As part of my lenten preparation, I attend mass/stations of the cross Friday nights.
The good folks at St Bosco are screening movies on the life of the saints after stations of the cross. I got to learn about St Rita. She lies incorrupt, ie her body is still intact and on on display in a glass case in the Basilica of St. Rita in Cascia, Italy even though she died in 1457.
By today's standards, the movie moves at a slow pace and has a lot of war/killing scenes/death scenes. There were many times I wanted to just go home :)
Why am I talking about St Rita in my blog? Because
- she persisted in an atmosphere of violence/warring. Her husband was a knight, ie he went around killing people.
- she used love to win people around her back to God.
- she never gave up, even in the face of impossible circumstances
- she trusted God and stayed in constant communication, ie she kept praying.
Alamak, sounds like what my mom always says to me, you must pray you know, prayers are very important...
Monday, March 29, 2010
Happy Palm Sunday
Happy Palm Sunday everyone! Now we're into the last lap of Lent - Holy Week.
At St Bosco, we start Palm Sunday by assembling outside the church, or so I guess : because I was 10mins late and made it just as everyone was walking into chuch. As I entered church, someone handed me a palm. Perfect timing.
After mass, we had a short briefing by Father Cary, while waiting for him, I casually waved my palm in the air, turned to my fellow-lectors and asked - so what are we supposed to do with our palms? All these cradle catholics start to mutter : my mom puts it over a window/door, stick it on the wall...
I know it's significance, in fact, I explained it to the guys in the climbing gym when I went over, still holding my palm. But really, I still don't know what to do with it! So I left it in the vase of pussy-willows. At least it's blessed - it'll do its thing there.
The gym was empty - as it usually is on Sundays... see all the ropes hanging there forlorn.
So I got busy climbing and earned my first flapper in a realllly long time! I can't believe my eyes when I felt pain washing my hands after. Ow ow... Note the almost blister on the next finger as well. Clearly the weeks after leaving my hardcore friends behind in Singapore has taken its toil - got nice soft tender skin now :)
Almost the end of the weekend, I had dinner with Vincent at Justin Quek's bistro - Just In Bistro. You know, the Justin Quek of Les Amis. He moved to Taipei and has 3 restaurants now - the bistro is newly opened and the most affordable. The food, to my surprise, was not great. It was good, but nothing extraordinary. Not sure I'll return.
At St Bosco, we start Palm Sunday by assembling outside the church, or so I guess : because I was 10mins late and made it just as everyone was walking into chuch. As I entered church, someone handed me a palm. Perfect timing.
After mass, we had a short briefing by Father Cary, while waiting for him, I casually waved my palm in the air, turned to my fellow-lectors and asked - so what are we supposed to do with our palms? All these cradle catholics start to mutter : my mom puts it over a window/door, stick it on the wall...
I know it's significance, in fact, I explained it to the guys in the climbing gym when I went over, still holding my palm. But really, I still don't know what to do with it! So I left it in the vase of pussy-willows. At least it's blessed - it'll do its thing there.
The gym was empty - as it usually is on Sundays... see all the ropes hanging there forlorn.
So I got busy climbing and earned my first flapper in a realllly long time! I can't believe my eyes when I felt pain washing my hands after. Ow ow... Note the almost blister on the next finger as well. Clearly the weeks after leaving my hardcore friends behind in Singapore has taken its toil - got nice soft tender skin now :)
Almost the end of the weekend, I had dinner with Vincent at Justin Quek's bistro - Just In Bistro. You know, the Justin Quek of Les Amis. He moved to Taipei and has 3 restaurants now - the bistro is newly opened and the most affordable. The food, to my surprise, was not great. It was good, but nothing extraordinary. Not sure I'll return.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Wine & conference call... perfect!
As with all Monday evenings, we have the regular MMM conf call with our Houston counterparts.
Except, Luca, Elmo and myself decided to grab a nice dinner together. Luca as usual, suggests his favorite Italian restaurants, but Emily wanted to try something new. So we went to Bocco, a Spanish tapas place.
Luca brought along this Brit guy who works from some organization in HP which I do not quite understand. Nontheless, Luca said he'll pick up dinner tab, so we just need to play along. Ok.. free dinners are nice :)
So Emily and I swung by in a taxi and picked them up, headed over to the restaurant.
It was a great night, the Brit guy - Ivan, had a wicked sense of humour + his British accent, he had us in stiches all night! We had 2 bottles of wine, excellent stuff that the guys chose. I drank a small portion and was flush and happy by the time we left, rushed home to be 10mins late for the call. And food was good too.
Thanks guy, for making Monday night a great night for once.
Except, Luca, Elmo and myself decided to grab a nice dinner together. Luca as usual, suggests his favorite Italian restaurants, but Emily wanted to try something new. So we went to Bocco, a Spanish tapas place.
Luca brought along this Brit guy who works from some organization in HP which I do not quite understand. Nontheless, Luca said he'll pick up dinner tab, so we just need to play along. Ok.. free dinners are nice :)
So Emily and I swung by in a taxi and picked them up, headed over to the restaurant.
It was a great night, the Brit guy - Ivan, had a wicked sense of humour + his British accent, he had us in stiches all night! We had 2 bottles of wine, excellent stuff that the guys chose. I drank a small portion and was flush and happy by the time we left, rushed home to be 10mins late for the call. And food was good too.
Thanks guy, for making Monday night a great night for once.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Taipei Freeway Marathon 2010
Always a first time,
First time I...
- ran in a sandstorm
- ran against a 16knots headwind for half the race
- ran with an arsenal of a total 8km of training mileage
- ran a personal worst time of 2.49 from my watch (boo hoo, turning 40 this year has implications)
- saw Kenyan runners run with pain on their faces against the headwind. Made me feel that I am not all that crappy afterall!
Here's the article from Yahoo -
AFP/Chinese Taipei Road Running Assoc. Sun Mar 21, 6:43 am ET
TAIPEI (AFP) – Kenyan runners defied a severe sandstorm to win both the men's and women's titles in the Taipei Express Marathon Sunday, organisers said.
Henry Cherono crossed the line in two hours, 24 minutes and seven seconds, ahead of Taiwan's Chiang Chieh-wen, who clocked 2:27:37.
Cherono's compatriot Evelyne Kimuria won the women's title in 2:53:06.
Cherono's time was slower than his personal best of 2:12:11 and the Taipei Express's record of 2:16:41, set in 2005 by his compatriot David Kariuki.
Cherono said his run was hampered by strong winds that covered northern Taiwan in clouds of yellow dust, according to a statement released by the Chinese Taipei Road Running Association.
More than 1,500 people competed in the 42.2 kilometres (26.2 miles) event, while nearly 7,500 others took part in the half-marathon and other events.
Woo hoo!
On hindsight, I think I didn't run a 21k all 2009 (not sure), so this race felt good. Managed to get home, shower and make 10.30am morning mass (early too!). I am satisfied.
First time I...
- ran in a sandstorm
- ran against a 16knots headwind for half the race
- ran with an arsenal of a total 8km of training mileage
- ran a personal worst time of 2.49 from my watch (boo hoo, turning 40 this year has implications)
- saw Kenyan runners run with pain on their faces against the headwind. Made me feel that I am not all that crappy afterall!
Here's the article from Yahoo -
AFP/Chinese Taipei Road Running Assoc. Sun Mar 21, 6:43 am ET
TAIPEI (AFP) – Kenyan runners defied a severe sandstorm to win both the men's and women's titles in the Taipei Express Marathon Sunday, organisers said.
Henry Cherono crossed the line in two hours, 24 minutes and seven seconds, ahead of Taiwan's Chiang Chieh-wen, who clocked 2:27:37.
Cherono's compatriot Evelyne Kimuria won the women's title in 2:53:06.
Cherono's time was slower than his personal best of 2:12:11 and the Taipei Express's record of 2:16:41, set in 2005 by his compatriot David Kariuki.
Cherono said his run was hampered by strong winds that covered northern Taiwan in clouds of yellow dust, according to a statement released by the Chinese Taipei Road Running Association.
More than 1,500 people competed in the 42.2 kilometres (26.2 miles) event, while nearly 7,500 others took part in the half-marathon and other events.
Woo hoo!
On hindsight, I think I didn't run a 21k all 2009 (not sure), so this race felt good. Managed to get home, shower and make 10.30am morning mass (early too!). I am satisfied.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Wandering and wondering...
Yeah, I'm still on the same theme. Wandering and tired of doing so. Essentially, I want a new job, want out of Taiwan. But my efforts at finding a new job have met with zero success inspite of my valiant efforts. And prayers gone unanswered. A difficult time indeed. Last night, I went to mass - it was the feast of St Joseph. I was reading again at mass - prayers of the faithful, not Scripture.
I knew St Joseph as the patron saint for the worker. And was thinking, perfect, perhaps he will help my cause. You know, go whisper in Jesus' ear for me to get a new job or something. Guess what the sermon was... (yeah Fr Cary was preaching last night, I love his sermons). The theme was divinity of obscurity. St Joseph is literally obscure - no teaching, no wise words, even nothing much on him in the bible. The sermon was basically that you carried on, kept the faith, even if it makes you totally obscure, you keep going, doing the right thing.
Sigh... Alright alright. I'll endure.
Oh, BTW, on a brighter note. I got published. Straits Times forum page. My 2nd letter. Well, I've only written twice, come to think of it and, both times got published. Straits Times is really careful, they actually called me to verify that I was indeed the author.
Younger brother sent me a text message Saturday morning to say I am famous. I love family - they get impressed over very little.
I knew St Joseph as the patron saint for the worker. And was thinking, perfect, perhaps he will help my cause. You know, go whisper in Jesus' ear for me to get a new job or something. Guess what the sermon was... (yeah Fr Cary was preaching last night, I love his sermons). The theme was divinity of obscurity. St Joseph is literally obscure - no teaching, no wise words, even nothing much on him in the bible. The sermon was basically that you carried on, kept the faith, even if it makes you totally obscure, you keep going, doing the right thing.
Sigh... Alright alright. I'll endure.
Oh, BTW, on a brighter note. I got published. Straits Times forum page. My 2nd letter. Well, I've only written twice, come to think of it and, both times got published. Straits Times is really careful, they actually called me to verify that I was indeed the author.
Younger brother sent me a text message Saturday morning to say I am famous. I love family - they get impressed over very little.
Monday, March 15, 2010
What an honour...
So I'm a lector at mass this year.
I figured how hard is it to read the scripture readings, right? We all can read :) Well, if you want to do a good job, it involves a little more than ability to read. I'm still yo-yoing between reading too loud/energetically into the mike (too much!) and reading too fast (my usual nervous self).
Just checked emails and saw I'm scheduled for 2nd reading on Good Friday. What an honour! Thank you Lord, on the feast of your most holy salvavic act of dying for us all.
I figured how hard is it to read the scripture readings, right? We all can read :) Well, if you want to do a good job, it involves a little more than ability to read. I'm still yo-yoing between reading too loud/energetically into the mike (too much!) and reading too fast (my usual nervous self).
Just checked emails and saw I'm scheduled for 2nd reading on Good Friday. What an honour! Thank you Lord, on the feast of your most holy salvavic act of dying for us all.
Eating in a A380?
This weekend, we ate in a A380. It's a themed restaurant that Vincent suggested.
Interesting, where the waiter/waitresses greet you with a "welcome onboard!". And they were all dressed in stewardess like uniform, wheeled drinks in a trolley ala being in the air.
Food was passable, but overall quite a novelty.
When we stepped in, I asked for business class seats and the captain stared blankly at me, then he stammered out a 'we're all 1 class of seating here'. No sense of humour.
After dinner we walked over to the nearby dessert place that I really like - 台一牛奶大王. I got to stop ordering the same thing and try something different next time!
Oh and yeah, I did start running. Ran a total of 8km over 2 days - Sat & Sun. Hopefully that's enough training for my lungs. Hope I don't die over the half marathon this Sunday.
Friday, March 12, 2010
I am COLD!
This winter has been mild due to the El Nino effect, plus I had gone back to sunny Singapore for Christmas into the New year and again for Chinese New year when it was the coldest.
So the worst I endured was probably low teens celsius.
It's mid March and probably the last (i hope!) cold snap hit us and the thermometers dip to 7 degrees celsius in Taipei and I froze!
So glad I bought an electric blanket and so wanted to sleep with it switched on thru the night! (not good advice due to fire concerns). Last 2 nights, I actually fell asleep with the blanket still on, couldn't bring myself to switch it off, but I woke again sometime in the night to flick it off before falling back asleep.
Today the sun is back out, a beautiful cloudless day, a nice 20degrees. Ahh...
Mid-lenten reminder
Great reminder!
Mk 12:28
One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him,
“Which is the first of all the commandments?”
Jesus replied, “The first is this:
Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
The second is this:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Mk 12:28
One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him,
“Which is the first of all the commandments?”
Jesus replied, “The first is this:
Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
The second is this:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Monday, March 08, 2010
Lent this year
Somehow Lent crept up on me. Partly because it started while still chinese new year and while I was still back in Singapore.
After returning to Taipei and settling down (I had a lot of work to clear plus Aunty May and Adolfo both came to Taipei), half of Lent has gone me by.
It was sometime last week that I was moaning via MSN to Zi about how God doesn't answer prayers no more... Afterall, He's been ignoring my earnest prayers for years! And the kid in all her 24 years of wisdom says 'aiyah, you need to wander in the desert'. I had forgotten that Lent was modeled upon Jesus' 40 days of wandering in the desert, and of cos, the key message is to refocus, repent and turn back to God.
Zi isn't even catholic!
So yes God, I hear you thru Zi. I will wander and repent, return to God. Just that I feel I've wandered until I'm dusty... *whine* Yet, I will obey, repent and return to God *mumbles to self*
After returning to Taipei and settling down (I had a lot of work to clear plus Aunty May and Adolfo both came to Taipei), half of Lent has gone me by.
It was sometime last week that I was moaning via MSN to Zi about how God doesn't answer prayers no more... Afterall, He's been ignoring my earnest prayers for years! And the kid in all her 24 years of wisdom says 'aiyah, you need to wander in the desert'. I had forgotten that Lent was modeled upon Jesus' 40 days of wandering in the desert, and of cos, the key message is to refocus, repent and turn back to God.
Zi isn't even catholic!
So yes God, I hear you thru Zi. I will wander and repent, return to God. Just that I feel I've wandered until I'm dusty... *whine* Yet, I will obey, repent and return to God *mumbles to self*
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