I hope that's not Meng Yang's car

Life in UK - The Ant and the Grasshopper

CLASSIC VERSION: The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks he's a fool, and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the Ant is warm and well fed. The shivering grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold. THE END.

UK VERSION: The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks he's a fool, and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. So far, so good, eh?

The shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others less fortunate, like him, are cold and starving. The BBC shows up to provide live coverage of the shivering grasshopper, with cuts to a video of the ant in his comfortable warm home in Hampstead with a table laden with food.

The British are stunned that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so while others have plenty. The BH-Liberal Party, the Respect Party, the Transvestites With Starving Babies Party, the Single L£sbian One Eyed Mothers Party and the Coalition Against Poverty demonstrate in front of the ant's house. The BBC, interrupting a Rastafarian cultural festival special from Grimsby with breaking news, broadcasts them singing "We Shall Overcome." Ken Livingstone laments in an interview with Panorama that the ant has got rich off the backs of grasshoppers, and calls for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his "fair share".

In response, the Labour Government drafts the Economic Equity and Grasshopper Anti-Discrimination Act, retroactive to the beginning of the summer. The ant's taxes are reassessed, and he is also fined for failing to Hire grasshoppers as helpers. Without enough money to pay the fine and his newly imposed retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by Camden Council.

The ant moves to France, and starts a successful AgriBiz company [funded by the EU] (although within weeks, his business is threatened with Compulsory purchase by the state unless he marries a French ant). The BBC later shows the now fat grasshopper finishing up the last of the ant's food, though Spring is still months away, while the government house he is in, which just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around him because he hasn't bothered to maintain it.

Inadequate government funding is blamed, Diane Abbot is appointed to head a commission of enquiry that will cost GBP10,000,000. The grasshopper is soon dead of a drug overdose, the Guardian blames it on the obvious failure of government to address the root causes of despair arising from social inequity. The abandoned house is taken over by a Gang of immigrant spiders, praised by the government for enriching Britain's multicultural diversity, who promptly set up a marijuana growing Operations and terrorize the community. THE END.

Won the battle, Lost the war

Apart from the opening 10 minutes, Arsenal totally overwhelmed Manure. 2-1 looks tight (especially an injury time winner) but there's no denying Arsenal was, clearly, the better side. Rooney's theatrics and Ronaldo's time-wasting tactics were shameful and takes away the shine from the huge potential and match-winning abilities.
As said, Arsenal is probably not going to win the League after league defeats at Bolton and Newcastle and the inability to win while clearly on top (at home to Newcastle). This win, however, got us bragging rights and, more importantly, a greater sense of self-belief. A group of up-and-coming players against has-beens.
Opening up the title race and ensuring an exciting finale isn't of interest to me since Arsenal is not longer to be in it (I am a realist). The Champions League is of utmost importance, giving the tottering south London neighbours a stuffing comes a close second.
If Arsenal can win the CL and FA Cup, it may well be a dream come true.

7 hours to reality...

The buzz and adrenaline has yet to set in, despite the game being less than 7 hours away. Looking outside, the weather looks very good. None of the hurriance-strong winds that have been hitting London. Emirates has not had a memorable game to date, a fortess that has been built but not feared.

Here's how I think the teams will line up (and the stronger of the two).

Lehmann - Van der Sar (Lehmann)
Hoyte - Neville (Neville)
Toure - Vidic (Toure)
Senderos - Ferdinand (Ferdinand)
Clichy - Evra (Evra)
Rosicky -Ronaldo (Ronaldo)
Helb - Giggs (Giggs)
Flamini -Carrick (Carrick)
Cesc -Scholes (Cesc)
Henry -Saha (Henry)
Van Persie -Rooney (Rooney)

7-4 in favour of Manure. Man-for-man, Arsenal does look the weaker side since we have no big names BUT collectively we should give the current league leader a run for their money. After all we beat them 1-0 at the Bishan Stadium. All about fulfulling the "potential" and bragging rights come Monday. I am rooting for a 2-0 score (hoping a clean sheet since I have Clichy, Cesc and Henry in my Fantasy football team!).

Com'on Gunners!

Xuefeng's Grad Trip

5 May (Sat)
Arrive in London in the morning. Chauffeur to pick up Tau Yee, Meng Yang and Xuefeng from Heathrow to Canary Wharf. To fight the jetlag, no staying at home for the morning and afternoon.
Visit Greenwich in the morning and then take a river cruise down the Thames from Cutty Sark to Tower Bridge. Visit Tower Bridge and Tower Hill, then proceed to Borough Market for lunch. Visit Tate London and then to London Eye for an 1hr ride. Sightseeing at Westminister (Big Ben, Parliament House).
Finish off with dinner at Covent Garden (either Spanish or Belgian). Walk down the river towards Waterloo and then proceed home for an early night coz adventure starts tomorrow!
6 May (Sun) - 8 May (Tue)
Fly via Easyjet to Venice (depart at 730am). Visit Doge's Palace (Palazzo Ducale) and Piazza San Marco (St. Mark's Square), and enjoy a gondola ride on the canals. Leave in the afternoon for Milan.
8 May (Tue) - 9 May (Wed)
Milan is a stopover for us going into Switzerland since there is only one train leaving from Venice. Spend the day shopping and do some sightseeing in Milan (Lake Como for me, shopping for the ladies). Spend a night in Milan and leave for Luzern in the evening of Wed
9 May (Wed) - 13 May (Sun)
Luzern will be our launchpad for most Swiss activites. We will be travelling westward towards Gevena. Things to do:
Eiger - Jungfrau Glacier Panorama View
Mount Titlis
Interlaken
Geneva
Xueyan and Yibao will depart from Geneva to London. The rest will continue on a train towards Paris. Reach Paris on Sunday night (which is good since all retail shops are closed in Paris on Sunday)
14 May (Mon) - 16 May (Wed)
Visit Eiffel Tower, Shopping at Champs-Elysees, art appreciation at the Lourve, Dame hunting at Notre Dame, cruise down River Seine. Leave for Amsterdam in the afternoon via train.
16 May (Wed) - 18 May (Fri)
Arrive in Amsterdam. To stay at Marriot Renaissance. Spend the afternoon touring the small town of Amsterdam, visit Anne Frank's House. Thursday morning - take Half Day Tour to Alkmaar Cheese Market and Schermerhorn Windmills. Afternoon in Amsterdam. Friday morning - take Half day Tour to Keukenhof tulip garden. Afternoon return to Amsterdam for free and easy. Depart for London in the evening (Reach 5pm). Musical in the evening in London West End (either Phantom of the Opera or Mama Mia!)
19 May (Sat)
Day trip to Cambridge. Dinner at Royal China.
20 May (Sun)
Free and easy in the morning - Xuefeng to decide. Afternoon at Buckingham Palace. Leave for Singapore at night

Silly me!

Someone found a glitch on the Ryanair website the other day and shared the "good news". Tickets went for just 1p (yes 1pence=S$0.03) WITHOUT TAXES and SERVICE charges. Seeing this good offer, I went ahead and booked 4 tickets for ourselves and Pat/Jamie. The total charge came out to 8p (return). Guess what silly me did? I paid by credit card and incurred £14.10 on the transaction. Darn, really stupid. Good thing it's shared by 4 persons which mean each of us has to pay just £3+ pounds on the flight. Still, an extremely good deal.
I had no idea where to go, so long I can get the tickets. Every other place was being snapped up. I saw that Hamburg, Germany was still available and went ahead to buy the tickets with no idea of:
1) Where in Germany lies Hamburg?
2) What to do/see in Hamburg?
3) How to get to Hamburg from the Luebeck airport (where we are flying into)?

Turns out that this "confused purchase" has just brought us to a UNESCO World Heritage in Luebeck! Check out the link. Instead of going Hamburg, now we might just stay on in Luebeck to enjoy this mediaeval town!

I passed my exams!

Now onto CFA Level II. Sigh got to start studying again....

iCar in 2008?

Time for me to change handphone?

My present phone

The new iPhone

The iPhone is much higher-end than I thought it would be: It has not only GSM, EDGE, and Bluetooth (and notably, not one of the 3G high-speed cellular networks) but Wi-Fi and a gigantic, super-high-res touch screen. It surfs the Web with a desktop-quality browser and gets push e-mail — but notice that it's personal Yahoo! e-mail, not corporate e-mail, and there's no solution for editing document attachments. This is a consumer phone, not a business phone.
But high-end smartphones like this are only a sliver of the U.S. market, and most of them are sold to business customers, not to consumers.
If Apple hopes to sweep the nation, it'll be banking on its famed usability and brand identity to push this costly device (one of the most expensive phones I've ever seen, even with a two-year contract) forward.
The interface looks a lot like an iPod, and a lot like OS X. This is good — great, in fact — because cell-phone interfaces have needed an overhaul for years.
Many phones today are based either on ancient OSes developed before mobile media, or picky PDA operating systems designed to be tapped with a stylus.
The iPhone's elegant scrolling and big buttons take smartphone applications and get rid of the need for a stylus.
Apple aims to solve the famous problem of cell-phone usability with an all-touchscreen interface that you can tap with your finger rather than a stylus.
Americans haven't taken to all-touchscreen phones before because of the lack of tactile feedback proving that you've pressed a button, and the unattractive "screen grease" look that results from pressing your cheek to a touchscreen.
- Extract from Fox News

Arsenal 9 Liverpool 4

Over two games I meant. Liverpool fans and Weixiong, eat your hearts out! Absolutely the best "reserve" game I have seen in a while against a relatively strong side. After all, Pool's the third best team in Liverpool after Everton and Tranmere.

One for the memories!

What's next?

Just had my appraisal today. It goes according to my expectations. A boring *guess?* for work done in the last 5 months. Was told that I did my work well and can be trusted to perform the tasks efficiently. However, my performance rating will be benchmarked against every executive in the department. Against Mark (4 years in product control), Hengyi (1.5 years) etc. Certainly dun think this is fair but I kept my mouth shut given that it would be a futile attempt. How can I be benchmarked against seniors who are aiming for managerial positions soon? Looks like the coming 2 months would be my last in Middle Office.

Had lunch with my former boss today to seek his opinion on my next rotation. One of the few Christians I know in Barcap and whom I can seek godly advice. Once again, it seems that prospects within Finance are quite limited (for me, who's keen on research and analytical stuff). Even his department, which seems rather interesting, only takes in MBA graduates.

So what's next for me? Do a MBA? Hang in there and hope for the best? Really got to trust God with His plans for me. A place where I can shine forth His Glory and be a "salt and light" to the world. Indeed a struggle between personal desires and godly destiny. May I be atuned to His Heart and be obedient to His cause, whatever it be for me.

Is this a travel blog?

I can't imagine this blog, which was meant to detail our lives here, has actually grown to be a "semi-travel" blog. Time to revamp?

Anyway the first day of the work week for us has got us kan-cheong. For Xueyan, it's the thought of going through the week "smoking". For myself, hoping to survive tonight's late shift with just Mark and Alastair (Hengyi, Andy and David are on leave!). Good thing, trades were closed early for me to complete the lates for tonight.

Xueyan cooked a marvellous meal tonight with steamed cod fish, fried egg with prawns and crabstick and sambal calamari! Time for me to feast into the seafood feast!

Spending April in Sweden/Finland

Yes, yet another travel. This time we will be going to Helsinki/Stockholm over the Good Friday and Easter long weekend (6 - 9 April).

We will be flying into Helsinki with Mark/Francine (at least them at the moment), and thereafter taking a cruise over the Baltic Sea with Viking Line. Yes, this ship...

... will take us from Helsinki to Stockholm via Mariehamn. An overnight cruise which would allow us to see the beautiful Swedish islands when we awake in the morning. All these at the recommendation of Tua Yee which travelled this route with her husband many years back. Haha, time for us to savour the moment!

Thanks for 2006, looking forward to 2007

Just came back from CG an hour ago. The theme for tonight was for us to remember 10 things (at least!) to thank God for 2006 and things to pray for in 2007. Initially I thought it would be difficult to remember 10 things, turned out 10's not enough. Anyway here's the ten...

1. For Xueyan to come over to London for us to enjoy life together as a couple in a foreign environment;
2. For Xueyan to amazingly find a job on her last day in London (back in Jan-06) before she returned to Singapore for CNY;
3. Finding and settling into Emmanuel Evangelical Church and the Canary Wharf Young Adults care group;
4. Good health and peace in my family back in Singapore (so glad to be back in Singapore come Feb for CNY!);
5. For my current job rotation (though I have been complaining at times being scolded by the traders);
6. Journey mercy on all our Europe travels;
7. My knee which survived the skiing in Zermatt, Switzerland;
8. For Kia Ngee who so faithfully blessed us by fetching us to church every Sunday;
9. Assimilation into London, getting used to the food/weather/culture (and enjoying dim sum every other weekend);
10. For every new day God has given to us to live and witness His Glory in action!

Prayer items for the new year

1. Personal - being able to spend more time reading His Word, reading more literature and brushing up on my guitar skills;
2. Cell - more active in worship and (prayerfully) leading more worship and bible study sessions;
3. Church - currently not in any ministry but hopes to get more involved in church activities and to attend more Christian Education sessions such as Spiritual Parenting

AND on a personal basis...

Good bonuses for 2006 (to be declared end Feb-07) and an exciting third and final rotation (I am praying for Strategic Planning!)...

Exciting days ahead!

RM9.99 from Malaysia to London

Unbelievable but it's true! Check out the link. So who's visiting us?!?!?

Back to Singapore Part II

SQ319

Depart London - 10 Feb, 18:15

Arrive Singapore - 11 Feb, 14:55

SQ322

Depart Singapore - 25 Feb, 23:20

Arrive London - 26 Feb, 05:25

Switzerland (22 to 26 Dec 2006)

Guess you folks back home must have read/heard about the fog in London. Yes it was very terrible, basically once you stepped out of the house, you can't see anything more than 50m. In fact, you can't even see Canary Wharf from where we are staying (check out the photos).

Our flight got delayed for a day. This after fighting to get a transfer to another Zurich flight at Luton (taxi fare S$450 from London City Airport). We were told of the cancellation and postponement after getting onto the plane! We finally left London for Zurich at 12noon Sat, a good 30 hours from our initial booking.

We finally get into Zurich, from there we took a train to Zermatt (good 4.5 hours away). Zermatt is simply too beautiful, although it's very commercialised. Matterhorn, in life, looks so much prettier than what I see in photos. 2 days of skiing took its toll on us as we left with swollen calves and tired arms. But it's definitely worth it and we will definitely want to return to Zermatt soon!

Valencia (9 to 10 Dec 2006)

Yes, yet another holiday. But this was a short weekend getaway via Ryanair @ 1p! So off we went with Serene, stayed in a reasonable good hotel and had breakfast for three! All at £63, good deal!
Despite Valencia being Spain's third largest city, it looks remarkably quaint and closed (not many Asian faces around - sense of tourism) and felt a lot smaller than Barcelona. We could walk around the town on foot and cover most places.
Have a feel via our pictures!

Peace ensues

A good 1 week since the "incident". Thankfully common sense prevails. The best thing out of it was that I became more sensitive to her feelings. Maybe it's just difficult for her to be here alone - in some sense. As a man, it might be easy to rationalise certain things but you know gals... haiz...

On an even better note, Xueyan's going for another internal interview again - this time with Emerging Market Product Control. Apparently headed by a Singaporean who incidentally applied to my former FP&A department. This looks like a permanent posting which means 1) better for her career and future posting to Singapore BUT 2)slightly worse off in cash flow. Structured Equities, Cash Equities and, now, Emerging Markets - looks like a good rotation on its own too!

Beer - Man's comforter

Alas, it took me so long to realise when grown-up men turn to beer on TV, after after a quarrel (usually involving relationships).

As said earlier, I had an argument with Xueyan on Friday night. Things certainly got worse on Saturday. Can count on one hand the number of sentences exchanged. Have I misunderstood her? Am I getting complacent in this relationship? Has my apology not suffice?

I went to bed last night without saying anything. I remember Ephesians 4:26 (In your anger, do not sin; DO NOT LET THE SUN GO DOWN ON YOUR ANGER). Yet I am powerless to reconcile this. I just cannot understand her. Does she not know with every "It's none of your business", "please dun disturb me", "go away" is tantamount to a knife that cuts deeper into my heart. I have condoned and disregarded this for years, in hope that she will eventually understand. Does she not understand that with love comes respect? Love is not JUST a ragged doll waiting for more punches. And I simply forget about this each time she apologises.

It's definitely harder this time. I went up to her after church this morning and asked a simple question about the wedding dinner she attended last night and got a "It's none of your business". I went silent but if she could hear, there was a heart crying. We went our separate ways after church. I had instant noodles while she had dim sum. I went to sleep in the afternoon and was awakened by a SMS - "Serene asked me out for dinner tonight. Settle yours yourself".

Now I know what beer's for. As I looked at the ice-cold Foster that stood untouched in the fridge for the last 6 months, I know it has been watching all these unfold. Quietly but knowingly. It has suddenly become a friend that just listened to my sorrows.

Terrible weekend?

Should it be since I am doing this blog on a cold Sunday evening?

Admittedly it must have some time since I last blogged. This weekend certainly didn't start well with someone "flying my plane" having arranged a game at Canada Water at 10am. I was there at 1010 and had a call (from this person, who's a friend of a friend). Guess what? Still at home with the TV in the background and had the audacity to say "I am on my way. In 10 minutes". What a way to start the weekend, with me having a silent argument with Xueyan last night over this.

1045 - I had enough. And indeed the call came soon after. "We have an issue. Did not manage to book the court last night. But NO worries. We will try to sort this out. Have you managed to get your friends?" HELLO!!! I had enough (Part II). WTF, I replied in a really kind way, just to let them know I am no longer keen. Good thing he called 30 minutes later to apologise.

It certainly didn't get better as I watched Arsenal laboured to a 1-1 draw at the Emirates. Cheers to my mate Alex for getting the tickets (last saw the ticket going for ₤85). Good stadium, nice weather but bad result.

Brazil 3 Argentina 0

Click the link for more pictures as Brazil turned out to be worthy winners.

Vienna (27 to 29 August 2006)

Vienna - a city that loved and loved by Mozart. A pity over commercialised in my opinion and, having visited Salzburg, a bit of anti-climax for me. While peace was a premium, its architecture certainly hold its weight against the likes of Paris and Rome. St Stephanson Cathedral was a tad too similar to Duomo in Florence though.

Vienna is a paradise for photographers and I did like the historical significance of the place, despite Ms Wee's boredom after "churches-and-museums again?!?".

To be continued

Salzburg (26 to 27 August 2006)

We arrived in Salzburg in the early hours and took a train directly into the city centre. Knowing that we only have a day and half in Salzburg, we have long decided to max out our time here with 2 day trips planned for Ice Caves near the Salzburg Alps and Eagles Nest at Berchtesgaden, Germany. Yes we know that the "Sound of Music" tour is usually the key highlight, but knowing we could cover some of the places e.g. Mirabell Garden on our own as well as negative feedback from friends who have been to Salzburg.
In short, Salzburg is a beautiful place. Very peaceful and quiet; charming as a old city yet we know its violent place and historical significance - birthplace of Mozart, previous "country" of its own.


We took a quick walk from our hotel at Haupbahnhof to Mirabellplatz, taking in the sights of this small town. We then moved around Mirabell Garden, crossing the Danuhe to the outskirts of the old town before returning to Mirabellplatz for the tour to Ice Caves. The Ice Cave is at Werfen, about an hour drive south from Salzburg. Reputed to the BIGGEST ice cave in the world, the entire cave stretches an amzing 42km, with the first 1km covered in ice. As we were told, 772 steps up and 772 steps down. We had to cover 20 minutes uphill after alighting from the coach, a quick cable ride up Europe's steepest cable car (in less than a minute!) and then another 25 minutes walk to the cave (Read here for more details).


Breakfast in the morning was a little yucky, with slices of ham, lotsa cheeses and bread - typical Austrian stuff. Our hope for a full continental breakfast has to be postponed to Vienna. The cold/rainy weather didn't add to our joy as we waited to be fetched to the Eagles Nest in the Bavarian Alps, briefly crossing the German border into Berchtesgaden. The tour took us the entire morning, with a ride up the Alps and about 45 minutes at the 2nd headquarters of the Nazi Party and Adolf Hilter's home. Click here to see the pictures.


We spend the rest of the day touring the old town and going up to the Festung, a Salzburg fortress, and a key highlight of the Salzburg city. View up there was beautiful and it certainly didn't make us feel like leaving. Although we did eventually depart for Vienna in the late evening, saying a sad goodbye to this charming town and hoping to return for another visit.

Brazil vs Argentina (3 September 2006)

Emirates Stadium here we come!

Salzburg & Vienna (26 to 29 August 2006)

Please pray for us as we prepare for a 4-day getaway to Austria. Travelling has not been easy since 12 August but pray that everything will go smoothly. The last major travelling before we return to Singapore! Will share more about the trip and the pictures soon!

Back to Singapore Part I

Tickets bought. We are going home on 7 Sept!

Details:
SQ321
Depart London - 7 Sep, 22:15
Arrive Singapore - 8 Sep, 18:00

SQ320
Depart Singapore - 18 Sep, 12:40
Arrive London - 18 Sep, 19:10

The journey so far...

It wasn't so long ago that I came over to London. Hmmm, some ask: "So how has it been?", "feelings after 8 months?". Feelings? Well, I can still remember:
- The apprehension that I had when I first heard of Barclays Capital's interview;
- Confidence when I was interviewed by Mark and George;
- Anxiety of waiting for the results;
- Relief when I got the offer;
- Confusion when I had to break the news to Chin and Shu Ping;
- Excitement in the days leading up to the departure (for London);
- Sadness on the day of departure, leaving my family and friends; and
- Lostness in my first month in London, and;
- Inexplicable joy when I saw Xueyan at Heathrow.

I added disappointment to the list when I was first assigned to Financial Planning and Analysis. Quite a funky title but not quite the technical stuff I was hoping for. How that mindset changes in 8 months. I have indeed learnt a lot during the last 8 months. And most glad to be given (limited) access to management and the trust to handle certain key stuff. The good appraisal simply topped the icing on the cake. I shall NOW replace disappointment with bliss. Most things aren't the way they sound or seem. The low expectations I had made it easier for me to enjoy and whatever good fun I had were bonuses to me.

I look back with fond memories, especially the friendships cultivated with Viv, Anthony, Mark, Sarah, Alex and Matt. Pity Rosy came over just when I was about to leave. Next stop - Fixed Income Exotics and Quantos. Quite a mouthful but I asked for it this time. Prayfully it would turn out equally well, if not better.

Away from the topic, we (group of 10 Singaporeans, Malaysians and Australians) went to join the NEL Ramblers for a 13-miles walk at Hastings last Saturday. What an introduction to walking in UK. Click on the link for some (few) pictures of our time there. Good scenery, nice hot/cold weather and, undeniably, 10 pairs of sore legs after 7 hours of brisk walking. With old folks no less.

Barcelona Buzz (28 June to 1 July 2006)

It was just hot hot hot, which simply reminded me of Singapore. The first day saw us arriving in Girona @ 10am, thereafter making a 1hr+ journey via Barcelona bus into the heart of Barcelona, dropping us at Arc de Triomf.
We made our way to La Rambla, just 3 stops away, at a budget hostel called Apartments in Barcelona II. How apt. Despite the seemingly nice place (La Rambla), our hostel was situated on a quiet street - extremely dodgy. This wasn't helped by frequent "reports" of how unsafe Barcelona was and the potential encounters with thieves and robbers. We were, however, blessed to survive Barcelona unscathed.

I had great expectations of Barcelona, from the various reviews and kind remarks by friends and the rave feedback on the internet. The first day saw us hitting the various "touristy" attractions - La Rambla, Casa Mila, Plaza Catalunya and Sagrada Familia, the last one being extremely impressive and I must say the highlight of this trip, along with Montserrat (see below). Climbing up 100m of narrow spiral stairway is no mean feat and the clean breeze and nice view of Barcelona from the top makes it rewarding. The heart, though, shouldn't take such stress unless properly trained. The night was spent wandering around the Ancient City, near La Rambla.

The second day saw us heading towards the "serrated mountains" - Montserrat. We set off at 9am to catch the train leaving from Espanya. After what resembled a wild goose chase and €25, we set off for Monistrol for the tram up the mountains to Montserrat. The journey took us more than an hour. We rested i.e. slept, along the way and woke up to beautiful, nature-sculptured mountains.

Montserrat was certainly an awesome sight, which ranks alongside Colosseum and the Vatican City as highlights of our trips so far. We spend about an hour at the monastery before embarking on the various routes which you could see on the photo forum. The searing heat plus the long dirt roads make for tired legs and we could only manage 3 routes before calling it a day at Montserrat. We then began our journey back to Barcelona. We stopped at Espanya, just minutes away from the Olympic site of Montjuic.

We spent our last full day in Barcelona by visting Parc Guell and FC Barcelona, the latter second-best club after Arsenal FC. The stadium was awesome and a very well-maintained field which, again, will rank second to the Emirates Stadium. We were shown around the stadium, the museum and saw the CL cup (incidently stolen from the Marble Hall). I actually had a TV interview there (how I felt about the place) by TV3! It took a whole full day to tour the two places. We then spend the evening at Barceloneta and Port Olimpico. The beach was (quite) nice and we had paella rice as a final flourish to our enjoyable time in Barcelona.

Guess I will end here as words speak later than words. So check out our photo album!

Barcelona

Road Trip to Cornwall (27 to 29 May 2006)

Attacking King Arthur's Mount... You can tell how dangerous and tiring it was...

Amazing Amsterdam (28 April to 1 May 2006)

Florence Fantasy (16 April 2006)

Regal Rome (14 to 17 April 2006)

Monthly Update (February 2006)

Gosh, it's already 2 months since the last posting. Guess the "shorter" days here in winter means I need to hibernate. The theme of the month REALLY ought to be PRAISE God. Remember the 5 prayer items? God answered them in the most amazing ways!
1. Church - Having visiting All Souls, Hillsongs and Emmanuel Evangelical, we have finally decided on the last. Our first visit was especially memorable, as we spent some time in Westminister hunting down the church, albeit its location amongst "more-renowned" churches. A healing session was on-going and people starting screaming, crying and speaking in tongues. What's that for a first visit by Covenantals!?! Thankfully we spotted someone from Xueyan's former church and turned out to be a blessing in disguise. We were then introduced to other Singaporeans and Malaysians, many whom are students. The church congregation is mainly Asian and African as well as having a Singaporean senior pastor. We have been there for a month and it looks like settling in. Finding a cell group will be next for us. Please keep us in prayer.
2. The flat has been sorted after a plumber came by to fix the boiler. I have also brought in certain stuff like a study table and chair to accomodate my laptop as well as to facilitate studying. The rent is significantly lower than what mu neighbours are paying and the close walking distance to work has enabled me to spend less time on travelling and, of course, waking up later (no later than 7am though!). Home-cooked job is also no longer a luxury as Xueyan dutifully plays her part in serving good food (just had baked rice and steamed cod fish the other day). Please pass on quick-to-serve recipes to her.
3. Xueyan has also gotten a job on her last day before she travelled back to Singapore. We were certainly despondent in the days leading up to her departure, having experienced rejections by companies (and one by Barcap no less). We prayed about it and asked, God willing, to open the door for her before she returns to Singapore. Well, the rest is history and now she's a global colleague of Shwu Min.
4. Journey Mercy. The Paris trip was certainly good and I simply loved the place despite the "commercialization" of the city. The little good of The Da Vinci Code came as I got myself familiarised with the place. My bit French came in useful (on rare occasions) and I hardly draw close to the local cuisine. Well, except for the chocolate crepes. Next stop on the itinerary will be Rome in April and, hopefully, Amsterdam in May. Stay tuned as we will update you guys shortly.
5. Studies. School will start on 24 April 2006, barely 2 months from now. Please pray for me as I try to source the funding for my studies (£20K for the entire course, £10K payable in April).

His blessings have been awesome and I am sure it will not cease. Do continue to pray as we seek to be more involved in church.
As a matter of fact, I have been stuck in bed for the last 2 days with a phelgmatic throat and a nose who has mistaken itself for a running top. That means I really need to rest soon. It's good reading the emails from you guys and God bless your exciting days ahead!