Serenity Prayer

God, grant me the
Serenity to accept the things I cannot change
Courage to change the things I can, and
Wisdom to know the difference;
Living one day at a time
Enjoying one moment at a time
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace;
Taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it.
Trusting that You will make all things right
if I surrender to Your will
so that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with You forever in the next.
Amen.

~ Reinhold Niebuhr ~

A Simple and Lovely Wedding

This evening we attended a wedding of an old friend, Wendy and her beau Tomas. It was held at Fort Canning Park. It was a simple wedding, with the solemnisation held outdoor on a lawn and a buffet dinner at Raffles House thereafter.

Tomas is Swede and they met in SG. Wendy has since left for Sweden with him in 2003 and has picked up a fair bit of Swedish. She loves to bake and despite her short visit actually made time to bake cookies for the wedding's pre-dinner reception. Tomas, what a lucky chap! :) Wendy reminds me so much of my late Godma...

Well, I was kind of looking forward to the wedding and to meeting the old friends. But at the same time I was feeling kind of jittery not knowing what to expect and how to react. It's been so many years and I do not know why we drifted apart, or rather why I am no longer in their lives. I do miss those days when we hung out at MYF and Sunday School. How I wish that time had stood still.

Now everyone's found a better half, and have families of their own. But I know one thing we have in common is God's love for us, and our kinship in Christ. Thank God for that.

The Meet-Up

It was great to meet up with Carol over the weekend. She loves the outdoors and returned this time to participate in the Ironman70.3 Race. She amazes me with her stamina and strong passion for the outdoors.

There are 3 legs to the Aviva Half Ironman race: the swim (1.9km), bike (90.1km) and run (21.1km). The race started at the East Coast Lagoon with the swimming leg, followed by bike race through the Benjamin Sheares Bridge and 4 laps from Raffles Avenue through the Marina Bay area, back to ECP and Nicoll Highway. For the final leg, the athletes have to run 2 laps from the floating platform at Esplanade to the Padang and round to end of Beach Road (Kallang Basin) and return. In other words, it is a long tiring race which took Carol about 6 hours to complete coming in mid pack.

There was certainly a lot of training and preparation work she had to do to get ready for the race. She exercises daily (swim, jog, bike), watches her diet and acclimatises her body to the heat and perspiration. It really takes a lot of discipline to prepare for such a sport. Apart from Triathlon, she also does Backcountry Skiing, Snowshoeing, Mountaineering, and whatever outdoor adventure you can imagine. Oh, and did I mention that she shaved her head for Canadian Cancer Foundation?! Way to go, Carol!

We had a great time catching up over slice fish bee hoon soup in Chinatown, and drove around to Far East Sq, Dempsey Hill and Clark Quay. And of course, we had to stop for our afternoon tea at Dempsey's PS Cafe (I should get a discount card for being a regular patron!)

Strangely indeed, even though we have been apart for so many years and perhaps not there for the ups and downs of life, we could very comfortably catch up from where we left off. And what's more strange is that I hardly meet up with friends who reside in SG but am more in touch with the those in foreign soil... technology has certainly helped to bridge the gap.

As for those outdoor sports, I don't think I will ever be drawn to take part in them other then golfing, swimming and the occasional hiking, snorkelling and skiing. The thought of running brought back memories of those school days when we had to run marathons and the 2.4 km. Most of those times I had to drag my feet through the race, and was always panting for breath. Getting into these sports would mean being discipline, watching my food intake and regular exercises. I would be contented to start with a simple step just to keep fit :p

Gospel Rally

It's been a long time since I last attended a Gospel Rally. The first time I attended an evangelical meeting was with my grandma and mum, who brought me to the Billy Graham Crusade at the National Stadium in 1978. I wouldn't say that it changed my life, as I was too young to really know what was going on. But I did come out of the stadium feeling really good and covered by God's love, and knew where to lay a firm foundation. It was an amazing turn out and a turning point for many who attended.

Interestingly, I got to meet Billy Graham a second time and it was at the Toronto Sky Dome for an evangelical rally as well. He was already in his 70s then. This time, I got to participate in the combine churches choir that rendered some songs and lead in the worship for the service. I still have the purple polo tee that was given to the choir as the uniform. :)

These 2 nights, our VOP choir is privileged to render some songs at the Chinese Gospel Rally organised by 4 denomination of churches. The rally was entitled 'Who holds tomorrow?' The preacher came from China, and he had with him an influential man who shared his life testimony. James Chu is the man who started the first MacDonald's in Singapore (Liat Tower), Hong Kong and China. He shared about how proud he was of his achievements, his plans, and how he eventually came to accept the Lord as his personal Saviour.

The preaching and testimony moved many to come forward to accept Him as personal Saviour. We were also very touched by the sharing, and there were indeed alot of prayer and effort that went into preparing this event. There were probably more than 2000 people in the hall, and it is the first time that we presentedto such a large audience. We certainly hope that our music has ministered to the people.

Another Year

We celebrated Sam's birthday (22 Aug) earlier last Saturday. We went to our favourite Dempsey Hill for dinner.

It was our first visit to Chang Korean BBQ Restaurant. We had marinated prime rib, BBQ chicken thigh and Beef broth buckwheat cold noodle. Accompanying them were colourful array of complimentary banchan (Korean side dishes) that consist of protein, vegetables and seafood. The food was tasty, service was good (except for the one who took our order who seemed impatient, soft-spoken and didn't understand us). We had to pay a premium for the meal.

After our dinner, we proceeded to PS Cafe for our dessert and to enjoy the rustic outdoor ambiance. We shared a huge white chocolate coffee cake with mashmallows in between and ice cream on the side. It was sinfully delicious!

On the 22nd itself, we had to attend VOP practise for the performance on Friday, so there was no celebration. But I have had his favourite cheesecake delivered to the office so he could share the special day with his colleagues. :)

International Fireworks

Last Friday, we were privileged to be given tickets to watch the International Fireworks from the viewing gallery at the Marina Bay Floating Platform. The fireworks display with music accompaniment came from a Spanish company, and was choreographed internationally. The spectacular display spans across the bay area, and one could see the city skyline in the background.

The fireworks lasted for 15 mins. The challenged came when we were stuck in the human and traffic jam. It took us a long time to get out of the car park. And it was equally a challenge looking for parking in the area. Nevertheless, the fireworks display was lovely, and we got to visit the floating platform for the first time!

Simpsons

This evening, we visited the new Cathay at Handy Rd. Only half of the stores were opened/occupied. Most of the shops seem to cater to the younger crowd, much like the Hereen and Cathay Cineleisure.

We did not catch any movie as we were there only very briefly, but it was nice to meet the Simpsons and their new addition :)