Beautiful place for a retreat. Lush greenery all around, beautiful inviting pool, cosy bedrooms. perfect for people needing a break from work. And Thai food is decent and incredibly inexpensive. Can’t wait to start work on the house. day one
Testing, testing.
I’m actually typing this on my touch.
blogging on the move.
and I found out I can make notes and email them to myself. Just synced my mail app to my gmail. Whee!
rivulets of water cascaded down the tainted glass windows, as the moon glowed luminescently, presenting a daring affront to conceal the jaded bleakness of night. it was a night unlike any other, the torrential rain unforgiving on the tarmac, relentlessly assaulting that which cannot retaliate. the son stirred from his slumber, awakened by the constant pelting of raindrops against the rear windows of the white ‘68 Ford Fairlane. it was vintage, and pristine, immaculately preserved by a meticulous collector. he floored the accelerator, in a ostensibly futile attempt to absolve himself of all notions of guilt. it had been a dreadful night. the quarrel, the fight, the storming out of the house. the car whirred softly on the highway as they were reaching their destination. he worried for his young one, and told himself that once the darkness broke into dawn, everything would be okay. in his mind, the nocturne played silently, the only consolation for his restlessness.
half a world away, a child cups his hands to his face, taking deep breaths and exhaling slowly as the warm air engulfs the pores of his skin. it was winter and getting dark. his walk broke into a quick jog as he struggles to find respite against the onslaught of the bitter chill, having only an overcoat to aid his survival through the frosty night.
what more, what now? another instance of conflict? of a human need or struggle? to what end? what comes after? what gives? perhaps we may find an answer as we pensively reflect on our experiences. perhaps not. perhaps i am not making sense. but that does not matter. perhaps it is less uncommon than we expect to fleet through moments like these where everything seems meaningless, a chasing after the wind. perhaps there is something more. a direction to an answer.
“Meaningless! Meaningless!”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.”
What does man gain from all his labor
at which he toils under the sun?
Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever.
The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises.
The wind blows to the south
and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
ever returning on its course.
All streams flow into the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
there they return again.
All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing.
What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there anything of which one can say,
“Look! This is something new”?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.
There is no remembrance of men of old,
and even those who are yet to come
will not be remembered
by those who follow.
the source of these from the bestseller of all time. the book of all wisdom that man has ever needed, and shall only ever need. do read ecclesiastes as the renown man of wisdom, King Solomon, brings us through his personal experience and his revelation.
and i thank God for His love.
after a long break from writing, i reckon that if i stopped blogging my writing skills might just degenerate into zilch. so here i am.
its going to be a long week ahead. i long for a getaway, a holiday, a retreat. i think the word is jaded. especially when we’re stepping up training for exercise purposes. can’t wait for the arrival of june.
i feel as though i have two personas, one for home, one for camp. i pack my bags and leave life at home for the weekdays, and pick it up again friday nights. i disconnect from all matters regarding the weekend world in camp, and get lost in the paradigm shift. or maybe its just an excuse for my intractable amnesia that occurs more frequently than i desire for it to.
dairy queens is fantastic. regretfully i only had my first taste of it today. somehow on my list of happy foods there are a number that contain blueberry. i.e. blueberry blizzard (of which i tried today… oh what bliss), plain yoghurt with blueberry toppings, blueberry cheesecake, etc. a spoonful of any of these guarantees 5-10 minutes of glee and instant happiness, the catalyst to an immediate smile on one’s face. trust me. during the course of the week i have discovered that the one thing better than an oreo is an oreo generously dipped in thick, gooey nutella. 
not ideal for indulgence though. just one. provided you can resist the temptation. me? i flee after the first.
Psalms 51:17
17 The sacrifices of God are [a] a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise.
the most important thing in worship. to me, i think. or what i’ve learnt. before we can enter the presence of God, we need to clothe ourselves in brokenness. a heart that is emptied, free of worldly associations, seeking justification from the blood of Christ, the redemptive sacrifice displayed on the Cross. i recall lyrics from a song which goes something like ‘You and I were made to worship’, and i think to myself how true that is. what does God require of us? only our hearts and obedience. what do we have that we can give, that is not already His? instead all that we have comes from the Heavenly Father, who gives good gifts to His children.
to my blog’s readership, if any still, this week as you go about your life, do consider the importance of worship in our daily lives in prayer and reflection, and remember to practice the presence of Jesus (:
any guesses?
today was great. except for that little incident after lunch. traversed the island today on the train. from changi to choachukang. had a fulfilling evening rolling pineapple fillings and doing up the finishing touches on the tarts. takes a lot more skill than i expected actually. supper was enjoyable (:
its been a pretty eventful week, catching up with people, sleeping on a new mattress in camp (its better than the one i have at home) and making pineapple tarts. haha. hope we can meet demand.
probably head to sleep soon.
おやぬみ すみまさい！hope i got that right. haha.
so there. christmas has come and gone.
i did enjoy it while it lasted though. the shopping, and exchanging of gifts. the festive mood. the meet ups with friends i hold dear.
sometimes i do wish i could capture all of that in a bottle. a little merry feeling that can be uncased anytime of the year. use when necessary.
and i’m ageing. not that everyone else is not, but a signal went off in my head as we got through promotion sunday today. so we’re finally out of CG, officially. moving on to a fifth of a century old. ha. with age comes more responsibility.
it feels strange not to book in on a sunday night, knowing that i can sleep on my own bed at home. still, i’m glad for it though. would another year come and go the same way, in the blink of an eye? what would i make of my year 2009? hopefully meaningfully.
perhaps in the last few days of the new year i shall ponder (in camp during duty) and reflect on the past year, and make a to do list for the next. am surely looking forward to the potluck dinner in church on new year’s eve, and watchnight service.
its one of those times where you dont feel like doing anything at all. maybe its just me, around this time of the year.
have a blessed new year (:
i’ve come to love musicals.
i just caught a really good one just now, kudos to the actors/singers/band/sound crew. one of the performances that i truly enjoyed, and one that had an effectively conveyed take home message. kudos to the scriptwriter at this point. it brought haven to mind, and just a little sigh that wondered what would have happened if i had auditioned. for the people out there who have been involved in one, i’m pretty sure its a unanimous feeling of satisfaction and joy after the whole process. not that i’ve been a part of one, but sometimes i imagine that i had. i’ve always had an inherent proclivity for music and the arts, be it dance or theatre, but it only developed when i exposed myself to more of it. i do thank God that i have had a chance to be part of a wonderful orchestra during my school days, for the (sometimes arduous) music making process, but more so for the friendships forged. the concerts always brought a sense of achievement and elation, and post show withdrawal symptoms. and yes, the perth/london tours. how can i forget. counting my blessings. perhaps when i matriculate in ‘10 i’ll join choir/dance for a change. haha.
life has been good, and God has been faithful, as always.
christmas approaches. despite the mass commercialisation, i’ve always enjoyed the festive mood, from last minute shopping to christmas carols! and of course, the gift exchanges. but one thing’s for sure, that what we celebrate is not just the season of joy, and giving. lets remember the true meaning of Christmas. the love of God displayed in the giving of His Son that Christmas night (even though historical records state a different day, its the significance that matters).
Joy to the world, the Lord is come
Let earth receive her King
Let every heart prepare Him room
And heaven and nature sing
This Christmas, let us not be lost in the festive throng but reflect on the love of God and what it means for us. Perhaps also how we can love Him, constantly, in surrender, and love the people around us.
i was just thinking about empathy, and have come to the conclusion that its actually very hard to truly empathise with people. most of the time we think we understand a certain person’s situation and say that we can empathise but in actual fact i think a lot of the time we sympathise more. unless the factors that triggered the situation are uncannily similar its inaccurate to say we can empathise with that someone. i may be wrong, or have perhaps missed out something in my thought process. just my two cents worth.
walking can be quite therapeutic.
people like rewards/incentives/feelings of achievement but we dont really like to work for it. a nice analogy would be i dont like to rehearse a parade repeatedly but i’d like to be seen marching in one. ha.
how i miss studying it. beautiful subject to engage yourself in.
i think i’m finally improving a little. features, proportion, and most importantly achieving the shades. i took a shot at kits method of using the fingertip to brush over shaded areas to give a more natural lighting effect. works pretty well i’d say. going to be a trying week. interview on wed, prep for worship for sun. things are moving along. hope i’m up to the challenges i’m facing.
