BenLow's blog

Ah My Goddess + Fighting Wings + Flights Of Fancy Akazukin Cha Cha Akira Angel Sanctuary Angelic Layer Avatar Ayakashi Ayashi No Ceres Azumanga Daioh Basilisk Beck Black Lagoon + The Second Barrage + Roberta's Blood Trail (still ongoing) Bleach (still ongoing) Blood+ Bokusatsu Tenshi Boys Be Chobits Chrono Crusade Clannad + After Story Claymore Cooking Master Boy Cowboy Bebop Curious Play D Gray Man Devil May Cry Digimon Adventure 1 + 2 + Tamers Dragon Ball + Z + GT + Kai E's Otherwise Earth Girl Arjuna Elfen Lied Excel Saga Fairy Tail (Still ongoing) Fate Stay Night Final Fantasy Unlimited Flame of Recca Fruits Basket Full Metal Alchemist + Brotherhood Full Metal Panic + Fumoffu + Second Raid Full Moon Wo Sagashite Gantz Gatekeepers + 21 Getbackers Ghost Hound Gintama Girls Bravo Ghost in the Shell + Stand Alone Complex + Innocence + 2nd Gig + Solid State Society Grander Musashi Gravitation Great Teacher Onizuka Grenadier Gungrave Gunslinger Girl + Il Teatrino Happy Lesson + A...

And so the busyness of this holiday period has ended, with 3 tiring events now out of the way! First was YE Camp from the 19th to the 22nd of December. During that time, we played many games, learnt valuable lessons, grew spiritually and grew closer. It was a really wonderful time, my first time as an overseer of a camp. And its very very different as someone mentoring and taking care of the ones who lead. You see everything as opportunities to strengthen those under your charge, wanting to do your best to instill in them values that they, in future can teach the younger ones. The feel for this camp was definitely different, and I enjoyed myself thoroughly nonetheless, learning to let go and let God work within the leaders. Did lots of driving for the camp, shifting logistics, buying groceries and transporting people here and there. The car couldn't have come at a better time, as this year it was really quite needed! Also, got to interact more with the younger people, giving them s...

Off to YE camp from tomorrow to thursday! Can't wait! =D

Now that Van's in Cambodia can't help but miss her. Well, it'll only be till Saturday! Sent her to the airport this morning, and I was glad to in a way be part of the beginning of the mission trip for all of them. It's not the first time Van and I have been apart (there was a time I went to Malaysia), but it still needs getting used to. Well specially went to Bishan Junction 8 on one of our dates, and it brought back loads of memories of my time in secondary school and JC... And I must say I miss it very very much. The times when we'd go ramen hunting, meeting with my band members and eating at S11, and the times at LJS with my guitar buddies. Those moments I hold close, and I'm glad we went there. We watched Puss in Boots, which was pretty entertaining and a definite must watch for fans of animated films. =) Recently I've been feeling the strain from all the events that I'm being a part of: Christmas Service, YE Camp, BS leading and CCIS. Its always thi...

The hols are getting pretty busy... And for this week, had to settle worship at BB for Sunday morning, cell group stuff, as well as sponsors for the church camp. A whole load of important things, but I'm more than glad to do it. Besides that, settling into the groove of hols really well, establishing a daily routine that contains piano playing (Still working on the first page of the Revolutionary Etude), PS3 playing (Played till chapter 3 of AC Revelations, and 60% completion for GTA4), anime watching, story writing (yes its begun once again) and exercise for ippt. Besides that with all the breaks, spent some of them just chatting or hanging out with Van. =) Besides that, have also begun to watch Running Man! A popular Korean variety game show. Pretty intense and hilarious as well, a good mix of entertainment in one. The format for the game changes along the way, so you've gotta watch it yourself to enjoy it. Besides that have done my module preference exercise, and here are th...

Well, exams are over! With 1 on monday, 2 on wednesday, 1 on friday and 1 on saturday. I must say that this semester's papers were definitely easier than last semesters imo, and I'm very thankful to God for that. For some reason I've got all the more lenient lecturers for this semester. Not too sure how my results will go, but we'll see about that. =) Went for my first date post exams with Van, and it was watching Happy Feet 1 (we're watching Happy Feet 2 tomorrow), and doing up a jigsaw puzzle together, spending lots of quality time which we both enjoy. I'm really happy that we're both free now, but soon the busy Christmas period will settle in... Involved in YE camp, playing for Christmas service, and CCIS too... Shall temper that with a good amount of relaxation... With a new anime: Full Moon Wo Sagashite. Here's a pic of the main character: Mitsuki! Its about a 12 year old girl - Mitsuki who has a dream of becoming a singer, but she is suddenly visit...

Well my first exam for this sem is coming up from 5-7pm! Statistics in Psychology 2... Do pray for the rest of my exams yeah! More updates tomorrow. =)

And so school has ended for this semester, and I'm pretty glad I've made it through in one piece. If there's one thing I've learnt this semester, is that seeking God and staying focused is never easy, but if you manage to do it, you'll feel all the closer to His presence. This semester has been tough, but even more so than the previous semesters, I've drawn closer to God and relied on Him. Exams are drawing near, and 2 out of 5 subjects have been studied already. Working hard on the rest. =) As always, sorry for the lack of posts, have been studying and my schedule's been packed since the end of the term till today, and today marks the beginning of a whole stretch of free-ness that'll last till next year! So expect posts more often! Have started on Chopin's Revolutionary Etude, the first of the difficult trio of songs that I'd like to try. This trio includes the above song, and his Heroic Polonaise and Fantasie Impomptu. All of them are amazingly...

And so more updates. All my projects, readings and assignments have been finished save for a final statistics report, which is due next thurstday. And its been a rather amazing journey through this semester, and definitely something to give thanks for. In this semester, though workload was high, I must say I was true to my pledge to stay focused on God even more so than the previous semester, and God indeed has blessed by granting successes all over. In my previous semesters there'll always be a couple of disappointing results for assignments and such during the course of schooling, but nothing of that sort this semester. This is the first semester I've completed with Vanessa by my side, and with her support I've been more focused as well. Definitely something to thank God for. Its time to pick up a new anime... And I'm leaning towards Gantz, which I'm sure most people have heard of due to its appearance in our box offices earlier in the year. Claymore, another rath...

Sorry if posts have been rather sporadic the past few times. This semester's work load is considerably higher than previous, as I'm taking 4 core modules. Thankfully, now the only things that are left are my food and health assignment and my statistics report. Whittled down from almost approximately 12 projects and presentations I've had to make or do this semester. An update on the social psych project that I've just recently finished: we did immensely well, being awarded more bonus marks than the other groups (according to the lecturer at least), and for that I thank God. One of the segments of the presentation involved impromptu recall of previous concepts learnt (the lecturer kinda dropped a bomb on all of us suddenly), but then our group handled it very professionally and it ended off very well! Thanks be to God, he's the one who's always been in control! It was the talent for thinking quick on my feet that He gave me that helped us through that one. Today ...

I've found a new anime to watch! And its one of those that I've been looking forward to. =) My PS2 game Persona 4 is being turned into an anime, so I've started watching it, and though I know the storyline already, its nice seeing it animated, and the battle scenes showcased. Its the midst of O levels already, and the first major paper has gone by. I must say I think Vanessa handled the first one well from what I heard from her. Though she was a little afraid that she'd made a mistake on the entrophy being positive or negative, she answered it correctly so I assured her of that. Also, she's begun looking toward the future, to what she'd like to do and study, reading up on all the application details and things like that. I like the sense of responsibility that I'm observing in her. =) Besides that, term is drawing to a close, with only 4 weeks of studying left. I've got 3 more projects due: A social psych one - writing a children's storybook with con...

Recently I've been finding driving people around to be quite a joy, especially people from church. Providing for their needs makes me feel that I'm utilizing my gifts and talents in a positive way, for the sake of others. However this week, after a long time of driving only, I took the train to church on Sunday and to Bugis on Friday to celebrate Mel's birthday. I must say I still don't really like public transport, which is rather stifling and discomforting. Have begun on my next anime, Vampire Knight. A suggestion from Vanessa that I've kept in mind for watching for quite some time. Obviously, its about vampires and a special school for them, with normal students attending the day class, and vampires attending the night class. Haven't gone too deeply into it, so looking forward to more action! Here's a pic. The main character Yuuki in the foreground, and leader of the vampires Kaname to the left and her close friend Zero to the right. This week I've go...

And so one of the toughest weeks so far I've had in school has passed, with 3 tests, a presentation, and a preparation for an experiment all completed. Its time for some good old R&R, and a whole lot of rest. Spent a couple of late nights working everything out, but I guess its paid off in a way. Apologies for not keeping up the posting every Monday. So a couple of highlights over the past week: the 3 tests were rather smooth sailing and weren't as difficult as I thought it was. In fact I've already gotten the results for my abnormal psychology test back, and I've scored a 41/50, which I'm pretty satisfied with. Besides that, I've been working hard on a presentation that was exceptionally difficult, as the combined presentation with all 4 of us has to last 95 minutes, including discussion time for the class. I was rather stressed by that and spent quite some time reading the article I was presenting on and working on the slides. It went magnificently well in...

And so, yet another post on a monday. Other days seem to be extremely busy haha. My studying for mid terms has just finished with abnormal psychology done yesterday, so all that's left is some form of recap and going for the exam. With the first paper at 6pm on tuesday, and the other 2 at 10am and 12noon on wednesday. Still keeping the faith in God's providence for those, whilst in the midst of studying. As you can see from the title I've started on Chopin's Nocturne Op.9, No.2, the most famous of his nocturnes, and one you can hear very commonly in korean dramas or the such. I must say this is the piano piece I was rather looking forward to complete, even more so than Tristesse. Besides that I've started on GTA4 as well as continuing an old project of mine: a completionist game of Dynasty Warriors 6, trying to get all characters to level 50. For GTA4 I'm doing it as nicely as I possibly can, obeying traffic rules and having a good, simple job driving my cousin...

Having a rather bad stomach upset at the moment. Not sure what I ate... I've been running regularly on mondays, thursdays and saturdays, but I guess today I'll have to take a break and perhaps run tomorrow. But good news! Its now the break week, and though I need to study for mid-terms that'll be coming next week, its a nice and good break from the hectic schedule of school. Next week I've got a test on tuesday and two tests on wednesday, so I'm preparing hard for them. Besides that thank you guys for your support. I've managed to complete all my 3 submissions in the previous week satisfactorily, and now all that's left is to wait for results... Shall keep trusting on God for that, and like what was covered at SYC the past week, keep a good focus on God, cos ambition and achievement are nothing without Him. Also, I've now gotten a little more used to group assignments despite not liking them previously, because I've had good group mates to do them wi...

Submissions submissions! All of them are raining in but surprisingly I'm not keyed up at all. I'm working on them not with a sense of trepidation but a quiet confidence that God will do everything He can, and He's right by my side. As usual, progress has been quick, and its a lot of waiting for other group members, but I'm thankful for good group mates who have a great work ethic. My first submission for this week just ended today with a successful group presentation about Generalized Anxiety Disorder. =) I put my trust in God and was duly rewarded. =) Well nothing much else for now, so will update soon once this hectic week is over!

Apologies, for its been ages since I posted! Well, school work is catching up to me, but with God's strength I will pull through. Specifically have 3 deadlines on the following week, though one of the group presentations is already settled. Left a solo project and a group proposal due. Besides that I've been rather fine. Busy doing readings, and over the past week all my weekday evenings were full with activities, which kind of restricted any time for other things. The car's been giving a bit of problems with it stuttering whenever I come to a stop, so got it checked out and sent for maintenance with a hefty fee, but its now good as new, all clean and better than ever! On thursday went with Vanessa and her family to go watch Tao: The Art of Drums at the Esplanade, and as a supporter of all things Japanese, watching the Japanese Drums being played was exciting, and they impressive thing is the incorporation of many aspects of the culture of drums: it being an aspect of war, ...

In times of weakness when you've got someone understanding by your side it makes all the difference. Its something I hold very dear. In the army I've heard of unpleasant experiences regarding dating and such, but it doesn't look like its going to happen to me. And for that I give thanks! Its feels like Vanessa and I can weather any challenge together in God. Tutorial classes have begun, and so far its not too much. I'm a week ahead with readings, so all's good. Also, the car's proving very useful, and now I don't have to leave the house so early, have my own personal space, and can travel at my own freedom. On that note, topped up my cashcard for the first time and felt a sense of achievement. =) More to note would be about the tuition that I'm giving. I'm starting to build a good rapport with my students, talking to them about their interests and lifestyle in the time I'm there early or after classes. Just this wednesday I spoke to their p...

This week has been pretty tough in some ways, with a very draining day on wednesday to top things off, with lessons stretching from 10am to 6pm, then tuition from 7pm to 9pm, thus giving a rather tedious 11 hour work day. I was rather fatigued on that day, and if not for Vanessa would've been even more weary. Her advice and hearing ear seems all the more powerful now that we're together. Getting used to the rhythm of juggling school and work, and now with the new car its been made easier, and there's the general sense that if I didn't have the car, things would've been worse. And I come to a realization that everything that is happening now is put in place just at the right time, for my life to advance. With a car, tuition, the things I'm learning in class, and Vanessa too, everything just comes together efficaciously. And with that I can see God working through it. I've long wondered how I'll be able to keep my passion for God burning even in uni,...

Well, as most of you now know I'm now in a relationship with Vanessa, and you may be wondering what went on between both of us. It was a journey that you may have seen hints and glimpses of on this blog, but there's more to it than that, a story of God's grace and His realness. It was back in 2010, after serve. Serve showed me the power, capabilities and wisdom I had to do God's work, and convinced me that no matter what that He would always be with me. It was a boost of confidence, that gave me the bravery to step forward into new endeavors. However because of that period in serve, I now strongly felt that I was different from the rest of the people I knew: I didn't enjoy what they enjoyed, I sometimes couldn't understand what they understood, and I didn't act how they acted. I had sensed it innately before, but the realness of that fact stood looming behind me, because even surrounded by people who loved God wholeheartedly like myself, I was differen...

Well, recently, especially this week there have been loads of changes to my lifestyle. Most notably the restarting of school. Just went down for lecture yesterday to my first developmental psychology lecture, which I expected to be rather dreary going, but was actually rather insightful! The bonus about it was that we got to watch some rather cute vids of children, which certainly was enjoyable. Besides that, went to explore U-town with Dan, which was certainly impressive. The compound really does seem like a great place to live and study simultaneously. With a gigantic starbucks, koufu, fish and co express and other good stuff. Went up to Dan's room at the tembusu building, and got to see my lecture theater for my Food and Health module. The facilities are amazing, so can't wait to be there for lectures. =) Other new things include a new car! As mentioned in previous posts my dad and I have been going to check out cars, and we've decided on one and have bought it! A ...

Its now 4 days to the start of school, with a considerably relaxed week in front of me. Things to highlight will be national day on tuesday, the commencement of my first lecture and a leader's meeting on thursday, and of course a YE session on saturday. Definitely a relaxed one. Can't wait to get to school again! And despite me thinking I'd take ages to complete Assassin's Creed 2, it is now finished, and 100% completionist except the downloadable content of course, with 100% trophies, all secret treasure chests, statuettes, treasures, viewpoints, quests, feathers, glyphs all collected. =D Also, Tristesse is definitely finished. Which is rather good, because the timing is really just right. My mom's birthday was on Saturday, and we went to Buffettown at Raffles City to eat. Definitely value for money. With a enormously huge selection, tasty food, good service attitude and ambience, its definitely a great choice for a night of good buffet. We had a really good time t...

Well bidding for this semester is over and done with, and I've loaded myself with lots of core modules, which I believe I can cope with! So here's the list: PL2132 Statistics in Psychology 2 PL3234 Developmental Psych PL3235 Social Psych PL3236 Abnormal Psych GEK 1529 Food and Health! And here's my stipulated schedule for the week, which can of course be manipulated a bit. I might switch the tutorials around to make things comfortable. =) Well next, Tristesse is almost over and done with, the next will be Minute Waltz, Op64 no. 1. It sounds really playful, a bit like a dog chasing its own tail, especially at the beginning. Looking forward to having 4 chopin songs in my repertoire. =) My dad has been bringing me to look at second hand cars, and finally my eyes are opening to the rather unexplored territory of privately owned vehicles. For one, understanding some of the terms like horsepower, fuel consumption, COE and things like that. So far have seen 2, and looking for some...

And so I'm a year older, looking older and definitely feeling older. Thanks to everyone for being my friend, and if there's one thing I've come to realise, that its not the presents that make a birthday special, but the presence of the people who you love. The best birthday present that I had was the fact that people stuck to me as their friend and family this whole year that has passed, and the memories we've created through that interaction. For that, thank you everybody. As part of my birthday celebrations we had dimsum buffet lunch at harbourfront centre, which was enjoyable. I've been there with my NS friends before, and it did bring back good memories. Of Sgt Jesse driving us there when he'd just passed not long, of all of us ordering huge portions of food. Well despite that my family aren't as big eaters as them so we sort of ordered a whole lot less than what we would've ordered. =P And we found out that my mom didn't know the meaning of midn...

And so it is now time to start on the 600th post! I must say that it's been a long and rewarding journey with my blog. All the emotions, thoughts and occurrences poured into it make it worthwhile and rather rewarding to keep up the posting. So here goes: a recap of the past 100 posts. =) Post 502: Youth Month! Post 503: First solo drive. =) Post 504: World cup ends, with Spain defeating Netherlands 1-0 Post 508: First bidding for uni modules! Post 510: 21st birthday! Getting stronger everyday =) Post 512: First semester begins with History Lecture! Post 514: YOG coverage! Post 516: First tutorials in NUS. Post 518: First NUS assignment complete! Easy peasy! Post 520: First break week in NUS... Relax. Post 522: First Test in NUS completed... So many firsts... Post 526: Solemnization of vows for my cousin Elaine! Post 528: SYC AGM. Serious stuff. =) Post 530: BLOG's 6th birthday! Post 533: 1 year ORD anniversary. Celebrate! Post 537: Captain's Ball tournament, first series of...

Next post is 600! Well, it is gonna be one hectic week... With setting up for matric fare for the Navigators tomorrow, going down to church to oversee Aaron and Amos while they study, thursday being at matric fair itself, friday with syc, most likely saturday with Gihon and then YE, and playing for main on sunday. That's not all, with another trip to the matric fair on monday. One busy week that! Now I can really tell that school's starting up again. Not forgetting bidding round 0 commencing on the 21st and real bidding on the 25th... That will keep things a little tight as well. Also, my birthday is coming... Really turning 22 soon, and looking forward to it! I've really grown to be confident in the way I carry myself in the past few years after I turned 20, and looking forward to more as I grow older. Resonance of Fate is over and done with! So now it's on to Assassin's Creed 2, which my cousin Serene has so nicely lent. Though my OCD is complaining about the numb...

2 more posts to 600! To celebrate the occasion, was thinking of switching skins, but not very adept at it after forgetting everything after leaving school and not having computer lessons any more. I'm not a very tech savvy person, I'll admit. So I'll most likely be asking here and there for help. =) Recently, especially this week, I've become sort of a designated driver, or a chauffeur in a good way. Driving Daryl around to school and back, and sending Darren into his 3 weeks of confinement at the Warrior's Hall at SAFTI MI. Also driving to dinner on certain days. Must say that I enjoy it, the freedom of having a vehicle I can use for the benefit of others. Prepared for SYC bible study on sermon on the mount. And its a rather difficult topic to cover: Divorce and Oaths from Matthew 5:31-37. However there are a few biblical principles that can be drawn from those to apply to any other situation, and I hope I can bring these across well. Have decided to use a new medi...

Ah My Goddess + Fighting Wings + Flights Of Fancy Akazukin Cha Cha Akira Angel Sanctuary Angelic Layer Avatar Ayakashi Ayashi No Ceres Basilisk Beck Black Lagoon + The Second Barrage + Roberta's Blood Trail (still ongoing) Bleach (still ongoing) Blood+ Bokusatsu Tenshi Boys Be Chobits Chrono Crusade Clannad + After Story Cooking Master Boy Cowboy Bebop Curious Play D Gray Man Devil May Cry Digimon Adventure 1 + 2 + Tamers Dragon Ball + Z + GT + Kai E's Otherwise Elfen Lied Fairy Tail (Still ongoing) Fate Stay Night Final Fantasy Unlimited Flame of Recca Fruits Basket Full Metal Alchemist + Brotherhood Full Metal Panic + Fumoffu + Second Raid Gatekeepers + 21 Getbackers Ghost Hound Gintama Girls Bravo Ghost in the Shell + Stand Alone Complex + Innocence + 2nd Gig + Solid State Society Grander Musashi Gravitation Great Teacher Onizuka Gunslinger Girl + Il Teatrino Hellsing History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi I My Me Strawberry Eggs Inukami! K-On + Second Season Kaleido Star ...

And so I've passed IPPT! God's brought me through once again. =D

The first outreach session with synthesis was a really fresh experience. It's taking some getting used to, but I must say I enjoyed it. Quite apologetic because of the fact that there wasn't a lot of people from Gihon there so had to rely on Synthesis's LIFE cell for the ushering. Felt quite bad cos of it, because it was our duty after all. Oh wells there's one more at the end of the month that we can make up for! Well, another busy week is coming up! For one a scary IPPT appointment on tuesday at 5pm, which I hope I'll pass. I think I can but you'll never know. Next, a leaders meeting on wednesday, SYC on friday, Music Min Orientation on saturday before outreach, and finally playing for Sunday. Its pretty intense but once tuesday's over I'll be much more relieved for the rest of the week. So updates, updates. For Resonance of Fate at the final chapter, finishing up the arena and the troply collection. Left with the bonus dungeon, which I believe will be...

Open my eyes, Lord, that I may see... My haste to say, "You are wrong," My hesitance to say, "I am to blame," My frowns when the other guy or other team wins, My smiles when I cross the finish line first, My twenty twenty vision at finding cracks in others' character, My halfhearted efforts to spot any flaws in myself. Open my ears, Lord, that I may hear... My laughter at the expense of others, My cries when tables turn and the joke's on me, My whoops when something awful happens to those I don't like, My sighs when I'm the one who is kicked in the teeth, My shouts when I detect sin in others, My whispers when I am confessing my own. Open my mind, Lord, that I may know... My hardheadedness towards those who think I'm a jerk, My open-mindedness toward those who know I'm Mr. Right, My recall of "place and time" when I've been wronged, My forgetfulness of "when and how" I've hurt others, My doubt that...

Well, its only human to err. And err I did, terribly too I must add. Got angry over certain things I never should really let get the better of me, things only said in jest, and in that state of vulnerability I lost God along the way. And I'm only thankful that these things aren't counted against me after I sincerely seek Him once again. After all, despite being a leader and all, I'm only human, trying my best to overcome my weaknesses and flaws. Its God's grace that makes all this possible, and I'm thankful. The triangle plate on the car is now off, and I'm now officially in my second year of driving. As for Tristesse, I'm done with the first page and moving on to relatively more challenging portions of the song on the second page. More updates include the watching of a couple of new series, which will bring my anime tally eventually to 100 finally. Once I reach 100 shall post the entire list on the blog. Most recent anime I've watched would be Witch Hun...

And so the games day went by splendidly, with the making of new friends and forging of new bonds, and I must say I'm rather excited about the prospects of joint collaborations between Synthesis and YE. I was rather worried initially, but everything panned out pretty good. =) Which brings me to reflect about why I've always been uptight when it comes to games, and here's where I bring you on a trip back into my memories. (Which we haven't done in a long time) And so all the way back in primary 5. I was still a game loving person, especially when my form teacher praised me for my sporting actions during games, even daring to do forfeits for the sake of others and things like that. Because of that bit of encouragement, it made all the difference. Forfeits or being embarrassed didn't matter one bit to me at that time. But all that changed just that year, with my first ever YE camp. And so there were games, which I participated gladly in, until this one charades game whe...

Well tomorrow's the day that I'm really nervous about: Mega Games Day. For one, its games, which I've some how gotten used to. But the next thing would be interacting with new people, which I'm always quite jittery about. Oh wells I'll just take it in my stride and enjoy myself. Hope everything goes well tomorrow! This week so far has been pretty alright, considering the way I was thinking it would be tiring. Turns out the only thing that I think will tire me out will be tomorrow. Wednesday went well, with cell at Juan's house being rather lively, with everyone sharing about their hols and us talking about the sinfulness we all have and thus our hope in Jesus. Thoroughly enjoyed it and hope they did too. =) Ah finally a massage chair to relax on after so long hehe! =P Ah and thursday! Lots of firsts which I give thanks for. =D Lastly, Daryl and I have been trying room escape games, and have managed to do some of them with the power of our combined intellect. For...

And so, 10 posts to 600. And about 2 weeks left to taking off the triangle plate while driving. I must say this week has left me a little tired. For one, every single day I've been waking up at 7am for no apparent reason... Which has left me with bouts of interrupted sleep, and the problem is that if I do go back to sleep for rest's sake I'd end up waking at around 11am, which is quite a problem for the completion of my daily to do list. If I choose not to sleep I'd end up very tired around night time. I've tried drawing the curtains to reduce the amount of external light, but it wasn't of much help... Any solutions? The end of this week too was rather rough, with an almost forgotten music ministry meeting, an enjoyable SYC session that ended rather late, leading songs in YE and lastly playing for main service. This coming week will somewhat be along the same lines, with a simple Gihon cell session coming on wednesday, SYC on friday, and playing for Mega Games D...

11 posts to 600! Well I'm almost done with Grande Valse Brilliante... Just a few bits of tying up to do, with portions on the 8th and 9th page still causing a bit of trouble here and there. But I think I can declare it finished within the week! This piece was certainly at a level higher than Raindrops, mostly because of the speed and the muscle memory involved, and the sheer length of it. But it was thoroughly enjoyable, allowing me to showcase part of my livelier side. And shall move on to Chopin's Tristesse soon. Quite excited about that, which will be a stark contrast from the waltz that I just finished. Time to switch moods from playful to melancholy. Soon I'll be playing 3 pages of a song that Chopin himself labelled as the best melody he'd ever written. Besides that I'm now halfway through Resonance of Fate, which is pretty slow. Being the perfectionist gamer that I am, made sure I got through every dungeon getting every item, finishing every quest and fightin...

So, ended up waking up an unearthly hour today, have no idea why. My eyes are tired but my brain is not, so I suppose I'll be back in bed after this post, listening to music till I fall asleep once again. Before this post I was thinking about this week, and how typical each day must have been, but now thinking back, there was actually a lot of new stuff that happened to me over this week, which I'm really quite thankful for. At my age when you're mostly thinking: here I am old and not so youthful any more; it's really encouraging to be experiencing new things even despite that fact. === So on Wednesday, went to meet Sam at SMU, my first visit to his/Steph's/Ernest's uni of choice, and I must say even from the visit to only one of the many portions of the campus, I was thoroughly impressed by the sophistication of the architecture at first glance. It certainly gave of an air of being a premiere facility for education. Also liked the seminar rooms very much, becau...

And so results are out! Did pretty well this semester, better than the first even. So I'm pretty thankful! Here are the results: Bio Psych: B Cognitive Psych: A Japanese Studies: B+ Japanese: A- Science of Music: A+ CAP: 4.40 Total CAP for 2 semesters: 4.30 Edging closer to being in the Dean's List! =D Keep up the good work Ben! And thank you God for your providence. =) Besides that over the past few days have been driving a lot, sending my bro to and from school, and using the car on weekends. One thing that I'm starting to dislike about it is my penchant to get irritated by awkward situations like barriers not opening when they should and a long queue forming behind me. But oh well driving is sometimes like that and I've got to exercise better self control. But one thing I'm beginning to internalize is the fact that I'm not perfect and I have my moments of weakness. The important thing is to learn from that, and yet at the same time move on and not blame mysel...

And so the church carnival's drawing nearer, and I'm getting pretty excited about it. Wanna play some band hero. But besides all that I'd like to call all my fellow church mates to prayer for this event. Haven't heard of a special prayer session just for this event, and though we might not have one, lets not leave it just like that. To all COGS people out there. Just for a few minutes after you read this, drop all you're doing right now, and ask God with all your heart for His will to be done in all this busyness and excitement. And I'm sure we'll have a great day on saturday. So 10am to 4pm! COGS funfest. We're near Queenstown MRT, turn to the left after you exit the mrt and walk past the seemingly abandoned gated building and you'll reach our church. =D

Well, finally I've started watching an anime that I've been intending to catch a glimpse of for a long long time: Final Fantasy Unlimited. Sort of loosely based on the Final Fantasy Series, but with a whole plot of its own. Some things shared with final fantasy games is the inclusion of summons and the lovable chocobo! Cos of that I think I'll finish it pretty quick. Chocobo! =D Cute and cuddly... Its times like this I want a chocobo plushie hehe. === Besides that, have been really really busy with the games stall for the carnival... Well every time I think I finish off the work that has to be done for it, more comes along. Its not the doing of the tasks that make me fatigued, but the sense of not being given complete instructions so I can finish the task in one go. Every time I'm supposed to have struck it off my to do list it comes back to haunt me in a way haha. Oh well, its part of being part of a big carnival, the tiredness and spontaneity so I'm not too fluste...

Well time for my post on KL! It was a whole lot of firsts for me, and travelling with my friends from Navigators made the whole experience a really meaningful and enjoyable one. For one I was able to hear lots of their own experiences when it came to their church live and leading others, and also their own doubts and worries. And I really look forward to continuing to encourage them and let them encourage me as we all go about our uni lives with God in control. I went there still remembering the trauma of past experiences in Malaysia, the time when my family's MPV was stolen at one of the Juscos in Malaysia... And 10 of us had to squeeze into an old, small, Mercedes Benz with a faulty aircon. That was certainly an upsetting experience, and since then I've harboured ill feelings towards Malaysia as a country. It was a time to be rid of those negative biases and truly learn to love even a place that hurt me so badly. We went to a whole lot of different places and here's a lis...

Well, went to KL and am back! Will do a post on it soon...

Of all the strange things I could've dreamt I dreamt that I wasn't a Christian, and I was running away from all those people chasing after me, wanting to convert me into one. It was certainly one crazy dream, with epic chase scenes to boot. =.= And after that dream, I awoke, thinking about the reality that could've been if I hadn't been called by God in that very moment in that camp seven years ago. Given my personality and penchant for sticking to my beliefs, I might have chosen to reject this relationship with God and never ever have become a Christian. And that very thought scares me, and makes me thankful that that fateful day, God chose me as one of His own, to have this very special relationship with Him. And this song came to mind. Could I Ever - Planetshakers When I woke up today And thought of all the things You’d done I find myself here Feeling oh so overcome You gave Your life away for me Truly my heart belongs to You So let me say How could I ever thank You ...

Well, I've finished with Saiyuki, and the next anime that I'll be catching is one called Kekkaishi. An anime with a rather interesting concept of defeating demons using barriers to catch them. The fight scenes are pretty good imo. Well here's a pic. The main character has responsibility thrust on him, because of a mark on the palm of his hand, by night he defends the school from evil spirits and by day he trains, sleeps in class and tries to make delicious pastries for the girl he likes who is also a Kekkaishi. Here's a pic: But besides that I was thinking about barriers between people, and the discrimination that occurs between people. Constant themes that I've been seeing since the ending of the semester. With the movie about stereotyping of Japanese Koreans in Japanese studies class, with this whole thing about politics, and also the issues about foreign talents in Singapore. Also, the fishmen vs human thing in One Piece, the differences between shinobi countries...