Lessons from "Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber"

1. Use past experience to build for future success.
2. Treat others like how you want to be treated.
3. Do what is necessary, but always try to do what is right.
4. Find good mentors and true friends.
5. Do not lose your enthusiasm, ever.
6. To succeed, stay one step ahead of competition.
7. Good products and great customer experience are key.
8. Make time for family and loved ones before it's too late.
9. When you finally make it, remember to give back.
10. Hard work pays off.

The Gift of Healing

The air-conditioned auditorium was cold. Well, maybe not freezing cold, but I was trembling and shivering. It certainly felt colder than it really was. Little did I know that something amazing was about to happen to me and through me.

In the week before another year of university (referred to as “school” from here on. “Back to school” sounds much better than “back to university”) began, I went for Bethel School of Healing together with friends from school and church. Bethel Church is located in Redding, California (which happens to be where my exchange school next year will be yay!), and they were in Singapore for this inaugural training and teaching sessions on healing. Spiritual healing, of course.

I really enjoyed and learned a lot from the three-day seminar. While the day sessions were strictly by registrations, the evening sessions were free to public. In the second night, Chris Gore, one of the speakers, asked all the students to approach and pray for the people in the auditorium who were in need of healing. Over the past two days, I have seen many, many healing miracles with my own eyes, from eye floaters (those seeing black spots in their visions) being instantly healed to metal parts in the bodies being dissolved. But to be very honest, never in my wildest imagination that I dreamed of healing people with my own hands (or to be more precise, letting God heal people through my hands).

Those who know me well would be able to tell that I am more of an introvert. I hate having to approach people, let alone asking if I can pray for them. But since I had nothing to lose, and have learned a thing or two about healing (such as that it’s God who heals, not me, and that even Jesus didn’t pray sophisticated prayers when He healed people), I might as well give it a try. And so I did.

When Chris called for those who needed healing miracles, a big-sized, elderly uncle who sat just next to me raised his hands. Trembling (I like to tell people that I was freezing cold although that wasn't why I was trembling), I walked over and asked if I could pray for him. He did a double take, perhaps expecting older people, but agreed nonetheless. This was where things got interesting, definitely something I’ll never forget.

First, I asked what his problem was. It turned out that the uncle had a knee cartilage problem, which caused him to be unable to bend his knees. He was about 60 years old. And so I started praying for him. At first, I wanted to just lay my hands on him and pray. But seconds before Chris gave us a “go-ahead-and-pray”, I felt very strongly in my heart that I should tap on his knee instead. So I did. For about 20-30 seconds, I tapped on his knee while saying a simple prayer asking God to heal him. Things started to get weird. I could tell for sure that the moment I started praying for him, I felt heat on the palm of my hand. This was very funny because I was feeling cold all over but my hand felt very, very hot. I could also feel the uncle’s body trembling as we prayed.

When I finished, I asked the uncle whether he felt any better. To tell you the truth, I was very, very nervous. What if he said there was no improvement, that he still felt the pain? But doesn't matter, I thought. I did my part, and I wasn't going to steal the spotlight from God who was the one who healed. “Uncle, how do you feel?” I asked. His face said it all. He had this “what-the-heck-just-happened” face and, true enough, he said that he thought he had been healed. You won’t believe what happened next, but when Chris asked those who had been prayed for to try and see if the pain was still there, the uncle started lifting up his leg, then twisting it, then squatting up and down, and then running round the auditorium. That wasn't something that someone with knee cartilage problem could do! (he could barely walk before, just limping around) He looked like a child who just received a gift from his Father. And truly he did.

For my part, the joy that I felt was indescribable. I was literally tearing all over, giving thanks for what He has just done through me. I learned not to take credit for what He did, too. So yeah, it was really an experience to remember and I believe more will come. Looking forward to another year of adventure with my Father. God bless!

Kraing Thnong I'm in love

As some of you may know, I went for my first mission trip to Cambodia a couple of weeks ago. The exact destination was Kraing Thnong, a small village nestled in the outskirt of the town about an hour drive from the capital Phnom Penh. We were there for almost a week, teaching English, playing with the local kids, and interacting with the youths. While I'd love to share about the trip in detail, it's gonna take hours for me to put it down to words. So, I'll share only the most important takeaway from the six days I spent in Cambodia.

Surprisingly, God gave me a mindblowing revelation not on the last day but on the start of the second day when we had a Christmas session with the kids. As usual, I was the guitarist for the day. The session began with games and singalongs before one of our friends, Heidi, made the children sit down and listen to her animated storytelling of The Prodigal Son from the Bible. Kids being kids, they struggled to sit quietly and listen to Heidi. That was when the rest of the team was dispatched to watch after the kids and give out lollipops to those who behaved themselves and listened attentively.

This was the room we used, only packed with close to 200 children

As I made my round, I saw myself and the rest of humanity in how these children react to the control system we implemented. The kids who had their eyes and ears on Heidi were rewarded with lollipops we bought in the market earlier. For one thing, it was tough to decide if a kid deserved a lollipop. Yet what struck me was how the other children near the lollipop kid reacted. Some begged me for lollipops too. Others kept quiet but stared at the lollipop kid with envy. But one thing was common: all were distracted.

But one thing was common: all were distracted.

That was when God reminded me that more often than not, I am like that too. When God starts pouring blessings to people around me, I would feel jealous. I would start asking God why him or her? Why not me? I would start praying for blessings for myself too. But then God told me that what He desires the most in a moment like this was not prayers. Don't get me wrong here. God loves it when we pray and seek Him but sometimes what we need to unlock the windows of Heaven over our lives is to do exactly what the kid with lollipop did: stay focused on God and His story for our lives. If God calls you to be a cell group leader, do it with all your heart and your soul. If your calling is to be a teacher, give it your best and let the love of God flows through you to your students. When you focus on your calling and nothing else, God will reward you when you least expect it. Do not get distracted.

Sometimes what we need to unlock the windows of Heaven over our lives is to do exactly what the kid with lollipop did: stay focused on God and His story for our lives.

God also gave me another revelation from the same session. Among the clusters of distracted kids, there were a handful of overly attentive kids, mostly sitting in the first few rows, who didn't even notice us and our lollipops. To my surprise, I found myself not wanting to give any lollipop to these special children. Why? Because I did not want them to get distracted by the lollipops and lose their eyes from Heidi. The same goes for us too. Sometimes, we do not see God's blessings in our lives not because He does not love us. Perhaps He is sooo happy that we are sooo focused on Him that He chooses not to bless us right now because He knows that we might not be able to handle the abundant blessings He has in store for us yet. But does that mean that He won't bless us at all? Of course not. Just as how I would hand these special children two lollipops once Heidi finished her storytelling, so would God give us double portion of the blessing if only we are faithful to what He calls us to do, regardless of what it may be.

Perhaps He is sooo happy that we are sooo focused on Him that He chooses not to bless us right now because He knows that we might not be able to handle the abundant blessings He has in store for us yet.

So yes, I feel very blessed by the experience I gathered in Kraing Thnong, and I wish to return there again one day (next year maybe?)

God bless you all :)

Love is patient, love is kind. Love never fails.

April 4th, 2013. Here I am, sitting in front of my computer, trying to pen down my thoughts. It's been a while since the last time I blogged. More than two months ago, to be precise. Now, I'll try to write about something that's very dear to our hearts: Love.

As a child, all my notions about love came from songs and movies:

"Love is romantic."
"Love means holding hands with the girl I love."
"I will cross the ocean for love." 

... and many other cheesy lines. As a matter of fact, I didn't (and still don't) really talk about the matters of the heart with my parents, so I had to figure things out myself. Not that I was totally wrong, though. It's true that being romantic is one expression of love, but surely it's not everything. Fast forward ten years from then, the 21-year-old me now knows a little bit more about love. Many of what I'm going to write might still be wrong, but hopefully it's able to better portray love as what it really is.

Love means taking care of your better half, even when you don't feel like it

Yes, I'm also human with flaws and weaknesses. As much as I cherish my good days, I have my bad days too every now and then. In fact, despite coming across as a very rational and logical person, I often use my heart more than my head. Problem is, feelings do not always tell us the truth. It's so easy to be angry, even at someone we love, in one of our not-so-good days. The key to a lasting relationship really is understanding that our better halves have their own bad days too, and so to love them and take care of them anyway, regardless of whether we feel like it. After all, that's when our loved ones need us the most.

So, the next time your mom yells at you, please don't yell back. Maybe she just had a rough day at work, or maybe it is her time of the month. Or if the boy/girl that you like is not replying your text, please don't assume that he/she is not into you. Perhaps he/she is struggling with school work or family issue. The bottom line is: "Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle."

"Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle."

For love to last, don't build its foundation on things that don't

One thing I discovered as I grew up is that love is more than just loving feelings between boy and girl. Some of you would already be thinking that love is about commitment, wouldn't you? Sure, commitment is important to make any relationship works, but actually what you build your love relationship on is what matters the most.

"... what you build your love relationship on is what matters the most."

Okay, let me give you an example. Say, you base your love relationship on loving feelings and thrills, which is what many people will do. Sure, all these lovey-dovey feelings do feel good (been there, done that yup). But the question is, how long would the feeling last? One month? One year? How confident are you that you will stick with that person no matter what for the next 50, 60 years?

I used to think that any feelings that last longer than 4 months (yes, I WAS that shallow) are considered to have passed the test of time, and thus must be real feelings. I was wrong. Things eventually took turns for the worse, and the feeling was gone just like that. I learned that the length of the relationship / loving feelings should not be the foundation of my relationships.

So, what should a good foundation be? As an engineering student, I function most of the time by logic: what makes sense and what doesn't. Having said that, doesn't it make sense that if you want to build something that's supposed to last for the rest of your life, you will take extra care to build a solid foundation for it? This is where my points come in:

1. Don't seek love. When the right time comes, it will find you.
2. Instead, use your time to build a strong foundation for it.

As quoted from the wise King Solomon: "Don't awaken love until it pleases". Have faith that, when God thinks that you are ready for it, the right person will come at the right time. Meanwhile, focus on improving yourself in all that you do. If you play guitar, be better at it or pick up new instruments for your better half in the future. If you can't run a marathon, go out and train yourself to run for him/her. I believe that the best expression of love you can do if you are still single is to be a better person, if not for yourself, then for your significant one in the future.

"Have faith that, when God thinks that you are ready for it, the right person will come at the right time."

"... the best expression of love you can do if you are still single is to be a better person, if not for yourself, then for your significant one in the future."

As for the foundation that would last, I myself am building mine on the rock of faith. For me, it's not religion or Christianity that would remain at the end of the day. Instead, it's Whom you believe in that makes the world. I've been a Christian all my life, yet I discovered how true He is, the Person I place my trust in, only a few years ago. I've had experiences and encounters that can only make me very certain that He is real, that He exists. It's on this Person that I would build the foundation of my love relationship. After all, it's the only thing I know that would last.

Yes, love never fails, but only if it has a strong foundation. I know that when His time has come, the right person will come into my life. She might already be here, or is going to appear soon, that I do not know. But I know that she will come. I hope you will build your love relationship on God, too. Jesus bless you.

"Love never fails, but only if it has a strong foundation."

All About Your Heart

 

All About Your Heart

by Mindy Gledhill

 

I don't mind your odd behavior
It's the very thing I love
If you were an ice cream flavor
You would be my favorite one

 

My imagination sees you
Like a painting by Van Gogh
Starry nights and bright sunflowers
Follow you where you may go

 

Oh, I've loved you from the start
In every single way
And more each passing day

You are brighter than the stars
Believe me when I say
It's not about your scars
It's all about your heart

 

You're a butterfly held captive
Small and safe in your cocoon
Go on you can take your time
Time is said to heal all wounds

 

Oh, I've loved you from the start
In every single way
And more each passing day

You are brighter than the stars
Believe me when I say
It's not about your scars
It's all about your heart

 

Like a lock without a key
Like a mystery without a clue
There is no me if I cannot have you

 

Oh, I've loved you from the start
In every single way
And more each passing day

You are brighter than the stars
Believe me when I say
It's not about your scars
It's all about your heart

Family Portraits

2008

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

How did Bryan get back in the United States?

The Number One question I had after watching Taken.

Answer:

Granted, Bryan just killed, shot, maimed, stabbed, electrocuted, dumped overboard, and knocked out over two dozen people in his search for his daughter, but all of them were involved in the sex trade ring. Jean-Claude (Olivier Rabourdin), his old friend from French Intelligence, was on the receiving end of graft money for covering up the ring. The Albanians were the ones running it, and the remaining people were the buyers of kidnapped women for purposes of prostitution. None of them dared to turn in Bryan lest they implicate themselves. Only Jean-Claude's wife might be willing to talk, but to do so would cost her husband his cushy job and probably land him in jail. By the time anyone would have spoken up, if ever, Bryan was likely on his private jet winging his way back to Los Angeles. Once back in the States, the U.S. government isn't about to hand over one of their CIA operatives.

THE BEST MOVIE I HAVE EVER WATCHED

Can anyone guess what movie it is?

Bryan: I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.

Marko: [after a long pause] Good luck.

Simply the best movie ever. Can't wait to watch the second sequel.

How To Stay In Touch

From Huffington Post

"I don't often get to see or even talk to my closest friends from various stages of life (including the 16 who were my bridesmaids). But I stay connected with them -- and the thousands of others in my BlackBerry. The key is managing your friending: The more organized and accessible your friends' information, the easier it is to stay in touch. So you have to set calendar reminders for birthdays (I do it for anniversaries, too), and keep your address book up-to-date. And when someone pops into your mind, let them know, even if it's just with a 'Thinking of you' text. Don't let the moment pass; treat it as a reminder to reach out." 

-- Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, cofounder of the five-million-member Gilt Groupe; keeper of 16,500 BlackBerry contacts

LAC2201 Group Assignment: Chinese Audio Podcast

About our guest speaker:

Chen Minqi (陈旻祺) is Heizel's friend for five years. A native Hangzhou-born, Minqi moved to Singapore in 2007 under MOE school-based scholarship. Currently, Minqi is studying Computer Science at National University of Singapore.


Job scopes:

All of us put in equal amount of effort in the production of this audio podcast, but the following is the breakdown of our individual roles.

1. Searched for guest host: Heizel
2. Wrote the script: all of us
3. Hosted the podcast: all of us
4. Acted in the podcast: all of us

• Heizel as the Indonesian tourist
• Kevin Ardian as the restaurant owner and narrator
• Kevin as the giftshop owner and narrator
• Minqi as the local Chinese friend

5. Produced the audio file: all of us
6. Made edits: Heizel

Self reflections:

At first, we felt that this assignment was too difficult and time-consuming to do. We did not understand how it could help us in our Chinese-learning journey. However, it turns out that we were totally wrong.

Looking back, we had a lot of fun in brainstorming and coming up with ideas to put into our script. Some of our ideas were so crazy that we couldn’t help but to laugh at them. Also, we realize that the most difficult part was to find a time when all of us could meet up together to record the podcast. However, we were quite efficient as we didn’t spend too much time in recording the podcast.

Lastly, this experience has helped us in improving our Chinese-speaking abilities. Through our interaction with Minqi, we managed to pick up the correct pronunciations for some of the new words. We also had the opportunity to practice our speaking abilities. In addition, we ourselves learn some common conversations in China through our podcast, and we hope that the audience can benefit from our podcast as well. We would also like to specially thank our beloved 张老师 who has been extremely helpful and supportive with her feedbacks and guidance throughout.

Through this experience, we rediscovered our interests in learning Chinese. It was a humbling experience indeed. We also realize that we need to hone our Chinese further so that one day (hopefully) we may speak much better Chinese. We really hope that all of you enjoy listening to our podcast as much as we enjoy making it. 拜拜!

Beautiful in its time

Hola! Today is October 9th, 2012, which means that I've officially been a university student for more than two months. It's been a great journey so far. I've finally moved in to my own room in the boarding school. My grades so far are satisfactory. I've just finished my last midterm paper, too. Life is good.

National University of Singapore, my beloved school

To you who are reading this, perhaps you think that my life is too good to be true. However, few of you know what I went through in my first weeks after I moved back to Singapore this year. Right now, I want to tell you my story, of how it was God's grace alone that saw me through those dark days.


July 2012

It was the last few days of holiday before I had to fly back to Singapore. I was having lunch with my mom at Trans Studio Mall (formerly known as Bandung Super Mall) when the news came - I would have no place to stay in Singapore. As some of you might have known, I made an application to become an assistant hall tutor (sort of assistant teaching staff) in my boarding school in Singapore. Just when I thought my application was successful, I received the news that the teachers needed more time before confirming my place. Then the question was, where am I gonna stay while waiting for the decision to be made? An option might be to rent a room for a month before moving in to boarding school, provided my application succeeded. Yet, I spent hours searching for a room-for-rent, only to find that none of the owners were willing to rent their rooms for such a short period of time. Right until the day before my flight, I still had nowhere to stay. In the end, I decided to call my ex-teacher and asked if I could stay with her for a couple of days while I looked for a room to rent. Thankfully, she said yes, and so I ended up staying in her place for the next one month.

It was her birthday last week. Thank you madam, for everything J

August 2012

Although it was very nice of my ex-teacher to let me stay with her, it was far from the comfort I used to enjoy during the holiday. Back home, I had a bedroom with a queen-sized bed all for myself. Yet, I had to sleep on a fold-able mattress on the floor in my ex-teacher's place. That wasn't the end. At that time, I was going through a heartbreak, and since I missed all the orientations and camps, I virtually had no friends to talk with. I ended up sitting on the sofa all by myself in self-pity, wondering why all these happened to me. "Why me?", I asked God. As a perfectionist, I had visualized how my life would look like when I went back to Singapore - happily attached, made a lot of new friends, had my own comfortable room, and all the great things I could have had. So where did I go wrong, that I deserved such a tragic ending? Honestly, it was a very tough struggle for me. I had nothing to do whole day, since school was yet to start. I was still very sad after losing my significant one. Back then, I had two options. I could continue wallowing in self-pity and refused to accept the stark reality that I had lost everything, OR I could start reflecting on my experience and learned something from it. I'm not gonna lie - I chose the first one. For the next two weeks, I turned into an emo and bitter person with no purpose in life. There were moments when it was all too overwhelming that I really had to struggle just to hold back tears. I was tired, both emotionally and mentally.

The good life I have planned

Then came the watershed moment (i.e. turning point) to it. On one of the days, I was so free that I decided to read the story of Job in the Bible. Job used to have everything - wealth, happy family, social status, health - before God let Satan test him by taking everything he had. I thought that my story is similar to his, so perhaps there might be some things I could learn from him. (By the way, at the end of the story, God restored Job's life with twice as much blessings, so Job must have responded to his situation well.) So how did Job respond when everything he had was taken away? The answer can be found on Job 1:21.

And he said:
"Naked I came from my mother's womb,
And naked shall I return there.
The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away;
Blessed be the name of the LORD."

Right there, right then, I felt as if I was slapped on the face. What was my suffering compared to Job's? I'm still as healthy as ever. I have the best family anyone could ever ask for. I'm blessed more than most people are. If Job, in his great loss, could still praise God, why couldn't I?

After I finished reading the book of Job, I decided to change my attitude entirely. Whenever I felt sad, I would pray and worship God in songs and writings. Whenever I remembered my significant one, I would quietly pray for her in my heart. I told myself that God is more than able to change my situation in a blink of an eye. After all, my story with her was a miracle in itself. (How many people you know manage to escape the friendzone alive?) Truly, God gave and God took away; blessed be His name.

Yet another lesson I learned through all that happened

September 2012

So, did things suddenly got better from then on? No. In fact, things only got worse when I started talking less and less with her. There was no news about my assistant hall tutor application yet, either. If prayers are powerful, then why didn't it work for me? Why hasn't my situation got better? I struggled with that question before God spoke through my beloved aunt.

If you are evil, and a powerful prayer is coming towards you, what are you going to do? You will try to fight back to make the situation worse, right? What does it prove? Your prayer is so strong that evil actually fears.

There was no word to say how encouraged and strengthened I was by my aunt. Holding on to His promise, I moved forward in faith to where I am today.


October 2012

Back to the present, today marks 70th day of my walk with God here in Singapore. It has not been easy, but looking back, it was well worth the pain. To cut the long story short, God has been challenging me in a few areas of my life since August. His plan was made known to me through the Bible verses He gave me along the way. I'd like to share some of them with you here.

Fear not, for I am with you. (Isaiah 41:10)

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (Matthew 6:33)

Be still, and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10)

If there is one thing that has kept me going, it must be His Word from the Bible. Everyday when I read the Bible in my quiet time, I was constantly reminded of God's love and mercy in my life, and that He has the best plan for me. God is good, yeah?


Right now, I'm sitting for a test of faith from God. I can't tell you the story in detail, but I believe that He will give me the strength to pass the test in flying colors. But don't worry, I would surely share the good news with all of you once the test is over. So yeah, that's all I have to say. I want to end this writing with another verse from the Bible, which is found in Ephesians 3:20.

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.

Keep praying, keep believing, keep strengthening one another in faith. I hope you are blessed with what you just read. If you are, please share this message so that more people will have their lives touched as well. Jesus bless you. J

我的最好(zuì hǎo: best)的生日。

去年是我的十九岁生日。那是我最好的生日。 我的出生日是一九九二年二月十六日， 属猴。 二月十五日星期六晚上，我跟我的好朋友伊万 (Ivan) 去教会 (Jiàohuì: church) ，十一点才回宿舍 ，很累。 我的朋友们都一直在等待 (yìzhí zài děngdài: have been waiting) 我们回来。当我们回到宿舍时，他们给我一个惊喜派对 (jīngxǐ pàiduì: surprise party) 。 有十八个人， 都是印尼人 (Yìnní rén: Indonesian) 。 他们祝我生日快乐，唱生日快乐歌，也送我一个大可可 (kěkě: cocoa) 蛋糕，又漂亮又好吃！我们一起 (yīqǐ: together) 玩儿，当然我们很高兴。

我的惊喜派对

我吹生日蜡烛 (chuī shēngrì làzhú:  blowing birthday candles  )

我和我的好朋友

第二天 (dì èr tiān: the next day) 是星期日，是假期 (jiàqī: holiday) ，我们不上课。我们要在早上去游泳 ，但 (dàn: but) 下雨 (xià yǔ: raining) ， 所以 (suǒyǐ: so) 我们不能去游泳。到了下午，朋友们 参加我在糖水吧 (Sweet Dynasty Cafetaria) 的生日聚会

糖水吧 (Sweet Dynasty Cafetaria)

我用了Groupon 优惠券 (yōuhuì quàn: coupon) ，有三折 (sān zhé: 70% discount) ， 所以我没有花 (huā: to spend) 太多的钱。包括 （bāokuò: including) 我 , 有八个人参加。我们吃西式餐点 （xīshì cān diǎn: Western food ），喝冰水 (bīng shuǐ: ice water) ，也吃甜点 （tiándiǎn: dessert) 。

烤鸡扒 (kǎo jī bā: grilled chicken steak)

炸鱼片 (zhà yú piàn: fish and chips)

芒果汁 (mángguǒ zhī: mango juice)

在回家之前 (zhīqián: before) ， 我们一起拍照 (pāizhào: take a photograph) 。我喜欢跟我的好朋友们庆祝 (qìngzhù: celebrate) 我的生日。（４０２ 字）

友谊地久天长
(yǒuyì dì jiǔ tiāncháng: friendship lasting forever)

A glimpse of my first day as a uni student

Hello. Last Monday was officially my first day as an NUS student. To tell you frankly, it wasn’t that bad. The first lecture was 2 hours of Marketing from 9 to 11 am (very early, I know). The prof has a funny Singlish accent, which made it difficult at first to absorb what he was saying. Nevertheless, after the first hour has passed, I was already more comfortable with his teaching style. Despite not knowing anyone in the lecture, I found the class interesting (maybe cos I’m into this kind of business-related stuffs). It also turned out that the prof was the co-author of the textbook we are going to use for this semester. Cool huh? But it won’t sound cool anymore if I tell you that the book cost me $53 (that’s after discount already). That’s enough $$$ to go for sushi buffet three times. L

Da book

After that, I was supposed to have an English class for Critical Thinking and Writing, but fortunately (or unfortunately) the class was cancelled, leaving me with 5 hours of free and easy before the next class started. However, I had to attend a placement test for my Chinese class before heading for lunch. The test was so hard, I gave up halfway. Thanks to the test, I was late for a lunch appointment with my Chemical Engineering (Chem Eng) buddies. In the end, I had my lunch alone. Luckily the food was good, as I will eat this food for the next four years.

After lunch, I decided to spend the rest of my free time in the library where I met Novi. She was sleeping (lol) when I saw her in the snack corner. I read my new marketing book while waiting for her to wake up. We then talked about many things, including her question “If a guy likes a girl, what would he want her to give him?” Weird, I know. Haha. But time flew as we talked, and it was time for Math lecture (yay or boo?)

We had two hours of Math. It was good cos I got to sit with our other Chem Eng friends (Ivan, Novi, Marcella, Icha). The lecturer for this module had decent English grammatically, but his thick Chinese accent made it hard to catch what he said. For instance, his pronunciation of “down” sounded like “tongue”. His intonation was also very flat and had a dozing effect. Bad, bad news for me, since Math isn’t my strongest subject. Well, guess it just means that I must put in more effort in this subject.

That’s pretty much how my first day went. Not so bad, right? Will write another post about the dance open classes I went for in that week next time. That’s all for now folks! Jesus bless you all J

Bonus: my timetable (assuming my balloting is successful). If you notice, I always have a day or two off after two days of school e.g. Mon-Tue school, Wed holiday, Thurs-Fri school, Sat-Sun holiday. Good life huh...

What happened last week (part I)

Hi again. Just came back from church on a Saturday night. Tired, but feel like I should write another blog post. God has done so many miracles in my life recently, and I want to share some of them. It may get a little personal, so here we go.


1. Jesus healed my broken heart

It's like stating the obvious. From my past few posts, I'm sure anyone can tell that I've just had a heartbreaking experience. I don't want to go into the detail. It doesn't really matter now anyway. There is this close friend I've had a crush on for like forever. Things went well at first, but as times passed by, we realized that it wasn't gonna work out anymore between us. We decided to end it there and then, but I guess I was the one left with a worse heartbreak. There were days when I was so depressed, all I could do was praying and reading the Bible. At times, it was also hard to withhold tears from flowing. As pathetic as it may sound, I would break down in the shower when the painful feelings got to its worst. It was all regret and sadness back then.

However, looking back, there were positive sides to the experience as well. During those days, I managed to finish the whole book of Job and Psalm in just a few days. I'm gonna move on to Matthew, and then Rome, very soon. I also got as close to Jesus as ever, spending way more time in prayer than before. I drew strength from His Word as well as from singing worship songs whenever and wherever I could. Talking to my friends and family helped a lot, too. Right now, I'm already feeling much better, although it may take some time for the wound to heal completely. It was so painful, trust me. Nonetheless, the whole experience has drawn me closer to Jesus in every aspect. Thus, I know for sure that this is all part of His plan for me. Learn to be thankful. As Pastor Phil shared in church this evening, "Don't underestimate the power of a grateful heart."


2. Jesus healed my body

Besides the painful heartbreak, I had been struggling with health issues in this past week as well. As some of you may have known, every freshman student at NUS has to undergone a medical test before enrolling into the university. I first took the test in May this year. I breezed through the stations with confidence, only to find that there was a problem with my urine test result. After consulting the doctor, I discovered that my urine sample contained excessive amount of blood, which wasn't a good news at all. The doctor advised me to repeat the test as soon as I was back in Singapore. Then, on the first day of August, I came back to the University Health Center (UHC) to repeat my test.

I felt neither anxious nor afraid, as I thought I was just unlucky the other day. I was wrong. When the result was released, the concentration of blood in the urine sample increased compared to the last time. To give you a clearer picture, normal people should only have 0-3 part of blood in their urine sample. The result for my second test revealed that my urine sample contained 150 part of blood. It was 50 times that of a normal person. If you think that it wasn't a big deal, you were wrong once again. High level of blood in the urine sample may be linked to serious diseases such as kidney stones, urinary tract infection, or even cancers. Bad news.

This time round, the doctor asked me to see a specialist immediately, to which I objected. Besides the likely exorbitant cost it might incur, I shuddered at the possibility of having to suffer serious illnesses. Instead, I requested to take the test for the third time. I then spent the next one week drinking bottles after bottles of water because I thought it could help to dissolve the blood. I couldn't do any exercise either, as it might affect the result of the test. My parents were equally worried, if not more. I told them to prepare for the worst if I failed the test again. We prayed hard, asking Jesus to touch and heal me from whatever had caused the excessive blood level. When the day for the repeat test came, I surrendered everything to Him. Did all I could: drinking water like camels, saying 'no' to futsal, and so on. The rest was His, I prayed. Truly, our God is One who never disappoints. It turned out that the test was my third and last. In only one week, my blood level dropped from 150 to zero. Praise the Lord!


Right now, I've been praying hard, asking God what He wants me to do next. Here is the verse that I got from Him:

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and ALL these things shall be added to you." - Matthew 6:33

Yup, I'll use this opportunity to hone my faith in Jesus. After all, as a friend told me, talking to God about the person is more powerful than talking to the person herself. Pray hard, move on with life, and perhaps one day miracles will happen in my life. I'll close with this verse from Matthew:

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." - Matthew 7:7

Christ bless you all :)

Maroon 5 - Payphone

I must say this is one of my favorite songs of all time. At first, I didn't pay much attention to the lyrics. Now that I do, I realize how similar the lyrics is to my own story. Allow me to go through the lyrics, line by line. I promise this won't be an emo post. I hope you don't have to go through the same experience as me :)

"Home" is your heart, and "all of my change" means my everything. I gave it my all, trying to reach your heart.

We used to share good times together, but everything just seems wrong, now that you left. What were plans would have to remain as plans, never to become our reality.

It's just so easy to lose ourselves as we move on with our new lives. There will come a time when we won't even recognize ourselves as we look back to how we used to be.

I really struggled hard to accept the bitter truth that you will never be mine, that we are never destined to be together.

I never dared to ask you for a second chance. When you told me it's not gonna work out, deep inside I was longing for another chance to make it right this time. But I never had it.

If only you said yes, we could have been happy together now. Yet, here I am, trying desperately to save whatever friendship remains between us.

Not really. I believe everything happened for a purpose. I don't know what it is, but I believe He knows what He's doing. But I can't deny that I was totally "paralyzed", devastated and heartbroken when you "turned out the lights", ending whatever happily-ever-after stories we could have had.

Yeah, even the most beautiful story has to end someday. It was love, wasn't it? Too bad something has to come around and screw everything up.

Nah. Not for me at least. I have lost you. Why should I believe in the happy ever after lie?

Some stories are just too good to be true, including ours.

Yeah, I know the future looks so much more fun and exciting for you. But please, never forget who or what was behind you. You wouldn't be where you are if not for them, you know.

I did. And when you decided to threw it away, it hurt like hell.

I wasn't fine. Far from it. I really liked you, so how can you expect me to be fine when I lost you? But you don't have to worry, because I will be alright. I will...

I hope this won't happen to us. We lost the love. Don't let the friendship burn down too.

Now I'm at the Payphone...

I'll still be here. Just look back, and I'll be there for you...