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(Tuesday, March 13, 2007-)
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# Open Up The (Uni) Gates
Saturday
Its a day of Open Houses. Today's schedule was Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and then Heart of God Church (hoGc). Woke up on time and wasn't late. Looks like my saturdays are improving and becoming less piggish. Had a quick breakfast and then left for Tanah Merah MRT to meet Winnie who was so kind to help me settle the open house arrangements when i was lost at a particular bridge @ Yumei's. It was really quite funny and i totally refuse to accept the stack of tiles cuz i was on the phone ok Diantha. U r still the champion! =p
Yup, back up the hill and down the dragon and 12 was not too slow. Met Winnie at the control station who was on time. Mark of a good councillor. Hehe. Council rocks! Lalala. Ok, it was a long ride from TM to Boon Lay. Note to people who design Unis in Singapore. Did you guys have the map of Singapore when u designed it? Or did u guys throw darts to choose a location? Even so, it was quite a bad throw.
Oh well, that jz meant more time to chat abt council life and the MRT wasn't exactly empty till City Hall... Oh well, council always has lots of stories, but i interrupt this post to tell u that apart from Diantha, Fang Xian is also the queen of blurness. Here's the low down (pun intended, if u get it)
Fang Xian called Winnie to ask where we were and we said we were on the MRT on the way to NTU. Then she asked, when are u guys going to NTU. We were like... LOLZ... but oh well, its FX so shes always forgiven for being blur. Diantha, u can share ur mahjong tiles with her. Yeah, ok back to the MRT ride.
We talked almost all the way and when we reached Boon Lay, Winnie's friends were supposed to meet her there but considering they weren't from council, they were obviously late (I am being super biased, I know). Winnie tried to give them a call but with all the construction work, all she could get out of the conversation is that one out of the group was at Buona Vista. And the rest of the group wasn't even there yet. So we headed off to queue for the shuttle bus to NTU. Nice thing is that there were signs and student ambassadors there to guide poor little lost sheep along. Unlike NUS!! Ok, more on comparison later...
Waited like 20 minutes for the bus to come and finally spotted Winnie's friends arriving. Saw some TJCians too like Carine and Zhi Zhong, Timothy. And when they arrived, so did the bus, so yeah, we were there early for almost nothing. But at least we got to NTU on time. Once there, they had nice ppl on the bus and nice ppl to hand out goodie bags the moment i got down. NTU ppl, if you're reading this, ur open house was better than NUS IMHO. And then Winnie and I wondered into SBS (School of Biological Sciences), what an uncool acronym. But it served its purpose cuz I remembered where we got off.
Then later after much asking of questions to ppl at the booths, we moved on to the Quad. (why i remember the places' names, i dunno) and saw some of the CCA booths. Quite cool. And the best part was the seniors. Talked with a few and even met Fung Shin there who i am now asking questions to find out mroe abt NTU. Met Rachel there too who was in red. Haha. Blended in with NTU-ians. I dunno what they call themselves. Any suggestions?
-NTUnians
-Nanyangnites
-NTechies
Okay I give up.
Then we heard some interesting rumours like what PRCs are called in NTU and terminology for retaking a subject. And the best part abt not using the microwave oven cuz apparently some smart ppl use it as a dryer for socks. Why??? Universities are supposed to house smart people. Intelligent people. Why.... Yeah, found out more about hall life, took a meaningless tour for the sake of the aircon. Had some free Milo and a hotdog and drink which cost $1. Winnie took for me while I organized the "recycling" materials in my NTU bag.
And then the blur queen (FX, not you Diantha in case u're wondering =) called us and asked us to meet her at URECA. But by the time we were at URECA, she had already left and we also missed the movie with Winnie's cell. So we just slacked around in a rather homey NTU. Met Jayne there too! Some NYJCians and TJCians as well who were there for some talk on econs. I think they ponned the remainder of it. Sorry ya NTU. U guys have to make this sort of stuff more interesting hor..
After that, we decided to take the MRT out of there and so we headed to SBS, ahha, and then MRT-ed to Dhouby Ghaut. And unlike councillors, we decided on where to eat pretty quickly, ordered ate, and bumped into Sarah twice and then finally the blur queen and Gabriel. Then walked out to DG and then to hoGc. This is the next part of opening the gates.
Never heard of Heart of God Church before except from what Ps Mark said that it was modelled after City Harvest Church. And from the reception, it was apparent. Ushers from the first door, up the stairs, reception and at the doors. All in neat black. And the crowd was sort of like CHC as well with queues to get in. Finally got to our seat and some had to move later on. But it was rather hot in there but it was not too bad.
After a while, the service started with a new song. It started off with a bass solo by a female bassist. She looked cute. Haha, but the t shirt she was wearing was a little too scary for me. Haha. Skull with halo and wings. Hmmm. Oh well, she is a really pro bassist. And so is the rest of the worship team. Didn't know any of the songs but the ppl there were really enthu. Yup. If one word could summarize them, it would be "WOW" with some pun intended. Hehe.
Then after the great praise and worship session with 100% new songs for me, it was announcement and tea-time. Announcements were ok, and tea-time means testimony time in my church in KL, but yeah, they had awesome testimonies. Even had awards for those who scored L1R5 of 21-25 and below 20 and some for A levels as well. Basically, a church who don't ignore academic excellence (AE as they call it) and the biggest testimonies were from the best improved student from E,O,F for A lvl Prelim to A,A,B. Insane!!!! and O Levels, drop from L1R5 of 49 (so hopeless ryte?) to 27. thats like, a drop of 22 points!!!
Then had the Valentine's day testimonies as well of how they impacted their schools and also the Northbrooks Revival video. Wow. Really professionally done to tell and even greater story of true revival. Yup, after the awesome tea-time, it was time for Ps Glen Berteau.
He shared an awesome message of How People Turn Their Backs on God from the parable of the sower. The biggest impact on me was how the deceiver (the devil) talks to you and takes away your desires. How does the deceiver sound like? Apart from resembling ultra heavy metal (hehe) screaming, it is usually very very subtle. He whispers...
- you don't need to do it now
- you still have time
- you can do it later
- you can do it the next time
To me, it was like... yeah... how many times have I heard that in my head. When I wanted to study. When I wanted to do QT, i can always do it later. It never tells me not to do it, cuz i'll know straight away that it's the devil. He's not that dumb to scare us away. It's always ever so subtle. procrastinate, take that extra 10 minutes. You need that one hour more of sleep. Just be late, its alright... So many times I've been deceived. Yup, i've realised.
And he also talked about how we will have pressure and we have to make a stand.
Overall, it was truly an awesome service and yet another item on my wish list has come true. Yup, and being in Malaysia now, all the 5 items on my wish list have come true. Txs God for reading my blog. I know you did (=
After the service, CFC talked a bit, and i met Fiona, the only TJCian in hoGc, who's from LEO, Leosis! Haha, so cool ryte! Yeah, talked a bit and introduced her to Winnie and FX but i think she would have forgotten, but I'm looking forward to meeting u in school! Yup, then we had dinner at Kopitiam in PS. FX was a little emo but it got much better when we were seated down eating. Must have been the headache. Wouldn't know.
Then had a long bus ride home. Michelle and Adeline also joined us on the bus. Then got off, stopped at 7-Eleven for a snack (yes I do snack once in a while *winks*) then took 12 back to Sennett. Met Cadence on the bus who was going home after O-Nite, sorry could't be with you guys, but I wouldn't have missed hoGc for anything else in the world!! Then reached home and slept after doing laundry. Yup. nice nice saturday.
Sunday
Sunday started off nicely, walked and arrived at church on time from Sennett. Yay. Occupied the 3rd row and left poor Gabriel alone in the 1st row. Haha. Ok,he wasn't alone, Sarah was there too but our cell wasn't. Hehe. Praise and worship was good as always! Hehe, good pre-service prayer with Roland as well. Then the word was by Ps Ang's brother, Ps Johnny Ang. On Psalm 23. If you know what Psalm 23 is by heart, give me a shout ya? Yup, he related it very well to Alzheimers disease as well which is his ministry in the US.
After the service, cell met up and had prayer quickly by Mei Yian. Yay, then had admin matters and James had to go off. Prayed for Matthew to get his appeal into TPJC from IJC and guess what, this should be no surprise but it still was to me, He got accepted into TPJC!! Yay!! God really answers prayers!
Then it was back to Sennett after church cuz I realised that I didn't bring any identification to get my NUS PIN reset. Had plans to meet Winnie who was once again the only person who will be going to NUS open house. Ying Chuan had a meeting at 2.30. Oh wells, with some msgs to Gabriel and Winnie, i set off first back to Sennett.
This is a special shoutout to Mei Yian who got me biscuits for my breakfast! Txs! Really do appreciate it! I LOVE MY CELL!!
Then after reaching Sennett, I went to Beer Garden to meet up with Gabriel and to have lunch. After that, Glanies came and with Melvin the only one left, I decided not to be glowing and left for Sennett once again. Why? cuz I forgot FX's letter of authorisation for the NUS PIN reset. Also cuz I had nowhere else to be while Winnie, Shujing and FX had their heart to heart talk with Aunty Aye Lan. So I played the guitar in Sennett while waiting and somehow things got messed up that Winnie was waiting for me at beer. Oh well...
Rushed down and it was nice to know that Shujing was joining us at NUS as well. Yay, so the 3 of us had a long long 10 bus ride down to NUS from Beer. Talked abt many things. And FX even called when we were talking abt her. Haha. Ok, so maybe Winnie can be blur, but u're still the queen FX!
Finally reached NUS and went in through the side gate at roughly 4 plus. Just followed the signs and walked abt 600m to the Open House. Walking was faster than waiting for the bus. Ironic. Then reached the main open house area. It looked really messy and we went to ask our questions. Got ticked off by the Office of Admissions guy who said i was rude for not using "please" when I asked if he had a pen I could borrow. Come on, I wasn't even demanding a pen,a nd his nice colleague nicely offered me one. Some ppl are jz so much nicer. And he kept on harping on the fact that I was rude. What a ... (Zsa Zsa, u can fill in a word here. lolz.)
Then got both our PINs reset and then went off to the ENG booth. They were so helpful. Asked me to look at the website to get info abt the syllabus. So what was I doing at the open house. Lame... And the people were so firerce, shouting al over the place when giving announcements. Blah. Jz got irritated by NUS. Took a campus tour which didn't help cuz the two people inside jz told us what the stops' names were. I could have read that myself, no thanks to you. And finally got back.
Met XiuYu while queing up and finally took the MRT back to Dover. Shujing had a car to get her.Nice ryte? Oh well, then I MRTed to Bedok adn almost missed my stop. Did my shopping at Parkway. And to my classes, I bought some simple stuff for u guys for next term. Bought some chocs for my teachers too. Haven really thanked them yet.
Actually did quite a lot of roaming ard Giant. And also stopped by LIFE to see if All Of The Above is out yet. No such luck. Even Never Stop by PS isn't out yet. Oh well, it will be soon I hope. Then came back home, and then slept.
Monday
Monday was much faster. Did more schoalrship stuff, sat in a mock interview with one of the groups, bought my bus ticket. Reached home safely. Yay. And after a wodnerful night's rest and a full day of blogging and pigging. Im here once again.Labels: campus tour, female bassist, Fiona, Fung Shin, FX, hoGc, Microwave, NTU, NUS, Parkway, ShuJing, Winnie, WOW, Zsa^2
the story ends like this;
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