Funny Incident

I was at Kh's house yesterday and we spotted this message in the pool. Some people used large pebbles to form the words,"We miss weekend". LOL. =D



P/s: Sorry if you can't see the words clearly. It was 15 storeys high, and I took it with my lousy 1.3 megapix camera phone and had it zoom to the max already. Well, at least to show you guys that it was there. T.T

A beautiful love song

I usually blog out of inspiration, and today, I'm inspired to blog about my choice of song for today. It's the Phantom of the Opera theme song, "All I Ask of You". I've always thought of it as a very beautiful love song. But today, I've learnt to see it in a different light.

Pastor Wendy played this song in church today. Well, it's not the first time she's played secular music in church. It's a little controversial, but I think it doesn't matter, because she did it for a good reason. This song ministered to her and it ministered to me as well. Suddenly, it dawned on me that it wasn't just a love song. It was much more than that.

I always enjoy her sermons because they really touch my heart. She didn't need funny jokes or witty parables to get her point across. She merely spoke from her heart, and I think it was all pretty much unrehearsed.

Her reason for playing this song is that it depicts God's love and purpose for us. In this song, we have the lead characters, Christine and Raoul doing a duet.

Christine represents us, human beings. She sang of a great desire to be loved and cared for, to feel safe and secure, and to be free. There has been so much turmoil and unrest going on in the world right now, and all we really need and want, as human beings, is love. Love overcomes everything. If only people could see the inner beauty in that deformed boy, he wouldn't have to retreat into the dungeons of the theatre and live in shame and bitterness. See, it wasn't that deformed face that made him the Phantom. It was the actions of the people who mocked him. Things wouldn't have turned out this way if humans knew how to love each other as oneself.

Raoul, represents God. Raoul sang of unconditional love and a strong desire to be accepted by Christine. Similarly, God loves us unconditionally. A love so perfect, so deep, that no one else in the world can love us like He does. He wants to be by our side every moment of our lives, and He understands all our needs and wants to be our comforter, our strength and our provider, if only we would allow Him into our hearts. Indeed, there is no greater love in the world.

I've listened to this song many times and I did not feel much about it. Today, I listened to this again with a different perspective, and it really touched my heart. I was getting a little teary at the end of it.

Here's the lyrics for the song. Click on the "play" button to play it. Read the lyrics as you listen to it. To my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, I hope this song ministers to you too. =)

No more talk of darkness
Forget these wide-eyed fears
I'm here, nothing can harm you
My words will warm and calm you

Let me be your freedom
Let daylight dry your tears
I'm here, with you, beside you
To guard you and to guide you

Say you love me every waking moment
Turn my head with talk of summertime
Say you need me with you now and always
Promise me that all you say is true
That's all I ask of you

Let me be your shelter
Let me be your light
You're safe
No one will find you
Your fears are far behind you

All I want is freedom
A world with no more night
And you always beside me
To hold me and to hide me

Then say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime
Let me lead you from your solitude
Say you need me here, beside you
Anywhere you go, let me go too
That's all I ask of you

Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime
Say the word and I will follow you
Share each day with me, each night, each morning
Say you love me

You know I do

Love me, that's all I ask of you

Easy lunch

KH and I made pizza for lunch yesterday. It was a really simple lunch. Hmm, we made 2 flavours of pizza. Hawaiian and Chicken with Mushrooms. We did some shopping at cold storage and here's what we got for the pizza (or rather, for 4 pizzas):

1 packet of pizza base (4 pieces, personal size)
1 small can of Del Monte tomato paste
1 small pineapple (whole)
200g pizza toppings (mixed ham)
1 small can of mushrooms
1 piece of honey glazed chicken steak
2 small packets of mozarella cheese

Total bill was about $21 and we still have some cheese, pineapple and tomato paste left. Still cheaper than Pizza Hut's pizza that's for sure. Of course don't expect it to taste as good. But I think it's good enough for homemade pizza already. Well, don't forget the generous amount of toppings. =P~ Yum yum.

Baked for 9 mins at 230 degrees.

Before


After (chicken with mushroom)


After (Hawaiian)

We had it for both lunch and dinner. 1 pizza is already very filling! XD

"wahahaha... OCTOPUS!"

I had my 5th driving lesson today. It's also the first time I got unto the main road. It's definitely more fun than going around the carpark. Driving on the main road is so different from driving in the carpark IMO.

On the carpark, the important thing is to know how to turn around sharp angles and the only thing to guide you on a straight path is probably a tree, a lampost or another car. On the main road, however, you got to constantly keep a lookout for other cars and pedestrians. You don't have much time to think about your driving steps, i.e; clutch in, power off, change gear. It should all come naturally to you, and stored inside your subconscious mind.

I went a few rounds around the Kallang and Indoor stadium today. Initally I drove like a snake. Lolz. I wasn't used to looking at the dotted lines to guide my path, and I wasn't sure if I should be staying so close to the line. From my view, it seemed like I was driving in the middle of the road, but my instructor said that is what it should look like.

My driving instructor, Uncle Alan, is such a funny person. I remember during the first lesson, we saw a mini van on the road farting black smoke. And he went,"wahahahaha!!! OCTOPUS!!!" I was like -_-". He also likes to scold bad drivers. haha. Almost every lesson we'll meet some bad drivers on the road. I realised that it's not that bad drivers only appear during our driving lessons, it's just that I didn't notice them. Uncle Alan is very particular about road safety and proper driving.

"That fella didn't check blind spot. *HONK*". And the taxi driver turned around and waved his hand in apology. Erm, I think there's a reason why he's a driving instructor after all.

Anyway, I improved quite a bit towards the end of the lesson. I went up to 3rd gear and 40km/h, and I drive more smoothly now. There was also very little jerking. He said I could start driving from my home for the next lesson! Actually he seems more excited than I am. Oh well.

Dummy's guide to a yummilicious BBQ

fSometime back, KH's parents decided to hold a BBQ party (for no particular reason). I've got to say it's one of the best BBQ I've ever attended in the whole 20 years of my life. Everything was so delicious and well cooked. The ambience was perfect. It was sort of a poolside BBQ at his house. If there is anything lacking, it's probably some good old country music. =)

I haven't had such good BBQ in a long time. Back in the secondary school and JC days, we had lotsa BBQ. But it was horrible. The food was always burnt or uncooked, and everything was oily and dirty. Sad to say, there are really very few people who can whip up a yummy BBQ feast. Therefore, I'm going to come up with some pointers to guide us to a successful BBQ. =)

1. Have chilled drinks.

It's hot and humid. We're oily, sticky and dirty. At least have some refreshing drinks available. How about some chilled beer and soft drinks, or perhaps, the very least, some decent ice lemon water? We don't want lukewarm soft drinks bought last minute from the mama store please.

2. Get organised.

Too often, I see people bringing only 1 pair of tongs, only to realise that they need two. One for the food, and one for the charcoal. So how? Use it for both purposes lor.

Nope. Plan ahead. Get what you need. Also, prepare your food beforehand. DO NOT marinate the food at the BBQ pit. Isn't it messy enough already?

What I love having BBQ with KH's family is that they are sooo organised! His grandma buys the freshest seafood and meat from the wet market. After that, it's a joint effort to clean it, cut it, marinate it, and place it in tupperwares to be kept in the fridge until you are ready to start your BBQ. No mess, no fuss! Yay!

3. Maintain an appropiate amount of fire.

Hello? This is a BBQ. Not a burn fest. Why do I always see a huge fire at the BBQ pit? One common misconception of BBQ is that you need a lot of fire to cook your food. Then, can I ask, why is it after so much fire, and chao tar food, I still get so much uncooked food? Hey, since there's such a big fire already, why not I bring my kuali here? I think it cooks better. -_-"

A good fire should be large enough to keep your charcoal red-hot, and small enough to prevent the food from getting burnt. Basically, you shouldn't see any hint of flames. The fire is there to burn your charcoal. Not to burn your food. In fact, in a BBQ, what you should be using, is really the heat from the charcoal to cook your food.

Some food cooks faster than others. And some, just gets chao tar too easily. I suggest you avoid using honey as a marinate for chicken wings. Especially if you are gonna use a huge fire. One minute is pink and the next minute is black. No one's gonna eat the skin I'm sure. Then what's the use of a marinate now?

Here's the list of food we had at that BBQ:

- sambal stingray
- sambal sotong
- jacket fish
- prawns
- chicken mid-wings (it's difficult to fully cook the whole chicken wing, so mid-wings would be a better choice)
- chicken and pork satay
- bak kwa (sponsored by me. hehe =P)
- sweet potato
- salad (sponsored by KH's aunt)
- chilled drinks

The salad is the best I've ever eaten. It looks soggy and unappetizing like any other salads. But it tastes really really good! I don't even like to eat salads but I eat this! =)

Here's the recipe for it:

Sauces:
salad cream, thousand island, mayonnaise

Ingredients:
Chopped lettuce
Fusilli Pasta
Egg Mayonnaise
Fresh cooked prawns
Mango
Cherry tomatoes
Cheese sausage
Potato

You can change the ingredients to suit your liking. =)

KH, being his usual greedy self, went to stuff a few cherry tomatoes in his mouth, only to spit it out and realise that those aren't grapes. -_-"

That's about all. Have fun BBQing! =)