Home Sweet Home

Yes we are safe at home at last after a rather uncomfortable flight. Poor matt got a little airsick because he stared outside the window. Its a nice view but when the plan tips to one side, the horizon changes and it can have a dizzying effect.

A little bit more about the last 2 days at Melbourne. On Easter Saturday, we spent the majority of it lazying around in the house after a huge glorious breakfast. Amanda made her famous HUGE cheese pancakes (best ever.. no kidding). I learnt how to make it and we bought the pancake mix from her workplace. And since we miss each other so much and we stay so far apart, we agreed that once the mix is used up its a signal for me to go back to Melbourne or for her to come back to Singapore to bring me some! We had all sorts of pancakes, cheese pancakes, cream and jam pancakes, lemon sugar pancakes. Then we had the cremonial breaking of the easter bunny!!!! We umm.. actually decapitated the rabbit.. quite a sight.

Then the afternoon was spent lazying around, lots hugging and all the oh dear, tomorrow i'm home thingy with my God-sister. We were attending Easter Vigil so we had an early dinner. The 3 of us headed to Lygon street (Little Italy) and had quite a good meal. I had marinara (best ever) matt had penne with avacardo and cream and amanda had chicken ceasar salad and we shared a pizza! We had so much. We could hardly keep awake at mass. BAD!!!!

After mass all of us (my god parents and family and matt's mum and sis) made our way to Macs again for a small cosy celebration. It was lovely. Took a video and will post it up soon!

On our last day in Melbourne it was very very sad. My dearest god-sis and I woke up with the sad feeling. We both started singing - Leaving on a jetplane song.. sigh.. it was so sad. In the end she gave me her shoes and I ended giving her something else although I really wish I could have given her a better gift.

Matt and I left Melbourne with mixed feelings. We were so happy and touched by the kindness and warmth of my god-parents, clement and amanda and little christine (we missed eve too!). They treated us like family and not just to us but also to matt's mum and sis. We were at the same time feeling blue that we had so little time with them. Nonetheless we hope to see them soon and return them the hospitality and love they have shown us.

Now back at home, its back to the grind. But we now have a better perspective of life and we're pretty much ready to take on what life has in store for us as long as we keep God in sight.

Threefoldcord.

Melbourne Day 5

Today is Good Friday. We woke up quite on time today despite sleeping really late - The result of more than a few years of girl talk catching up all in one night. But it was a good night and strangely though we had little sleep we still felt refreshed.

We went for service today with amanda's family, matt's mum & margie, and amanda's family friend. It was full house. It was a simple service compared to what we have back home. As the service progressed I realised just how very much we take forgranted the church we have at home. At St Greg's (the church we went to) there was only 1 parish priest serving the community. He was very old and he was suffering from cancer and his hands were quivering as he was unveiling the cross. And yet at home sometimes we complain about our priest and we have the luxuary of hopping from parish to parish. How confession we can choose the priest when here confession is so hard because there is not enough priest.

We complain about the music when we already have so much, and here people have no instruments they just sing. I felt so guilty. I am going to appreciate my church community more.

After the service we had a little gathering, in a way to welcome all of us Singaporeees to Melbourne and also in a way to celebrate our engagement (shudder.. that sounded weird). We had so much fun eating, praising god with a short PnW session with prayer, entertainment (where Clement i.e Amanda's brother pulled out all these cool toys and did a demo with yoyos). Then Matt also did great card tricks. We all had a good time laughing and it was just a lovely warm feeling of family and friends.

Thank you dearest Lord for giving us the gift of friendship and family. Thank you especially for sustaining the friendship between me and amanda all through these years. Thank you for that gift.

Melbourne Day 4

Hi all.

Matt here. Today began relatively early. We got up at about 9 pm. At least that was the idea. My dear wife-to-be (SHUDDER - Still not used to it) , she set the alarm wrongly so we ended up waking up 1 hour early. So we went back to sleep.

After waking up, we were picked up by Angel's god-sister. She happens to drive the same car as me so it was like seeing an old friend. Anyway we got on the freeway and went to her place, which was really very nice. Typical Australian home I suppose. Its really different from Singapore where everything is so close together. As I'm typing this I'm sitting at the kitchen table in her home, and there's ABSOLUTELY NO SOUND. I can hear my ears ringing. Its really quiet.

After dumping our bags, we went shopping at the nearest mall, where I bought a lot of chocolates. for the people at work. Wait let me correct myself: I bought a few chocolates, SHE bought enought to feed ethiopia. (angel: hey you prayed for a proverb's 31 woman right? Think merchant ship). I guess any worthwhile visit to Australia has got to include buying chocolate right?

We went to a nice pancake place later, where Angel's god-sister, Amanda works. (she's single damn pretty and super available) We had lots of stuff to eat.

Next we went to the church where we celebrated mass for maundy thursday. The mass was very different from Singapore. We tried to go church visiting after that, but most of the churches closed. In Singapore we would be visiting Churches all night long, before having supper at Jln Kayu.

Tomorrow I'm going to cover good friday. Apparently Amanda's parents (who are Angel's god parents) want to throw a bbq after good friday mass to celebrate me finally mustering the guts to propose to Angel.


Tata


Matt

Melbourne Day 3

Today was colder... very much colder but it was nice to walk along the river on the way to the Victoria Art Gallery. But first we had lunch at a nice alfresco italian/spanish restaurant called Von's Place. It was a quaint little alley way with restaurants lining it. Think Clark Quay but with a lot more character.

We ordered avacado seafood salad, matt had pasta gemberi and I had pasta calamari. The salad was nothing much to scream about but the pasta was quite nice. Well seasoned. We then made our way to the gallery. Now at this point I would like to formally annouce Matt as the world's best navigator. He seems to have a GPS stuck to his head.. (GPS only functioning in Auz, not valid in Singapore). He knows which direction to go etc.. the only thing is he does not know that he has arrived at his destination. So that's where I come in.. "Look da, we're here already. Can stop walking!"

The gallery was quite nice. It had egyptian, greecian, 17th Century art, contemporary art, modern chinese art. I was looking forward to Rembrant's Nightwatch as there was a collection of this works but alas they didn't have it. My favourite was a series of 3 paintings of Pandas by Zuoren. So intricate so beautiful. We walked till my feet ached. On the way back to had krispy Kreme... YES its in Auzzie. It was nice at first (better than doughnut factory) but got a little too sweet for me.

When we got back, we were suppose to meet up with Amanda for her dance practice and dinner but matt came down with an allergy. His lips swelled. Not particularly bad but bad enough to stay in and get him to drink enough water to flush it out. I suspect that its my sunblock which he is using. Poor thing. He had saugages for lips for a while.

When the swelling subsided somewhat, we went for a quick dinner at the Jap cafe we went on the first day. But alas, the dinner was not as nice. The sashimi was cut as thin as toilet paper and the rice box tasted like bad chinese food. What a disappointment.

So here I am eating cup noodles (quite nice) and blogging. Will be posting up pictures soon!..

Matt: Hey how come nobody posted a comment on our previous entry
angel: Yeah, are we the only ones excited about it?
Matt: Apparently no one's surprised.
Matt & Angel: Dang.

------Comment by angel 29 March 08-----
Thanks Amanda =) Hope to see you and Shayne at the Wedding! Hope you've enjoyed reading our blog. God bless!

Melbourne Day 2

Post by Matthew:

WARNING: EXTREME CORNINESS COMING. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Day 2 of our stay in Melbourne began with us walking out of the apartment towards the city. Today we had intended to visit 2 places, more specifically Bernard's Magic Shop, and the Melbourne Aquarium.

Bernard's Magic Shop turned out to be your typical brick and motar magic shop. Lots of variety, but WAAAYYYY overpriced. Daryl's Ambitious Card DVD was almost SG$130! Still it was an experince.

Next we went to the Aquarium. Angel and I have always enjoyed looking at wildlife and nature stuff, so I thought we'd enjoy our time there.

And that's when I popped the question. (Matt: Remember, you heard about it first from here. Angel: See the rewards from reading our blog).

For those of you who have been living under a bush, Angel and I have been together for 6 years. She's been fantastic, and I think its high time that we take it to the next level.

According to my colleauge, in the Melbourne Aquarium there's a display where the room is surrounded by a tank, giving visitors a 360 degree view of the fishes. I waited till we were in the room, then sat her down to began my speech. A little bonus was that the radio happened to by playing "The Answer" by Corrine May. If that wasn't a sign from God, I don't what is. I opened my mouth to speak.

At least that's what I tried to do, because I suddenly broke out into a cold sweat and could not remember anything I had planned. Luckily Angel seemed to know what was coming - She told me she was scared, but encouraged me to go on. Eventually I popped the question.

I asked her to marry me. She giggled, refusing to answer me, a twinkle in her eyes. Eventually, she took my hand and drew an 'OK' sign.

We hugged each other and cried tears of joy.

Angel:
Okay if you're reading this you're probably dying from sugar overdose. Forgive us.... Its really not as corny as it sounds.

Apparently everybody knew about it except me. My parents, matt's parents and sister, his colleague even our softtoys knew abt it. I must say my mum can really keep a straight face. And I wasn't giggling!!! We were both giggling and sniggering and smirking like 2 school kids at a busstop. Its been an adventure today.. and angel is still flabbergasted. Will post again.

Melbourne Day 1

Greetings from Down Under.

In actual truth nothing much happened yesterday. We reached Melbourne at 10am and made a beeline for Margaret's school. It was a really nice place. Think Enid Blyton's boarding school but a bit more modern. I think the only quaint part is the boarding house which is really like Enid Blyton's books. (matt: More like hogwarts. Especially the boarding house. But without the revolving stairs)

Matt's mum went for all the parent-teacher meetings while we hung out at the tuckshop. It was the break time so it was filled with school girls and it was hilarious cos poor old matt got intimidated.. HAHA by big size ang moh teenage girls talking at the top of their voices. (Matt: I was not intimidated. Just self concious. )

We took Margie out for dinner at a Hong Kong seafood eatery which was quite nice and then she went off for her dance class. After we got back to the service apartment matt plonked onto his bed and never woke up. Yup.. in his outside shirt and jeans and never brushteeth.. Ewww... but the poor thing didn't sleep on the plane and thats as much as he could take so he zonked out before I can say gd night.

The only interesting thing I guess was the fact that ITS SO HOT in MELBOURNE!!!! And guess had a good time doing the I told you so to me? Yes.. I told matt to bring warm clothes cos the last time I came it was COLD.... blah.. blah the La Nina effect. (matt: She thanked me later. She was about to buy a $90 jacket from "Winter Time". I stopped her. Apparently I was the only one with common sense to ask my sister what the weather was like there. Still, it was... hot.) The heat got to matt and by dinner he was dazed by the heat with the goo goo look. HAHA I should have taken a picture..

So here I am at 12 pm. Still in PJS.. typing this. Yes Matt just woke up so essentially sleeping beauty slept for more than 12 hours.. (matt: jealous?) and since sleeping beauty's friend had nothing else to do so the friend also slept for more than 12 hours.. but less than sleeping beauty la. Today we shall accomplish more!..

Leaving on a jetplane

Yes.. I'm finally going for a short break. Matt, his mum and me will be going to Melbourne to visit Margie and my godsis Amanda & family. I'm really glad to be able to meet up with her ever since she migrated to Auzzie Land. Miss her lots.

We will be updating ThreeFoldCord while at Melbourne as matt's bringing his mac. So do lookout for updates! May God grant us a safe trip and journey and bless all our loved ones at home. And yes thats includes you who is reading this. =)

Amen.

Little by little

This is a post I've worked on a long time. I tried to avoid being preachy, but this does contain some very strong views. I hope your faith is shaken.

"After you have practiced for a while, you will realize that it is not possible to make rapid, extraordinary progress. Even though you try very hard, the progress you make is always little by little. It is not like going out in a shower in which you know when you get wet. In a fog, you do not know you are getting wet, but as you keep walking you get wet little by little. If your mind has ideas of progress, you may say, ‘Oh, this pace is terrible!’ But actually, it is not. When you get wet in a fog it is very difficult to dry yourself. So there is no need to worry about progress. It is like studying a foreign language; you cannot do it all of a sudden, but by repeating it over and over you will master it."

- Shunryu Suzuki, "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind"

As a magic nut, I'm always on the lookout for good tips on how to practice better. A particular post in a magic blog this morning contained the above quote, taken apparently from some zen guy.

I have no idea who he is or what he does, but I think his analogy is quite accurate with regards to Christian living.

As Christians, this is what we have been taught: We as 'followers of the way' are to 'become like Christ'. I quote Gal 2:20 where St. Paul states that we are 'new creations'.

What most Christians seem to think, and indeed what I used to think, is that this is some sort of magical transformation - an event. Baptism of the holy spirit, fire and the whole lot. We imagine the power of God pouring down and cleansing us of the impurities in our soul. And after such a monumental experience we expect that our lives will be forever different. Holy. Set apart.

Unfortunately it doesn't quite happen that way, doesn't it? We live on the high for a brief period of time, then we tumble down like a house of cards.

We may even fall lower than we started out at.

Don't be discouraged. It is normal, and is essential to our growth as spiritual beings. Simply because the change in your life, that dramatic change, can only happen if you are willing to try at it every day. Granted, there are times when fire almost literally descends. When worship turns into unspeakable joy and silence into peace beyond comprehension. These are graces, and in moments like these, mountains are moved.

But the real work is in living day after day and even when your soul is in its darkest night, still desire to see the face of God.

I honestly hope that I will still desire to be a 'new creation' 70 years down the road, when my mind is lost and my strength has left. For that would mean that my faith was not based on experiences and feelings, but well and truly given by my creator.

That little by little, everyday, I am growing closer to God.

The blind Man - John 9:2-3

"His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life."

Sometimes I question God why certain things have to happen in a certain way and most of the time I don't see the big picture. I get frustrated with God. I wonder now if the blind man felt that way? Did he ever question why he had to pay for his parent's sin? I bet he never saw (pun not intended) how his sickness would fit perfectly into God's plan and how such pain could turn into something beautiful and how his life would be transformed.

Can you imagine how he felt when he heard our Lord say that he was born blind so that God's glory may be displayed in him? He could have felt assurred or he could have felt angry thinking God was using him.. or maybe he could have felt Hope.

I think about how sometime we are inflicted with pain, suffering or even life threatening diseases. We begin to doubt God, why if He loved us he would allow such a thing to happen to us or to our loved ones. We immediately think that sickness is bad. But what if sickness brings us closer to God? What if God allows sickness so that we slow down and take the time to look at what really matters?

When in January I was sick with depression, I found Hope. Work had turned me into a cranky person. I would barely say much to my parents when I got home and I was often irritable. I didn't like them asking me how my day was etc. But in my sickness, my mum even though she herself was nursing a heart problem took care of me and loved me. My dad took the trouble to drive me to clinics (I saw many doctors) etc. He also texted me everyday to remind me to take things easy and eat well. They re-assurred me as much as I needed.

I was so overwhelmed. Overwhelmed that they loved me so much even when I didn't return that love. Through the time I was recovering, I spent lots of time with mum. Played scrabble with her (which is really fun), snuggle up in my parents bed with them watching TV, just coming home early from work and spending time with them. I rediscovered that come what may, my family will always be my anchor. Which is so important when the world seems to spin in that alarming speed these days.

In my confused and depressed state, I found the best cure, Hope. Hope that even the worst of things will pass and no matter how bad you think you are, there's someone who's not going to stop loving you. Hope because with each new day you can try again.

He allowed my sickness so that I might rediscover how He still loves me. How He is with me till the end of time.