Category: the otnaicus daily

And so I have experienced my first real earthquake. Not those minor little tremors that Singapore may get and you’ll only feel if your 50 storeys above the ground. I mean real tremors that you can feel at 5 storeys above ground. The type that rattles things and things can fall off shelves and stuff. The type that is strong enough to wake you up in the middle of the night. And I experienced not only one, but two! In the span of 5 minutes!

Thank God the quake wasn’t centred in Taipei but a city called Hualien which is a few hundred kilometres away. First quake measured 5.7. Really interesting experience. First reaction I had was to dive under the table but that felt silly so I did nothing but to hold on to the edges of the table I was at. As if that would really do any good. Second reaction was to run outside and downstairs and wait it out, lest the building collapsed on me. But in the end, I just sat there and waited it out, praying that nothing serious will come off it.

But seriously, I’m fine and am over it. Just that for a while after the quake, I felt as if the world was still moving around me. Until the next time, cheers… Þ

Which to get?? Anyway, the picture speaks for itself…. Cheers… :Þ

Edit: I’m leaning towards iPod touch. SGD798 for the 16GB version. I don’t mind iPod classic either. SGD428 for 60G. Any sponsors? :Þ

The week back in Singapore has flown by just like that. And I’m now back in Taipei. I can only wish that I had more time here in Singapore. I know for sure that I’ll miss Debbie so much when I go back there. It just feels so nice to be able to be with her, to go out with her, to touch her… But I also believe in God to know that even as we are apart, that God will bring us closer through the distance. This has been belief, this is my belief and this will always be my belief.

I did something a little out of the ordinary last Friday. Bought a bear from Build-A-Bear Workshop that’s located at Suntec City. Meant it as a surprise for Debbie but forgot that I’ll be meeting her for a movie after the outing with my colleagues. All worked out well. Debbie asked me to go to her house to get a jacket for her as we will be watching a movie (Evan Almighty; more on that below). So I just asked her mum to place it in her room. And I achieved the goal of surprising her. See the top of the post for the picture and the bear has a birth certificate as pictured to the left.

So I caught Evan Almighty with Debbie. It’s supposed to be a sequel to Bruce Almighty. This time the theme is building an Ark. The director of the movie is Catholic and so Christian/Catholic themes were very much abound in the movie. They are subtle, but definitely present. One quote that really caught my attention is this:

Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?

The quote is so true isn’t it? A lot of times we think that God will just drop the thing we have prayed for into our laps. We pray for a car, we expect the car to appear in the garage the next day. We pray for a way out of financial difficulty, we expect a million dollars in our accounts the next day. We pray for good job, we expect the job offer to be in the mail. That’s usually our reaction. That was a kind of revelation for me as I was watching the movie. Cool eh? Common grace at work….

Well, I’m headed back to work. Lunch hour is over and I have some documents to deliver on top of programming work that has to be done. So until the next time, cheers… :Þ

The Bourne Ultimatum. The verdict: good action, nice storyline, good plot. But the director has to seriously consider using TRIPODS!!!! It’s nice to have that organic shake that only a handheld camera can produce but when action scenes start, that’s when the puke-fest can start too. Doesn’t help that the cameras were, at times, too close to the subjects during those action scenes. I had to close my eyes during some of these scenes to avoid making a mess in the cinema. My advice: if you’re prone to motion sickness, sit far far far away from the screen.

Back to life. It’s been quite a busy week so far. A lot of things to cover and a lot more to come. Time is flying and I wish it shouldn’t fly so fast. Don’t really want to go back to Taiwan. Going to miss lots of people, and at the very top of that list is Debbie. And at not a very fantastic time for her either. Wish I could remain here to be with her as she transitions into her new job.

And the “best” thing happened this morning. I was supposed to meet up with a client to do some support work. I was on my way to his office on a cab when he rang at 9.30am (appointment was at 10am) and said he had to postpone it to tomorrow. Call earlier lah for crying out loud!!! Waste time and waste money only lor. Argh…..

Okay, enough ranting. Gotta head back to work. Tonnes of programming to do. Until the next time, cheers… Þ

And so I am back in Singapore. Very very happy indeed, to be able to come back and see all the people I’ve missed for an entire month. Nothing beats being home. And I pray that the time passes slowly.

It has been pretty busy since I got back. Went to watch “不能说的秘密” on Friday with Debbie. It’s a pretty good show, although the ending was a bit eerie. Cannot reveal what happened. Must go and watch for yourself or I would have totally ruined the movie for you. The story, which was written by Jay Chou, is a good one. And for his directorial debut, certainly not a bad job done. Worth to watch if you’re someone who likes love stories.

Saturday was the usual church and duty and dinner/supper with the TV people. Sunday was a photo shoot that was arranged almost a month ago. Helped a friend’s girlfriend to do a outdoor graduation shoot with her family. I must admit that I was pretty nervous before the shoot as I have not done such shoots before. But it turned out pretty well and had a good time with her family. Walked around a few usual locations to shoot and I think the pictures turned out rather well. Now to process them before I head back to Taipei.

Guess that’s all for now. I have to get back to work and will update soon. Until then, cheers… Þ

Another week has gone by. I can’t wait till next Friday. That is when I leave my Taipei apartment in the morning at 5am, board a cab that will take me to Taoyuan International Airport, check-in, and wait to board a plane back to Singapore. Heh, I know I could have said it in one short sentence but that’s how much I’m looking forward to next Friday.

Finally found some time and motivation to solve some of the broken link and missing pages problem that the blog has been having. And at the same time, I’ve updated the header pictures. Have been wanting to do that ever since migrating over from Blogger to my own WordPress site. The images are more personal now, don’t you think? Haha..

The past week hasn’t been so hectic. I’ve been doing some reading up and research that continues to this day. The task that is placed in front of me is quite daunting. It’s a new challenge to me, and it’s a challenge that I intend to defeat. So I’m putting time and effort into trying to solve the problem. Uphill task? Yes. Insurmountable task? I don’t think so, not with God by my side.

Had fun last weekend at church. Saturday was interesting because we, as in the TV Ministry in New Life Church (NLC), put together a scaffold so that we could climb up to adjust the lights. That involved a lot of shouting because the band was practising at the same time. And then I was almost blinded because I had to walk around on stage and stare at the lights to make sure the aim was alright. But it was worth it. The lighting is much more even now, though it ain’t perfect yet.

And Sunday was even better. NLC had a ministry recruitment fair after service at their premises. And so the TV and Sound people combined powers and set up a booth to mimic a studio, complete with a blue screen. And then we used the mixer to key out the blue and place a background. Why fun? Because I got to see the crazier side of them. Beginning to notice a trend here. Do all TV ministry people have a second “personality”? Then of course, we had the privilege of Wing, Liu Geng Hong and Vivi stopping by and singing a couple of songs. That was definitely a huge crowd draw. Tiring Sunday, but nonetheless, very fun.

Another weekend is approaching. Hopefully, I’ll find the discipline on Friday night to sleep early so that I can have a good long night’s sleep. Another typhoon, this time bigger and much more powerful, is also headed here. And of course, I’m still looking forward to next Friday!

Until next time, cheers… :Þ

Here’s a video of a little girl reciting Psalm 23 (from memory I think). Very cute. Gives a new meaning to the phrase “child-like faith”. Enjoy…

My sister introduced me to this site, GodTube.com. It’s an interesting site where it’s the Christian world’s answer to YouTube. I found 3 videos that I would like to share. It’s a parody of the PC/Mac advertisements that Apple has but it shows the contrast between a contemporary Christian and a “religious” Christian. Pretty cool. Check it out below…

Yeah, like the title of this edition, the typhoon was exactly that. So “exciting” that it was rather non-existent, save the torrential rain that we had over Taipei yesterday night. And I went out to the balcony a couple of times expecting to hear howling winds as soon as I opened the door but all I felt was….. stillness….. And this morning was bright and sunny outside.

So I found out from CNN (yes, my apartment has cable TV) that the worst hit part of Taiwan was the central and southern portion. The typhoon kind of sidestepped Taipei, although we could still feel the side effects in the form of heavy rain. Seems to be another one headed this way again and it looks bigger.

Since I’m at it, a quick update. This week has been rather quiet. Trying to catch up with backlogged work and not succeeding very well. Yesterday was a bit more productive but spent a lot of time on the phone talking with my colleagues in China taking them through a web design. Then, still on the phone, clarifying doubts with colleagues who are now back in Singapore. And left rather early yesterday night to get home before the heavy rain started.

Going to try to get some work done now before afternoon meetings start. Okay, actually only one meeting. So until the next edition, cheers… :Þ