After a few days of concentrated work I was finally able to complete an improved draft of my research. I have been working part-time on my MTh for about six years now. I learned a lot from the several modules run in KL, Petaling Jaya, Penang, Bangkok and Singapore in different partner Bible colleges of the Asia Graduate School of Theology Alliance.
Even the practicum was a useful, reflective process that required the thoughtful practice of the insights I had learned in the modules.
This final bit was a piece of research on how the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius can be adapted for use in a Pentecostal church. I had sent the first draft in and it had required a few added pages and changes. After that was done, I had to format it to Chicago style format and I found the pagination a pain. Thus it was no surprise I felt so relieved and glad when I attached the document and pressed the “Send” button.
I am hopeful that the supervisor will not send it back to me for any more changes except cosmetic ones.
We were supposed to have started our ride at 7.30am. But it rained and so the Brompton Pastors Club had breakfast in my home. A leisurely breakfast. By the time we finally rode off it was 9am. The weather was superbly cool. We rode to the Chinese and Japanese Garden because Then Chee Min came all the way from the east. At the least he should ride through the gardens. Then we were on the PCN to the Little Guilin. The west is where I live, so I guided the group. At Little Guilin the rain fell and we adjourned to a Malay kopitiam for an early lunch and fellowship (and theological discussion abut generational curse) till the rain stopped. Then we headed to the former granite quarry at Bukit Batok Park and from there proceeded to the PCN that links the Bukit Batok to the Ulu Pandan PCN. Our original plan was to do the Ulu Pandan PCN to Ghim Moh for lunch but rain altered our plans and we called it quits after we did the lovely Teban Garden overhead steel bridge. We reached my home by 12.15pm. A wonderful splendid lovely morning with pastors! God’s way is always better – the rain forced us pastors to spend as much time time seated around the table of fellowship as on our Brompton foldies; and it cooled the day which otherwise would likely have been direct sun on us by mid-morning.
Early morning rains delayed our ride. We were in no hurry.Unfolding the Brompton folding bikes.Ready to ride by 9am!At the Chinese Gardens main buildingRiding along Bukit Batok streetsTwo oranges, two blues and two greens. Bromptons against Little Guilin.Wefie.Shelter from the rain. Might as well have an early lunch!Old quarry at Bukit Batok ParkAlong the way on Bukit Batok PCN to Ulu Pandan PCNTrouble on beautiful steel bicycle bridge that connects Ulu Pandan PCN to Teban Garden PCN. Brompton toolkit and common sense solved the problem. Thank you Jesus.One final shot for the road.Back in my home: 4 folded Bromptons inside a Toyota Wish. Incredible sight.
My lovely quiet and adorable grand-daughter Claire
What a blessing it is to carry my grandchild and look at her lovely face. She moves her mouth, or looks around with searching eyes, and charming smiles. Children are a gift from the Lord to be celebrated, to praise God for. I went to Toowoomba, Queensland to spend some time with family, to see Claire the newborn, and to play with my other livelier four year old grand-daughter, Chloe. Chloe hardly spoke any English sentence when we visited her in April 2016. Now she cannot stop chatting in Australian English. Full of movement, giggles, energy and ideas, she is such a pleasure to play with. But I do get worn out after two hours of non-stop action with her.
Chloe grows prettier and smarter and she loves movement and dance.
I stayed about eight days but before I arrived, my wife had already been there three weeks to help out in my daughter in law’s recovery after childbirth. After I have left, my wife will continue to help till the end of September when the Korean mother in law will stay with them for about ten days. Its impossible to get domestic helpers in Australia. My wife’s routine is to help prepare meals, do some housework, bring Chloe to play school at about 9am, and she does shopping for groceries, and later drive Chloe home from school at about 5pm, and finally have fun with Chloe. Not exactly easy but what a privilege to bless, to help and to serve!
It is the onset of spring and the flowers in the Queen’s Park, Toowoomba have begun to blossom. It’s enjoyable to walk in the park in the cool of the morning.
During my stay there we drove around town visiting parks, shopping areas, cafes and walking around the neighbourhood. Temperatures vary between 10C to 18C with windchill. While we were there, we were able to shop for some hiking jackets and clothing for our next hike in Jeju Island. The prices were reasonable with sale discounts of about 40%.
We were very thankful to God for the relaxed and joyful time with family and moving around at a much slower pace. It was therapeutic.
The main bungalow buildingThe linked bungalow wingView from the bungalow’s rose garden
I felt tired and I needed to take a break, have a good rest. So I tried OMF Bungalow. Usually at such late notice most rooms would have already been taken but thankfully and incredibly, there was “room in the inn” for the dates I wanted.
Payment
It wasn’t easy for a Singaporean to pay upfront as one would have to access a Malaysian account. Especially when you do not have much time to make the payment. Thankfully in my case I was given a reprieve and I paid up when I arrived at the bungalow.
Taking a bus there
I took the SGD99 Konsortium return night bus. It left Golden Mile at about 10pm, and after a stop at Yong Peng and several pee stops, we reached Brinchang, Cameron Highlands at about 7- 8am in the cool morning. The 27 seater bus had spacious and reclinable seats, so we had no difficulty sleeping. For an additional SGD30, I could have stayed a night (with breakfast) at Strawberry Park. It’s a tie up between the hotel and the bus company. The return trip is in the morning from Strawberry Park hotel at about 10am. The hotel is a short 5 minutes walk from OMF Bungalow.
Many changes but Mrs Chye remains the same
There were many changes that have taken place. However, Mrs Chye the person in charge there provided an unchanged comforting presence. Her warmth and hospitality is OMF Bungalow’s vital advertisement.
Some of the changes we noticed included:
All the rooms now have attached bathrooms.
The dining hall and the sitting area were switched so that there would be space to serve more diners.
The TV-games room has been converted into a twin room with attached bathroom.
The pricing has moved upward too, including an end to discounts for pastors and missionaries.
There is no tea time. However you can help yourselves to free coffee, tea and biscuits anytime.
There was no TV, but now they have installed decent wireless.
Comforting unchanging Mrs ChyeNew dining roomNew sitting roomNew furniture in the rose gardenWith Chong Swee Tshung & Tau Fan former pastors of Community Baptist Church, Puchong
During this stay with my wife we slept, ate, rested, read, walked and prayed and met whoever was there during mealtimes. We also met with a few other guests at the bungalow and shared stories and encouraged each other in the Lord.
I returned feeling refreshed and more relaxed.
Please email o.resthome@gmail.com (attention: Mandy) for bookings.
This is my problem. I am not willing to fork out the large sums required for the latest mobile smartphone model. To me it does not make sense as new models are way too expensive. I would rather hunt for models that are older as their original prices would take a dip and become real value for money.
So it happened with the Samsung Note 5 when I visited the Starhub shop. The salesman told me with the $50 voucher I have, the cost of a Note 5 is only $299.
I asked, Why is it so cheap? He replied, They are discontinuing production of the old model.
Note 7 had a problematic battery and had been recalled. There was no Note 6 as they were aligning the numbers for marketing purposes. So Note 5 was the best Note smartphone currently available on the market. Why not, after all, I loved the S Pen. I had been using the Samsung Tablet Note 10.1 for several years and found the Note 5 S pen even more sensitive, responsive and a pleasure to use. It will certainly be useful for recording ideas that pop in my mind for sermons or blogposts or ministry. Its great for To Do lists and reminders and quick jotting of numbers and addresses of people I bump into, and do great screenshots on which I can write instructions and draw arrows and circles. Its great for taking action notes in meetings.
So I am now a happy owner of a new smartphone with a better camera than my LG G3 and with a great capacity for note-taking. Loving it.
Using the phone on a hike at Bt Timah HillTesting out the close ups – some bokeh in the background.
