My trip(s) to singapore

Boy, what a tiring two weeks.
Registration ceremony and dinner.On the 14 & 15th October chin ai n me drove down to singapore for my brother's wedding. We left on Friday night to Muar and spent the night at the always hospitable and kind Lingams. It was nice to break the journey halfway to rest.Next day, we drove down to singapore and made to the Raffles Town Club for the registration. I had a surprise waiting for me. I was told to be the emcee, like 30 minutes before the event! Wow. Talk about short notice. But it was a simple proceeding so it wasn't so difficult. We had a nice lunch, as you can see, and everything else went smoothly.


Here is a picture of the bride (Her name is Joanne Yeo, so close to our Joanne Yew!) and groom


And here is a pic of (from left) my cousin, mother and Joanne's parents. They're very nice people! Welcome to the family!


A few hours later, we had a dinner reception at the British Club. It was a buffet dinner and the food was GOOOD! We had stuff like lamb, chicken, mixed vegetables, prawns, and a whole lot of other dishes i can't even remember their names! No pics for this one, sorry.
There was also a Jazz band playing and they were fabulous! They seemed to enjoy themselves as they played music throughout the night. I managed to get a pic of them.


On Sunday we remembered the Lord at Joo Chiat Gospel Hall. We were a few minutes late bcoz i wasn't very sure of the way. Thanks to Joe (Unc Lingam's son), have GPS-like directions to the hall and weren't too late.
Dr. Wee took us out for lunch and if you look at this pic, should give you an idea of how much fun we had!

We returned to KL after dinner. Working on Monday & Tuesday :(
Tuesday night, we sent my parent's in law to the LCCT, i never knew how far it was and we almost missed the flight. We arrived at 8:45pm and the flight was at 9:05pm!!! Thank God the AirAsia staff was kind enough to let them on board.
We left the airport and drove straight down to S'pore for part two of my bro's wedding, the temple wedding.
The ceremony was only at night so we managed to do a little bit of shopping with Chin Ai, my mum and aunts. I found a dvd of the old musical 'Singing in the rain' for RM10! Original! Woo hoo!
Here is a pic of chin ai browsing babywear shop. Just realised she could pass off as one of the staff! LOL.


Here is a picture of my brother's beautiful, lazy Russion cat, Sabre, and his hyper dog, Jesse.



On thursday we had a family lunch and it was a feast. Check this out.
I put on 2kilos that week.

Hendrick

A brother in Christ from Holland came over to Malaysia for a short visit at the beginning of october. . I Pei Ling mentioned him in her blog some time ago. His name is Hendrick.
He's a very nice and friendly fellow, and he made me realise how short i was. He's taller than Jaya man! imagine that! haha...

anyway these pics were taken at Unc. Raymond's house were a Hendrick and a few others had dinner. Chin Ai and me joined them later. Wish i had taken more pics though.
This was Hendrick, Jaya, Joanne and Jordan playing a game of U

:: Blogged ::

YA Retreat

I had a great time on Tues and Wed. when our Young Adults when to Sg Congkak for our retreat. I want to thank Irene, connie, jia mun, chee hao and those who helped them for helping us with the food. Isn't it wonderful that even though we had more people than expected, none went hungry.

It was a rather wet retreat, and though i would have preferred it to be drier, i almost forgot that i did pray to God that He take away the haze during the trip. And He did, by bringing the rain! So thank you Lord, and sorry for complaining.

Our sessions were good, we discussed not turning back in our spiritual life. Its so wonderful that the Lord Jesus has set us on a road filled with 'heavenly blessings' and His presence to keep us and help us through the difficult times.

We also talked about 'practical Christianity'. I learnt some good tips from the YAs, like cultivating good habits, having the right attitude towards our responsibilities, being a good and faithful witness to the Lord JEsus among friends and colleagues. Its true, practical Christianity is not 'verbal', but 'visible'. I'm glad to know that the YAs have a clear and responsible view of the need to be good testimonies before others as a form of effective evangelism.

When i came home, for a moment i felt like 'well, there goes my long awaited deeparaya holidays'. was it wasted? I think not. Especially when time and money is invested in the people you love and care for. I need to labour now, so that i can really enjoy my eternal rest in heaven!

In the meantime, enjoy these...

Ruth's gone! *Sob* *Sob*

I'm so sad. I had to give my dog away. My beautiful 5mth old Golder Retriever which i named Ruth.Can't believe how attached i became to her in those short months. She greets me in the morning with her wagging tail and smiley eyes and mouth. She greets me when i get back from work and sits patiently while i close the gate and then rushes at me and hugs my leg.

I gave her away coz Chin Ai and me were both concerned about how we were going to cope after our baby is born. Worried about the baby's reaction to the dogs fur (G.Retrievers have thick, full coats of fur), and since my dad had asthma, i didn't want to risk the baby getting affected by the fur. Also, it would be quite difficult for me to take care of Chin Ai, baby and dog later. The dog will probably be the one neglected, and i can't stand that to happen.

Well, at least she's in a good home now. She in Cameron Highlands with Sharon's uncle (who was so kind as to give us the flowers for our wedding free!), where she's got a big compound to play in, and where the weather's better for her.

Chin Ai and me really miss her. I still come to the door and expect her to be waiting expectantly for a walk, play or a doggie treat. Sigh. I do hope she'll grow to be a big happy and loving doggie. I must visit her when i go to cameron.

Keeping track of blogs

If you use the Firefox browser, did you know you can easily keep track of people's blogs? You can create what is called a 'Live bookmark' and it'll update itself with latest posts on the blog. One built-in example is the 'Latest Headlines' bookmark you see on the browser.

How do I set it up?
1. Go to the blog you want to keep track of
2. In the address bar, if you see an 'orange' icon at the right hand side, the blog has an rss feed which you can subscribe to.
3. Click on the icon and enter a name.
4. Click ok and you'll see the link in your bookmark toolbar.

There you go! Happy blogging!

Do you know what RSS is?

Maybe another post...

What's more powerful than nuclear power?

More countries are capable of producing weapons grade nuclear power these days. We have to come to terms with that. There was a time when only a few countries had long range missiles and they were viewed as dangerous, now most countries have it. The same will happen with nuclear-powered countries. It is a sad reminder to all of us, that as human beings, we are just incapable of handling 'power'. The more powerful one is the greater the fear of its abuse. Why? Because after we're done trying to justify our actions, after we're done trying blame others, after we've exhausted our excuses, after we're done trying to 'appear' to do more good than evil, we just know that we are all inclined to sin, without effort. That's who we are, sinners. That's what we are, sinners.

Power is at its peak, not in its exercise, but in its control. He who can control his strength and power, is most powerful.

So today, he who has nuclear power, has the most powerful threats.

Did you know that atomic laws (from which nuclear power is built on) governs much of our lives? The sun's light and heat is caused by millions of 'nuclear explosions' per minute, the same heat that warms us, and light that becomes the primary energy source of the food chain.

The computers we use run on electrical energy which in itself is based on quantum (atomic) physics.

An easy definition of quantum is 'sudden and significant' (dictionary.com).

Atomic physics didn't and couldn't create itself. A nuclear bomb couldn't create life, much less create a habitable environment. A nuclear bomb could not create you and me.

God did. He created the world using 'quantum' like power. He 'let there be light, and there was light', and in like manner 'God created the heaven and earth'.

The threat of nuclear power is its destructive capabilities. The heat so intense flesh can be turned to ash in the blink of an eye. It melts concrete, its coverage wide, it pushes air away from itself and creates a vacuum that sucks air in so fast a typhoon is but a breeze (that's how you get the mushroom cloud), Destruction is 'sudden and significant'. Whatever the initial explosion didn't destory, its radiation kills slowly and painfully.

If you think that's bad, think again.

God is more powerful than a nuclear bomb. We see glimpses of the power He has in the bible.

Gen 19:24-28 : Sodom and Gomorrah - Because of their great wickedness, God 'rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire'. To get an idea of the destruction, read verse 28 :'... and lo, the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of the furnace'.
But we also see God's power in control. He ONLY destroyed sodom and gomorrah, not the whole world.

Act 5:5 : Annias and Sapphira - 'And Ananias hearing these words fell down and gave up the ghost...'. They lied to the Holy Spirit and died instantaneously. God doesnt need enriched nuclear or a bullet of lead to end one's life. Every breath we take, is a token of His control and grace.

2Th 2:8 : The coming of the Lord Jesus and the destruction of Satan - '...whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of His mouth, and bring to nothing by the manifestation of His coming...'. Satan will destroyed, not with bombs, or weapons made with men's hands. His mere words and presence is enough to bring the devil to nothing.

Rev : 8:7 - The coming judgements - first trumpet - 'there followed hail and fire, mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth, and a third part of the earth was burnt up...' - 1/3 of the earth burnt up by God's judgement on wicked and sinful men. Where does a nuclear bomb compare to this?

2Pet 3:10- The complete destruction of the earth as we know it -
"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief (sudden), in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up" - 2Pet3:10

God is much more powerful than a nuclear bomb. And if we are afraid of a nuclear bomb, we should be more afraid of God. This is why:

ALL of us die. And when we die, we meet God. And He has power to judge all of use, and He WILL judge all of us for our sins, and the judgement has already been passed, since God sees the future even as the past, and the verdict is this, "All have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God"-Rom 3:23.

But God doesn't want us to die, He has sent the Lord Jesus to save us. The Lord Jesus "died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that He was buried, and He was raised on the 3rd day according to the scriptures" (1Cor15:3-4).

If you acknowledge your sinfulness to God, and "confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved".

Its that simple, and that 'sudden and significant'. God salvation is atomic. The moment we believe we are :
1. Col 1:13 - translated into the kingdom of the Son of His love
2. Joh 3:3 - we are born anew (again)
3. Heb 10:10 - sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all
4. Rom7:6 - discharged from the law
5. 2Cor 5:20 - made ambassadors
6. Rom 6 - we are made part of the body of Christ

Friend, believe in Jesus as your Saviour and be saved.

Singapore food

Hey who said singapore food tastes bad?
I had dinner in a restaurant (how many of still pronounce this rest-or-runt instead of rest-ront?) in singapore and ordered 'shanghai style claypot chicken', 'seaweed soup' and 'mixed vegetables'. I didn't have much high hopes for the quality but it turned out to be delicious! in fact, more delicious that many restaurant i've had in KL!

So singapore food isn't so bad after all. :)

p/s: The teh-si-peng was bad, though. No credit for that. ;)

Building His temple

Haggai 1:4
"Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your cieled* houses, while this house lieth waste?"
*Cieled: Panelled

As the verse was read in its clarity a few weeks ago by Jupe, a shiver ran down my spine. The same shiver I get when the Holy Spirit wants me to "wake up and smell the coffee".

Having just moved to my own house about a year ago, i remember how much effort i had to put in : drilling holes, washing the floor, fixing the lights, painting the house, packing/unpacking, making sure everything was working, it was indeed a lot of work.

I tried to remember, how much of the bible did i read during those times, how much time did i spend in prayer with chin ai, how much time spent in intercession for other. I remember. It was not much at all.

So today i ask my self the question, how much effort am i putting to building His house? More scripture reading, more praying (with and without chin ai), more conversations on the Lord and His things. These are my resolutions, not for the new year, but for the Chin Ai, me and the new life that God is fearfully and wonderfully making in chin ai's womb, we are His building, His workmanship, and I've been given a solemn responsibility for their spiritual growth in the home.

Pray for me.