Go Karting is AWESOME!!!!!



My old pal Jason Ngion Jing Ping will always remember a classic moment of our friendship. It was the first time I had sat in his car as he went on one of his trademark 'races', probably against his nemesis, the souped up Wira. I commented "Woah. Feels like Daytona", which cracked him up to no end for some reason.

Daniel the Boon has recently dubbed him "The Racer" on his blog. However, I never was attracted to racing. I suck really bad at any racing game, be it PS or Comp. I try my best to drive safe and I've never raced on the streets. So I've never ever felt the thrill of racing. That was about to change.




It was Justin Teh's bachelor day out yesterday and Adrian Sii organized a full day's agenda. I only managed to make the Go Karting event. It cost 60 bucks (which was totally worth it) but it was AWESOME! We go-karted at Victoria's Biggest and Newest GO-Karting Complex (apparently), Le Mans in Dandenong.

NOTE: The people I mention are all church people BTW. Hope Melbourne.

It was my first time Go-Karting and I was kinda excited. They had Lazer Tag later which I really wanted to try as well but couldn't make it coz of church. I found out that the more powerful karts could go up to 100kph!!! How cool is that! I thought Go-Karts could only go up to 60kph or something. ANyways, most of us were beginners so we only drove Karts that could go up to 80kph.

The Karts would be lined up in a row in the pit lane before starting. There were 22 guys from our church group. Same number of racers as an F1 race eh? I started pretty far back and my Kart number was 20 (Javier Mascherano! For Liverpool fans).
We had 10 laps for qualifying and to get used to the kart and another 20 laps for the race.

I took awhile to get used to the Kart and I even crashed into the tire wall once during qualifying. Needless to say I was quite behind when we lined up for the race. Probably 16th or 17th. It was a rolling start system and I was raring to go!!! And start overtaking! The moment we were given the green light to start the race I floored the accelerator and burst past a few people instantly.

I was doing pretty OK, learning to take corners more consistently and overtake a few people. I told myself. Strategy: Slow and steady wins the race. Be stable, don't crash and maybe I can break into the top 10. Obviously I didn't harbour hope for winning the race as there were a few seasoned karters. I felt like Sunderland near the relegation zone. I need to get into the top half of the table and push for Europe!!! (Forgive the English Premier League analogy).

I thought I was slowly improving until something happened. I was LAPPED by the 3 race leaders!!! 1 thing that I learned about racing from Ngion. He once said... It is super embarrasing to be LAPPED (in F1).

I was incensed! I then redoubled my efforts, taking more risks, driving faster at corners, becoming more competitive.

After awhile, I realised that people tended to crash quite a bit. Everytime people crashed, I managed to evade the crashed cars and continue. I beat quite a few people that way. After awhile, my competitor emerged!

His name was Jean Marc! A short Mauritian guy, Jean Marc was aggresive as nice church boys get! I thought we weren't supposed to bang or knock into each other. But that's what Jean Marc did to me and he then overtook me. And he then contrived to wave at me as if to say "bye bye".

Wahlau! The arrogant clod! I thought to myself. Make no mistake, Jean Marc is an excellent guy, I like him. But this is a RACE! I must race in such a way as to gain the prize! (1 Corinthians 9:24)

So I made it my personal mission for the race to BEAT Jean Marc! Objectives Updated!

1. Finish in Top 10
2. Beat Jean Marc's @$$

After another lap, Jean Marc's recklessness caused him to crash. I easily overtook him and realized... this could be a strategy! Slow and steady. Wait for Jean Marc to crash and I can overtake him. But in the next lap he overtook me again! We were having quite a battle!

Jean Marc successfully knocked several other drivers out of their stride as well but I waited patiently for my opportunity and sure enough, crash into the tire wall he did!

I was in the lead again. This time, Jean Marc increased his aggression! He totally rear ended me! There was 1 point where there was a succession of corners and he squeezed next to me and we were scraping against each other as we went through like 3-4 corners. The nose of my go-kart was in front of him though and I was determined to not lose my lead again! I swerved and forced him into a tire wall! CRASH! I then zoomed ahead! It was my turn to say byebye to Jean Marc! For good! (But I didn't wave at him la. I said bye bye in my mind)

The race finished but I had to wait till the next day to find out the results.

I surpassed all my expectations. I finished in 6th position! A lot higher than I aimed for. With the race leaders who lapped me in 1st to 3rd position.

Most importantly, Jean Marc was 8th or 9th! Woohoo!!!

Jean Marc, if you're reading this, no hard feelings yea? Ur a good racer! Just a bit aggressive and reckless. Like Juan Pablo Montoya! Wahahaha..

God Bless, bro

COLDPLAY is an awesome band. Definitely the best of their generation. That would make them the best in the world as of RIGHT NOW. My second most favourite band of all time behind U2. Just like any great band, they have MANY great songs. Here I'm going to try and list five of the best Coldplay songs that are not traditional favourites, probably because they are not singles. I will try to represent all four Coldplay albums and the non-album songs. For non-Coldplay fans, sample some riches from the treasure trove of Chris Martin and co!

1. LOST!

OK. I have to make ONE exception to my non-singles rule. LOST! My favourite Coldplay song of the moment and IMHO the best song on Viva La Vida! Most people love the title track. I do as well, but this song is so non-Coldplay awesome! The most upbeat Coldplay song ever, it is handclap driven with a catchy hook. Amazing! There are also several versions to this song. The first version I heard was the EP piano version featuring Chris Martin and his piano which feels so different from the album version. The handclaps and driving beat change it into a whole new song with a Coldplay core, i.e. Martin and his piano. I just found out that there are several versions to the song! The album version. The aforementioned piano version and a remix of the album version featuring none other than the main man in the rapping circle, Jay-Z! It takes some getting used to. I could never have imagined a rapper rapping on a Coldplay song. But Lost! really breaks so many boundaries, its uncanny.

"Just because I'm losing, doesn't mean I've lost".

2. Moses
Moses is a non-album song which I really like. Chris Martin is fascinated with Christianity although I don't think he is a believer. His mom is a stonge Catholic. If you have yet to realize, he frequently uses Biblical imagery and allusions to the Christian faith. He does that a lot in Viva. Although not exactly like Bono for U2, Martin's use of Biblical imagery can be interesting at times although it does not inspire people to examine the Christian faith much.
In Moses, Martin compares the girl's power over him to Moses' power over the Red Sea.

"Like moses has power over sea, So you've got power over me".

3. Til Kingdom Come



Til Kingdom Come is probably the sweetest Coldplay love song ever. (NOTE: Remember what I said about allusions to Christianity). Its a hidden track on X&Y.

Chorus:

For you, I'd wait 'til kingdom come.

Until my day, my day is done.

And say you'll come, and set me free,

Just say you'll wait, you'll wait for me.

The man who waits forever for his love. How wonderful (or naive).

4. Everything's Not Lost

From their debut album Parachutes, Everything's Not Lost is a song of hope, encouraging people to not give up even though things seem bleak. I love the extended ending. Just like The Scientist where Martin croons "Ah-hoooooo-oo-oo-oo", here he goes "Oh oh yeah... Come on yeah... Everything's not lost" repeatedly.

"When you thought it was over,

You could feel it all around,

Everybody's out to get you,

Don't you let it drag you down."

I also like Shiver on Parachutes which is a serious stalker song.

5. God Put A Smile Upon Your Face


The third track on A Rush Of Blood To The Head is my 5th pick ahead of Amsterdam which is also great.

Its one of their faster songs with driving guitars, something different from all the piano and melancholy that is the rest of this album. Martin doesn't know where he's going or where to draw the line, but he's thankful nevertheless... cause God gave him style, grace and put a smile upon his face.

"Where do we go nobody knows?

Don't even say you're on your way down, (when)

God gave you style and gave you grace

And put a smile upon your face".

 LIVERPOOL 3 -1 PSV EINDHOVEN

It was bound to happen sooner rather than later. And it finally happened. Robbie Keane's first goal for Liverpool.



The joy on Keane's face is evident as he wheels away in celebration after deftly redirecting a Fernando Torres cross.



Dirk Kuyt had already opened the scoring before Keane doubled Liverpool's advantage and finally broke his scoring duck after 11 games. Keane wasn't playing badly for the first 10 games. Its just that strikers are judged on goals and rightly so. I wasn't frustrated with Keane during the first 10 games. I was happy he was contributing to the team but I was feeling sorry that he had to suffer criticism from the unforgiving English media.

Well, all that is in the past now and I am confident that Keane will now go on a scoring run like how he does when he was at Spurs and Leeds. I am confident that we have a Robbie Keane that is if not at his peak, slightly lower than his peak and will score many goals and have many assists for Liverpool.

On another note,


HOW ABOUT THAT?

Absolute stunner from Steven Gerrard, captain magnificent.

What a way to get your 100 goal. He's well and truly a Red centurion now. They took away his free kick against Stoke, but they won't take away this one. How fitting was this free kick as his century goal. 25 yards. Absolute screamer. He only had 2 shots all game as well. I actually doubted my favourite player in all the world as he stepped up to take the kick saying "it's too far away". My Man Utd supporting housemate however was so confident saying "it's going in". Go in it did.

I'm also pretty smug about accurately predicting both Keane and Gerrard's 1st and 100th goals before the game on Facebook. I wrote it on Kelvin Leung (my Man Utd supporting housemate's wall).

Hopefully my predictions about Keane's Liverpool future will be just as accurate.

               

  John Varvatos Converse Chucks

AWESOMENESS in a Canvas Shoe!

OK, I should get back to writing my thesis.

DISCLAIMER: The following post is intended to be read by Christians. If you are not a Christian I would suggest that you refrain from reading the following post. If you do, you may be weirded out and you may come to think I'm a freak. Having read this warning, if you still want to, then by all means.

 

IS anyone reading this a Christian? Do you proudly proclaim your status as a Christian among friends? When you fill out forms and there is a section on "Religion", do you write "Christian"? If you are, and you are serious that you are a Christian, not playing around like a five year old in Sunday School, then read the following;

 

I just thought of something. A test of how serious you are about God. Its quite simple really, you just have to ask yourself a simple question.

 

 

 

 

 

Do you spend time daily seeking God?

 

 

 

 

 

This may seem a little vague so let me clarify. What is seeking God? Is it what we did before we found God? Then why do we have to do it daily?

 

Some people call it "Quiet Time", some people call it "Doing your devotion" some people just think of it as spending time with God, chilling out with God.

 

To be more specific, let me challenge you, do you block out a specific amount of time every day to spend with God and God alone? For example, if you block out 10pm to 11pm to watch HEROES or sit at your computer (like I do often) surfing or facebooking or chatting on msn for hours at end, do you just block out a specific amount of time for God, daily?

 

What is seeking God to you? Is it reading a few lines of Scripture before you go to bed? Is it saying a little prayer the moment you wake up, before you put on your makeup? Those things are good, don't get me wrong. But they are not enough.

 

Christianity is not a religion, it is a relationship with the Creator God, with Jesus Christ who sacrificed himself and with the Holy Spirit who lives in us. God knows us and he wants us to know him and the only way we can achieve that is to spend time with God. Going to church on a Sunday means nothing if we don't seek God on a personal basis, if we don't spend time alone with God.

 

We seek God not because we have to, but because we love him. Why do you think God does not tell us to pray five times a day like the Muslims do? Its because he wants us to do it out of our own initiative. You know how women always don't want to tell their men "what to do" or "what they should've done" or else it won't be sincere? Maybe there's a parallel there.

 

We were created for intimacy with God, we can and should be more intimate with God than our spouse/partner. Is that a scary thought? If it is, it probably means you have not experienced deep and true intimacy with God. I'm saying this now but I don't fully understand it myself. In fact I'm not even qualified to say it, but I say it nonetheless. At the end of the day, intimacy with God brings benefits beyond compare. Intimacy with God brings true joy and peace.

 

If you are serious about being a Christian, you have to be serious about your relationship with God. I'm not really knowledgeable about the matter but I can tell you from experience what works for me.

 

• It could work to select a particular time period everyday. Some people choose mornings when they wake up, some people choose night time before bed (like me) and maybe even lunch time (you could skip lunch, fast and seek God).
• Block out/set aside a minimum amount of time for a particular day. Try your best to give God more time but we have to be realistic as well. Start small. Maybe fifteen minutes. Eg: 10pm to 10:15pm.
• Cut out any distractions. You can't have quiet time with God if you're on the phone or on MSN with someone, or listening to Coldplay. It's just not right. I'm starting a new habit of switching off my phone.
• Music helps. When I was younger I thought I was too cool for Christian music. Please learn from the folly of my ways. Christian music and lyrics help focus our mind on God.
• It is good to have a structure or system. You could start by praying a short while then reading the Bible, then praying again. Up to you.
  
• Singing can be good as well. You know how we sing songs to God on Sunday. Why do we only have to sing on Sundays? If the purpose of singing those songs is to worship God, why don't we sing them on our own? (If any of you thought "Cause I'll seem like an idiot", I say sometimes it's good to be an idiot).
• Worshipping God. I know, I know, everything we do is a form of worship. But I remember someone telling me that the original meaning of the word "worship" is physically bowing down. Check out that Matt Redman dude.
• Seeking God is a discipline. It is a hard habit to pick up but the more we do it, the better we'll get at it and we'll start experiencing a whole lot of tangible benefits, some of which I've mentioned (joy, peace).

 

 

So.

 

1. You a Christian?

2. You love Jesus? (If your answer is not a resounding YES, please reexamine your answer for Question 1 and why you answered YES)

 

Then, seek God with all your heart and soul cause you will find Him! (Deuteronomy 4:29)

 

End of!

 I seem to make it a yearly habit of missing bands that I really like. I try to console myself by saying "It wasn't U2" but sometimes it gets to me.

In 2007 it was Bloc Party.
This year, 2008, Death Cab For Cutie.

I = Idiot!

New Year's Resolution for 2009, to not miss anymore bands I really like.

"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronising nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."

                                                                               CS Lewis ~ Mere Christianity

The Trilemma is a popular question posed to people about the person of Jesus Christ based on the work of CS Lewis and Josh McDowell. It helps people focus on the person of Jesus Christ to consider what/who he truly is. Most educated people know that Christians claim that he was the Son of God who came to earth as a man. Most educated people also know that he did indeed exist as a historical figure and that debating his existence is… Well, let’s just say that debating his existence makes you appear to be someone who’s not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. (You might as well debate the existence of Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, etc…)

 

Many educated non-Christians believe that he was merely a very famous religious teacher and someone who was very good at what he does. That seems a lot more plausible than the Son of God who came back from the dead. It is a safe, logical explanation to do away with the myth that is Christianity. Or is it?

 

The Trilemma shows us that he cannot be merely a good, moral religious teacher because of one small fact. He CLAIMED to be GOD! Now not only did he claim to be God, he had hundreds of followers, people living their lives based on the fact that he is God. MILLIONS of people. Over two millennia. More than 2000 years. If he wasn’t really God, don’t you think that that is the cruelest joke you could play on millions of people? It would be the greatest CON-JOB in history. That is what people like Mr The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown believe. So if Jesus wasn’t God, he couldn’t be a good and moral teacher. How can a conman be a moral person? Would you think your father was a moral person if he lied to you your whole life about his identity?

 

So maybe Jesus wasn’t a liar. Maybe he really believed what he was saying. What does that make him? CRAZY. Yup. C-R-A-Z-Y. I mean, what would you call me if I told you I was God? Yup. Crazy. So, could Jesus, a great moral teacher be crazy? Do crazy people create the biggest religion the world has ever seen that has lasted more than 2000 years?

 

So maybe you believe one of the earlier options. Maybe you believe he was a really good conman or he was crazy. But if you don’t, there is only 1 last option. He IS what he really claims to be. Any way you look at it. Any way you break it down. There is only one of three things he could be. And if he is not a liar, if he is not a lunatic, he is LORD. He is Lord God Almighty.

 

Liar. Lunatic. Lord.

 

You decide!

 

Usually, that’s the end of it. Not this time.

 

I, Stephen Tan Wei Shan, testify that Jesus of Nazareth is Lord and God of my life and of the universe. Now, I as your friend am telling you all this with sincere belief in my heart. You may or may not believe me. If I am wrong, what does that make me? Only one of two things. I could be a liar cause I’m trying to con all of you into believing something that isn’t true. Or I could be clinically insane for believing that Jesus, a human being, is actually God. If I’m right, what I am is a Christian. You think you know what a Christian is. You may or may not be right. A lot of times, people we think are Christians are actually Churchians. People who attend church and who may claim to be Christian but who live life contrary to what God wants. Hypocrites some say. Churchians are the number one reason why people can’t find God. That’s because they are telling people that God isn’t real by the lives they live. Christians are Christ followers, people who try their utmost to live their lives like Jesus did.

 

So, you who are reading my blog. There is a high possibility that you actually know me in person. Who do you say I am?

 

Conman. Crazy. Christian.

 

You decide!

Hey guys!

I'll be back in Malaysia/Singapore from 8th to 24th September. Arriving at and leaving from Singapore. I should be in Malaysia from approx 15th to 21st Sept. I'll be at Patrick Cheng Yee's wedding on the 20th Sept.

This is not so much a holiday as a data collection period for my research. Any of you who are reading my blog right now and are currently in Malaysia or Singapore, I NEED YOUR HELP!!!!

I need to complete FOUR HUNDRED, yes 400 questionnaires in 2 weeks!!! How insane is that!!! 200 from Singapore 200 from Malaysia. Yes, my supervisor has high expectations of me. Well, I'll be on the streets asking random strangers to fill in the forms but it might not be enough. So, I really need your help and possibly the help of your family and friends!

My research is on supermarket Home Brands!!!
Eg of supermarket: TESCO
Eg of home brand product: TESCO Cola, TESCO biscuits

See what I mean? As long as you have bought a home brand product in Malaysia/Singapore before, you can help me! So if you haven't go buy at least 1 product before I come back, OK?

Then you can help me. Thanks a lot guys!!! I know some of you reading this will end up helping me. Will see you all soon.

And Daniel, I hope I don't have to resort to surveying the Williams customers when we're having yum char session!