A long day

Been a long long day yesterday. Out with Felix/Elicia/Neo, then dinner and movie and coffee outing with Em, then trying to settle my ecr. Certainly knackered when I turned in this morning.

Woke up early with the intention of going for a jog in the morning. But I guess that went out the window when I suddenly developed diahorrea just as I got out of bed. So decided to forgo the jog and leave it for another day. Not much time left though, left with like 2½ days before I have to check into Tanjong Gul camp, and I don't even know where it is. Will be sharing a cab with Gary in the early morning to report there by 730 in the morning. Have to kickstart my jog regime, else I'll suffer for my IPPT. Wonder how my toe will react to the pavement pounding or jungle trekking. Will have to see the MO directly after I report to declare my condition and see what he says, or can do for me.

So with the jogging plan scrapped, decided to lounge at home and watch a movie instead, before heading out to get the movie tickets and meet Felix and co for lunch. Decided on Notting Hill, with my dad joining as well some time into the movie. Haven't really watched it in some time, and I love this. One of my favourite movies, though I can't stand some scenes, like the part where Hugh Grant's character gets interviewed by the cast of Helix. Guess I can't stand scenes like that in movies. Not sure why. Got a sms early from Em about changing the movie timeslot to the 8.50pm one instead of the 7pm one, as she wanted to go shopping after work and then meet up for dinner first. So I thought, why not? Headed down to Cineleisure to get the tickets, then went to Bugis to meet up with Mr Cat, as he's already there. After Neo came, the 3 of us hung around a bit and decided on Swensen's for lunch and wait for the arrival of Ms Elicia Lau, who was with her taiwanese cousin in Tampines.

Certainly been a while since the 4 of us met up for a meal, or even met up at all together. Certainly been a busy year for all of us. Think the last time we met was during the concert in february, when the 3 of them came down to help out. With Elicia and Neo due to graduate, and Felix's decision to concentrate on his ACCA and leaving Sim for the next year, guess I'll be the only one of the quartet left. Will definitely miss their company in school. All the fun and laughter especially, mostly brought about by Cat. And that's what happened at Swensen's @ Bugis for lunch yesterday, fun and laughter. Some photos that I took:

Miss late-in-coming Lau

Candid of Neo with his mouth wide open

The one and only Felix "the Cat" Ng

Elicia and Neo

Neo staring intently at Felix's ice-cream dessert

Too bad the four of us didn't manage to take a photo together, to freeze a moment in time. So far, I think the four of us have not taken any together yet. But I guess there will be more opportunities in the future. Just that, it may be some time before the 4 of us will meet up like this again. With the 3 of them having being attached in the last year, they'll certainly have their own lives to lead. But it's memories like this that will last, the joys and bonds close friendships bring. Hope to be able to meet you all again soon, but till then, will certainly miss you all...

After lunch, decided to head to the library next door to, yes again, read. Been reading the biography of Simon and Garfunkel. Love the duo and the music they produce. Songs like Mrs Robinson, Homeward Bound, Bridge Over Troubled Water, The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy), For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her, and so on. Fell in love with it way back in '94, when my dad got a cd of their greatest hits. Started liking Mrs Robinson first, then slowly got to know and like the rest of the songs on the cd. Too bad the songs are really hard to play on guitar (Paul Simon is simply a master at it); would love to be able to play some songs ü

Felix reading in the library

Felix and I left after about an hour in the central lending library, seems like he's starting to fall asleep around books, lol. His exams just ended the day before, so that explains why. Hung around bugis's basement for a while after that with him before he left for suntec to meet his girlfriend who's working there. As for me, I continued to stay till around 7, when I left for Cine to meet up with Em. Decided to find a place to sit down and continue reading the biography, and the sofa on the 4th floor in front of the box office came to mind. Read for a while longer before Em called and told me she's at subway. Dinner followed and we chatted before heading to the 9th floor for the movie. Granted, I've never been up there. Kinda cold up there, and I was glad I brought along my jacket. Even Em felt cold and covered her arms with her bag about midway through the show. Show's interesting, touched on freedom of journalism vs politics. But alas, almost fell asleep due to my tiredness. So sorry bout this. Dried contact lenses didn't really help either. Went out for coffee and hot cocoa at starbucks after the movie ended, and just chatted and shared for a while. Talked about her prague experiences and some of my experiences when I was in ns. Couldn't really stay for too long as she had work the next day. Wondered how she can drink coffee at the late hour and still manage to fall asleep a couple of hours later on. Guess, to quote her, she must be immune to coffee.

As for me, had to settle my ecr after I got back, else I won't have any more chances to do so due to my looming reservist. Kinda frustrating that I could't really get the classes I want as there's a clash in schedules, so had no choice but to call up Sim earlier to fix it. And I'm praying that I won't go back to the kind of person I was when I was serving my duty 2 years ago. Changed somewhat due to my coming back to Christ. Have to focus on Him and on Him alone. And pray. Have to pray a lot, especially for guidance and when to mediate.

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things" Philippians 4:8

Same Side Of The Moon

Almost time to go sleep, but I thought I'll drop something here first before I head to dreamland.

Been a few days since I blogged here. Well, nothing much's going on lately. Been going back to the library of late, even though my exams are over. Yeah, I mentioned it before, but oh well. I kinda miss the environment. And since exams are over, will have time to pursue some of the things that I wanna do, one of which was reading. I got like, a pile of books sitting on my table waiting to be read, some of which were since last year. Hmm, hope to be able to finish them this holidays. Speaking of which, my june's kinda cut short due to reservist from next monday till the 30th. Just had a hair cut done earlier in the day. All I can say is that it's a short crop of hair on my head now. Just like back in my army days. But oh well, will be easier to take care of when I'm in camp.

More or less, have accepted Sean's offer of a job. So will be working with him come july. Out of the four original options that I had in mind at the beginning of the holiday, God effectively closed the door to 3 of them. Or rather 2½. Working at Singapore Art Cafe is still a possibility, but Jon needs someone with ideally some experience in cooking, which I'm sorely lacking in.

Been having a full moon for the last couple of nights. Though it's been raining a lot of late, but it's kinda clear at night. And hence, the full moon's out in full glow. Really love the sight of it. Kinda nice to be out basking in the light of the moon. But too bad there's hardly a place in Singapore where there's minimal lights to really enjoy the experience (forests don't count :p). As I sat on the bus to head home earlier today, saw the full moon through the window. Reminded me of a song by Corrinne May, called Same Side Of The Moon. Goes like:

I'm looking out the window
Where we sat to watch the stars
There's a chill within the air
It makes my heart long for your touch
You may be miles away
But as I kneel to pray

I see the same side of the moon
That we'll be looking on when the world turns blue
And know that time and space can't come between me and you
We share the same side of the moon
And though you'll never see all my tears shine through
I know I can't be that far from you
If we're both looking on the same side of the moon


Love this song. Talks bout 2 people seperated, but still looking at the same moon. For me, I wondered if she's looking at the moon at the same time as well. Still waiting and praying in regards to this. Want to find out more about her before I take any other steps. Don't want to push too fast or too hard, and ruin the friendship; that's the last thing I'd want. Wonder how she feels as well. Been praying lately about whether she's the one that God has intended for me in life. If she is not, then I asked for the feelings and thoughts to be taken away from me and the door to be closed off. But if she is, I prayed for patience and guidance and help in trusting God for this. That I will not be anxious or worry about this. Have not heard from the Lord yet. Guess all I can do is to meditate and pray and be patient about this. Have to examine myself as to why her, and not someone else. Some advice given are to take things easy, and to take things step by step, and don't rush into it and just take things naturally. Hope to find out more about her, through others and through the time we spend together. And pray.

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will to you in Christ Jesus" 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Finally home

Urg, finally am home. The 2nd appointment of the day took up more time than expected. What started at 7 lasted almost till midnight. If I didn't say that I needed to go, might have just ended up there the entire night.

Saw Sean's proposal, and I must say it's full of promise. Granted, it's commission-based only, and there's a sales target to hit each month, but if it goes according to his plan, it will work. Have to let him know by next thursday of my decision as to whether I want to join him or not. He plans to build a team of sales people, and I will be one of them if I join up with him. Tempting, to say the least. Commission is rather high as well. Will have to pray regarding this.

2nd appointment was with someone from En Youth. IF I knew it was a network marketing company, I would not have gone for the appointment. And I can say that I can't trust it much, after being burned by VE almost 2 years back. Not to mention "broken words" by the one who brought me to the sales talk. Promises of making it big won't really make an impact on me as it did 2 years ago. Money is not everything in life. True, we need to make a living to cover our needs and expenses, and that we all have dreams of making it big, but I feel this is not the way to do it. Somehow, I feel this is a closed door.

As promised in the earlier post, I'll post up some other photos. They are not related to the cell dinner, just some shots I took with my hp's cam in the last couple of weeks.

Taken after my IBM paper at Expo mrt, really like the clouds

Junction of Sengkang East Way at dusk

SMU's admin building. The top-right portion really reminds me of the LRT train's shape

East Coast Lagoon at night

Esplanade at dusk

Not a ghost, mind you :p

Junction of Sengkang Square at dusk

As you can see, I love taking shots of scenary, especially at sunset. Somehow, I just love sunsets. Just hope to have someone to share it with soon ü For the first time today, I didn't really feel as anxious as I did for the last few months. Guess it's a step in the plan that God is molding me for. Have to surrender completely and trust in Him more. Amen.

"Consider the blameless, observe the upright; there is a future for the man of peace" Psalm 37:37

Quick post

Thought I'll pop a quick post here. Need to leave to meet Sean in Jurong East at 4 to discuss a job, then head over to Clark Quay by 7 to attend an open house held by another company to explore another job opportunity. Help me to pray regarding this. Guess it's official that I'm quitting Epson, though I've yet to let Jeanie know about this as yet.

Aaron, Eevon, Wayne, Peiwen, Andy, Joshua and I met up for dinner at Coffee Club last night for dinner. Supposed to meet up at the airport, but last minute change by Andy. Emily couldn't join in at the last minute. Quite a cosy place, really like the ambience. Think we were the noisest table there last night, due to jokes by Andy and Aaron, heh. Wayne as well, being teased by both of them, haha. Anyway, some shots from the dinner.

Somehow I feel that Andy's being shrouded in white in this picture

Wayne with a, err, bored??? look

Group shot of Peiwen, Wayne and Andy

Closeup of the candle from Peiwen's chocolate fondue

Do have other shots, including one of Aaron, but I think he'll kill me if I post it up :p Anyway, thinking of using my blog to include original literary works, including poetry, songs, and photography, that I come up with, now that I'm like semi-free to pursue them. So it looks like I won't be updating my poetry site in the future (I'm bad with designing websites anyway :p), and will post them here instead. Might publish photography shots to my gallery as well, if there's still space left in it. Have some random shots that I took from other places. I'll see about publishing them here later tonight when I get home. Now am gonna be late meeting Sean if I don't head for my shower.

"May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant" Psalm 119:76

Exams are over

Exams are finally over for now, though I can't say I did very well, will have to wait till september to know my results. Didn't manage to complete any paper, just praying now that I can pass every single module and move on to 3rd year and graduate next year. Have to rethink my study habits for the next year, speaking of which I definitely have to try what Shawn suggested the other day, that is, start studying from the word go. Meaning day 1 until last day. God grant me discipline to do that.

Been a long day earlier. Got called up at 8+ in the morning to go to church for 11am service. Went with my dad and our neighbour and her kids for breakfast before service. Service was good. A time of cleansing, repentance and consecration, which Pastor Rony led us in. Lunch as usual, with Emily, Peiwen and Joshua, though Emily didn't eat again as she had breakfast just before service started. Hung around with them at Starbucks (Peiwen went home), mostly trying to talk to Joshua. Library at bugis followed with Joshua while Em went home. I don't know, kinda missed the place even though my exams are already over and I don't really need to read anything. But I guess I'll still pop by this place often during my holidays to read. Just started on Effective Leadership, and hope to finish it by September.

East Coast Park beckoned. Wanted to start on my exercise routine again before reservist starts later in the month, and I figured roller blading is a good start to building my fitness again. Went with my camera to Bedok Jetty to shoot the sunset, but unfortunately, it's too cloudy today. Thank God it didn't rain though, else my roller blading trip will be a case of slip, sliding and skidding on puddles of water all the way into the sea. Ouch. Don't even want to think about this. Anyway, my photos from the jetty can be found in my gallery, link's on the right. Or alternatively, click here. Photos include a session from last july. But don't really want to talk about that time. Just have the photos to serve as memories, though these sunset photos are ok. The handful of others, on the other hand, are something else...

Anyway, here's a couple more of photos that I randomly took at starbucks earlier in the day

Hmm, not bad I would say. Just playing around with the auto focusing aspect of my cam, which don't really have manual controls. Just controls for exposure and white balance. Sigh, I need one with shutter speed, aperture controls as well. Heh, Nikon D50 or D70s is the one I want! But certainly don't have the $$ for now. Maybe I should start a wish list, lol. Then again, maybe not. It might just grow indefinitely, haha. Guess I have to start working and earn it ü

" "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." " Mark 12:29-31