If you asked me what I expected about this NY/Boston trip, I think I can echo a lot of things that my travel companion said - so I won't elaborate much:
http://samakshine.blogspot.com/2006/09/nyboston.html
What I enjoyed the most in this trip, however, is a time to observe closeup how my friends teach and guide and play with their children. It was a very nice time to just sit and watch the kids play (almost feel like I'm a parent as well!), and I feel so blessed just having the opportunity to watch and learn--watching my friend play with 3 & 6 years old just amazes me so much. Maybe one day if God wills it and I have my own kids, I will know where to turn to and get some advice about bringing up a few of my own.
The other thing I truly notice about myself in this trip and how much I desperately need God to teach me more about patience. Strangely God has freed quite a lot of my worries--it's as if He just gently tells me how good a plan He has in store for me, and the only thing I need to do is to trust Him--something I have never been able to do.
Many thoughts cross my mind; there are a lot of things I'll need to reflect more on--but time's running out. Need to go to lunch!! Last lunch before I leave NY. I may not miss the city much - but I think I really miss the reflection and quiet time...
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Friday, September 15, 2006
First 2 days in NY/NJ
I know I have said that I wasn't really looking forward to this NY trip--because of all the things going on at work and because I just started to catch a cold before I left. Nonetheless, I'm here now. Just wanna pen down a bit of what I have seen and done and felt before I forget :P
I am not exactly sure what impression NY gives me. Some scenes almost look like they're directly out of a hollywood movie, yet most it's *just* another N. American city. I mean I haven't been to NY before but I don't exactly feel like I'm out of place or a tourist (well, what do I expect?? It's the States.)
Hmmm... Where do I start? Our plane ride to NY (Harmony airways) was surprisingly pleasant. We were constantly being fed and being offered drinks... it was good. I tried to read a bit but ended up sleeping most of the time. We had a nice italian meal close to where my friend works (at a cancer research institute). It was good italian food. That was pretty much our first night. Our friend that we stayed with--he has a pretty huge place in NJ (his basement is like a daycare centre--apparently a necessity because of the 3 (most adorable) kids that he has... it was a very quiet and nice neighborhood
Second morning, because of the rain we decided to go to indoor places--which, of course, means museums. We hopped on the subway, took some pix at Grand Central Station, then headed straight to Metropolitan Museum of Art. Me not being an artsie person I think I was just strolling thru different rooms of paintings and displays just 'cuz I was there. Because of the cold pills I took I was very drowsy... so I ended up sitting on the bench in each room nodding right and left while my friends were enjoying the art. Well it was ok. If I am in NY I should go to some museums :P I was, however, interested in going to a guided tour (I figure I don't know art, so I may as well have someone explain to me each era and some famous artists, etc.etc)... because one of my friends is interested in impressionism/post-impressionism, we did that tour. It was actually quite good following the guide... because I learned some famouse names like Monet/ Renoir/ Manet/ Gua?? and some interesting stories behind each painting (forgot most of them already). It's amazing but we actually spent 5 hours in this museum (yeah I did my duty of taking tons of pictures, most of which I have no idea how deep they mean). Afterwards, we walked thru part of Central park and then went to Time Square to see the "night view". I think it wasn't until then that we actually felt like we were in NY =) We did go to Rockefeller Centre but didn't go onto any NBC studio tour (I think it probably would have been too late then anyways)... the drizzle sort of dampened our mood a bit and we took a train back to NJ.
This morning we woke up early and headed out. Our first stop was Ground zero. I don't know what got into me... maybe it was the somberness of the rain, in the midst of all displayed photographs and words of remembering the 9/11 event, I found myself crying for those lives that were lost and dearly missed. I don't know why--but part of my tears almost was shed because I know that one day we will forget--and one day these memories may fade into a mere event in the US history... in my mind was actually images of the 1989 event in Tienanmen Square... I tried to read every word and absorb every quote displayed... and I was moved by many little stories about love and kindness... We were there for quite a bit of time... then we headed to Century 21 dept store. Apparently a place that one can get a lot of brand name stuff for a discount price. I didn't end up buying anything, but one of my friends did...
In the afternoon, it's still pouring out there (thank God I remembered to bring an umbrella!)--we got a bit annoyed at the rain... we briefly stopped by Wall Street and NY stock exchange (the financial district doesn't look to me like a tourist attraction), then went into hiding at a Starbucks where we stayed/waited till 4pm, 'cuz MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) has free admission friday nites (from 4pm). Boy the line up was LONG!!!! We walked for >3 min and we still didn't see the end of the line... (I guess everyone else is as cheap as us! :P)
We spent another 4 hours in this museum. To be honest, if I weren't with my 2 friends, I would never have initiated going to a modern art museum. But since I went there I may as well try to enjoy myself... I'll probably write more later about this, but when I came out I saw everything as "art"... 'cuz it seems like everything can be art and can be interpreted in a very insightful way!! I still cannot help be amazed how those dots or lines against a red background can induce emotion... but apparently they have gained acceptance so I guess they must be good art?? Well, I dutifully took quite a lot of pictures--esp. those ones where everyone else seems to be taking pictures of. =)
The first 2 full days we didn't go to as many places as we wanted--mostly because of the rain. Anyways, several misc observations. Starbucks is everywhere. This shouldn't come as a surprise... but to see 5 Starbucks w/in 5 min of walking distance is still pretty scary. NY people are nicer than I thought. Well, I don't know why I thought NY people might be rude or arrogant or something, but quite a few people offered to help us just in the past 2 days. I was on the Subway today, and because I am still a bit sick I was kinda standing and dozing off a bit, a guy must have caught my nodding and actually asked me to take his seat (I thought he was getting off on that stop but apparently he stayed on the subway.) There are taxis EVERYWHERE. This shouldn't come as a surprise either... but then it's just that when a whole bunch of yellow cars are stacked up on the road and beeping each other in the middle of intersection, it's still quite a scene. There are nail places everywhere. Actually my friend and I only observed that the first day we arrived. OH yeah, last but not least (also not surprisingly)--the commuting that most people do to work is horrible. I always complain about having to drive for 50 min to Langley to work... that is so insignificant compared to what my friend has to go through every morning and night. Almost 1.5 hours... and in bad traffic as well. I mean, if it's just distance on the hwy I may still be ok, but if I were him I probably wouldn't survive having to commute that long for work.
Hmmm.... everything is kinda messy but at least I unloaded a bit of my experience in the first 2 days of my trip. Tmr another friend is supposed to pick us up and we'll head to Boston. My best friend told me that Boston is a very cultural city--so now I'm kinda looking forward to it.
I am not exactly sure what impression NY gives me. Some scenes almost look like they're directly out of a hollywood movie, yet most it's *just* another N. American city. I mean I haven't been to NY before but I don't exactly feel like I'm out of place or a tourist (well, what do I expect?? It's the States.)
Hmmm... Where do I start? Our plane ride to NY (Harmony airways) was surprisingly pleasant. We were constantly being fed and being offered drinks... it was good. I tried to read a bit but ended up sleeping most of the time. We had a nice italian meal close to where my friend works (at a cancer research institute). It was good italian food. That was pretty much our first night. Our friend that we stayed with--he has a pretty huge place in NJ (his basement is like a daycare centre--apparently a necessity because of the 3 (most adorable) kids that he has... it was a very quiet and nice neighborhood
Second morning, because of the rain we decided to go to indoor places--which, of course, means museums. We hopped on the subway, took some pix at Grand Central Station, then headed straight to Metropolitan Museum of Art. Me not being an artsie person I think I was just strolling thru different rooms of paintings and displays just 'cuz I was there. Because of the cold pills I took I was very drowsy... so I ended up sitting on the bench in each room nodding right and left while my friends were enjoying the art. Well it was ok. If I am in NY I should go to some museums :P I was, however, interested in going to a guided tour (I figure I don't know art, so I may as well have someone explain to me each era and some famous artists, etc.etc)... because one of my friends is interested in impressionism/post-impressionism, we did that tour. It was actually quite good following the guide... because I learned some famouse names like Monet/ Renoir/ Manet/ Gua?? and some interesting stories behind each painting (forgot most of them already). It's amazing but we actually spent 5 hours in this museum (yeah I did my duty of taking tons of pictures, most of which I have no idea how deep they mean). Afterwards, we walked thru part of Central park and then went to Time Square to see the "night view". I think it wasn't until then that we actually felt like we were in NY =) We did go to Rockefeller Centre but didn't go onto any NBC studio tour (I think it probably would have been too late then anyways)... the drizzle sort of dampened our mood a bit and we took a train back to NJ.
This morning we woke up early and headed out. Our first stop was Ground zero. I don't know what got into me... maybe it was the somberness of the rain, in the midst of all displayed photographs and words of remembering the 9/11 event, I found myself crying for those lives that were lost and dearly missed. I don't know why--but part of my tears almost was shed because I know that one day we will forget--and one day these memories may fade into a mere event in the US history... in my mind was actually images of the 1989 event in Tienanmen Square... I tried to read every word and absorb every quote displayed... and I was moved by many little stories about love and kindness... We were there for quite a bit of time... then we headed to Century 21 dept store. Apparently a place that one can get a lot of brand name stuff for a discount price. I didn't end up buying anything, but one of my friends did...
In the afternoon, it's still pouring out there (thank God I remembered to bring an umbrella!)--we got a bit annoyed at the rain... we briefly stopped by Wall Street and NY stock exchange (the financial district doesn't look to me like a tourist attraction), then went into hiding at a Starbucks where we stayed/waited till 4pm, 'cuz MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) has free admission friday nites (from 4pm). Boy the line up was LONG!!!! We walked for >3 min and we still didn't see the end of the line... (I guess everyone else is as cheap as us! :P)
We spent another 4 hours in this museum. To be honest, if I weren't with my 2 friends, I would never have initiated going to a modern art museum. But since I went there I may as well try to enjoy myself... I'll probably write more later about this, but when I came out I saw everything as "art"... 'cuz it seems like everything can be art and can be interpreted in a very insightful way!! I still cannot help be amazed how those dots or lines against a red background can induce emotion... but apparently they have gained acceptance so I guess they must be good art?? Well, I dutifully took quite a lot of pictures--esp. those ones where everyone else seems to be taking pictures of. =)
The first 2 full days we didn't go to as many places as we wanted--mostly because of the rain. Anyways, several misc observations. Starbucks is everywhere. This shouldn't come as a surprise... but to see 5 Starbucks w/in 5 min of walking distance is still pretty scary. NY people are nicer than I thought. Well, I don't know why I thought NY people might be rude or arrogant or something, but quite a few people offered to help us just in the past 2 days. I was on the Subway today, and because I am still a bit sick I was kinda standing and dozing off a bit, a guy must have caught my nodding and actually asked me to take his seat (I thought he was getting off on that stop but apparently he stayed on the subway.) There are taxis EVERYWHERE. This shouldn't come as a surprise either... but then it's just that when a whole bunch of yellow cars are stacked up on the road and beeping each other in the middle of intersection, it's still quite a scene. There are nail places everywhere. Actually my friend and I only observed that the first day we arrived. OH yeah, last but not least (also not surprisingly)--the commuting that most people do to work is horrible. I always complain about having to drive for 50 min to Langley to work... that is so insignificant compared to what my friend has to go through every morning and night. Almost 1.5 hours... and in bad traffic as well. I mean, if it's just distance on the hwy I may still be ok, but if I were him I probably wouldn't survive having to commute that long for work.
Hmmm.... everything is kinda messy but at least I unloaded a bit of my experience in the first 2 days of my trip. Tmr another friend is supposed to pick us up and we'll head to Boston. My best friend told me that Boston is a very cultural city--so now I'm kinda looking forward to it.
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Errrr... I won?
I actually WON an iPOD shuffle. This kind of "You are an instant winner!" has never happened to me before.
A friend and I went jogging fairly early this morning (actually I invited her to start at 7am but she ended up calling me this morning at 7:05 to wake me up! Bad bad me). We discovered that there's Starbucks in a newly renovated Safeway near her house. Normally our Sat jogging route is to go from her house to a nearby Starbucks (~25 min jog), get our favorite drinks, sit down and chat for ~1.5 hours before slowly walking home. Needless to say it's a very leisurely jog time that takes a whole morning. This morning, however, we had no such luxury. We missed our jogging session yesterday because I had to go for dim sum with some friends, and this morning her husband needed to leave the house by 8:15am (so we need to come back by then). In a desperate attempt to fit in some time to jog this week, we decided to get up extra early.
Anyways, we decided to go a slightly different route--instead of jogging to the Starbucks we normally go to, we wanted to loop back near her place before buying a Starbucks. I ordered my fav iced non-fat tazo chai, and my friend asked me to order her lemonade... when the lady gave me my receipt, she mumbled something about going to the other end to pick up something.
I was confused, but I followed her instruction, and then the second lady told me that I won an iPOD shuffle, asked me to fill out something, and then just gave the box to me. I was still a little confused, but winning something is always good... so I was telling my friend (she left for a moment) that actually it should be hers because I actually used her money to pay for our drinks. Both of us thought that we couldn't really use an iPOD shuffle because neither of us have an iPOD. Not until when we went back to her place that her husband told us that it's a stand alone MP3 player! I was like... "oh, COOL!"
Good thing I didn't buy an MP3 player in the past few months (have been thinking about it, since everyone seems to have one and it's good for gym)... now I can use this thing--well, once I have figured out how to use it =)
Yeah, so it's a good day today =)
A friend and I went jogging fairly early this morning (actually I invited her to start at 7am but she ended up calling me this morning at 7:05 to wake me up! Bad bad me). We discovered that there's Starbucks in a newly renovated Safeway near her house. Normally our Sat jogging route is to go from her house to a nearby Starbucks (~25 min jog), get our favorite drinks, sit down and chat for ~1.5 hours before slowly walking home. Needless to say it's a very leisurely jog time that takes a whole morning. This morning, however, we had no such luxury. We missed our jogging session yesterday because I had to go for dim sum with some friends, and this morning her husband needed to leave the house by 8:15am (so we need to come back by then). In a desperate attempt to fit in some time to jog this week, we decided to get up extra early.
Anyways, we decided to go a slightly different route--instead of jogging to the Starbucks we normally go to, we wanted to loop back near her place before buying a Starbucks. I ordered my fav iced non-fat tazo chai, and my friend asked me to order her lemonade... when the lady gave me my receipt, she mumbled something about going to the other end to pick up something.
I was confused, but I followed her instruction, and then the second lady told me that I won an iPOD shuffle, asked me to fill out something, and then just gave the box to me. I was still a little confused, but winning something is always good... so I was telling my friend (she left for a moment) that actually it should be hers because I actually used her money to pay for our drinks. Both of us thought that we couldn't really use an iPOD shuffle because neither of us have an iPOD. Not until when we went back to her place that her husband told us that it's a stand alone MP3 player! I was like... "oh, COOL!"
Good thing I didn't buy an MP3 player in the past few months (have been thinking about it, since everyone seems to have one and it's good for gym)... now I can use this thing--well, once I have figured out how to use it =)
Yeah, so it's a good day today =)
Poor in spirit
This morning we had quite a good sermon. The topic was "Blessed are the poor in spirit," --so obviously an introduction to the Sermon on the Mount. I had studied this particular passage before (a long time ago) and took quite a liking to this passage, because it presents to me a very good reminder of the should-have's in all Christians. Of course, as in the Love chapter in 1 Corinthians, these character traits are impossible goals to master but a must-have (to a certain degree) of all who claim to be Christians. A perfect standard, as Augustine said.
PJ reminded us that to be poor in spirit, we must be humble and not reliant on ourselves too much. This was a simiple statement, one that, in theory, probably is known by all Christians. Yes we are to trust God more and not to be too confident in ourselves. Yet when I look deeper into this statement, I almost feel a little bit of fear rising up in me--because the matter of fact is that I do rely on myself too much. I do often do calculating decisions on whether I can achieve something--accounting for my own capabilities. I am quite prideful of my own abilities.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit" - I remember that when I first studied the passage, there was quite a bit of discussion on the word "blessed". Its not just normal "blessing"--something that a Divine Being has given to us--but the word is also associated with the notion of "happiness" (in modern context probably joy/delight is a better word) and also approval by God. Poverty in spirit--the state of being completely spiritually bankrupt. Emptiness. Helplessness. A geniune confession of not having any spiritual assets--that if we are to have some, we must beg for it. Honestly, at this age and day, to be able to maintain that kind of attitude is nearly impossible. When does humility come down to admitting that we have nothing? I have many friends who say they are humble while displaying their pride--and I certainly have been in those shoes myself. Sometimes thinking about how far I need to go in my journey of faith to be able to possess this attitude just shakes me to the core.
I am truly thankful for PJ to introduce Matthew 5 into my life. Haven't thought about it much these days--it's time for more reflection.
PJ reminded us that to be poor in spirit, we must be humble and not reliant on ourselves too much. This was a simiple statement, one that, in theory, probably is known by all Christians. Yes we are to trust God more and not to be too confident in ourselves. Yet when I look deeper into this statement, I almost feel a little bit of fear rising up in me--because the matter of fact is that I do rely on myself too much. I do often do calculating decisions on whether I can achieve something--accounting for my own capabilities. I am quite prideful of my own abilities.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit" - I remember that when I first studied the passage, there was quite a bit of discussion on the word "blessed". Its not just normal "blessing"--something that a Divine Being has given to us--but the word is also associated with the notion of "happiness" (in modern context probably joy/delight is a better word) and also approval by God. Poverty in spirit--the state of being completely spiritually bankrupt. Emptiness. Helplessness. A geniune confession of not having any spiritual assets--that if we are to have some, we must beg for it. Honestly, at this age and day, to be able to maintain that kind of attitude is nearly impossible. When does humility come down to admitting that we have nothing? I have many friends who say they are humble while displaying their pride--and I certainly have been in those shoes myself. Sometimes thinking about how far I need to go in my journey of faith to be able to possess this attitude just shakes me to the core.
I am truly thankful for PJ to introduce Matthew 5 into my life. Haven't thought about it much these days--it's time for more reflection.
Friday, September 08, 2006
NY trip approaching!
Sigh. This is bad. I am less than a week away from my trip to New York and I have no idea whether I am excited or not. I just have too much on my mind. Mainly work - things have been crazy every since a takeover offer was placed on our company. I have been having meetings all days without any time to "think" or do any project planning. With 3 more days at work before I have to take off, I haven't even started offloading work to others (nor can I think of anyone who I can offload work to)!
So, about the NY trip. Initially I didn't even hesitate going on the trip because I haven't been on vacation since January and I have tons of holidays... and I'm supposed to take a course in Washington DC. Since then my plan changed and course won't be till December.
It's not like I don't want a vacation, but like what some studies show, I have this anxiety created in me that tells me that vacation only adds on my stress before and after the trip (Just observing my boss I know what will happen to me when I come back). Whereas I can plan a lot of things in life, trying to plan an itinerary is definitely not my strength. I developed a headache a few days back just trying to decide on a hotel in Boston and what to do and how to commute around the city.
But God (as usual) kinda just planned everything out for me. Without me researching on anything, suddenly I have a friend who has given me itinerary outlining what my friend and I will do in NY/NJ, and then another friend volunteered himself to be driver for the Boston part of the trip. I DON'T HAVE TO PLAN! =)
But I'm still anxious. Everyone tells me not to bring work with me, but I really don't want to come back after 10 days and have to fix all the things that go wrong or got slipped or missed. Not that I'm that important at work (I know everyone's dispensible), but I don't want to have to put out little fires when I come back... so decision is made: I'm bringing my laptop with me.
Honestly - I can't say that I'm very excited about the trip. I regret a little bit that I chose this very bad time to go on vacation. But hopefully I'll be able to have some quiet time planning a bit (something that I never get to do during work hours). Maybe not only work, but also my life as well!
So, about the NY trip. Initially I didn't even hesitate going on the trip because I haven't been on vacation since January and I have tons of holidays... and I'm supposed to take a course in Washington DC. Since then my plan changed and course won't be till December.
It's not like I don't want a vacation, but like what some studies show, I have this anxiety created in me that tells me that vacation only adds on my stress before and after the trip (Just observing my boss I know what will happen to me when I come back). Whereas I can plan a lot of things in life, trying to plan an itinerary is definitely not my strength. I developed a headache a few days back just trying to decide on a hotel in Boston and what to do and how to commute around the city.
But God (as usual) kinda just planned everything out for me. Without me researching on anything, suddenly I have a friend who has given me itinerary outlining what my friend and I will do in NY/NJ, and then another friend volunteered himself to be driver for the Boston part of the trip. I DON'T HAVE TO PLAN! =)
But I'm still anxious. Everyone tells me not to bring work with me, but I really don't want to come back after 10 days and have to fix all the things that go wrong or got slipped or missed. Not that I'm that important at work (I know everyone's dispensible), but I don't want to have to put out little fires when I come back... so decision is made: I'm bringing my laptop with me.
Honestly - I can't say that I'm very excited about the trip. I regret a little bit that I chose this very bad time to go on vacation. But hopefully I'll be able to have some quiet time planning a bit (something that I never get to do during work hours). Maybe not only work, but also my life as well!
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