Lamentations

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

A few weeks ago I fasted for one week, because the church was encouraging everyone to fast for the season of Arise and Build. Later I found out that only leaders were to fast 7 days, and normal members 3. Ouch. It seriously stretched my faith though, and my physical limits, 'cause I've never fasted for one week before, not eating for 7 days, only drinking plain water. I thought I'd share what its like.

Let's see... on the first day, it's no big deal, you can go about normally, just with your stomach growling a few times but you're still in tip top shape with enough sleep and water. It's fine, and praying at night is normal. Day two, you're slightly weaker, and you need lots of water to keep your energy level stable. On the third and fourth day, you feel like dying, seriously. You're pretty weak, and your concentration slips very frequently. Driving becomes harder as you need more strength to focus on your surrounding vehicles and roads. Your stomach also hurts a bit at this stage, and rumbling stops already, but you just feel extremely hungry. You're also a little more edgy and a bit cranky.

Interestingly, from the 5th day, you don't feel that hungry anymore. Your stomach only weakly reminds you you're hungry, and you are feeling much weaker. Prayer at this stage seems like a horrible chore, and even speaking in tongues feels like it zaps a whole lot of energy. Raising your hands also becomes harder as your hands feel totally heavy. My 4-pec (which disappeared when I moved to KL) also started showing up around this stage, which meant I lost some weight. The final 2 days are HELL. You feel VERY, VERY weak, and lying in bed seems like the only thing you can do. Walking up and down the stairs in the house is like dragging yourself to school on an early Monday morning, and water doesn't help you at this stage, it merely hydrates you, nothing else. Prayer feels like the last thing on your mind, and asking God for strength to endure is like the only thing crossing your mind when you're praying. Mind power is near zilch, as you're feeling so weak, and driving short distances is the only safe driving. I didn't try driving on the highway at this stage. Aiks.

It was quite an experience. The most I had ever done was just one full 24 hour day of fasting, and it hurt my stomach a little, but nothing else. Fasting for 12 hours once a week or so is my regular fasting period for me. But one entire week of 24-hour fasting? It's something I'm not going to forget. Kudos to Pastor Kong, who does two 21-day fasts a year, and Jesus, who fasted 40 days. Insane! But I praise God for His strength. Credits to Him 'cause I seriously don't think I could have done it myself. Sure, I felt weak, dead and all that, but spiritually I was very empowered. Because I didn't spend hours eating the whole day, I had more time to do my assignments (fasting coincided with the final week of school. Of all weeks... geez). And I also had more time to be more self conscious of myself. More aware of what I've done lately, and what have I been like. My showers were much longer than usual 'cause I was so tired and took my own sweet time in the washroom cleaning myself up.

Fasting also changes a few things taken for granted. When you're fasting, every appearance of food is freaking apparent. Food, stalls and all the things you see everyday suddenly are very noticeable. You see (in vivid detail) how its cooked, how it's prepared, and imagine how it'd be nice to just go over and shove it in your mouth. Thinking takes a bit longer than usual, but it helps 'cause you can think through more carefully on what you say and do. You go to the washroom a lot less, 'cause there's nothing to excrete except water. Also, from around day 3, your sexual urge is lowered like hell. On the last day, even for a guy, sexual urges and that "horniness" are totally non-existent. During the day pretty girls, skimpy clothing and all that grab your attention, but there's no uh, "lust" (for a lack of a better word) and its only like "Oh, okay". Yeah. I'm just being honest here.

Definitely something I'm extremely reluctant to do again very frequently.

Fasting for one week is something I think I'll reserve for major things.

Oh, one more thing. After breaking fast, and you start eating, your hunger comes back like ten-fold. And your mind's alertness comes back with full force. And your horniness rushes back really, really strongly.

Uh, God bless!

Chronicled
3:42 AM

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Monday, December 28, 2009

My time in Singapore's been good so far. I haven't been meeting much people, but I've been spending quite a lot of time with people I'm close with. A lot less eventful too. The day I came back, I attended an overnight prayer meeting at Riverwalk, where MJ Zone (no, not Michael Jackson, its Min Jin) would pray from 9pm to 3am. Very tiring, but very fulfilling. Also had the chance to catch up with Cherryl, Timothy and Jeffrey in McDonald's as we were waiting for the first buses and trains to start at 6am.

But of course, it's the Christmas season! I went to church on Christmas Eve, for the drama "A Christmas Love Story". Well, it was nice and entertaining, but in terms of originality, it was not as creative as the last 3 years. It followed the biblical narrative quite closely, but with a few liberties. Also, there was a heavy emphasis on family through the drama. Yeah, so enjoyable nonetheless.

After that I went to Zirca, the club that took over Ministry of Sound in Singapore, after they closed down. I also found out its connected to Rebel, the club I came to the last time I clubbed here. Well... Zirca, how is it? Not bad, I guess. Zirca's the techno and house music, while Rebel is the RnB place. The place seems a lot bigger, as there's not as much seats and stuff as compared to M.O.S. But I still like Ministry of Sound more. I don't know, it just seemed nicer, with the three different rooms, and the waitresses were a lot prettier. LOL. Plus they didn't mind giving their numbers away. *Hint hint* Gary =x.

So we celebrated the countdown in the club! Let the pictures do the talking.

The central dance floor of Zirca.

Christmas! In a club of all places. They had confetti once the counter hit zero.

Some of the people in the club. All strangers.

Our drinks. There was another bottle there, but it was finished relatively fast.

Kwok Weng! He was like SUPER high throughout the night. I think he was drunk. Lmao.

And here I am with Weng. Lol at his expression!

Gary's wife. LOL. This waitress caught his attention big time. He even put his arm around her. Friendly eh? =p.

Yan Sin and I. I haven't seen her in like 2 years! Freaking long time!

Valentia and Yan Sin. Valentia's one of her friends. She got my attention... on Facebook -.-, I didn't notice her in the club.

Talking to Qin Yan. Forgot what I said. She was here the last time we came to Rebel.

Karnex, Jonathan and I. You can see the level of drunkeness by the colour of our faces. From left to right, very drunk, mildly intoxicated, sober (as usual).

Poor drinker Karnex, and I. Heh.

Gary, Karnex, me, Jonathan. Kudos to Gary, who can dance (a bit) even with his broken leg. And for coming down all the way too. They took his crutches at the entrance though -.-.

Gary, Kwok Weng, Yan Sin and I. I wasn't aware of putting my head on her shoulder. I was really tired that night. Yikes.

Group picture! And my head's still on her shoulder. Lol, sorry =x.

I love my Vodka. Alcohol!

The guys! Jonathan, me, Karnex, Zhi Xiang. I think someone caught my attention when this picture was taken =x.

Merry Christmas!

Chronicled
4:58 AM

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Thursday, December 24, 2009

Last week on Wednesday I went out with Kai Yih.

I helped her write up her personal statement for her university application (which isn't easy, I've learned), so she ended up owing me Popeyes, and later on, so did I, since she was my model for the photography studio shots. Heh, so this time round was me first. I drove over, picked her up and we went to Pyramid to eat Popeyes. Lmao, what a date. Had a good time chatting a long time after our meals were finished, this time mostly about my entire story of Zhi Xuan and I, and a bit of how I became a Christian. The stories are kind of intertwined, so yeah.

Later on we went shopping for some presents, as we needed to get some for a gift exchange during cellgroup the next day. We looked all around, but couldn't really find the proper gifts. The gifts would be exchanged randomly, and we wouldn't know who gets what, so we had to pick something gender neutral and for any age group. Stuffed toys might be cute and fitting for Vonny, but they sure as hell wouldn't be fitting for me (just an example!). In the end we decided on chocolates. Girls love 'em, and guys won't mind 'em. So yeah, thank you Famous Amos. Lol.

Funny and entertaining is what I'd call the day's events and conversations. Kai Yih was interested in a short term job as a makeup promoter and a briefing/interview was on at 7pm. A bunch of them would be briefed, and half of them were late -.-, so it dragged quite a lot of time. So while they were briefed, I was sitting at a table near them, and the boss was quite draggy. All the girls seemed bored, and even I fell asleep just waiting for them, lol.

After quite some time they were done. I drove Ivy back home and Kai Yih followed me along as I went to pick up Lionel. We were going clubbing! And we were on a guest list for Euphoria (Malaysia's Ministry of Sound branch) thanks to Fei Yan's friend. Kai Yih and I went back to her place to take a shower and quickly get ready (we were already damn late) and off we drove to Euphoria, which I thank God is so nearby, or we'd be even later.

My side, consisting of Kai Yih, Lionel and Ash, met up with Fei Yan's side, who consisted of Shana, Jade, Ai Li, and 2 more people I've forgotten (whoops). Andrew also came along.

Well, what can I say? It's my first time entering Euphoria. The whole place is like one big dome, and the centre "court" is the dance floor, and there's a few small rooms and lounges. The alcohol is BLOODY expensive! A bottle of Absolut Vodka cost us like nearly RM400, and the mixer's aren't free. But kudos (kind of) 'cause they're quite generous on the size of the mixers. Big deal -.-, since the point is the alcohol. We got a table to ourselves, and it took me extremely long to get warmed up, even with all the alcohol I drank. The first few times I went to the dance floor were mild as usual, and later on, at least I finally got to dance with Kai Yih. Yeah, happy me right? Well, maybe for that moment. Later on I went to find Lionel, who mysteriously disappeared. I ended up finding him in the toilet, pissed drunk and on the floor sleeping in a cubicle (thank God M.O.S. has really clean washrooms). I pulled him out and put him on a couch nearby, and that's when I saw Kai Yih dancing with someone else, right in front of me. Okay, that made me a little envious of course, but its clubbing, no one's supposed to be exclusive -.-. Later on I danced with her again, but this time it was kinda awkward for some reason, so I went off, and another guy took the chance to dance with her. In front of me again. Lmao, that got me emo, with two strikes. I sat on the couch opposite Lionel sleeping and just watched her dance. Once she came back up Fei Yan was asking me whether I was alright. Well... I was, just emo 'cause 2 guys I knew were dancing with her. Ha. I told Shana about it, as she was sitting beside me, and Jade later came up and said "Stop emo-ing la. Come, I'll dirty dance with you!"

I think any guy would eat that. And Jade's pretty cute too. And I think I would've too, under normal circumstances. I did go down with her, and after just a few seconds, everyone of them (excluding Lionel, and one of the girl's who I've forgotten her name) came down to dance. Dirty dancing with a cute girl beside Kai Yih. That made me really self conscious, aiks, and I can't dance when I'm self conscious. Multiply it many times more when Kai Yih's beside me, lol. Craps. I didn't dance much after that and I think Jade understood, so thanks =). So I sat back at the couch, and Fei Yan's group went off first, leaving Ash, drunk Lionel, Kai Yih and me as THE last people in the entire club. Serious! Staff were trying to get us out after a while, and I needed to hold Lionel and drag him to the car. We went back to Kai Yih's place and let Lionel sleep while Ash and I began the powerpoint slides for the presentation later on that morning. Yeah, you got that right. We went clubbing and came back to do homework for a final presentation later on. Lmao.

I got a call from Fei Yan asking whether I was alright. Well, yeah, I was. From all the girls, I heard a lot of things like "There are still a lot of fishes in the sea", "Tell her to go eat shit", "Just fuc* it". Ouchies, lmao. Well, I'm not saying anything here. Just in case.

I fell asleep a few times while working on the powerpoint, and ended up having nightmares again. Pretty embarassing, 'cause Kai Yih and Ash were there when I spasmed awake. Four hours later, when class was almost starting we went to school and saw that it was empty. Only Tommy was inside, and later Ryan, Jeff and all the late comers came. I was like "Wow, today all the late comers are early!" It was ironic. Then later Neal called asking where the hell were we. I was like "We're in class!" And we found out that it was the wrong classroom. Zzz. So we went to the correct classroom, and all of us, the usual late comers, went in late... again -.-. LOL.

Chronicled
2:13 AM

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Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Aye, about time I finally caught up with blogging per se. The last few weeks of school were HELL. And a lot has happened in the last month... so, where should I start?

Hmmm... since I'm in Singapore now, I guess I'll start with the Singaporeans who came to visit me 2 weeks ago? Don't mind if I'm a little draggy... it's been a while since I blogged.

Jonathan and Dexter had taken leave and came up to KL, so yeah, I'm honoured =p. Well, the first night they came over I was busy doing my typography final, so we just ate, and caught up, while checking really old E145 pictures, which brought back a hell lot of memories. I also learned about some new things about the old(er) members from them, so it was quite an enlightening time too, heh.

The next day I had to go to school early in the morning, so I left them to go to Sunway Pyramid themselves later on. My final typography class wasn't pleasant. Let's leave it at that. Anyhoo, we had service later, where Pastor Kevin talked about the church as a famiy, and that as a family, we should always encourage, edify and even boast of our family member's achievements. Wouldn't you like to tell of good things your family has done to everyone around you? People outside may call it bragging, or being proud, but if you were part of the family, you'd be proud of their achievements, and would proclaim their talents, gifts and abilities. Powerful message, definitely.

We had fellowship later on. Jonathan and Dexter wanted to club, and asked me to recommend one club. I thought of Poppy, but I didn't know how to go. Lucky us, as Lionel was going to Poppy to club, and was bringing a friend who knew how to go, June. Well, while fellowshipping, they kept asking me to ask Kai Yih to go club too, but I was reluctant, 'cause it's like so last minute! Plus I've never actually gone clubbing with the girl I liked before. It's always been girls I don't like in that way -.-. Actually, now I mention it, all the girls I've ever gone clubbing with were people I didn't know very well, or had met on that night itself. I think Tiffany and Michelle Khoo are the only exceptions =/. Zzz... so while I was driving her and Yus home, the guys made it known that we were clubbing. The girl's reaction was not what I expected: "Whoa! Didn't jio!" "Didn't ask us along" "You good!". That took me by surprise like hell, so I asked her to go, and she said no 'cause I wasn't sincere. Lmao, I sincerely asked again, and she considered it as she went up to her apartment.

Well... she didn't go in the end 'cause it was too sudden -.-. Like I said... but she promised me to go the next time I asked (earlier). Okay, worth something at least, but it got me a little emo 'cause she wasn't going that night. I picked up June, and off we went to Poppy.

Well... it was supposed to be 7 guys and 8 girls there. However, the rest were like 2 hours late and not sociable so it was just the 4 of us and June mainly. Our bottle was also finished damn fast, maybe 'cause I drank a lot =x. It was alright, although 4 guys dancing with 1 girl kinda makes things awkward. I suppose bonus for me and Lionel, 'cause at least she put her arms around us at times. Warming up to dance was quite fast this time, which surprised me 'cause of the small quantity of alcohol. Maybe I took more than the rest? =x. Anyhoo, Jonathan also had a girl move over and dance with him! Woots! But you know what? HE SHOVED HER AWAY! HAHA. According to him, her face "cannot make it". Lmao. She ended up dirty dancing very passionately with another guy just beside us. Oh well. At the podiums, guy's started getting topless, and girl's started dropping off their tops (they kept their bras on of course). The more daring ones also went up to the highest podiums (which aren't meant for dancing) and danced, extremely high up right beside those moving flashing lights. If they weren't careful, they'd hit their head while the lights moved, heh. Dexter was sweating throughout the dancing times, lmao.

Driving back was a nightmare. June was pissed drunk to the extent she couldn't tell the difference between left and right, and I was super tired from school in the morning, followed by church and then clubbing. So I let Jonathan drive, but I dozed off, and it took us some time (and total law-breaking driving) to get back to the proper expressway back home without paying tolls.

And the next day, I just gave them a tour of Bukit Bintang area. We went to Lot 10, Times Square, Sungei Wang, Low Yat and the last mall we went to was Pavilion, which was been beautifully done up and even had bubbles as fake snow falling down. Nice! I accompanied them back to Puduraya to take the bus back to Singapore. Great time spent! Thanks for visiting too.

Chronicled
10:04 AM

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Sunday, December 20, 2009

Ah, finally... time to post. Well... Emerge conference last month was a blast. Three days of powerpacked services and performances and competitions. A lot of celebrities came, and the atmosphere was much better than last year. Words just fail me to describe it, but it was just great.

Pastor Kong preached about Caleb for all the days, about his dreams, visions, struggles, faith and such. Well, just to start off my blogging back, after such an absence, enjoy some pictures, they'll do more talking.

Some cute kid I saw and took a picture of. Heh!

Frendy, Linda, Kai Yih, Ivy. While we were waiting~~~.

The stage. Pretty cool!

Kai Yih and I. This was like the nicest picture of her and me -.-.

Jaya and Joel's dance with another guy. They were LOVED by the audience for being so gay! Lmao.

Beauty pageant and manhunt! Woots. This was one of the prettier ones.

Ai Lee's turn! She's bringing SexyBack. Get it? Eh? Eh?

Front view, of my driver =p.

Yee See, who got 2nd place overall later on.

Daniel, who made the girls drool.

Daniel ended up being the champ in Manhunt. Woots bro.

Amber Chia, special guest judge. She's actually quite pretty in real life. And she's freaking TALL.

All the contestants. With their partners.

And we went shopping during the breaks between the sessions...

W19 W49 =D.

Emerge Rising was just great. There were a lot of things I didn't take pictures of, because I was too busy watching to take pictures. Heh. The POS was brilliant as usual, and MINT had an amazing cheer. They ended up winning overall too. Zzz. VU was first for a while! But we ended up being second place. Aye!

Well... now it's the holidays, expect more posts to catch up!

Chronicled
9:30 AM

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