China's a day away

China winter getaway is a day away, and i'm pretty excited about it all. Mostly because it's going to be my first snow experience. And also because i'm spending it with the majority of my chem pals!

We'll be landing in Beijing on the afternoon of 10th and will settle in a 宾馆 (i think it's something less classy than a hotel) which is quite near beijing university and tsing hua university. A week of Beijing will see us having fun at Tiananmen square, forbidden city, tsinghua university, peking university, the great wall, beijing normal university and of course the shopping malls and yummy places.

On the 16th, we'll be leaving Beijing for Tianjin to visit Nankai university, Tianjin normal university and Tianjin university. After a night in Tianjin, we'll head to Dalian on the 17th to see Dalian university of Science and tech, and the institute of chemical physics, before heading to Changchun on the 19th.

Chang chun will be a freezing -20 degrees celcius!!!! And it's just next to haerbin!!! woo goodness. Anyway, we'll hopefully have a ski trip followed by visits to Changchun institute of applied chemistry and Jinlin University. On the 23rd, we'll head back to Beijing and visit the summer palace, Beijing Institute of Chemsitry, its industries, temple of heaven and some free and easy time. We'll return on the 30th of december, just in time for the new year :)

Wee.. sounds really fun. Lots of chemistry. and chinese. and snow (hopefully). Praying for God to make it a meaningful and blessed time.. that He'll grant me a heart than sincerely desires to be his disciple (Matthew 28: 18-20).

the old chinese man within

Can't wait for another china experience - trains bursting at its seams.. old women munching on broken peanuts.. old men playing with smoke dragons.. and me enjoying my time with friends.

More than phil

byron, the philhellenist, is a lover of greeks
philip, well, he's in love with horses
and as for us, phileo-ists, we love our friends
but God? He's Agape.

He

Who changes day into night?

Who brings forth the sun every morning?

Who carries the moon by night?

The Morning Sun.

The morning light peeked between the curtains and woke March up. March wanted to see rainbows, and she longed to hear the buzz of a random bee or the flap of a robin bird's wings. She tumbled around the grass and felt a searing pain pierce through her heart. Not long after, a pile of dirt, swift as a butcher's knife, came cutting through the sky, right onto little March's face. It made her sneeze so badly her throat became sore and tired. March wanted so badly to see the rainbows forming above her, she longed to hear the buzz of a random bee or the flap of a robin bird's wings. Yet, all she could do was sneeze because the dirt had taken a foothold deep down in her throat. It even felt as if it might stay there forever.

But little March drew in a deep breath of crisp air and looked at the Sun for some comfort. It was good. The Sun always made March feel warm and fuzzy inside. She jumped up and ran as fast and as far as she could. So fast, her shadow could not even catch up. Gone were the ominous grey clouds; in their place, sprightly summer clouds glowered over her, like an angel bringing good tidings. March knew that all was fine and good and lovely. She peered into the morning sky and gave the Sun a great big smile.

The korean challenge

I really love hanging out with my mom and my aunts - love hearing them talk those womenly talks, haggle like no body's business and eat as if they owned the eateries. haha. Anyway, we tried Miss Clarity Cafe at purvis street today. Don't be fooled by its outer appearance, gawdily kiddy as it may be, it serves serious food in seriously large portions. Not bad :)

My mom and aunt enjoying their banana tart!

We also visited arab street to look for textile! Walked for 2+ hours but found nothing suitable. Then we headed for people's park and found fabric that were finally suitable!

Then we went for the korean challenge - super spicy korean food. I particularly like the bi bim bab and the peach mochi! yum yum. This restaurant is located on mosque street in chinatown.

Bi Bim Bab

Chilli overload!

And here's all praise and thanks to God for family and relatives! And for His good providence - for food, shelter, and a time for happiness :)

Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly

I take a glance at my reflection in the mirror, and i ask myself. Am i ready?

Crusade camp was more than i expected it to be. I went for it, not knowing what to expect. But at the end of it, I realised that firstly, God placed me there to re-affirm and confess my promise to Him. No more stagnant moments, but a constant desire to love Him more each day. Secondly, to be there for a new friend whom i met in my CG, to pray and help her in her journey with God. Thirdly, to be part of the body of Christ in NUS, where I'd be spending most of my time in.

On another note, i've been thinking much about the body of Christ. What community essentially means. To me, I think it's about unity, committment (or rather committment that comes from ownership), cooperation (because the body is not made up of hands only, but head, and limbs of various kinds, etc.), and of course accountability.

To walk in God's light seems easy. Read the Bible everyday. Pray. But it requires constant determination which has to be renewed each and everyday, such that we can run the race and claim the prize for God's glory.

Are we ready?