And who would have guessed?

Roger attended a Hillsongs Live Recording concert last night at the Sydney Olympic Park Stadium.

Kenneth had an extra ticket and asked Roger to go along (such is not a place for babies, hence April and I couldn't go...) April and I thought that Roger would not go, but Roger thought it would be a good eye opener (hey, since we're in 'Hillsongs land', why not?)

And so he joined Kenneth and another couple...sacrificing his peaceful sunday evening of study...

His comments after he reached home?

1. He was more impressed with the stadium than with their songs.


2. The band was good.


3. He agreed with 2 songs out of the 12-15 that were presented.


4. It was rather ironic how they declared Jesus as light of the world, but in the next minute, clapped when the lights were switched off (perhaps in anticipation for another song/item to start).


5. The guy standing behind him was kicking Roger's seat most of the time.


6. It was more orderly than a service in a Singaporean charismatic church.


7. It was a pity that the pastor did not share the gospel and an altar call was made.

All these, a part of our Aussie exposure. =)

While you were sleeping

Caught the sunrise with Charis today. (The photos do no justice to the sight we witnessed)

Couldn't get Charis to sleep longer when she woke at 5.30am, so I brought her out to the cool cool balcony to admire God's glory as the sun rose.

I reminisced the many sunrises and sunsets I've chased in my youth. Dragging my poor friends out of bed at unearthly hours to catch the sunrise during chalet stayovers at East Coast Park, gobbling my dinner at the arts canteen and dashing to the Central Library rooftop to catch a glimpse of the fading crimson skyline...some of my friends thought I was mad.

But each sunrise and sunset still thrills me. It is like catching the sleeve of Christ's majesty, drinking from the stream of God's love, breathing the scent of God's faithfulness, hearing the trumpets of God's grandeur...and then find my heart weeping at the feet of His holiness.

The Academic Buzz

Essay writing season is here! Roger is as busy as a bee with reading and writing, on top of preparing for lessons and quizzes. You can imagine how relieved he felt when he submitted his first essay today. I was relieved too, it's no fun proofreading a 3000-word essay for complex tense usage and tons of academic jargons! Parabolic meant something really different in how Roger used it in his essay. =P We're buzzing on...

May Hsin's Parents are in Town

Being my parent's first grandchild, Charis wields tremendous 'power' over them. My mother missed Charis so much that she came to Sydney with my dad just 2 months after we're here.

We went to eat, sight-see, shop...had long conversations after dinner...played with Charis...We had lots to talk about and when they were here for the first day, I had to remind myself that I don't need to have 2 month's worth of chat in 1 night.

Some of the sights at Circular Quay today...

While we were having a good time sight-seeing, Roger was home preparing for his essay. =) So diligent hor? My dad will be leaving this Saturday, and my mum 2 weeks later. Praying for meaningful time spent together.

Chinese New Year

Things are rather quiet here during Chinese New Year. The most CNY thing we experienced was to have to squeeze with the crowds during grocery shopping on the eve of CNY and to see 2 little girls prettily dressed in red cheong- sams at church service. =)

We did have our own reunion dinner. The Fongs and May Hsin's ex-colleague in Singapore, Wei Ee, came to our place for dinner.

Today, on the 7th day of CNY, Burwood Park had a little fair with Lion Dance performance and a mini concert. We missed the many of the performances cos we had a jolly good time eating the much-missed wanton mee and beef kuay teow. *yums* (which also indicates where our interests lie)

Blessed Chinese New Year!

1. Mini Concert Stage (The singer is blocked by the balloon!)

2. Stalls at Burwood Park

3. Roger and Charis near the pond

Ah…the smell of freshly cut grass…

The SMBC graduate who stayed in this apartment previously struck up a deal with the landlady in bid to lower the rent. He offered to mow the lawn at the property they were renting. And so as we became the new tenants, we (or rather, Roger) took on the responsibility of mowing the lawn.

So, Roger’s first gallant attempt to mow the lawn was quite successful, I must say, (Hee…of course it was successful cos all I had to do was to be cheerleader and photographer…)

SMBC kindly lends us the equipment, and every fortnight, Roger will be ‘toiling the ground’, emphathising with the foreign workers who cut grass in Singapore, reminiscing his NS days of walking through tall grass, and getting his ‘healthy’ dose of suntan and exercise.

On the morning when Roger was mowing the lawn, the Fongs dropped by and when Edmund saw what Roger was doing, asked, ‘Is this the realization of your suburban dream?’

Well, we do hope that having to mow the lawn was just a dream (just kidding!), but again, this task reminded us of the need to be faithful in the things that we have to do, no matter how tedious they are.

Mowing the Lawn 101

Step 1: Learn how to use the lawn mower

Step 2: Use the lawn mower to cut the grass. Go slow with the tall grass. Pushing the mower into the tall grass too quickly can cause the motor of the mower to 'die'

Step 3: Remove the cut grass stored at the back of the mower when it is full

Step 4: Use a smaller equipment (i forgot what that equipment is called, refer to the picture) to cut the grass near the edge of pavements. The lawn mower would not be able to cut the grass in these hard to reach areas.

=)

Greek and the Student

His Greek quiz was marked 'brillant' and on it was not a single mistake.

I turned the page over and read an unusual question

Q8. What do think of your study of Greek so far? [0 marks]

And glowed when I read the answer

Great! Enjoying it and looking forward to reading God's word in the language that He chose to pass it to man.