Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Half Day At Work
We had half day of school today. The Principal had decided to give everyone a half-day break because of very good results for the recent GCE O-level Examination. Lessons ended by 10.05am and then the teachers had to attend a staff meeting at the AVT. It ended at around 11.10am. I left school by 11.30am and went home.
At around 1pm, I left for Lido to buy tickets for In Good Company. I had arranged to meet Kris for lunch and movie. We had our lunch at Far East Plaza (one of the eateries there) and saw the movie at 2.15pm. It was (what 8 Days said) a dramedy. It wasn't really that funny though.
Anyway, after that, we shopped around at Scotts Isetan and Wisma. At Wisma's Pretty Fit, someone called "Miss Tan". I turned and saw Mag. Haha. She didn't even realise Kris was seated beside where I was standing. The three of us walked around a bit more. Mag and Kris left when I decided to buy breakfast for the next day at BreadTalk.
When I got home, I went online, but left the laptop running and basically just rotted in bed. I was somewhat tired, but I couldn't sleep. By the time I decided to wake up from my 'trance', it was around 8plus? I decided to cook porridge for dinner. I think my porridge was quite delicous. Haha.
Let's see, I boiled lotsa chopped garlic with the rice grain until the rice became soft and broken. Then I added chopped chicken meatballs and minced pork (mixed with an egg, light soy sauce and sesame oil) and dumped everything into the pot to boil towards the end. After the minced pork was cooked, I served 2 plates of porridge for myself! (Hek hek... I think I shall cook myself the same thing tomorrow night... probably will add some fresh lettuce this time round. I'm craving for greenery. ;o~~~)
While having dinner, I watched How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days on Channel HBO. It was quite funny. After that, I decided to retreat to my room and relax for a while. And now, here I am blogging.
I'm probably sleeping early tonight. Tired... o_O
jOyZ blogged at 9:47 PM
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Saturday, March 26, 2005
Sleepless In Singapore
No, this is not a spoof off from Sleepless In Seattle. Definitely not. Far from it! While Sleepless In Seattle is all romantic and funny, this version is terribly UNromantic and it gives me the itches (not stitches).
All thanks to the vicious mosquitoes.
I HATE THEM! I wish they'd just become extinct. Frogs and lizards can just live on other bugs and insects. Bleahs.
Because of these menacing, blood-sucking PESTS, I haven't been sleeping very well for the past few months! Every night, I wake up every hour to slap my legs and arms, spray more insect repellents or apply more Mopiko, but all this have been in vain! I wake up every morning with more bites, which slowly turn into ugly scars, blemishing my -already- imperfect skin. Sigh.
Burn them mosquitoes. I hope they dissipate into nothingness. They're the worst kind of insects alive.
Gosh, I pray hard there are no Aedes mosquitoes around the vicinity. Toa Payoh is pretty close by. ;(
jOyZ blogged at 1:29 PM
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Friday, March 25, 2005
Good Friday
Hello. I came back not long ago from church. We had a special service and the worship team had to sign this letter of commitment (for one year). Pastor James, Pastor Xiaohua and Kris prayed for me. Haha... Kris just called me a little while ago to remind me to write down what Pastor James has prayed for me before I forget everything. Gosh, I hope I heard Pastor correctly because he prayed for me in Mandarin! ;x
I woke up late this morning - was pretty tired out from Sports Day and tennis yesterday. After that, met up with Pikie, Melody and Selwyn for KTV at Party World at around noon. Heh, Melody and Selwyn should sing more and not let people (myself included!) who are -already- singing so much over-hog the microphones!
At around 3pm, we all left and I headed down to church for worship practice. It went okay. After that, we jammed for a short while. I played horribly on the drums as usual - probably even worse than before because I haven't been playing for quite some time. After that, Esther taught me a bit of keyboard. Suddenly I seemed to see light - thanks to Esther! =) I'm quite excited to try out some songs this coming week on my piano.
We had dinner after that and service started soon after. Speaking of which, I've got some corrections to make for my previous blog. Some bad interpretation on my part from what Pastor James shared last week on Sunday. Sigh. It just goes to show my Chinese is -really- atrocious! Never mind. At least now I know the right words to use - thanks to Kris's interpretation just now.
From previous blog:
First, Pastor James prayed to start the session. Then he told us about the difference between the Hebrew and Greek method of doing things (???).
Correct interpretation:
He told us about the difference between the Hebrew and Greek pattern of thoughts.
From previous blog:
The Hebrew places utmost importance the purpose (not quite sure if I've gotten it right in English because Pastor James called it 'gong1 neng2' in Mandarin) while the Greek's school of thought focusses on the image. Hence, one concentrates on the inner aspects while the other looks at the outer.
Correct interpretation:
The Hebrew's thought pattern focusses on functionality while the Greek's on the form. (Haha... suddenly realised - form and function.)
So, once again, to spell out specifically what 3 things I'd learnt that day...
1) The difference between Hebrew and Greek thought pattern. (Hebrew - function; Greek - form)
2) Even though society's progress has been greatly influenced by the Greek thinking (that is, focussing on the outside), we must not neglect what is within (whatever we do, we must always ask ourselves for what purpose are we doing it; and the motive must be right).
3) Both the inner and outer aspects are equally important. In terms of worship, one draws us to know God personally, while the other helps us to help others know God.
jOyZ blogged at 11:00 PM
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Tuesday, March 22, 2005
On Worship: 3 Things I Learnt On Sunday
Okay, I know this is rather late because Pastor James asked the 4 of us (Andy, Cindy, Fungling and myself) to write down asap what we'd learnt after the meeting on Sunday. ;x
First, Pastor James prayed to start the session. Then he told us about the difference between the Hebrew and Greek method of doing things (???). Actually, I'm not quite sure if what had been pointed out was on how things are done. Whatever it is, each has its own basic, driving principle(s).
The Hebrew places utmost importance the purpose (not quite sure if I've gotten it right in English because Pastor James called it 'gong1 neng2' in Mandarin) while the Greek's school of thought focusses on the image. Hence, one concentrates on the inner aspects while the other looks at the outer.
Pastor James gave us an illustration. He referred us to a plastic bottle which happened to be on the table and asked each of us how we would describe it. Most of us described the bottle as 'transparent, made of plastic and has a blue cap', which focusses on the outer image - somewhat trivial and lacking in depth. The Hebrew's way of describing would be 'the water which can be contained in this bottle is an important source of life' - a more meaningful, purposeful description.
At this point, Pastor James also brought up the fact that society follows the Greek 'style' in terms of education and progress (etc)... so much so that we focus too much on the outward appearances of things or, if we talk about it with a bit more depth, the structure in place which will make any organization look impressive... so much so that we have neglected the original purpose of what we have been entrusted to do - whatever it may be. (But of course, some of these can be rather superficial and extrinsic in nature... so... *shrugs*)
Anyway, how does all this work in relation to the worship ministry?
Well, the observation made was that many worship teams in churches these days focus on how 'high' they can stir the congregation into worship mode by spending lots of time and money on state-of-the-art sound systems and musical instruments, practices after practices on whether a particular praise or worship song is in the 'right' key and can thus flow more easily into the next song or, 'structurely' speaking, the proper procedures for people to enter into the worship ministry (so that perhaps the worship team appears more attractive and credible to lead a congregation into worship?!?).
Here, Pastor James mentioned Karen (from Riverlife), who had led the congregation in the worship service that morning, and asked us how different was that morning's worship compared to the usual ones we have had. All of us said that it was really different - generally there was a deeper level of worship.
Pastor James then said that the worship felt different that morning because of...
1) the choice and sequence of songs
Each song (be it praise or worship) has its purpose in a worship service. As such, it is important to look at the lyrics of each song and how one song can flow smoothly to the next - though not in terms of key - because the words give people understanding and, at the same time, minister to them such that they will be able to worship God at a deeper level.
2) the countenance of the worship team
We are not talking about outward beauty here but the inner being of each team member. This inner being should constantly draw strength, peace and joy from the Lord so that, outwardly, each worship member radiates joy which, in turn, will play a part in influencing the congregation's entering into worship.
It should not be the other way round, whereby a worship team sees the listlessness of the congregation and getting affected as a result. (Herein lies the challenge faced by every worship team - how can we focus on God and worship Him with our entire being when we also have to keep an eye on the congregation to help them connect with God? I guess that's when - here's the fundamental challenge - one's personal relationship with God comes in...)
3) the use of God's Word
God's word ministers to the heart. Thus, it is of utmost importance to utter verses from the Scripture to help the congregation connect with God. Pastor James advised us to memorise bible verses before each time we serve (of course not just for a couple of days beforehand) so that we can all serve more effectively.
There were a couple of other things mentioned but I can't remember them. Or maybe these are all that were mentioned. Hiax... xP
Anyway, to spell out specifically what 3 things I'd learnt that day...
1) The difference between Hebrew and Greek ___. (Sorry, the word just eludes me.)
2) Even though society's progress has been greatly influenced by the Greek way of doing things (that is, focussing on the outside), we must not neglect what is within (what is man's purpose in life -> worship God).
3) Both the inner and outer aspects are equally important. One draws us to know God personally, while the other helps us to help others know God.
jOyZ blogged at 7:04 PM
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Saturday, March 19, 2005
Last Weekend of March Holidays
Sigh. Another two days before school reopens. I know I've said this many times... but... TIME REALLY FLIES! It hasn't been much of a holiday really.
Anyway, I finally could relax a bit yesterday. I cut off my tresses yesterday afternoon! Yes! No more long hair! Well, at least for the next few months. Haha. I think I look silly now. Oh well, nevermind. It's just my crowning glory. It'll all grow back - assuming the rate of balding doesn't accelerate anymore. And then maybe after that, I may consider having some ceramic curls on it! *gag*
Yvonne was talking quite a bit yesterday while she worked on my hair. We were talking about lotsa stuffs - our lives, families, faith (or what's left of it), career, freedom, independence... Well, they're all overlapped, one leading to another.
Anyway, by the time she was done, it was around 3pm. I was supposed to meet Pikie after that for KTV, but she only started her haircut about the time when I was done. So I went to shop a bit at Wisma and Paragon. I bought a bottle of conditioner for my lousy hair and some food (hee hee) to stock up in school.
By the time Pikie came, it was almost 5pm. We decided to have some food at Nooch first before KTV. Unfortunately, by the time we finished dinner, I changed my mind about KTV. I didn't really feel like singing - not too sure why either. Just didn't feel like it. Anyway, I think Pikie was rather disappointed. (Sorry, Pikie! We'll sing another time yeah?)
After that, we hopped over to Great World City to eat again - this time at Siam Kitchen. I had a craving for their green curry chicken. Pikie ordered her usual tomyam soup (with prawns though) and we had like six pieces of pandan chicken. It was an eating day. I think my diarrhoea in the middle of the night was due to the fact that I'd eaten too much in a day. Haha. Mad.
Oh, I finally saw the movie Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, starring Jim Carrey as the evil Count Olaf. The movie reminded me of Sleepy Hollow. It's the whole feel, I guess - dark, gloomy, dramatic and exaggerated acting from the cast. But the little baby girl was such a doll! So cute! Aiyoh! Cannot tahan!
Well, there's going to be worship practice later at 4pm. Esther said she'd be coming down to join us - which is really great! Maybe I can finally pick up some keyboard with her help. x)
Oh, I had the intention to do some marking today. But, as usual, it's too hot to do any work. Argh. I really hate the weather these days. Maybe I really should have gone swimming. But it would have been a hassle to swim with my long hair, which is now gone. Hm. Perhaps I shall start next week. o_O
Alright, I'm signing off. It's time for lunch. Sigh. Eat again. Believe if or not, I'm getting quite sick of food. ;o
jOyZ blogged at 12:12 PM
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Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Spinning Ceiling
Yeah. I'm kinda having a headache now. The ceiling is spinning and I feel like puking. Perhaps I had too much biscuits in the afternoon. I can feel a sorethroat coming.
I slept at around 3am this morning. I finally couldn't take it and went to the staff lounge and zonked out in one of the chairs. Jolyn had taken the couch. Somehow I managed to wake up at around 6plus and noticed that she'd disappeared. I dragged myself to the couch and slept there instead. One and a half hours later, I woke up because some teachers were already coming in for work. It wouldn't have been nice to let them see me sleeping. I think a couple of pupils - Ruting and Melody - did. They came into the staff lounge to get water from the water cooler.
I don't quite know what to do now. I guess I could continue typing the stuffs out for tomorrow's remedial, but I'm feeling a tad bit too ill to do that. On top of that, my gastric is acting up. Even if I were hungry now, I'd be too ill to eat. Bah.
Cellgroup tonight was cancelled because Gina had to babysit Ah Mui, whose presence would have been most inappropriate during cellgroup time. Everyone would inadvertently end up showering all our attention on her. Heh. But she's really one smart and cute kid.
I think I shall attempt to type out the stuffs for remedial tomorrow. I'll have to reach school by 9am tomorrow to get everything printed out too. Looks like I'd better sleep early tonight.
Just as well...
jOyZ blogged at 7:54 PM
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Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Stayover
I'm staying over in school tonight. The Drama Club and Girl Guides are having their camps this week and since the teachers who are staying over are all females, I figured another female teacher would be welcomed. Hah.
Anyway, I'm still typing out notes for Thursday's English remedial. There is just so much to type. Sigh.
I'm wondering if I'll sleep tonight. Probably not. Or even if I do, I'll just sleep with my head on the table.
But at least there's air-condition tonight. Home is really like an oven lately. I can't do anything - not even sleep.
Alright, I'm going back to type my notes. Tata.
jOyZ blogged at 9:50 PM
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FED UP! FED UP! FED UP!
I'm fed up... fed up... fed up!!!
Don't I sound terribly unstable now? Yeah, I wish I were at the beach screaming away these very words now.
TOTALLY! FED! UP!
I really hate -xxx-.
Happy-guessing who or what 'xxx' is... but no prizes for guessing it right.
xP
jOyZ blogged at 6:24 PM
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Monday, March 14, 2005
A Hot Monday Afternoon
I'm in my room, listening to David Tao's latest album even as I'm blogging now. I've got a few favourites after listening to the CD - 爱我还是他 (Who Do You Love?), Susan 说 (Susan Said), 她的歌 (Song For Anita) and the hymn, 祷告良辰歌 (Sweet Hour of Prayer).
I'm probably staying at home despite the heat in my room. It's too hot to walk around in town even though the shopping malls are all air-conditioned. I don't think I'm the mood to spend anyway. In any case, I'd bought a t-shirt at Zara yesterday evening before the movie.
I'm not too sure what I want to do now. Not really in the right frame of mind to do any work. Heh...
到高粱陈歌
祷告之时... 甘甜之时
使我离开... 烦恼之时
来到神的... 座前发表
所有意愿... 所有需要
当我遇到... 重压忧愁
我灵却常... 得着自由
不陷恶者... 所有布置
因为有你... 祷告之时
祷告之时... 甘甜之时
如有只翼... 戴我愿辞
来他宝座... 向他求恳
他是信实... 他是全真
他既命我... 寻求他面
信他话语... 靠他恩典
我要将我... 重担卸释
在于你前... 甘甜之时
jOyZ blogged at 2:54 PM
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Sunday, March 13, 2005
The Start of March Holidays
Yep. It's the March holidays again. Time really flies, doesn't it? Ten weeks of school is over - just like that.
Well, I just came back not too long ago. I left my house at around 12plus for lunch with Pikie at BTK. I ordered the century egg porridge, which wasn't too bad. After that, we walked to her place. We had the intention to play tennis from 3-5pm, but Pikie had a headache (so did I for that matter) and we just sat around and chatted. It was hot, so I went to take a bath then watched the drama serial on Channel 8 on the young Justice Bao.
At about 6.30pm, Gina called to say she was at River Valley. We were supposed to meet for dinner. I tried waiting for a cab, but after waiting for quite some time, I decided to walk to the meeting place. We had prata and Indian rojak. I was totally stuffed, but my prata craving was certainly satisfied. After dinner, we walked over to Great World to get movie tickets for the movie Hitch. It was funny and quite sweet. I was laughing like a loon at some parts of the movie.
Oh, before the movie, we were at Zara. And this young gentleman came up to greet me, "Hi, Miss Tan." I looked up and saw Yizhou beaming at me. I was surprised to see him, especially at Zara. He said he was accompanying his girlfriend to shop. We chatted for a short while and then he went off to look for his girlfriend. It was really good to see him again. The last time I met him was at Sentosa last year, I think. He was cycling with a group of friends then.
Ah, he was one of my favourite pupils. I taught him English when he was in Secondary 2. I still remember how we had our clashes and how I once yanked him out of his seat by his hair when he called me names. Hoho. Then after that, I sat down with him and spoke to him, then gave him a small pat on his head. We were alright after that. He was generally a good kid... just mischievous like any other boys at that age. I'm glad to see that he's doing fine right now... well, at least he appeared to be doing fine. I couldn't tell otherwise within the few minutes of short chat. =)
Alright, I'm going to sleep now. My headache seems to be coming back. I think it's the heat. My room is too hot! Sigh.
jOyZ blogged at 11:48 PM
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Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Sleepy Head
I'm feeling so sleepy now. *yawn*
Well, I've just seen the costume samples for the Choir (for SYF Competition). I think there is still room for improvement. Somehow, the costumes don't seem to make the pupils look very smart. ;o
*yawn* Super sleepy... I'm still waiting for Cheryl to be done with whatever she's doing at the General Office.
I could do some marking, or I could take a nap. The latter looks more tempting... heh... ;p
jOyZ blogged at 12:39 PM
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Monday, March 07, 2005
Hungry!!!
I haven't had lunch. Sigh. I'm feeling so hungry!!! Maybe it's for the better. Hah, and then I can lose some weight. Well, I'm getting really fat anyway. It'll probably do me some good not to eat so much. ;o
Well, choir practice has been cancelled because of the sports day's heats that is going on in the fields today. Sigh. Anyway, there's another choir practice on Thursday. Hopefully, more pupils will turn up this time round despite there being another round of heats. Apparently there will be only 2 events, so attendance for choir should be better on Thursday.
Gosh, I'm really famished. I'm wondering if I should cook a bowl of instant noodles using the microwave oven or just endure till dinner time. It's already 5.10pm anyway.
Well, I think I'll just endure the hunger pangs. xB
jOyZ blogged at 5:04 PM
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Sunday, March 06, 2005
Another Weekend Over
There goes another weekend. I didn't do anything but hibernate in my room.
Well, I was supposed to go for tennis with Gina on Saturday, but both of us woke up too late to play tennis at 9am. I just stayed at home the whole day and revamped my scenic photo blog. (If anyone's free and has nothing better to do, please do drop by and take a look.) I'm quite pleased with it though I haven't done up the tagboard yet. Well, hardly anyone tags there anyway, so I'm taking my time. x)
Then I woke up really late today, so I didn't attend church eventually. After lunch, I modified this blog page for a couple of hours. It doesn't look fantastic, but oh well, I'm just going to change the colours and picture one of these days. This present colour scheme is just a trial-and-error thing. I was experimenting with all the colour codes on html. Haha. It was quite fun actually. =) I might just try doing up my own blog skin during the March holidays. =D
jOyZ blogged at 6:45 PM
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Thursday, March 03, 2005
Marking Almost Done
I'm exhausted. But I can't seem to sleep early tonight. Probably because I had a rather late dinner - chicken rice.
I'm more or less done with all the marking. Well, at least the ones needed for PPR anyway. I'd been going marking with Cheryl and Pei Chin since Monday night at the McDonald's at Tanglin Mall. We got really sick of the tracks they were playing there, especially this horrible mandarin song. The food at the foodcourt weren't exactly fantastic either. Please do not patronise the Malay yong tau fu stall. I found the curry too sweet and very diluted - not at all like the usual thick and tasty curry we enjoy. =(
Anyway, that was that. It has been a stressful 2 weeks. I'm just glad that the week is coming to an end.
Better still, the March holiday is in a week's time! =)
jOyZ blogged at 10:40 PM
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