November 25, 2001: Name the States, 7 Up

Hi,

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving and took the opportunity to thank God
for your blessings. Even though I had to work on Thanksgiving, I had a
great weekend. I went to the youth retreat that my church organized for
high school students. I really enjoyed co-leading a small group and
hanging out with the teens all weekend. It definitely made me feel much
younger (like about 21). One of the kids came up to me and asked me if I
was around 27!

One of the fun activities was a scavenger hunt. We divided the teens into
6 teams and went around Singapore taking group pictures with various items.
We did a lot of walking, taking buses, taking pictures, and getting to know
each other. The kids in my group were awesome. They are mostly from the
U.S. Here are some of the pictures from our scavenger hunt:

Scavenger Hunt
http://community.webshots.com/album/25899207HmIAUCidSa

We also had fun activities at a beach on Sentosa Island, which is
Singapore's major resort / amusement island. Here are some pictures from
the beach, as well as from our farewell picture taking time.

Beach & Day 3
http://community.webshots.com/album/25900882VWAcpZmUFJ

Overall, it was a very good but tiring weekend. As usual, I never get
enough rest at these retreats.

This week's thought provoking question is, "If you could pick 4 famous
people from history and ask them one question, whom would you pick and what
would you ask?" (from Brian Wanerman)

This week's humor and inspirational pieces were forwarded from Anna Man and
Rosalie Wu, respectively.

Enjoy!

-Josh.
_________________________________

Name the States

The old pastor made it to a practice to visit the parish school one day a
week. He walked into the 4th grade class, where the children were studying
the states, and asked them how many states they could name. They came up
with about 40 names. He jokingly told them that in his day students knew
the names of all the states.

One lad snickered, "Yes, but in those days there were only 13"...
_________________________________

7 Up with God!

1. Wake Up !!

Decide to have a good day.
"Today is the day the Lord hath made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it."
Psalms 118:24

2. Dress Up !!

The best way to dress up is to put on a smile.
A smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks.
"The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.
Man looks at outward appearance;
but the Lord looks at the heart."
I Samuel 16:7

3. Shut Up!!

Say nice things and learn to listen.
God gave us two ears and one mouth, so He must have
meant for us to do twice as much listening as talking.
"He who guards his lips guards his soul."
Proverbs 13:3

4. Stand Up!!...

For what you believe in.
Stand for something or you will fall for anything.
"Let us not be weary in doing good; for at the proper
time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Galatians 6:9-10

5. Look Up !!...

To the Lord.
"I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me".
Philippians 4:13

6. Reach Up !!...

For something higher.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and lean not unto your own understanding.
In all your ways, acknowledge Him,
and He will direct your path."
Proverbs 3:5-6

7. Lift Up !!...

Your Prayers.
"Do not worry about anything; instead PRAY ABOUT
EVERYTHING."
Philippians 4:6

A POSITIVE THOUGHT
If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it.
If He had a wallet, your photo would be in it.
He sends you flowers every spring, and a sunrise every morning.
Whenever you want to talk, He'll listen.
He could live anywhere in the universe, and He chose your heart.
What about the Christmas gift He sent you in Bethlehem; not to mention that
Friday at Calvary.
Face it, He's crazy about you!

November 18, 2001: Stop Sign, On Thanksgiving

Hi,

This past Wednesday was a national holiday here in Singapore, called
"Deepavali", an Indian holiday. Some friends and I took advantage of the
day off to go rollerblading on the East Coast Park, which is by the ocean
and has some good bike/blading trails. Even though we had to get up fairly
early to go blading in order to beat the hot sun, it was well worth it.
Here are some pictures from rollerblading:

Rollerblading 11/14/01
http://community.webshots.com/album/25242722sGgWwMplSr

Wednesday nights is also when the young adult bible study for my church
meets. This week, instead of our normal meeting place, we met at a new
apartment for one of the group members, Melissa. In addition to having a
lot of good food, the group surprised me with an very early going away
cake. (Thanks to Melissa, Susylia and Rich who planned it!) Here are some
pictures from that festive occasion:

IBC YA Party
http://community.webshots.com/album/25353716UebxBEWYbc

>From Sunday afternoon to Wednesday, I'll be in Manila for business. The
following week, I'll be going back to Jakarta for business. I think these
two trips will be my final business trips before I head back to the U.S.

Last week, I wrote that I was thinking of visiting Angkor Wat in Cambodia.
Unfortunately, the tour packages that we are interested in are all booked
up. So, I'm not sure where else I will be traveling to before I head back
to the U.S.

This week's thought provoking question is, "If you could read the mind of
someone famous, who would it be?"

This week's humor was forwarded from Anna Man. The inspirational quote by
Abraham Lincoln was forwarded from Pablo Manguy (from last year's email).

Enjoy the email, and have a great Thanksgiving! Take the time to thank God
for the blessings in your life. I hope you will have a safe trip if you're
traveling.

Enjoy!

-Josh.
_________________________________

Stop Sign

One day a policeman stopped a motorist who had just gone through a four way
stop sign and was about to give him a ticket when the motorist said.

"Officer you can't give me a ticket for that!"

"Why not" said the officer.

"Because although I did not stop I slowed right down and its almost the
same."

"But you did not stop" replied the officer, and the sign says STOP."

"But the way was clear and it was safe" replied the motorist.

The officer then pulls out his baton and starts hitting the motorist's car.

"What are you doing!" yells the motorist in surprise.

"Do you want me to slow down or stop?" says the officer.
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On Thanksgiving

"We have been recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven, we have been
preserved these many years in peace and prosperity, we have grown in
numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have
forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in
peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly
imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were
produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with
unbroken success, we have become too sufficient to feel the necessity of
redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God who made us.
It has seemed to me fit and proper that God should be solemnly, reverently,
and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole
American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of
the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are
sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of
November as a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who
dwelleth in the heavens."

- Abraham Lincoln, 1863

November 11, 2001: Parrot, Thoughts on Relationships

Hi,

How was your weekend? As I mentioned last week, I went biking on Pulau
Ubin, an island to the north of Singapore, just south of Malaysia. My
friend Wei Hsien Chan, Mark Tan and I took a ferry from Changi Ferry
terminal. The 10 minute ride cost S$2. Bike rental was only S$4. The
island has mostly paved roads that people bike on, and some unpaved trails.
It was quite nice, with a good shade and breeze.

We biked to Noordin beach and saw the coast line of Johor, Malaysia. Wei
knew some secret trails that led us to one of the abandoned stone quarries,
which is now filled up with water. It actually reminded me of Lake Taal,
which is a lake in the middle of a volcano near Manila.

After biking around the island, we had dinner at one of the restaurants
near the docks. We had a huge fresh fish, frog legs with scallions, tofu
with vegetables, seafood soup, rice, and soft drinks. The total price per
person was only S$16.50! (Less then $10 U.S.) What a deal!

Here are some pictures of the ferry ride, the island, trails, and stone
quarry:

Pulau Ubin, Singapore
http://community.webshots.com/album/24885972FmDqMzvjvR

Here are some pictures of Wei, Mark and I:

Biking on Pulau Ubin - Friends

http://community.webshots.com/album/24885877FHbvvQtpNP

This weekend, I hung out with friends here in Singapore. I watched a play
called "Barefoot in the Park", by Neil Simon. It was very funny! It's
sort of like the TV show, "Dharma and Gregg". If you like the TV show,
you'll like this romantic comedy. I also watched "Legally Blonde", which
was absolutely hilarious.

I'll be back in Boston the week before Christmas (for some work related
meetings) and spend Christmas to New Years in New York City. I look
forward to catching up with you guys out in the East Coast! I'm just
worried that I won't be used to the bitter cold.

Before I head back to the U.S. for good, some friends and I are thinking of
visiting Angkor Wat in Cambodia for a weekend. This trip should be awesome.

This week's thought provoking question is, "If you could have given one
speech in history, which one would you pick?"

This week's humor and inspirational pieces was forwarded by Elaine Low and
Jennifer Deniega, respectively.

Enjoy!

-Josh.
_________________________________

Parrot

Ben received a parrot for his birthday. It was full grown and although very
beautiful, had a nasty attitude and an even worse vocabulary. Every other
word it uttered was an expletive. Ben tried diligently to change the bird's
attitude. He always used polite words, played soft music, did anything he
could think of, but nothing seemed to work.

He yelled at the bird, but the bird got worse. He shook the bird, but that
only made him worse too. Finally, in a moment of desperation, he put the
parrot in the freezer. For a few moments he was able to hear the bird
squawking, swearing, kicking and screaming. Then, suddenly, there was
absolute quiet. Afraid that he had actually caused harm to the parrot, Ben
quickly opened the freezer door.

The parrot calmly stepped out onto Ben's extended arm and said, "I deeply
apologize if I offended you with my language and my actions and beg your
forgiveness. I promise that I shall endeavor to correct my behavior."

Astounded by the changes in the bird's attitude, Ben was just about to ask
him what had changed him when the parrot continued... "If I may ask, what
did the chicken do?"
_________________________________

Thoughts on relationships

1. I care for you not because of who you are, but because of who I am when
I am with you.

2. No man is worth your tears, and the one who is, won't make you cry.

3. Just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to, doesn't
mean they don't love you with
all they have.

4. A true friend is someone who reaches for your hand and touches your
heart.

5. The worst way to miss someone is to be sitting right beside them knowing
you can't have them.

6. Never frown, even when your are sad, because you never know who is
falling in love with your smile.

7. To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the
world.

8. Don't waste your time on a man/woman, who isn't willing to waste their
time on you.

9. Maybe God wants us to meet a few wrong people before meeting the right
one, so that when we finally
meet the person, we will know how to be grateful.

10. Don't cry because it is over, smile because it happened.

11. There's always going to be people that hurt you so what you have to do
is keep on trusting and just be more careful about who you trust next time
around

12. Make yourself a better person and know who you are before you try and
know someone else and expect them to know you.

13. Don't try so hard, the best things come when you least expect them to.

REMEMBER: WHATEVER HAPPENS, HAPPENS FOR A REASON.

November 4, 2001: English Teacher, If I Knew

Hi,

This week's email will be a continuation of last week's email about Penang,
and a description of the photo albums. Last Friday night, after we arrived
in Penang, we ate at a hawker food court (more on Penang food later), and
then walked along Gurney Drive, which is the coastline. We then went to
the Gurney Hotel, where we played pool, sang karaoke, and then went
clubbing. Here are some of the pictures:

Penang KTV
http://community.webshots.com/album/24205168NorpidQbgt

On Saturday morning, we tried to go to Penang Hill, but by the time we got
there at 10:30 am, the line to get the tram was already a 3 hour wait. So
we preceded to the large Kek Lok Si Temple, also in the hills nearby. Here
are the pictures of the city from the temple, and pictures of the temple:

Penang Kek Lok Si Temple
http://community.webshots.com/album/24205676nBcZXqoxvs

Here are the pictures of my friends and I at the temple:

Penang Temple - Friends
http://community.webshots.com/album/24171416XwzAdRWYle

After that, we went and ate at another food court area. Here, I took
pictures of two dishes, Char Koay Teow and Ice Kacang. Basically, food in
Penang is delicious and inexpensive. For a dish of food, it costs 2 to 3
Ringgit (which is less than 1 US$). However, the portion is also smaller.
So for meals, we order anywhere from 2 to 4 different dishes. Penang is
known for its Char Koay Teow, which is fried broad noodles with beef. It
tastes good, but high in fat. Satay and the duck rice was also pretty
good. Basically, the food prices are about half of Singapore's prices.
Ice Kacang is a dessert with shaved ice and all kinds of sweet stuff in it.


Penang Streets
http://community.webshots.com/album/24205954krqYjgTxXE

After lunch, we went to the downtown Georgetown area and walked along
Penang Street, where there are many older two-story shop houses. We
stopped by several to do some shopping, include looking at pewter items
(which Malaysia is known for), and nutmeg (which Penang is known for). The
photo album above also contains a few pictures of the nice view from Wei
Hsien's high rise apartment (as you recall from last week's email, Wei
Hsien is our host and he's originally from Penang).

It started to pour, and we nearly got soaked. A few of us went with Wei
Hsien to a chess tournament. It just so happens that Wei Hsien and Mark
are very good chess players. I really enjoyed playing chess (especially
when I was in high school), so it was good to play some chess and do
something different while on vacation.

Penang Chess
http://community.webshots.com/album/24171996klUSFKPXbk

On Sunday, we woke up early to go to Penang Hill, had lunch, and then went
to the beach (which I described in detail last week). Over all, it was a
very fun weekend.

This weekend, I went with Wei Hsien (the master organizer) and Mark to go
biking on Pulau Ubin island, off the coast of Singapore. It was quite
good. I'll describe the trip in more detail and post the pictures next
week.

A few weeks ago, I highly recommended this French movie called "Amelie from
Montmartre" (English title). I came across this good review of it in the
New York Times. When it is released in the U.S., you should go and see it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/02/movies/02AMEL.html

This week's thought provoking question is, "If you could be a guest on any
television talk show, which would it be?"

This week's humor and inspirational pieces was forwarded by Anna Man and
Audra Khoo.

Enjoy!

-Josh.
_________________________________

English Teacher

An English teacher at Iowa State University spent a lot of time marking
grammatical errors in her students' written work. She wasn't sure how much
impact she was having until one overly busy day when she sat at her desk
rubbing her temples.

A student asked, "What's the matter, Ms. Dalton?"

"Tense," she replied, describing her emotional state.

After a slight pause the student tried again, "What was the matter? What
has been the matter? What might have been the matter...?"
_________________________________

In memory of all those who perished; the passengers and the pilots on the
United Air and AA flights, the workers in the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon, and all the innocent bystanders. Our prayers go out to the
friends and families of the deceased.

If I Knew

If I knew it would be the last time
That I'd see you fall asleep,
I would tuck you in more tightly
and pray the Lord, your soul to keep.

If I knew it would be the last time
that I see you walk out the door,
I would give you a hug and kiss
and call you back for one more.

If I knew it would be the last time
I'd hear your voice lifted up in praise,
I would video tape each action and word,
so I could play them back day after day.

If I knew it would be the last time,
I could spare an extra minute
to stop and say "I love you,"
instead of assuming you would KNOW I do.

If I knew it would be the last time
I would be there to share your day,
well I'm sure you'll have so many more,
so I can let just this one slip away.

For surely there's always tomorrow
to make up for an oversight,
and we always get a second chance
to make everything just right.

There will always be another day
to say "I love you," and certainly there's
another chance to say our "Anything I can do?"
But just in case I might be wrong,
and today is all I get,
I'd like to say how much I love you
and I hope we never forget.

Tomorrow is not promised to anyone,
young or old alike,
And today may be the last chance
you get to hold your loved one tight.

So if you're waiting for tomorrow,
why not do it today?
For if tomorrow never comes,
you'll surely regret the day,

That you didn't take that extra time
for a smile, a hug, or a kiss
and you were too busy to grant someone,
what turned out to be their one last wish.
So hold your loved ones close today,
and whisper in their ear,
Tell them how much you love them
and that you'll always hold them dear

Take time to say "I'm sorry,"
"Please forgive me," "Thank you," or "It's okay."
And if tomorrow never comes,
you'll have no regrets about today.