Sweet Yet Sad

I just got back from the Melbourne Airport; hardly got any rest on the plane, but here i am blogging =) Jerusha was playing the songs on the CD that Lydia gave her, and they somehow caught hold of my soft heart. I didn't really understand the lyrics, but my mind was filled with all the memories of my last 2 months back in Singapore. Sigh.. I feel like i'm in a forreign land again, and all that i've ever had... is back in Singapore.

Almost the entire youth group came to see me off at the airport, Dawn, Grace, Nat, Sam, Jeremy, Ben, Bell, Yvonne and many others came along too. I was really touched by that; but it didn't move me to tears. Most of the girls had tears in their eyes as i gave some of them hugs.. and i felt wierd because i wasn't crying. Many say that it's a gal thing, and that guys are too insensitive.

But... i felt what they probably felt while i was in the car; as the music played and as the air was still and quiet. I actually missed some people. Not just some ordinary "miss", but i really did feel nostalgic and kindda terrible - at a loss i guess.

I thought about many things - hanging out with Nat, Sam, Isaac, Jeremy and all. They're way older than me, but they treated me really well. And the many times that we played Soccer. oh yea... and i miss my cousins Ben and Bell terribly too. Whoa... they've grown up so much! Ben's gonna be a great soccer player. Both Dah and Bell are like newly-emerged butterflies! haha! I only pray that God will give them the wisdom to handle relationships.

Joce, my best pal. I had many talks with her about countless issues on life, and i never seem to get bored listening to her blabble on! =P I thank God for her.. may sound like a cliche, but she's like a star that God put into my life just to remind me that someone always cares.

Uncle Hong Aik, the guy that confidently challenged me to a 5km race and lost by 3 minutes! =P haha! He still owes me a banana-split! He's my favourite uncle, cuz i can chat to him as though he were a friend my age; just a little more mature.

I got to know Sarah, Mei Qing and Liru a lot more during this trip. Actually, i've only know Mei Qing and Liru for 2 months... but they've become semi-good friends to me. haha! They even made me this board thingo that reads: "God Loves Isaac!" haha! Thanks!

Derrick, Roy and Bryan introduced me to DOTA and i think i'm addicted to it right now!!! =.="" haha! I'm really inspired by Bryan's honesty and willingness to help a friend. He was there whenever i needed him to come for cell group meetings, soccer tournaments, shopping and when i needed a ball pump. haha! You've also inspired me to train hard at playing the electric guitar. Thanks mate!

Yvonne, the unmarried one. I had a few talks with her about stuff, and yea... got to know her a little more. She'll always be someone that i look up to and respect - von ma! Hopefully she'll be engaged or married when i go back in two years time. haha! I'll be waiting for a huge-as red packet from her.... don't worry von-jie, i'll keep praying!

And i must make a public apology to Dawn. She's such a loving and sweet friend, but i guess i've misunderstood for countless times and treated her rather badly. I'm really sorry.. but i hope you understand. I'm such dumb arse sometimes.

Oh.. i can't forget my couzie Tab, and ofcourse, Jerusha and Lyd. Whoa... these three are always together, and they NEVER get tired of each other! haha! Anyway, Tab's matured a lot more from the last time i've seen her, and she looks much prettier now. I remember helping her persuade her dad to buy her a white frilly mini-skirt from SODA. lol! Lyd's still as jumpy as ever, i sincerely hope that she'll learn to calm down soon...but then again...that's why people like her. Another irony.

I miss my good friend Justin too. We went out for lan, lunch and soccer quite a couple of times, and i really enjoyed myself - down at Tekka Mall, Serangoon, Braddell Heights CC. haha! Just wanna thank him for always being there too... Daryl and Troy, i'll always remember you guys as well.

Memories bring touchingly sweet emotions, yet saddness and grief wells up in one's heart.

Battle of the Wise

Sometimes things just aren't the way they seem to be.
Sometimes things just aren't the way they used to be.

I never liked her. I only did it for her sake, not wanting to hurt her. But i guess i did anyway. I can't run away from reality even with time as my guide. Foolish. You can call me that. Dumb. Yea, that's what i am.

I thank God for giving me the wisdom to overcome that trial. I told her. Flat out honesty. No more lies, no more playing around the burning bush. No, i didn't like it; not at all. But i hope this will add a new spark over the ever-brightening horizon.

People change all the time...that's normal, not natural.

I've been pretty obssessed with Frozen Throne. It really takes quite a while to finally install it. I had to get the WarCraft 3: Reign of Chaos base, The Frozen Throne Add-on from Bryan, a patch and then the map. -.-"""" haha! It took me a week to finally get it installed. Hurray!

I'm not too sure about that though. I just finished a few campaigns. They were about this honest and magnanimous knight that turned evil and killed his father(the King) to usurp the throne. Anyway, it reminded me of me. Yea, me. Don't know if this game's becoming my idol, beginning to steal some of my committment and time from God. So i decided to keep my playing time to 2 hours today....not too successful, but i hope blogging will kill some time. haha! God help me!!

The Newsboys are having a concert in Singapore tomorrow and i promised Tab that i would go. I was planning a Soccer event at 5pm, dinner at 7.30pm and then lan till 10pm initially. I even invited some friends along, but i think i'll have to sacrifice the dinner and the lan for the promise.

It's my New Years' Resolution: To be fully committed to all my promises and to carry them out =)

Sigh... i'm gonna be coming back to Singapore in less than two years for my NS (National Service). Honestly, i don't know what's gonna become of me. I'll have to make a choice to stay in Singapore or to go back to Australia for my tertiary education. But it's more complicated than that... sigh.. i'm just afraid. I won't be able to have extremely good friends that i can depend on. Maybe "good" friends, but not "best" friends. And like... i can't be committed to any girl. haha! it sounds kindda stupid, but i'm just looking into the future. It IS gonna happen.

Sigh... i know God know exactly what he has in store for me, and i take comfort in that. I don't have a clue what it looks like, but he's never failed me when my eyes were fixed on him. So i thank God for being Faithful.

I haven't been in contact with Banh, Jase, Jin, Turk, Tommy, Duc, Blee, James, Peter, Marcus, Harish and lil Joe in ages! haha! I'm just wondering how they're doing. I've seen Blee online at 3-4am at night though! lol! *coughs* James always seems to be online at the same time too! =P

Running The Race

Uncle Hong Aik gave me a buzz just before 7am this morning to wake me up for the 5km race that we had agreed on a while ago. I was feeling drowsy and all, but i had given him my word... so we drove to Temasek Polytechnic in Tampines for the race -.-" The agreement was that the loser would have to treat the winner to a Banana Split at Swensons! Because Hong Aik was a seasoned long-distance runner, with countless completed marathons in his boasting bag, we decided to have 2 races - a 5km and a 400m one. The winner of the 5km race would get 1 point for each minute won, and the winner of the 400m race would get 1 point for each second won. Yea...

Anyway, we got chased out of the Polytechnic because of some tight-arse guard following some tight-arse rules and regulations. So we decided to run the 4.4km track around Bedok Reservoir (which is beside the Polytechnic). Well, i seriously ran my guts out and sprinted the last 500m to clock in at 20 mins. haha! Hong Aik finished the ran after 23 minutes!!! BOO yAH!!! A free banana split for me!!! =)

Well, the fun part was yet to come. We actually climbed over the back fence of the Polytechnic as an attempted short cut route to the Reservoir. However, Hong Aik spotted some security camaras; and that prevented us from jumping over the fence back in. haha! So we had to walk another 2 km to hail a cab, drive to his friend's house, sneak in through an unmanned side gate before driving out swiftly. haha! It was hilarious.

I just came back from an extremely enjoyable dinner; probably the most memorable dinners i've had in this entire year (it's 2006 already!!!) =P Samuel, Shawn, Jeremy Goh, Jeremy Lim, Jia Xuan and i got together again for a steamboat-barbeque buffet near Marina Bay. We only started dinner at 9pm after one and a half hours of Dota!!! haha! Jia Xuan's a pro! Anyway, there were tons of sea food as well as vegetables, chicken, beef and all that. I grabbed a full plate of crab and barbequed it in a whole chunk of butter! lol! It was hilarious! Shawn Chang was cracking all these funny jokes, Jia Xuan was busy examining the food, Goh was pimping, Lim was getting burnt by the splattering oil and Sam was staying away from the crabs.





haha! It was really nice to get to meet all these good old friends again. Shawn's comtemplating about going to Australia for his tertiary studies and Sam said that we should make this get together dinner an annual event. Yea, that'll be GREAT! Whoa... how i cherish the past! Shawn, Jia Xuan and i had a nice chat on the train back, and yea.. i'll be seeing Shawn, Jeremy Lim and Shuan again this Saturday. CAn't wait for it!

Jerusha and i did Surveying till 10pm last night. We didn't get much done...i think we surveyed 12 people in all - that's about $30 shared between the both of us. Hmm... Jerusha doesn't really like this job, and i don't think it pays well. But i'm determined to stick to it for another week.

If someone were to ask if True Friends were for real... Well, my answer would be a "Yes! For Shizzels mate!"

First Month Back In Singapore!!

Hey peeps! How're you guys going?
Looks like my blog's pretty dead; i haven't updated it for more than a month now because of my tightarse neighbours. Nat helped me search for wireless connections in range from my bedroom, but all the feasible ones were protected by WEP keys!!!! Argh... i feel so isolated for the global world. Fortunately, the Singaporean newspaper, "The Straits Times", is full of detailed articles and reports on Soccer!!! Yee ha!!! I've been able to catch Liverpool's late night matches at coffee shops or at Gavin's or Uncle Bala's house. It's a pity that their 10-match winning streak had to come to an end two nights ago...sigh.

One month's passed relatively quickly... it feels like it's been but a moment, however, the memories left behind prove otherwise. Let me think back... Oh yea, we had a church camp in Melacca (Malaysia) during my second week back and Uncle Bala organised an "Amazing Race". We were split into four teams. My team spent FIVE whole hours venturing around Melacca on foot! We managed to visit about 20 historical landmarks through our tiresome journey before getting back to Hotel Equatorial. Despite the tedious test of our aerobic and muscular endurance, the race was extremely rewarding. I got to know Melacca more in those five hours than in my last three visits. Anyway, i got bagged countless times throughout the camp because of my accent -.-""

The next thing i remember is the Futsal Tournament that i organised way back on 17th Dec!! The scorching sun was relentless in causing numerous sunburns, but that didn't stop all the 8 teams from battling their guts out for First Prize. The girls - Tab, Sha, Lyd, Joce and Sarah - formed an all-girls team. They defied all the odds, took full advantage of the 3-0 headstart advantage that they had against every team, and grabbed the first prize for the second division! My team - Troy, Justin, John, Sean and myself - managed to stick together as a team to overcome some tough opponents, and to win the First Division Final: 6-2. I didn't feel too good about winning my own tournament, so i gave my prize to Bryan. Anyway, I made a short speech/testimony about Jesus Christ during the prize presentation which turned out to be... erm... spectacular?? haha! It was a fantastic tournament. I'm sure everyone enjoyed it!

Hmm... during the past month, i've become pretty good friends with the younger boys in the Youth Group - Howard, Ian, Gavin, Sean and Nat Jr. Haha! There were a couple of times when Nat Jr. got really irritating, but i guess we all have to learn how to cope with different personalities - it's a life skill ~8) Erm... Tab, Lyd and Sha are like inseparable magnets stuck together by a magnetic force too great to by displayed numerically. Anyway, they've been going out together almost every single day and staying over at each other's houses. My mum got pretty pissed with Jerusha for not spending enought time with our grand parents.

Anyway, I was having some trouble with my grand parents too; especially my grandmum. I reckon i get along well with almost anyone, but I don't know why i can't get along with my own grand parents. I was so dissapointed and dejected to the verge of tears once. But the fact was, i didn't even know whether i was angry with myself, or with my grandmum. Haiz... She likes to converse with my grand dad in Teochew (a Chinese dialect). And sometimes she talks about Jerusha and i right in front of us, thinking that we don't understand the dialect. Well, i actually do understand most of the stuff she says...sigh. I lost my $18 sim card a few weeks ago, and instead of consoling me, she said(in mandarin), " Look at you, you're very much like your sister. You're both so careless!" Oh... that cut me deep. I mean, i don't care if she insults me and calls me a scum, i really don't care... but she didn't have to drag me sister into that. Well, things have cooled down since my mum came back from Australia. And it seems like my mum's reprimanding my grand mum most of the time! haha! It's funny how the mother loses her authority when her daughter's a whole lot shrewder! XD

Hmm...what else. Oh, i've gotten to know Nat a lot more, and i simply adore his room. Whoa! He's got this awesome fish tank (it's a pity that there're no fish in it) and stick-on stars on the ceiling! I'm gonna set up a fish tank of my own in my room when i start getting an income. But till then, this dream will have to wait!

I've hitched onto this Dota craze. Derrick gave me very clear and helpful advice through my first game, and that really boosted my liking to the game. I got kindda addicted to it at one point of time, when i kept feeling the urge to visit a LAN shop. But i've got it under control now - God's at the top of the list, and my Studies are next up.

Jocelyn has always been telling me about her bf, Jun Xiang, but i've never met him. I was feeling a little nervous because there was a slight chance that we wouldn't click. But that wasn't so... we're pretty good friends now.. we normally have a friendly spare in a game of Table-Tennis whenever we're back in the Public Mansion. And yea, he's a really nice guy, down-to-earth, intelligent, good-looking and all. Sigh... it's a pity things just don't go the way you want them to all the time. Don't worry Joce, God's proud of ya!

I've got this incredible knack of going to Queensway Shopping Centre. I used to hate that place, but i've been there 6 or 7 times in the last month! -.-""" haha! Queensway is a paradise of all Sportsman, especially Soccer players. I bought a pair of Nike Street Soccer shoes for A$120 in Melbourne, and i saw that same pair for S$65!!!! lol! I was fuming mad when i first saw it. Boots are sold for unbelieveable prices there! Seriously... my Soccer mates back in Melbourne would die to come to Queensway. lol!

Oh yea, i got to see all my cousins again during Christmas! Dah's changed a whole lot, and Isobel's grown up so much! They're both dazzling fine girls now... haha! I'm proud of them. Jerry and Josiah look almost the same. Paul's hairstyle looks much better now, and Ning's grown much prettier too! John's so much more mature, and Joel's actually leading a cell group! I would never have imagined that two years ago! Jeremy's getting wiser and more handsome too, like his brother Joshua. It's a pity i didn't get to see Ezra though, he was on a holiday.

I got to meet up with Jeremy Lim, Jeremy Goh and Jia Xuan at East Coast park last week. We did some cycling and played some pool. These guys have grown up so much! Jeremy Lim's a taller than me now! But the biggest change is that Goh's become a Christian!!!!! LOL! 80% of his vocabulary used to be swear words, but he's good-natured, matured and he doesn't swear anymore! He even invited me for his church's (City Harvest) Christmas service at Expo....it was HUGE AS!!!! (About a thousand people!)

I felt really home when i was with my old friends. I could chat to them about anything. We were just...so close. Jeremy Lim and i have know each other for 6 years, since Primary 4, and we're still best of friends. He's a treasure that i'll never forget! Thanks mate!

Jia Xuan had to leave early, and Goh was feeling a little tired. So Jeremy Lim and i caught a movie, had some free coffee at Starbucks and had dinner. I can't wait to meet up with them again. I hope Shawn Change, Shaun Tan and Samuel can come along the next time. I've gotta meet Daryl, Justin and Troy for lunch some time soon too!

Oh, just last week, Justin invited me for LAN with some of his friends. He hosted a game of CS, and we were having a knife-fight when this random guy joined the game and started shooting us with an AWP. So, consequently, Justin kicked him outta the game. Just a minute after, this guy ran up to us in a rage and started asking who the server was. He was dyed hair, ear rings, a punky shirt and baggy board shorts - a full-on gangster. I think Justin was pretty scared at first and he didn't respond, but the gangster dude somehow found out that he was the server and started kicking his chair with all his might. loL!

I got pretty pissed... so i stood up and told the dude to ease up and piss off. lol! He looked at me...and at that moment i could see some fear in his eyes. It was hilarious. He was a little shorter than me. He gazed at my arms and looked at his huge-arse, giant of a friend beside him. haha! i thought his friend was gonna bash me, but he actually told the gangster to calm down! lol! He was pissing on himself. Anyway, the owner of the LAN shop told the little try-hard gangster to sit back down. Foolishly, he came back a few moments later and told Justin that he's gonna get his gang down to settle the score. When we had finished playing, we saw his entire gang waiting outside, but we left through another exit. Dumb try-hards.

School just started yesterday, and the clock's ticking down on me. A month left in my homeland, and i won't be coming back for another two years. Sigh... time flies, and things go by. But the memories are precious, and the friends make them last.