30-11-08 (Saturday) "Love"

"he asked Him, 'Of all the COMMANDMENTS, which is the most important?'
'The most important one,' answered Jesus,'is this:"Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." The second is this:"Love your neighbor as yourself." There is no COMMANDMENT greater than these.' "

~ Mark 12:28b-30 (NIV)

Its a COMMANDMENT.

com⋅mand⋅ment

–noun

1.	a command or mandate.

2.	(sometimes initial capital letter) any of the Ten Commandments.

3.	the act or power of commanding.

in other words... we're supposed to obey by DOING what it commands. So... What I get is this...

Love is more than just that warm, cuzzly wuzzy feeling you get when you think you're in love with this person and you wanna spend all your time and the rest of your life with the person (and then wonder why you actually thought so when you eventually HAVE to spend your whole life with that person... Heheh. Jk.)

Love is an ACTION.

Draped in "sin" and veiled with "ugliness", we are still loved as a CHOICE of God. He made an ACTIVE decision to love us. And when Jesus commanded us to love others, its not about making yourself feeling all warm and wonderful and joyful when around that person...

It means you help pick the person's stuff up even though you just got a scolding from your parents on the way to school.

It means you go up to the person to chat with a person and ask about his/her problems despite your bad sleep last night.

It means you put effort into being interested in the person's life and what he/she thinks.

If love were as easy as the movies put it, divorce rates would not have been as high as one in three marriages in the US. Broken families would be an unfamiliarity and even an anomaly everywhere.

If love were so easy, then it wouldn't need to be included in the greatest COMMANDMENTs.

In fact, the hardest part of love is when you have to love your neighbors AS YOURSELF. I'm sure you know hard it is to do that, I mean... Would you be willing to help a person put on make-up for half as long as yourself? Or in a guy's case, style the person's hair for as long? Going out of your own way for the sake of others?

Have you shown your love to anyone today?

"Don't save it all for Christmas Day
Find a way
To give a little love everyday
Don't save it all for Christmas Day
Find your way
Cause holidays have come and gone
But love lives on
If you give on
Love..."

~ "Don't Save It All For Christmas Day"
Celine Dion, Clay Aiken, Avalon...

28-11-08 (Friday) "Celebrate Christmas In Singapore(CCIS)"

Went out yesterday to run some errands and happened to be walking through Orchard Rd. My my... Christmas DOES come early here.

I mean... Just within those few hours, I came across...

... One Christmas tree...

... two Christmas trees...

... 3 Christmas trees...

... and many many MORE Christmas trees...

not to mention the giant wreath thingy... This was in Suntec City though, not along Orchard. Christmas season in Singapore DOES feel rather Christmasy even without the snow and stuff like that. Good place to spend your Christmas provided you don't mind the crazy crowd along Orchard when the shopping malls open up all the way till they close...

Anyway... Went to meet up with Jocelyn for some ice-cream after that at Island Cremery.
This guy was sitting outside the small shopping centre smiling happily, so I took a picture of him.

Take a closer look at the end of his tie...

Heheh... It feels close to home suddenly.

I am soooo gonna miss these cool beak shaped long urinals that I still haven't figured out the practicality of its height. Easy access for kids as well so that they need not get those smaller ones and fix them at different heights, maybe?

Gonna miss my friends here as well. I'm putting this pic here cos' all the other pics were taken yesterday so, might as well la. heheh... :) And friends, she is unavailable now, unfortunately for all of us, sigh. Haha...

Another thing... After that morning of 'suntanning' in Wild Wild Wet (last Friday), I'm finally peeling!!!

These are chunks of my skin. On my way back on the bus. Heheh...

Looks like the skin that snakes peel off. NOW I feel like a snake...!!

27-11-08 (Thursday) "Ulcers are 'ouch-sers' "

Been going out everyday for the past few days. I just wanna post some pics about yesterday's outing at the Singapore Zoo with Vui Yung, Chi Weei and Aravind courtesy of VY's aunt. Free entrance!!

It was quite a nice place really. We watched all three shows that were available before going around the place. Some more, we got to witness some excitement when this spider monkey kinda broke out of its holding area, running along the tarred path with several caretakers hot on its tail while its pals were going bonkers swinging around the vines they were supposed to stay among. How timely, just as "Madagascar 2" was just released recently as well.

Here're some of the animals...

The otter that 'smears his anal scent to mark his territory', which translates into it rubbing its butt everywhere that it treads to turn others around. They put this as one of the very first exhibits and with its strong smell, I suspect they're actually hoping you might enter the zoo and just turn around and go home straight away, saving the zoo space. Blech... Nevertheless, these creatures are still adorable!

Zebras! Real zebras as fake as the fake zebra we have back in Taman Selera. Hmmm... I guess MMC did a good job back there, eh?

Rhinos. Majestic creatures. They really look as if they were from the days of the dinosaur, with their leathery hide and muscular build.

This reminds of Matt Parkman's 'spirit walk' in Heroes Season 3. Heheh... I think this tortoise is pretty cute too!

The sth sth tamarin!!! It is SOOOOoooo tiny and cute and cuddly you wanna just grab it and squeeze it tightly in your arms! You can't tell from this picture but its only as big as a chihuahua. The body's abour the size of your two fists combined! So tiny and cute, with those innocent looking eyes!!!

Orang utan. Or as the non-Malay ppl pronounce it... "Oh-raeng woo-taen". Not so much interested in the adults than in the infants. Those infants also make you so wanna run up to it and hug it. Too bad no touching... Sigh...

Sun sth Somer sth... Aiya. Forgot the name le la, so complicated... This is a cousin or somehow related to the tamarin. Same size, equally cute. This one you get to get REALLY close up with but still not allowed to touch it. If touch... Must be fine some few hundred dollars one ah, this being Singapore.

Kangaroo! I just love its pose here. Looks so human, so relaxed and laid back. I just pity their not having lots of space to hop around in. Honestly, I think most animals in the zoo are quite pitiful as their 'territory' is super limited. Imagine yourself being limited to just your bedroom with walls of glass and having animals stare at you every single minute of the day. Yeah... I think that's what they go through...

The giant tortoise. They weren't kidding with the adjective 'giant'. Once again, I couldn't use anyth to accentuate its size in this picture but the shell itself is almost a meter high and 1.2 long. I think you should get the picture. Imagine walking in a forest and a dozen of these start walking around you. It'd feel like some Jurassic Park scene in slow-mo ah...

The white tiger. The animal that caused a lot of hoo-ha recently after the caretaker committed suicide by harassing one of the tigers. No kidding. The tigers themselves were traumatised by the commotion and everyth from the onlooking visitors that day. They look nothing but cool and power-oozing now. There're only like 7,000 tigers left in the world. And... did you know they're only found in Asia? So cool...

Act Cute Indian Lionwannabe. This one ah... Very rare. Can only be found in the urban jungles of Penang.

Philip the sea lion. Very intelligent and smart animal. Seen here kissing a young girl. Philip is one of the main 'entertainers' of one of the animal shows. Splash sth sth ah... I liked his action when he kinda hides his face behind its flippers as if being coy... Heheh.

PENGUINS!!! Man, I just adore these birds of the water. Walking with that unstable feeling and their childish standing posture. Heheh... Enough said.

From the cast of "I Am Weasel"... Baboons!!!! Their bottoms are rather scary actually. The older ones have bigger and redder butts than the young ones. I guess their balding happens on the other end as compared to humans.

Meerkats! Timons!! Why meerKATS and not meerDOGS when they sound like they're barking all the time, ah? Anyway... They're about the same size as a tamarin. Very cute stuff as well! Like tiny versons of the uh... Wolf?

Mousedeer. Or "kancil" as it is more well-known in Malay. The cause of many, MANY deaths in Malaysia. Sigh... How unfortunate that such a beautiful creature be named after a human-killing machine.

Chinese Forced-to-be-lion-by-VY-but-very-sian Liondontwannabe. This one ah... As long as VY's there, there's a chance of sighting this creature. (At this moment you must be wondering where MY picture is, which you will never have a chance to behold as well... Bwahahaha....)

Some random-big-guinea-pig-looking mammal. Reminds me of "Sky High", the girl with the dyed hair...

Okay... Done with the animals. Of course there're many more animals but my memory card was running out of space cos I didn't clear the media from previous days. The zoo was very informative as well, with posters and several signs of information of the animals.

Snakes help to keep rats and other pests under control. Heh... I like that comic on top.
In fact, they don't neglect the less fortunate. There're even messages in Braille!

Can you read the message on the right? No? Well, you're blind if you can read 'em so... yea...

Here's a close-up of the message above. Can you SEE it now?

Lots of weird totem thingies around the compound to make the place look all 'natural' and ancient I guess...

I was trying to put on the constipated face those totems had on them, not being able to sh*t with their privates being exposed and all... Yucks...

To conclude, I found this rather interesting...

Tiger Airways adopted a tiger. Hmmm... So... What should Perodua be adopting from the Zoo Negara?

The kancil lo... So profitable what. All its customers are temporary. Buy the Kancil a while then wreck very fast then they either end up in heaven/hell/purgatory(whichever you prefer) or buy another Kancil since its the cheapest around...

23-11-08 (Sunday) "Busier After Busy"

Somehow AFTER 'A's are over, life is even BUSIER than the preparation! Heheh...

Went to Wild Wild Wet(WWW) on Friday, this theme park on the east side of Sg after a track & field farewell BBQ at Aranda Country Club just next to Wild Wild Wet on the night before. WWW is rather tiny for a theme park but then again.. This IS Singapore. Will upload pics when I get my cam back. Lost it at WWW but thank God some honest ppl held onto it n nice ol' Vui Yung went there to help me ask about it on Friday. Praise God that ppl with integrity are still alive!

Thanks to WWW, I'm a bit sunburnt now, but things could've been worse if it were sunny in the afternoon that day as well. Once again, praise God for that!

Been going for Group Leader(GL)/Assistant Group Leader(AGL)'s training at church these two days in preparation for the upcoming youth camp on 1st-5th Dec. For Real. Its been powerful sessions and also full of fun as well! :P Can't really NOT have fun when in the midst of all those funful youth like Rulin, Ernest, Kevin and all... Tiring... But all worth it!

I liked this line that Esther mentioned in her sharing this afternoon.

~"When you open your mouth to talk, you are speaking(/revealing) more about your character than you know."

Very true...

Anyway... 2 more weeks left now! SO SOON!!! Rather scary too!!!

20-11-08 (Thursday) "Organizedness"

Just got back from Harbourfront sending off Pei Yi.

Everyone's slowly heading back home for the holidays now. Can't believe that our time here in Sg is coming to an end real soon! Mixed emotions la. You know... That feeling that you can't wait to go home yet wish you didn't have to leave your friends behind.

Anyway... On the way to Harbourfront this morning, I got to experience riding public transport at the peak hour for workers. Whoa... Singaporeans are just so organized its like its programmed INTO them. Walking from one MRT line to the other, the passages seemed as if there were arrows on the ground and lines separating the paths... So cool...!!

I think Singaporeans have developed an excellent sense of balance as well...

Such a small space to stand, no?

Having such small surface area to stand on, no one seemed to be affected by the starting and stopping of the MRT. So cool la...!

They both INSISTED there was an invisible friend there to send Pei Yi off as only Aravind was there. Hmmm... Where's your right hand, Pei Yi? And Ara, your left? Hmmm....

Anyway... I was also thinking abt this on the way when I saw all those couples around. Courtship... Very interesting thing when you compare humans and animals. We take a few months to know a person, then years to understand them, then after 2-5 years of courtship then we decide to tie the knot... Then after ten years, we have like 3 children...
On the OTHER hand... Animals never get to know one another, just release some pheremones, dance around a bit to attract a mate, fight with the alpha male, win, go to some bush and mate... then WALAH!! Offsprings follow almost immediately! All of this in a year or less.
And the MOST interesting thing about this...? WE'RE the ones who're overpopulating the Earth while animals are dwindling off. Heh... Dunno about you but I was pretty amused by this. =P

18-11-08 (Tuesday) "I'm Free!!!"

All that's been said and done has been.

'A's ARE OVER!!!!!

Oh my goodness I can't even begin to say what I'm feeling right now cos' somehow I'm not feeling all the overjoyousness that's making everyone scream and squeal and slap each other and pinch their cuddly dogs I mean I'm supposed to be super glad and all but I guess so many tests have kinda just made it feel like well just another exam

Anyhoo... I'm back to the cyber world. I agreed to stop blogging until 'A's are over and thankfully I've managed to done so! Have so much to update now but... Will start it slow and steady.

3 weeks. That's all I have. Will treasure it!

Hmmm.... Missing my beady things. Will go back to doing those beady stuff when I get home. Anyone want anyth?

Tried to change my blog template but I suck at all this HTML thing. Help please, anyone??