2006 to 2007

With the beginning of every new year, I would make myself a notebook, one that is thick enough to last me for a year to write down notes, dreams and some important dates. I was to make one for my sister this year as she has use of it. The interesting thing is that while I was making them yesterday, I ran out of papers and while trying to ration the papers between my notebook and my sister’s, I realize my selfish nature surfacing, keeping all the nicer papers for myself, suddenly it reminded me again that only God can give up His best, His only beloved begotten Son, for a people who were against Him. It is already quite hard for us to give something to someone else other than ourselves, much less giving the best and giving it all.

As the year 2006 draws to a close, I have decided that instead of staying up to watch the fireworks (which I always love watching), I would like to pen down some thanksgivings to Papa God for this year, to remember God’s goodness and faithfulness towards me.

It has been an eventful year, some ups and downs, yet my Shepherd sees me through them all. I thank God for His unmerited favour for the year 2006 in my job, having great grace there, and for the coming year, I can again trust Him for putting me at the right place at the right time, and increase my skill by His grace for His glory. And for the coming year, greater satisfaction in my work, doing projects that I enjoy or dream to do. Only by Him can this be done!

Year 2006 is a year of testing to my relationships, a time to re-evaluate the priority in life, and a time of awakening, seeing myself rising up from my unknowing slipping into complacency state, for Papa God is able to turn all things around, even things that seem seemingly evil, around for good, for we are His beloved ones.

This is the year for the first time that I ventured out on a holiday, to as far as to States, truly speaking, to go on a tour all alone by myself. Learning to just trust the Lord, believing that He takes care of me, taking a great step ahead, relying on Him, based on His promise. It was fun, and I suddenly realize I can actually travel alone, though not really alone because my Shepherd is with me always, and it is truly quite fun after all, I think I can do that again in year 2007. I am not afraid anymore.

I thank the Lord for everything, a year of learning to hear a bit more from Him, relying on Him more, a year of learning to let go a bit more, resting a little more, of not trying so hard to please man, a year of not being led too much by my feelings… a year of drawing a little more….

And 2007 will continue to be a year of resting even more, I will take my work a bit lighter, doing more by doing less, letting Him take over, perhaps travel more (my Shepherd will have to provide), more time spend at home, in drawing, in learning new skills and software, and most of all, spending a little more time with Him and listening to Him more.

My prayer for you will be the same, accomplish more by resting more, sound contradicting but why not for this coming year, just take Papa God at His word and see what He can do for you! Blessed New Year!

Over The Rainbow

It feels like Christmas already since yesterday, with the actual day of Christmas falling on a Monday this year, it just makes the whole celebrative atmosphere to start slightly earlier with the beginning of the long weekend.

Thinking that I would be very busy today, preparing for the small family party tomorrow on Christmas Eve, etc, yet to much of my surprise, there is really nothing much to do, after I got the drinks and snacks this morning, I practically was quite bored, wasting time before the TV. The thing about me is that I almost always finish everything that is to be done much earlier than most people, such as shopping for gifts, I almost finished doing that the last weekend. As for the preparation for the party, I had already started ordering and buying the food about 2 to 3 weeks earlier, therefore leaving me extremely free just before the actual event. Since young, perhaps this runs in my family, I had been trained mentally to finish the things that has to be done asap so that I can have time to play. And eversince, in my subconscious mind, I would unknowingly hurried to finish off my task, be it studying for exam, my project, work, etc asap, so that I would have time to rest, to do other things, to play; falling into a hurry hurry syndrome, which to outsiders, they may think of me as highly efficiently, but in actual fact, it is not something to boast about, I simply have to learn to enjoy the moment, and to learn to rest intermittently.

I read two very interesting articles today that seem to address this issue. In this present age everyone seems preoccupied with many tasks to do, multi-tasking, being caught in a situation of "continuous patical attention". A person may be conversing to someone, with one ear plugged to a mp3 player and typing away on a pc, doing 3 tasks at the same time, yet giving each other partial attention. The article said we become"so accessible, and so inaccessible", being everywhere except where we are. With more gadgets which are supposed to help us, we ended up busier than the past, no longer single-minded in one task, and perhaps never fully given one's full potential to fully complete a task to its perfection as we become busier with multi-tasking.

The other article discussed on rest. Studies show that the lowest mortality is related to sleeping between 6 to 7 hours a night. Lack of sleep could harm the body and sleeping more than 8 hours a night may not necessarily means better. Somehow all these studies simply prove the bible true although the bible needs no proving, for it is the truth, for the bible says " it is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late...", and that we are to labour to enter that rest. I believe we truly can do more , or walk further by resting more. Selah.

It is especially at such a wonderful season as this, that let us truly forget about work at least for these few days, and spend some wonderful time of partying, resting and getting together with loved ones, family and friends. Stop, rest, breathe in deeply and take time to smell the flowers with your loved ones. Remember the Lord's goodness and His promises to us, for He is always faithful! Blessed Merry Christmas to all!

Christmas round the corner

I have finally finished reading "Chasing The Dragon" the second time yesterday. It was great, perhaps more impactful than when I read it the first time. The book was so good that my eyes were trying hard to hold back the tears on my train ride to the hair salon to have my hair trimmed. I finished the book in the salon, feeling so overwhelmed by all that was written. The simple gospel of love, of our beloved Shepherd who gave His all for us, with the gift of the overcoming power of the Holy Spirit changes countless lives. Those who cannot read are taught by the Spirit Himself of the wonderful love of God, that Jesus would die for even such as them. Indeed, because they truly knew what it means to be "forgiven much, therefore love Him much." They truly understand what it means to be saved by the grace of God, the unmerited favour of God. Christian living was never meant to be lived by our self effort, it is impossible, but is only possible by His Spirit, and that is how these lives are transformed.

I am still dwelling on the many stories in the book, need sometimes for me to think through. Praying in the Spirit... a gift given by Papa God to help His beloved ones, His children to pray. How powerful this gift is, as we use it often, up to individuals!

Just 1 more week to Christmas, always a delightful time to me, despite of the amount of hectic activities that are generated as a result of this special occasion. I simply love Christmas, a time when all things can finally slow down, or even stop, and loved ones gather together to celebrate Jesus' love for us! Yah, it is true that it may be "troublesome" to get presents for loved ones and people around you, even to the point of burning a huge hole in one's pocket, I can't deny that, it is true for me already, but nothing beats the wonderful excuse once a year for a chance to prepare a little gift to express your love and gratitude to them, even to those who have yet to hear about the love of Jesus for them in their lives. For this is an opportune time for me to "loudly" proclaim my Shepherd's love legally with no fear! No one can say "no" to a gift given during Christmas, I have yet come across any, and no way can easily shut one's ears at this time to hearing the gospel preached, thank God for Christmas!

Many loved ones to thank, many loved ones are again brought up to my mind. Many gifts are bought and made this year, but within my heart, my desire is that my gratitude and love can be send via them, but most important of all, that they can feel the love of Jesus for them!

(The above is a compilation of some previous illustrations showing the Shepherd and the lamb. Hope you like it. If I didn't send you a gift this year, I dedicate this compilation to all my dear friends out there! It is no coincidence that we cross paths in life, it is divine!)

Remembering

Recently I picked up an old book to read again, "Chasing The Dragon" that I probably read it more than 10 years ago, partly due to the fact that my pastor briefly mentioned about the author recently. I could still remembered how touched I was by that book, the compelling real life stories of many individuals mentioned in the book, how the love of Jesus touched them, changed them from triad leaders, addicts, etc to Christians, totally overwhelmed by the unconditional love of God, and how each of the addicts overcome their addiction by the power of praying in the holy spirit (in tongues). I had almost forgot all about this until I read it again. I knew the benefits of praying in tongues, but over the years, it has just become a prayer that I would pray every now and then, but for a few short minutes, or during worship, but rarely as diligent as I would on reading my Papa God's love letter to me.

I recalled the day I spoke in tongues many, many years ago, how it changed my life, and at that very moment in life, I just knew that I knew all that I believe is true, the truth. Jesus is real, the gospel is real, the bible is real, praying in the spirit is real, not something made up in my mind, though it may seem so to people outside. I simply just knew.

It suddenly dawn on me recently, perhaps again, that this powerful gift could likely be the way to overcome prolonged sickness, depression, stress in life. Despite the fact that my pastor taught so much on it, it has never yet compelled me to want to pray with this wonderful gift on a regular prolong basis, until my recent reading of the book again. I suddenly realise my complacency. I felt awaken suddenly.

Perhaps this is the first time I ever wrote so much on a particular truth found in the bible, yet I felt it extremely important, even the key to many breakthroughs in many lives, which is more than any worthwhile mention of it! Just felt like saying, if you have time, do pick up this book and read, how it used to thrilled my heart, and even with my 2nd reading of it, it didn't fail to touch me again, causing me to rethink a lot of the once very important truth to me, causing me to remember.

Guess many of you must be really blurred by now, hope it didn't turn some of you off, which I hardly care, cos it is more important to please my Papa God than to try to please everyone who read this blog.

Much about the book I read recently, the above illustration was one of 2 pictures of a request by a friend to draw something for her devotion notebooks, and it was not the one chosen in the end. In fact, I had sort of made up my mind to publish all the past 1.5 years summarized illustrations for the next few weeks for this year instead of drawing new ones, but as a result of her request, with the theme being on "devotion", I ended up drawing 3 more illustrations, which may nicely last me till mid January 2007, praise God, how He always supplies more than enough!

My daily life is still as busy, as Christmas approaches, with the preparation for the festive season occupying almost all my free time after work, yet I always feel it is worth it all, when you can show your love and appreciation to those people who mean a lot to you, especially during this wonderful season of giving, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son! Cheers!

Busy Busy Busy But Very Happy!

It's been quite a while since I last wrote. The week passed by with my tender going out smoothly, although the preparation did not start well, but all praise to God, everything turns out alright finally, we are on time, though the quality is not the best, it is still passable.

I was busy not totally with work, but with getting Christmas presents, getting them ready etc, and I am "proud" to say that about half the gifts are ready! It was pretty tiring, but so fun, I simply love Christmas! The fun of getting presents, going through the list of people, imagining the gifts to get that will fit different individuals, etc.

And because of this, I have to say I had no inspiration this week for new illustrations for the blog, but I did something quite memorable, while I pondered on the type of gifts I am giving for Christmas. I went through a memory journey, looking back at the illustrations I did for the past 1.5 years, and I started compiling similar themes or methods of illustrating into groups, such as above. I felt it is totally appropriate for this festive season, though not with new illustrations but with a collage of past works, to end 2006. Each illustration means a lot to me, as each speaks of a story, or a particular phase I was going through at that moment when I drew them. The above series are more personal moments, about my dieting, my holidays abroad, my dream, my mom's birthday, my addiction, my memory of my dad, my wanting for a break, and a much needed rest, but not all personal illustrations are in here due to limited space.

The new year 2007 will come with some changes in my life, a year that I would want to rest more, learn more and greater indulgence in what I like to do. Looking at this year 2006, many things have happened, both good and bad, and as a result, there is a change of the way I look at certain things, of how I want to prioritise what matter to me in life, of how I would want to use my time, and also the type of architect I want to be, the type of buildings I want to play a part to design, and the type of focus and design methodology I would take on in future.

I am glad that I am allowed to start all over again, from basic, starting from designing the smallest dwelling, to institution, the latter being a building type that will always mean a lot to me. I thank Papa God that the thoughts in my mind has become clearer since the trip I made to NY. And I thank Him for this wonderful season, creating opportunities to catch up with loved ones. Hope you too will have a wonderful festive December season, and a wonderful time of shopping! Have a great week ahead!

Task percentages

I came home with a "heavy" heart, with a project tender going out next week, and the drawings are in really bad state, wrong ways of drawings, bad details, mistakes almost everywhere... how can I let such drawings go out for tender.... sigh... I wish my assistants can know my heart, understand exactly how I wanted them to be drawn. worry worry worry... terrible word!

Yesterday as I was on my way home from office at 8 plus, there was a sudden desire if only I can be translated immediately back home with a blink of the eye, without having to travel etc. At that moment, I did something really crazy, I took out my mobile phone and started calculating, if I take 1.5hours a day to travel to and fro from work, I would take 4.5% of my time a year just for travelling! Then I started tabulating the following list on the train home:

Travelling to work: 4.5% (1.5h/day, 5 days a week)
Sleeping: 29% (7h/day)
Work: 27% (9h/day, 5 days a week)
Eating: 8% (2h/day)
Shower/Toilet: 4% (1h/day)
Church: 3.3% (5.5h/week)
TV: 6% (1.5h/day)

All the above totalled up to 82%, with 18% unaccounted for. This 18% would include dreaming, shopping, watch movies, reading, travelling to destination other than work or even OT etc. Then you may even say how about multi-tasking? The above is just an estimate, taking the main activity engaged at a particular moment. Giving an example, you can be travelling to work and reading on the way, but the main purpose will be placed under travelling to work. It was quite an interesting finding. Just when I thought my work takes up so much of my time, but when I tabulate it over a year it is only slightly more than a quarter, all thanks to weekends! (I use 9h to include OT etc. However, the OT for my line is definitely more than 0.5h per day, this is balanced off with annual leave etc, so it should be pretty accurate, at least for my case.)

Anyway, the above is just food for thought... and another interesting finding is that I only take 1% of my life to read my Papa God's love letter, taking an average of 15min a day.... so sad... hmmm... so little...

Just need to think a little more about the above, whether the proportion of the time spent relates to the priority of that item, but one thing seems true, rest is extremely important, taking the highest percentage, "to labour to enter the rest", indeed i will attempt to talk more about it next time after I have thought through.

Meanwhile, the above illustration is an out of the world attempt by me. A good friend of mine while chatting over msn, gave a passing remark that one day she hoped I would draw a lamb on a motorbike (I have drawn one illustration of a couple on a motorbike before), and that explains the above illustration, specially for her, as a birthday gift!

Now, while I look forward to the weekend, remember that all things shall be alright, as I walked home from the MRT station today, I told myself in my heart, all shall be alright, and I cast all my cares on Him who cares for me. And you too!

Midweek

I have been pretty busy this weekend and it takes me till about mid of the week to put my hands on my laptop to post this. In fact this illustration was completed quite some time back, the little lamb resting in wonderful peace, within the arms of the Shepherd, take a look at the expression of the lamb, peaceful contentment.

Been back from NY for more than 2 weeks, and having a holiday is really good, even to the point of being addicted to it, wanting more breaks, and I am right now "suffering" from this "withdrawal". Christmas is round the corner, and I am looking forward to it with great anticipation, even thinking about it makes me very happy. Yet not forgetting that this also means the drawing to an end of this year with a new year standing right before us.

For the past years since I can remember, I have been busy with studying, and after completing that, I moved on and became busy with work. Yet now looking back, I won't say I regretted the time spent, I did enjoy my studies and work most of the time, yet perhaps for the new year ahead, I would embark on some small changes, indulging in being a little lazy (quite a difficult thing for me to do, as I am quite a "too hardworking" person), spending a little more time at home even during midweek, this may mean some loss in income, yet I know my Papa God will provide for me, who knows, it could be the other way round, resulting in overflowing abundance than when I labour hard at work.

For a start, I have attempted to leave office before 8pm as much as possible, so far so good, I can watch my TV programme, have dinner at home, laze around. I learnt to only blog when I feel like it, not like the usual routine me, that must publish every Saturday. In the past, I used to wait for people to initiate gatherings, perhaps subconsciously fearing of "rejection", but now I decided why don't I do it instead, there is nothing to lose anyway? Initiating gatherings become something not so difficult for me after all, lining up 3 parties for Christmas, for friends and family. Learning to wake up a little later (even wanting to take leave to sleep, just that I can't as I had used up all) is a great step forward for me. Learning to live a life a little less demanding on myself, loosening up a little, trusting in Him a little bit more to provide for me. Live a day at a time. Do what I like to do. Live for and in Him. It is life awakening.

New York.Illustrations.Summary

My "suffering" on the plane for more than 20 hours, but of course I had a short transit in between. But I cant't remember I drew this on the plane or after I had landed.

My visit to Miss Liberty on the 1st Monday. Up close, seen her from different angle. It is quite amazing that someone can construct such a huge sculpture such a long time ago.

I prayed for sudden good weather when it rained during our Niagara Falls trip. Though it continued raining in the end, we still had a good time, Niagara Falls are beautiful. Heard it snowed the week before we went, and later, i heard it snowed again in the following week. Guess we still had good weather?

This is our "maid in the mist" ship ride in Niagara Falls. So fun! I want to go back again another time. This time I want to see the rainbow in the mist.

Sketched this at central park, if you compared this to the photos, you should be able to find it. I actually wanted to do a ink and wash, but the paper I used was not suitable, and it was too heavy to bring watercolor out everyday... so... this explains why it is kept black and white still.

On the plane back, I drew this, kind of miss home, so this explains the illustration. All the above are just a simple cartoon summary of some events that took place.

This week, I will keep my writing to just these few lines, but with lots of illustrations for a change. Hope you all like them and they put a smile on your face this week! Papa God loves you all! Jesus our Shepherd will ever be with us always, cos we are His beloved little lamb!

New Beginning

Time to go back to work this morning, though the desire to sleep in, take a day’s off today is so strong. I touched down at the airport on Friday, almost midnight. Still adjusting back to our time, and despite the fact that I slept at about 2am on Saturday morning, I woke up at 6 plus in the morning. A lot of thoughts to compile, photos to sort, perishable gifts to be distributed, and I manage only to finish the sorting of food part, and partial of the photos….

Yet before I start work today I just want to pen this down, some of the thoughts that I have while on the plane back on Friday. For close to 3 weeks, I wandered about in New York, made short trips to Niagara Falls with my friend and Washington alone. Walking is the word, so tired, perhaps the distance I covered is able to circle the equator once? Exaggerating again! There are some rare moments when I may feel slightly lonely, moments I felt great to be able to have times of solitude, refreshed, in certain areas of my life, enlightened, and began to see things differently, from another angle.

“Re-prioritizing” is the word. Changing the importance of the areas of my life, re-focusing. There is no denying, my Shepherd and sheep relationship will always take the foreground, first place. Family will always be next in line, follows by friends and dreams, both sharing almost the same position, perhaps with friends having a slightly edge over. Dreaming I still do, but I have let my dream become dormant for some time, not giving it time to flourish. If the Lord permits, I would want to spend some time on this in the coming months, to almost full attention, grace grace!

Sorry to say, career seems to come last. Too much time has been spent on the latter for the past few years, perhaps even to the point of sacrificing time that should be spent for family, reading, catching up with old friends, drawing, etc. This has to change. No more a “quantity based” or “fast” architect, I still would enjoy my work. Learning to design slowly, enjoy the process, analyse, re-invent, only my Shepherd can change this, changing me to a quality based architect… elaborate more next time perhaps.

Enough is said, to start a new working day today, felt like I am starting from ground zero again, almost from the beginning, which is great. Felt like a white board, nothing written on it yet, so exciting. Talk again next time, so much to say, but so little time….

The above is a wood carving that my friend has, I drew it on the plane, by looking at the digital photo on my camera. Pal, hope you like it! Blessed fruitful week ahead, everyone!

Flying Back Singapore Tomorrow

This journal won't take too long, just drop a last line from New York today, before I head off to the airport tomorrow morning, and should be back in Singapore by Friday late night. I am already homesick, practically seen most things I wanted to see, except for a few places that I decided to forego, since it will eat into my shopping time. Today marks my last shopping day. I intend to "drag" my friend back home Singapore with me... just a joke... she has work to do.

See you all back home soon, miss you all, hope you all miss me too! Home sweet home! Nothing beats home! Ciao! Jesus loves you all!

Coming Home Soon!

I am now at Apple Store using one of their ibook to check my emails and blog. I am leaving for home on thursday, finally. Kinda of missing home, and there are so many temptations all around, so many things to buy, yet when I convert it back to my currency back home, oh-no, no way. So i am trying very hard to be thrifty, yet there are so many beautiful toys, clothes, muscials etc....

Did I mention I watched another musical, "Mary Poppins", and it is really great, in fact much better than "Beauty and the Beast". I am not sure should I go for another musical, just as I would very much want to or should I control?

I have almost finished every place I want to visit except for Chelsea, which I will be heading to later, once I finished this blog. That is the place of art galleries, so I am heading there soon. Just a while ago, I was caught in the land of toys, can anyone help me find out if Singapore sells the special collector's set of Disney Monopoly? It looks so good.... not sure if to buy or not.... And there are many old memories, toys of the past that my brothers they all would have played, I think.

And better to pen this down, my friend and I saw a shooting of a movie at Columbus Circle 2 weeks ago, the title of the show is "I am a Legend". Maybe we maybe caught in the background.

A good news, my friend passed her test! She just smsed me! Yeah! I am so happy! God is good all the time!

Finally, not to mention, I visited Washington DC over the Friday weekend, and made a friend.... ok ... all the thoughts sound so fragmented, because I am typing whatever comes to my mind, don't want to hold on to the ibook for too long, paiseh lah! See you all soon, Jesus loves me and loves you! Tata!

Already Half My Trip

It's been almost a week since I last wrote. It was quite an eventful week.Received a call from my mom, really miss home when I heard her voice, love you, mom.

I just came back from Niagara Falls on Tuesday night, the weather was not so good for the 2nd day, and to be honest, I was quite disappointed, yet I know all things work together for good still. Despite of it all, Niagara Falls is magnificent, so beautiful, beyond words, no picture or photograph can ever capture the immense power and majesty of the falls, you have to see it, feel it, and then imprint it in your memory forever. If ever a chance arises, I would want to see it again, but I would want to stay on the Canadian side, to see the falls in daylight, not at night this time. (I saw from both NY and Canadian Sides, but the latter only at night.)

The events before this,I visited Guggenheim Museum, and saw Zaha Hadid's exhibition of her works in the past 20-30 years, I forgot. Frankly speaking, I was never a fan of her, never really understand the philosophy behind her work. But this exhibition was a great eye opener to me, she is a woman architect who has been very persistent in pursuing her dream, despite of the fact that many of her works were only on papers, only until recent years, she has some of her projects built. I am beginning to understand her work, every piece is like an art, opening up to you with unexpected spaces. I was awed by the exhibition, one of the best I have seen during my trip here, not to mention that I was caught up in the spiral Guggenheim design by FLW, it is so beautiful, a very clever piece of architecture, its spaces engages you in and out of spaces.

My dear friend, despite of her upcoming test, brought me around to see Chinatown, Soho, Morgan Library, Prada shop by Rem Koolhaas and Apple Shop, Hearst Building, during the weekend. Many are so powerful in their architectural statement, some as an insertion, some loud and almost signature as their creators. Thanks pal. I had a wonderful time too with you at Niagara Falls, I am pretty quiet by nature on the bus, hope it didn't shock you, just not to feel giddy, that is why.

Strange as it sounds, I have fulfilled 2 reasons why I come, to rest, to see and learn more, yet the most important is yet to be fulfilled, I have yet spent some really long quiet, serene time totally alone with the Lord to hear from Him. Just manage to be quiet with Him for a few minutes here and there. However, this is what I am going to do, this Friday and Saturday I hope. I have booked a trip to Washington DC tomorrow, for 2 days, hoping to also give my friend some room to study for her test this Monday, I pray my Papa God gives her great wisdom and guidance, thanks.

Lastly, to end off the note here, I watched a beautiful musical yesterday, "Beauty and the Beast", at half price TKTS' ticket. It was enchanting, almost addicted, I hope I get to watch Les Miserables (not sure if I spelt it correctly) on 24 Oct, when it opens again in NY, just in time before I leave for home. Musical truly can get one addicted to them, bringing you into a dreamy state, just that it is too expensive a form of pastime...B, you want the Les Miserables' cd if I happen to see? If want, sms me, no promise though.

Love ya, my family and friends! see you all soon, I am already starting to miss home and church services... I miss my pastor's teachings, when I listen to my mp3, I can almost feel home.... love ya!

Short Update

Just a short one, I suppose, so as to document what I did. I went to Union Square yesterday, followed by Wall Street, visited the Trinity Church there, and by God's grace, happened to be on time for a free concert at 1pm, by Manchester Chamber Orchestra. The sky looked pretty gloomy that day, so I was thinking of going to American Museum of Natural History to look at dinosaurs, to at least just stay indoor in case if it rained, but just as I came out of the church, the sky was blue and sunny. So I changed plan, went to Empire State Building to take a look at beautiful NY from above.

I went Macy window shopping, checking out the things and prices, according to advertisement, Macy is the largest shopping centre..."in the world", wait till those huge shopping centres in Dubai and China come up... Then it was already about 530pm, I rushed to the Empire State Building, to be in time to catch both the before sunset and night time NY. I have gotten the "City Pass", that allows me to go 5 listed attractions within 9 days at a much lesser price, and with this pass, I can actually jump queue, in fact twice, at the security check and the ticketing booth, praise the Lord! I may have only taken less than half or even quarter of the time what a normal tourist would need to advance that fast in the queue. So take my advice, get the City Pass next time you visit United States, they seem to have different one for different states, but really cheaper and useful. I caught a bit of NY before sunset, but as the cloud did not clear in the distant, I did not see the sun, sob...

Just a quick update, not sure if I would log on over the weekend, so to keep my loved ones posted, I will be visiting Guggenheim Museum and American Museum of Natural History today, and departing for Canada's Niagaras Falls on Monday morning and be back on Tuesday evening. Doing some laundry tomorrow, and perhaps go Chinatown with my friend over the weekend, will be really fun.

So, everyone, our dearest Shepherd keeps you all strong and healthy! Ciao!

God Is Good!

Enough of talking about pay back time on the enemy. 5th day since I arrived, the hardest is slowly passing, jet lag and all, the worst has passed. 2 days ago, I went to MET (a museum), while trying to consume all the artworks, I guess it must have been the jet lag and the whole day on the ship and hot sun the day before, I felt quite sick, and I quickly rush home to sleep, since I was only getting about 4 hours sleep previously for 2-3 nights. Waking up in the early evening, thinking I should be well, I decided to visit the Grand Central Terminal and catching the Empire State Building at sunset. On the way to the 2nd destination, I knew I could not make it to the top as I felt like throwing up, and I rushed back to the subway to go home. Yet to my dismay, I vomited on the train, thank God with a paper bag in hand, and that I ate only just breakfast, so there was not much substance....(Keep me in prayer hor, dear friends!)

Yet last night I had a good 7 hours sleep, only waking up at almost 6am, what a breakthrough, thank God my body is slowly adjusting to it. How strange our bodies actually have a routine of its own, and it really takes quite a bit to adjust. This speaks of life, how much more we need to be renewed in our thinking, from pessimism, from depression and guilt, to constant hearing of the affirming word of Papa God, which is most important!

Yesterday was quite a dramatic day, and it rained, so I got to have backup plan B. Today isn't that sunny either. Sigh! I had a good time walking along 5th Avenue, window shopping, and my visit to MoMA (another museum) was great! Not so much being entertained by the paintings, though I enjoyed tremendously, but more by the building itself. I love its simple elegance of black and white, the internal minimalist effect, with clean sleek form, huge immense volume of space, grand and yet a sense of not too overpowering, good old architectural planning, and well crafted details typical of the Japanese, as it is by a Japanese architect. I love the courtyard exhibition space, and for once, the use of marble was most appropriate here I felt. (This last part has to be added, as my boss changed some of the finishes in one of my projects to white marble, which I was a bit apprehensive about, not really appropriate there, though I can't put a word to it, but my feel for it just isn't right.) This puts me to thinking, I have been trying with many style of designing, being a young architect, we experiment and learn by imitating masters, their style, their effect, with no logical reasons but simply for beauty sake, which I sometimes adhor. Do we actually need a style, a language of our own? In fact, many world renowned architects have developed their own style or language and just by looking at the form or space, we can boldly guess it almost right who is the creator of a building.

Yet there is also another school, no style, but site generated, concept motivated, though this school is often less famous, as they don't produce iconic buildings (buildings that catch your attention at first glance), but rather one that engages you slowly, to fall in love with it. I love this type, as it cannot bore you, just that it takes longer to get someone to walk in and give it a chance. I think I prefer to develop along this line, no style, but space and planning orientated, and the facade is all about creating an ambience within, with good detailing, though this will definitely take a longer path than an iconic methodology, yet I wish to stand in the position of the users of the building, rather than an onlooker... selah. At least for now, I may change my mind again...

Sorry for boring you with my job. Now back to the dramatic incident which I have yet written about. Yesterday was 11 October, exactly a month after September 11. I received a call from my worried friend while I was at MoMA, whom I am staying with, she was concerned that I could be at home, just like what I did the day before, due to jet lag, as there was a plane that crashed into a building 2 blocks (2 streets) away from where we are staying! She was so concerned, wanting to be sure I was okay and wanting to meet me to go home together as we are not even sure if we can make it home that night, as most probably the road was blocked, and at that moment, we were still not so sure what was the actual cause of it. But come to think of it, so close, I knew in my heart, a thousand shall fall at my side and 10 thousand at my right hand but it shall come near me! Thank God I was well and up running yesterday! I maybe pretty shocked if I stayed at home, hearing the crash. My God is good! My Shepherd is with me, yeah? Yeah!

The Initial Thoughts...

This is the 3rd day I have arrived in NY. I am still adjusting to it, especially in terms of timing, "suffering" from jet lag, waking up in the wee hours of the night at 4, 5am, so widely awake for the past 2 days. During those moments, been thinking a lot, re-thinking a lot, adjusting, re-focusing life purpose. I would not elaborate too much, after all I did not want to bore my friends with them.

The flight here was undescribable, pray with me for an upgrade. To be cooped up in the plane for 12 hours was no joke, no place to stretch my legs, no where to turn... and most of the movies shown on board was what I have already watched in Singapore. Yet I am grateful, for the smooth flight, and the unfailing assurance from Jesus' word "let's go over to the other side."

My dear friend's place is great, cosy and nice, and she showers me with so much "love actions", pumped up my mattress, prepare my breakfast, and most of all, cook up a delicious dinner for me, I was touched, though I didn't say, I am not a person good with spoken word, but indeed am touched, thanks, pal, though not sure if she will ever read this.

Yesterday began the first day of my adventure. Taking things slowly, I got to learn to take the subway. Had a morning walk along Brooklyn Bridge, and the view was quite cool. Followed by a trip to Liberty Island to see Miss Liberty and Ellis Island, and got to understand a bit of the American's history, sound so similar to our forefathers' story who came over from China. Yet I enjoyed it, the excellence in their museum amazes me, the enthusiasm by the local tourists with headsets and all, they are really here to learn, gain knowledge, it humbles me. (Though the ship ride was quite... I felt like puking...)

I had quite a thought provoking visit to Ground Zero after that. In fact, I was quite filled with emotions, tears filled my heart, though I am not an American, yet I could almost feel the lost, the pain, the agony that went through. The entire display of the event was simple, yet powerful. This was to have an effect on my thought in the wee hours of the night.

With the thought of a friend urging me to take a look at Time Square at night, even though I mentioned I would not want to venture out at night too much, I decided to drop by, since I got to change a train there. It was truly quite amazing, the last time I saw something like that was in Tokyo 6 years ago. The light, the vibrancy, the night life etc, wow.... I must go back for a musical, at least one. And I visited the Toys 'R' Us flagship shop, really quite amazing, a place I will definitely go back again to grab somethings home.

Finally I come to write why I am writing my journal today, not just to keep my loved ones informed of my happenings (B, do tell my mom what's happening to me, and my siblings, thanks). So far, I have drawn 2 illustrations, but not coloured, and no scanner around, so can't post them till I am back, most likely will be in B&W, since at this rate of drawing, I would have produce about 20 or more illustrations by the time I am back, how to colour them all?

The recent event that took place back home 2 months ago, left my heart feeling down, exhausted for a while, therefore, I escape here for a breather. During the early morning of the day when I was wide awake in the dark, I thought through a lot. My Lord must have been wanting to speak to me for quite some time, and the story of John the Baptist's death, how Jesus went quietly aside to be alone, and yet people came streaming to Him while He must be feeling sad at that moment, He had compassion and healed all those who came to Him, like the Chinese saying "hua4 bei1 fen4 wei2 li4 liang4" (convert grieve into strength) jumps up at me. Jesus is never defeated. I am not making myself equal as Him, but I took courage, no way will I be stepped all over by the past. It is not over yet, the enemy better watch out and be on his toes, cos my Shepherd will surely gain back many times more than what was lost! Though I can't understand why such a thing happen, even for September 11, one thing I am sure, all things will surely turn around for good, and cheers, we are born winners, we aren't going to be trodden down! That's it, I am awakened!

Holiday Time

I am embarking on my trip in less than 18 hours' time. This is the first time in my life, to fly over the biggest ocean, Pacific Ocean (quite malu to say though). The thought of being coop up in the plane and airport (transit) for more than 20 hours did put me off slightly at first, even now, as I think of what I should do on the plane. I brought my beloved bible, a book, mp3 player, sketch book, note book, and not sure what else, plus on board entertainment, should be able to keep me occupied for that 20 hours there, and another 20 hours back at the end of the month. (Plus my Shepherd with me...hmmmm...)

Even now, I am still wondering if I should bring my laptop along, though the thought of its weight did deter me a great deal, yet I only has a small sling bag that I am bringing with me on the plane, so the sheer weight of it should not be too much. I am in a dilemma... any advice? I can do a lot of research if I have my laptop with me...(I like to do word search online....) sigh, what should I do? There should be an invention, a very small light laptop, size of a handphone, that can be enlarged by a press on a button.

While I am away, my dear family, nieces and nephews, do visit grandma, ok? Or give her a ring on the phone! Also, I will be delighted to receive smses from friends, though not necessary phone calls, knowing the time difference is quite big! But do pardon me if I did not reply, you all will always be on my mind.

And hope you all have a wonderful time today at the gathering at the dear couple's place, though I would very much want to join you all, but spending time with my beloved mom (now), just by being at home is far more important and I know you all understand! Just heard a song by Jay Chou on MTV today, title about his mom, though I am not a great fan of his, (most of his songs sound very similar to me), yet I was caught by surprised and almost touched to tears by that song, the simple lyrics, the second greatest love in the world: our parents' unconditional love for us.

See you all in 3 weeks' time! But I will write my blog and hopefully post some cartoon illustrations from NY! Jesus loves you all!

Back To Basic

My Saturday morning routine is always a nice simple breakfast time with my mom, followed by reading the papers, which I only do once a week. Weekdays are too hectic for paper reading, so I chose to read the thickest set (which I always feel is the condensed set of the week), that is the Saturday’s papers, especially my 2 favourite sections: Saturday and Life!. Special report for today is on the yellow ribbon project, which somehow seems to be in the flow with my string of thoughts for the week. Been thinking about the youth, their lifestyles, their actions, many such acts are viewed as irresponsible, attention seeking, self-hurting and filled with unthinkable consequences. I thought of my teenage niece and nephews, their generation of young people. A short span of concern floods into my mind unconsciously at times when I witness their acts, that I almost forgot to cast them to the Lord, who loves them more than I do. As I read the report, I am back again to the same simple conclusion, down to the simple basic,

unconditional love + unconditional acceptance = extraordinary life

Lives are very vulnerable. Every human has an inner desire, seeking for love and acceptance from family, friends, peers, teachers, etc. If they are unable to receive love and acceptance, they would go to the other extreme, to agitate, to provoke, to upset. Yet I believe, many are not satisfied, many experience an emptiness within, which unknown to them, can only be satisfied by the Shepherd’s love. Many broken lives, heartaches, etc can be turned around if they know that Someone, the Greatest Being loves them despite of their imperfection, accepts them with no conditions attached. Many have a misunderstanding of the wonderful love story of the Shepherd and the sheep, if only all are to catch a glimpse of it, even just a tiny glimpse of it. I believe that there is no problem too big in this world that cannot be overcome once the comprehension of this great love is caught. The gospel of love: back to basic: unconditional love.

Since the day I made up my mind for my holiday destination, my stomach of butterflies has slowly been transformed into anticipation and excitement (must be because of the prayers of all dear friends), looking forward to all that I will be seeing. I zapped the maps, colored the places I wanted to see, and wow, I wonder if my 2.5 weeks are sufficient to finish all, plus the fact that I want a slow restful holiday. Been feeling so restless since August or much earlier, a need to retreat into Him suddenly seems more urgent than before as the days went by. I have little time for Him everyday, being bogged down by work and daily routine, so this holiday season shall be a break with Him, a time to restore my body, soul and spirit.

The second reason is, I think it is finally time to let go, a time to completely trust the Lord. Let me be a bit vulnerable, to speak my mind freely here. The day my superman assistant joined my team, an unconscious insecurity crept into my life, which I only begin to detect recently. I am agitated whenever I am challenged by him, his capability, his talent. An unknowing fear crept in, that my design will not be accepted but his instead, or that I would end up assisting him, fulfilling his design vision…I was fearful that as a result I would have less chance of designing. How scary our imagination can be? And even if that really happens, what does it matter? All things will surely turn around for our good…. And the desire of the righteous shall be granted.

The third reason is I need to go out and learn more, see more. There are times I feel, like the Chinese saying, a frog in the well, know so little, seen so little. (Plus my artist-friends gave me that picture, is that meant to be …? Joke lah, thanks for the picture, but I still dare not bring it home, I don’t want to scare my mom.) Yap, I want to learn more, absorb like a sponge all the beautiful visuals that I would encounter in this trip, storing up in my memory harddisk a library of designs, as future vocabulary to readapt, remodel and use!

Finally, why the above illustration? When I was deciding to choose between Beijing or NY for my holiday, I kept seeing myself sitting at Central Park reading, enjoy my simple quiet time with my Shepherd. (The illustration is a re-adaptation of Forrest Gump.)

Prata Meal

Today I went to the tree-top walk again, but with another group of dear friends. Interesting to know that a few actually do not like suspended bridge, very strange reaction came from a few of them... I believe this is the first time we gang of friends venture into such an activity that is so healthy... other than church, karaoke and food. It was fun, let us conquer Sungei Buloh next? Hope we have lost a couple of kg in the process, but then, the roti prata meal that we had after the walk would most likely have upset the weight lost. Hope you all like the prata illustration above, notice the hand on the right bottom corner? Guess who is with us all the time?

So many things have happened recently, or it seems like so many things, or the repercussions from just one thing, that I lost sight of some of the good things that happened around me. Yes, indeed I have been blessed in my work, despite of the seemingly increased number of administrative workload. The assistant I was horrified with, had finally left and a new one has joined my team for about 3 weeks. I was initially quite concerned that this new one would be the same as the old, but all thank to Papa God, this one turns out to be quite good after all, God knows my limitation and level of patience. Now as I looked at my team, I have a superfast 3d design expert architect, excellent administrative project architect, and 2 willing to learn cum hardworking assistants, I am truly contented, with the 4 of them, I almost feel we can conquer most tasks... and so I can go for my long holiday break, with no worry at all, because they will be able to handle everything well while I am away. Thank Papa God for them!

For several weeks, I have been deliberating as to where to go for a break this year, finding it so hard to find a travel partner at the last minute. Even willing friends and family members either didn't want to go to the places I wished to visit or unable to get leave from work. (Thank God I have a good boss, that I believe he will definitely approve my leave no matter what, come to think of it, I am truly blessed.) I considered joining a package tour alone, but it does sound really pathetic, one most likely will feel more "lonely" in a crowd than when truly alone. So yes after deep thoughts, I bought a ticket to NY, flying alone there, and bunk in with a friend who has kindly let me stay at her place while I am there. Thanks truly, friend, if you happen to read this, though I am not sure if you would. However, most of the time I will roam around alone, which does sound pretty exciting to me, though there are butterflies in my stomach now whenever I think about it, as this is the first time I travelled so far alone, but I know my Shepherd will be with me at all times. (Though I have gone to China on several occasions alone for work, it was just a few hours away by flight and China is a place where I always feel very comfortable with.)

Yet, I believe this will truly be a great time of refreshing for me, having 2.5 weeks in NY, I will take on a really slow holiday, on a real budget though, perhaps having to cook or just 2 meals a day, and may finally have a time to sketch and even paint over there. Perhaps I should bring my littlelamb series of postcard illustrations and sell along the street? Each at US$5-10 to earn some pocket money? And I would definitely go visit my dream, Niagara Falls in Canada. And all dear friends, do keep me in prayer for the month of October, while I venture to NY alone! I know my Shepherd is with me always!

Too Beautiful

I have been listening to this album “Too Beautiful” for a couple of weeks. It is definitely quite different, not loud and outstanding as the previous, which is not necessarily a bad thing, in fact almost too soft, and would definitely need time to digest, understand, and slowly likes it, perhaps a bit like wine.

I would say that this album came at a very appropriate time, to me at least. The past few weeks were not exactly time I would want to relive again, in fact it is a memory that I wished to erase or forget if possible. When my thoughts were overwhelmed with grief and questions, the album came almost like a gentle breeze, and I almost mistook several of the songs as gospel songs, or were they actually conceived as such but not openly proclaim? I wonder.

I first got to hear this song “Too Beautiful” at about 1140pm one night, when a dear friend informed me that it will be broadcast over TV. Nothing spectacular or deeply impressed I was with my first encounter. But being a “fan”, I bought the album days later anyway, and slowly began to digest the songs. Yet through the past few difficult weeks I went through, this song has the effect of momentarily freeing my mind from the circumstances around me, and the image that stands before me is my Lord, my Shepherd as I savored the song. Strange as it sounds, part of the song actually painted the above illustration in my imagination.

The song starts very gently, almost surreal, as if you are standing before a huge, still lake. And as the lyric gently unfolds, it speaks of the love of Someone, who never gives up, stands by you, and even with repeated mistakes on our part, this Person never leaves, making life worth living. How great this Person must be, who can melt a heart of ice…. I was overwhelmed, because in life, I believe there is no other who can be so, except our beloved Shepherd. (Put a link here, you may want to hear it for yourself, but the website only covers half the song, better buy one to listen, but please be reminded that this album needs time and patience to slowly savor it. http://www.davidtao.com/beautiful/ )

There is another song that rings a bell “So Beautiful”. Strange as it sounds, it seems to describe a female character initially, yet as you slowly digest the song, it has a bit of “Song of songs” effect in it, and as you look at the lyrics, the Chinese character “you” is a “male you”. The description of the Person in the song, about Someone altogether lovely, and strangely, the image of John leaning on the bosom of Jesus is painted in my mind. It speaks of Someone strong yet gentle, lovely as silk, forever beautiful. Speaking of being loved by this Person is an enjoyment, and to think of this Person is pure luxury. Honestly, as I listened to it a few more times, I am reminded again and again the loveliness of the Shepherd. Very powerful indeed.

Guess enough is said, it is not meant to be an album review, just want to mention a few songs that have helped me through a very difficult time. Thank God for them! And I am glad to say, I have come out of it all! Life is worth living because of Him, Jesus!

Waiting

Not sure if any of you remembered one of my very old entries on 18 January this year? It is about a bag that I wanted to buy, but it went out of stock. You know what? I saw a very similar one recently at the same brand shop a few days ago, and today I went to get it. I believed it was cheaper than the last time when I wanted to get it. It taught me a very precious lesson, about waiting patiently and not be discouraged. I remembered I wanted it so badly then, yet with all my might, I could not have it. Despite of that, my Papa God has answered my prayer a few months later, though now I knew I can live without it, I bought it anyway, as it taught me something. Some incidents we viewed as disappointments in life may in fact turn out to be real blessings later on when we look back. In life, I know if we are willing to wait, we will never be put to shame, especially when we have already cast all our cares unto our Shepherd, who loves us so much that He gave His life for us. We only need to wait, it will surely come to pass.

I was not feeling exactly uplifted or joyous recently, despite constant reminder that my name is written in the Lamb's book of Life. And I have been looking for escape or refuge, and I think a little break will surely do me much good, a break that I have been wanting since last month, with the accumulated work pressure that I must have imposed on myself,etc that happened. Just pray that I would have the courage to travel alone this time since no travel friend is in sight for this time round. In fact, I know I will not be alone for my Shepherd is with me. Papa God gives me courage.

Sometimes, the people you least expected bring you the greatest laughter. This was exactly what happened today, having a simple Uno game with my niece and nephews, we have the noisiest fun I ever had for the longest time (2 months?), perhaps finally laughing from within me, forgetting the past for that brief moment, putting powder on the faces of the losers of the game, taking pictures, etc, the simple pleasure of being with your loved ones. How simple the game was, but how powerful and full of impact the joy of being with my family. Lastly, just a reminder, Jesus our joy, and His love comes through the people He placed around us.