Incomprehensible feeling.

I'm awestruck. By my boredom. I don't think i've ever been so free in my life. Ok.. maybe during the army. But we always found stupid things to do when we were bored. Like plucking rambutans and mangosteens in our No 4s, and playing pool, and what not. And there were always likewise bored people to entertain you, if you were ever bored. The core idea was, you were never BORED alone.

And after I got out of the Army, there was no such thing as being bored. I didn't even have time to breathe!!! Work, CHurch, Tuition, Tennis, PLay, Drink, Party, Work Church, Tuition, Tennis, Play, Drink. Standard cycle. And there are always people to meet, people to go out with, people to do new things with, people to prance around with.

And now, theres none.

Yes. of course.. my night time is occupied with dinners and movies and maybe a pint or 2. BUt i'm still bored! I don't feel the personal satisfaction that I used to be so full of when i was in Singapore. Its just.. i dunno.. an incomprehensible feeling that leaves a void in my soul.

I don't have many friends here.. Like people that i can truly click. I want to play tennis but my beloved Willy hammerhead is back in singapore. I want to go running but i don't have shoes. I want to go shopping. But i don't want to go alone. and i'm particular about who i go shopping with. I want to go hiking but its too far. I want to do this. but its that. I want to do that, but its this.

Its just a whole damned cycle of complaining. My british flatmates go pubbing/clubbing/drinking EVERY single damn night, and its not a sight to behold. Well of course one or 2 nights are fine. BUt hell. EVERY NIGHT. i dunno how they survive sia. And they're all younger then me somemore. I obviously don't have that kinda money to go everynight. though i'd really like to drink like a fish. : P

Argh. Oh Lord save me from this boredom!

I love this line: You placed the stars in the sky and you know them by name. Its beautiful.

I wanna go fast!

Just got back from watching a movie with the SingSoc people.. Namely, people I got to know in the last 6 hours other then Weichang, whom i've known since 22nd of January 2004.

Talladega Nights, yes, thats the movie we watched. Made me fell asleep for a while.. but thats just because i'm sleepy, from facing the computer alll daaay loooong watching silly South Park epis off the website Daniel told me 'bout. Been watchin' so much American, that muh Anglish gonna sound like onhelluva Sarthern Texan.

Theres stuff on in the bloody School of Earth Sciences tommorow. (you haven't heard right, i just called it the laziest school in the University. Because they Stone. Get it? no? Sorry. just being lame) .

I can't remember exactly whats on at school tommorow, but seriously, if i had been asked to drink an entire keg tonight, i'd just do it cus i'm in the mood.

oh. we're buying our field equipment tommorow. Going to do my module selections. cheerios.

Church of Jesus or Church of Guan Yin? Don't confuse us.

Some of you might remember the post I wrote about 9 months back in my old blog, titled, "My God is not the god of fortune or goddess of mercy, but God of all Creation". In it I heavily criticised New Creation Church's vision statement which we will all recap later.

I was looking around newer churches and Catholic Youth ministries to see if there is anything inspiring to read or learn from. Amplify was great, Zion's Joy was fantastic, Hillsong Church was interesting, and well, New Creation.. sigh.. oh what can I say about these new churches. sigh..

Let us recall what I said in the entry 9 months ago:

"Along with the numerical growth, the church has experienced many miraculous healings of cancers, tumours, kidney conditions and much more. We also regularly receive testimonies of restored marriages and lives, and God's supernatural provision in the area of finances"

"God has done everything for you: you can be saved from sin and hell, and instead have joy, peace, health, a prosperous life, acceptance, love, and all good things in life. He is only waiting for you to take the first step towards Him."

These 2 statements were found on their website... in reply, I said:

"We ask to be healed spiritually, so that we can accept death, and love life, we ask to be rich spiritually, so that we can share our wealth of love and hope, and we ask to be taught, not to be given. That is humility.

The passage i read was somehow suggesting that G-d WILL cure your ailments like Ma Tzu Por or Guan Yin, and will give you wealth like Cai Shen. It was like a testimony to the miracles that their god can acheive. But the Christian miracle as we all know it, is Hope Faith and Charity."

Well, 9 months on, as I read their website again, the above 2 sentences were removed, maybe, after I sent the scathing email attacking their 2 very flawed and sinful statements, to which they replied, WE ONLY BELIEVE IN THE FULL GOSPEL OF CHRIST. So apparently, their jesus plays stock market and sells shares too.

Anyway, what is so flawed now? Well, we might as well rename their founders, pastor prince and wendy prince as St. Prince of New Creation and St. Wendy of the Wives. Why so?Well, i've never seen more shameless self praise then this. For goodness sakes! They're not even dead yet and you're writing them an EULOGY ?????????

I'm glad to know that the Catholic church doesn't put on any self praise about our Pope, or our Clergy. haha..

Then again, maybe New creation church will be a better church for me, maybe their jesus can give me more money, then i don't need to work part time... hmmm... maybe hor?

Manchester City.

The last of the 3 part series about UK. Manchester City.

Nothing much. Just an industrial city famed for its red brick buildings and stackpipes.

I live in Chandos Hall, the second most Northern hall of the campus. Its just a building stop short of being demolished by Singapore standards. Haha.. ok its not that bad. For its cheap rent, you get a blast of a view the side of Manchester City that overlooks the Sackville Street Building and you can see the Hilton Hotel with its modern facade towering over the old decrepit city. Ok its not really decrepit.

Its quite amazing here actually. The number of shops that we have in the City Centre, ranging from your average joe Massimo Dutti, Zara, to the more exotic brands (to us) like HnM and Next, which are rare and few in Singapore. Prices well, are pretty well balanced, the european brands being much much cheaper and the American brands, well, much much much much more expensive. I'll make it a point to buy more vintage tees, junk food, and varsity tees when i'm in Singapore then.

The people of Manchester City are much more cosmopolitan, thought their intelligence levels would leave much to debate about as compared to the Asian cities. People are generally well informed, and of course, well dressed. There are also lesser cases of people living on the public dole, very much unlike Plymouth city, the dole capital.

I live about 7 to 8 minutes away from the city, its like walking from SMU to say, Le Meridien hotel, and school is about 20 mins away from the city centre. Church for me is a good 15 mins walk away, just like walking from the Cardiff Grove to SFX, but still, laziness sets in, so i know how you gardeners feel now. haha.

I haven't really explored much about Manchester City, just the City Centre, and I'm sure that there are multitudes of places that I can go visit during my free time that'll probably awe my socks off. Maybe some rock samples will do me good.

Schools not reall exciting. I mean it seems to be catered more for the brits then trying to incorporate its student population. But you can't really help it when the majority of the student population are brits.

So till next time, or whenever i have more pictures, cheers!

BTW, i am going on a field trip, to the goodness knows where next week. Exciting... pictures will be loaded on a later date. something wrong with blogger.

The Holy Roman Catholic Church in England.

As the subject states, this entry will be talking about, well, Church. I don't have much pictures to put up about well, Church, but I hope this gives you an idea at least till next week when I post again.

So, in Plymouth City, though i did not spend any obligation days or sundays there, I attended daily mass, St John Chrysotom's Memorial, Feast of the Triumph of the Cross, but missed Lady of Sorrows (which I am supposed to be very on about because of my love for the Canossian virtues)..

In Plymouth city, the Cathedral is known as St Mary and Boniface Cathedral. It was built in about 1858 shortly after Catholicism was no longer a death sentence. Unfortunately, Plymouth, is not an individual diocese, and it is under the greater Exeter Diocese. Many years ago though, Plymouth was a diocese, with Exeter as the Archdiocese, but with changing times and dwindling Catholic populations, things went downhill. I'm quite proud that Singapore is an Archdiocese though.

So, yes.. I attended morning mass at the Cathedral. It was lovely, The church was enveloped in a very soft glowing hue, and its traditions were so aptly rich and beautiful, they had a beautiful tabernacle, and a Most Sacred Altar, and an Ambo! How often do you see Ambos in Singapore! Even better, the servers all wear Surplices ontop of their Albs! So interesting. In Singapore, I've only seen Fr Gerard wear a surplice!

There were only about 20 people who attended mass on a daily basis, and it was always the same people. It was always the same 2 servers, who were aged 60 + and everyone else was at least 20 years older then I am. But, the people were really polite, friendly and absolutely lovely!! They were very sweet and nice people! I might volunteer to serve there for Christmas and Easter. heh.

And guess what? Next week, I'll be serving at the 7pm mass in Church of Holy Name. Yes, thats the church i go to now. Its really really beautiful. I'm thinking of attending St Augustines, which is only 7 mins walk away, while Holy Name is 15 mins walk. And, St Augustines is a Parish, which means i get maybe more rounded welfare and what not.. we'll see.

When I walked into both churches, both looked nothing like SFX. That made me miss home so much. I missed SFX so much. I missed all the familiar faces I would definitely see during mass any day of the week. The simple joy of knowing and caring for people you know who live in the same community and just the simplicity of knowing where home is. It hurt so much to look in awe at the splendour of these beautiful churches, to only compare it with the simplicity of my own parish, the place I deem my 2nd home. When i saw the statue of St Francis Xavier, no amount of words can express my sorrow at being so far away from home, and helplessly, i could only request that our patron saint to pray for everyone back home.

It is really really beautiful that the Catholic Church is so universal, that anywhere I go to for mass, I'll feel just right, the rites may slightly defer in words, here, they always have a thurifer, and they wear surplices, but the spirit of the Lord really moves amongst us, and I can really feel that we are all one in heart, worshiping the very same Lord, very same Saviour, very same God, in the very same perfect way. I feel blest to be called.

Tuesdays and Sundays will never ever be the same again, without the presence of the wonderful parish of St Francis Xavier, but i am very confident that the Lord will lead me to pastures where i can once again call this my 2nd home, and at the same time, be in full embrace with christ.

By the way. i took the photos myself... so it ain't that nice. heh. walked around alone most of the time.

Plymouth.

Well.. I just got my internet connection up in the hall.. And HURRAH.. stable internet connect for the next 1 year until i have to redo the damn hornet registration again, at least now i know what to do.

Anyway, I'm really starving even after I dumped that sandwich into my tummy. Things are really expensive here, and seriously, i'm too lazy to cook for lunch. I'm going down to tescos later to buy some tomatoes and ham and stuff to make sanwiches for lunch. and yes. some meat too for dinner.

The first of the 3 entries is meant to be dedicated to well, Plymouth city, or my first week here in the United Kingdom.

As we all know it.. With the little rascist fiasco at the Heathrow airport, my image of the UK was a little marred. The dirty streets and everything else made it feel as if UK was a Third World country in comparison to the Great, Glorious and Illustrious Singapore. What made it worse was that, everyone i met, (the locals) were enamoured and in love with Singapore! And most of them have been to Singapore actually...

So yes.. Back to the Topic, Plymouth City.

Plymouth, is little city situated a good 4 hours drive south of London. Thats where my Sister, works and lives. She has a house in Plymouth, and a Flat too, and she rents the flat out. The house is a lovely little post-war development house that has 3 rather dismally small rooms. But all houses are like that actually. i think. haha.

So.. Plymouth city, is also supposed to be Great and Illustrious, for those of you who are familliar with your European and New England History, Plymouth is where the Spanish Armada was defeated. It was also where English Porcelain was invented, it was from Plymouth, that the ship Mayflower, carrying the first settlers to America departed, and also the place where ships that first sailed to New Zealand and Australia first departed. At the same time, its history dwelves deep into the Elizabethan times, (circa 17th century) and there are a few Tudor architectures here.. Churches are sporadically placed, ranging from the Roman Catholics, Episcopalians, and the Church of England (Anglicans).

So yes. Well, gone are the glorious days of Plymouth where ships ply (that didn't mean to be a pun) to and fro from its harbours to adventurous and exciting locations. And now, things are a little chavvy (local term for low class) and sometimes, walking on the streets of Plymouth is like watching Little Britain, real life.

Well.. if you don't know what Little Britain is, first, go kill yourself, because its the absolutely most disgusting and at the same time, funniest production BBC has ever made. Then, watch it on Arts Central, every tuesday night, at 10 PM, and have a good laugh. http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/littlebritain/

Then you'll know EXACTLY what i see on the streets in Plymouth city, everyday. YES. People talk like that, look like that, think like that. Its not very intelligent actually.

You might think that that means that it has character... But sorry... anything that is Dysfunctional has Character.

THe streets are well.. boring at times, but there are the "Harry Potter" or Billy Elliot moments.. like scenes from the movies.

City centre has tonnes of attractive shops, Millets, Debenhams, Dingles, M&S, Envy, Next, FCUK.. All fantastic brands that are rare in singapore.. But prices aren't really friendly, cept for Marks and Spencer.

But yeah.. thats about it to Plymouth city.. small.. unassuming.. and i'll post pictures about the Church in a separte entry...