Bon Troisieme Anniversaire!

the time has come again. yet another year has passed, with this blog faithfully serving me and preserving accounts my journey in life, my thoughts and the events happening along the way. So i would like to take this time to say,

HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY, MY DEAR BLOG!!

Post count: 156. Not so nice number. im 6 posts overshot from the ususal 50 per year.
Ive touched up the templates a little, though still no new skin. i dun want any unfamiliarity and loss of features. i think this skin is fine.
last year i did not do any flashbacks, so this year i would like to backtrack 2 years in time, reading up on all the posts over again until current day. indeed it is a refreshing experience to dig up all these vividly documented past memories, even if its only 2 years. One day when im old and grey, these old posts would be priceless. to me at least. Hopefully blogger will still be functional by then.

These are some of the more interesting, meaningful or informative posts i have identified from these past 2 years:


For fun & information

18/8/07 The last bean (3 parts)
26/9/07 Stability wins
24/11/07 The infectious bone
28/3/08 –random
4/4/08 Dota custom heroes!
27/7/08 Rocket man
13/8/08 Memoirs of a cell
26/1/09 Mission Melaka gallery
20/4/09 Creatures of the wild


Spiritual / debate

12/10/07 Undercover
21/4/08 World of suffering
19/5/08 Grey issues
2/6/08 Checkpoint: death
3/8/08 Born again?
23/10/08 Challenge of faith
24/11/08 Joy in sufferings
25/2/09 Entry Requirements?
16/5/09 The time is near


Markers of life journey

14/7/07 Risk or no risk
9/9/07 Out with sem 1
1/1/08 Welcome 2008
19/7/08 Whats going on
5/9/08 Resettlement
2/4/09 Final performance


Events

18/6/07 St James bond camp day 1
20/6/07 St James bond camp day 2
26/6/07 St James bond camp day 3
13/9/07 Expedition: Kranji
5/2/08 Class outing 4/2
14/3/08 Kota rainforest camp 08
22/3/08 24-7 and good Friday
17/12/08 Camp shout part 1 & 2
22/12/08 Christmas @BV
18/3/09 Adventure camp 09

random notes:

-i realised my handphone has become a big necessity in my life. it is my source of communication, socialising, entertainment and time keeper. i feel so very uneasy going out for a long period without it, like when i left it in the car.

-its nice that ill be making my debut as a jym vocalist on MAD day. its a privilege, yet an added pressure.

Clubbing Experience

So yesterday night was the very first time in my life i entered a club and participated in the clubbing experience. I know majority of people my age or older have already gone clubbing, but it doesnt matter to me. I had already expected myself beforehand to not enjoy clubbing, but the reasons i went were firstly, for social reasons since my friend wanted to celebrate her birthday by clubbing (weird but thats her choice), and secondly, for the firsthand experience of clubbing.
the trip started off badly with my phone running out of battery on the way, and i had to switch phones with Joel who was also out. i was lucky for that matter. but got me delayed some time.

The place is Butter Factory. a newly opened nightclub, and highly popular. whats more, its ladies night. arriving at around 10.30, the queue startled me at first sight. there were at least 200 people queueing outside, split into 3 queues stretching all the way back. one was the VIP line, which of course cleared fast and not much ppl in that line anyway. then theres the Ladies night line, where all the girls go to, which took quite long to clear too. but the worst was the cover charge line, where the guys have to wait in and takes forever to clear. cause each guy has to settle payment and maybe identification. it took me an exasperating 1 and a half hours standing outside before i finally got into the club. a long and tiring wait, all hot and smoky outside (yes all the smokers were there), legs ached after it all and our patience ran out long before it was over. And at the end of the queue, i had to part with $28 for this experience...

i was really unprepared for the ghastly long queue and the time it takes. i did not bring any entertainment, so the only sources were an occasional sms, and the rest of the time studying the crowd.
Not that i was ever interested, but contary to what the girls were saying that there are many hot guys there, i saw hardly any. almost none. there were however, plenty of attractive females. you see stunningly beautiful ones, those dressed to kill, those with knock-out figures, and also those who overdo things and end up on the negative side. still, this is the place where there is a biggest collection of chio bu, by percentage and in substantial amounts. top-grade ones could be found too.
as mentioned, there were lots of smokers outside. some standing in line and smoking, some at the steps. but i noticed some of the smokers were actually very pretty girls. and i say to myself, what a waste of their life, and what a waste of the attractiveness that God has bestowed them. If only they could transfer it to others who would appreciate it much more, and use it wisely.

Inside the club, the environment was certainly not welcoming nor desirable to me. Music blasting at deafening volumes, you would have to place your mouth beside someone's ear and shout into it before you could be heard. the beats could literally be felt, causing irregular contractions of the heart. the whole place was packed like sardines, becoming very stuffy. as a result, together with alcohol intoxication and dancing, the people were all sweaty and stinking up the place, which was btw, stuffy. sounds bad enough? also, the floor was filthy from spilled beverages, and countless feet trampled it and spread it around, turning it into black liquid all over the floor. the room is all dark, but occasionally a concentrated light beam would flash across, and could well spoil the eyes. outside in the toilets, there is long queue too. you'd see sinks full of vomit, choked, toilet bowls choked too. and of course it stinks.

what the people do there, is basically drink and dance. free flow of drinks until 1am (that leaves not much time for me) in which one would have to stand in long queue again to get a drink. and dancing, just in the open floor but packed with the whole crowd. theres hardly and space to move; you'd be hitting someone in whichever direction. its all about random moves however you like.

From what i see, clubbing solely serves to provide escapism. loud music, alcohol, reckless moving, all works together to drown out all the mind and senses and create a false sense of utopia. And what does this tell about the customer profile? They are probably troubled youths seeking a temporary escape from their life and strife. peel off that cheerful, fun, partying exterior, and most of the time it would reveal a deep insecurity and uncontentment.
Im not stereotyping them all, but to many of those who have clubbing as their hobby. i do feel sad for these people. but no can do. as for me, this activity is certainly not my type, and this experience was indeed an eye-opener for me.

The time is near

I dont mean to seem like a doomsayer, but we can reasonably forsee - we are indeed approaching the end times, really soon.

1. Mass depletion & advancement
this is probably the most hypothetical factor and separate from the rest, but it plays a part too. look at how the world was just 50 years ago. it was really a totally different world back then. Technology has advanced so tremendously, new innovations beign churned out every minute. For most places too, raised costs and standards of living. Of course, this comes with the cost of mass consumption, which has increased many fold compared to 50 years ago. forests are going, farmlands shrinking, raw materials depleting, especially oil. not to mention the amount of electricity consumed by the highly urbanised environment and all its high-tech stuff. How can this go on for another 50 or 100 years? if R&D is gonna continue at this rate and incorporating technology everywhere and increasingly consume resources, how can the earth support this mass consumption much longer?
it wont be long that the world will be forced into a desperate situation of unsustainability. where will we turn to then...

2. Liberalisation of society
Societies everywhere are becoming increasingly liberal. morals are disappearing fast. What has been deemed immoral and unacceptable a few decades ago is now becoming the norm or even positive practices. look at homosexuality (just see the article on AWARE), premarital sex, abortions, euthanasia, pornography, and murder. the morals and conscience that once forbade these things have gone. Why? cause the society has come to be selfish, arrogant and complacent. They want to think what they want, do what they want, and see things the way they want. whatever pleases them better, whatever can suit their selfish ambitions. which also explains the rise of cults. People want to believe what they want, and hear what their itching ears want to. The world is turning away from God and His ways. And this is the preparation of the ground for the devil to sow his seeds of destruction and sway the world, through the Anitchrist.

3. Globalisation
The world is uniting. seems like a good thing, and everyone likes it. but this is also a sign pointing towards the end times, when the Antichrist would be able to unite the whole world under one banner and rule it with an iron fist, set the times, change its laws and have the world bend their knee to him. As already can be seen, the world is moving slowly achieveing a common universal language, which of course is English. Remember the event of the tower of Babel? something like that may happen again. the world is just as rebellious if not more, than they were back then.

4. Cashless society
Singapore plans that within another 5 years or so, Singapore will become a cashless society. that aint very far. the use of cash would be eliminated, all transactions would be conducted via things like NETS, ez-link and so on. who knows what the new ones coming up would be called. Already in countries like Thailand and South Korea, they are implementing biometric codes, personalised per individual, that they can use to make purchases. soon it wont be a choice of convenience, but the only medium of transaction. Doesnt all this ring a bell? - In the end times, the Antichrist would force everyone from every nation to receive the mark of the beast in order to conduct transactions. sounds like biometrics to me.

Disclaimer, that though these signs are coming to be fulfilled soon, doesnt mean that once they are fulfilled, the end times would come. the bible states that the Lord would come again when we least expect it. perhaps when the signs are fulfilled but nothing happens, and the world condemns the prophecies as fake and become complacent, then suddenly it strikes and catches the world with their pants down.
so regardless of whether the signs are eniment or not, we should always be working to prepare our hearts for the day of Judgment. the signs are merely to act as a push for some to feel the urgency.

-random 6/5

So, the most talk of the town around now is the flu. whatever kind of flu, its getting on us now. perhaps due to the unusually hot temperatures too, but it seems everyone is falling sick or showing flu symptoms.. including me. for me its been a real bad runny nose the whole day, and cant seem to get to to stay still. and just at the right time, theres all this frantic measures going on in my school (dunno about other schools around) where we are all forced to bring our thermometers and conduct temp checks twice a day, and report it to the school by sms... and its such a hassle that more than 70% didnt bother. haha.

last night, i was sitting on the sofa watching tv, and didnt realise anything until i looked at my thigh, and saw a big fat mosquito sucking at it! This was one mutated mosquito, with an extra huge sucking tube its at least 5 times thicker than normal ones. so it probably sucked so much blood that some excess was oozing out from its behind! i waited no longer and slammed it, creating a patch of blood on my leg. then i studied the mosquito. what other proof do i have that its tube was huge? - it left a visible puncture on the spot it bit. could it be that which causes my flu, i wonder.


and interestingly, at a time like this, last night i actually dreamt of - a pig. yes i dreamt i was sitting on a low hospital bed (lousy hospital without aircon), there were many other beds in the same room but all empty. then this big pig looking friendly and domesticated, even wearing some kind of clothing, came walking down the isle toward me. it came to me, sniffed at me, and i patted it. it was like a dog! but still, its a bit disturbing that it was a big pig and not a dog.


Enough of flu talk, i have just invented and made my own home-made Vodka Coffee! and i saw (or tasted) that it is good. of course it aint so simple as putting vodka in coffee. its just once a while that this .. creative flair suddenly strikes. and only once a while am i able to respond to it. and even then theres only such chance that my idea in mind would actually turn out well. but whatever it may be, i would always deduce and learn something.

FB holdem poker. Not long ago i was at $1million. and within 4 days it was all gone. happens with the combination of playing big + really bad luck. it was a massive wave of bad luck like never seen before, with continuous loss all the way. at most an occasional small win. didnt take long at all before it was all gone. I would say, it is God's hand in it. after all, i did pray that i wont get addicted to it. so thats the best way, i guess? =)

Continuation in french II has been great, i would expect to gain much more from this than i did in French I. having lessons twice a week instead of once keeps me more regularly in tuned. for those who took french I last semester, only about half made it through to 'qualify' for french II. and out of these half, maybe only a third chose to continue in french II. so from 3 classes of 20+, there are only 11 students in French II. so this means, everyone in the class has a considerable standard, which saves time waiting for the less inclined students to catch up previously. plus because of the small class size, we are each given more attention and opportunity. yes indeed i do see myself gaining much more here than from french I.

its week 3 of school and there is still no pressure. nor do i see much coming soon. as i have seen from the number of credits, it is already expected to be the slackest semester. and i guess it is living up to expectations. no excuse to feel shagged out from the work now... but i like that.

Harding: the new place to be

The time has come for the church to move as well. away we go, goodbye leedon road. the church building i have been familiar with since my kindergarten days, when it was still a kindergarten. for some time, it had been like my second home.



now it seems every place that i have regular associated with has now been removed or converted to something else. which leaves me with little tangible reminders of my past. esp my childhood. my kindergarten is gone (long ago), my primary school building has been converted into a kindergarten (just after i graduated!), my sec school has been converted into a language centre (just after i graduated, again!), my home which i spent my first 18 years of my life in has since been demolished, and now, even my church is gonna be gone too. i guess this is no time to get sentimental.



i expected myself to be rather sentimental and emo on the last sunday in st james, but it went rather normal. and when i had my first service in harding, i didnt feel out of place or unfamiliar, and neither did i feel i miss the old church. maybe i would some time later, but not much. cause i realised, its the people that matters more. after all, its the people that make the church.



for now, we still do go back to church at mornings for dg, so we would get too see the church and spend time in it for at least 2 months more. many things are still left in there, and all facilities functioning. then we go down to harding for the E3 service, then in the afternoon head over to St Georges for jym. so my 3 main activites on a typical sunday is now each held at different locations, which makes it all the more interesting.

About the new places, i quite like it. a refreshing change. lots of nature around, a serene environment and like a countryside setting not commonly found in singapore. whats bad though is the narrow passageways where we always collide with human traffic, children's toilets, lack of proper facilities and location matters, having no convenient lunch place nearby like holland V was. theres only those expensive restaurants which is not an option for us. the chapel at St Georges for jym is no doubt older looking and lousier than our own, but everything we need is there nevertheless. the container rooms are kinda cool.

on the whole, things are still better back at leedon. i wouldnt mind not moving. but its ok, moving out to a lousier place for just 2 years, and after that we'll be back and much better than what it is now! may this 2 years at harding be memorable ones.