After sitting for 5 long hours, we finally arrived at Hangzhou airport. The kids were already feeling sleepy as it was past 10pm by the time we checked out of the airport. It took us another twenty minutes looking for the airport transport bus and we were lucky to board it quickly. The kids felt asleep in the bus while I was pretty wide awake. It took another 40 minutes before we landed at our hotel. The kids, surprisingly were excited with a change of place and were busy jumping at the bed. 

I woke up at 3am and 5 plus in the morning as I could see the day light coming in from the window. I didn't realise the morning sun in China was 2 hours earlier than in Singapore.  The breakfast was not too bad with a good spread of chinese and western food. The kids were not as enthusiastic as we thought when we reached the West Lake (Xi Hu).  We took the bus ride that tour us for a full round at 80RMB each person (total 240RMB). Instead of admiring the beauty, we were taken away by the gentle morning breeze and felt asleep.

It was the Chinese Dumpling Festival and there were throngs of people everywhere. The bus could hardly move as fast as it should. Sorry to my wife who wanted to visit a few places but with the kids, we had to change our plans.
We had lunch after searching for somewhere decent and the kids were tired at a expensive sandwich bar. They served decent gluten free pasta which the kids like. Each plate was at 58rmb (SGD 11) and my wife ordered for me a dish that comprise of corn cake, mushrooms, avocado, prawns and scrambled eggs. I finished it in less than 5 minutes, guess I was way too hungry. Then she went to order a cheese cake and got me a vegetable burger which costs 35rmb. It was too expensive for lunch in my opinion.

The kids wanted a toy so we went to look for a 7-11 local store and finally we found it and got it for the kids. We also went to Uniqlo and got some T-shirts and all. Prior to that, we took the train ride to the railway station to collect our train tickets for tomorrow ride back home. 

Today is the day! Finally, we have waited for this day to return to China and visit my mother in law. The kids, blessed by God are almost fully recovered. My son was down with fever and persistent cough for 5 days and the fever keep coming back and forth but the irritation was the cough. I am glad to see him behaving as usual now, playing and teasing the sister.

As if God wanted to test me further, my daughter got the viral attack and felt sick on the 3rd day as well. I had to cancel two of my training assignments and stay at home to look after both of them. I prayed and prayed and were reluctant to give them the paracetamol for fear of side effects but my spouse was worried. So, I gave in.

I am glad that I am in good shape, running and eating well. Thank you God for introducing me the vegetarian diet, my energy level has never been better. I know I should cast aside all worries and take this time to enjoy with my family. God bless us in our journey and may your words continue to strengthen us,lifting us up and be of positive influence to people that we meet.

​

This week has been quite traumatising for me. First, my son had fallen sick and his fever does not seem to subside after 2 days. I did not give him the usual paracetamol as I want him to build up a strong immunity system. Instead, I get him to drink lots of water, take warm water bath and have plenty of rest. But my wife was worried, today she came home and heard that his temperature was at high of 39 degree, she immediately went to give him the medicine. I was crossed as that would wasted my effort and not allow the body to have a chance to recover naturally.

I wonder if we are too used to the western medicine having lived in a society that is surrounded by hospitals, GPs, etc. We have forgotten that God that created us has also given us food that heals. We have conveniently forgotten that. I am blessed to have found moringa, a truly amazing plant that  I am very attached to. Then  I think again, she is his mother and like all mother, they want the best for their children. Having not seen her son for many hours due to work, she is naturally worried and also guilty for not doing enough for her son. That I can understand but still.....................

God forgive me and help me to make the right decision. This Saturday, we will travel to China to visit my mother in law and have a short trip together. But my wife said a relative of her mother is unconscious now and has been hospitalised. That worried her mother a lot. My wife has no choice but to cut short the trip and even cancelled part of the family outing. I told her it is ok so long as the family is still together. The kids will be too young to understand anyway.

Reading news each night about people contracting this disease and that pains my heart. If it is an act of God then it is fate, I guess but many like hypertension, diabetes and cholesterol are preventable. I have been at home looking after my son for 2 days so today I get a little bored. I decided to hit the road for a quick run while he is taking a nap. It was a quick run in the hot afternoon sun before my lunch. I felt great after the run, letting go of my lethargy and unnecessary stress that hang over me sometimes. 

Thank you Lord for his amazing way to educate me and make me do things that I may not able to see far away. I know I love my son unconditionally and any time I would exchange my position with him just to see him smile and laugh again. My heart pains seeing him like this. Father, I pray to you to heal him, rid him of the viral infection that had been toiling his health, get it out of his body permanently and restore him to his happy and bubbly self as before. I thank you Lord!!!!

Have you felt the weather is really hot ??? I was at the school recently doing a training and saw 3 students with eczema scar marks behind the knees, one guy on his face and the last boy has the most scars. My heart really goes out to them as I saw them scratching from time to time. It's like looking at myself in the mirror except my scratch for most time starts in the night. 

I prayed for them, that the itch disease would stop haunting these young souls completely, awake their parents consciousness to seek the proper diet for them and support them emotionally as well. At this age, they may be too young to feel anything but as they grow older, they may realise it - why they are different from others and why this condition befalls on them. I really empathise them as I know how it is to feel helpless and search for an answer that seems evasive and non-existent. 

I lost count of the number of times I have asked God, why me? God, why me? Why did you select this disease for me ? Is there a higher lesson you have for me that I am still unaware all these years? Show me signs and signals and help me to be strong, to rely on you completely and not on my own thinking. Lord, guide me to the right path, shine on the path of desperation as I sometimes feel I am on with nobody understand what I go through. 

I am constantly fearful that my kids would get it and may get paranoid if I see them not keeping clean, sweating profusely, etc. Help me , oh Lord, cheer me up as you always have. If not you, who? If not now, when God? 

​

Are the pedestrians more interested in the skills of the disguised old man ? Not apparently as you can see from the time he started playing, there was little to no crowd around him. It was only when the innocent young boy came that he disclosed his identity. Then a mob surrounds him.........

How sad that is to me that people judge you by your looks, fame rather than seeing deep on your talents and skills set.
Fortunately, our God see beyond what humans see in us. But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16.7

Friends, let not your temporary failure, setbacks bring you down. This is a necessary phase that we all go through, (some last longer while others shorter). No need to compare, just ride it through not on your own! Relying on our own strength is weak and we get fatigue easily, we need to borrow strength from God - whose supplies is infinite and generous in amount.

Think from the end of where you want to be - let those happy feelings swell over you, bit by bit, hours by hours, day by day. Nobody can do this for you but yourself. We are all born to be winners and winners do not quit in their journey. We all fail but that does not mean we are a FAILURE. A failure is when you give up and so long we do not give up, we have another day to fight. 

1 Peter 2:1-3 So get rid of every kind of evil, every kind of deception, hypocrisy, jealousy, and every kind of slander. Desire God’s pure word as newborn babies desire milk. Then you will grow in your salvation. Certainly you have tasted that the Lord is good!

Think about it before we throw out this verse! It make sense when you are cool and no longer harbour hatred, anger within you. I had something inside of me - some things not quite the way I want it to be - a mixed feelings of disappointment, betrayal and anger. I thought my run (usually) would help me flushed out this negative feelings but I discovered I was holding on to these emotions longer and harder than I should. The result? My run was not as enjoyable as I want it to be. It was not my legs that were heavy but the heart that still holds on to these unpleasant and unwanted feelings that caused the heaviness. 

Children are quick to get angry (when they don't get what they want) but they too are quick to forget and make up with their friends in a short time. Why do we adults behave differently then? Is it our pride that hold us hostage? To grow, we must look forward and not look behind the past. We forgive others and we must also forgive ourselves for we too have sinned. Each time, we do not forgive, we are in a way, standing still or degenerating. 

It is not easy, I know but it is a process that we must be willing to take. The more we practise, the better we get and the more we forgive and forget the mistakes of others and our own. When we can do that at ease, then we have outgrown ourselves in some way as we see things from a different perspective and lean closer to God's view.

Thank you son, Dad is extremely proud of you! We were supposed to run on each Saturday but you came home late from cell group on Friday and woke up around 8am yesterday. I could see you were tired and didn't want to do the weekly run. We went to church today and after celebrating Mother's Day (thank you honey), I asked would you like to join Dad for a run and you said yes. 

It was a wonderful run not just because you kept to your words but also this is the first time you ran 2km, 2 rounds the park without stopping to rest. It shows that your endurance and stamina has improved since our first training about 5 weeks ago. I ran another round because I could not contain the excitement within me. Thank you for keeping to your words, son. When you grow up and become an adult, this good habit would stay with you forever. 

You would remember the importance of keeping to one's integrity and not to say something when you don't really mean it. A man's words is his bonds, just like Jesus. When he said to believe in HIM, the salvation would come to those who believe. We did , didn't we? And we have been blessed in so many ways, haven't we ?

Keep thing simple son! You would go far if you learn this lesson well and I know you already did because you had shown by your deed (just like Jesus unconditional love for us). Thank you God for showing him wisdom and guidance and opening his heart to know the importance of keeping to one's words. It humbles me to watch my words as I said to him and remind myself of the each and every promises I have made to him and my family.

I love you so much son (unmeasurable just like how God loves you). Remember that always and it would gives you strength to carry on in times of difficulties.

But whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 1 John 2.5

I had just completed my 5km run a moment ago. Somehow, this run was a bit rough as I felt a little slow but nevertheless, I finished it. And it is often when I am running, creative ideas about my work, health, family, kids, etc that lingers on my mind came to me. 

Running may be a physical activity to stay healthy and fit but mentally, it also serves as a stress relief to me as well. When the mind is relaxed, ideas flow easily as the mind is unblock from thinking too hard about the problems. It also humbles me and serves as a lesson that I must continue my run, no matter what. Seeing many around me with tummy protruding out, national statistics show diabetes rate on the increase,etc - it puts me on high alert that I must not rest on my laurels but stay on the course.

To serve God, it is important that I maintain my health, both physically and mentally. 
Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.John 1.2

We are wonderfully made by God and if we are to serve Lord and do his work, we must ensure we have a healthy body. Thus, it is important to watch what we eat, putting in rubbish and junk food in our body is not only unwise but a path that is destine to go to waste. 

Then God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food"; and it was so.Genesis 1.29-30

This debate about whether we humans should eat meat has been ongoing for years. I do not know but ever since I quit eating it, I felt my a change in my body. My diet now consists mainly of starch like sweet potato, beancurd, lots of vegetables and fish and fruits. Some may say it is limited but I am contented with the myriad of choices available already. 

I think too may of us have acidic diet with too much fast food, junk food, sugary food in our body accumulated over the years. It is no wonder lifestyle diseases like high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes are on the increase. Would it not be sad to spend one's golden years with drips or wheelchairs ? I have seen more elderly who suffered from diabetes and had their legs amputated and are on wheelchair. It must be hard for them to spend their golden years like that.

Many of these diseases can be prevented if we take a little time and be conscious of what we put into our body. And if our body is the temple of Christ, it makes sense to feed it with the best (not the most expensive) food. To me, the best food means what the body needs naturally in terms of vitamins, minerals and nutrients.

And if we go back to our forefathers day where cupcakes and fast food were non existent, cancer was hardly heard of. As we progress in society, why then are we degrading in this area? Worse, our life expectancy seems to get longer and it is crucial that we see to it that our future is spent on things we enjoy doing with our partner/family and friends.

Begin now, gradually to start a simple exercise program. Take a 20 minutes walk or take that flight of stairs instead of the lift. Alight one stop earlier from your desired destination and take that walk. Have more portion of vegetables and keep your meat intake less frequent and lesser amount. Have enough rest, there is no need to accompany the laptop , mobile devices 7/24. They are not human but we are. And we need ample rest to recuperate, to repair our body.

Then, we can go out to the world and do God's work and not be affected by all these problems, bringing more joy and support to others!

Have a great Sunday !

Firstly, I picked another 50 cents yesterday after sending my daughter to school. But I did not pick it up immediately , which was not my usual self. I hesitated and in fact went to do my grocery shopping first before returning to get it. It was sitting nicely inside the drain but I was lucky enough to find a long stick and effortlessly, got it out in less than 10 seconds.

Next, I was blessed to meet a very nice guy who was really generous in giving me his Moringa cuttings and leaves. But I did not leave with just that. He gave me some wild berries, chiku fruit and even his own unique fertiliser. In addition, he added me to his whatsapp group of gardeners. That was really nice of him.

Lastly, I had a smooth and easy training session yesterday in school.All these 3 things make my day, feeling productive and useful. Thank you Lord, for the little things that meant a lot to me,each and every day.

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3.17