new experience.. a little culture shock thou..

right. this morning was a little different from the usual sundays. i woke up super early. at about 6am. cuz i'll be visiting wenyao's church for the first time, and it's my first time visiting other churches. Glory Presbyterian Church; the church i visited today. well.. according to wenyao, cuz the 0730 service is catered mostly to the adults, that why it's a little serious, or i would call it traditional. it was a total culture shock for me. thou as warned by wenyao way before hand, but i guess, i was just not used to it. ever since the day i accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and saviour 7 years ago, LSBC (Living Sanctuary Brethren Church) is the one and only church i've attended before. And since then, i didnt have an opportunity to visit other churches at all cuz not long after, i start serving in children's ministry on sundays after my church's first service and thereafter, when i started working in Julia Gabriel, i was scheduled to work on saturdays as well. and also, i still do not see the need to visit other churches as yet. that was why, i waited till now. not that i have any intentions to switch church or whatsoever but, i thought, it was a good opportunity to see how other churches run their services and since children's church's having combined specials today, so, i just need to reach church by 1030 and i'm safe. LSBC's a very charismatic church. the way our pastor prays and the songs we sing and the way first service's run are all so different as compared to a presbyterian church. ALTHOUGH, presbyterian churches are pretty traditional, but! they are very grounded by the word of God. well, i'm not gg to say much about presbyterian church cuz anyway, i've only visited one, and it's not fair to generalize that all presbyterian churches are like tt. anyway, we all belonged to a body of Christ and no matter how differently each church run their services, at the end of the day, it all boils down to only one truth, and that is to recognise that Jesus Christ is the only one and living God whom we all love and He love us all. we love him because He first love us. anyway, i was pretty quiet this morning as i was also quite troubled by something else. will pray harder and seek God and see what He has to say.


Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you for this day. Thank you for this day of sabbath when all your people can rest and come together to give thanks and sing praises unto Your name. Thank you for the smooth running of children's church's graduation ceremony this afternoon and thank you for the smooth running of the team planning mtg after children's church as well. I pray Lord that you'll guide both Jin cong and myself, and both Rena and Kevin as well as we lead 2 teams of children's church's counsellors in planning for the curriculm and running of the programme each sunday. I pray Lord that you are able to reveal to me Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. I pray that you'll use Your mighty warriors mightly and let us be Your lighthouse and living testimonies for our loved ones who are yet to be saved. Father God i pray that you'll give me the wisdom and a clear mind as i think of the script to write for drama on the 18th Jan's children's prog. I pray that you'll help me seek your will and to lean not on my own understanding but to trust in you always. just like what the scripture says in proverbs 3:5 trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Lord i pray for the salvation of my family members and friends, and i ask of you to help my sisters and i be good testimonies to our family and friends around us, and they too will feel Your love from You through us. I ask of you to bless all my family and friends and commit and uphold them into Your hands. In Jesus' name i pray, amen.

a poem i presented..

Where the Sidewalk Ends

By Shel Silverstein

There is a place where the sidewalk ends

And before the street begins,

And there the grass grows soft and white,

And there the sun burns crimson bright,

And there the moon-bird rests from his flight

To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black

And the dark street winds and bends.

Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow

We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,

And watch where the chalk-white arrows go

To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,

And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,

For the children, they mark, and the children, they know

The place where the sidewalk ends.

reason for writing the poem..

Yesterday, when i invited wenyao to attend my graduation ceremony for the Julia Gabriel Foundation Teaching Certificate (Speech and Drama) which is gonna be held at Julia Gabriel centre for Learning, Forum (which in other words, JGC HQ) on the 17th January 2009 at 1930 hr. then, i was reminded, on that night, we named ourselves 'Phenomenal Women' was because, we were inspired by the poem which Suhailah (one of our JGC teachers) chose. a poem by Maya Angelou- Phenomenal Woman. yup yup. so i hope u like the poem. shortly after that, i'll also slot in an entry of a short poem which i presented that night by Shel Silverstein-- Where the sidewalk ends. enjoy the poem pple! cheerios! :)

Phenomenal Woman

Phenomenal Woman
by Maya Angelou

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.

I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size

But when I start to tell them,

They think I'm telling lies.

I say,

It's in the reach of my arms

The span of my hips,

The stride of my step,

The curl of my lips.

I'm a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That's me.

I walk into a room

Just as cool as you please,

And to a man,

The fellows stand or

Fall down on their knees.

Then they swarm around me,

A hive of honey bees.

I say,

It's the fire in my eyes,

And the flash of my teeth,

The swing in my waist,

And the joy in my feet.

I'm a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That's me.

Men themselves have wondered

What they see in me.

They try so much

But they can't touch

My inner mystery.

When I try to show them,

They say they still can't see.

I say,It's in the arch of my back,

The sun of my smile,

The ride of my breasts,

The grace of my style.

I'm a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That's me.

Now you understand

Just why my head's not bowed.

I don't shout or jump about

Or have to talk real loud.

When you see me passing

It ought to make you proud.

I say,

It's in the click of my heels,

The bend of my hair,

The palm of my hand,

The need for my care,

'Cause I'm a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That's me.

© Maya Angelou, 1978.

An Awesome Christmas..

Last night, was the first time i'd spent christmas with someone really really special to me. I dun deny that we'd only met each other since last week during Logan's party, and have been out tog for like 2-3 times? and chatted on the phone for a few times aldy? But, Nat is very different. He is not like the other guy friends whom i have. Everytime we meet, i'd feel very excited. Whenever he is with me, i feel very safe, and secure. I know, i can depend on him. Here's a little about him just before i write about what we did last night. Wenyao (that's his chinese name and he prefers me calling him that) is a very observant, sincere, wise, gentlemanly, soft-spoken yet firm, talented and patient guy. And most importantly, he loves God as much as i do. He plays both the guitar and piano. He is really good at both! i've heard him play on the guitar (and he owns 2 Taylor guitars) and i've heard him play a bit on the piano over the phone this morning. i love the way he speaks and i love his voice when he speaks. basically, i enjoy and i love to have wenyao ard me whenever possible. or at least before he flies off to either US or UK for further studies as he's an overseas scholar, after he ORD in 6 months time from now.. ya.. he'll be away for 4 years!!!! sob.. anyway, i love his honesty. right.. i'd love to write more.. but, i'll leave the rest for another entry.. dun wanna write it all out at one go.. sometimes, i like to keep pple in suspense for a while.. :) and i noe wenyao reads my blog. rite wenyao? :P

so.. here's an entry about wad we did yesterday..

last night, he drove over to my place at about 2000 hr plus plus.. when i got on the car, he asked me for directions to punggol park. at first, i really thought (and that was his plan as well--to make me think tt we're gonna eat at the restaurant in punggol park) we're gonna have dinner at the restaurant place located in punggol park. however, after we'd parked the car at the car park, he led me to walk towards the direction AWAY from the restaurant. and me being naive thought that there's gonna be another restaurant (well i seldom goes punggol park u see). however, he stopped halfway, and pointed to the bench behind me and said, "hmm.. this looks like a good spot and it's dry enough to sit". so i was like.. erm.. ok... haha.. then he walked away and said tt he'll be back in a bit. right.. so i waited. and at first when i looked over, i thought i saw him entering the back of the restaurant! but apparently, he didnt. then..my imaginations started.. i was thinking.. will there be a grp of pple who'd suddenly come in front of me and do smth? like play some instruments or whatsoever? (maybe i've watched too much HK shows lar.. lol).. anyway.. when wenyao came back with a paperbag in his hands, i kinda figured it out that we're gonna have smth which he bought/brought from home? true enough.. he brought some sliced turkey and ham (that's the appetizer), seafood pasta; with my favourite salmon in it!!! (main dish) and orange juice. *happy* i was pretty hungry aldy. so we had food and chatted while we eat.. i dunnoe how long we took.. prob an hour? u know.. both of us can get pretty talkative.. lol.. i shall not reveal what we chatted about.. (:P leave us some privacy k? :P) thereafter, i asked him so what's next? and he told me that he actually brought 2 guitars out and it's kept in the car boot.. i was like.. wohoo! then i told him! i wanted to bring out my guitar too! but.. cuz one of the strings snapped. and i havent fixed it yet. so i dropped the idea. anyway.. thereafter, at about 2100 hr plus.. we drove down to East coast park. found a spot at one of the pavilions and settled there. chatted a little before he took out his guitar and we played some songs (i attempted twice. but failed terribly. cuz i just cant seemed to remember the chords) and then i found out.. HE IS GOOD! i was like thinking to myself.. if only.. if only.. i am at least half as good as him.. I NEED TO BUCK UP. *nods head* *um* BUCK UP chuiting! hee.. nvm that.. it's just me trying to encourage myself.. :P

anyway.. we or rather, wenyao played songs like "from the inside out" "shine Jesus shine".. eh.. frankly speaking.. i cant really remember.. but i know we sang a few songs.. hee.. sorry ar.. goldfish memory.. :P then at about 2300 plus.. we wanted to drive down to clifford pier but on our way there, wenyao called peter and so we made our way down to peter's place (which is also near to my place) to collect some wine. (wenyao needed some for his christmas parties and peter knows that wenyao knows how to appreciate them. ) so we were at peter's place for quite some time.. chatted with peter till about 2am i think? then since we're aldy at hougang area, so i suggested to wenyao that we could park e car at my house's car park and sit in the car and chat. which we did.. all the way till 4am. thereafter, said a short prayer then we made our way home. sorry wenyao.. it kinda slipped my mind tt u stay pretty far away from me.. so ya.. think by the time he reached home, it was like 5am aldy.. phew! so yup yup.. to many, maybe this may seemed nth interesting as compared to christmas parties and so forth. but to nat and i, at least, we really enjoyed ourselves. the things we did may be very simple. but, it's the conversations we had, and the quality time spent tog that i really really treasure.

we're gonna meet up again this sunday. i'm gonna attend his church's first service which will start at 0730? :) thereafter, he'll bring me to see his church band, then prob go for breakfast tog before he drive me back to my church for my children's church ministry which i serve, and have been serving in for the past 3 years. :)

alright. since there're so much time left, i'm gonna go do my QT before heading down to church later at 1630 to help san with the taking down of the stage decor in MPH (multi-purpose Hall). bye pple! btw.. yee,yang and i are gg over to batam for a short getaway from the 30th till 1st. will upload the pics we're gonna take.. till then.. ciaoz! Merry christmas and a happy new yr! god bless! :)

PHOTOGRAPHY-- Pics taken by Nathanael and I

Right. FINALLY! after a good whole 30 mins plus? i'm not sure either.. lost track of time.. i only know that it took me super long to upload these pics.. hee.. anyway.. these are just some of the many pics we took. since i'm still an amateur photographer (pronounce it as "fa-to-gra-fer" pls) pls forgive me if u think some of it are not very well taken. anyway.. i've learnt so much from Nat. He told me, personally, he loves colours. cuz most photographers, when they take pictures, they usually go for colours and/patterns. so for Nat, he prefers colours. :) am i right Nat? hee.. anyway.. here are the pics. enjoy! :)

This is the girl and her cam. rather, Nat's cam. :)

Do i look professional? LOL..

Back of Clifford Pier

Stairway?

Opposite The Fullerton Hotel

Nice lighting

The Merlion

Blurred image

Potrait art painting? :P

I love this picture the most. :)

new friend made, Nathanael, new skill learnt-- PHOTOGRAPHY

last night, I met up with Nat and we went to Esplanade drive to do some snapping and had a good long decent chat. i am very very grateful and thank god for him. He's so genuine, so wise, so observant, such a gentleman, so courteous, and so trustworthy. Not just cuz he lent me his camera to play ard with, and gave me a quick crash course on photography, but cuz, he's such a great friend, and whoever knows him, will feel really really blessed. i do. and i treasure this friend of mine alot. thanks Nat. i really really am very grateful to u. cya on the 25th Nat!

Merry Christmas pple! :) i'll try to upload the pics ASAP.. :)

After Party Event pics part 2!

Logan's in my heel! hee..

Ben and Logan

Ben, Logan, Clement

Ben, Logan and I

Vodka Cranberry

Me!

Li Jian. Dead. lol.. just kidding..

Point!

the guys and I. Logan's missing. cuz he's the photographer. :P

Clement, Logan and Francis

Blow a little kiss! *muaCkZz*

aww.. dun be sad.. :P

Toothache/ sad face? u decide. lol..

Logan's Birthday bash @ AMK Hub and after party @ The Arena!!!

right.. chewy just came home and i gave her a super duper big hug! I MISS HER SO SO SO MUCH!!!! *BIG SMILE* anyway.. here are the pics we took from Logan's after party at The Arena! :)

logan and Li Jian

The guys

Vodka Lime

Birthday boy and I :)

Benjamine Lai and I

Funny faces

Francis, Clement and I

Francis and I

He's forever covering his face lor... hee

The guys.. again..

Logan, Benjamin, Jeremy and I

us again!

The guys chatting..

Li jian and some random guy and I

Yeah Li jian.. i noe i'm short.. hee

Ben, Jeremy, Li Jian