First Days in SF

Arrived at San Francisco International Airport in Tuesday morning 27th Dec at 10am after an 18 hour flight from Singapore with a 1+ hour stopover in South Korea's Inchon airport where we had a couple of bowls of noodles. It was Nathan's first flight and we are thankful that we managed to get a seat with a bassinet so that we could sleep in it. Matthew's video console didn't work very well on the first leg of the journey to Seoul and had to be rebooted a few times. Still it didn't work well and kept hanging on the games. In the end he gave up and went to sleep.
For Nathan, he wasn't quite used to the flight, but was generally good on the trip. Only when we were landing at Inchon did he cry a lot due to the pain and pressure in the ear that he wasn't used to.
On the second leg from Seoul to SF, the tail winds were very strong, reaching 200 knots or 350 kmh at one point. This made the flight a bit bumpy especially when we passed over 2 storms in the Pacific Ocean. Those storms have now followed us to SF and is raining down hard right now.
I spoke to the leading stewardess and she said that there were 15 babies on this trip but only 8 bassinets, so we are not really thankful. Thankfully, Matthew's video console worked this time and he was able to watch a few shows. Well, the strong tailwind helped us arrive in SF 1hr 20 min ahead of schedule.
When we went through immigration, the officers don't come across too many people with H1B1SG visas, so it took us quite some time to clear. In fact, we were the last ones on the flight to clear. Also, we found out that although the visas were valid for 18 months, we can be admitted for only 1 year at a time, so it looks like we all have to fly back to Singapore before Christmas next year. Now I have to look at saving and raising funds for the trip back. Originally, we didn't plan to go back until April 2007 so hadn't budgeted for that.
We had quite a lot of luggage, 6 checked in and another 3 carry on. So when it came to collecting the luggage and handling 1 boy and 1 infant at the same time, it was very challanging. We finally got a porter to help us in the end for USD30 for all the bags. A bit expensive, but I think it was worth it cos we wouldn't have managed otherwise.
Our friends Phil and Alex from the church came to pick us up in 2 MPVs and Phil brought his 3 daughters who have become good friends with Matthew during our last trip here in August. We went to the church and moved all the stuff to the rooms and then went to a nearby Vietnamese restaurant for lunch. It was rather cheap according to American standards and quite good. We bought some take aways as well for dinner.
After lunch, we went back to the rooms and then I went with Phil to his house to pick up the cara, a Saturn that he is lending to us until we get our own car. The car is a compact sedan and just barely fits the family inside. Also, it's manual and Li Soon can't really drive it in SF's hills.

After picking up the car, I went back to the rooms and showered and slept as we didn't sleep much on the plane. Had a late dinner and continued to arrange the place and unpack a little.
One of the challenges we faced immediately was taking care of Nathan. He is extremely active and likes to explore everywhere. In Singapore, we had 2 maids to take care of him when we were busy - ours and my aunt's. Also, we had the play-pen to put him into so that he would not get into trouble running and climbing. We didn't have those luxuries here the first few days, and had to spend a lot of energy taking care of him and chasing after him. Unfortunately, being in a new place, he didn't know the dangers around and fell several times, once from the 4ft high end of the bed, thankfully onto a carpeted floor. That really scared him and us.
Also, he started to miss the people at home including the maids, aunty Iris and our parents who came to visit a lot just before we left and developed a bond with him. So Nathan was having difficulty sleeping and kept crying after 1 hours of sleep. He was feeling homesick and insecure due to the change of environment that he didn't understand. I had to carry him for quite some time before he would go to sleep again. Fortunately, he is very close to me, so I was the only one who could calm him down after some effort. The consequence of this was that both Li Soon and I were very tired for the next few days.

Tomorrow's the day

Yup. Finally got to the last day in Singapore before we leave for San Francisco. It's been a week of parties one after another. At home, at relatives' and at my parents last night. We are all pigged out. Our favourite excuse, of course, is that we won't get a chance to eat all the local food for awhile.
Today we are going to do the last minute stuff and try to relax. Most of the bags are packed - finally, and we are going to have a foot and back massage, cut Matthew and my hair, develop some photos and stuff. Tonight is the final party with Li Soon's favourite "kiam chye ah" or salted vegetable duck soup. She says it reminds her of Chinese New Year's - which we will miss without the family.
The reality of our moving has finally hit home. Going to say goodbye to friends, loved ones and familiar places, foods, things to do. Sometimes I have apprehension on why we are doing this, but we have to just trust God to show us. I'm sure He has a lot in store for us.

6 days to go

Can't believe it's less than a week before we leave for San Francisco. It's been an interesting couple of months counting down to the 27th. It's going to be a week of parties! Tonight, we have a party at home for church friends and some family. On Saturday, a party at my parents' and another party on Christmas night.
As the date draws closer, the realisation that the major change in our lives is upon us. We ponder as we move from a large, comfortable 4000 sft home to 2 100sft rooms in SF. From having 2 maids to do everything from taking care of the kids to cooking, cleaning and washing to having to do everything ourselves. It's going to get some getting used to. I think it will be good for us to learn to take care of ourselves.
Last Sunday, I shared with the church about our ministry and they prayed for and commended us into the ministry.
Please click the link to my newsletter on the right for more info about our ministry for the next 1 1/2 years.

I'll be spending the next couple of days sorting out my company accounts before I go. Boring but necessary work.
My key verse
"12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. "
Phil 3: 12-14 (NIV)

Leaving for the US

I guess many of you already know this, but I have been too lazy to officially blog it. Come 27th December 2005, my family will be leaving for San Francisco for 16 months. I will be in full-time media ministry with Cornerstone Evangelical Baptist Church in San Francisco. I will be working on Family Programming for Asian families amongst other tech and music ministries. Matthew will be going to school at Cornerstone Academy and Li Soon will make the challenging transition from IT consultant to a full time mother.
On Wednesday, we shipped off 16 boxes of stuff, about 3 cubic metres worth of clothes, computers, books etc. Now we are living out of the clothes that we will be bringing in 6 suitcases.

Matthew's birthday

Celebrated Matthew's 6th birthday on Sunday 30th and Monday 31st (his actual birthdate). Invited his school classmates on Sunday afternoon for a birthday party at home with food from McDonald's and games by my cousin Cheryl's friends.

Long sickness

Wow. It's been a really long time since my last post. Went to China for a week to QD and Shanghai. It's nice to be back in QD after 1 year since the last time I was there. Quite different this time though, it's mainly business. Went for the Haier Global conference and lots of meetings. Wanted to meet with some of the friends there, but even until the day I was to leave, I couldn't get their number. By God's grace, believe it or not, I almost literally bumped into one of them on the street. I was walking back to the hotel from Carrefour after dinner and the look on his face was priceless. What a shock to see me there and vice versa. Anyway, he was on the way home from work and was changing buses right outside my hotel. See how God really makes things happen when He wills it. Anyway, got his number and called him later to get another friend's number whom I met for dinner the next night before we left for Shanghai. It was a good time of sharing sitting at McDonald's.
Next morning, we all left for Shanghai where all 5 of us moved into a 3 bedroom serviced apartment. Quite nice, and we were on the 2nd highest floor. Nice views.
However, by that time I was already feeling sick, so didn't really want to do too much shopping. But Shanghai is indeed an interesting place to visit and shop. You can hear Singaporeans all around you in the shopping and eating places. You can tell by the distinctive Singaporean accent and Singlish that they speak.
Got back home and was sick for more than a week with a bad throat and cough. Went to see the doctor's for antibiotics and got some rest here and there. Still trying to recover completely and catching up with the work I'd not done last week.
Now in the office at almost 9pm doing a DVD due tomorrow. I've got to do DVD authoring training tomorrow at Nanyang Poly, so need to finish this tonight.
DVD burning done! Gotta go!

Off to China

Will be going off to QingDao in China next week for an International Seminar with Haier.
Before that, have the following to do
1. Finish training and hooking up equipment for customer
2. 2 Brian Cummins seminars tonight and tomorrow night
3. Do Tech for Chinese Moon Cake Festival evening on Saturday

Busy tech days

Wow! It's been quite busy tech stuff wise for church since my return.
Friday 2 Sept - Set up for Bible Camp at Paramount Hotel and rehearsal for Lily Chung
Saturday 3 Sept - Lily and Larry concert at Paramount Hotel
Sunday 4 Sept - Worship service and pick up equipment from Paramount hotel
Wednesday 7 Sept - Setup sound system for Mong Hua's father's wake and get ready equipment for Mrs Evelyn Tan's wake, video recording of Brian Cummin's seminar "A journey of faith with the Patriarchs" at church
Thursday 8 Sept - Day 2 of video recording of Brian Cummin's seminar "A journey of faith with the Patriarchs" at church
Friday 9 Sept - Missed AES committee meeting, attended Mong Hua's father's wake
Saturday 10 Sept - Pick up equipment for Alpha from church, transport to Plaza Hotel and setup with Marcus, pick up sound system from Mong Hua's father's wake, worship rehearsal, went to Church of Christ of Malaya to take a look at lighting gel problems
Sunday 11 Sept - Worship service, pickup up equipment from Plaza Hotel after

Busy Busy

More pictures

Swimming pool at Sedona Summit Resort


Down the natural water slide at Slide Rock Park


Taking a break after shopping


Fishing


Tailgate picnic


Family at Grand Canyon


Matthew at Sedona

In Arizona

Spent the first full day, Monday, in Arizona pretty much resting and settling in to the nice studio apartment at the Sedona Summit Resort. Sedona is well known for it's red rock formations that surround the town like an artist's painting. The different play of shadows and light as the sun moves through the sky during the day make for interesting and changing views.
We slept in late and then headed out to the Safeway supermarket to pick up some food and drinks. Bought a whole 24 pack of mineral water as we know the days are going to be hotter than in SF. 80s and 90s F will prevail. Also bought instant noodles. You know there aren't many Chinese around when they only have 1 type of instant noodles in the supermarket. There's also a forecast of thunderstorms in the afternoons. Matthew went swimming this morning with Phil's family in the morning. I don't think he swam so often in his life as he did in the time in Sedona.
Phil cooked lunch and we did out laundry in the afternoon and rested some more from the long trip.

Pictures from Arizona and Yosmite

Our families at Grand Canyon


Family at Grand Canyon


Matthew with friend Victoria


With Ranger Deb


Ready to play a game at Grand Canyon


Matthew close-up


Matthew ready to swim


Harry at Yosemite


Harry and Li Soon at Yosemite


Family at Inspiration Point Yosemite


Matthew in front of Half Dome at Yosemite

Going home

Today, we will be flying home to Singapore from San Francisco after a month away. Seems to fast, and yet I am looking forward to seeing my little Nathan again for his 1 year birthday on the 28th. Wow. He's already 1 year old.
We''ll be leaving SF at 120pm today and arriving at 1am in the morning on the 28th. Don't know if I will be able to make it to church on Sunday morning.
It's been a productive, fruitful and learning experience for all of us during the time here. Li Soon and Matthew especially had learned and experienced a lot of new things. I'm so happy that God has provided the opportunity to do so this time.
PTL.

Catching up with blogging

Wow!! I just realised that I haven't updated my blog for 1 1/2 weeks already. There was no internet connection at the place we stayed in Arizona, so I couldn't get online to get emails or anything.
Anyway, here's what happened.

On Saturday, 20th August, I got up early and tried to get a ride to the airport car rental place to pick up the car I'd booked at Alamo for our Arizona trip. Phil had lent me his car to get around in SF, but since it was last minute trip, we did not get a chance to get it serviced or looked at and I didn't want to risk a fairly long trip in it. So I decided to rent a car instead.
What happened was, Phil was supposed to go with another family to his timeshare in Arizona for a week, and we were supposed to spend the week visiting some theme parks and attractions near San Francisco. But at the last minute, the other family couldn't go as their father was critically ill, on the terminal list. So Phil asked us if we wanted to go with his family instead. After discussing with Li Soon, we said.... why not. Li Soon and Matthew have never been to the Grand Canyon before and furthermore, we wanted to visit Yosemite with Wing Kong and family but they were not free. Phil also wanted to visit Yosemite since he had never been there before, so we decided to go to Yosemite on the way home from Arizona.

It was going to be a 800 mile drive from SF to Sedona, Arizona. Sedona is famous for it's red rock cliffs that surround 3 sides of the town. We drove separately to Sedona. Phil left very early on Saturday morning as he wanted to drive the 800 miles there in one day. Li Soon and I decided to take it easy and break down the drive into 2 days.

Well, my neighbour in the dorm, Mr. Ian, who is from Vancouver and dislikes driving in the city, kindly drove Li Soon, Matthew and me to the rental pickup place. After picking up the car (a mid-sized Dodge Stratus), we drove back to the church and loaded in all the stuff that we had packed the night before. It wasn't very much. 1 suitcase, several small bags and a hot water pot. One thing great about a driving holiday is that you can bring all sorts of stuff, unlike when you have to fly and have to worry about checking stuff in and what you can and cannot bring on board the aircraft. You don't even have to pack everything into a suitcase for a driving holiday!

We finally got started at about 1130am and drove through the Bay Bridge, then I-580 East to I-5 South, across to highway 99 and Bakersfield. From Bakersfield, we took the CA-58 which took us to Barstow. About 400 mile drive which was a nice halfway point. We made numerous stops along the way and it was hot, but not extremely hot. Li Soon had her first chance to drive in the US on Saturday. Between Bakersfield and Barstow, we drove through the Mohave desert and the town of Mohave where many unused commercial airliners are mothballed waiting for their day to be called back to service. We also went through the Tahachapi pass, which is famous for it's many windmills that help to generate electricity. We passed by Edwards Airforce Base where the Space Shuttle landed.

When we reached Barstow, which I had been before, there was supposed to be a big factory outlet. Barstow is the intersection of several highways. I-15 which goes from LA to Las Vegas, I-40 which starts in Barstow and goes across the US East-West, and CA-58. I drove through most of Barstow from CA-58 towards Las Vegas on I-15 but could not find the outlets. Finally, I said maybe it's in the other direction. So we turned around and went towards LA on I-15, passed the CA-58 turnoff and voila! The next exit was where all the factory outlets were. Our first task other than looking at what stores the factory outlets had was to look for accomodations for the night as it was getting late. We first looked at a Holiday Day Inn Express which was just next to the stores, but decided against it after we found out it was $130 per night++. We drove across to the other side of the freeway and finally found a Red Roof Inn for less than $50 for the night!! Thank God. It even had T-Mobile Wireless internet (not free), but that was about the last time I had internet access for a week!

Slept the night, woke up and bought breakfast at MacDonald's across the carpark, got everyone ready and then headed shopping!!
It was a huge outlet, so we only had time to visit Reebok, Gap, Coach. Matthew and I bought 3 pairs of shoes. Li Soon didn't buy very much, which was surprising.
After lunch at about 12, we finally said bye to Barstow and headed towards Arizona.

Another long day of driving ahead. We passed through Needles (the most expensive gas I had to pump at $3.35 per gallon!!), Kingman, parts of Route 66, and finally to Flagstaff where we ate at a Chinese restaurant there. (Chinese food out of California/New York is really iffy.) It was ok.
After dinner, it was already dark and we had to drive the last 27 miles from Flagstaff to Sedona.
It was the most scary drive for us. We didn't realise that Flagstaff was on a plateau at 7000ft and Sedona was at the bottom of the plateau at 5000ft, and the road, AZ-89A, was a very winding road down a canyon. It was completely dark outside, I was having a headache and tired, and we had to negotiate this road with hairpin turns and unfamiliar surroundings with very little traffic. Thankfully, there was a car ahead of us, so we followed it. It was good, cos in the middle, the car had to swerve to avoid hitting a family of deer in the dark! However, about halfway through the road, the car turned off the road and we were left alone. The road seemed to never end and kept winding and winding. It was almost 10pm already and Phil was calling us, afraid that we might have gotten lost or worse. After what seemed a long time, we finally saw civilisation. We had reached Sedona. The next challenge was to find the resort. We were given directions, but couldn't find the street in the dark. Finally at what seemed like the end of town, we decided to turn back and stopped at a landmark.... the only green-signed MacDonald's and Safeway. There we tried to call Phil but couldn't get through. We finally called the hotel and got directions. Apparently, the point we turned around wasn't the end of town after all. The resort was at the next traffic light after that, but we couldn't see it cos there was a hill in between. We finally pulled into the resort at 10pm or so. Relieved to have arrived and thankful for God's mercies despite our foolishness and weaknesses.

After checking into our nice studio in the warm Arizona night, we unpacked, showered and went to sleep.

To be continued.

No time to blog

Spent the last week in Sedona, Arizona visiting the Grand Canyon on Tuesday. Unfortunately, there was no internet connection...arrrgghh!!
It was a good week, staying in a resort in the red rock area of Sedona. Long drive today from Sedona to Fresno, CA. A drive of about 600 miles or 1000km.
Going to Yosemite tomorrow. Will blog more when we get back to SF tomorrow night.

Studio pictures

Pictures of the studio I helped set up.



The wires after we tidied them up. Too bad, I didn't take a "before" picture.

Pictures!!

Lazy me. Finally got my pictures up!!



Matt and Li Soon talking the walk down the long corridor to school



Matthew and Li Soon in Burlingame



Me and Li Soon in Burlingame



Li Soon in San Francisco



Matthew and Li Soon in our bedroom



Picture of our messy room



Another view of our messy room

Below are the wonderful views from our room

Overnight in Barstow

Drove 400 miles today from San Francisco to Barstow, CA, not far from Las Vegas. Won't be going to LV though. We are staying in a cheap motel, Red Roof Inn, for US$50 for the night before taxes. Not bad. Holiday Inn wanted $130 for the night!
Left at 1115am and arrived about 645pm. Long drive. Li Soon's first time driving in the US today, and at 80 mph or 130kmh!

Tomorrow, we will continue on to Sedona AZ for a few days vacation.
Pray for journey mercies.

Dinner in Berkeley

Took us almost 45 min for us to drive the 8 miles from SF to Berkeley across the Bay bridge during rush hour. We went there to meet Stephanie Chia for dinner on Friday night. We picked her up at Bancroft and Telegraph right outside UC Berkeley. Drove up and down University looking for this one Japanese restaurant but couldn't find it. Finally ate at another Japanese Restaurant at Shattuck and University. Had quite a bit of nice Sushi there. Matthew enjoyed his plain Maki Sushi without any fish.... just seaweed and rice!!
It was nice to catch up with Steph after a long time. She's going to Hawaii this weekend with some friends.... how nice.
Have a good trip Steph.

Fixing the left over stuff, going to Arizona

Haven't blogged for a few days.
Today we are off to Arizona, Grand Canyon and Yosemite for a week. It was kinda of a last minute thing. Phil was supposed to go to Sedona with another family for his RCI timeshare holiday. However, the other family had some urgent family problems and had to cancel at the last minute. So Phil asked us if we were interested to go and Li Soon and I decided to go. Since Phil will be gone, I can't do much this coming week anyway. So here we go. We'll try to go to Yosemite on the way back from Arizona.
Phil and his family left this morning for the 15 hour trip from SF to Sedona, AZ. He's driving straight through. We will be leaving later this morning, after picking up the rental car at the airport. We have decided to take a more leisurely drive today and probably staying overnight near Bastow California after an 8 hour drive today. Depends on how far we get today. Looking forward to it.
Missed David Au in the Bay Area when he was here earlier this week. He's going to the Grand Canyon, so maybe we'll meet up near there.

I spent the last 2 days clearing up the last remaining items for the video studio, like tidying out the cables, labelling, etc. I must say I am pretty satisfied with the results now. Almost everything is working properly now. The crew will use it this weekend for recording the service, and then they'll report if there are any other issues. When we get back, I'll get on fixing the last 4 remaining items, which mainly pertain to sound in the sanctuary.
I tried to fix the waveform monitor on Thursday and traced it down, with my very limited knowledge of analog electronics and a borrowed oscilloscope, to a couple of components that may be bad. However, they might end up buying a new one, cos the are now running in component video instead of composite video. The old waveform monitor only ran composite video. I had a tough time trying to match the component video and the composite video signal levels, so I gave up and only did the component video setup by "Eyeball". Component video signals are better as they split the video into 3 cables instead of 1, which gives you better overall quality.
I'll try to get some pictures up soon.

Li Soon's day off, still fixing studio, TV show shoot

Li Soon took the day off today after finishing much of the work yesterday. I think she finally had a chance to rest.
I spent most of today still fixing up the control and machine rooms, getting the stuff that we didn't get to yet to work. Finally got the tally lights to work today after some tricky soldering of a 44 pin D-sub connector!! Another item off the list.
Quite satisfied with the results so far.

Tonight we recorded 2 more episodes of the TV show about families and husband-wife relationships. Tiring work. Finally finished around 1030pm.

Today was Li Soon's first time preparing dinner. We had pre-packaged caesar salad, chicken nuggets, chicken wings, and rice.
Today, when I picked up Matthew from class, he was learning to play chess.
Tomorrow is 2 weeks since we got here. Time flies fast. Hoping to meet up with Stephanie in Berkeley on Friday night and get some time off to go to Marine World and Yosemite with the family next week when Phil goes off for his vacation in hot Arizona.
Also looking forward to meeting with Peter, Dollie, Kai and maybe Christine next week.

Sunday service, graduation, checking out auditorium, fixing lens

Woke up a bit later on Sunday. Li Soon brought Matthew to Sunday School and at and I went to help Phil who was doing sound for the Cantonese service at 10am. Had a chance to see if the video system was working alright after Friday's re-wiring. Found out that the mother's room TV had sound but no video. Finally traced it to a cable that we did not plug in in the machine room. Found the cable and plugged them all in and got picture, got sound. Went back to the sanctuary to sit with Phil at the sound booth to understand the very nice Soundcraft MH3 mixer and loads of outboard gear. Add one more thing to the list - need to set up the audio levels for the CD recording so that it is more normalised for ripping to wma for the website. Currently, levels are too low. Will try to do it this coming week.
After Cantonese service, went back upstairs to the control room to standby in case there were any problems. They have a crew, so I didn't have to man anything. Realised that the Scan converter was set to zoom and the text was too large. Fixed that. Otherwise, everything went smoothly. Had a chance to talk to Dennis about any other problems he was facing.
In the afternoon, we brought down 1 camera from the studio to the sanctuary for the kindergarten graduation. Had lunch with the tech crew and then helped to man the remote controlled cameras for the graduation ceremony. Was interesting, having 3 remote cameras and 1 "live" camera with Alex manning it. Made for an interesting video overall.
I've seen too many kindergarten graduations in my life already. What with Cornerstone, Bethesda Frankel, and my son's 2 kindergartens, I've probably seen more than 50 by now!
After the graduation, went back to the room for a short nap before going out with Li Soon and Matthew to Stonestown mall for dinner. Food court food in the mall is more expensive than buying take-out at the Chinese restaurants near the church!

Monday morning, we all woke up kinda late. Made breakfast for Matthew. At 920am, got a call when I was in the toilet from Phil. I called back and he said he was waiting for me outside the sanctuary to go out. I totally forgot that we were going to the Scottish Rite auditorium to check it out for their ChristmasSing program in December. Hurriedly went down to meet him where he drove us to the Sunset district. Quick 10 min drive.

The hall is quite grand, but the first thing that hit us as we walked in was the musky smell. CEBC used to rent this hall back in the 90s, but has stopped for almost 8 years as they had stopped renting it out until now. The lighting system had just been recently replaced, which was a delight to Raymond, the tech crew head. However, the sound system was still of 1960s vintage, but with an older Mackie 1604 mixer. Talked with Phil about how to cover the whole hall sound wise. Probably will need pretty high scaffold or genie lift to bring the speakers to sufficient height to cover all the way to the back. The hall seats around 700+.
They will have to rent the entire sound system. May be good to use a small line array to cover the long depth. Also checked out the lighting system and tried out some effects with the scrim. Pretty cool. However, the muskiness of the place is going to be a problem as all of us developed some allergy symptoms after leaving the place. Think it might be a fungus problem. However, the guy there insists that he doesn't smell it...... right.

After returning for lunch, Phil and I checked out the camera lens problem on camera 4. After changing and checking, found that the servo for the zoom control was kaput. Changed the lens and got it to work with another lens he had. Praying that it will continue to work.

Thereafter, we rewired the inputs to the switcher and tried to get the computer graphics to key into the video properly. However, by this time, I was totally out of it as I was very sleepy. Will continue today.

Longest workday!

For those of you who think that I'm in SF for a holiday, you couldn't be more wrong. Friday was my longest working day yet. Started at 830am and didn't finish till midnight. So a total of 15 1/5 hours including a couple of short breaks for lunch and dinner!! Phil and I continued to re-wire the control room and machine room the whole day. We pulled these thick and very stiff video cables, cut them to the right length, and terminated them (meaning putting the connectors at the ends). There was a lot of excess length before, so cutting them to the right length is the best way to clean up the mess. As Phil had a wedding to attend on Saturday and the whole system needed to be used on Sunday for a graduation concert for the school, it was imperative that we finished it on Friday. I crimped the connectors onto the cables until my hands hurt, in the very cramped space behind the racks in the machines room.
By 830pm, we had finished all the cabling and proceeded to test the system to make sure it works. There were some problems with some of the monitors and cameras that took us till about midnight to fix. Made some recordings to make sure that everything works as designed. Finally satisfied, with a much neater setup, properly wired up and most important of all, better quality pictures and more reliable performance. The proof will be in today as we shoot the graduation. Praying......

Spent a lazy Saturday morning in, resting and sending the laundry to the washing machine. Left for the Singapore-American Business Association picnic in Burlingame which featured Singaporean food from various Singaporean restaurants in the Bay Area including Prima Taste, Straits Cafe and Baba Neo. Met Alex Lee and his family there as well.
It was nice to get out of the cold in San Francisco and enjoy some time in the sun. However, yesterday was quite a hot day, which left us panting as we walked down the very nice main street of Burlingame. Popped into the Baskin Robbins for some ice cream and a nice cool drink.

After that, we drove into downtown San Francisco to do a little of the tourist thing - sightseeing. A Saturday afternoon in summer is not the best time to go sightseeing in SF. Seems like every other tourist is also trying to see the sights. It hit me when we reached the bottom of the hill and saw the long line of cars lining up to climb the road to go down Lombard street. Finally gave up and just went around the hill to see the road on the other side. Also went to Coit Tower, and lined up a very long time to get a parking space. Took a view around the place and Li Soon visited this self-cleaning toilet. It cleans the floor and sanitizes the toilet seat between each user. Cool. The only problem is that it takes a long time between users and therefore, a very long line outside the toilet.

Finally went to Chinatown for dinner and realised that the street parking is incredibly expensive. It's 25cents for every 6 minutes, so a 1 hour parking is $2.50. Used to be like 50cents or 1 Dollar per hour. Now wonder there were so many empty spaces, unlike before. Found a little restaurant called ABC where we had wonton noodles. Matthew really liked it and ate quite a bit. We'll be having leftovers for breakfast this morning.

Came back after a long traffice jam getting on the freeway, then sent the laundry to the dryer and later picked it up for ironing before going to bed, satisfied and tired.

Going to service at 11am today and Matthew's Sunday School at 10am. Then to help out in the graduation recording at about 130pm.

Rewiring

Spent yesterday rewiring the studio control room. There's about 40 pcs of equipment in the control room and another 10 in the adjacent machine room. The wiring was such as mess. Now that I think of it, I should have taken a picture before the rewiring. A before and after look. Anyway, the kids helped to unhook and pull out all the cabling and we are starting from scratch. Pull out most of them by lunch time, but putting them together again is going to take some time. But it needs to be done by Sunday morning. So got about 30% of it done tomorrow, and will try to finish it by today.
Got to go get back to work now.

Fixed lights today

Just got back from a long day of work.
Put in the laundry in the morning. Finally got the deposit from the Singapore customer, so ordered the equipment and software in the morning. Also sent email to my friend at Videotek to arrange to send me the service manual for a malfunctioning waveform monitor. Looks like the horizontal drive is not working. Hopefully we can solve it.
Then spent most of the day re-lighting the studio set. I think it looks better now. It's a 2 person set, with a wall and 2 windows. Had the key light come in through the window, also set up back lights and fill lights. Added lights to the cyc for the sky through the windows and some lights for the set walls.
Picked up the laundry before coming back to the room at about 5:30 for a simple dinner before going back to the studio at 7pm for the studio recording of the TV program. Did some fine tuning of the lights and cameras.
Fruitful day. Check another couple of items off the to-do list.

First day of work

Sent Matthew to class for the first time this morning. I think it's a bit hard for him to get used to things here, but hopefully in time he'll be ok. It doesn't help that one of the teachers speaks Cantonese to the other kids. Looks like Matt is the only one that doesn't understand what she is saying. When we met him at lunch, he didn't want to eat the macaroni in spagetti sauce as he is definitely not used to it. He's more of a chicken rice, french fries kind of boy. Didn't even want to drink the cold milk. Finally got him to drink some water and a little bit of the macaroni without the sauce. Today we made sure he brought biscuits and stuff. Understand the lunch today is rice, so hopefully it will be alright for him.
Li Soon started work in the office, helping to fix up some filing shelves and to do filing. Seems that she works too fast....hehe. So she said she'll take it easier today so that she doesn't stress up the others ppl in the office.
Yesterday I made up a to-do list below. Managed to only finish item number 2.
1. Wire component video cables from Panasonic WV-RC700A CCU to switcher
2. Figure out how to switch CCU to component video output
3. Look for 44 pin D-sub connector for switcher tally – contact manufacturer?
4. Hook up tally lights for cameras
5. Look for and order waveform monitor
6. Check key input on switcher
7. Fix Cam 1 colour problem
8. Camera 2 control cable issue
9. Training for calibration and tuning of video cameras
10. Fix headphone connector for studio
11. Adjustment of sanctuary speakers
12. Tuning of sanctuary EQ
13. Acoustic treatment for sanctuary
14. Studio camera lens issue on camera 5
15. Studio camera servo issue on camera 4
16. Relight studio
17. Get service manual for waveform monitor.

Also brought in a network cable into my room so that I can surf at night, as they are definitely not happy with wireless LAN here.
Gotta go back to work now.

Troubleshooting, shopping and church

Spent Saturday morning helping Phil with some of the studio troubleshooting. I wonder how he juggles so many things at one time. There was the Cornerstone Singers recording in the recording studio and the Youth Mass Media group getting training in the TV studio and sanctuary to get ready for the kindergarten graduation on Sunday.
While in the studio, I helped to troubleshoot a couple of problems. The first was that of the audio not getting from the Mackie D8B mixer to the Digital Performer software on the Mac. After some troubleshooting, checking all the optical cables and connections, realised that the hardware input settings for the MOTU I/O unit was somehow changed and it wasn't taking the input from the optical in, but something else. Changed that and managed to finally get some input. Next, there was a problem with the headphone cue audio leaking into the control room monitor speakers. Strange problem. Again, checking and tracing finally showed that the headphone monitor output was leaking back through the ground into the mixer due to an intermittent 1/4" connector in the studio. Also as the output was stereo headphone, and they were using only a 1/4" mono cable from that to the headphone distribution amps, the left channel of the headphone audio was shorting to ground, causing the leak. To do - change/fix the headphone wall socket and change to stereo cables for the headphones.
Next, there was a problem in the TV studio with camera 1 not coming up on the switcher, but was showing some strange video noise. Was wondering if it was a camera problem or not. Finally did the obvious, reboot both the camera and the video switcher and it worked!! Helped to set up the camera in the santuary and then Phil said they'd be ok for the rest of the day.
We then went back to rest for a while (jet lag still a majot factor), then went shopping for some groceries before going to Wing Kong and Do Hui's for dinner.
Had fresh Salmon sashimi and a strange looking but delicious Blue Rock Cod shashimi with fish miso soup. Delicious. Had a chance to catch up and talk about Singapore happenings as only Singaporeans can. They had a co-worker from Apple, Raymond, over for dinner. He's also from Singapore. He's family's back home for the summer holiday and he's alone here for the time being.
Matthew left his Gameboy at their house..

Sunday, woke up early again and did laundry. Brought Matthew to Sunday school at 10am, but he didn't want to go in and was just stubborn outside. Finally had to sit him down, and then took him on a small tour of the huge kitchen before he opened up. Finally he went to the class with a new friend, Victoria, who is Phil's youngest daughter.
Went for service at 11:30am. Quite late. Took Rev Wong from Cornerstone EB church in Singapore and his daughter for lunch. His daughter is starting school at Skyline College end August and she was moving into her room yesterday.
After lunch, came back, moved the laundry to the dryer and Rev Wong move out of their apartment here. After that, went to do some for shopping for essentials. Didn't buy much though. Tried to bank in a cheque at the ATM, but it didn't work. Will have to call them up to see if my account has been frozen.

Came back and slept till 9:30pm. Actually overslept.
Made dinner and then went to sleep finally around midnight. Woke up at 4am again, made breakfast and now getting ready for the day. Matthew's going to his school class and Li Soon is getting ready to help out. Gtg bathe now.

Settling in

Slept for only about 4 hours on Thursday nigth/Friday morning as jet lag sets in. Woke up around 3am and stayed awake. Nevertheless, spent Friday morning getting settled in. Finally got Phil's car at about 10am and by the time we left for breakfast, it was 1030am. So we had breakfast at IHOP (International House of Pancake). 3 of us had about $26 of breakfast!! This is definitely not an everyday affair. Went to Pak & Save supermarket after that to buy some groceries. Thereafter to the Cingular cellphone shop to get our pre-paid SIM cards.
After that, we went back to church and went for LUNCH with Rev Chanson and some of the staff!! Was still very full, so we mainly sat there and watched them eat tim sum!! I ate a very little bit, but Matthew was totally out, sleeping on the restaurant chair!
Yesterday afternoon, Li Soon and Matthew were very tired, so they went back to the room to sleep and pack the room and settle in. I tried not to sleep, so spent the afternoon with Phil looking through the video system and checking out the work ahead for me. Not so much setting up work like last time, but more troubleshooting, experimenting etc. Will need to get some new equipment to replace those that have gone kapoot.
By the time we were done, it was 5pm, I went back to the room and rested for a little while before going out to buy dinner. After dinner in, we went out to Best Buy to purchase the Netgear wireless router for USD32 only!!
Just hooked it up this morning so that I can get internet access from my room.
Today is another rest day for Li Soon and Matthew. Matthew's playing with the PS2 as I am writing this blog. Later, I'll be helping Phil with the recording for Cornerstone Singers or the video production with the High Schoolers. Wonder what Li Soon wants to do.
FAQ: The weather is nice here, between 14 and 20C, with low clouds and fog in the night and morning and sunny in the afternoon.
Daylight savings time is on, and the sun rises at 6am and sets at about 9pm.
The car the Phil lent us is a Saturn manual. Li Soon will need some lessons on how to drive a manual car again. Driving in SF with a manual car is not for the faint hearted. All the hills and stuff, and parking on a slope is a killer!!
Matthew starts "school" on Monday and Li Soon will be helping out either as an assistant in a 3rd grade (read Primary 3) class or in the office. Lots for her to do. I'll figure out what I'll start with on the video side. Probably decide what to order first.
Ok. Till next time.

Blogging from 30,000+ ft

Wow. This must be a first. Blogging from an airplane in flight. Well, maybe not the first, but definitely kinda rare. One day this will be normal.
We left Hong Kong about 2 hours ago and by my guess we should be somewhere between Taiwan and Japan at the moment. On the way to SF. Rather bumpy flight from SIN to HKG, but better now. Should be a smoother flight to SF from here. The inflight info system is down ... so much for high tech. More chances of breaking down.
I'm connected to the internet via wireless-satellite broadband Connexion by Boeing. It's a new service. Even tried audio and video conference and it works!! hehe
The best thing about it, it FREE for now. So I'm so glad to be able to try it. The signs of a true blue GEEK!!
Anyway, Li Soon is looking at me with disgust.
Until the next blog..... from SF.

Leaving today

Li Soon, Matthew and I will be leaving for San Francisco today. Bags are mainly packed, and my stuff here pretty much settled. Praying that God will show us his direction and will during this time of service and refocusing. We'll definitely miss Nathan. He's just become much more vocal today. We'll only see him again next month at his 1 year birthday.
The other day, Li Soon told me that when she looked back after resigning from her job, she realised that she has been working there for exactly 40 months to the day!! Never planned it, but God's telling us something.
So maybe we'll use the next 40 days to realign our lives and look at it from a different perspective and different environment with regards to our purpose and future direction and God's calling for us.
Praying for a fruitful, enjoyable, learning, refreshing, and purposeful time there.

Going to San Francisco

No. No yellow flowers in my hair!
Li Soon, Matt and I will be leaving 28th July to 28 August. Sorry have to leave little Nathan behind. Going to help setup the video and audio systems for my church there. Also a little vacation time for the family.
It's already been 2 years+ since I went there to help. Glad to get away for a little bit while I ponder the next steps for me.

Still up and down

Got better Thursday, but got problems yesterday. Woke up with vertigo again this morning, not as bad as Monday. Went to see doctor again. More antibiotics and anti-giddiness pills. He says to rest.

My world is spinning round

Woke up this morning with bad vertigo. Strange feeling of everything spinning round and nausea. Couldn't get out of bed. First time I've had it so bad. Went to see the doctor. Had to have Li Soon drive from my house to the carpark of Katong Shopping Centre as I couldn't take the 5 minute walk to the doctor's. The doctor said that it was due to a throat infection that has spread to the ears. It's like being in a roller coaster ride the whole day. Sometimes ok, other times it just hits without warning and I have to sit down, lie down or hold on to something.
Pray that I'll get better tomorrow when the anti-biotics kick in more.

Back from church camp and back to work

Came back from church camp on Friday night after a relatively easier 6 hour drive and went straight back to work on Saturday.
We went up to Genting on Monday in a 4 car convoy of minivans. Started at 7:40am. Mun Kong was in the lead, with Ka Song, Aik Woo and me at the tail. Quite fun since we had walkie talkies and could talk to each other on the way. Was caught in 2 traffic jams, one after Ayer Keroh and one on the Karak highway just before the exit for Genting. Both were because of roadworks. Finally made it in about 7 1/2 hours.
I had my luggage on the roof rack the whole trip, and must have been something of a sight to Malaysian drivers. Don't like driving with stuff up there. It's great driving up when you have the whole family, especially with a baby. You can bring all the stuff you need, including hot plate, pots, hot water dispenser, tons of milk and diapers etc. You know what I mean.

The week went by quite quickly for me. It was Li Soon and Matthew's first church camp. We brough our helper, but she was sick the first 3 days of the camp. So we had to take car of Nathan too from time to time to let her rest. Daniel Foo was the speaker again (same as last year), and as usual, very good, intellectual, thought provoking, enlightening. Spent most messages watching meters on my computer for recording the messages. Thanks Marcus for your help here.
It's been ages since I've been to Awana, probably in the region of 15-20 years since my last time there with Bethesda Katong church camp in the 80s. Some people did not want to go cos the place was a bit old, but thank God we got newly renovated rooms in the tower block, which was really nice, with good air and good views of the surrounding valleys.

Spent the Free and Easy time on Tuesday afternoon sleeping (recovering from the trip coming up) and swimming, and on Wednesday afternoon and evening at the theme parks at the top. Now I'm convinced that I'm definitely spoilt when it comes to theme parks. It was not very well maintained, it was very crowded and the lines were very long (45 minute wait for a small ferries wheel?), and I didn't take a single ride. The entry price was cheap compared to other theme parks though, RM25 each. Only Matthew did the rides including a motion simulator, merry-go-round, antique cars, bumper cars (he can actually drive!!). It was all very tiring, and the prices of the food was incredibly expensive. RM12 for a plate of chicken rice!! Really out to fleece the tourist.

Had a good time refreshing on God's word and worshipping God. Didn't have as much time to spend with the youth or others as I had my family this year. All in all, a good break. Learned a lot from the more mature ones in my breakout group and got to know a few more people which we don't usually say Hi to in church as we rush around on Sundays.

Went back to work yesterday as there was some problem with a DVD a made before I left for the camp. Got into the office on Saturday morning to fix it and make a new DLT tape and DVD-R which the replicator came to pick up. Also went down to Church of Christ of Malaya to put up the gels for the lights and help buy a reverb unit from Sinamax. After getting home, got a call that the VGA cable was broken and had to go down again after dinner to resolder it. Quite a bit rusty with soldering, but managed to patch the cable together. Pray that it won't break again. Definitely not as good a job as I would have liked, but it works.

Church today and then lunch with cell group. Got to prep the messages for the SSS worship camp this Tuesday where I am to share with the tech people and also the whole group about creative arts ministry.

Tech Crew maintenance day

Spent most of the day in church today doing maintenance stuff for tech crew cos of the public holiday for Vesak day yesterday.
Thanks for all of you who came today. Joe, Daniel, Yong Fa, Isaac, Cherlyn, Evelyn. Managed to do the following.
1. Move all the musical instruments from the stage to the creche (Aaron you owe us a big one here)
2. Set up for rehearsal in the creche
3. Clean up the stage area (incredibly dirty!!)
4. Wash the drum carpet (yuck!!)
5. Repair one Peavey speaker by cannabalising another
6. Resoldering microphone cable XLR connectors
7. Modification of the Mackie 1202 mixer Aux 2 from Post to Pre fader (thank Daniel)
8. Clean up and packing of all cables in the PA cabinet
9. Testing an old Peavey CS400 amplifier that was flooded before (thank God it didn't blow up!! And it still works!)
10. Collating of microphones, repair of chapel microphones, labelling of mics
11. Packing of Chapel PA cupboard (the kinds of stuff you can find in there!!)
12. Reconfiguration of chapel mixer for monitor mixing
13. Installation of monitor speaker, eq and amp for chapel musicians
14. Set up of monitor speaker at grand piano in sanctuary for Aaron's wedding including re-patching of monitor send line
15. Installation and testing of new Songbook software (thanks Joe). Ready for deployment and download
16. Update of notebook computers
17. Lunch of pizza combo from Canadian 2 for 1 pizza (yum!)
18. Made new network cable to replace missing one at sanctuary PA

Wow!! After looking at that list, it's no wonder I'm so tired.
Time to go sleep.

Another busy day tomorrow.
1. Pick up Projection screen and lamps from Hawko and E & Lect
2. Deliver to Church of Christ for installation - meet Frank for installation
3. Oversee and discuss installation
4. Go to Axiom for video encoding and transfer to VHS
5. Set up SubScribe in office
6. Edit menus for 7 miracles DVD
7. Author DVD
8. Asset replacement for Sony training DVD

Going to be a busy week.


15.

Bible DVD finished?

Finished the (hopefully) last check disc of the Bible DVD project on Friday and handed in to COOS on Saturday. Waiting for their response this coming week before doing the final DLTs for the replication. Finally the light at the end of the tunnel!
Still working on the edit of Mr Seet's video as well. Most people don't realise the amount of time and effort needed to edit a video.

Hectic week - short break

It was a hectic week last week, with the NZ partner here, lots of meetings, the leadership conference on Friday and Saturday, and then trying to finish both my GST and personal taxes for submission before 30th April. As usual, me and my last minute.
Glad to say I finally got them done. Doesn't help that my accounting software is messed up, giving me the Cost of Sales 10 times more than the actual!! So imagine my initial shock when I saw the report as having made a loss of $300k last year!!
If it were true, I'd probably have Ah Longs knocking down and my door and I might be forced to eat the pig's heads they hang and trying to scoop up the broken eggs in the mailbox!! Hehe.
Last year was kinda slow year, so income has dropped. Hopefully, will do better this year.
Had a good 2 sessions with John Ng and Mark Chan from the Eagles at the leadership conference. One of the most important things I learned was that any marriage is destined to fail from the start. Huh?
Considering the very different backgrounds, temperaments, families, experiences, attitudes, values that 2 people have, putting 2 people together in a marriage is a disaster in the making.
It takes a lot of conscious effort, time and dedication to overcome it's natural tendency to fail.
A relationship is like riding a bike on a hill slope. You cannot stop and hope that it will stay still and then pick it up where you left off later. You either work hard and move it uphill, or it will slide backwards.
Took Monday and Tuesday off(extra holiday declared by me!!) back to work today.
Still wondering about what God wants me to do next.
Pray pray pray.

In-grown toe nail

I'm wearing shorts, polo T-shirt and slippers to work today cos I have an ingrown toenail and it hurts! I think it's my work shoes that is causing it. Maybe need a new pair. I'm trying to avoid having to go to the doctor to have the nail removed. Furthermore, I have to play drums tonight, which would be impossible if my nail was removed.
Was an interesting worship rehearsal last night. Aaron Soo's first time leading and wanting to try different styles and stuff. Like playing Amazing Grace in a fast 4/4 beat!! I can say it is definitely challenging for me. Was very tired and found it hard to keep beat for some of the songs last night.
Have to go install the projector in the chapel today and pick up the camera for the shoot tomorrow. Now downloading a 19 MB file from Spin to make changes to the Sony DVD Map project due later.
Coming along on the Bible DVD. Disc 2 mainly finished, working the final disc 3.
Lots to do.

Blog dead? No I'm almost!

Almost looks like my blog is dead.... actually I'm the one who is almost dead. No time to blog at all!!
Just wanted to list the things I'm up to now.
1. Working on getting the film school started
2. Doing my personal income taxes
3. Doing my GST return for the company
4. Meeting with Courts today
5. Alpha meeting tonight
6. Plugged on Prayer 2 (POP2) rehearsal tonight after Alpha - playing drums
7. Install projector in chapel tomorrow
8. POP2 tomorrow night
9. Church AGM on Sunday - reconfirmed as deacon
10. Fixing the Bible DVD disc 3
11. Editing Mr Seet's video
12. Videotape Mr Seet at Perankan service on Saturday
13. Go to bank to get my February bank statements reprinted
14. Really need a massage
15. Meeting Jeff Paine to discuss re #1
16. Rearrange instruments in sanctuary on Sat morning

Now I have to send wife to work!!

Installing Win XP Pro

Now sitting in front of the computer in the chapel in church trying to install Win XP Pro into the chapel computer. Why does it always take so long to install the OS? It seems like even though the computers get faster and faster and the hard drives faster and bigger, the next version of the OS always seems to take longer to install than the previous version. What to do?
Setup will complete in approximately: 1 hour.
Well, at least it's better than my first Novell server installation. Had to redo from start about 10 times and took 3 days!! Boy, do I go back in time.

Enough of complaining and back to work!!

Got back from NZ

Just got home last night from NZ from a 6 day business trip. Went together with aunty Iris who is there for 1-2 years for work as a course director for a cross cultural missionary course.
Spent the weekend basically relaxing and resting and meeting up with Aunty Iris at her church and with May and Evan at the mall after to catch up.
Monday and Tuesday were basically meetings at the school and taking a tour etc. Quite productive I think on my part. Now we have some idea about the next steps.
Now back to work.

Family BBQ

Today is traditionally the 15th and last day of Chinese New Year celebrations. And it's my family tradition to have a final get together for dinner tonight as well..... actually just any excuse for a feast. That's why many of us in the family have got lots to show for it...heh heh.
Well, quite a bit of preparation went into it. My mom ordered the BBQ food from a place called BBQ Wholesaler in Geylang yesterday and I went with her today to pick up the food and bring it to my parents' house this afternoon. I also picked up a table from my place and 2 foldable tables I borrowed from church.
There was lots and lots of food, as usual. Started with the final and final (thankfully) "Lou Hei" for this Chinese New Year. I think I must have had about 10 of them this year. You can only take so much. We had otah, chicken wings, hot dogs, stingray, sotong, corn, satay, fried rice, mee siam, fishballs, chicken nuggets, beef steak, and the guests brought some tim sum as well. Not to forget the fruit for dessert. There were less than 20 of us, so there was just too much food.
Burp.... excuse me.

Now the diet starts.

Today I finally finished printing the last 10 DVDs of the church marriage covenant renewal ceremony and dinner. I made 54, 1 for each couple who went through it. Quite touching, some of them married for 40-50 years.
This was the first time I was using my dad's Canon 9950i printer for printing DVDs. Pretty cool. For the rest of the 44 DVDs, I used stickers printed with the office colour laser printer. Not too bad, but I'm worried about the stability of the sticker in DVD players though. Hopefully they don't come off or cause the disc to wobble.
Delivered the DVDs to Evelyn in church this afternoon, so the couples will get them this weekend. Finally job done.
Happy.

CNY lunch with 7days and YRR team

The above picture was taken at the lunch at my place on the 2nd day of CNY. On the right, Simon with his 3rd child, Zachary, who was born 24 August 2004. On the left is me with my 2nd son Nathan, who was born 4 days after Zachary on 28th August 2004.
This is the first time we've had a picture together.

Chinese New Year's

It's that time of the year again, where kids and unmarried young people look forward to, and the married adults get ready to give and give..... red packets, of course.
Nowadays, I approach this season with anticipation as well as dread. While it's a chance to get to see everyone again, it's also a time where family relationships gone sour are brought to the fore cos we have to arrange visitations around those people who don't want to see each other.... hai yah.
I try not to get involved in those issues that the generation before me are into, so that I can continue to be a peacemaker... who am I to be so busybody anyway...... but then their personal idiosyncracies make this a stressful season for the rest of us .... what a blissful time it was when I was younger and didn't know and bother with all these things.
Anyway, I'll still try to have a meaningful and good time this year round.
So our plans?
Tonight - Go over to my parents' place for reunion dinner
Tomorrow morning - Go to Mount Vernon to remember my grandparents, then to my parents' place for an early lunch (late breakfast) and back home for lunch with the rest of the family.
2nd day morning - early morning visit to my in-laws
2nd day lunch - Big gathering at my place including the people from YRR
2nd day night - Chance to rest

For those of you expecting a big ang pao from me this year ... sorry. It's not going to be big. Still waiting for God to send more business my way....heh
Watch our for those food that are going to your waist!!

Enjoy your CNY!!

7 worship sessions in 8 days!

That's a record.
Did 4 in Thailand, since last Sunday, took the plane home on Thursday, church prayer and worship on on Friday night till 12 midnight, Saturday with 7days at Covenent EF Church for their youth service, and this morning in church. I'm all so saturated! Another one to do at Telok Ayer Church on Tuesday. Will be total 8 sessions in 10 days!

Back from Thailand

Had a great week in Thailand with Li Soon and Matthew and the rest of the 7days team. It was wonderful to be able to be there with all the families and to be able to serve his body of servants. We did 4 worship sessions, which were really powerful and uplifting. Also had to time relax, go swimming, shopping, eating, team time, etc
I take my hat off to those parents who both serve and balance the family (meaning kids) without the help of maids. I think Li Soon and I are definitely spoilt. I was reminded about the contrast and how blessed we are when Simon mentioned the incident with a inland staff asking if the 3 kids were indeed all his. Only did he realise that they can only have 1 child there whilst we are encouraged to have more.... what an irony.
We did a breakout session on how to bring 7days inland. A few truly interested people turned up. Hopefully God will provide some leads to go inland this year and do more. It was also great to meet up with the guys from YRR again. So good that they'll be coming over to Singapore during Chinese New Year's.

Anyway, back home now, got to do the stuff for home again. Taking Nathan to the doctor's today again for his injection. Gotta finish my GST return by Monday, church and other stuff as well.

Here is a picture of Li Soon and me at the beach in Thailand.

Leaving for Thailand Beach resort

Leaving today for a beach resort in Thailand with LS and Matthew. Nathan will have to stay home this time :(
It's near Hua Hin, the imperial summer palace, facing the gulf of Thailand. Hope to have 1 week R&R as well as serving the in conference we are attending. Hopefully can put behind all the scary images of the Tsunami and still enjoy ourselves. And most important of all, contribute to helping the recovering of the Thai tourism... heh!

Feeling better

Everyone who prayed for me, thanks. I'm feeling better now, just a tiny bit of dizziness left. Went to see my specialist yesterday. So nice of my dad, with his busy schedule to accompany me. Well, the doctor did both an ECG and Ultrasound to see if my heart was ok. Also did a blood test. He's says they seemed fine, but the ECG machine actually said that I had inferior infarct (which means a heart attack!) cos of a little abnormality in the rhythm. But the doctor confirmed it is just the machine's algorithm being too sensitive. I certainly hope so.
So the doctor's advice? It's probably due to dehydration, hence the low blood pressure. So drink more water. Anyway, he took me off the blood pressure medication to see, and to see him in a month.
Damage? $600+ ouch!!
Going off to Thailand with Li Soon and Matthew for a week on Friday. Hopefully will get a chance to relax. Beach resort - what were we thinking???

Low BP?

Went to see the family doctor today with Matthew. Matt had his flu vaccine injection. He was so brave.
Anyway, told the doctor about my giddyness and headaches and throwing up. So he did a check, everything ok except that my blood pressure was kinda low. 100/70. Sounds logical why I'd have those symptoms. Kinda worried, including my aunt and parents. So I'm going to see the specialist tomorrow, perhaps do a blood test to see what's up. Hopefully it's just needing to change the medication.
Pray ok?

Sick

I don't know if it's the sudden change of weather from cool to very hot, or insufficient rest, stress or my upcoming trip to Thailand, but really felt bad yesterday and still a little bit today. Decided to stay home yesterday, to rest and do a bit of my accounts before I leave on Friday for Thailand with Li Soon and Matthew. GST submission Jan 31st. So Li Soon took the car to work. Forgot that Matthew had swimming class in the afternoon at 3:30pm. So with no car, not feeling so well, I decided to call Li Soon to see if we can not go. She said OK and called the instructor.
Then time to tell Matthew. He was really upset and insisted on going.... what to do?
So finally succumbed to his persistent "I want to go to swimming class", and took him by taxi to Bedok Swimming Complex.
I knew there were going to be problems.... I left my sunglasses in the car which Li Soon drove, and it was a hot and very sunny day. I have this problem with bright sunlight because I am very sensitive to bright lights. I had to squint just to see and with the bright sun and intense reflections from the pool, it wasn't long before I developed double vision and a mild headache. Thankfully I took some Panadol before going. Well, Matthew enjoyed his swimming and had 4 fishballs and Sprite after swimming. Took a taxi back and once I reached home, it all came down. I felt dizzy, extremely tired, headache, and after dinner, had some chest pains too (I think it was heartburn or indigestion)
Went to bed at about 7pm but didn't manage to sleep alot.
My worried aunt sent for my parents even and they came over. It was nice of my dad to even give me a massage.. ;) hehe
Finally took two muscle relaxants and went to bed at 11pm.
Hopefully I'll get some more rest today before Em's concert tonight. Cancelled the Creative Arts meeting for this afternoon.
Going to sleep now.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Oops! Almost forgot our 7th wedding anniversary

This is totally embarrassing and terrible. Li Soon and I completely forgot that it's our 7th wedding anniversary tomorrow. Wow, time really flies man. 2 kids later, things like anniversaries can creep up on you.Hehe

Anyway, we're probably going to Marriott tomorrow night and spending the $300 voucher Li Soon won at her company event. Thank God for things like that...hehe

I still remember when we got married at Shangri-La hotel. Starting new job then, and new married life at the same time. Good memories.
Well, gotta move on and look forward. God's been great, providing for us through everything and blessing us with great kids, a supportive home environment and more than we can want or ask.

Many more years ahead!!

Stages

With so many people losing someone close whether it be to the earthquakes, tsunami, accidents, old age or even relationship breakups, I thought that I'd do some reading up on how people handle loss. Came across the 5 stages of loss that I remember vaguely studying in Psychology class many years ago. Thought I'd put it up as a reminder on how to cope.
The 5 stages are
(1) denial,
(2) bargaining,
(3) anger,
(4) despair,
(5) acceptance.

For more detail, take a look at
Coping with Loss

Seems a number of my friends are in the midst of breakups. So strange that it happens at this time though. I wonder if it is just coincidence, or that events around have somewhat triggered latent things? hmmmm.

I remember the first time I was rejected many years ago. I sometimes can still feel the kind of pain, when I hear of others going through that. The feelings of inadequacy, anger, disbelieve, despair and finally acceptance is not something I would choose to go through if I had a choice. However, I know that it is exactly through these painful experiences and trials that we can discover much about ourselves, others, God and grow.
The only thing for sure is that time will heal, and God will provide a way to cope, so don't give up. Have to endure a little bit of time.

"2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him."
James 1:2-5

13No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
1 Cor 10:13