Elvis, a hairdresser…

I did something tonight which I have never done before in my life. My flatmate Issac was using his electronic hair shaver to give himself a haircut, but the shaver positioning device suddenly gave way and he accidentally shaved too much hair at the area just above his right ear. Oops! Desperate to restore his hair back to the presentable mode, he asked me to help him. And yup, I became a hairdresser! I took about 20 minutes to finish the haircut for him, and I realised, hey, I am not that bad in hairdressing! He was so satisfied with what I have done, and I felt satisfied too! Haha! Perhaps I will just put it under the working experience section of my CV: “Elvis, an (accidental/part-time) hairdresser…” =D


Elvis the hairdresser in action. =)


I am sure nobody will be willing to offer their hair for me to do hairdressing after they see this picture and give themselves a sensible second thought. Hahaha! =D

“The First Exchange Student in the History of IDC Herzliya”

I knew I am the very first SMU student who took the advantage of the MOU between SMU and IDC Herzliya and embarked on the international exchange programme here in Israel. But guess what, I realised yesterday that I was actually the very first exchange student IDC Herzliya has ever received… and I am feeling the ‘burden’ and the ‘stress’ for being the first! Today is the second day of the Orientation, and I was introduced to the current President of IDC Herzliya Prof. Ammon Rubinstein before the Raphael Recanati International School Opening Ceremony for Freshmen. We shook hands, and after that my student counsellor told me that I had a great honour to be able to meet him and shake his hands because he is very famous in Israel and worldwide. He is a former member of the Knesset (the Israeli Parliament), former Minister of Communication, former Minister of Science and Technology, former Minister of Energy and Infrastructure and former Minister of Education, Culture and Sport! I was like, WOW! Haha! During the ceremony, the Vice-President for External Relations and also the Head of the Raphael Recanati International School Mr. Jonathan Davis suddenly introduced me to the freshmen cohort during his speech. So embarrassing!!! Hahaha! =D All ‘thanks’ to him, many more IDC students approached me after the ceremony and wanted to know me. What a way to ‘help’ me to get to know more new people!

IDC Orientation starts, and yes, on a Sunday!

This is my very first Sunday spent here in Israel, and I must say, I am not very used to the fact that Sunday is a working/schooling day!!! My goodness! I went to the university early this morning for the first day of Orientation, and it soon occurred to me that I am the only Chinese student around! I had the opportunity to meet many people today… after all, I am doing my exchange in the international programme here with students from 47 other countries!

Perhaps the most interesting thing which occurred to me today was that a female student suddenly came and talked to me, in Mandarin! She’s currently learning Mandarin from a private tutor. Her Mandarin was not fluent though, but I knew she was trying her best, and wanna ‘use’ me to practise speaking Mandarin and asked if I can help her to improve in the language! Hahaha! I was thinking, hmm… this may occur more often once the classes start next week, as the Chinese language class will open then and more people will definitely want to practise using the language. Hehe.

Took some pictures of the IDC Herzliya Opening Ceremony for Freshmen held in the early afternoon, and I must admit that there were so many eyes looking at me with curiosity, wondering why the only Chinese student on campus was carrying a professional camera around and shooting. Hahaha!




Snapshots of the IDC Herzliya Opening Ceremony for Freshmen. 

Yore – the First Rain…

This morning was unlike any other mornings I have seen so far in Israel. When I woke up, the sky was filled with thick, grey clouds, and soon it rained. My flatmates told me that this was the first rain (Yore in Hebrew) in the Jewish New Year, and also the first rain in the Fall (which also means that the season of Autumn has come officially to Israel). The rain didn’t last very long, but it was enough to flood the street in front of my apartment! There aren’t many drainage holes around in the neighbourhood. I supposed that it’s because rain doesn’t happen often here in Israel, and it seemed to me that this morning’s rain was already too much for the very few drainage holes along the street! Tal told me that he and his former flatmates used to name the water flow “Golomb River”, after the street name! Haha! Without further delay, I took out my camera and captured this memorable river: =P


The 1st rainy day since my arrival (view from my apartment). 


Riding on the 'Golomb River'... 

An Afternoon Walk to the Herzliya Beaches…

It is still taking me a bit of effort to get used to the time difference here. The sun rises around 5:30am daily, and sets around 5:30pm here in Herzliya. The sunrise and sunset hours are rather different from those in Singapore and HK, so I tend to wake up and feel sleepy earlier even though I have been living here for quite a while already. The weather has been great here, and I mean, really really really great: sunny with comfortable temperatures (20-27 deg C) and a relatively lower humidity, and with occasional breezes from the sea.

I have spent much time in my apartment doing cleaning work since I have arrived here, and after that I was still spending much time in my apartment, connected to the Internet and caught up with friends back in Singapore. Thanks to the time difference... if I wanna catch them in their evening/night time, I have to go online in the afternoon here! But today I decided to do something different – going to the beaches in Herzliya!

It took me about an hour to walk from my apartment to Nof Yam Beach, one of the 6 beaches in Herzliya. Well, the main reason I need to walk is because there was no public transport on Shabat (Saturday). But it’s ok… I don’t mind to explore the city on foot in such great weather conditions! Anyway, the beach was BEAUTIFUL, and I really mean it! The view was great… with the endless Mediterranean Sea in front of my eyes. When I reach there it was close to sunset, and since the sea is in the West direction, the beaches in Herzliya are the best places to catch a magnificent sunset! Took many pictures there, and had some wonderful conversation with 2 local Israelis. (Many Israelis are very very hospitable, and they love to talk and can’t really stop! Haha! Like me! =P)

Unlike what usually happens, the sun didn’t set into the sea today but instead into the clouds… (sob… =( ) There was a storm in the middle of the sea and the clouds were just above the sea and blocked my nice sunset!!! Nevermind, I will certainly go back to the beaches again, since there are another 5 more for me to explore! Haha! =D


Nof Yam Beach, one of the 6 beaches in Herzliya.



Sunset at Nof Yam Beach.



Shivat HaKokhavim Mall, the nearest mega shopping mall from my apartment (1/2-hour walk though). I have eaten there twice during my first week in Israel, at KFC and Burger King, to 'cure' my longing for familiar things. Haha! However, eating out in Israel is very expensive compared to Singapore and HK... =(

Waiting for ‘Arise & Build’!!!

The church is what I missed most since I left Singapore, and I couldn’t wait to return there after this exchange. I missed the worship experience in the Singapore Expo, missed the cell group meetings, missed the fellowship with my many many friends in church. As a result, I have done many things to keep me ‘connected’ to the church while I am away. One of them was watching service online, and today was my very first time here in Israel. I watched Service 1 this afternoon, and thank God the connection was stable throughout. The praise and worship led by David Holmes and Andrew Naylor was simply awesome. I could feel the presence of God so strongly as I watched the service and worshipped in front of my computer screen. The message was one which I have heard before, but nonetheless, it was a timely message to charge up my faith for the upcoming ‘Arise & Build’! Yes! I am going to participate in the Building Fund online, and will make my pledge online during the same weekend as everyone in church does (which happens to be my 23th birthday too! Haha!) I am still praying for an amount God wants me to give this time round, but one thing I am very sure: He will not short-change me and will definitely bless me back with more, and it doesn’t matter where I am when I give! YAY!!! =D

My Contact Details in Israel

Hi friends. Here are my contact details here in Israel:

Address: 4/2 Golomb St., Herzliya 46305, ISRAEL
Mobile: (Calling within Israel) 052-5806865; (Calling outside Israel) +972-52-5806865


The block where my apartment in Herzliya is located. I am staying just above the ground floor. =)

Culture Shock in Israel

Yup, I have arrived in Israel, finally!!!

Right after I’ve landed at the Ben Gurion International Airport (which was a really really grand airport, opened not too long ago), I took the direct train to Herzliya, the city where my partner university IDC Herzliya is located, about 15km north of Tel Aviv. (Coincidentally, the train which I took was made in Germany and looked so much like German trains!) I received the key from the administration in the morning, and went straight to my apartment (which thankfully, only a 10-min walk from the university).

My two flatmates were not around when I moved into the apartment. One of them is Tal Gal-On, a local Jewish Israeli, and he was working in the day. Another is Issac Berthaus, a Jewish migrant from Uruguay, and he happened to be in Jerusalem that day. I was all by myself when the sun was up. When the sunset was approaching, I decided to step out of the apartment to find dinner and get some cleaning agents to clean up my room…

… and it was a real culture shock.

Herzliya has 2 sides, one towards the sea where there’s more tourism activities, where many diplomats and rich families stay and where more English-speaking people are found. However, I am staying on the other side, where they are less English-speaking people. Although English is a language which is useful in Israel, Hebrew, being the national language, is nonetheless the best language to be used in the country. During my short ‘adventure’ in that other side of Herzliya, the signboards, advertisements and menu boards in eateries I saw were all in Hebrew. When I went to this supermarket to buy stuff, my goodness, even the brands and the information on the products were all in Hebrew! I would not be able to locate and differentiate hair shampoo and hair conditioner if I did not bring out with me the Hebrew phrase book which I have bought in HK.

I was so lost… I was like the only Chinese-looking person walking around in the streets of Herzliya…
I felt so alone… and that’s because my flatmates were not around, and I was away from my family and friends back in HK and Singapore respectively. I realised that leaving my comfort zone was not as easy as I thought to be…
I was somewhat helpless too… but I thank God that He have arranged some local people who knew how to speak English to come to ‘rescue’ when I couldn’t communicate properly at the cashiers (i.e. Elvis w/ English only vs The Cashier w/ Hebrew only)…

I knew I was not lonely because He is with me (there’s a difference between alone and lonely)…
But as I walked back to my apartment, I broke down in tears… and in even more tears when I met Tal in the apartment and I shared with him my misery.

And guess what? God is a very interesting God, and He really has a good sense of humour. Tal speaks fluent Mandarin, and he knows how to read and write both Simplified and Traditional Chinese characters!!! WOW!!! (That should give enough motivation for those of my friends in Singapore who are not so fluent in Chinese!) He used to work in China and Taiwan for more than a year, and I could see his love for the Chinese culture when I saw the huge map of China taped on one of the walls in his room. A while later Tal brought me along to meet some of his friends blocks away, and one of them was a Korean! Great to see another face from East Asia! When we returned to the apartment, Issac has already returned from Jerusalem. Everyone was back in the apartment, at last and thankfully!

That was a real interesting and memorable first day in Israel… what a way to start my exchange experience!
On the other hand though, I am preparing for more culture shocks to come…

My goodness! I dropped one of my camera lens caps dropped from the height of 157m…

Relax! It didn’t hit anyone. =P

I went to Cologne today with Stephanie and her Malaysian friends, who are also studying in Germany on scholarships. There were more tourists in Cologne than in Frankfurt, probably due to the existence of a Dom (which means cathedral) right next to the Hauptbahnhof. The cathedral was old, really really old, close to 800 years old in fact. Amazingly, it was the only building which left standing in Cologne’s city centre during the WWII bombings. With the company of Stephanie’s boyfriend, we went up the cathedral through the narrow steps up a staircase of close to 600 stairs that is close to ever-winding! It was tiring, since I haven’t ‘exercised’ like that for a long time. Haha! We had a good view of Cologne at the end of the staircase, where the authorities have constructed a viewing gallery within the cathedral building, at the height of 157m.

Yes, the number “157” appeared again! I was fiercely taking pictures from the gallery, and from time to time I asked Stephanie’s boyfriend to help me to hold my lens when I was changing them. At one moment I was ‘discussing’ with him what would happen if something drops from such a height. And there goes, at another moment I accidentally hit him and the lens cap of the lens he was holding came out and fell off and went through one of the holes of the barbed wires around the gallery and… the rest is history. ARGH!!! Thank God, we did hear it landed within a couple of seconds. It didn’t go all the way to the ground (i.e. 0m), but just at the bottom of the viewing gallery which was not accessible. Phew…

One thing which fascinates me most in Germany is the train service. There are many types of trains in the country (Bahn, S-Bahn, U-Bahn, Regionalbahn (RB), Regional Express, IC, ICE), and the train system really makes the country very well-connected between places. They are largely efficient, except that they do have delays at times. I love taking trains since I was a child. I got excited and fascinated by trains very much wherever I go, so Germany is like THE place. Haha! I mean, I still asked myself, how did the people manage to build such a complicated system? It was simply amazing…


The double-decker Regional Express from Dueren to Cologne. 


The U-Bahn (underground train) in Cologne. 


The bird-eye view of Cologne, from the viewing gallery near the top of the cathedral. The river in the middle is The Rhine River, which runs from Switzerland, through France and Germany, to the Netherlands. 


A bridge full of train tracks!!!


ICE train -- the fastest train in Germany, but it is still slower than the TGV trains in France. 


The Dom (Cathedral) next to Cologne Hauptbahnhof. (The red arrow shows the rough locations where the lens cap fell, and thankfully, landed.) 


Chilling out with Stephanie and her friends at a cafe in Cologne. 


Sunset at The Rhine River. 

Arrival in Germany

Almost every exchange student would have flown straight into the country where his/her partner university is situated, and would avoid as many transits as possible because it would be very common for them to have many pieces of luggage.

Well, that’s not me!
I wished I could, but unfortunately there is no direct flight from Singapore to Israel.
I could choose to transit only in HK or Bangkok, but the air fare was not cheap.
Since I am entitled to staff family travel benefits offered by Cathay Pacific, my parents and I decided to make use of it.

I arrived in Frankfurt, Germany early in the morning around 6am, landed in a time zone that is 6 hours behind Singapore/HK. Nope, I did not change to another flight on the same day to go to Israel, and that’s because I did not want to reach Israel in the middle of their Sabbath (or Shabat in Hebrew, which is Saturday), when there won’t be any public transportation until late evening. Instead, I contacted Stephanie, a Malaysian friend whom I have known in Singapore more than 3 years ago and currently studies in Germany, and asked if she could host me for 3 days, until my scheduled flight in the evening on Sunday.

My God is such an amazing God, and like what my church friends have prayed for me before I left Singapore, He protected me and watched over me all the time. I got the opportunity to know 2 German passengers on the airplane, and one of them offered to stay with me for close to 3 hours, showed me around the Frankfurt Airport and taught me how to get back to the airport by train. The best part was that he offered to drive me to the Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof (which means Central Train Station), where I would meet Stephanie another 4 hours later. As a result, I saved the trouble to bring all my stuff onto their S-Bahn (which is the subway train), and needed not to buy the train ticket! Yay!

I met Stephanie around 2:40pm and she brought me around Frankfurt. Compared to the heat in Singapore and the warmth in HK, Frankfurt is certainly a contrast with a temperature of around 11-17 deg C, and I had to wear my thick winter jacket, which became especially helpful after the sunset. There aren’t many things to see in Frankfurt though, but the short tour around the city was enough to satisfy my desire to see something different outside Singapore and HK. Had a really really great hot chocolate from Godiva. I am not going to miss the Godiva chocolates once I am back in Singapore next year! Haha! The day ended with a train journey to Dueren, a small town near the city of Cologne and where Stephanie and another 2 of her friends stay. By the time I reached their apartment I was so exhausted… I mean, my October 6 was 30-hour long, thanks to the time difference!


This is the huge European Union logo situated somewhere in Frankfurt.


This is Stephanie, my host for the 3 days in Germany. =)


The Godiva Hot Chocolate. The best hot drink for the cool temperature in Frankfurt!


Dinner at "Paulaner am Dom". 


At Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof. This was the IC train from Frankfurt to Cologne, and we still had to change to another train from Cologne to Dueren. Yawnz... 

Leaving for International Exchange, at last!

The day has finally come.
I am departing Singapore today, and will not return till March/April next year.
I am leaving for my international exchange in Israel, and will be studying at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya for one semester. Coincidentally, this semester is also the final one in my undergraduate study in SMU.

My journey for this international exchange could be traced all the way back to last year, when on one fine day I received an email update from SMU Office of International Relations (OIR), announcing that SMU has established a new agreement with IDC Herzliya in Israel. I have long desired to go to Israel since my church started arranging members to go for Israel tours years ago, but, the tours were expensive and short. When I saw the email, I thought, hmmm... this might be an alternative, perhaps a better one. Anyway, I was so buried in my academic work then that this idea diminished into one small wishful thought of mine...

Never did I know that this wishful thought was recurrected months later, when OIR and SMU Travel Club organised the Israel Day in collaboration with the Embassy of Israel in Singapore. During the event I found out more about Israel and had the opportunity to taste some of the Jewish cuisine prepared by the local Jewish community in Singapore. After talking to the Second Secretary from the embassy, and OIR allowed me to submit my late application, I was thinking... hmmm... should I go for it?

I have learnt through my years of Christian walk that not all open doors are from the Lord, and I shall pray for wisdom and guidance from Him to find the right path and walk in His will. Going for the exchange will mean that I will be away for 6 months, and this is not a short time (even though I have been studying in Singapore for 9 years!). Another concern which I had was the fact that the exchange will be at the same time of my church's Building Fund period, and certainly I won't like to miss it for the world! I prayed, and prayed, and prayed, and I asked God to give me peace if this is from Him, or simply shut the doors if it is not from Him.

After so many months of preparation, I could only conclude that the doors have never been shut. My application was smooth, largely due to the fact that I avoided the rush in the normal application period. I managed to settle my courses and got the approval from my School to arrange for several special arrangements, and that was a miracle!

Things were not so smooth in July, when the war between Israel and Lebanon (or more specifically, Hezbollah) broke out and rockets were fired over to Israel almost every single day. I was very glued to the developments, to the extent that I got very emotionally affected and OIR asked me to give myself break and stay away from the news coverage on the war. On the other hand in my prayer closet, I prayed and asked God for a confirmation whether the door to the exchange remained open or not. I waited and waited, and another blow came when my mother, who has given me much support to go for the exchange before the war, told me to give it up early. She set a 'deadline' for us to make the final decision, and I prayed even harder and hoped that the war would end soon. I strived to keep my faith strong during this period and really believed God for another miracle to come my way...

The miracle came.
The war ended about half a month before that 'deadline', which certainly gave enough room for everything to settle down before the decision date. 3 days before that 'deadline' my mother renewed her support!!! Yay! After that my preparation continued, from drawing up my travel itinerary to booking my air tickets, from paying a visit to the embassy to settling the various matters in SMU before my departure, and it was smooth by large.

The day has finally come.
Thank you to all my friends who have prayed for me and given me the blessings to go for the exchange.
Thank you to all my friends who have asked me out to meet up, to makan, and to spend time catching up.
In fact, I wished I have few more days to meet more people before I leave. Time passed so quickly, especially after I spent 10 days volunteering at the Singapore 2006 IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings and another week in HK with my family.

Keep in touch, and see you in March/April next year. Will miss you all dearly and very much. *sob sob, with tears streaming down my eyes...*
I will be back, healthy, sound, in one piece and whole! Haha!!! =D

Blog Resurrection, Round 2

Once again, I have disappeared from the blogging scene, for a longer period this time round! I was never a person who writes diary all my life, and to build up a habit to write about my life consistently is not easy... okay lah, I admit it is an excuse lah! =P

Anyway, this blog is now officially resurrected for good (I hope!), and will be updated extensively (again, I hope!) to document my experiences and encounters during my international exchange programme in Israel, from October this year to March/April next year. Blogging is certainly the least costly (coz it's free!) and one of the most effective way to let everybody know what happens to me when I am away. So, I shall blog again! Haha! =D

Enjoy reading the following! =D

The contents in this entry were taken from the most recent weekend sermon in my church. Very interesting. Do read on... I am sure you'll be shocked by the verses (after realising the responsibilities!), and laughed after reading the last part of this blog. Haha! =D

A Verse for Husbands:
Husbands, love your wives [be affectionate and sympathetic with them] and do not be harsh or bitter or resentful toward them.

-- Colossians 3:19 (The Amplified Bible)

A Verse for Wives:
... and let the wife see that she respects and reverences her husband [that she notices him, regards him, honors him, prefers him, venerates, and esteems him; and that she defers to him, praises him, and loves and admires him exceedingly].

-- Ephesians 5:33 (The Amplified Bible)

Women's Talk -- An out-of-this-world language to Men
What Those Words Really Mean... :

When she says 'Yes', it usually means 'No.'

When she says 'No', it means 'Yes.'

When she says 'Maybe', it still means 'No.'

When she says 'I am sorry', it means 'You'll be sorry.'

When she says 'We need this', it means 'I want it.'

When she says 'Well, up to you. It's your decision', it means 'Come on, wise up. Don't you know that my correct decision hasn't been obvious already?'

When she says 'Do what you want', it means 'You'll pay for this later.'

When she says 'Honey, we need to talk', it means 'I want to complain.'

When she says 'I am not upset', it means 'Of course I am upset, you moron!'

When she says 'You're so manly today', it means 'Please go and take a bath. Your BO stinks!'

When she says 'The kitchen is so inconvenient', it means 'Time for us to buy a new house.'

When she says 'Do you love me?', it means 'I am going to ask for something expensive.'

When she says 'How much do you love me?', it means 'I am going to tell you something that you are going to be very angry.'

When she says 'I'll be ready in 1 minute. Just give me 1 minute. I'll be ready', it means 'Take off your shoes. Go and get your coke. Switch on the soccer game. I'm going to take 1 hour.'

A worship song for the season...

This new worship song was sung during the weekend service last weekend, and the presence of God saturated the whole hall... When it was sung repeatedly, it became a song of my own and a cry from my heart...

Presence

by Christian City Church

Verse:
I Feel Your Peace, You're Here With Me
You Bring Me All I Need Lord Breathe On Me
And As I Wait, Draw Near To Me
My Soul It Longs For You To Breathe On Me

Pre-Chorus:
Jesus, Jesus
There's No One Else Like You (x2)

Chorus:
Lord Your Presence Fills This Place
As We Glorify Your Name
There Is No One Else But You
Jesus My Saviour (x2)
Let The Whole World Worship You

Bridge:
Let The Whole World Worship
The Whole World Worship
The Whole Worship You

Excerpts from recent sermons from Church and Cell Group meetings:

Just wanna pen down some excerpts taken from the recent sermons preached in Church and Cell Group meetings... To my friends who are reading this now, hope the following will bless you greatly! =)

[ 7 Elements to Achieve Success -- SUCCESS ]
1). Sense of direction;
2). Understanding;
3). Courage;
4). Charity;
5). Esteem;
6). Self-Confidence; and
7). Self-Acceptance.

[ 7 Dangers We Must Avoid, if we want to achieve success -- FAILURE ]
1). Frustration;
2). Aggressiveness
3). Insecurity;
4). Loneliness;
5). Uncertainty;
6). Resentment; and
7). Emptiness.

[ 10 Commandments for Building Good Relationships ]
1). COMMUNICATION is the key of life.
2). Be INTERESTED in people in their world.
3). Make people feel IMPORTANT.
4). SMILE when you meet people.
5). ENCOURAGE people.
6). Be LONGSUFFERING.
7). RESPECT people.
8). ESTEEM others as better than yourself.
9). Use PEOPLE'S NAMES more than normal.
10). Be COMPLIMENTARY of people.

If you want the entire sermon(s), do not hesitate to contact me ok? I will be more than happy to share them with you, because I know they will change your life! =)

Valentine's Day

Kinda felt weird blogging about Valentine's Day after 1 whole week has passed! But then, I don't have a 'Valentine' YET, so it doesn't matter THAT much lah.

Realised that Valentine's Day has really become more and more commercialised nowadays. More and more people are celebrating it, but don't know why I just feel that not many people are catching the essence of Valentine's Day, and only celebrate it like a yearly exercise. Hmmm... hope I am not too critical here. =P

Obviously, Valentine's Day is all about LOVE. My Bible has provided a great description of what love should be:

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstances. Love will last forever.

-- 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a (NLT)

Sounds like a real idealistic definition eh? But then at the first place, that's what love should be, and I truly believe that having a love so pure is achievable, and at all costs I should, I shall and I will work towards making it a reality. I know there will be people saying that I am childish and naive striving for such perfection. I don't care though. God has showered me His perfect love all this while, and He is still doing that to me and loving me everyday. His Son Jesus has demostrated that perfect love by dying for my sins on the cross. The Holy Spirit lives within me and teaches me how to love... And me? I just want to be one of His faithful servants and love people like the way He does, for the rest of my life...

I don't know who are and will be reading my blog, but I just wanna declare here that... (nah, I haven't found my 'Valentine' yet! You can breathe easier now... Hehe... =P) ... that when the day I find that special someone who keeps making my heart pumping fast, who makes me feel like living on earth is like living in Heaven, who loves me just as I am, whom I want to spend time with for the rest of my life (WHAT a lengthened version of 'my Valentine'! Haha!), I will make sure that no matter what happenes, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, I will love her with ALL my heart, and will demostrate that love in every way I know and am capable of, and will spend whatever effort it requires to make her feel that she is very special to me, someone I will never let go. I shall also declare here that once I find that someone, on all the future Valentine's Days I will give her surprises, each filled with creativity, with excitement, and most importantly, with that genuine, pure love God has taught me to pour out to her.

My goodness... what have I typed here? Haha!!! =D

Delirious?@CHC

Martin Smith, started the praise and worship with the number 'There Is A Light', and the legendary lighting of the candle, representing 'the light of the world'...

(Photos extracted from City Harvest Church Official Website at http://www.chc.org.sg/. Copyright © 2000-2007 City Harvest Church.)

Delirious?, one of the top Christian bands in the world, was leading the praise and worship at my church during the February 4-5 weekend. Yuptz... realised it's definitely a backdating here coz' I was waiting for the photos to be uploaded in the church website all this while before posting my thoughts here. Heh.

I attended the service on Sunday, February 5, and must say I was really blown away by the presence of God during the 2 rounds of praise and worship, before and after the preaching. The songs were great, very meaningful, and together with the hearts of the congregation worshipping in one accord, the presence of God was so heavy and tangible, that many people were moved to several rounds of tears throughout (like me!). I love the presence of God. I love it when I can fill His presence everyday, when I can sense the assurance that He is there watching over me and guiding me.

One of the new songs Delirious? has chosen to sing during the service was 'Take Off My Shoes'. That was one song which changed the atmosphere in the hall. David Yem, CHC Music Director, described what happened most appropriately in the tour diary posted in Delirious? website:

'One poignant moment came on Sunday morning where after we had sung Majesty and Martin decided to do the song "Take off my shoes". After he had explained the meaning of the song to the congregation, you could sense the meaning of the lyrics sinking in deep into the hearts of the people as the band kicked into the song. Like what the song said, the hearts of the people were engaged and drawn into a deeper presence of God with all of us desiring to tarry in the "secret place" and not leave. By the end of the worship that Sunday morning, it was hard to find a dry eye in the entire congregation.

This is the song:

Take Off My Shoes

by Delirious?

Verse 1:
I'll Take Off My Shoes, I'm Coming In,
Untie This Rope, I'm Staying With Him,
Love Of My Life, I'll Live And Die,
Just For The Moments For My King and I.

Why Did You Call, Why Did You Wait,
For Someone So Guilty, Someone So Fake.
There Are No Words For My Beautiful Song,
Now I'm In The Arms Of My Beautiful One.

Chorus:
Hold Me, Blow All The Pride From My Bones, With Your Fire.
Hold Me, Breathe On This Heart Made Of Stone, Keep It Pure.
Hold Me, Saviour Of Heaven And Earth, King Forever.
Hold Me, Love Of My Life Lead Me On, Through The Fire, Lead Me On...

Verse 2:
I'll Take Off This Crown And Fall At Your Feet,
The Secret Of Joy Are The Moments We Meet.
How Could A Man With All Of Your Fame,
Pull Me From Darkness And Call Me By Name.

So Hold Me Today, As I Carry Your Cross,
Into The Desert To Find Who Is Lost.
Look At My Hands, They're Still Full Of Faith,
God Keep Them Clean Till We Finish The Race.