This year has been pretty eventful as I emerged as a mini globe-trotter. Zooming from hong kong in feb, to sabah in june, then hopped to indonesia in july, and finally embarked on my ocip trip to china to conclude this awesome chapter named 2009.

I definitely enjoy travelling around different countries, immersing in the culture of the various regions that I step foot in. Surprisingly, the clean and prim places do not entice me as much as those which are filthy yet bring forth the real plight of the less affluent. The next stop that I’m dying to make is india and nepal. Hopefully I’ll be able to source for some crazy like-minded people to organize something.

Coming back to the china trip, it has been one with lotsa firsts. It was the first time I experienced snow (albeit a light one), went for spa, got left behind by the last train of the night to beijing with my luggage inside, skiied, led the team for the painting project at the kindergarten, home-stayed at a foreign student’s home, and countless other “first” moments. Overall, I’m confident that it was a tremendous growing experience for all of us, being pushed to overcome our fears and limitations. The thought of the opportunity to experience another ocip in the future never fails to inspirit me.

On a side note, I really do adore my cg. When I first saw them at service after touching down on the morning of 20th, I could vividly remember my cgl patting on my shoulder and welcomed me back, followed by the rest of the cg. It was a warm fuzzy feeling moment knowing that I have returned home after 3 weeks. Truly, classmates come and go each sem, but yet the friends from cg will stick with you through thick and thin across the seasons of your life.

Finally, I wanna give a shout-out to my shingshing. Thankew for the christmas presents. Extremely thoughtful and am immensely touched

Okie that’s about it. Hoho I have lotsa meet-ups for the next 4 days. Gonna settle down and start my readings after that to gear up for the commencement of the new semester. One more week of holidays to go! Glen I’m sure you make the next week productive and meaningful eh.

Right now, I’m using the internet in the home of this rich boy from the top middle school in tianjin. The tv in the living room is larger than the one in my own crib and I just finished browsing through the 60 channels that were available. The folks were very nice and welcoming nonetheless.

It kinda bothers me how large of a gap exists between the affluent and the poor here in China. It is quite a change to go from the nasty “holes” that were used as toilets in the village to the beautiful condo that is housing me for the night.

I guess there’s nothing much that can be done to narrow down the gap, other than the fact that more awareness can be raised here in the richer states so that the poor can be aided in the future by their own countrymen who are more fortunate. This is what we set out to do in the next few days as we immerse ourselves in the school that we are partnering with.

Ha. On a side note, the weather is COLDDD. And we got the chance to witness a little snow back in the village a couple of nights back. That was pretty fantastic.

Yeapp that’s about it. I wanna go take a shower now. Can’t wait for tmr to come as we are given the opportunity to attend lessons with the brightest kids around in tianjin.

<3 you shingshing

Haha exam week = lack of sleep week. It’s starting to take a toll on my body bahh.

I finished 2 papers so far. 3 more to go and I can wave BYEBYE to school for the next month. Cant wait for that.

But the thought of my 2 consecutive 3 hour papers tml is kinda petrifying. It would be good if I have ambidextrous super power. To immediately swap hands once one of them cramps up from excessive writing. Haha I can only wish.

Ha. Tonight’s gonna be a long night. Good luck to me!

Spent the entire week in the library with sy and her best friend. Hoho it was pretty rough attempting to diffuse all the cases and law principles into my puny brain, and to stay focus at the work at hand. But I guess my mugging companion, free smu ice cream and lotsa icytowers helped alleviate the torture. Woosh.

The intense mugging scene in school is reminiscent of my arjay alevel days. For the last 4-5 months prior to my As, my buddies and I literally cooped ourselves in school to mug everyday. But of course we took many intermittent breaks in between to play soccer, frisbee, tennis and even wrestled along the school corridor at 10pm. Those were good times man. Even though it was a taxing period leading up to the exams, I thoroughly enjoyed myself and just recollecting those days literally bring a smile onto my face. Boy I miss my arjay buddies. We were a crazy bunch. And it is gratifying to know that all of us did well in the end.

On a side note, I wanna take up piano again. Every time I think about how I discontinued my lessons in the midst of grade 6 back in secondary one brings back a tinge of regret. I was quite close to finishing the race but yet I gave it up due to my laziness to practise the pieces. Sure, the grass always looks greener on the other side. Back then when I was 13, I always thought that my games were far more worthy of my time as compared to spending an hour in front of the piano. I guess I’m paying the price of it now whenever I look at my dusty piano and it looks so foreign. I learnt my lesson. Good things are worth persevering and fighting for. There’s no point in ploughing your hands into something and yet give it up halfway. It’s such a pity to know that the finishing line is so near, yet it is never reached due to a lack of commitment and faithfulness.

Ha. I’ve rambled enough. It’s time to return back to my readings with the company of damien rice and onerepublic. I’m looking forward to the 30th. Wanna do something out of the ordinary haha! Happy mugging peeps!

Exodus 33:15 has been banging profusely at the doors of my heart for the past few weeks. Indeed, if God’s presence does not go with us, there is absolutely no point in making the effort to chase after what we yearn to achieve.

I really like the simplicity of this song. And it all boils down to just lifting our hands to worship our sweet Jesus. Nothing else matters.

One thing that I learnt throughout this year is to never take God for granted, and it is imperative to constantly thank Him for the goodness in our lives. You know. I can’t help but marvel at how the many steps taken in our lives turn out to form an eventual part of a bigger and beautiful picture when looked back upon. This year is definitely a year which will be etched down deep into my heart. So many things to be grateful for. So many.

God is always good. Beyond measure. Beyond description.

All of a sudden, the plight of this old man hit me hard, and it broke my heart to observe him at “work”. I mean, ideally at his age, I would imagine myself traveling across the globe with my partner, or enjoying a game of golf with my buddies. Just rewarding myself for the tremendous hard work put in for most of my life prior to retirement. However, this man did not seem to be as fortunate as I would perceive myself to be at his age.

I am not going to jump into conclusion and pass judgment on his family. Perhaps he has no children to take care of him because he is unwed. Or perhaps he insists on taking care of himself and does not desire to be a burden to his kin. The possibilities are endless. But nevertheless, I applaud him for his tenacity in life, and his sheer determination to carve out a living despite him being well into his years.

Personally, I would not want my parents to have such a demanding life when they retire. If it is within means, children ought to ensure that their folks are comfortable and well-taken of in their retirement years.

That being said, I understand that not everyone comes from a perfect family. Mine had major issues and internal strife when I was growing up too. Sometimes, it seems almost impossible to forgive our parents for the immense pain they inflicted on us. However, ultimately, they are still the ones who brought us into the world, and we should love them for who they are regardless of the negative. This is where grace comes into the picture. Only through experiencing the grace of God can forgiveness flow out of ourselves to expel the hurt. And I am confident that it is within our capacity to reconcile bad relationships with our parents. Personally, I had done so a couple of years back. It was a real humbling experience to pick up the fragments of the disintegrated relationship, but it is definitely worth it looking back at it now.

Haha I have no idea how this entry has drifted so much. But all I want to pen down is that filial piety is of utmost importance as we grow into the adult phase of our lives. It is hypocritical to want to gain the respect of our next generation when we have yet to fulfill our obligations as children out of love to own parents in the first place.

Coming out of this issue, I just completed settling the applications for my ocip friends. Gotta rush down to the china embassy early in the morning tomorrow to apply for china visas. In exactly one months time, my team and I will be flying off to china to get our hands down on some volunteer work. Definitely something to look forward to.

Hoho. Im exhausted. Time to go sleep now night!

This week has been a roller coaster ride. But I’m glad that certain issues were ironed out, as opposed to being held dangling at a perilous position. I’m excited to see how things will turn out eventually, and I’m hopeful that it will work out fine (fingers-crossed). Its time to mature as an individual to prove to her and to myself that we can break through amidst the difficult circumstance.

I’m currently left with one more oral presentation and a group written report due. So its time that i ought to get down proper with my (thick thick) books in preparation for the finals which is in around 3 weeks time. It has always been in my motto to give it the best shot so that no regrets will surface at the end of the day. So everyone let’s chiong hard for this final stretch towards our well-deserved break alright!

Oh yeah! Went to the night safari with my cg last saturday night for the halloween theme. It was floooded with people and the queue to purchase the tickets and to get past the gantry took one hour and half an hour respectively. Pretty crazyyy. Haha but it was one of the few times in the past few months that I laughed so hard. Also, occasions like these make me realize how much I love my cg. Everyone just let their hair down and enjoyed the presence of one another, even though we were acting so retarded throughout haha. I guess the cg is indeed the family in which we can develop and blossom into our fullest potential as individuals who will shine in our respective areas of occupation and life in the future. And all the cg members will be your fellow comrades who will fight alongside you in your run towards your goals and visions. Should treasure every single one of them more than before and lay aside all differences as individuals to form a cohesive unit as God’s children. As W489.

Hoho. My stomach is growling as usual. Gonna catch a movie with Kel later on to chill and relax a little.

On a final note, let’s run up this hill together alright? I know that the beautiful sunset on the top of the summit is just looming ahead!

Twenty-four oceans 
Twenty-four skies 
Twenty-four failures 
And twenty-four tries 
Twenty-four finds me 
In twenty-fourth place 
With twenty-four drop outs 
At the end of the day 

Life is not what I thought it was 
Twenty-four hours ago 
Still I’m singing ‘Spirit, 
take me up in arms with You’ 
And I’m not who I thought I was 
Twenty-four hours ago 
Still I’m singing ‘Spirit, 
take me up in arms with You’ 

There’s twenty-four reasons 
To admit that I’m wrong 
With all my excuses 
Still twenty-four strong

See, I’m not copping out 
Not copping out 
Not copping out 
When you’re raising the dead in me 

Oh, oh 
I am the second man 
Oh, oh 
I am the second man now 
Oh, I am the second man now 
And you’re raising these… 

Twenty-four voices 
With twenty-four hearts 
All of my symphonies 
In twenty-four parts 
But I want to be one today 
Centered and true 
I’m singing ‘Spirit take me up in arms with You’ 
You’re raising the dead in me 

Oh, oh 
I am the second man 
Oh, oh 
I am the second man now 
Oh 
I am the second man now 
And you’re raising the dead in me 
Yeah 

I wanna see miracles 
To see the world change 
Wrestled the angel for more than a name 
For more than a feeling 
For more than a cause
I’m singing ‘Spirit, take me up in arms with You’ 
And you’re raising the dead in me 

Twenty-four oceans 
With twenty-four hearts 
All of my symphonies 
With twenty-four parts 
Life is not what I thought it was 
Twenty-four hours ago 
Still I’m singing ‘Spirit, 
take me up in arms with You’
I’m not copping out 
Not copping out

..

The first time I heard this song, I kinda teared a little. It’s beautiful. All of us have 24 hours. Throughout the day, there are definitely occasions where you do make mistakes. Wrong paths to walk down. However, all of us still need to deal with these erroneous choices and voices that go through our head. We should take time out to look back at our past and desire to change for the better. I want to become stronger man. That’s where we need to become a second man through God.

I admit I’m not wise. I have weaknesses and faults that blemish me. However, I do desire to emerge as the second man through a process of humility.

Lotsa to think about. Lotsa to pray about. Lotsa to review on.

Let us get this one right eh?

I’m not copping out.