Sights and Sounds from Singapore... Part 2

The second leg of my trip was Singapore... an island country made up of the Chinese majority,
Indian, malays and other foreigners...

I got to see the SUN for the most part in Singapore.... didn't rain once while I was there... woohoo!

Fascinating things to remember Singapore by:

The humidity.... how can one forget... so hot and sticky

Everyone speaks English here... AMAZING... feels like the U.S.

A very very BIG wonderwheel... I think it is the world's largest.... it sees the entire skyline of
singapore... 30 minutes for 30 dollars....

The Merlion fountain that spits out water...

Street signs that reads: Arab st... Baghdad st... Hindoo st... Upp Dicks st.... Club st....
Very Literal are the Singaporeans.... and I also Love the Singlish accent.... Isss sa Sooo fun Nee

The FOOD - so much good food.. so little time..... Laksa, Hainenese Chicken on rice, pratas, Ba Guh Tek, Kue Kue, Indian food, chinese food, malaysian food... on and on and on.....

Tolerance of one another.... with chinese, indian, malays and other foreigners... they are very tolerant of each other and live at harmony.... Something that really caught my attention....
lauguages in chinese, english, malay and indian are posted on signs and so forth... taking into account of all the races that are in Singapore.... try this in the U.S... u'll have an uproar....

Church.... nothing quite like it have I experienced.... yet again... puts the churches in the U.S. to shame... Once again, I'm humbled by the church in Singapore.... Jesus.. forgive me for not being so serious about church at times....

The people... very friendly... very talkative and very helpful....

The friends here.... what can I say... Singapore is DA BOMB...

Sights and Sounds from Hong Kong (Part 1 )

The last time I was in HK, it was still under British rule. (March of 1997)
This time around lots have changed. First off, The communist Took Over.
Second, there's a new airport which was kinda FAR OUT there, other than that everywhere is within reach. SARS happened, the Avian Bird Flu is in full effect. In fact it hit again the week
that I was in HK. I didn't eat chicken at all that week.

Some observations:
The Subway system in HK is second to none. By far the BEST that I've been in. It tells you where you are, where you are going, which side the door will open. It's clean, it's fast, it's well air conditioned, it speaks in Cantonese, Mandarin and English. You can't get lost in this. Really.. I mean only someone with the ID 10 T error will get lost here.
NYC's subway system can't even compare or come close. Shame on the MTA in NYC.

The Octopus card - sort of like the NYC metrocard except it works with just about all sorts of transportation and places. It works for the subway, the minibus, the bus, the trains, 7-11, pharmacies, supermarkets. The best idea for a transit card. 1 card does it all. I can't believe the U.S. doesn't even have this technology. The U.S. is WAY WAY WAY behind in stuff like this.

Lot's of Lines everywhere, everyone seemed to be in a RUSH to get to some place.
No one taking any chill pills here for sure.

The cellphones in HK are Light Years ahead from the ones in the U.S. They have cellphones
with HD / Widescreens... I was like WOW... it was beautiful... the Sharp Aquos phone

Places I've been in HK. Mostly flea market areas and big shopping malls.
Mong Kok - must visit for shopping.
The Flower Market - pleasantly surprised by the flower market. Tons of flowers and plants.
Really cheap... too bad the U.S. doesn't allow us to bring any plants into the country.
Ladies Street - flea market that sells clothing / bags to bras.... tons of stuff but mostly Ladies stuff. Hence the street name.
APM - shopping mall - quite nice, lots of food / clothing stuff
Times Square - another big shopping mall area.... lots of restaurants and shopping areas
Central Harbor - On a Sunday, I saw about 100,000 filipinos there.... I thought I was in the
Philippines....
City Hall Opera House - It was pretty interesting... I saw a play there....
The mountain Peak of HK- A very nice lookout point that sees all of HK... must see

Summary:
Family, Friends, Fellowship, Food, Fun.... I guess these 5 F's sums it up.

I got to see some of my relatives... in over 11 yrs... I have 4 kids calling me uncle... feeling so old..
The last time I was there, they were 2 and 3 yrs old and 2 of them weren't even born yet...

Got to see my friends, Ling, Kit, Amenda, Fei & Ellie... Good times just catching up....

Attended church in HK... a totally different feel... People actually LINE up before the service
starts... sort of put me to shame when I look at the U.S. churches.... I for one sometimes don't even show up on time, let alone Wait for a service to start an hr or two ahead of time....
Just a humbling experience.... God's love, is everywhere... doesn't matter where you go....

I ate some foods that I haven't seen or touched in many many yrs...
I had Goose... which was off the charts.. must eat in HK... Seafood.... desserts... galore...

Just walking around HK with my camcorder and filming all the stuff was OK with me...
I'm not much of a shopper so... I'll be buying most of my stuff in Tokyo or Singapore...
More to come with HK.. pics and Videos soon....

Conflict Resolution

I learned / grew up a bit this week.... Thank You Jesus!
Relationship with Pastors isn't the easiest thing in the world to maintain but Jesus shows the way.

Just when you feel / think that relationships are broken or that things can't be restored to the way that they were.... Jesus comes in and surprises us all!!!

If we just remain CALM, LISTEN to one another, L@@K for the best in people while keeping ourselves in check.... we can resolve a lot of our differences....

Following Matthew 18:15-17 WORKED!!

A Brother Who Sins Against You

"If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.'
If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.


'U N I T Y' ...

Unity is the Key to the survival of a church.... we succeed & fail as one.... we praise together and we cry together.... I hope we learned that as a group today...

Another 3000 lb gorilla off our backs.....

HK, Singapore, Tokyo... here I come!!

What a crazy month of May and June just got started!

A Great Unexpected Weekend...

Seeing snow in the end of May in Southern California?? Going to a summer retreat that turned out to be a winter one instead? There are NO certainties in life.... as the saying goes Death and Taxes.... But one certainty you can Bank on is that Jesus will aways Love you with open arms.......

I didn't expect much from this Weekend's church retreat... I thought going in without any expectations was the best way to go... Been to a couple that didn't turn out so well in the past...

Apart from all the fun and games... I felt that God has moved us with his words from Matthew 25 this weekend...

Matthew 25:34-36 34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

For those that are searching for the Will of God or wondering what God wants us to do with our lives in regards to serving HIM or in search of a Ministry... L@@K no further...
Meet those 6 needs and you WILL MEET JESUS! That's it......

That sort of cleared up a lot of clouds up in my head.... Although the drive up to Big Bear Mountain on Saturday was quite Foggy and Treacherous at Times.... and for a stretch I couldn't
see more than 10 feet in front of my car... The Fog / Low lying Clouds cleared up....
Climbing up to 6000+ feet in elevation, we'll see some fog / clouds... but all that will
clear away....

Whenever we strive to be better or going up a mountain... we will feel lost, we will
see some fog and clouds along the way... but knowing what your end destination is.... Jesus...
That's what's going to get us through... So that's what I experienced this weekend...
In midst of all the fog / clouds / climb / mishaps... whatsoever... Things will clear up....
Just keep on GOING....
Like the saying goes "Eyes Up Front Soldier!"... Keep our focus on Jesus...!!

Mixed Emotions

Learned a few things today.

Never Ever Treat people like they are just an item or a piece trash.

Have decency for one another....

Tomorrow is another day and Life Goes On.... Nothing, Nothing is more important than God,

family, friends and love ones. That's what matters when it comes down to it.

"If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all." Mark 9:35

No coincidence with this today. Our smallgroup CGLA finished DEAD Last in the NewSong LA
Olympics and this scripture just popped into my head...

Its always good to strive to be #1 and be the best yet Jesus is saying... Get back to the end of the
line and help others out... there... that's where you'll be my #1....

Just Ironic... how it all turned out today... Despite finishing #1 in reverse order... we ROCKED!
We were the loudest, the ones with the worst attitudes, the ones who complained the most and
it was FUN... wouldn't trade if for anything else... To the 6 other brothers and sisters who were
there today...!! Mad love for you guys and girls... for the flakers that didn't make it =p BOO
to U guys & girls!!

"Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you wanted."

Watching Randy Pausch's last lecture really got me thinking about his 7 life lessons...

All of a sudden, the little petty stuff doesn't seem to matter anymore...

Thank God for Health, Life, Family, Friends and Love ones...

Hang in there Randy....


1) Always Have FUN

2) Dream Big - Give yourself permission to dream. Fuel your kids’ dreams too. Once in a while, that might even mean letting them stay up past their bedtimes.

3) Dare to Take a Risk - Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you wanted. And it can be the most valuable thing you have to offer.

4) Make Time For What Matters - Time is all you have. And you may find one day that you have less than you think.

5) Ask For What You Want - More often than you’d suspect, the answer you’ll get is, “Sure.”

6) L@@k For The Best In Everybody

7) Let Kids Be Themselves