*ugh*



i'm leaving for thailand to visit the refugees along the burma border on friday morning, but 3 days before the trip, i've come down with a severe cold/flu thing. i started feeling a bit feverish yesterday, and my nose was irritated all day, which meant constant sneezing and runny nose. today, i feel even worse. but i've got stuff to do, last minute errands to do for the trip, masterlife, scp...

aiya.

please pray that i get well by friday. i plan to chug vitamin C nonstop til then. also pray for protection and healing for my foot - that i won't have any problems with it on the trip. it's still not fully healed, but my physio seems to think traipsing around the jungle would be good for my foot.... but most of all please pray that we would be able to fulfull everything that God wants us to do on this trip.

*do people KNOW?*

i posted about togo awhile back, and right now with them on the world stage in germany, i have to get this off my chest: DOES ANYONE KNOW what is happening in togo?? i find it shockingly unbelievable that while the national football team is playing in the world cup, and their faces and names are broadcasted internationally with millions of people watching, that i still have not heard any popular media mention the atrocities that are happening (and have been happening for the last 40 years) in that small west african nation.

maybe it's because i'm in hong kong, a place notoriously oblivious to what's happening around the world if it doesn't have to do with our money, and especially blind to human rights issues. but could it be true? please, those of you who live in the free(r) world, tell me that someone has noticed?

if you don't know what's going on there, please go to www.amnesty.org and search "togo" for articles documenting the long history of violations against the human rights of those who desire democracy in that country. i guess i would be completely ignorant to what's happening too if it weren't for the 6 togolese asylum seekers who found their way to our church one day last december.

here is a video of my friends - joh, wolali, edem, hippo, and a few other friends - having an impromptu drum worship session at repulse bay after the baptisms. one of their friends, saidi, was baptised that day. these guys are amazing. you would think that as asylum seekers who basically have nothing, they would be the first in line for free pizza. instead, they wanted to worship our living God, while the rest of us devoured the pizzas. too bad my camera ran out of time. just after this video was taken, as they continued to sing, joh broke into dance, the african way. it was awesome. these guys are amazing. please pray that their applications for refugee status will be accepted by the unhcr.


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i guess the military regime has done a good job shutting everyone up, because it seems that the truth of what's happening in togo has yet to reach the world. maybe i should write angelina or bono a letter. then the world will notice.

*penang & football*

ok ok i'll update.... seriously, penang is not much of an island if it's not sunny. and yes, we are very good at lazing by the pool and doing nothing. we have lobster skin to prove it. the town was ok, except there wasn't really much going on. maybe it's not high season yet? maybe because it was a monday? maybe because it was raining? who knows, but it wasn't exactly hip hoppin'... the good thing was they have a free shuttle bus that takes you around downtown (georgetown), so we took full advantage of that. at one point we ended up in little india and it was pouring rain. so we ducked into the nearest restaurant, and had chai and sticky indian balls (what are they called?) until the rain subsided.

then we found the equivalent to lan kwai fong, which is in upper jalan penang, and there's this place called the garage which is a restored colonial building with a whole lot of bars and clubs under one roof. after walking around all afternoon and getting rained on, we got to this place and decided it was enough. it was like 5:30pm. we had a couple of drinks, watched a rerun of the boring japan-croatia game from the night before. then we had dinner and watched the togo-suisse game.

so here are derek's photos... i didn't take any of my own so i'm appropriating his.

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i have to say that i'm really loving football. i think it's partly to do with being denied hockey (that's ICE, for you brits and oz ppl) for 6 years. but i think also because the game of soccer is quite similar to hockey, and i can get into it right away. it's also a pretty simple game. i mean, all you have to do is get the most balls in the goal... it's not like american football or baseball or cricket where there are a million rules and ways to score. and i really like the fact that soccer is actually a pretty physical game - although i'd have to say that these players are kinda wussy compared to hockey players. i mean, i understand that they have to get the ref's attention in order to draw out fouls and cards, but come on. i've never seen so many grown men be so fragile over getting tripped on a grass field. try getting tripped on ICE while going 10 times faster, with sharp skates flying around! that's why hockey will always be the coolest game on earth... but soccer comes close.

** more of my thoughts on the african nations later...

*a quickie*

just got back from penang. just want to say God is so good... he brought out the sun even though the forecast said rain all week! and YES, we are tanned. burnt, in fact. ouch. anyone got any aloe??

derek took all the pics so y'all have to wait for him to post them.

congratulations to matt & meg!! they're honeymooning in malaysia as well....

*photoblog... sorta*
i've finally uploaded some new photos. there are a few of my little princess. no not derek. her name is killer. because she is.

we had baptisms at repulse bay last sunday. as usual, it was a massive chaotic affair as only the vine could pull off. with daughin perched up on the stone wall with a guitar and edem on the djembe, they occassionally busted out worship songs at random moments. there were 3 baptising 'stations' going at the same time. what else could you do with 30+ people?? this included 19 asylum seekers (most of them nepalese and african), a man whose wife had been praying for him for about 10 years, yan who was featured on the pearl report (a local news program), and our senior pastor's daughter....

afterwards, the togolese guys started jamming on the drums with derek, while mainland tourists came up and took photos.... it was great. i have a video. will see if i can figure out how to put it online somewhere. the weather stayed dry enough for the most part, and only started coming down just as everyone was packing up to go. it was just a great day all over. i love our baptisms.

meg's hen on monday was a blast. i'm glad her family and her 3 bridesmaids are finally here. the girls had a blast at (the very tight and cozy) chocolux while the boys dressed up as cowboys and went for curry. i only have a photo of derek doing his best impression of jake gylenhaal. you'll have to ask derek to see what the boys got up to. but let me tell you, it ain't pretty....

i found this cool thing... don't know if it's going to work...

Flash Slideshow

*coming attractions*

there's plenty for me to update about... this is just to whet your appetite:

global day of prayer
the vine worship team playing in front of thousands with steven curtis chapman
baptisms
our first anniversary in penang!!!
mission trip to thailand/burma

yay.... and also more photos coming....

*tagged by ghislaine*

1. Four Jobs:
a. barista at cypress mountain (in the little coffee shack)
b. snowboard instructor at cypress
c. tutor for child stars
d. barista (again) at bread garden, second cup, starbucks, vine centre....

2. Four Things I Wish I Had Done Earlier:
a. learned to snowboard earlier
b. travelled more
c. ... this is getting hard... there's very little i regret not doing....
d. paid more attention in french class??

3. Four Places I Have Lived:
a. shanghai
b. india
c. auckland
d. london

4. Four Countries I Have Been To:
a. malaysia
b. thailand
c. indonesia
d. australia

5. Four Countries I Would Like to Visit:
a. spain
b. nepal
c. chile
d. anywhere in africa

6. Four of My Favorite Dishes:
a. banoffee pie
b. my auntie miranda's pavlova
c. any thai dish involving basil
d. any kind of creamy chunky soup

7. Four Sites I Visit Daily:
a. my blog
b. .... uh....
c. ... i guess i'm not much of a surfer
d. ... there's nothing i visit DAILY

8. Four Software Applications I Cannot Live Without:
a. widgets
b. safari
c. entourage
d. adium

9. Four Things I'll Never Forget:
a. our wedding day
b. honeymoon in bali
c. how much christ has forgiven me
d. my old highschool lock combination

10. I Tag....
YOU!

*hello, i'm johnny cash*

been reading up a bit on the man in black. here a a few quotes i particularly like:

It makes me so mad that some people underestimate the wisdom and energy of young people. All because they don't look the way older folks think they should look. I'm working on a song about it. Maybe some of those closed minded people will realise long hair and tattoos don't mean they should be ignored. Close minded people are part of what's wrong with this world.

Compassion is something I have a lot of, because I've been through a lot of pain in my life. Anybody who has suffered a lot of pain has a lot compassion.

If you aren't gonna say exactly how and what you feel, you might as well not say anything at all.

No matter how much you may disagree with their beliefs, those that have lived longer than us always have something to teach us, that we can take with us for the rest of our lives.

The Master of Life's been good to me. He has given me strength to face past illnesses, and victory in the face of defeat. He has given me life and joy where others saw oblivion. He has given new purposes to live for. New services to render and old wounds to heal. Life and love go on. Let the music play.

You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone; close the door on the past. You don't try to forget the mistakes, but you don't dwell on it. You don't let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space. If you analyse it as you're moving forward, you'll never fall in the same trap twice...

amen.