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.  

Clearing our Annual Leaves

Wifey and I have been clearing our annual leaves this month on the Mondays.
They were much welcome breaks as we spent time with each other to just relax.

On the 16th December, we visited Tim Ho Wan at Plaza Sing. This famous tim sum restaurant has received much publicity for being Michelin star rated so we wanted to try it at least once.

Before leaving for THW, we saw the kids playing at the badminton court. And they were racing! So of course this kooks wanted to show who is the fastest man around. I challenged my nephew to a race and in the final sprint, my legs went soft, off balance and I fell on my fours…. Scrapped my toe and blood was oozing out… oh man what an embarrassment.

Went up, wash my wound and put on a band aid and then finally set off for PS, fully regretting the race earlier on.

We arrived at PS a bit later than expected because of what happened and a rather long queue has already formed at the entrance of THW. Wifey queued while I visited the toilet and when I came out, it was nearly our turn. We chatted with the lady and her daughter in front of us and they would later sit next to us to as we enjoy our food. We ordered their 4 heavenly kings which included Char Siew Bao, pig liver chu chang fen, malay cake and carrot cake. We also ordered pork ribs and steam chicken in fish maw.

The food was quite nice although the space was a bit small. Not a place to hang around for too long. After our brunch, we walked around PS and see if there is any interesting movie to catch. We also had a cuppa at Starbucks because wifey was having a bit of migraine so we took the chance to rest a bit longer at SB. I bought a box of English Breakfast tea from here as well as one of the present.

When she is slightly better, we went to get the office Secret Santa present from Faceshop and we went over to Vivo City. Wifey wanted to get her flip flops but in the end did not manage to get it. We went for dinner at Seah Inn. Wifey had fish slice soup and we had 2 plates of the delicious roast pork rice with a plate of vegetables.
After dinner, we used a pair of my free movie vouchers to watch Captain Philips

It was a very engaging movie which kept us at the edge of the seat throughout. I love the last 10 minutes of the show when Tom Hanks was being rescued and the traumatised Captain Philips let his bottled up emotions all out.. it was a poignant scene, very touching and fully deserving of the Oscars


On 23rd December, we went for breakfast at Funan Centre’s McDonald’s. After breakfast, I walked over for my complimentary facial at Touche at Bugis. Had a good session of treatment and felt very relaxed after that although my eyes were feeling tired and my face a bit painful. After my treatment I walked over to meet wifey at City Hall and then we had a late lunch at zhen zhen. We shared a plate of yee mee and potato leaves. We then walked over to shop at Bugis Street and before leaving for mother in law’s place for dinner, bought some bed sheets from OG.

This is how we spent 2 days of our annual leaves.

Better , Make it Happen

As we approach the end of 2013, 2 words/phrases have been in my mind quite often. One is “Better” another is “Make it Happen”. I believe that if there is a theme for the coming year, those 2 phrases sums up nicely what I hope to be.


Better… because I want to be a better person than before. I do not want to compare myself or be compared to another person but I want to compare myself with who I was a year ago. I want to be a better son, husband, brother, son-in-law, LGL, friend, employee than I was before.

Danny always tells us that if we were to focus on just one or two area to improve on every year, than we will become a much better person over the years. I truly believe in that concept and will work on 1-2 area in my life. It may be an attitude, a skill, a habit or way of doing things. If I can commit it to God, God can help me to be better.

Make it Happen because many times, I have allowed plans and ideas to die off. I have lacked the discipline, courage or necessary expertise to do certain things and I did not even want to start on it. A couple of months ago, during the GLS, Bill Hybels mentioned something on this area. That many God given ideas or inspiration were being killed off prematurely and as a result it did not get out to the intended recipients of those ideas. That is bad stewardship. So I have to believe that if God wants me to do something, he will provide me with the necessary help to accomplish it. The statement If God brings you to it, He will brings you through it have to be internalised within me.  

Christmas 2013

Christmas this year was an intimate affair with wifey and folks. Deb’s family were on their Malaysia road-trip so we decided to spend time with mom and dad.


On Saturday (21st Dec) wifey treated me to a delicious sushi dinner at the basement of 313 after a whole day of household chore. The restaurant is called Sushi Express and it’s a new place to me although she have already tried a couple of times with her colleagues.

One thing about wifey is that she is always excited to bring me to places which she have patronised and found the food nice because she does not want me to miss out… haha. Appreciate her thoughtfulness. We had about 18 plates of sushi @$1.50 per plate and tried many interesting dishes like abalone, scallop which normally cost much more at other places. So it was a very worthwhile deal.

After dinner, we went for some more Christmas Shopping at Takashimaya. Before that, I also bought a birdie ring in secret for her at Stroberi.

I love Takashimaya during Christmas as the atmosphere is always so festive and we spent quite a bit of time at the Watson’s and event hall which is selling their usual Christmas stuffs. After getting the presents, we strolled along Orchard Road and stopped by to listen to some carols.

Although the crowd was swell, the nice balmy weather makes it so comfortable to just stand there and relax. I gave wifey the ring in the midst of the performance but she already suspected… aiyah. We left the place about 11 pm after the last song and took a bus back home.

Sunday (22nd Dec) , woke up early and had breakfast before bringing folks to attend our Christmas Service. This year’s drama was very touching as usual and folks were tearing as they watched the story of how God intervene and did a miracle in the life of one of our church member who was addicted to gambling. Really respect and thank God for Uncle Xu De Cai for his willingness and courage to share his testimony to be used in this year’s drama. I am very sure there were hardly any dry eyes during the service. I believe and hope that God has planted a seed into my parents heart as they listen and think about the message which was being shared on that day. May they be able to come to know Jesus eventually.

After service, we went for lunch at Army Market. It was a cosy lunch as I have my parents joining my LG people for this meal. We went home soon after and I did some drawing with wifey as she did some wrapping… it was a lazy afternoon

In the evening, we brought folks to Seah Inn for dinner. This time round we asked dad not to drive. We all took a bus down and he was visibly more relaxed as he got to just enjoy the ride without having to worry about the traffic, finding lots etc… they had the famous Yong Tau Foo while wifey and I had duck rice. We also shared a plate of fried oyster. After the meal, we went over to Vivo to walk a bit before heading home. Very satisfying day spend with my parents.

On Christmas eve, we walked over to Stew Kitchen for our dinner. I was feeling a bit upset initially as there were some confusion over seating. I had initially wanted to sit outside as it will more windy but they were insisting that we sit inside and gave us a small table. Eventually we settled for a slightly bigger table inside. There were also some confusion when we ordered the food… anyway we manage  to settle everything and still have an enjoyable meal.

We had spaghetti, rosti, chicken chop, salmon, spring roll, ceaser salad and a seafood stew

Dad and I also shared a tall beer. When we finished our dinner, we presented the presents to folks. Dad got an Alex Ferguson Autobiography and mom got an Innisfree Green Tea Facial set. Hope they both like their present. Thanks wifey for getting the gift for mom after work.

Season of Thanksgiving

Whoa, the past couple of weeks has been more than interesting and full of thanksgiving , with the following activities ; Bangkok vacation, “You are the Reason”, clearing of annual leaves and Christmas happening one after another, bumper to bumper. I have yet to sit down and blog about them but I shall do that soon, probably starting with the latest one first since those heart-warming memories are still fresh…

Stay tuned !


 

A Quietly Brilliant Weekend

Last week was a very productive weekend for me personally.

On Saturday, I woke up earlier to finish up painting the sealer for my toilets and part of my master bedroom.

Then the toilets were also washed and finally I got the repairmen to fix up my leaking tap! Looking at him doing the repair, I conclude that it may be beyond me to change my own basin tap as it’s not as easy as it seems.

He was using something like a metal tubing with holes around it and even had a spanner which was specially sawn shorter so that it can be used easily in confined spaces. Tools of his trade.

Uncle Ah Seng also very kindly drilled a hole on my wall so that I can hang up my clock and sprayed some WD40 on my window which wasn’t moving smoothly due to wear and tear.

So, 1st coat of sealer for moulding ceiling painted checked, toilet washed checked, leaking tap repair checked, hole in a wall drilled checked, Smooth window checked.

Wifey was pleased as a punch!

As Ah Seng took longer than expected to arrive and finished up the job, we couldn’t make it in time for Saturday service as originally intended. So we went to have our dinner instead at Seah Inn. As usual, wifey ate from her favourite fish Soup stall, and I had my Orh Luak as a reward for doing the household chores… plus a bowl of Yong Tau Foo.

on the way to Vivo

After dinner, we went over to Vivo for a walk, intending to take some nice pictures using Priscilla’s Canon G15 but the deco this year seems a bit boring (like previous years’) so we didn’t take any. Ha.. then we went to Daiso, it was very crowded there as people are shopping for Christmas already.

I got quite tired after walking for a while so we went to St Marc for dessert before heading home.



wifey enjoing her cuppa


Sunday service was special. There was no sermon being preached but Pastor Andrew Yeo led worship for the whole service. He also shared a testimony of hope, of how he and his went through a tough journey before finally having children. It was touching and authentic. Worship got even more intimate after his sharing and the tangible presence of the holy spirit was really moving in the auditorium


After service, we went to meet folks at Lido to catch Thor. Every November, Dad’s company will give out 4 free movie tickets as their yearly tradition so we took the opportunity to catch the movie together. Dad was zzzz after about 20mins. Ha-ha, guess he couldn’t really appreciate the show. After the movie, we went to grab a bite at Takashimaya basement before heading to M1.

We spent a whopping 3 hours waiting for dad’s turn to re-contract and he finally got the HTC Desire 601 at no cost at all as he has loyalty points which can be converted to $50 voucher. Personally, I felt that the phone is really impressive and value for money. Specs are good and looks classy too. It’s also quite user friendly… what more can one ask for?

We had our late dinner at ML market that night before retiring into the night, it was very fulfilling to have spent time with our parents just doing simple errands because they really need our help in certain matters, especially with regards to technology, health etc. I guess they appreciate the time spent together as much as me. Want to also thank wifey for waiting patiently together with us as it was really tiring.

** I really like HTC's tagline "Quietly Brilliant". Don't we all want to be quietly brilliant in all that we do? being modest despite having a spirit of excellence... that's the way to go ;o)