Bird's eye view

Holiday: Chester

2007-08-10T03:08:00.000+08:00

I've just come back from Chester and am now having to deal with jetlag. I spent the last four weeks in Chester with my mum and dad. It was a very lazy time and I was away from the internet which was good. I managed to catch up with some good friends, Paul and Sue who moved to Wrexham, Mary and Juliet who are schoolfriends, the Thompsons next door and the Fitzpatricks around the corner.

My mum, dad and I had a few days out when my mum was off work - Manchester, Liverpool, the RHS flower show at Tatton Park and a day trip to Ellesmere and Wollerton Old Hall.

Flowery dragon at Tatton Park

Pyramid of gladioli in the marquee.

Peaceful Ellesmere

Geese on parade!

Wollerton Old Hall

Bumble Bee - make sure you don't kill them - they are a protected species!

There were different coloured gardens - here's the purple garden

A very pretty little rose!

I also helped out at Northgate Church during celebration week of Chesterfest (churches in Chester working together on projects to serve the community). I mainly helped to prepare breakfast and snacks for the kids holiday club and helped out with small groups on funsheets. It was really cool to get involved and meet some more people in the church.

Holiday: Perth Week 2

2007-07-09T12:19:00.000+08:00

As I'm sitting here at the airport again, I thought I'd better finish blogging about Perth. Well, not that I started as Ann wrote my last blog - bless.

Perth was cool...a little bit too cool as I managed to get a head cold....but the touristing had to continue. I met up with Maree Herath and her two little kids - Dan and Sean. We went over to Rottnest Island by ferry ( unfortunately I had to inspect the ferry toilet three times) and it was again a sunny day. We managed to spot a peacock and two quokkas - one of which allowed us to walk over to it and pet it...very cute.

Sean and a Quokka - cute!

Ann, me and snow crab before the devouring began!

I went over to Fremantle twice - once to go to Fremantle Prison for a tour - which was very cool - and I think my tour guide was from Devonshire.

Ann, some of her friends and I went to the Mercy Ball - a fundraiser for mercy ministries that helps girls who have some sort of background of abuse or self-harm. It was very grand - amazing centrepieces at the tables, James Morrison - excellent trumpet player, Paul Morrison released his CD there - proceeds go to MM, dancing and good food!

I went to Swan Valley with Ann and Corinna on Ann's day off and we ate at a winery, ate gelato and sweeties and visited the Margaret River chocolate factory - where I bought pressies to take home to UK.

On my last day, I went shopping for UGG boots (or U-G-G s as Ann's mum calls them!) and we went over to Tania's place before going to watch Ocean's 13.

All in all, I had a merry time in Perth - catching up with friends, getting to know Ann's friends, shopping and seeing the sights! A nice Aussie adventure!

Holiday: Perth Week 1

2007-06-21T22:26:00.000+08:00

This is Ann Ong contributing (or more like wrecking Karen's blog)... Karen's currently over here in Perth visiting.

It was a bit of a whirlwind the first couple of days she was here... once she landed, we dropped her bags off at my place and headed out to attend Riverview's Big Weekend (a weekend conference) where the speakers Darlene Zschech, Alun Davies and Andre Olivier spoke messages that really spoke into our hearts. The weekend was really full on... Karen was recovering from her past week of crazy hectic HK life... finishing teaching, attending a graduation ceremony, packing to come over here etc and was absolutely knackered... just ask her about her eyes and the notetaking during the services! Anyway due to her fatigue her camera wasn't used... but if you would like to see some of the action pics from the weekend click here or here.

It has been really great having Karen in town... it's been a godsend... she was my answer to prayer when I was feeling terribly homesick, out of the blue I received a message from her saying she'd like to come visit! I'm so glad that she's here... she's full of hilarious quotes, for example "oh, am I supposed to be thinking?"... Anyway we have been able to eat our way through town ie flat whites and cakes, taken many pics of leaves just for our friend Joe Tringali... and while I've been at work, this awesome girl has been a very diligent tourist, checking out the public transport system, the art gallery, history museum, zoo, bell tower, borders bookstore, etc. Well we'll leave you with some pics taken this week...

karen and adam thompson

ann and karen

yummo lots of food

a massive sweet potato (aka boab tree)

Perth CBD

gum nuts

flat white baby

yay for holidays

Blogging

2007-04-19T22:18:00.000+08:00

I don't really think I like blogging. Mind you, few people know that my blog exists. That's probably because I'm a task orientated introvert - I was reminded of that last night at our church's leaders meeting - looking a bit at different types of people and how to encourage them. See...I do the task of blogging - but I don't show it to anyone. I think there are sections of psychoology textbooks that are written about me - except they don't know I exist....because I'm an introvert of course!

Maybe I should write a comment for this blog - moderate it myself and then not allow it.

Yes - it is probably past my bedtime.

By the way...there are no pictures on my recent posts as I'm not too sure where my camera is and haven't bothered to exert much energy in looking for it.

Tim Hughes and Planetshakers

2007-04-15T21:39:00.000+08:00

Last week, Tim Hughes and the Planetshakers were here for the Yoiuth Alpha conference. There were two concerts and I volunteered to help. I ended up selling Matt Redman tickets for both nights. It was great to see our friend Nat who used to be at the Vine singing in Planetshakers and obviously loving it. Tim Hughes led worship songs with the Planetshakers band backing him and a few Chinese singers singing his wongs in Cantonese.

Matt Redman is coming here for 2 shows on 11th may - can't wait...must get his most recent album so i can be more familiar with his songs!!!! I've told all my students and put up a poster at school...hope they'll be there! I've bought 10 tickets - I think I'll just give them away...that would be nice!

Easter Middion Trip : Cebu

2007-04-15T21:21:00.000+08:00

Okay - so the first part wasn't mission trip at all - I do confess! Anna and I flew into Cebu a few days earlier than the rest of the team for a very well needed break at the very nice Shangri-la, Mactan Island resort. It was gorgeous - blue skies every day, mango smoothies, clean beach, snorkelling and swilling with tropical fish, excellent service (we were a little embarassed at first that people would insist on carrying things for us when we are fully capable of doing it ourselves)....oh...and I became a professor! For some reason the hotel had it on record that I was a Professor instead of a Miss or Ms. ...which caused much amusement to myself, Anna and the hotel recceptionist who checked us in. He continued to call me Professor for the rest of our stay...nice!

We then were dropped off at the arrivals part of the airport on Wednesday, and I managed to spot the Nehemiah House (orphanage) boys and ladies waiting for the Hong Kong team to arrive. One of the ladies remembered my face from 3 years ago - so cool! It tool me a little while to remember some people's faces. The HK team arrived safely and we went on our 45 minute journey to NH where we were also staying. They prepared a meal for us - it was so hot that I mainly ate the watermelon. The kids from NH had all gathered together in the main hall to welcome us - they had a banner saying'Welcome Hong Kong team' and had a programme of worship, testimonies, dances and songs - it was so good....and I recognised some teenagers from my first mission trip there. A girl called Xandra is now doing dramas and is on the worship team - it's great to see hopw much God is doing in their lives.

Our team weren't particularly strong in areas of music, dance or dramas, but all had servant hearts. It was awesome...NH told us what their needs were and we managed to meet them. We did some outreaches, a day of worship, games and craft activities for the NH kids and a feeding programme at NH where kids were bussed in for presentation, Bible study and food. The staff thanked us this day and we also prayed and ministered to them. It was great to see everyone stepping out, some of our youth gave their testimonies for the first time, and a family with a four and six year old were fantastic and even those little kids were getting a sense of service and giving for God.

On Easter morning, we had sunrise service at 5am, so we had to wake at 4;15am to get ourselves ready and take our suitcases doen so we'd be ready to depart too. We had an excellent service and had communion with all the people at NH. When I think about it - it's awesome to think that we fellowshipped and encouraged members of our family.

Struggles

2007-03-30T22:51:00.000+08:00

Here I am in my room - checking bank status and e-mails before I head for the sunny sands of Cebu. My clothes are laid out on my bed ready for packing.

Just got home from'Flight 852" - it was cool - we're doing Quest and we had quite a turnout today despite it being the first day of the Rugby 7s. I love the fact that students from my school are coming - some on a regular basis. I don't know where they're all at, but I'm glad they feel comfortable to come (it must be a bit weird having your Science teacher there) and they enjoy it.

I rang my mum and dad so they won't miss talking to me on Sunday.

I've been having quite a struggle personally this year - and I think it has been hard to face. I'm teaching, being a half of a student life leader, going through my formal assessment year at work, coaching hockey, playing hockey, service managing and youth leading at flight852. I know that one of the defence mechanisms I've had is to not care as much about stuff, otherwise I would be so stressed out, I would break down. However, it's got to the point where I could give everything up and not care. That's a worry for me, as I know that's not who I am. I like to do things because I really want to and I know if I don't really want to do it what's the point...there is none. However, God has repeatedly been telling me not to give up. It's hard because i just don't really understand what the bigger picture looks like and He does.

I'm so glad I went to the flight 852 leaders meeting on Tuesday. We shared what God's been talking to us about and it was hard, but I was honest and said what i felt. It was really cool as later we started praying for the youth and then Meg had a word for me about me being a gateway for youth at HKIS. Then she felt I should be prayed for. It was really cool - specific words were spoken over me that encouraged me so much - about God reflecting his light off me and not to worry about burnout and how God really is using me in the school. I often feel so ineffective at school - I'm just teaching Science, interacting with students, trying to be patient with students and sometimes failing, trying to give when I'm tired, downtrodden and want to give up. However, God has been so faithful this year. I've been sticking posters on walls, telling students about flight and they've come. Not just one or two, but probably about 15 have come. Only a few a regular attendees, but some want to be but have other commitments ...but it's so encouraging. Did I mention that they're also some of the nicest kids ever? I hope God really speaks to them and they continue to search for or develop their relationship with Him.

Not a happy Chinese New Year for me

2007-02-25T20:56:00.000+08:00

A week before we broke up for Chinese New Year holiday, I started sniffing and lo and behold I got a cold. I hadn't had a full on guns ablaze cold for a while - I even took 2 days off sick leave.Now that is unheardd of! I went back in for the last day of school to sort stuff out and kids were nice - asking me how I was. One student asked where I'd been and another student and I managed to get them thinking I'd been to Hawaii. This prompted the question,"How did you get on the plane if you have a cold?" VERY funny!

Well, I spent the hols making a butt shaped dent on my sofa watching many DVDs including desperate housewives, prison break and CSI:NY. Dawnie, Anna and Michelle were great keeping me company in the living room while I coughed and blew my nose. I've managed to get through at least 4 toilet rolls. NASTY! I went to the docs and got my meds - including antibiotics for bronchitis and I reckon I have sinusitis too...hence all the snot....gross!

People prayed for me too which is cool. I was service managing and Alex and Richard Roscoe prayed for me - a nice reminder of being in the family of God...very encouraging.

Psalm 41 v 3
The Lord nurses them when they are sick and eases their pain and discomfort.

Oh...and if you're wondering - no I haven't been to my relatives and therfore have not picked up red packets! However, my mum and dad have phoned me most days this week - better than a gazillion red packets!

Homeroom dinner: The Flying Pan

2007-02-05T21:43:00.000+08:00

On Friday 2nd February, my homeroom 'Got Chan?' went to The Flying Pan in Wanchai. It was really cool - there was hardly anyone there and we just had a great time of eating and socialising. The highlight was definitely the eating competition - eat 3 pancakes in the shortest amount of time. 8 boys entered the competition and I was the judge. The class gathered around the table and even the staff gathered round too. It was a very close competition between Cyril and Lewis (although Jonathan seemed to come from nowhere to catch up with them), but Lewis was the overall winner - RESPECT!! Lucas and Ethan had smothered their pancakes withchocolate sauce and managed to laugh and talk loudly - hindering their progress no doubt. After that those guys did a 4x4x4 monster pan team competition, I was so afraid they'd puke. is this what is meant by living life to the full (stomachs)?

Nicknames

2007-01-23T22:23:00.000+08:00

Why do I have so many nicknames? Dawn reckons I must have at least 10:
Kaz
Kazza
Kazee
KazBaz
Khazikstan
Kazzatronic (don't know if this counts but Tom made it up and has probably only called me it once)
Channers
Chan Chan
Chicken
Chankers (One of Dawn's faves along with kazzatronic)
ChinChan
Chanmeister

Are there any more? (Actually there were ones that I had when I was little but I won't publish those here.)

January update

2007-01-23T21:51:00.000+08:00

Okay - so before January disappears - I'd better just say what has been happening.

december - Crazy school rundown to Christmas - I felt my energy slowly fade right to the last day of school. I was thankful the LONG term was over (It started mid-august). I was in the church Christmas pageant as a taxi driver (the nativity set in Hong Kong- very creative indeed!), spent Christmas day at the Snelgroves (and their lively husky), played boxing day hockey at KCC (i.e. catch up with friends - usually Sam Mc) went to take my dad's aunty for dim sum - except she can only eat soft noodles or her teeth will fall out and did more socialising than usual (not very hard to achieve!).

New Year's Eve was a Sunday so I went to church in the morning and after lunch Anna and I went to get the guest room ready for the evening. We quickly went home before dashing out to meet Andy and Helen Hunter at the YMCA to bring then across to HK island for dinner - which was very cool and they even ate the jellyfish - RESPECT! We headed over to the Vine for the party 'Thirst'. It was very cool - starting with a track by Andy (DJ from the UK) and we had a great time of worship followed by a message from Andrew Gardener and then after the countdown more music from Andy. It was very cool - just like a British club - loved it!

January 5-6th was the first Resonate conference. To be honest I still felt a bit clueless as to what it was about even though it had been advertised at church a lot....but hey that's typical me...takes a while for the penny to drop. They needed volunteers, so as I was still on holiday I helped out. It was great fun to be helping out with other people from the Vine just showing people to seats and making sure delegates managed to get to the second venue. We also got to join in with worship (Reason, The Vine Band, Reuben Morgan), workshops and listening to the main speaker - Glyn Barrett who was great - really down to earth yet challenging. He also made me homesick for Manchester as he's a Man City fan and one of the churches he's involved with is Hope City Church Manchester.

Disappearing Decemeber

2007-01-11T21:52:00.000+08:00

Yes- I totally failed to blog inn December 2006. yes - I'll blame the earthquake in Taiwan uprooting the cables - well considering I could have blogged during my holiday - surely it's fair enough!

Keeping me out of trouble!

2006-11-25T23:30:00.000+08:00

Well, the last time I blogged was in October and it's nearly a month later.

November 15th was the night of Hillsong United live in Hong Kong at ICA - two shows at 6pm and 8pm. On the previous night we had met at 7pm for Derek to run through all that we were to do on the following night. That was cool and fun and we prayed in our small teams for the following evening.

The thing with me is that when I get too excited about something - I can't sleep. I was so restless that night that I was service managing in my sleep and thinking about it every time I woke up. Then I went through a day at school - which was cool and every time I saw a student who was going, I'd be talking to them about it and getting them excited too....did they learn anything that day....I hope so!!!!!! I went straight from school to ICA to arrive there at 4pm. Then there were a few changes that had been made and we had to get going with sorting stuff out.

It was fun managing inside the auditorium that seats about 700 people. However, so many people came that we filled the balcony upstairs and ended up with standing room only downstairs. (Yan and I had little walkie talkies, but because it was so loud it was hard to hear what anyone was saying.) Well, I think most people stood all the way through anyway - during the awesome time of worship and the message. It was amazing tostand at the back and just seeing these hundreds of people all raising their arms in worship to God. Then we had to usher people out for round two to take place. I was really pleased to see some of my students (past and present) there and even a girl on my hockey team (who later made a committment.).

I love helping out at events like this, welcoming people - getting things ready for people to come into the presence of God.

Moganshan

2006-10-28T22:43:00.000+08:00

I have survived!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Actually I had a fnatastic week where I managed to astound my colleague by being absolutely hyper and earned the name of 'Happy Camper'!

On Monday, I was picked up by the taxi driver at 5am and then went to pick up MeShi. We chatted to the airport where we met our students and parents were there to wish us well and kiss their children goodbye for the week. Group check-ins are quite arduous and it took us ages to all check in - 52 students and 4 adults. Thankfully, Elyse kindly went to buy me a coffee while we waited to get our luggage on. We were soon checked in and on our way to Moganshan.

We arrived at Hangzhou airport, to be welcomed by Christa and the rest of the APA team - they had even drawn up a banner for us - bless! We then loaded the buses up and set off for Baiyun Villas at Moganshan. There was a lady on the bus, and I guess she must have been a tour guide. However, her English was bad and she wanted to talk to talk to our group in Putonghua. Thankfully, Adam put a stop to this, at which point she decided to sing us a song...in Putonghua of course. Melvin sat next to me and whispered that when the APA leaders arrived, she'd sung to them too. It was weird.

We arrived at Baiyun villas and dumped out stuff in our rooms. The girls were very sweet and exclaimed that I should have the room with the balcony or the biggest room. However, I decided to let them have the bigger rooms and had a centrally located room. We went to have lunch at a nearby restaurant - the food ROCKED - and there was so much of it - not just that day but the WHOLE week!!!!!!!!! We then had a breifing from Christa and went into our groups to do some team building activities before eating yet again! We played 'spoons' except we had chopsticks on the landingwhich was fun - until two chopsticks broke as we were fighting ovr them (sorry Mini Boo- who got a chopstick in the face!)

On Tuesday, we went to do visit a tea plantation and took some cool photos of the area. Our group (the Pink Foot Potatoes) helped to weed and tidy up an area of trail. At this point I nearly stuck my head into a bunch of caterpillars - lovely! We then went back to a place called The Lodge where we ate food that another group had cooked. Then it was our turn to prepare food for dinner. I think the students had fun tearing and chopping the food into pieces. I did have to bring a cabbage food fight to a halt before it got out of hand. The girls came to my room to hang out and chat - that was cool - oh and Rav was there too.

Wednesaday brought beautiful weather and a day of activities. In the morning, we had morning exercise , which was fun and we played 'evolution' - I got to evolve into an HKIS student. We had breakfast and then headed down to the tyrolean cross and the abseil site. I was about the fourth person to do the tyrolean - which I was a little nervous about. However, they needed me to help on the other side. So, after repeating that I was scared about a fajillion times (I always verbalise my fear...and then laugh...very odd behaviour - I know), Mike told me that he was giving me a count of three. So, I gained the fear of being pushed off by Mike, so voluntarily stepped off the platform, screamed and laughed - it was good fun...and over far too quickly. It was more like a zip line with only a little bit of effort to get right to the other side. I was then shown how to detach students from the tyrolean safely. I think I scared Melvin and Chico on the first attempt, where I initially wanted to detach the dafety line - not a good move, but I got a hang of it. They were then freed to start students on the abseil down the waterfall. This I unfortunately didn't get to do due to time constraints, but it was cool that some of the students who found it difficult, overcame their fears and completed it. As we were sitting around a lot too, I got to talk to Ariane and Stef about how I became a Christian, how I came to be in HK and how I got my jobs - it was so good to tell of God's goodness in my life.

In the afternoon - after a spaghetti bolognese lunch at the lodge, we went raft building. This was quite amusing, as some of the locals were there and watched the whole process. A couple even joined in - helping to tie a couple of knots! We had a race, and then tidied up and went back to the Lodge for another meal - potatoes and stew - SO GOOD!!!!!

Thursday was a damp and misty day - and we were embarking on our adventure race. I decided - even though we didn't have to join a student group - to stay with half of the Potatoes and see what they had to do. I was afraid that they would all run off and I'd be left panting behind them. Thankfully this was not the case as my group started by being led by a enthusiastic Rav who seemed to want to venture down every dirt track possible. We got quite lost trying to get to our first station, but we found the other half of the Potatoes and we found it together. We gradually made our way to a few other posts, which built up the team's confidence. I must say that the last hour or so was the best fun as we managed to get a couple of stations. Then as we were walking back to the final meeting place (If we didn't get there on time, we'd lose points.) when I pointed out a roundabout to the students and they looked at me and carried on. Piak, who was with us also pointed out to me that the station there was very close by, which caused me to laugh as my students continued to ignore these subtle hints. As we continued, Rav realised he'd left his backpack a couple of stations down the line. So, he and Piak ran back for it, while I led the rest of the group to the station we'd passed to see if we could get some more points. Unfortunately, we couldn't find the information as it had been removed...and yes, I did proclaim very loudly that it SUCKED! We ran back to the point where we'd split into two groups, Piak rang me and I thought he said he was nearly back at the market - which was close to the end point. he repeated and he was actually saying he was nearly back at Mark's (The Lodge) which was the end point. I screamed and slung my backpack on and managed to get my group running once more to make it back to theLodge. It was so chaotic and exciting - loved it!!!!!!

On Friday we woke early, ate breakfast, boarded the buses (where my lost camera was reunited with me :) ) and we headed back down the mountain to Hangzhou. We spent about an hour there shopping (actually I think most students stopped off at Dairy Queen) before we went to lunch at LoWaiLo restaurant on Westlake (very good food yet again!). We had a group photo, got back on the buses and .....the bus pulled over after a while. I thought the driver was lost again...but it turned out that the guide and the driver were speaking in the local dialect so that our students couldn't translate for us and there was some disagreement about payment. Thankfully, Christa sorted it out and we were on our way to the airport. It took us ages to check in and we arrived safely back in HK.

I just want to say that the following people ROCK:
Mark, Joanna and Isabelle - The Lodge - a sanctuary of good cofee, hot chocolate, brownies, food and music!
Christa, Adam, Hodge (and Joyce), Ebben, Melvin, Piak, Chico and Mike - Asia Pacific Adventure- brilliant professionals and excellent at what they do - you can trust these people with your lives!
Melita, Terry and Peter - my colleagues - so chilled out, cool and hilariful (hilarious and wonderful)!
Our students - so nice, so fun and so much energy - love it!!!!!!!

Nausea

2006-10-19T21:41:00.000+08:00

I've felt kind of nauseous today. I haven't been sleeping well this week - often waking in the middle of the night and having to eat chocolate before I get back to sleep. Last night before I went to bed I discovered I didn't know where my passport or Hui Heung Jing were. Then I woke at 2:30am thinking - it should be by my big backpack. Therefore I had to get up - and lo and behold- there it was. At least my mind was at rest about where it was.

I've started packing - but feel kind of unsettled as I also know I need to go away this weekend. I think the fact that I've been marking kids work all day hasn't helped. Plus the fact that I just finished marking one big assignment to then have 100 lab reports and 100 end of unit tests to mark, and knowing I won't be able to do much at the weekend is disturbing. I know - it's not urgent and we shall all carry on living - I guess I just know that it won't be nice to come back to the marking pile when I get back from China. I guess that's partly why I went down to Happy Valley - to watch the U16 team play - to support the girls I know from KCC and Rachel and Jen from school. I could escape and prevent myself from marking work at home and not just sit in front of the telly.

Matthew 6v27
Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not.

Matthew 6 v 32-34
Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs, and he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.
So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today.

China - here we come!

2006-10-17T21:05:00.000+08:00

It's Tuesday and I just got back from hockey training - one of the only ones I'll be able to make as I normally have either Ministry leaders PLUS or Flight852 leaders meeting on Tuesdays. It was good to have a run around, and get some skills. Unfortunately I won't be able to put them to practice this coming Saturday as I have a Flight leaders retreat. Well, at least I played last Saturday which ended in a 3-3 draw against Val D. Hopefully, my team will have enough players and win against Val E.

Following the retreat I will be heading off to Moganshan, China on Monday on an 8am flight....ugh! I think I have a love-hate relationship with these trips with the kids. I haven't had to do most of the organising, but the chasing up of the little things is still a hassle, plus getting myself ready! I know that once I get there I'll enjoy it. I have a great group of kids to go with- really fun, nice and well-mannered and we're going with an excellent organisation. plus I've been to Hangzhou before, so it is still a little familiar. I'll still have to rely on teh kids for translation as I am limited by my phrases of "How are you?", "Thank you!", "No good!", "I love you!" and "Jesus loves you!". However, these could be enough for the most simple evangelism EVER!

Ideas for teaching

2006-10-11T20:53:00.000+08:00

Ugh...I have just finished marking 100 sets of focus questions. This has a high boredom factor attached to it and I'm sure this is bad for my eyes. I have told some students before that I love being in the class with them - getting them to learn stuff, and although I know it is important, marking is one of the worst chores I have to do as a teacher...so laborious, time consuming and essential. I still have about 94 element boxes to mark and will be giving an end of unit test soon. I can't wait until they have that machine like the one from the Matrix, shove it in the back of students heads to probe and measure how much they have learnt and then it's done. Seriously, there must be someone in a hidden lab somewhere working on it.

While they're at it, they can make me some new eyes and an automatic internal caffeine release system.

Holiday:Kota Kinabalu

2006-10-04T21:24:00.000+08:00

Yesterday I just flew back in from Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. We had a school holiday from Thursday to Tuesday and I went for a relaxing holiday with my friend, Praise. We stayed at the Shangri La Rasa Ria resort - which was luxurious to say the least!

We flew in and had a quick tour of the city before heading to the hotel. There we settled into the room and then headed down to the outside restaurant for the buffet. We spent well over three hours eating crab, prawns with HUGE heads etc - but we had to pace ourselves and make it worthwhile. There was also a local dance group which was cool and we were entertained.

We went off to some island (I know I'm really good with names of places!) where we ventured into the water to trip over rocks and get scratched by the violent corals. There was a little boy who came over to us and we watched him through the day finding new people to try and make friends with but actually just ended up pestering. We gave up on the idea of being immersed in water and sun bathed to ensure we obtained the obligatory tan. After our lunch of prawns, noodles and crab we continued our lazy afternoon in the sun which ended with the spotting of a monitor lizard on the beach, at which point we made a mad dash for our cameras to record the sighting.

We stopped off in town on our way home and popped in to the other Shangri-la hotel, which I was definitely less impressed with and then we ended up having a curry at Naan back at the Rasa Ria.

Sunday started with rain which we were sad about as it was what we had planned to be our 'animal' day - we had planned to ride horses and visit animals in the jungle next door. We managed to have a one hour horse ride along the beach - past the buffaloes who go there every morning. Now for someone who had never been on a horse before it was cool but I felt very uncoordinated as my guide tried to get the horse to trot with me not really knowing what to do. I finally figured out what to do in the last 15 minutes of the ride by which time I had already acquired the sore bottom. Just after our dismount the rain poured down as we ran back to the hotel.

We later went to the pool at which point we were supposed to be seeing animals in the jungle as we thought it was happening 2 hours later. Oh well. We weren't too disappointed as we then got ready for our 2.5hour spa treatment which included a body wrap where we were covered with powdered rice, egg and lemon. I ended up feeling like a huge piece of sushi. After that was all rinsed off we had a very nice massage and mini facial.

The next day, we went off to Kinabalu Park to walk some of the trails and of course see Mount Kinabalu. That weekend had been the Climbathon where people had raced up and down Kinabalu in just over a couple of hours - good grief - where do they get the energy from, and can I have some? We walked at a leisurely pace looking at the flora of the park including a pitcher plant, orchids, bamboo, naked trees etc. We had lunch and then continued with a walk around the garden where we saw loads of orchids, but most were about half the size of the nail on my pinkie. It made me wonder why are they so small? Well, God can make it that small, so he does..totally amazing and beautiful!

We ended the day back at the hotel and ate at Coast which is a restaurant by the beach with chandeliers shaped like Jellyfish - very cool. Oh...and that was another 3 hour meal!

New Season

2006-09-23T23:33:00.000+08:00

Today I woke at about 7am...but finally went to sleep again after checking my e-mail and eating a couple of bits of choccie. Then I had weird dreams about having braces again - except they were horrendous and made my teeth bend forwards and a tooth even dropped out...hate those teeth dreams - makes you panic so much when you wake up, but then a huge surge of relief is felt as you realise your teeth are normal.

It was our first match of the season today. So, I made sure I had some breakfast, and enough time to digest it. Don't know why, but every time before a match I start doing my coughing (like I'm going to hurl) thing, and it doesn't stop until I start playing...bad case of nerves or what?! Anyway, KCC C played HKFC G and at first I thought I was playing alright, until Babs told me that I was telling the right half to mark the person I should have been marking. Well, I had wondered where the forward I was supposed to be marking had gone. To be honest it was becasue ALL of the opposition had gone back to defend, We were up 2-0 at half time and we ended up winning 3-1 (but Jimmy had to tell me that because I thought we only won 2-1....good job I don't teach maths). The one scored against us was right near the end when everyone was shattered due to running around in the heat of the sun (2-3:30pm) and I was already marking the girl on the right post and there was a free player who managed to score. I didn't have a great game - some okay bits, but it is the first game after all...and miracle of miracles - we won! Plus we had a lovely photo of the team in our nice new kit (I hear we're getting new skorts, so we won't have to feel like we've got a constant wedgie!)

Just finished watching 2 episodes of 'LOST' thanks to my student who has lent me series 2 while baking about 50 cupcakes for Primetime. Gosh...aren't my Saturday nights exciting!!

My life as I know it

2006-09-20T20:29:00.000+08:00

I haven't really written that much about what's going on at the moment. Start of the academic year is always crazy, so it's no huge surprise that I'm only just getting to write about it now.

School started and so did the hunt for our grade 8 student life leader...and nobody really wanted to do it...mostly due to other responsibilities. I grew pretty tired of people telling me I'd be really good at it (sounds like I'm blowing my own trumpet...well...I do have one after all!) and I just really felt it was quite false even though they probably meant it, but I just knew that admin and our team needed someone to lead. Finally my friend and I decided to share the position....quite grudgingly. Thankfully it's been okay so far.......but I've had quite a few days where I have a really bad attitude to it and totally did not like feeling I had to do it just because no one else will.

Something else that is also new - but the HUGE difference is that I want to do this, is that I have joined Flight852 as a volunteer. It was cool, as I remember Matt had asked me several times before the summer, and I'd not replied. It was quite funny as one of the reasons of why I gave up being captain of my hockey team was so that if I decided to help with Flight, then I would have more time. (Ringing through the week trying to get the hockey team together was taking up a lot of time.) It was pretty cool as only about a week before I came back to Hong Kong, I was at Northgate Church in Chester, when I heard this speaker from the States. I can't remember much of what he said now, but I remember him talking about not being afraid, and you know when you just get totally convicted? Yep...it was one of those moments. Having experienced burn out through having worked with Youth before, and knowing that it had literally taken years to recover....I had been very cautious about agreeing to volunteer. I remember saying to Tom that it is something I want to do (and hopefully get some of my students plugged into too) and the most important thing is that I'm in a leadership team and somewhere where I'll feel safe and supported.

School has been good - my students are FANTASTIC again. Seriously - they are so fun, and I always feel like they energise me. I love laughing with them, eating yummy homeroom snacks, going on and on about LOST, teaching and learning sciency stuff - especially fun videos from the internet, some of them come to my room for extra help with Science and to top it off they think I'm younger than I really am!!!!!!!!! I'll be going off to Moganshan with a group of 13 students and we're the 'Pink Foot Potatoes' (Instead of the Black Eyed Peas) and I think the group is designing a T-shirt....and they're soooooo excited!!

We had the launch of the CD 'Who May Ascend' at teh Vine Centre - the place was packed and everything went smoothly (always important to me as the service manager!) but it was so fun watching people worship, and some of my colleagues came too. The CD is soooooooooo good. I've given wuite a few away already.

Hockey season is starting again - I went to two training sessions and then got drenched in the 'red rain' at the third. I have my new and much nicer kit and will get to wear it at my first game of the season on Saturday. Nice!

Sleepless nights

2006-09-13T01:26:00.000+08:00

Ugh..cannot sleep - I got up from bed and did my usual - head for the fridge to rustle round for some chocolate. Managed to take two mini eggs and a mimi Reese's peanut butter cup. I ate them while reading a bit more of Ted Dekker's "THR3E" and then checked out a few friend's blogs before writing this. Seriously it's 1:30am....I keep waking up in the middle of the night and it's either too hot or too cold or no chocolate in my stomach. Really don't know why that seems to help but it does - probably all psychological - I don't care - it works and they're not sleeping pills. I don't think my body actually believes me when I try telling it that I am actually tired and do need to wake up in approximately four and a half hours and then spend the day trying to meet the needs of 75 teenagers who will able to come up with at least ten questions each about their research project like "What is a use of Rubidium?"...well at least I get to play with sodium tomorrow morning.

Identity dream

2006-08-31T21:59:00.000+08:00

I had a dream recently. To be honest most of my dreams fall into two main categories: absolutely mundane (like peeling carrots while my friends chat with me in the kitchen) or totally freaky (like being in a stadium and running away from people who think I've committed a heinous crime) . This one however I thought was quite poignant.

I can't really remember how it started off, but there seemed to be a reunion of some sort as I saw some ex-students gathered together. Later on I went out of the building and I was in charge of a market stall in quite a nice quadrangle. Displayed for all to see were miscellaneous objects on a trestle table. I was stood at one corner on one side and on the same side I could see my wallet at the other corner. People came to browse at the objects on the table. I started to become quite concerned whenever a person would be standing by the table blocking my view of the wallet. After a short period of time, I looked again and the wallet was gone. I started searching and asking people if they knew where my wallet was or if they had seen who had taken it, to no avail. I went back to the table and started thinking to myself. I thought," I know that my ID card is in my little red wallet that I have in my hand." I realized that the objects of any value were right there in my hand whereas the other wallet really had nothing of value (like old receipts and namecards) in it and I really wouldn't miss what it contained.

I talked about this with my friend, Nancy as she had had an interesting dream too. Well, we reckoned that maybe I should think and pray about my identity in Christ and realize that all that other stuff I really am not going to miss.

Holiday :Madrid

2006-08-30T20:03:00.000+08:00

This has been really annoying. I've tried twice to create a new post and attach photos, only for Safari to shut down. Yes, I also insist that I don't add any other blogs until I've posted something about Madrid.

I went to Madrid in the summer for about 4 days with my mum, dad and aunty. Communicating with the taxi driver was quite funny as I'd forgotten any Spanish that I had learnt over 10 years ago, and I don't think my mum's 'Learn Spanish in a week' CDs quite did the trick! Well, we managed to keep fed and watered in the heat. Thankfully our hotel was in the centre of the city, so we just walked everywhere and it was easy to return and have a kip in teh afternoon.

The very glamorous post office with loads of counters inside for a multitude of purposes.

The cathedral

The royal palace

Holiday:Wales

2006-08-09T00:09:00.000+08:00

One day, mum and dad decided we'd take my aunt to Wales. Actually, we only have to drive a mile down the road and we're there. We hadn't been to the Horseshoe Pass or Llangollen for a while, so off we went.We went to the Horshoe Pass first. My last memory from when I was a kid of it was being surrounded and trampled on by goats as I had some bread in my hand. Thankfully my brother and his friend managed to scare them away.

We didn't see any goats this time but there were a few sheep around and plenty of bikers who stopped at the cafe for a bite to eat. We stopped there too for a coffee and a scone with jam and cream and chatted to the nice lady on the till who had been to Hong Kong.
Beautiful hills in Wales at the Horshoe Pass

What's Wales without sheep?

Surely Dad didn't forget where he parked the car?!

Llangollen station

Holiday:Edinburgh

2006-08-07T00:38:00.000+08:00

I thought I'd try to put a few quick notes about my summer holidays. Dad did all the driving and we managed to get to our travelodge with me navigating. We went to see my parent's friend's daughter who I had known when I was younger. We went to the Chinese restaurant that she and her husband run to have dinner with her and her three kids. She drove us around to have a quick tour of Edinburgh sites, while her cute but inquisitive son asked me all manner of questions! We walked around Edinburgh, took photos and went to the art museum - with a collection of Rembrandt sketches.

Diversion

2006-08-05T09:09:00.000+08:00

I took a flight from Manchester to London after bidding farewell to my father at the airport. My aunt and I caught the 1830 flight from heathrow. On the plane we heard from the captain that we would be following a new route that would actually get us to HK about 30 minutes faster. Great. The flight continued as smoothly as can be expected with not much sleep achieved and a couple of movies watched. V for Vendetta pretty poor British movie, but when you start watching some films you just want to see how it ends as predictable as it may be. There was some rom com film – Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Bates but because Matthew McConaghey is so ‘watchable’, I watched it.

We began our descent into Hong Kong after turning a mighty big loop over the South China Sea and were experiencing turbulence. I prayed for the pilot and that he would land us safely on the ground. He did … in Taipei. The winds were too strong in Hong Kong to land safely considering it is August and typhoon season. Hence I am currently sitting here typing this out when I should really be asleep in bed in Happy Valley. I’m also typing into word and will transfer this later as yet again I would have to pay for the internet. Why am I not doing that? Simply by the time I sort out payment and get the internet up and running on my computer, my battery will inevitably run out considering I didn’t have it fully charged.

I really hope this does not become an annual event. In the summer of last year after visiting Vancouver for a week in order to go to a friend’s wedding I was similarly delayed. The plane was taxing to the runway when the wing tip of our left wing knocked the tail of another plane parked at the side. This meant taxiing back, passengers were trooped off and the waiting began. It took a couple of hours to osrt out the wing rip, only to then test the equipment and find that a computer wasn’t working. Comp[lications. We also ran into the problem that we would be able to fly to Calgary but then the cabin crew and pilot would not have had the sufficient rest required between flights so we wouldn’t be able to fly back to Manchester. There was also mention of a hotel on arrival at Calgary. Unfortunatley by the time we got there, the people in charge announced that the hotel airport was full and the other hotel which was booked was too far away to make it worthwhile. So they prepared a room with drinks and snacks and people tried to get what little sleep they could. Oh…that is after having a large group of people have a major rant at the poor man making the announcements on behalf of the company.

We arrived at HK airport and waited at the carousel for our luggage. We were so happy that the luggage appeared - except that it wasn't ours at all. We were then told the luggage would arrive at 2:30pm - another hour to wait. The hour passed and our luggage didn't arrive. We were then told that the plane with our luggage would arrive at 4:10pm. After two nights where we had little sleep this was all we needed to hear. My aunt and I finally went out for something to eat, were escorted back in to wait at the carousel and were finally reunited with our luggage at about 6pm at which point I got on the train and fell asleep.

Grey day in the UK

2006-06-27T21:20:00.000+08:00

Here I am - finally - in England and having access to the internet. Unfortunately my parents are still in the dark ages and have no internet access at home. Well, at least they have a computer and iPods - even though they still couldn't load music onto them until I came home to do it for them! Bless!

So I'm in Starbucks and had to pay for internet - there's possibly a place a bit up the road where I might have access for free. Hmm...will have to check it out.

Since I landed at Manchester airport and came down to Chester I haven't done that much. Well, the first day I was here I pretty much crashed after a few hours - which was nice as I hadn't slept much on the plane. I've managed to go jogging about 5 times - pretty good since I''ve only been back just over a week. I've watched quite a bit of footie - England just making it through after being plagued with injuries. In HK the commentary was pretty poor - so it's been nice to have some decent commentary and listening to Gary Linekar pre-match, at half-time and post-match (especially during the Eng-Ecu match where he made a slip at half time and said the score was 1-0 when it was 0-0 but the full time score was 1-0! Gift of prophecy?). It was also quite interesting when the camera was in the tunnel for the England Ecuador match- where you could hear a few f words being spouted out of the players mouths - tut tut - hope those little boys who they hold hands with to go on the pitch weren't present!

I've managed to speak to a few friends on the phone. I rang an old school friend who lives down south and she told me she'd just had a baby - i didn't even know she was pregnant - a lot can happen in a year!

I went over to catch up withg the senior pastor over here - he only lives around the corner from me - and I was glad to see his son Garetrh who'd had a stroke the year before - he was looking in good health. We had a good conversation about worship as he's normally down in Chorleywood, London and focussing on worship with folks down there. I've known him since he was about 13 and it's great to see how he's getting on and maturing, but still with that cheeky boy side of him intact. It was good to worship with the people at Northgate church - I only know about 10 people there now, but it still has that family feeling, and I like to catch up with the few that I know.

There was a couple from the States preaching and they were talking about what you focus on becomes your future. I find that I tend to get pulled into different directions with church, school, hockey and socially - especially in terms of having resposibility. It's difficult as there are obviously things that I have/need to do but then what about the rest. I always find that difficult. i feel that right now I could go any way, but it's all a fog - I need clarity in what God wants me to do so that I can get that focus right. I think once I have that focus then I can concentrate on it and I can leave the other stuff. I don't want people to be pulling me towards one thing or another - I just want to know for myself. It's between God and me - I don't care what everyone else thinks I'll be 'good' at- that kind of pressure doesn't help. so, I'm very thankful I can get a break from life in HK hopefully collect my thoughts and pray.

I'm off to Edinburgh tomorrow - must charge up my camera battery! I've not been there before...heard it's very beautiful - hope the weather brightens up. It'll be busy with all the festivals going on.

Okay - I've been sat here long enough - I will go and see what Chester has to offer.

Freedom...nearly!

2006-06-15T10:05:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was the last day of school - WOOHOO!!!!!! Students were busily writing in each other's yearbooks as I was trying to figure out what was going on that morning, and struggling to drink my coffee as the requests for yearbook signing came in. We went for our final grade 8 gathering where a couple of homerooms performed Dr Suess' "Sneetches'. We bid farewell to those students who are leaving our school - tears. Then we practiced the entry of all (just under 200) students in the 'Remember the Titans' style - very amusing. Then we rehearsed the dance to Black Eyed Peas 'Pump it' - with only a few reminders for some of the boys to keep it clean.

Before the actual final assembly, Michael told the grade 6s and 7s that we had decided to go to Disneyland instead of the gathering as we had been to Ocean Park the day before. Then the grade 8s entered and it was the best that they had performed that dance.

After the assembly we all went downstairs and many tears came forth and students hugged as we tried to usher them towards the buses for the 'Big Wave'. They finally got on and the buses departed as we waved them off to have a good summer - and no moonies this year.

I spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening eating and then trying to pack up my room for summer school. I now need to go back, finish the job, sign my new contract and sned my goal sheet to admin. Fun.

Marking break

2006-06-05T20:55:00.000+08:00

I'm feeling rather sad right now - as in my life is currently in a state of sadness due to infernal marking!!! Last week I was mega busy but managed to mark some websites. I still have about 50 websites to mark, 94 worksheets, 94 homework packets, 94 labs and end of year reports to write. My first plan of action is to get the websites finished - thankfully the kids have an algebra exam tomorrow during which I will do some marking. It's quite annoying as I have a cold too- ugh - kept sneezing today.

I'm still not sleeping properly either - keep waking at about 3:45am. I blame the muggy weather.

Good news today - my and my aunty's flights back to England are confirmed. I can't stand the waitlisting thing...thankfully I didn't have to endure that for long.

So here's the countdown:
8.5 days to the end of term
6.5 days of teaching left
12 days to my friends' wedding
13 days until I fly back to sunny Manchester

Okay - back to marking with the help of Jacqueline du Pre.

Day off

2006-05-31T21:53:00.000+08:00

Well, I'm managing to write more posts than I did on my previous site - I do believe this is my 8th. Only 2 weeks of school left - I can taste summer! It probably has to do with the end of year meals I keep having - MS hockey team dinner which was yesterday, MS hockey parents dinner tomorrow, HKIS end of year teacher's celebration and grade 8 celebration dinner dance. This means that in about 2 weeks time the seams on my clothes will be splitting. I must go to the gym...maybe it can help save my wardrobe!

I managed to watch "The Notebook' today - quite a weepy towards the end. Very much a chick flick - good to do the ironing to. Those kinds of films really aren't worth going to the cinema to watch. I think my cinema viewing is reserved mostly for action/ special effect movies e.g. X-men, spiderman etc...unless of course it's a $25 showing where I think I'd allow myself to watch any movie - usually cheap summer before 11am films...always good!

Mutant Powers

2006-05-28T00:00:00.000+08:00

Saw X-men 3 on Thursday night. I was excited about it as soon as I got the e-mail asking if I was interested to go. So, my random question to my students on Thursday was 'What would your mutant ability be?' Most went for flying and teleporting, there were a few mind readers and one x-ray vision (but not all the time - I recommended eyewear like Cyclops'). However, the best was definitely Jack from my homeroom. He said that he would want Storm's powers. Now a 14 year old boy wanting Storm's (who is a woman) powers, seemed interesting. So I asked him why - and he had a good reason. He said,'So that I could control the weather and make tornados and storms. Then I could make a typhoon come and we could have a day off school.' Brilliant logic.

I had my hair cut and dyed red today. Wonder how many people will ask me if I want to be like Dark Phoenix/jean Grey. Truth of the matter is, I normally get my hair done like this but it takes hours - actually today it took 5 hours. So, as I usually play hockey on Saturdays I get my hair cut about twice a year! Anyway, I'd want to be Lady Deathstrike (the alive version!).

31

2006-05-21T00:11:00.000+08:00

Okay...so I'm 31 now...all those younger than me...you can be quiet now.

Well, I got to feel special at school - three of my students (Rach, Brooke and Tash) posted photoshopped pictures of me around school wishing me a happy birthday. They also baked a cake and got the hockey girls including Deayton to come and celebrate with me at break - nice.

Tanja Kerbs - she's a champ- organised a whole spread of goodies to make ice-cream sundaes at 9:30am in the morning. The grade 8 teachers were singing me happy birthday and I couldn't take my eyes off the colourful spread - m&ms, fresh fruit, canned fruit, nots, shredded coconut, ice cream, hundred and thousands, choc curls, MAGIC SHELL, maple syrup, brownies...it was crazy......get the teachers on a sugar high or what?? I laughed when Maureen from grade 7 said that you could smell the sweet stuff as soon as you walked into the room...but she was absolutely right.

My poor students had a Science test on my birthday....but now I have to mark it...D'oh!!!

Vine Album recording weekend

2006-05-10T21:47:00.000+08:00

It's now 10th May, and the recording took place last weekend - 5th to 7th May. Friday 5th and Saturday 6th may were the two days of live recording at the Sheung Wan Civic Centre.

On Friday I arrived at about 1230 to start my service managing duties. Well, to be honest there wasn't much for me to do. I ticked that the people who were supposed to be there were - easy. However, on the way to the venue, Anna Gardener had called me about a cold pack as Carmen had hurt her foot in a rehearsal that morning. So by the time I arrived, her foot was elevated and iced. The dancers were busy having their hair and makeup done in the dressing room.

To be honest, there really wasn't much for me to do. I went around trying to find little jobs for myself to keep me busy. I didn't really want to read my book as I just felt it would get me out of the mood of it being an exciting day of recording. So, I did little things like fill the water boiler for the singers (so they could have warm honey water), display the food and water, get more ice for Carmen etc. Part way through the afternoon I felt like it was really useless me being there - I was quite frustrated as I felt like my role was unnecessary. I was backstage thinking this and I felt God just prompt me and say' Is this about you? It isn't about you. What are you here to do?' The answer? To serve of course. After that, I felt like God used me to pray for Carmen who was rather upset about her injury and not being able to dance. I also had an opportunity to encourage and pray for another dancer - Elein. Things didn't go according to the rundown sheet, as the soundchecks (all 3 of them!) took longer than the scheduled time - but it was important considering the worship was being recorded after all. The dancers finally got to rehearse their dance on stage a couple of times. The different teams prayed separately that night due to time constraints.

At 7pm the doors opened and people entered. At about 7:30 Derek introduced the evening, got the crowd pumped up and shouting. The show opened with the cool dance with 12 dancers , then we had the first set of songs, John sorted out the offering and introduced Ned Davies, Ned spoke about our wonderful creator God, made an altar call (where several people became Christians) and then there was the second set. At the end of the evening we went to in and Out for some grub and a drink.

The following day (Saturday) I got up, had breakfast and got ready for the day. I rang Victor to see if he needed an 'errand person' as he'd expressed that the previous day they had needed someone to do a few things. So, I went there earlier than originally planned and saw Michelle repetitively thumping on the bass drum and Victor sorting out sound things (yes...I have absolutely no clue whatsoever!). I talked to Michelle and we got the lunch orders from people...I managed to get orders for Chinese food and Starbucks, and needed to get drinks from Park n Shop. Thankfully I had a mini brainwave and rang Anna (bless) and she got the Starbucks on her way. I managed to find a Dai Pai Dong to get the Chinese food and got the drinks from PnS.

Later on I had to go and get water for the worship team and dancers - we reckoned on 3 boxes. Adam went with me and had quite a hilarious time trying to carry these boxes back to the theatre a)without dropping them and b)in the fastest time possible. Well, we had a good laugh and you should see how toned our arms are!!

Due to having experienced one day of recording, the soundcheck and set up went well and we prayed together that evening. Ned was great talking to us and encouraging us that this was a new night, and it was not to be a repeat performance. We were also encouraged that this was a team effort to glorify God in whatever role we were playing and it wasn't just about the worship leader or worship team.

The evening started with Derek giving the intro. The Carmen, Nate and Adam performed their dance which was great - it had cheers in the right places! Then the second dance started. In the middle of the dance water started falling from above the stage, towards the front. At first I thought ' Wow that looks cool!' then it was 'That wasn't in the rundown...AAAAAARGHHHHH!!!!' I quickly ran backstage and saw the backstage lady communicating with someone else, so I reckoned they would be onto the problem. I ran back out to the corridor and thought, "What do I do??? Mops and buckets!!!" I ran through the theatre while the dancers continued and asked the people for mops (thankfully it is in my Cantonese vocabulary). The cleaning lady appeared and I repeated that we needed mops, she opened a backstage cupboard and got a few mops out and some buckets. The dancers had come off stage and the lady said to me,"We can't mop this - there's too much water!" at which point I grabbed a mop, gave it to Vinny, took the buckets and started mopping. All I knew was that we had to get the water off the stage. Soon, more help arrived - the Africans from Togo were great. Mops were placed to catch the water that was still falling. More people from the Vine helped clean up using mops, cloth and toilet paper. I remember turning to Aaron Rogers and saying,"If this doesn't show teamwork, I don't know what does!' While we were cleaning up the last bits, trying to work out how long it would take the electrics to be checked and the possibilities of recording the following day, Ned spoke to the audience and led them in worship.

We later found out that the guy came down, checked the electrics and decided it would be fine to continue once power was back on. Some of the worship team, started some acoustic worship and the rest of the team joined them on stage. After a little while, the power came back on midsong. A few things were checked and the announcement was made that we'd run through all ten songs which we then proceeded to do. It was sooooo cool - everyone was so up for it and worshipping their hearts out. Seriously - Satan tried to stop this, but God had bigger and better plans for the evening.

Album recording 5th May - Day 1

2006-05-05T09:20:00.000+08:00

Here I am at home and out of bed at 9:27am on the first day of the Vine Christian fellowship's live album recording. I've just printed a map to show me how to get to the venue - Sheung Wan Civic Centre and I'll need to print my service manager's sheet. Last night I went for dinner with Anna, Mandy and Yan and then went down to the Vine for the prayer meeting and just chilled out there. I managed to find out more about times of arrival for various people for today, so hopefully my checklist is fine, so I can help make sure everything runs smoothly.

It's actually the day of the recording - it's quite surreal and exciting all at the same time. Well, I have my Vine shirt clean and ready and my clipboard ready...better go and get myself ready!

Dumaguete Easter Mission Trip

2006-05-05T01:34:00.000+08:00

Thursday – fly from HK, arrive at hotel, pray on roof top and rest
Friday – Open Air Clinic – pray for patients, pastors, church outreach and pray for pastors and outreach team
Saturday – house building, swim in sea
Sunday – ICM church kids from children's home – Anna preached, went to lake
Monday – devotion at care ministries, minister to pastors of Dumaguete, outreach in field 800
Tuesday – ministered to care workers, special cases video, visit special cases -= pray for Antonio, Arnold’s AOG place- worship and minister, pray for healing for Dwight’s mum
Wednesday – team meeting shopping and leave

The Dumaguete, Philippines Mission Trip seemed like one huge exercise in trusting in God. From start to finish our team was constantly reminded to lean on God. Our first reminder was arriving in Manila and transferring ourselves to the old domestic airport. Half the team were taken to the new one, when we were finally reunited, Nicky’s bag went missing. We realized we had to pray and it was like God asking us if we intended to do things in our own strength or in his. Thankfully, in the last minutes of checking on our luggage, the bag was retrieved having been stuck in the X-ray machine.. Interestingly enough, the Vine’s verse is:

I am the vine you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15 v5

For me, this was not just another mission trip. I didn’t know particularly what to expect as we hadn’t been given an agenda and we were partnering with International Care Ministries. I felt that this was a huge exercise in trusting in God. There were some outreach events, but this trip had more ministry time than I had experienced on other trips. We prayed for patients in a Care Ministries clinic, for care ministry workers, pastors of Dumaguete at a pastors meeting, people at a worship meeting and some special cases for healing.

I think that when I’m on a mission trip I know and am reminded by our leaders that we are there to serve in whatever capacity God leads us to. I also wondered what my part in the team would be as I believe God created us as individuals and we each have our specific part to play. Our team prayed for some specific cases of healing and were truly believing in faith for the healing of a man with a dislocated hip and also for the healing of one of the Care Worker’s Dwight’s mum. Many people were reduced to tears due to anger against the sickness and the fact that we were believing but did not see the healing directly. I realized that as a recipient of healing I could easily relate to the person being prayed for – having faith for healing yet being frustrated with not seeing it happen instantaneously. However, as a recipient I could also encourage the team in the fact that we had intentionally come to pray for people – to minister God’s love – this reminded me of the time people had repeatedly done this for me – and how this had overwhelmed me with love – that it encouraged me to persist in prayer, to cling to God and to step out in faith by continuing to ask for healing. I know that on the journey to healing God taught me many lessons – but the main one was to trust in him, for the timing of my healing and for everything in my life.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3 v5 and 6

Amen!

Home sweet home

2006-04-29T21:14:00.000+08:00

After having been to the ASCD (don't ask me what it stands for - I always forget!) teacher's conference in Chicago, Singapore - with the Middle School hockey team and Dumaguete, Philippines mission trip, it's nice to be back in Hong Kong and get back into the routine of everyday life.

I was in Chicago (my first trip to the US!!) with Melita - my grade 8 Science buddy. We were there for the pre-conference on Differentiated Instruction - or as we know it 'DI'. Carol Ann Tomlinson was great and we learnt a lot....now all we have to do is apply it!

My first impression of the US was passing through immigration with a huge guy shouting out 'Go to A!!!' Thankfully, he wasn't addressing us as we visitors needed to go to B. On approaching the officer, he explained that the shouting guy, if he was telling you a story would tell you it in the exactly the same tone and volume. He then explained that that guy was a New Yorker - definitely not from Chicago.

As we went around Chicago - to our hotel - Hotel 71, shopping(Old Navy, American Girl Place, Bath and Body Works) and the conference people were as friendly as could be ....very impressive. They would just make conversation- just really nice. Apparently the mid-west is like that...cool.

Melita and I managed to get to the Chicago Institute of art - loved it - really loved being able to see the Seurat Park painting with all the little dashes - love it!!! We also managed with Jennifer Sparrow to go to 'Howling at the moon' - a bar where there were dueling pianists, and another night we went to a small jazz bar. Oh...I remember - that was the day I was wearing my England shirt as it was HK's rugby sevens weekend...and England won again! Bless!

Singapore was a good trip - Gail and I took 15 girls down for a hockey tour. thankfully, Jude Felix was on the ball and had our girl's playing the girls he coaches as their school on Friday. Then on Saturday morning was an early 8-9am match against some of those girls and he gave the girls training on the Sunday. We also managed to see Ice Age 2, go to the night safari and take a boat ride to the Merlion. Oh...and we had lunch at Raffles - VERY nice! Gail also went in the bungy cage thing and got catapulted into the air - crazy lady. I point blank refused to do that...I really couldn't imagine telling my parents that I had done that - plus I was scared stiff!

Ah...Dumaguete - that will need a post of it's own. However, that will wait as I have a really bruised finger on my right hand after having played a hockey match today - it's quite swollen and painful....maybe I should post a picture!!!

A new bloggining

2006-04-25T21:02:00.000+08:00

Well, I once signed up for one of these sites and never put it to use. However, I think it would be nice to let people know what I'm up to without having to send lots of e-mails. Yes...technology is helping in the advancement of my laziness!!! Hurrah!

Let's see if I manage to actually partake in 'blogging' on a regualr basis!