China trip- more extensive blogging

It's been some time since I came back from China. Here's an account on what happened.

People Count
10 total
4 of us
3 uncles and aunties
3 cousins

Took SQ 801 to Beijing. Only one runway was working so spent a long time queueing up to take off. Reached Beijing at about 3 something pm. Beijing airport still quite the same as 2002. Had to wait for the Air China flight which only arrived about 1 hour later. We got out of the airport at about 5pm and it was dark already. Temperature about 3 degrees Celsius. Heard snowed a little that morning. Went for an acrobatic performance and then had dinner before checking into Jing Guang New World hotel. The room was small but was warm. Had ESPN there so managed to catch some Champions League action. Next three days went to the usual places one would go in China. Watched the famous Wushu performance there which was way cheaper than in Singapore or other places (180 yuan compared to 100 over Sing bucks). Managed to climb up to the fourth tower of the Great Wall, wasn't very tiring or hard. A lot better than the last time I tried to climb (only managed 3 steps). After that we had ice-cream which wouldn't melt. Went to Chengde on the way there. Watched Rob-b-hood during the bus ride there which lasted about between 3 to 4 hours. At Chengde, it was so cold that the inside of the window panes of the bus froze so we did some 'paintings' on the window. We stayed at the best (ironic) hotel in Chengde which was only 4 stars. Big room but the thing that was horrible about it was that the heater wasn't working. And when we called up reception, they only brought blankets. So we slept in almost freezing temperatures through the whole night. Next day went to some place which had the 'Hong(2) Lou(2) Meng(4) ' and 'skated' on the ice (not really skating lah) before visiting some thing which was very similar to that big Tibet red building. Then headed back to Beijing where we watched some lame 'Ju(3) Qi(2) Shou(2) Lai(2)' movie. Went to some swimming pool cum sauna cum hot spring cum dinner cum performance place (sounds like a country club) at night. Stayed at the Great Wall hotel at Juyongguan, just under the Great Wall. Pretty nice rooms and working heater. Managed to catch some Chelsea vs Arsenal action on BTV 6. Third last day went to the Ming Tombs (didn't manage to go into the tomb unlike the 2002 trip)Second last day was spent walking around. Supposed to go Tianjin but was cancelled bue to fog which closed the expressway there. Went to Tong(2) Ren(2) Tang(2), the TCM clinic and then to XiushuiJie for the second time and then some arts street and another small palace garden. The night was wierd, going to some unknown jade and jewellery shop called Jiu(2) Jiu(3) Fu(2) where there was the owner who claimed to be Singaporean and gave us crazy discounts on bracelets and stuff which were supposed to be real (200 yuan for jade necklace, 200 sing bucks for some diamond necklace and bracelet). The last day in Beijing was spent having steamboat for lunch and going to the airport very early and spent 3 hours in the waiting area playing cards. The Air China domestic flight was not bad, had personal television, bigger than SIA's but toggling through the menus was a nightmare and the video and game range was very un-wide. Landed at Shanghai Hongqiao airport where we met up with our friend and then took the 20 seater bus which would be the transport we would use for the next 3 days. Checked into Charms hotel which I thought was the best in all the hotels I have stayed in during this trip and then we took a walk down Nanjing Road. Dinner was freakingly cheap, about 150 yuan (30 bucks) for the 10 of us, and it was those 8 cai(4) 1 tang(1) type of food. The next day was spent at yu(4) yuan(2) where we walked around and ate xiao(2) long(2) bao(1). We ate at the higher class section but not the highest. Then we walked around and bought some Bread Talk there. Then we went to some shopping place which was horrible, bringing us through one small and cramped room to another with all the fake goods inside. Then went to our friend's house for dinner and then went for a walk with then down the Pudong side of the river, looking at the Bund. Next day went to Zhouzhuang where they had people living on the water (shui(3) shang(4) ren(2) jia(1)). Nothing much to see but their food was nice, especially their pork knuckles. Then went back to Shanghai for some shopping which was totally horrible and boring, completely unlike shopping in Beijing. The malls were either dark and crammy and smelly (of smoke), or were new and empty. Then had dinner at some Japanese restaurant in which the shabu-shabu was horrible. Then took the Bund Tourist Underground Tunnel and went up to the second level of Oriental Pearl TV tower. Then took an MRT back to the hotel. Last morning stayed in the hotel playing cards while the adults went to book city (shu cheng). Afternoon was spent ay yu yuan and we ate the xiao long bao for dinner, but this time eating the cheaper one (16 for 10 yuan (2 sing bucks)) and queued up more than 1 hour for it. After that went to Pudong airport very early, about 6 hours before our flight. Took about 1 hour to get to the airport which was about 40 km away from the city centre. Found out that the check in counter was only open 3 hours later so we went to a cafe while my dad and I took the maglev to and fro. It cost 80 yuan for a two way ticket and the ride was a little bumpy and the train didn't go very fast, only about 300km/h, way lower than the fastest speed. At about 9.30pm, we checked in and went into the waiting area where my uncle bought a can of coke for 18 yuan (3.60 sing bucks) from a cafe when about 20 meters further down, there was a vending machine selling the same thing for 8 yuan (1.60 sing bucks). Then we played more cards and waited till 11.40 pm when we entered the plane for our trip back. Spent most of the time sleeping but the Kris flyer on the way back was horrible.
Fun trip

Stuff I did with cousins and brother:
Play cards
Walk and Talk
Imitate Rusell Peters

China trip

Came back from China yesterday. Went to Beijing and Shanghai. Total about 12 days. Left on 6th early morning and came back yesterday (17th) early morning. Quite fun but very tiring trip. Will post about the trip later.

Master Card

Electricity bills for sleeping in a air-con room right after bathing without drying yourself: $1

A pair of scissors to multilate yourself: $1.95

Two packs of Yakult to gulp down in a day: $6.95

Getting sick and a MC to ponn Gym: Priceless

There's some things money can't buy. For everything else, there's Master Card.

Weekly update

THis week was quite fun. Went class 'chalet' at Aaron's house and we went Seletar Country Club, and 5 of us squeezed in the back of Aaron's car. We got there and played pool, table tennis, bowling and maybe 1 or 2 arcade games. I bowled a 163, 3 strikes in a row in the first game, then I tried curling the balls (no pun intended) in the second game, dieded at first but ended up ok. Tuesday to Friday was quite ok, OBS meeting on Tuesday, and Wednesday to Friday was mostly spent at my cousin's house playing and more playing and doing nothing (ponned Gym). Saturday was Rockwall climbing with church, and it was raining heavily and lots of people got wet (haha). The rockwall was indoors so there was nothing to worry. I climbed thrice; twice on the walls with flat surfaces, one easier and one harder. I managed to reach the top both times (even though I had do change my shoes because they were too big, so no grip), then the third time I climbed the wall that was slanted out, but I only managed to reach the third or fourth panel (only church people will know this, about 1 and a half storeys). I didn't know that there were those holes in the wall which you could step on. My dad came back from his one-and-a-half-week business trip to Germany and he bought me a 345 euros train (model train) engine (quiet expensive). The train is fun, with all those train sounds such as the braking (screeching) sound and the whistles and even the shoving coal sound. Quite worth it.

I realised that a lot of people are going Hong Kong this december; my cousins (10 people) and lots of friends. Think it's because of Disneyland. Anyway I'm going China (Beijing and Shanghai) this December for 12 days. Will be leaving on the 6th. Still a long way to go.

Gym

It's plain stupid. 7 (or rather 6) times a week for 5 weeks, non-stop. 8.30 to 12. Sparstic. It's just that horrible than I can't quit (and change). 2 more years, then I QUIT.

Yess...Noo

Ok, the results were out today, almost all. Pretty much a mix of emotion, with those imba and sucky ones. From best to worst:

History: 23/25 (top in class)
Geog : 27/30 (3 rd in class)
Maths: 43.5/50 (5th in class)
Science: 30/40 (sucky)
Chinese: 53.8/100 (die...)

The end of year and GPA:
History: 88/100 (4.0)
Geog: 80/100 (4.0) (top in class)
Maths: 76/100 (3.6)
Science: 78/100 (3.6)
Chinese: 61/100 (2.8)
German: 64.5/100 (3.2 if they round up)
English...
I need a 4.0 for English to get a 3.6, but it's highly unlikely, so bye bye 3.6, no more 11 subjects. Sigh...

Give Thanks

As Nigel Fong posted on his blog, we ought to give thanks to God, especially after what he has done this week. Firstly, during Maths test on Thursday, I was left with 2 un-done and un-known questions with 20 minutes to go. Then I prayed, and suddenly the ideas came flowing into my mind and I managed to finish all but one part of the 2 undone questions. Secondly, today was our church's anniversary party which was outdoors. Thank God it didn't rain and the psi was about the 40 to 60 range, which is very low nowadays. Thank God.

P.S. Prayer Works

CTs...yay

Yay. The Ct's are finally over and it's time to relax. However, it's quite boring at home when you have a brother who hasn't even started his exams and you can't play anything besides computer which is so boring. Oh, we got a 32 inch LCD tv and an XBOX 360 as a free gift. But same thibg, I can't open it till my brother's exams are over, so pissing.

Argh...Regret

Argh...
Why didn't I run for prefect
Mr Jee asked me if i was going for it
Then after the nominations Mrs Lim asked me why I never run for prefect because I had leadership qualities but was juz naughty in class.
Nobody would and will ever believe it.
But I somehow have the 'leadership capabilities'
Now the chance is over...
Must wait until go to RJC then try again
Argh...Regret

Free

It feels so good...
not to have to go back to the torrid place of mats and springs
No more
Constrains
Tied down by those rules
Those unreasonable rules
The people who tell you not to do things and yet do it themselves
The...people
The cold, hard (obvious) place
No more of those
Wish it could last forever...
But it won't
A few more weeks, months
Prometheum day
2007
It'll be over
soon...

Some acronyms

Future problem solving---FPS---Friday ponn school
Teachers' day celebration---TCD---Thursday don't come

I wonder what they're trying to imply...

The last...

Friday was inter-house debates finals. I ponned cca to watch it (yay). The topic was THBT in this world there is no more "Auspicum Meloris Aevi" (excuse me, my spelling sucks) (meaning: hope for a better age). I thought we deserved to win but we lost 3-2 to Buckley. No excuses, but everybody thought we deserved to win, including Mrs Smith but there were 5 judges and there was a teacher, 3 debaters from other houses, and... a Buckleyan J1 or 2 student.

Saturday, I went for the final of the 8 weeks of IMO junior training 'torture' (somewhat) x 3 hours which brings it to 24 hours of challenging maths. Yay, it's finally over, and I don't think I will get into the senior team, it's already been long and tiring enough and has way exceeded my expectations. Actually I didn't want to go for SMO but my mother and maths teacher wanted me to go, so I went for the first round and anyhow do the questions. Then I got into the second round, which was quite of a surprise and so I went and there was about 200 over people, so I didn't think I would get into the top 30. But somehow I managed to get into IMO junior team training which only 50 people managed to get into. So then I thought that there was a realistic chance of getting into the top 30, and which I managed to get 17th in the country. Now the journey has come to an end...probably

Today was the last guitar lesson in which we had to do somewhat like an American Idol 'audition' but was more on a review. I did the easiest song and the 'judges' said it was quite good considering that I started off with zero experience.

The upcomming week is slack week. Monday and Tuesday, special programmes to Pulau Ubin and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) respectively. Wednesday is staff training so it's a holiday for us, Thursday is teachers' day celebration until 10.15am and Friday is teachers' day holiday.

Responsibility

I just wonder if I should go gym tommorow. This horrendous gym experience has been a vicious cycle since day one. Me being put in a stupid CCA (not one of my choices)-> Me ponning CCA-> Seniors 'dislike' me-> I semi-suck at gym-> and the whole cycle is repeated again. Gym training is supposed to be from 3.30 to 6.30 on Monday and Wednesday, and 3 to 6 on Fridays. But on Mondays and Fridays, by the time I get released, it's already 7. And on friday when I have to leave at 6 (on time) (for swimming), the seniors actually make a big fuss. And I think this year's seniors are getting more and more unreasonable, especially those who have something to do with me. On Monday, I left early because I had 2 tests to revise for tommorow after getting coach's permission. Then when I was leaving, one of the gym seniors came up and prevented me from leaving and questioned me on leaving early and blah blah... such as 'Is it gym''s fault that you never revise for your test'. Then at one point I told him that coach allowed me too, then he rebutted 'coach allow, but I don't'. Who does he think he is lor. And it's not like I don't always come to gym or that I purposely leave so early. And what happened to those who ponned gym to revise--nothing. That's why it isn't fair. Thn tommorow I have to do a class makeup for Saturday's hiking trip and I have to leave at 5 (gym training is from 3 to 6 (supposedly official)). And I cannot imagine my seniors actually letting me off...That's why I intend to not go, or if I go, then I'll go from 1 to 2.30.

Planetshakers: Ultraviolet

Planetshakers rox. Today after church I went to EXPO to watch the planetshaker ultraviolet conference. Managed to get tickets from Ben Low and his cell group leader. Thanks a lot, guys. The atmosphere was wonderful, jumping and singing, but I felt the lack of spirit from we Singaporeans, not a lot of jumping and singing, even though it was audible. After the performance, I bought the CD and went to get their autographs and they were talking about my Rangers T-shirt, about 'the golden rule, my daily rule' and blah... Overall I had lots of fun and I look forward to more of concerts from Hillsong and Planetshakers.

Inter-house debates

Today was Inter-house Debates. The topic is if this house will sue McDonalds. I was the reply speaker for both the prop and opp. The debates turned out quite fine, except for one guy on our team who was so un-debate like, bad standing posture, restated points without any additional info, said stuff like 'don't make any point of informations yet' and 'how many more minutes left' which might have caused us to lose the debate. Anyway I think I did quite ok and it was a learning experience, even though we lost both our debates. lol

RI vs HCI 'friendly' match

Today I ponned gym to watch the RI vs HCI soccer match at HCI. Got there the earliest and met up with a few of my old school friends. The match was pretty boring in terms of gamplay value but it was not without little entertainment. The referee got there late in the first place, and during the match, The HCI goalkeeper slipped while kicking the ball twice and the ball didn't go far and high. Then the linesman got hit by a ball and the HCI people missing a few their kicks, RI only missed one or two. Then during half time we got to take penalty kicks with the goalkeepers from each school trying to save our shots. Then in the second half, a blatant handball in the penalty box (damn obvious) from one of our players went unnoticed by the referee. Then in about the 6th minute, I left to go for a class. The score was 0-0 then.

Tests

Today was test day. 3 tests, from the first period of school till the last period, with breaks and lessons in the middle. It started with Maths, the subject that I'm pretty good at but always screw up. Today was not much of a difference. Screwed up the last question. Besides that was ok. Then there was science practical when I became a little spastic. It was pretty ok. Then was swimming for PE, the ultra love or hate sport. Then was 3rd lang test (German). The gramma part was good 18.5/20 (I think top in class) but the Luckentext (close passage) was horrible 3/15.
This week has been tiring. CCA on Monday, Swimming on Tuesday, Cross-country on Wednesday, swimming again today, and finally CCA again tommorow.

Drama Feste, NDP

The last two days have been spent for relaxing and enjoyment. On friday was drama feste. Went to watch the matinee show because I lost my night show ticket. silly me. Thought hullett was quite ok while the other two, buckley and moor were very emotional. However we won, somehow. lol. Saturday was National Day Parade prievew. Quite fun, except that this year's was not as good as the previous years. Have been to NDP for 7 times in the past 10 years, 6 previews and 1 NE show. Havn't actually been to actual day before, but have sat in all four sectors of the National Stadium before, including the grandstand. Have only been to padang once or twice, all others in the National Stadium, which is going to be demolished this year.

Hmm... maybe they could replace fireworks with money dropping from the sky?

SMO

Surprise. Surprise
I actually got 17th for SMO, beating people like NicChee and Ivan. I didn't even expect to make it past the first round.
And yes, NicChee has alreaddy pressed me on going to Maths Club.
Ivan was 'smart'. He ponned the special round because he woke up late which ended his chance of getting into the top 30. If he had gone for the special round, he sureyly would have gotten into the top 30.
IMO training is hmmm....boring? Stuck in a room doing maths for 3 hours with only a 10 to 15 minute break in the middle. And I'm sitting next to NicChee and Ivan, who rolls his chair all around the class. lol
RI got top (team) for both junior and senior sections, beating HCI and NUS high, which makes it even sweeter:)

Money and Spending

Many people think that I don't really spend a lot of money when shopping and that I am thrifty. But I tell you that's not the case. If you ever know what toys, items and gadgets I have at home, you would surely change your mind. Some of my gadgets are like my $600 train set, an I have a few of them, and other expensive stuff. Still think I don't spend a lot of money...

WC 2006 Ouarter Finals: Ger vs Arg

4-2 to the Germans on penalties. Simply fascinating.

Mid Year Review

Half a year has already been gone and I think it's been quite sastifying , if not good. Mid year GPA was 3.73, above what I expected. I think they moderate the marks a lot. Anyway I got 4.0 for History, Geog and Science, 3.6 for Maths and English, and 3.2 for Chinese. Luckily German wasn't counted; I'd probably get 2.8 or 3.2 for that. Anyway the holidays were spent slacking, playing and watching football from 9pm-5am, or at least to 2 am. School started today and there was a little wierd feeling, the feeling I always get when I go back to school on the first day. Everything turned out ok except that I got 65.5/100 for German. Argh...watever

SI 2006

We had some RE (Research Education) competition at HDB Hub yesterday and today about some Resource Management. We presented our half completed RE project which was about a green building yesterday and we were surprised to get into the top ten. Then we did another round of presentation before I rushed to church on bus 145 and reached there just on time. Could not lead worship yesterday. Then today wen't back again to showcase our project and there was prize presentation, where we got a consolation award and 100 dollars. I think we got 5th, jsut one spot away from a trophy, but it's just a 'think'. Enriching experience and I think the 100 dollars prize exceeded the effort we put in for the project.

MM

Ayiah, I've decided to scrap my blog post about what happened at Malaysian Montage, just look at the itinerary below.

Day 01 Tue 23 May 2006 (L & D)

0700hrs: Pick-up from RI and transfer to JB Second Link
0830hrs: Depart Second Link for Melaka.
En-route, stop briefly at Tangkak.
1130hrs: Visit to Mini Malaysia at Air Keroh.
1300hrs: Lunch (local style).
1400hrs: Cultural show showcasing ensemble of Malaysian culture.
1500hrs: Traditional games
1600hrs: Depart for Tiara Beach Resort, Port Dickson.
1730hrs: Arrive Resort and check-in.
Group Debrief
1900hrs: Group briefing for Day 2 Activities
1930hrs: Buffet dinner at hotel with traditional mock wedding.
2030hrs: Briefing by FRIM official at Tiara, Garden Terrace.

Day 02 Wed 24 May 2006 (B, L & D)

0700hrs: Morning PT
0730hrs: Morning briefing at Garden Terrace.
0800hrs: Breakfast at Garden Terrace.
0900hrs: Depart hotel for Putrajaya Tour.
1030hrs: Tour of Putrajaya.
1200hrs: Proceed to FRIM.
1315hrs: Arrive FRIM and proceed to lunch.
1415hrs: Canopy Walk.
FRIM Museum.
Group Debrief
1730hrs: Depart FRIM for Chinatown – Petaling Street.
1900hrs: Steamboat and buffet dinner at Nelayan restaurant.
2045hrs: Return to Resort.
2300hrs: Arrive Resort and Rest.

Day 03 Wed 25 May 2006 (B, L & D)

0700hrs: Morning PT at Bus Level.
0730hrs: Morning briefing at open-air theater.
0800hrs: Breakfast at hotel.
0900hrs: Team Building practical at Telok Kemang beach.
1230hrs: Lunch at Tiara.
1400hrs: Transfer to Casa Rachado Lighthouse trek start point.
1430hrs: Conduct of Lighthouse trek.
- Team Building & Leadership
1730hrs: Return to resort
1930hrs: Dinner at resort.
2100hrs: Post dinner activity

Day 04 Fri 26 May 2006 (B & L)

0700hrs: Breakfast at Resort.
0745hrs: School briefing.
0830hrs: Check-out resort and depart for D-Paradise, Alor Gajah.
1000hrs: Arrive D-Paradise and briefing by D-Paradise Resort official
1030hrs: Final Team Challenge
1300hrs: Buffet lunch at resort. Final briefing.
1400hrs: Movement to Singapore with rest stop at Pagoh.
1830hrs: Arrive at Raffles Institution.

End Of Tour



Updated 5 May 2006
(B-Breakfast; L-Lunch; D-Dinner)

I was in group 12, Terengganu with Mr Tan (CLE head), Ms Quah (Our Bio Teacher) and Ms Koh (school councillor). The trip was fun, except the resort (Tiara Beach Resort) which was like in the middle of nowhere, and the toilet was worse. There was no way we could bathe at night with the drips of water from the shower, for 3 nights. Port Dickson was cool. We could build moats (the real one) around castles with water not flowing out, and we dug many pools at the beach. There was the 200-300m canopy walk in FRIM which was cool. Then I got the silver heart at the end of the trip. Oh yeah, I only spent 13 RM (S$6) on the trip. On 2 Ramly burgers (4 RM each), one cup noodles (3 RM), arcade (1 RM), and one icy grape and 2 bubble gum (1 RM).

Back

Finally back from Malaysian Montage after 4 days. Had a good, hot shower and think of going to bed soon. Yawn... Will blog about the trip later.
(Tau gay sucks)

Joga MaMa

Tommorow, or rather today morning will be when I finally get to play competition football this year. Joga Bonito, or Joga 3 futsal will be held in our school tommorow, inter house. I'm playing with Vince and TYE but I injured my leg on Saturday while playing captain's ball in church after injuring someone else. She's better now. After today will be Tuesday where the whole Sec 2 cohort (abt 400 people) will be going to Malaysia till Friday. I haven't packed my bag. Argh. Must rush.

Mothers' Day

Today was cool. Morning and afternoon was the usual except I didn't go for music and so went home to slack. Then went to Church at about 3.45 with my Grandma where we had the comanders from outpost 11 to teach us about hiking. Saw a few commanders from ATC camp, like our patrol commander and junior commander (junior guide. haha). Quite fun except for the horrible amount of copying. Then had mothers' day celebration where we presented a modified version of 'Living Spring My Home' to the mothers. Quite happy with my and the group's performance, luckily we dodn't screw up. The girls pulled out becasue they were not confident (shalln't laugh at them even though I feel like). Then after service, I went to play soccer with the youth and the younger RR kids until 8 something where we went home.
Happy Mothers' Day

Post CT

CTs are over and today's the first day back to school. It was pretty boring, starting off with a rugby match with RI vs OFS. We won (of course). The Sec 4 had their soccer tournament whivh was very boring;90% of the games ended in 0-0 draws. Yawn. Then there was a mime skit, or rather, a play qhich was quite interesting before we went back to class for the Malaysian Montage admin stuff. Then went to 3rd lang where after waiting for 10 minutes after the bell rang, our german teacher still hadn't come. She always used to come early and so we thought she wouldn't be coming today. Then when we were just about ot leave, she came. Argh, cannot ponn.

GE 2006

The 2006 GE has just ended and as expected, PAP won again (sigh) with 66.6% of the votes. 666 seems like a bad number so hope that PAP will lose the next election. He he. Anyway I went down to the SDA rally at Potong Pasir on the day before polling day by myself to see Mr Chiam speak. I got there at about 8.30pm and there werquit some people (more than PAPs) and some SDA guy talking (forgot his face). Then was Mr Vincent ..... before Steve Chia. He's very pro, only 35 years and has gone for 3 elections already. Lost all 3. Sad. Then Mr Chiam came and everyone cheered for him. Then Mr Chiam gave his short 15 to 20 minute speech jus before the rally ended at 10pm. Then all his supporters carried and cheered him through the coffee shop and then thousands of them followed him all the way to his town council (I don't know if they were carrying him) which was about 500m away shouting "Potong Pasir, Chiam See Tong" It was very heartening. Then they all gathered round the town council and cheered him for about half an hour before the police asked the crowd to leave. Then I walked home.

I thought that the PAP tatics were pretty negative. Giving the residents $80 and $100 million if they voted for them and won the constituency. The PAP were using the gahmen's funds and not their own party funds which were contributed by the people. And when they provide the expensive upgrade, the residents also have to co-pay, which is quite a sum. They didn't win.

So Chiam and Low Thia Kiang won the two opposition seats, which was no better or worse than GE 2001. However, the Workers Party are getting stronger with their big crowds and high amount of votes while SDP are sinking into obscurity and trouble.

Go WP and SDA.

CT

Yay. It's (CTs) over.
(Actually it ended long ago)

RR worship

The RR worship roster is out and i'm not very happy with it. My name only appears once in the schedue which is right at the end of the next month. I don't know what my mom said to her (the person who did the roster) but it was something along the lines that I cannot make it every week and stuff because of this and that... Anyway the fact is that I only can't lead this week because of my CCA (Gym tramp) competition. For subsequent weeks, I can do makeup for my English classes.
There is also this wierd thing to the roster which has all the names spelt wrongly and people put in 2 positions on the same day. There are also a few younger kids doing the worship too.
I dun know, but I think this roster needs some changes.
Please add my name to more worship sessions. What my mother said is "crap"

Take My Son

I came through this when looking at a blog. I felt that this is interesting and talks about Jesus who died on the cross for us. Read it

A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. They had everything in their collection, from Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire the great works of art.When the Vietnam conflict broke out, the son went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son.About a month later, just before Christmas, there was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands.He said, "Sir, you don't know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him in the heart and he died instantly. He often talked about you, and your love for art." The young man held out this package. "I know this isn't much. I'm not really a great artist, but I think your son would have wanted you to have this."The father opened the package. It was a portrait of his son, painted by the young man. He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own eyes welled up with tears. He thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the picture. "Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me. It's a gift."The father hung the portrait over his mantle. Every time visitors came to his home he took them to see the portrait of his son before he showed them any of the other great works he had collected.The man died a few months later. There was to be a great auction of his paintings. Many influential people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and having an opportunity to purchase one for their collection.On the platform sat the painting of the son. The auctioneer pounded his gavel. "We will start the bidding with this picture of the son. Who will bid for this picture?"There was silence.Then a voice in the back of the room shouted, "We want to see the famous paintings. Skip this one."But the auctioneer persisted. "Will somebody bid for this painting. Who will start the bidding? $100, $200?"Another voice angrily. "We didn't come to see this painting. We came to see the Van Goghs, the Rembrandts. Get on with the real bids!"But still the auctioneer continued. "The son! The son! Who'll take the son?"Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room. It was the longtime gardener of the man and his son. "I'll give $10 for the painting." Being a poor man, it was all he could afford."We have $10, who will bid $20?""Give it to him for $10. Let's see the masters.""$10 is the bid, won't someone bid $20?"The crowd was becoming angry. They didn't want the picture of the son.They wanted the more worthy investments for their collections.The auctioneer pounded the gavel. "Going once, twice, SOLD for $10!"A man sitting on the second row shouted, "Now let's get on with the collection!"The auctioneer laid down his gavel. "I'm sorry, the auction is over.""What about the paintings?""I am sorry. When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will. I was not allowed to reveal that stipulation until this time. Only the painting of the son would be auctioned. Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings. The man who took the son gets everything!"God gave His son 2,000 years ago to die on the cross. Much like the auctioneer, His message today is: "The son, the son, who'll take the son?"Because, you see, whoever takes the Son gets everything.FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, WHO SO EVER BELIEVETH, SHALL HAVE ETERNAL LIFE...THAT'S LOVE.

From: http://3i4christ.blogspot.com/

'Virus'

Yesterday I downloaded some Block Checker thing from the internet after a 'recomendation'. Then when I installed the block checker thing it worked fine, but each time when I opened a msn conversation an advertisment on the block checker would always appear. How frustrating. I asked my friend about how to get rid of it and he said there would be no way. Sigh. So I went to the block checker website and went to the help section to find out if there was a way to get rid of the 'virus'. I finally managed to download a program that would erase the virus. I erased the virus and introduced it to my friend. He managed to erase the virus too, eventually.
I thought that God wants to tell us that if your friends are bad and sin, they will affect you and you too will sin, but when you believe and recieve God into your lives, you will be forgiven of your sins and you will become a new person, someone who is God loving and fearing. And besides that, when you introduce God to your friends, and if they believe in him, they too will be changed.

ATC Camp

Hey, I haven't been blogging for 3 months already. So far 1 term has been gone and it's been quite ok. The holidays are almost ending but there are still 2 more extra days of holiday because the teachers have to go for some meeting or training.
Meanwhile, during the holidays, I went for the Adventure Training Camp (ATC) by Royal Rangers from Wednesday to Saturday (15 to 18 March). The camp was simply wonderful. The Holy Spirit really blessed the camp and the spirit there was really wonderful, the patrol spirit, the camp spirit and even the spirit of the commanders. We started off with creating our patrol name and we called ourselves Holy Bears. Then we pitched our campsite and our patrol was very lucky to have the largest campsite. Our team spirit was evidently present and we completed our requirement within the first day and got a bronze the next day during flag raising. I then cooked dinner which was packet noodles, egg, vegetables and luncheon meat. The food turned out to be nice. We then had evening classes before a campfire at night which was like most other campfires, except of the Christian element which we had. The council fire a.k.a. campfire consisted of cheers, campsite songs, acts, stories and after that, there came the Christian element. We had worship and a sermon by pastor Rachel (was it?). It was something like a revival. Then we went to bathe in the toilets where we only had a bucket of cold water and a scoop to bathe in (imagine if you run out of water). After that we went to sleep at 12. I managed to finally sleep at 12.30am, praise the lord. The next morning we woke up at 5am. We then had devotion and breakfast and then flag raising. It was followed by morning lessons such as firecraft, toolcraft, ropecraft, etc. Then we cooked our own food which was tin foil cooking which consisted of chicken, carrots and potatoes. It was quite disastarous as the charcoal fire was not strong enough and the food took a long time to cook. However we manager to eat some food and it was yummy. We had some water games and got people wet before having more classes. Then we had dinner which was sausage buns with vegetables and baked beans. The dinner turned out well and then we had more evening classes before having another campfire, just the same as the day before, except the boy patrols had to light the council fire and the girl patrols having to perform a stunt (skit). Then we bathed in the horrible toilet again and went to sleep in the tent at 1am. The next day we woke up at 6am and the morning was the same as the day before's. We got our silver medal during the flag raising and I was the patrol guide on that day. In the afternooon, we had tin foil for lunch, except this time it was fish, potatoes and carrots. It was as disastarous as yesterday but the food was nice again. We then had water games the whole afternoon. Observation: The girls always are the losing teams in the water games. Inference: The girls... (no offence). Then we had dinner which was supposed to be claypot chicken rice but ended up to be claypot chicken porridge. However, time and time again, even though I still don't know why, the food turned out to be nice again. Dinner was followed by evening lessons before the council fire. During that council fire, I managed to be baptised by the holy spirit. Praise the Lord. Then we stayed up until 4am to do our workbooks and I decided not to go to bed after that which meant not sleeping. I managed to not sleep without really feeling tired. However during devotion I got too comfortable and dozed off, hitting my head on the wall 3 times. After devotion, we had breakfast and then packed up our campsite before having a McDonalds burger for lunch before having the ceremony. Our patrol got the gold medal which other patrols got too, not only from the ATC, but also the patrols from the JTC and AJTC. Every patrol got the gold medal. I still wasn't feeling tired then. I went home after the ceremony and bathed and came back for RR. I still wasn't feeling tired eventhough I didn't sleep (minus the 1 or 2 minutes where I dozed off during devotion). Then for RR the people who went for ATC (including me) had to do worship. The worship was a little shaky, but it was ok considering that it was our first time. I saw and compared the spirit of our outpost rangers with the rangers in the camp, there was a big difference; the spirit in the camp was high, everyone would be singing, cheering their hearts out, everyone would be enthusastic, reply a question with all our voices, but in our outpost the rangers would all stand there, see you sing and reply like half-dead, totally no spirit at all. The ranger class ended early without lessons, only a sharing of pictures about the ATC camp. After the class, me and Ji Heng were playing the guitar and singing while the other ATC graduates went back to sleep in the room we had most of our lessons in during ATC. Then after church I went home and suddenly got very tired. So I slept for about 1hour and woke up half alseep. I couldn't really remember someone sending me an sms and I replied to it, all half alseep. Then we went to the airport to send my dad off while I was very sleepy and after a drink, it was time for my dad to leave. We did the normal stuff everyone would do when a loved one would leave. Then we went home and I slept at 1am.
I don't know why I didn't feel tired even though I didn't sleep the last night. Maybe it was just that I was too excited, maybe it was just that I had enough energy. Or it could have been Jesus who was there for me. God Rocks.