thanks to 2012

at the end of every year, my church will have a thanksgiving service, a service whereby the floor is open for anyone to share their thanksgiving for the year. normally, i get away with having to share because i was manning the sound system. this year, i got a break from having to do sound as i was playing the piano instead (how it went is a story for another time! haha)..

so this year, i decided to share. and rather than having the awkward wait for the first few volunteers, i decided to step up straight away. i always reckon the least i can do is to volunteer and encourage others to follow suit too.

so i shared 3 thanksgiving...

#1 UK trip
thank God for giving me the opportunity to take a semi-solo trip to the UK. stepping out of the comfort zone alone, i cant depend on anyone, not even myself since i dunno anything about the UK. it's really a time when i just depend on God to guide me, to ensure that i dont get lost, i dont get myself into trouble. it was really a good trip, with nothing bad happened at all. not even when i forgot to bring along my room key when i head to the shower. when i remembered that i left my keys on the bed as i prepare my shower stuff, i stood outside the room door and dread having to go down to the counter and get someone to open the door for me. but in a very interesting turn of event, it turned out that the properly function self shutting door didnt close properly, and it just swung open as i push the door to try my luck.

#2 keyboard
thank God for giving me the opportunity to learn how to play the keyboard. more than just to serve in the worship team, i think knowing how to play the basic allows me to spend more time with God. rather than spending time watching tv or on the net, i spent more time with God just playing and singing along.

#3 what people perceived as bad things happening
so... usually, people always thank God for the good, and somehow, the bad is often forgotten. of course i wont lie, if i had a choice, i would hope that my life will all be good. but "bad" things happen for a reason. there's always some form of lesson behind it. the only difference is how soon you see what you are suppose to learn out of it. sometimes hours later. sometimes weeks. and i bet there are some things that when your time on this earth is up, you might not figure out why God allows it to happen. (if you are interested to find out why God allows bad things to happen, contact me separately and ill be happy to share!) anyway, for me, this year had been a year of ups and downs, a year whereby i reflect on my life and see what God is trying to teach me, and the good thing is i took away quite a few things and hopefully, i can work on them.

who says school isnt fun?

for no reason, i suddenly wondered what did i do during uni.. and randomly came across a group chat with amy and dawn..

with friends like this, who says schooling isnt fun??

signs of old age #1

if i have something about myself that im proud about, i take pride in my ability to organize my time and plans with little help needed from organizers or technology. i am always someone who was able to see and remember the details, right down to the minor ones. im also someone who knows exactly what's engagements i have and at my prime, i was even able to remember those closer to me.

however, it seems like recently, i been losing this part of me. on the not so good days, i would only remember my engagement at the last minute, or realized too late that i got the details wrong.

just this month, i have various weddings and christmas related gatherings to attend. and you think that with a smartphone, it should be a breeze getting things organized. no.. i kept getting the start time of the weddings wrong which resulted in me having to rush off from one for another engagement, and not attending another one cause i kinda end up double booking the time.

it was so bad that my friend thought i double booked another day and i actually believed that i did even though i didnt..

losers' association

it's funny how i always seem to be able to relate to the typical "loser" characters from hollywood shows. i dunno if it's because i pay more attention to certain traits from these characters, resulting in me wondering why is the character so much like me? for a long while, it was tom from 500 days of summer, and lately, with the "new" show i been following, it seems like ted mosby is like me!

of course, im sure i am very different from them in many ways too, and im not going to follow what they do in their fake film life. still.. somehow, being able to relate to "someone" else is strangely comforting.

goodbye sheba

so most singaporeans should know by now that our one of two polar bears has sadly passed away. http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/polar-bear-sheba-dies-age-35-the-singapore-zoo-20121115

Sheba with her cub, Inuka, when he was less than a year old. -- PHOTO: SINGAPORE ZOO

my closer friends would know that im very fond of silly looking furry animals, such as golden retrievers and koalas. i think my favourite of them all animals would be the polar bears. they just look so silly with their big black nose and white hair (or is it fur?)

anyway, it is quite sad news finding out about the passing of one of the zoo's icon. i remember my first encounter with this friendly giant was way back in kindergarten, during my first of many school excursions to the zoo. it's just so interesting how animals have their own way to relate to one another too. like how Inuka (her son) growl at Sheba during her last few hours, and realized something was wrong the she didnt growl back like she normally would. like how they had to be separated during the last few days and Inuka will pop his head through the bars to have his mother-son bonding time.

it's sad that Sheba wont get to move into her new home at the River Safari, which opens next year. guess inuka would have to live there alone now..


what is it like living alone?

this is a question that i have always thought about. a bit scary i must say. i remember back towards the end of my year long unemployment, i was offered finally offered a job, a management trainee position for an education company. the catch was that i have to work in vietnam for at least two years, and that i have to decide and leave singapore within two weeks. it's a bit strange that they allow people to consider relocating for some time within such a short time frame, but it is a reputable company with businesses across asia.

a big consideration back then was the fact that i have to be apart with my friends and love ones for such a long time, can i do it? of course, this was the deal breaker in the end, but i wouldnt be able to continue my thoughts-out-loud if i leave it at that. of course, another thing i thought about during that weekend afterwhich i have to decide was what will i be doing if i choose to go.

i must say today i kinda lived out what it might have been like. to wake up when i feel like on a rest day, grabbing some simple food for brunch and plop myself in front of the laptop watching a comedy series (HIMYM in today's case). grab my sweater and go catch a movie by myself (skyfall which was pretty good!) and to decide whether i should take the easy way out of eating fast food for dinner or grabbing groceries and cook for myself. i did the latter though i think im getting messier during cooking after a long lapse of not cooking. end the day by washing the dishes, making a cup of camomile tea and plopping in front of my laptop for some more episodes and to blog about my day.

seeing how things turned out since, i wonder if i knew back then, would i stay or would i go? would my life turn out like today as i imagine it to be, or would it be drastically different?

2nd year completed...

2 years ago, i finally decided to commit to a seemingly challenging 8 years long bible study (it has since become 9 years with the introduction of a year study on revelations). if the length of time isnt scary enough, the organization doing this has a very strict policy on absentees. miss a few classes and you will be nicely "asked" to give up your space for someone who is more willing to learn. i never had any issue with this in any case, it is true, if you arent able to make it, give it up for someone for their benefit.

anyway, so today marked the end of year 2, and the last class was a grand sharing by all the people, about what they have learned this year from the acts of the apostles. so one of the guy from my small group went up and shared, which i hope i will remember for a long time to come, had to rephrase what he said since i cant remember exactly but...

"it is through difficult times that we naturally and instinctively draw near to God. in times like this, where things are beyond our control, we can only rely on God to pull us through. trials that are exceptional bad now, but some day in the future, you look back and all these things will seem so insignificant..."

as i push on through another difficult and trying year, i'll constantly remind myself that at the end, all these will seem so insignificant. in the meantime, relying on God is the only way i'll survive.