Hello everyone!

I had been hiding this from my friends for years (self-conscious :P) and it only surfaced to them as I have decided to drop the news a few months prior to the operation which I will be going for tomorrow morning as I do not see any reason to hide it further and that it's only right for them know.

 I was totally oblivious on such cases until 2011 after reading up online. All I had to my knowledge was my upper and lower teeth not meeting evenly as my lower jaw was protruding, initially thought of it to be nothing. Anyhow, I started to suspect that something wasn't right and decided to consult an orthodontist. It was only then that the word "underbite" came to light and I was diagnosed with class III underbite, with the only way to correct the bite was through surgery. The word "surgery" gave me chills down my spine but I knew that it would have to be done if I wanted to my bite to be corrected. It was an optional surgery but I made a firm decision that I will correct my bite and gave Dr. Danny Tan, my surgeon the green light to begin treatment on me. Treatment was not immediate though, as braces were needed to be worn to get my teeth in their proper position in order to accurately measure the length needed to push back my jaw.

It has been 1 year 8 months since I first put on braces (November 2011) and remembered the first week with braces was crazy, I simply felt like ripping them off as my teeth were sore to the point that chewing on noodles got depressing. This time however, it will be about a week of pure liquid diet and probably a month +/- before I'm able to resume my eating habits. In the weeks leading up to the surgery, I was educated on the risks, what to expect post-surgery and was totally prepared for it as I just want this to be finished asap. The past few days were filled with excitement and nervousness at same time as it will be the first time that I will be experiencing going under the knife (not that I will be awake but whatever...) and filled my stomach with as much delicious food as I could to prepare for the weight lost and liquid diets.

Like every surgery, there is a risk. There's a chance I may face permanent numbness on my lips and chin but the intercessions from my peers and the faith in God gave me the much needed boost in confidence to go for it. I have complete trust in my surgeon on this as he has years of experience performing this surgery and does it 1-2 times a week. Time to take a good rest as my surgery is scheduled to take place at 8.30am tomorrow (25/7) and reporting time is at 7am, therefore the need to wake up at 5.30am is mandatory due to the travelling time and preperation. Goodnight world!

One of our sisters in the community has left us to answer God's calling, to be a Carmelite nun. We will never see her in person again as she has sacrificed the luxuries to live a consecrated life and that means never seeing the outside world ever again except certain circumstances such as illness.

Despite only knowing her for a short period of time (1 year to be exact), her words of wisdom and preaching the word of God gave each and everyone of us in the community the inspiration and understand Him more than we thought we had, and she is Karen Wee. She had left on July 7 2013 to return to her hometown of Sarawak, Malaysia as she chose to join the Carmelite monastery there and joined the other nuns on July 16 2013. Prior to that week, the Amplify community held a surprise farewell potluck party for her with some or shall I say most us sharing our tribute and thanks to her when we were given the time when it was nearing to the end of the program.

I loved how the event planners decorated the room with pictures of her with us throughout the years. Credits to them for the wonderful event and for being gregarious hosts.

Saying grace before meal, hoping that I will be able to pray spontaneously and willingly like her one day.

She was truly a mentor to all of us and with her intercessions, that surely kept us standing tall. Her kind and approachable nature gave me the trust and confidence in speaking to her about my faith and troubles at times and bring ministered by her occasionally also gave me a feeling of peace and security.

Thank you Karen for everything, like what Royston said, you are the "Mother Mary" on Earth. Though I'm happy for you, at the same time I'm sad that you have left us. It was a joy and privilege to serve with you in the intercessory team for Awaken 7, your words had truly touched me.

What a memorable night

Despite being a staunch Catholic, my spiritual life has never exceed the D grade. Long and charismatic prayers were never my cup of tea as I'm a person who prefers short prayer (that is 5-10 minutes). However God had a challenge for me and I had a choice, to accept or reject it. The verdict was to accept the challenge.

Awaken is a 4-day youth retreat held by the Amplify youth community and conducted by Archbishop William Goh in June and December every year. During this retreat, participants will experience the love and reality of God through music and life-giving talks. Having attended Awaken a year ago as a participant, I received the calling to be part of the service team once again for Awaken 7. This time a big surprise hit me, to serve in the intercessory team. Being poor in spontaneous prayer, I had doubts but eventually I chose to accept the calling and got all pumped up, ready to serve as an intercessor. My job was to intercede for miracles and conversion to shine upon the 132 participants who were awaiting their breakthrough, some came willingly and some didn't (eg. dragged by parents or friends). Among the participants in attendance was my girlfriend, Sandra. She was looking for a closer relationship with God which I, along with my fellow intercessors had to ensure it will happen not only for her but the other participants too.

I assumed taking up the role of an intercessor was just another walk in the park but I was given a slap on the wrist. In Awaken 6 which was held 6 months prior to Awaken 7, I served in the Environment team which primary role was to handle the logistics and was used to the long breaks I had and it wasn't that bad as I thought it will be. However, the intercessory team had only 10-15 minutes break in between sessions which was indeed a shocking factor for me. Each session lasted for an hour and a half with spontaneous prayers and as time passed, tiredness kicked in and I began having mood swings and felt antsy. I admitted to my peers that I wasn't happy and just couldn't wait for the retreat to end, the only thing that kept me alive and on-going was by playing the guitar (my hobby) for certain sessions. Somehow I felt a connection with God through that. Day 2 eventually improved for me, felt more energetic after a much needed rest and more willing to pray during sessions. The next 2 days was indeed my breakthrough, as much as not being able to put words into my prayers, spreading the words of giving praise and thanks to the Lord was adequate.

Being affirmed by my peers was indeed heart-warming, hearing words of encouragement from Ethelyn and Teresa (intercessory heads) to Amo (fellow intercessor) gave me the muscle to carry on. I had realised how my cockiness and self-centered attitude caused my defiance to God. I can be such a great servant of God, journeying with His people but I have to remember to be humble and surrender to Him whenever I feel the need to. It was also a privilege to recite the prayer for the faithful on the last day during mass, that was a much needed remainder for me that prayer wasn't for myself but for everyone. I am thankful for journeying with the other intercessors, they have been supportive throughout the retreat because without them I would have struggled more than I already had.

Awaken 7 intercessory team with His Grace, William Goh

Being in the Awaken service team was such a wonderful time to be used as God's instrument. Not only did the service team helped change participant lives but the time we went through together, from the times feeling electrified and to the times feeling zonked pulled us together for we are servants of God.

Really happy to see that your desire to know God better came through during the 4 days. Despite not seeing you often during the entire retreat due to my duties as an intercessor, I have always been there supporting and praying for you. Hope that you had a great experience, looking forward to serve alongside you in the future. God bless you my dear.

Credits to Dominic Lee for the picture

What a well spent day at the Singapore Zoological Gardens. We have decided to make the trip on that Wednesday as it was Labour Day, a public holiday in Singapore. It has been almost 4 years since I've been to the zoo and being an avid photographer, I thought of it to be a great location to put my photography skills at work.

Ray, Sandra and I stopped by for breakfast first at Choa Chu Kang interchange before our adventure kicked off, settling on McDonald's. It has been awhile since I last had hotcakes so I said "Why not?". It took us approximately 20 minutes to reach our destination, the weather didn't seem too friendly on that day and we feared that it would rain and our it turned out to true as it rained heavily in the later afternoon (Oh crikey...) but thank God it lasted for a short while, therefore not hindering our trip as time was precious. Looking the at sign above the entrance relieved the happy moments I had at the zoo during my younger days. I recalled the days my Godfather used to bring my brother and I here during the school holidays when we were in primary school. Not much has changed since my last visit, except an additional sign beside the zoo which reads "River Safari", a park recently opened and it houses the pandas, I shall pay a visit in the future but not too soon. Upon entering, the childlike excitement surfaced just like the good ol' days and I had one goal in mind, complete the park without missing any exhibits.

Was lucky to capture this shot

We roughly spent 10 minutes in each exhibit observing the animals (with me on the camera lol), I wasted a little time figuring out the best settings on my DSLR Nikon D5100 to get a splendid picture. Ray and Sandra went with the flow while I was the "leader of the pack", couldn't forget the two of them trying to hide from me while I was distracted with the pictures, I usually caught them in the act  but they succeeded a few attempts (=.=!!!). The hardest picture to take was probably the cheetah as it just couldn't keep still, the easiest were probably the crocodiles and the komodo dragon as they were stationary (no effort needed :P). We managed to catch a show on the way called "Rainforest Fights Back" which educated the audience on preserving the wildlife, after which we headed for lunch at KFC which is the cheapest dine-in at the zoo (Still prefer the old KFC layout to the current one). The skies were dark for a period of time and rain finally started showering down, fortunately we have arrived at the restaurant, otherwise we would have looked like we just came out from the shower as it was raining cats and dogs. 

By the time we had lunch which was about 3pm, we had covered half of the zoo, popular animals such as the white tigers and orangutan had been covered, but the lions and the giraffes weren't. There was an elephant ride at one of the attractions on the way but paying $8 for a one small round which probably lasted less than 15 minutes didn't justify the worthiness of the ride. It may be fun for the little ones, but not us adults as we are the ones who faces the butterfly flying out of our wallets. One of my favourites was the reptile garden which houses various species of snakes such as the king cobra and python. The fragile forest we visited near the reptile garden lets the animals such as the lemurs roam free

and they are harmless anyway, though I received a little pinch from one of the birds (couldn't remember what bird it was) after allowing it to climb onto my hands (naughty bird using it's beak to pinch). Overall, it was a pleasant day at the zoo spending time with a good friend of mine and my girlfriend. The only disappointment I had was that the polar bear exhibit was under construction at the time and that was one of the iconic attraction. The weather was also something we took note. As Singapore is a tropical country, it will be humid so we didn't expect to leave the zoo dry (if you know what I mean) and our expectations were right.

I would certainly visit the zoo some time in the future, my next destination to visit will be the River Safari. Just hoping that the entrance fee of $35 will be worth my money. In my opinion, Night Safari was a disappointment as I could barely see the animals and majority of the time was spent riding a tram.

Friendly lemurs

Somehow the statue got bigger in 2013

Back in 2009

The popular white tiger

Adopted by Tiger, how ironic 

Ray's turn

                                                 

This is it, no more seeking permission or approval from parents when it comes to official documentations or consent forms. I have turned 21 and am an adult officially by law in March. That means there is no longer any age restrictions yipee! So I decided to throw a party at my home and sent an invitation to friends I'm close to in the Amplify community.

The "comedic duo" setting up the decorations

 

Lol at his sinister smile

The party began at 6pm with the numbers gradually increase as the clock ticked, with two of my second in command for the party arriving first to assist in the decorations and bringing the cake, the "comedic duo" Jerome and Kwan. As usual, their comedy antics were shown by belittling each other all because of the "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" sign being too low *roars in laughter*.

Dinner was sponsored and cooked by my mum with her curry chicken being the most popular dish among the people in attendance. Other varieties she cooked included fried fish, spring roll, bee hoon, thanks to "Possum" Gabriel, there was lots of potong ice-cream available for everyone to enjoy.

The night felt so young, with all the vibrant noises of joy and laughter. We spent the time playing card games together, interaction with each other and of course playing my trusted guitar! By 9pm, everyone was present so it was time to sing the traditional happy birthday song and cut the cake. Like the old saying, fun is short and it was time for the party-goers to say goodbye when the clock hit 10pm.

I would like to sincerely thank my mum and friends from community for attending and making this party a memorable one and of course God because without His guidance, this may not have happened. Though I have turned 21, I felt like a person in my teenage days once again.

After an awesome LAN session with the boys, it was time for dinner. As we were in the city area, food will be more expensive than usual and we decided to burn a little money out of our pockets just this once.

We stumbled across this nice little cafe in the perpetually empty MRT link mall located beside Esplanade

Dining out with these rascals :P

station and decided to give it a shot as the prices were reasonable, I ordered a Texas BBQ and Egg beef burger which comes along with free flow of drinks and soup for $10.90. We went along with a large classic dips for our side order which cost $5.90 and included 3 types of dips we could choose from the menu, and decided on inferno cheese, nacho cheese and spicy BBQ. 

The burger tasted fantastic and the patty was tender. It was cooked to perfection and the tremendous amount of BBQ sauce in the burger was a charity. The only downside was the amount of serving on the fries which came along with the burger, I really wished they could improve the quantity of the fries served along with the main course. The large classic dips we shared was in fact a generous serving and the fries were hot and crispy, the dips provided were sufficient and tasted just like how our stomachs expected. The free serving of soup had nothing to boost about, to my understanding their choice of soup changes daily, and it happened to be pumpkin soup on that day. The taste was mediocre and little too watery but hey it was free wasn't it?! 

My overall opinion: Good and worth visiting. Not only is the area quiet and peaceful but they also provide free wi-fi and plug in for laptops so it will be a good area to pass the time alone or with friends. For the vicinity, the price was reasonable and the taste justified it, definitely recommend this place.




Here is their website: http://www.rocknash.com/

We were one happy customers

It's the festive season, and the day where Jesus was born over 2000 years ago! So it's the day to celebrate his birth with a big feast such as turkeys!

First present, thanks Auntie Serene! 

 My community (AMPlify!) happened to have a Christmas party from 1-6am every year on this day and this was my first time attending it. Before setting out for the night, I was in a dilemma on what to wear and after much thoughts, I decided to don a suit with bow-tie looking like a real gentleman *giggles*.

First, I went over to Sandra's house for Christmas dinner. There were the usual Christmas dishes such as turkey, ham and roast beef (yummy!). They were heaven and the black pepper sauce for the roast beef was too spicy for my tongue to tolerate as spiciness isn't a good pal of mine. We followed up with exchanging presents after dinner and my first presents came to me soon after, as someone over 20 I could care less about Christmas presents but as a child, I enjoyed it regardless of what I received and one of my favourites were the crackers given to me by my grandparents bought from the US.

We then headed for midnight mass at Nativity which is located opposite our community and rendezvous with the others. Mass began exactly at 12 midnight and after mass, we headed for the party. There were food and beverages such as ham and once again I'm having it. The night was a joyous occasion having fellowship with the others, playing games together and most importantly was the time we spent together because happy people keeps the environment happy.

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a happy new year, one more week and it's a fresh new year!