Misadventures in Singapore

Me and a couple of guys (and a girl) had a trip to see a sound and light trade show down in Singapore.

Question: Where do you go to eat in a foreign land?
Answer:

Just kidding. Though I had their breakfast earlier in the morning. The general food around Singapore is decent but it’s rather expensive after exchange rates. Took a stab at the hot buffalo wings at Buckaroos. Combustion, Volcano and Insanity are their first 3 levels of spiciness and they don’t even bother naming the rest up to level 10. I knew something was up after reading a disclaimer for wings above level 3. After much persuasion, I managed to get the guys to order level 4 (down from level 5). I’m telling you, it’s hot! I managed only half a wing. This combined with my already developing sore throat means I lost my voiced the next day.

More adventures in the night as we decided to put up at Hotel 81 - A somewhat dodgy place with the couple ahead of us at the reception paying an unadvertised $40 for two hours. Uh huh, that and an opened Durex box in the drawers. Well, we couldn’t do much anyway it was about 12 midnight and I missed the ‘money back guarantee’ sign. The three of us guys squeezing in a bed while Joanne got a room to herself.

Anyway, after the disappointing trade show the next day, we walked around, shopped a little, got bored and decided to cut our trip short and drive 4 hours back home. Total spent: RM277 - I’m broke now.

Hills and Valleys

Half a year.

So quick, and yet I seem to be in a standstill as life passes me by. Perhaps I’m getting old. Too old for these things anymore. How ridiculous, I’m only 25. But why does my bones feel tired and my feet as if they’ve been dragged through the ground for so long, they are about to tear off at the knees. The gravity of life weighs me down.

Wait a minute.

What happened to the times of refreshing? Am I missing something here? I was under the impression that we go through the motions - the hills and valleys of life. I long for my next hilltop where I’ve overcome all my challenges and standing up there, I could look at the view around and think to myself, it wasn’t too bad after all, life is good - it was worth it.

I’ll tell you what’s it like in the valley though. In it, you walking on rocky ground and slippery moss makes progress forward tough. You aren’t able to see far ahead, only an upward view of the sky as you crane your neck - the freedom you long for so far out of your reach, taunting you, that you would never soar in its winds. After a while, survival becomes the name of the game. You grow weary as you watch your footing and jump at every sinister shadow - afraid of what lurks in the darkness. Before you know it, it’s all about you.

Selfish.

I can’t wait for the next hill. I’ve sidetrack my calling to become a Pastor and bible school for too long. Enough excuses about how I’m not ready. Rick Warren in an interview said that life isn’t really about hills and valleys, rather two parallel tracks. That always something good and bad are happening to us all the time. The trick is not to focus on ourselves, but our calling and purpose. Only then can we free ourselves from us.

I want that kind of life. To be strong not despite the challenges, but because of them. Yet not by my own strength for that is insufficient, proven again and again. I need strength from my friends and those close to me. Strength from faith and grace. From God. Perhaps then I will realize that the view isn’t from hills…

…but Mountaintops