friends
Thanks Jessie and Gary!

New Beginnings
The single greatest blessing so far (:

I wouldn’t discredit God in all these, for i know He has been pretty instrumental in everything that has happened. Friends and family too were nested amongst the works. And for all these i am truly grateful

For the first time in a long time
I’m happy to be where i am
It’s not about the destination
B’cause the moment you arrive
you’ll find what you’re looking for
Has always been right there inside
right there in your heart
On this beautiful
Journey of Life
Voyage De La Vie

23 April 2011 | 5.30pm
Music: Journey of Life | Voyage De La Vie

The highlight of my hiatus would have to be my diving trip at Tioman! 2 weeks ago i, with 4 other pals, set off for that island getaway. The 4 days spent there would have to be the my most enjoyable time of 2011 thus far. Released from the commitments from back home and immersed into a foreign land, together with a close group of friends and just taking a break from everything… pure nirvana. Period.

Ok it’s about time the pictures did the talking!

Off we go, crossing the Woodlands checkpoint late at night and meeting our point-of-contact in Johor Bahru.

The start of a 2 hour car ride to Mersing… TIRED! Local time: 10pm

Checking into a budget motel to sleep for the night. Local time: 1am

Early morning march to the ferry terminal. Local time: 6am

Finally we arrive at the resort, and dive center!

A peek inside the office results in a rather interesting discovery, a hat made from a REAL puffer fish!

Soon enough we started diving. And after each dive we would gear down and sit by the beautiful beach, relaxing to a cup of hot tea. Nirvana again!

And every evening after a long day of diving, we will eat live catches from the underwater realm we just came from! And they are really cheap, but still not as cheap compared to the beer!

And for some after hours enjoyment, it just had to be at the Cabana! One of the more popular beachside pubs. One night at the Cabana the in-house band invited our group to play some songs. And take the stage we did! Weiming and I played percussion while Kok Keng rocked the house on guitar and vocals. 3 Singaporeans pumping out radio hits in the midst of both locals and foreigners there, and seeing everyone just sway and dance to our music… ABSOLUTELY EXHILARATING!

And there was a small boulder wall outside the Cabana too! AWESOME MUCH!

See those black dots? SEA URCHIN STINGS! Noobsihly crashed into a bunch of them during my virgin dive, But well it was what made the dive even more memorable!

8 dives and a written test later, i passed the course and got my diving license!

Woo hoo hoo!

As for the other big piece of news, my portfolio is finally completed and sent to NTU! PHEW! Major burden lifted off my back!  Thinking back i do feel little surprised at how i managed to get this far. A few months back i was still fretting over an almost empty portfolio, but slowly and surely i inched towards this completion.

Weiming tweeted this the other day:

“Prayer does not always mean seeking for answers or directions, but simply trudging ahead knowing God is in control.”

I admit i have been lacking in my prayer life, but all these while i knew what i wanted and i knew He knows what i wanted and He is in control. He has helping me through hurdles time and time again, even though i didn’t ask for help. I believe He has been watching over me these whole while, i can feel it. And for that i am really thankful. I’ve done my best for the portfolio, the rest is in His hands.

The saying goes, all good things must come to an end. Will there ever be a good thing that never ends?
If there is, i am really looking forward to that.

27 March 2011 | 2.40am
Music: What are words | Chris Medina

Went with my dad last night and what an AWESOME concert it was! I was already getting pumped up walking through the carpark alone, Jaguar here Rolls Royce there, BMW and Porsche everywhere! Just a little hint on the audience’s affluence and age group coming to see this classic band. And when we got in OH MAY GAWD, full house 12000 people all my father mother’s age one!

No la kidding.

But really i look left look right mostly were from my dad’s generation or at least starting from mid to late twenties, i think i was among the youngest there. But there is no age restriction for good music! To be honest i haven’t listened much to The Eagles before and only knew 4 out of the 20+- songs they played. But Satanic band or not, i had a real blast there! Especially when Hotel California came on, WAH SINGAPORE GOT EARTHQUAKE! But only those in the stadium could feel it!

 
Great time. Great music. Great band.

On a side note, I’ve updated my Portfolio page again! Added quite abit of new stuff so check them out!

24 Feb 2011 | 10:12 am
Music: Sitting Down Here | Lene Marlin