Ducktour

Took Nathan to the doctor's this morning for his 5-in-1 MMR vaccination jab. Long wait, saw the doc for 3 minutes, had the injection and Nat cried a total of 10 secs.

Went on the Singapore Ducktour today with Li Soon and Matthew.
Kinda fun, although the guide was kinda awful. Very young girl guide and corny commentary. But Matthew had fun and just took it all in. He has always been interested in all things military, and he said he wanted to invent a car that can go on land and in water, we decided that we need to show him what can be done... Now he's set his sights on inventing a car that can go underwater!!
After that, ate Laksa at Suntec and went for a little bit of window shopping. Came home tired and slept!!
Holiday mood!!

Still

23,000 dead and counting. It's really sad. I wonder if my parent's previous maid and her family are alive? She's from Sri Lanka.
Just now, we had Lee Mee Onn and family come visit together with my parents and we decided to sing some hymns and worship songs. I was playing the piano and my dad and everyone else was happily singing away.
When it came to my turn to pick a song, for some reason I choose "Still"
As we started to sing, the words suddenly jumped out at us!! With all the floods and people dying, the lines say it all.

"When the oceans rise
And thunders roar
I will soar with You above the storm
Father, You are King over the flood
I will be still
Know You are God"

Hide me now
Under Your wings
Cover me
Within Your mighty hand

Find rest my soul
In Christ alone
Know His power
In quietness and trust

Got dunked by my own son and father!!

Wow, the carnival was definitely tiring!!
Was co-ordinating the radio comms and the program in the sanctuary. At 1240, I got on the dunking machine, and guess what, my family hogged the dunking machine!!
My little Matthew was the first one who get me wet. They let him go right up close and pushing the target!! After that it was one after another. 20 minutes never felt that long!
And guess what, my family members were feeding the tickets to my cousin Ian to keep dunking me. Finally my dad got into the act and threw 4 balls, of which the last one got me!!
Finally Matthew got the last dunk. He tried to throw the ball .... not even close. So they carried him right to the target .... splash!! In another time I went!!
It was kinda fun..... would I do it again? Probably not...heh
Kudos to everyone else who volunteered to be dunked. I'm sure we did our part in helping the kids over at Katong Special School.

Christmas already?

Wow. Tomorrow's Christmas already!
Time passes so fast, really thankful this year's mood is much better than last year's. Things are looking a little more upbeat. But even as I thank God for this year and the good things that are happening, it also reminds me that we should not take things for granted and not to rely on earthly conditions and our feelings about things to dictate where and what to do with our lives. Easier said than done, for sure.
Tonight we have a Christmas party at home, my dear aunt Iris having invited the extended families. I'm sure it will be a pig-out with lots of Turkey and ham and fried beehoon and chicken wings - truly a mix of east and west.
Tomorrow we have 2 Christmas services in church, one at 9 and one at 11am. Thereafter, to Andrew and Maureen's for another pig out lunch. Looking forward to that!
3pm tomorrow we get back to church to set up the sound systems for Boxing Day Carnival (26th 10am to 3pm). Lots of wires to run and equipment to set up. Really looking forward to the carnival. Exciting!!
I'll get a chance to be dunked in the "pool of Bethesda" as well, at 1240pm.
Many exciting entertainment programmes in the sanctuary/synagogue as well. Really grateful to everyone who volunteered to perform. Praying for good weather.

Have a God-blessed Christmas!!

Car accident

Boy, it's been a very long time since my last blog. =( So busy busy
Wish it was something more exciting to tell.
Well, met with a car accident yesterday. I was driving my aunt's car on the right lane, and this guy on my left decides to cut across my lane in front of me to turn into the road on my right. So I jammed on the brakes to avoid hitting him, which I managed to. I remember he even stared at me, as if I was the one in the wrong.
Unfortunately for me, the guy behind me then hit me.....
I was a little shocked, but no injuries, not physical damage on my self. I quickly wrote down on my palm (yes as in hand, not PDA) the number of the car that crossed in front of me. Still deciding if I should do anything about it. Thank God we were moving quite slowly.
Anyway, had to pull off to the side to exchange details with the guy that hit me. When we got out, he asked me to follow him to pick up his father.... I was like.... I hope he doesn't try to run off.
So I said, let's exchange business cards before that. Well I produced mine, but he said he didn't have his. I was .... ok.....
"Nevermind, write your details down"
Anyway, he seemed ok.
Drove to Clarke Quay to pick up his father, and then did the exchange of info, took pictures with my PDA camera, and then went back to the office cos the office people needed a cheque signed urgently.
Well, the accident took out my aunt's car's rear right lights and damaged the bumper. I had another meeting in town and decided to leave the car in the office car park which was underground in case it rained. Took a cab to the meeting instead.
After the meeting, saw the clear weather and decided to go back to the office to pick up the car and drive it home. Anyway, yesterday was when my aunt came back from a 2 week trip to NZ to find out that her car was out of action. =(
Took it to the workshop this morning. I could never believe the paperwork that needs to be done just to try to get the car fixed. In fact, I had to go to 2 workshops.... long story. Just to say that I filled the same form 3 times and made several drawings of the accident before it was satisfactory.
So now, the car's in the workshop, my aunt's without a car. What a couple of days.

Matthew's 5th birthday

Today is Matthew's 5th birthday. Cannot imagine that it's been five years already since that day at Thomson Medical. Had a party today and quite a number of families and kids came. The Andersons with their 5 kids (I wonder how they manage), Simon and Lil with 3, Bernice and lil sister and parents, Samuel and sister and mom, Wendy with her 3, cousins Ian, Cheryl, Eugene and Elroy. Uncle Paul who came late after church leaders meeting, Aunty Lay Hong, Aunties Lucy, and Pat, Uncle Tony and Aunt Mag, my parents and parents-in-law. Wow, out of breath already.
Had KFC party for the kids and food from Different Tastes again for the adults. I guess most people had some fun. Aunty Lucy made meat loaf again .. .yum yum.
Matthew was really happy today.

Matthew's first guitar

My amazing aunt Iris, God bless her, bought Matthew his first mini-sized guitar today at Yamaha Music Plaza. Matthew's taking music lessons on the keyboard at Yamaha Marine Parade, but he has been wanting to play guitar ever since he was inspired by the kid playing guitar on stage in a Hillsong Live DVD. I guess now I'll have to teach him a few chords to start him off.
What was so touching and funny today was that as we were leaving the shop with the guitar today, Matthew was slinging the guitar case on his back. Wish I had taken a picture. The guitar is probably taller than him, but he put his best effort to look "cool" carrying it... haha. What are we starting here?
This coming Sunday, 31st Oct is Matthew's 5th birthday. How quickly time has passed. It was not that long ago that he was what Nathan is now, a helpless 2 month old. The resemblance is uncanny. We have a picture of Matthew at 2 months on our tabletop next to the TV and if you didn't look at the date, you'd think it was of Nathan. Even Matthew thought it was Nathan. God bless them both.
Li Soon's getting ready to go back to work. 2 months already? We are saving the third month for a mission trip or holiday in Dec or early next year. Thank the government for the extra month of maternity leave!!
As for myself, still trying to decide what to do next in life. Had a discussion with Jim T and KL today about media, ministry, full time, part time, training, projects.... lots to think about. Maybe that's why I had a bad headache...heh.
I have bad motion sickness, especially if I sit in the back seat of the car when someone else is driving. Today I sat in 3. I sat in the back with Matthew when we went to the music store while my aunt drove, and I took 2 taxis and 1 MRT ride. Came back with a massive headache that would not go away. Thought I'd take some Panadol to try to make the pain go away. Smart aleck me went for Panadol extra, thinking it was extra strength or something. Well, I couldn't sleep for the longest time after that. I realised that it contained caffeine!! I don't drink coffee and limited tea and Coke, so I am very sensitive to caffeine. Lesson learned. Stick with regular Panadol or Tylenol.
Till next time.... God bless.

What an amazing trip!!

Got back from China almost 12 days ago now. What an amazing and incredible experience. Unfortunately I can't blog it due to security concerns :(
Suffice to say that God really challenged us to stretch our faith on what He can do during this trip. Played to 5000 and 500+ PRCs. PTL.
Looks like I'll be going back there sometime soon.
For those who know me and want to know more, talk to me directly. Would be happy to share personally. Got pictures too!!
Bye!!

Excited

I'm so looking forward to the upcoming trip to China. We've got an extremely hectic schedule and many things are still hanging in the air. As part of the advanced team, I'm supposed to go ahead and "scout the land" ahead of the main party and then report back. Actually more like the equipment and locations and any potential challenges and problems. Who will I be like? Caleb or like the rest of the men? Will I see what God can do and have faith or will I rely on earthly experience to judge? I must remember that God can do more than we think and ask. Faith.......

Sick

Been sick for the last week with body aches, flu-like but not quite a full blown flu.
It seems that work demands are piling up just when I am sick. I think it's due to insufficient rest from doing night duty with Nathan. Not that I do all the feeding and cleaning at night, but everytime he wakes up, I have to as well.

I hope that I'll get well soon so that I can be all rested up and ready for the upcoming trip to China. Really excited and looking forward to that.

Bon Voyage Yong Fa

Sent YongFa off this morning at the airport for his 3 month tour with Continental Singers. Funny that there were only 3 guys in the group of 10!! ;-)
Have a good, safe and blessed trip YF. We'll all miss you, especially those who have to take over your shifts at work and in church :-(
I'm sure that special someone will miss you even more....hehe

Anyway, here's a picture from my camera phone. Not great, but hope you can make out who was there.

Army Open House

Finally got to spend some quality time with Matthew today after all the fuss over little Nathan's birth and stuff. Matthew's been so interested in the army, mainly because he learned to play those first person shoot-them-ups that I play like America's Army, Operation Flashpoint, Medal of Honor.
We went to the army open house at Safti this afternoon after all the coverage he saw on TV over the weekend. I am sure it will make an impression on him. Don't know if he will ever consider a career in the army.....hehe
I'm sure he had fun though, being able to handle his favourite weapons, sniper rifle, grenade launcher, sub machine gun and also got to ride in the Bionix, AMX10 and 13, FH2000, LG1 etc.
It was a rainy afternoon though, so got a little bit wet and had to spend some time hiding in the canteen to get out of the rain. Spent a bit of the time at the computer based simulations too. He's really into it. There were no computers when I was his age!! Certainly a different generation.
He didn't want to leave and he was so tired after the whole experience!!

My first blog - Matthew and Nathan

This is the first post on my new Blog!!

Thank God for little wonders. Nathan is 8 days old today. http://nathan.chua.com
He never stops to amaze me, changing everyday. He looks so much like his older brother Matthew,4
http://matthew.chua.com
but I pray that he will develop his own identity.

When I look at little Nathan, I am overwhelmed by this sense of all things new. There is so much potential in a little baby, the whole life ahead. I wonder what he will become? So innocent now. I can only pray that God will direct him to lead a good and God-centered life. We will do our part as parents of course.

Dear God, help Matthew and Nathan grow up to be the boys and men you want them to be, giving glory to you. Help Li Soon and me make the best of the time we have to shape and influence them. We commit them to you Lord.
Amen.