B'day

Today is my b'day, I managed to attain a higher level of fake by faking everyone with the
'today is not my b'day atmopsphere.' wahaaa

During Bible study, we learnt about love and its importance.
Why is the importance of love so significant? Because,
1 Corinthians 13:8
"Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away."

Love is patient,
love is kind.
It does not envy,
it does not boast,
it is not proud.
It is not rude,
it is not self-seeking,
it is not easily angered,
it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects,
always trusts,
always hopes,
always perseveres.
Love never fails.

The above is from the Bible, 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

It has really been a privilege to spend my b'day on a Sunday, in church, for the last time with teens for worship service..last Bible study with teens..to spend my b'day with brothers and sisters in Christ, to be showered with love by teachers..
To eat a b'day cake baked by my mum assisted by my sis..

These 16 years of my life, has not been in vain.
I've constantly received blessings from God, His everlasting love, His presence..its just too much for me to 白白领受

Romans 12:1
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship.

By Him we cry, "Abba, Father."

Romans 8:12-17

Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation-but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by Him we cry, : "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs-heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

Youth camp

Theme: Living in accordance with the Holy Spirit 靠着圣灵行事

First and foremost, the Holy Father, Holy Son and Holy Spirit are co-equal.
In other words, God is the Holy Father, Son and Spirit.
However, God is still one. (He's God, that's why.)

Yep, the youth camp was great, 'promoting' to youth from teens next year, haha
teens (sec 1-4)
youth (17yrs old till young working adults, wide range!)
Got to know lots of people, friendly, humourous, lame (already know), eh old. (LOL!)

Joke of the camp:
Someone: I want yellow!
TM: fei low (fei lou)----------anyhow tyco
CX: thats fat person in cantonese!
ALL: ROFL!!!

Some major learning points of the camp about the Holy spirit is that:
The manifestation of the Holy Spirit is mainly initiated by God Himself, not sought after by human methods, it is also for the benefit of others. (also when spiritual gifts are put into use)

Galatians 5:24-25
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature
with its passions and desires.
Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
加拉太书5
凡属基督耶稣的人，是已经把肉体连肉体的邪情私欲，同钉在十字架上了。我们若是靠圣灵得生，就当靠圣灵行事。

A Friend

Just some thoughs,

A friend should be one who understands you, (mutual understanding)
is sensitive to your feelings,
yet isn't afraid to point out your pitfalls.

A friend supports you when you make a correct decision,
does not dissuade you when you weigh your priorities correctly,

A friend is not one who goes after selfish gains,
but thinks of the benefit of the other party.

A friend, cares.

---Off to youth camp tomorrow till Wednesday...cya'all!

Something "interesting"

LOL, something to ease boredom at the moment.

Does your name begin with:
J
You are blessed with a great deal of physical energy. When used for a good cause there is nothing to stop you, except maybe that they aren't always used for the good. (you could dance all night.) You respond to the thrill of the chase and the challenge of the mating game.You can carry on great romances in your head. At heart you are a roamer and need to set out on your own every so often. You will carry on long- distance relationships with ease. You are idealistic and need to believe in love. You have a need to be nurtured deep within.

DECEMBER(B'day)
Loyal and generous
Patriotic
Active in games and interactions
Impatient and hasty
Ambitious
Influential in organizations
Loves to socialize
Loves praises
Loves attention
Loves to be loved
Honest and trustworthy
Not pretending
Short tempered and egoistic
Takes high pride in oneself
Hates restrictions
Loves to joke
Good sense of humor
Logical

Whether true or not, you be the judge! hahahaha

Guangzhou, Foshan trip [Day 7]---and the last

Woke up and took in a deep breath of the really fresh and cool air, waaa shiok.
It still dawned on me that we're leaving today!! Nooooo....
Grandad, aunt FY, Audrey and I took a van together with our luggage and some relatives to Dong Hai Ming Zhu for one last time to yum cha.
We the set off early at around 11 or 12 to Bai yun airport...
Went to the airport, checked in luggage, felt so...sad as we bade our relatives farewell...
Had to go through a really LONG queue at the customs, ma fan la, need to take out almost everything to check..sweater/jacket, pouch, stuff inside pocket, handbags etc...0.5 sian!
In the Guangzhou to Bangkok flight its...what the.
Sat in between 2 big sized indian men. (not that I have anything against them..)
Their arms 'kopped' both arm rests of mine!!!!! yea, imagine that scenario, sandwhiched is the word. But hah managed to spend time wisely by reading the gospel of John (a book in the Bible) and enjoying the food and drinks provided on board.
Transition: Bangkok to Guangzhou
I was really proud of myself as I thought I had truly mastered the art of yawning to remove ear blocks so far!
By the time we boarded the plane, it was about 7pm already...after chatting & taking some photos at the Bangkok international airport to pass time..
This time, it was better, lol. Sat with Cousin Audrey and chatted for awhile before she taught me how to play SUDOKU.
Was also useful in the near future for me to pass time, LOL.
Then it was all listening to music and yawnage...ZzZz..
Returned to SG finally at around 11 I guess.
After exiting Changi Airport I immediately perspired.
"......."
This is where the trip ends as we returned to each of our homes.
A trip where the memory of it never fades!

Guangzhou, Foshan trip [Day 6]

Had some egg tarts & other pastries for breakfast at home.
Today, we were brought around by Ah Lou sok-gong, to see gu po, who is my grandad's gu jie, ITS MY GRANDAD'S AUNT!! She's already like 90+ almost 100 liao la!!
Visited her at one of the 疗养院 (old falk's home, I think.) --1 hr + drive. yawnage.Zzz
Sigh, a little sad for my grandad cause she had no reaction or whatsoever towards us..
Took some photos for 记念, of sentimental value.
完蛋。I forgot what the name of this uncle who accompanied us...
Seriously tired after the car rides which has the equivalent effect of a lullaby
We then had lunch with some other relatives at a restaurant, I don't know their names..-_-
Anyway, we had some really good food though I kept having to wash my face to keep me refreshed, lol.
After that this uncle which we met at the old folk's home brought us to jade street with uncle Ah Lou still 'chauferr-ing' us. The ENTIRE STREET had shops selling JADE, quite spectacular but it bores me after some time as well, lol.
FAN OH K FAN GAO!!! ---Go home sleep in cantonese, lol.
No la, we were like jammed big time on our return..
We finally arrived at another restaurant where uncle tin tuck gave us a treat as we were leaving the next day...Chicken...and...cai xin...again...(for every meal) but thank the Lord for His providence!
---Coming to an End---

Guangzhou, Foshan trip [Day 5]

(Biao shu) Uncle Ah Lau brought us around zhang cha village today..
Ah ya, I remember where we went for breakfast...its...东海明珠 "Pearl of Eastern Ocean" again, lol.
then we took a cab to go around the area & had lunch at 应记 (ying ji).
After that it was shoe hunting and I found the ideal shoe with the brand 361 degrees, lol cool huh.
There were other brands like addnice which I mstook for addidas at first, lol.
Tried some bing tang hu lu as well then uncle ah lau, aunt FY, aunt ah wah, audrey & me went to the museum of Bruce Lee! rock and roll stuff with his master ip mun's records and videos there as well. Also visited areas containing records of Huang Fei Hong!!
Not bad, was quite an eye opener when I heard an English song being played at one of the shops in the vicinity, Human Eternal Flame! wow.
Had quite a fun time and took quite some pics there.
After that we went to shop around & I bought one really cheap thermoflask, lol then aunt FY bought an 'airpot' --something to boil hot water for the family back in the village.
After that it was more or less slacking at home after watching some HK shows..

----END-----Much shorter, eh? (maybe cause I'm starting to firget,lol)

Guangzhou, Foshan trip [Day 4]

Shoes MIA (missing in action---soaked.), this is where slippers kick in, literally.
It is STILL raining...
AH YES, we went to the market for some breakfast. Had some milk tea and beef noodles, not bad. Took a couple of photos and went for some marketing. Lol, grandad, gu po, aunt FY & Audrey went ahead to buy their stuff while I chatted with uncle Kenny. Men's stuff la. shh
Just kidding, were just chatting about life and uncle Kenny's family.
HK markets were only a little different from SG's, there less wet, haha.
They sell live poultry, specifically chickens! (they stink.)
Went on later to buy some medicated oil from a shop. bought a dozen.
(was useful in the near future, lol)
Went back home to pack up and got ready for the train ride back to Foshan from Kowloon(HK).

14:20
This time the train we took had no separate rooms/carriages as the previous one I took, so everyone sat 2 by 2 (2 facing the other 2).
Sat with grandad opposite 2 other persons whom we chatted with throughout the journey as well. But during most of the train ride I was sleeping as it was really boring...

Finally reached Foshan station in the evening and we took a cab back to zhang cha village back home. There, my aunt lit up some joss sticks and a fire I think because we 'returned' so grandad, aunt and Audrey were like coughing all the way, hah, I'm not affected ;)
We stayed at grandad's cousin house beside for a while and returnd only after the fire has been put out and the smoke diffused.
The day more or less ended after Audrey and I tried to figure out what a poem hung in the living room meant, which described the emotions of my grandad while returning to zhang cha and finding his lost sisters.
Anti mozzie preparations before going to bed and ZzZz..
--------End of day 4---------

Guangzhou, Foshan trip [Day 3]

I promise to shorten this!

Woke up in the morning at 7+ or 8 and I could see my grandad 'sneaking' across the room over my sleeping bag to avoid disturbing me, lol.
Today, it was uncle Kin Hang (Ronald) 's turn to bring us around for some shopping.
This was when I realised I had only brought along one set of clothes and didn't have extra
[only leaving HK to go back to foshan next day!!]

Never mind, that's only the tip of the iceberg. IT RAINED FOR THE ENTIRE DAY!!
Lol, complaints aside. Shortly after Uncle Ronald brought Aunt Foon Yoong, Audrey and I out (grandad wanted to rest), we went into a food stall.
The wanton mee was like WOW as compared to the 90% 'skin' wanton in Singapore!
In 1 wanton, there was like 2 small prawns & meat!
Hm, the tea was also very different from SG's, less milk added, it was held by a metallic looking cup which was a good heat insulator, cool huh?

Later on we took the MTR (mass transit railway, I think) and went to Langham place, ocean centre & some other shopping centres etc.
So I bought a blue (ocean blue, I guess) Reebok shirt & Aunt Foon Yoong bought a pair of sandals for my sis, thanks!
Along the way, Uncle Ronald bought some 'hairy crabs' --da(4) jia(2) xie(4).

Finally went back home at like 6 or 7pm, here the cycle of getting wet and drying finally ended.
Had a really sumptuous dinner and ate hairy crab, this is where the joke starts.
I only knew how to eat from its erm 'head', so after much advise and teaching from gupo, i finally managed and learned how to eat its sides and flesh on their 'hairy legs'.

Everyone: wa John, you eat the most!
John: Nope, I took the longest to eat. (1 hr to eat 1)-----SIAN DIAO
Everyone: Eat one more?
John: Nono---another hour? NO WAY!

Watched some HK serials after dinner...

------------END of 3rd day-----------------

Guangzhou, Foshan trip [Day 2]

Woke up at around 7+ or 8+ in the morning.
Though the night was chilly but I still prefer this kinda weather! (rarely/don't weat, lol.)
--There's no need for deodorant.
We then proceeded to have breakfast & "yum cha" (drink tea) at a restaurant nearby named
"Dong Hai Ming Zhu" (Pearl of the Eastern Ocean???) LOL
Ate quite a bit of dianxin, had some tea, took a couple of photos together with the big group of relatives and bade them farewell temporarily as we hopped on a taxi to Foshan train station. We headed for Kowloon, Hung Hom Station (Hong Kong) and the train started travelling at about 10:56am.
Ok, I admit I led everyone to the wrong carriage at first. (Didn't realise there were numbers...)
Only realised it while we were relaxing and a Chinese couple came and told us we were in the wrong carriage, lol.
But the carriage is cool, it has space for like 6 persons. The train ride took quite a while, like 3 hours? So, my grandad, aunt Foon Yoong, Cousin Audrey and I chatted, then got tired, ZzZz-ed woke up, realised we're not there yet. It then got really BORING. Audrey took some pics again, but it was difficult to capture photos of the scenery as the train was moving, too bad..

But from the stories grandad told me, I learnt lots of precious stuff from him.
There was even once when he gave all his money which he had on him to a friend working for him! (His friend's dad's life was in danger) They acutally got to meet on our return as well! Their friendship has also continued for 60 years already! (Grandad is 85 and his friend, 88)

As a person, one should always be thankful for what you have, wear a smile,
say a polite 'thank you'.
When you meet a bad friend, "Stop!"

Arrived at Hung Hom Station (Kowloon) at around 2pm, where we met Uncle Kenny, Kin Yuen(my distant relative, not just any uncle on the street). He's a really friendly guy, above all, he knows how to speak English, thank God. Finally, some better communication, lol :)
We took a cab & arrived at my "gu po" 's house, who is my grandfather's younger female cousin.
Ah. Flats in Hong Kong are really cosy! In other words, small. lol
Gu po's maid knew how to speak in cantonese!!! I feel so ashamed, haha..
We had some fruits then chatted on and on and on...till..I went for a nap, lol.
Woke up at 6pm (DINNER TIME!) We met uncle Ronald (Kin Hang) who was uncle Kenny's brother, together with his girlfriend, Coco.

Yes, you got it. We proceeded to a restaurant nearby for dinner without delay.
Wow, we had some really good food there in HK as compared to those in CN!
As usual, we chatted for quite a while & took some photos.
The fun part was after dinner, where I spent the 1st night in HK, in perhaps the most memorable way. Uncle Kenny brought us around by taking a public bus going through Mongkok, Jordon, Tsim sha sui etc. We then arrived at Tsim sha sui (jin sha zui --hanyupinyin)
The night scenery was really awesome with the cloudy weather, the river scenery resembling that of Singapore River, but a larger version of it.
We walked through the path called (Xing Guang Da Dao) with some artistes names engraved on the ground & the nicest decorations were the small holes emitting light from the ground.
Took quite a number of pictures there as well..

Twinkle twinkle little star,
up above the world so high,
like a diamond in the sky,
twinkle twinkle little star..
light up the night as bright as day.

Guangzhou, Foshan trip [Day 1]

1st day: Sunday, 19 Nov

Ah, had no choice but to miss worship service in the morning..
At around 9 or 10am, Uncle Pang came to fetch me first then grandad who was living nearby.
Lol, still could remember vividly Uncle Pang nick-naming grandad 'the ambassador' when he saw him wearing a suit, all ready and set to go!
Next, I boarded my first flight ever at around 11.45am (boarding time)!
'Sawadika!' greeted all the flight attendants as I entered the plane, (Thai airways), thats why my grandad likes to travel with them..they've got positive work attitude and are polite, good service DNA, haha. On board the plane I had a chance to taste some thai food, which is...erm.. 'pad cha' ? kinda like curry chicken with rice, but it tasted great :)
Later on, we had to transit at Bangkok on to Guangzhou where we had to wait for an hour or so in between....yawnage.
Before boarding the 'ticket collector' tore my boarding pass into half!!! DIAO.
On the plane, I did nothing much except to eat, sleep and read some booklets which I brought along...
How's my flight? You may ask. Other than ears getting blcoked occassionally, which is irritating, it was generally good.

!!!

Arrived in Guangzhou, Bai Yun airport at 8+pm if I'm not wrong where a group of my distant relatives welcomed us. This is where all confusion broke loose, lol.
Who? What? Where? How? I can only understand 50% cantonese provided only one person speaks to me in that dialect and for a short period of time. Any longer, I'll lose focus and be "???"

We then took a van and arrived in Foshan, Zhang Cha in an hour where we reached our 'house' --at least for that week, at approximately 10pm. It was terribly dark where there were hardly any street lights while we made our way to the house. Then, we had some hot tea which was really really nice, especially in the colder climate there.
No, you did not guess it. It's not the end of the day YET! We actually went out to have some porridge at a local...you could say foodhouse. waa, the breeze is coldd.