God's Grace

We're on our way...!

2009-06-29T18:58:00.005+08:00

In my previous post, I've talked bout how we decided on our bridal studio, Aspial Wedding. We have confirmed with them that we'll do the Macau package, having only to pay them RM99, and together with that, we have booked our tickets to Macau for a day's trip! Yes, it's only a one day trip! :D We'll fly from KL on Aug 21st at 6:30am, and arrive approximately 10:15am. We'll meet up with the photographer and make up artist to start the whole process at 11:00am. Let's pray that Air Asia doesn't delay this flight! The photo shoot will end at 5:00pm, and we'll have to rush to the airport to board our flight back to KL at 7:50pm. Phew! What an adventure! It's gonna be fun, fun, and lotsa fun! :D

Last week was all about trips, at least for me... I was looking at tickets for Macau, and also checking out honeymoon places. Pastor Sam recommended that we do something simple, something relaxing, and not something that we'll have to follow a tour guide to explore new places. It's because it'll be really tiring right after the wedding, and having to do all that, adapting to new place, food, and even currency may cause exhaustion. We'll go by that, but that won't be enough, in my opinion! :P So, what we're thinking is to go for a simple 3D/2N honeymoon somewhere nearby, in a place for relaxation purposes... We're thinking Bali, Krabi, Redang, and even the common place, Langkawi. Checking out the prices for both flights and accomodation, we're still within budget for another honeymoon!

With that, thinking a little out of the box, we're also planning our second honeymoon, possibly to Melbourne, at the end of April. Air Asia really makes it easy for us! :P I spent lotsa time checking out the prices of the tickets, and guess what, for two person's return ticket from KL to Melbourne and back, the cheapest ticket that we found was RM940! That's just madness, considering I paid RM3000 for one person's return ticket a few years back! Woah! But of course, with Air Asia, cheap tickets are grabbed really fast, and within hours, the RM940 tickets were gone! The next cheapest tickets are RM1480, which is still very cheap! I'm in talks with my friends in Australia to try to get free accomodation, and if we do get that, we'll definitely do our second honeymoon in Melbourne! :D Let's hope that by the next post, I would've confirmed both honeymoons ;)

We have also confirmed the wedding date, and venue. G Hotel, it is! We love the ballroom the moment we went in, and we found a place nice enough for the wedding ceremony, where we'll exchange our vows. We're also planning for the tea ceremony there, just so we'll do everything at one place, easing our guests, especially those from out of town, and some even from all the way from Australia, Singapore, etc...! 'sides, they can go next door for shopping during the four hour break that we're planning to have. The date is March 13th 2010.

We have also confirmed one of the few entertainment that we have in mind, a five-piece band, The Starz, and our actual day photographer, the talented David Thian. Ya, we may not be asking him to help us with the pre-wedding photo shoot, but we still want him to shoot one of the most important days of our lives, the wedding day itself ;)

What's next? Well, lotsa stuff! I'll be blogging bout them soon :D

Choices, choices, choices!

2009-06-21T08:53:00.003+08:00

When you've got too many choices, you're so heading for a big headache! That's right! Often, there are times when we feel that life is unfair when someone else have so many choices, while we have no choice at all. But putting yourself on the other side of the fence, having too many choices can be a pain! You just don't know what to pick, which is more worth it, which is better technically, which is better financially, etc!

I have already posted bout our first experience in a bridal studio, just after the proposal. That one was Paisano, not too bad, album and photos wise, but none of us like the service. The sales assistant was so fierce! Had it been Win Nee and I, I think we would've walked out, but Roland and Yueh Nee are a little more patient than us, heh. They have a couple of places to select gowns, VIP and SVIP. And customers are supposed to select 2-3 per section, based on the package that you are buying. I don't have much details on this as I didn't ask them for the packages at all, but apparently, it's RM1800 for 5-6 gowns, including the photo shoot, but excluding any actual day shoot. Not bad if you ask me, but not sure what else is included, number of albums, size of albums, number of poses, or even photo frames. Nah, we won't go back again, because of that fierce sales assistant!

The second place that we went to is Ideal Wedding. We got to know about it from the net, and many say they have good service, and they really do! In fact, their package is not pricey, RM3600 for three albums, one big, one medium, and one small. All in all, it has 70 poses, and it includes many other free gifts. Just like Paisano, we are able to select only a few from SVIP, and a few from VIP. What really captured my attention is the way they present the photos! It's not the usual way, like traditional photo albums, where it's either one photo per one page, or several on one page in a boring way, but instead, they make it very creative, having a simple story line per page. The graphics on it and the blend of the photos onto the graphics is just so creative! I like that lots! It's out of the box, creative and just a touch of difference. We didn't settle here, cause we have heard that there's Shalom that is pretty good.

So off we went there. Shalom is beautiful. The building seems like an old house, converted into a bridal studio. The lighting and environment greatly enhanced our experience there. They even greeted us by opening both doors. That was pretty good but Win Nee thinks it scared her off. She was very quiet after that, and throughout our time there! The photos were okay, and the lady actually told us that there is only one photographer. Don't know if that's good or bad, but the layout of the photos in the album was boring. It doesn't have those creative designs like the one in Ideal Wedding. It's no wonder they say Shalom is traditional. The gowns were okay. But the price was slightly more expensive considering that there weren't more "gifts", like another album or more frames.

The next place we went to is Milan, which we didn't wanted to go cause many say it's no good, but as we drive past, we saw that they offer packages which included traveling to a place in China and taking photographs there! That would be interesting! The first thing we got when we went in was bad service. We walked in and no one greeted us. So we walked to a table to look at some samples. Only as we have flipped a few pages, this lady came to us, asking us how she can help. We were seated on a table next to the window, which was burning hot from the afternoon sun. The lady asked another guy to serve us, but guess what the guy said, "Lazy"! But he eventually did and he had earphones hanging from his ears. When we asked him for the packages that includes traveling to China, he said he didn't know, and had to ask the lady. So he brought us more samples. The album was very traditional, and on pages that they wanted to be creative, it turned out a little too amateur. It's like they were trying to be creative but they failed miserably. As the lady stepped in, she told us the package, which was not good, although it included many free items, but those weren't as valuable as the ones that Ideal Wedding was giving. And the package to Hangzhou, China cost RM13,888 for a few nights there. We obviously can't do that cause it's not right to overnight, unless we have others with us, but it's just too pricey for anyone to follow us even if we had the money for it! It was really the service that drove us away.

We thought that was it, but just past Milan is Blissful! From the outside, we knew this was a class above the rest. Might as well since we still have time. The place was very modern, and looks really classy. There was a shelf of sample albums, and it's huge with frames of various sizes hanging on the walls. It was indeed very captivating. This is the first place that had a properly printed out package. The others were on simple A4 and some even handwritten it on the spot! The albums were nice, photos and poses too. They also sport those creative designs in their albums. However, it still lacks when compared to Ideal Wedding. Oh, one thing that is different from the other studios is the album cover, and pages. These ones here are really a class above the competition. It's glassy, and there was one that can fit mini photos onto it. Win Nee liked that one lots. And apparently, the paper that they use is called platinum paper, as the entire page shines! With all these, of course it comes with a price. We liked the package that costs RM4300, which had lotsa valuable gifts, like a huge frame which costs more than RM1000! We went to check out the gown, from both the normal ones, to the designer collection ones. Unfortunately, Win Nee didn't find anything nice and in fact, she thinks that the normal collection is nicer than the designer one! Ahh! We spent the most time there, after experiencing so many bridal studios, we knew what questions to ask.

Wow, what a day that was. The entire Sunday afternoon was used! At the end of the day, our take was Blissful and Ideal Wedding. We just can't decide! Ideal Wedding was slightly cheaper, but it has less valuable free gifts, and the album was nothing compared to the one by Blissful. On the other hand, the creative designs and gowns in Ideal is better than Blissful. *sigh* Choices, choices, choices!

But there was one more, one very important one that we have yet to checked out. His name is David Thian. His shop is in Nibong Tebal, on the mainland! Why him? We saw his work online and it was the best there is! The shots were beautiful, and it had the best creative design. It beats Ideal Wedding, but we thought there were styles, shot and design wise, that was pretty similar to Ideal Wedding. Despite the distance, we traveled there after work on Tuesday. The travel took us 45 minutes! But it was well worth it. To actually meet the person behind such great work was an honor! Haha, am I making this too dramatic? :P But he is REALLY that good. His shop itself looks very creatively designed. When his assistant showed him to us, he doesn't look like how I have imagined him to be. Hehe, he looks like a fun, laid back person, but yet underneath all that is a creative person. He showed us his albums, and the shots and designs were the best we've seen. There were two packages that he told us. One, at RM2800, doesn't have too many pages or poses. But it uses the traditional big album that we see in other studios. The more expensive one, RM4800, has more way more pages or poses, and it's the most compared to the other studios, 100 pages, and 82 poses! However, this package doesn't include the traditional album, but in fact, it is of magazine type. We were surprised, cause magazines, as we know, damage easier than the traditional albums, with thick pages and mostly laminated. Even water will not destroy it but David's reason for doing so is because it contains a lot of pages and poses, almost five times as many, and with his creative design, it just makes it so great. His package is really simple, cause he's not a bridal studio. I may like his shots and creativity, but I think it's too pricey and it's of magazine type.

Oh, and I asked him if he has any connection with Ideal Wedding and guess what, he is the Art Director of Ideal Wedding! It's no wonder the work is so similiar! In fact, some of the sample albums by Ideal Wedding is his work! And he actually trained some of the people there! Oh my! Now I was worried. What if Ideal Wedding's own graphic designer doesn't do a good job like the ones I've seen? Was all the work that I saw of Ideal Wedding by David Thian? Does that mean if I do choose Ideal Wedding, the work may not be as good, since it's not the master himself doing it but his apprentices?

I can't decide! I had to go back to Ideal Wedding and have them convince me that the work I saw is really genuinely theirs! I did, and I told the sales assistant that I met David Thian and I told her my intention going there once more. She said worry not for all work is done by their own designers, and David Thian has stopped doing it for them for two years already. Hmm, she looks trustworthy. I'll trust her :)

We thought, since we've tried so many, let's just try the so called best there is, France Taipei. When we got in on Wednesday, all of the sales people were celebrating someone's birthday. They were noisy, and they took up the tables for customers. When one of them seated us down, the rest were still there. She brought us an album with another hand holding her ice cream. While we were going through the album with her, she was clearly distracted, always checking out what others were doing. It wasn't painting a good picture. They had nice albums, that's for sure, but their photos and creative designs around it was so so. I didn't like it. They had some gifts if we paid on the spot, but those are typical like the others. One thing that really caught me was that if I confirm on the spot, I get a RM1000 off! Well, it will still cost more than RM4000+, which was over budget. She continued to sell, but we knew we weren't gonna take it already. So we tried to leave, telling her to give us her name card and we will call back once we have decided. She didn't like the idea, kept asking us what are the others providing, why don't you want our package, etc. Then she brought us to the computer to see their work. And I just kept saying we will come back but she just didn't allow us to leave. In fact, she was pushing us to sign for them already! I was getting annoyed already. Finally she asked for date of confirmation, and we said tomorrow, and left her our numbers. Phew! When we left that place, I got an SMS from her, saying how honored she is to serve us. The next day, she called me, but I ignored the phone call. Wow, this is by far the worst experience I've ever had! Paisano's may be fierce but I dislike the was France Taipei was pushing us!

I also checked out some of my church mates' work, Kee Sitt and Daniel Yap. Spoke to them and ask them for quotation. Looks promising but then again, it adds in to the headache, cause there're just too many choices!

Spending literally days and nights discussing this, we kinda decided, it will be Ideal Wedding for pre-wedding photos, and possibly David Thian for actual day shots. Kee Sitt for actual day videography. Nothing is finalized, but at least we're almost done with this task. Phew! It sure was a tiring few days just checking these places out! The travel, the talk, the pushing, wow, barely bearable! But then again, it wasn't stressful, it was fun!

What's next? We thought of going back to Ideal Wedding to finalize the details next week BUT then, Win Nee brought up another one, apparently her friend said it was good. I was very settled with Ideal Wedding already but I didn't have the peace of mind had I not check out this one, Aspial Wedding. So we did, we went to town and found the shop. It was clean, pretty, very cold, but many rooms with lotsa gowns. I think they have the biggest collection of gowns so far. From just the quick browse, Win Nee spotted a few that really suited her taste. When we spoke to the sales assistant, she said the gown collection is open to all. There's no such thing as VIP, and SVIP, and customers are able to choose any at all. Also, there is actually a road show in Queensbay right now, and that it'll be best that we go there and talk about he packages there. Wow, all the way from there to town, and she's asking to go again?

We did, and it was right in front of Quiksilver. They had a huge poster saying RM99 for Macau photo shoot. Wow, what's that? Only RM99? We sat down, checked out the albums and photos and then came this guy, Kenneth, who is their photographer. Talked a little but he doesn't speak Cantonese or English, so soon after, a lady took over. She could speak Mandarin, Cantonese and even English. The best, in terms of language proficiency wise, among all the sales assistant we've seen. She started telling us about the package and kept on adding free gifts. And it's not the simple ones, but a 20-pose album of a size determined in a lucky draw if I sign up on the spot! That makes three albums, one of which also has the platinum paper that Blissful was selling to us, with 62 poses all together. Also, she gave another RM1000 discount! That's the same price as Ideal Wedding but with lotsa additional stuff, and it's difficult to not take up a package that includes photography shooting in Macau! Oh, when we asked for casual shots, she said she can further decrease the price from an already cheap price of RM388, which includes 20 poses, and an album! She finally put a RM289 price tag on it! Wow! I can't believe that I am about to change my mind! We have already kinda decided with Ideal Wedding, and we thought of checking Aspial Wedding just to get a peace of mind that we have made the best choice but who would have thought that we will settle for the eighth bridal studio that we've surveyed?

I still can't settle on it yet, despite the great package. I can't believe that after being so decided that it's gonna be Ideal Wedding, and now I'm about to change my mind. So Win Nee went off to a WiFi zone to read an online forum for comments about Aspial Wedding. Many good comments, and a few bad ones, complaining that it's pricey, but that's not the case today. Also, another one say that it'll cost a lot to get soft copies of those poses not printed on the albums. That's actually normal, as all bridal studios are doing the same.

She spent 30 minutes away from Aspial Wedding, while I was sitting there, chatting with the sales assistant. Good service, and they can really sweet talk! Well, at the end of it, it's really the package as a whole that really got me excited. I finally told her I'll take it up! It includes two lucky draws, and a mysterious gift. The first draw was a wheel-of-fortune kinda draw, and I ended up with a crystal frame for two 4R sized photos. The second draw determines the size of the free album with 20 poses that I'll get. It was picking up from a fish bowl, and guess what the sales assistant did. She opened the envelopes, and showed me the sizes there were on each, just to prove to me that there're various sizes in the fish bowl, and not the small ones... As she picked the small ones, she dumped it back into the fish bowl. As she picked the bigger ones, she put it outside of the fish bowl. I felt she was up to something, as though taking out the bigger ones, so that I'll end up with the small ones. She took a total of five pieces, two of which are small, and three are big, which she left outside of the fish bowl. After she's done proving to me that it has all sizes, she dropped the big ones back into the fish bowl, right on top of the stack of envelopes, and whispered, "It's really easy to pick the biggest one. Just pick the top one", and I did just that, and got a big album for free! Apparently, she had to "act" just so her manager, which was around, doesn't notice her doing... Woah! What can I say!? She intended for me to get a big album! The last item from them is the mysterious gift, which I thought is a simple teddy bear of some sort. When her colleague brought us a bag, it was huge, and it was heavy! We would open it in the car instead, cause it's just too bulky to repack it later. We did, and it was a box to store accessories like rings, earrings, neck laces, bracelets, anklets, etc! It even has a mirror, and has leather all around it! Win Nee loved it lots! :D

Woo! We decided only on the eighth try! Choices, choices, choices, man it's really tough! We're not quite done with this task, cause now, we need to look for friends to join us to Macau to make that part of the package happen. If we don't do it, I feel it's a waste. A photo shoot in Macau for just RM99 is just too cheap to say no. I checked AirAsia, and there's even flights that travel at 6:30am from KL, arriving in Macau at 10:15am, which is just nice for the photo shoot at 11am. It ends at 5pm, and the flight coming back from Macau is 7:50pm. We can do that, and there won't be overnight! A super-one-day trip to Macau! :D The prices of the tickets are kinda cheap, RM446 for two person's return!

Long post, I know, but what an adventure! :D We're almost done with this task! The casual photo shoot will probably take place mid August, and hopefully we'll get a go ahead with the Macau one at the end of August. The local shots can be taken after we come back from our tentative Mission Trip to Nepal in mid Sept, and that will leave them approx four to six months to finalise our albums.

Woohoo! Thank God for such an experience! What a joy throughout! At the end of the day, despite too so many choices, just ask God for His guidance, and make sure you have a peace of mind, and surely, peace at heart :)

-- Posted From My iPod Touch

The Heat is On!

2009-06-16T15:53:00.001+08:00

So, we checked out Equatorial, and E&O. Both look great, but we prefer the ballroom in Equatorial. Obviously, we have not decided on which yet. In fact, now, we're planning to push out to early next year.

Well, to use the Equatorial's Grand Ballroom, especially on a busy weekend at the end of the year, we'll need to have 40 tables, that is 400 people! That's actually more than what we have on the guest list, but the stairs walking down to the foyer next to the Grand Ballroom is really beautiful! I was imagining her walking down the stairs, all the way to the end of the foyer, in a beautiful wedding gown, and at her best, towards me, standing right in front of the audience, right next to the Pastor. Wow! It would be such a beautiful scene, with the red carpet all decorated with petals as the flower girl walks ahead of her, and the décor all around the place. Such beauty! The ballroom itself has a dance floor, which is what she wants, and a huge stage for a live band to perform. It's almost perfect. I thought the carpet, which is red and gold, may be kinda difficult to match with my thought of the theme colours. Also, the cheapest package is RM808++. Kinda pricey, in my opinion, but we are hoping that we'll break even.

I guess the biggest challenge is filling up the 40 tables, but with so many, the risk is even higher that we won't be able to break even. We'll definitely need to invite our relatives if we wanna max out the 40 tables but that's difficult considering the fact that they are mostly somewhere else.

This challenge actually led us to a little argument, our first after the engagement, but this is expected, and we know this is just one of many, many more to come! We'll just have to continue to learn about one another, and be open to ideas, especially now that all these decisions will need, well, kinda need, approval from our parents. The heat is surely on! We'll hang in there, surely, and with God on our side, I'm sure we can work out our differences and seek a common ground. I'm so excited with this journey! It's a totally new adventure, and there'll be lotsa ups and downs but that's part and parcel of life! In fact, thank God I'm alive to go through all these with my loved one, the one I cherish the most :D

Oops, off topic a little, okay, onto the next hotel, E&O. The surrounding is beautiful, with the black and white building, and the greenery just by the sea. The ballroom is dark when we went in to check it out. It is also much smaller than Equatorial but that's not what we are really after. It's just that, in photos, I had that WOW feeling but when I stepped into this one, I don't have it at all. Maybe cause it's dark but the size of it, with a low ceiling just didn't give me that grand feeling. The price is actually cheaper than Equatorial, at RM788++ per table. Hmm, still, the outdoor is a good place for photos.

We have yet to check out G Hotel, but we will, soon, this coming Thursday. We actually spent last weekend checking our four bridal studios and still, we've yet to make a decision. I will cover that journey in my next post, which will be written tonight or tomorrow night when I'm done with my hunt!

Phew, lots to do, more to come, but we're loving it! There's no stress at all cause it's something both of us like to do, heh, being wedding planners! Truly a great experience! :D

-- Posted From My iPod Touch

And so, it has begun...

2009-06-09T07:54:00.001+08:00

And so, it has begun... It's gonna be one crazy wild ride ahead of us, but we know it's gonna be fun, exciting and just great to have one another going through this ride together!

Just barely an hour after being pronounced fiancée to one another, we were in a bridal shop! Heh, well, she wasn't the spotlight there. Instead, it's one of our friends, but the thoughts of us browsing through wedding magazines, checking out venues for our dinner, of her selecting and trying out wedding gowns, and all the tasks that we'll have to so to ensure a memorable day for us, were running in my mind. Is it possible to do it by year end? Heh, well ya, that's what we're aiming for but it'll be kinda scary considering already so much on hand, and wanting to make this happen at the same time!

I didn't stop there just thinking of all the work, I went straight into action! At the bridal house, we browsed around, looked at sample photographs, and checked out the prices.

On that very same night, I went to her place to announce it to her family, mainly her parents, and we spent 1.5 hours discussing if we should do a small-scale one, or a bigger one with relatives. Wow, it sure isn't easy talking to future in-laws, especially when there is a language barrier! My bad! But there was no conclusion. What we have in mind is really a small one with our closest friends, and then a bigger one which include relatives, colleagues and others. It may be a hassle but we can't fit all into the place that we wanna hold the ceremony, the 32 Mansion. So, hopefully the conclusion will come in the next few days.

Yesterday, we went to Diamonds & Platinum and Love & Co. to check out the wedding bands. Thankfully, we kinda got that settled so quickly! Locked in on two couple (both groom and bride) designs and we'll finalised that end of this month, when the proposal ring comes back. It wasn't the right size, so we took it for a change.

Phew, and thank God for my sis-in-law's wedding magazines! Found it at night and browsed through it. It even has a checklist ad workbook which ensures I don't miss anything! Yay!

Today, we'll be checking out a Equatorial's Etoile, as a possible second venue, the bigger scale one. Who knows what's in store for us, eh? :D

Looks like it's gonna be one challenging journey all the way to the wedding day itself, but I'm sure it's gonna be fun, since we both like doing stuff like that, organising events, trying to be creative to make the venue all beautiful, and at the same time, ensure that we'll enjoy that very special day! Most importantly, I'll have her by my side throughout this journey :)

-- Posted From My iPod Touch

God's Timing is Great!

2009-06-08T09:24:00.010+08:00

God's timing is great! It is always perfect! Always trust in Him that His plans are greater than ours, and do not rush into things with our own capabilities! For if we were to work on our own plans with our own strength, it will be imperfect! Always, always commit anything that we have and will do unto His hands, and let Him have it His way!

I'm only saying this because there were so many things that happened in my life that is because of His miraculous timing! I'm gonna share a few examples here today, and who else would this relate to than the angel I'm engaged to? ;)

Firstly, I met her in our church camp of 2007. It was after my first Nepal mission trip, and I was still getting used to new friends in church and all that. I thought to myself, it would be great to join the church camp now, and get to know even more people, and so I did, not knowing who my roommates are!

God planned it so that I would be in the same group as her. When I met her, I knew she was a fun loving person, ever so smiley, and a girl "way up there" and "outta my league", for she's just so beautiful, so cute, and just so lovable! She surely caught my eye the first time I saw her, but read on why I didn't really push ahead on knowing her even better...

It was when she injured her leg, and had to be wheeled off in a wheel chair that I found out that she's attached! Florence asked me to push her in the wheel chair, and a few minutes later, she said, "Eh, eh, her boyfriend is here. Let him do it instead". I'm like, "Ouch, okay, she's taken, there goes my chances!". Eh, obviously I didn't say that aloud! It was only running through my mind :P

The next day, she managed to get up and walk, and even join us in our group cheer, in which I stood next to her. Heh, it was fun, and there were laughters during our practice sessions. During the performance itself, I remember bumping into her a few times, by accident, of course! And I even did a wrong move! It was embarassing, but she looked at me and laughed, and even smacked me on my shoulder! Such sweet memories :D

Well, the time has come for us to go off the church camp, and being the assistant leader that she was, she requested all of us to have our phone numbers put onto a sheet of paper, and so I did, writing out my phone number in my artistic hand writing ;)

For some divine reason, God planned it that it's just not the right time to be friends with her! I had a 4 on my phone number, and I wrote it as it is, but guess what, when she sent us an SMS, thanking us all for being such great group members, she put a 7 instead! How artistic can my hand writing be? From a 4 to a 7? Or did God somehow blind her from seeing the real number?

Yes, she may be attached, but had I have her number back then, and that was mid 2007, I would've been friends with her since then, and we would've talked, not just via SMS, but also on Intel IM (yes, she works in Intel), or MSN, and whatever else. But, that didn't happen, and the camp was the end of the brief friendship, so to speak. We did not communicate at all, not even a hi/bye in church when we bump into each other...

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Come Christmas, thinking that I'm smarter than God Himself, I tried to arrange myself to be with her in our Christmas caroling groups. Yes, she was still attached, but it's okay to get to know a girl, right? Just getting to know only! ;) So ya, we were all gathered in the Main Sanctuary of our church, and the worship pastor filtered out those who can play the guitar, and set each and everyone of them in seperate groups evenly. When it was my turn to pick a group, I picked her then-boyfriend as the guitarist, knowing very well that she would join him in the group. My oh my was I so wrong! Who would've thought that she would pick another group instead of the one her then-boyfriend is in!? I was shocked, stunned, left speechless, and like, "Huh!?"

Damage done, so what can I do? I didn't manage to get to know her then, and so I continued in my caroling group to serve God and have fun at the same time. It was a great time during the whole caroling practice and performance, but it would've been better had she joined this group.

Well, God doesn't feel like it's the right time just yet! Think about it. If she joined the group, I would've been closer to her, and her then-boyfriend, and it would be weird for what could come after that! His timing is just great, and planning how things would work out in our minds is no greater than the plans He have for us!

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Okay, so when exactly is His timing for a wonderous plan? When else would be better than taking the step of faith, and believing Him in the power of baptism? July 12th, as blogged before, is the day I was baptised, and it was also the day we started talking again. Right after I came out of the water, she was the first non-CG-mate to come to me and congratulate me, and then it all began.

I then got to know the shocking news that she broke up, and is available, but knowing is just me. God planned all well from that day onwards...

Intel isn't small, nor is it huge, but the Monday after the baptism (which fell on a Saturday), I bumped into her in Intel's one of a handful of cafeterias. She's not even in my building! Why would she appear there? And it happened again the following day, and again, and again, and again! It wasn't just the cafeteria, but other parts of the building as well, even in Level 3 of the building! ...and while I was organising a Wii tournament too!

Ya, ya, so it may be mere coincidence, but bumping into her so much, gave me an excuse to start a conversation via Intel IM, and it happened. For the next few weeks, we talked a little via Intel IM, and got to know each other a little better :) What happens after that will be blogged in future... Stay tuned... ;)

And isn't all this just great timing? It is only "proper" to know a girl, chatting and all that, while she's single. I mean, if she's attached, what's the point of knowing her, and having that thought inside, that you wanna possibly make her your girlfriend, right? It's just not ethically right, and God stopped me from that, with the 4-becoming-7 story, and the "great plan" I had by joining his then-boyfriend's caroling group, which fell flat in my face!

Thank God for His great timing, amen? :D Who would've thought that in less than two years after knowing her briefly in the church camp, that I would be engaged with this pretty angel sent from Heaven? :D I can't thank Him enough for if it was by my own timing, and my own strength, it would've definitely not happened!

Thank God for being such a great God! Thank God for I know You have all the great plans in store for me! Make me realise that You have plans greater than I do, and make me rely on you for all the things to come in our lives, taking this next step towards marriage. Thank God for this angel that you've sent to me. Love you, Lord!

The Proposal - Part 1

2009-04-12T22:56:00.006+08:00

This entry is not something I would normally put up on the Internet but because it's such a significant event, I have to put it down in words, for memories sake, and for me to share my great experience to all of you reading this... :)

Initially, I thought of something simple but because she's someone so special, she deserves something unforgettable! So, lotsa thoughts were put into planning this, which requires lotsa time and effort. It has to be a special day, so I planned for a beautiful morning, and a lovely night. For the morning, I want her to be greeted in the most lovely and yet, surprising manner. To do that, I decided to decorate her cube. For the night, it's obvious that since I'm gonna pop the question, it has to be a place that is romantic. Like duh? :P

It all started with the preparation. Lunches after lunches, I skipped them, just to go off to the shopping malls to get all the necessary. So, what's on my list?

For the morning, since I wanted to decorate her cube, I went to get a vase. Guess what! I never knew vases can cost up to hundreds of Ringgit! Okay, I obviously didn't spend so much but still, it was shocking! Instead I spent lotsa time searching for an affordable one, and finally found it deep in the corners of Jusco, in Queensbay Mall. Why the vase? Here goes... I went down to the florist and left my vase there with instructions for the lady to fill it with roses, both red and white, and those little flowers (what are those called?). I also asked for a few stalks too, which I'll explain why later.

Next item was a pillow. She actually has a pillow on her seat at her cube already, but dear, I hope you don't mind me saying this, that gold pillow is not pretty, and it doesn't match you, a beautiful girl ;) So I thought of replacing it and I searched high and low for a nice, red, heart-shaped pillow but I just can't find it, neither in Queensbay Mall nor Gurney Plaza. And when I stumbled upon it on my second walkabout in Queensbay Mall, I found the perfect heart! But guess what, it's a decorative item in one of the shops! I begged them to sell it to me but they just won't! They said they got it in Jusco sometime last year, and I went another round in Jusco, and I just can't find it! Argh! Hopes dashed, I settled for a nice little red but squarish pillow.

Other decoratives include a little Christmas tree, since Christmas is around the corner. Oh, and there was a Forever Friends bear too :D It's one that has a Christmas cap and a little gift on its lap. It's a very cute one, for the cute girl I'm giving to! ;)

The day has come, well, not exactly that day but the eve of it, since I need to make sure the décor is there when she comes in to work the next morning. So, I went to the florist, grab the flowers and vase and brought it home, leaving the fan turned on to ensure the flower doesn't die when I'm out. I went back to work to pick her up for dinner at Pekaka Cafe with the others. Just as she went off to order her food, I "stole" her Intel badge. I had to cause I needed the access to her building, else I can't get to her cube.

The mission started the moment I dropped her off at her car in Intel, which was about 11pm already. I went straight home to get the vase and flowers, and then to the restaurant (I'll explain more later), and back to Intel. *phew* Putting on her badge, I quietly walked into the Intel premise. Bad news was, the badge didn't work! I can't get in! Argh! I went back to my car, thinking what I should do. Then I used my badge and go in instead, and it failed again! The vase and the luggage bag, yes, I used a luggage bag to store all the other stuff, were already at the entrance of her building. I thought to myself, okay, one last time, with her badge... Marched back to my car, grabbed her badge and went in again. By now, the guards on duty must be very suspicious of me already! As I walked for that few minutes to her building from my car, I kept praying. Guess what... It still failed! Ahh! I was lost, don't know what to do. The last thing that came to my mind was to be honest with the guards and asked them to let me in. And I did just that... It's a do-or-die mission, so I just had to ask them! I told them I just wanna leave some things on my girlfriend's cube... They obviously didn't allow! I begged non-stop, and soon, they asked me to call the Control Room, which I did and had to give me ID too. By now, it was already 45 mins past the time I started begging them and eventually, they allowed! Phew! Close call! Thank God! One of the guards had to accompany me in, just to make sure I do what I said I would.

At her cube, I put the vase with flowers, right behind her laptop docking station. Well, I brought some ribbons, hoping to tie around it but failed and I don't exactly like to work with someone just behind me, rushing me. Then I put on the Christmas tree on the right side of the station and I removed that not-so-pretty pillow and put mine on her chair. At last, I took a few stalks of red and white roses that I bought earlier, peel off the petals and sprinkled them all over the table. Perfect! Lastly, I left the Forever Friends bear on her chair, with the pillow :)

Phew, all done and that actually took 30mins plus, instead of just a few minutes, which I told the guards. Just as I was to leave, the Control Room called the guard who was with me and asked why was I taking such a long time. Just in time!

It was almost 2am when I left Intel. What a night! Thank God all still went well! Just needed more patience and determination. Don't give up so easily! Persevere till you reach your goal! And mine is to ensure a beautiful morning for my dearest Win Nee :)

As for the night, well, I reserved a table for two at Feringgi Garden. It's a beautiful place, and it's a place we both wanted to go months back. And of course, dim lights, nice music, just a romantic place.

From the same florist, I reserved a few stalks of red and white roses. From another florist, I asked them to deliver a bouquet of a dozen of roses and a dozen of Ferrero Rocher, since she likes chocs lots! :P

Ah, being the cheapo me, I bought a bottle of sparkling juice from Jusco. Well, actually, it's not exactly me being cheapo, but it's because the two of us don't drink alcohol, and she loves sparkling juice! ;)

Also, I burnt two copies of an audio CD with just Canon in D, one of which is a backup. You'll always need backups in cases like this!

Ah, what else is left? ...the most important thing, of course. It can't be a proposal without a ring, right? :D Searching for it high and low, I finally decided on one that I found in Gurney Plaza. It's just a simple one, but a really nice one, with a diamond, of course ;) It's the perfect one, and I was sure she would love it!

Okay, night has fallen, and we started out journey in a jam. Yes, it was raining. It took us 45 minutes to get there, and we had to rush back by 10pm for a birthday celebration. It all didn't seem too good at the start, but it worked out just as planned :)

We arrived, and headed straight to the table I booked the night before. I was at the restaurant the night before (the night just before I went into Intel to decorate her cube), just so I can drop the sparkling juice, book a nice table, and tell the waiters and waitresses what to do. I also wanted to have a "feel" of what's going to happen tomorrow, just so all will work out according to plan.

The table was well decorated, with a special white cloth covering it, with red and white roses spread across the table, and of course, a candle light flickering as we spend a wonderful time, right next to a beautiful Christmas tree. The environment was just great, dimmed lights, slow lovely music, and a drizzling wet night to make it so very cozy!

Dinner served, and hoping that the night would last forever, but knowing that I have a birthday celebration to attend to, I hurriedly asked for an excuse to go to the washroom, which I didn't, but instead, I went to the waitress who received the flowers from the florist. I also dropped her the CD, and instructed her to play Canon in D.

As the music started, I asked her to increase the volume, and I walked to my darling with the bouquet of flowers on one hand, and the ring on the other. As I stopped right next to her, she was already smiling at the flowers. I went down on one knee, and nervously, I asked her the question. She was all smiles, and I couldn't believe my ears when she said, "Yes, yes, okay, get up..." :) Hehe, she's one shy girl, and the other customers all around us clapped, and congratulated us! :D But wait, I wasn't up yet, cause only then, I slipped the ring onto her finger. Wow! It sure was a moment to remember! :D As the music continues, we took photos of this memorable moment! Finally, it was done! :D

Thank God all went smoothly, and thank God it was a YES from her! She's been an amazing blessing ever since, and I can't tell you how much she has helped me in all ways; my life, my walk with Him, my ministry, my work, and just about every area of my life! Thank God for this angel that You've sent me, Lord! It's such a miraculous gift, and surely, it's only by Your grace that I have received this! :D

November 27th 2008, and it is, indeed, still a very significant date for us, the day we turned from friends, to great friends, committing ourselves to marriage, well, almost, as I'll leave that for The Proposal - Part 2 :)

Edit: A few were confused with this entry :P Well, the above is my proposal to Win Nee to ask her to be my girlfriend, not wife, not just yet ;) ...and by that saying we're committing ourselves to marriage, it actually means that our end goal, from this, would be, hopefully, and almost, an eventual marriage :)

God Sent an Angel!

2009-02-14T00:01:00.000+08:00

Well ya, I know I've been away from this for more than half a year, but that's because God sent an Angel, and I've been spending loads of time with this Angel of mine ever since! Thank You, Lord! :D

God loves because He is love! You must read the testimonies that I've been sharing on by blog and you'll know what I mean when I say He is love! Why am I talking bout love? The Angel I was talking about earlier is the reason! Read on!

Well, it's only normal for a bunch of single people (both male and female) coming together to be praying for a life partner. Heh, silly, you may think, but it's not! And that's what we did! Well, we didn't just come together just to pray for a life partner but it's during our usual Monday morning prayers when someone started it and it went on for a few weeks.

And guess what, ever since then, two people in the prayer group found their partners! God is great, eh? :D Most importantly, one of them is me :P And God didn't just send a nobody or a somebody, He sent me an Angel!

Yes, Win Nee's such an Angel! She's everything I've ever asked for, and she's more than that! She's like a dream come true! :D Don't pinch me so soon! I really wanna continue living this dream! It's such a beautiful one! I want this dream to last for as long as possible!

She's smart, funny, ever so smiley, and if you want someone to brighten up your day, find her cause her smiles and not to mention, her laughters too, are contagious! She's cute, pretty wherever she may be, just gorgeous! She's lovely!

I've always been looking for someone who serves, who is willing to give her best to the people before herself. Someone who lives by the verse, "Love your neighbours as yourself", and to look for a girl with that, I looked at ministries that one serves in. This Angel of mine serves in the Usher ministry, welcoming everyone with her sweet smile, helps out in Welcome lunches where she serves food to the newcomers, creatively shows her love for the kids in the Children ministry's Kids' Joy Club and just about every other ministries that has asked her for her gifts! And that includes the ministries that I serve in. That allows the two of us to spend time with each other while serving the Lord. How great is that? :D She's the perfect one, with such a heart to serve and to give, time or money, she's more than willing to just bless others! I really thank God for that!

I'll just have to say that she is definitely God's gift to me. She's exactly the person I've been praying for (yes, I did)! Who else but God could've arranged such a relationship? It's God's grace!

Win Nee, you're the one for me, and there's no one else. You have been such a blessing in my life! And I know it's only God's purpose that you are here in my life. I haven't tell ya this before but I've been praying for you, even before I know it's you. I've been asking Him to take good care of you, to grow you to have Him in your heart, to protect you and to bless you in all ways! I'm sure He did all that. I love ya!

Lord, I wanna thank You for answering our prayers, for it is by Your grace that we've found our partners, and more, I've found an Angel. Thank You and I promise to love her with all my heart, and with You, the three of us will walk this exciting journey in love. Amen!

Win Nee, Happy Valentine's Day! :)

Happy Baptism to Me!

2008-07-12T23:29:00.003+08:00

Yay! I finally did it! Missed the last two times, and today, the big day, on a very eventful morning, the EPCC Family Day, I am finally baptised! :D No photos as yet, maybe I'll post 'em when I get 'em, but it may take a while for the photographers to compile, cause there were like lotsa photographers!

I was supposed to share a testimony, and when I did it, it was a very short one. Everyone seemed to be doing that, so I didn't wanna be the special one with a long-winded story. I was actually thinking along the lines of the following... :) Enjoy!

"Hello everyone,

My name is Euwing and I'm from Shekinah! I've been in EPCC for about 2yrs now, and as a testimony, I would like to tell you a bit of myself before I accepted Jesus, that is back in Sept 2005, almost 3yrs now. Back then, I was a shy and quiet person, and would never imagine myself standing in front of such a big crowd talking like today. I was always in my comfort zone, not wanting to be going out, doing adventurous activities, only caring for myself, etc.

But besides that, I wasn't all that innocent. I did lotsa bad things, things that are embarassing for me to share today, but the amazing thing was, many times, when I was about do to such bad things, somehow, something extraordinary happens to stop me from doing it. Time and time again, I've been reminded that there is some kinda power up there to stop me from doing all these.

But then, I was against Christianity, always finding flaws and always talking bad about it when my friends invite me to church. I was a free thinker back then, but slowly, God showed me His presence, and blessed me miraculously. I was due to come back to Malaysia mid 2005 (was studying in Australia), but because of His amazing grace, He blessed me with two great jobs, which pays me well, giving me more than enough to be staying back in Melbourne. And with the extra time spent there, I grow to know more of Him. Knowing that it is Jesus Himself who is the only one who can set me free from sin, I struggled long and hard. It was so difficult, and I could feel the deadlock in my heart, myself vs Him. I asked Jesus to come, and take control, and He did! Not long later, I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Saviour.

He's been blessing me ever since, and being here today is a great blessing itself, not to mention the Nepal mission trip, which changed the course of my life. Today, just cause I wanna be obedient, I've decided to be baptised, believing in this step of faith and hoping to grow closer to Him. Thank you!"

It's a day to remember, July 12th 2008.

Just Leave It to God!

2008-04-06T23:33:00.003+08:00

Woah, imagine saying that aloud in a meeting at your workplace! And imagine this, in that meeting, you're the only Christian! Heh, I'd think the people will be stunned, and burst out in laughter or something! :S But guess what, it nearly happened to me!

There was a discussion going on, and it wasn't going the way I want. I was rolling my eyes the whole time, sighing, and there's just nothing I can do to change their minds. So they continued and soon, I was kinda fed up and I almost said, "Just leave it to God!". Heh, oops, good that I managed to control myself at the very last second! ;) The decision obviously didn't end in my favour, but I kept telling myself, "Just leave it to God"!

Well, just leave it to God it was, and I overcame it the very next day. Not knowingly, the decision made, despite not ending in my favour, is a blessing in disguise! From that decision alone, I was able to take 8-days of leave, and I'll be going to Nepal for the second time! Woohoo! Thank GOD for making it happen :D

Just days before, I mailed my manager to get 5-days off, but I didn't get a reply, and a change in schedule meant an increase in the number of days off, and thank God for the decision! If it wasn't for that, my manager would've rejected it for sure! :D

WOAH! Praise the Lord big time for this!!! :D And to end this, a verse which I think fits this incident very well... Proverbs 3:5-6 of NIV, "5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."

Thank you, my Lord Jesus :)

Casting Out Demons

2008-03-09T18:25:00.003+08:00

Ever thought it's possible for a man to be demon-possessed? If that's possible, what bout casting the demons out? Or are the stories in the Bible overexaggerated (Matthew 12:43-45)? What do you think?

I'm the kinda person who has to see it to believe it, until I found the meaning of faith, that is "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen", as in Hebrews 11:1 from King James Version (KJV). From then on, I trust my Lord Jesus with all my heart, all my soul, and all my mind.

But still, God was kind enough to show me a demon-possessed man today, in church!

Before I go on... Let me tell ya a little on the background of this man. We met him during last month's Urban Street Outreach (USO, where we go to Town to reach the homeless, and bring 'em food as a tool to connect and minister to them) at the Komtar bus terminal with many homeless people. We gave him food, and spoke to him. Thank God for the people who was with me, students from USM who spoke fluent BM! After speaking and getting it interpreted, we prayed for him, to ask Jesus to work His miracle in the man's body, which is suffering from Diabetes. Before we left, we gave him an EPCC business card and that seemed like the end...

Until... he actually made his way from Komtar to EPCC by bus last weekend! He attended the BM service, and suffered a seizure, which required the attention of Pastor L from the BM service. He was quickly sent to the General Hospital in an ambulance!

Just this morning, we met him again! He's at church, and I was running around getting some work done when Pastor L took me away, and brought me into one of the rooms, with that man. Pastor L said, "He's suffering from a spiritual attack. Let's pray for him". And I'm like, "Err, okay... what's up?" That man appeared only tired to me, with his eyes redish and droopy... Pastor L asked him to seat, and we kneeled down to pray.

The moment we laid our hands on him, he started shaking! He was making all sorts of noise, and kept shaking vigourously! By now, he's lying on his tummy, and I laid both my hands on him and kept praying, for Jesus to cast out the evil spirits in him! Pastor L kept praying in BM, while holding him down at the neck. It lasted a few minutes, until "it" seemed to have "went away". The body was motionless now, and Pastor L spoke into his ears, "Believe in Jesus! Do not doubt Him!" and kept repeating! Finally, after a while, the poor man responded... We took him up, and he was salivating badly. Washed him, cleaned up the place, and took him to the Main Sanctuary.

By now, he's alright, and asked for food. Gave him some, and he stayed on until the end of the worship session. He left for home after that, all alright! :D Hallelujah! :D

WOAH! What an amazing experience!!! :D

Father, thank You! Thank You for giving me the opportunity to see You at work! It is in Jesus' name that the demon-possessed man is now alive and well. I pray, Lord Jesus, that You'll continue to heal this person from Diabetes and from anymore spiritual attacks... Fill the void that's in him, Father, and send Angels to protect him, Lord! Also, Lord, I pray that You'll continue to use the vessels that has given their lives to You, just to glorify Your Mighty Name! I pray and ask all this in Jesus' name, AMEN!

Oh, did I also mention that he's a Hindu when we asked him during USO, and he's now a Christian? :D WOOHOO! :D Praise the Lord! :D The Kingdom of Heaven rejoices! :D

The True Meaning of Christmas

2007-12-24T11:05:00.000+08:00

What's Christmas? Why do people celebrate it? Who's Santa Claus? Is there really a factory in the North Pole producing toys for children all over the world? What about the reindeers?

I'm no theologian, but this is as much as I know. Christmas is not just about the presents, the gifts exchange, the carols, the beautiful decoration, the fireworks as it strikes midnight of Christmas, etc but it is the birth of Jesus Christ, our Saviour, the One who is to come! That's it! Christmas is Jesus' birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Santa Claus? He's a myth, a character from a story created by man who doesn't exist, and no, there's no such factory nor reindeers flying around on Christmas Eve to deliver presents. Sadly, the world today only sees Santa Claus as the Father of Christmas, when it is our Father in Heaven whom we should look to, to thank Him for the BEST GIFT the world could ever get, Jesus Christ. In John 3:16 of NIV, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

The past weekend has been a great time of reaching out. Together with CATS of EPCC, we, the Jinglers of EPCC, went to shopping malls such as Gurney Plaza and Prangi Mall and even hawker centres such as New World Park and Northam Beach Cafe to sing carols, to give away little gifts, and a leaflet, a message of the true meaning of Christmas. CATS did a great sketch on the same message. It's just wonderful!

The Jinglers of EPCC

God has been great to me, and this time, He's no different. The experience of going out to sing, in front of many, is just amazing! I never knew I could do such thing! If you know me for 5-10 years now, you would know that I'm one very shy person, one who can't stand on stage, to speak, and what more, to sing (when I really can't sing!), but yet, as we took the limelight the past weekend, the peace in my heart was just there. Who else but God who can provide such peaceful heart? God is just GREAT! :D

And to end this, a thanksgiving prayer to the One...

Thank you Father for your great love upon us, sinful man. It is your wonderous unfailing and unconditional love for each and every one of us that guides us through our days here on Earth. It is you, Father, whom we look to on Christmas, and it is our Lord Jesus, who died on the cross for us, who is the reason for Christmas and is the one worthy of all our praises! Thank you, in the name of Jesus, amen!

Merry Christmas and Have a Blessed New Year! :D

Chance? No way! Karma? Hmm...

2007-11-25T10:10:00.000+08:00

In my previous entry, miss hello posted a comment,

"Though I wouldn't want to preach, I can't help noticing that whenever I feel down, there would always be someone or something that cheered me up the next day. It would be an inspiring forwarded mail from a friend, a chat with the janitor who made me realise that my problem was just a tip of the iceberg compared to hers, or a conversation with a close buddy. Are they chance occurences or did they come from a higher being or because of karma? Anyway, I appreciate them all!"

I'm no preacher too, but to reply to you, miss hello, I've got this to say... Everything happens for a reason, and God is behind it. Whether it is good, or bad, it is Him. During such times, it is Him who gives us choices, and it is up to us, to do it His way, or our way. These choices will lead us to different paths in life.

Chance? No way! Proverbs 16:33 of NLT says, "33 We may throw the dice, but the Lord determines how they fall." It is Him who determines how they fall! Think again, you used the words, "whenever" and "always"! Do you think chance will occur everytime? ...that "lucky"? It is definitely Him who sent you that inspiring forwarded mail and it is Him who has placed that someone (the janitor, you say) to cheer you up!

Karma? Hmm... Galatians 6:8 of NIV says, "8 The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life." But still, I've got this to share.

Let's be honest, all of us have skeletons in our closet. For me, before I came to know Christ, my life was a mess, and I did many mean and nasty things. When it comes to Christianity, I've always tried to prove it wrong, and I was only interested in anything that's against it.

So, why do I believe in Christ now? Well, despite all that I did, I, too, can't help but notice that there's someone up there helping me in many ways and stopping me from carrying out my evil plans. If it's about karma, then I should be getting back those mean and nasty things, but in the end, it was God's Grace that saved me!

Scroll up and just under the title, there is Ephesians 2:8-9. It talks about salvation is only rewarded by His grace, and not by the good works that we do, so that we can't boast that it is us, for being good, that will allow us to go into Heaven to spend eternity with Him. John 14:6 of NIV says, "6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me". I don't deserve the salvation but yet, He gave and saved me! He's my Saviour, the One that turned my life around! And all this, despite all the evil things that I've done!

So you see, miss hello... whether you're a believer or not, He's always opening His arms to welcome you, to guide you through tough times. We all need His love, and it is His grace that'll pull us through our temporary lives here on Earth.

Smile as you go through each problem, because He's at the end of it, smiling back at you :)

God is Everywhere, Even for a...

2007-10-29T07:42:00.000+08:00

Yes! God is everywhere!

Last night, I received an SMS from a friend. She shared with me her experience with God, and it so deserves an entry! That's cause, every miracle from God is no small matter, and we should share the Glory of God!

So, what happened was, she, being her forgetful self, forgot to turn off her headlights when she parked. When she returned, the battery went flat, and thank God for strangers who came to offer help. After more than half an hour of trying to jump start the car, it just didn't work. My friend was already gonna give up, until she suddenly thought of saying a little prayer, and right after that, it WORKED! How great is our God! :D Matthew 19:26 says,

"Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

AMEN!

And yes, I know I didn't finish the title of this entry. It should be, "God is Everywhere, Even for a NON-BELIEVER!" Yes! My friend's a non-believer! WOAH! What a testimony from a non-believer, eh!? :D Matthew 7:7-8 says,

"7Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."

God is GREAT! He's always there for us and it's up to us whether we want Him or not!

Father, thank You for being there when my friend needed help! Continue to show Your greatness and pour forth Your love upon her, and those around her! May she be blessed in all ways, and may she come to know You, our Lord and Saviour! Amen!

Letting Him Lead...

2007-10-10T01:22:00.000+08:00

Sometimes, I wonder if what I'm doing is what God wants me to do. Yes, it may sound like its God's plan to tell others about His love, etc but maybe that's not what He wants me to do now. I don't know... unless of course, I keep praying and spend more time with Him, listening to what He wants to say to me, which I'll be honest with you, I'm kinda impatient :(

Today, it became clear that I shouldn't be rushing things. When it all started, I had this "ultimate" plan, to bring the church to the workplace. But time and again, there were obstacles. One by one, it seemed like a sign to me that it won't work. From the so-called "ultimate" plan, it became a plan that I can only do so few things, and then to only one thing, and tonight, all is gone, and had I tell you the reason why even this last one is gone, you'll know it really is God's intention to stop me from proceeding :)

Well ya, disappointed, I am, but I'll just have to let Him lead, and not be leading Him :) This reminds me of a few verses...

Proverbs 19:2 of NLT:
"Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good; haste makes mistakes"

...which is so right! I was so fired at the start, and did all of it with my own strength, which shouldn't have been the case, for it is from Him, I should be getting the strength!

Nehemiah 8:10 of NLT:
"...for the joy of the Lord is your strength"

Again! How spot on is that?! I should be spending more time with Him, to read His Word, and to listen to Him. That way, all that I do will be what He wants me to do! And another one,

Proverbs 3:5-6 of NLT:
"5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
6 Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take."

Ya! I think I depended on my own understanding too much, and not "consult" Him about the plan. Well, despite this lesson, I'm still fired to do what I have in mind, but this time, I'll take it slow, and to bring God into the picture, not just doing it all by myself. And to end this, a little prayer...

Lord, I commit all that I have to You, for You're the Almighty, the Beginning and the End, and with man, it may not be possible, but with You, all is possible! Amen!

Nepalis in Penang

2007-10-08T00:28:00.000+08:00

Last Thursday was the launch of an English tuition class in my church. It is for several Nepalis, 17 of them to be exact. All of these Nepalis work in Intel (where I'm working) as janitors. A churchmate (also an Intel employee) has been in touch with them and managed to ask 'em out on a trip to Penang Hill.

A group photo with the Nepalis in Penang Hill

The trip was a few weeks back and it was a great one! And guess what, God had a hand in it! It was a rainy weekend, started on Fri night, and continued to pour on Saturday. On Sunday, it rained heavily during service. Despite the shower in the afternoon, we went ahead with the initial plan, and when we stepped foot at the entrance of Penang Hill, God answered our prayers! The rained stopped! Praise the LORD! :D Look at the pic above, we had our umbrellas, but we did not NEED them! We just needed Him :D

It was great weather up there, the cold breeze, the patches of clouds and the beautiful view of Penang! The Nepalis said it felt like Nepal, heh :) We walked about, snapped some photos, and fellowshipped with them. It was a great time and it proved to be the stepping stone to the tuition class.

So ya, I'm one of the English teachers now, and teaching English to someone who don't really understand ya is tough, and despite having 5 teachers in the first day of class, we can barely handle them. Coming Thurs, we are going to split the class to beginners and intermediates. Hopefully that way, we'll be able to focus and pay more attention to them.

As always, we commit the English tuition class to Him. May He bless each and every teacher with strength, wisdom and patience as we make available ourselves to show His love to these Nepalis. May God be with them!

Please pray for us, as we continue to do missions in our very own backyard!

A Friday to Remember...

2007-10-01T00:41:00.000+08:00

I attend Cell Group (CG) on Fridays. It's a great time of fellowship with my churchmates, a time of sharing, and a time of learning the Word of God... oh, and the food sums it all, always a great night :)

The past Friday was slightly a different one... we sang the Birthday song, I blew the candle and cut the cake. It was a small but yet, a very memorable event :) It was just GREAT! Am really thankful I got so much out of the Nepal trip, it's just unbelievable! Pastor Sam once said to me, "It could be your launch pad for more", and it really is! I can't wait to do more for the Kingdom of God...

And more is what I did on that Friday. After CG, about 12am, 12 of us went to the heart of Penang in a van, with flowers, food and everyday necessities.

The first objective was to find transvestites. We broke into 2 groups, and walked about. The girls would be handing out flowers to these transvestites, and the guys would be walking behind 'em, just to be on the lookout, in case anything happens. All in all, my group met and gave flowers to about 5-6 of 'em. They would just looked surprised, and kept smiling, and thanking :)

After that, we went on to look for the homeless. Unknowingly to me, there were so many of 'em lying on the streets, sleeping. Apparently, there's actually more! ...but the Government has been "cleaning" up the streets due to Visit Malaysia 2007.

We walked up to them, placed a packet of bee hoon, and a bag with some food, toilet paper, a bottle of water, etc. A few would wake up and thank us. The amazing thing that happened that night was when Susan spoke to one of 'em, and shared our loving Jesus to him. He cried, and accepted Jesus just barely 15 minutes of conversation. PRAISE THE LORD!!!

A friend once said, "Why go all the way to Nepal when you can save the people here?" She's right, so right, and this man is proof that there's so much we can do right here in our Nation. Who said we can't be missionaries in our own country? Who said we can't share our experiences with the Mighty One to the people here? Every day, we meet people who has not known Him, and to not share with them, the love of Christ, is to not follow the Word of God for Matthew 28:19-20 says this, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Amen to that!

Been a long time...

2007-09-30T22:20:00.000+08:00

Yes, I know it's been a long time... 3.5 months! And presenting to you, the excuses :P Busy with work, short trip to Singapore, lotsa teambuildings, went on a business trip to India, occupied with church activities, etc... just lots! Oh, in between all that, I needed the rest, the SLEEP! :D

A friend said to me when I told her I was too busy to update my blog, "Don't pretend to be busy!" Heh... I still wonder if she's really right bout me. I do have spare time, but during those times, I just wanna do something else than write here... Hmm, it ain't a good sign, to me, at least.

Anyhow, I still have so much to share! I'll wanna continue, but bear with me on the updates... :)

Prayer Works!

2007-06-12T23:07:00.000+08:00

Yes, it does! I've had many prayers answered by God but this one is worth mentioning right now! On Monday mornings, for the past 2 months, I've been spending some time with a few friends praying.

Because last Monday was a holiday, we did our prayer on Wednesday. A friend, K, told us that her friend's friend, A, was diagnosed with Tuberculosis, or better known as TB. A is a new Christian, and was saved while he was in Penang. He then moved to Ipoh and got struck by this disease. We prayed for him...

...and just yesterday, on our usual prayer meeting, we got a GOOD NEWS! K told us that A was healed completely! At first, I was just, "Err, cool, good news..." Then it really sank in and I thought, "How can it be possible?!" Yes, I doubted what K said, but it had to be the Devil who put that doubt in me! Soon after, we were all smiles and was just very thankful for God's healing powers over our brother! It was just, "WOW!" How amazing it is, isn't it!? Just less than a week after we prayed, God answered our prayer!

It really encouraged me to continue praying even though I still feel very uncomfy praying aloud in a group... I was once told that prayer is the most important thing to a Christian, cause it's when we spend time with God and that's of highest priority to keep the relationship between ourselves and God!

Thank God for this experience! And thank God, again, for I've got many more of such testimonies to tell in the future... :D

Day 4 Part 2: Thank You, Lord for Using Me as Your Vessel!

2007-06-10T22:44:00.000+08:00

We were headed for a new place, with a new mission. The place is Chitwan, where Nepal's first National Park resides, and it is globally recognise as one of the natural heritage by UNESCO. The mission is to visit churches, and the ultimate goal to all the visits is to adopt a church.

The journey was yet again a tiring one. It was a long drive through roads right next to the ravine, with buses and other vehicles honking their way to their destination. I had to napped in the van, and that actually disturbed the driver a little as my head bumped into his shoulder a couple of times. Yar, I was sitting in front, in between the driver and Anil. This time, the van is more packed with people.

The accomodation was much more than we've expected. It's actually more of a resort than anything else. Nice environment, room, beds, bathrooms, etc! I honestly didn't expect such comfortable place when joining this mission trip. I thought we'll be sleeping in our sleeping bags every night.

The Riverside Resort in Chitwan, Nepal

We had to go just after unpacking, that's how tight our schedule was. We took our first journey on the tuk-tuk, which was a bumpy and torturous one. Soon, I'll get used to it... the first church that we visited was one of the daughter churches of the main church that we were due to visit.

The tuk-tuk that we got so used to during the trip

I remember this clearly... as we walked into the building with a cross at the entrance, I thought it was a church, but it wasn't. It was actually a house, with only the small room on the left of the entrance being the place for church-purposes. We went into the room, and it was so tight and small. I took a spot in the place, and before I could put my backside on the floor, one of them told me that it's wet, and that I should sit somewhere else. Yes, I felt it was wet, and since I was the photographer cum videographer, I thought I would sit outside instead, getting a better view and being able to move around more freely. As we waited for the Pastor to get ready, people started to come in, filling up the place, and sitting each and every spot there is in the room. None of them cared about the wet carpet in the room! Yes, the Nepalis just want to listen to the Word of God, and so no matter the situation, they'll do it for their thirst for God is so great!

The church on the outside...

...and the church on the inside

We worshipped, and soon the group was broken into 2. The adults stayed in the house, and the children headed to another house, about 2 minutes walk away. We ministered to the children at the back of the house, which is an open space. Becky conducted the time, with an interpreter helping us. We sang, danced, and played with the kids, and they loved the fun so much :) Always all smiles...

The children of Nepal

While Becky was teaching the kids to sing an English song, a boy came up to me. He looked like he was 15 or so. "Can I talk to you for while?", he said in perfect English. I was impressed and I said, "Yes", of course... "Can we take a walk?" Err, okay, this time, I'm stunned... "Can't we do it here?", I asked, a little frightended. I've heard so much bout the Maoists, and killings taking place in Nepal, and now this? "No, I prefer to take a walk", he insisted. I thought, "Okay, God brought me here to serve Him, and surely He'll protect me against all forms of evil" I really had to take that leap of faith on this one. It really tested me... As we walked, he told me that he's 18, a Buddhist, and that he had this sudden urge to read the Bible. He's been reading 3 Bibles for the past 3-4 days! My eyes nearly popped out upon hearing that... I'm like, "WHAT?! How can you have this sudden urge?!" He said there's suddenly this power in him that made him want to read the Bible so badly, and the more he read about God, the more he wants to know this Jesus Christ that's being told in the Bible! I told him, "You have the Holy Spirit working inside you, that's why you're feeling such powers. I've been a Christian for over a year, and I've never had such great powers in me!" He went on to ask general questions like, "Can I still perform Buddhist rituals when I'm a Christian? It's because I don't want my family to know that I'm a Christian" I said no to him on that, cause in the Bible, it says that one cannot serve two masters. You'll have to serve God, and that's it. No two ways to it...

Suddenly, I realise that we walked a little too far. I stopped, and asked if he wants to receive Christ as his Lord and Saviour. He said no as he wanted to discuss with his brother in law first... Then I asked him if I can lay my hand on him and pray for him, and he again said no. We turned back, and headed for the little church where his brother in law was there listening to Pastor Sam. After a minute of discussion with his brother in law, Samir, the 18-yr-old, finally said yes, he'll accept Christ. We waited till the end of the service, and I spoke to Pastor Sam about Samir, and we prayed the Sinner's Prayer with him.

Myself, Samir and Pastor Sam. I only realised that I might never see this brother of mine again after I left the place. But, I'm sure we'll meet again in heaven when the time comes :)

Woah, 1 soul saved! Samir invited me to stay over at his place, to tell his family that he's a Christian, and that they should all learn to accept Christ! The Nepalis are just such a great bunch of people! You don't go around inviting strangers to your home, do you? I had to reject that very welcoming invitation cause I've got to be part of the team that EPCC sent. Really thank God for using me as His vessel to save Samir. It was a great experience! It's like the people in Nepal will just walk in to church and accept Christ. God is really doing a lot in Nepal, a time of harvest, as how Pastor Sam puts it.

The day ended with dinner at the resort, and a rare early rest for us...

Day 4 Part 1: Good Bye, Youth Camp!

2007-06-07T21:33:00.000+08:00

It's our last day at the Youth Camp, and I can feel the heavy heart in me even at the start of the day. I'll miss the camp, the worship, and the people. They've been a great bunch, they were humble, they were happy despite the conditions that they were in, they were friendly, always all smiles when we walk past them, and they thirst for God so much! There's so much that I've learnt from them. I'm so thankful that I was given this opportunity to come to Nepal, to serve God, and in the process, to learn all about life outside my comfort zone, to appreciate all that I have, and to always, always remember that I should be thanking Him and not take things for granted.

The girls in the blue kurtas are in the worship team. They were in that blue kurta for all of the 3 days. Missing each and everyone of them already!

God answered my prayer as I woke up with no aches on my head or neck! It was to be a great day ahead for me! We were served beaten rice, peanuts and tea for breakfast. The worship in the morning wasn't as powerful as the one we had yesterday evening, but it was still awesome. You can see that the worship team has somehow transformed, probably thanks to Pastor Sam's sharing with them just before we went off for star gazing the night before. This time around, I managed to get close up pics of the guitarists, the drummer, and not just the backup singers ;)

The worship team from Dhouligauda, Nepal

Today's all about the community... what these youth can bring back to their respective churches, and how their churches in turn can hep the community. The Pastor preached a relevant message and the people were grouped into their respective churches. Some churches had 20+ people, while there were a few which had only 2-3 people. All in all, there were more than 10 churches present, and they were then led into a discussion by their church representative. When all is done, each of them took turns to tell the camp what they have in mind for their churches when they go back, and it was shocking to hear such ambitions and dreams that they have! They want to do so much for their community that even our Pastor was amazed :D

Just before we go off, we had one last worship session, and this time, surely God can hear the cries from the youth. We clapped, cheered, called for Him, and chanted "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus..." as loud as we can for almost 10 minutes. The atmosphere was just powerful. If you were there, you would feel as though you were in a stadium, with thousands of people cheering for their team in a soccer match. A couple of hundreds in a hall is more powerful than thousands in an open-air stadium, and not to mention, we had the presence of the Holy Spirit with us! This was yet one of the unforgettable moments of my Nepal trip!

Were there souls that were saved in the camp? YES! Thank God for 12 of 'em! I actually thought only Christians would go for such camps, but apparently not, and come to think of it, I wasn't a believer when I went for OCF (Oversea Christian Fellowship)'s Winter Camp in Melbourne, Australia and I wasn't saved till 3-4 months later...

It was then one final lunch for us in the camp and before we took off in the van, I snapped some pics of the place that we stayed in for the past couple of nights. Oh ya, we also exchanged email addresses with a few of 'em, but have yet to hear from any of 'em...

Our "home"

To be continued...

Euwing, It's Too Long!

2007-06-05T23:17:00.000+08:00

Heh, that's what I've been hearing for the past few days. Yes, I know my blog entries have been really long, and ever since Day 1, I've been trying to shorten each entry. Sadly, I just can't seem to cut it shorter. It's because there's really so much to tell! Actually, it's a blessing that I'm getting this "complaint", cause it goes to show that God has really done so much!

I'm sure He wouldn't want me to keep all that He's done in Nepal for myself. So, I'll continue to share, but I'll cut my entries into parts, just so there's no need to digest all at one visit. How does that sound?

I sure hope each and everyone of you will read what has been told, and what's to be told here cause only then, you'll know how great our God is :D

I'll be posting Day 4 really soon... hang in there, and God bless ya!

Day 3: Singing, Acting, Sharing, Gaming and Star Gazing!

2007-06-04T00:30:00.000+08:00

I woke up with a headache and a neckache because of yet another soft pillow and this one is actually worse. I had to use the top of my sleeping bag with it, else I'll be lying totally flat on the bed, but yet, it didn't help. Had to pray for the aches to go away, or it'll be one dreadful day...

In the Hall, the worship team was already starting the day off with a few Nepali songs. We fell in love with the songs, and prompted me to record it with my mobile phone. Although we have no idea what they were singing, we were sure "yesu" means Jesus, heh! Soon after, we were called onto stage and this time, we sang our English worship songs, a couple of 'em :D

It's our turn to perform!

Most of them don't understand English, so no doubt they don't understand the song. All the preaching and sharing were done with the help of a couple of interpreters, one of whom is Anil, who played a very important role in our trip, and I shall talk more about him as we go.

Anil, one of the best interpreters in Pokhara, and some say in Nepal!

Before Pastor Sam took over, we did a mime. That's acting with no speech. I teamed up with Becky to do Hearts. It goes like this; the boy hears God, and God asks for the boy's heart. Boy considers it for a while, and when he was about to give it to God, the girl comes into the picture, and asks for his heart. Boy reluctantly gives her, and when she has it, she plays with it, and purposely drops it, and stomps on it. Boy is sad, picks up the broken pieces of the heart, and God once again calls for the boy's heart, despite a broken one. Boy gives it to God, and he's transformed, to a new person! God then calls for girl's heart, and girl is persuaded by boy to give it to God. She is also transformed after giving her heart to God. Moral of the story, at least from my point of view... why give your heart to mere humans who might betray your trust, waste your time, and play with your heart like the girl in the story... when you can give it to your own Creator, the One who knows all of you, each and every thing about you, who does not care what you've done, who does not changes through time, who longs for you and who loves you so much unconditionally? We're transformed the moment we open our hearts to Him, and receives His ultimate love, which is everflowing, everlasting, and ever so wonderful. By the grace of God, I was blessed even before I knew Him. That actually made me want to know Him even more, which started my relationship with Him. I shall tell this story in future.

The girl persuading the boy to give the heart to her

Back to the Hall, today is all about BGR, that is Boy-Girl Relationship, which is a very common topic in a Youth Camp. Pastor Sam preached a little and we took turns to share... on my part, the main point is the differences between boys and girls when it comes to relationships. I shared on my recent relationship with this girl I met in college. Then, I had not known Christ, so I thought putting her on top of my list, giving her all of me, all my time, being nice and doing good would impress her easily, but I was wrong, cause I had to wait for a year before we were finally attached. Despite the 1yr+ of knowing her, I still didn't know all of her. I didn't know what she wanted, how she wanted it, etc. Mind you, despite being dumped after 2.5yrs and suffering a terrible 9 days after that, she's not a bad girl... in fact, she's a nice one. But I just didn't know the differences we had, and I always expected her to react like how I would want her to. I made a mistake in doing that.

Instead, I should've taken my time before diving in to go after her... I should've spent more time with her as friends, to learn more about her, and to just basically be a friend before making her a special someone. And so, I ended my sharing by telling the youth that they should put God first, and everything else will come from God's grace, for their faith will surely be seen by the Almighty One, who provides each and every need we'll require.

Lunch was served, and this time around, I've got pics to show you Nepali delicacies :D

That would be chicken, with rice (they call it bhat), and dhal. Or better known as dhalbhat with chicken

Green chilli and salt, to be eaten raw

Just before the session got started again, a few of us were asked to go onto the roof, to have photos taken with a bunch of youth who came from this big church. Check them out!

Nice backdrop with a great bunch of people

The 2nd half of the day started with yet another mime, and this one is entitled "Sin Chair". It's about this girl (could be a guy, but Becky was the actress then) who was flirting with sin and soon got hooked to it (Becky can't remove her hands as it is stuck to the chair). A muscle-man (Pragas) came to her rescue but despite the strength, it failed to unstuck her. I then came in with a cigarette on one hand and a bottle of alcohol on the other, and letting her have some of both didn't help either. The third person, Suba, came into the picture with lotsa money, and even money can't help remove Becky from sin. The last one is Susan, who played a person holding the Bible. Susan helped by asking Becky to go on her knees, and they both prayed together, and soon after, she was finally unstuck from the chair! Yes, that's how it works! It is God who set us free from sin, because He sent his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for us. When one sins, he is a slave to sin forever, and being a slave means having no permanent place in the family. Only a son can be in the family forever, and so if the Son sets one free from sin, he'll be free forever! Thank God for the cross!

That's Susan praying alongside Becky who's stuck to the "sin chair"

Then, the Pastor preached based on the mime we just acted out. The message was a good one, but maybe I'll write that another day, cause it can be quite lengthy. Tea was soon served, and we went around taking photos with the Nepali team. One of the amazing thing that happened was Pragas speaking in Malay. I was like, "Err, who is he speaking Malay to?!" There was this Nepali who actually worked in Penang before and he can speak very fluent Malay, even better than I do! Woahhh, he was working in one of the factories before, and he told us that there're lotsa Nepalis who work in Malaysia too. No wonder EPCC chose Nepal!

One of the greatest thing that happened in the camp was after tea. It was the worship! It was just amazing! A breakthrough, cause everyone in the Hall was so into it... both sides of the Hall, the guys, on the right and the girls, on the left just kept jumping, singing praises to Him and worshipping Him! In previous worships, the girls just stood there, clapping hands, but now, there were all fired up! We went to the front and worshipped like we've never done it before! It reminds me lots bout how EPCC does it every Saturday night on their SNL service! It was the greatest time of worship for me, really! Will definitely not forget that!

The best worship time!

*phew* All tired and literally drenched from our own sweat, we conducted the games, all of which had a story behind it that relates to Jesus, and His leadership. It was very fun, and seeing the crowd enjoy it so much really made me feel it's worth it all that I've spent; the time, the money, the lost of my own comfortable home... and again, it got me thinking, "Maybe I should do this more often" Hmm...

The Nepalis enjoying the heroes game

The night session saw one of the youth sharing his testimony, and how great God has been in his life. It relates so much to the message that Pastor Sam shared earlier, which I said that I'll share it some other day. Anil translated all of it to English for us.

We may think all this electricity around us is "free", always so abundantly available to us, but to the people in Nepal, it's a priviledge. Halfway through Pastor Sam's preaching, the lights went out, and I had to run to the front to supply light from my torch light. It was obviously pitch black then, since there aren't any streets for us to even have street lamps! It came back after a while, thank God for electricity!!! Every now and then, it seemed as though the lights would go off again... be thankful with all that you have, really!

Day ended with us climbing up to the roof, spent like 15 minutes up there star gazing while everyone else was fast asleep. Again, it was pitch black, only our torches shone the path. This event actually reminds me of 2 dreams I had long time ago. Both were alike, it was me, looking up into the skies, and seeing so many stars, so beautifully laid out, twinkling like it was calling for my attention. It was such a captivating sight, but none of our cameras were good enough to take photos of it. We just looked up in awe and thank God for His creation, for He made all these, and everything else for us to enjoy, for He loves us so much, He would give us anything... that, I'm very sure of :)

Heh, a pic with the help of the tripod

Day 2: The Journey Starts Today...

2007-05-28T21:25:00.000+08:00

Pastor Palan was right, you can't possibly wake up late in Nepal! Yes! You'll be "forced" to wake up early and when I say early, I mean 5am! That would be 7am+ in Malaysia. Nepal is 2hrs and 15mins behind Malaysia. The neighbours are up by then, and the roosters crow really loudly! I was the last one up (among the guys, heh) and took a little more time than the others to wash up and pack up. The morning was chilly, and Sister Surya served us more masala tea! I loved it, and drinking it at the balcony of the house, facing a snow-covered mountain really makes it such a perfect morning! Imagine having able to see such a beautiful sight every morning when you wake up! You just can't wait to wake up! Photos captured weren't as good as the real thing, and had it been a better day, weather wise, I would've gotten some really good pics!

A beautiful morning...

Just as everyone was ready, we had our Daily Devotion, worshipping the Lord with Pastor Sam playing the guitar, and singing praises to the King. We did the usual ACTS material that Pastor Sam prepared for the church, and shared our views on the particular verse. When all is done, we prayed for the day, the ride that we'll be taking, and all that is to come... really had to submit all to God cause only He can guide us while we're on foreign land.

I didn't mention breakfast, cause there wasn't any! We got ready, ensured we have all our things packed, and we got off, without the luggage, on a taxi, to the Lakeside. We walked a little as soon as we reached the "town" area... honestly, I don't know which is a town, and which isn't... all looks so "dead" to me, but hey, it's good to be in such a quiet place, and slightly cool too!

Why are we heading to the Lakeside anyway? Pastor Palan thought it'll be good for us to take a look at the lake before beginning our journey for real. Yes, we haven't started ministry yet, but already I feel like I have already begun. I mean, to me, I find it a little uncomfy to be doing Daily Devotion, to be reading the Bible, and praying aloud... yes, I'll be honest with you on that one, I haven't been a good boy, but all these was about to change :)

Anyway, back to the walk to the Lakeside from the place the taxi stopped us... pictures describe better, eh? So here goes...

Pretty, eh? :D I mean the flowers, not the man in blue!

Yes, they have cyber cafes... ;)

Cows are sacred animals. The Hindus worship the cows, so you see them (and their dunk!) almost everywhere!

After a little walk, and a little window shopping, we've finally reached our destination! My, oh my, what a wonderful place! The entrance is so welcoming, all green and flowers can be seen everywhere. The garden is just perfect! The little huts with chairs and tables make it a perfect relaxing place for just about anyone! I've been searching for such a place ever since I got back from Melbourne. There's no such quiet place for reading in Penang :S

Pragas and Becky posing for a great shot of the garden!

I just can't resist this photo!

We ordered our usual masala tea and went right away to enjoy the wonderous view the Lord has given us! It was just awesome, the slight breeze hitting our faces as we stand quietly to enjoy Mother Nature. The sound of leaves swaying with the wind and the sun shone brightly... WOAH! It was just MAGNIFICENT!

The awesome Lakeside!

From afar, we could see a stupa located right at the top of one of the hills. It's one of the Buddhist structures that can be found in Nepal. Apparently, one can climb up the hill to enter the building, but time did not permit us to do that. We settled down, sipped on the hot masala tea, and enjoyed the swing. It was quiet, but there were a few tables of Caucasians...

That's the stupa at the top of the picture, can you see it? It's really small! And that's Becky hiding herself in my shadow from the sun...

Swinging up and down... :)

After all the relaxation, we took the taxi back to Pastor Palan's home, and had our breakfast... yes, finally! Heh, we were served by home-cooked naan with curry chicken! That's the kinda food they serve in Nepal, and that's the kind food I love the most! Got me thinking a little...

Yummy yummy naan and curry chicken!

Soon, the van came and we had to move our heavy luggage bags. As I've mentioned before, it's not just bout the bags that we brought, but also the bags that we brought for the churches. The van was practically packed at the back seat, and only one can fit, and that would be me, right next to the window on the left rear end of the van. There was no aircond, and the journey lasted 2 hours plus... that would be 2hrs+ from now on, alright? ;)

The journey was a tiring one for all of us... sitting in a small van with no space to move your legs for 2hrs+ is painful. You can't sleep too much as well, cause the roads are bumpy, and the honks just kept on coming! Left, and right, the van avoided motorcycles, bicycles, and other vehicles. Oh, by now, it's all hot outside... sweaty in a van ain't all that fun, ya know?

Despite ALL that, we have to thank God for paving the way for us. Just a couple of weeks before we left for Nepal from Penang, we heard from Susan that there'll be a strike around the time when we were scheduled to reach. And had the strike took place, there's either going to be a terrible traffic jam, or the vans will not operate at all, and we'll NOT be able to do anything, but wait... so, THANK GOD for He had cleared the way for us :D I can't imagine what would've happen had He not intervene to stop the Maoist from striking! I remember Pastor Mei said that while she was praying for us in the airport, she saw God giving her a vision, a vision of His great power clearing the path for us, to ensure that we'll have a safe journey there, and voi-la, He's just so great, isn't He? :D

When you can't do much but "enjoy" the bumpy ride, you snap as much as you can! :P

Just some of the structures we see... there's lots more!

Some of the vehicles we see... don't be surprised with the top right one. Apparently it's a common thing, and look carefully at the top right and bottom left, it says, "Horn please"!

*phew* Long journey it was, and thankfully, I did manage to nap a little... it was around 2pm when we arrived. I was still a bit drowsy from the nap, and did not realise that the building is actually located literally in the middle of nowhere! If I could take a photo from bird's eye view, you'll be able to see the building being surrounded by lotsa, LOTSA trees! There's only one path, that leads to the town area, which only had, 6-8 shops. Also around us were village houses... As soon as we got out of the van, we unpacked, scouted the place for a while...

What a grand entrance! :D

It's the place we spend most of our time for the next few days

And that's where we stayed for a few nights. It's just next door to the building in the previous photo.

Eh, I haven't mention the purpose of us being here at this place. It's actually a Youth Camp, where many churches send their youths, and there were about 200 of them, some even brought their kids, yes, you read right, they have kids despite being labelled "youth". It's common for 14-15 yr olds to be having kids, but that's obviously not intended!

We moved out luggage bags to our rooms, and took a walk to the shop to gather some supplies, mainly bottled water! The walk was painful, it was hot, and with my legs both almost failing, we had to even carry a dozen of bottled water back! The only thing satisfying during the walk were the photos taken...

The photos on the left are the village houses nearby. The one on the top right shows a neatly arranged dunk on a farm! And the last one shows this guy cooking "chow meen". Yes, they actually call it like how we call it in Cantonese! :D But note the flies! :S

Cool, eh? Coke in Nepal :D

As soon as we reach "home", which was approx 4pm, the worship team has already started singing. We went up to our rooms, unpacked and washed up a little. It was one tiring van ride and walk to the shop, and I just felt like taking a bath, sleeping in an aircond-ed room, listening to my favourite worship songs and just relax... BUT! I can't, cause there's NO electricity! And obviously we didn't have the luxury of time. We went straight down to the Hall and worshipped the Lord together.

The worship team... yes, there was electricity in the Hall, thanks to a generator, which consumes gasoline that Anil just bought. That's the kinda electricity the Nepalis enjoy most of the time.

While they were worshipping in front, we just stayed behind and enjoyed the songs that were sung in foreign language. I was thinking to myself, "Why, oh why, did I get myself into such situation?" I was very tired, very weak, and totally not in the mood to do anything... but then came this sudden burst of energy! Just when the worship team started to dance, the crowd follow suit! For some strange reason, I was suddenly re-energised, re-vitalised, or however you call it! I just got onto my feet and started dancing with them! Lifting my hands, clapping and moving around in circles among ourselves! WOW! Really a miracle, I would say... the Lord does great things in a very timely manner, aye? :D Suddenly, I feel so much to want to help these people here. They enjoyed themselves despite all that they do NOT have, but yet, they want the Lord, His Word and His presence so much! I'm all up and running again :D

The Nepalis enjoying the worship time with the Lord

We had an ice breaker session soon after, just a game among themselves, and they were divided into groups, and each person were given a file, with several pieces of paper. When I opened mine, my jaw almost dropped off... I was totally shocked! Guess what was in there :S

A piece of paper full of characters I've never before seen in my life!

The group split to two, one stayed back in the Hall and the other went to the Dining Hall. I stayed in the Hall, with Pragas sharing about worshipping. Pastor Sam went off to the Dining Hall to share on the Word.

As the sun set, the groups were dismissed, and they were allowed to take their baths, and some had to do their duty, that is to cook and serve the other groups for the night. Dinner was served right onto the table for us, which was really nice, I meant the gesture... as for the food, hmm, weird I didn't take any photos of our first dinner at the Youth Camp! I guess we were probably too hungry, and just ate anything at sight. I shall share on the food that we eat in the coming days...

After dinner, we took a break in our rooms, and then came Pastor Palan. He asked us for a favour, that is to wash the plates, utensils, etc for the group who apparently had forgotten about their duty! Woah, 200 people's plates, utensils, etc ain't a small amount ya... and it was drizzling too! I told myself, "by serving these people, I'm serving the Lord" and that's why I'm there! That's the whole purpose of this great journey! I shall not say no when there's such an opportunity cause it's a priviledge to serve the Lord! We enjoyed ourselves lots washing the plates in the drizzle :D

Well, someone had to be the photographer, which was why I'm not in the photo! :P

Heh, Pastor Palan's plan worked, cause the group which was supposed to wash up did feel guilty and ended up helping us... and he also spent 10 minutes talking about it to everyone in the Hall. Something bout, "we invited Malaysias from all the way to wash plates for you"... heh, that was funny, but it did hit them.

Pastor Sam went on to preach for an hour plus that night and there was an altar call after that, with many, and I really mean lotsa youth who came in front and knelt down, some were in tears, and a few were crying out to the Lord. It was a sad scene. I wouldn't know what they've been through in life but I could see it from their thirst for God. They so desperately want Him, so much more than I could ever imagine myself wanting Him. It only broke my heart that I have been too comfortable in my life, to be taking for granted all that I have, and not cherish and treasure the priviledges that God has given to me, to us actually...

One of the unforgettable moments...

The day ended around 12am with a debriefing in our rooms, with Pastor Palan reminding us the do's and don'ts when preaching, sharing, etc... thank God for the cold shower, I needed it so much! What a day... what a night... the journey has just begun, and who would've known that it would last for more than just the 9 days originally planned...

Day 1: Selamat Tinggal Malaysia, Sawadee Kap Thailand and Namaste Nepal!

2007-05-20T03:09:00.000+08:00

It was 4am when I woke up on the 16th of April. I washed up, did some last minute packing, and ran through the checklist for the very last time. Must've been my 2031082th time! HEHE!

My phone beeped twice, first one from my "bestest best friend" who wished me journey mercy, which really encouraged me. She's one of the very few people who knows about my trip. Maybe some day I'll talk about her here :) The second came from a colleague whose wife just gave birth! Woahhh, and what a timing! Surely it'll be a great day, I knew :D

I drove to Suba's place, and then only realised that I ran out of credits on my phone. I can't call her to let her know that I've arrived! Already a few minutes late, I kinda panicked a little :S I went to the Guard House to ask for a phone. And they said they, too, did not have credits and instead, directed me to a nearby public phone. I'm like, "Err, public phones usually don't work!!!" I drove to the phone anyway, and I really had to pray for the public phone to work, cause I don't know how else to contact her! HAHA, that's my first, and thankfully, it worked! Loaded Suba's luggage into my car and off we went to Louise's.

It was around 5:45am when we arrived. I don't know what time Louise woke up, but I'm REALLY thankful for this friend. It's rare to find such a friend, who's ALWAYS offering to help! Waking up early, driving us to the airport, taking care of my car while I'm gone, and also keeping this little secret. THANK YOU!

We transferred the luggages from my car to hers and usually, car parks are full at this time, but there was one in the FENCED compound at Victoria Heights! WOW! Thank God for that! Had I not able to find a parking lot, I'll have to park outside, and Louise will have to shift my car, and that would really trouble her. Heh, she didn't dare to drive the old junk anyway :P

Reached the airport just a little over 6am and the other car reached just as we were shifting the luggages to the trolleys. The Pastor was already scanning his luggages when we walked to the Check-In counters. *phew* We weren't late!

Some of our luggage bags

My job started there itself in the airport, as I'm the photographer and also the videographer (now that sounds really cool!) of the team. Checking in was easy, and we weren't overloaded despite the extra baggage we carried for the churches over there. There were a few EPCC members who came to send us off too! Thanks people!

The Team (from left) - Suba, Pragas, Pastor Sam, myself, Becky

The flight from Penang to Bangkok on Thai Airways took 1.5hrs. The plane we boarded was an A300, which has a 2-4-2 seating layout. Though our seatings were kinda seperated, it didn't matter cause most of us took a nap and only wake up for the breakfast when they served.

View from the top - Is that N-Park on the right?

Shuttles and the beautiful Bangkok airport

A short flight it was, and when we reached Bangkok, we had to take a shuttle (not a train, unlike KLIA) to get to the terminal building. The Bangkok airport is a new one, opened only last year, and it is all too familiar for me as I was just there 2 months ago during my CNY break. It has this "incomplete", but yet, very stylish and elegant finishing. You can see it in the photos below.

Check out that vehicle! It's like those golf cars, to transport people around the airport. Coooool!

Having to wait for an hour is not that bad, but still we had not much to do. Kinda regretted not bringing a book with me! Bored, I snapped more photos.

The boarding pass and plane ticket

Waiting for the next flight...

The flight from Bangkok to Kathmandu took 3hrs. Ya, kinda long and I was sitting alone, by the window. Good that there was an empty seat on my left, more space is always nice in a plane! I was in awe of the great view. Thank you Lord for your creation! Took photos and videos too!

That's me with the camcorder *shh* I don't think I'm supposed to turn it on!

The most memorable thing in the flight was the FOOD! Yes! I never knew I would LOVE plane food this much! The Chicken Tandoori was just great! Loved it, LOVEDDD IT! They served it with a piece of nan, rice and also some dhal. I thought that would be the kinda dhal I'll be having in Nepal, but I was terribly wrong... you'll see what kinda dhal I had in days to come.

Who would've thought that this will be the one of the best meal for the coming 9 days!?

View from the top - That's Kathmandu. The buildings and road are very different from the ones found in Malaysia

The airport is made of red bricks. Looks old, and very unlike the Penang airport. On the inside, it's very woody and the brownish tiles made it a very "dark" airport. It didn't seem to have enough lights. And I thought that was an "oldie"... wait till I talk about the domestic terminal.

The queue

We had to stand in line to get our Visa which cost USD30. It was a long queue, and the wait lasted 30 minutes or so... tired, I knew the next task would take even more of me.

We moved on to the Baggage Claim section. It was one messy area, with bags on the floor, unattended trolleys here and there, boxes and plastic bags lie as though nobody wants them. And guess what, my bag was one of those on the floor! Good news was that we had all our bags accounted for! *phew*

Before getting to the domestic terminal to take the next flight to Pokhara, we stopped by the Money Changer. The rate was 1USD to 66.5 Nepali Rupee (NPR). That's approx RM1 to 20 NPR. They also charged a 200NPR commission.

The domestic terminal is not on the same building. We had to get out of the building, grab hold of a trolley, and walked to the other building, which is about 10 mins walk. Some of us had to carry our bags because there are people there who "reserved" trolleys, and if you want to use them, you've got to pay them!

The domestic airport is one very rundown building. It looks very much like my primary school hall. The walls are dirty, floor is dirty too, wires everywhere, and I found a bird nest with several birds enjoying their home.

The fan, the wires, the offices and the scale!

Look at the 2nd pic. They use fans instead of airconds. I don't know what are those wires for. Also, the windows are to the office. I don't think they have control towers, and they are probably directing airport traffic from these rooms!

A very rare analog scale

Ya, they use those analog scales, not electronic ones that we always see in the local airports! And to think that this airport is located in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal! Woah! It is really an eye opener!

After checking in our luggages, we had to go pass a security check. They did not have X-ray machines there so we had to open up our bags for them to check. Without metal detectors, they did a body search instead. It felt really weird being touched by a guy... there's this little "room" with a curtain for this body check. Two lanes seperate the male and the female. In the waiting lounge, there was a shop selling souvenirs and a cyber cafe, which charged RM14 an hour!

How ironic! We took the Buddha Air to Pokhara!

We were taken to the plane by a shuttle, and our checked in luggage were loaded into the same shuttle. The Buddha Air plane is a small propeller one. The plane can only house 2 pilots and a stewardess. With only a size of a mini bus (if you remember one), the 20 odd passengers all sit next to the window, with a very narrow walkway. As we climbed the stairs and entered the aircraft, we could actually see the cockpit, with the two pilots discussing and the control panel all lit up. With many buttons and different sized dials, it's one complicated vehicle!

My first flight in a propeller plane

When all passengers took their seats, the stewardess gave out cotton and sweets. Heh, a joke about the cotton: someone mistakenly took the cotton as cotton candy, and he ate it! Haha, honestly, I wouldn't know what's it for, had my friends not tell me :P It's actually for your ears cause it's noisy when you're up in the air! I had my earphones on, so I took only the sweets.

Sitting at the tail end of the plane

Just before we took off, it was cloudy and windy too! The plane went onto the runway and started blasting off. Very quickly, it was already off the ground, and you could feel the plane shake from the turbulence. There was no rain, YET. With so much clouds in the sky, it was all gloomy in the plane, but you could view Nepal from the window, from buildings to fields to hills and then mountains. Guess what, the stewardess actually served us drinks! Haha, it was such a small plane, I didn't expect anything... definitely no food cause the flight was only 30 mins or so.

Rain started to pour just after we touched down! Thank God it started to rain only after we landed. Without lights on the runway and had it been raining, it's very difficult to land such a small plane, apparently... *phew*

Managed to steal this shot as I was exiting the plane

We had to run into the building because of the rain. It wasn't far, just 100m from the plane, and as I entered, the building blacked out! There was no electricity in the airport! Okay, mind you, it wasn't really an airport. All I saw was a control building, and the building I entered was attached to it. It was probably as big as a typical shop lot? That's where we collected our luggage bags, and that was it. Thats all there is in that "airport"!

By now, it was raining very heavily outside. Oh, it wasn't just rain, it was hailing! Ya know, icy stones falling from the sky! :D Reminds me lots bout Melbourne! We were then greeted by Pastor Palan and his family, and our interpreter, Anil. Man, he was drenched! We took a van to Pastor Palan's home, rested a while, unpacked a little, and then went off for dinner.

By now, the rain had stopped, and it's chilly outside. Supposedly, it's still kinda cold at night, and we were actually told to bring our jackets, but I left all of mine in KL! :( Only had a long sleeve with me, but I didn't bring that during the walk anyway. Such weather makes me miss Australia much. Good that it wasn't windy, else it would be cold.

Well, we chose to walk because the restaurant is 20 mins away. I was then equipped with both my camera and my camcorder. The roads may be tarred but it's still muddy, cause it's very sandy everywhere else. Every now and then, you hear the honks of vehicles, whether it's from the cars, buses, motorbikes, etc... it's VERY common, and it feels weird if you actually don't hear any. It's a norm there to honk, you shall see in photos of the coming days why I'm saying this.

One of the houses we see on the way

One of the many shops, heh, check out the "muscle man"...

Nice building, eh? Cold and wet because of the rain...

Yet another...

The dinner was at this very cool, cozy, dim, and well, I would say romantic place... food served were naan, tandoori chicken, cheese balls, some kinda "popiah", also fried rice and we had our first masala tea. Tastes weird, but that's the tea we order for the following days to come... yes, weird, but tastes really good :D

It's a dim place... but wonderful environment :D

Some of the food we had in the restaurant

Having done with dinner, it was already dark outside. There aren't many street lights, and it's dim and dead all around... and it's only 8pm+! Apparently, the Pastor there sleeps around 9pm every night. I guess that's why it's already so dead by 8pm :S It was cold outside, so we hailed for taxis instead. Those taxies there are as big (or as small) as a Kancil. Doesn't cost much since we're quite near, and we had to past by the Red Light District before getting back to the Pastor's place. Hmm, didn't see anything sinful over there, so praise God :D

It's the first night in Nepal, and I was told that I'm gonna be having a cold shower on a cold night. That was bad news for me, cause hot water is all I use when I bathe, for many many years already! Argh, I didn't complain cause I know I shouldn't... it's a Missions Trip! Accept all that you're given... only in the days to come that I realise I should be thanking God for all that we had on this very first night. Going back to the shower, water was cold, and slow, so imagine the difficulty!

Before we went to bed, we had a short discussion on what's going to happen tomorrow, and how we should prepare for it. Honestly, I felt left out cause I don't seem to have a role when it comes to ministry. I told myself that I'll help in any way possible, cause surely God brought me there not to be a burden to the rest, but a blessing :)

The guys slept in one of the rooms and the girls, in another... our "Teacher" took the bed while Pragas and myself took the floor, with mattress... the pillow was so soft, it felt like as though I'm not sleeping on one. Some of you might've known... I can't sleep on soft pillows, I need a hard one, and what more this pillow, which is so very soft! I had to take out my stuff from my bag, and put under the pillow to sleep... Yes, it was a tough night, but thank God I managed to sleep! In the days to come, you'll know how God helped me in this area... :D

*zzzzzzz*

It's a long post for Day 1, cause there's just so much to tell! Hopefully I'll not be so long winded for the coming posts... Enjoy! :D

My First Post

2007-05-06T21:47:00.000+08:00

Woohoo! The first post to my first blog!

I never thought I would actually start a blog, but with so much to say about the Nepal trip, I thought I'll start one. It's easier to let people read about it than to have myself repeat so many times! Moreover, I can convey the experience better by typing it out (I'm not a good story teller). Also, attaching photos and videos will greatly help me explain certain events.

Enjoy!