Back to Life

Back to reality? ... well, after church camp, it's back to life indeed in singapore ... getting bit busy at work, but learning to handle and manage better than before.

I was pleasantly surprised to win my first bid (while checking email during the camp :p) ... feels gd to achieve something after all the hard work and pain...

on the flipside, it's quite sad to be able to spend time with loved ones (esp my da who's feeling my "absence") ... and spending time with God and fellow bro and sisters ... God grant me the wisdom and strength.

another 3 mths and rt wil be of to UK for studies ... I wonder how it'll be then ... gotta prepare ...

I've been ... busy

too busy to sometimes take in the sights ard me ... i wonder ... gettin bz at work, and committments ... sometimes feel like juggling balls that lifts from my hand and comes down even faster.

off to church camp in port dickson in another 10hrs ... yet to finish packing...

And, hot off the press: my bro has proposed to his gf ... glad for them ...

ZJ are happily settling into their married life too.. happy for them too ... their wedding was the 3rd in a 3-in-1 combo that happened within 8 days (i.e. 3 weddings in 8 days to attend) ... getting less enthu abt attending wedding dinners ...

Pray and hope God refreshes the hearts of His children ... I need refreshing ...

Time flies

Before you know it, you're 3 mths into the new year 2008! And no, it's not an April Fool joke on a blog (though i'm writing on 1 Apr 08)...

And I'm 3 wks into my new job ... still alive, as it's learning phase, more stuff to learn and challenges will come in time ...

Been reflecting lately ... I've been subconsiously fearful of the roles & responsibilities that are lined up ahead of me ... i'm unconsciously afraid of "work that has yet to come" ... I'm pondering about relationship with rt ... I'm wondering about health ... how about my commitment in church & cell group ... and it dawned upon me, am I concerned about my spiritual walk with God? ... Isn't this more impt that all the other concerns? What lenses am I viewing life thro I wonder ...

I pray for peace that will follow and guard my heart as I walk into 2008 ...

And now that I'm working in new company, I don't get to see RT that often ... my cell group is now fri ... her cell grp is on sat evening ... seems our time are getting less and less ... and come sep, she'll be in UK studying for a yr .......

and i'm stepping into the role of an unofficial asst cell leader ... much to do ...

worries, fears, concerns ... now, how to juggle all these? ... where's God in the picture? I better put Him in the picture ... need to prioritise my life ... and enjoy life's journey ... Finding Joy in Living.

Taiwan Road Trip 2 - 9 Mar 08

Finally got around to writing a couple of things about a last minute road trip which I "parachuted" in. RT & her RGS friends HX & Adel planned an all girls trip to taiwan ... since I quit my job and was to start on new job 17 Mar, I grabbed the chance & asked if I could join in ... and they're so gracious to let me (the boy) to join them :p ...

We drove (I mooted the idea) ... got lost several times, but thank God, finally got around to where we intended to go ... basically, drove half of taiwan, the Top part. Harrowing experience of almost not able to rent a car (The branch at taipei airport operates different, the cars are not parked at the airport, require prior arrangements for the booking and car to appear when you touch down). Thank God, the staff is very helpful and managed to source a Toyota Wish for us (we were looking for a smaller car such as an Altis) ... we paid for the "limo" to bring us out of the airport to a town to pick up the car ... we were told the DVD player inside the Wish (it's only installed on Wishes ... somebody must have wished for it) is often stolen. This got us worried. Nonetheless, the stomach calls, and we decided to adjourn for dinner nearby, leaving the Wish at the car rental office. Food was pretty good (beef noodles & shui jiao). When we returned, lo and behold, there's an Altis next to the Wish. Did our wish come true? haha ... true enough, they managed to find an Altis that is ready for our use. Happily, we took it of cos ;) ...

Driving in Taiwan, I kinda enjoy it (this is my 4th time driving there, previous 3 times were for work). I prefer them to sg drivers (Even though it's left hand drive in taiwan, opp that of sg). Yes, though taiwan drivers are supposedly "Reckless" & speedy, they obey the speed limit generally, and GIVE WAY to signalling vehicles. It's an "Art" to drive in taiwan, weaving and flowing with the traffic (esp the multitudes of scooters). The road trip brought us round places (Even to an altitude of 3100m, we went thro taiwan from WEst to East on the Central Highway, an engineering "feat" on its own from many years ago). Armed with maps, and the courteous taiwanese people that we meet, it was overall a great trip! Food! (Had my dou jiang you tiao), and scenery was great. Weather was cold though, the lowest was 3deg... Brrr... but it was fun =)

Here are the links to some photos I uploaded and videos ... have a look eh

Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/simple.marcus/AdventuresOnATaiwanRoadtrip29Mar08

Videos: STart from this one: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7644675073223234496&hl=en

pent-up ramblings...

It's been a long while since I last wrote an entry on my blogger site http://woofzie.blogspot.com ... anyway, I've decided to tie the two blogs together (neat function on multiply blog)

Christmas 07 went by in a wimp of the eye ... it was a super busy month for me (music practices for Candlelit service, performance at amk hub, christmas day svc), at least my fingers and more importantly, attitude, is still there ... it was not a quiet time at work, still busy busy ... all these caused a severe drain on an "ageing" marcus...

then came new year ... (most people were drained out by then ...) ... engine starts cranking and churning again for 2008 ... (society is progressively becoming a pressure pot with each passing yr ... inflation fears, economy ups and downs, HDB supply of flats!? ...)

then came CNY08 ... it was a nice long 4 days of 'holiday' ... didn't get much of a rest though, i was out everyday ... not everyday was a joy, but it's an overall good mix of meeting up with people ... surprisingly, the weather turned for the better on CNY eve (it was lousy the past few wks), Thank God for sunshine (it was hot) ...

Weather, lately, it's been something like a roller-coaster weather (2 wks dry, 2 wks wet, 2 wks .... and so on) ... cranky weather is putting a strain on the world, and who caused it? we humans ... aka global warming ... i suppose the weather is correcting itself (something similar to the US market correcting itself ... who's the crazy buggers that introducted sophisticated financial instruments to capitalise on a relaxed US mortage policy? ... world is filled with greed, what can i say ...)

The latest developments... I've QUIT my job, Finally, some say ... yup, i'm moving away from the public sector into the busy commercial world ... it's funny, I begin to realise we singaporeans are a cynical bunch of people ... when people heard which line i'm moving into, most are hardly encouraging ... it started to "stress" and a sense of dread is creeping ... I start to question if this is the right choice (at my current job, it's now or never, i've been 6yrs6mths here) ... I'm still excited and yet fearful of the new job's challenges (meeting deadlines, long hrs), there's gonna be a steep learning curve.. At this moment, what I really need is encouragement ... and I'm trusting God to make a difference, to still have a balanced work-life and not to stray from my Christian Walk ... Can a miracle take place? I hope so. At this moment, I can only take things one at a time ... as I positiong and develop my path for the long run (gahmen is advocating, work till 65 yrs ... or more ... well, I hope to be financially free from ... 55 yrs? ... hmm ....)

On a lighter note, rt and I are starting to explore the path towards marriage ... started to attend barker rd methodist Pre-Marital-Course ... it's an interesting mix of 13 couples ... some are sophisticated, some are down-to-earth, but all are Christians ... We believer we'll benefit much from this course ... and there're the other things to tie down in this M journey ... and HDB sure is daunting ... ain't it weird that the $8k ceiling for applicants of new flat has been around for more than 10yrs? ... given recent yrs of economic boom and increasing housing prices, on a combined income of $8k, it's still a challenge to furnish the loan monthly for the next 20-30yrs ... and I think gahmen is trying to populate the "unpopulated" and "out of reach" places in sg ... sg is gettin pretty squeezed, imagine trying to sustain 6mil people on this tiny red dot ... we're getting there, at what expense? I wonder ...

And my health ... recently went to take a pre-employment medical examination ... it was a lousy day as I felt "stressed" ... and true to fact, blood pressure was high, and i feel aches (as though body is protesting) ... and I need to lose weight! 78kg! The battle of the bulge ... If I don't control the increase, I'm gonna slowly "decrease" in health ... weight gain is a silent creeper, even though i exercise rather regularly ... diet diet diet, if not die die die.

Sometimes I wonder what's the cost of staying ahead in life/competition ... Thank God for an efficient Gahmen ... besides nurturing a sustainable economy, the social fabric has to be kept sewn in, like a beautiful explosion of colours. How are we living this day? ... best as we can ... Press On yeah!

SG Christian Dating Website

Saw this on my brother's multiply blog. Apparently it's good, set up by City Harvest Members. Take a look sie eh: Beulah

Ukulele god

Mad Rush till Christmas

I was expecting December to be rather quiet, especially at work, with only church and personal stuff to do... but I was wrong. Colleagues go on leave (on the reason that need to clear leave because no time to clear earlier in the year?!?! No comments, I live by the principle of clear leave regularly throughout the year, so don't have to cramp at the end. Though, it'll probably be otherwise, when I've kids to be with ... hmm, might as well declare June and Dec family holiday season)

Besides endless work at office and covering people ... My other list of stuff in Dec:

1. Remembered me and my dar's 1st yr tog ;) [This is a joy]
2. Preparation for Candlelight service (4 practices in all!)
3. AMK Hub 1st Service (Helped out on 2nd keyboard to form a fuller band), much preparations to do.
4. FACT CAMP 2007 (helping out as photographer)
5. AMK Hub Performance (how did we get into this? Scrambling to prepare for 23 dec performance)
6. Christmas Service (I'm on keyboards..)

I've not mentioned my personal stuff to do list yet!!

God help us in this season (or is it just me?) ... It's a Season to be Jolly, a season of Thanksgiving, a season of peace and joy ...

so, prepare thy hearts for Christmas. And here comes 2008!