I think I'm going to miss the lifestyle of a student liaison officer at the Asian Youth Games. Waking up early in the morning, skipping lessons and heading straight to Swissotel to sign in and have free hotel breakfast :) On certain days, breakfast was good. The others were alright, like fried bee-hoon that was really dry. Nonetheless the bread's fresh and butter's good!! Then I would meet Kiat and Mr Khoo and head off to Singapore Table Tennis Association to watch over the vietnam team and also free seating in the spectators' stands :) That's what I like about being a volunteer, you won't have to pay any entrance fees, just show your card, step right in and you'll get a glimpse of Asia's talents.

After table tennis, we would take the shuttle bus back to the Games Village for lunch. Lunch provided has usually great food, well to be specific, great DESSERT. The other day I was having mango pudding it was mmh mmh. After lunch, we would report to Mr Tahir and meet the Vietnam Athletics team. We would then take a bus down to RI(JC) where the athletes would do their warm-ups before their actual event at Bishan Stadium. There we would stone and look around, smile at the Vietnamese athletes and give them some needed support.

When all the athletes have been called, we would then take the shuttle bus back to Bishan stadium to catch the day's races and events (well, for free of course) We would do some cheering on for the athletes and get 'live' action. The rest are all of my facebook- the athletes, events, running and everything we've experienced.

Sorry if I've not been able to talk to you for the past few days. It's just that we reach home at nine at night and we're really tired after the long day... so yea just don't feel like talking much online or on facebook. The games will officially close next Tuesday and everything will be back to normal again. Alright i'm having a bad cough I'm going to rest now. Till then take care everyone!

It's amazing and it felt totally unbelievable for me! My very first Christian post that's featured both on the front page of xanga and revelife! I was shouting and screaming for joy (sorry 'bout that) in my room and I'm just too excited. You can read it here.


On the front page of xanga


Yay!


A few of the comments posted by the community...

The lack of the fear of God is a big problem among non-Christians this generation. People live as if God is not present to reward, discipline, punish or worship. The problem is exaggerated because many Christians do not believe that they should fear God either. There are at least two reasons for this.

1) They have a distorted view of the fear of God.
Many think the 'fear of God' means that they are to be scared of God. There are two senses to this, one being wrong; the other being right.

Wrong view: For some, the 'fear of God' portrays an image of God who doesn't care about those around them and does whatever He wants when He wants. The elicited response to such a representation is to fearfully stay as far away as possible from him. This of course is an unbiblical viewpoint of God who cares for His people. A few verses which affirm this are below.

"Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God." (Romans 5:1-2).

"Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:16).

2) They have a distorted view of the love of God.
Others believe the love of God has eliminated the need for the 'fear of God.' They believe God has revealed His love through Christ so that the fear of God is no longer needed. In fact, they would contend that holding to the fear of God somehow restricts God's child in knowing the full potential of His love. They would state that the love of God and the fear of God are mutually exclusive apprehensions of God. If one fears God, then he does not really know the love of God.

This problem partly stems from problems below.

They interpret the fear of God to mean bully instead of awesome

Their concept of the love of God is this over-patronizing image which only affirms and never chastises. These people ignorantly suppose the God of the OT to be wrathful and fearsome while the NT image being loving and all-accepting. Some of these people focus on God being like a warm Mom rather than a mean Dad. Usually these people have a problem with understanding and appreciating God's authority and also want to legitimize their own self-expression.

In fact, believers are not to be scared of God. We have no reason to be scared of Him. We have His promise that nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8:38-39). We have His promise that He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). Fearing God means having such a reverence for Him that it has a great impact on the way we live our lives. The fear of God is respecting Him, obeying Him, submitting to His discipline, and worshipping Him in awe.

So why fear God?

Simply because God will move and great faith trembles.

"And because of the majesty that [God] gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. Whomever he wished, he executed; whomever he wished, he kept alive; whomever he wished, he set up; and whomever he wished, he put down." (Daniel 5:19)

As Christians we need a very healthy respect and fear for God and His Holiness. We actually need to have somewhat of a fear for God so that we don't take Him and His Word lightly and casually. We should fear God in the manner indicated in the Bible. Do not take God for granted! Do you?

To read Part 1, go here

It's been a week since I managed to get out for my usual walk in the blissful woodland near our home. The weather had been wet and breezy for a few days, and so when I last visited the ancient forest, the river had burst it's banks and it left large swathes of the woodland under water. The last few days have been absolutely serene spring days, with bright sunshine and crisp gentle breezes... so I stirred myself this morning and got myself out for my woodland walk. However, this time I brought along my pet dogs, Bud and Cherry!

There they are cuddling with each other during one of their nap times. They're twins actually. I got the both of them as a gift for my 13th birthday when they were only 2 months old. Well, my aunt knew I yearned to own pet dogs and so she bought them for me. They'll sleep by my bedside every night. On some mornings I'll wake up to them licking my face or just wetting the bed on really bad mornings.

And so as we walked deeper into the woodland, memories started to fill my head. Somewhere towards the north of this woodland was a small residential area which includes 3 or 4 houses clumped beside one another. We used to stay with my Auntie every Christmas, in her enormous old Queenslander. Equally enormous was her backyard, with a giant oak tree as its centre-piece. We used to play in its branches when we were kids, pretending it was our secret hide-out from whatever bad guys we were dreaming up at the time. Those branches were like elephant tusks, strong and far-reaching over the tall long grass. Inside the house there was a spacious kitchen and living room, a large TV room, five bedrooms and two bathrooms and all this for a woman who for most of the year lived alone. Ahh, good times good times.

Anyways, the walk was sure rejuvenating. The three of us soaked in the richness and 'freshness' of everything Mother Nature had to offer. Well, I'm not going to describe the things we saw because most likely you would have been to any nature reserve or garden and yea, I don't think this differs much from yours. (Well as far as I believe...) Nonetheless, it's been rather warm the past few days. I guess global warming's taking its toll on us living in the country where there's not much shelter outside, just rich green fields without towering buildings and skyscrapers over our heads. Fingers should not be pointed at us country-ers as we don't even live on excess and as to what I believe, we don't contribute much to global warming- well except for the cows and their farts. But hey at least we don't emit large amounts of 'poisonous gases' into the atmosphere! Gee, the warm weather's slowly turning into sweltering heat, I'm drenched as I'm penning down this.


Sure is magnificent in the early mornings

The other day in school, our English teacher Ms Reese asked the class what love meant to us. Norman answered, “Love is when my mom makes coffee for my dad and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is okay.” The class stared awkwardly at him. Norman's my best friend since 2nd grade. When I first met him I thought of him as being a rather small boy with a medium build for his age. He has hazel-brown hair, matching eyes, normal ears, nose and mouth. All of these sit on a rather thin neck which perches on his shoulders. After making friends with Norman, you wouldn't really be able to apprehend how talkative and humorous he is. If you are feeling down, he could cheer you up in a matter of seconds. Everyone who knows Norman will certainly agree with me. He is hard to dislike; he is also very excitable and outgoing, and he is also very reliable. But in this case, he was just being plain weird.

Sherie made this for me the previous Valentine's Day

“Love is when my mom makes coffee for my dad and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is okay.” Is that what love really is? I've not seen my dad … Okay never mind, and so I went to the library after school hours to read up on this topic of Love. This confusing, ground-breaking, bombastic 'Love' that's on everyone's lips- and it's true that many people do not comprehend the underlining meaning of the word. And pretty much I include myself as one of those clueless ones... They say “Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.” Well, coming from the book it might be true. I've realised my mom coming home from work each day all tired and weary (c'mon which working adult doesn't). My sister and I would always surprise her at the doorstep with a different gesture on a different day. It never fails to make my mother laugh or beam. Is that what love truly is? A simple act to a loved one to show that you care for them? If that certainly is, then gee we've been sub-consciously loving her all this while even when we thought we haven't done 'much' for her.

I don't know but have you experienced true love before? I don't know it could have been with your family member, your close friends or your siblings... What does love mean to you? Can someone answer my question?

Today was eventful. In fact, I've been having quite a lot of fun this June holidays as I attempt to make it the most memorable of all June Holidays I've had- it being the last of my life, next year it'll just be spent on plain mugging for 'O' Levels and the next would be Junior College (assuming that I'll enter JC) I'd have exams right after the holidays so I'll be pretty much mugging my butt off with a few friends. It doesn't seem that far away but we'll face be facing A' Levels in 3 years... I've had a smile on my face as I wake up every single day, a far cry from average schooldays- that itself speak volumes about how I've enjoyed my holidays so far. You don't smile so much during schooldays or work do you?

Anyways, I've been going out pretty much everyday, and on alternate days I would spend a few hours catching up with homework and Alternative Assessments projects (It's just right that I do some studying during the hols). I've gone out shopping with my sister mostly at VivoCity haha it's fun really, she bought me one or two new shirts and tee from Topman, stores here and there. Also 've been to dinner with family and so far our favourite dining places include Ikea Alexandra (the meatballs are !!), Han's, Anchorpoint and of course the family's old fav Bak Kut Teh at Alexandra Road. If you're scratching your head at the term 'Bak Kut Teh', 'prolly 'cause you're not local, you might want to read more here.


like, YUM.

Yea and just today went to town again, this time Lido with Leyong, Pipeng and Sam to complete our AAs. Had loadsa fun there with my laptop (certainly not what you're thinking of you 'lil punk) haha Pipeng and I walked around Taka/Kinokuniya after buying stuff we need from ArtFriend. Jovan came over when we were finished with what we had to do and guess what we started walking around again. Walked back to Taka where Zara and Pull and Bear is. Sales up to 30% are on but nothing much this season. I'm not allowed to buy anymore clothes anyways hahaha my mom 'forbid' me after I bought quite a few but wore none. Yea and afterwards we took a ride from Jovan to Paradiz where we played Counter-Strike heh. Beat 115 kills in 20 minutes for Ice World wahaha



Okayyy... Do you like this photograph? If you do tell me alright haha, the shot was taken by ... The name of the photo is 'Solitude', I guess that person's in solitude no more I was just reading Featured Blogs and a topic caught my eye, 'Men Are Under-Appreciated'. Read it here. One of the first few (and only?) females I've heard openly saying that statement. Ladies, is it really true? Your call. Have a great day!