My 30th Christmas...in Singapore...Blessed Adventure...

I decided to go down to Singapore for my 30th Christmas...i didn't want to stay in KB coz i feared it would be too depressing...i didn't feel like going back to KL coz well, i just didn't feel like it...so i thought i'd take the train down to Singapore for the Christmas weekend...remind me never again to take the seat coach on a night train...not exactly the most pleasant experience...

My journey to Singapore is quite one of faith...i didn't have a single Singapore cent with me when i came out from the Woodlands checkpoint on Friday morning...but God found me a money-changer opposite the bus stop...and i changed rm100 into sgd40.70...planned to use my debit card when shopping...found my way to Suntec City just in time to meet up with my aunt for lunch...left my luggage with my aunt for her to bring back to her place coz i was meeting up with Yin Yee after her work...we were going to her church's Christmas celebration...

It was quite an adventure trying to find my way to Yin Yee's workplace at Marina Bay Financial Centre...but i loved the idea of walking along underground malls...met some new friends at her church...one was an Iranian guy...and i found out that Iranians celebrate Winter Solstice by eating all night long...how cool is that huh? church was at NUS...so i found my way back to aunt's place at Toa Payoh North...thanks to my new friends...

Christmas eve lunch with aunt at Kallang...pork rib prawn mee...interesting mix...then i met up with Sherine and Yin Yee at Suntec City...Sherine, MeiLing and i were going for City Harvest's Christmas service at 2pm...Yin Yee went painting with Kathy and John...the Christmas service was pretty amazing...it was at one of the convention halls...and the musical they put up was almost professional...it did feel a little commercialized...

Met up with Kian Ming and his girlfriend at Bishan interchange for dinner...i really love the idea of underground malls at MRT stations...at least you can go shopping if your friends were running late...it was good to have caught up with Kian Ming...initially thought of checking out Orchard...but after considering the crowd that might be, we decided against it...so yea, my Christmas eve didn't turn out the way i imagined it would be...didn't bump into any good-looking guy under the mistletoe...i got back to aunt's place about 11pm...spent some time reading the Bible...replied Christmas messages...then went to bed...

So Christmas morning i was supposed to meet Yin Yee at Katong Shopping Centre at 945am coz we were going to the Cornerstone church Christmas service...so i took the MRT from Braddell station to Dhoby Ghaut and caught the no. 10 bus to Katong...arrived at about 10am...then i saw Yin Yee's message...saying: hey, where are you? i'm at city hall mrt.......i was like, hmmm, what's going on? tried calling her, couldn't get through...good thing the messages could go through...so i took the no. 14 bus from the opposite side of the road back to city hall...reached there about 1030am...

Apparently, of all the messages that Yin Yee and i exchanged the night before, the most important one that informed about the change of venue did not get through to me...hence the Christmas morning adventure...but it's amazing how God came through all this...and what's more amazing was that during the altar call, when the pastor asked if anyone has never invited Jesus into his/her heart and experienced the joy of Christmas, my new Iranian friend raised his hand...and he went to the front and said the sinner's prayer...i'm not sure if he really knew what he was doing...but for me, it was a miracle i needed to see...

After lunch, Yin Yee and i went to Tanglin Mall...i was at That CD Shop in City Hall and they didn't have Corrinne May's older albums but the girl in the shop checked that Tanglin Mall had them...along the way, saw this guy sitting by the roadside in front of a stretch of Tudorean shophouses...he was drawing the buildings...very very nice...anyway, they only had Corrinne May's 'Beautiful Seed' in Tanglin Mall...apparently even that branch ran out of her 'Save in a Crazy World' album...so sad...but still glad that i got her 'Beautiful Seed'...

We went to meet up with Jessie and Sherine at Katong112...then went to one of their church member's place at the east...nice apartment...i think i like the east side of Singapore...feels more homely and less crowded...we shared and prayed and i felt really glad...Yin Yee has grown so much in her walk with the Lord since i first met her in Camp Cameron...we had late dinner somewhere along Katong...first time trying 'mee pok'...quite nice...then Yin Yee accompanied me back to Dhoby Ghaut MRT...by then my EZlink card was low on cash and i only have sgd2 left in my wallet...thank God for Yin Yee who helped me to top up the card...really grateful...

Was supposed to take the 9am bus from Golden Mile Plaza back to KL on Boxing Day...aunt and i only left her place at 810am...and she didn't say anything about we were going to be late...and we were taking the MRT...but by 855am, it became apparent we weren't going to make it in time for the bus coz we were still 5 stations behind...aunt tried to get the bus ppl to wait for us but the guy said they'll wait at most 10 minutes..so we hopped off at Paya Lebar station and caught a cab...but we still couldn't make it in time...so we asked the cabbie to send us to Tuas checkpoint to catch the bus...thank God we made it there before the bus...aunt said if she had a heart condition she might have had a heart attack...so much drama...i told her, with me, life's always exciting and adventurous...hahahaha...really felt bad to drag aunt into my adventures...the cab cost sgd 20 over...almost the price of my bus ticket...

So yea, that was my 30th Christmas...no, i didn't crowd with the people in Orchard on Christmas eve...i didn't even make it to Marina Bay Sands...but it was a Christmas filled with blessings and miracles i needed to help me remember how much God loves me...coz i'll definitely need to remember these come the New Year...

Picking myself up in Singapore

I reached Singapore yesterday evening from Adelaide...i was only supposed to be in Singapore for a night but since something happened in Adelaide so i got an earlier flight back to Singapore...my flight back to KK is on Jan 14, so i'm kinda stuck in Singapore...which turned out not to be a bad thing after all...I'm staying with Yin Yee at her place and i tell you it's a damn nice place...it's Somerset Bencoolen at Bencoolen Street... near Orchard road...serves breakfast...has a gym and a nice rooftop pool which i swam in this morning after breakfast....ahh...this is the life man...

I just came back from lunch with Yin Yee...we had dim sum....which was good...i guess these few days in Singapore would be a good time to pick myself up before i go back to KK and begin my suffering in surgery department...Adelaide must have been the worst holiday and 'date' in my entire life but that's probably giving too much credit to the person who've caused it...i mean Adelaide is a great place to be though i would advice not to go during summer unless you're into getting heatstrokes...and Elaine went to visit Alisa and baby Darrien while i was away...if someone would have been kind enough to spare me the grief of being in Adelaide, i would have been in Miri visiting Alisa and Darrien...

Anyway, yesterday Yin Yee and i had a good time having our heart to heart talk...i guess talking is therapy....then we decided that we wouldn't continue to indulge in our misery...we dressed up and made up...and then we went to Clarke Quay to have a drink...just ginger ale though...coz i don't really like the taste of alcohol...and Yin Yee had to work today...plus, earlier we've had a little plum wine while we were pouring our hearts out...hehe...there was a pub in Clarke Quay called Clinic...it was quite interesting as it was morbid...they serve drinks on IV bags and you suck them straight from the bags...and the seats were either wheelers or wheelchairs...and the lights were like OT lights except that they were too dim...i wonder if they serve 'pills' as well...hahahaha...

I guess i'll be wandering around Singapore aimlessly and meet up with some friends while i'm here...actually waiting for Ee-zing to come get me with his sports car..hehe...gonna hang out in Plaza Singapura while waiting for him...