Once Upon A Time In Bangkok

Arrived in Bangkok safely, but not soundly. I think the pilot must be new. The plane swayed side to side as he landed, and there were long periods of quick descend resulting in stomach tickles. First impression: Waah, the airport is so much nicer than Jakarta! The structure looked a bit like Southern Cross train station in Melbourne. As I came out of baggage claim area, I was expecting a group of people waiting to be picked up at the meeting point. Lo and behold (pardon my old english), I saw my name printed on a piece paper, held by a beautiful girl! She was standing at the front line, along with other people holding white papers with foreign names on it. For a split second I felt like an ambassador coming to negotiate a peace treaty. This is as good as it gets, I'm too young for red carpets and flower rings.

Yeah, I can hear you giggling. We took a taxi to Rompo Mansion. For once, I felt the reality of Crazy Taxi. He picked me up at a zebra crossing, with a traffic police beside the taxi, asking him to leave. There were dozens of cars waiting behind. On the road, he frequently swerved, cut lanes, and accelerated in the wrong directions. I was struggling to counter the centrifugal force. By now, I started to feel dizzy. This is culture shock. Worse than Jakarta drivers. Thank God, we finally arrived at the motel. The feel of the city is similar to Jakarta. Only a bit less advanced.

As expected, my name wasn't on the list. We've had a bit of issues because I registered late, and I applied for extended stay. Now, I came with 1000 baht. In just 10 mins, I had only 150 Baht left (AU$6, or 15% left)! I need better budgeting, cos I still need to eat dinner, get a SIM card, and take a bus to MBK tomorrow morning. I went up to my room. More shock: There's no fridge, no TV, no telephone number, no slippers, no bed. Oh yes, I saw the bed. I went down again to get the phone number, and a Singaporean guy talked to me briefly. I think he could be the owner of this motel.

I went up again, and decided to explore the room in more details. There's 2 bottled water included in the package. No water boiler. Pink carpet and curtain. There is a chair with broken spring. So dodgy. How can I survive? Even for a night. I can only imagine what will happen in the next few days... at least they have toilet paper and aircon. It's interesting to find 6 power outlets in the room. I can only dream of the former glory of this motel.

More praying for peace for this nation. Currently there's a lot of unrest. Political and religious.Seems like they haven't had enough.
I managed to get to MBK today. It's a HUGE shopping mall, quite prestigious too. There are lots of stalls selling clothes and shoes nearby. And I conquered Fuji Restaurant! Starting with chawan mushi silk tofu dish, then moving on to 5 sashimi set, california roll, soft shell crab sushi, green tea milk shake, calpico drink, egg ball thing, fried mushroom, garlic fried rice, and tuna tempura with cheese centre. Oh, can't imagine how full I was... and everything was only for AU$40! Bought some clothes and fashionable tie as well.

Tonight I had a good time of sharing with 6 ppl from Hope JB. Very lively bunch of people. I hope to get to know them more in the next few days. Seems like each of them has a story to tell, but it was getting late already, so we had to call it a night. Tomorrow I have to check out early too. Thank God for everything He has done for us. Really appreciate it.

More Singapore

This is the day that that Lord has made :) I'll be glad and rejoice in it.

Started with chee kuay omelette for breakfast. Fasting for lunch, preparing myself for Thailand. More fruitful business discussions. Yeah, I'm tired now. Don't feel like elaborating.

Dinner: HALLELUYAH!! Met up with Celeste and Swee Lin at Newton Circus (but it's not a circus). I walked around, and I noticed that the stalls offer similar products. Boring. I heard that it's renovated, and not as good as it used to be. I ordered sambal stingray, but it never came. No revenge for Steve Irwin. No, I'm not supposed to revenge, but love Steve's enemy. I love stingray :D~

We had satay, mutton soup, crayfish, oyster omelette, and HUGE serving of ice kachang and durian chendol. Beautifully complimented with sugar cane drink.

My burden for Singapore is that there's too many distractions that draws people away from God. People are so busy chasing career and entertainment that they forget about the One who provided the blessings. And people forgot about others, especially those who are less fortunate.

Even in church.

I visited Shawn and Christine at their new apartment, and I had a good time of fellowship and sharing with them. This couple is very precious in my life. Shawn, thank you for your prayer and affirmation. God Bless.

No pretty food pictures today, I'm so tired, and I have to get ready for a morning flight. Oyasuminasai~~~

Singapore Sling

Last night I arrived safe and sound in the Land of Merlion! So much has changed, and I'd better not write any political statements here, otherwise I may get banned from entering this country. I graduated from St Joseph's Institution in 1994, and Catholic Junior College in 1996, before moving on to Brisbane. And I still visit this country a few times per year.

Before coming to Singapore, I had a desire to take photos of every single food that I eat. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak. Before I realise it, the food is already teleported into my bottomless pit. I had Nasi Lemak and Curry Puffs (potatoes and rendang) for brekky. Then I went for a casual business meeting, and ventured into Northpoint Shopping Centre at Yio Chu Kang for Teppanyaki with my ex - church friend, Zeslyn. This unit leader at City Harvest is due to get married on 30th September, so those who intend to get invited, please voice out your interest as soon as possible.


At the spur of the moment, she sold me out to Jean Yip, and transformed my hairstyle. I think they literally used a mini lawnmower, cos now my hair looks like grass. Spiky and short. At least it's still black. As a consolation (just kidding, actually I look better, not so 'uncle' anymore), she treated me to Kue Lopis with palm sugar dip from Cold Storage, and silken barley drink from Ya Kun toast. I thought I had a fruitful day already, but someone else proved me wrong. The best was yet to come!

I had the chance to meet up with sister Rae Hong. She happened to be in Singapore, and we had such a great dinner that I forgot to take a picture of it. Curious? Go to Food Republic at Wisma, and get Fried Prawn Noodles from Thye Hong. The oyster omelette is irresistable too. We had supper at Breeks@Taka , and I ordered brownies with cheese topping. Remember to ask for mild cheese, cos the original one is yucky with brownies. Too strong! We had such a good time sharing Gospel and Gossips, but we had to call it a night. A good night.

Cooking Class

This morning we had our fourth Cooking Class, organised by the Pastoral Department of Hope Christian Church Melbourne. I had the privilege to wake up early to buy the ingredients from Preston Market. There were too many distractions there; lots of delicious breakfast (and hot chocolate), chinese groceries, and fresh produce at bargain prices. Not to mention the meat & seafood section. That's Major YUMMM!!! I can talk for hours on this...

Anyway, we started pretty much on time today, and our Master Chef, Ms Sorada Kaiyarach (M), prepared breakfast for us. Nothing special, just pork floss + chilli soy bean paste on toasted soy & linseed sandwich. Double portion. How's that for breakfast? :D Suddenly, I realised that she finished her preparations as well! Feeding 3 hungry guys and getting ready for the cooking club - that's what I call skill.

All of us had a chance to learn how to prepare the ingredients, such as the professional way of cutting spring onions. I'm so proud of TOTO, he's a young boy on a short holiday in Melbourne, and he took the opportunity to learn how to cook korean dish. I can see him growing into a challenger of Iron Chef in the future. Just look at the way he chopped the spring onions!

We had Bulgogi and Kimchi Soup on the menu. We got the butcher at the market to slice the meat into thin slices, and the kimchi was already refrigerated when we came. For safety reasons, kids were not allowed near the stove. I simply couldn't wait for M to finish cooking.. And it's so delicious, the meat was just nice, and the kimchi soup was... oh, so AWESOME! How can I describe it? Feels like heaven on earth! Well, not quite. The rice cake could be better. Make sure you buy a better brand.

There's no substitute for experiencing this first hand. Book your calendar, the next cooking class is in 2 months' time. We had a great time of fellowship and playing Uno, Uno Stacko and Go (Five in a row). Don't worry, everybody is welcome! Even if you are just after the food (like myself). Please RSVP to me so that we have enough food for everybody.

Prophecy

The Oceania Convention during Easter break was amazing! I got a prophecy from John Jacks scribed as follow:

You are the one.

I really feel the Holy Spirit want you to begin to apply yourself very diligently and very methodically to the Word of God. You have a very enquiring mind. You are a very alert person. You are an observer of what's going on, you are very keen to learn and understand. But God wants you to learn whatever it is that you're learning elsewhere, but really give yourself to scriptures and perhaps even take on some courses to equip yourself for your future. God wants you to have the ability to teach others the Word of God. And so you need to have the Word of God in order to be able to TEACH the Word of God and to instruct others. So use the alertness that you have and that keenness and that tenacity that's naturally there to pursue God's Word
and to have it hidden in your heart, so that when He need to use you there will be this reservoir there that He can draw from to bless other people.

Praise God! This confirms what God told me a few months back about going to bible college. Ps Mark advised me to apply the scriptures in whatever I am already doing, such as in my cell group discussions, counselling friends, learning to write my own sermons, and daily devotion.

I've just finished a book, A Fragile Stone by Michael Card. He's one of my favourite authors. I've also read Scribbling in Sand. He is a great thinker, and he really goes deep into the bible. He's my role model for someone who is able to expound the scriptures, narrate a compelling story out of it, and compose a song to amplify God's message. Anyway, this book is highly recommended, it tells about how God changed Simon Peter from a fisherman, breaking him into bits and defining his future as the ROCK, on which He will build His church. Through this book, I've learnt about God's call for me, in line with the prophecy, to be a shepherd of His flock. Right now God is breaking me as well. I'm learning to put my faith in Him despite of my desperate circumstances.

Currently, I'm reading Revolution in World Missions by K P Yohannan. This is a life story of the author, whose mum prayed for 3.5 years so that one of the boys would be a preacher. Now he supports native missionaries in Asia preaching the Gospel to the unreached regions. A touching story about how God used a little kampung boy to humble the wealthy nations and bring a call of repentance for their sin, pride and worldliness.

This week I came to one conclusion (again): Jesus is coming back very soon, definitely before my generation ends. Already, at least 3 pastors have gut feelings about the urgency of the end times. They have expressed the heartfelt goal of their churches to fulfill Mat 28:18-20 by 2015-2050. And I know that the time is coming, earlier than what most people think. I may be raptured as well, if I haven't died in the mission field. Now, who's with me to plunder Hell and populate Heaven?