The Craftsman’s Forge

Having had the same bed for the last 7 years, we decided its time the girls get new beds that are appropriately sized. Their previous beds were only 4 foot long.

I was in Jakarta just last month on a business trip, and the blokes brought me to a new seafood restaurant (Everfresh Seafood) fairly near the office, and boy.. it was excellent!!! Its just like how Cicerellos in Perth is set up.

They have tanks filled with all sorts of seafood surrounding the entire eating area. You just place your orders, and the staff go fish out your fish or prawns. Wah…. killer!

Here are some photos..

Wonderful Gurame!

The chef here is really good too! The taste of the dishes are simply excellent!

And of course… how can one be in Jakarta without eating Fried Gurame! Umm…. fabulous!

We’ve been talking about visiting Pulau Ubin and Check Jawa for the longest time, so, when an opportunity came up one weekend, we quickly grabbed the chance to head out to the northern island. This was back in July!!! Yeah.. I know.. I’m notorious for procrastinating when uploading photos.

We reached Changi Point in the morning, and it was an excellent cloudy day…. No sun.. not hot, but the tide may not be in our favour. Hee… This is the kid’s first time seeing the fishery business at our eastern pier.

Wonderfully upgraded, the Changi Point pier is now a very clean and comfortable transit point.

We had to wait for the boatmen who would gather enough passengers before making the trip between Singapore and Ubin.

We’re finally off! Its the kids’ first time on the small dinghy taxi boats, and they really enjoyed themselves!

Shots from the boat…

Leaving Changi Point…

We took a taxi to Check Jawa, and then a short walk to the boardwalk.

Map of Check Jawa

The tide wasn’t super low, and we werent able to walk the sea grass area, but managed to see lots of fiddler crabs while walking on the board walk, as well as mud lobsters, etc.

Guess what fruit is this?

The T-Cafe came highly recommended for its scones and Strawberry Sundaes, but… I was personally quite disappointed. In any case, its quaint 80s decor is good for a tourist to relax and take in the atmosphere of the highlands, especially if it’s raining.

Kyla did extremely well in school this year. She achieved an A in all of her subjects, and a B in music. I’m so proud of her. Chris told me she got a 96 in her Chinese! The highest mark in class was 97. So, she’s going to a special class for Chinese. Wow! And to think that I can’t even read a sentence of Chinese without tripping over characters!!!! Kyla’s results are really a testimony of what Chris has been doing with the kids.

The class took a “crazy” photo this year. Kyla’s on the second row, fifth from the right.

Thank you, Lord!

You would remember that the family headed out to Cameron a few months back. Our hotel room was overlooking the main road entering Tanah Rata, and I noticed that there was a landslide on the road right in front of my hotel room!! It’s probably about 1km away from the hotel. This house was likely one of the road side markets selling farm produce.

A little closer look.

And a wider angled look at the extend of the land slide.

This is my new ICD…. I’m still thinking whether I should name him. I know.. its pretty silly. ha ha ha ha…. but… since I’m gonna live with this going forward, I thought I’d better get comfortable.

Yeah… the wound still hurts. but its getting better. Last night was the worst, I think. I remember thinking at 8pm that I still have more than 15 hours before I get discharged. I didn’t get to sleep till midnight, and thank God, I managed to get into a deep sleep for 5 hours, waking up only at 5am when I was woken up by the automatic blood pressure device I was hooked onto. Just as well, the nurses came in to take an ECG.

If you’re wondering where the defibrillator is placed, take a look below. Its just under the skin on the upper left chest area. Apart from feeling a little sore, everything feels pretty much the same.

Last week, the Lord reminded me through Ps Kai’s sermon about Jacob (in Genesis 32) who tried to run away, and how God brought him into the blessing by dislocating his hip. Jacob being now a truly broken man, could therefore come into the blessing that God had for him, because, now God was in charge. As the Apostle Paul said in 2 Cor 12: 8-10

8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Truly Lord, you are in charge now.

I’ve not written for some time now, chiefly because over the course of the last 3 weeks or so, I was reminded through my cardiologist appointment, that I have a genetic heart condition that’s known as Brugada Syndrome.
To cut the long story short, as I am writing from the ward, and it’s not exactly easy to type on the iPhone; I had to have an Implantable
Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) implanted just under my skin in my upper left chest. What this device does, is to monitor the heart, and deliver any life saving shock required if my heart ever goes into Ventricular Fibrillation.
Over the last few weeks, I was in a constant struggle over this, as disbelief and denial came over me. How could this happen to me? Then, the Lord began His work in me, and as He gently worked in me, I began surrendering everything to Him. Do I know why He has allowed this? Well, no I don’t. But I know only one thing…. That in all of this, the heavenly Father MUST be glorified.
I am sitting on my hospital bed now, blogging this, and knowing full well that He has me in His ever loving arms. it is an absolutely wonderful place to be in.
More about this in the days to follow.

Psalm 91

1 Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 This I declare about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
he is my God, and I trust him.
3 For he will rescue you from every trap
and protect you from deadly disease.
4 He will cover you with his feathers.
He will shelter you with his wings.
His faithful promises are your armor and protection.
5 Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night,
nor the arrow that flies in the day.
6 Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness,
nor the disaster that strikes at midday.
7 Though a thousand fall at your side,
though ten thousand are dying around you,
these evils will not touch you.
8 Just open your eyes,
and see how the wicked are punished.

9 If you make the Lord your refuge,
if you make the Most High your shelter,
10 no evil will conquer you;
no plague will come near your home.
11 For he will order his angels
to protect you wherever you go.
12 They will hold you up with their hands
so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.
13 You will trample upon lions and cobras;
you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet!

14 The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.
I will protect those who trust in my name.
15 When they call on me, I will answer;
I will be with them in trouble.
I will rescue and honor them.
16 I will reward them with a long life
and give them my salvation.”

10th October, 2008

I had a dream early this morning, and I believe its a significant dream. I can still remember the dream quite vividly, and is only the second dream in my entire christian lifetime.
My family and I were in our house, and they were all sleeping. It seemed to be in early morning, and I was looking out the living room windows to a scenery not unlike the mountainous Cameron Highlands view from our hotel room when we were in Cameron Highlands. The road is an “L” shaped road, with the long side of the “L” shape directly in front of me, and the shorter side of the “L” perpendicular from me, maybe about 50 metres to my right. The mountain was just behind this “L” road.

I was enjoying the quiet scene, when suddenly, I saw a huge trailer carrying sand tumbling down the mountain side and onto the “L” road. The scene was spectacular, with the trailer breaking up and tearing up everything in its path. When the trailer eventually came to rest, and I thought it was over, a huge boulder (about 3 times the size of the trailer cab) came rolling down the short “L” road. It hit the first house at the end of the “L” shape road, and the house came tumbling down, leaving a skeletal structure still standing. Then the boulder continued rolling down the road, and destroying the rest of the structures the trailer didn’t destroy. Throughout this carnage, our house was not touched or harmed.
I was just looking on in amazement, and I could feel our entire house shaking with the tremendous vibration of the destruction, and I remembered quite vividly that I was not afraid as I knew nothing would harm us. I saw my dad running towards me, and then… I suddenly realised that the kids were still sleeping. I quickly went to see if they were ok. They were all still ok. We gathered together as a family, and when the vibrations stilled, we walked cautiously out of the house to see what has happened.
Everything was now deathly quiet with dust filling the air. I glanced to my right, and saw that the skeletal structure of the first house was still standing, but before I could say anything, the remaining part of the first building came crashing down, and brought debris flying in all directions. I quickly shouted to everyone to close their eyes and turn away from the direction of the crashing house. We could feel the debris (small stones, concrete, etc) flying past us, and even pelting us on our bodies. When it was over, I opened my eyes and saw that we were all ok.

Interpretation
I believe this is an encouragement from God that all will be ok. We may be shaken by the things around us, but that we will be escape unharmed. I’m not sure though if the trailer and boulder each represent a calamity, or it should be taken as representative of “A” calamity.