Category: the otnaicus daily

Time flies and I’m into my second week in Taipei for this stint. Pray that the time flies even faster now. Can’t wait to get back to Singapore.

Went down to New Life Church last weekend on both Saturday and Sunday. I was there on Saturday to attend a rehearsal for a drama performance. Main purpose? To help out their TV ministry when it comes to drama performances. The drama has a pretty abstract storyline and I’m still trying to grasp it even after watching it two times. But it has been postponed to next week.

And Sunday? I was there to attend service and help out in the ministry. And because the church is renting a hall for their Sunday services, I helped them teardown after the service and shift their equipment back to their premises. So the Sunday turned out like any other Sunday I would have in Singapore. Early mornings and by the time we’re done in church, it’s after 3pm.

I’m going down to help out in their training class after work today. I hope language won’t be much of an issue. And I definitely need to find a cheaper way to get to the church aside from taking a cab. It’s approximately SGD20 both ways. *gulp*

Work at the moment is at a low point. All the meetings have stopped for now, except for the regular weekly update meetings. The required documents have been delivered and are now being reviewed. So I’m back to being able to do the stuff that I have backlogged. At least, I have the evenings to myself. For now…

Going out now for lunch and it’s back to work later. Until the next time, cheers… Þ

It’s the end of Wednesday. It has been a long week so far. Late nights. Long meetings. The works. So you get a vague idea on how my first 3 days back in Taiwan is like. But I thank God for His strength and perseverance.

Have not been  getting enough sleep the past few days because of the rush to get a particular document ready. I do hope that there’s nothing much to do tonight. At least can relax one night. It’s way too tiring to continue on like that but some people seem to be able to do it. For me, I can’t.

Something I find irritating struck me while in a meeting today. Why is that when we are so close to finalizing stuff, another person steps in and gives tonnes of input and expects us to work miracle literally overnight? I understand that the person might have tonnes of other meetings to attend but why not just bring out your opinions and suggestions and “bright” ideas out earlier? Why can’t that person put himself into our shoes? Does he think that I have 48 hours to a day? Just strikes me as weird and very irritating. And worse is that, he keeps on saying that it’s his last suggestion or it’s the last stage but that doesn’t ever seem to be true. Argh!!!!

Okay… Enough venting… And I’m not going to revisit that. Just needed to get it off my chest. I really do hope that I can leave the office soon. And I’m praying very hard that the next 3.5 weeks will fly by painlessly.

Until the next time, cheers… :Þ

A week in Singapore flew by just like that. And now, I’m back in Taipei.

Had an extremely fruitful time back in Singapore. Went out for dinner with my cell group mates, spent quality time with Debbie, served in ministry, attended services, etc. Basically had a good time away from the meetings that are happening in Taipei. But of course, I couldn’t get away from the work that has been lined up for me, so I still worked as hard while I was in the office.

SPOILER ALERT up next!!!!

Finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in about 5 days. The storyline is quite complex, having the main characters jumping from task to task. So one has to follow closely and lose track else you would be wondering what happened before that lead to this. I must say that the ending is a bit anti-climatic. I think majority of fans were expecting a worse ending than what had happened. But I liked the epilogue. Overall, not a bad book. I found myself struggling to remember what happened in Half-Blood Prince whenever references were made back to the previous books. I have got to read Half-Blood Prince again!

I’m back in Taipei until 24 August. It was more of a struggle for me to come back this time round. But thank God for His strength. And by His strength, I shall plough forward and see the end of this project. I just pray and hope that everything will go smoothly and finish on schedule. Hopefully, I can spend New Year’s, if not Christmas, back in Singapore.

Heading back to work now. I’ll try to find time to post in the midst of the busyness here. Until the next time, cheers… :Þ

Been a couple of days since I got back to Singapore. Have been having quite a fun time meeting up with friends and catching up. Was in church on Saturday and directed a service. Then went out for dinner and drinks with friends. It feels good to be back in Singapore.

Aside from the fun, I had to put in some extra hours yesterday night and tonight to get some work done. I don’t know why, but yesterday night I suddenly felt overwhelmed by this project. It felt like I’m in way over my head and I’m not up to handling this project at all. I had a good mind to call my boss and ask him to take me off this project. I don’t know… Maybe it feels good to be home and I don’t feel like heading back to Taipei. Felt better today but the nagging feeling is still there. I seriously hope it doesn’t get worse.

Well, I’m off to get some work done before heading off to bed. Got a service to attend tomorrow and I want to get this done before I head to bed. Oh, and one more thing… I got the final Harry Potter book today and have started reading it. So far, it looks promising but I won’t give away anything. Go read it for yourself.

Until the next time, cheers… Þ

It’s over. And it was fantastic. Even though I was only there for the evening sessions, it was enough for me to experience the move of God and the passion that the youth in Taiwan have for revival and to bring the Gospel to the lost. And I definitely had fun with the people who were here, fun with directing and fun meeting new people. In short, Taiwan Emerge 2007 was a one great experience for me. Hopefully, next year I will have the chance to come here and do it all over again. And for the next new experience: KL Emerge!

And so I’m at the airport completing this post. I’ll be headed back to Singapore for a week to renew my visa. It’s going to be great back at home. Miss church, miss friends and miss serving in ministry. It’ll also be a good break away from the heat of things. Frankly speaking, getting sick of all the meetings that I have to attend. Of course, the main purpose of these meetings is to gather information and update on progress of work. But I’m 101% sure that there is a side purpose, and that is to drain the life out of you. Seriously, I have no motivation to work after a day of meeetings.

Believe it or not, this post has taken me one week to complete. I started writing it on the Sunday after Taiwan Emerge and I’m only finishing it up now at the airport while waiting for my flight to Singapore. Looking ahead, it looks like a busy week in Singapore also. But I hope to be able to spend plenty of time with Debbie.

I guess that’s it for now. Want to walk around a bit before I head to the boarding gate. Until the next time, cheers… Þ

A test that I took on a whim simply because I may have been bored. But it reflects quite well on my personality.

Your Five Factor Personality Profile

Extroversion: You have low extroversion. You are quiet and reserved in most social situations. A low key, laid back lifestyle is important to you. You tend to bond slowly, over time, with one or two people. Conscientiousness: You have medium conscientiousness. You’re generally good at balancing work and play. When you need to buckle down, you can usually get tasks done. But you’ve been known to goof off when you know you can get away with it. Agreeableness: You have high agreeableness. You are easy to get along with, and you value harmony highly. Helpful and generous, you are willing to compromise with almost anyone. You give people the benefit of the doubt and don’t mind giving someone a second chance. Neuroticism: You have medium neuroticism. You’re generally cool and collected, but sometimes you do panic. Little worries or problems can consume you, draining your energy. Your life is pretty smooth, but there’s a few emotional bumps you’d like to get rid of. Openness to experience: Your openness to new experiences is medium. You are generally broad minded when it come to new things. But if something crosses a moral line, there’s no way you’ll approve of it. You are suspicious of anything too wacky, though you do still consider creativity a virtue.

The Five Factor Personality Test

Thank God the weekend is here. Though time felt as if it flew by, the week still felt terribly long. Meetings after meetings to attend, documents after documents to prepare. It just seems endless and tedious and tiring. Maybe it’s because this week I’m here alone and the project manager is back in Singapore. I just hope that these endless rounds of meetings and redoing of documents will die down.

The week got me thinking. Why can’t I control the meetings that I attend. Why is that I let myself get rushed along and not stop and try to clarify things that I don’t understand. Is it because of the language barrier? Is it because I’m intimidated by a particular person in the meetings? I’ve realised that I can handle and get a more productive meeting if that particular person was not in the meeting. Doubts get clarified instead of left hanging in the air and both parties walk out feeling that there was something gained from the meeting. I have a got a long way to go in terms of handling a meeting diplomatically. Perhaps the language barrier isn’t helping, though I feel that my Chinese has improved quite a bit since I got here.

Next week promises to be a long week as well. But at least my colleague will be back here and I won’t have to attend meetings on my own. And since Debbie is here next week and there’s Taiwan Emerge, I pray that I would be able to wiggle my way out of work early to go down for the meetings. I so want to experience the Emerge conference here. I believe it’s going to be a fantastic time. Lord, please make a way for me to go.

Have taken the day completely off work today. So tomorrow I’ll have to put in some hours to get some documents done. Going to enjoy a movie on cable now, so I’ll sign off here now.

Until the next time, cheers… Þ

A good friend of mine sent me this: The Twelve Tests of Love. It’s a test to help us discern between what is real love and what is infatuation.

It’s pretty thought provoking and reading through it really makes you think about the relationship that one has with the opposite gender. Is it real love, or is it just puppy love? Go take a look…

Got back to Taipei yesterday evening. Had my first full (and tiring) day here. Meetings all round with little time in between to get things done. So now, I’m destressing by blogging.

Just a an updates from my Edition 184. For those of you who’re concerned about my chest pains and ECG tests, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I’ve gone for the exercise ECG and according to the nurse who attended to me, all looks normal. But I must admit that the real-time display of the ECG machine got me worried. Some of the lines went off the charts. But the final printouts were alright. So I’ve got to wait till I get back to Singapore before I go and consult with my GP. But in short, I’m doing fine.

And so I flew back here to Taipei on a full-service airline. Yup, no more Jetstar. Flew Eva Air, which is a Taiwanese carrier. Service was not too bad and they had personal entertainment screens with video on-demand. Though the selection wasn’t as wide as SIA’s, but it’s definitely a step up from zero in-flight entertainment. It just felt very different. And the best part is that I realised that I could do a free upgrade with my frequent flier miles in the very near future.

It’s going to be an exciting time in Taipei. Exciting because there’s tonnes to do but I still have 24 hours in a day. So I’ll need all the grace and time management wisdom from God. Plus the strength and determination and courage to go through all this. It’s not going to be easy, but I’m certain I’ll emerge from this a better man. Haha, sounds like a slogan that was once used for an advertisement for the Singapore Army.

That’s all the updates I have for now. Going to have to get some work done tonight. Have two documents on hand that I still have to update and submit to the relevant “authorities”. Keep me in your prayers yah?

Until the next time, cheers… Þ

Check out this video of a 6 year old girl… Simply blew my mind away…