day 2 - krakow/ auschwitz/ wieliczka salt mine (2/11)

day 2 dawned bright and uh. foggy? but it was beautiful... and we were going to auschwitz to see the concentration camp lol. so we got up, and missed the tram by 2 minutes -.-" but it was quite fun waiting hehe.

gordon & huixuan attempting the 5th position

anyway. the tram brought us to the train... and this was the park leading to the train station... pretty right? (krakow was pretty... just maybe a bit too chill-out cos the two days were holidays =S)oh.. right... and while we were trying to buy tickets to prague... the guys found out that the train to auschwitz was leaving in uh... 10 min. so we got the tix... 5 min left... and ran to the station, up the train... and 1 min after we got on it left! Gosh.

on the train i finally noticed what one of the guys was wearing 0_o... guess who?

stripes + flowery print = mark

so the train ride took 1 1/2 hrs (wow.) and after we got off we had to trek to the concentration camp... getting directions with lots of weird hand gestures on the way. it was quite hilarious really. and it was yet another 1km walk. (i guess we're quite used to walking after being in london...)

really cute recycling bins!and finally we're here!

so the auschwitz camp was actually 3 different camps, where the 1st one we went to had the museums and stuff. well. and the shuttle to the other camp (with ruins and land and stuff) supposedly came every 30 min. so we rushed through the first camp then went to catch the bus to auschwitz-birkenau (the 2nd larger camp).

and THEN. we found tt the information gave us the wrong info! and it was the bus every 1 hr... so we waited around for a bit... and got kinda worried cos we wanted to go to the salt mines... and the journey would take 2 hrs... and it was 1... we hadn't seen the other larger camp... and the last english tour at the salt mine was at 4pm 0.0

and THEN... Daddy God provided! we went to ask a cabby if he would send us to the other camp - somehow one of the cabbies spoke pretty good english and offered us a round trip: taxi to birkenau, then to the salt mine, then back to krakow! and the rate wasn't too bad... 300 in total for all of us (consider that the exchange rate was something like 1 pound = 4 polish zlotys)... about price of a cab fare in london for a much shorter distance. awesomeness. so for the rest of the trip we could sleep in the cab!

so we were really chill for the rest of the day... taking photos as usual. it was strange being at auschwitz on a sunny day though... the feeling was completely wrong lol. should have come the day before when it was grey and rainy. in the end i ended up taking black and white/ colour accent photos so i could get the feeling. uber happy cos i got more artsy photos!

cross and you're dead! unplanned giordano shot: the sky was sooo blue! this has no photoshopping on my part!planned giordano shot: we could be models!train tracks are really good for emo shotsand more emo shotscos of the holiday people were going around lighting candles in front of graves... emooo and check out the difference between colour with beautiful skies
and greyscale... the whole character of the pic changesi really like this onethe long road ahead: but i can't decide whether the b/w one or colour is nicer lehand i want this kind of nice slim legs =P

so after the 2nd concentration camp the taxi man (who was really nice) drove us to the salt mine in under 2 hrs... i think he was travelling at double the speed limit at one point 0.0 gosh. but we got there in time for the tour... and even got to sleep =). really blessed. and really an adventure... cos in the span of 36 hours we took a plane, bus, tram, train, taxi - not much more transport we could experience in krakow i think -.-"

workers in the salt mine?the very clean bathroom... lol. my salt mine pics didn't turn out too nicely so i can't be bothered to put them up.

and we got driven back to krakow... where we went to get train tix to prague. at the counter we realised that the price had changed since that morning - 3 pounds more expensive! and the ticket was quite expensive to begin with... ~ 40 pounds after conversion. gosh. our flights to krakow and back from prague were about the same price as that ticket =S. but we got them anyhow... and went for dinner. thank God the place we tried to go to on the 1st day was now open (and it was quite the cosy cute cafe! alliteration hehe.)

cosy right?! the chicken cafeda vinci chickenchicken scream~ don't eat me!

after dinner was dessert... *yum*
2nd day conclusion of krakow: uh... not sure why people say it's that beautiful... but it's a nice chill place... and probably more beautiful in spring/ summer (which incidentally is when all the tourists go). food is so-so... but dessert was yummy... all in all a satisfying day. blessed! by the presence of random english speaking people on the way who tried to help us, and the 'cheap' cab ride without which we probably couldn't have gone to the salt mine =).

back at the hostel... and preparing to go to bed... gordon discovered that he had lost his spectacle case! and it either had to be in the salt mine or in the cab =S so his itinerary for the next day was planned out - go back and get spectacles. gosh. and there ended the day... with gordon wearing my spare specs (too bad i didn't take a photo! he looked like harry potter cos the specs were rather small for his big face =P)

...

just a random thought... i just realised that i forget how blessed i am to be in london... amidst the amount of work and things i have to do while in london... uber blessed (to even be here... and to be able to go for holidays) - and all the more so cos Daddy's with me =).

day 1 - krakow (1/11)

speaking of rushed trips - i think this was the craziest.
there was work due... and ocf prep... then my small group came to my house for the decentralised meeting... and we cooked dinner. and then we had bible study... and then after everyone left at 11pm i started packing my bag... and we left the house at 3am for the airport. sleep? about 20 min..
still... we were all hyper (though k.o.ed super early at night)... and reached krakow! (i wonder what happens if at the olympics either the indo or the polish athlete picks up the flag and wears it the wrong way around... hmmm)some problems finding the hostel... (well not really, just that it was a really long walk. 1km? and we didn't really know where we were going). and it was raining... and didn't stop raining the whole day - GREY DAY =(. we found it eventually.. well. in krakow they have this interesting way of putting a bit of park into their road dividers... in this case it was tram tracks outside of our hostel. pretty =) i can imagine what it would be like in spring/ summer with blue skies. a real chill-out place.at the hostel we discovered why everything was closed and why there were practically no people on the streets: it was the 清明节 equivalent for 1st and 2nd nov.
us tourists on a tight budget: 'oh crap. the attractions may be closed' - so depressing
but in the end no loss - super blessed trip =)

next stop was to satisfy our stomachs:
the most expensive meal in the whole 5 days! it was really quite authentic... though perhaps not to our taste (very very gelat food. the dumplings were like eating flour cakes...)

4 types of souppolish dumplings (3 flavours i rmb: potato/ starch, jui queh, minced meat)meat wrapped in cabbage, we also bought this plate of meat and a pork knuckle but i don't have pics =(

it was pretty late after that... so we went to our first touristy area - the Jewish Quarter of town. BUT. cos of the holiday... we were practically the only people around. and cos we were giam siap we didn't take a tour and just wandered around looking at run-down buildings wondering what we were doing there. finally gave up and made our way to the city square (which was also devoid of people and quite desolate in the rain). and FINALLY we found a pretty enough spot to start taking photos in - though it was just a square with lights... lol.

the ghosts of krakow boredom: gordon, hui xuan, mark, jilynoi. patriotic to wrong country sia.and i ended the day with my first artsy photo of the trip! (so pleased!)

went for dinner at the place gordon researched and found that it was closed - but we got our dinner anyway at another touristy cafe.. and then we went back to the hostel at 730pm (note: winter = sun sets at 4pm) and crashed. haha. amazingly early.

our conclusion of krakow: we don't understand why all the people who've been here say it's beautiful... all the locals look at us as if we're on display (like they've never seen asians before -.-")... and the food *er...*

my conclusion of krakow: i'm just glad to go to sleep after running a fever the whole day -.-" sucks to have a head of cottonwool on holiday. and Daddy... i want nice weather tomorrow... *whine* lol. talk about a lousy start.. bad weather, timing, food, health. right. (but it got better!)

imagine this

if you were that boy...
if you were someone watching another's destruction
if you were God watching the world crumble into dust

imagine love.

boatparteh =) & other non holiday things

heh. so reading week is nearly over and i have a lot of things to blog about and no time. tsk. as usual.

i actually enjoyed the singapore society boat party - to my surprise.. cos i can't be bothered with the 'dancing' heh. but there wasn't enough alcohol to go around. nice to chill on the boat deck though - and by chill, i mean literally. i was out on the deck in one layer and it was snowing

strangest dress
best dressed "terrorrific'
'family' photo - we look kinda like the adam's family...

...

a couple of random london photos... on the way back from church last last sunday, gordon insisted on carrying my bag - he said it looked nice with his leather jacket - and that it was his 'man-bag' but so far not a single girl agrees *go me!* (and kenneth was just watching us...) and here's a pic of my psycho buddy! heh we're the emo hoodlums (i think we were talking about lab work and how it just made ppl sad and stressed... and along came the topic of being emo with hoods and we just had to take the photo)
aaand *drumroll* my successful shepherd's pie (trying out a new receipe... with some playing around with ingredients cos we didnt have everything) and gordon insisted on having a =) drawn on the top of it. tsk. boys will be boys.

in wonder

there are just way too many broken & lost people out there...

and for the ones i actually know - there is nothing i can do but watch... and trust that Daddy will take care of the situation.

...

Ezekiel 34 is a really interesting chapter

...

when will the time come that i really just flow with the Spirit... and not worry about things... and be so full... that all i do becomes easy?
sometimes life feels like 1 step forwards and 3 steps back... it's odd.

...

i am leaving for krakow in just over 24 hours... and there are so many things to do... wow.

procrastination

i have an essay to do, and i need to take a nap... therefore i am blogging
(awesome reasoning skills eh?)

point form for events:
1. i went to a halloween boat party 7-11pm yday after a 10am to 7pm day and it was actually fun. [photos to come when i'm back from my trip!]
2. it snowed (in october... 0.0)
3.worship prac was interesting today cos my voice isn't quite right from being sick the past couple of days. BUT. omg i have discovered talent! titus is damn good at piano... although he says he can't improv... but he's actually really good. tsk.
4. i just found out the weather forecast for krakow and prague is actually pretty warm so i'm not gonna freeze and die during reading week! (maybe cos all the cold winds came here... hmm) well by warm i mean above 8 degC

...

i was just thinking tt it's kinda sad that i haven't talked to a lot of people in quite a long time. properly that is. it's kinda interesting... like how water flows through a pipe... a brief touch & connection, then it's gone, an then it touches the next bit of pipe. aside from the house people that's what it's been for relationships in and out of london - odd. a momentary 'hi, how are you', an action, then the next day it's a new person and a different situation.

what's my life revolving around i wonder...
everyday there's so many things to do, to think about, to take care of the house and the house's people... work, ministry... i wonder if i sometimes kick Jesus out of the picture.

...

wanna thank God for putting ken and gordon into this house & in my life. it's so amazing to be able to talk about Jesus, about ministry... people... about lives, about lives we see transformed, about guiding people. (yeah house situation is still ongoing... though the specifics have changed). even more amazing... that it happens breakfast lunch dinner... and whenever. rox. i don't even get to do that back home except during church camp... if this is what paul means by edifying your brothers in Christ in fellowship, count me in man.

...

and gordon really piqued my interest about me this morning (gosh i sound so self-centred)...
ken was saying that he couldn't see me as anything else but a leader and that i would have to marry a pastor or something [we were digressing from talking about relationships and 'the season' and being led by the Spirit lol.] then gordon said something to the effect of 'but i see two sides of you, the facade that is responsible and strong..the leader.. and the other one that isn't... that's just you. but you keep the strong and responsible one up more, isn't that tiring...? is it?'

my reply? 'of course it is'
but now that i'm thinking about it... i guess strong and responsible is still the 'main' part of me... not just something i maintain - being tired comes into play when i've lost focus from Jesus... strong and responsible still occur when i'm 'crazy me' - but i guess that only a select few people see me when i'm down and out... or maybe it's by force of habit - no, you can't be weak, take control of your life or it'll take control of you... and in that case, maybe i haven't really settled down properly in london, for the people that i can be a sheep to are still few and far between.

and i should go nap and do my essay. (would be nice if i could do both at once eh.)

heads up for a crazy week

i have an essay and a lab report due right?

then there's leader's cell tonight (no more monday)
then there's the boat party on tue - obligation... bleh. (no more tuesday)
then there's worship prac (no wed afternoon)
and cooking dinner and maybe going to a jazz bar (most of wed gone)
then thursday is a long day and i'll be prepping bible study
then friday there's ocf

then saturday morning i'm leaving for krakow (woohoo! reading week)
and coming back on wed nite...
and leading worship on fri nite ocf...


right. so somehow i have to fit my essay and lab and readings into that schedule.
grace grace man.

2 Samuel 6:14-22

context? David was successfully bringing the ark (presence) of God into his house after one failed try

Then David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was wearing a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet. Now as the ark of the LORD came into the City of David, Michal, Saul’s daughter, looked through a window and saw King David leaping and whirling before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart. So they brought the ark of the LORD, and set it in its place in the midst of the tabernacle that David had erected for it. Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD. And when David had finished offering burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts. Then he distributed among all the people, among the whole multitude of Israel, both the women and the men, to everyone a loaf of bread, a piece of meat, and a cake of raisins. So all the people departed, everyone to his house.

what is worship then? but abandonment in the presence of Daddy God

Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, “How glorious was the king of Israel today, uncovering himself today in the eyes of the maids of his servants, as one of the base fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!” So David said to Michal, “It was before the LORD, who chose me instead of your father and all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel. Therefore I will play music before the LORD. And I will be even more undignified than this, and will be humble in my own sight. But as for the maidservants of whom you have spoken, by them I will be held in honor.”

and what a spirit...
i don't care what people think of me, cos the Lord's in the house. therefore i will praise Him, i will tell of His goodness and mercy, i will rejoice, for His presence is here. i will bless, for He has blessed me/ He is blessing me.
what exaltation...

Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.

and the Lord will vindicate you.

awesomeness.

stuck.. bleh

i feel small...
and lost.


and it's scary.

and i can't seem to get out of it...
help... Jesus..

comparisons

hahahaha. i just remembered i forgot to blog about this

to heid, drea, izzy, hwei, ruth mj:
cheriekam struck again.
cheriekam made her household compare calf muscle sizes one week ago. lol.


gordon was doing weights at 'gordon's gym' which was basically in front of the mirror at the end of the corridor near the kitchen.
cheriekam was walking to the kitchen and looking in the mirror as gordon was doing weights
"eh. are my calves the same size as yours? O.0"
cheriekam and gordon compare calf sizes and proclaim them the same
kenchew walks out his room
"kenneth!! omg my calves are the same size as gordon's"
"eh. that means they're bigger than mine! oh! that means that i can wear skinny jeans and you can't!"
"-.-" errr."
"eh. then you have the least feminine legs. first would be soph, then me hehehe. then chrissie then you then gordon. haha! my legs are slimmer than yours!"
soph appears... chrissie appears...
"what's going on?"
we end up talking about legs for the next 10 min.


ohwell.
i don't change do i. 7 years liao and this phenomena still reoccurs.

not quite alone

hmmmm.

i guess i just have to say that Daddy's in control. and that i'm in this situation for a reason. it involves various people so i'll only talk about it if you catch me online =P. i guess it's my ministry... but watching people go off and self-destruct and waiting to pick up the pieces does hurt. patience... patience. (it's a bunch of us watching and waiting... pray people... pray.)


that said.
i'm gonna attempt to cook nasi lemak tmr! woohoo!
but i have a presentation to do
and an essay outline
a lab report
and an essay
and well. a ton of undone readings (as usual)

i can only hold on to Him - but that should be the case anyway.

dreamin

of walking on streets of gold.

but while i'm here
Daddy's in control.

and all the blessings are MINE.


...


today's lecture was on personality disorders
and. lol.
i found that i used to fit the criteria for quite a few of them. (and yeah it's clinical criteria)

and then.. i've been doing my readings on mood disorders and depression... and i would probably have been diagnosed with unipolar.

talk about being redeemed and restored. hoho.

i really wanna do clinical psyc - not as a researcher (though it comes with it) but as a psychotherapist... the case studies are so interesting (and i'm possibly living with two. well. i shall stop overthinking things hehe.)


...


so i've a presentation to do...
then a lab report...
then there's all the reading... (at least clinical is exciting)
and there's worship prep/organisation/ av
and there's prep for bible study
but spending time with Daddy rox - necessary. and seriously wonderful.

i climbed a tree!

this weekend is super blessed with HOT weather!
and by hot - i mean 20 deg. hehe.
it's hilarious, i'm sitting in front of my comp mugging and i'm suntanning in my room lol.

anyway. photo update.

random lunchtime madness

fingerless gloves are cute and rather useless when on the head you look like a chicken christine and i think that the henna looks like ninjas
nose-ring anyone?

wednesday
i invited hania, sylvia, christine over (and the weather was awesome)

russell square... the park i walk through on the way to school
us and food!
shameless: my fried rice looks good right?

thursday
went to watch pastor prince at hillsong conference (paid 15 quid for a few hours 0_o pastor costs the same amount to watch as a musical...)

saturday
was a real relief after friday night... OCF picnic, frisbee, and i climbed a tree!
oh man angus... where were you bro. we were in hyde park... miss your company man.

beautiful blue skies =)the puma gang i looked like a flower i think...me on the top of the tree
the unglam climbing process
suckling pig pic #01suckling pig pic #02 bingliang's pained look (watch your crown jewels!)and the last flowers of summer

london lesson #02

breaking point.

friday was another mad rush...
after lessons came back to cook for OCF

and then for worship... i screwed up. totally.
i can't be in the right state to worship lead and manage all the arrangements for sound and projection.

1. i forgot to bring the strand equipment bag with the mixer and mics in it
God provided Soph who was coming later to help me get it (though i went home to help her anyway)

2. i clean forgot to bring my lappie for projection - only brought the projector and didn't get someone to do the lyrics (basically clean forgot about the fact that we need projection
God provided Junli and her friend... who had a lappie... and Junli typed in the lyrics on the spot. While Jane moved the program forward to stall for time...

3. by the end of that, though i was initially focused on worship... i was a mess. and disong the worship leader for that night was distracted (we had problems with the projection as well... and most of the songs were new) - so we had two distracted worship leaders.

and then. there was the rest of the night... the talking to people (cos it was the first ocf to split into groups with a lot of new ppl)... wondering what do do for next week's worship... condemning myself for being 'so useless'.
God sent Eugene to take the initiative to ask me about the next week's worship and his team.

and so i went back home a wreck. being broken isn't easy.
esp when it all comes in the span of 3 hours - i can't i can't i can't
and then seeing God provide and going - look. I can I can I can.

i managed to get home and into a room before i started ranting lol.
God i suck. why am i in this position anyway. i don't have the management skills... i don't have the voice... i don't have the musicality... i only have a little... a little... and it isn't enough.. it'll never be enough... will it?

My Grace is sufficient for you.
and He showed me that at each instance of my inability... He brought someone to rescue me. and He held me as i sat there and just gave up - gave up being brave, being good, being useful, being strong. fear not, I am with you
and the first line of Psalms 23 just started ringing in my spirit... the Lord is my Shepherd, i shall not want.

i shall not want.
i shall not be in want.

house life

wednesday... my coursemates came over (british) and i cooked for them. when i asked them what chinese food they liked... one said 'fried rice'. lol.
wednesday... there was worship prac
wednesday... i was helping chrissie cook dinner
yesterday... i mopped the corridor, the kitchen, my room and a bit of everyone else's rooms.
yesterday... gordon and i were crying in the kitchen (over onions)
today... we're gonna cook black pepper beef for 15 people


and i'm behind on readings... heck. i haven't even bought a perception text yet.


oh. pray for my ear... it was 'leaking' and now it's swollen

[edit]
i just had a thought...
being a christian doesn't mean that you 'have it all together' or you're 'keeping it all together'. but that you don't have to keep it all together... Jesus take the wheel =)
[/edit]

london lesson #01

before i know it... i've been in london 3 weeks now
it's been a flurry of activity... doing up the house, moving in and unpacking, getting groceries and making the kitchen work. and then school started.. giving us a lab project on the 2nd day of school and an essay on the 4th day of school.

so. panic. *of course*

but yesterday as i was trying to write my essay to no avail (couldn't think after a while) i decided to listen to a sermon. granted, i wasn't paying all that much attention to the sermon, but it spoke to me (even as i multitasked with blogsurfing and fbook and the daily devo). the message wasn't new - though not something i've listened to many times... it was on the things that pastor builds his newer messages on, but yet as i listened, there was a fresh knowing of His goodness... not knowledge, but understanding.

and then i realised what i've been doing in london.. running around trying to get things done.. (and my household has had quite a few drama episodes) wondering whether things would run... taking time to talk to people about things, discuss issues, get high on random incidences (we were teaching the boys to do ballet yday lol.) but none of those fulfilled the need for life, for spending time with Daddy - which i didn't do simply because. well. the other things took up so much time.

no two ways around it.

but what is spending time with God?
going to Him and complaining? maybe. (i've done that a lot)



yesterday i realised another element... awareness of His goodness
to stop, smell the roses, and realise that all that is what Daddy has given

yeah. sure. it's been preached to me many times... but actually realising it when there's so many things to be taken care of? not really something i have to think about in singapore... cos the parents do most of that kind of work, i only have to take care of my own things back home. here, there's the house that we all have a part in running.


i should live life like the devo i read yday... sure. i do the work. but then i sit back and watch as Daddy God multiplies the fruit.

so it's 2nd year

and i've an essay due tuesday the second week of school
and lab work has started
and i'll be starting jap evening classes next tue nite
woohoo! (?)

in other news... pastor is coming down for the london hillsong conference and i've decided to pay the moneh and go watch him for a night - get solid food for once.

hmm... ken had the idea of trying to get him to see OCF and speak abt things
and jason had tt idea of trying to take a photo with him LOL.
but what i really wanna know is whether there are leaders coming up with pastor that i can talk go talk to... anyone have any idea who's coming?

oh gosh

i am so not coping.

howwww.

how to juggle experiments... lab report... essay
it's like the 3rd day of school, i have to design an experiment, prepare it and have it more or less up and running by next week (okay it's a group thing. but argh) then for seminar tomorrow i have to prepare an essay plan, of which the topic is one i completely skipped last year when mugging... and i don't have an introduction text to waffle by... grawh...

then there's ocf... being a group leader... worship I/C for the year
ton of admin... and relationships - admin i can handle... being sociable just eats me up after a while. like after the walkabout in london with freshers and getting to know something like 15 new people i was just completely gone for the day. but i suppose fellowship is different... fellowship uplifts. and i really don't want to just be a leader that spouts bible knowledge at people... cos it's really not about knowledge.. it's about the relationship... and developing the relationship with someone so lovely

and there's house stuff... cooking... packing up
cooking takes up an extraordinary amount of time... gosh. but there's no way i can be 'can't be bothered'... and if anyone in the house really 'can't be bothered' then the rest of us are in trouble for the rest of the year =S

and woah. i just realised i'll be having jap evening classes on tuesdays - and mon and tue are my 10 to 5 days. bleh.

shucks.

i should really go spend time with Daddy before i spout anything else