Serene's GREEN 21st! :)

Serene's TWENTY-ONE!! She celebrated her 21st birthday on the 6th November, four days shy of her actual birthday date.

The unique thing about her 21st birthday is...The dress code is GREEEEEEEN!!! Hahaha! So the whole party was a sea of green. HAHA!

Why green? Nope, she's not some super enthu environmentalist that wants to save the world...nope she is not some army regular that just loves the colour of the combat uniform...

Don't know ar? 6th November is HARI RAYA LA!! Green for ketupats, green ang-paos and whatever what-nots...HAHAHA!

Ok, it's simply because she loves the colour green...Like, duh? Haha.

Yup, some eyeball-friendly pictures...(green is good for the eye...haha)

Me & Reuben :)

Take 2 with flash...haha

Ok, throughout this whole post, you'll see many double pictures. 1 with flash, one without. That's because my camera has a mode which takes the 1st shot without flash and the 2nd (almost simultaneous..1 sec delay) shot  with flash. This is my preferred camera setting :)

This function, by the way, is good because if your 1st shot is ruined, the 2nd shot usually is not. Haha. Ruined shots are usually caused by photographers who just snap before you've given your best smile...so the 1 second delay will enable you to sneak in your good smile...which will be captured...Haha. Ok, whatever. LOLS!

 Ding Zhou, Me & Chris Cheok...well sometimes the photographer's hands are just too rabak for my camera setting to do anything...HAHA!

My (ex) cell members! :D

Take 2...Aaron, Me, Elhannah & Sherry :)

Flash version...haha

 Nathan, our guest performer & myself :)

Talking about our guest performer...There's this "performance" slot where her few scheduled friends would go up and perform a song for her.

Her first friend - a girl - was SUPER GOOD. Her voice was warm and she had good control over her vocals. Vibrato came out just right...Haha...Ok, it was really good. Lols.

The next item was Reuben & Joanne :D They did 1 less song because Serene's friend did the song they wanted to do "You Can Count on Me" by Bruno Mars...haha.

Finally, it was Nathan! He's a friend from the Philippines :D He did "Just the Way You Are"!! The thing is, he only lowered the key by 1/2!! Original key's in F major...He did it in E major! Which is still crazily high. But he did it awesomely! Haha.

Anyway, if you're wondering how Serene & I know Nathan, we both were on the same mission team to Philippines...So yup, that's how we got to know him :D Haha.

However, she definitely would know him much better...Haha. That's because she fulfilled God's seasonal call on her life by being a missionary there for 9 months! :) To think that I was one of the vessels God used to confirm her call is still really humbling and it always reminds me that when you're sensitive to God, He'll definitely use you. :)

Ok, enough stories, back to the pictures :)

REC Jake & myself :) EH, I mean PTE Jake Tan & 3SG (NS) Jonavan Lee :) HAHA!

Aaron & myself :)

Me & the birthday girl SERENE TENG!! :D

Take 1...

Take 2...

Take 3....Finally...haha

Oh, and what made her birthday exceptionally interesting was her PHOTO BOOTH! Right at her birthday venue - White Studio at Fort Canning - was a big photo booth...Something like Neo Print.

It's a big machine that has camera and a big screen that shows you what you look like on screen. The staff will then activate it and it will take 4 consecutive shots with 5 seconds countdown in between each shot.

The cool thing about it is, the whole package comes with TONS OF PROPS!! There were plenty of wigs, funky hats, cute beanies, flamboyant sunglasses, etc...haha.

A look at the pictures taken with the photo booth will give you an idea on what props were available...haha

Me & Reuben :) Yes, Reuben's on the right...haha.

Take 2. I think Reuben should get his hair dyed in all these flamboyant wig colours he's trying out....haha

Me, Aaron, Elhannah, Sherry & Viven :D

Another pic with my (ex) cell members...Don't know where Elhannah went...Has she left? Haha.

Serene's 21st invitation card :D In different shades of green...haha...Should put different hues of green, would've been much brighter :) Haha.

Her card to us! :)

Another awesome thing about her birthday is...we're supposed to write her birthday cards...Who'd expect to get a card from the birthday girl? Haha!

Anyway, I was her cell leader years back. Oh, those nostalgic memories...Haha. Ok, even further back, we were in BCM together. I only knew her as some praise kid back then...Praise kid in BCM (Bethel's Children Ministry) refers to a child who is on stage doing the actions of the song to inspire worship or at least participation on the ground. Haha. Sounds like some standing order eh? That's why I'm an ops spec...LOLS!

From there we went youth and we were in the same zone. We then joined the same ministry Fish4men. But she stayed true to BCM and not Fish4men...in a sense that she felt BCM was the primary ministry she should operate in.

Got to know her really well mainly through cell group actually. Mission trips and ministry did play a part but it was really cell group that solidified our friendship. Because we both stay in the east, we'd travel on the MRT together...and through those trips our thoughts-exchange or rather conversations also played a big part in making us better friends. Haha.

So yup, it's been a great blessing getting to know Serene...anyway, here's a random picture of me & her...probably the first picture we ever took together...Haha!

Youth Alive Anniversary - September 2008! :) Me, Serene & Jane :D

Yup, Happy 21st Serene Teng Si Min! :D Hahaha! I know all my cell member's Chinese names...HAHA! Try me :)

ODAC BBQ!

Yet another expired post. But it definitely warrants a page on my blog :D This took place on the 21st October 2011. It's an ODAC event planned by Pumpfest XV! :D

If you still do not know, Pumpfest is my department. In ODAC, there are many departments and Pumpfest is one of 'em! :D

Yup, as this event is soooo far back, I'll have to wholly rely on the pictures to tell the story :)

The decor team's hard work!

Random pose. Lols!

All these pictures are taken in the Hall 12 sports hall / function room whatever you call it. Haha. Our event was supposed to be held there. We already booked the venue, did all the paperwork and even got down to decorating our venue WHEN....

We realized the JCRC cocked the whole thing up. They made a double booking! After we booked the area, they allowed another party (Hall 13 if I remember correctly) to book the same place on the exact date!

-__-" As an ops spec in Tekong, if I ever gave 2 companies of recruits to book out at the same timing and jammed the whole ferry operation...I think I'd take at least 1 extra. See how well I smoke out. HAHA!

In Tekong, if a company screwed up my ferry timings, I'd have given it to them. But over here, nothing, no compensation. Fine, how much do I want? Just smile and let the whole thing pass peacefully la...Haha. As much as we have a case, sometimes a little grace will make life much easier.

In the end, we shifted to a nearby function room...I don't know is it Hall 13 or 12 or whatever...the thing is, we shifted venue last minute!

And the MAIN thing is...remember the first picture? Of the massive decoration we put up?? We now had to shift the WHOLE THING to the other function room!

Someone's idea was to scotch-tape the whole collage of post-its and transport it to the next venue. I wasn't too supportive of that idea but somehow, it turned out to be the best idea! Haha. My idea of re-pasting it over there would've failed quite terribly because of the time constraint and lack of post-its.

Yup, here is our operation transfer decor!

Ops Transfer-Decor in progress...Haha

We were macam like soldiers on a parade carrying the Singapore flag...haha! You can see in the picture below Officer Vanessa regimental-ly saluting at the camera...HAHA!

"Baris! Carry FLAG!!" HAHA!

Yup, we did a successful transplant...Haha. So on to the other pictures :)

Our decor team really did an awesome job. The name tags, guest book are all super up there!

ME! :D Feminine pose I...HAHA!

If you're wondering why I'm dressed like that, our theme for this BBQ is BACK TO SKOOL!! :D So all of us donned our old school uniforms or others' school uniforms to this event!

Made us feel young again! HAHAHA! On a heavier note, I really miss my primary, secondary school days. I think I enjoyed life the most in my secondary school days...compared to poly and university. Ok, I think uni's super awesome as well...haha.

I don't know but I made tons of friends in secondary school and brought tons of them to church. I still did in poly, but much, much lesser. My gears are starting to slow...Oh well, I needa find back the previous brand of petrol I used...Finding it back slowly :)

Me & Kai Sen :)

I'm wearing Kai Sen's airforce no. 3 uniform by the way...HAHA! Just added an extra tie and name-tag to make it look civilian. Haha. Thankfully, it worked!

Me, Kai Sen & Chor Seng :)

I was trying to show how short Kai Sen's pants are in the picture above. Haha! Just a simple cross-legged pose and people will inevitably notice how hairy my manly legs are...HAHAHA!

And Chor Seng LOOKS SO SUPER NERD with the high-pitched, squeaky, scare-dy voice that says "HI! I'M CHOR SENG! PLEASE PUNCH ME COS I'M A DUMB NERD" HAHAHA!

I'm not against his looks or anything...He looks perfectly fine in everyday dressing...but in this attire, I had to restraint myself...HAHAHA! Don't you agree with me? One more picture below...HAHA!

From left to right: Ah Beng, Prefect, NERD.

We started out with games in the function room (pictured above) and then we proceeded to BBQ and we finally returned back to the function room for another round of games! :)

Pumpfest picture! :)

Take 2 :D

After the games....some random group photos...Haha.

Take 2 :)

Jump-shot! Pang Ngee looks like some small kid that was given permission to go to the playground...HAHAHAHA! :D

Pumpfest XV! :D

Logistics Officers Jonavan, Kai Sen & Chor Seng :D The ah-beng, prefect & NERD. HAHAHA!

Take 2 :D

ODAC pose :D

Yup, that's more or less about it. Had quite a lot of fun...but not FULLY FUN because we are the organizing committee! Had to make sure everything ran smoothly so we were busy running around setting up shop and setting it down.

All in all, it was a successful event but really taxing on our studies. Because it was during our quiz period and we still had to shoulder this heavy responsibility of organizing a CCA-wide (100++ pax) event.

But we had fun :) Learnt more about each other through this process :) I now know who're the fun-ones, organized-ones, judgmental-ones, pull-rank ones, insightful-ones, etc...I think I'm more of the chillax-one that still made things happen.

Yup, don't wish for too many of such events during studies! HAHA!

ODAC Family Day!

Yes, this event took place 2 months ago!! On the 8th of October 2011! Haha. We played something like "Amazing Race" where we have to go place to place, station to station to complete certain tasks assigned to us...Lemme try to recall what happened with the pictures... :)

Our meeting place was...if I remember correctly...Farrer Park? Should be la...haha. This is the first picture I took upon arrival...

ME! :D HAHA!

Pumpfest's attire that day was RED-COLOURED shirts! So yup, the guy in the background of the above picture is also from my committee...and Pang Ngee's NOT from NBS. Haha.

Yup, the first game we played was the most fun...haha...The rest were fun too but nothing beats this exciting, co-operative and competitive game.

Any idea what the game is about? :D Haha...

Those white stuffs they are pouring all over us is CUT STRAW...Those McDonald's drinking straw. The team which manage to bring across the most amount of straw in the fastest time, without using their hands WINS!

So off we were trying to stick the bits of straw to our faces and our fellow comm members were having fun "helping" us...HAHA!

The 3 guys with straw on faces from left...Teck Kian, Chor Seng & ME :D HAHA!

On the count of 3....1....2....3! Off we went in fours. We are supposed to hook arms around each other and walk to the other side while dropping as little straw as possible!

Teck Kian, Chor Seng, Myself and Tee Li :D

Jia you!! Haha

Pumpfest XV! Excluding the girl in white...she's our senior that's no longer in Pumpfest...haha

+ Joanne (in blue) our team IC and Jac (extreme right) our Vice-President :D

Oh actually, we're not done yet...Immediately after your whole team have transported the straws over with your faces...You'll have to make your very own "subway" sandwich....with the PRESCRIBED INGREDIENTS....

SOUR PLUM!! BBQ SAUCE!!! Bread...etc...

Those ingredients include chilli sauce, EGG, lettuce, cucumber, SOUR PLUM, butter, mayonnaise, McDonald's syrup, etc...The ingredients depicted above are not exhaustive...hahaha!

Our SANDWICH-SHOT! HAHA! :D

After whopping up our sandwich concoction, we have to stomach it before we can move on to our next station...Haha.

Pumpfest! :D With our 2 team ICs, Joanne Ho & Gabriel Chan :) [both in blue :D]

Pumpfest! :D With our photographer Sean Ang (sitting on floor) Haha.

Take 2 :)

I think the next thing we needa do is to like draw our committee's name on our SPOs (Special Project Officers) :D HAHA! They are basically our seniors, our bosses in the committee :D

Me drawing on Priscilla's hand...Haha!

Another comm shot :D

Our next task is to fulfill a shopping list!! WAIT...it's not your ordinary shopping list with your usual grocery items...Our shopping list is an INDIAN GROCERY LIST!!!

They have lots of weird stuff on the list like...like...I can't even remember what the name of those stuff are...Something like Vadai beans, or something like that...So off we were scurrying around Mustafa trying to find these foreign ingredients...haha!

 Outside Mustafa! :D

Next, we have to find this sari stall and 2 people have to dress up in the saris and take a picture...Haha! Initially, the 2 people are Chor Seng & Joyce Ng!! :D Pumpfest's sweetest couple :) HAHAHA!

In the end, it became me & Chia Lek...I don't know how it ended up that way...Oh ya, I was inside the shop busy selecting a piece for Chor Seng...and Chia Lek was finding one for Joyce...However, Chor Seng & Joyce were outside the shop...So in the end, due to convenience's sake, we completed the task instead...HAHA!

South Indians Jonavan & Chia Lek...HAHA!

After that, we got innovative with Henna...I don't know who bought the tube of henna...but yup, the girls were busy decorating us guys with the henna... -.-" Haha! I made the picture below extra large so that you can see how badly we were VANDALISED by them...HAHA! :P

 Pumpfest in HENNA!! :D

Our next and last task is to find clues hidden all around the shopping mall. These clues include pictures. When we found our clue...a piece of paper...we saw a picture...a scene in the shopping mall...We were supposed to go there for our next clue....Haha.

Yup, there were a string of such clues...

Scavenging for clues in the mall... :D

Guys: Teck Kian, Me, Pang Ngee, Wei Hong, don't know who...& Gabriel...HAHA!

Gals: Shi Min, Ai Ting, Rosalind & Joanne :D

 Escalator shot :) LOLS!

Oh, our final task in the mall is to sing the ODAC song and take a picture with the makeshift photo frame...Haha. Imagine the ruckus we made when we did our ODAC song...LOLS!

SUPERMAN POSE!! LOLS.

Yup, after that we all gathered back at some open area near SMU :)

Pumpfest XV! :D

Yup, had fun over there :) Immediately after that, me & Chor Seng rushed off for service! HAHA! Why can't we go on Sunday instead? Because we gotta quiz to study for on Monday! HAHA!

Yup, ODAC Family Day was awesome! :)

EXAMS ARE OVER!

Exams are finally over! Out of all the 5 papers I've taken...I found Physics A to be the easiest paper :) The rest? Backside tear...or rather, torn to smithereens.

In poly it was a question about whether we got distinction, A or at worst, B.

In university it is a question about whether we pass or take the subject again the next semester. Haha.

Difficult subjects are fine...but having lecturers with accents that are difficult to understand is the main problem.

In NTU EEE, 90% of my lecturers are foreigners from mainly (and most saddening-ly) CHINA!! The rest are from Hong Kong, India and Vietnam.

One of them really is just practicing his english oral...He was simply reading from the slides and pointing his laser pointer to the words he's reading...He's doing English K-box session!! HAHA! He's wasted many hours of our lives.

All the concepts and the art of solving the questions we learnt on our own from reading the lecture slides and practicing tutorial questions. No credit goes to his lecturing AT ALL.

For other subjects, we can grasp the concept when the other lecturers teach and this hastens our learning process.

Because of those few lecturers that screwed our learning process up...we took much more time to understand the concepts which leads to us always trying to catch up with the tutorials.

So to me, or rather, to us (my group of friends), uni life is a race of trying to keep up with the tutorial pace and quiz dates.

Thank God that for my tutorial groups, the quiz papers were awesome! On the whole, I scored 3 full marks for my quizzes and the rest distinctions and As...only Circuit Analysis...I got a 55/100 -__-" That's the killer subject with the killer China assassin/lecturer. HAHA!

For all my exam papers...I think I barely passed all of them...or maybe even fail because there is a possibility I didn't spot some careless mistakes which were abundant in all my 5 papers!!! -.-"

Oh well, when our results our out then will we know how much the bell curve will help us...

My friends and I were discussing that day that if we ta-pao (re-take) 3 or more modules, we might as well drop the whole course and re-start....because our GPA would've been super cui that the MOST we can get is maybe 2nd lower?

No point slogging so hard for the next 2 years only to get a lousy grade. Furthermore, the chances of doing better for the next few semesters are SUPER SLIM because for the subsequent years, the workload gets heavier and there are heavy projects added to your academic workload.

Yup, I'm not too optimistic about knowing my results...But I really pray that God will help me with my grades...Maybe God you can like make him see my wrong answer as correct or something like that? HAHAHA! Just kiddin'! LOLS.

Yup, God, my future's in your hands...I've sort of done my best...please sort of do the rest too :) Haha...Amen!

I'm still around...

My blog's not dead, NO! It is alive...familiar song? Lols...

EXAMS ARE IN A WEEK'S TIME!!!

No time to blog...only got time to MUG!

Yup, keep me and all my fellow NTU friends in prayer :)

Love,
Jonavan Lee :)

"Problems are Purposeful Roadblocks Offering Beneficial Lessons (to) Enhance Mental Strength. Inner strength comes from struggle and endurance, not when you are free from problems."

Yup, this is my NTU email sign off :) haha! See you around! :D