I think this is going to be a very long post... wasn't intending to blog when I got home, but now, I think i'm high on coffee, so here it goes.

Today, hmm, actually yesterday was a really memorable and special day for me, hadn't had such fun in a long while already and I thank everyone (you know who you are) for making yesterday such a memorable day in my life. Thanks.

Yesterday was kind of the "day of the firsts".
Why?

1. It was the first day of the 2nd decade of my life.

2. It was my first time going to Pasir Ris Park.

3. It was my first time flying a kite.

4. It was my first time I went for Sakae Sushi Buffet Lunch.

5. It was my first time spending my birthday with friends for most of the day.

And so, we went cycling at this nice, rather quiet and peaceful in the East. Along the way, we came across this shop which sells kites. And so, we bought our kites there. Our plan was actually to get down to Marina Bay to get kites before heading down to West Coast to fly our kites. But, we are fortunate to be able to get kites in the East and it saves us a trip down to Marina Bay. And we met a super nice uncle in that shop who gave me a lollipop for my birthday... hehe...

The tele-tubbies kites being sold.

The friendly uncle and my present- the lollipop. Buy kites from him if you are there...

And along our way on our bikes, we stopped at this place which we named the secret garden for some photo shots...

The Secret Garden.

I have more pics of us there. Just click on the link: 22nd June 2007 on the left.

We decided to then head for the playground after that... but to our dismay, the playground was packed with children and teenagers, so we decided to stop at those rocky cliffs to take some pictures and rest. It was at that rocky area where we decided to try flying our kites...

The view from the rocky cliffs where we sat. I would love to make a trip to one of these water homes one day.

The pic is one of my personal favourites.

There's six different designs for the kites. And we bought 3 of the designs.

Assembling the kite.

The assembled kites. I like all the designs, cos they are all so colourful and bright. It makes me happy.

Trying to get the kite flying.

Finally, it's flying. Not quite finally cos of the strong wind current.

And wow, thanks to the strong and generous wind of the day, our kites flew high, and it makes us feel very professional (not too bad for people like me who are flying kites for the first time). The one on the right is Cheryl's kite. And it looks kind of out of place, do you think so?

After kite flying was lunch at Sakae... and I don't think it was worth our money... but it was a lesson that we learnt, despite the cost of it.

Some of the food that we ordered.

We headed down to JE next to take neo-prints; the second part of these freakingly resembles our trip to West Coast and JE last Dec after our final papers, though the sequence of events were opposite. I think neo-prints machines have their way of making you look nicer in neo-prints than in photographs. Maybe that's the reason why they are raking in money.

I think this is especially cool.

Don't we all look oh-so demure? Looks can be decieving though.

And of course, there's West Coast Park... We actually wanted to fly our kites there... but there wasn't a strong enough wind current there... so, we actually sat down and snacked and chatted our evening away before some adventure to end the day... There will be pics of West Coast when I recieve the pics from Lisa...

Then, there was celebration at home with my family as well... Celebration with family is alsways special in its own unique way every year... words can't express my gratitude and thanksgiving I have for my parents and even my brothers. Sometimes, I don't feel like I deserve them at all. Really, I can't thank them enough.

And it was when I'm bathing that I realised how tanned I became today.

Look at the contrast.

22nd June 2007.

I will always remember this day.

Thank God for all my friends, my family.

Thank God for the past year.

Thank you everyone who made today such a memorable day for me.

Praise the Lord for He is good. His Love endures forever.

Thanks.

School's re-opening soon...
And i'm going to do relief teaching...
Really thank God for that position...
Will be busier in the next few days as I'll be preparing the lessons...
It's going to be an all-new experience for me...
Till next time...

How do you pronouce:
min and ming;
pin and ping;
qin and qing;
jin and jing;
tin and ting;
yin and ying;
sin and sing;
xin and xing;
There is a difference in the way they are pronounced, you know.
And most importantly,
how do you pronouce
lin and ling?
For my name is manlin and not manling...
I think sometimes even myself can't pronounce my name correctly... hmm...

"A dollar for my roses"

Tattered clothes upon his shoulders
He walks down the street, mile by mile,
His arms carrying a basket of roses
His face wearing a smile

He runs towards the people
As they shun and turn away
"Will you buy a rose kind mister?"
"Will you buy a rose today?"

"Just a dollar for my roses"
"Two dollars will get you three"
"Will you buy one rose kind mister?"
"Or if better, will you buy three?"

I rummaged through my wallet
I guess I could afford one or two
But what if others stopped to approach me?
I couldn't afford to help everyone else too

So I kept my wallet and turned away

But from the corner of my eye
For a moment that smile just disappeared,
And I thought I heard him cry,

"Just a dollar for my roses"

"Two dollars will get you three"

"Will you buy one rose kind mister?"

"Or if better, will you buy three?"

For he who welcomes these little children
Welcomes me in my name too
For the helpless, homeless, hungry and sick,
I too died for them, As I died for you

For the blessings I have given you,
are not meant for yourself to keep
for I have blessed you for one reason true
To be a blessing, to others you meet

I didn't ask you to help the whole world,
that isn't what I've set out for you
But within your means whatever you can give
Then give, for that, you can do

"A dollar for my roses"
I thought I heard the boy cry out once more
And as I reached into my wallet,
This time I was pretty sure

"Just a dollar for my roses"

"Two dollars will get you three"

"God bless you child," I replied,
"I'll give you five dollars, just for three"

I saw that smile again now full of joy
as he took the money from me
I heard his laughter ring through the air
as he ran down the street with glee

Just five dollars for the little boy,
Just three more roses for me,
for what mere five dollars could mean to me,
could mean the world to him

Tattered clothes upon his shoulders
he ran down the street, mile by mile
"Mama! We can buy milk for sister today"
"And food to last us a while"

"Maybe some medince for papa's cough"
"And clean bandages for your leg"
"For I met a kind stranger in the street"
"Who bought my roses today"

I told him,

"Just a dollar for my roses"
"Or two will you get three"
"But I knew he was a blessing from God"
"When he gave me five dollars for three"

For the suffering kids that are out there
A dollar could mean the world to them

For that much we've tried to help the less fortunate
how far, have we really stretched our hand?

For the world that lives in our riches abound
and our blessings that seem so free,
We could do with more people who would buy more roses

What more,

Kind strangers, who would buy three.

I got this poem from a senior's blog... he wrote this himself... beautiful words that spoke to me... Many a times, we often turn down opportunities to help others even though it is within our means to help them...

How many times have you walked past those old tissues sellers sitting along the pavements without buying?

How many times have you turned down or even shunned those students/ volunteers carrying tin cans asking for donations?

Are we all guilty of these?

Is it a lack of compassion? Is it fear? I know not.

What I do know is that it is so easy to talk about love in church and family, but do you and can you extend this agape love to someone who has got no blood relations with you?
I think I find this difficult. And so, I'm asking Him to teach me how to love. I have not been consistently praying for this, and hence it seems that I'm still where I started - times when a thoughtful poem reveals the state of my heart. But still, I believe that God answers prayer. And one day, I will truly love in kind.

Some advert again...

You are invited to:
NUS campus crusade freshman camp 11-13th July, PGP...

Register at http://www.everystudent.com.sg/alphacamp

And I have been blogging about me involving in the prayer subcomm for Matric...

Below is a brouche for matriculation and the freshmen orientation camp this year.

We need your support...

By Praying for us... what you can help us pray for:

Some more information about the freshmen orientation camp...

You can drop me a tag just to inform me if you are praying for us...

Thank you for your support...

Lesson for the day:





Ohm's Law...



Part of the classroom...


Tuition's tiring... it's hard to imagine how those two Sec 2 students can be so active in my class... at the end of the lesson, i'll be so exhausted from nagging at them, asking them to do the exericses and questions... but then again, seeing them able to do those questions and learning something new make the tireness worthwhile...

是你的, 就是你的.
有些东西, 是不能强求的.
勉强留着它, 是不会有快乐, 不会有意义的.
与其这样痛苦, 倒不如潇洒的放手
去追求真正属于自己的幸福与快乐.
人总是该学会放手.
有句话说得好,勉强是不会有幸福的.
但又有几个人会如此的洒脱呢?

It's been 6+ yrs since we met... And now, another one of us is leaving Singapore for Australia to further her studies there...
It's been 2 or 3 yrs since Gi left for Aust... and now, yet another one...
I know it's your choice... perhaps, it's your best choice...
So, here's wishing you all the best... hope everything goes well...

Los amigos buenos para siempre. Some things will never change no matter what.

The rice dumpling fest is coming... and hence, mum has made some rice dumpling...
Can you tell it's tasty?


This is my fav nonya dumpling...


The filling inside...

Happy rice dumpling fest... but go easy on the rice dumplings as eating too many at one go can readily cause indigestion...

To be or not to be,
That is the question.
William Shakespeare

My all-time favourite snacks...
maltesers...

and Pocky...

actually, there's more... like m&ms, Mars bars, Hello Panda...
For some reasons, I prefer chocolate Pocky and Milk Hello Panda...
I don't know why, it's my preference I guess... that or just because I'm weird...
will take some more pics of these yummy snacks next time for you to salivate...haha...

三只老虎的奥秘:
三只老虎, 三只老虎,
跑得快, 跑得快,
一只没有眼睛, 两只没有尾巴,
真奇怪, 真奇怪.
三只老虎的奥秘, 应该就是这样的.

I'm so tired of being here.
Suppressed by all my childish fears.
And if you have to leave
I wish that you would just leave
'Cause your presence still lingers here
And it won't leave me alone...
These wounds won't seem to heal...
This pain is just too real.
There's just too much that time cannot erase.
When you cried,
I'll wipe away all of your tears...
When you'd scream
I'd fight away all of your fears...
I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have.. All of me..
You used to captivate me...
By your resonating life...
Now I'm bound by the life you left behind.
Your face it haunts, my once pleasant dreams...
Your voice it chased away, all the sanity in me...
These wounds won't seem to heal...
This pain is just too real...
There's just too much that time cannot erase...
I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone...
But though you're still with me...
I've been alone all along.

I'm well these few days... thanks to the prayer meetings and prayer meets... Prayers work wonders and prayer meetings/ meets are inspirational. Seeing at how my bros and sis have been praying really motivates me to want to talk to God, to spend really quality time with Him. Huiqi brought out a few points during the last prayer meet; that is it is through hectic times that God shines through. How true, isn't it. During peaceful times, nobody will think of talking to God, and asking for His help... it is only in times of trouble that we will approach Him in prayer, hoping that He is like what the Bible says, faithful and just. Hence, learning to be thankful to God for peaceful times is a big lesson that I have learnt. Though it is the sch hols now, and there seems to be nothing much to pray for, I will nevertheless, learn to give thanks. Give thanks for seeing me through the first year of uni, give thanks for friends in sch, give thanks for the wonderful spirtual support in uni... in the meantime, i'll also be praying for matric... praying for the incoming freshmen... believe in prayers.
And one more thing, do keep the people going to South Thailand in prayer, for there's been some unexpected violence in that area which had never happened. They may re-locate to some other places, but no matter what, pray for their safety.

I'm currently experiencing a bout of spiritual dryness... maybe I haven't been praying about certain stuff... like matric... really, Thurs meeting was kind of a wake-up call for me... kind of inspired... perhaps I should pray more.
Results are out... I'm happy with my results, given the fact that I have not been studying as hard as I should. Ever since entering university, I think I have not set an academic goal for myself. In secondary school and jc, I always had a goal in mind, what I want to achieve academically when I graduate. But in uni, I don't think I have given this some thought. And point is, yr 1 is over. Come Aug, I'll be in my second year... yw always said this: 'No expectations, no disappointment'. I guess this is right to a certain extent, but not having a goal and expectation kind of makes me feel as though I'm lost. Perhaps, it's time that I set myself an academic goal.

I started working as a tutor at an Tuition Centre last Saturday. Working at a tuition centre is indeed different as my job as a private tutor, though I only have 2 students in the class. I've come to realise that much more is required of me when I teach in a class. Discipline and time management comes in. There are certainly advantages when working at a tuition centre; the most basic being that the notes are provided for and that I don't have to search the Examination Board website for syllabus myself for they are also provided for. But these very advantages can sometimes means that more preparation is needed. For instance, for every topic, they'll have a few sets of notes and exercises needed to be done, and sometimes time does not permits it. And also, I will take into account the different learning abilities of the different students and cater to their needs as best as I can... but i believe that this experience will help me in the near future when I enter the classrooms.
Met up with my Discipleship Group (DG) for lunch at Vivo. Well, really had fun walking with our beloved Sharon... the time together kind of help me get to know her better... and the fellowship time during and after lunch was great too... talked about our plans for the hols and wrote them down, had fun talking as well... great dg time out. And oh, I just remembered how Sharon was talking about fate. As you all may know, Med and Sci Crusade are coming together to form one ministry. And Sharon was just saying how we are fated to meet... cos she will be taking the nursing girls, my dg mates when I was at Med Crusade for the last sem and early this sem before I transferred to Sci Crusade later this sem... so, whether I make the transfer or not, I would have Sharon as my SM... cool isn't it... God really has His Ways of bringing people together. What is meant to be is meant to be, no matter how you want it to be.

Lydia's off to Europe, backpacking! Lucky girl. Backpacking's fun, though I haven't been able to experience it yet. Perhaps soon, I hope. It'll be an all-new experience for me... and you'll be able to experience the local culture and learn more things than the follow-tour guide types of holiday. But somehow, my parents don't really agree with me. Maybe they're the less adventurous type and I'll have to try harder to convince them to let me go backpacking. Actually, they've come a long way since; for they actually allow me to go overseas with my friends. Maybe it's time, or maybe it's because they feel that they can trust me to take care of myself and be accountable. I don't really know which is the case. What I'm sure of is, whichever the case, all parents care for their children.
Note to Lydia: Msg me when you're back and meet up! Enjoy your trip.
Btw, it has been confirmed! Med and Sci Crusade are going to serve as one ministry. Yeppee. Will get to see my old dg mates, and evan and others more often. That's great news. More plans for next weeks coming up; will be meeting my Spritual Multiplier (SM) and dg mates for lunch, Birthday Party, Prayer Meeting and maybe meeting up with gy and the rest...

Just came back from Vivocity's Toys'R'Us... it was a pleasantly surprising trip, with a pleasantly unexpected purchase... cool place,suitable not just for the very young, the young, but also the young at heart (read between the lines: old). Shall visit it again some day...

Just had Prayer Meeting at Raffles City's BK in the afternoon... I think it's the lack of sleep from yesterday that's causing me to be so tired now... anyway, the meeting was rather good as we came up with quite a few prayer activities in the weeks leading up to matric; activities like fasting, fortnightly prayer meetings, prayer walks and stuff like that; but all these are subjected to approval... and we'll be meeting up soon to finalise these things...Met up with yw and gang yesterday at Orchard... I've just realised that had become our usual meeting place since jc times... well, I guess it's because of it's centralised location... anyway, met up with yw for a brainstorming session as to what presents to get... we've run out of ideas... afterall, we've known each other for some six years... whatever that we could have gotten, we've bought them...besides, we've grown up and mature... so, we no longer care for those soft, fluffy toys which can potentially end up as a dust collector at home. And so, that's the trouble with buying presents... so, friends, if you are reading this, do a good deed by telling me what you want for your birthday... I shall let the pictures do the talking now... here you go:

Happy Family...

Dinner at Crystal Jade...

Yummy Xiao Long Bao or Baos rather...

A close-up

Throughout the dinner, they re-filled our glasses for around 4 to 5 times if i'm not wrong... good service...

The end-product...

Our form of entertainment after dinner...

And finally... time to go home...

Meet up soon...

SOme other stuff:

Mothers' Day is coming... and Mum just left to watch the Liza Wang Concert with SCO with my aunt...
To those going on mission trips, prepare well and pray... I'll be praying for you...

To those going overseas, have fun and don't forget to pray for journey mercy...

And one last thing: I've heard that Med and Sci libraries are going to combine... and I've also heard that Med and Sci crusade are going to combine... if this is true, it'll be great. Yippee! I can get to see Sheena, Lydia, Si Hui and the rest more often...