t|reD aNd b!T s|CkLy

I've had this blocked nose for all week since Sunday and it's been digustingly irritating. Kristin calls this Upper Respiratory Infection and also know to the common man as Flu. I think it's just a viral infection of the nasal and throat area. You know it happens when your mucus/phlegm turns slimey green or creamy yellowish and that's the colour of my spits these days. Should I see a doc to get some antibiotics? Save the cash and let my white blood cells fight it out I guess.

Hope this doesnt affect my throat for Saturday, I will be majorly majorly disappointed if it does. I was feeling feverish today running about a couple of places to settle some stuff for upcoming ECA Charity Event (Hope IV the Rainbow) at Eastpoint Shopping Centre from 6th - 7th August. Please be there to support when you can! I'll be there for both days from early morning til late night selling charity tickets, so drop me a ring if you're around the area. It's really for a good cause where 100% of the proceeds go straight to our Beneficiary, Club Rainbow Singapore, for kids with lifelong chronic illnesses. We'll be going about Tampines to sell tickets tomorrow night, so that means another long night for me, no rest for the weary but all for a good cause. :)

Anyway for those who hasnt seen me the last few days, I had my hair cut. The barber was very generous with his scissorhands, and cut off a bit too much from what I had tried my best to describe to him. Argghhhh.. Haha, but I kinda found a good way round the cut and the new hairdo is very neat and cooling. And yes, my top is still orangey but to a lesser extent. Well, like every bad situation we go through, haircuts always have a way round it no matter how bad it goes!

Wow! This is IT man.

I finally got my photos into my laptop so here's just a short teaser. It's the Sydney Harbour Bridge (if I remember the name correctly :P).

Anyway the point of today's entry is about the worship rehearsal I've had the priviledge of leading this afternoon. We were supposed to start at 2pm, but the setting up was kinda late. It didnt help that the atmosphere was a very lax and lazy one, so except for Lydia who was warming up at the drums, the rest of us were basically all over the place finishing our preparations at 2pm.

It would had been an otherwise normal rehearsal where we went through the new songs and polished the old ones. We kinda got stuck in the intro for "Salvation is Here", so Lydia casually gave a ring to her kor Phinehas for some tips. He decided to drop by in 1/2hr's time whilst we continued with the rest of the songs. We had finished a good 4 out of 6 songs by the time Phinehas joined us, and so we hopped back to "Salvation is Here" immediately. First tipping goes to Joel on the electric, next Karen on the Keyboards and finally Lydia on the drums. Of cos tipping for drums wouldn't make sense with verbal instructions, so a demonstration was conducted for the song. And erm.. the moment Phinehas sat down to start the song, the rest was very much history. There was so much chemistry in the team it was pure pleasure singing with them. When the demonstration was over, Lydia decided to hand the sticks over to him as we agreed it might have been better for the band to remain as the way the demonstration was done. It's like when I first heard it, I told myself,"Wow! This is IT man." Got permission from the heads, and we hadn't looked back since! Haha.. We ended up going through all the 6 songs all over AGAIN at 3.20pm but it was really fun and the music was amazing.

Joel, I must compliment, had improved leaps and bounds since last Dec. It's like he's a raw talent except he hasn't had the proper guidance just yet cos he picks up real fast and it's really cool. The rehearsal today had really impacted me somewhat, musically especially. It was really the most awesome (and happy) rehearsal I've had in MY LIFE. Now, what will really set the worship a notch higher would be the movement of the Holy Spirit. My only worry is, we concentrate on producing the music too much, we forget to major on the major and that's bringing worship not just the songs. But everything to look forward to folks! If you haven't heard "Salvation is Here", go drop by Lydia's blog: http://ainanda.blogspot.com and get familiar with it before Sat. See ya there! Oh btw, for my non-church friends who're keen on visiting this Saturday evening, let me know ya. Yupz!

Okie, I'm getting mentally tired and emotionally affected now. My roomate is playing those lovey dovey songs again! ARGGGHHH.. NooOoOooOoooooooo.. Haha

Upcoming Songs!

Hey folks, lemme do a quick commercial break here. If you havent gotten the latest Hillsong Album - God He Reigns, then go get a copy for yourself real quick. You owe it to yourself! I got mine in Australia, the DVD version, and its truly awesome.

In the words of Brian Houston, it's great value, "You get a CD and a DVD.. (flips the CD 360 degrees in his hand).. A CD and a DVD!" But erm, make sure u get the right version, cos there's a 2CD version. Get either, or both, or even with the DVD with fantastic guitar tuitorials and behind the scenes!

Anyway, included inside this album will be your all time favourite "Tell the World", and upcoming hot titles "Salvation is here" and "Shout unto God". Why upcoming hot titles? Cos we're gonna sing them this coming Saturday!! Haha. Yep, in case you've no clue, you're listening to "Shout unto God" now. For "Salvation is here" please tune into Lydia's blog or SR blog. Any other song dedications? Nah, just kidding. But get the CD, it rocks!


Shout Unto God
by Hillsong United - Look To You (2005)

The enemy has been defeated
And death couldn't hold You down
We're gonna lift our voice in victory
We're gonna make Your praises loud

Shout unto God with a voice of triumph
Shout unto God with a voice of praise
Shout unto God with a voice of triumph
We lift Your name up
We lift Your name up

Welcome to the IR world!

Sorry about the lack of updates with regards to Sydney. I'll update once I get my hands on the pictures I promise, so stay tuned and be patient for just a bit more.

I'm picking up Infrared photography with my new camera and Infrared filter (expensive man). In case you have no idea what's that all about, its basically using the camera to pick up IR (infrared) spectrum instead of visible light. So you get a whole new world which you don't normally get to see through naked eyes. Its awesome! Here's an example of how the IR world looks in comparison to the NORMAL world. Tell me which do you prefer? :)


IR through my house window


Normal view through my house window

In addition to that, I'm considering setting up an unofficial Asher Tay fanclub on the blog soon and we'll all nominate OCX as the president k? Thanks!

Blog first, Sydney later

I miss Sydney. I think that sums up most of the feelings I have now, from the time I returned last night. The ride was never short of laughs, fun and exciting new things for me to learn. Will be going into the itinerary details once I get my photos all ready, and all the interesting things I've picked up along the trip. But for now, some thoughts..

Being around the Tan family (and cousins) really impressed a lot on me for the last 2 weeks. I might not have said it, I might not have shown it, but there's been a lot going through my lump of white and grey matter (brain not excreta). It came as a revelation to me about family love. Thing is, I grew up in a family where rules are rules, and love is shown mostly through making meals. Don't mistake my words, there's plenty of love about the house, but it just isn't shown verbally nor physically. Now, I've been about families but staying with a family for 2 weeks is a whole different story.

I saw how love is shown through hugs, arms around the shoulders, words of praises for one another, even simple deeds like washing dishes and making tea. Sure there are some fun verbal pokes at one another, but even so the love behind it all is unmistakable. And through it all as I watched like a curious little boy envious, I feel so inadequate. I came to realize how I fail to love, show love and in doing so become unable to communicate love. Sure, there's plenty of love where it came from but it just doesnt reach the other people. That I came to realize, is my greatest lack in life.

It doesnt take a great teacher, preacher or communicator to touch individuals. It takes someone who really cares and shows love generously with no other agenda in mind. I might be the best person on stage but what legacy have I left behind once I step off the platform? Who will truly remember me for what I've done in their lives? That's why I've always respected the likes of Karen and OCX, just to name a few. They're great not for being fantastic celebrities on stage, but for being fantastic inspirations to individuals.

The consequences of an inability to show love spreads wide across different faculties of my life. My lovelife (which incidentally has had little success), my family life (beyond just my immediate family) and it worse yet, it permeates through my ministry as well. When it comes down to loving someone, there's plenty of it within the heart but it barely leaks out through actions and words. It's so pathetic, sometimes it hurts. Ever felt like someone was so important to you, you wish you could have said or done something better at THAT time but you DIDNT and it hurts?

I'm not quite sure if there's a remedy for this, and that's the strange bit. So should I start showing care, concern and love verbally? Might feel like an awkward change. Or even to appreciation others through hugs? I might get sued. Well all in all, I think there's been a change in mindset already so it's a good start as any. If my ego doesnt stand in the way, I sure hope many others will start feeling loved. Myself or otherwise. Thanks for reading. ;)

A quickie

Its saturday already, and the Hillsong Conference ended last night. A bitter sweet feeling for me really, cos I really enjoyed all the sessions. Priceless. The sweet goodbye to the conference, however, means no more having to wake up early in the morning! And the better part of it, it means I'm going home soon. Strange right? Thanks for those who've been praying for us one way or another. A new fire in the belly burns inside to be doing the purpose, will of God and administering His love to the people. Its an understatement to say the Conference was good, it's awesomely inspiring and empowering!

I'll be back around 10pm on 13th July (wed). No, it's not a que nor invitation for pick ups just something official for those who read my blog and need to know when you can get me for something urgent. Til then, it's still a couple of days before I go home and start passing the fire on. A penny for my thoughts..

In the meantime, enjoy the weekend! Have a blessed Saturday service and Bilingual service. Oh yes, for pics (a little of them) just drop by Lydia's blog. :)