My Bitter-Sweet Graduation from TP

Time really whizzes by like an ongoing waltz till our legs wear out from this journey.

It's been 3 years in TP. And this is the most emotional moment.

Although I stoically surpressed the tears and joy, I really do feel really sad that once again we have to move on, leave behind friends made and keeping the closer ones.

[BEFORE] Joan, Me & Chor Seng

I just wish that we can all come back together in heaven. Me waiting for that day isn't enough, I really want my friends knowing this truth too. :) I'm workin' toward that. Satan is workin' hard too. So jia you JONAVAN! :) HAHA.

[AFTER] Joan, Me & Chor Seng

Anyway, I graduated with a CGPA of 3.38 thanks to my slacking.

My glorious headstart in my first semester was a GPA of 3.93. Haha.

So a word to my juniors reading this - Don't SLACK! HAHA.

Jill & Me :)
Atomic Club's vice-president Jill Chen Wen Ling :)

Knew her through atomic club. I'll remember her for her craziness and daring-ness to do things.

Super fun person who relishes every moment life can bring and shares her down moments with whoever that cares.

She's also a really sweet, sentimental and thoughtful girl who knows how to appreciate her friends and she's super good at art. Check out her cards man.

I remember Jill whooping up a birthday card for sam. She drew something like a straight rainbow with multiple colours on his card and then coloured black over it. I was wondering what was she doing...But then after covering what she drew with the black crayon, she scraped off the black crayon coating to form a "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" with the rainbow colours contrasting the words. I was like "WOW". Haha.

So yup, that's Miss Chen for me :)


SIP Group! Me, Joan & Chor Seng :)

Joan (Tan Jia Yin) is our very own head of publicity. She's also pretty good at art and a rather sentimental person who knows how to appreciate her friends.
Once she was folding a bunch of different coloured paper aeroplanes at my place for her boyfriend because he loves airplanes. Aww..Haha

But I'll remember Joan for her special mix of blurness + cuteness. Haha.

She's also a really good friend. One you can talk to easily and one who makes you feel at ease with. I must say Chee Yong caught a good fish. HAHAHA!

Our seniors (Sadequl, Akthar and Farhad) who helped us ALOT during our SIP period :)

Without them, we'd still be in TP I guess...in our 4th year. HAHA!

We owe them one :)

Me, Sam & Royston :)

Sam Jing Qing is our assistant welfare head in Atomic :)

I'll remember him for his niceness :) A really good-natured guy who is really helpful and patient.

He's also rather sentimental and a sensitive person, taking note of the small things that you do for him and the things that you say to him.

And he's my official game partner. Haha. Throughout our SIP, we've played a thousand games together and even now in our super-free work environment. We're re-living our SIP days on the computer smacking the keys away to get a higher score. HAHA!

He's a really good friend I must say. Yup, that's gilamonster (his on-game nick) for me :D haha.

Some of us from MIE

Mr. Chee Guang Yao (the one beside Jill) is our assistant treasurer who was promoted to become our head treasurer.



The trait evident in Guang Yao is his super-helpfulness and generosity. I really appreciate and admire that. Jill aptly nicknamed him "Mr. Nice Guy". I fully agree. :)

Well his other 2 nicknames aren't that nice though. They're "No-link" and "black belt" HAHA! I shan't elaborate on these two nicknames lest I get a taste of his blackbelt! HAHAHA!!

Royston, Me, Chor Seng & Sam :) My BEST FRIENDS. Happy? HAHA! LOLS!

Boey Kwai Khit Royston is our club's very own secretary.


Also a super nice and good-natured person. He's also rather patient and clear when it comes to explaining concepts and theories especially when we don't get it. Haha!

He's also a very responsible person. Seldom late for meetings and on time for deadlines.

Most of all, his helpfulness has really helped me. :) That's Mr. Bolanghill for me :D HAHA!!

Chor Seng & I :)

Ho Chor Seng our very own head of logistics a.k.a. sai kang warrior. HAHAHA!






Chor Seng has a remarkable ability of being able to start and hold conversations with people. He just makes you feel at ease talking to him.
With a more evident sense of humour than most people, he also lightens up the atmosphere well with his jokes :D

He's also a very smart and sharp person.

He's my official go-home buddy. Haha! He has walked home with me (because his bus stops at my house bus stop, HAHA!) after school through the reservoir or through the block of flats countless number of times. I think we've lost at least 1kg from all this walking. HAHA!!

He's also my official chinese chess opponent. No one else can win me but him, OCCASSIONALLY. HAHAHA!! :)

He also seeks to understand you as a person. He's not those kind who just presents superficial questions just to start a redundant conversation to pass time, but he is genuinely interested in you as a person. :)

So yup, that's fatty ho [Can't help it. HAHAHA!] for me :D

Chor Seng, Ee Kian, Jill, Joan, Me, Guang Yao and Eunice :)














Andy, Joan, Sharon, Chor Seng, Ee Kian, Me & Eunice :D














2 buddy SIP groups - Sam, Joan, Chor Seng, Me & Royston :)
[excluding the girl on the extreme left. I duno her. HAHA!]







Atomic Club! Ex-main com and new main com! :D

All those people mentioned above are the little angels God has placed in my TP life to make my polytechnic education a memorable one.

Without them, TP would be so much more boring and less fun.

So wanna say a big THANK YOU! for being there and for being a friend to me :D

And for the many times I have pissed you off or put you down, I'm sorry! :)

I do care, and that's why I bother to say the things I say but sometimes, they're just not phrased properly or conveyed nicely. And do forgive me for the times I've judged first, not accept. Still workin' on it :D haha.

Above all, I pray that I'll see all of you guys again someday. If not here, then up there :) Do give my 'preaching' a little consideration along your journey in this life :D

Will keep you all in prayers and ALL THE BEST [I don't believe in luck...HAHA. You know that :D] for your future endeavours! :)

Take care! And keep in contact! :D

Feel free to ring me whenever you need to hear a joke, tell a story, get advice, rant, etc... :)

Bon Voyage!

Microelectronics Graduation Chalet

It was a pretty fun chalet. I stayed for only 1 night with Royston, Chor Seng, Andy & Guang Yao.

4 things about this chalet that comes to mind when I think of it:

1) Mark makes a real good satay man or BBQ master. haha!

2) I won Chor Seng in chess 1 round! :) [he won me back later]

3) I got a bad diahorrea after the event

4) Sleep time was a time of symphonic trumpet playing [our noses. HAHA]

Work Time

Today's really boring. We only had 2 hours of lessons and I'm contained in a room with a computer that has internet access (YES!) but no flash player, java app, etc...with no administrative privileges to install them.

Thus, I can't watch videos on youtube, can't play online flash games etc...

BUT, there's this webby that's got super fun games that doesn't need all of those! It's http://www.orisinal.com/

Check out my winterbells high score!

High score of 1299230 ok? Dun pray pray..HAHA. It's average actually. Haha.

Ok. Now I shall do something more productive - Reading.

"The Jesus I Never Knew" by Philip Yancey

Bye :)

Work

Gregarious lecturers...
Understanding supervisors...
Amiable students...
Nearby location...

All these spell a great environment for a temp. job.

I'm working as a lab assistant, assisting lecturers with their lab sessions by helping the students who have problems patching circuits (which encompasses everyone) in my very own polytechnic which I just graduated from - Temasek Polytechnic, which is a 15min walk away from my home :)

I've got a 8.30am-6.00pm work shift but only 4 hours of class time each day from monday - friday.

I get S$85 each day but the best part is, I get to work with all my school friends and lecturers :)

I really want to thank God for this job. Cos I really didn't pray much for a job. But this one really just opened to me and it beats all other part-time jobs I did considering all the factors mentioned.

So yup, guess I'll be treating a few of my buddies soon [as requested.......HAHA] :)

Ok. Turning in early to reach school by 8.30am tomorrow good night :)

Grade 5 Music Theory Exam

If you all didn't know, I study music theory from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) since secondary 3? Yeah around there, when I was 15. I got a distinction for my grade 3. :) [My music teacher said a distinction is rather nominal amongst her students]
I then proceeded on to study grade 5 music theory...
And my grade 5 music theory results came in yesterday...

Guess what?

I also scored a DISTINCTION!! Yeash! All my memorisation of French and Italian terms and studying of 'tao-geis' paid off :D Thank God! :) Haha.

And today I went down to help out the STRETCH ppl with the logistics and setting-up of the classes and sat in the basic guitar course which Yang Cheng was teaching. :) Yang Cheng's a really good teacher I must say. Funny, light-hearted, warm and at the same time not lacking in guitar knowledge.

And my sitting in of that class also allowed me to impart some of my guitar knowledge too :D Although my attention was 90% on Jonathan Wong and the other 10% to the rest.HAHA. Just so happened I was sitting next to him and so happened he had a lot of questions. haha. He's a smart and cool guy. :) All in all, I felt accomplished because i managed to teach someone(s) something meaningful :)

16th May 2009, Saturday

Fish4men was fun 2day :) Learned that Hinduism was the first religion in the world. BUT HEY! What about Christianity? Isn't it the first religion? I was wrong.

Religion is man's way of getting to God.
Christianity is God's way of getting to men.

So yes "Christianity" or the essence and foundation of Christianity was there since the beginning of time but it's not yet called Christianity because Christ was not yet introduced. In primordial times, there was no religion. There was only a common understanding of a God.

Cool stuff eh? :)

Then came service practice. Everyone was in their own world...some came super late, some just simply cared about their instrument ignoring whatever instructions are given, some are just caught up in their own world, etc...

I was really pissed. Because if this is Music Ministry, then I don't wanna be a part of it. Well, at least Meryl felt the same way too :) Haha. Just glad my super good friend still had the heart :) O but that's why she's one of my besties. :D haha.

People are losing the essence of ministry and Christianity and I don't know how i can change that. I just do my best and get pissed when others are not. Hais...Satan is somehow winning this little skirmish eh?
Well in God's perfect time, all things are made beautiful.

PATIENCE JONAVAN! :D

Later i went shopping with Regina & Meryl :) Had an awesome 1 hour or so chat @ some chicken fast food restaurant in Bugis Illuma...haha...Those reading this. DON'T GO THERE. It sucks. HAHAHA!

I then bought a new bermuda! :) All 3 of us thought it was pretty nice so i bought it. At $29.90. haha. I really like it. I hope others' eyes do too :D haha.

Yup, today was overall great thanks to my lil outing wif my 2 besties :) Appreciate y'all! :D

Parents

This is a little video that speaks volumes on parenthood. I could identify with some of them. The way we sometimes can get impatient with our parents, the way we abhor their nagging and the way we expect this and that from them and we fail to show the one thing - love.

Watch it and you'll know what I mean :) I hope this blesses you :D

How Many Kings

If there's any newfound band that I had just fall deeply in love with, it's this Christian band "Downhere". Superb vocals (that can reach a high C), superb music and arrangements and above all, INSPIRING lyrics. I highly recommend this christian band to anyone.

This song really refreshed my faith in Jesus. It's called "How Many Kings". View the lyrics as u hear the song :)



How Many Kings
Follow the star to a place unexpected
Would you believe after all we’ve projected
A child in a manger
Lowly and small, the weakest of all
Unlikeliest hero, wrapped in his mothers shawl
Just a child
Is this who we’ve waited for?

Cause how many kings, stepped down from their thrones?
How many lords have abandoned their homes?
How many greats have become the least for me?
How many gods have poured out their hearts
To romance a world that is torn all apart?
How many fathers gave up their sons for me?

Bringing our gifts for the newborn savior
All that we have whether costly or meek
Because we believe
Gold for his honor and frankincense for his pleasure
And myrrh for the cross he’ll suffer
Do you believe, is this who we’ve waited for?
It’s who we’ve waited for

Cause how many kings, stepped down from their thrones?
How many lords have abandoned their homes?
How many greats have become the least for me?
How many gods have poured out their hearts
To romance a world that is torn all apart?
How many fathers gave up their sons for me?
Only one did that for me

All for me
All for you
All for me
All for you

Mother's Day

Had a great mother's day lunch with my mum and grandmum today at Crystal Jade Restaurant in Toa Payoh. :)


I'll always love you Mummy & Poh poh :) These 2 people have really nutured me and brought me up to who I am today :D

All I can say is, Thank God for mothers :D

Anna's Birthday Chalet (ABC. HAHA!)

My much anticipated social gathering for this month! :) I really enjoyed this chalet. Thanks Anna for your invitation! :)

During day 1 (Sunday) there was...

Guitar heroes...

...Chatting & eating (duh)...

and we played taboo :) Had a lot of fun thanks to the structure and the games planning (good job anna! :) which facilitated the interaction. :D

During day 2 (Monday) there was...

Blokus...

and Supper! :)

But the part I enjoyed most during the chalet was our little 1 hour prayer meeting me, Meryl & Janice had. :) I was just preparing for my worship songs and wanted to pray and I just got them to join me. Which led to a significant time of ministry for all of us as we seeked God. God began dropping things in all of our hearts. And He also dropped His little agenda for this sunday's service on my heart :)

So yeah, had lotsa fun during this chalet. Guitar hero-ing, L4dead-ing, singing, playing guitar, blokus-ing, bridge-ing, and of course praying.

So yup, Happy Birthday Anna! :)

My 9th May - Youth MM Gathering! ++

Planned this year's first Youth MM Gathering with my beloved committee - Anna Han, Cherie Chua, Caleb Lim and Reuben Foo. :)

Was pretty glad that this whole event went well citing the unwelcoming factors such as overnight prayer meeting, pay ur own entry etc...I was expecting quite a bad response becos of these factors which shouldn't be factors in the first place. But yeah, u know humans. Well, our minstry still has some people with the heart :) I had to pray my skepticism away and stop pre-judging how will it turn out. When I did put my heart in it, it paid off. I REALLY enjoyed the event :)

And, not to say, I was DUNKED into the sea TWICE!!! Reason? I'm the event head. Haha. I love the way they appreciate me. HAHA!

And, I FORGOT TO BRING MY CAMERA! But we had our two professional photographers - Vincent and his friend (oops. forgot your name. HAHA!) who brought their whole set of cameras complete with tripod stand and external flash. haha. People would've thought that Mediacorp was filming there man. haha. Thanks cameramen!! :)

Here are the 2 pics taken wif my handphone camera :)

Daryl, Jon Wee & Me after our shower :D

Daryl & I :)

If you think we'd be worn out by the overnight prayer meeting and our Sentosa MM gathering, you're utterly wrong. After that we went to L4D!! HAHA!

After L4D, they all went home, except Daryl and I. Haha. Daryl wanted to go out. :) So I accompanied my dear Daryl out :D I almost died of exhaustion by 7pm. Haha. But I made it back. Hallelujah :D And thanks my dear Daryl for your little dinner treat! :) haha.

So yeah, uber fun day out today! :)

Shopping for Anna's present

On the very day of her birthday (8th May) we went shopping for Anna's present. Haha! We didn't even ask her out. HAHA! O but, we know she's already out :D that's why. :D

I met Abigail and Meryl to shop for Anna's present. And we discovered that we 3 have diverse tastes of bags. HAHA! Ok, not that diverse la. Haha.

After all the shopping we went for some ice-cream @ Swensen's and had a nice chat :) And then we went to catch X-men Origins : Wolverine. :D I must say Meryl's really really funnily cute, we all shared a big drink so we had 3 straws. How did we differentiate the straws' owners?
"Jonavan your straw is the tallest one ok? Cos you're the tallest among us. And Abigail urs is the middle and mine is the shortest. :) "
Cute right? haha. Abigail readily agrees :D

So yeah, we really had a nice 3-way catch up. :) Enjoyed myself :D

4th May, Sunday

It was a combined Mother's Day service, which ended 30mins late -__-" Expected that when Ps Chia took the mike. Haha.

I wanted to go out with someone that day, because service ended at 1pm. But everyone was soccering -_-" I suck at it. Haha.

But thank God for my bestie Daryl who also doesn't play that sport. HAHA!

We had a nice date that day :) It was super long since I had a date with him like that because of his newfound girlfriend - BAND. Monday-Sunday practices. Crazy.

But yeap, we had a nice date at Orchard, went to Taka and had some catching up and clearing up of stuffs :D All in all, I love Daryl :) and I know he loves me too :D HAHA.

I'm not promoting gay-ness but I love all my friends :D haha.

I decided to put up some of my fav. pics with Daryl since this whole post is about him. HAHA. I noe when ppl view blogs, they view the pics more than anything else. HAHA.

My 30th April

I know I'm a bit lag. Blogging 3 days after what is already 3 days into the irretrievable history of time. BUT, it's still worth re-calling! :) Haha.

It was a thursday and I was scheduled for TPM -_-" HAHA! (Personally i don't believe a full band is needed to support a prayer meeting which should be independent of music..and c'mon, if the TPMs were effective and good, it'd draw ppl back to it...and many other factors which i shan't blog about lest i come under fire for causing strife. HAHA. Which isn't btw.) Ok..back to the point. HAHA!

Anna & I decided to recce the spot for our MM gathering. So since we're heading there, we might as well do a promo video! So we did. Just that we had to report to Vivo @ 10am! Haha. And I'd have to fly to Sentosa @ 10am just to fly back home after that..That'd be pretty lame. So Anna was like "why don't you join me and my friends?"

So there I was, out with Anna's orientation group friends from SMU (Walter, Hans, Samantha and Fatimah) and had a lot of fun chatting, walking, eating and bowling. HAHA. Yes, bowling. I lost to her friend Samantha who said her score never exceeds 50 but explodes to a 110+ that day. HAHA.

Our lil' self portrait after our bowling game :)

Here's what i remember anna's friends for...
Fatimah's a really funny, chatty, expressive and genuine person. :) Haha.
Samantha's a more quiet person who opens up after a while. She's quite an apt example of 'still waters runs deep'. haha.
Walter's super friendly, chatty and makes the atmosphere a light-hearted one. :D
Hans is also a friendly person who really listens to you and he's super good at shooting games! HAHA.

Walter, Hans & Me :)

Me, Walter, Samantha, Anna, Fatimah and Hans :D

Then I proceeded to have dinner with Regina and OBEDIENTLY proceeded to TPM to play the guitar. :)

So yup, what made this day memorable was the making of new friends and catching up with Anna & Regina :)