mercredi, novembre 30, 2005 Mom has to stay in for another night. Just in case.Thanks for praying. [Mom's Op: Updates] |
dimanche, novembre 27, 2005 My mother has a growth in her throat. Currently benign, it could latch onto two arteries and start growing into a malignant piece of something, so we're kicking its butt out of her on TUESDAY.The details: Monday - Check in and pre-tests, pre-op prep Tuesday - OPERATION Wednesday - Check out (hopefully). Please pray: 1) That the operation will go smoothly, with NO COMPLICATIONS. 2) That Jesus will be there holding my mom's hand all the way - while she goes under the G.A., while the op goes on, while she's wheeled out, while she's recovering - all the way. 3) That the doctors will be skilled and good at what they do, performing the operation with no problem. 4) That my mom will remain calm throughout the entire procedure. 5) That my dad can take urgent leave if necessary. 6) That I will be able to be at the hospital for my mother without any problems/ complications from school. 7) That my mother will recover completely and be totally healed from this growth; that the growth will be totally, completely, removed from her system. Thank you so much for praying. [Mom's Op: Prayer Wanted!] |
samedi, novembre 26, 2005 RIP: Pat Morita, aka Mr Miyagi [RIP: Pat Morita, aka Mr Miyagi] |
vendredi, novembre 25, 2005 Ramblin' Road Trip - Day 3 of 4 Morning was spent in school, invigilating. Then a huge, mad rush back to church, in order to eat lunch and practise with the kids one last time. Jacob was so relieved to see me, and passed the next class to me in relief. (Thank goodness I decided to hide in Mrs Seow's class to eat and digest my lunch a little before going up to the Music Hall again!)From there, it was just an insane, insane rush to get the Sanctuary ready for the first rehearsal. The programme was changed without me being told, so the children arrived 10 minutes early (according to me, who was going by the old schedule), which was a nightmare. That set us back by half an hour! If they had just given me ten more minutes to get ready... just TEN MORE MINUTES WE WOULD HAVE PROCEEDED AS PLANNED. Instead, someone made a mistake and put down the first reporting time at 1400hrs, instead of the 1410 hrs that I had specified previously. SIGH. Nothing to be done about it, of course. The show must go on. After two rehearsals and about 2 hours of cattle wrangling (it certainly feels like it), the children were supposed to return to class for their lesson recap. They recapped, then came back for a video screening. Then back again to their classes for dinner. But an hour after they were there, the camp commandant told me that the kids would be returning to the Music Hall because the teachers were too stressed out to do anything with the children anymore. So we had to show more movies. Then the parents started arriving. Oh man. Distracting the children, hijacking the children, we had to keep them busy while we prepped the kids. Jacob did a wonderful job as I was finalising details for the performance. We ran through EVERY SINGLE ONE of the RRT songs - and just in time too! By the time we got to the last song, it was time for the show to begin! Going back to the Sanctuary, I realised that SS had appointed herself the emcee for the night. I grabbed a mike from Julian and told her that I would co-emcee with her...and we were off. The concert went off without much of a hitch, and the parents loved it, of course. All their 小宝$贝 - how could they not love the concert? Cleanup lasted the better part of two hours, and then finally - HOME SWEET HOME. [Ramblin' Road Trip - Day 3 of 4] |
jeudi, novembre 24, 2005 Ramblin' Road Trip - Day 3 of 4  Some kids are just too cute. See that girl on the left? She normally doesn't smile, but ask her to pose for a photo and her face just goes upward!Camp story: from yesterday. Kid: "Teacher teacher!" Me: "Yes?" (busy briefing someone, turn around and face him to see his WHOLE MOUTH COVERED WITH BLOOD) Me: "!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Kid: (smiles very sweetly, bloody mouth and all) "Teacher teacher, my tooth came out!" Me: (frantically looking for someone to pass him to someone who can handle this while I finish the briefing) [Ramblin' Road Trip - Day 3 of 4] |
mercredi, novembre 23, 2005 Ramblin' Road Trip - Day 2 of 4 Tired. Tired. Tired. Sore.Note to self: warm down EVERY DAY after leading kids worship. [Ramblin' Road Trip - Day 2 of 4] |
mardi, novembre 22, 2005 Ramblin' Road Trip - Day 1 of 4  Time, energy and resource limitations have once again forced us to truncate our five-day VBS into four.The K1s and K2s are a joy to teach, and so are the P1s and P2s. Once they get to P3, they get 'switched off', and most of the P4s need a different programme. One that's not so catered to young children. The good news: The kids learn really fast! The bad news: I am running out of songs to teach them! The good news: The kids are quite enthusiastic! The bad news: They are hyperactive and run everywhere! The good news: I'm enjoying myself singing the songs! The bad news: I'm well on the way to losing my voice. The good news: Day 1 is over! The bad news: Still Day 2, 3 and 4 to come... I scolded another kid today. But he really, really deserved it, and I don't feel bad about it. But really, keep your kids away from me. [Ramblin' Road Trip - Day 1 of 4] |
dimanche, novembre 20, 2005 Or Forever Hold Your Peace (Pt II) Actually, at Aaron and Shirley's wedding, the minister did do that line!Then a baby cried. The minister: "I take it that wasn't a protest." [Or Forever Hold Your Peace (Pt II)] |
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I had dinner with a whole big bunch of people just now, which included a family of four - father, mother, daughter (7), son (4). We were at Sakae Sushi at Wheelock, and the kids (being kids) were being extremely hyper, leaning against people, crawling under the table to get out and get in (and get out, and get in, and get out... etc. you get the picture.) I am okay with that. I understand that a lot of kids do get hyper when they are in a big group of people, and tend to take advantage of the fact that there are people around who will indulge them their play. I don't mind that at all. We're having dinner, and the kids are crawling all over us, and suddenly I feel my left and right legs being scratched in succession. Not just once, but twice. It's the four year-old kid. I just told him to stop doing it because it hurt. It wasn't just me - he was scratching Dav, Pris and XM as well, which, quite frankly, in addition to being a rather painful encounter, was rather unhygenic. Remember, we're eating sushi. Kids at four, eat sushi with their BARE HANDS. So I tell him to stop, and he stops. He doesn't stop crawling about, but as I've already covered, I am fine with that. Anyway, he's four, and sometimes I think that children, especially boys at four, develop temporary deafness. What happened next is that his sister (who has also been crawling about) sits back in her designated spot along the couch, slouches down, and starts kicking me. I don't think that is behaviour that should be tolerated at ALL, and so I tell her very sternly to stop kicking me, and to sit up. She stops kicking me, but doesn't sit up. I don't care - so long that my pain has stopped, you can do whatever you want to your spinal cord. What I didn't expect was her sudden demeanour change - she starts pouting, and looks on the verge of tears. After a while, she crawls back under the table across to her mother, and buries her face in her mother's shoulder. At this point, I'm halfway between "oh shit what have I done" and "but she's old enough to understand that kicking people is unacceptable behaviour". I decide to go with the latter because she is seven years old - enough to appreciate the limits of acceptable public behaviour. I apologised to her dad, telling him "sorry in advance, I think I scolded your kid and now she's pouting and about to cry," but he was nice enough to say that if she was misbehaving, it's alright. I thought about this incident all along the bus ride home, and I'm wondering out loud now: was it just lip service that KH was giving me, just to be nice, or is it acceptable to scold someone else's child? I don't mean literally take the cane and beat him, but is disciplining someone else's child acceptable when the child misbehaves? I do know that in many cases, a soft "No, don't do that, it's not nice to do that" to the child will suffice, but I'm talking about discipline in the sense that I demonstrated - tell the child very sternly that something is just not acceptable. This topic was actually highlighted in Desperate Housewives last season, and they came out in favour of friends disciplining their friends' children. As a person who does occasionally find friends and other kids tiresome, I find that I am of that inclination. I am aware that parents might think differently... especially parents in Singapore, with their previous 宝贝s... What do you think? Update: I polled my Pastor, who has two kids (5 and 1) of his own, and he says that he's fine with it, if the scolding is warranted. But he qualified it, saying that most of the time, it depends on two factors - whether the scolding is warranted, and who the person is. So far, feedback that I've gotten has been quite positive. [Keep your kids away from me] |
samedi, novembre 19, 2005 Why have weddings stopped using the "Speak now, or forever hold your peace" line in the wedding sequence? If I were a Pastor/Priest solemnising the ceremony, I would rather like to say that line. It's quite a cool line - invited audience participation (which, at that particular juncture, would be most likely unwanted by the couple, but still... it would be fun if someone DID stand up and yell "YES!", and do a totally(thanks to MooMoo for pointing out the BooBoo.) [Or Forever Hold Your Peace] |
mercredi, novembre 16, 2005 No WoW today, my life will go astray...  After looking over my brother's shoulder for the past ten years...Me: So fun! Maybe I should start playing World of Warcraft. Bro: (immediately, no hesitation whatsoever, and very emphatically) SIAO AH?!? Your lifestyle cannot support it man! (points to you if you know where the inspiration for the title of this post came from.) [No WoW today, my life will go astray...] |
dimanche, novembre 13, 2005 Only my dad can bring back half a pack of Maltesers chocolates securely sealed with a large, unravelled paperclip, reincarnated and enjoying a new lease of life as a pseudo-rubberband.[Twisted Maltesers] |
vendredi, novembre 11, 2005 ... and I can't bring myself to continue.One and only exam is over. Thank you for praying. [You've made it too sad...] |
lundi, novembre 07, 2005 Bad hair, bad wardrobe, bad writing, bad, bad, bad  This always makes me want to laugh.
[Bad hair, bad wardrobe, bad writing, bad, bad, bad] |
dimanche, novembre 06, 2005 If I were a butterflyI'd thank you Lord for giving me wings If I were a robin in a tree I'd thank you Lord that I could see If I were a fuzzy-wuzzy bear I'd thank You Lord for my fuzzy-wuzzy hair If I were a fish in the sea I'd wiggle my tail and I'd giggle with glee But I just thank you Father for making me me For you gave me a heart and you gave me a smile You gave me Jesus and You made me Your child And I just thank you Father, for making me me! [Fuzzy Wuzzy Bears and Hairs] |
samedi, novembre 05, 2005  If the sign says "No parking, WHEEL CLAMP, release $50", it doesn't mean you can't park there - you can, but if you get caught, the penalty's the wheel clamp, and to release it's gonna cost you $50. If the sign depicts a picture showing that you shouldn't feed the monkeys bananas (or sweet corn, depending on how you interpret that ... thing that the hand is offering the monkey), you really shouldn't feed the monkeys. And if you're planning on coming into Singapore, you should know that we don't like drugs, drug-pushers or drug-abusers. And you should know that you run the risk of being executed. I am not unsympathetic to the prosecuted's plight - capital punishment is nothing to be sneezed at. But you knew that we had the laws, and you knew that you ran the risk of the death penalty when you brought illegal stuff here, and you knew that we had tight security and that we don't f**k around when it comes to drugs - so really, what else could we do? In the words of Agent Smith, it was inevitable. I'd like to say more, but I think I'll live in fear and err on the side of caution. Looks like Amesty International might have a point about us after all. [Executions] |
jeudi, novembre 03, 2005 TRBC Vacation Bible School: Preparations Part III We had Ben and Jerry's, then made another 1mx2m banner, then I got very forcefully shoved out of the multi-purpose hall while barefoot, then made three yellow chirpy road signs, placed the remaining stuff on the fourth floor and then we left. Then returned to keep and fold everything else in the dark because the Big Bad Boogeyman was in a funky mood, what with the mopping.And then we gave Jacob a heart attack while he was practicing his 'C' maths questions, slacked around (washed our feet in his house, thanks for the 2 litres of water, Mr Lam), and then we left. Back to AMK, and then back home. The end. [TRBC Vacation Bible School: Preparations Part III] |
mercredi, novembre 02, 2005 TRBC Vacation Bible School: Preparations Part II  The rickshaw in production (top), and the final product (below)  I feel blessed beyond belief. Last year, I had a whole three weeks to get ready for the childrens' camp, and I utilized the full three weeks to make a whole bunch of banners and props for VBS. I had the fourth floor at my disposal, and a lot of time. I managed to make banners of (1) Mt Fuji, (2) Pikachu and Pokemon (3) Godzilla (4) Doraemon, as well as two theme banners - one in colour, one in black and white. The whole entire production took about two weeks last year - every single day of me going down and hogging the fourth floor till the cows came home. This year's theme is Ramblin' Road Trip - a trip around the United States of America. Rather unfortunately, the material gets it wrong again: last year the producers of the material couldn't differenciate between Japanese, Chinese, and Korean culture, and all the references, everything was so screwed up. This year, they've bent over too far backwards: I don't particularly want to educate the kids on American history and geography. It's bad enough that they've set the whole VBS in America; what's worse is that they seem to have fitted it into the 1950-60s sort of time frame. That's just being mean to the rest of us who aren't in America and who don't care for delving into another country's banal history (of milkshakes and drive-in movie theatres) when we barely know our own. (I speak for myself, of course.)  But I still love making the decorations. Last year, I paid for everything myself - I really, really wanted to do the decor, and it seemed like too much hassle to bother the planning committee for cash when the Major's hair was turning prematurely grey from the stress of the very first VBS in TRBC ever. This year, everyone asked for a budget, and the silliest thing happened - they gave $20 to each teacher to decorate the classroom, and for the station checkpoints, $0. When we finally had a meeting, everyone realised how ridiculous that was, considering that the checkpoints (especially mine, the music checkpoint) was going to be used in huge ways, they upped our budget, so now I am the happy owner of... $30. Whoop-de-doo. It's better than nothing though - but although I tried very hard to stay on budget, I blew my budget a zillion times over (so much for me being on The Apprentice) I made the caravan (yes, I'm making a facsimile of a caravan, or a Recreational Vehicle (RV) and the gas pump. I don't think I should have a problem with the gas pump - I'm planning to attach about six A4 paper boxes together for the general frame of the gas pump, then attach a garden hose and a kerosene-transfer-pump to it for the gas pump. The garden hose cost $1 (I am thinking of cutting it into two for more mileage), and the kerosene-transfer-pump cost $1.50. This year, SX and Joel became my saving graces, and by God's grace, the props are (mostly) done. Three days! That's all it took this year! You know what the cherry on top of the cake is? That we managed to do it with FULL DISMANTLE EVERY NIGHT. Meaning that we kept every single thing that we used every night. Nothing was left "for tomorrow", like last year, when the fourth floor was a mess for three weeks - and more, since we started on the Christmas decorations immediately after the camp. (I can still remember Esther's worried voice begging for help.) This is all good stuff. Lots and lots of paint, plastic sheets so that the paint doesn't get onto the floor - in place of newspapers which are bulky and don't always get the work done. I made the call to spend a bunch more this year on the plastic instead of the newspapers because I needed a way to mount the banners on the wall without using masking tape because somehow, the church administration really hates tape on the wall - and I really don't blame them,  This next picture is a picture of my Apart from these couple of smaller banners, there's also a pseudo gas-pump model, a huge theme banner (Ramblin' Road Trip!), and a caravan that looks like a bus. I promised them a Ben and Jerry's treat at United Square the next time we went round to do the props. Whoop-de-doo! ETA: Here are more pictures!  This year's theme verse: Psalm 25:4 "Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths..."  The long banners to be placed at the sides of the stage  My "caravan" or "recreational vehicle",
which has now turned out looking like a bus, and which SX insists looks like "the NYPD prison bus". Bummer. [TRBC Vacation Bible School: Preparations Part II] |
mardi, novembre 01, 2005 It was someone's birthday weekend last![Uncle Yew Leong's birthday] |
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