The Grand Finale

Ahh folks, my time in Laos is about to come.. to an end...  Woohoo!  Nevertheless I find it truly weird that one can only learn to appreciate something when the end of it comes. And boy has it been one heck of a journey! But now its time to pack up, go back home and start a new exciting adventure: COLLEGE! =D

I STILL have not packed yet.. XP Because if I pack now, it'll be even more difficult for me choosing what clothes to keep and to wear for the remaining days before heading back to KL! Lol!

However! I did try out that new Japanese restaurant in town! =P

Comments? Well, The set I ordered really tasted spectacular! Japanese curry rocks man! But the price lar.. T-T

Other than that, I also went out shopping for a luggage to use to bring my stuff back and also a smaller bag to use for MAD camp! =D 

Yeahhh.. I'm ready... =P

Look! I also found Disneyland right here in Laos! =D .... =.="...

This is seriously one awesome shot man.. Lol! The effect of it is chunted! Thats Ton btw, with a torchlight behind a wall during the concert. We're backstage and just waiting for our queue. Lol!

The concert was awesome! Credits to Temasek for making it such a memorable one! =D I was the emcee and it worked out pretty well! As usual, the school is proned to getting things not COMPLETELY organized but in the end it was all good.. =)

Temasek did a fantastic job on their show! They started with their catwalk, then their Dikir Barat and their dance! Which was so energetic and full of power! lol! Not like the school's dance here one.. Like what only.. (Shh! XP) After the concert all the Temasek students and some of us senior students went out to a nearby shop to have our very late dinner. Poor students, they're probably starving and all they had to eat was Nasi Goreng and some Lao noodles when they're probably craving for Char Kuey Teow or Pan Mee. Lol! 

Since there was this homestay program that was planned among the teachers (meaning that the students from Temasek are assigned to one of the students from my school who wants to host them/let them stay at our place) some of the guys went over to Jacky's since he's hosting 4 of them! Plus 2 more, Jun and myself! Lol!! (we decided to bunk in with him since I'm not hosting anyone and it sounds like its gonna be fun!)

We got to know each other a little bit more as we spend time together playing PS2

and we stayed up till 3am! lol! Till each one of them start leaving the room to take shower and the next thing you know, they're all asleep.. LOL! But ahh those guys are an awesome bunch of people.. =) Gonna miss them! 

Well guys! See you this thursday! ;)

Its showtime!

The Temasek students of Singapore came to my school just yesterday and it was a real fun experience! They're quite a friendly bunch (leng lui pun ada wor! XP) and I must say, it feels GREAT again to finally speak to someone with "lahs" and "mahs" and the Malaysian/Singapore english accent!.. haha!

We started off with the recognition and graduation ceremony. Really feel sorry for the Singapore bunch as they had to sit all the way through it and they had nothing to do with the ceremony! lol! It was an event to remember! 4 awards!! Now thats something that comes like once in a lifetime man! Lol!! Outstanding Student Award, Best Student in ICT Award, Best Basketball Player Award and Best Sportman of KIS Award. It is simply amazing! And I wouldn't have done it without this God whom I serve. =D Pictures will be posted soon.. I hope.. XP

Today's the big annual concert and just earlier we had a practice session and with the Temasek people doing their catwalk-dikir barat-dance, its just fantastic! Their dance is so much more energetic, joyful and better than our school's! Lol! And I'm not saying this because of the Singaporean leng lui(s)! XP But man! You gotta admit, those girls look WAY better than the girls at my school.. LOL!

As for me, I'm one of the emcees for the event and also I'll be playing "Love Story" with the band a few hours from now! =D 

1 freaking week till KL!!!! WOOOOO! 

Its showtime!

I'll be found in You

Second post in less than 10 minutes! lol!

Love this song by Brooke Fraser! Its called Shadow Feet and if she seems/sounds familiar to you, that's cause she's also the one who sang Hosanna and Lead me to the cross and also the new song Soon for Hillsong United! Haha! Love her music and how she expresses her worship to God through her songs! Not to mention she's really beautiful too! LOL! But no lar, she married already.. XP

Praise gone up to a whole new level!

I came across a message in twitter and it was about people krumping for Jesus! Now that is new! Krumping is a type of new street style dance (the quite aggressive kind) which is mostly use in dance battles in the streets and in the video you'll see why! And wow! These people are dancing, using it as their way of praise to God! Which I find is truly awesome!! Its amazing and I love this statement in the article in the end which went: 

"God wants to hear what you want to say, and he don't care how you say it, and if you say it like this" -- Lewis contorted himself, krump-like -- "he hears you."

Yes, they might like look like they're possessed or something but they're not.. XP This dance is simply wicked (awesome)! 

The taste of independence!

Woo! I've got to skip school and instead go for two weeks of driving lessons! Well reasons for that is because MOST of the students are off taking their exams in Thailand, so since me and some other students don't need it, we're stuck here in Laos and on Monday while I came and stayed the whole day, two came and went back in the middle of the day, the rest just didn't bother coming.. =.=".. 

The school was not too shabby.. Good enough to learn a couple of stuffs! Even got the chance to drive mum's Nissan X-Trail on the road today! haha! It was a nervous yet awesome experience..

See that red car there? Thats the manual car that goes when you release the clutch! O_O".. You don't even have to step on the gas and to top that, the gas pedal is even locked with a block of wood! =.=".. See that rusty roof there? Thats the office.. ^^

One thing I notice about Laos though is that once you're just a little bit away from the city, you'll get a BIG spectacular view of the sky which I find really fascinating! Its so hard to get those scenic views when every corner you look, theres a building that short sights you from an awesome God made view.. =) And you can see a few of them on these pics!

Ahh its finally raining again! Love it! Welp, thats all for now.. 3 more weeks till KL peeps! Excited yet burdened by a couple of things that has been troubling me.. But hey, He is faithful.. ;)

Mother's day

One thing I find rather interesting here is that when there would be big celebrations and flashy advertisements all over the world on Mother's day, and where there would be gifts and flowers on sale for this special event, Laos would be in a totally different dimension.. =.="..

I went to this store looking for something to buy for my mum and I couldn't find anything much that relates to mother's day! The products there were mostly (if not all) made in China and the last thing I would want to buy on Mother's day is a wish card that has english written chinese words on it.. =.=".. Oh oh! And they still sell Christmas cards! XP

But with all that aside, we are just blessed by these women for who they are in our lives.. =) So to all dearly beloved mums...

Happy Mother's Day

A Breakthrough!

VIETNAM: MASSIVE CHRISTIAN CELEBRATION ALLOWED

Officials permit rare, open-air Easter event by unregistered groups.

HO CHI MINH CITY, April 22 (Compass Direct News) – In what religious freedom advocates regarded as a breakthrough in Vietnam, authorities granted rare permission to unregistered house church groups to hold a large, public Easter-related service here last night.

More than 15,000 people gathered at Tao Dan Stadium to worship God, proclaim Christ and experience a rare sense of large-scale Christian unity, especially house church members accustomed to meeting in small groups. The only other such event granted to unregistered groups was an open-air meeting during Christmas of 2007 sponsored by the Vietnam Evangelical Fellowship (VEF, a house church umbrella group).

At the event last night, the VEF endeavored to include all house churches, not just its own members, sources said.

Unregistered groups holding an event that includes worship and evangelism outside a church building violates Vietnam’s restrictive religion laws, and the celebration – in which 1,200 people indicated they had decided to follow Christ – did not happen without struggles. Reluctant to endorse such Christian unity events, authorities demanded and got the removal of one of the organizers – pastor Nguyen Ngoc Hien, who heads a Baptist house church and a group called the Christian Fellowship of Vietnam – as a condition to consider approval.

Officials did not grant permission until 4 p.m., just three hours before the event was to begin, though event organizers had requested permission several months prior. Authorities had assured them that permission was forthcoming, but organizers were understandably nervous. Adding to their concerns was the rain that hit just before the service began, though the rainy season has yet to arrive.

Since the celebration was held in the open air, a heavy rain would have been more than inconvenient. It rained just enough to refresh the air, stopping as the service began – an answer to prayer for participants. The celebration began with congregational worship; participants said the huge crowd sang with enthusiasm and joy.

“I never heard any singing like this, even in a Billy Graham crusade,” said one overseas Vietnamese Christian leader. “It was as if they offered to God all the praise and worship stored up in their hearts during many years of oppression.”

Worship included a dance group, and a 120-voice choir sang with gusto. Pastor Duong Thanh Lam of the Assemblies of God served as master of ceremonies, pastor Vo Van Lac of the Full Gospel Church preached a gospel message and pastor Pham Dinh Nhan of the United Gospel Outreach Church made an evangelistic appeal. People responded with loud applause and raised their hands in praise, and those who decided to follow Christ included old and young, students and teachers, rank-and-file workers and some disabled people. Witnesses said some were healed as leaders prayed for them.

Leaders of the celebration and religious freedom advocates in Vietnam said the event was significant in that unregistered house churches were allowed to hold a large public celebration. They added that authorities must have felt enough pressure to consider the event less harmful than possible negative publicity from denying permission.

The sources also said the event showed that Vietnam’s house churches, widely known for divisiveness and provincialism, could cooperate with good results.

“Those who have long urged and worked for unity can be pleased,” said one advocate. “While there is still a long way to go for Vietnamese Christian groups in practicing collaboration and partnership, this Easter celebration is seen as a significant step forward.”

A prominent overseas Vietnam leader who founded the Vietnam World Christian Fellowship witnessed the event and highly commended the leadership of pastor Ho Tan Khoa, chairman of the VEF, and his committee.

Some former Vietnam missionaries were incredulous that such events can take place in Vietnam, which until recently has had a place among the world’s top persecutors of religion. Prior to the Easter-related event organized by unregistered house churches, Christmas events were similarly held by the legally recognized Evangelical Church of Vietnam (South) last December.

“That a successful Christian celebration with mass evangelism approved by the government can take place in Vietnam where in some places Christians are still heavily persecuted shows the ongoing inconsistency of Vietnam’s religion policy,” said one source. “Vietnam Christian leaders have long prayed for such opportunities. They see these events as direct answers from God, whom they believe holds the hearts of rulers in his hands.”

Three representatives of a house church group in China were present at the service; they expressed amazement. They promised Vietnamese church leaders to send missionaries to help in the evangelization of Vietnam and invited Vietnamese church leaders to visit China to learn about the church there.

Vietnamese participants said the celebration was inspiring, describing it as “spectacular,” “splendid,” “glorious” and “phenomenal.”