19th

I'm turning 19 in one week exactly! I've yet to get my driving licence. But congrats to Mel who got it on Thursday! :)

We just had a celebration together with her family at a cafe at Simon road. It was a simple dinner at a cosy place. We had a cake with two candles! For those who don't know, her birthday is just 1 week after mine.

Anyway, I'll be in camp doing guard duty on my birthday, not exactly the best way to spend it but I still thank God nevertheless. As for my wish list, a black bar on my chest on the 19th of December! And for Mel to come back in one piece.




Bbbut

In the early morning March.

Its Chinese New Year.
Its my 2nd one in Singapore.

On the eve, I had a reunion dinner in the Samsui Women Restaurant in Jurong Point. Good food but no dessert. It was a very tense atmosphere at my table.

On New Year's Day, I went to Uncle Peter's house for lunch. He cooked his Peranakan Dishes which were really delicious. I really like going there to eat.

After lunch, I went over to join Mel's family for visitation. We went to the columbariums and then to the relatives' houses. I had a really good time of fun and laughter. Had a simple dinner too.

Thats basically my Chinese New Year.

Alright, going back to my mission trip soon! Got to go pack and stuff. See everyone soon! 6 Febuary is the day.

Holga

On the first day of the year,
I went to Sam Tan and Suren's wedding with Mel. We did car park duty. We had to stop all the cars and divert them to the car park unless they were relatives and placed a red packet on the dashboard. It was quite a funny idea, and some of my church members thought we were joking with them.

The wedding was really beautiful. The theme of the wedding was the 'Pearl'. It was really apt and unique. They gave out pearls in the invitation and had pearls in all their decorations. They didn't have a photo shoot before the wedding. Thought that was something special.

I thought the most interesting part was the live band consisting of musicians from my church. There was a drum, bass guitar, guitar, piano, trumpet and saxophone. They were really good.

Anyway, I was the guy in charge of taking down and packing the decos. I really thank God for lots of helpers including Joel, Clifford, Mervyn and not forgetting Mel who stayed on all the way till I finished.

Yesterday, I went to watch Yes Man!
It was a really funny movie, it kept us laughing through out. Try as much as possible to say Yes but say yes only when you really want to and have thought through it, thats the moral.

Today, I went to meet Jeremy at Ang Mo Kio.
After that, I collected Mel's belated Christmas present! Finally, after so long, it arrived. I hope it'll be put to good use. We then had confirmation class with my dad. It was really interesting.

I kept wondering, how come Lucifer could rebel against God. Where did this sin come from in the first place. My dad clarify that. He said that, God did not create sin but he allowed sin to happen. This was because he wanted all the heavenly creatures and people to have free will including the angels. And because they have free will, they're love for God will be more complete. Its like the relationship between a husband and wife. The relationship would be more complete if a wife is not obligated to love her husband but instead chooses to do so. She can disobey but yet choose not too. Thats the kind of love that God wants, rather than us being forced into loving him. That was really insightful.

Yep and my dad was super funny, I think I laughed harder than when watching Yes Man. Haha

Home

On the last day of 2008, the last hour, the last second, where was I?
I was on the 2nd deck of a 154 bus.
I was with Mely.
We were talking to God.

Anyway, I'm really glad that I didn't work for the countdown event at Marina. Thank you Mely for reminding me that money is not worth more than spending time with God. I'm really glad that we were at the watch night service in my church. I could not ask to be in a better place.

I just came back. After sending Mely home, I took the night rider to Somerset. There I realise that my card had no more money to take another night rider home. Thinking I had two 1 dollar coins in my wallet, I went to seven eleven to buy something to get more coins. I needed $3.50. I happily bought a bottle of pomegrenade tea and then paid with my $10 note. I got back two notes and 90 cents in coins. I then asked the cashier to change my two dollar note to two one dollar coins. She then had to open the cash register all over again so she could change them.

Yep so I happily went away, wanted to walk to the bus stop behind Ngee Ann City. Then on the way I looked into my wallet and realised that I had no coins in my wallet. And now I only have $2.90. I then decided to go to the 7-11 outside Taka to get something. I figured it was no point asking to change my 5 dollar note since they cant open the cash register unless I buy something. Thus, I bought a mentos. I got back a 1 dollar coin plus a few more coins and a 2 dollar note. I was elated and happily skipped to opposite Far East to take the night rider as Taka was closed and I had to walk a huge round to get to the bus stop at the back.

I waited for about 5 minutes before the first night rider came. It stopped quite a distance from the front of the bus stop and allowed some people to alight. It then droved off without allowing anyone to board cause it was extremely packed (the back of the bus was pretty unfilled as usual, sigh). I then thought that it would be hopeless to wait at that bus stop. I decided to back track and walk to the bus stop behind Taka. It was a super long walk but I saw some interesting things. The first thing I saw was an NR3(2nd bus I missed)! After that, I saw another thing that made my heart race too. A street race! What are the odds. There was like 6 or 7 cars. Each taking one lane on the road behind Wheelock. They were speeding like mad from one traffic light to the next. It was amazing how they managed to stop in time. Imagine a guy trying to cross the traffic light and turns and see 6 cars going at 100km per hour just 20 meters from him.

At 3.30am I finally boarded an NR3. Mely accompanied me through the entired bus ride until I reached safely home. Thank you so much :).

It was a real good experience. Throughout the walk, I remembered in Psalms 3:3, it says that the Lord is our shield. And that really comforted me. It assured me that I will be protected. Not to mention there were many groups of policemen patrolling. Sometimes I wonder if they will find my suspicious walking alone in town and stop me. I think the God was with me through out the experience. Reminding me of His constant presence.

Psalms 3:5 also says that when we lie down, we are able to sleep and wake up cause the Lord sustains us. Time for me to sleep and wake up. I've to attend Sam Tan's wedding tomorrow. I'm really excited.

Mission Trip To Thailand

Here is a quick summary of my trip to Thailand.

21st December
1.1 Departure from Singapore
1.2 The 14 Hour Bus ride

22nd December
2.1 The Arrival
2.2 Church
2.3 R&R
2.4 Dinner
2.5 Sleep

23rd December
3.1 Morning Devotion
3.2 Gift Wrapping
3.3 Gift Exchange and Lunch
3.4 Carolling

24th December
4.1 Morning Devotion
4.2 Bus to Dannok
4.3 Carolling and Lunch at a Rubber Plantation
4.4 Christmas Eve Party for the Kids
4.5 Carolling and Prayer Walk
4.6 Night Prayer and Christmas Count Down

25th December
5.1 The two Big Bangs
5.2 Morning Devotion
5.3 Christmas Service
5.4 Children Christmas Party
5.5 Bus ride back to Hatyai
5.6 Night Market
5.7 Opening up of presents

26th December
6.1 Morning Devotion
6.2 Shopping at Tesco and Diana
6.3 Mad Rush to the Bus
6.4 Bus Ride back to Singapore

27th December
7.1 Arrival in Singapore

People who were there:Mel and MotherAunty Jannie (The missionary)
Aunty Jessie
Aunty Diana and Family (Uncle Zhang Xin, Kai Ling, Pang Ting)
Li Wen (Thai church co-worker)
Chun Mei (Thai church co-worker)

For Pictures, Please visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/13294122@N08/ .
More photos yet to come.

My take from this trip:
"Though I didn't buy much, I came back more satisfied. God has shown me my priorities in life. He has put his crown over me. He has fueled my passion to serve Him."

On Christmas Day, God revealed through Kai Ling that He has placed his crown over me.

James 1:12
Blessed is the man who preserveres under trials. Because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has prepared to those who love Him.

Garage Sale

Christmas is really fully or surprises.
Today, my mum went to the market.
When she came home, she brought back...

20" HD ready LCD TV
A Korean BBQ steam boat thing
A Steam Iron thing
+ a Free camera tripod

I get to keep the TV and the tripod!
But occasionally my parents will TVnap the tv into their room.

On Thursday,
I had my 4p3 BBQ at Mingxian's house.
Summary:
I did most of the cooking.
I caught up with my English teacher.
Bought a BP bear for $10.

Friday was chillax day with Mel.
Then I had to go for an LCS Co worker's Christmas Dinner.
It was at HTNS once again.
Yep, good food thing time round.
I won but lost a $20 Popular voucher.
Long story.

Okay back to packing!

Prom Photos

Classmates:

Big Shots:

Mr Tan Jek Suan (VP)

Brother Paul (Principal)

President of Student Council

Group Photos:
T37 Guys

Basketballers

For more photos go to http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=64811&l=917dc&id=570752750

Phew

Yesterday was my prom night.
I'm too tired to blog about it now.
It was quite an eventful event.

I shall post pictures soon, maybe tomorrow.
Pictures speak a thousand words.
And I have 1000 pictures.
Okay actually only like 70+.
Thats 70,000 words.

Till then, I shall keep readers in suspenders.

Oh yes,
I went to Nathanial's house for BBQ on Saturday.
It was a spontaneous BBQ.
His mum decided to have a BBQ when she went to the market and saw giant prawns.
Yes giant prawns, the size of lobsters.
I've never seen such huge prawns.

It was a nice feeling being there.
Nat's house is about 5 minutes away from Mel's house.
I was able to send her home in the night.
If only we lived nearer, I would be able to do that everyday.

And last night,
I stayed over at Nat's house together with some of the bballers and friends.
We ordered McDonals at 2.45am and it only came at about 3.35am.
I slept at about 3am and woke up half an hour later to eat two double cheese burger.
After that, I watched the guys play PS3 before going back to sleep.

I slept on the floor in Nat's room with I think 6 other guys.
3 were on the bed, the other 3 were on the floor.
I could hardly move without kicking someone else.
Cause of the discomfort, I woke up periodically.
Each time I did, I would see a pair of feet right above my face.
But I was too tired to move.

When I woke up, only Terence was awake.
Nat's mom then invited us down to watch tv and then prepared some food for us.
Scrambled eggs with tiny pan cakes.

The PS3 kept us entertained until we left his house.

I walked over to Mel's house to wait for her.
I fell asleep on the sofa waiting for her.
We then went to Serangoon Gardens to find Chee Chong Fan.
We railed miserably though.
Ended up eating Satay which wasn't bad either.
We then went back and played the guitar.

Mel can sing and play the guitar at the same time out of a sudden!
Yes its one of those must-tell-the-world news.
I'm so proud of her.

When it was time to go, she sent me all the way to the bus stop cause of the rain.
It was really sweet of her to do so even though she has to study for her exams.

Yep, it really felt very comforting being so close to Mel.
I could just pop over to her house when I needed to.

Okay, time to rest.
Shall continue tomorrow.

Kids Camp 2008

I'm back from kids camp.

I was the leader of Othniel.
Its members are:
Cecilia (Chicken Dance girl, the most adorable and friendliest)
Petrina (Shy girl who didn't want to take part in the skit cause she had to say a few words)
Song Yi (Smart girl)
Matthias (Mervyn's bro)
Wai Jian (Hand holder no 1, Hugger and kisser)
Marcus (Hand holder no 2, called me Lao puo[Grr...])
Sherwyn (pretended to be marcus)
Daniel (Potential best camper, goody good boy)
Shane (Home-sick boy)
Nathaniel (Evil looking kid who teased me for 3 days for having a girlfriend)

Not forgetting... Ligory (THE group crasher, problematic kid, big bully, public meanace)

Yep so that was the whole group, all P1 to P3 except Ligory, I've no idea hold old he is caused he crashed our group and I didn't want to ask.

So the whole weekend was spent chasing kids, shouting at them, losing my voice, planning a skit, more shouting, more chasing, doing morning devotion, serving food, late night suppers, playing Handy-Plas (a game where you wack your friends tighs really hard till it leaves marks) and walking great distances around the church and in Hort Park. I think I walked more than 10 km during the stay.

10km seems like a short distance until you realised you have to chase after kids, make sure that the problem kid doesn't go missing, the kids dont get bang down by cars or people, make sure they stick to the group, not be irritants to the public, drink enough water, etc..

Well, the point is that I'm dead tired from all these 3 days.

But, the purpose of the camp was met.
4 of the kids gave their lifes to God.
Cecilia, Shane, Marcus and Sherwyn.
Yep, it was really encouraging.

Its really nice to have kids just trusting you so easily and bonding with them so quickly.

Anyway, its time for me to adjust back to the real world where kids dont traumatise you.

Oh, I received a letter congradulating me for being the top 25% in my school(CJC) and offering me an edusave merit bursary if my family has an income of less than $4000, which we do not qualify.

Surprise!

Honeybee surprised me at my house with Lunch today!

It was such a sweet gesture of hers.

I couldn't stop smiling.

I love it when she surprises me like that, it really makes me feel so loved.

Monday was our 6 months together.

Its been a long winding journey,

but we've always been there for each other :)

Oh we watched Burn after reading.

Its a show with twisted humor.

Its quite a tough show to understand.

Well not really my cup of tea, but if you like artistic shows then this might be one of them.

We then ate Botak Jones for dinner.

I painted a long sleeve T shirt and got a beanie for her and packed them into a tiny little box.

I'm really glad that she loved the surprise.

Thank you Charis and Marie for helping out with the gifts.

Thank you Mel for all the time you've been there for me, for all the times you've cheered me up, for all the times you've fed me and more.

Yes its hand painted!

Edit: Oh yes, I forgot to mention that we spotted Lydia helping a little boy put on his climbing gear outside Ngee Ann City during the weekend. It was really nice seeing her again after so long.

Days of my life.

I'm Back!

Been a long long long time since I last blogged.
I must say I've lost the passion to do a lot since the exams started.

I'm not sure where to start on the post.

Alright, my prelims results.

Maths: B(67)
Geography: C(58)
Physics: C(57)
Econs: E(?)
GP: E(45)

Hmm, I think I did considerably better than my mid-years.
Heres a comparison.

Physics: A(81)
Geog: D(52)
Econs: E(48)
GP: E (45)
Maths: U(38)

Although I didn't get on the honor rolls for prelims, I managed to pass all.
I guess the revision programme that the school had for us was effective, to a large extent.
I'm quite disappointed with my Economics though.
I feel that I could have done much better, but I had poor time management.
I'm especially happy with my Mathematics and Geography.

Anyway, I've decided to really work on my GP and Econs.
I haven't been putting much emphasis on them.

Okay let me recap the days thats I've been away from my blog cause my Laptop crashed.

Let me start with 19th September - Honeybee's Birthday!
After spending many days planning and executing the plan, the day finally came.

At about 12am, I sent her a song that I've been working on for the entire week. That was my way of saying happy birthday. I really wanted to do more but didn't have the time and my Amp blew.

In the wee hours of the morning, I went all the way to her house before school and left a special package there.
18 Bing Pi mooncakes, which I was supposed to make but didn't cause my eye was hurting like crazy and swollen.
I really have to thank my mum for that.

On the bus to school, she called me and said that her mum found mooncakes.
I chatted with her all the way until I reached school.

I couldn't wait for school to end so I could bring her out.

We watched Make it Happen.
It kind of had the same concept as Step Up 2 but unique in its own way.
It was a different kind of dance all together, but wasn't a show that would keep you at the edge of your seat.

We met in town and were supposed to find Lucky prata.
But ended up going to McDonals instead.
The Ironic thing was that Lucky prata was directly above McDonals.
I messaged sent a birthday message to the TV in Macs but it didn't appear.
I felt cheated.
Anyway, I passed her the 2nd part of the gifts.
Its a continuation of the notebook that I wrote.
Oh and I spilled tomato sauce on my pants and it looked like I had mens, and she laughed so much till she almost fell of the chair, hahaha.

I then had to bring her around town cause I had a plan cooked up for her at her house.
We walked all around Far East and then took a long bus ride back.

Then when we arrived at her house, Marion took over.
Marion, her 4 year old cousin, pretended that she had a gift for her.
She then led honeybee up the stairs all the way to her brother's room.
There, Valerie and friends popped up and gave her a 'surprise'.
It would have been a surprise except that I gave away quite a lot of clues.
She probably guessed it.

Anyway, the girls bought an accessory hanger for her and a really nice cake.
Its the first time I'm meeting all of them at once.
But it was nice meeting her friends.

After they left, we spend quite a long time sorting up the accessories and hanging them up.
It really took quite a lot of effort, but we had lots of fun.

We then went to Ice Cube to spend the rest of the night.
I presented her with the final gift to end the night.

We then walked back to her house where her church youths celebrated her birthday for her.

We then spend a little more time together before I left.

I wished I could have spent more time with her.
Wanted to do lots of other things but couldn't.

I'm glad that she really liked the presents and the time spent together.

Hey honey, Happy 18th Birthday!
I'm glad our dreams were finally fulfilled.
I'm really happy that we could spend our birthdays together.
Especially our special 18th birthday.
I'm really blessed to have you as a girlfriend.
I cannot ask for more.
I really thank God for you, for this relationship that we share.
Let us look forward to many more birthdays to share together =)

On the 20th of September,
My class had dinner in Outback in Milennia Walk to celebrate Glen's 18th Birthday.
The food was really good and we kept singing happy birthday, which kind of irritated the other patrons.
There were lots of laugh and silly jokes.
It was a good class gathering.

21th September,
Mel and I went to Ikea Tampinese to find furniture and ideas for her new room.
Tons of ideas came and we had so much fun generating them.
We then made a shopping list.
I can't wait to redo my room too.
Her family then came to join us.
We tried to find seats at Ikea's restaurant but ended up going to White Sands.
We had nice Tim Sum and other food.
It was the first time I'm having dinner with her family outside, I wasn't really sure how to react but I feel really blessed.

22th September,
I was supposed to help my honeybee clear her room but ended up falling asleep.
I felt really bad that day.
I'm not sure why I'm always so tire out by school, I'm just glad its going to end this Friday.

23th September,
We finally got down to painting the walls.
After weeks of planning, we finally had paint and brushes.
Painting is really not easy at all.
After many hours of painting, we finished 2 walls.
2, yes 2.
It was horribly frustrating and tiring, but at the same time fun.
We ended up painting ourselves.
The wall turned out rather patchy.

24th September,
We painted all the other walls and also the cornese.
We were on the verge of giving up many times but eventually did what we wanted to do.
The cornese were especially tough to paint.
There were so many details, and we had to keep wiping as we painted.
Holding the brush up was really tiring.

25th September,
MAMMA MIA!
We watched Mamma Mia at Marina Square.
The movie was quite good.
Help you to appreciate ABBA's songs.
After watching the movie, kept ringing in our heads.

Some how we then decided to walk all the way to City Hall instead of taking the bus.
It was quite a long walk but it didn't seem all that long cause I had someone special to accompany me the entire way.

We then went to our usually hangout, Spotlight looking for curtains and cloth.
But we left empty hanaded.

26th of September,
I went to help Mely paint her room again.
This time we did the final touches on the cornese.
After all was done, the red became really outstanding.
A pity I don't have a picture of the room to show everyone.
I'm glad I could be a part of the painting of the room.
It was really lots of fun, and a great exercise.

27th September,
Mel, her mum and sister and me went to Ikea to get the furniture and deco for her room.
We had lunch and her mum gave me a treat!
We finally got the $3 glass bottle that we had planned to get for a long time.
We left with a whole lot of cushions!

After that, I met up with my primary school classmates.
Ivan, Yize, Lingchen, Lester, Hanzhong and me.
We tried to find spots to view the on going F1 race.
It was during the practice session.
The cars were amazingly loud!
Every car that passed by was as loud as a Jet plane.
We had to cover our ears each time one car passed by and couldn't hear each other talking.

We then went to Yize's house to watch the F1 qualifying race on his 42'' LCD tv.
His TV was really good, even channel 5 was pixelated, but he had no speakers.
We stayed on until quite late.
I was dead beat by the time I reached home.

28th September,
I met Ms random in town again and we went to PS.
We went to hunt for cloth for her wall and curtains but ended up buying 3 premade curtains.
Total cost: $44.70

Then it was home sweet home to catch the F1 race.

29th September,
A day to remember.

30th September,
Was a long long day.
I had school as usual in the morning.
After school, I rushed to Ang Mo Kio to meet up with Mely.
We wanted to sign up for driving but instead ended up watching 'Eagle Eye'.

Eagle Eye was quite a futuristic show.
Its plot was really unexpected.
The movie leads you in to thinking its all about terrorism.
But think again.

We then went round to find a present for Daryl and finally settled on Mamma Mia Sound track.
We then went to her house to package the present in a Sexy Cookie box and paper bag.
Then I left on my voyage to find Daryl's house.

At Serangoon garden, I was unable to contact my classmates.
I tried calling and calling everyone on my contact list but to no avail.

Finally I managed to call Glen.
I took a bus and he then came to pick me up a the bus stop.

At the house, we had BBQ but I didn't eat much cause I had to wait forever for the food to arrive.
I decided to just chill inside the house.
We then watched Kwek, daryl and Mark V dance around the house.
Kwek was just amazing, his body seems to have an infinite amount of energy.
He can dance non-stop and he is really good.
Next up,
Mingxuan,Feng and another guy performed for the crowd.
As usual, Feng impressed us with his quick fingers.

We lost track of time and soon it was too late to go home without the help of a taxi.
I was too tired to make my way back, and decided to stay over.
His living room was extra cold and I fell sick with a running nose.

1st October, Children's day,
I woke up on Daryl's sofa.
My dad then called and told me that he is going to the airport at 10.45am.
I was too tired to move and ended up having breakfast and leaving at 10am.
I went to Mel's house to get a shower and change of clothes before making my way with her to the airport.
Halfway on the bus, my mum called and said she is checking in now.
Sigh, the trip to the airport was practically wasted.
We wanted to divert our route to Ikea Tampinese but my dad asked us to meet him at T1 for lunch.
We had Popeyes for lunch! Yum.
My dad and sister then left.

We then went to Ikea Tampinese but got lost along the way.
We then walked around Ikea, tried to find picture frames, cloths, and even a lost child.
We left empty handed.
We ended up at Tampinese and then left.

We were too tired to do anything, but I'm glad we could spend the day together.

2nd October,
I went to Mel's house to study.
I spend a really long time reading my GP essays until my eyes were all blurry.
Had a really filling dinner and then left.

3rd October,
I brought honeybee to Potong Pasir to eat Tangyuan and Tau Hui.
We then took a train to little India to take a look a cloth.
We then walked to Sim Lim Square to have carrot cake to satisfy her craving.
After that we walked to Arab street and then Haji Lane.
We then tried to walk to Suntec city but took a super long detour along the ECP only to realise that the pathway was blocked at the end.
We then walked to Suntec City, Raffles City, Dhoby Ghaut, Cineleisure.
Imagine the distance we had to walk.
But it was good time spent.

4th October,
Mely came over and I cooked for her.
Shepard's pie, Pasta and Chicken which didn't get cooked.
We then watched the first episode of Heroes Season 3 but ended up falling asleep.
After waking up, we watched the rest of the Episode and then left.

I then went to fetch my mum from the airport.
I'm happy to be finally able to see her again.
When she came home, I prepared the chicken thighs for her.

Well, that sums up everything.
Phew, what a long post.

Hey Love,
I'm really glad I got to spend so much time together with you.
These two weeks have been really enjoyable.
You've helped me prepare for my final stretch.
I can't wait till the end of A' Levels!

18th Birthday

September 12 2008 was my 18th Birthday and the best one yet.
I'm going to post every detail of it so it'll never forget.
Here goes.

I woke up at 5.30am and slacked around until 6am and then went to get changed and prepare for school. I had a Physics MCQ paper but wasn't really feeling stressed yet. Anyway I took a quick shower(20 minutes) and then came out. Then I saw my phone blinking. Meows was calling. AH! I tried to answer but it got cut off. Then I read my message, she sent "Hello you Surprise". Could it be? Could she be outside my door? I called her, she sounded so sleepy and I thought she has just woken up. Then she said theres a present at my door. I was so shocked. I quickly put on my uniform and then opened the door for her.

My girlfriend had been waiting outside the door for me since 6.10am. Not to mention she lives 1 hour away. That really made my day. She then presented me with breakfast she had prepared earlier. A small bottle of orange juice and a sandwich! I which I didn't have to go to school. Anyway, she accompanied me all the way to school before she went home :)

At about 7.40, I stepped into school and went to find my class. Daryl was the first to wish me a Happy birthday. He came running to me and offered a handshake and a happy birthday. I thought it was really nice of him. The rest of the guys then wished me happy birthday too. Most of them were still quite sunk in their physics revision though.

We then went into the Auditorium for or final paper, Physics MCQ. It was a 1 hour 15 minutes paper.

After school, I waited eagerly for Mel to come. And when she finally did, I was overjoyed. That was the beginning of the surprises that she had install for me.

First up, she asked me if I wanted to go to Ikea Tampinese or Demsey Hill. Well after much thought, about 1 minute we decided on Demsey hill. We took a bus there and reached about 10.30am. Then we realised the Ben and Jerry's only opens at 11am. We walked around for a while and then remembered that its been a while since we wanted to go to Island Creamery. We then took a bus all the way to Serene Centre. It was such a detour but it was quite fun.

We then had 4 scoops of ice cream, Holicks, Teh Tarik, Banana, Cookies and Cream. The ice cream was really good especially when enjoyed with someone special. My honeybee then presented me with a birthday present she had been spending so much time working on.

I shall show it off to the world!

I really love the shoes, Cookie ninja! It was really a lot of effort put in. I really appreciate it honey. I really didn't expect it, but I'm really touched :) It was just what I needed. I can't say enough how happy I am.

After that, we went to Coronation Plaza to eat the Lemon Chicken rice. We really enjoyed the Lemon Chicken but the Chingchow was just 'a little' too sweet.

Next stop, movie at The Cathay. We went to watch 'My Sassy Girl'. It was quite a complicated show but one that leaves you feeling very emotional. It had quite an unexpected ending and took a while for me to understand what was happening. Watching movies is one of our favourite pass-times and I'm really glad we got to watch one.

After that, my girlfriend had another surprise installed for me. But she refused to tell me what it was. She kept asking me to guess but when I did, she waved her finger at me and said "Maayyybeee you're right". I tell you, when its your birthday, its really quite irritating. But that was her intention anyway. Haha. We went hunting in PS for some mysterious thing.

Later, she told me she wanted to bring me somewhere to eat. And said that she had made reservations for 2 as some restaurant where you can bring outside food. The Chef is very personalized as well. It sounded like a dream restaurant. I couldn't wait. Well, she then said she had to park me somewhere before going to find the restaurant. After some negotiations we decided to hunt for the restaurant together.

Before that, she went into PS to buy 'something'. She told me not to look at what she brought and I didn't cause I didn't want to spoil my surprise. She said we had to find Fort canning road cause the restaurant was along the road. When we were near parkmall, she suddenly said that it was in Fort canning park instead of fort canning road. We then walked and walked and walked, climbed a thousand flights of stairs and then came to Fort canning park. Then she said, 'Oh no, what if the restaurant is gone.' She then said it was located in Fort canning green. When we reached Fort canning green, I saw a huge patch of dead grass.

'Oh no, could the restuarant have previously laid here and disappeared?' I thought to myself.

Well, she then said, 'Oh, you needed to go to the toilet right, I'll wait for you here, you go ahead and find the toilet in Fort canning centre.'

I went to find the toilet and when I came back, SURPRISE!

I found the restaurant where we could bring outside food into and better still, the personalised Chef.

Heres the restaurant and the food :)

And the candle light :)

And of course, the chef is secret and doesn't want to be revealed. Silly me, really thought that there was a nice restaurant that had candle light, allowed outside food and had a personalised chef with reservations made. But what I got was more than that, I've no complains at all and I feel so blessed. It was the sweetest KFC chicken I've ever ate.

The surprise didn't end there. After dinner, I was told to face the field and not turn back until I was told to. And yes, I didn't. When I turned back, I got a pleasant surprised.

12 Mochis with the words Happy 18 Love plus 2 candles on them. I can't say how touched I was. The mochi was excellent! And Mel painted every single one of the letters. Her efforts really won my heart. Oh yes, the Mochis were the secret something that we went round PS looking for.

Heres to show how happy I was.

After eating 4 Mochis, we were too full to go on. I really wished we could just sit there the whole day. But it was quite a weird place cause there were people coming in and out of Fort Canning Centre. We then went to sit on a bench beside the foot path. And there, we dreamt our night away. My poor baby could barely stay awake after all the efforts she took the surprise me and made me feel like the most special person to her.

To Mel, the best party planner:

I just wanna say a ginormous THANK YOU! for putting in so much efforts into planning the entire day out and for spending so much time painting the shoe for me and those little letters. It must have really been very difficult for you to hide the entire plan from me but you did it perfectly. I can't say enough how much I appreciate you doing this for me and me alone. 12 September 2008 will be a day I will never forget.

I remember when I was 12, my birthday wish was to spend a birthday with my beloved girlfriend. I imagined it would be under the stars. And baby, I didn't tell you that but somehow we ended up under the stars :). That day was like a dream turn reality. Thank you so much for making it happen!

I love you

Weekends.

On Saturday,
I went to rent a dvd titled "Fools Gold".
I then happily went to Mel's house to discover that the disc was faulty and it couldn't play.
There 5 dollars gone.
We spend half the day watching TV and then headed out to cityhall.

I went to meet Q at cityhall.
I wanted to go to bay beats with Mel but I told Merv I'll be going for Q cause I thought it was lesson.
I met Alexis and Nathanial first and then went to hunt for a wallet for Nathanial's friend's birthday.
It was quite a fun experience cause he really couldnt make up his mind.
Anyway, Q went to Settlers Cafe in SMU.
There were 6 of us in total, Merv, Small Jon, Alexis, Clifford, Me and Nathanial.
We ordered the deluxe package.

It comes with a basket of nuggets, Sotong balls and chicken wings + 6 drinks.
We played Bites Munchkin.
It was quite a fun game.
Anyway, we stayed there until about 10pm and then left.

After that, I got to meet my honeybee outside the Esplanade for Bay Beats :)
It really made my day.
Seeing her cheered me up.
We stayed until 11.50 and then left.
I only managed to catch Agrikulture.
It was an Indonesian band that was not bad.
We took our respective night bus home.
I had a really great time.
And it was my first experience on a night bus.


Yesterday,
I went to Comex 2008 with my dad.
After squeezing through the crowds, we managed to find what we wanted.
He got me a Western Digital 500gb external hard disk and a Creative 2.1 Speaker system.
Thanks Daddy!
Its my advance Birthday present, btw its on 12 September.

Today, I stayed home to study.
Mel came over and cheered me up :)

Hmm.

Once again my emotions have taken over me.
I'm going to sink myself in to typing an extra long post once again.

Here is a brief account of my week of examinations.
I'm not sure how I'll fair, I'm delighted with some yet horrified by other papers.

This examinations, I didn't feel stressed at all.
Not one bit.
While doing the papers I could still think about what I want to eat for dinner or what I wanted to do after the exams.
I'm not sure if that is a good or a bad thing.
For one, it helps me calm my mind down and remember things better (as proven in my geography, maths and physics paper).
But at the same time, it leads to me having a tendency to write slowly.

I'm a deep thinker, no doubts about that.
I think a lot, most of the time too much for my own good.
I can't help but do the paper slowly.
I can't do a question halfway and skip and come back later.
Once I start a question, my mind won't rest till it comes to an answer or explaination.
That is me, its not something I can change in a day.
Cause of that, I do my papers slower than others do.
I'm not saying I'm weird, I've just got a different personality.
But doing slow issint necessarily a bad thing.
For the quesitons I do, I secure most of the marks (applicable to Maths and Physics).
And its proven true from pass results.

Anyway, I really wish I could think faster.
I wish I could speak faster without tripping on my words so often.
I'm not a charismatic person.
I can't give good speeches or inspiring ones.
My team can testify to that.

Back to my papers.
GP is as usual uncertain.
Geography was alright, it was the first time I studied my casestudies for Physical Geog and its proved to be a life saver.
Econs was horrible, my first essay was good but the subsequent ones not up to my capabilities due to my slow brain and hands.
For physics, I could do most of the questions but I left 13/60 marks blank. Once again, due to lack of time.
Maths was the paper I was most satisfied with, its the first time I've completed a maths paper and feel reasonably confident. There were some mistakes that I've spotted but its a huge improvement.

One more week of study.
One more week of examinations.
I'll be 18 on the last day of my examinations.

Its going to signify a new stage of my life.
I'm looking forward to it.

Today, we celebrated teachers day.
I was disturbed by the loud chattering that went on during the prayer service.
I wanted to just let out a big "ssssssssssssshhhhh".
The concert in CJC had some pretty disappointing performances.
I shall not mention them.
I thought the Emcees did a great job in keeping us entertained.
The choir's performance deserves and honourable mention.

I went to BP after that.
We were stopped at the gate and told that we cannot enter.
The guard said, "Visiting hours are over, you cannot come in."
What!
After all that travelling, we're not even allowed to see our teachers.
It was ridiculous.
Anyway I called Mrs Chiang and she said she would come to the gate to see us.
Fortunately, the operation manager or some sort came and let us all in.
Its quite ridiculous that even on Teacher's day we're not allowed to enter.
Imagine how the teachers would feel.

I then walked in and saw Mrs Chiang and she asked how we got in.
Anyway she told us there was some food beside the canteen.
Along the way there, I met Mr Tom Chan, my red house Master.
He really took care of my when I was the house captain in BP.
It was really nice to see him again.
I felt like a jinx though.
JINXiong <- maybe its something to do with my chinese name.
Everytime I go back to BP, Tom Chan will end up injured.
The last time I went, he stepped on my feet and sprained his ankle.
This time his hand was sprained, cause of a soccer incident.

I then called Mr Chiam, my sec 3&4 form teacher, and went to find him.
I'm really worried about Mr Chiam.
He had a minor heart attack recently.
I can't stress enough how nice a teacher he is.
The sacrifices he made for our class cannot be quantified.
I remember the times he even offered to meet us in groups every Saturday just to help us catch up with maths.
He also willingly offers to treat us for lunch when we see him walking out of school.
Theres an endless things to say about him.
But the point is, He is someone really sincere and caring and treats us like his own children.

Anyway, once again, he offered to treat us all to lunch at Pastamania.
All 15 of his ex students who went back.
Imagine the cost of that.
But he was willing to.
We couldn't let him pay that amount and decided to get our orders when he went off to draw money.
We just couldn't.
I think he is really blessed to have such a close relationship with his students.

I came home and slacked a while.
I later went to Yewtee Primary School with Caleb and Benjamin to see Ms Gwei.
Its been a year since I last saw her.
I saw her on the MRT station at Yewtee the previous teacher's day.
Anyway, Benjamin's accent seemed so different from the last time I heard him speak.
Its been more than 3 years if I've not mistaken.

I was really happy to see Ms Gwei again.
She still look the same!
She looked similar to when we first saw her in Primary 5.
No wait, since my sister was in Primary 5, and Ms Gwei taught her.
Its amazing how she managed to maintain her looks after giving birth to her daughter who is now 6 years old.
We had a really long talk with Ms Gwei.
The conversation did not seem to pause.
I remember vividly, 2 years ago, we were in the same school talking about which JCs or Polys we wanted to go to.
Now, we're talking about which Universities we want to go to, NS, and our ambitions.
Its amazing how much we've grown.
Its even more amazing we still visit Ms Gwei after so long.
Its time like this that make teaching rewarding - seeing your students grow.
I miss her lessons.
After about 1 hour and 15 minutes of talks, it was time to part.
We said our last wishes and went off.

I must say this teacher's day was a really meaningful one.

FOP 2008.

Festival of Praise 2008 was a really special event.

Yesterday morning,
Something prompted me to asked Mel to come to FOP with me.
I was doubtful as to whether she would want to go with me or study.
But as I was in the service hall, I suddenly felt the strong conviction to ask her to come along.
And so I did.

When she replied, Where? When?
My face lit up.

She was fearful at first cause she has never been to FOP but she decided to come along with me.
I can't stress enough how delighted I was.

When we went into the Indoor stadium,
God took us away.
All our thoughts and feelings, they were all centered upon him.
I felt really horrible at some point.

I teared.

I felt like all this while, since the start of this year, I've really been very distant from God.
I've been feeling so dry.
Its now even so difficult just to pray.
But at that point, when the Parachute Band were singing in the background, I commited my life back to God.
I commited my time, my studies, my goals in life and everything else.

I forgot how important God was to me.
3 Years ago, in the same place and even, I shouted my hearts out to Him.
Yesterday, I lost my voice for Him.

I'm so glad to have my special someone with me.
To be able to worship God together, it was priceless.

We caught the last train to Boon Lay.
And at Jurong East, we caught the last train to Ang Mo Kio.
We almost gave up, but we hung on to the hope.
God will lead us home.

Lets go again next year, 31st July, 1st and 2nd August!
Hopefully, I won't be in camp.