Thursday, May 27, 2004

Latest Grub at the Arts Canteen...

Just got this email today...





Ref: OED/CS/222/2004



26 May 2004



Dear Students,



With the expiry of the lease of the food stalls at the Deck @FASS on 31 May 2004, we have invited for new tender early this year.



From June 2004, you will be able to enjoy some changes in the types of food at The Deck as follows :

1. Fish and Seafood Noodles/ Rice Stall

2. Fried Kway Teow Stall which will also be serving fried carrot cakes, fried oyster and fried beef

noodles

3. Authentic Szechuan Noodles Stall serving Dan Dan noodles, Braised Beef noodles etc

4. New Japanese Cuisine Stall serving Udon, Soba besides the usual Japanese set meals

5. New Chicken & Duck Rice/ Noodles Stall which will be serving roasted and char siew meat as

well

6. New Sandwich and Salad stall serving a wider range of sandwiches and salads

7. New Halal Noodles Stall serving a range of Chinese Styled noodles

8. New Snack Stall serving the usual breakfast stuff as well as some Prema Deli products

9. New Chinese Cooked Food stall

10. New Vegetarian Cooked Food stall

11. New Muslim Cooked Food stall

12. New Indian Cooked Food stall



For the first 2 weeks in June, only 7 stalls will be operating. The rest of the stalls will start operation by 15 June. You may patronize the other canteens such as The Terrace @ FASS or Techno Edge @ Engine if you experience long queues at those 7 stalls during the first 2 weeks.





Mmm... will the Arts canteen maintain its unbeaten record of being the best place in NUS to fill your rumbling tummies?



(Hey! My favourite pasta+pizza stall doesn't seem to be included in the list... :( )



Hope Science Canteen's food tastes better this coming semester... :)

That's my MacDonald's...

Haha... *urp... 'cuse me!* came back about half an hour ago from Boon Lay to Bishan.



(Well, almost. The MRT stopped at Ang Mo Kio... thank God I managed to catch the last train.)



Had a great time with the other bros and sisters at Sukfern's place... we had a meaningful discussion, personal heart sharing, and a really silly game, in which we stare at each other till someone laughs. (Ok, so it's MY idea. ;))



Rule of the No-Laughing game:

#1: ABSOLUTELY NO physical contact allowed. (Chi Yen tickled me!!!)



So since I laughed first... - gosh, how do I manage to 'sabo' myself anyway??? - Michelle, being the 'garang' sister that she is, suggested a hundred push-ups as my forfeit. (Easy for her to say - she's not the one doing it... haha...)



Mercifully, the sentence was commuted to 10 push-ups.



Suffice it to say that Chi Yen and Kin Wee, the wonderful brothers that they are, did it together with me. And that I REALLY need to exercise. *ouch*



After the gathering, some of us went to Boon Lay's MacDonalds. Had a great time joking and chatting till closing time... finally, Hanhui managed to get us leaving the place with a VERY appropriate Bible verse: John 14:31.

(You wanna know what it said? Scroll down...)















































It says: "Come now; let us leave."



Haha... really funny, Hanhui... :)

Wednesday, May 26, 2004

Lame joke #1

Q: How do you stop a rhinoceros from charging?

(Scroll down to see the answer.)







































A: Take away its credit cards.

An evening at Woodlands...

Was at Woodlands last night with a friend (let's call our friend "J"). To be honest, it's because I needed some help - was feeling rather down - and needed someone who had been through the same experience as me - in other words, someone who understands.



We met up at Woodlands and went to Yoshinoya for a bite. After some light conversation - thank God for J! - we joked, chatted, talked, and finally, I shared with J how I was feeling.



J listened, and smiled. Then J asked, "So, do you think people don't love you?"



I thought about it for a while... and nodded.



I'll keep it short here... J shared with me that God shows His love through imperfect people like you and me. And that "God's love is made perfect in us."



No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.


(1 John 4:12)



If you feel unloved, it most probably is wrong (especially in the church!). Simply that people have been showing love to you, but not in the way that you would like.



Let's have a scenario:

One of your friends shows care and concern for you by looking out for your needs and blessing you with little treats here and there.



And he asks your other friends (in secret), "How is So-and-so recently? Anything that I can help him with?"



But you prefer to have more outwardly expressive forms of love - say, long, long letters or emails - and as a result, you fail to perceive that your friend really loves you a lot.



What is worse, after some time, you believe that your friend doesn't care for you - even though he really does - and you start giving him the cold shoulder.



He feels hurt, because of your response, and he doesn't understand why you're giving him the cold shoulder.



And in turn, you don't understand why he doesn't seem to show much care and concern to you.



Incidentally, this is a semi-hypothetical example.



So, what could be done here?



J suggested that I share with my friend my preferred way of receiving love - and more importantly, how my friend would prefer to be loved.



As Christ said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."



Someone wrote a book (I believe it's Gary Chapman) on the "Five Love Languages". I think it's an excellent book: though it's meant for married couples, the principles can be applied to personal friendships too.



There were many more things that we talked about... too much to write here. But to my dear friend J, thanks so much - I feel much, much better after what you shared to me that night. I really appreciate it. :)



God bless you, J!

Monday, May 24, 2004

Thoughts on a personal word of encouragement from a dear friend...

Just wanted to write this down, as a way of saying "thank you" to Shirley, my dear friend.



I remember I've been going through a few downtimes (the emotional kind, not the computer kind), and Shirley has encouraged me a lot during these times.



One of the Bible verses that she shared with me (about 2 Sundays ago), I'll pen it down here:



"Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain."



Thank you, dear sister. You have been a great and faithful encouragement to me. :)

One of my favourite blogs...

Finally, I've reverted to the first-person perspective. As you may guess, when I'm in a pensive / melancholic mood, I'd rather write in the third-person perspective.



Anyway, have been looking through wei.lookingabove.com (hi Weizhu!). It's a very well-written blog - clear and concise - and more importantly, it's FUN to read. :)



And you can learn something from his writing style...



Gosh, when did I start critiquing blogs? The next frontier in post-modern literature... :)



(It also helps that Weizhu's a very dear friend and brother to me - very kind-hearted fellow!)

What is encouragement?

Encouragement - literally, give courage to the other person.





- the expression of approval and support



- the act of giving hope or support to someone



- the feeling of being encouraged



(www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn)





Romans 15:4

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.




Conclusion:

Encouragement is anything that causes the other person to have hope that all is not lost, and/or courage to do what he/she must do.



What do you think?

The danger of love

C.S. Lewis wrote:

To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket --- safe, dark, motionless, airless --- it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable . . . the only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers of love . . . is Hell.

¿Quieres conocer a mi?

You wonder who I am?



Mystery of comprehension,

Depths so fathomed,

Of mind, soul and spirit

With but mere words.



"Ah, but the word is living

Active, sharper than

A finely-honed sword

That pierces the heart so."

El primer día

Hmm.



Tentatively looking around here, he furtively types a few sentences.



The silence of the black night is drowned out by the white light of the room.



"This is strange, this blog." - he wonders. - "But why not? It is good to pen down a few thoughts."



He pauses. And thinks for a while. "Besides, I can share this with my friends..."





Another long pause. What can he write about?



He ponders. Finally, he jots down the following notes:



- On-going research on Identity

- Principles of Encouragement

- Tenets of Communications



Finally, he sits back. He presses the orange button. It is the first day.