Primary One = Excitement + Anxiety

Let me introduce you to somebody.



He's Emmanuel and he's the star of my blog entry today. You can call him Naughty Boy for short. Haha.

Come next year, Naughty Boy will be going to Primary One at Radin Mas Primary School. And he's pretty excited about it. Haha. Just a moment ago, he was packing his books and sorting them out, trying to figure out the difference between a workbook and a textbook.

As we all can probably remember, books for Primary Schools come in volumes, as in Textbook 1A and Textbook 1B. And his sister Grace was trying to teach him how to differentiate between a textbook and a workbook since he couldn't read difficult words.

According to her, the best method to differentiate between a textbook and a workbook was to look at the texture of the pages of the book. A smooth one would indicate that its a textbook while a not-so-smooth one would suggest that its a workbook. Haha.

After all that lessons on textbooks and workbooks, Grace went on to tell Naughty Boy about how to buy food from the food stalls in the canteen, also known as tuckshop. Haha.

Since I was Primary One, I've been wondering why a place to eat is called a tuckshop. 12 years later, as the smartest person I've ever known, I finally know why its called a tuckshop. It's because its a place where everybody tucks in. Haha.

Also, he has also prepared his uniform, his first set of uniform after wearing the yellows of Fairfield for his kindergarten. He carefully pins his green nametag above his pocket, taking care not to dirty his brand new uniform.

The next thing they did was to go to the stationery shop downstairs and buy a dozen of pencils as he misplaced all his pencils. Haha. As you probably have guess, he took half a dozen and put them into his bag. Haha. Kiasu right?

From all that, you can tell that he's very excited and anxious about going to Primary One. A new school, new friends and new teachers. A totally new environment where he will be spending the next 6 years. And Naughty Boy will probably have to get used to the terms "homework" and "term exams". Things that he never knew in kindergarten.

And maybe, maybe one day, Naughty Boy will no longer be called Naughty Boy, thanks to the transformation of the Primary School.

His Grace Is Sufficient

When life seems empty
and there's no place to go,
When your heart is troubled
and your spirits are low,
When friends seem few
and nobody cares
There is always God
to hear your prayers.
And whatever you're facing
will seem much less,
When you go to God
and confide and confess,
For the burden that seems
too heavy to bear
God lifts away
on the wings of prayer.

And seen through God's eyes
earthly troubles diminish,
And we're given new strength
to face and to finish
life's daily tasks,
As they come along
if we pray for strength
to keep us strong.
So go to our Father
when troubles assail you,
For His grace is sufficient
and He'll never fail you.

My Curriculum Vitae

Kerjin once asked me if I've ever written my own curriculum vitae. And I remember telling her that it was no point since my highest qualification is only GCE O Levels. And besides, I wasn't really looking for a job so there was no need for a curriculum vitae.

But then again, since I'm so free and slack nowadays, I thought I'd better start writing one, an imaginary one at the very least. Haha. If not, the real one would only have 3 lines, looking something like that:

Name: Siew Kwok Siong
NRIC: S8634508I
Highest Qualification: Passed GCE O Levels

So, with me being the genius that I am, I'm going to write an imaginary one. And this will probably turn out to be the real curriculum vitae in time to come. Maybe the next 500 years.

This is it. But, it's highly confidential. So after you've seen it, try your best to forget it okay? It will look something like that:

*******************************

Name: Dr Siew Kwok Siong
NRIC: S8634508I

Qualifications

1999-2002: Fairfield Methodist Secondary School
Passed GCE O Levels

2003-2004: Saint Andrew's Junior College
Passed GCE A Levels

2005-2006: National Service

2007-2011: National University of Singapore School of Business
Bachelor of Business Administration (With Honours)

2011-2013: Harvard University School of Business
Business Administration PhD

2014 onwards: Siew's International Limited
Chief Executive Officer
Founding Chairman

2020: Top 500 Richest Men in the World
Ranked Number 2, after Bill Gates

2020: Top 100 Richest Men in Asia
Ranked Number 1

*******************************

So you have it. My curriculum vitae. Haha. But then again, since I will be managing my own company, I guess there is no need for a curriculum vitae. Haha. So try your best to forget what you've just seen.

P.S. Although the author claims otherwise, the above is a work of fiction and any resemblance between its characters to any person living or dead is purely coincidental.

Merry Christmas

Hark! the herald angels sing, -
"Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled."
Joyful, all ye nations, rise,
Join the triumph of the skies;
With th' angelic host proclaim,
"Christ is born in Bethlehem."
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King!

Christ, by highest heav'n adored:
Christ, the everlasting Lord;
Late in time behold him come,
Offspring of the favored one.
Veil'd in flesh, the Godhead see;
Hail, th'incarnate Deity:
Pleased, as man, with men to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel!
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King!

Hail! the heav'n-born Prince of peace!
Hail! the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
Risen with healing in his wings
Mild he lays his glory by,
Born that man no more may die:
Born to raise the sone of earth,
Born to give them second birth.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King!

This Is Interesting

(via estpl6 from SPUG forums)

GCSE Exam answers that will confirm get you 9 A*s

Supposedly real answers given by 16-year-old British students doing their GCSE Exams last year.

I liked the answer to "In a democratic society, how important are elections?"
(A: "Very important. Sex can only happen when a male gets an election.") No wonder Singaporeans are not making enough babies, we never get a chance to vote.

Q. Name the four seasons?
A. Salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar.

Q Explain the processes by which water can be made safe to drink?
A. Flirtation makes water safe to drink because it removes large pollutants like grit, sand, dead sheep and canoeists.

Q. How is dew formed?
A. The sun shines down on the leaves and makes them perspire.

Q. What guarantees may a mortgage company insist on?
A. If you are buying a house, they will insist you are well endowed.

Q. In a democratic society, how important are elections?
A. Very important. Sex can only happen when a male gets an election.

Q. What happens to your body when you age?
A. When you get old, so do your bowels and you get intercontinental.

Q. What happens to a boy when he reaches puberty?
A. He says goodbye to his boyhood and looks forward to his adultery.

Q. Name a major disease associated with cigarettes?
A. Premature death.

Q. What is artificial insemination?
A. When the farmer does it to the bull instead of the cow.

Q. How can you delay milk turning sour?
A. Keep it in the cow (He got an A)

Q. How are the main parts of the body categorised? (e.g. abdomen)
A. The body is consisted into three parts - the brainium, the borax, the
abdominal cavity. The brainium contains the brain, the borax contains the heart and lungs, and the abdominal cavity contains the five bowls, A,E,I,O and U.

Q. What is the Fibula?
A. A small lie

Q. What does "varicose" mean?
A. Nearby

Q. What is the most common form of birth control?
A. Most people prevent contraception by wearing a condominium.

Q. Give the meaning of the term "Caesarean Section"?
A. The caesarean section is a district in Rome.

Q. What is a seizure?
A. A Roman emperor

Q. What is a terminal illness?
A. When you are sick at the airport

Q. Give an example of a fungus. What is a characteristic feature?
A. Mushrooms. They always grow in damp places and they look like umbrellas.

Q. What does the word "benign" mean?
A. Benign is what you will be after you be eight.

The Candy Maker

adapted from Today God Is First

Consider this.



A candy maker in Indiana wanted to make a candy that would be a witness of his faith. He incorporated several symbols for the birth, ministry and death of Jesus Christ. He began with a stick of pure white, hard candy – white to symbolize the Solid Rock, the foundation of the Church and the firmness of God’s promises.

Next, he made the candy in the form of a “J” to represent the name of Jesus, who came to earth as our Saviour. It also represented the staff of the Good Shepherd with which He reaches down into the ditches of the world to life out the fallen lambs who, like all sheep, have gone astray.

Thinking that the candy was somewhat plain, the candy maker stained it with red stripes. He used three stripes of the scourging Jesus received and by which we are healed. The red stripes were the blood shed by Christ on the Cross so that we could have the promise of eternal life.

The candy became known as the candy cane – a decoration seen at Christmas time. But the meaning is still there.

During Christmas, do you reflect on the real meaning of the season? It is one season we can use like no other to bring the focus on Christ.

Music Shuffle

1. Open up the music player on your computer.

2. Set it to play your entire music collection.

3. Hit the “shuffle” command.

4. Tell us the title of the next ten songs that show up (with their musicians), no matter how embarrassing. That’s right, no skipping that Carpenters tune that will totally destroy your hip credibility. It’s time for total musical honesty.

5. Write it up in your blog or journal and link back to at least a couple of the other sites where you saw this.

6. If you get the same artist twice, you may skip the second (or third, or etc.) occurances. You don’t have to, but since randomness could mean you end up with a list of ten song with five artists, you can if you’d like.

And this is my list

001. The Weekend - Michael Gray

002. This Is The Night - Clay Aiken

003. Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman - Britney Spears

004. Bedshaped - Keane

005. You Had Me - Joss Stone

006. Curtain Falls - Blue

007. Welcome To My Life - Simple Plan

008. Summer Sunshine - The Corrs

009. Pieces Of Me - Ashlee Simpson

010. Pure Shores - All Saints

via Mr Brown

Because Of Christmas Day

MARY'S BOY CHILD

Long time ago in Bethlehem
So the Holy Bible says
Mary’s boy child Jesus Christ
Was born on Christmas Day

Hark now hear the angels sing
A new King’s born today
And man will live forevermore
Because of Christmas Day

While the shepherds watch
Their flock by night
They see a bright new shining star
Then they hear a choir sing
The music seemed to come from far

Now Joseph and his wife Mary
Come to Bethlehem that night
They find no place to born the child
Not a single room was in sight

By and by they find a little nook
In a stable all furlorn
And in a manger cold and dark
Mary’s little boy was born

Trumpets sound and angels sing
Listen to what they say
That men will live forevermore
Because of Christmas Day

We sang this today. What a wonderful song. This is definitely one of the best songs that describe the events of the first Christmas.

I like this part the best, which I find very true:

"And man will live forevermore
Because of Christmas Day"

Christmas is now one week away. Don't let this Christmas pass you by, without realising the true meaning of Christmas. Christmas is not about gifts. It's about love.

Most Useless Christmas Gifts

I've been in the line of receiving Christmas gifts for many many years now and I'm confident to say that I've enough experience to be able to identify what the gift is even without removing the wrapper.

I'm also confident to say that I've enough experience under my belt to decide if a gift is useless, useful, or a bit of both. Which leads me to my point today. I've come up with a list of ten most useless Christmas gifts.

Not that I'm not appreciative or what, I truly appreciate every gift that people give. After all, it's the thought that counts. In fact, it's good enough that they spend time shopping for the gift and wrapped it up. But, I truly want to highlight some of this gifts so that you may not commit those mistakes when you shop for Christmas gifts this time round.

So, here is it.

TOP FIVE MOST USELESS CHRISTMAS GIFTS
1. Photo Frames - I must confess this. I used to buy photo frames for everybody. But that was when I was Primary Four, still young and broke. So that was pretty acceptable, considering I didn't have enough experience. But please remember this, never buy a photo frame for someone.

2. Mugs - Another item that is frequently found inside those wrappers. Well, this is not necessarily useless. But how many of us would really use those mugs? I remember once I received a mug, I immediately changed the wrapper and gave it to another friend. Haha.

3. Chocolates - This lacks originality! Imagine if everybody buys chocolates for everybody. Then where's the suspense? Where's the surprise when you open those wrappers? Besides, from a healthy point of view, chocolates are fattening. So, I would advise you to invest in something else. Especially if those chocolates are from Cocoa Tree. Haha.

4. Christmas Carols CDs - Yes, we know that you love "Silent Night". And you cannot live without "Joy to the World". And "O Come, All Ye Faithful" is your favourite song. Because the one who will receive your gift probably don't like those songs. Those songs are nice, but they would probably prefer "Do They Know It's Christmas" by Band Aid Twenty instead.

5. Red Packets - I officially declare Red Packets useless! Not that we mind having some extra cash. But if you receive red packets, it probably means that the person giving you those cash have lost contact with the outside world for about two thousand years. Besides, it would be a total disrespect to give red packets. You might as well not give anything. The least you could do, is to give some shopping vochers if you don't have time to shop.

So you have it. The top 5 most useless gifts. Finally, I would like to end off with a joke to put a smile across your face.

Raul, Ronaldo and Beckham were all at Real Madrid's canteen. They were eating lunch and Raul said; "Tapas again! If I get tapas one more time for lunch I'm going to jump off the top of the stadium."

Ronaldo opened his lunch box and exclaimed, "Burritos again! If I get burritos one more time I'm going to jump off, too." Beckham opened his lunch and said, "Ham & Cheese again. If I get a Ham & Cheese sandwich one more time, I'm jumping too."

The next day Raul opened his lunch box, saw Tapas and jumped to his death. Ronaldo opened his lunch, saw a burrito and jumped too. Beckham opened his lunch, saw the Ham & Cheese and jumped to his death as well.

At the funeral Raul's wife was weeping. She said, "If I'd known how really tired he was of Tapas I never would have given it to him again!"

Ronaldo's wife also wept and said, "I could have given him tacos or enchiladas! I didn't realize he hated burritos so much."

Everyone turned and stared at the skinny arseless bint wearing oversized sun glasses and trailer trash trucker baseball cap.
"Hey, don't look at me," said Posh, "David made his own lunch."

101 Things You Should Know

Today's entry is totally uncalled for, unless your general knowledge sucks. But then again, no harm reading it.

1. Christmas is 9 days away.

2. Christmas this year falls on a Saturday, which means you get to attend church for 2 consecutive days.

3. 4 out of 11 public holidays next year fall on weekends, with New Year's Day being the first and Christmas being the last.

4. The winner of Survivor: Vanuatu is Chris Daugherty and he is a highway construction worker.

5. Another highway construction worker Twila Tanner came in second. Considering this, the highway construction association would have been proud of them.

6. Singapore is into the semi-finals of the Tiger Cup.

7. The entire duration of the Tiger Cup is longer than that of the World Cup, despite the fact that only ten countries participate in the Tiger Cup.

8. Singapore's soccer coach is Raddy Avramovic. Nevermind if you don't know any of the players. It's okay. I don't as well.

9. World Cup 2010 was abandoned. God knows why!

10. World No 1 of Golf is not Tiger Woods. If you still thought he was the number one, you are history.

11. World No 1 of Golf is Vijay Singh of Fiji, not Fuji!

12. Twelve is the biblical number for discipline. Twelve disciples, twelve plagues and so on. Five is the number for grace, and seven is the number for completemess.

13. Friday the 13th falls on a Friday. Everybody knows that. It can't possibly fall on a Thursday.

14. Fourteen is the jersey number of Thierry Henry of Arsenal and Xabi Alonso of Liverpool. And so is my jersey number.

15. Former Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier has never lost a Merseyside derby. Unlike the current manager Rafael Benitez who lost his first derby.

16. Former Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier is still unemployed, despite his sound credentials. He was once the manager of the French National Team.

17. Taufik Batisah is the winner of the first ever Singapore Idol. Sylvester Sim was second. Olinda Cho was third.

18. Clay Aiken never won American Idol, actually he came in second. But he seemed to be more popular and successful than the winner.

19. "I Will Carry You" is a song by Clay Aiken from "Measure of a Man".

20. Kelly Clarkson was the winner of the first ever American Idol. And she finished second in World Idol. Well done! We're proud of her!

21. Ryan Seacrest is the host of American Idol.

22. "Over and Over" by Nelly featuring Tim McGraw is the current number one of American Top Forty.

23. In mongolian, "Argalchin" means "the ones who collect dried dung". Which makes me wonder about this. What are people who collect wet dung called?

24. Liverpool Football Club have a habit of selling their captains. Captain Jamie Redknapp was sold to Tottenham. Vice Captain Robbie Fowler was sold to Leeds. Vice Captain Michael Owen was sold to Real Madrid. Which makes me wonder about the current captain Steven Gerrard. What will his fate be?

25. Real Madrid is the world's most successful football club. They have five golden balls.

26. Roald Dahl wrote "The BFG".

27. BFG stands for Big Friendly Giant.

28. Dan Brown wrote "The da Vinci Code". And the book was a bag of lies.

29. X'mas is the short form of Christmas.

30. Mary and Martha were characters from the New Testament. They were sisters.

31. NIV, NLT, NKJV are different versions of the Bible. NIV stands for New International Version, NLT stands for New Living Translation, and NKJV stands for New King James' Version.

32. The Book of Esther was the only book in the Bible where the word "God" isn't found.

33. The prophet Elijah was also know as the "Prophet of Fire".

34. Elijah was one of the two characters in the Bible that never experienced physical death. The other one was Enoch.

35. Jesus Christ experienced physical death but conquered death.

36. Sunday is commonly called "The Lord's Day" but is not the Sabbath. The actual Sabbath is Saturday.

37. The first day of the week is Sunday, not Monday. In case you haven't realised.

38. The author of the book of Hebrews is unknown. Many claimed that it was apostle Paul. Still, others thought it was Luke. Some even identified the author as Priscilia. I don't who the author is, but I think this is one of the question I'll ask God when I reach heaven.

39. The first five books of the Bible are otherwise known as the "Books of the Law".

40. The first four books of the New Testaments are otherwise known as "Gospels". Gospels means good news.

41. Proverbs was written by King Solomon and Psalms was largely written by his dad, King David.

42. King David was a shepherd before he was crowned king. That's why he understood the role of a shepherd and wrote Psalm 23.

43. Samson was a judge. So was Deborah.

44. There are 66 books in the Bible. 39 from the Old Testaments and 27 from the New Testaments.

45. 2 John is located after 1 John in the Bible. Just like how 2 Corithians is after 1 Corithians.

46. Reinhard Bonnke is the founder and leader of Christ for all Nations, an international evangelistic ministry with headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany. He wrote the book "Evangelism by Fire".

47. Ocean's Twelve opened today. It stars George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Andy Garcia. It is directed by Steven Soderberg.

48. Catherine Zeta-Jones also acted in The Terminal, opposite Tom Hanks.

49. Tom Hanks was one of the voices in The Polar Express.

50. A World Without Thieves is a Chinese movie with a lousy title. Need I say more?

51. Tonight's The OC will be the last episode of the first season. Hopefully, it'll be a nice ending. And I look forward to the second season.

52. The stars in The OC is more or less my age. So young and yet so popular. Reminds me of Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo.

53. Five plus three equals eight. Four plus four equals eight also. So is two plus six.

54. Jose Mourinho, Chelsea's coach, was a translator to Bobby Robson, many many years ago. He won the Portugese League and the Uefa Cup in his first full season with Porto.

55. Jose Mourinho is a Portugese. So is Luis Figo and Cristiano Ronaldo.

56. Charlie Brown's last name is Brown. And James Bond's last name is Bond.

57. The Teenage Textbook is written by a Singaporean by the name of Adrian Tan. He also wrote the sequel The Teenage Workbook.

58. Recently, FACTS took on a new meaning. It stands for Families Against the Casino Threat in Singapore. Visit them at www.facts.com.sg and sign their petition today.

59. President S R Nathan is currently on leave. And the acting president during this period is the Speaker of the Parliament.

60. Singapore's Senior Minister is Goh Chok Tong, not Lee Kuan Yew.

61. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong consulted the dictionaries before he found a suitable title for his father. He found the word "mentor" very interesting and decided to call his father "Minister Mentor".

62. Singapore's cabinet consisted 2 former Prime Ministers. Goh and Lee were former Prime Ministers.

63. Lee was Singapore's first ever Prime Minister. He later became Singapore's first Senior Minister.

64. Eight multiplied by eight equals sixty four. Eight squared is also sixty four.

65. One of the terminals of the bus 65 is HarbourFront Intercharge.

66. HarbourFront Shopping Mall was formerly called the World Trade Centre. They changed it after Sept 11 2001.

67. Anne Frank wrote a very famous book known as "The Diary of Anne Frank". Bill Clinton wrote a very famous book as well. It was known as "My Life". I bet the word Monica was mentioned more than Hiliary.

68. Michael Owen is England's vice captain. David Beckham is England's captain.

69. Zidane retired from his national side after a disappointing Euro campaign. They were knocked out from the 2nd round.

70. Sentosa is Singapore's Island Resort.

71. Channel i will cease transmission next year, while Channel U will continue operations under the company Mediacorp TV Holdings.

72. OP International was started in 1972. Or so they claimed.

73. Converse was established in 1908. Or so they claimed.

74. Nokia is not American. Neither is it British. It's Finnish. Nike is not Finnish. It's American.

75. The Reebok Stadium is the homegroud of Bolton Wanderers. They call their boss "Sam".

76. The United States of America is also known to the world as Uncle Sam. If that's the case, who is Uncle Tom?

77. George W Bush will occupy the White House for another 4 years, starting next year. He will then be more successful than his dad, who happens to have the same name. Like father, like son?

78. White Houses is a song by Venessa Charlton. So is the theme song of White Chicks "Thousand Miles". Her favourite colour seems to be white.

79. Paris Hilton is the successor to the Hilton hotels around the world.

80. Swissotel was formerly called the Westin Stamford. Raffles Hotel was always known as Raffles Hotel.

81. Far East Square and Far East Plaza are not the same. They are worlds apart.

82. Raffles Institution and Raffles Girls' School are not the same. They are worlds apart.

83. South Park is known for its language. Or rather its usage of language in an inappropriate manner.

84. There is no such thing as a North Park up to this point. Who knows if it may pop up a few years from now?

85. The song 1985 is a fantastic song by Bowling For Soup. What a name!

86. 1986 is the year when I was born. And many of my friends as well.

87. I was one year old in 1987.

88. I was two years old in 1988. This year was a Dragon year.

89. There is no such creature as a dragon. Maybe it exist only in Shrek and Shrek 2.

90. Ninety is forty-five plus forty-five. Hands up if you didn't know that!

91. Ten plus ninety-one is 101. Who didn't know that?

92. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens is written by Sean Covey. He wrote several other books as well. He is definitely a good author.

93. Singapore Idol judge Dick Lee will be having his 30th Anniversary Concert. Guess his age.

94. Swatch is a brand of watches. And those watches are superb!

95. The presential office of South Korea is the Blue House. I don't know if it's really blue in colour. All I know is that the White House is really white in colour.

96. South Korea and North Korea are separated by the 43rd parallel.

97. The Korean War was one of the largest war by proxy.

98. Winston Churchill was once the Prime Minister of Great Britain. So was Margaret Thatcher. Tony Blair is the current Prime Minister.

99. Helen Clark is the Prime Minister of the Kiwis.

100. 1 more than 100 is 101.

101. This author is a champion. Who didn't know that?

Soldier, Athlete and Farmer

Today's entry is "Soldier, Athlete and Farmer". Or rather, what does a soldier, an athlete and a farmer have in common? Think about it.


An soldier


An athlete


A farmer

Maybe the following passage will give you a clue. The apostle Paul wrote this.

"You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs–he wants to please his commanding officer. Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules. The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this." 2 Timothy 2:1-7

Dennis shared this today. He said that discipline, hard work and consistency is the key to success. Hopefully, we all can develop these characteristics and be successful in every way possible. So that the body of Christ may be strengthened and that His name may be glorified.

A Time Of Love

As of today, it is officially 15 days to Christmas. And it's the season to be jolly. Yes, Christmas is the time to be jolly, make merry and be glad. But why should we be happy and excited about Christmas? I have thought of five reasons why you should look forward to Christmas.

Reason One
Think about all the gifts you'll receive
Yes, this is probably one of the reasons why people look forward to Christmas. Haha. Everyone, whether young or old, likes the feeling of unwrapping the gift and the surprise you get when you see the gift.

Think about the gifts you will receive. Be it the Swatch watch you've been eyeing, or the pair of Levi's jeans that you could never really afford. What about the pair of shoes that you wanted badly. Haha. Even when sometimes you don't get what you want, nobody would mind a gift. Okay, at least not me.

Reason Two
An excuse for you to spend more time in town
I'm not kidding. Tell your parents that you need to shop for Christmas gifts and they will probably close one eye when you spend more time in town. And the best part is that they'll probably give you some cash to go out with. Haha.

Everyone knows that shopping for Christmas gifts isn't exactly very easy. You need to know your budget. Then, you need to know what the person wants or need. After which, you go and search for the most reasonable price. This entire process will take about 2 weeks. Haha. So if you haven't started your Christmas shopping, start tomorrow. Because there is only 15 days to Christmas. Haha.

Reason Three
You get to feel rich
Yes, you get to feel rich during Christmas because you find that you can get more things with the same amount of cash, thanks to this wonderful thing called "Christmas sales".

No only that, just walking around the shops, doing window shopping, you get this feeling that you are very rich, even though in reality, your pockets and wallets have less than 5 bucks. So, there's no harm feeling rich, I suppose.

Reason Four
You can catch up with your close friends and family
Christmas is a time for reunion, and this is rightly so. Very often you get to catch up with friends or family members that you seldom meet up with. The extended family. Okay, I know this sounds like Chinese New Year, but it isn't. Haha.

There is a different kind of feeling when you meet up with friends during Christmas, and when you meet up during Chinese New Year. At least for me, this is true.

Reason Five
Christmas is a time of love
Personally, I think this is the most important reason why you should look forward to Christmas. Yes, because Christmas is a time of love. In fact, this reason is the reason why the 4 reasons above are valid.

Because Christmas is a time of love, that's why you receive gifts from people. People who love you. Because Christmas is a time of love, you spend more time in town to shop for a gift, so that you can show your love to that person.

Because Christmas is a time of love, you feel rich. You want to bless your friends with your love. Because Christmas is a time of love, you look forward to meeting close friends and family. Because you love them.

But why is Christmas a time of love? Christmas is a time of love because the greatest lover you will ever find gave the best love gift. On Christmas many years ago, God gave the greatest love gift, Jesus, to us.

That is the real reason why people give gifts on Christmas. That is the real reason why people receive gifts on Christmas. That is the real reason why people celebrate Christmas. Don't neglect the true meaning of Christmas.

Christmas is a time of love. It's true.

The Past Week

This is my first blog in a week, so I guess this entry will be pretty long. Haven't really had time to blog, so I think maybe I should write a little something about what I've been up to in the past week.

Left the sunny island early Sunday morning, I headed north to neighbouring Malaysia with my family, to begin a long week of retreat and relaxation. A time which we could left our hair down and enjoy ourselves totally.

Our eventual destination was the capital Kuala Lumpur but we made several stops along the way. Our first stop was one of the checkpoint where we eat our breakfast. I was a little surprised when I saw that there were about ten stalls, and yet each stall sold similar items.

It was something like a monopolistic competitive market where everyone sold slightly similar goods, but are still able to set their own price. Then again, I saw that they had perfect knowledge about what their rivals do, so was it a perfectly competitive market?

Okay, I'm sorry I digressed. Back to the main point. I ate Nasi Lemak, which when translated literally into English means rice with fat. Lemak means fat.

Look at the picture. I ate this.



Doesn't it look delicious? Okay, I was kidding. I didn't eat that. I merely insert the picture for fun.

Anyway, the Nasi Lemak I ate was horrendous. It is without doubt one of the worst meals I've ever ate. So, my point is this. Whenever you travel to Malaysia, don't ever eat food from those checkpoints. Don't say I didn't warn you.

After breakfast, we continued with our journey. The journey was long but not entirely boring. Thanks to the multimedia memory card I bought from Zihao, I managed to enjoy hours of non-stop good music along the way.

Not only that, the highway in Malaysia never fails to amaze me. Many times during the journey, I saw many funny things. Imagine seeing a cow at the side of the highway road. Then now, imagine seeing many cows along the side.

I'm not kidding. We saw cows of different shapes and sizes and colours, which makes me wonder if Noah really took one of each kind of animal into his ark. Then again, Darwin would tell me that maybe only one type of cows were created in the first place. And that the others were formed due to mutuation or artificial selection. Whatever it is!

We reached the city of Kuala Lumpur shortly before noon and ate lunch there. Thank God the food there was so much better. It was so good that for the remaining time in my holiday there, I nearly became a pig. Thank God I didn't!

The funny thing that is that hawkers like to cook along their five-foot way instead of cooking in the kitchen. In case you didn't know what I mean, those hawkers like to cook in the space outside their shop. So, it was cooking alfresco. Haha.

The best part of this is that the food actually taste superb! Totally unhygenic conditions but delicious food. Maybe Singapore should also do this and forget about hygene.

Over the next three days, from Sunday to Tuesday, we did several things. We bowled, tried archery and shopped. We also did ice-skating. Haha. Everything was so fun. There is a different kind of feeling when you do those things in Singapore, and when you do those things overseas.

And of course, we went to the arcarde there. Not forgetting to try the Daytona machines, I believe we spent more than two hundred dollars on all these activities! Haha. But all these were worth it since it was so fun.

And your truly spend a great deal of cash buying gifts for all of you my friends. The next time you see me, just remind me to pass you the gifts.

And did I mention that we also went to the Chinatown of Kuala Lumpur? The Chinatown there was something like what you would see in our Chinatown during Chinese New Year. The only difference is that they have it everyday.

And I must really salute them for the way they manufactured those imitations! It was so well done that no one would ever believe its fake when you show it to them. Jeans, shoes, belts, perfumes, socks, shirts, watches. You name it, they have it.

Now, you must be wondering which of those stuff did I buy. But if you know me well enough, you would know that I don't go for imitations. Everything that I wear and use is real. I'm not that cheapskate!

But I have a little confession to make. I bought a couple of socks from there. But it was only because I didn't bring enough socks with me during the trip. Haha.

By the way, we also tried taking their LRT system. It was nothing like what we've in Singapore. It was noisy and slow. Unlike those in Singapore which are quiet and fast. So I guess Malaysia have something to learn from us Singaporeans.

From Wednesday to Friday, we proceeded to Hotel Equatorial, a five-star resort for our annual church retreat. And I must say, the environment and service there is really fine. Just that the food there is a little mediocre.

If you think that mediocre means fairly average, you're wrong. You probably haven't met Elaine Lim. I still remember that she gave us an one-hour talk about mediocrity. And she kept emphasizing that mediocre means sub-standard!

To put it simply, the food was sub-standard! But food aside, everything was wonderful. The fellowship was wonderful, the speakers were tremendous, and the friendship was great.

It was indeed a good time for us to strengthen our friendship with one another, as well as to make new friends. The speakers were tremendous. Benny was a marvelous teacher, Jean was a prayer warrior, Andrew was a down-to-earth and simple person. Each of them had their strengths and giftings.

And of course, who would ever forget the late night supper we had, when we all drove down. We ordered tandoori chicken, roti prata, roti naan, and their world-best satays! It was indeed nice food. No wonder the Chinese have this saying "ming yi shi wei tian". Haha.

And of course Friday was prom. Prom. Remember? 3rd of December 2004. I'm not going to write anything about prom. But I think I will uploading the photos pretty soon. Either here, or Yahoo! photos. Either way, I will upload them. Because I believe a picture will paint a thousand words.

Okay, I believe this entry is getting far to long. If you've read till here, well done! Patience is a fruit of the spirit. Haha. I shall take no more of your time except to end off with a little joke. Enjoy!

Dr Mahathir, when he was still the prime minister of Malaysia, was wondering why Singapore was always ahead of Malaysia in every aspect of life, be it education, health care or even transport system.

So during one of his visits to Singapore, he met up with the then prime minister of Singapore Goh Chok Tong. Mahathir asked, "Why is it that Singapore is so successful?"

Goh answered, "Oh, that's simply because we Singaporeans are smart!"

Mahathir was not convinced. "Really? Prove it."

At this moment, Tony Tan walked into the room.

Goh told Mahathir, "I'll show you."

After which, Goh looked to Tony Tan and asked, "Tony, let me ask you an important question. Who is your father's son?"

Without thinking, Tony Tan answered, "That's easy. My father's son is me!"

Goh, then, told Mahathir, "See that. That's the reason why Singapore is so successful. Singaporeans are clever."

On returning to Malaysia, Mahathir asked the same question to his deputy, Anwar.

"Anwar, who's your father son?"

After about thirty seconds, Anwar answered, "Is it me?"

Mahathir, looking very sad, said, "No wonder Malaysia is inferior to Singapore. Singaporeans are really smarter Malaysians. Anwar, your father's son is not you. Your father's son is Tony Tan!"