timetraveler-

2005-09-30T18:16:00.000-07:00

GOOD NEWS!
Team Espoir has made it to the finals of youth for causes!!!

shall post later when i come home.. dad's bringing us out to little india to eat french food. yum (:

2005-09-25T22:49:00.000-07:00

today i saw for myself that in the midst of disability there is still ability.

was not in a particularly good mood when i went to church today. cos my dad was commenting abt this and that before we left the house. and it was raining and i could not walk to church.

normally i will seat with all the youth during combine service. but today i jus felt like sitting alone in the back row. my mum was like noooo tht is for the old people to sit. and i jus told her i will make space for them when they come.

i guess my mum jus wanted us to sit together cos i didnt see any old people sit in my row. except a middle age lady whom ive seen around church since very long ago. she cant really walk properly. i think her legs are of diff length or she had polio when she was young. i didnt really know her. i dun think she knew me too. so we jus sat there. mind our own business.

perhaps it was cos i was distracted today. so i took abit more attention to what she was doing. which totally made a difference to my day and im glad i looked closer.

women like to sit together. something i realise. and then all the latecomers who were female and middle age somehow squeezed in the row in front of us. even though it was super packed already. i really dun understand y dun they jus come and sit with me. hahaha is a teenager that intimidating?

then the lady beside me started looking around. i was thinking whats she doing. walking around the aisle when she cant walk properly.

then i realised she was getting hymn books for all those packed ladies in front who didnt have them. it was really something that touched my heart. cos most of the time i jus pass to people in front of me if i see extra. but no one ever search for hymn books for people. and then there she was when she cannot even walk properly.

all throughout service i was part listening and part observing her. i dun think she was listening as much as she was observing ppl around her. which was quite amusing as i was observing her and less of listening too. practically every latecomer who sat behind left right front would soon get a pat on the shoulder from her handing them a hymn book.

end of service. i was packing my stuff to leave. i felt definitely in a better mood somehow. so i decided to go find the youth ppl again. and then she came to up to me and ask me when is my exams.

i was stunned for awhile. she didnt even know me. and she asks for my exam dates? this woman is really something.

so i jus told her it is coming soon. and im glad i got the courage to tell her that i was touched by her giving everyone the hymn books.

what is disability? maybe its an opportunity to let the able see their weaknesses.

she came to shake my hand when she asked me abt my exams. but when i told her how touched i was.. i found myself holding on to her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze that somehow didnt really want to let go.

every week in church or during the week we shake people's hands. but it is a rarity that i feel that sort of warmth radiating from it. not jus physical but that feeling that u feel inside you that tells you that this is a very special person.

im glad i sat at the last row today. i learnt something and i made a new friend.

2005-09-19T22:46:00.000-07:00

Im dead beat after coming home at 815 after gb today. I hear my bed beckoning me thus shall jus post something short. Something quite tragic and pathetic happened to me during bio class today. I was doing a boiling water experiment (which falls under primary school experiment section) and after the water boiled and me and tofu started doing the experiment, i felt my table was getting a bit to crowded with 2 bunsen burners and 2 tripods. so i instinctively decided to remove it. bad idea.

the heat hits (or heats) your fingers appox 0.5 s after u touch the burning tripod stand. and considering i am an average person with a reaction time of 0.3s, my thumb was exposed to almost 100degcel metal rod for 0.8s. the pain does not set in immediately. it is jus a numb feeling and ur brain is in shock from the suddun realisation that u havent learn much from RGS after 3 full years of science classes. then the pain gets excrutiating. Liqi the red cross maam said to run it under water for 15min, which i religiously followed. Mr Lim suggested dipping it is ice. which is a terrible idea cos i dun want to get froze bite plus burns. I think he got abit too concerned and turned all motherly jus bcos my thumb was burnt. perhaps he was afraid i will sue him for neglect. but well, the predicted "i see a big blister coming out" by my ever knowledgable bio teacher didnt come to pass. now my thumb is jus red and abit painful. but even gradient throughout.

this turned our quite long. i did something really stupid today which calls for some sort of acknowledgement. The pain i suffered is not in vain. If my bio classmates learn from my mistake and never touch a tripod stand with their bare fingers. You never realise the importance of a thumb until you burn one.

2005-09-17T08:20:00.000-07:00

I worship you, almighty God

There is none like you

I worship you, o prince of peace

That is what I want to do

I give you praise

For you are my righteousness

I worship you, almighty God

There is none like you

Jus came back from worship practice in church for tomoro's youth worship. Was playing this song.. which dates back to 1983. these days, worship songs are so much more complicated. the chords. the lyrics. the imagery involved. but sometimes it is all these older songs that really help me connect to God so much more. the simplicity in it. the starkness of the message.

This song was one of the songs i used to play when i was a beginner worship pianist. But now after all the experience, i thank God for being able to bring out the emotions in this song so much more. This may sound like a "religious post", but i believe tht in the midst of the hectic end of year exams looming ahead, it is good to let time stop. take some time out for worship. and then jump back into the bandwagon of life.

let us worship God the all powerful tomoro no matter where we are. indeed we were made by him, and thus made for his purpose!

2005-09-12T05:00:00.000-07:00

i shall recall my conversation with the new photocopy shop lady.

SETTING: Lydia is delighted to find a new photocopy shop lady (in short, PSL) on Term4 Week1 Day1. She approaches her, meanwhile quite not forgetting the predecessors of the current one. PSL 1 spoke little, but was really efficient. She got pregnant about last year and is currently on matarnity leave. PSL 2 was old, with weird brown hair. She was the photocopy machine's worst enemy, they always seem to be spoilt with her around. She was known to photocopy 200 pg reports on the spot, with ulra slow speed, while the queue waited in disbelievement. Filled with renewed hope, Lydia opens her mouth.

Lydia: Auntie i need one copy of this. Thanks.

Auntie: Why u all always call auntie one. u see i so young. young lady you know. must call sister mah.. or jie jie

Lydia: *smiles* cringe.

Photocopy Sister does the photocopy stuff. Passes Lydia a stack of messy unstapled paper.

Photocopy Sister: Jus now how many page ar?

Lydia: I.. didnt know i was supposed to count. sorry. the previous lady always did it for us!!*

Photocopy Sister: Next time must count yourself ok.. you all students must learn la. See la now i dunno if i print coLLECTly anot.

Lydia: oh. ok can u jus help me stapler together. then jus charge me first. im in a rush.

Photocopy Sister: Stapler yourself la! OK? tht is $1.40.

hello. i printed only 13 pieces of paper! and i had to go home and spend half hour organising the physics notes. rgs should audition for those people coming to our school to work in the photocopy shop. unless they want to create students full of initiation who have the drive to do-it-yourself.

2005-09-10T08:30:00.000-07:00

imagine a restaurant that is opening today and u see a red ribbon. waiting to be cut! hahaha.. i hereby declare this blog open!

yea today was really a good day. i did 2 of the things i like alot.. visiting old folks, and ballooning. went to evergreen circle, a block of studio apartments to entertain the old ppl with my church friends. i strongly encourage my parents (yes if u r reading this!) to live in a studio apartment next time. it is so cool.. u see tons of old men downstairs playing chess and chatting. and then the church has opened this little gathering place for them on 2nd level for them to learn yoga and line dancing. and my mum will be super happy also. bcos the place is like opposite her fav bakery, she can go buy stuff everyday, near a supermarket, she can buy stuff to cook for me.

actually they r lucky old ppl cos they r mostly educated and abled individuals. some 79year old woman called doris tan was very interested to talk to me. i hope she isnt so hip tht she surfs the net and finds her name here. i thought she was the ex-prissy little girl type cos she had sat there and refused to play games. but i talked to her and she's really a friendly and interesting personality. unmarried. emphasises she likes to live alone. ex-nurse. and she speaks good english.

reason i love old people (especially old women) is bcos they seem so willing to let me into their lives. even though im a mere stranger. they can jus talk to u like they have known u for ages, despite language difficulties. and it really is a warm feeling when u make them happy. like when i made balloon flowers for them. they were all so amused by it. and requested i do some live demo. perhaps they are old and lonely. thts y they want ppl to tok to them. but then again, who wants to be old?

so many nice stories to tell whenever i visit old ppl. i believe u can actually write out a hong kong drama serial by observing their interactions. its like "the gathering place" directed by lydia. and then there is the old china men with the wife whose operation went wrong, the women who dresses like some chic 70s agogo star, the bossy one, the one who looks like my ahma, the lady whose kids are all in perth and has a cool handphone. and how their lives all met in this place. nice.

i dun wanna grow old. though i love the old people. the irony.