Tokyo Blog #1

Herro everyone.

Ok so here I am in my little sardine can of a hotel room in Asakusa, Tokyo. It's the end of Day 2 of my holiday here. It's been good fun so far, getting lost in the complicated (mainly due to the language barrier) subway system, hunting down obscure eating places, EATING, shopping (Uniqlo rocks my socks). I intended to do a photo update every night (make that every 2 nights), but Glenn the clever boy forgot to bring the USB cable for the camera.

Just a snippet of stuff from the 2 days, I'll do a proper post (or posts) when I have pics lah:

1. the food rocks. the raw fish melts in your mouth, and the ramen is like how shiok, and beer is cheap!
2. Mcdonald's has a McPork here... hahaha... I want!
3. Japanese people are actually really nice. I can't understand a word they say, but the service beats Singapore's anytime.
4. Tokyo is messier and dirtier and less futuristic than I imagined it to be. =(
5. It's SUPERRRRRRR HOT, but minus Singapore's humidity.
6. Uniqlo UT is heaven in the form of a THREE storey t-shirt shop, and every tee is $20SGD!

btw, I haven't bumped into Hello Kitty on the street yet. I wonder why... hmmmm

And I MUST remember to blog about the FLIGHT, which kinda sucked. Haha.

Things one should never do when leading worship

1. Never attempt Chris Tomlin's Forever with no band (2 acoustics) AND without practicing beforehand with your co-leader/guitarist.

2. Never start preparing for worship at 5.15PM the day you are leading.

3. Never have completely no time of practice with your co-leader (no matter how good he is).

I'm sure there are more... but for starters I did all 3 tonight. =( There was some hiccup with our roster and the person who was supposed to lead wasn't aware of it. So I took over. Technically it bombed. =(

But God is faithful, and I saw people worshipping, which is great. Cos then I know it's CONFIRM NOT me, but Him at work. Hallelujah

History Maker (by Delirious?)

Is it true today that when people pray
Cloudless skies will break
Kings and queens will shake
Yes it's true and I believe it
I'm living for you

Is it true today that when people pray
We'll see dead men rise
And the blind set free
Yes it's true and I believe it
I'm living for you

I'm gonna be a history maker in this land
I'm gonna be a speaker of truth to all mankind
I'm gonna stand, I'm gonna run
Into your arms, into your arms again
Into your arms, into your arms again

Well it's true today that when people stand
With the fire of God, and the truth in hand
We'll see miracles, we'll see angels sing
We'll see broken hearts making history
Yes it's true and I believe it
We're living for you

Free Will (taken from "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis)

Why, then, did God give them free will? Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having.

The only thing worse than a guy in women's clothing...

... is a guy in a little girl's clothing. Here's everyone's favourite guitarist wearing Emily's hoodie. (and you thought his brother wearing the same stripes as a girl who looked like him was weird enough...)

This is war...

Enemy-occupied territory - that is what this world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage.

(taken from Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis)

Pain...

It does hurt... whatever this is. And sometimes you just want to run away. Walk with me friends... pray with me. Let's dance upon this barren land together.

We'll sow in tears... but we'll reap in joy.

I see the clouds...

Something's happening, to me, within me... but I don't know what it is...... yet. All I know, is that there is an uneasiness within me, a certain restlessness, like a storm brewing.

It's time for things to change. No matter how much this hurts, whatever it takes, it will happen. The rain will come.

"I see the clouds and yes I'm ready, to dance upon this barren land. Hope in my hand...... Rain down. My heart is dry but still i'm singing" (Rain Down by Delirious?)

Random photo post (again)

I have no time to blog... so I post photos. Enjoy (if possible)...

Beer talks to me I tell you... it cries out to me every day! "Drink! Drink!"

Taken at Edward & Derrick's place just before Edward left. idunnowhattothink. Derrick's actually smiling.

(Note: Red throw cushions make for BAD backdrops. Can you say "Samsui Woman"?)

We made a new friend. I call him Woody.

As if they didn't ALREADY look alike. (dunkillmedunkillmedunkillme)

Oh the madness...

It's been a busy week... and might possibly get busier still in the weeks to come. Dealing with Mexicans ain't fun at all. I can't speak Spanish, they suck at English. Boo...

I've been so busy I haven't had time to:

1. Read my bible study materials
2. Change my guitar strings
3. PLAY my guitar
4. Finish my pile of books
5. BLOG (haha)

Lord, please give me the discipline to sepnd my time wisely, and to REST when I should (I really should learn how to SLEEP).

Sometimes... (an emotional rant of an aging twentysomething)

Sometimes... just sometimes, it gets lonely. I'm not gonna pretend life is perfect, all fine and dandy and stuff. Life isn't perfect. It has never been, because we're on our way to so much more. But for the here and now, it can get tough.

I've never really expressed this side of me, with regards to life in church. It's not like I don't have friends. It's not like everyone hates me (please Lord, I really hope they don't!). But there are sometimes when you just feel all alone in a crowd.

I don't think it'd be totally wrong to say that, where I am, I don't have many peers. Most of my friends are either OLDER than me (sometimes quite significantly... right Andrew? Hence, the propect of having to possibly wait 11 years to get married is something I sometimes I shudder at), or YOUNGER than me (by no small amount sometimes). The rest have either left church or are caught up in the world. Others maybe have a group of Godly brothers & sisters to fall back on out of church. I don't.

While having friends of all ages (literally, imagine from Nathan to ANDREW!... haha) is something that I've truly appreciated and cherished about church life and the Body of Christ (I never thought I'd have such a wide spectrum of friends back in my secondary school/JC days), sometimes you need your peers too: people your age, at a similar stage of life to be able to relate to the same journeys/struggles you go through. Much as I love my friends, who are mostly younger, and much as I love sharing stuff with them as well, I can't expect them to really understand where I'm coming from at times.

Many have left church over the years, and people around my age... there aren't many left. If there are, they're probably girls. I do try get to know everyone around as best as I can, never satisfied with the satus quo, always willing to go deeper. Many times things don't work the way I'd like, and I get disappointed. But I need to find my comfort in Him, trusting that in Him I will find that which I seek, in His time. Many times I tend to rush things, rush friendships, rush relationships, not willing to make home where He has placed me for the moment (this is quite important for those of us following God in our lives, look at the lives of Abraham & Moses... ). I need to trust in His grace.

Where are the friends? Who are my friends? Sometimes it's not so easy to tell. Sometimes you don't really know. But I shall learn... I will learn... to trust in His grace... to be able to declare that "my portion is Him, and I'm more than blessed..."

To those of you who have been there for me, and who will continue to be there for me, in Him, I thank you...