:: update 19-20 May ::

Okie... wanna share about my trip over the weekend.

The day before that, I had a very very bad headache. Felt nauseous too. I continued to have headache even the morning of the trip itself. But I prayed and believed in healing, and AMEN!

I had breakfast at wang jiao after confirming my ticket. It was like half an hr to check in time when i confirmed my ticket. There is the possibility of missing tt ferry. Thank God for swift clearance at the customs.

This time I didn't pack in a lot of things. Decided not to bring my camera along, as well as sleeping bag, jacket. On the ferry I started feeling cold halfway, so i used my towel to cover myself! haha.. Didn't feel sleepy at all during the journey, possibly because I had breakfast.

When i arrived i met Paul... we have language barrier. he seemed to be saying phei phei is not coming, so i followed him. after all i'm going to his (brother's) place. then in the oplik he mentioned Awang. i said i dunno who's tt. he replied tt Awang is Asun's kia - tt's either Frenky, Wiky or Wati already.

Arriving at Asun gu's hse I went to put my bag inside a room. Then i went out and greet his family. Asun gu then called PP to make sure she knows I'm here. turns out she didn't arrange for Paul to pick me up and that she's at the jetty waiting for me! oh no... so she came to Asun gu's place. I actually felt very.... nua. like taking my own sweet time to do anything.

Decided to let PP arrange the schedule for the day. So we went to visit this youth called Ana. i actually went to her place before, with my parent's cell grp. We had offered the children in the house chocolates and visited their neighbours. so we chatted with Ana's aunt and asked Ana if she want to go out jalan-jalan with us. We also asked her niece to come along. Meiyi is very cute and self-entertaining. I'm not a very entertaining person, so i was worried tt she might be bored with us, but she really can entertain herself and us as well. For example she would point to the mole on her face and exclaim "oki-oki" (i think it means mole). Soooo cute!

we went for lunch at this restaurant called Try Eat. i've passed by there before but nv went in. they serve food like Fish & Co. lor, grilled seafood platter for 2, costs 59,000Rp. I didn't dare to try it though. haha I ordered BBQ Chicken nasi goreng. it's not bad~

after tt we went to take the oplik to Baran Dua to find Xiao Lan. I previously mentioned tt she is struggling with spiritual attack. PP told me tt she stopped coming for youth cell grp. So we went to visit her to check out what's going on. When we reached her place I realise i have been to her place before as well. Just that i've never met her then.

She complained abt a headache, so i told her i was also having headache. But she felt tt it's different. "you can get well but i cannot." she feels defeated, and has lost faith in "herself". PP and i encouraged her to see things in a bigger perspective and i shared with her the verse from Romans 16:19 - "And the God of peace will soon crush Satan underneath your feet!" she didn't look convinced. then we went inside the house (we were outside on the verandah) and chatted with her mother. I didn't understand totally what she was saying so PP later explained tt her mother wants to see a miracle in her daughter in order for herself to believe in Christ.

overall the visits were a little discouraging.

we went to near PP's hse to cut hair. i saw a crucifix hanging on top of the door of her i mean, the hairdresser's house so halfway through cutting i asked her if she's catholic. She told us tt her husband is, but she herself not really. i found a magazine page for an example of how I want to cut my hair. PP doesn't want to change her hair style, so she just cut shorter. i was quite scared when the lady cut my until until very short! but tt was what i had wanted ma. haha.. overall very satisfied la. Costs 20,000Rp. =)

went back to Asun gu's house and showed them my new hairstyle. hehe they think it's nice. =) went inside the room and played with Aimei and weiwei. They wanted to watch vcd on the computer, so i switch it on for them. then Acing, i think it's weiwei's eldest sister, if not neighbour, came in and shared her vcds. There were mostly Tom & Jerry, little mermaid ...etc. Her full name is Liu Wei Qing (in case i forget the next time i see her).

PP had finished showering and had come to find me. we went to church. She wanted to check her email, so i prepared for cell grp downstairs. Then some of the youths arrived. I'm glad to see Puili (Philip). =) they had a service on thurs and went to visit him after that to encourage him to continue to come for cell grp. he also tried to get Samuel to come today, but not able to.

Ah yan led worship and taught the new song Come Holy Spirit by CHS. wow. they told me tt Auntie Serene gave them the cd. and then i shared word. *add-on: Sharing was abt serving in ministry; the attitude towards it, the importance of having a strong foundation before serving, and importance of unity among ministries. was struggling v much with language... i always can't think of the word to express. was trying to make it a reflective one, but i felt sheepish when there is loss of words. i wasn't getting ANY response from the youths too. so it was a little awkward. this time those we had visited earlier didn't turn up.

after cell grp PP brought me out for dinner. we had Ayam penyet. fried chicken flattened. it was not bad because the meat was tender and the chili quite sweet. the sayur asem (assam veggie) was good too, tastes like nonya food. there were also mint leaves. PP says eating it helps to detox. i never knew the leaves could be swallowed. i always thought it's like chewing gum, chew already cannot swallow. she told me tt last time during Pak Hadi period there was a Ayam Penyet stall near his hse, but now no more, only recently Ayam Penyet revived, in a different location though. we also chatted abt our rebelliousness - her mom wasn't happy abt her going into full-time, spending so much time outside n going home late. My mom only found out tt i was going in to tj balai alone, the day before. She told me better not to go, if i'm going in alone. but well, for good reason i didn't listen to her. i told her i got work to do here. anyway it was a good time fellowshipping with PP.

then we walked to Indo to buy stuff. i popped the qn, are the toilet rolls in church bought specially for church use? (meaning, or did someone bring it from home) quite a weird qn la. cuz i was planning to buy toilet roll for Asun gu's house. but i dun think they use toilet paper one leh. so they'd probably give it to church. i also bought Indomie goreng as usual n a few snacks. (Hello Panda got new flavours!!! cookie n cream and cheese!!) met Ai Zhen... she was with a lady i thought was her mom, but she's actually her boss.

after tt we walked back to Asun gu's hse. they were probably all in the room and didn't hear us knock. then Asun gu came n opened the door for us. *phew* dun want to be locked out of the hse, man. went up and went to bathe. lotsa hair dropped. =x

watched tv with the family. Wiky went out with friends. hmmph as usual but didn't jio me! heh... watched some taiwan variety shows and movie at the same time, different channels. Wiky came back only around 12am sia, so late!

went back to the room to do QT n then slp. i looked around for a blanket but couldn't find any leh, so i used my towel to cover myself. was worried cuz i saw a mosquito in the room =x

next morning i woke up earlier than expected. wanted to wake up at 8am, but automatically got up at around 7am instead. felt cold. so i got up, washed up and packed my bag. i stared with unbelief at the blanket i found when i lifted up the pillow. No wonder i felt it was a bit too high!!! when i peed (oops) i smelled the mint from the leaves i ate last night.. i think the detox really works! wow i wanna buy back...

around 8am Wiky popped by the room and was surprised to see me all ready. haha.. he supposed to accompany me go jetty to pick up Persis ma, but her ferry was delayed, so we waited at home. had roti prata for breakfast and Wiky made tea for me. (blissful *.*) *disclaimer: Wiky is just a very good friend and brother! i do joke abt missing his brother, but dun take it seriously ah! haha.. felt bad cuz i didn't ask Paul whether he wants us to help him order food or not. he went out for breakfast on his own.

waited until the whole family is awake. even Aimei. she played with me =) when i went to the back of the house to get my shoes, she actually looked for me, n asked "where's the singapore nang?" hohoho... so cute. then i heard Asun gu calling Wiky 'Awang', so i realise tt's him. then around 10am Wiky n i headed for the jetty. we chatted abt other places of Indonesia. talked abt how small tj balai is, it's only a dot in the Riau islands map... abt Batam, Surabaya, Sulawesi, Jogjakarta...etc. abt how to get to Jakarta from balai. I...dun think i've ever been to jakarta. dunno y. he has plans to go jkt during his hols. and he seems undecided abt studying in uni in batam. last night while he cooked noodles for supper i was washing up ma, so we got to chat abit. then at breakfast also got chat a bit. he asked me y i dun want to go uni. i probably gave him a sense of ....i dunno. i think studying in uni is USELESS. haha. personal opinion la. some pple i know pay so much n then slack all their way thru. some pple bia so hard until they die. some pple grad from uni n dun have a job. tt's y i dun c the point.

on the oplik we passed by a volleyball tournament. there were A LOT of pple. i think it helps boost tourism in tj balai. =) finally some 'clean' tourism.

we reached the jetty at the right time. the ferry had berthed and Persis, Joseph n Hiong Yee were just coming out. they went to confirm their return tickets.

then we took the oplik straight to church. Persis kept saying tt i am independent already. n 19th May is independance day for me. hahaha... dunno leh, didn't feel like yday was the first time i came alone leh.

Persis n gang took Sunday school. played some icebreaker games and then Junawan (Ezekiel) led worship. wow, aspiring worship leader. he even led an english song! good to see these children serve =) after the children split into grps Persis n gang took the older grp. Joseph shared abt the Tower of Babel. that it's useless and wrong to pit urself against God.

then it was art n craft time. the children made a 'stone' out of crumpled gold paper n pasted it on another paper, drawing themselves on top of the rock, signifying tt we are firm only when we stand on Christ the rock. then we had closing prayer and dismissed them, with goodies to bring back. went to check on the other grp of Sunday Sch kids. they were still doing art n craft, folding a church from paper. so cute! and at the other upstairs Vita was giving Bible study / training to Fena, ah Qing and Elisa. Very encouraged to see tt.

we went out for lunch, at the bakso stall. the Kopi Tongkat Ali stall, where there is a poster saying 'Satu Minum, Dua yang Menimati' LOL. then we went back to church, a little hurriedly, to have a meeting with Asun gu abt Praise Fellowship's involvement in june. but i was 'stopped' by an elderly woman, Ai Zhen's grandmother. she told me abt her story... how many children she has, grandchildren, what they do, where they live, how many houses they have.... etc... (after tt i realise tt Persis has heard her story 5 yrs ago.) i was impressed by her cantonese and english though. and i do agree tt Ai Zhen is very filial. although she lives somewhere else, at her boss' place, she still drops by her grandmother's place to buy breakfast for her, talk to her... buy meals for her etc, everyday. she could have got an education in singapore, but she chose to take care of her granny.

after that Paul came back from lunch and started talking to Ai Zhen's granny so i managed to 'slip away' to talk to Vita and Wati. vita invited me to stay over at her place on my next trip, so we can go shopping haha.. =P new shop open at near her place. *add-on: i asked Vita if she's getting baptised with her dad next month, but she says dunno, because she has been missing baptism class due to extra lessons on Fridays. Praise God tt Vita's dad is getting baptised!! I can sense his love and passion for God when Hiong Yee talked to him abt his serving in playing drums. Btw Xiao Lan was due to baptised next month too, but she dropped out of baptism class because of the Spiritual attacks. she feels like, why do these things happen to her after she came to Christ?

then service started. Puili came for service too! .. this time i felt lethargic. struggled to stay awake during sermon, preached by asun gu. he was still preparing the message while we watched tv last night wor. hehe. but i couldn't understand the sermon. =x probably i understand hokkien better than teochew.

after service we left for the jetty. went to metro for some snacks while we wait, cuz we were v early. this time the ferry arrived quite on time. fell asleep during the journey n drooled ahahaha. oh i was pissed at the queue at the customs because there was only one counter serving the line i was in! so i watched the other line moving very fast while mine stayed stagnant. rate was like 1 is to 4. =(

had dinner at Han's. uncle hiong yee treated. wee~

tt's all for this trip la. no updates on Cailing though.

Pray Japan

Tuesday May 15, 11:28 AM
Boy takes severed head to Japan police

TOKYO (Reuters) - A 17-year-old boy turned up at a police station in rural Japan on Tuesday holding a severed human head and claiming that he had killed his mother, police said.
Police in Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima prefecture, 200 km (125 miles) north of Tokyo, said they had begun a murder investigation but declined to say if they had arrested the teenager.

Kyodo news agency said police had found a beheaded body in the apartment where the boy lived.

The teenager, a student at a local high school, showed up at the police station alone early on Tuesday, carrying the head in a shopping bag, Kyodo added.

"If it's true, then it is horrendous," the government's top spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki, told reporters.

In 1997, the nation was shocked when a 14-year-old schoolboy was arrested for the murder and beheading of an 11-year-old boy and leaving the boy's head next to a school gate in the western city of Kobe.

While government statistics show that overall juvenile crime and murder by minors -- those under 20 -- have been on a decline in recent years, a number of sensational crimes has led to calls for harsher punishment against young offenders.

Following the Kobe murder, the age at which youths could be sent to reformatories was lowered to 14 from 16 in 2001, and a bill to further bring the age down to 12 passed the lower house of parliament last month.

In 2004, an 11-year-old school girl killed a classmate by stabbing her in the neck with a cutter knife, and the year before, a 12-year-old boy murdered a four-year-old by pushing him off the roof of a garage.

Gruesome article, you wish it's only in movies? CHILDREN are re-enacting horror stories! Another article abt the gruesomeness of children is the recent beheading of an "American spy" done by a barely-12-yr-old boy in the middle east. it was video-ed.

:: update 1+ more week to next trip ::

Hi guys, next trip is 19-20th May. I'll be going in myself. And I would prefer someone else to come along to lead worship for cell grp as I will be sharing word. If no response by then I'll get Wiky to lead worship. Thanks!