Devotion, 17 March 2014

Last evening, wifey and I was doing our devotion and she shared her insights from the passage of Deut 30:1-16. It says


“When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the LORD your God disperses you among the nations, 2 and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, 3 then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes[a] and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. 4 Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the LORD your God will gather you and bring you back. 5 He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors. 6 The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. 7 The LORD your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you. 8 You will again obey the LORD and follow all his commands I am giving you today. 9 Then the LORD your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The LORD will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your ancestors, 10 if you obey the LORD your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

11 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.”

I was very blessed by her sharing and I pray that she continue to delight herself in the Word and presence of the Lord as we consecrate our time for Jesus.

Indeed, one word from God is better than a thousand from mere man.

bistro-QUET!

On Wednesday, wifey and I went for dinner at Bistroquet.

We wanted to use up our vouchers before we forget about them and after our unsuccessful attempt

to eat there on Saturday (they were closed!) we are glad that they were open on that night.

I have read a bit of reviews before coming over so I knew what are the recommendations there .I have this habit of reading up reviews/forums before trying a new restaurant or buying any products.

Once there, we ordered their BBQ wings,

Black truffle fungi white pizza

Nice!

And how can we miss dearie’s favourite,  Aglio Oglio with ham.



this is real spicy



The total cost was $49.95 so we used $30 vouchers to offset and paid the rest of $19.95. It was a nice meal.

nice aglio makes her happy...

After dinner, we went to have a stroll at the Maple Tree Business Centre behind ARC. It was a nicely landscaped area and very windy.We sat down by the pond and chatted for awhile before heading home to rest. 

Saturday at ARC

Last Saturday, wifey and I woke up relatively early so we went to MacDonald’s at ARC for breakfast.

That was the first time we ate there and it was a good experience.

As usual, I had the big breakfast + hotcakes combo while wifey had the hotcakes meal.

We just relax and chit chat while having our breakfast, enjoying the time we get to spend together.

After breakfast, we went to take part in the ARC lucky dip and won a $20 ARC vouchers and a $10 Bistroquette food voucher! Marvellous ;o)

I got to know about this lucky dip when I received their mailer a couple of weeks back. I kept the brochure thinking to myself that I will go over if I have the time. I am glad I did.

After the lucky dip, we went home to play with the kids before starting on my household chores. The floor was really dusty after days of strong wind so I gave it a thorough clean over.

We went to Orchard for our dinner and we had the Assam fish set at Le Meridien. We still miss the food there since Nexus days and it’s always nice to go back there once in a while.

After dinner, we went to Robinsons where wifey bought a pair of shoes and left soon after. I had wanted to catch the Liverpool vs. Arsenal game at the pub behind the bus stop but then decided against it. Went back to rest early instead.

Movie Nite!

The past 2 nights have been “Movie Nights” for wifey and me.

Thanks to 2 pairs of vouchers from Mike, we are able to catch 2 movies for free!
On Wednesday, we watched “Jack Ryan : Shadow Recruit”

And last night, we watched “The Wolf of Wall Street”

I enjoyed the shows, although we reached home rather late on both nights.

Oh and we also tried Robert Timms for the very first time on Wednesday, just before the movie. Have always wanted to try RT so wifey treated me.

#BringingWeekendsCloser#datingmywifey

Returning THE BOX

Last Sunday, I made a decision to return my MIO TV setup box thereby effectively terminating our many years of relationship.

The upcoming upward price revision was the main catalyst for that decision as it meant that I will have to pay about twice as much to watch BPL if I were to carry on. (from $30 to about $65)

I struggled and weighed the pros and cons before coming to the final decision of termination and even my mio box was returned on the very last day of my existing contract so that I can extract maximum benefit from it.

So what now?

I am actually quite cool that I will be starved of watching BPL for the time being but the fact that dad will no longer be coming down to watch the games together made it quite sad for me as I would imagine there would be many Manchester United matches he will hope to watch. I will also miss the bonding time we share together watching the games over the years.

Then again, by not watching late night soccer games, he can now rest earlier and it can only be good for his overall health. Since he is getting older, I hope that he will be able to adopt a healthier lifestyle 

Secondly, I can also rest earlier on weekends and spend more time with wifey. Since we are also in a season of family planning, it should help. More importantly, I can be more awake and refresh during Sunday services to receive the word of God.

So, end of the day, I felt that I have made the correct decision albeit a difficult one but I believe it should pay off in the long term. God wants me to be good steward of my time as well as my treasure so I am making more time for Him this year (Making Room for God!) and by not succumbing to the temptation to pay double for the same content, I think it’s wise stewardship of my finance.



you guys will be missed! thanks for the memories and entertainment...



Make Room for God

One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret,[a] the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.


4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”

5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”



6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. Luke 5: 1-7

when Simon Peter, an experienced fisherman allowed Jesus (a carpenter) into his boat (making room for God) , a miracle happened

A New Year Posting

Today is the start of a brand new year and I am sitting in my guest room and blogging. I have always liked the idea of blogging in a cozy room, with a nice cup of hot beverage and cooling weather outside. Well, this moment is pretty close. Just that I am without a hot beverage. Anyway, for the first post of 2014, I am just gonna put down what we have been doing for the past couple of days. 

This morning, we brought wifey's mom and dad out for a morning stroll to the esplanade area. Have always wanted to go there in the morning to breath in the fresh air so today is the perfect opportunity. Woke up early at 6 am and took a bus down to fetch them. We let dad walk for most of the time as that is what he enjoys most. Mom enjoyed chatting with wifey along the way. Simple things that pleases our parents and refills wifey's tank. 

We walked for close to 3 hours there (starting at Fullerton and ending at Esplanade) and it was quite a good workout for all. 

Just when we were thinking of where to go for our brunch, deb messaged me to inform me that they are going for dim sum at Yan Palace. Since, wifey has always wanted to bring her folks there to try , we decided that we will also go over. We tried many new dishes there like vineger pig trotters, which parents love and also the delicious salted egg bun. It was a nice meal and good time spent with my in-laws.

Last weekend of 2013

On Saturday, we joined the kids at MDIS for a fun fair organised by Rotary Club. It was nothing fanciful but I had fun with Catik. and the angry bird game was also quite fun. 

After the funfair, we went for lunch at the market. I was so hungry that i had a plate of chicken rice and then another bowl of fishball noodles.

On Sunday evening, wifey and i went for dinner at Marina Square Foodcourt and had a stroll at the esplanade area. Heard my favourite song feel so good playing by the "Celebrating December" band and I really felt very good. 

Last Day of 2013 

Jesreel brought the team out for lunch at the newly opened Westgate and we ate at Osaka Ohsho. I had a set meal consisting of their signature gyoza, mapo toufu and stir fry green pepper pork. We were released after lunch and I reached home about 3 plus. Decided to get wifey to CC to shoot some hoops. Had quite a fun time as its been ages since we played basketball. After basketball, we went home to wash up before having dinner (hor fun, fried rice, prawn paste chix etc) and when its about 12am, we went up to the top floor of our block to look at fireworks and welcome the new year. It was so cold and windy up there, nice. Went down to wish deb, mike, matt, mick and folks before going home to sleep. 

 Last leave of 2013

We cleared our last leave of 2013 by going for breakfast at Coffee Club at Harbourfront. There was a 1 for 1 card promotion going on and I missed it the last time round, so this time i wanted to try it once. We had the American Breakfast set and it cost about $15 in total. I felt it was a real good deal. We spent a nice morning in a quiet environment just relaxing with our food. I love Monday's Off!

Wifey went to fix up her watch and i also bought a shirt and jeans from Bossini. In the evening, we went for a swim at Queenstown but there was lighting alert after we swam for only 1 lap. We chatted while waited out for the alert to stop about an hour later and i continued my swim in the drizzle once the alert was lifted. wifey joined me for a couple more laps too despite feeling very cold. It was a fulfilling day indeed.