Romance of their own!

Mamma Mia! I Have A Dream

On the brighter side of things

Dorcas and Mint-Mint came to play with Billy and I.

They're so adorable!

Brokeback cowdogs!

In memory of my dad

In memory of my dad:

I loved the smile on his face.. it was a radiant one, i knew it was from God. For 7 years, my dad lived a changed life, with us, he enjoyed every moment of this new found life in Jesus. He loved reading God's word and sharing it with me. Though i sometimes ignore him, i'd try my very best to listen. Often, i'd think that his Bible knowledge isn't very good, but as the years go by, I'd admire his deep understanding of the word. I knew that it was from God. Mom and I would always encourage him to facilitate a class since he was so enthusiastic with the word. Every morning, i'd hear him pray in the toilet and sometimes i'd accidentally see him kneeling down and praying so earnestly it puts me to shame. He'd always tell me how much he'd enjoy his cold bath in the mornings, it proved that at 71 years old, he was healthy. Every night, he'd lie in bed and listen to sermons or he'd blast hymns on our old set and fall asleep. He loved our company - TV, lights and chatterings.. it made him feel more secure, he said, and then he'll sleep soundly till the morning. Recently, all 3 of us would squeeze and fall asleep in the same room. I'll miss those times. He'd request for a family prayer and I love it because it brought us so much closer together. I don't quite remember my dad proper before the 7 years, but in Christ, I knew my dad almost inside out, and I love him dearly. On the 24th of December, Christmas eve, I had just arrived in the train station of Bejing from another Chinese city. My professor told me my dad was in hospital - that broke me into pieces. But when he said my dad had passed away, my world collapsed. Although i didn't get to see dad one last time, I did say a prayer for him that night.. i prayed that he'll have a good night's rest and that all the pain would go away. I have no regrets, dad and i had a good time together. Even though I miss him dearly, every second of the day, and I don't know what the future holds... i know that God would not leave me nor forsake me (Deut 31:6), and i know that God has wonderful plans for my mom and I (For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." - Jeremiah 29:11). I believe that God, our heavenly father, will never leave me fatherless. I trust that my dad is rejoicing in heaven, whenever i look to the skies, i'd know that dad is looking down at us, cheering us on. This is my dad.

Pray for us.

"And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from the eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." Revelation 21:3-4

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.