Cruising Through the 6 states in the US

Yup, you probably guessed it - we travelled to the United States for our honeymoon! Specifically, it was the West America region... & we cruised through 6 states (California, Fresno, Las Vegas, Palm Springs, Anaheim & Los Angeles) in 8 days (although it was an 11 days tour, but it included flight hours). It was a pretty decent trip in terms of its itinerary... but the events that took place where even more memorable!

We departed 1 day after our wedding (24 Nov), taking SQ16 to California (stopping for a 1 hour transit at Icheon airport in Korea). On the flight back, we took SQ11 from Los Angeles (stopping for another short 1 hour transit at Narita airport in Japan). The flight hours itself was long, about 17 - 19 hours for each flight trip to & from the US. But we entertained ourselves pretty well, with the inflight movies, handset games, music, meals (including instant mee) & of course, occasional trips to the small & squeezy toilet. *Laugh*... =)

Our overall experience of touring in US can be described in one consistent word - inconvenient. It took several hours to travel to each state (but that's understandable), its absolutely rare to come across a convenience store (to even buy basic toothpaste), its troublesome to keep finding spare cash to give tips (in varying %) & it can be many miles away from any nearby hospital, etc. It was quite scary to be stranded in the desert when our tour bus broke down for 7 hours! It was worrying to have to be driven in an emergency ambulance to a hospital (we have never been to a hospital overseas). It was annoying not to be able to find even a small convenience stall to buy painkillers, toothpaste, bottled water, etc.

As for scenery, it was nice... & it felt good to stand on top of the Grand Canyon! Universal Studios was fantastic too! Disneyland was ok, not too bad... very different from the time I went there at a very young age (I think I was 3 years old). Food is expensive in the US & each time I convert to Sing dollar, it amazes me how costly things can be! Clam chowder is fantastic though!

Initially I thought that my Blog entry has to be very, very, very long & detailed. But since my loving & doting wife has so nicely & creatively arranged our selected photos into a nice album... this Blog entry will be short! Thanks, Dearie! =)

1st Month of Married Life

Its been more than 1 year of discussing & planning... & finally carrying out the program for my wedding on 22 Nov 08. It all started back in Aug 07, when Rebecca & I first got our keys to our own new 4-room HDB flat at Buangkok. Its not a perfect flat, as we grew to discover, but we thank God for His provision & blessings on us. Some of our peers have gone through much difficulty to get a flat, & some still have not been able to get a flat, even until now...

I don't even know where to start, as so much preparations came into place... literally sapping out all my remaining strength at the end of every day. It was such a tiring time that I wouldn't ever want to go through it all again! To all those who are planning to get married... ease up, its just part of what every married couple goes through... get used to it... grit your teeth & it will soon pass. Just don't forget to take a little, little time to smell the roses along the way. =)

Today is our first month of our married life together & so far, we had our ups & downs... but what's new... such things aren't new... we see it happening in our parents' lives, friends' lives, cartoons, movies, fiction stories, magazines, etc. Life isn't a bed of roses, whether we are relating with living things (trust me, even plants are not easy to take care) or working with machines. Such is life, but life is not all about bad stuff either... it has its good times... just cling onto these memories, pray & stay in God's plan for your life... even though that wouldn't promise you a cushy life either. Life is hard... its meant to be... if it wasn't, we wouldn't learn & grow... we'll just wither & die... early... & God ain't gonna let that happen.

So far, in my past 28 years of experience in life, especially as I grow older & wiser (I hope), I have learnt that the best way to live life is to learn how to see good, even in the midst of bad... learn to be thankful & smile for even the smallest blessings... & follow your heart, don't ever look back to regret. Life is too short to groan your days away. As I always say - we only live once! Heck, get on with it! Amen! =)

From Land to Children...

Over this past year or so, I have had a large variety of experiences. God opened up a job opportunity for me to work at Singapore Land Authority (SLA) & it has been a great joy to have got to know many nice colleagues (some of them have become my friends). It was a stressful job, especially with my manager being difficult to work with. As they say, when people leave their jobs, more often than not, it is because of people issues. But difficult times bring people together, which is why I still find it a blessing to have bonded with my dept colleagues - Melatie, Ru Ying & Galen. Not to mention a few others from other depts... & some attended my recent wedding.

My job scope at SLA was tedious... basically, I work with numbers (i.e. statistics) day in & day out. Numbers & numbers every day can just drive me crazy! But I got used to the job scope after 2 - 3 months, but the way the work was going on, plus the difficult boss... drove us up the wall... literally almost every other day. It just depends whose turn it is each day...

I have never worked such long hours at the office, until I took this job. Its usually dark when I go home... quite a depressing sight initially, until I got used to it. On good days, I could leave by 7pm. However, on average, it was usually between 7 - 8pm daily... which isn't too bad, though I am just too exhausted to do anything after reaching home after 9pm. I remember that I would almost 95% of the time, totally KO on my bus or MRT journey home. It was unbelievable. And on bad days, I would be working till 8.30pm, or 8.45pm... sometimes till 9.30pm... at times till close to 10pm... & even once till past midnight.

It was depressing... clocking 60 hour work week is no joke... & I found the work so meaningless! Even so, the camaraderie among my dept colleagues was strong... but the time came, when I had to make a choice - to either follow my heart & move to another more suitable job, or to hang on & wait till something else happens... it was a very, very tough decision, as I contemplated, sulked, complained, prayed & seeked advice, for more than 1 month... before I decided to drop it all & move ahead with this new opportunity that God had opened for me.

After 5 attempts to apply for this job, God finally gave me a chance to become a teacher - a primary school teacher. Honestly, after 3 months in this job, I still find it difficult to believe that I am actually in this job. It is rewarding in a sense, something which I can never experience while working in the corporate world. But with this job, comes much pains & emotions, which can be quite agonising at times... agonising, not because of the hard work, but because I care & really want to help these kids, but so many are rebellious, bad attitude & disinterested in studies nowadays. I find it so difficult to help those who do not want to be helped. And I am not even mentioning about those 'special' kids whom have learning & communication difficulties.

Its quite sad, sometimes when I think about it, but I have not given up yet. I guess it is about surrendering to God & let Him work out what He intends to develop in me. For all things work together for the good of those who love Him, & who have been called according to His purpose. This verse is somewhere in the book of Philippians... Amen.

I have been away... long...

Wow... its been 13 months since I last blogged! Exactly 13 months! My last blog entry was 11 Nov 07... today is 12 Dec 08... exactly 13 months! I have been so caught up with so many things that I haven't had time to blog... so much has happened over the past 13 months... I don't even know where to start... but its great to be back here blogging... it really helps to áir' my thoughts & 'defrag' my mind...