Jack'al :: Life's Reflection

post-exams

2009-03-18T13:12:00.002+08:00

havent blog-blog for very long le hor. just realized, it's been exactly one month. zzz.

the last time i blogged about was exams being round the corner. so now, after one month have past, of course exams finish le lah. exams last so long, complain liao. haha. and guess what, i actually improved compared to last semester. think last semester, my GPA was 2.16, and my grades were like B, C+, C+, C+, D+, D. this semester, my GPA is 2.58, and my grades A, B, B, C+, C, D. but because the GPA is cumulative and averaged, that makes my GPA actually a 2.375. ok, not a very fantastic result that would probably make your eyes and mouth open as wide as the universal, but indeed when we serve and take care of God's house, HE will take care of yours.

now that it's after exams, it's holidays. so have been spending lots of time msn-ing, iTunes-ing, facebook-ing, but actually whether a not it's holidays, i still do them. have a lot of free time, that's what i mean. so i'm actually spending time on various activities, such as editing recordings for DARE services. i'm actually enjoying them a lot, editing the recording, playing around with the sound using Logic Pro 8, loving it lots. and nonetheless, getting to listen to the message at the privacy and comfort of my home without having a soundboard in front of me or running around getting things done, or what.

another thing is that i started earlier this week was on a self-initiated project, which is a very rare chance for someone like me, or none at all, i confess. haha. due to the nature of the subject, i cant publicise it here. however, all i can say is that this subject was touched on in secondary school, but it was kind of brief, i felt. and due to some prior conversation i had with a very close friend of mine, it sparked in me to do some research and reading up on wikipedia, and the more i was reading, the more tabs i open up. it's like while i'm reading one page, i come across words that are hyperlinked to another wikipedia page with the explanation of this term, and i click on some of these links as a new tab to read it later. i paused this research since yesterday afternoon and have yet to continue today, maybe will do so tomorrow. so as of now, i have 11 unread tabs, which i bookmarked them so as not to lose them. not forgetting countless that i have read before and closed it.

while i was on my self-initiated project, i found this video titled, "How Do You Know If You're a Bisexual". I thought it was worth sharing, the script is as follows.

-----

"Hi, I'm Dr Carol L. Clerk, I'm a sex therapist and a licensed medical health council, here in Miami, Florida. In this clip, we're going to talk about how to know if you are a bisexual. And when we talk about bisexuality, we're talking about orientation towards one or another sex. And actually, most people are bisexual. There's only about... 4% of the population on each end of the spectrum. Most people in that 96% in between the two ends are bisexual, they either think about it, they do it, or they had some kind of bisexual feelings at some time of their lives. Orientation is not always static, it can change everytime, and it's very common for younger people to engage in some kind of bisexual thoughts, fantasies and behaviors, before deciding that they are truly oriented in one direction or the other. Other people may go through life wanting to go back and forth and experience people for who they are, and love the person, not because of their sex. Once again, this is Dr. Carol L. Clerk from Miami, Florida."

-----

tata.

"I Love My Job"

2009-03-05T07:27:00.001+08:00

it's holidays for me now before i hit Year 2 in my poly life. 2 months long. so along with holiday comes with some bo-liao things to do, such as this conversation:

[Between Bryan and I]

Br: i wonder what happen to our class photos
Me: class photos?
Br: ...
Br: class photo we took
Br: last day of school
Me: oh. got meh?
Me: ya hor
Me: maybe kena burn by someone who hates this class
Me: wait. but it's digital data
Me: maybe burn the memory card
Me: o.o
Br: ...
Br: you didn't take?
Me: nope
Me: i'm in the photo but i dont have them lah
Br: oh
Br: haha
Br: it's with loo
Me: it's in the loo?
Me: gosh. instead of burning, go flush down the toilet instead
Me: so cruel
Br: ......
Me: but she's not the only one who took the photos right?
Br: it's her cam
Me: hmmm
Me: somebody spank her then
Me: make her cough out the photos or something
Me: i actually forgot about class photo until you said so leh
Br: hahaha

[Loo was invited to the conversation]

Me: there she is, bryan, GO!
Me: *piak piak piak piak*
Br: ####
Br: haha
Me: loo loo
Me: oooh loo loo
Lo: whaaaaaat!!
Lo: OMG WHAT THINGG
Lo: wt#
Lo: haha whats going on uh
Me: it has been brought to our attention that our class photos we took on the last day of sem 2 is with you
Me: now loo, we seek your full cooperation in this investigation
Br: haha
Me: your statements will be liable in court
Lo: AHAHAHAHA
Lo: omg
Lo: okayyyyy!
Lo: can i send you guys when im back
Lo: hahahahaha
Lo: im about to leave the house nowwww!!
Lo: okay okay
Lo: tell you WHAT
Lo: I SEND YOU NOW
Lo: hahaha
Lo: spare me the smackings
Lo: i'll be away tomorrow till sunday too
Me: see bryan, that's how spanking should be done
Lo: WHATEVER
Br: hahaha
Lo: i zip the file
Me: i got to blog this conversation
Me: woohoo
Br: HAAH
Lo: how to send here?
Me: send bryan lor
Me: i'm not so desperate
Lo: haha okay done
Lo: sending!!
Lo: yay
Lo: WOY BRYAN ACCEPTTT!
Me: lol
Me: couples
Lo: AH YES!
Lo: ok i gtg NOW
Lo: BYEE YOU TWO

[Loo left the conversation]

Me: are you happy now?
Br: no
Me: good
Me: now pay me my lawyer's fee
Br: ...
Br: in crabs
Me: hahaha
Me: boy oh boy. i love my job
Me: unofficial job, that is

Fireflight -- Unbreakable

2009-02-20T11:27:00.005+08:00

Where are the people that accused me?
The ones who beat me down and bruised me
They hide just out of sight, can't face me in the light
They'll return but I'll be stronger

God, I want to dream again
Take me where I've never been
I want to go there
This time I'm not scared
Now I am unbreakable
It's unmistakable
No one can touch me
Nothing can stop me

Sometimes it's hard to just keep going
But faith is moving without knowing
Can I trust what I can't see, to reach my destiny
I want to take control but I know better

God, I want to dream again
Take me where I've never been
I want to go there
This time I'm not scared
Now I am unbreakable
It's unmistakable
No one can touch me
Nothing can stop me

Forget the fear it's just a crutch
That tries to hold you back
And turn your dreams to dust
All you need to do is just trust

God, I want to dream again
Take me where I've never been
I want to go there
This time I'm not scared
Now I am unbreakable
It's unmistakable
No one can touch me
Nothing can stop me

God, I want to dream again
Take me where I've never been
I want to go there
This time I'm not scared
Now I am unbreakable
It's unmistakable
No one can touch me
Nothing can stop me

exams...

2009-02-17T05:38:00.000+08:00

ok here's just a quick update before i head off to bed. not mine, but my friend's.

exams are round the corner, and I mean, very near, and I was still serving all 4 services and all, as per usual. people did ask why I didn't take a break. haha, I also served through O-levels, and got supernatural results. indeed God has multiplied the time spent in church in my studies. speaking of studying, during the study week, I often have this problem whereby I tell myself I got to study, but often feel like not touching my books and notes and pen, and even if I do, I'm probably just doing a bit, then doing useless stuffs like staring blankly or what. and apparently, I've got company. you know who are they? they are.. normal people.

so yesterday was my first paper, MicroEconomics. and it's probably the only paper I have to worry about. cause for this module, I'm not very interested actually, and even during study week, I studied for my Wednesday's paper much more than this Monday's paper, and also I just understood like here and there, but in depth, I doubt I know. and just after the paper, I calculated the marks I lost, 24 marks. and 24 marks is the amount of marks I lost because I didnt write any answers, what more those that I was not so confident about. haha. oops. God, I just need Your grace. =/

after that, had a last minute plan to meet Joshua Lim and his friend to study at Airport's Popeye's. studied till 0230hr, my latest record time. hehe. breakthrough eh. and so we cabbed to Joshua's house to stay over, since it was kind of late to head home, even though I could. and OMG, soon after we settled down, I was greeted by a cockroach, AHHHHH. I have a phobia for cockroaches since God knows how young I was, but I didn't mind meeting cockroaches on the streets, just slow down, take a small loop around the cockroach, and move on, but I hate it when it shares the same room as where I am. goodness sake. and what more, Joshua Lim and his friend are engaged on WoW! wow. and the cockroach lingered in the room for a while longer, until Joshua Lim got worried my noises would wake his mom up. wow. at last, it got killed. once again, all cockroaches should DIE!!

i've got Statistical Method for Business paper on Wednesday, aka Saddistic Method for Business. but I thought it was saddistic last semester, cause last semester I really didn't understand a shit, but not this semester. I actually had fun doing the questions. I managed to catch a glimpse of the logic of what I was doing, and it was just identifying the questions, write some intro steps, press the calculator (sometimes a lot), and write a conclusion. ta-da, that's like 12 marks or so. maybe because I'm strong in Maths too.

then i've got Principles of Management paper on Thursday. err. I haven't studied a single bit of this, but it's very theory-based. so I guess I'll just do some reading like when travelling to and fro school or what. and lastly, Accounting on next Monday. Accounting, oh God graced me in Accounting. much to my surprize, I actually understood like most of the concepts taught during lecture, like snap, "I get it" there and then. so Accounting shouldn't be a problem.

so irregardless of whether I am confident or I understand a module, or whether I feel so dumb about another module, I still need God's grace through this season, or for that matter, through any season. God, the means of not just a survival, but thriving in a survival.

yup. it's 05:39AM now. zzz.

The Guardian

2009-02-11T20:08:00.000+08:00

the movie, The Guardian. don't know how many of you guys watched it, or don't even know when was it showed. lol. but I managed to catch that show on DVD yesterday, since it was supposed to be a study week, and man was I blown away and touched by that show.

since the movie is technically over, guess it shouldn’t hurt for me to spoil the show here. here's a brief summary of that show.

there's this Senior Captain Randall who was working in the U.S. Coast Guard. he had a tremendous experience and history in his worklife, such as setting all the records in his training school, saving people out there in the violent seas and being a mark of inspiration. rumors have even gone around that the number of people whom he saved were about 200, or 300. but once, he was posted by his supervisor to teach in a "A" school, where they train up potential U.S. coast guard recruits. it was either to take up this option, or to go home.

at the "A" school, he came across a dude named Fischer who was quite notorious compared to the other recruits. such as on the 1st day, he asked the question, "the person who set all the records, is he still alive? cause I intend to break all of them?" Randall was of course displeased with Fischer, and thought Fischer was trying to show off and have attitude problem and stuff, hence not having a good first impression.

however as time went by, Randall actually started to realize that Fischer was very much like himself, just younger. Fischer was gifted, hard-working, and a cream of the crop. so was Randall. Fischer had lost a couple of teammates back in high school, while Randall had also recently lost a couple of teammates on one of their rescue missions, both of whom are beating themselves for their failure to save them. so as time went by, both of them got to have a heart-to-heart talk and got to know about each other better, and hence became very close, even after the day Fischer graduated from "A" school, and Randall finished his task of teaching this cohort.

not long after that, the both of them were deployed on a rescue mission. Randall had failed in his mission as he was once again traumatized by the recent accident, and Fischer was the one who made the mission a success. and not long after, Randall decided to resign from the job, as he knew he will not get over the accident, and will affect his future rescue missions. around this time, Fischer asked Randall what was the real number of victims he saved. Randall replied, “22… 22 is the number of people I lost. it’s the only number I keep track of.”

so on the next rescue mission, Fischer and his team was deployed, without Randall. by then, Fischer had possessed a very positive and awesome trait of Randall, that is that he will never let go of those he can save. Fischer went down to the boat, rescued 3 souls who were on the top deck, and went down inside the boat to attempt to rescue the captain who got trapped. however, the helicopter had to fly back to the headquarters because of lack of fuel. Randall, who happened to still be in the Coast Guard Headquarters, was deployed to go on the next helicopter to go fetch Fischer.

Randall went down, and got Fischer out on to the top deck, and Randall and Fischer were on the way up to the helicopter. unfortunately, the rope couldn’t take the weight of 2 coast guard officers, and Randall decided to loose himself. however, Fischer still tried to hold on to Randall even though it was by his fingers, and told Randall that he will never let go. Randall said, “I know”, but he let go of himself instead, and fell into the violent seas, and was never seen re-surfacing. by the time Fischer got into the helicopter, just nice the rope snapped, the one and only tool the helicopter is equiped with. needless to say, Fischer was very emotional about Randall falling back down, but another team mate had to calm him down, saying he had already lost one, he cannot lose two.

since then, there were rumors that Randall had swam to an island to do some fishing, something he has wanted to do since some time ago. and there were rumors, or probably a legend, that he was still swimming in the waters, and saving people who needed a miracle out in the sea. and there was an incident, when Fischer saved a drowning person.

Fischer: are you the only one down there? is there any one else with you?
Person: yes, yes, there’s one more.
Fischer: where is he? I didn’t see anyone else.
Person: he’s there in the waters. he was holding on to me, and he said he will never let go until help comes.

and Fischer looked down into the waters.

okay. I know I hardly talk about christian stuff even though I believe in it. my blogs are often about how my day has been, or whatever complains of whoever. but as I watched the movie, guess what I saw. I was touched by this movie at the part about never letting go. it reminded me so much of God.

‘cause sometimes, our lives are really like on violent seas, and it is during these times when our boats are helplessly being thrown around by the waves, capsizing and sinking, we need a miracle. the U.S. Coast Guard has limited power, limited ability to save the victims, only saving those they can and have to let the sea take the rest of them. but unlike the U.S. Coast Guard, we have a Guardian who is very able, and very willing to save us all. and even if someone needs to go into the waters so that the other may be saved, it will not be us, but Him, as demonstrated on the cross. not one of us will he let the devil take. and the best part… HE NEVER LETS GO.

suspicious article? anyone??

2009-02-06T00:15:00.000+08:00

what would you have done if you saw this very thing right in front of you? ring up the train captain like the lady did in the terrorist video that featured Sean Goh??

but ever thought of it this way: what the video portrayed was just an act, with the calafares sitting down, pretending nothing is going on, and the main characters doing as they are told because there is a camera there, and there is a recording going on. but what they fail to portray is that of a real-life scenario. in a real-life scenario, it's a complete different story, a different setting altogether.

here's my experience...

-----------------------

the photo above was the very thing staring at me right from Yio Chu Kang to Raffles Place station on my way home this afternoon. and even after i alighted, no one has yet to claim this article. not that i was totally oblivion about this thingy in front of me. at least i bothered to take a picture of it. but also, a few thoughts went through my head as i stared at this article:

"who does this bag belongs to?"

"what if this bag contains a bomb, and BLOWS up right in front of me? ... ... no lah, wont be so unlucky one lah"

"should i report this to the train captain? ... ... no lah, later like people will look at me and stuff. even though i may be doing a righteous deed, but i'll be kinda malu. then somemore lagi worse, later someone did claim the article, how?"

-----------------------

now, in the above scenario i've just mentioned, to whom does it sound familiar to? how many have been in this very position? but i guess that at least, for everyone else who was on the train with me and saw that article has had at least one of the 3 thoughts that i had, which explains why no one did anything about the article, and appeared oblivion and continue their own journey, conversing, listening to music, or whatever.

so with all the efforts put in to educate the public about being vigilant, do not leave your belongings unattended, or report any suspicious article, or call 999, is it all actually in vain? in vain not because the efforts put in were inadequate or going towards the wrong direction or what, but because it all boils down to the voices in people's head.

An Official Letter of Hatred and Screams

2009-01-24T09:55:00.003+08:00

This is getting kinda frustrating and annoying, and I need to vent. This is going to get lengthy. Name of the concerned party shall be hidden, even though I dont see the point as this incident happened in quite of a public environment. -.-

Serving in the Sound ministry has always been a fruitful and rewarding one for me, especially serving with people like Jason, Foon, Eugene, and all other people I get to serve regularly with, and I never take my opportunty to serve for granted. I thank God for this gift of hearing that He has planted in my life, and having this opportunity to utilize and develop this gift through serving in His house. Furthermore, I also thank God for this rare interest of mine. You ask a random Singapore teenager about their favorite hobby, what are you likely to hear? Basketball, badminton, soccer, dancing, singing, playing musical instrument, or at best, slacking? Mine is sound-engineering, and slacking also lah.

And suddenly, after a substantially long time of disappearance, Goliath resurrected in my life. he started coming down to the Rock Auditorium and doing what he does best.
And that includes, probably being the biggest idiot in my life.

Two weeks ago, the Sunday when I took a break from serving 1st & 2nd service, he talked to me. Now picture it this way, I have seen musicians and singers who had their off-days during their serving, on stage. It is the time when somehow they just cant seem to play properly, or sing properly, and things just dont seem right while they are on stage. BUT, there is therefore now no condemnation. After all, they are all humans, bound to make mistakes what. Just dont do it on a consistent basis lah. So why am I an exception?

So back to where we left off. He talked to me after seeing some mistakes I made, telling me things like he wants to take things back to basics. While I think he just wants us to do things his way, his so-called basics. Then he told me things like he doesnt like the face that I give, like trying to show displeasure or attitude like that. But genuinely, I just gave a blank, neutral face, not what he thinks it is. Furthermore, I dont necessarily only show it to him, I showed it to people like Foon and Jason and whoever, but I dont mean anything, at all. And lastly, he told me say if he doesnt see improvement in me, he will start giving me less and less responsibilities, like he did for Mjay. And worst of all, he said that by doing so, he will give me time off to spend with my friends. Literally, I was kinda pissed. When I first started serving, I was still rather close with my friends, and he was the one who took my time away from my friends. So I thought to myself, I guess I'll forsake spending time with my friends, and concentrate on Sound ministry. Not that I forget about my friends totally, we still meet up from time to time, but definitely not frequently, much less on a Sunday. So now that I am so deeply integrated in Sound ministry, with people like Jason, Foon, Eugene, and all other people I serve regularly with, and also the musicians, he wants to take this very thing away from me. How evil!

Now that aside, on to something very much more recent.

On Thursday, went down to Suntec to pack stuff, and went over to Indoor Stadium for sound check and what have you. This was the killer day. Come sound-check, Goliath literally came to take over the board. I mean, he want to be stage manager, be stage manager. He want to be monitor engineer, be monitor engineer. Keep on coming down to 'chap', it's very uncomforting leh. And more so, he doesnt even know how the Aviom works, and how the monitor board works. For example, he did soundcheck for the Aviom ma-chiam like doing a mix like that, when the purpose of Aviom is to feed the sound to the Aviom and let the musicians handle the rest. If that is not the case, then get Aviom for what?? For another example, I made a tweak on the board, and he was like, "eh what is that you did, dont anyhow do things leh." I was thinking, "I know what I am tweaking, what do you mean dont anyhow do". Then I had to explain to him about the "flip" function on the board, which is the basic of basics.

When Laurence was around, working on the Aviom system, though it was our first time during the Christmas service, it went so smooth and nice. And for Laurence as a stage manager and working with me, the monitor engineer, I felt really comfortable lor. Take one instance, he lets me work on my job independently, giving me instructions like creating a new scene, etc., from time to time. But overall, he trusts what I am doing and that I know what I am doing. Communications wise, he doesnt command everything his way and scold people like Goliath. Yes he is very firm and his words and tone is very straight-in-the-face kind, but it advocates us to work, not hinder. And his management structure is very decentralized, so things get done really fast, snappy, unless it is a big decision to make.

Then there came a time, I accidentally interrupted his work, and he was like making a fuss of it and stuff. That's what you get when you come down and 'chap'. So I was just like "Oops!", undo what I did, and hands-off, as usual, giving a blank, neutral face that doesnt mean anything at all, initially. Now picture this. He started to feel uncomfortable with my blank, neutral face, and started starring at me and asking me why I am giving him that face. The silence went on. And he said he was getting distracted by my face. If so, then freaking move on. As the seconds ticked by, I can just feel more and more eyes laying on the two of us. Naturally, I feel more uncomfortable progressively in such an awkward situation, and my face turned blacker progressively. He asked for it this time. And I really wanted to get out of this, so I told him I was sorry, and for him to carry on. Then he went on this thing like, "I dont need you to teach me how to carry on.", and went on that stare. In that situation, what do you expect me to do, smile??

Goliath told me go to the toilet to wash my face, as if that will erase that face from me. I declined, and he raised his voice, "GO!". I threw my earphones and went off. Eugene came to accompany me. (Thanks.) Sorry lor. This one, I cannot just forget just like that, neither can I not take it personal. Because he took it personal, to the extreme. Now comparing to many teenage guys, I very seldom use the "f" word, and even if I do, it is really just-for-fun context, everyone can sense that and laugh along and stuff. Now at that moment, soon after I turned around, I threw the "f" word, and it is the FIRST time I threw the "F" word in church seriously.

Goliath super wanted face sia. Even simple things like when Goliath was attending to Angie about her monitor needs, and Eric came in to tell him of a monitor need of another singer, Goliath told him to wait, and subsequently explained that Goliath will look bad if Eric comes in like that. As if that makes a difference, his job up there was to be a stage manager and attend to the monitor needs of the singers and musicians, not to look good to them! You think Laurence bothered about looking good, or was looking good to the musicians and singers? Another thing is that if he really has a think against blank faces, then why is it he can work with Winston and Derrick, who has blank faces too what. Goliath even briefed me before, if anything, dont embarass him in one way or another, for the reason that the musicians and singers cannot lose confidence in the stage manager. And in my case, both Goliath and I are in the awkward situation together, and for his advantage of looking good to everyone else around, he told me off and had me walk off, hence making me the ugly and the embarassed one! Thanks ah.

Moving on, come Friday, he sat me down and talked to me during some free time. I emphasis, he talked TO me, not WITH me. He blamed our (referring to the Monitor team) failure in a few aspects. For example, the beltpack assignments being wrong. For that, why blame it on us. He wanted to come down and 'chap. He wanted to do ALL the checks what. For another example, there was one occasion that Karen screamed, and he said that Karen screamed because we were not doing a good job. Hello, Goliath, please look at the context properly! Karen was screaming at one of the musicians, not at us. But at the end, he told me that whatever that happened the day before was all just kidding, it was just for show. Overall, I was doing a really good job. I felt so much like slapping him. He totally left me hanging on a thin thread in mid-air, without any conclusion. So what is it he wants? Is he a skit-zoe or what? (whatever the spelling is)

And throughout the day, things, including simple ones, took very long to get done. Because the management structure that Goliath laid down was very centralized, he had to make the decision or approve of the minors of our actions. Even bringing down the gain for Jen's headworn mic because I saw it clipped and heard distortion took so long. I saw similar situations like this afterwards, and I couldnt be bothered to do what is "necessary" to correct it, just let it be. Why go through the trouble? On another instance, Goliath set compression of Pastor Prince's mic, and later asked how come it was no longer there. Cause I had to recall the scene after the item mah, so the compression was not recorded in the settings in the scene.

That's it. That's for destroying my Chinese New Year. I want Laurence back.. sobz.

17 random things = the like of a blog entry

2009-01-11T15:11:00.003+08:00

Rules:
Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 17 random things, facts, habits or goals about you. At the end choose 17 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, its because I want to know more about you. =] Have fun!

+++

01. I just slept over at small Eugene's place for two consecutive nights, on Friday and Saturday.

02. Just on Saturday night, a few things were floating in my mind as to whether i should stay over at Eugene's place for the 2nd night:

03. I was still at Eugene's place at 2200h, and i'm getting 'nuah' as time went on, but if i do stay on one more night, Eugene most probably will not wake up at 0530h just because i had to, which means it'd be better for me to change my shift to 3rd & 4th service.

04. I was supposed to serve at monitor for 1st & 2nd service. Even if i asked the person serving 3rd & 4th service to replace me, it's quite last minute and i don't know if the person will agree.

05. Even if the first two pointers were fulfilled, i still have to attend DARE production meeting during 2nd service.

06. In the end i decided to stay over, i managed to change shift so i don't have to be in church in the morning, and i'll just drop by production meeting slightly late. hehe.

07. After that, i was still fascinated and overwhelmed by the fact i ain't serving the whole day in church. My MSN buddies were quite happy with the fact i'm finally taking a break, at least a small one. lol.

08. The Sunday came. Reached suntec around 1215 and had lunch. Went for production meeting around 1300. Reported at monitor around 1335.

09. The day is only halfway through, and already, it has been an evil, bad day.

10. Probably because i am so used to the Sunday lifestyle. Now that i altered my Sunday lifestyle slightly, everything seems to fall apart.

11. Usually i'll be up and operational, Sunday service will more or less run smoothly, but now i was literally tired and blur, i can't even do simple things properly.

12. I'm feeling so bad and disappointed with myself now. Maybe I shouldn't take breaks like this anymore, so that Sunday services won't be at stake.

13. I'm just sitting down in the Rock Management Office conference room doing this. In particular, for a minute or two or three that just past, I was just stoning, feeling lost, and praying for God to hold my hand.

14. Someone just asked me how come i wasn't around in the morning, i said i took a break, and she asked, "got break one meh?"

15. I'm feeling hungry now but I ain't feel like eating.

16. A million things are crossing through my mind now, like seriously. But not one of them is capturing my attention. Maybe I'm thinking too much, once again.

17. I just watched Prison Break and Grey's Anatomy at Eugene's place, and really wants to finish the series. Prison Break is first priority, followed by Grey's Anatomy.

+++

I tag:

01. Grace Carmen. Cause she tagged me, and I was just simply instructed.
02. Jerald Thio. Cause i can and i want to.
03. Jason Lim. Cause we serve hand-in-hand together in church. =)
04. Loh Wan Hua. Cause you're the girlfriend of Jason Lim.
05. Amanda Bok. Cause you're the girlfriend of the girlfriend of Jason Lim.
06. Celeste Lau. Cause you're also the girlfriend of the girlfriend of Jason Lim.
07. Faith Gloria. Cause you're the younger sister of the fellow who tagged me.
08. Esther Khong. Cause you're the elder sister of the fellow who tagged me
09. Raphael Ng. Cause our nonsense are in the same same frequency. Lol.
10. Eugene Leong. Cause you're probably not to do this, but I'll sabo you still.
11. Clara Joy. Cause you're the most recent contact i added on MSN.
12. Cheryl Ang. Cause you're part of the old clique.
13. Joshua Lim. Cause you're part of the old clique too.
14. Johnathan Wong. Cause you're part of the old clique too.
15. Marlon Dante Ingle. Cause you're part of the old clique too.
16. Alex Chen. Cause you're always bored disturbing me on MSN, might as well do this.
17. Anyone who reads this. Cause i just needed someone to fill up this last blank

2 weeks of holiday aint enough!

2009-01-10T16:25:00.001+08:00

haha. people and holidays. some people are going to think that holidays are too long when it is too long, and other people are going to think that holidays are too short when it is too short. too long, probably referring to more than 2 months, because with a holiday so long, it is like a boredom torture or something. and too short, probably referring to less than 3 weeks, because it is too short to squeeze your holiday itenaries in them. and thereby i conclude, that 2 weeks of holiday definitely aint enough! haha..

so down with blogging about the first week of holiday, now it's the second week of holiday. ok second week of holiday, it's a cool down from all the churchy and serving stuff now. it's really a week of, finally, taking a break. and here's the breakdown:

22nd December 2008... Monday
met Raphael, Jerald, Grace and Faith to go to east coast park cycle and eat steamboat, and after that, arcade for a while together. Raphael and I were early, the rest were late, as late as 45mins later. haha.

just a few pictures to sum up the day. photos courtesy of Raphael Ng. haha!

23rd December 2008... Tuesday
evening and night time was spent at Jason's place, celebrating Jason's birthday with his girlfriend and the girlfriend's friends, his brothers and their girlfriends, and the musicians, needless to say the parents and the parents' parents too. hope the network aint too complicated. i dont have the photos though, but it was still great.

24th December 2008... Wednesday
after Jason's birthday party, made a trip down to Aloha Changi for last year Sec 4 class chalet. we are gonna head home later this early afternoon, so we're gonna stay up the whole night. but it was just more or less the same thing. "mahjong" in the dining area, "murderer" in the living room, "dai-di" in the room upstairs, or some others, knock-ed off. once again i do not have the photos.

25th December 2008... Thursday
evening time was spent over at Sister's place for a Christmas family dinner. food was a lot, so couldnt finish. sparkling juice was awesome. haha. quite rare we sit down to have dinner together also, to a point felt a little uneasy. too used to taking a dinner and taking it to a "me" corner and do own stuff, such as television or laptop. my niece has grown up and became smarter too. she begins to understand human conversation language and respond with hand or head gestures accordingly, and doesnt keep insisting on doing things that other people dont like. haha.

26th December 2008... Friday & 27th December 2008... Saturday
no events on these two days. just pure staying at home and using the internet, staying online for as long as possible. watched a few movies on my laptop too.

28th December 2008... Sunday
this is probably the most eventful day of the week. goodness gracious. first thing first, Jason has taken leave, and that leaves me alone at FOH. so many things to settle: need to come early to setup choir and drum mics, setup laptop for recording, get service musical details from Karen, and needless to say, soundcheck. and as if i wasnt stretched out enough, apparently the usual Sunday settings we saved on the FOH board got wiped out totally, the data overwritten by some fellow. i had to load one of the Youth Ministry's settings and adjust from there. at least it's the closest i can get to Sunday's settings.

for FOH, the most hectic part of Sunday is mainly before 1st service starts, when have to take care of setup, soundcheck, Pastor's lapel. and when 1st service started, i thought i could breathe a sigh of relief. then Youtyng came along and gave me a lecture, that i had written "Alicia/Addy sings" for the item song, when i meant that Alicia was singing for 1st 2nd service, Addy for 3rd 4th. but i had caused a confusion among the Video Team that both of them were singing the item together. i was thinking, "ok it may have been my fault i didn't write properly, but can't she see both side of the stories. like hello, i'm maxed out down here?"

then again, i havent even whack her, figuratively, about who, in a way, erased the Sunday setting from the FOH board, and she has already whacked me on some written miscommunications on some note, of which she could get it resolved by asking the musicians or me or refer to the email the music department sent or what? but me, what can i do? there's no easier way of solution for my case leh.

other than that, the day was fine. i was just shagged by the end of 4th service.

that's about it. tata.

get lost, 2008. welcome, 2009!

2009-01-01T14:16:00.004+08:00

whee. it's 2009!!
and it's the acceptable year of the Lord where God's blessing and free favor and MORE blessings and MORE free favors and MUCH MORE BLESSINGS AND MUCH MORE FREE FAVORS shall PROFUSELY ABOUND!! slap us left, slap us right, slam our chest from the front till our nipples blush. and spank us real hard from the back as if we're naughty little kids. woot!

and may Jason's and my mixes touch many more lives this coming year! =D

ok, getting rid of 2008 and welcome the new 2009 wasnt as eventful as the previous few years. this year was just spent sitting down at home, and watching the countdown party on Channel 5. how peaceful. but then again, it wasnt as peaceful because of one uninvited guest.

this fellow flew into our house and around the living room for a second or two after i noticed it. i thought it was just a beetle, but on second thought, it seems a tad too big to be a beetle. and soon, this fellow landed on the top of the frame of our world map. it was a cockroach, a FREAKING FLYING COCKROACH!!! i screamed and ran into the kitchen and get ready on hand the insecticide can. while my dad calmly grabbed a plastic bag to catch the cockroach. and while he was walking to throw the cockroach away, the cockroach came out again, not far away from me. i leaped around back into the living room lah. wth. but my dad got the cockroach again.

then my dad went on and telling me things like: how to be a man, one cockroach also so scared. cockroaches also wont bite. how to survive in army like that. blah blah. what to do? he never read newspapers ah: statistics show that more people, including males, are scared of cockroaches than they are scared of death. what more, a flying cockroach?!

so i went back to continue the countdown show. still a little fearful that the cockroach will make a comeback to have its revenge, but the fear faded away progressively. and the clock struck midnight. did the usual spamming of welcoming the new year and proclaiming God's blessings to my loved ones (if i have your number). but surprizingly, this year the mobile traffic jam aint as bad as last year. haha.

and that was my story of "get lost, 2008. welcome, 2009!". and one of my new year wishes: COCKROACHES SHOULD ALL DIE! AMEN!!

the first week of holiday

2008-12-30T10:21:00.003+08:00

so fast, and it's already 3 weeks since the camp. time sure flashes by fast. and school term break was just around the corner. a little sad case though, the holiday was just one week after the camp. if not, could concentrate on school and camp individually, instead of being torn between the two. so anywayz, during the first-half of the break, here's a few activities to blog about.

17th December 2008... Wednesday
there was a DARE cyber event. basically, an activity where DARE youths get to engage in gaming on Wii and XBox, i think, followed by some kind of workshop. quite addictive lah. Mjay, one other helper, and I were playing Rock band during the youth's lunch time. too bad it was only an hour, of which we were asked to take a break cause some group had to do some rehearsal for a while. i mainly played on the Bass Guitar, and on the Drums for one song. haha, not easy sia. really needs eye and hand coordination. the rest of the time were spent laughing at the rest playing the games. a hilarious sight indeed.

and there was praise and worship. and the better part of it, there is no sound check. so it's a plug and play thing lor. don't really care so much about sound quality lah. fair enough, ok already. then there was preaching, and a wrap up. after which, joined Darrel Leong and his RSM buddies for dinner. then on a last minute thought, decided to stay over at his place. since we were going to serve again the next day morning. so had to borrow a shirt from him, and he was kind enough to throw in a boxer for me too. omg, my first time wearing a pair of boxers, and it feels so good! ok, details reserved. slept on a sleeping bag that night.

18th December 2008... Thursday
then the next day, there was ARROW Students Men's and Women's Meeting. i did the first segment of the Men's meeting while Mjay did the second segment. 'cause i went into Rock Auditorium to set up for a combined service. haha. a praise and worship band with no Electric Guitarist, then still got songs like Run. but in the end, turned out not bad lah. Elaine was doing great at trying to cover the electric guitar parts. oh yea, i was doing Monitor, as usual.

after that, went to eat with Jason, Wanhua and Anthony at Marina Square food court. haha. Jason noticed and asked about my half-dead-ness. then he mentioned that sleeping on sleeping bag will make one's energy level be drained by half for the next day. haha, it never crossed my mind, but seems quite true leh.

20th December 2008... Saturday
and there was Christmas Bash service, a service where all 3 youth ministries come together for a combined christmas service. no choice, had to use hokkien equipments. that's what happens when they plan some event just before an Indoor stadium service. i was mixing, but initially i was mixing so loud, but i wasnt aware of it. Jason said, "wah, so loud. like at Indoor stadium like that".

before soundcheck, had a hard time trying to familiarize myself with the hokkien soundboard sia. it seemed like a friend to me, yet at the same time, an alien. and during soundcheck, because i was using the hokkien soundboard also, so had to do relatively major changes to the settings. could have done more, but lack of time. Mok was quite funny lah. after that he said that he had never seen someone worked so fast on a soundboard before, hands flying all around the soundboard, setting the settings, etc. lol.

praise and worship was good. and after that, had a quick wrap up, which wasnt anything much cause hokkien was going to have their service at Rock Audi the very next morning. so Jason and I went to grab a quick dinner at Macs at 1900h, and cabbed down to Indoor stadium.

i kinda felt sorry for the sound servers at Indoor stadium sia. they were asked to report at 1700h, but nothing productive was going on until 1930, just nice when Jason and I arrived. probably cause the UnUsUaL people were late in handing over again. and originally I wasn't the monitor engineer one, a break would be really nice for me, but i was called upon last minute. tsk. Mjay so mean also, come and say i always steal other people's "rice bowl" when it comes to serving. o.o

think we were dismissed from Indoor stadium at about 0015h. Mjay and i went for supper at Kallang Macs. reached home around 0145h, and slept at 0230h.

21st December 2008... Sunday
had to report at Indoor stadium at 0630h. did final checks and had service. no hiccups on Monitor side, praise God.

then Foon and i went to Raffles City to eat. forgot what's the shop name, but i ate there before and didnt like it previously lah. but ok, slight improvement. we went to eat there, and there was one dish that i really really liked. some japanese egg thingy. but other than that, not my usual diet. after which went to watch movie with Foon, Twilight. haha, we didnt want to watch at first, but it seemed we cant watch any other movies cause of Foon's timing. so at the end of it, i actually thought the show was ok leh. though there are 2 things. one, is that i know Twilight, the movie is adapted from the original book, with a handful of plots changed, as usual, and that the book is way better than the movie. two, is that i dont understand why people say that Edward Cullen is hot and handsome, some girls claiming that Edward Cullen is theirs. i certainly think otherwise lor. tsktsk. and overall, Twilight seems a nice movie to me, that majority of people i know disagreed.

and that was it for this first week of my holiday. will catch up on the second week soon, i hope.

crude... but funny!!

2008-12-22T06:23:00.002+08:00

ok. i just watched a movie, Europtrip, "cope" from Jason. hehe. and this was a scene at the end of the movie:

but i warn, this is damn crude... but it's damn funny. i like! =p

this is a speech from the youth hostel's receptionist:-

"Hello, and welcome to Amsterdam’s finest and luxurious youth hostel. There is no bathroom, nor is there one nearby."

"If you do not wish to have your valuables stolen, I suggest destroying them or discarding them right now. You can also try hiding your valuables in your anus."

"Should a fire occur due to our faulty wiring, you will be incinerated, along with the valuables that you have hidden in your anus."

the extra 2 more days

2008-12-19T18:18:00.002+08:00

ok. a continuation...

13th December 2008... Saturday
so yea. i could only sleep until 0800 this morning because i had to go down to suntec at 0900. and waking up alone was hell of a chore. i had a freaking backache. it hurt so bad, i had difficulty bending my back when getting out of bed, wearing my jeans, and even lifting my legs up to put on my socks. i was thinking, how was i even going to setup at 6th floor.

a quick breakfast and put own some fresh clothes, whatever is left from those i brought to camp. haha. apparently there was some community service by some GenRev people going on, so they needed sound support. but i just had to go there to switch on the system and make sure mics are working and CD is running. so the rest of my time went spent either going downstairs for a cup of teh tarik or bubble tea, or using the internet. in addition, i spent some time making a trip down to CHIJMES and back to suntec. i had to retrieve Pastor's wireless system for his headworn mic.

so after that was GenRev service. i had to mix because Jason and Clement would have been at Sean's wedding. and did i left that out? Sean's wedding was held at CHIJMES. and about the backache, thank God i got Esther's help. so i just did my work steadily, with no rush, while Esther helps however and wherever. soundcheck, service, they went pretty smooth, no major hiccups, except for the Pastor's headworn mic thing. sighz. after service, had dinner with Esther and the video team at NYDC. and it was home sweet home. i think i cabbed home, cause i was really tired and my back hurt

14th December 2008... Sunday
and it was yet another typical Sunday. this time, trouble is invited. first it was problems with the Monitor side. Sound Engineer A heard about the Youth setting i adopted last sunday, and wanted to give it a try. i asked Sound Engineer B if he allows Sound Engineer A to use the Youth setting, and he said, "if you know how to use it, then go ahead". and it so happened, there were a few problems, one of the major one being that Pastor's headworn mic wasnt fed into the sound console. actually this problem could have been resolved nice and neat with a humble apology and acceptance. but no, one fellow had to flare up, so Sound Engineer B also not happy, flare up lor. Sound Engineer C got to hear about the news, and went to investigate. even i was questioned, and there was like a fiery exchange going on between me and Sound Engineer C. some questions being subjective and i couldnt be bothered to reply. but what's the objective, operations, right? so when i used the Youth setting, operationally, nothing went wrong. so Sound Engineer C dropped charges on me. what drama.

mixing at FOH wise, not really ideal for myself too. especially during 4th service, there were 3 freaking pairs of hand on one soundboard. omgosh! and all in all, it was just a case of subjective-ness, not objective-ness.

after 4th service, went to eat dinner with Jason, Wanhua, Wanting, Bok, and one other choir girl i didnt get her name. we ate at Tonkichi. thank God i had enough finances even though the place was rather ex-y. but it was a nice place and there was good food. but what's more worthwhile was, the fun, the joy, the laughter, the fellowship we had there. it was awesome. should have more of this manz, woohoo!

that's it. my 9 consecutive days of doing sound. i'm so shagged by the time i got home on Sunday. haha.

and to end off. here's some bo-liao stuff i did with my phone, and some photo i took more than a year ago...

the original,

the darkened,

and the contrasted

7 days like this

2008-12-15T13:14:00.003+08:00

ok. i'm gonna tell myself: i have to get down to blogging, or else God knows when i'm gonna blogging and what am i gonna blog. so yea. and for a BANGING start, i'd say... i've spent 9 CONSECUTIVE DAYS doing sound. whee

06th December 2008... Saturday
there was DARE and ARROW Students service. i'm doing monitor, while Jolyn's on the board for DARE, but for ARROW, it was a one-man show for me. Grace got to meet KarYong to talk about joining sound ministry. don't know what's the conclusion yet though. and after service, Jerald and I went to meet Esther, Grace and Faith aka the Khong sisters for dinner. went to Pepper Lunch @ Takashimaya. after which, we cabbed home.

warm spotlights on Cliff the Drummer. love it.
and no, this is not an ass-shot -.-

07th December 2008... Sunday
and there was Sunday service. for a change, i did Monitor instead of FOH. Jason finally got his chance to mix FOH. hehe. and for the first time, i tried the youth setting for sunday service. apparently there was positive feedback from the musicians. except Winston. but i'd guess it's personal preference, and i'll have to tweak the settings to his liking, some day. i have to do some house-keeping if the settings were to be incorporated to Sunday service anyway. IF

had lunch with Grace during 2nd service. i was too full to eat. and no, there is no secret going on, just that Jerald Thio is late, once again. but basically, from after lunch onwards, it wasnt exactly a happy time for me. i'll keep my comments to myself.

08th December 2008... Monday
and there was IDU camp, a camp for P6s moving up to DARE Level 1 next year. met Jason at around 1115 at Pasir Ris, took shuttle bus. blah blah, and started setting up. had some camp opening. God bless those P6s, and their bloody high-pitched screams. after which, sound check. Jason left by then. as for service, went fine and fun and all. however, it was quite funny that when Pastor wanted to ask P6s to come up and get prayed for, none of them went up. so Pastor had to pray as a whole. sad. and after that night, went back to Downtown East. Jason gave me his room, which is with the musicians. that night, it was just James and Junming.

09th December 2008... Tuesday
this was when the horror started coming. the first day of EJ4 camp. which means the pastor and the musicians will have to start running from place to place. morning, it was service at IDU side, and it was scheduled to finish at 1130. funny that soundcheck over at EJ side was scheduled at 1100, how can the musicians be at two places at one time? so anwayz, back to the timeline. however, service at IDU ended at around 1230, i think. so we had to pack up, transport our things there, reach around 1300. pure hectic. Jason was halfway through the checks when i reached. and while we were trying to rush through soundcheck in time for the afternoon service, the first service at EJ4 side, Pastor called off the service. haha. phew. bad planning, though.

so instead of service, they had ice breaker games for the campers, hosted by Coach Heejhun, for i think an hour or so. it felt kinda draggy, but maybe they just needed to buy time before the youths could check in. the youths were kinda scary too, the way they played the game. so much so, eugene actually stepped into the sound console area to avoid playing the game. tsktsk. after that was dinner, and another round of soundcheck. this time a proper, no rush one. haha. service was anointed. there was ministering. didnt go up to get prayed for though, not yet. after that, went back to my bunk to sleep. Alwin came in and joined our bunk as well. and one little fellow by the name of Jerald Thio had to come sleep with me. he's going back by the next day.

10th December 2008... Wednesday
first was men's and women's meeting at EJ side. so i was around, making sure things go fine, and also had to pack some things from the EJ ballroom to bring to IDU side. had to rush down lor, i was late for soundcheck. Jason had to come around 10+ to relieve me to go to school. came back to the campsite around 3+, just before the camp closure ended, to help with pack up. lots of coiling of cables to do, quite fun but tedious, with the tangles and all. then went over to EJ side. at least now we're only down to one camp alone, instead of two running concurrently. as usual, dinner, soundcheck, service. i think Joseph joined us to sleep in our room on this day while Junming left.

mealtime!! view from the top.

and Angie got the youths engaged during Praise and Worship

11th December 2008... Thursday
service in the morning. again, Jason had to come down at around 11+. same thing lor, had to go school. lagi worse, got oral presentation. haha. it didnt turn out as bad as i thought, i guess. returned back to the campsite around 1545. thought i was late cause rehearsal for the finale night was supposed to be 1530. but i guess i was early, the rest of the performers were still held up somewhere somehow. so when the performers gathered, oh god, somebody help them. they were so chaotic, doing their own things. took some time before Celeste, Camp Committee in charge of finale night, took the mic and settled them down. rehearsal didnt go as smooth. lots of impromptu, wrong chain of command and other nonsense. and it boils down to bad planning, not just on camp committee side, but also the performers. and one of the groups took ultra long.

at one point, this was the conversation between Celeste and i...

me: so what time is this rehearsal going to end?"
she: 6.
me: ok. so what time is soundcheck?
she: 6-7.
me: (getting agitated) and there is no dinner time for me, for my servers?... blah blah

she apologized, i couldnt care much since i already didnt eat lunch, i'm pushing sound check back. so sound check was "late", doors open late. but nonetheless, service was once again anointed, and there was ministering. this time, i got prayed for. goodie. and the freeflow was so long and good, they actually ran out of songs to sing. how could it be. towards the end, Pastor was having fun. Pastor played on an electric guitar, unplugged. Pastor body-surfed. haha. his youth is renewed.

the last night

12th December 2008... Friday
service ended by midnight. Eugene, Jerald, Yuhua and I went to McCafé to have some snacks and beverages. oh boy, i was so cranky, i spouted whatever nonsense came into my head, it was overflowing manz. and all of us had a good laugh. Yuhua commented that in sound, i'm like so mature and ops-y kind, outside of sound only, i'm like so 14-year-old. haha. not totally true. it only applies sometimes k?

after that we went to Block C the BBQ pit there to sit down and continue spouting nonsense. this time lesser lah. it was a more proper fellowship, probably cause i was running low on the flow. and after some time, i said i wanted to bathe, we departed, and we never met again until morning. i went to bathe, eugene was in my room. oh the funny thing was this. alwin asked, "eh where's your minijack?". i say, "oh. there (points to Eugene). he grow up overnight. now become quarter-inch jack". after i bathed, Eugene and I watched Russell Peters' latest video: Red, Brown and White (i think). vulgar, but funny. Raphael and Joseph came in. ah yes, James left while Raphael is staying in tonight, don't know for the good or for the bad. and halfway through the video i got tired, and everyone else was going to sleep. so we slept.

woke up about 2 hours later. haha. the feeling of packing up and leaving, so unbearable. but before that, we were just slacking in the room. and since Raphael was in the room, we were doing what boys will do at stayovers. Alwin even had a photo of me on top of Raphael. scandalous. hehe. and at one point, Raphael's hand was on my chest and stomach.

Alwin: Raphael, what is your hand doing on jackjack?
Raphael started moving his hand around.
Me: eh. don't move around. very ticklish.
Alwin: err. is that your only concern?
Me: at least i'm clothed.
Alwin: ok. i'm glad you think that way.

after that, we checked out, the musicians left, and i had to go ballroom and pack up some of the stuffs to be brought back to camp. sianz. hanged around, went to eat lunch, and reached home around 1700. and i was supposed to go visit Bok's grandfather funeral, but i was soo tired, i slept all the way until saturday 0800.

goodness. my blog is already so long. so here's 7 consecutive days of doing sound. shall continue the other 2 more days later.

Just Wanna Be With You

2008-12-03T14:32:00.000+08:00

1. Put your iTunes on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!
4. Tag 10 friends who might enjoy doing the game as well as the person you got the note from.

IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?
= Say Days Ago - The Used
hmmm. what a joke.

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
= Wrapped In Your Arms - Fireflight
haha. what better personality than to be wrapped in His arms.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
= Cut Up Angels - The Used
OMG! what is this supposed to be??

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
= Take My Hand - Simple Plan
err... ok?

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
= All The Small Things - Blink 182
eh. i thought i didn't have this song. so what? my motto: all the small things matter?

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
= Fly - Hilary Duff
so my friends think i'm flying?

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
= Someone's Watching Over Me - Hilary Duff
hmmm. this ain't something i think about very often. but hey, He's watching over me, very often.

WHAT IS 2+2?
= Don't Sleep - My American Heart
zzz. maybe if i have 2+2 homeworks left undone, i won't get to sleep. but then again, i'll most probably sleep anyway.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
= I'm Not Ashamed - Hillsongs
haha. i'm not ashamed of my best friend.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE/LOVE?
= Selah - Hillsongs
selah. pause and think.. of the person i like/love. =/

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
= Love Story - Taylor Swift
my life story is a love story. lol.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
= Innocence - Avril Lavigne
innocence, like a small kid, even when i'm a grown up? haha. if only.

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
= Hear Me - Kelly Clarkson
hear me cry out my feelings to her? it's kinda weird though.

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
= Psychosocial - Slipknot
err... ok? so what's this supposed to mean?

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
= Falling Inside The Black - Skillet
my wedding is black? my wedding is not bright? arghh.

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
= Neighbors - The Academy Is...
hahaha. i dont know.

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
= Everyday - Hillsongs
oh well. what to say Lord it's you who gave me life.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
= What The World Will Never Take - Hillsongs
the song title says it all :)
love you all!!!

WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
Yeah - Kelly Clarkson
yeah what? yeah i'm asking what's the worst thing that could happen.

HOW WILL YOU DIE?
= Mighty Is The Power Of The Cross - Chris Tomlin
that i will die under the mighty power of the cross. NOT TRUE.
jesus christ carried and died on the cross for me lor. what nonsense.

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
= Dance, Dance - Fall Out Boy
dancing is one thing i regret? maybe lah. maybe dancing ain't my calling. haha.

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
= Moving For The Sake Of Motion - Underoath
revelation. hahaha!

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
= Shattered By Broken Dreams - Avenged Sevenfold
hmmm. icic.

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
= The Great Wide Open - Funeral For A Friend
err... ok? so what is this supposed to mean?

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
= Made You Feel Better - Red Hot Chilli Peppers
why will i be most scared of making people feel better?

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
= More To See - Hillsongs
hmmm. go back in time to see more of Him.

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
= Daylight Dies - Killswitch Engage
it hurts if daylight dies. hmmm. maybe it wouldn' hurt for a day or two lah.

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
= Just Wanna Be With You - High School Musical 3 Soundtrack
such a cheesy title for something so silly like this post. at least for some of them.

10 pple I wanna tag
(this is gonna be tough leh. WanHua already booked some of the people I would have in mind to tag :D)
(no offence though, I'd have to look at my multiply list too)

1. Jerald Thio (if you're intending to put your blog back -.-)
2. Grace Khong
3. Clara Joy
4. Clement Ho
5. Gillian Lim
6. Robin Chua
7. Joycelyn Liu
8. Elaine Fung
9. Jofid Leong
10. whoever else is reading this. haha

flip the flipside of the coin

2008-11-25T20:19:00.001+08:00

hmmm. this week is slightly more interesting, with slightly a bit more activities going on church.

yesterday, which was Monday evening, was spent at Rock @ 6th floor. was there for the briefing for leaders and servers pertaining to IDU! (for P6s) and EJ4 camps.

and today, which is Tuesday evening, is way more interesting.

reached suntec at around 1700h. went to the Rock Auditorium toilet to shit and to get my hair done. why? honestly, Rock Auditorium has the best public toilet I have ever been into. in every aspects, ranging from hygiene and smell, peace ('cause you wont feel awkward when you hear someone using the cubicle next to you or the urinal in front of your cubicle), and the environment. how i'll always wish i'm at Rock Auditorium toilet when i'm using other public toilets, including the school's. so after that, also sat at the Rock Auditorium soundboard for a while to finish watching Agent Cody Banks 2 DVD.

next, took one thing from FOH to be used for recording, and went up to 6th floor. turned on the system, played with effects a little, and went to eat with Clement. afterwhich, came back up for soundcheck. had a bit of hiccups and stuff, but still manageable lah. and just minutes before service started, there was a request from Pastor Henry to use headworn mic. at first we turned down the request, but decided to do it for him anyway. thank God Clement was around. it was great having him help me out with things such as setting up the wireless system during praise and worship, and the funny craps we talked that evening. haha.

here's the funny thing. during praise and worship, Clement and I had tingling sounds. so we tried to isolate and see where the sound was coming from. haha. Clement said it could be from my effects, but i'd never use effects that give me tingling sounds lor. reverb and delays are my most frequently used. and the "tingling" sound came out to be from the worship leader's mic; Alicia's earrings. i know, -.-

ok. and here's the climatic part.

the day before, i tried to ask for an excuse letter to submit to my school for the week i'd be away at camp. but little did i know, Yvonne, the camp commandant will turn me down from serving because by right, i had school. but i was damn damn damn (to the power of infinity) upset and devastated lah. i thought to myself, all my plans all gone just at the snap of a finger. plans like being able to hang around with Eugene and Jerald, and probably more people, during the camp. plans like trying different tactics in sound mixing, which cant really be done at Rock Auditorium. G-O-N-E! Jason called me soon after that and we had quite a considerable moments of silence. i was hoping that he could produce some miracle, maybe talk to them and make them repent. lol! and probably he was wondering how to console me and make me feel better.

but nothing really helped, until...

when i was still fuming over the fact i can't serve for the camp anymore, i suddenly thought of a plan B.

since i can't serve because i have school and lessons proper, i guess they cant turn me down if i come and serve outside of school hours. so after putting both the camp operations timeline, and my school timetable into my calendar on my laptop, it was indeed a miracle. seriously. i talked to Jason, and he had only to cover mixing for me on Wednesday morning, just one service. on all other times i can be at the campsite. the only thing is that sometimes i'd have to take cab to or fro school and campsite. but it aint a problem, cause can cheong down TPE, fast and cheap.

now come to think of it, with planning and time management, operations for sound can be back to square 1, only that Jason will mix one service for me. *phew* relieved, at last.

The Definition of Super and Humans

2008-11-19T06:41:00.001+08:00

this is a conversation between Esther Khong and I about 2 days ago, trying to find the link about humans.

Es: i need my sleep
Es: and lots of sleep
Es: i love sleeping

Me: who doesnt

Es: some super humans
Es: i dont know

Me: there are no such things as super humans, only inhumans

Es: HAHA
Es: super humans are humans which only need like 3 hours of sleep a day
Es: inhumans - full of them

Me: is it in the dictionary?

Es: no..
Es: it's coined by me

Me: inhuman = not human
Me: see. this is dictionary
Me: yours is just vivid imagination, not proven
Me: haha
Me: i'm just pure crap :S

Es: no... super and human
Es: they're both in the dictionary
Es: just add them
Es: and there, you get the meaning

Me: ok
Me: analysis it this way
Me: super = of an extreme or excessive degree
Me: so humans like to sleep
Me: super human = like to sleep to an extreme or excessive degree?
Me: meaning super human sleep too much, and not those who sleep 3 hours a day.
Me: consistency - 0 marks.

Es: na
Es: wrong
Es: following your analysis - super = excessive degree
Es: human - living organism, mankind
Es: super human = mankind of excessive degree
Es: too powerful

seize the day

2008-11-16T18:27:00.002+08:00

ok. shall get down to blogging, because this girl by the name of Khong Carmen Grace had to comment that Jackjack didnt update his blog for God knows how long.

but what shall Jackjack update? he don't even know where to start. as per usual. which is probably why he never gets down to blogging.

basically, Jackjack doesn't like what is going on now, at all. firstly he is having problems in reality. how he tried to hold on to both ends of the ropes to make things and conditions meet, but it ends up him being torn apart in the middle. how he tried to bite his tongue in love all the time, but it ends up him choking on his own blood. and he is having problems with his emotional security and stability, and thinking way beyond his capacity, thinking way beyond reality.

Jackjack, the suspected, the prosecuted, and the killed.

shit. a fading tear just rolled down his cheek this very moment. it goes unseen, unheard, and unnoticed.

on the slightly better side of life, Jackjack has found a new bitching partner. though he may be a guy, but hey, who leads their life all happy go lucky. there's bound to be some ups and downs. and hey, who can be bottling up their feelings all the time, and biting their tongue everytime. it may be a short-term solution, but sooner or later you're gonna leave to let it take wings and fly. but fly to where? it's always comforting to have a listening ear yea?

that's about it. at least he tried to update his blog.

life aint a fairytale because...

2008-10-30T19:17:00.004+08:00

(there are just too many things written in invisible ink, waiting to catch you by surprize)

was just simply contemplating life, once again. looking back, seeing all the things big and small. and one conclusion that jumped out at me was this.

and how i'd really love to go the east coast park to sit at the waterbreaker. preferably alone. just to let the evening sun burn my face. just to sit down on the warm rocks cooking my butt. look at the waters nearby, look at the ships and lands faraway. just to cool myself down from this fast and hectic world. just to relook at those invisible ink. let my thoughts run wild for a little. and most probably let the Lord do His work in me.

it's been a while

2008-10-22T14:04:00.002+08:00

it's been a while since i last blogged... ok i repent. it's been a very long while since i last blogged. somehow just dont feel like typing down how my life has been, or plainly the events of my life. meanwhile i've been taking a step back from blogging, and reading other people's blog instead. reading about the events at one point of their life, reading about the revelation and testimonies they have shared, and rejoice with them the blessings they have received. while on the other end, i was probably both lazy and fearful to pen down a single thing, fearing that my life is not as beautiful as others'

and hence. now i cant really trace back to where i left off. just a major event or two to mention, i guess.

on 01st October, Angie got married. and i was invited, quite to my surprize. 'cause when Laurence got married, he didnt even invite us, the relatively "small kids". so when Angie was getting married, i didn't think twice that i would be invited lah. but come a time, it was before 1st service started, i went to the monitor room to get some tools. and there Angie said with a rather kid-dish manner, "JackJack. You are invited to my wedding (drags the word)". Then i was like "O.O i'm invited?". And she said, "Yupyup. You are important. The sound-guy". And I got the wedding invitation card from here later that day. How cute, she literally put Jackjack on the invitation card. So it reads like, "... has invited Jackjack to the wedding of..." something like that. What will people think if they see the invitation card sia?"

back on the topic of 01st October. wedding was held at One Degree Fifteen, at sentosa. the wedding was really good manz, in terms of the place, the planning, the organization, the... everything lah. simply the best that anyone could ever ask or think of. they even showed the video of the wedding taunt they did in the morning. the girls were cunning, but it was really hilarious, totally.

sorry manz. no photos.

what else is there. nothing much already leh. except that last week was my birthday. and i spent it like any ordinary day. having school, hang out with minijack. interesting. not that i'm complaining or what lah. i kinda expected it. teehee.

and down with the depressing stuff. ok recently i'm starting to hate sunday a bit, epecially someone. with the rock kids rehearsal running after the 4th service, we've gotta clear the stage fast. and i hated it. i dont hate the stage clearing. i just hate the additional burden that has to be added on to me just because i have in one way or another taken charge of this stage logistics thingy.

two sundays ago. manpower was a real real problem. the usual people were either overseas, not serving 3rd and 4th service, or having to go off after 4th service. leaves me with nobody to do teardown with. no choice have to call upon Minijack. of which certain things he cannot do because of muscular abilities or size. thank God Ronnie offered a hand and called upon his kids to help out too. the only thing was that there was no system in place to keep the room tidy. so the things were all over the place and there was hardly a walkway. obviously i got a scolding for that. i wouldnt mind it 'cause it was kind of my fault. but i just didnt like the idea that no one could do teardown with me when i needed them crucially.

and just last sunday. i roped me 4 people, including myself. supposedly we could clear the stage pretty fast already. just a few slow-downs such as the ADCs and musicians parked at backstage, the rock kids people walking around the stage, and there was still someone being prayed for in the amethyst room. and what do i get? another scolding, saying we were doing the teardown too slowly. "WT#". it aint exactly our, or my fault for this what. it's just things i cant control, and our end we are stretching ourselves already. somebody please tell me why?

why do i have to get all the sh!t. i'm not working full-time in church in any way. i'm getting paid just like any other fellows doing the stage logistics respectively since we distribute the pay equally. so why am i getting all the scolding everytime some thing goes wrong? why am i getting all the stress looking for manpower. why am i getting that black face from my boss? why am i having to go the extra mile?

so church life hasnt been very pleasant for me. my boss has tried to talk to one person to find out more about me. and that person followed up by talking to me, talking to me from her perspective, having me to understand from his/her perspective. a friend also told me how i have to understand my boss, and undo what i have not done right. ok, advice taken. but the thing is, why is nobody understanding me, from my perspective? it's like they're assuming i'm fine and alright to start with, these are just silly mistakes that i happened to make accidentally.

it's been a while since i've experienced joy and rest in my heart like i used to have. it's probably just my flesh, once again. numb me, somebody. please.

on a lighter note

2008-09-25T13:43:00.005+08:00

sound engineers... a precious gift and seed He has planted in us and me, that we can't help but to love Him back and serve in His house... i like what WanHua as said, it was lovely (: ... but anywayz... in our course of serving God, dealing with technical skills and equipments, we will definitely come across technical glitches every now and then, sometimes even during service times... but outside Sound Ministry, sometimes we do face communication glitches too... some very much worth pondering (and laughing) upon

was chatting with one particular friend i knew back in Secondary school... both of us crap a lot... that's one thing in common... and somehow we can see or say something so innocent but yet bring out the sexual connotation out of it... or maybe nothing sexual, but we just look at one another and laugh our heads off... (yup. that's not just limited to girl world)... how i missed Secondary school and all those times... hehe... i also miss their "bak-chor-mee, dry, no chilli"... haha... the best i've tasted thus far

now that we've pretty much lost touch with secondary school buddies except for occasions like Teachers' Day and all... we do still keep in touch here and there via MSN... and he mentioned this sentence:

"Children in the front of the car cause accidents.
Accidents in the back of the car cause children."

a few Mondays ago... Minijack had a craving for japanese food... so i brought him to Suntec City, Sakae Sushi to enjoy some japanese eat-all-you-can buffet... haha... not worthwhile for me since i don't eat a lot... but definitely worthwhile for a seemingly smaller person with an unseen high metabolism rate and big appetite

on the way there... we walked past a advertisement that said, "technology = power"... and the thing came out of me almost instantly and naturally:

"Technology = Power.
Wireless Technology = Wireless Power?"

maybe next time you wouldn't need to connect a power cord to charge your phone battery or boil water or something lor

and even more recently... after 4th service just last Sunday... Minijack was still in Rock Audi waiting for service to finish and waiting for me to be done packing up and stuff... what else?... to eat dinner together lah... we left relatively early, but Anthony and Jason left even earlier... hehe... but anywayz, after we left Rock Audi, the both of us were in the elevator and we still had no idea where to eat... just then we saw Jason and gang coming down by the escalator and our paths crossed... so Jason's girl asked if we would like to join them... so we agreed

went to some Ramen shop opposite Pizza Hut there... dont know what's the shop name... but anywayz their food is not bad... so there were 6 of us there... 3 of them ordered some kind of spicy stuff... and one of them was apparently screaming, "whoa... so hot! so hot!"... and once, one of the girls happened to bring up the topic of Mjay... and that girl was saying out loud, "it's so hot!"... without a doubt, we linked the two topics

and another time... she again made the same comment... so another girl suggested, why don't she take out the ramen, wash it in the cup of plain water, take out then eat... but she refused, saying she wanted to drink the soup also... and i blurted this out:

"why don't you take out the soup, wash it in the water, then take it out and drink?"

see if you get it

haha!... that's about all i can remember... maybe i'll be back to post more... see my mood... haha!

the fine line never like before

2008-09-22T23:11:00.000+08:00

so much drama in so little time... just barely a week.. and it aint those nice nice dramas... it's pure nightmares

in summary... with great power comes great responsibilities (and even greater scoldings)... and i'm just so sick and tired of all of it... ALL... everything!... i cant bite my tongue forever... it's bleeding and swollen... simply because i was careless, or just being pure ignorant and trying to act stupid about some things... but like a screw that is being unscrewed bit by bit, it's bound to fall out someday... and for that short gain i got back then, the pain and embarrassment haunting me now is beyond comprehension... certainly not worth it

and now i will like to make a resolution... i vow for a change... for the worse or for the better, it depends... if i have a choice, i will like to have a two-face... be the same friendly and cheerful me while still being vigilant in my responsibilities... but then again, if it doesnt work out... i wouldnt hesitate to drop that optimistic, happy-go-lucky side of me... since it has handcuffed me for quite a substantial amount of time already

Lord, will you still be there to hold my hand?... For i'm starting to feel sorrowfully numbed, losing the sense of Your touch

Jack'al is...

2008-09-05T02:30:00.003+08:00

feeling the damn pinch.
screaming at the peak of his lungs.
feeling f-ed up.
wanting to punch something.
refrained from showing facial expressions.
cannot can't be bothered.
suffering here.
lost in space.
staring blankly.
wanting to get out.

and so many more i cant verbalize

to think i'm serving God... i have to suffer all this fleshly implications.

this post is nothing... just for me to scream... "AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"... i just needed to vent it.

i cant think now... idiot... :@... @$%#$^#!%#@$

a tune in my heart

2008-08-25T06:53:00.001+08:00

yesterday, was as per usual serving all 4 services... haha... am actually used to spending more than 12 hours in church every weekend already... if not i feel... i dont know... odd?

yesterday was rather a problematic, but fun one... a sound guy actually commented over breakfast... actually if everything run smooth, got no problem... then no fun right... once problem comes, the fun comes when you try to fix the problem... haha... cute... i find it ironically true lah... last DARE and Arrow when the drum sound was down, then come Sunday we had to re-route the drum channels... then yesterday when we had weird sounds coming out... hectic, shocking... but somewhat fun lah... but not to the extent if the sound got problem, you shout "hallelujah" in the middle of the auditorium lah... duh... i particularly enjoyed 4th service though... not that there were problems lah

and something i brought home with me at the end of that Sunday was a tune in my heart... the beautiful song "Lamb of God" sang during the offering time... and also my mix for 3rd and 4th service where i pumped up the DELAY when the vocals jump off the cliff... what a nice way to defy the laws of gravity... instead of going down after the cliff, the vocals are hanging in mid-air... haha!

eh i havent finish yet... so that tune was stuck in my mind, re-sounding continuously as i was walking home... and then i went into the verse of the song that says, "i was so lost, i should have died"... and as i was entering the lift lobby, i saw a lady (or auntie) making a phone call desperately outside the lift lobby area... i didnt take a second thought about it, until i suddenly heard a small sound coming from down under... on the first second, i thought it was a rat or some insect on the grass patch... but on the next second, i heard music... i mean, no rat and insect would have been singing music right... then i bent down to see a phone half-buried in the mud, as it rained heavily a few hours ago... then i sort of looked at the auntie, the auntie looked at me... then she came towards me and picked up the phone, and thanked me

soon after, i felt like God just gave me a wink and he showed me something... when i was in a pathetic state... i was so lost, i should have died... God saw me, came down to die on the cross in my place, so that I can be found and lifted up... He has loved me with an everlasting love, and blessed me according to the riches of heaven... that i may be a blessing to others... big or small... an action that anyone could have done it... an action that seemed so small to be defined... has become so significant in Jesus Christ... and a little sign off after that memo, "P.S.: that's why you shouldnt have died."

just kidding =p

2008-08-23T15:34:00.000+08:00

(i got this in an email the other day and had to share)

WARNING!!!

Aliens are abducting good looking and sexy people.

You should be safe. I'm just emailing to say goodbye.

reminiscence... gone

2008-08-21T06:29:00.000+08:00

this morning when i just awoke and was still subconscious on my bed... a flashback came into memory... more than 10 years back

i still remembered when i was very young, 4 or 5 years old... i have been loving and hanging around my sister a lot... i would follow her wherever she goes, except to the toilet and to school... i listen to her and she play with me... i really enjoyed her company... and i was so radically being with her until a point my mum got a bit jealous... don't know whether serious or play play one... once my mum told me, "why you always follow your sister around one? she actually dont like you one leh"... at first i didnt believe... i went to ask my sister, who was watching the tv, if it was true... then my sister being kinda engrossed on the tv, replied, "ya lah, ya lah"... darn i was stricken-ed with much hurt and disappointment... that i went to one corner of the house and be in the state of "emo"... since then i didnt follow my sister around as much as i did... but nonetheless, i still enjoyed her presence

in my family... i sometimes get along with my dad... i sometimes get along with my mum... i never get along with both of them at the same time... and i definitely had times when i get along with none of them... as for my brother, definitely not getting along... probably the fact that elder brothers tend to pick on their younger brother... and now that's left with my sister... which i get along with a lot

she has since also been a source of delight and encouragement to me... for example she would, most of the time, listen to me, and then give me advice and/or help me convey and negotiate with my parents certain things... or for another instance, there was a time i was being physically abused by my dad for a while... she was there to console me... if not for her, i dont know what i would have done or become then... and on other instances, she have been the one supporting me for most of the decisions i made... joining sound ministry was one of the them... and while doing so, she actually helped to convince my parents that it would be alright for me to serve in church... or else God knows how much noise they would make... and thus far, i have been blessed by that decision i made and the support she gave

but looking back... those are nothing... but gone

the pictures are not as rosy as before... i only get along with my parents on and off... i dont get along with my brother... and now even my sister has forsaken me... recently... there was once i rode my brother's bicycle from bedok to simei to deliver some goods to her... they were so heavy, even that short cycling journey caused me much perspiration and energy... when i finally reached my sister's place, i was in a pathetic state... but what do i get in return... i actually forgot one small thing because of the rush (i had school after that)... and she got fed up and stuff... she said things like, if i had forgotten all the rest but brought that one thing, it wouldnt have been so bad... and at the point, i was like "thanks a lot, b****, for all that hard effort i've put in"

and another instance... just yesterday she came over to my place for a while... and i happened to be conversing with my mother about holidays and pocket money... but before that, we had some prior conversations a few days ago... and my sister, probably not knowing the full picture, started telling me off that i was rude to my mum or what... and that i didnt tell mum the full information that led to the miscommunication... that was seriously agitating me... and these were only a few... things like being inconsiderate to parents and rude were common things she always fault me

and now that leaves me to get along with nobody in the family... so i dont talk much in the family... i'm probably closer to my friends than my family... how i'd look at other families... they have gathering time in the family... they can talk freely and openly, have fun and laughter among each other... they have family holidays... honestly i feel darn jealous... but what to do... i'm here now... with all the emotional hurt and deprivation

it once was Lost but now is Found

2008-08-06T05:53:00.000+08:00

on monday, it's only been one day since I got hold of the Gospel Revolution album... and already I'm so blessed by it... the album is really the best manz

I ripped the CD to my computer in .wav format and sent the files to my phone aka MP3 player... a pity one side of my earphones died... something wrong with the connection... but never mind... it's about time to get myself untangled with a bluetooth stereo headset... have been wanting one

anyway... because the file size were so huge... only managed to transfer about half the album by monday morning... but even half the album has brought about a blessing to me... on my way to school on Monday... as I was listening to the album one-sided... the presence of God in the music was so awesome... was just simply soaked in it... so much so that i was unconscious of myself and so conscious of the anointing in the music... until I literally walked into class with a straight face (those after-worship kind of look)... I could hear beyond the music my classmates talking among themselves that was i "emo".. lol... not on purpose though

and at the end of the day when it was time to go back... me and a few others took a bus, on which I was the last to alight... blame it that I live in Bedok... unfortunately I had dropped my wallet... sighz... thank God there's wireless@sg connection, thank God my laptop still has battery power... quickly searched for the numbers to call up the bus terminal... and while anxiously waiting for them to get back to me and watching the minutes go by... i just told myself, "i'm gonna quit watching and waiting... i'm just gonna worship you Lord and watch You conquer my battle"... put on the Gospel Revolution music and walked from Paya Lebar to Bedok... a tiring long walk... but the anointed music gave me strength and refreshment

as time went by... I was still conscious that I had lost my wallet... but I could feel the sting of the lost of wallet slowly fading away... and I could feel an inner rest that everything was gonna be alright... when I was at the lift lobby of my home... I received a phone call to say that Yio Chu Kang Terminal has found my wallet and asked me to retrieve it

think about this... firstly, it was peak period, the after-work hours, and it is of no doubt the bus was going to be crowded and someone could very well sit on my seat and find my wallet... secondly, the bus travelled from Paya Lebar to Suntec City, to Shenton Way, then to Suntec City, to Paya Lebar, to Serangoon, to Hougang, to Ang Mo Kio, then to Yio Chu Kang... and my wallet can still reach the hands of the bus captain safe and sound... it has to be God's divine protection... probably God sent an angel to sit at my seat so no one else could possibly sit at where my wallet is laying... or probably God blinded the people from seeing and taking my wallet... but whatever it is... to God be the glory... it once was lost but now is found.

this is the Love, the Gospel Revolution!

2008-08-04T20:35:00.002+08:00

last weekend was indeed a very fruitful day... a bit shagged after that... but nothing beats the spiritual satisfaction and happiness after all the serving and going all out for the One

friday afternoon was spent setting up the stage... reached Rock Auditorium at around 1330hr... supposed to set up the stage with Jen... but he was busy in the office... lucky Jason happened to come down... and we managed to complete it quite fast... but that was only just shifting the instruments and stuff up the stage only.. the terror comes later... but before that, Jen, Jason and I went down for lunch first... a late lunch at about 1445hr

after that went back up to Rock Auditorium... the terror of the cables... because of the different but really cool stage layout, we have to re-lay ALL the cables manually... not easy... spent at least an hour or two on laborious work... but somehow we also found time to relax a while... watch the pre-concert video... take a few photos with the banner... ended at around 1900hr... just because we had to go to the rehearsal venue... but then again was still held up here and there... only reached the rehearsal venue at around 1945

ended and reached home around 2330hr... but stayed online on msn until like 0200hr... didnt feel like sleeping yet cause i was so excited... hoped i could wake up in time though... i'm not done with the setup in terms of the stage and the monitor board yet... and i was still feeling insecure even as i was falling asleep

true enough... i got up at around 0700hr and reached rock around 0915hr... i decided to open a fresh raw scene and start from scratch all the settings... so far so good... only that Jason and Robin had to do all the remaining stage work and re-patching of the wireless mics... sorry though

sound check started at around 1130hr and went all the way until about 1350hr... approaching the end i was frustrated with the choir people when they went up on the platform, which was placed right in front of the monitor room... no offence though... they blocked my view... i couldnt conduct my sound check anymore... Jason had to take over the mic and do the remaining sound check as a stage manager... phew... only a bit more to the end of sound check

after sound check was band check... and another thing i was rather frustrated... of all places, a handful of people had to conduct their briefing at the doorstep of the monitor room... some more it was band check when i have to go in and out of the room the most... during the period of sound check, i was really out of my mind manz... all the rush and stress... so all the frustration and frankinonsense overwhelmed me really tick and fast

after sound check... had quite a bit of time to finally finally take a break with lunch provided... thank God Robin accounted for Jason and I... it came to my mind that Jason and I were the only sound guys helming the whole sound operations of the concert... Small Eugene sent me a message a day before to say he wanna study... Jason called Mjay only to get a positive but un-enthusiastic response... so we counted him out just to be on the pessimistic side and not bring our hopes too high lest we fall harder... but hey... though it was the 2 of us and we had to squeeze our sweat to do our parts... it has to be Jesus helming the whole thing

and during the concert itself... was really blessed by the music and presence of God that fills the auditorium and that little room at the side of the stage... Timothy's monitor mix was really good though... was doing quite a bit of live mixing for him and Cliff... some of which will affect the rest of the musicians... but i got pretty good feedback about the monitor at the end of the day... which was a good thing

tearing down and packing up was actually a whole lot faster and easier... cause the musicians chipped in their effort to help out... to a point Youtyng thought we were crazy... the logistics are going to setup the stage as per Sunday service, why we put in the extra effort... besides that... the musicians were wacky manz... haha

after that... went for dinner with Jason and most of the other musicians... Venue: Billy Bombers @ Marina Square... Jerald Thio tagged along too, but I had to pay for his meal... and the musicians were like interrogating Jerald for his name and age... and the inevitable question if we were brothers... quite unbelievable that it was 14... the musicians thought he was 10

and soon after WenHui was actually waiting for me to finish my meal so we can go home together... and she was actually finding her way to Billy Bombers when I havent call her yet... only to find that Vivian, WenHui and Zenda were outside Billy Bombers because they wanted to see mainly Sean Goh and Jen Tan... lol... it's become a fact that they are like superstars now lah... and when I asked if she wanted to sit beside Jen while waiting for me to finish my dessert, she screamed into the phone lah... ouch... -.-|

and that was the end... next day still got Sunday Service though... i'm mixing all 4... quite fun though... just a few damned incidents... but other than... it was good... and nonetheless... the Gospel Revolution lives!

buy 1 get 1 free

2008-07-26T11:41:00.002+08:00

finally... all the ups and down... all the fast and furious... all the rush and gush... it's all over!!... in simple terms... all the projects are finally done for... the past few weeks or slightly more than a month was spent on projects, projects, and more projects... not forgetting church life too... cause i chose to continue to serve God despite of my school work... so while i do hear of people who say that people in poly often have to rush projects because they always wait until last minute then do... however... somehow for mine... the project deadlines are structured such that the projects are given around the same time... and some projects have shorter, earlier deadlines... others a little later... so the accusation mentioned above is half accurate, applying to my case... because in such a scenario... obviously one will do and get the projects with earlier, shorter deadlines finished first... then the later deadline ones... how sad

the last project, MacroEconomics, was quite of a headache... literally had one headache after that... however... it was also a rather entertaining and fun one... especially at the videos... will post our group's video later... quite dumb lah... and also at the day of presentation... had a particularly humorous video a group came up with... wont put down everything... but one that really made my head roll to and fro from laughing out loud... it was a guy who approached a friend who had a matchmaking company... and this friend was explaining to him about a new marketing strategy they had adpted... "BUY 1 GET 1 FREE!"

as mentioned above... ya i had a headache after all the projects... thank God it was only after all the rush and gush... or i'll so harm my group... so i went on home... took a afternoon nap... and manz... i felt so satisfied for two reasons... firstly, i finally restored all my lost sleep... so refreshing... secondly, i finally got a chance to eat my mum's home cooked food... how i missed it since most of the time i eat out... how i dread to eat at home last time... but how i miss them now

was also recently introduced to the band Chris Daughtry... omg!... their songs rocks can... on my top list includes "It's Not Over", "Used To", "Over You", "Feels Like Tonight", "What I Want", "There And Back Again", and "What About Now"... "What I Want" and "There And Back Again" being the most orgasmic from this list... hehe

and just yesterday... was setting up the stage with Derrick and myself... at first i was a little pessimistic... how to do full setup with only two guys... some more i'm so skinny and weak... how to carry all the heavy stuff with him... but how awesome... we did it... it's was quite fast also lah... just 2 guys taking about an hour to finish all the stuff... while setting up... Derrick was just telling me... from doing setup with me... and also the weekly routine of me serving all 4 services on sunday and on youth service... i was already considered quite strong already... so never see myself weak... see myself strong... and i'll be able to accomplish more things... and i was thinking... how spot-on he was

i guess it was just my personality... i've being having inferiority complex since God knows when... and with this... i've actually let a lot of things pass me by... an example is the youth service... for quite some time already... i actually arranged for myself to do monitor and give up mixing FOH... one reason is because i actually enjoy the fellowship and doing the routines at monitor... interacting with the musicians... doing humble things in the sight of man because i am hiding in that small little room... another reason is because thus far no one is able to take on monitor... another reason is actually because of inferiority complex... from the voices within... from the voices without... somehow the mentality of not being good enough, of not being strong in mixing, they overcame me... and hence... what i am now

i really wanna thank Derrick... i dont know how he saw through the thick veil that no one had even managed to peep in... but he spoke the now-word for me that i so wanted someone to affirm me with... and he opened my eyes to the same world, but it seemed a new world to me =)

(managed to take this while Pastor Prince was free-flowing during last Sunday 4th service... how i utilized all the DCA faders, including the glorious "Delay"... lol!)

ARROW Students Camp 2008 -- Day 3

2008-06-26T00:38:00.003+08:00

oh i missed out the last part of day 2 of the camp… after the men’s and women’s meeting… supposed to gather back at the ballroom for praise and worship… but it was called off as it was getting late… and it was about this time that mjay started having a bad pain in the stomach… so he went to see the medic… while i stayed in the ballroom as the musicians wanted a rehearsal for the next day morning service… cause they wanted to sleep more… and me also lah… haha

and on day 3 of the camp, which is technically the last day of the camp

because we didnt have to like go to the ballroom early and stuff… so we woke up and had time to go to Holiday Inn dining area and enjoy some international breakfast… found them okok only lah… haha… however mjay couldnt join us as he still had a severe tummyache… likely food poisoning… probably because of day 2 food… i, too, got a slight pain on the previous night but it was bearable

then it was time for the servers to set off to the ballroom… and so i had to mix for the morning service… i enjoyed the morning service lah… particularly the mixing part… haha… i really liked the sound, the mix… and tell the campers were engaged during the praise and worship too… made a few mistakes though… for example angie was humming a note… so i tried to pull her volume down and bring up a lot of reverb… give the far away but big feel… for a while it was ok… but later… feedback

recording was kinda bad also… not the sound but the technical faults… during praise and worship, the connection was loose… so dropped out here and there for, i think, the first half of the praise and worship… then came preaching… lagi worse… i think the buffer size wasn’t enough or something… the whole preaching was wiped out sia… but lucky the video cam side for audio recording also

after service was a quick lunch… and after lunch we went to play games… and from what i heard… it’s the first arrow camp servers are allowed to play… the previous camps the servers are just servers lor… so for the games, the royal stewards ministry, RSM, formed one team, and the ops team consisting of video and sound and logistics, formed another team

these are really a great bunch of people to serve alongside with manz... i'm blessed knowing them... thanks guys =)

and while playing one of the games… guessed who we bumped into at this room with transparent glass windows and curtains

angie baby!!... can tell the massage is awesome… didn’t get a chance to try it though

the games were fun and interactive lah… just that more than half the time i’m thinking about ops… haha… cause now that mjay not around, i have to think about everything and anything… and am particularly concerned about the poolside party setup at 1500+ and band rehearsal for the night service at 1700

so came 1500 and i asked for permission to leave… haha… no point playing the games without an ease of mind also… though i wished the burden could be lifted off to enjoy the games… justin chua and i left the group to wait at the poolside area… but setup wasn’t finished yet… so we just spent about slightly more than half an hour dipping our feet into the swimming pool… and fellowship a little lah… since most of the time in camp we wouldn’t have time for it... until around 1600 when justin tan came… and we had justin tan to handle the sound for the poolside event… and i’ll be taking the ballroom for the night service… this is assuming mjay doesn’t turn up

then i stayed around to ensure the poolside is doing fine… hmmm… it should be fine lah… it’s justin tan doing leh… lol… then approaching 1700, i went up to the ballroom to prepare… and not long after, mjay came in when rehearsal was about to finish… haha… after that… went down to the poolside for dinner… finally another meal in the camp which we can sit down and not worry about ops… lol… i think this is the second one

after dinner… we actually didn’t attend the poolside party… justin chua, mjay and i went to the ballroom to chill out… wanted to rest and relax a bit before the night service… which may drag till very the late

it turns out that i was mixing for the night service also… somehow… but it was a little disastrous… i was actually quite tired at the start of the night service already lah… so my mix wasn’t proper and nice… didn’t like it cause more than half the time i’m trying to stay awake rather than mixing… haiz

guess who i bumped into while resting a bit outside ballroom

Ethan, Adeline’s and Lewis’ Son… beware… he’s watching you!... haha

this post is getting kinda long… shall continue the rest on camp closure on next post then… hehe

ARROW Students Camp 2008 -- Day 2

2008-06-19T22:50:00.001+08:00

lol... forgot to follow up so on day 2

i didnt hear my alarm ring and wake up promptly... instead i heard a distant voice in my sleep... calling, "jack... jack... jack"... until i finally woke up... it was Justin Chua, one of my roommates... who soon told me it was 0745, if i hadnt remember wrongly... omg... sound check was at 0800 lah... because we needed to do one more round of soundcheck due to last night's adjustments... oh my gosh... another opportunity of eating international breakfast at Holiday Inn... gone just like that

upon reaching Harris Ballroom... as usual... mjay on the board, and me being the stage manager... this part was a little strenuous because being the stage manager, i'm stuck between the two... on one hand mjay is trying to get the sound on the house right, and so sound check can't proceed... on the other hand, alwin is bugging me about the time, cause they still need to run through the song list... it's not nice being in between... but anyway we made it through

and here's mjay... too bad... gotcha!

for a moment so wide awake

for another moment so sleepy

and after service, we had lunch... and after lunch, there was a cluster breakout session... and servers were to form one cluster and report at the command post... but while waiting for a few people to get ready, all the servers (which is A LOT) started gathering in one big circle and playing games... it was damn fun... haha... forgot to take photo though... and coach Gary was supposed to do some sharing with us one... but he saw us so happily playing games together, he decided to play along too and postpone the sharing session... haha... after that all the servers went back to Holiday Inn to wash up at about 1600... i went back cause i wanted to wash my face which was getting very oily, and to style my hair... i'd feel a little weird and insecure if my hair is natural flat lah... it's just me... headed back to Harris at about 1630... though the appointed shuttle bus time was 1615... lol

after that we had two concurrent things going on... one was setting up for Men's and Women's Meeting... the other was poolside party dry run rehearsal... i had to stay at the poolside doing almost nothing but just watching the performances... cause i was the supposedly sound engineer doing the poolside stuff

after that... dinner... a short and snappy one

and after that was Men's and Women's Meeting... the sharing by Pastor Keith was really great and practical... kinda enjoyed it... however at the corner... a few sparks actually flew around... unpleasant thing was happening, not technical faults but behavior faults... i didnt like it... and it so aint the first time it happened

but on the overall, i didnt enjoyed day 2 of the camp... except for mealtimes, Men's meeting sharing time and bedtime

-.-

ARROW Students Camp 2008 -- Day 1

2008-06-19T22:43:00.004+08:00

now on day 1... we woke up at about 0750... haha... mjay's phone alarm was so loud and it was a hard rocker kind of song... but amazingly, mjay couldnt hear it lor... only karyong and i heard it and got disturbed by it lor... then supposed to have breakfast together, which ends at 0830... but those of us in the room decided to skip it... not that we wanted to but mjay was taking TOO long... omg... dont know what he doing in the bathroom lah... but i made a joke out of him

me: eh why you take so long in the bathroom one?
mj: washing up lah. bath. brush teeth. wash face.
me: wah. then brush teeth can so long one meh?
mj: of course lah. i dont have normal teeth like yours lor. (he meant that he had braces)
me: then what teeth you have? abnormal teeth? elephant teeth?

pawned.

and here was harris... viewed from near the clubhouse

after the supposed-to-have breakfast, the camp committee team gathered to have a bit of sharing and prayer session... then set up to receive the 30% of the camp population; the servers and musicians... after the servers arrived, put down their bag and settled down... then mjay and i set up to the ballroom to start our sound check already... our 1st round of sound check... i was doing stage manager and mjay the sound engineer on the board

how the stage looked like during the 1st round of sound check

after 1st round of sound check... we set off for lunch... throughout the camp we generally ate together as a Arrow Sound & Video team... haha... i had fun being with them... not sure about them

something amusing to lighten our minds before the camp started... 3-D water droplets

then headed back to the ballroom from camp opening by the camp commandant, coach Gary... obviously the whole camp population would have arrived already... and during the camp opening, mjay and my name were mentioned... much to our shock but to our favor... coach Gary complimented us of the spirit of excellence and professionalism both of us carried... the camp committee were astonished as they saw both of us carried out all the checks... with the positive attitude for the One purpose... he, as well as a few other camp committee, admitted that they sort of looked down on us when we first appeared lah... but after the advance day, they repented as they saw how the Lord through us, proved to let no one despise our youth

after the camp opening is the cluster breakout session... and mjay and i left halfway to continue with a 2nd round of soundcheck... cause a lot of loose ends were not tied during the 1st round of soundcheck... and there was also a few adjustments done to the stage layout...

a few more snippets of how the stage looked like during the 2nd round of soundcheck... i love the last shot the best... hehe

we soundchecked all the way until dinner time when all our stomachs are crying for my tangible appetizing delight... had a quick dinner then chop-chop back to the ballroom... and since it was the first service of the camp and i was the stage manager... i thought it will be good for me to go to the front and stand at the side of the stage to attend to musicians and their monitor needs... and also get a good front view

and that was service... but by the end of it... we were given a pending instruction to shift the location of the stage... but at the end of the service, just when we managed to empty the stage and ready to move the platform... Pastor just said he was preaching earlier and he found the stage position alright and could engage most of the campers... haha... but not so bad... we made use of the opportunity to restructure the stage layout a bit... for the better, of course

we finished work at about 0000hrs batam time... but we were staying in the ballroom waiting for the hotel crew to lock up the ballroom... we waited... until i went down to the reception to chase the hotel crew there... then i came back... and we waited... until mjay went down to the reception again... then he said the receptionist appointed someone to do the job... that person appointed someone else... and so on so on... no wonder we waited so long... after that we hopped on to the shuttle bus to bring us to Holiday Inn where most of the servers are staying... whootz... the place is really damn nice sia... first hotel i've been to with a living room one... i dont have the photos yet though

damn tired liao... nightie

wow... so many photos

ARROW Students Camp 2008 -- Day 0

2008-06-19T22:39:00.004+08:00

engchong, the arrow logistics guy offered to give me a cab ride from my house at 0645... can claim the cab fare mah... haha... since we were supposed to reach harborfront ferry terminal by 0720... but we had so much time... ferry only departs at 0920... and on the ferry ride... was playing little fighters 2... yea i know it was a years-ago thing... but somehow the little fighter anointing in me just came back lah... haha... and how i thank God Windows OS can now be installed on Mac... muacks... i love Mac!

some snippets on the ferry ride

i didnt know the ferry was that bright

mjay and i... and no, we are not blood brothers.

upon reaching the ferry terminal, we hopped on a van to bring us to Harris... and we were given icy cold towel and a small cup of bandung with too much milk... haha... but it was nice and helpful of them lah... and we had so much free time... karyong, mjay and i went to the clubhouse and played bowling... i opted out... and from what i heard... karyong thrashed mjay with 35 points and mjay had to pay back by doing push-ups... haha

and there was mjay’s favorite time… lunch… haha… we were all hungry lah… probably cause Batam time is one-hour behind Singapore… hence the time difference… the food was ok lah… but the fellowship was great… haha… somehow we felt closer and more intimate during lunch time… the fun and laughter we had… the past incidents we got to hear about… it was great lah… and what i found really funny was this conversation they had… one of them was asking what the cake was… and the other replied “it's ok lah”… they were actually unaware that they had failed listening comprehension there and then… but when i was telling mjay, ping heard it, and ping announced my “findings” out loud… haha… and everyone had a good laugh

and both of us were still known as “ah boy” to them… haha

after lunch, we went to set up the ballroom system… or rather mjay was doing the board programming stuff lah… he’s the main guy… then i was doing the stage management stuff... then after that we conducted all the checks… house check, line check, then drum check… i was on the drums, mjay on the board… not easy leh… having to remain consistent and all

then came dinner… dinner was so-so… somehow didn’t have the same intimacy we had over lunch… but food was also not bad… when we were done, we had a camp committee sharing session… which i felt was really good… it was a good time to hear about other people’s experience and how fallen short they have been… but still the Lord is faithful, that He chose these people (including me) with love, and worked His grace around us… it was indeed awesome

came that night… karyong, mjay and i shared a room at harris… room was actually quite okay lah… only unpleasant experience was that the aircon squirted out 2 or 3 specks of dust and fell right on my blanket… then i was trying to hit the dust away lah… and mjay commented why i was wanking so hard

-.-

nightie

pre ARROW Students Camp 2008

2008-06-18T22:29:00.001+08:00

my first arrow students camp... actually at first i didnt know whether to go a not... mjay had the same thoughts too... but both of us then decided to go because jason cant go for the camp as he is working on the youth album... so mjay and i were roped in to do sound for the camp instead before i start on the camp... let me go in chronological order and start from camp committee meetings... mjay and i started to attend the meeting about 2 weeks before... and both of us were pretty lost when we first started... then as the days went on... we started to have a clearer picture of the camp... and since we were first introduced to the camp committee people... mjay started to have this nickname, "Ah boy"... and soon me also, when they found out i was one year younger than mjay

haha sidetrack a little... before the arrow students camp was DARE Engage day camp... i was there on the second day together with small gene to do sound for day 2 night... sound wise... i thought it was ok ok only lah... sounds good but could have been better... and also on the recording... i was disgusted at how much delay there was... one reason was because i couldnt hear it on the house, so i was trying to jack it up a bit by a bit... another reason was because i was trying stereo delay but the recording was in mono... so the two delays got squashed into one track... hence the "messy-ness"... yuckz... but other than... recordings' not bad

sidetrack a little... again... before the arrow students camp was the dare and arrow youth service... since it was the first saturday of the month... i was doing monitor since jason wanted to do foh... i actually enjoyed it... haha... though things were a little difficult for me but i conquered it with Christ... haha... and somehow jen commented that the monitor check was really fast and well done, and asked how i did that... haha... i also dont know how to did so sia... i just went ahead and whack lor... to a point i felt i may be a little rude to the musicians sometimes... but Angie said it was ok lah, in fact i was considered quite nice already... but on the other side, Jason at FOH was like a little unhappy why monitor check so slow one... haha

a few photos from ARROW service... the theme was beach wear

and came sunday service... details reserved... but i didnt enjoy it the monday before the camp was supposed to have project meeting... but became a rest day in the end... cause i woke up late... and there was no one to take care of the house... but good also lah... needed a break before we get on work again... next day have to wake up at 6+ leh i’ll break this blog into parts so it doesn’t appear too long and wordy

break, or be broken

2008-06-09T11:29:00.001+08:00

school holiday just started... or should i rather rephrase it... it's just doing school work outside school premises... the holiday only lasts 2 weeks... 1 week will be spent away at arrow adventure camp... another week will be spent rushing through projects and ICA assignments... how to enjoy holiday like that... why can't we have 3 weeks holiday like other polytechnics... at least have time to slowly complete the school work and have time to take a break

and for the past two weeks, havent been feeling too good... emotionally... many things i didnt like happening, both in school and church... like a kangaroo... all i could do was to hide my face under the sand... thinking it will be all right... but still, my ass exposed... and i get kicked and spanked again and again

i'm human after all... humans have feelings... i'm not a robot whom anyone can just program and run the job... program and just behave however people want

there was a time when i was very tired... and even something as simple as asking a question about how come something was done... cause it was like my first time seeing it lah... and the person explained to me and i understood and learnt something new... but this was interpreted by another party as an arrogant fellow

there was a number of times when i did a thing or two that was actually not allowed to... and at first, the person in charge have rather spoken to me and i have already understood and will abide accordingly in future... however a handful of people (not just one) just have to keep coming to me and telling me the same thing... as if they were trying to remind me of my mistake and to appear higher in authority and holiness and stepping on me when i was down and disappointed (in myself) and needed someone to lift me up

this is probably just a me-problem... but now i seemed numb to this feeling already... cause it's always an excuse i give myself as a way to shove the problem aside... and it really hurts by now

I HATE THIS... there's no one i can turn to now... except the One up there... the One living in me... the One walking with me... but then again... is there someone tangible who i can confide in, someone who can understand situations, someone who can lift me up when i need it most

*punches the wall*

McFly -- The Heart Never Lies

2008-06-03T22:48:00.004+08:00

some people laugh
some people cry
some people live
some people die

some people run
right into the fire
some people hide
their every desire

but we are the lovers
if you don't believe me
just look into my eyes
cause the heart never lies

some people fight
some people fall
others pretend
they don't care at all

if you wanna fight
i'll stand right beside you
the day that you fall
i'll be right behind you

to pick up the pieces
if you don't believe me
just look into my eyes
cause the heart never lies

woahhh
woahhh

another year over
and we're still together
it's not always easy
but i'm here forever

cause we are the lovers
i know you believe me
when you look into my eyes
cause the heart never lies
cause the heart never lies
cause the heart never lies

cause it's easier to run

2008-05-31T14:43:00.001+08:00

parents... some really nice, but at the same time, really funny creatures on God's green earth... how awesome are His creatures... =/

parents are really nice... in the sense that they do and provide (almost) everything for you... for free... simply because you are their child... if you go out to the streets, you think anyone will come and give you shelter, satisfy your needs and wants, pay for your expenses and treat you like your parents do... hence, parents are gifted in that way, and of course many other ways too

parents are really funny... in the sense that they always seem to be doing the wrong things at the wrong time... and one action leads to another........

case no. 1: i received my bills for last month, amounting to slightly more than $80... however i sort of overlooked the bill and forgot to settle them... and when my parents ask if i had settled the bills... out of not wanting them to worry and nag, and also just to cut the conversation short, i said i have settled them... this is also because i know the amount will be carried forward to the following month, without my line getting suspended or whatsoever... and a week or two past... and a letter of gentle reminder was sent to my house address... and they came asking me why cometh this letter... and they started nagging and all... now if we backtrack a little, and i told them the truth the first time they asked... i will still get the nagging right... turn here turn there also kena... who will dare to talk to them the next time i face an issue

case no. 2: i had a meeting in church and got hungry after that... and so went for supper with mjay... and since it was a weekend, there was night bus service available... but because the night bus service will tend to make a trip around the central business district area before branching out on their route to the 4 corners of singapore, i reached home around 2am... the next morning i got questioned... not why i came home so late cause usually it aint the time that matters to them... but as to me taking a cab home... then i replied saying i took a bus home... then they asked where got bus service run so late one (obviously they have never been night owls before)... and they gave a short lecture of the taxi price hike and all the crap

please lah... there are moments when teenagers like to have fun and "rar rar" and all... there are moments when teenagers just like to have some peace and quiet... there are times when i'm at home, even my music playback was on at minimal volume... such insensitivity from them, or anyone, is not appreciated... so i would resort to turning up my music volume... just to get my message across... but even then i didnt like when i did that... i didnt like it for that one minute that i had to listen to loud music... i didnt like the guilt that i had to treat my parents like that

oh Lord... how i need your hand to lead me through these moments... cause it's easier to run to You than all that my little hands and mind can do

let's party!

2008-05-10T22:38:00.005+08:00

hmmm. the past two weeks have been a rather busy week for me... personally... but nonetheless, fun still exists... hehe

busy mainly with school lah... intially, school started with module lectures and tutorials... but maybe just because it was merely the starting so the teachers try not to stress on us... but it was just inevitable that poly freshie students have to face it sooner or later... when they start to speed up and bug you for tutorials... and what's up, this is only the surface... what i'm having to do now is mainly to focus on lectures and tutorials... projects are soon to come... and who said poly life is better than jc?... i guess it's quite the same lor... haha

and yes... with all the hard work going on, there's room for fun as well... and that's two birthday parties being held on two consecutive days... Mjay's and small Jon's

Mjay's one was held last night at Pit Stop Cafe, Boat Quay... it was supposed to be a surprize and his girlfriend did all the planning and coordinating... so sweet right? (awww...) ... but however... prior to the surprize... there has been a handful of cases where information was accidentally leaked out in the presence of him... there was a case when i tried to talk to his girlfriend via msn and he was on her computer... there was a case when a friend told him, "eh i can't make it this friday leh"... and even yesterday itself when they finished class at 1850... when he came out from the toilet, and everyone else just suddenly disappeared except for his girlfriend... and a few more... but a very good indication that his mind is a little screwed and too dense for anything else... it did not ring a bell to him at ALL

and came the surprize... he came in at around 8pm... sadly i wasnt there to see his face at that point cause i was waiting for Alex at Clarke Quay station... but anyway he was shocked, again, when Alex and i came in... cause he thought it was only his class- and CCA-mates... yea it was a pleasant time... we each were entitled to a main course meal, 4 cups of drinks, and games... all included in the party package, if i'm not wrong... and an ice cream cake... not too sure if that is included as well... but well we got to enjoy it... at about 2230+, foon and a few more other schoolmates joined... but more people had to go off first... and with the people that stayed behind, they ate the melted ice cream cake (dont know whether it is still recognized as an ice cream cake or just a pile of cream)... and we just stayed around till about 0130... then we took cab home... i was sharing cab with one of Mjay's classmates, which happened to be one of my seniors in secondary school... slept at 0230

a few pictures to sum up 09th May 2008, Friday:-

oh oh... something bloody retarded i did this morning... i was actually disturbed by my dad going off to work at 0800... and thinking it was a friday and he was supposed to send me off to school... i said in desperation, in mandarin, "eh now what time? i'm supposed to be in school by 0900?"... then my dad asked, "need to be in school then why never say earlier?"... which led me to think, "eh ya hor, why i never tell him earlier?"... which subsequently led me to remember that it was a saturday... what school shit is there?... lol... so embarassing sia... and thank God i managed to catch another about 2 hours of sleep

and surfed around the internet looking for software downloads for my dear friend named MacBook... cause it seems a little plain and not being utilized... haha... mac still owns manz... and other than that... doing my usual things such as checking hotmail, gmail, friendster, facebook, and of course, multiply.... lol... did so until about 1645 where i started washing up and meeting marlon and gang at Bedok McDonalds to go small Jon's place together-gether

small Jon's party was not as surprizing and sophiscated as Mjay's one... in the first place there's no surprize because small Jon was the one inviting us and all... and it's just a simple thing... bbq and food near the outdoor swimming pool... he stays in a condo, you see... and now... the rest are all swimming in the pool... and me obviously not wanting to get wet as though the water is the devil... am spending my time on my dear friend MacBook posting a blog entry... this very exact one... and how the heck i get wireless internet connection at an outdor swimming pool... lol... blame some one who has got wireless internet access point for their point and never bother to put a password... thanks to whoever that is... hehe... sorry manz... only one or two photos taken on small Jon's party... haha

and at this very moment... am contemplating whether to be sleeping or not... whether to stay over at small Jon''s place or not... or to meet Foon later and see whether he will come my place or to go his place, either to sleep or just crap around, or to hang out somewhere together... whatever it is... just to buy time until 0445 on sunday, when we have to reach Singapore Indoor Stadium... haha... also not sure what i'd be doing for this indoor service

that's about it... tata... be back to blog more

He holds my every moment

2008-04-30T19:16:00.003+08:00

ok... shall blog about Darlene Zschech and some of the Hillsongs team who came to New Creation Church (of course that's my church) to worship lead last Sunday... while it's still pretty fresh in my mind and yet to be rusty

on Saturday evening went down to do setup... supposed to do with Lionel one... but he was a little late... and Derek was sort of rushing and wanted to get it over and done with... and also quite curious as to how the stage is set up for every sunday service... so he volunteered to help out too... lol... but apparently he kinda rushed for nothing urgent... cause Craig, Hillsongs' keyboardist only came in after 9... and we finished about 8... but good to be early than late also lah

and since i was around, Lionel pulled me in to do monitor while Anthony be the stage manager... the musicians got hooked up and did sound check... and thereafter did dry-run through all the songs for praise and worship... had my share of the fun also lah... cause for Craig's monitor, being a guest musician, i was riding faders as though it was live sound mixing... i enjoyed it lah, and apparently he liked it too... and having rehearsal with Craig was awesome... he took on the roll of music directing, gave directions promptly, resulting in very tight band and nice sound... personal opinion, just thought he talked a little too much... moreover on sunday in the midst of praise and worship

finished rehearsal at about midnight... and after wrapping up, took a cab ride with Anthony... can claim the cab ride from church mah... reached home about 0145... washed up and used a bit of computer... 0215... wondering whether to catch some rest and run the risk of oversleeping... or to scrap that idea and probably lose concentration for the "big" sunday... in the end decided to sleep... lol

and what i predicted came through... mjay and i were supposed to give each other wakie up call at 0615... but mjay woke up at around 0645 and thought to himself, "it's 0645, jack should have woken up"... "but on second thought... if jack have woken up, he would have called me"... "think play safe, better call to confirm"... and true enough... if not for that call... ... God holds my future... LOL!!... and on my way down, Jason just called to ask if i reached... cause he's still stuck in the toilet... and true enough, when i reached rock audi at about 0745... nothing is being powered up yet... but managed to get everything up and running fast lah

and before 1st svc, a middle-aged, non-singaporean lady came up to me to ask who was that blonde lady on stage... so i replied that it was Darlene Zschech... and her eyes grew 'O.O'... "omg! omg! it really is her? it really is Darlene Zschech?... that's so cool... ... and you guys, you guys are the ones doing sound for Darlene Zschech?" "yea."... "omg you guys are doing sound for Darlene Zschech! isnt it just awesome?... ..." haha... but actually coming to think of it... it didnt cross the mind of jason and mine lah... but actually if we just pause and contemplate... yea, it is indeed an awesome experience and privilege to be doing sound for Darlene Zschech

so jason was mixing 1st and 2nd service... and i was mixing 3rd and 4th service... and manz was it awesome

Dave Watsons was the sound guy from Hillsongs stationed at FOH... and in the midst of 3rd service, he was playing around with my eq and compression... which i felt was good except for my snare... he boosted my lows for the snare quite drastically... it was a nice effect until it came to the song "Hosanna"... where there was a kick and snare-based intro... sounded very boxy sia... so after 3rd service, i reduced the amount of added lows by a slight amount and told Dave Watsons about it... and he went, "oh no no... you shouldn't be doing that... who's been teaching you?"... i kept silent for a while as he went on explaining

oh... another thing he did was that he actually wanted lots of bass and kick in the mix... when i try to pull down my bass and kick, especially during worship songs, he said, "no need to bring it down. it's perfect like this"... so i was just flowing along with him lor... his logic being cause when we try to crank up the vocals, it tends to sound harsh and brittle... so adding the low end helps maintain a loud but round mix... but what he doesnt know was that if we have lots of low end at FOH area, then the area in front will be very boomy due to the high ceiling... but whatever, it's hillsongs in New Creation Church!... so they're the boss manz

3rd service was quite of an adjustment for me... cause i wasnt mixing for 1st and 2nd... so need time to sit in comfortably... but 4th service was smooth-sailing and just as great... the only thing was that 4th service ended without a walkout song... which felt funny lah... and especially since it was 4th service... most of the congregation in the auditorium are from ARROW ministry... so they were still like hanging out expecting a final song... haha

a few comments to wrap up the day... a congregation walking past FOH commented at rather audible level, "wah! the sound system here very scary leh"... haha... what do they expect? it's Darlene Zschech with added bass guitar and kick drum... haiz... Singaporeans ah only know how to complain and not look at the good side

and also from Dave Watsons who said that i was smoking while mixing... haha... got a little blur lah but tried to camouflage that... but in what sense, i also dont understand lah... but probably he meant the way i was flowing with the music... then sound good mah, then will feel shiok mah, then body will groove and flow with the music lor... which is generally how i will do mixing... rather than having to take note of a hundred and one things... snare too loud... vocals too soft... bass sound muffled... and so many more... i'd choose to just flow with the music, and nevertheless, flow with the Spirit within... all the hundred and one things just seem to fall into place

and other than commenting that i was smoking... he gave a few tips as how to approach mixing... fresh from the oven of Hillsongs sound team... and an awesome opportunity to learn some outside-Lionel knowledge first-hand

that's it for the sunday with Darlene Zschech... an enjoyable and memorable sunday it was!

so sad... no photos

He holds my world in His hand

2008-04-29T23:01:00.004+08:00

omg... it's like more than two weeks since i last blogged... haha... i was aware of it lah... but all the way wasnt in the flow of blogging leh... and at times i tried to but i would be mostly lost for words... but now, though not the peak of the 'flow', but shall attempt to blog anywayz

actually supposed to have orientation on 10th and 11th one lah... but on the first day, as mentioned on my previous post... overslept, and met with my niece first thing i woke up climbing over my sleeping body... and second day, i did attempt to attend the orientation... however upon reaching there, i wandered around for a period of time... asked for directions but one said it was here, another said it was there... so i just sat around, listened to music, and got outta the place... went to josh lim's place to slack for a while and later to go meet some others to go for planetshakers concert at max pavilion, expo there... haha... however it wasnt a good experience for us... firstly, those people holding tickets for us were stuck inside and couldnt come out cause if they did, their seats would be gone... secondly, the ushers from the church organizing the event sucks big time manz... so we just ended up having dinner cause we were too hungry to do anything else... and claire dragged josh lim, and indirectly me, into the john little sale happening at expo also... after that then went to playground near jon's house... where we could hear almost glimpses of every instrument from the planetshakers concert, particularly the bass guitar... how i pity those people inside manz

and comes 14th april... having to endure the official first day of life in nanyang polytechnic... the sianzation of meeting your new classmates, and nonetheless, the new lifestyle and all... but overall was good... not as bad as i would imagine... haha... met mjay at first to bring me to my first classroom venue... but as the days of the first week went on... it got better... and not too long till i find myself in a clique... unconsciously formed... however still a little displeasure, but more or less we're quite together lah... oh ya... my class is made up of only 9 guys outta 30 students

aka BFG

looks geeky rite? lol

all taken by my all-new MacBook!... so cool... have been eyeing on a MacBook for God knows how long... and entering poly is such a great 'excuse' to getting a laptop, and particularly, a MacBook... haha... am still loving this new best friend of mine... lol

that's about it for the moment... am tired liao... shall be back soon (i hope) to blog about darlene zshech in New Creation Church last sunday

=\p

shhh. quiet.. you might piss somebody off

2008-04-10T17:17:00.001+08:00

ok... 21st March 2008 dated for my last blog... looks like i've gotta go a long way back in terms of recalling what happened to update this blog here... haiz

22nd March, Saturday... was asked by Jason for Mjay and I do come help out for sound at ARROW young working adults service since Clement was away at Israel... had a fun time there... was the one mixing, somehow... and the musicians were wild seeing both of us there... for some reason... Isaac the guitarist was like, "Mjay, you're here. and Jack too. Amen!"... and the musicians were also being ultra crappy... Angie had me called James, "Jane"... and James would refuse to sing for me unless I called him Jane... and when I go like, "can I have Joan (play for me)?"... Angie replied, "nope. you're late. she's taken already."... lol... sound was great... haha... accordingly to Mjay and Jason... though i felt it was just normal... Mjay commented, "of course lah... Jack grow up in sound here one mah"

23rd March, sunday... was serving but doing nothing heavy... just assisting Jason at FOH for all 4 services... no stress... hehe

30th March, the next sunday... was serving at monitor for all 4 services... Anthony was short-handed... in terms of manpower, not physically... haha... just teasing... but serving there was fun... hadnt been doing monitor for quite some time already... and Jerald Thio was hanging around with me during lunchtime, eating at the ROCK office and all... and there was a time a few of us were guessing how old Jerald Thio was... and most of them judged based on his size, looks, behavior, etc... the average response: 10 years old!... haha

01st April... Mjay suddenly smsed me to ask me out for dinner... he had cravings for Roti John at the Bedok Market... haha... of course I on lah... stay at home so bored sia... but for a while I doubted... was it an April Fool's joke... haha... but in the end we did meet up lah... haha... after that went over to Dhoby Ghaut to play arcade... and Mjay looked kinda kuku when he was engrossed over one of the car racing games

03rd April... went for sun tanning with Mjay at Sentosa... however it was pretty much in vain... cause for like less than an hour... clouds started to come and spoil our day... and had to seek shelter and wash up already

05th April, last Saturday... was doing FOH for DARE and ARROW students service... haha... mixing was fun, as usual... especially during one DARE service when they sang the song Amazing Grace, My Chains Are Gone... it was just after the preaching one... then I really had the flow and the urge to whack the volume, and feed lotsa reverb and vocal delays... it felt shiok for a while... and when I looked up and around... I was so touched as I saw all the hands lifted and the people being embraced by God's presence... indeed a wonderful sight... but after that... i tried to reproduce that in ARROW service... haha... failed... it was as though it was God's way of winking an eye at me and saying... in and of myself, what am I... but when His hands is upon me as I mixed the sound for Him... it will no longer be ordinary

tsk tsk... sleeping during preaching time

after the service... stayed back for a while to help with some setup... and supposedly had drum recording for the upcoming youth album... woohoo!!... but Mjay insisted with Lionel that he got to go back... so when we were done with what we were entasked... Eugene and I went back with Mjay... we're going over his place to stay over... however... when Eugene and I decided to go sleep at around 1am... we couldn't... probably cause of the Iced Milk Tea we had... we were so high lah... think we only sleep about 3am +

next morning... or rather... a few hours later... woke up at about 6am... brushed up and gotta go off to go suntec liao... and around 7am... received an sms from Jason saying "Jack I think you mix today. =) "... haha... must have stayed back until very late the day before... so was somehow mentally prepared to mix already lah... but there is some stress still remain inside... the stress that I havent been mixing FOH for sunday service for more than a month already... can I still get the sound that Lionel has been breathing down my neck for

I reached and prepared and did all the sound checks and all as per normal... and came 1st service... my cousin and his dad was actually here to attend service as well... sitting not far from the soundboard... so was uncertain whether if the sound was acceptable lah... but Lionel came down to hear the item and the walkout song... and to my surprize... he actually said it was good... just one or two minor pointers to take note... but overall, good... haha... so happy sia... I did not know what, I did not know how, but I just knew that God had somehow worked through me... and I pray He continues to do so... haha... subsequent services, according to Lionel, was good too

and I wonder if it was just me, or was it that the auditorium was ultra warm today... usually, will just feel warm lah... but that Sunday was drastic manz... I was perspiring while mixing during 4th service... but like I said, it could just be me since my mind and ears were 'serving' harder than the rest in the auditorium

and then came after service where Mjay and I did teardown for the stage... already the auditorium was so warm during service towards the end... and now we had to do "muscle work" with the aircon off-ed... so we were just perspiring like hell lor... but to make things worse... there came a few imps on our backs ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... and so I was pretty pissed over dinner time lah

and btw... an sms from Jason... lol... "guys, robin sneds his thanks to both of you for helping out at dare/arrow yesterday. he says sound check was awesome n not to mention the service as well. he said that the mix usually is just normal but yesterday was awesome. God sees wat u guys do even when no one sees =) thanks for serving."... haha... all glory to Jesus

monday night was spent watching movie with Foon... Run Fatboy, Run... damn nice... it's a should-watch manz... haha

tuesday and wednesday was spent working... tuesday from 0615 to 1730... wednesday from 1300 to 2230... around there lah... then after work on tuesday, got leaders meeting with pastor prince... haha... first time and wednesday after work, had to setup the stage... haha

and thursday, that is today... supposed to have my poly orientation... and also supposed to go to my secondary school go collect an award on the speech day one... but since I only left suntec last night at 0030 and slept at 0230... so as I had expected... I will oversleep and will pon the orientation... for the first day lah... but today I could have slept longer one... but at around 1030... I got woken up with my niece right beside me staring at me... haha... but interestingly... usually she will give the blur and -who-the-heck-are-you look... but today... she really loved me

tata

this is a title

2008-03-21T17:46:00.002+08:00

the week after i had my previous post was a school holiday... so took the opportunity to hang out with those few i miss... referring to old clique... particularly marlon and small jon... on tuesday night had servers' night at Rock Foyer and 6th floor... had quite of a fun time lah... then after that while waiting for the rest to be on our way back home together, i was busy doing this... haha... people thought i had gone bonkers

since it was a school holiday for secondary school students, small Jon asked if i would wanna stay over his place... of course i'm always open to invitations one lah... ok maybe not always, but most of the time... so i stayed over for two consecutive nights... just cause Jon said Marlon was coming to stay over on the second night... so ok lor... the three of us hanged outside until about 4am... then ate supper, or rather breakfast, at 5am... we only slept at about 6am... and when i woke up at 2pm... and this was what i saw

and that was weekday for that week for me... hehe

and next comes weekend... and yes... there's DARE service that saturday... and as discussed, Mjay will do FOH and i do monitor... and just as i was walking to the MRT station from my house... i received a phone call and heard a familiar voice, Youtyng's... and she was asking if i was walking to the MRT station and whether i was wearing red... haha... and bingo... she was right behind me in her car... needless to say... i've got a free ride from her to suntec... hehe... right place right time... doing monitor that day was great... no major hiccups... though the stress is still pretty much there... and just that there were one or two incidents where Eugene and i had confilicting ideas in the monitor room... i also forgot what for already... and we just threw out our opinions and got louder and louder... then i had to stop the quarrel by saying, "eh dont quarrel in front of the musicians lah. paiseh leh."... haha... and Mjay got a candid shot of me with his recent hobby, lomography... pardon the face, please... it was uber impromptu... that DARE service was fun

and came sunday... Jason is mixing again... haha... and me, as usual, to assist him... but that sunday was only so-so... didnt feel really happy or great about it... dont know why also... but anywayz... Jason's mix has improved since last sunday... haha

monday was spent for the rest and refreshing... again... just stayed at home and literally did nothing lor... except for blasting music and staying online on MSN lor... that part no need to state down black and white one... haha

tuesday and wednesday was spent shopping with Mjay... particularly for clothes and jeans... walked around Orchard and Bugis mainly... i spent more or less about 250$... Mjay probably around there also... there's also one shop which was being funny but weird... haha... when we walked in we could tell that salesperson was... *cough* gay... well... he could recommend us some clothes and give us tips on how to dress up... but he went the extra mile... he even helped us to dress up... and by that, i mean he help to adjust our clothes and thus touching us here and there... and for Mjay... i sort of saw at the corner of my eye... the guy and Mjay in the fitting room with the door half-closed... then the guy self-service to unzip Mjay and pull down the pants to, i think, tuck in the shirt for Mjay... when i saw one of Mjay's thigh exposed, i was like giggling and praying for him lor... haha

here... i'm just bored while waiting for Mjay... who, as usual, is late... but i really really really liked my hair... haha... my intention was just not to spike so high like how i usually would... but the effect is as shown... i'm loving it!

and here... just one store we walked past at Haji Lane... the picture speaks for itself

and here... a candid shot of Mjay... this is the last few hours of our 2-day shopping expedition... were at Bugis Junction slacking at Yoshinoya

and last of all... on my way home... there's this cat trying to get some sleep on a car... but apparently he could smell me nearby and woke up

the next day... that is thursday... which is yesterday... Eugene, Jerald, Mjay and I went to east coast park in the evening to cycle... cycled all the way to changi airport... rested for a while and watched a few planes land and take off... then had to be on way back to the east coast to return our bikes liao... sad thing though... we could not cycle all the way to the end of the cycling lane along changi airport runway... it looked really endless though... and here's my hair while resting along the airport runway... i hated this one... argh

that's it... pardon the very long post... it's just a handful of events being stuffed into one post... anyway... blame the pictures for taking so much space... haha... just kidding!

anything...

2008-03-13T15:27:00.000+08:00

goodness gracious... i'm actually running out of ideas for the title of my blogs... so do very pardon me if i write anything weird or off-topic k... the title for this blog is only the beginning... lol!

well... there goes my very very busy week... but nonetheless... it was a one filled with satisfactory... the feeling you get at the end of it... but if every week like that then i'll just pengsan lah

as mentioned... monday was like my only rest day... but Jerald kept pestering me to go out lah... but i had to insist not to cause i know myself best... hehe... so Tuesday to Friday was spent at suntec... i literally awesomely miss the sunlight sia... these few days never see it at all... have to reach suntec as early as 0630 and be dismissed from work at about 1830... except for Friday lah... was given grace time to sleep a while longer since i have been at faithfully working and sacrificing sleep... so friday only had to reach suntec at 1030... and throughout this week Mjay and i were working together... just that he doing lights i doing steward... but nonetheless we can relax together during in-betweens break time and have dinner together after work... yea

next day was Saturday... had DARE2Play 4... i, obviously, wasnt involved in the games... and i very much thank God i wasnt involved so after i heard those embarassing moments imposed from the games played... such as doing chicken dance out loud around chinatown... ouch... supposed to reach rock auditorium at 1000... but thank God Lionel came at 1020 to do setup together... cause Mjay hell outta overslept... so Lionel and I did the stage setup... then after that he left me alone to do all the cabling works... but not an issue lah... since i had all the time from 1200 to 1530 to do it... even got them to pause and play with the dual-miking on the electric guitar vox amp and jam on the drums... haha... then once Youtyng and Michael come in and Youtyng went, "wah you can play drums ah?"

I was doing FOH and Eugene and Mjay at Monitor... Eugene came in at around 1530 and Mjay at 1600... so on the dot when sound check was supposed to start lah... and somehow the sound check had to overrun and end at 1815... though it was stated on the schedule that sound check was from 1600 - 1815... but i thought there was well excess time... but neither did i know we actually took that long... haha... then had a quick dinner at the rock office after that then gotta go stand in our position... coach philip does a debrief and a closing section of the games, a dance item, and praise and worship starts

the band does the "united we stand" intro instrumental... that song and that mix started great... but when the vocals come in... my mix started becoming wayward sia... definitely not a pleasant thing... the instruments were pretty much messy... and the backup singers and choir were not really helping... it's either i bring up and their singing sucked or i just get feedback in return... that was the part before Pastor Daniel took over the stage... then Pastor shared a little then continued with the second part of praise and worship again... this time i finally got the mix right... somehow... hehe... Youtyng shared the same view as well... cause she commented that the second part of praise and worship, she felt like jumping... haha

after everything has ended and we finished packing up... Eugene and I went over Mjay's house stay over... omg so tired... was having dumbells attached to my eyelids on the way to his place... and the next day had sunday service... woke up at about 0620 and only reached suntec at about 0745... an official late time... thank God i aint mixing this sunday... Jason is again... cause will definitely black out halfway... with all the activities going on for the whole week

that was about the weekend... be back to blog more again

lie with me, forget the world

2008-03-03T17:51:00.001+08:00

wow... it's been some time since I last blogged... again... now where do I start

last sunday... like I said... I aint mixing... Jason our new full time sound engineer in church was mixing... so that day was pretty much a relaxing one for me... the only sound thing I had to do was to do monitor for 1st service... since the person on duty informed that he would be late... so I stood in for him until after praise and worship... and then had to sit in 3rd service... and that's all... nothing else to stress about

on monday... Jerald rang me up asked if wanna go out... was a little reluctant lah... cause monday is a worn-out day after all the sunday services the day before one... but he was kinda pestering lah... so we went out lor... went to east coast park and rented bicycles... then were determined to cycle to suntec city... haha... went to leisure park to take a break and have a drink, then went along nicoll highway to suntec city

Jerald cycling with national stadium behind him

then on thursday... had work... finally... since february have so few events to work for... so my afternoon was spent at rock auditorium, suntec city

then on friday... had work in the morning again... reached suntec at about 0715 and worked till about 1400... then went up to the church office at 4th floor to "disturb" Anthony and Jason... haha... just to pass time before the sound ministry meeting with Deacon Jack at 1930... and that was friday for me

on saturday... had DARE service at rock auditorium... and as discussed... I do FOH and Mjay do monitor for DARE service... then Mjay do FOH and I do monitor for ARROW service... however the plan failed big big time... anyway for DARE service... I feel sad for Mjay... Jason had to do sound in the foyer... so Mjay had to do the roll of a stage manager and monitor engineer... sighz... on my end, i really really liked the sound... especially my drums... haha... Foon shared the same thought... volume wise... being a youth service... I mixed at an average range of volume of 99 - 103dB... and peaked at 108dB... haha

as next lineup was ARROW service... Mjay and I swopped duty... and when I reached monitor, I was lost as to where Mjay had left off... and so did Mjay when he reached FOH... but for him it's simply recalling the NCC template setting... but for me, i cant... so i had to spend time fixing all the changes and stuff... in the end... pastor Benjamin was pissed and he called for sound check to cut no matter if we are finished a not... bad bad... so for the musicians, and for Mjay, praise and worship was bad... but at least walkout was much better... and even pastor was being funny... Pastor went to Jen to say to do the song "My Future Decided" and "Lord Of All"... but pastor said, "My History Decided"... haha

after ARROW service... while ARROW servers had debriefing... I was on stage clearing up and getting ready for tomorrow's service... so I don't have to come that early the next day... after that Mjay and I went to Marina Square to eat at Cavana... then we were not satisfied... for Mjay was usual lah... but for me, it was rare I aint full after my first round... so went to Citilink TCC... Mjay's been rather diet-conscious these days... he ordered salmon salad... I only ate one roll of salmon while he finished all the veggie and two other rolls of salmon... I couldn't stand it... I went to order cheesecake... haha... so much better than that "low fat high protein shit" salad... haha... after that went home and slept at about 0100

Mjay and I at Marina Square Cavana

on sunday... reached suntec at about 0715 and got ready for mixing... I was trying to go for a clean and soft approach... haha... quite nice and pleasant lah... I felt... so it was so for 1st and 2nd service... until 3rd service when Lionel came down... but it wasnt so much of a regret... he just said that my mix is nice but it's a little on the safe side... and that Bob Fitts songs can afford to whack quite a bit one... haha... praise God... at least he didnt use the term "your mix sucks!" and figuratively throwing me off the PM1D sound console... haha... so 3rd and 4th service, i just whacked the volume a bit more

after that... Foon, Mjay and I had to quickly clear the stage... then Foon pangseh-ed us first while Mjay and I had steward job to do... just for an hour and a half... haha... at least got some money to earn lah... after that Josiah, Mjay and I went to Marina Square Hong Kong Cafe to have a late dinner... Josiah's treat... thanks bro... by then we were ultra tired already lah... at least for Mjay and me lah

Mjay and I in the same toilet on two consecutive sundays with me posing with the same smile. =D

And here's the irritating but interesting thing... Last saturday and sunday people we know who see Mjay and me together have been saying both of us are brothers... looks alike... same kind of hair... etc etc... lol

Anywayz from last thursday... will be busy all the way... monday, which is today, is my only rest day... from tomorrow, tuesday onwards to friday... have work from early morning to evening... friday night got sound ministry training course... saturday morning Mjay and I got to setup the stage for DARE2PLAY 4 Concert at Rock Auditorium... afternoon can have lunch and slack slack a bit while the youths go outta suntec for their games... evening got sound check and night got the concert itself... and sunday, serving sunday services... thank God I ain't mixing... or I'll black out... lol

okie that's it... tata

the horizon shows the sign

2008-02-21T10:28:00.000+08:00

on saturday... as usual had dare service since it was the third saturday of the month... however... it is indeed from glory to glory... cause this dare service was slightly different from other dare services... that is a change in location... to ROCK AUDITORIUM!!... haha... it was quite of a headache on the planning part... we have been communicating via email... and just so happened it was chinese new year season... so when i wanna reply an email... i always get the "out-of-office" reply since the church office is closed for chinese new year

so after a few instructions from Peer, our DARE Ops head, and discussing with Jason, our new full-time sound engineer... we came to a conclusion regarding servers' assignment... that is Mjay to run FOH for both DARE and Arrow, then I will run Monitor, for both also... since Mjay voiced out that it has been some time since he last did FOH... so i thought to just let him run lor, no harm what... on the not-so-happy part, i was kinda frustrated that DARE is once again on their hard-n-fuzz mode... when i was discussing with Peer, Peer was being very strict that all DARE servers are to be on the observing mode and to watch arrow servers run the whole operations... it was only when i voiced out that Jason is having some difficulty roping in experienced arrow servers, and that i was trained in Monitor for main service before... then Peer was a little easier on me... but still strong on if there was an experienced arrow server, i will have to hands-off and let him run Monitor... i was thinking, "wassup manz!"

on sunday... was running FOH again... first service was bad... and Lionel had to come down and fix this fix that... haiz... however... there was a thing or two that i feel unhappy about... i just feel a little cheated lah... it's like that sunday, and for the past few sundays as well... Lionel has been saying, "my mix sucks... my mix sucks"... over and over again... sunday after sunday... but that sunday, deacon jack came down to FOH and listened to the sound... i think it was 3rd service walkout... and deacon jack actually commented that my mix had improved a lot since my first day mixing... it's like with the position and respect that deacon jack has, and himself being very particular about music and sound ministry... him speaking is as though God is speaking lor... figuratively lah... and for quite some time, I've been having this angel-devil thingy in my head

on monday... it seems that all mondays since the start of this year... monday has been like a hospital stay day for me... cause often monday i feel very tired and very moody over all that happened on sunday... it's like sunday running FOH is like being in a warzone... a warzone that i always seem to be the receiving end of all the bullets and grenades... so i get injured on a sunday and get admitted and stay in a hospital on the monday... sometimes it really leads me to think... yes... as a server, we should be putting in our utmost effort to bring the best in what we do to the congregation... and on the server, serving should be something refreshing, something fulfilling and satisfactory... because we serve because He first served us... but for me, serving has been something burdensome, worrysome, draining... this is so wrong... i'm feeling confused =(

btw... on tuesday... i got my jae posting results... praise God... i got into my first choice... integrated events and project management @ singapore poly... however... i'm appealing to go into my second choice instead... hospitality and resort management @ nanyang poly... cause i'm feeling that that gives me a more promising future... hehe

ok that's about it... thank God i aint mixing at FOH this sunday again... i really need a break from this warzone thing... i'm running out of medicine and bandages already... sobz... i'm speechless

yesterday was valentine's day... haha

2008-02-15T11:45:00.001+08:00

wow... so long since i last blogged... actually is it long?... it's been like, 8 days?... oh well

actually this week could have been so boring... cause with chinese new year just around the corner (*wonders why is it called "around the corner*)... there aint many events been held on February... no events = no work... sobz... but hey... chinese new year rings the bell manz... first thing comes into mind... ANGBAOS!... or at least on the receiving end lah... haha... so wednesday, thursday and friday was spent visiting relatives and stuff... and having to go through the yearly routine of "wow you've grown so big" from relatives and all... haha... at the end was kinda tired lah... from all the going out and dressing up and doing my hair for how many consecutive days... ... it all ended on a friday... and especially my hair, needs a break manz... haha

weekend was spent at Indoor Stadium... Saturday was the setup and soundcheck day... reported at 4pm... and meh... just when i wanted to pass through the security guard, i kena stopped... "excuse me, you're not allowed to wear slippers you know?"... lol... i talkback lah... "i dont know"... the security guard, "i can't allow you to go in if you wear slippers leh"... then i said, "oh... so what you expect me to do? go home and change to shoes then come back again? the people are waiting for me inside already leh"... the security guard, "who's your leader, i want to speak to your leader."... then i said, "ok... i go inside and find him"... and i never came out... haha... of cause until the end of the day lah... but then i think this is bloody nonsense lah... later Mjay and Laurence also came in in slippers, then so did Jolyn... LOL. too bad for the security guard lor... but seriously... what else can we do in that point in time

and after today... honestly... i finally knew why soundcheck at indoor stadium is considered a warzone... haha... i was being the monitor engineer and Mjay the stage manager... so with communication between the two of us having to be direct, accurate and fast, there's bound to be some miscommunications and unhappiness one... so on the bad side, it's like as though Mjay and i are throwing grenades at each other, then we try to dodge them... and sometimes we're not satisfied with grenades, we fire the missiles from behind us... that kind... however on the good side, we actually can clear up our used ammunitions pretty fast and effectively... like after sound check, we sit down and talk and act as if nothing has happened... praise God eh?... forgot what time we manage to finish the checks and reach home... but i only remember i only slept for about 4 hours

so on Sunday... had to reach Indoor Stadium at 7am... sunday was just mainly some fine-tuning part also... and Sunday was also the time we used our missiles... figuratively lah... we had our biggest miscomm and things arent looking too good... but like i said, we clear up the used ammunitions and actually carry on with sound check... like within seconds... service wise... on the monitor side, i felt it was good and smooth lah... except for the part when Pastor Prince comes up... hmmm... but i did hear some news that the front-of-house mix aint good... and even from where Mjay and I were, and even with my in-ears on, i could hear the mad delays (aka echoes) that were been pumped up too much and going astray... lol

during sermon time Mjay and I went to 7-11 outside... just to get a drink and chill... from all the stress we had for the past few hours and the day before... hehe... however did find a few familiar faces out there as well... apparently we have a few DARE youths who pontank service also... tsk tsk... and after the sermon... we had an interesting time of watching the brass performing with the band a hokkien song... of which Foon was playing in it as well... haha... seeing him perform on stage was not the highlights lah, but mainly the past few rehearsals they had... but it sure was amazing... how crap the brass was can become audibly pleasant in like, 2 weeks

after service... Foon, Mjay and I went to Marina Square to eat... then play pool... then Mjay pang seh us as the two of us went to watch a movie... Kung Fu Dunk... and here's a review... "catch the movie while you still can"... haha... it's actually quite an enjoyable show lah... and also... do watch CJ7 also... haha... both quite same same and good

that marks the end of the week... never felt so fatigue by the end of the week before... must have been all the chinese new year... haha

as for the following week, which is this week... not much of an excitement... just that yesterday, wednesday, we had a meeting of sound and music ministry together, regarding sunday service sound check procedures... then today, just had work in the early morning... got to reach ROCK at 7am leh... omg!... but at least it wasnt a full day thing lah... so not so bad... haha

everything else.. seem so small

2008-02-05T12:05:00.000+08:00

ok... i'm actually not really in the mood to blog... but just recently have been listening to this song... "so small" by carrie underwood... i love this song cause it really speaks about life... nevertheless... it never fails to lift me up as i think about the lyrics of this song as it reminds me that with the love of Jesus... it sure makes everything else... seem so small

What you got if you ain't got love
The kind that you just want to give away
It's okay to open up
Go ahead and let the light shine through

I know it's hard on a rainy day
You want to shut the world out
And just be left alone
But don't run out on your faith

Cause sometimes that mountain you've been climbing is just a grain of sand
What you've been out there searching for forever is in your hands
When you figure out love is all that matters after all
It sure makes everything else seem so small

It's so easy to get lost inside
A problem that seems so big at a time
It's like a river that's so wide
It swallows you whole

While you sit around thinking about what you can't change
And worrying about all the wrong things
Time's flying by, moving so fast
You better make it count cause you can't get it back

Sometimes that mountain you've been climbing is just a grain of sand
And what you've been out there searching for forever is in your hands
When you figure out love is all that matters after all
It sure makes everything else seem so small

Sometimes that mountain you've been climbing is just a grain of sand
What you've been out there searching for forever is in your hands
When you figure out love is all that matters after all
It sure makes everything else
Oh it sure makes everything else
Seem so small

The Judgement Day

2008-01-26T11:11:00.000+08:00

sorry it took quite some time for me to churn out this blog post... hmmm

on 24th January 2008, Thursday... it was the judgment day for all o-level candidates of 2007... yupyup... it was the release of results

went to meet up with Mark, WenWei and Ernest at bedok interchange... then head on down to Wenwei's place cause he has yet to shower and change into school uniform, and i needed to spray my hair black... or else... God knows... manz... i think the black spray can is at least half used up after that day already... afterwhich... we went to buy bubble tea and head down to school already... still rather early when we reached school... so joined the other classmates in the canteen and waited for time to pass

finally at about 2pm... the doors were open and we went into the hall... heartbeats raised, perspirations dripped as the anxiety increases as we await the collection of results... but before that, the principal had to talk talk talk talk about how the school has done... blah blah bleh bleh... but it was quite a relief as we heard her talk... haha... especially for my class lah... she mentioned pure physics, which only our class is taking, to have 78.8% distinctions... and pure chemistry, which only our class is taking also, to have 60.6% distinctions... and our overall results beat last year's flat... goodness gracious... Mrs. Quek our physics teacher went backstage to cry for a while... haha

after that they named the top 20 scorers for our school... going by number of distinctions lah... and i was like, "wtf? how on earth did those who goes lanning almost everyday after school made it to the top scorers list"... but never mind that

after that... they finally started to distribute the results slip... yupyup... my heart almost popped out... especially when i saw some people looking rather stoned as they tried to contain their feelings... other uncontrollable ones started bursting into tears... and soon it was my turn... lol... Mrs. Quek, the form teacher, look at me, then i look at her... like conveying some kind of message via eye contact... but anyway, got the necessary documents and left

then Cheryl Ang called me up and asked where i was... then rushed to me... haha... i past her the orange slip of paper which contained the individual grades of the subjects... while i tried to open my Form A... then she counted my L1R4 and L1R5 aloud, which aint helping me... my hand was trembling as i was still peeling open my Form A... and to much of a amazement and amusement and whatever have you... what Cheryl Ang counted was so right... jesus christ!!... i screamed out loud lah... here's my results:-

English Language
B3
Combined Huamnities
B4
Mathematics
A1
Additional Mathematics
B3
Physics
A1
Chemistry
A2
Chinese
C6

which means my

L1R4 = 10
L1R5 = 15

truly really by Gods grace manz... God heard my prayers... i still recalled the prayers i made in the midst of exams like, "God grant me and my answer scripts favor with the markers", or "Jesus Christ. I'm writing crap here. Lord help me blind the markers for this question k?"... well... selfish and rather weird prayers... but still... all glory to Jesus Christ amen... needless to say... i'm darn happy with my results lah

apart from this... we also heard that Mrs. Chng our chemistry teacher was hospitalized and now resting at her mum's place... manz... she was one of the teachers who really put in a lot of effort in helping us leh... wanna meet her and tell her our good news also cannot

so that marks the end of the judgment day... Shimin, ChunJie, HongSiang and I lingered around in school till around 1830... haha... to meet our teachers for the last time and visit the school on our last official day... graduation day... a day of very mixed feelings... haha... sobz

electrified distortion

2008-01-22T11:33:00.001+08:00

yesterday was a monday... i woke up still feeling somewhat tired from the after effect of the day before from mixing all 4 services... and just when i thought i was gonna have Monday Blues staying at home having nothing to do... Mark messaged me if i wanna go cut hair today... haha... of course i was ON lah

met at Bugis at about 3 and went to Reds Salon... and while waiting for our hair stylist... Mark found the power of reflections in the salon

Mark and I had our hair cut thin and a little trimmed on its length... but i had something extra... it was time i changed my hair color and try something new... dyed my hair mahogany reddish-brown kind... but the part that was bleached originally came out red color... haha... great... i've got a two tone now... my $117.70 was worth it... i like it lah

after the Salon went to walk around Bugis Junction... walked past a shop where i kinda like their clothes... but didnt buy any of them lah... cause need to watch my spending after the salon thingy... but should be coming back soon one day to get them... haha... and also we walked past a restaurant where business seems to be so bad... they had to call upon elmo to be their customer

after that we went to Toast Box to sit down and Mark wanted to get something to fill his stomach a little... and in the mean time... he unknowingly did quite a few spastic faces while he was drinking... it would look natural if you see Mark in motion, nothing wrong with it... but on snapshot, it's a different story altogether

later went to sakae to have an early dinner at about 6pm... where Mark seems to cant stop being high and making spastic faces

and after dinner we headed to the mrt station to head on home... and past by the Wallet Shop where something caught our attention

and at the mrt station... we almost lost our lives... a train was approaching us... but fortunately Jesus protected us from dying

okok... that's about it... for this post i mainly made the pictures do the talking... probably ran outta words from the previous post liao... haha... be back to update again... tata

hiding inside the horrible weather

2008-01-21T10:35:00.000+08:00

hmm... this week seems to be just ok-ok kind... not exactly great... but nonetheless still held on and secured in Jesus Christ (=

this week is one of my busiest week ever as compared to the other weeks while waiting for my results to come out... tuesday afternoon, wednesday whole day, and thursday night was spent at rock auditorium working as a steward... while wedneday night was spent at noel building attending the main service band rehearsal... actually asked to leave early from work for wednesday one... so i have some time go back home wash up and travel to noel building... but it wasnt approved... but anyway the good part was that Winston offered me a ride to noel building from suntec... wee... favor sia

friday... supposed to have work in the morning but asked for off... cause wanted to rest and conserve some energy for saturday DARE service and sunday mixing all 4 services... but apparently Lionel wasnt quite happy with the fact that i didnt work on that friday... meh... Lionel seems to be picking me a lot these days... having mixed feelings leh... don't know whether to feel happy or irritated about it... anyway still went suntec on friday afternoon to setup ROCK stage for arrow service and sunday service, together with Foon and Lionel... but on my way to suntec i had craving for Old Chang Kee's curry puff... cheap and good... then i thought about the rest, Lionel, Foon, Youtyng, Michael... so decided buy one for the rest also... and manz... thank God i abided with the flow... Youtyng and Michael were so happy... apparently i broke the record... i was the first steward ever to buy food for them... haha... even on sunday Youtyng was still bragging to some others about my offering

after setup... Anthony came down to discuss about equipment allocation for this sunday... cause we have up to 6 singers for 3rd and 4th service... at least they werent gonna sing concurrently lah... anywayz we had to dig out a spare beltpack for Angie... and when we finally found it... i was thinking since this beltpack should only be used for one sunday only, might as well personalize it for Angie and make her feel happier... so i labelled the beltpack "Angie Baby =D"... after that followed Lionel around to get his clothes tailored... then guided him to Chai Chee TechnoPark to pick some people up... then gave me a complimentary ride to East Coast where i met Jerald Thio and Joshua to bowl... then after that went to the arcade above Marine Bowl to play a few games... and Jerald and i were playing this motorbike game which was damn hilarious... it's hard to explain here, but anyway, we laughed really hard... we separated at around 2200 to sleep cause next day still got DARE Service

early on Saturday morning... Jolyn smsed me to say i had yet to inform the rest what time to report... so quickly checked email to see if there were emails about DARE Service details... cause didnt have time to check the past few days mah... and after that... i almost went mad manz... Eugene did tell me earlier that he had lotsa homework so couldnt come that saturday... that I forgave him already... but Justin messaged me that last minute saying he has lotsa heaven homework also... Benjy also messaged me that last minute saying he thought DARE was the following week, so he didnt ask for leave from CCA... gosh... that leaves Jolyn and me alone to run DARE Sound... manz... it was still manageable lah, but both of us had to stress and stretch ourselves really thin... anywayz... initially when praise n worship started... sound sounded bad big-time... particularly cause Alwin's e.guit amp died on him... LOL... but by the last song of the praise n worship... it sounded awesome... why? why the last song?... haha

and on Saturday... my recently-made new friend seems to be sticking me like a glue... not that i found him irritating lah... even when i went down to rock auditorium take some stuffs, or went studio, he was following me manz... haha... here's a snapshot

on sunday reached rock at about 7am... but at least i had pretty much finished with setup on friday afternoon... except for the choir mics which the arrow service touched it... manz... Foon did it so nicely for me and it was destroyed... why? why?... anywayz on sunday morning when the musicians came in... Angie was so happy and found the label so cute... haha... mission accomplished... Jolyn was doing monitor then and she sent me this message when i was at FOH... "Hahaha angie say so cute got smiley face one.. den tot i draw LOL"... but later Anthony told Angie that it was one small boy who drew it... then first person Angie thought of it was me... haha

first service... sound was not as fantastic... but anyway Laurence was telling me say first service is usually the guinea pig... cause when the crowd comes in the sound will change one... so sound check may sound awesome, but when service starts, the sound is havoc... so i just took it as it is lor... and at least it was decent... hehe... second service started to be better after some fine-tuning after 1st service... just that i seem to be whacking a little... anyway had lunch with Justin and Jerald at Just Noodles during 2nd service sermon time... it was good fellowship... another snapshot during lunchtime

3rd service Lionel came in... and the first comment was, "wah LOUD LOUD LOUD!"... the analyzer registered 98, 99dB... manz... quickly pull down lah... then i started to think if i was a little deaf that sunday... gosh... but Lionel said that my mix only sounded good when i mixed loud... once i tried to go soft, the mix gets messed up liao... hmmm... one area i got to improve and really really go softer next sunday... sitting in 1st service wasnt enough... i still had to sit in 3rd service... haha... middle of sermon i went off for a while... needed some refreshments and toilet break cause i was darn tired... but felt better after that lah

4th service was mixed slightly softer and with more dynamics compared to last sunday... but still not as good... manz... what's wrong with me this sunday sia... and the worse part came when Pastor Prince wanted to worship after he preached... Lionel had to take over that portion... but later Lionel said he didnt blame me because he didnt tell me about the part of understanding the psychology of Pastor Prince... but other than that, he said i looked really blur... quite true lah... i knew what was going on, but probably was just too tired... sianz

hence... this week didnt end with a very good note... Lord i need Your grace to carry me through

Evanescence -- Sweet Sacrifice

2008-01-17T15:05:00.000+08:00

It's true
We're all a little insane
But it's so clear
Now that I'm unchained

Fear is only in our minds
Taking over all the time
Fear is only in our minds
But it's taking over all the time

Your poor sweet innocent thing
Dry your eyes and testify
You know you live to break me, don't deny
Sweet sacrifice

One day
I'm gonna forget your name
And one sweet day
You're gonna drown in my lost pain

Fear is only in our minds
Taking over all the time
Fear is only in our minds
But it's taking over all the time

Your poor sweet innocent thing
Dry your eyes and testify
And oh you love to hate me, don't you honey?
I'm your sacrifice

[I dream in the darkness
I sleep to die
Erase the silence
Erase my life

Our burning ashes
Blacken the day
A world of nothingness
Blow me away]

Do you wonder why you hate?
Are you still too weak to survive your mistakes?

Your poor sweet innocent thing
Dry your eyes and testify
You know you live to break me, don't deny
Sweet sacrifice

spice up thy life

2008-01-15T11:48:00.000+08:00

am back for my weekly post... lol

well... last week... at least i didnt spend every day of the week idling at home in front of the computer... worked as a steward at rock auditorium on thursday and friday... lol... thursday was just, normal... but friday was an interesting one... i was paid 75 $ for doing almost nothing... oh well... maybe just to run errands such as helping Youtyng buy food... but most of my time was spent reading newspaper, talking to Lionel, Laurence and Anthony about sound ministry plans for the month of January... then by right Youtyng actually asked Lionel and I to finish work by 1800 one... then somehow at about 1745, the client said they wanted to do some mic testing... so in the end stayed around a little longer until Youtyng said she'll pay us until 2000... haha... and here's the best part... Youtyng had me standby at the soundboard to help Lionel out... but again most of the time we were just talking... how nice

saturday... supposed to have work... but i told them i'll not be available... cause gonna visit some polytechnic open houses with Eugene... thank God manz... for a moment i was praying under my breath that i wanna go some poly open houses but didnt want to go alone... since the rest of my school friends were going either on thursday or friday... then Eugene dropped me an sms on thursday asking if i was going open houses, and said he'll wanna go along also... praise Jesus... so we met at about 1130 and our first destination was Singapore Poly... walked around the booths and was given a lot of pamphlets and listened to a lot of people talked about their course, of which half the stuff goes in one ear and comes out the other... except for one course which lit up both Eugene and my eyes... a course of integrated events and project management... haha

until about 1330... took a bus to King Albert Park to have lunch at macs... haha... reminded us of DARE2PLAY 3... then after that took a bus to Nanyang Polytechnic, where Mjay seems to be waiting frantically for us... lol... upon reaching... registered and all that... followed by a slap on the back by Mjay... then he and two other friends brought us around the school, showing us the classrooms, libraries, and the food places... some of these places other guests would not have an opportunity to visit... and more than 75% of the time they were telling us about their course, Media Studies and Management... probably they're trying to psycho us... then about 20% taking to us about food places and the good food to hunt there... 5% talking crap.. haha... not bad not bad... Eugene and I felt like we were treated with personal attention... unlike Singapore Poly where they just treated us like a bunch of visitors... lol... then we went to a food place because Mjay had been complaining about his hungry and empty stomach

left Nanyang Poly at about 1815 and took a train... Eugene went home while I went to suntec to setup the stage for sunday service, together with Foon... of course Lionel was there too... finished at around 2135... then ate some leftovers from the event that day and went home... gotta rest tight cause gonna run FOH the next day again... anyway Lionel and I also discussed for me to mix at rock auditorium for the whole month of January... i was shocked lah but accepted the challenge... haha

on sunday reached rock audi at about 0700... had to quickly do setup and prepare for service... thank God Laurence was there to help me out... if not i would peng san... looks like i'm gonna have to come earlier in future... Lionel helped me out for the start since there was item and all... he mixed the first two service while i did 3rd 4th... for 3rd and 4th service Lionel kinda left me alone... at least Mjay was there to guide me... 3rd service was ok ok... volume was just right, not too loud... i think... just that Laurence commented that my mix tends to be drums-heavy... but later Mjay said that my mix is not drums-heavy lah... just that Laurence's mix is not drums-heavy, so he thinks mine is

coming to 4th service... yea i know... i'm kind of whacking the volume... and also put more delay on Sean Goh's voice compared to 3rd service... once a spike of the delay was audibly heard... and Mjay jumped and went like, "what the hell is that?"... lol... but in general... i preferred the mix for 4th service than 3rd... or was it just nicer because it was louder... oh well... nonetheless, i enjoyed myself... and again Laurence commented that my mix was better than last sunday's... just that there is still room for improvement... and tells me to add more details to spice up my mix... lol... anyway was dead beat after 4th service and tearing down the stage and stuff... my mind literally went blank on our way back home... so much so i even forgot to message Lionel that we were finished with the stage... of course he gave me a lecture the next day

anywayz... i also made a new friend in the past week... Jerald Thio... haha... he really reminded me of myself when i was younger lah... he was so much exactly like me when i was his age... haha... of course we cliqued pretty well and all... also had lunch with him that sunday during 2nd service... i gave him a treat... blessed to be a blessing mah... then a few DARE youths saw us eating at macs together... and they talked among themselves quite loudly... of which they questioned if we were brothers... -.-... but just when we left macs... someone commented out loud, "gosh he's too small"... lol

anywayz this week will be a packed one for me... on Monday went to Mark's place to play pool, had dinner at Cafe Cartel and went 77th street bought a shirt... Tuesday, afternoon, which is today, would be spent working... Wednesday morning and afternoon working, and at night gotta attend main service band rehearsal... Thursday afternoon to go cut hair and color my hair another color... most probably highlighting red... then at night got work... Friday to setup stage with Foon... Saturday got DARE Service... Sunday running FOH for all 4 services again

it's a very very long post... that i know... haha... guess i'll only be back next week to update my blog... tata

tsk tsk

2008-01-07T17:25:00.000+08:00

this weekend has been a busy and tough one... cause it was very different..............

saturday... only a little of a difference... had DARE Service as usual... except that we had one thing additional... that 1st DARE Service of the year 2008 was kicked off with the launch of the DARE Choir... haha... so just needed to spend a little extra effort and time to fix up the choir mics, Neumann KM184 (if you know what that is) and tweaking the EQ... it sounded good enough, considering it was my first time to mike up choir, and the choir members' first time appearing on stage and singing... will get used to it... other than that... sound was pretty good, but it actually could be better... haha... after DARE Service had dinner with Mjay, Esther, and a large bunch of ARROW servers whom I do not know... but they were friendly... haha

sunday... that was the day with a lot of difference... because serving in main service took on a new roll for me... it was my first time i was doing FOH... that was much of an anxiety for me... for first service lionel did the first part of the mixing... sort of to set a standard for me to follow... then afterwhich hand over to me during holy comm... the only mixing i did for first service was the walkout song... and one word, screwed

second service i mixed... with Deacon Jack beside me... so Lionel obviously expected no mistakes, high-class standard lah... so demanded quite a lot from me... which obviously runs a high risk of me blanking out... but later Lionel and i went for lunch lah... then explained why he was been more harsh and all... haha... second service walkout... still not there yet... but better than the first service

third service... seems to be getting better... i somewhat managed to tune to Lionel's frequency of what he was getting at... especially on the vocals part... haha... nice analogy he thought me... "the vocals is where the money is... if the vocals sound good... your mix will sound good"... that was during praise and worship... however during walkout Lionel wasnt around... he went over to Convention Gallery West side... and since Laurence was sitting in, Laurence heard my mix for 3rd service walkout... haha... I tried to mix like how I did for praise and worship... but Laurence commented my mix was a little weird... then the way he was coaching me and stuff was for me to focus more on the instruments part... even telling me to cut my vocals reverb totally cause it's not necessary... for a while i got a kinda confused

forth service praise and worship... Lionel still wasnt around... Laurence hanged around FOH for a time during praise and worship then left afterwards... but Laurence seemed to like the mix then... lol... however after praise and worship when the holy comm pastor came on stage, Youtyng came over to FOH and said, "not bad, but can be better... dont think i dont know how to hear ah?"... then left... at least she had a positive expectation... during sermon went up to studio... rested a little... and got a short but great massage from Ah Foon... it was short because it was altar call by then already... lol... the walkout mix was also good... according to Lionel... i had followed the pyramid mix thingy that he had been emphasizing all the while... but like what Youtyng said, it could be better lah

all in all... it didnt start off great... but it was progressive as i mixed on... not surprisingly, Lionel wanted me to mix again next sunday, taking MingJie's slot... hope i do not lose the momentum

Chris Tomlin -- Indescribable

2008-01-04T11:45:00.000+08:00

From the highest of heights to the depths of the sea = Creation's revealing Your majesty = From the colors of fall to the fragrance of spring = Every creature unique in the song that it sings = All exclaiming

Indescribable, uncontainable = You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name = You are an amazing God = All powerful, untamable = Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim = You are an amazing God

Who has told every lighting bolt where it should go = Or seen heavenly storehouses laden with snow = Who imagined the sun and gives source to its light = Yet conceals it to bring us the coolness of night = None can fathom

Indescribable, uncontainable = You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name = You are an amazing God = All powerful, untamable = Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim = You are an amazing God

You are an amazing God

Indescribable, uncontainable = You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name = You are an amazing God = All powerful, untamable = Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim = You are an amazing God

Indescribable, uncontainable = You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name = You are an amazing God = Incomparable, unchangeable = You see the depths of my heart and You love me the same = You are an amazing God

You are an amazing God

You see the depths of my heart and You love me the same = You are an amazing God = You see the depths of our hearts and You love us the same = You are an amazing God

2007 overview

2008-01-01T17:27:00.000+08:00

yea... 2007 had just passed away... it feels as though it was just a wink of an eye... but indeed it has been a great year... a year of blessings... a year of enjoyment... a year of favor... and not forgetting... a year of walking with Jesus Christ and living within my Savior's love... a love that pinned my Savior King on the cross... He wasnt murdered... He wasnt captured... He wasnt forced... but He laid down His life willingly and did it all because of love... so that His righteousness and all that He is is now ours to possess and enjoy

actually coming to think of it... people often say that time flies when they look back at the events that took place in the past... it wasnt all true that time really flew... it was just because that people often only see the incident as a whole but neglect the details that fill up the gaps in between... when the details are added and given weight to... the event feels as though it was longer and more worthwhile... haha... just my opinion lah

even though 2007 is now gone, it has been good... though there were incidents where it was disappointing and unpleasant... there had been way more good memories... truly, the Bible mentioned "evil DAY" and "good DAYS"... as the grammar suggests... there will be evil days... but i believe it is only a short time or just a season... but surely the good days will be much more and much better than the evil days

what does 2008 hold for me?... i also dont know... but one thing i know... 2007 is not as good as 2008... 2008 is going to be better, more fun, more favored, more blessed... because Jesus Christ walks beside me and leads me by hand... thank you Jesus... haha

btw... this new year wasnt spent alone at home in front of my computer waiting for the clock to strike midnight... Wenxuan had invited Josh Lim, Claire, Tecktee and me, and a few others who couldnt make it cause they're spending their new year somewhere else... met Tecktee first at Pasir Ris MRT at 1445 then went to Wenxuan's/Wenhui's place... Josh and Claire only came around 1930 when we had Pizza Hut for dinner... then we watched I Am Legend on the internet... though the quality sucked big time and the video and audio was not in sync... but at least we get the story... lol... then at about 2330 we cycled to Pasir Ris Park where we fellowshipped a little... i just learnt that the ships have a culture where when it's midnight on a new year day, they will sound their horns... haha... then we spent some time spamming our loved ones with sms-es of a word of blessing for the upcoming new year... then we went to Pasir Ris Park to play a little and climb the web thungy... hanged around there till 0430... then we cycled back to Wenxuan's/Wenhui's place... haha... it turned out that Josh, Claire and Tecktee all gotta leave at about 0600... so i stayed over alone... haha... but doesnt really matter lah... i fell fast asleep when i flew on the bed... the bed was very comfortable... but just not as comfortable as the hotel we went for DARE EJ3 Camp... hehe

tata

the hairy contrast

2007-12-25T15:45:00.001+08:00

the original one

the contrasted and glass-frosted one

the cartoon-ized one

just a random photo I took after a nice bathe... and edited a few copies when i was bored travelling on a bus... "blonde on jet black", as quoted frm Sean Goh... hehe

btw... blessed christmas to u all (=

so on...

2007-12-24T15:23:00.000+08:00

ok... with reference to my previous post... i'm pretty much back to normal already... it just gradually worn off... supernaturally natural... and during the weekdays... was pretty much a boredom for me... though i have a few activities here and there... see if i can recall

so on tuesday... i was still kinda fuming from the incident as vented on my previous post... called Josh Lim to ask if wanna go hang out anot... chill out at ecp or something... so in the end did met up during the night... but went to Jon's place... that fellow was still sleeping lor... goodness gracious... anywayz played a bit of pool and had supper... by then Jon woke up already... then i dont know what happened after that... cause we went back to Jon's place and i fell asleep... last noted time, 0330

so on wedneday... just woke up to find Jon dressing up and rushing off to his friend's birthday party... so i also left his place to head on home lor... and the rest of the day was pretty much spent slacking

so on thursday... left for Rock auditorium at about 1500... did a little christmas shopping before entering the Rock... soon after met Eugene also... we're doing sound for Royal Stewards Ministry gathering... pretty much a fun time... Chris Goh was the emcee... they had things like blessed draw, giving out of awards, and a little game of jackpot... just that this one was done with humans... but the concept is the same... they had to dance to some kind of jazz music and when the music stops... the group of 3 that poses the same kind of pose wins... funny indeed... at the end there was praise n worship, with just a keyboard and singer... pretty much an unpleasant one for me... Joy, the worship leader, grabbed a different mic, and the mix just didnt sound right altogether... of course didnt whack loud lah... already the sound not nice... anywayz it was just a short one... and that was the end

human jackpot... funny...nice

so on friday... supposed to be working as Stewards at Rock... but i requested not to... cause it was a full day thing... and considering the day before was doing sound for Royal Stewards ministry until pretty late... and considering the day after gonna be the monitor engineer for Christmas service at Indoor Stadium... so ought not i have a break... during the day also... Esther called if i could do sound for Arrow service that Saturday... cause Clement couldnt make it... so I agreed only to do sound check leh... during service i would have to leave for Indoor... so that was settled

so on saturday... had my lunch and left for suntec to do sound check for Arrow service... yea i liked the result... i wished i could stay for service to enjoy my result... but i couldnt... haha... but anywayz it turned out that Esther was the one who's gonna mix for service... i was thinking, "can anot?"... a video person doing sound... though she was from main church sound ministry before... but still a bit of unrest for me leh... so as planned... i left for Indoor Stadium at about 1630... Esther gave me $10 for my cab ride... how nice

so on saturday... again... to continue the second part of my day... reached Indoor Stadium at about 1645... only to find out from Anthony that UnUsUaL havent setup finish yet... so they were fellowshipping at Leisure Park's Coffee Bean... haha... Leisure Park just recently opened... a very nice place though... just that not all shops are ready yet... anywayz we went back to Indoor Stadium at about 1800... at least the monitor board was ready... got a little briefing and started our serving... haha... sound check was a little slow and unpleasant... as least i felt that way... it's like the stage operations was pretty much in a mess... especially when Laurence handed the stage manager job to Anthony... no offence though... sound check was not systematic and a few things missed out as a result... and nonetheless it was slow... sound check ended at about 0015... i guess can forget about sleep already... anywayz Anthony and I took a cab together... since we could claim cab fare from church

so on sunday... pretty much couldnt sleep... cause keep on thinking about monitor stuff for the service... and just when i thought i finally finally slept... my phone alarm rang... ZZzzzz... washed up and left to meet Anthony at Bedok MRT... took my dad's cab to Indoor Stadium... reached at about 0700... did a few final checks and waited for service to start...in general... the sound for the Christmas service went pretty smooth... except for Bob's Guitar, the wireless jack was loose... causing very unnecessary and unpleasant drop-out... all-in-all... grace grace lor... haha... at the end of the service... i felt satisfied... hehe... anywayz also distributed the christmas gifts i bought... exclusive to the people who served in sound ministry for christmas service only... and a selected few others who is M.I.A.... haha... sorry lor... limited gifts lah... budget

how the stage looks like from the monitor view on Christmas service... hehe

so on sunday... again... to continue the second part of my day... lol... went for lunch together with Foon and Lionel at Leisure Park Subway... haha... wanted to call Eugene along one leh... but that irritating fellow didnt pick up my calls and reply my sms-es... apparently i aint the only one receiving this type of silent treatment from him... so after lunch, Lionel got to go off first... so Foon and I went to loiter around Leisure Park to see what's installed... then after that went Marina Square catch a movie... Warlords... while waiting for movie to start... went to walk around Marina Square also... met Alex and one of his friends at Starbucks... haha... sat down and chatted for a while... afterwhich Foon and I went Millennia Walk Burger King... then somehow Alex came to Burger King too... how coincidental... but we were just about to leave... here's the dumb thing... we bought the movie ticket at about 1602 but the salesperson issued us a ticket for the movie at 1540... anywayz Foon asked for an exchange and we watched the 1825 show... afterwhich... we went over to Suntec to have dinner... then fellowshipped till about 2300... and headed home... Foon offered me a ride... haha

so on monday... after two long days... I really need a nice good long rest... so I slept for 12 hours... from 0000 to 1200... but still feeling kinda tired and moody

ok that's about it... and pardon the very very long post... just havent been blogging for one whole week

this guilt breaks the silence in me

2007-12-17T10:44:00.000+08:00

Jack'al is uber fed up contemplating contemplation... is needing to vent it out.

there has been this fellow that i looked highly upon... regarded him as a mentor... but recently... this mentality is starting to subside... this is because it has recently dawned upon me that this fellow isnt as good as i thought... but this could have came a little too late... cause the higher i thought of him... at a greater height i would fall... and that's exactly what happened... though a few incidents have made me contemplate about this... but this one somehow came upon me as a confirmation

this fellow has been comparing me with one other brother, which i regarded as a very good friend... but just that in his action, he has been siding more towards this other friend... giving good comments... praising him in public... a lot... so much so it made me felt left out and of a minority... and yet he mentioned that both of us may grow up to become rivalries... you know what i think... i think we would never have become rivalries if he havent been doing what'cha doing

i dont know if he was just trying to whip up some kind of conversation to kick start the group with... or just been freaking bored... or just feeling uneasy being quiet... or just trying to knock some sense into me... or just showing favoritism... or just simply being f^^king childish or whatsoever 'piss' of shit... but i suggest he had kept his mouth shut rather than at the expense of the feelings of others... cause he is tickling me until i'm gonna burst right before his face... this other friend and i have been getting along quite well... and where cometh this rivalry business... thanks a lot lor... *rolls eyeballs*

honestly speaking... i'm just feeling ultra insecure... and pretty much provoked by this seemingly small deed... or is it just because i'm being too sensitive... or depending and looking too much to man's flesh

and here's a little footnote... something that i had learnt and i think this fellow ought to learn it as well... fast

DON'T TALK UNLESS YOU CAN IMPROVE ON THE SILENCE!

PS: i wanna run back to my Abba's arms

by the way... was doing monitor for 3rd and 4th service last sunday... cause Melvyn, as usual, couldnt make it... nothing much to say... that's to post a few pictures i took... the PM5D which seems to me quite gloriously lit... and Cliff on the drums cause Winston is sick... and Cliff is playing uber loud, but alongside with his creative style... nonetheless, nice

wo, men's meeting

2007-12-10T09:43:00.000+08:00

some day during last week... Mjay called to ask if i was free on 08th Dec 2007, saturday... so i replied like, "ya, super free!"... so he asked me to do sound for this Arrow service held at Rock Auditorium 6th floor overflow room... then i was like, okie okie, very happy... until at last he explained that it was a Women's Meeting... o.O

so there i was helping out with the sound and stuff... except that i was doing, pretty much, alone... so kinda lonely lah... but other than that, everything else went pretty smooth... kinda fun actually... the event started kinda way behind time though... then Jiahwa came in, first, and joined me at the soundboard... haha... finally got someone i know to accompany me... quite interestingly... they actually even rehearse the making of announcements... something i never see before... haha

and i took a picture after sound check when i had nothing to do

so the girls started flocking into the room... quite a huge lot turned up... haha... i think the attendance alone is quite about DARE's congregation size already lor... imagine together with the guys... ouch... so first it started with praise and worship... SianHwa got shocked that i was doing sound... so he came over and like taught me some mixing stuff... i just listened and obeyed him lah though i felt very uneasy... then i took some time to quickly brief Jiahwa about how i did the setup... so in case they did chase me out... i have someone on standby there

after which... Pauline, Pastor Benjamin's wife, took over the mic... and before she started, she went like, "ok, before i start, are there any guys around?"... then i was at the back eating my food illegally in the auditorium lah... so they didnt really see me... but Pauline and the girls spotted a guy... then he was like anxiously flashing his authorized photographer tag... lol... then after my food... Esther was like chasing me out liao... haha... probably cause they were talking about sensitive stuffs such as breasts, from what i heard just before i left... oops

then wanted to go studio one... but Lionel was not and would not be in studio... so went 4th floor see see the men's meeting lor... met Clement sitting outside the 4th floor overflow room... so we sat down talk talk lor... about random stuffs or whatsoever

after some time... i got a call that there was a video playback then apparently some problem cropped up... so i was like rushing back to 6th floor lah... just before i was about to enter the overflow room, this random girl whom i do not know at all just popped this question at me, "eh, are you Clara's brother?"... who else... referring to Eugene lor... then with the velocity and inertia i had at the moment, i could have almost lost my balance and fell due to the impact of that seemingly harmless and genuine question... took me about 5 seconds to regain my consciousness and reply, "err... i know Clara's brother but i am not Clara's brother!"... a little awkward lah

after that had a short break and light refreshments... yet another awkward incident... again i was walking past a particular group of girls... and one girl commented out loud, "oh... u're a guy?!"... and surprizingly... i saw Eugene's sister... i thought the family is away on holiday?

during the break... former pastor Louis dropped by 6th floor and brought his daughter along

when the break finished and Pauline was about to start the second-half of the event... again she checked if there were any guys around before she started... then somehow... row by row starting from the back row closest to the soundboard, the girls started turning around look at me... then i was at the soundboard lah... so i tried hiding behind the soundboard... but after a second, i had integrity and went out... haha

ok so that's about for the women's meeting... and no, i am not a women... i'm a sound GUY, for God's sake... after that went for dinner, or rather supper, with Esther and Jiahwa... and reached home around 2345... quickly showered and catch some sleep... the next day gonna serve all 4 service liao... though i have no officially-assigned duty

i'm running outta words... except that a picture speaks a thousand words... here's a picture that pretty much proves though we may be grownups... we're after all still the CHILD of the most high God... haha... tata

Casting Crowns -- Praise You In This Storm

2007-12-08T09:52:00.000+08:00

I was sure by now # That You would have reached down # And wiped our tears away # Stepped in and saved the day # But once again # I say "Amen" and it's still raining

As the thunder rolls # I barely hear You whisper through the rain # "I'm with You" # And as Your mercy falls # I raise my hands and praise the God who gives # And takes away

I'll praise You in this storm # And I will lift my hands # For You are who You are # No matter where I am # Every tear I've cried # You hold in Your hand # You never left my side # And though my heart is torn # I will praise You in this storm

I remember when I stumbled in the wind # You heard my cry # You raised me up again # My strength is almost gone # How can I carry on # If I can't find you

As the thunder rolls # I barely hear You whisper through the rain # "I'm with You" # And as Your mercy falls # I raise my hands and praise the God who gives # And takes away

I'll praise You in this storm # And I will lift my hands # For You are who You are # No matter where I am # Every tear I've cried # You hold in Your hand # You never left my side # And though my heart is torn # I will praise You in this storm

I lift my eyes unto the hills # Where does my help come from? # My help comes from the Lord # The Maker of Heaven and earth

I lift my eyes unto the hills # Where does my help come from? # My help comes from the Lord # The Maker of Heaven and earth

I'll praise You in this storm # And I will lift my hands # For You are who You are # No matter where I am # Every tear I've cried # You hold in Your hand # You never left my side # And though my heart is torn # I will praise You in this storm

Though my heart is torn # I will praise You in this storm

back from EJ3 Camp

2007-12-05T00:30:00.000+08:00

havent been blogging for about close to 2 weeks by now... cause have been occupied and been away to Malaysia for DARE Encounter Jesus Camp 3... i shall talk about the whole week where i have had been occupied by, basically, church activities for every single day

24th December 2007, Saturday

sound ministry has organized this outing to fellowship with the people we've been serving together with in church... since most of the time we only come to church, serve, and go off... this one is called Bowling for Jesus... lol... basically an event held at Marine Cove the bowling centre there lah... obviously, we're there to play bowling together... overall it's a good effort put in together lah... with i think about half the ministry strength attending the outing... it's fun... look forward to the next outing... haha

afterwhich Foon, Eugene and I took Foon's car to go and visit Mjay's dad... he just entered the hospice like last week or something... went to fetch JieYing and met ChiaHwa at the hospice itself also... talked darn lot of crap on the way and at the hospice also... in a private room of course... good to see Mjay still strong and film... hanged around till about 0130... then no more public transport already so Foon offered to give JieYing and I a ride home... hehe... good for Eugene lor... house just beside the hospice only... next day still no need to serve leh

25th November 2007, Sunday

needless to say... i'm serving in church again... what else... sound ministry... muackzz... was doing monitor for 3rd and 4th service... nothing much to say about this day... it went by pretty smooth with nothing extraordinary... except that Angie said my hair was funky... first time i heard that kind of comment... o.O

26th November 2007, Monday

went over to Eugene's place to stay over that late evening... cause was thinking that would make sure i do not snooze the next morning to leave for camp, and also a ride to suntec... hehe... not just that lah... was also thinking of visiting Mjay's dad that night after dinner... since the hospice he's staying in is just beside Eugene's house... however to much of both of our shock... i tried to call Mjay to check if he's at the hospice... just when i found out he was actually in his estate's multi-purpose hall... that rings the bell for itself... so Eugene and I were thinking that we had better go pay our last visit or no chance liao... so we made our way there... ChiaHwa from sound and Esther from video was there too... as it went deeper into the night and most of the people had left... we were bored and starting playing "zhong ji mi ma"... people who guessed the number get to eat the leftover food... haha... what innovative way to get rid of the leftovers... we played and chatted and hanged till about 2am+

27th November 2007, Tuesday

yea the first day of camp... woke up at say about 0630... ZzZzz... reached suntec at about 0730... we had to take care of the sound for both 4th floor and 6th floor auditorium... just nice... our respective waiting venues to board the bus... but how darn forgetful can i get... i actually left my jacket at the 6th floor sound console area... thank God for Laurence manz... i quickly sms-ed him on the bus and he just reached his office... so he took my jacket and past it to Coach Julian, who happened to still be the last group waiting for the bus to come... phew... and there we had our 5hours ++ of boring bus travel... of which we did stop by a chinese restaurant to have lunch... their service is ultra ultimately sucky... and i seriously do hope that it's just because they're stressed by the many people they're serving and not because they're just bad to start with

upon finally finally FINALLY reaching the hotel... the rest of the campers had to gather at somewhere... when i started to hear kick drum sound... then i was thinking, "sound check is starting somewhere...somewhere"... so i went earnestly searching for where the sound came from... upon finding Lionel and the soundboard i pluck my roots there... haha... not long after, Eugene also found his footsteps there... later then i realized that the other campers had been gathered to have their handphones collected for safekeeping... or in other words, "confiscated"... oops... probably God directed my footsteps to the sound console area to avoid that moment of "disaster"... soon after when the musicians came in as well... we proceeded with sound check... i was the stage manager and Eugene the monitor engineer... hehe... afterwhich i'll go back to the board to conduct housecheck

service started... and the mix was thrown to me... and honestly... i started like SHIT... then Lionel was like beside me telling me what to do and stuff... but my mind was seriously kinda too pre-occupied to decipher what i should do to fix my mix... but after a while, Lionel did the sarcastic version of saying, "bye... i'm going off"... then really went off... that's when i started to clear my mind and start isolating what i should do on the fly... after like 1 or 2 or even 3 songs... cant recall that... Lionel came back and said like, "wah i've only been gone for a while then the mix suddenly become so nice ah... what happened?"... then i just threw my answer at him lor... i said, "cause after you left... i felt less stressed"... haha... shhh... but i guess he kinda took it personal though... i hope not... cause for the next two days... he disappeared from the soundboard during service time... he says he's just somewhere in the ballroom lah

for the camp... am bunking with Eugene and Joasseph in Room 628... =p

28th November 2007, Wednesday

had a two-piece band and a worship leader in the morning... just two acoustic guitars playing... but it's just a men's and women's meeting kind of thing lah... the men are taking the ballroom... haha... and what did we talk about... DONT TELL U!... it's our secret... haha learnt that from the girls one

afterwhich there's station games... i obviously had to join my group lor... but was just being kinda aloof lah... just kinda cant clique with the group leh... but i think that the grads level is the level with the most number of aloof and "dao" people... haha... oops

at night had service again...but that night... the band is seriously so not tight lor... had a hard time trying to gel the musicians together but just cant... so i conclude it's the stage side lor

29th November 2007, Thursday

that morning we upgraded to a four-piece band and a worship leader in the morning... lol... bass, drums, keyboard and acoustic guitar... this time it's a level service... which means the whole camp is separated according to the levels and will conduct their service similarly... only thing is the levels 1 which are taking the ballroom has a four-piece band while others probably have an acoustic guitar... but come to think of it... even without electric guitars... my mix can still sound nice... so this goes to show i dont rely that heavily on electric guitars to make my mix sound shiok... =D

afterwhich had games again... this game is totally indoor... it's something like we have to solve a murder case... so we've gotta go to different people to collect statements and stuff... haha... initially went back to my room lah... wanted to rest... but soon got out to join my group... this game is not so much physically challenging... just mentally... haha

then at night... got praise and worship again... ok this time the band regained their standards... yoohoo praise God... but on the flip side of it... i lost my phone... yes you heard me right... LOST... manz... it's brand new leh... use less than one week and now it's lost... what's more... that place is Malaysia leh... damn it... Lord I pray for restoration manz

30th November 2007, Friday

whoa.... camp seems to fly past so quick... already it is the last official day of the camp... not counting 1st December since it's mainly just checking out and closure of camp and to begin another 5 hours of travelling back... so in the morning it was another Men's and Women's meeting... but this one is slightly different... Pastor Dan requested for everyone to gather in the ballroom first and to have the full-band to conduct praise and worship... then the guys and girls to go into separate rooms to conduct the meeting... haha... Lionel has kicked Eugene and I into the congregation for the Praise and Worship... lol... good thing lah... will need to join the congregation and stuff also

after the Men's and Women's meeting... we had DareGroup time-out... this part i shall skip... cause Eugene and I went to our rooms to sleep... we woke up at around 1700... and just in time when Christon and Joshua and gang came knocking on our door, saying they need a soundman... manz... at the moment i was thinking they could have knocked on the room 1039 manz... fyi that's Lionel's room... so anyway did sound check for the youth bands who would be performing for the last night... well i dont mind waking up to do the sound check leh... i just didnt like it that my dinner time kena cut off big time... lol

so after a quick dinner... gotta go back into the ballroom conduct sound check for the main band... sound check started at like 1920+... and doors gotta open at 1930... but thank God... it was later announced doors would open at 1945... and later announced to open at 2000 instead... phew... first it was some theme nite activities, themed MISMATCH, MISFIT, and MISUNDERSTOOD... not so bad after all... had a good time laughing at people's dressing... but quite of a disappointment... one or two of the youth bands, out of 4, did well enough during sound check... but come to the actual performance... one word to describe... SCREWED... and also because the first band started out sucky... it robs me of the chance to play with effects for those better bands... which i tried out at soundcheck and it was superb... cause if i had done so it would make me look stupid... after that was praise and worship... thrown the mix to Eugene... lol... turned out very good sia

01st December 2007, Saturday

it's pretty much past midnight then already... so then after that we were dismissed from the ballroom... Eugene and I went to our room... watched Catwoman on TV in our room at 0300... and when the show finished at around 0500... Eugene was already asleep with his ass cheeks facing me... tried poking him a little with no reaction... then i turned in too... lol

slept for about 3 hours and gotta get up... not to sound check but to check out... manz the camp felt so short... but it was supposed to be an extended camp... since other camps was 4D3N but this one is 5D4N... had brunch and we were ready to set off to start on another 5 hours travel back to Singapore... hmmm... but i felt so hesitant to leave... not so much my heart is still stuck at the camp experiences... but the question still remained, "where is my lost phone?!"... sighz... and nonetheless... the question of how to answer to my parents... sianz

and another thing... the bed is seriously damn shiok lah... i cant overemphasize this but the bed is superb and damn comfortable... those kind you lay your heads and will fall asleep in 3 minutes or less while waiting for your instant cup noodle to cook... lol... and even if you are not tired... you'll be forced to slumber once you throw yourself upon those beds

that's about it for camp... camp was overall good lah... though most of the times was spent serving... hehe... and great news to all glory to Jesus... Robin commented that this was the best sound they have heard thus far for youth camps... grace grace... the system was good to start with... and needless to say... it was Jesus in us just flowing as we mixed the sound... grace grace

oh ya... just got reminded of yet another incident... this one must highlight... but this one i'm not very sure which day it happened... so i shall just put it here... there was a time we, consisting of Eugene, Benjy, Lionel and I were eating dont know lunch or dinner together... then Benjy went to take a big plate of desserts for us to share... at the moment Lionel went away to take another serving of food lah... so we purposely put the plate of desserts at where Lionel is sitting... then we were betting among ourselves lah... without money of course... we were betting what will Lionel's response be... Eugene said it was, "WOW!"... I said it was, "eh move the plate away leh, i got no space to put my plate."... Benjy said it was, "wah who take one?"... so the moment came when Lionel returned... his response was exactly what Eugene had anticipated, "WOW!"... so the three of us burst laughing out loud... really loud... no doubt people turned around to see which table is that "siao gi nah"... and no doubt the reverberations were very obvious as it is acoustically post-fader... and needless to say, Lionel must be thinking, "what the heaven is going on man?"... but he didnt say it out lah

oh ya... and just reminded of yet another incident... also another time must highlight one... Lionel and SianHwa were bunking together in one room at the 10th floor lah... but they are not alone... cause that floor is dominated by all the girls in the camp... haha... one thing about the hotel is that the stairs are out of bounds except for hotel staff... so when it's time to gather for games or service or whatsoever... the lift lobbies would be uber jam-packed... so Lionel and SianHwa met such an incident... then Lionel went like, "excuse me... make way for senior citizens!"... then the girls turned around and really made way for the both of them and they walked through... but after a few seconds, a few of girls were like, "no way... ladies first!"... then close up the space... kena jacked big time sia

02nd December 2007, Sunday

well... the bad part comes on the day after we arrive back in Singapore... that is that i'm serving monitor for 1st and 2nd service... haha... i actually woke up at around 0715 and went like, "oh SHIT!"... quickly showered and flashed through the door and cabbed down to suntec... thank God i had Anthony's assistance and i reached around 0755... how nice

that's about the week... pardon this super long blog though... it's cumulative anywayz... tata

flashback for thought

2007-11-22T09:20:00.000+08:00

i was just lying on my bed last night... and as usual... not being able to sleep... then i got reminded of an incident that happened a few years back

a few years back... when the movie Bruce Almighty was just released... my sister and i were watching and it happened to show the teaser for the Bruce Almighty movie... then i popped a question to my sister, "if you were given a chance to be God for a period of time, would you?"... her reply was, "no i will not. because being God, you have to love everyone unconditionally. and that i am unable to do."... then i was young lah... so obviously i was like thinking, how so

since then... i have seen people who step in and out of my life... and true enough... for various reasons... i myself am also unable to love everyone like God does... but still... despite of how way down we have fallen short... love pinned Jesus on the cross... a love that never fails... and He's my Savior King!

the mishaps

2007-11-19T11:28:00.000+08:00

on friday... went to vivo with Gene and Jolyn... calcium silicated at the rooftop for a while... haha... damn "nuah"... then talked about whatever things that went across out mind... then after that went dinner and watched the movie Stardust... haha... pretty good show lah... but we had to catch the 2125 show cause it's the next earliest timing we can catch since Jolyn only joined us around 1800+... but didnt know the show actually lasted 2hrs plus plus... haha... at least Gene could catch the last train home... btw... calcium silicated means slacked... since calcium silicate is slag, which has about the same pronunciation as slack... so hence the equation

on saturday had DARE service... musicians were late... but cause of miscomm lah... operations say they have to reach at 1300... the music team leader say they have to reach at 1330... so anyway we still managed to run thru soundcheck fast enough to open doors at 1415... then Gene was supposed to do sound check one... but he dont know run until where do God knows what... so i had to go ahead with sound check lor... sianz... but anyway sound was great to me... tried a new thing or two... mic-ed up electric guitar with two mics... one captures the lows, the other the highs... kinda liked the effect... and the other one is of course none other than the kick drum... haha... the mix was pretty much there, i think... just that somehow the electric guitar and the keyboards just aint blending... dont know whether my fault or musicans'... haha

oh yea.. and first time i'm going to DARE service with dyed hair... a few nasty comments, but more goodie comments, mainly from musicians... haha... when i first walked in, some royal stewards people were like laughing and saying, "haha... like chicken"... but okie lah... the dog can bark and bark at the moon but the moon still shine... and Timothy was like pulling my hair everytime he gets near me... he says he's gonna do that as much as he can so as to remove my hair color... lol

another thing was that we had camp briefing lah... camp's gonna be on 27th Nov to 01st Dec... haha... it's drawing near liao... one darn funny thing the camp commandant said during camp briefing was that the campers are not supposed to wear christian-related stuff so as not to offend the malaysians there... such as those shirts that says, "PRAISE JESUS! ALL THE EARTH SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD!"... laughed my ass out... then the musicians around the soundboard was like asking me if i was going for camp... then i said ya lah... then they asked if i doing sound... then i replied, "ya kinda... Lionel taking one service, i taking another"... cause one day have two service mah... one morning one night... then Daniel was like, "wah Lionel going ah... *in hokkien* i dont wanna come liao"... hmmm... still on loggerheads eh

on sunday... officially back to serving full-time in sound ministry liao... yea... 1st and 2nd service was sent to help out at monitor... cause Lionel says Melvyn seems a little blur... sianz... then 3rd and 4th service i was doing monitor together with Anthony... today is Monitor day sia... nonetheless... a few people also commented on my hair... people like Laurence and Lionel just exclaimed super loudly, "what happened to my hair?"... but said it was nice... Jen called me Cactus Jack... Derrick just did a hand sign language, "what happened to your hair?"... Timothy was still trying to pull my hair... and Karen, "your hair looks cute"... thank God i didnt trip and fall

and another funny incident... during 4th service... there was something wrong with Pastor's mic... God bless... and Foon was sitting in... ALONE... then Pastor was like, "yoohoo... sound man... you hear that noise... dorh... any way to rectify the problem"... then i can just imagine Foon like panicking and taking out his phone to call Lionel... then Pastor was like, "com'mon talk to me... watcha doing... calling girlfriend"... haha... kena jacked sia... and Pastor was still like, "com'mon talk to me... talk to me... what should i do?"... and Foon was still trying to recover from the panic attack

haha... that sunday seems like a happening day manz... so many things that could have happened has happened... or rather should i say... that sunday seems like a mishappening day... grace grace sia

here's my new hair... except that it's not spiked... tata

my first clubbing experience

2007-11-14T15:28:00.000+08:00

SUCKS!

actually didnt wanna go one lor... but Josh Lim keep bugging me so i obliged lor... met Josh and Claire at Josh's place then leave together... reach Bugis at around 10+ to meet with Josh's school friends... played a bit of pool then left for the clubbing place at Clarke Quay

place was darn crowded... for not a very good cost... half the time was spent manipulating our way through the crowd... hot and stuffy... the queue was also super disorganized... it's like at one moment the queue we were in was shifted from one place to another because of the big crowd... then as time past, more people came and saw the empty space which we had originally moved from... so they go queue there... dumbass... so in the end we got outta the queue to get some fresh air... contemplating whether to still stay there to wait anot... then after that one of Josh's friends who worked in the club explained things to us... say inside actually got fight so police investigating... hence holding the crowd outside... another dumbass.... then after that... got a group of people apparently started a strike... strike for money back... they, and us, didnt pay money just to stay outside and queue and perspire our asses out... lol... yet another dumbass

then Josh, Claire and I got hungry... go went to nearby 7-11 buy instant noodles... bought two cups... one seafood curry and one spicy seafood... thank God for giving me a great intestinal system... at least i didnt kena diarrhea next morning... meanwhile... got news that outside the club having some sort of underground sales for the club tickets... haha... just return our tickets then lah... no point going into the club anymore... and at least can get some money back... damn... 9 $ thrown down the drain for nothing... then Josh, Claire and I went to Josh's place stay over... too late to reach home anyway

next morning, which was just now, met with my sister and her husband for lunch... a lunch treat at Sakae Sushi... haha... at least a way of thanking God for this o-level phase of my life... haha... bloated sia... my face didnt look exactly bright and satiable... pardon me lah... have only slept 5 hours or less for the past two days... even now i'm trying to lift up my 200-pound beauty eyelids... but nonetheless we had a great fellowship there

tata... that's about it... and here's a picture taken out of boredom for waiting for my sister and her husband... apparently they were held up cause of my niece... looks like i just emerged from a cup of coffee eh?

one thing i shall declare...

2007-11-13T01:55:00.000+08:00

O-Levels

are

FINALLY

OVER!!!!

a funny clip

2007-11-12T22:33:00.000+08:00

dang!

2007-11-09T19:18:00.000+08:00

today was so not good after all... wanted to get outta house to take a breather from the stuffy air and tons of boredom... but it all didnt work out well

i'm feeling so bloody down

i dont know whether both are us are just simply not in the mood, or too tired, or just on the wrong frequency at the moment or what... but somehow whatever conversations we tried to make just flipped itself around all of a sudden... a nice conversation i thought i started with, it'll more often than not turn out into an argumentative one... and needless to say... the excess fumes we let off at the end of the conversation when we tried to drop the subject and start a new one... probably it was just different ideals and opinions we have and we were trying to express them... but he seems to have everything against me and i have everything against him... i dont know

but all at the end... im feeling so lousy and insecure... whether our friendship are left at stake... it seems it is a thin line we're standing on and we can lose our balance anytime... or if the rope is gonna give up and snap when we're in the middle of it... i dont know... but most of all... he's been a good friend and brother to me and i ~~dont~~ never wanna lose him just like that

sobzz... here's an important lesson i've learnt today... don't speak unless you can improve on the silence

what to do

2007-11-07T19:09:00.000+08:00

ok... who is gonna spend one week of their life studying for exams... in particular... for MCQs... oh well... im sure most people will just take a day or two to just flip flip through textbooks and ten-year series... but are they gonna spend one whole week doing that?... that's because the break between my second-last day of my o-levels and that of the last day is exactly one week... gosh it's such a drag... so anyway... i'll take it as technically that my o-levels are over lah... but of course will still flip flip through my books lah

on 31st October was asked to attend DARE's production meeting... by right only for department leaders lah... but sound and video no department leader, so key personnel were to attend... joasseph and i... hehe... our first time there... but good also lah... let ourselves see how DARE operations are running for ourselves so that we understand the picture... also heard that the neutral observer for the previous 2 DARE services found my sound not nice... so i told myself i've gotta change my style of mixing

then coming saturday got DARE service.. yup i did managed to change my mix and it still sounded great to me... haha... and also for the first time i miked up the kick drum in DARE service... haha... used a SM57 since got spare as only had one electric guitar... got a pretty good kick sound... then also the first time the GEMS moving up to DARE service lah... so estimated attendance was 500-600... so i thought the next instrument that would be drowned in such a big crowd would be the kick lor... hence my decision to mike up kick... next DARE gonna have a DARE choir up on stage... sianz... doubt that small little soundboard we use for DARE service have spare channels for the choir mics lor... haha... see how things go lah

since the start of last monday... have been starting to feel overwhelmed by the feeling of sianzation liao... last monday was my second last-day of o-levels lah... and like i mentioned... gotta wait for one more week for the next and finally the last paper... what my friend commented was so true lor... waiting for o-levels to come is a short time... waiting for o-levels to end is a long time... haha... so anyway during this time... i'll just be having pretty much nothing to do... so no life lor... am also considering whether to come back to serve full-time in sound ministry this coming sun a not

yesterday hanged out with Eugene go vivo... watch movie "The Game Plan"... nice movie... then later go rooftop slack... haha... it's been some time since i last been there... cause of examinations, what else... almost forgot about the place liao

o-levels seems to be rather easy to me... but i just hope they dont moderate too high and make the A's so distant to reach... lol

running out of words liao... come back when i restock them... haha... tata

this guitarist is a satan going insane

2007-10-26T12:11:00.000+08:00

lighter side of poems to make you smile

2007-10-25T12:41:00.000+08:00

roses are red
violets are blue
monkeys like you
should be kept in the zoo
don't feel so angry
i'll be there too
not locked in the cage
but laughing at you

================================================================================================================

twinkle twinkle little star
you should have known what you are
and once you have known what you are
mental hospital is not too far

================================================================================================================

the rain makes all things beautiful
the grass and flowers too
if rain makes all things beautiful
why doesnt it rain on you

================================================================================================================

i wrote your name on sand
it got washed away
i wrote your name in air
it got blown away
then i wrote your name
in my heart
and straight away
i got a heart attack

================================================================================================================

God saw me hungry
He created pizza
God saw me thirsty
He created pepsi
God saw me in the dark
He created light
God saw me without problems
He created you

Chillz =)

Anna Wong -- My Niece

2007-10-18T20:17:00.001+08:00

on 27th September 2007... someone came into God's green green earth... through my beloved sister at Changi General Hospital... haha... this is Anna Wong... my niece... yea... finally got hold of some cute little pics of her

in pieces

2007-10-07T10:19:00.000+08:00

DARE service was yesterday... which sort of sparked a question in me... in pieces

yesterday's theme was Worship Under The Stars... it's not an outdoor event... cause we had a session of Worship Under The Stars once which was held in the outdoor Sentosa under the rain... haha... but on that DARE service... it was basically just like a normal service with glowing stars pasted on the ceiling, and an extended time of praise and worship

i have to say... sound check was uber hectic... when Peer came up to ask how things' going... i said i was damn stressed lah... logistics was short handed... cause everyone was on exam break... sec 4s and 5s were on a DARE-imposed study break... the rest had requested for a break because of the end-of-years... haha... only left Suzhe alone... and YL Gideon was activated out of urgency... haha... when sound check was supposed to start... many things were not up yet... had to activate Benjy to help out... quite of a slow process but better than none mah... haha... at least sound people knows logistics stuff but logistics people do not sound stuff... and in times such as this... we are able to lend a hand

sound check officially started at around 1405... the stage was not completely set up yet... but i tried to make do because of the tight time... obviously didn't follow the sequence for sound check lah... but what to do... thank God for a good Operations IC... he managed to push for the doors to open at 1430 instead of 1415... and surprisingly... i unconsciously managed to complete sound check in 20 mins... and the sound still sounded awesome... grace grace... haha... didnt know until Peer brought it up

praise & Worship started... i told myself i had to tame my volume after much conviction and contemplation... but on a small extent because i fear the amplifiers will trip... hehe... but i felt no kick leh... both in my sound and in the congregation... until the 2nd portion of the praise and worship then i decided to whack... suddenly my surrounding felt so alive... the youths were jumpy and crazy... i guess they are just too used to loud volumes liao

Mjay dropped by some time during praise and worship after the preaching lah... asked him if it's loud a not... he say it was very... but after the service... i went asking a few random youths whom i know lah... most of them say it aint loud... that one kinda shocked me... but they are also a handful of youths, such as Gillian Lim, who said that it was loud but shiok... haha... i felt so accomplished when they said that

so the question that rings in my mind is... is it necessary for music to be loud then it'll feel shiok... theoretically, because louder music will be perceived because of larger sound pressure level felt by the ear lah... so naturally feel more shiok... but is it necessary for that theory to hold true? is it possible to not make the music loud but still shiok?

though i felt accomplished... i kinda regretted that i told myself i had to tame my volume at first... the music ministry chose my really cool rocking songs... which i believe would be awesome if i had dared to whack... haha... i still hope the amplifiers and the ceiling speakers remain faithful though... haha... dont fail on me please

so yesterday's theme was Worship Under The Stars... next DARE's gonna be Power Packed Praise... haha... hope it's not gonna be as hectic as this one

Weirdo Photos @ Lion's Den

2007-10-05T18:24:00.000+08:00

one fine sunday... Mjay brought his MacBook Pro to the studio... out of boredom and fun, we started to take photos using the in-built camera of the MacBook Pro... Mjay, me and Foon... and probably a bit of Lionel and JieYing in the backdrop as well... haha

the intense

2007-10-03T20:26:00.000+08:00

yea... as i have mentioned previously... the intensive coaching has already commenced since start of this week... and it was hell intensive... during this time... we are no longer bringing books to school... we are just bringing papers and papers and even more papers... the teachers have been giving out other school papers to try out... until we are drowned by papers... which is much worse than being drowned in water... com'mon... 19 more days to o-levels... oh my gosh

just earlier today... we had to stay in school until 1600... and do maths and maths and more maths... in the morning had a maths session... and there we did last year's o-levels a.maths paper 1... glad it was quite of a breeze to me... then had english... then later had free period for those not retaking mother tongue o-levels... there, those who had difficulties with the paper earlier are to consult their teachers for help... then after a lunch break... we had to stay from 1400 to 1600 to do a.maths paper 2... by then i cannot take it already... my brain was figuratively dead already... huh? what did i just say?

now i need a break from school... the church just released the new live worship album entitled I See Grace... of course i've gotta get a copy for myself lah... though my name wasnt mentioned in the album but still i'm proud that I have helped out in the album in every small way i could... but besides that... call myself a sound engineer if i dont get myself the album... anywayz the album was worth the $20... it sounded awesome... way better than the previous album You Alone I Praise... hehe... everyone agrees on that... the effects were great too... gives the music depth... just didnt quite like it when it came to some worship instrumental solos... too much effects makes the music lack definition... i felt lah... but on the whole... the album is heavenly... haha

i dont know nothing

2007-09-29T08:43:00.000+08:00

just yet another ordinary week that had just passed by

tuesday and wednesday night had night study programme on... from 1830 to 2100... gosh... the school sure is going hardcore in making sure we revise for the O-levels till our butts drop to the ground... but this week aint too bad... it's next week onwards that's gonna kill us... next week the intensive coaching programme will commence... and we have to stay in school until as late as 1600... after which then still got night study programme again... oh well... com'mon... it's just about a month more

this week has also been spending quite a lot... particularly cause have been having lunch and dinner outside... like friends would call me out for dinner before the night study programme... oh well... i hope my wallet aint gonna have a hole... besides having these meals outside... still gonna spend $20 to buy the new praise & worship album "I See Grace" with all the new songs and it's gonna be released this sunday... woohoo... cant wait manz... then this month also havent tithe yet... gonna do so this sunday... haha... never mind... God is still my provision

also saw a car license plate number... really interesting... i purposely only took the first three letters... cause i couldnt have possibly posted this picture on my blog if i have taken the whole plate... lol... AFK... the common abbreviation for "away from keyboard"

thursday went for bible study... Mjay was mixing... something's just not right about the sound... think he was just a little disturbed during sound check... hmmm... but anyway the walkout song was shiok... haha... though loud

and now... supposed to be in school for extra chemistry and physics lessons... but am staying at home cause aint feeling too well... though i'm actually feeling better already... praise God... and my parents are kinda irritating... in the morning they tried to wake me up, then i said i aint going to school... but they nag that i am always so reluctant to go school... but when it comes to going to church, i will like die die must go one... i will endure all weather and sickness to go to church... lol

this is it... be back to blog more

monitor engineer!

2007-09-24T20:30:00.000+08:00

last weekend was appointed to be the monitor engineer for the main band for sunday service just after mid-autumn festival held the day before... though technically i was supposed to be on study break... but Laurence called me up as a last option thing cause no one else was available... so i agreed to serve lor... anywayz i was thinking... regardless of whether i serve a not, i'll still attend the service mah... since it's only one combined service at indoor stadium... which is essentially time spent off my studying... so compared to spending time off my study to attend service and that to serve during the service... of course pick the serving lah... hehe

reached indoor stadium on saturday evening at about 1700... midway through the mid-autumn festival... just thought wanna drop by earlier to see how the mid-autumn festival is like... haha... other people have to pay for the ticket to enter the mid-autumn festival... i just gotta flash my sound badge... just one of the many privileges of serving... hehe... Mjay was the monitor engineer for the mid-autumn festival

Clement was around lah... then he called me to him when he saw me... he asked me questions whether i could handle the sound for camp a not... then i replied like, "yea sure"... then he shot me straight in the head manz... he told me in what ways definitely i will not be able to handle the sound for the camp... blah blah... he sure was so discouraging... but i pick my stand up quite a bit... i rebutted and treated him like transparent... Mjay who overheard the conversation, after that, gave me an advice or two... he told me that if Clement only stated the problem but never help to give you solutions to the problems, he is as good as been the problem to you... true eh... then on further reflection, if Mjay could handle sound at outside gigs and events as young as when he was Sec 3, why cant i?... isnt Clement as good as just shutting me up

work started for me on that saturday evening at about 1930... yea it was great and things run pretty smoothly... much to the pleasure of the fact that it was my first time... i was cooperating with Mjay who was the stage manager... but we only got a time to take a break and have our dinner after all the work was finished... which was about 2130... manz Anthony was right... no wonder he didnt order his dinner together with us

i suppose Laurence was pretty happy... he was just sitting behind me happily eating his share of the McDonald's order and shake leg... haha... nah i'm not that mean... it was well-deserved rest after having coordinating so many things and providing me a proper handover... also received 2 bags of mooncakes... haha... being a Singaporean... got free things offered to you, of course take lor

sunday had to report at indoor stadium at about 0715... however i was a little late and reached at about 0730... not so bad lah... at least Anthony was assisting me and help me get ready for the service... Mjay actually reached later than me... he reached about 10mins after me

however the day didnt really start very well... i made an error right in front of Laurence... didnt realize so until Mjay saw the problem then pointed it out... Laurence was fierce manz... according to Anthony who was on stage... everyone on stage knew that i had been scolded... even the choir were stunned to see what happens next... haha... anywayz from there... things continued smoothly again... though the environment was still kinda tense

after that had a little buffer time... finished all the final checks at about 0845... doors open at 0900 and gotta standby at 1000... during this time, the excerpts of the upcoming live worship album was being played... haha... it sounded great manz... and also from then the environment start to become less tense... haha... Laurence and i started to talk talk smile smile... phew... and service and being the monitor engineer was great too

after that spent some time fellowshipping with Lionel, Foon, Mjay, and Jieying... went to have lunch at Siam Kitchen at Bugis... then went to studio... and we called it a day

tata... be back again to fill up more