ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
Okay it's been one crazy week (I'm back to typing in proper casing!) with camps and what not (speaking of which, my clothes didn't dry as fast as I expected them to la D:) and tomorrow I'll be flying off to Vietnam till the 23rd. And I'm still feeling tired because I think I've still not been catching up on my sleep, might just be falling sick but honestly, whatever.
Just a brief update on the few days after camps. Parents are so paranoid, my mum's like it's 19 degrees, bring thicker clothes! And I'm like rightttt, sorry mum I'm used to packing light. Packing light ftw :D Picked jie up after camp, and yeah now we've got loads of chocolate (LIQUOR CHOCOLATE!) and what not and jie bought me a shirt that says "The world revolves around me. -picture- Little Miss Bossy" :D
Eye appointment today was rather o.O We did cool stuff at Dr. Chuah's which we don't do at Dr. Ho's so yeah, it's rather interesting la. My eye pressure isn't that bad, so chances of me getting glaucoma isn't that high thank God, though apparently my nerves aren't that good, so I've got to be careful la if not I'll end up with a torn retina like dad. It's passed down through the genes la, so there's nothing much I can do about it. Though it's scary la, knowing that there's a possibility you may go blind one day. Jie's one isn't too good though, so now she's on eyedrops. But give and take la, since kor and I got genetic myopia and her's is like much lower compared to us so now her eye pressure...
Now on to camp, as promised! I've got people bugging me already la so here goes... (Honestly I don't see why people read my blog -.- It's not like there's anything interesting or whatsoever, as I said, my previous posts were all emo-ing which was totally uncool yo. But okay nevermind, your choice! And fyi, if you really have something pressing to say, I'd say email yo because I don't exactly check blogger's tagboard.
Well, let's start of with Zion's YF camp since I think I'll have more to blog about regarding BC. First and foremost, I did enjoy it, really! It helped that I knew the people in my YD better so we just hung out together and I got to know Melinda and Jing Xiao (This girl is one I really love man. We shared our leadership experiences/ problems, and I was pretty O: when I told her some things regarding GB la.) better I guess (AND ABI'S SISTER BEHAVES EXACTLY LIKE HER IT'S UNNERVING). And I really liked my workshop group, though of course having Jing Xiao and Lynette in the same group as me made it easier for me to talk and open up la, but yeah they're nice people (:
We managed to watch the sunrise on one of the days! Though not exactly the sun rise because we didn't know the location of the sun -.- But it was a good view. And of course it was much better than that previous morning when I woke up with Abi at 5 only to realise that we didn't know where the East was and we couldn't find the sun rawr.
Consider Christ... The messages were rather interesting though the first one was just like o.O dude what's your point? But yeah, I guess it gave me quite a few things to ponder about, and if you have to know, I'm not done thinking about it yet. I really liked the night workshops. Okay maybe not the entire thing, but the one on Missions really spoke to me. In the sense that he addressed like so many of the doubts that I had, and I was mentally pointing out those that applied to me. It was pretty cool, and staying up to play badminton on the last night was absolute fun. Rediscovered my love for badminton. I remember how I was supposed to take badminton lessons last time but ended up quitting after 4 lessons because I didn't like the way the person taught. Haha pretty much like how I quit swimming when I was younger after the instructor wanted me to go competitive. Competition just doesn't go well with a certain person named Ng Pei Ling yo. Haha maybe because I know that I have the potential to be extremely mean, and I'm afraid that if I get too competitive, I start to mess myself and others up, and well no one benefits la. But yeah these few years I've been competing with no one, if anyone, it's just myself.
But yes to sum it all up, I enjoyed YF camp (:
Now on to BC youth camp. Warning: Long post ahead, but the first few paras will be a summary la. Only when I start going from event to event will it be a little dry, haha because it's mainly just for memory's sake (: I believe camp was a success. You don't know how :D :D I was when I got back and read the youths' blogs and saw their emails. To quote but a few (pardon some of the typing, little kiddos la)...
"camp rawkedd it was so fun pls i wish it never ended"
"burning bright was e bez camp ive eva attended"
And of course things to boost our wonderful egos
"i <3>- the messages: one main thing I learnt was that if I want to burn brightly for God, the only way is to get rid of my need for self-glorification and let God's glory shine through me. It was pretty cool because all the time I've been thinking like using my glory to glorify God, in that sense I guess? But my glory should not even be in the picture, it's just God's glory and God's glory all the way!
- camp comm: You guys have been a huge source of encouragement and a great help. It's been great working with you guys, despite those few times when there were disagreements and unhappiness and all, we managed to pull through it and I'm sure we had fun bonding as a team and all. It was encouraging to know that we were working towards a common goal and all. Sorry for those times when I lost it and those times when I was just emo-ing around and scared you guys la. I'll miss all our rubbish-ing and yes all our deeeep talks woots.
- youths: Thank you for your enthusiasm and willingness to do stuff! Without you guys, camp wouldn't have been a success. You guys are so sweet (:
- God: How can I ever thank You enough? You protected us, You made Your presence felt, You used camp to glorify Yourself etc. All honour and glory and power belongs to You. Thank you for the opportunity to serve You Lord.
Holy uncreated One
Your beauty fills the skies
But the glory of Your majesty
Is the mercy in Your eyes
Worthy uncreated One
From heaven to earth come down
You laid aside your royalty
To wear a sinner's crown
Oh great God, be glorified
Our lives laid down
Yours magnified
Oh great God, be lifted high
There is none like You
Jesus Saviour God's only Son
Risen reigning Lord
Sustainer of the universe
By the power of Your word
And when we see Your matchless face
In speechless awe we'll stand
And there we'll bow with grateful hearts
Unto the great I am
---
I don't have a particular sequence to follow, so I shall just talk about things randomly. I'll start off with the not so serious stuff first la. Games was really good. When people arrived at the stations I was I/C of together with Dan, it's obvious that they're having a lot of fun. And one thing that we heartening for the entire camp comm was that we saw youths letting the newcomers play, and making sure they're included and all. I mean, from being separate individuals to becoming one big family of God, and being willing to step out of their comfort zones so that the new/ little ones can feel God's love through them, it's something beyond what words can express la. It's just the closeness, the bondedness, and just the whole family feeling. We won't always like that you know. We've come a long way... (and that means my job's more or less and done and now it's time to settle the whole church issue rawr. More about that another time.)
We really incorporated Marcus' Winx Club thing DD: But everyone had fun and in the end the camp comm had the honour of posing with wings wowza. I loved all the food games (because we got to eat the leftovers :D :D). Soak it up was pretty fun. Basically we played volleyball except the ball was replaced with some balloon-like thing filled with diluted whatever soup mixed with drinks and random light stuff added inside? I don't even know what was in there and I highly doubted whether it would actually burst, but hey it's quite easy to burst and it's loads of fun. Remaining 'balls' ended up being burst on the camp comm, which was very interesting indeed. We could feel it coming, but no unfortunately we didn't see people sneaking up behind us. Same goes for waterbomb fight, though we were more prepared then and we had our own secret stash of waterbombs :D Are we smart or what. But yeah, great jobs Marcus and Ting, everyone had fun, be it for wet games, food games, aMAZEing race and all that jazz.
Morning jogs/ runs with Brandon were good, especially since you're surrounded by nature, okay fine not exactly nature but trees la, and the nice sea breeze. Some jogs were spent emoing (somewhat), others were done in silence and getting ourselves immersed in natural beauty, the rest were spent talking. Though we had a few races and of course I got owned by the waterpolo dude yo. I wouldn't have gone running with you la, just that it's unsafe to run alone yo. Okay fine maybe I would have, whatever.
My group was way cool. Well, it's mine what. Okay but yeah, I had a great time with them during meals and QT and just random crapping sessions and yes even the let's laugh at peiling time! Could really feel the love la. Go Krispy Kremes! I still love the group names we came up with man, it was all food la. Other than the fact that at that point in time we were all hungry, it has a deeper hidden meaning. Like what we told all the campers on the first day, food is a basic necessity and it's an essential, but tangible food isn't the one which will provide you with the fuel, it's the Bread of Life, it's God. (Eh no seriously okay, we thought about it before we decided to go ahead with it. We are deeeppp people!)
Bring it On was really entertaining. The skits groups come out with me are really hilarious, though most of them had something to do with the camp comm more or less and others were very obviously directed at me. Krispy Kremes was original ha :D Though we made a dig at Byron, with out wonderful story about him being called Ron at first, and he got ditched by his girlfriend who went "Bye Ron" (: Talk about him being a girl-killer hmmm. His fault for going around telling everyone "Hey our camp commandant has gotten lost among the grass, go look for her please. She can camouflage herself really well, blending in with the ants! That's one great way to survive." -.-
1. One group did something about 2 people who went walking around at night and emo-ing and how in the end both of them nearly lost their lives because of what I said (and wtc Theo actually wrote it down la -.-) "If you're leaving camp grounds, please let the camp comm know okay, and try not to go alone. I mean if you want to emo then drag someone along with you la. Two's company what, people say a burden shared is a burden halved. I say that emoing done together makes emoness disappear, whoosh. And love each other! Because with the L from love, emo becomes elmo! And Elmo's really cute and happy, and we can all link hands and sing Elmo's song!" I don't see what's so funny about that lor, I really meant it whatt and it wasn't meant to be mean to emo people D: I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings ):
2. Another group's performance had Alex going "I don't want you to say good morning, greet everyone with YO WASSUP. Brotherly love you know yo?" "Spread the love yo" "Be enthu yo" "Hurry up yo" "I'm hungry yo" and they had some uh interesting storyline about yoyos and stuff o.O And the whole "Eh it's not funny la -pause- Actually haha it's quite funny." It's not my fault that right now I've a habit to add yo behind my sentences sometimes, and sometimes my brain needs some time to process things and evaluate whether they're funny or not (:
3. Jon's group did a typical thing, where's your creativity? The Pei Ling-Brandon thing is outdated yo. And pick-up lines are like so yesterday x) But still amusing I must say. Except this time they added people like Alex and Matthew, and Jon -.- I've no idea what to say about his ego. But I was rather o.O wtc when Jon said the exact same thing as me O:
Zhicong (acting as Bran): Hey, let's go racing.
Jon (acting as me): But I don't like racing.
Zhicong: Ohhh I see you don't like racing (raisin), how about a date then?
(Everyone groans)
Me (from where I was sitting) together with Jon: Eh, you guys very slow leh, we were together a long time ago already.
(Everyone's O: I stare at Jon and he gives me one of his triumphant grins. I pause for a while)
Me together with Jon: Eh platonic la, brotherly love yo.
(I am completely o.O how do you know what I'm going to say D:)
But yeah, proof that I've been hanging out with Jon for too long already, he can predict what I'm going to say wowza. Though apparently I always say the same things in response to that -.- But that just shows how old those things are la. Okay he can't predict completely, but close enough for it to be scaryyy. And the other one with Alex, both of us said "Eh he's too young la, I don't go for younger guys yo." Everyone started laughing. And later on Matthew, "Eh I don't want him. He refuses to teach me how to play the bass." Jon's pick-up line was really -.-, though I've never heard it before.
Jon (acting as uh himself): You, are the day to me, the one that brings me joy and sunshine.
Me (acting as uh myself since I was requested to act (: ) Oh yeah, I know I make everyone's day thanks.
Jon: Opposites attract don't they?
Me: Yupp, I know why you're attracted to me. I'm smart and you're not.
Jon: No, you who is like the day to me, let me tell you this- I am your kNIGHT in shining armour.
(Everyone groans)
Me: Really? Well I happen to be a kungfu master! When east meets west, they clash! Let's have a Shaolin showdown now!
(Jon and I start doing stupid fighting things and after that I think people lost all respect for us D: BUT as I said last time, respect doesn't arise from being scary and dao and all that jazz. You can be nice and spastic and whatever, but still have people's respect. x))
A few others did on the camp comm la, and all our catch-phrases and typical actions and what others call them and what not. It was rather amusing, because it's really obvious! And as I was watching us, I realised how much I really loved the comm and the youths and just the entire closeness. Camp comm did a special item la, which I hope made everyone happy :D We had our own mini-concert! Songs like Jenny and Sk8ter Boi etc. with changed lyrics, done by yours truly :D But it was great fun, I love changing lyrics. Whee
I love Aunty Lily, she baked like brownies and made cream puffs and all for supper, and it was fantastic. :D :D I LIKE FOOD. Oh I like our food chant.
I LOVE FOOD.
I WANT FOOD.
GIVE ME FOOD.
EATTT.
WO AI SHI WU.
WO YAO SHI WU.
GEI WO SHI WU.
CHIIII.
Which was adapted by my wonderful fanclub later and became
I LOVE PEILING
I WANT PEILING
GIVE ME PEILING
KAWAIIXXX. o.O righttt
Speaking of which, apparently my fanclub is not extinct o.O It's still pretty much alive and kicking and according to the founder, we're having more and more members O: But haha it's pretty fun, AND THEY GAVE ME FOOD DURING CAMP which made me and the camp comm very happy :D But yeah, one thing I just have to say is that the youths are really sweet, and they made all of us very happy la. Like how on the last day they gave each of us this mahjong paper filled with scribblings and drawings and all.
All the worship sessions were really good. They were refreshing. And the night worship on the last day of camp. I honestly didn't expect so many people to turn up. I mean we just said "You're free to go to sleep, stay up and talk, play games, or you can of course join us for worship!" I was only supposed to be playing for day 2, but Jiemin fell down and twisted her wrist or something ouch so I took over. Dan led worship really well (Avalon's songs are power man), and I just want to say to the team (Dan, Matt, Gab, Gengyu, Byron, Agnes), well done! Even though we have this secret link (as we always say :D) it's not easy playing stuff impromptu, especially since we don't have chords for some, and coordinating the keys, guits, bass and drums is already not easy to start with. So yeah great job guys we did it!) And I don't know what word to describe the atmosphere then, but above everything, God was definitely present. Though halfway through when we sang All I need is You, I knew I couldn't continue playing anymore. So I got off the keys and Jon took over. I don't have an exact reason, but the song just spoke to me a lot. Okay the next paragraph is going to be personal, very personal.
I mean I've been distracted by all kinds of things this entire year, or rather I allowed myself to get distracted by stuff like academics, fun and play, getting obsessed with running later or even supposed 'Christian' things like youth and GB, because I wanted myself to not focus on other things. And despite knowing the PC answer to my purpose in life, I was just wandering around aimlessly, trying to find my footing, after which I sort of gave up and lost sight of everything and just wanted to return to being a normal person walking down Orchard Road? And after that things started going downhill, in the process of trying to be just one of those kids I started to change. They weren't major changes outwardly so it wasn't obvious to people who didn't know me well enough, but I started becoming indifferent, building up walls, blocking myself off and keeping people out, and refusing God time and time again. And these killed me. One of the changes (which I mentioned in the sweet and safe home of diaryland) was that I became insensitive to a certain extent. As in I was still as perceptive as ever and all, but I just pretended I knew nothing about it because sometimes it gets too tiring. I mean yeah, sometimes I just feel like I don't have enough strength to go after people? Because sometimes you try so hard, but you're back where you started and it takes so much to go after them again. And that really sucked for me. Because if you check this out...
| Your Dominant Intelligence is Interpersonal Intelligence |
 You shine in your ability to realate to and understand others. Good at seeing others' points of view, you get how people think and feel. You have an uncanny ability to sense true feelings, intentions, and motivations. A natural born leader, you are great at teaching and mediating conflict. You would make a good counselor, salesperson, politician, or business person. |
Not all quizzes are accurate, but this is one which is fairly spot-on. I don't know how to put it into words, but seeing people around you struggling, and knowing that you just may be able to help, but yet ending up not doing something about it, it kills. See, the thing is that I can survive without interpersonal relationships because I think I'm comfortable with myself, but I can't survive well without them. It didn't help that somewhere around that time I started seeing flaws in people, some of them major, others not so major. And after seeing those areas of imperfection, it makes it all the more difficult to embrace them and to love them, but yet at the same time you have to do it, because if you don't pass up this chance, maybe you'll never get one again. I mean there were other stuff which were troubling and all, and I shall just mention one last one- how hypocritical I felt everytime I led worship or led something related to Christianity, and yeah one main thing was being camp commandant for youth camp. The feeling of being exactly the kind of person I dislike, man it's horrible. No matter how horrible my spiritual walk and how far I felt from God, I felt obliged to make myself seem as though everything was going just as I planned it to be, and the whole facades thing came about once again, having to put on a strong side, making sure that whatever I say/ do will be a good influence on others. I told myself that I was doing it all in the name of responsibility, but deep down inside it was pride I believe, because wtc being responsible doesn't mean that. And so I grew so tired of everything- people, things, having to remind myself to kill my pride time and time again, and at some time, even God Himself.
And yeah, anyway as you can tell life was pretty screwed up for me. Basically I've just been pushing those changes and troubles aside, refusing to address them and everytime during worships when I feel God speaking to me I'll shut myself off. But this time during night worship it was just there in my face, and I knew that I had confront it before I could actually live a life. The emptiness when you don't feel God in your life entirely, it's something only one who has experienced it can understand. It screws up your entire life because you adopt a heck-care attitude. But whatever it is, let me just type out the lyrics of All I need is You first before I continue.
Left my fear by the side of the road
Hear You speak
Won't let go
Fall to my knees as I lift my hands to pray
Got every reason to be here again
Father's love that draws me in
And all my eyes wanna see is a glimpse of You
All I need is You
All I need is You Lord
Is you Lord
One more day and it's not the same
Your spirit calls my heart to sing
Drawn to the voice of my Saviour once again
Where would my soul be without Your Son
Gave His life to save the earth
Rest in the thought that You're watching over me
You hold the universe
You hold everyone on earth
It spoke to me in a way I never imagined it would be, I mean like most songs I've sung/ heard it many times. But All I need is You Lord it was just there, straight in my face. I don't need anything else in this world, nothing. God is more than enough for me. I can't explain exactly how, but there was this assurance, this certainty that amidst everything, God's there. Like footprints in the sand you know? Sometimes we don't need the answers to all our questions, we just need the answerer (got this from The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel. I've just started reading itl. It's a great book, for non-Christians and Christians alike, because it deals with some of the toughest questions ever, and he puts it in a way which is reader-friendly, i.e. it's understandable. Will talk more about what I think of it next time) The greatest comfort is not in knowing why things happen, but knowing that God is always there, and He remains faithful. Throughout this entire year, I've seen more of the attributes of God (I'll elaborate when I do my 2007 reflections) and all I can say is that God is good. Ahh it's so mind-blowing I don't know even know where to start to talk about Him.
Anyway, took over Byron later and Brandon switched with Matt. I'm glad I didn't switch with Matt because I still cannot handle electric guits for nuts, so acoustic for me please :D We started at about 12, ended at around close to 4? You know sometimes when you're singing and you get all fired up you start playing really loudly right, so yeah that's what happened la. Guitarists strummed harder, keyboardist banged keys more, drummer banged like crazy, singing got louder (and it was powerful, honestly) like during the last few songs Voice of Truth - The Stand - Uncreated One - Mighty to Save - Blessed be Your name. Yupp then after that camp comm went around talking to people, mainly the newcomers and the p6s/ sec1s, getting their feedback. Met up later on for a time of crapping and sharing and yes having meaningful talk. Jammed for a short while and some of the people who were in/ around the hall joined us for Look to You - Flood - I'm not Ashamed - Tell the World that - One way. Watched the sunrise- God's creation is absolutely marvelous, and when I watched the stars at night, it's just woah my God is so big! Yet He cares for me. It's so hard to fathom.
I'll end off here. BYE :D
simple facts
peiling
30 march
christian
tnsrgs
simple words