Monday, June 30, 2008

Family in Singapore

Since we moved to Singapore three years ago, we have been attending a small church called Evangel Christian Church. We decided on this church based on two things: the Sunday preaching (Mark Chan, our pastor, is a top-notch speaker!) and the size of the church (fewer than 150 people). We reckoned that it would be easier for us to integrate into the life of the church i.e. be involved, establish relationships, etc, if the congregation is smaller. And that has been the case since.

Two weekends ago we attended our first church retreat (we've not been able to make it in the past) and had a really good time. We had to "work" a little while we were there (Brian had to facilitate a theological forum while I had to teach a workshop) but overall we had a lot of fun catching up with everyone.

Top to bottom: Our small bible study group; Brian , the facilitator; I'Ching hard at work; Brian caught with his mouth full!

Spectacular view

It's almost been a month since we moved into our new place. I am still getting used to the small space (where wherever I turn, I bump into Brian!) and getting into the habit of NOT stocking up on anything as we simply do not have the storage space.

Nonetheless, we are beginning to enjoy our new nest (more so Brian than I) and I must say that the view from our kitchen window is breathtaking - especially at night. It faces south where the Straits of Singapore is (that's where the East Coast Park beach I mentioned in an earlier post is). In the evening, we can sometimes hear ships sounding their horn. In fact, on a clear day, we may even catch a glimpse of an Indonesian island far in the horizon. Following is the view in the day and at night:

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Survived the move

So, we survived our move! Come Monday and we would have moved into our new place one, oops, two weeks! Wow, I have totally lost track of time. The first few days post-move were trying for us - we had to keep throwing things out to fit our new small apartment (though we had started to trash before the move).

Finally, after four nights of going to bed at 4 am, we unpacked most of our boxes (Brian did really well with the books and CDs) and we felt almost settled again. Our phone and internet were hooked up by the second day and we had our curtains up (thanks to our friend, Richard, from church) by the third.

We (well, mostly I) breathed a huge sigh of relief as I cannot operate in the midst of disorder. Now that it's our new home, this small space actually feels pretty cozy.
However, before I could enjoy our new place, I was due for travel again - this time to Grand Rapids in the US to attend a four-day conference (Acton University 2008). It is a long way to travel for such a short program but it's really worth it. I'm presently making this entry in my hotel room right after the end of the conference. The content, tone and mission of the program has been nothing but inspiring. Now I dread my 26-hour trip home tomorrow.

Some pixs from my visit: 1) view from the conference area; 2) sculpture that commemorates Grand Rapids as the first city in the world to put fluoride in its drinking water; 3) a sure sign that I'm in tornado-land!
While I'm here, Brian has been exploring our new neighborhood. He's been enjoying taking walks to the beach (East Coast Park) which he claims is only 20 minutes away (see below). We'll post pixs of our new place as soon as I get home.