The reflecting theologian

Finally last day of holiday and we shall be moving back to school to enjoy our lively debates in tutorials and discussions in lectures. As much as I dun want the holidays to end, I'm also quite eager to have the tutorials and lectures started again. What an oxymoron. Today I see almost the whole Hope NUS Unit A here for a house visit. Too bad my mum was not in, so no hongbao for them. But we had a good time and well, of course, how can the fun be without the presence of my brother, with whom people were so amused by the both of us. Took quite a few pictures and should be posting them up soon. We also played Indian poker and never know Indian poker can be so fun. Well, had other fun times but I guess I'll stop here, as they tend to get a bit narrative. But really, these four days had served as a break from school work for me to recharge and prepare myself for the onslaught of work that'll sure to come after this holiday. Well... I just saw the weekly wisdom provided by chris...

Now, as the day draws to an end, I have collected $92 for the day's taking. That makes $314 together. Hmmm.... should be enough money to last me for the rest of next month. Today had a rather uneventful day. Went to my aunt's place for lunch. Then came back home to find my third uncle from my mum's side and gang at home for a visit. At least I got a chance to drive the car just now. But realised that my mum's side the uncles are quite friendly and easy going. Good, next time I must see if I have a chance to bring my mum back to Malaysia for a visit. Also, I had a chance to learn my family's secret recipe for 'ji dan gao', basically egg cake, translated literally. Think next time can make for my friends. This week also seems to be challenging me to go for a breakthrough. Now I have to learn a new song by the name of 'I give You my heart' by Friday... dun know if I can make it or not. Pray hard... and practise hard sia. Think things should go pretty we...

Today is the first day of Chinese New Year and in case some readers are unaware, it is the first day of the new year in the lunar calendar (hey, I just realise there are foreign readers in my blog). Anyway, it's time to do some calculations on the amount of hongbao money I have collected for today... and they all amount to... $222 for the first day... Whoaz, what a nice number. As usual, what happens today is so routine of CNY. Woke up in the morning to go fetch my brother at Changi Naval Base. After that, went off to the various temples. Luckily our dear dog is with us. I was entrusted with the responsibility to carry him, so that I dun need to be seen not burning the joss sticks and will be seen as I have finished my 'worship' already. Thankfully, I do not have to repeat yesterday's fiasco. Evening saw another round of so-called reunion dinner. With more people and with more and better food. The YRC khakis as usual, arrived in my place... to set up their version of an...

I just returned from the River Hongbao Festival. Saw the fireworks there. When I reached that place, we saw something. There were a huge crowd of 'fortune tellers' there, quite a lot and they take up quite a huge portion of the carnival. A lot of them put on this notice: No need to talk and I can foretell your name. If inaccurate, no need to pay. My mum decided to try one of them and that guy, after taking measurement of her palm, took out a pile of cards with a lot of chinese characters on it and asked her to look for her surname. She couldn't find hers, but that guy gave her a slip of printed words anyway... which was superbly... inaccurate. I know cos when I read the last line, I immediately knew that it was disgustingly wrong. The last line said that she will have 3 children... she only has 2 and given her age, how can you expect her to conceive again?? Well... just for fun.

Hmmmm.... Today is Chinese New Year Eve. Yesterday was a lazy day. NUS was pretty quiet which comes as no surprise since most of the foreign students are away back home with their families. Wanted to do all my readings for Empires but in the end I gave up cos the day was too lazy and the place was too quiet. But had a happening service at Nexus in the evening, which was more than enough to brighten up the day. But right here, I would like to narrate a happening story of me with the aunties at Zhong Hua Ramen at Cuppage S11. You see, after service last night, my CG decided to go to the Cuppage S11 to eat supper. Originally, I didn't see any store other than the drink store opened. Then after I got my Milo, I found the Zhong Hua Ramen store still operating and decided to go and get a plain ramen, since I was starving after the service. The ramen cost me $2 and I gave the auntie a $10 note... and my change never came back. So I decided to ask for my change back. Little did I know, the...

Today marks the end of my 21st year of human existence and the beginning of my 22nd. Seriously, life passes by quite fast. To think that last year I celebrated my 21st birthday with Lilong alone in some ulu camp in an isolated air conditioned tentage and that I had previously celebrated my 19th during my BMT field camp, being tekan by my sergeant in the middle of powder bath. This year, however, proved to be a festival. To begin with, the celebration started on 21 Jan, when my fellow NUS Unit A brothers and sisters celebrated with me at the Singtel building behind Somerset MRT. Quite a fun time we had and crazy Xinying and Kiadai actually made me act out my route to my faith, but then it was quite refreshing to refresh myself with the memories. For those who want to know more, my previous blog posts are filled with details. They also gave me a 'bowling ball' for a birthday card... and the cake was nice (well, made by Claire). Actually had a good time that day. 22 Jan was celebr...

Today I saw something in school, and I can't get over with it. I dun know why. Sometimes, things just get confusing and I dun know why. I'm supposed to meet a friend today in school at 7pm, but I made another appointment with another group of friends in City Hall at the same time, forgetting the former appointment. To make things worse, I saw that 'something' which I can't get over with, at the same time. To put things into analogies, it's like suddenly everything starts crashing onto me. Troubled, sad, confused and desperate... suddenly just reminds me of something I heard today, which I dun think I'll say here. And as I'm typing this, everyone starts talking about prom night and photo taking... how distracting and how distressful... though I dun blame them and what my inner self is experiencing now has nothing to do with them. Too bad, 要怪就怪我太执著。 Aiyo, must put up a brave front...