Went to watch Happy Feet with YC today at Cineleisure. Man! It was really, really good! Had such a good time watching 'Happy Feet' Mumble in action. Have you seen anything as cute and cuddly as a new born penguin?? Gosh, he was just simply adorable. Beyond all that furry, cuddly, cute faces though, there were a lot of themes at work here. As YC has interestingly pointed out, the normal penguins were the more Evangelical ones while the Emperor penguins were more Pentecostal in nature. (Hope I got that right! Let me know if I'm wrong yeah? =0p) There was semi-religious overtones there in a sense of the reference to the Great Big Penguin or whatever they called it, provider of all their fish and what not. Does it somehow allude to the fact of how we commit ourselves before the sovereignity of our God for our 2 loaves of bread and 5 fishes in our lives? Hmmm....

Every genre of music was effectively covered in the film, from hip-hop, to pop, to jazz, to opera, to rock N roll and more. The person who did the musical arrangement is a genius I must say, to put that all together took talent, hardwork and more, just awesome. An earful and eyeful at the same time.

Fave statments made:

"He has done everything penguinly possible."

"Give me fin!!! Give me fin!!!"

"Let me tell you something jojo...I know size can be daunting...but don't be afraid. I love you."

"Turn around to the penguin next to you... and give him a great BIG hug."
"What you hugging me for?!?"
"He told me too!"
"Get away!"
"No, you like it!"

"Watch the beak...watch the beak... BEAK!!! Ouch!! ..... the beak....."

"Drop back anytime rubber butt!"

"Bow down! Bow down!" "You're the man! You're the man!"

"Man...this guy is so excellently cool!!!"

Dear God,

My plans, my hopes, my joys, my regrets, I lay them at Your feet. Take my relationships, my aspirations, my disappointments, my griefs. Accept my wishes, my needs, my choices, my intentions, my memories, my ups, my downs, for only in You is there meaning. Only in Your lead is there fulfillment. Only in Your grace is there balance. Only in You is there salvation. Through Jesus Christ, my Lord. Amen.

I'm too tired to write about it now. Being Bestman is really quite a role to fulfill! More details later when I am more sane but it was good! =)

Went to cold storage today after a lovely Sushi Sakae lunch (with 10% discount on HSBC Credit Card, thanks sis! hee!) to grab some powered coffee for our poor, overworked coffee machine. Apparently I committed a cardinal sin cause when I went back to office with my selected choice, Ernie was screaming bloody murder because I had chosen DECAFFEINATED instead of your normal Espresso, Latte Caramel...etc. It was a really innocent mistake though (really!!), I must declare. The label was red in color, so nice and attractive that I did not read the ominous green line at the bottom that said 'Decaffeinated Coffee. For the fools that should be drinking tea instead." Doh!

To vaguely express the dire situation I was in, I shall attempt to recreate the conversation back then, obviously the truth has been distorted for pure comic relief but you get the general idea. (Ernie, if you are reading this, well, you know the truth, don't you? Ha!)

ER: "Why on earth did you buy DECAFFEINATED coffee????!!!! What's the bloody point of it all?!?! Are you insane?!? Have you lost your mind?!?! I mean, do chickens fly, seriously!!!"

Me: "Errr.... I was distracted by the lovely label, so nice and attractive that I missed out the green line..."

ER: "Why bother even drinking this stuff?! It's for little pee wee's man!!! Its like drinking milk in a club, sucking a pacifier at age 30 and taking flower arrangement classes!!!"

Me: "Well, errr....if you put if that way, I guess....."

ER: " Give me the receipt! (Me hands over the reciept gingerly) I'm going to get it changed!"

And off goes our dear dependable friend, braving sun and rain plus killer traffic (trust me, try crossing North Bridge Road at lunchtime) to Cold Storage to come back with lovely, grinded, aromatic, highly CAFFEINATED Espresso coffee for us.

Thanks Ernie! Lesson learnt and never to be repeated again! =)

I came upon a discussion about love & relationships today. It was an interesting although albeit sad as there were moments that it brought back tinges of memories, both good and bad. It made me remember my writings that was written way back in 1998, when I had my first blog or rather online journal as it was known back then. Reading through it, I can't believe that I actually wrote this. 20years old and writing about love? What did I know? What had I gone through? What on earth was I thinking? I can hardly fathom what went through my mind back then. But yet as I read this, it sorta makes weird sense, to me anyway. Perhaps it was a glimpse of things to come?

Well, here's to me back then in 1998.


Love
The Love in your heart wasn't put there to stay, Love isn't Love till you give it away. - Eugene Ang 1998

If you find yourself in love with someone who does not love you, be gentle with yourself. There is nothing wrong with you. Love just didn't choose to rest in the other person's heart.

If you find someone else in love with you and you don't love her, feel honored that love came and called at your door, but gently refuse the gift you cannot return. Do not take advantage, do not cause pain. How you deal with love is how you deal with you, and all our hearts feel the same pains and joys, even if our lives and ways are different.

If you fall in love with another, and she falls in love with you, and then love chooses to leave, do not try to reclaim it or to assess blame, let it go. There is a reason and there is a meaning. You will know in time. Remember that you don't choose love. Love chooses you. All you can really do is accept it for all its mystery when it comes into your life. Feel the way it fills you to overflowing, then reach out and give it away.

Give it back to the person who brought it alive in you. Give it to others who deem it poor in spirit. Give it to the world around you in anyway you can. That is where many lovers go wrong. Having been so long without love, they understand love only as a need. They see their hearts as empty places that will be filled by love, and they begin to look at love as something that flows to them rather than from them.

The first brush of new love is filled to overflowing, but as the love cools, they revert to seeing their love as need. They cease to be someone who generates love and instead become someone who seeks love. They forget that the secret of love is that it is a gift, and that it can be made to grow only by giving it away.

Remember this, and keep it to your heart. Love has its own time, its own seasons, and it's own reason for coming and going. You cannot bribe it or coerce it, or reason it into saying. You can only embrace it when it arrives and give it away when it comes to you. But if it chooses to leave from your heart or from the heart of your lover, there is nothing you can do and there is nothing you should do.

Love always has been and always will be a mystery. Be glad that it came to live for a moment in your life. If you keep your heart open, it will come again.


Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. - 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

I trust in You! =)

I was introduced to this song during the Parachute seminar and it just spoke to me. May I continue to always live for You, my King and remember that all I do, I do for You.


To Live Is Christ

I make a vow
My life will always honour You
Whether I live or die

I belong to Him
He bore my sin
I owe this life to my saving King

Hallelujah, I am not my own
You are in control
Hallelujah

For me to live is christ
And to die is gain
No matter what price i pay
I choose to give this life away

Only by the cross I am saved

Dear God,

As Little Imp is lying there seeking another good night of restful sleep, please give her the peace of mind and the ability to relax. Fulfill her needs for mental and physical restoration so she may wake up ready for another beautiful day which You will let her to live to enjoy with praise and thanks to You always. Remove all distractions & worries from her mind and to bless her with sweet rest and speak to her in Your very own special way. Thank You Lord. Amen.

Psalms 4:8
I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.

He cares for you. Nitez!

=)

Went for La Senza's launch party this evening as they were our clients so it was a pretty interesting nite. I'm sure the ladies would be more interested about this post today as this falls in your area of 'expertise'. =0p Took some photos and video as attached below: (excuse the bad lighting and angles, hey, it was crowded, I'm still saving for that elusive SLR Camera that I will one day get. =0) )

This was working on some Spanish theme, dancing and all. Notice guy with dark 'Zorro' like hat on right hand corner with his partner?


Then we have the lovely models on the stage closer to us. The makeup and all was a bit severe for my taste but I do like that lovely mesh/chiffon that the 2nd model from left was wearing. It's sexy but elegant and teases the imagination of what lies beneath, revealing a little but not all.


Here we enter the Renaissance period of sorts:

A close up shot: (Notice this crazy dude in the background in the back with electric guitar? It was absolutely HILARIOUS to watch him prance around like a madman in the back when no one was paying attention to him at all. Think crazy rock star performing nutty, that was how funny it was. And no, the electric guitar was NOT connected to anything at all, ha!)


And the rest of the pics were too bad to be published. So I leave you with this video that buttersz had kindly uploaded into YouTube for me.




I had to stop recording here as the guy in hot pink was grossing me out completely. =0p

Hey all! Pretty exciting times as I've got a tagboard up and running on the right as you can see! I'm having a trial period on this to see if it would be useful so yeah, tag me or something. Like leave your internet banking account number with password to donate $$$ for my 'Help Eugene Get A Better Tagboard' fund campaign. =0p

Hear from you all soon!

Met up with Cheeze yesterday, wow, just realized that it has been almost half a year since we caught up and so many things have been happening in both our lives. Pretty interesting to hear similiar experiences that we have both encountered separately but oh so impactful in our lives and how that is something God is wanting us to learn and grow. While reminiscing on the past, we both remembered a song I wrote for her baptism way back then and you know, I'm really honoured that you remembered the tunes and lyrics, that's such a great encouragement! And for the first time since that day 6 years ago, here it is once again:

15th Oct 2000

Love is a wonderful gift
That You have given to me
I once was lost but now am found
Was blind but now I see

Now I live for You alone
All my sins You have atoned
And I give You all my praise
All my life I will follow after You

Love is a sweet sweet gift
That makes me soar on eagle wings
Your grace has set me free within
When You died on calvary

CMI MuSicWorks 2000

Kudos to all my dearest cell mates, may this song serve as an encouragement to you all as you remember and reflect the passion and zeal we had all served together then. May His light continue to shine and guide your paths wherever you might be.

Worship - it is an act of sacrificial obedience. It's more than than just having a great multi-talented band in your church service, its an action you need to take in your life to surrender to God. Did you know when the very first time worship was mentioned in the bible? Gen 22:5 says: [He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you." (NIV)] Remember that this was Abraham talking right before he prepared to sacrifice his only son to God in absolute obedience & holy fear to God's will. Can you imagine the torment he was facing as a father? How do you worship with such emotional turmoil and personal anguish? He travelled for 3 days to the place God directed, how many times must he have thought of turning back? But still he rode on, knowing full well the secret pain he carried in his heart.

Will you find me faithful in Your testing upon my life Lord? Will You help me to worship you like that Lord?

Praise the Lord! I FINALLY passed my IPPT! Hahaha! God is indeed faithful! After sweating it out for 2 whole months, He has answered and honoured me! =) Man, 2 months going back to Army seems like forever! 1st month was twice a week, followed by 2nd month of three times a week, it was really packed out for me indeed. It was such a testing of self-discipline and applying myself daily.

Results are as follows:

Sit-Ups: 35-39 (Official records says 48 but for those who went through army, you know why i say BUT...heh)

Standing Broad Jump (SBJ): 255cm (Didn't hit my desired target of 230cm though, bleargh!)

Chin ups: 5 (Not bad, considering I was a big ZERO 2 months ago)

Shuttle Run: 9.8secs (I was like Flash man!!! heh!)

2.4Km Run: 10mins 58secs (Broke my previous current record of 11min 38 secs!)


I have actually started to like my RT sessions actually, 'cause without it, I would have been quite lazy to excercise that intensively, as most of us would face. A jog or two would usually suffice I would imagine but we went beyond that, simply torturing our poor bodies to the max that it could take. I have come to realize that I am getting OLD. Yes, old, and it would take A LOT of training for me to reach my peak of 9mins 18secs in 2.4km run ever again. *sigh* I miss those times of being first when you're running in a 'pack'. There's always something thrilling about crossing the finishing line after such an intense 'race'. =0p

I have also observed that it is quite hard to look 'wu say' when you are running. There are people who run, panting away like some mad dog and feverishly yearning for the last round, the last turn of the 2.4km route, whereby they may rest their weary bodies on the hard, concrete floors of Maju Camp and sound like they are having a heart attack or asthma attack for others. I have seen those that look like they are at Death's Door, faces twinging with pure agony and gasping for the precious air that their lungs so desparately needs. Not pretty at all, trust me. =0p

There are of course the other end of the spectrum, people who make running look like a walk in a park, who instead of slowing down as the body gets tired, would pick up speed getting faster and faster round after round. These people are the ones who really make you wish that you were 7 years younger and in your prime to meet those physical challenges of yesteryears. The guy who got first today was 9mins 58secs, a FULL minute ahead. Basically, you can't even see his shadow anymore during the 2nd round (out of 3). Heh.

To end off, I would like encourage all those out there who have not passed their IPPT's to perserve on because if I can do it, so can you! =) God bless!