old man me.

aah. so christmas has now come and gone. aah. school starts soon. aah.

i still remember in early november.. after my exams.. saying that i will be enjoying a loooong holiday.. with me having to go through my birthday.. church camp.. christmas and many days of waking up at 11am before i have to go to school again. bleah. it's all over, well almost.

still, i guess i can't ask for too much.. i DID enjoy this 2-month break and i start school only on the 10th!

Christmas service was okaaay. didn't even bother thinking about what to wear. i think i'm past the age of dressing up extra nice for christmas. maybe it's cos' i just didn't feel like it. maybe it's the poor hair length i have now. maybe i'm just old lah. seperately, what can i say.. i was wrong. those i thought wouldn't dress up.. did. and those i thought would.. didn't! sheesh.

caroling afterwards, at my place and then at uncle alfred's. when we left for uncle alfred's, my room resembled a scene somewhat out of a war-torn country. thanks to kids jumping on my bed, throwing my stuff toys all over the place and even threatening to wreck my 3d old trafford puzzle with my football!

so caroling was over in a jiffy. then we practically played bridge the whole night, along with a supper trip to cheese prata shop and being greeted by the traffic police (nope, no summons), more bridge and a swim in the pool at about 4.45am. it was cold in there. the pool. then clean up. then mcdonald's for breakfast.. then send audrey home.. then send diana and my sis back to my place.. rest for 10 minutes.. then finally off to Ikea to meet Uncle Chee Meng to buy furniture for the YOUTHub. it'll arrive thursday, 28 dec between 10 and 1pm.. so will be there setting it up. hope everything falls in place. oh and the foosball table might be arriving that day too!

christmas dinner was at mama's house.. boring. salty turkey. smelly too.. according to my mother and grandmother. then home and sleeep. like finally, man.

so that was christmas for me. one of the many highlights of this festive period definitely was the financial shot in the arm i received from my mum's and g.mum's red packets..

--

boxing day matches: chelsea drew (cashley cole own goal, whahaha); man united won (ronnie brace, uh-huh!). 4 pts gap.

take pee-cher! take pee-cher!!

Angora Brethren Chapel Church Camp 2006

Being a Christian in a Non-Christian World

Sofitel Palm Resort, JB

2-5 December 2006

on the bus across the causeway: at the midpoint between s'pore and m'sia. there. where the vertical cable support structure is.











sumptuous bak kut teh: near taman sentosa, along the stretch of shophouses where bamboo house is. one claypot isn't enough for the 2 of us. and the you tiao? oooh.. just sedap lah.

cost us about Rm15 each. what a steal.









secret recipe cakes: took away about 19 cakes in total for the cell group, my family.

a slice costs Rm5.50. think the same cakes in singapore costs S$5.50! another steal.

on the way back to city square: stole a shot of this really grumpy driver. don't think he was too pleased when we didn't want to pay his proposed fixed rate of Rm7 to City Square. He took us for lesser, nonetheless!

















towards sofitel: after 4 hours odd of scouring City Square for good deals, slippers & cakes, we took a Rm35 taxi ride to sofitel.

the driver commented that there's about only one way to sofitel, that's if you discount taking the NS highway. non wonder this shophouse and the red (is it red?) car looked familiar. i took the same shot last year on the same road when my family were headed to sofitel for the deacons' retreat.







another landmark: yep. this looks familiar too.


















porter!: this was in the evening after picking diana & christina from tuas (thanks, bee keong) and dinner at IOI complex.

just too many things to carry on 2 human bodies. thankfully, alvin took our bags in his car to m'sia for us. thank God for this trolley too.













R&R: the plan was to head to sofitel a day earlier than the entire church.. to rest and well.. relax. hence the shopping trips and the solid food you saw earlier.

snooker at the games centre with jeff on day 1 of the camp, before the bulk of the campers arrived.






kaya balls: at Rm2 for 10 of them, i thought it was yet another steal. they were average, at best.

not to mention that it took them about 10-15 minutes for them to prepare mine. poof.








structured games: found some time during structured games to play with the children.. must have been during the jigsaw puzzle game. don't really like those.

david and I: cute or what? david lah, i mean. hmm.. where's bryan?









astro boy: or at least that's what rachel thinks. i was the male with the longest hair in my group.. hence the 10 rubberbands in my hair. those hurt. seriously.











CRABS!: 2 black pepper & 2 chilli ones. And mantou to go along as well.

thanks to esther for offering to buy back.

in case you haven't realised, at Rm19 person, it was another steal. sheesh!

a sight that one only gets in m'sia, isn't it?

what was the answer found in our science textbooks to the question: if birds sit on the cables and lightning strikes the cables, do the birds die?














redloop-ed!: bought this on the way home at jusco tebrau city. Rm329, which is about S$140. jeffrey checked out this range in s'pore the night before we left.. it was about S$199.50!

moreover, the salesgirl said this particular one costs slightly more than the usual Rm265 cos' of the material, which i really thought was different than the rest.

another steal or what.

chicken cordon bleu: the last one before the trip back to s'pore. chicken with cheese oozing out and fries.. deadly combo.

this was just too good to resist. seriously, try it (in m'sia). Rm14.50.

whoohoo!!

Being a Christian in a Non-Christian World.

the theme for the camp just past me. it was at sofitel. a place that diana and i have fond memories of. but on the last day, uncle yau seng reminded me of another thing to remember of this resort. 9 years ago, i went with my sister and my grandmother to our first church camp at sofitel. my parents weren't there.

on the last night, popo went to the front during a time of open sharing and prayer to offer a prayer to God. that night, she prayed that my father will give his life to Jesus.

years later, God answered that prayer. Papa accepted Christ and got baptised as well. Thank God for that. This year, Uncle YS reminded all with this example that God answers prayer. He then asked us to present our heart's desire to God that morning on the 5th of dec.

i did. God, please hear me. Amen.

apart from this, there were, surprisingly but not regretably, few highlights of the camp:

1. the messages.

2. the time spent with diana.

3. the time spent with the guys, esp during swimming. that was crazy, i really enjoyed myself.

4. my new levi's redloop jeans. and that shameless t-shirt i bought for Rm39.90. :P

5. seeing how God has worked and had a hand in Theon's life.

6. seeing God repairs and mends broken relationships.

7. the effort made by some youth leaders to be closer with their youths.

8. umm.. playing with the twins david & bryan and moses & joshua and also leah and noah (not twins).

9. soccer with the guys and children and captain's ball thereafter.

the list seems like quite a lot to be happy about or thankful for.. well, spiritually, yes. it's quite a good list.. but nothing much in terms of relationships between peers. i think overall, i was very disappointed with the way certain individuals view relationships/friendships with others.

think that's all for the list lah. yeah, a boring camp in terms of activities and all.. but an exciting one in terms of the spiritual lessons to take home.

cheers.

thank you, God.

for the good results. even if they weren't as good, i thank you for the opportunity to experience you during the studying process. even if they weren't as good, i know you are still good.

and when i'm doing well,
help me to never seek a crown.
For my reward is
giving glory to You.