FOP!FOP!FOP!FOP!FOP!FOP!FOP!FOP!FOP!

~~~FESTIVAL OF PRAISE 2008~~~

ARGH!!!!!! ITS THE BEST ONE SO FAR!!!!! WHY? first of all! I GOT GOOD Seating. ( this could be because we were there an hour and half earlier). Seatings was at the north entrance, in front of the stage. Honestly, it sounds much better and could see more.

2 bands were playing on every night ( FOP was from 1st to 3rd august ), reuben morgan and his Hillsongs team, and the new parachute band. Hillsongs played only one song which i know at the beginning and then a few others that i am not very sure about. But the next band blew me away.

ENTERING ----> PARACHUTE BAND!



At first the first sight of the lead singer took me aback ( i learned today that the singer name is Omega, cool eh ). He had a overall figure of a mascular hunchback, and has an impression of a koala bear. But his voice was beautiful. I loved it the moment i heard it. I went back home to research further on the band and fell in love with 2 of the songs that they made popular.

FIRST SONG : I BELONG TO YOU



I especially like this song cos not only its catchy and very raw rock feel, but the lyrics simply says that i belong to God. How beautiful is that? We belong to GOD! I really like how they play their bridge, its pretty different from the typical Hillsongs kind of bridge. Makes me wanna have a darn cool keyboardist now!

S3COND SONG : MERCY

This is a slow number, but i really can associate to it. I am a sinner and yet God showed me mercy, and its His mercy that saved me. AMEN!



This video is pretty unique, has a short summary of the life of joseph and how God was in charge of everything.

Then i cam across this vid of a church covering the song. I really liked what they did. Enjoy!



I am definitely going to get their new album, Roadmaps and Revelations. Hopefully i can include their songs into the Youth Worship and increase our vocabulary of praise to God.



And of course i will try to get the new hillsongs album too. though i prefer parachute, but I will always be a hillsongs fan.



Ok, and from FOP, I was rejuvenated by pastor Mark Conner, Man is he hilarious. The whole stadium was practically laughing their socks off. I know i did. He taught on the topic of investing in the things that really matter. First he indicated the things that do not have eternal value.

1st thing : Pleasures of the World

Its not just sexual, but anything that makes you "feel" good. What he learned is that pleasure is quick but temporary fulfillment, But if you serve someone else, Its a pleasure that slowly builds up.

2nd thing : Possessions

Thats right ladies, its your shopping and materialistic madness! ( okok, guys too...)Think about it, We are brought into this world with nothing, And we will leave this world with nothing as well. We cant bring what we have into the other world. Instead think of things that could give you treasures stored in heaven.

3rd Thing : Power

Pride, ego and Authority. Basically we crave for power. Maybe not so far fetched. Maybe we want to be popular. And to do that we do things that are popular to others, and not watch what we say, and not caring about the consequences of our actions.

And After this 3 points he went on to touch on the things that could help us make life more meaningful, and they are great reminders!

1st IMPORTANCE ---------> Know God

Knowing God is the greatest thing we can do. And that means becoming a friend of God, not just a blind arrogant follower. Cos God is not looking at the amount of bible study or head knowledge you have, not the amount of service you have given, but he is gonna look at your heart. How you do things in your life means more than the things you think are important to God.

2nd IMPORTANCE ---------> Love others

Jesus' 2nd greatest commandment. If we love others, we would want to stand as a follower of christ and reach out to them. As he mentions, we are the First Gospels, meaning people see how Christianity sets us apart from others. Next we share the gospel. And there is greater joy in serving others than always serving yourself.

3rd IMPORTANCE ---------> Invest your time, talent and resource

Invest Whatever you can or wanna give to increase the kingdom of God on earth. God blesses us with individual talents which we can use to build the church. Think of ways you can contribute and give your best!

Wow mark conners woke me up. overall in all i am very very very happy to have made it for FOP. I really recommend that everyone goes the next year! ( though i think i will have army... )

SEEYA!

Hi Hi, today just gonna do something different from my usual stuff. Today I will be Ivan, The medium rare gamer. I feel like giving a review on some of the games i have been playing this few months...

First game gonna talk about is...

NARUTO: ULTIMATE NINJA HERO 2



Rating: 3.5/5

Gameplay: Its basically a fighting game, with the cast of most of the naruto characters ( 1st season ). The game play is actually quite simple, there's only one attack button, so expect alot of single button smashing. The combos are pretty easy to catch and connect on your opponents, so eliminating learning time and allowing gamers to get to the core of the game, the art of fighting like a ninja. Yup. its different from other fighting games. You have to time your attacks and they added bit of naruto elements with the "smoke bomb" evasion, shuriken throwing, jutsu, secret jutsu, the substitution attack ( the "poof", he became a tree log attack ).

But wat i feel impressed about is the varying in characters style and strength level. Like we think that naruto's the best. but honestly in the game, he's just average, cept' for the insane amount of chakra he stores and the undisputed "rasengan". Then there's Kiba and his trusty dog akamaru, whos speed is unmatched and the ruthlessness of the dog and master combo is very evident. There's sakura as well, whos known for her strength, and ironically her secret attack is her alter-ego...

Overall, the game will keep you satisfied if you are a naruto fan, but dont expect it to be a game to stay in your console for long. I think its one of those games where you play a while, and only play it again once in a blue moon.

Next Game i wanna cover is...

DJ MAX PORTABLE 2

Rating: 4.5/5

OK, I am not being bias here. I love music games and always will. But DJ max has briefly summarized the whole elements of music and rhythm games by itself. The songs are pretty catchy and pleasant, the level of challenge is almost infinite. This is definitely not a game for people with bad eye and hand coordination. But its not impossible to play.

I have been playing the game for close to a year already. and i still never got bored of it. There will always be challenges and sometimes the game becomes a srt by itself, so much so that if you are a hard core DJ max, you will always be a hardcore DJ max.


K Next I am gonna cover is....

CASTLEVANIA: DRACULA X CHRONICLES

k, i have to confess, i did not play the game for the original title, but because in this game... you can unlock "SYMPHONY OF THE NIGHT". Its like the best game ever on ps! ARGH! but here's my review on the original title first.

DXC (lazy to type the whole thing) takes place before SOTN, the story revolves around richter belmont (the male protagonist) and maria (the bird welding babe, also the female protagonist) and their fight to defeat the count dracula and his servant, shaft.

The gameplay is like any other castlevania games (cept' SOTN). you are side scrolling and welding your whip or birds (yea i know sounds weird) and attacking the ghoulies while dodging attacks and solving simple puzzles along the way. Its pretty much like mario, cept with a more medieval feel.

OKOK SOTN! you are Alucard, son of dracula. But you are here to stop your father's mad reign of chaos when you discovered that Richter Belmont went missing mysteriously. Whats different is that there is a leveling up system, lots of items, lots of area to explore, a incredible story line, and monsters that are sure to challenge your wits sometimes. I played it when i had my ps, and now i am playing it on my psp once again!

Alright gonna do more game reviews soon... think some of ya never thought i am like this. hahaha. oh wells. see ya!

Hi everyone,

Its been a while since i have updated. I am pretty much tied up with stuffs nowadays, (yeah that includes pat-toa-ing)(but lesser nowadays since she has school), and harldy could find time to sit down and think of what to update you readers about. Maybe bit of updates.

Worship, worship, worship. I am somehow always leading or playing or singing for a worship team or another. Its like a dream come true, cept' with a hefty price of freedom and slack. The past month was like...

Tuesday - chorale

Ok not to be spoiler, but here's a sneak peek into christmas chorale presentation...
There's gonna be a accapella, and its gonna be good. look forward to it. Why start the practice so early, cos wen xin's delivering soon and she cant attend to us.

Saturday - Led Holy Communion :

was kinda last minute preparation. but thank God that he gave me the inspiration to lead the worship. But i guess i am a perfectionist when it comes to worship leading, I think i did badly... Not to mention i added a not so theologically sound song in it... guess which one...


Wednesday,friday - YF band prac

here's a vid... but dun mind the last part...



was pretty tired when doing the recording. This was taken from the wednesday prac when we went to a studio. Here's a vid from the friday practice ( mavis uploaded it )



slightly better i enjoyed it.

then it came...

Saturday - morning, practice with the english band, after...

last practice with the youth band, was last minute informed that we have to start late... Whats with the communication between the EM and CM? so frustrating at times....

Then the worship session itself... there was technical problems and not to mention, I cant really hear the band and myself... And then i sang "Grace like Rain" in weird tempos, and Yuki said it was like a performance... man i was kinda sad. But I know God sees the team's earnest efforts to do their best.

Oh then Care group... I was suppose to lead worship, but due to lack of preparation and due to us starting care group very late, we decided to go straight to lessons ( we started at 8.30pm :( )

Tuesday- chiong studies for a test

Wednesday - finished a 2 hour test in 15 minutes. WOO HOO!

Thursday - YF worship prac

Friday - Chiong classical guitar (literally, glad i finished grade 1 in 4 weeks, now grade 2 liao... argh wanna chiong faster...)(oh theory only)(guitar practical still slow...)

Saturday - English Band prac and jamming with Uncle Chris ( THE ROCKER!) He inspired me to pick up the electric guitar and i think i practice a net time of over 2 or 3 hours! ROCK ON!!!

Sunday - English Band led worship, pretty happy with the ukulele-ish guitar playing.
Its all chords but i played them at 12 frets beyond. I think as a Band, the music is getting tighter and more "realistic" to me. But I wish we could have in some form of fellowship in God. But its more practice and play...

Then came YF worship. I was singing backup and playing a percussion instrument. I was trying to get into the mood of worship, but very distracted by the sound of laughter... I mean, laughter in the midst of divine worship? I was actually quite upset. But who am i to judge? ah, God you do the judging, i cant be bothered, as long as i am serving you can liao. And Whenever i do harmonizing for mavis, i realize that even though she's the one with the mike, i always sound louder... sigh, i will sing softer from now on...

Then came guitar lessons, no time to spend time with my mum again... Haha i was teaching 3 different groups at the same time... I think i need to be more structured, but i can see Steffi's and Melissa's enthusiasm in learning, they never complain about the pain :)

Sigh, looking at the schedule i have for the past 2 weeks, its easy to get burn out or stressed out. But By God's grace, no, i feel great. In school i have great friends who are by my side and in church i have great friends who support and work together with me, and them aside, there's her as well.

I am much upset that i hardly got time for my own mum since we do not stay together, and i have to sneak behind my grandma's back to go out with my god-mum. wat a life.

I find joy in the music, but i dun see myself becoming in anyway better... I desperately want to make music a income earning job for myself in the future and do hope that i can do my own business and be able to support myself. cant be a bum right?

And yea there's still complications in certain parts of my life now... friends who seems like they dun wanna be friends... friends going to army... temptations...

Oh yeah, Young Adults starting soon too, we're having our first meeting this friday. Means i will miss FOP, but i will be going for saturday and sunday. Hopefully we can have a smooth start and have a more solid form of Bible study, something which i miss.

oh and i am currently playing Castlevania on the psp, classic. Seriously the psp is a great companion at times. Not that i suggest that everyone owns one, Cos its pretty expensive. Mine's won in a lucky draw ( yeah can hao lian! ) haha no lah. It's God's provision ( *Angelic Choir* ~HALLELUJAH!~ ). no seriously. I can remember clearly the week before i found out that i won it, I was at the comic shop admiring some guy who bought the console with cash, in my heart i was like, man i wished that i could have a psp. But then later i told myself, "nah, you can find happiness in other things, you do not need a psp. I will be satisfied with watever i have"

Then the call came a week later "YOU WON A PS......

But yea do things in moderation k guys? dun go blind and failing exams cos of it, its not worth it. It should be more of a relaxing tool. yeah

And i have been watching movies now a days. Caught red cliff, Hancock at the theaters, good stuff. Watched longest yard and gonna watch benchwarmers next. sigh so many things to do...

haha not to mention now in school i have a "lifestyle"

monday - play pool

thursday - play pool and swim in the pool.

My pool's improving and my swimming stamina's going up. Not to mention i can do my pushups again and see bit of improvements. Now need to focus on running...

phew i have typing and talking about everything about my life for the past hour or so... enjoy and stay off nasty websites k guys, spyware is everywhere. so...


BEWARE OF SPYWARE


CYA

The G.I.F.T

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Retreat, once again the church is united in one small resort to take time away from their busy lives to enjoy the fellowship and spend intimate time with God. Every Year, the church will choose a overseas ( preferably ) location where there's lush greenery and enough attractions to keep us entertained and satisfied. Well i just have some comments on my stay this time

1. The Food is not Good

I am sure plenty of you know what i mean. first of all, the menu is confusing, there's quite a variety of food crammed into that little dining restaurant. the rice is ok, ( I mean its just white rice ) and the pasta was quite bad... The dishes were ok, there's like curry mutton, beef, mutton, beef... Chicken, herbal chicken, fried chicken... And cabbage? I enjoyed some of the curry, but most of the time i did not really have the liberty to enjoy my food. But Wat i cannot tolerate is the fact that i have to keep going to the toilet. The food is not only bad, its unclean. Many members were affected with diarrhea. I had diarrhea... I could not sleep... and there's even reports like nail clippings in the bubor chacha...

2. The Hotel room was not bad

Ok, maybe some of you may disagree. But i kind of like the design of the place, its pretty cosy. I feel very comfortable, the beds good. There's a good environment to have guest and have multiple activities to go on in the room at the same time. The bathroom is ok, toilet paper's interesting, but the supply of toiletries is not enough, oh wells, Feng nan and I brought our own toiletries anyway. There's a good selection of channels for everyone and so far, I have not heard much complains about the rooms, too much talk about how bad the food is...

3. The facilities? Degrading...

Ah, what has happened to the lovely Pulai Springs I once knew... There is no maintenance of certain facilities like the swimming pool, the jacuzzi, the steam room, the sauna, the squash courts... But i see improvements like the bar, the lounge area, certain lighting effects ( that can only be seen at night ) and some other stuffs. The staffs are friendly, i remember one guy who went all the way to open up the MPH ( multi purpose hall ) when he was in the middle of drying the dishes. And the receptionist who allowed FN and me to keep our baggages at the reception cos the lockers are too small. Nice guy. Overall i enjoyed the facilities though they seem abit out of shape. I swam quite a bit. I think maybe i am improving a bit.

4. I need to get a portable speaker system

Words cant describe the necessity of a portable sound system. Like the one that Stanford or FN has, Mini speakers that blast your music, sending sound waves that can reach all corners of the room. I NEED TO GET ONE!!!!!! THEN MY SHOWER TIMES WILL BE 40 MINS EVERYDAY LIAO!!!!

5. Friends

The youth worker, under rev. Ang , and I clicked quite well. apparently he and i got certain common personalities. lol. And theres a few others whom i either can talk to again or became friends with. Friendships are pretty hard to maintain sometimes, but it doesnt hurt to try to talk to someone whom you have not talked to for a very long time, Right? :)

6. YAF

Young Adult Fellowship, Some of us discussed to activate the long dead fellowship, and have consolidated a list of names. So far the prerequisites to enter is that you have to be 19 and above, and must be committed and have a certain level of learning maturity, of course all who are 19 and above are invited to try out the meetings, but if they feel uncomfortable with the YA, they can go back YF. Of course My commitment is still to help mavis in the YF worship ministry since we are severely under manned.


Well, this retreat overall was pretty relaxing and fun to a certain level. I am not sure whether i am getting old? but i just dun seem so interested in some of the younger youths activities. I prefer soaking in the spa then watching cartoons... prefer keeping quiet then making "jokes". sigh, maybe i am moving on

To a certain extend i wanna mix with more grown ups now, i feel i can connect to them better. Maybe to a certain extend i look forward to YA.

Oh wells. more updates soon. So sleepy, did not recover from a day without sleep yet...

Hi guys, sorry for such a very long waited update, many things have been on my mind and hands lately, shall just share briefly some points.

First of all, thanks to all who made it for My birthday celebration whom i had with Don, the party could not have been complete without you guys. Haha and apologies to those who got bored easily, maybe its your first time at a Gig or something. I plan to do more Gigs in the future as a side job, i kinda enjoy doing this kind of things.

Thanks to Farhan, or the band ( crap forgot the band name...) Azli, zaki, and the unknown bassist, whose name i have forgotten again... Crap. ( Maybe too much liquor that night?)

Thanks to Davin, the next singapore idol, to Jemie, my good friend, and sab, Justin and Devin, The makeshift verticross band. lol. Thanks to all who performed and made the Gig a success...

The total cost of everything reached around $2000, the rental and food sponsored by my God mum, Mummy, and the band equipment by my uncle, hardcore rocker of an old neighborhood band, U-can.

Thanks to you YFers, hope you enjoyed yourselves, though you looked like you were entertaining yourselves...

Erm ok some of you were worried about me when i was missing or a while, dun worry abt me, i had a thing i needed to clear with my bros from church.

Thing is at this point of time, The term " bros " seem very vague to me . I admit that i am subject to insensitive actions but i have not once seen any of my brothers any lesser. Whether you are from church or from my secondary school, or from some place that God placed us in circumstance.

Actually i am quite hurt that my relationship is or has caused hurt to some of you, my close friends... I have never wanted it to be this way. But i do treasure our friendship and hope that you are willing to give me another chance.

I may be immature or childish or insensitive or careless or ignorant at times... But i have my reasons, its just that its hard to put it into words... especially when you are pressured...

But it has shown me how much you think i am to you. Sorry if i had not regarded you as close at that point of time, it seems that we get close to people we regularly meet. lets be friends again.

Now that i am finally 21, i feel like i have no more time to waste. I have signed up for classical guitar under cristofori and theory as well, hopefully to get a guitar diploma by 3 years time. Then i might want to look into composing and music industries studies , i hope i can music my career in the future, maybe not as a musician but maybe as a business man?

Its time to move on, Soon i will have NS, soon I will work and hopefully stabilize my career and thats when i would propose to my girl and have a family and bring up my kid to be the best kid in the world. thats provided the earth does not end first... ( all those dang end of the world assumptions... makes me a little paranoid)

Dear brothers and sisters, lets move forward and make just one step a day to make our future a brighter one.

PEACE TO ALL , see ya at retreat!

( The party vid is available by 2 weeks time, who wants it can order from me in advance, its free dun worry )

CYA