tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81009292024-03-07T16:53:07.067+08:00The Book of Shadowshadowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13822100633711347312noreply@blogger.comBlogger596125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100929.post-42384027502837088222011-08-05T08:05:00.005+08:002011-08-05T09:19:37.009+08:00Itchiness and Economic Irrationalism...<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">...is what happens in Year Seven.<br /><br />The former is a cheap excuse, but the later, for Israelites in Old Testament times, a year of redemption (so the enslaved would go free and debtors would have their debts cancelled) and rest and celebration to remember that God redeemed them from Egypt and that the good land abounding with milk and honey, and their prosperity and wealth thereon, came only from God.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/6010291470/" title="The Macarons of Celebration by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6008/6010291470_4e45bb9750.jpg" alt="The Macarons of Celebration" height="500" width="332" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Thanks for reading. If it is of any interest to you, <a href="mailto:themailboxofshadow@gmail.com">mail me</a> for updates.<br /><br /><br /></span></span></div>shadowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13822100633711347312noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100929.post-38098157840026392462011-07-13T01:30:00.000+08:002011-07-13T01:30:46.306+08:00Jewel Coffee and the Gem of Micah<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5908862827/" title="Jewel Coffee, One Shenton Way by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6054/5908862827_67438af1c0_m.jpg" alt="Jewel Coffee, One Shenton Way" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5909417202/" title="Coffee in Lights, Jewel Coffee, One Shenton Way by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6034/5909417202_002affe28e_m.jpg" alt="Coffee in Lights, Jewel Coffee, One Shenton Way" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5908856649/" title="Brew Bar Menu, Jewel Coffee, One Shenton Way by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5231/5908856649_d87b3c19c7_m.jpg" alt="Brew Bar Menu, Jewel Coffee, One Shenton Way" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5909419622/" title="Brew Bar, Jewel Coffee, One Shenton Way by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5034/5909419622_d700bfd919_m.jpg" alt="Brew Bar, Jewel Coffee, One Shenton Way" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5908851517/" title="Single Origin Beans, Jewel Coffee, One Shenton Way by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6007/5908851517_49dc704560_m.jpg" alt="Single Origin Beans, Jewel Coffee, One Shenton Way" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5909407730/" title="La Marzocco Strada Manual, Jewel Coffee, One Shenton Way by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5272/5909407730_f345f40c8b_m.jpg" alt="La Marzocco Strada Manual, Jewel Coffee, One Shenton Way" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/Jewelcoffee">Jewel Coffee</a> at One Shenton Way - another artisan coffee joint but one stuffed with coffee toys for its single origin beans. At the brew bar - Hario V60, Hario Siphon, Chemex; for the espresso crowd - a manual La Marzocco Strada...and an <a href="http://marco.ie/uberproject/">Uber Boiler</a>. Win.<br /><br />And we're having another go at Micah:<br /><br />Q: What genre of literature is this?<br />series of visions?/prophecies with loads of literary devices<br /><br />Q: How then should we read/interpret Micah?<br /><br />Q: When did Micah prophesy?<br />1:1 - in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah - kings of Judah<br /><br />He was a contemporary of Hosea (Hosea 1:1) and Isaiah (Isaiah 1:1), roughly in 8th century B.C. The reigns of Judean kings: Jotham (about 750–735 B.C.), Ahaz (about 735–715 B.C.) and Hezekiah (about 715–687 B.C.).<br /><br />Q: To whom did Micah prophesy?<br />Possibly spoke God's warnings to both Israel (aka Samaria, the northern kingdom) until they went into exile in Assyria, and to Judah (aka Jerusalem, the southern kingdom). Yet, also to the whole world (1:2)<br /><br />[Q: What is the point of prophesy?]<br /><br />Q: What was Micah/God's warning?<br />Impending destruction/judgment from God due to their sin and transgression (1:2-7,12-16).<br /><br />Q: What is notable about coming destruction/judgment?<br />The destruction/judgment will fit their crime:<br /></span></span><ul><li><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">they were proud and coveted the fields of others, oppressed them and left them destitute, therefore they too will be oppressed and ruined and they shall have neither land nor people left after God is done with them (2:1-5)</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">their leaders and rulers are themselves the purveyors of injustice and terror and falsehood and greed when the judges should be the ones discerning what is unjust and the rulers be the ones doing what is right. Since they ignored the good of the people, therefore God will no longer answer them so they will no longer be able to discern or understand (3:1-12)<br /></span></span></li></ul><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Similar to the "giving over" of Romans?<br /><br />Q: Micah 6-7 presents the imagery of a court case. What is the charge?<br />Covenant violation. God reminds them of covenantal obligations and of his own faithfulness to his promises, and in contrast, their flagrant breaches.<br /><br />Their breaches are not the lack of sacrifices but their disobedience - not doing justice, nor loving kindness nor walking humbly before their God (6:8). They had already been given prior notice of these requirements. Instead they indulged in injustice, violence and deceit.<br /><br />Q: What was the judgment and punishment?<br />Guilty. Since they did not honour the giver of the covenant, they would not be able to enjoy the good land that God had given them - neither the fruit of the land, nor the relationships with each other (6:13-7:6).<br /><br />Q: Why weren't the people given due warning of impending disaster through usual channels?<br />Preachers were false (1:6)<br />People wanted falsehood (1:11)<br /><br />Q: What emotion does God demonstrate as he warns the people through Micah?<br />1:8-9<br /><br />Q: What does this tell you about God?<br /><br />Q: In line with such a marvellous character, what further promises does God give?<br />Reversal and fulfilment (4-5, 7:8-20). God will do a deep clean (5:10-15). New land, new people, new king.<br /><br />Q: In contrast with current situation, what would future hold?<br />God's laws would be learnt, there would be justice and peace.<br /><br />Q: How would promising promised future happen?<br />Shepherd ruler will gather, protect, forgive<br /><br />Q: How does God sign off so the people would know that God was trustworthy?<br />Reminder that he had been concerned for the Israelites since the time of Moses and that did what he said he would at the Exodus.<br /><br />In Jeremiah 26:18, the elders of the land observe the influence of Micah's words on Hezekiah (cf Micah 3:12). Yet we know that this didn't last long and Judah was carted off by the Babylonians.<br /><br />Q: Has promised future occurred?<br /><br />Q: Now how?<br /><br /><br /></span></span></div>shadowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13822100633711347312noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100929.post-3551893350751639982011-07-04T00:11:00.006+08:002011-07-05T00:11:47.668+08:00Sirens of the Zeitgeist<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">From <a href="http://thebookofshadow.blogspot.com/2011/06/everything-but-progress.html">Part 1</a>.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5878155250/" title="Macerated Strawberries, blueberries, Yogi Cereal, Boysenberry Yoghurt by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6053/5878155250_e1c736a92b_m.jpg" alt="Macerated Strawberries, blueberries, Yogi Cereal, Boysenberry Yoghurt" height="159" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.everythingbutthecoffee.net/">Bryant Simon</a>'s thesis is that the developed world is more susceptible to the seduction of buying because the pullback of community, the state, and other binding agents allowed brands like <a href="http://www.starbucks.com.sg/">Starbucks</a> to sell more goods by claiming the vacuum left by the government. Certainly something we in Singapore may see more clearly in the years after the 2011 General Elections.<br /><br />Like politicians and political parties, Starbucks and other corporates make huge promises about many things. <i><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=5ek0v2_F5j4C">Everything but</a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Everything-but-Coffee-Learning-Starbucks/dp/0520261062"> the Coffee</a></i> examines the courtship and what consumers are actually buying. Afterall, we fork over money because we value what we think we are getting in return. And the Strawberry Generation of Singapore is lapping it up in droves.<br /><br />So what sort of idolatry does the Starbucks test show up? Simon says, in relation to American society:<br /><br /><b>Values with Status</b><br />The status symbols of the American post-post-hippies of the 1990s were a set of upscale values vaguely revolving around better lifestyle, personal control, better taste, authenticity. It was more about separating oneself from the Joneses than keeping up with them.<br /><br />Howard Schultz portrayed Starbucks as the bastion of authenticity - highlighting the company's know-how and coffeeness with "baristas" who served the drinks and with Italian-sounding beverage names and sizes. At a time when the well-educated stopped trusting traditional advertising, Schultz often boasted to reporters that Starbucks didn't advertise - but of course it did, merely in softer ways through storefronts, visual brand language-speaking logo-ed cups and myth-making in interviews.<br /><br />Experience architect Wright Massey used an appropriate colour palette, wood floors and earth-toned tiles, brown napkins and sugar, displays of raw green coffee beans, to create a natural, slightly Continental feel. But each store always incorporated something unique to the space to ensure that the similarities between stores did not alarm consumers.<br /><br /><b>Predictable Individuality</b><br />Post-McDonalisation of society, people had come to prefer to know what to expect in most settings and at most times; they neither desired nor expected surprises. Starbucks then offered that feeling of reassurance when its products were the same everywhere, especially when consumers were travelling in a foreign country and were already alienated by the language barrier. Any tyranny of choice would have added to their feelings of dislocation.<br /><br />This safe predictability had to be carefully staged - Starbucks did this by mechanising its production line so all drinks would always taste the same, by filling its stores with a certain sort of worker, by ensuring that each store had the same facilities (a clean toilet, Wifi etc).<br /><br />However, so as to avoid being associated with McDonalds, it had to simultaneously mask its sameness behind images of choice and individuality. Yuppies and the creative class liked to think themselves as unique and would reject anything in their buying that might mark them out as run-of-the-mill; which is why when Dunkin' Donuts paid some Starbucks regulars to try its coffee for a week, even though most agreed that the coffee was better, they bristled at the bright orange colour scheme and lack of personal importance from being unable to make choices. Starbucks patrons sought out things that made them feel significant.<br /><br />Starbucks did not just limit itself to the customisation of drinks to cater to the egoistically-needy, it also ensured the experience was personalised. The Starbucks manual insisted that workers know customer names, drinks and personal preferences. Workers needed to smile, laugh and ask customers their first names when they order - not just for drink pick-ups but also to help them know their regulars as quickly as possible so they could greet them when they next stepped in the door. The manual laid out a number of "legendary service scenarios" - handing over a drink and saying "Tall mocha, thank you" was basic; to upgrade the service was to say "Thanks, John, enjoy your mocha!", explaining that "The partner recognised the customer by name. There was a personal connection". They were to start customer conversations, compliment them on something and smile with their eyes. (Having been trained to expect this, it is no wonder that there are frequent complaints about "The Service" by young food bloggers.)<br /><br /><b>Simulacra of community, belonging</b><br />Schultz realised that consumers wanted something more than a nod of the head at the point of purchase. They wanted a throwback to the past when there was noise, the intimacy of laughter and conversation in coffee shops. He repeated third place community-building promises constantly by saying that Starbucks (unlike McDonald's and Burger King) created a third place, adding value to the community by becoming an instant gathering place that draws people together.<br /><br />However, while Starbucks was certainly a second place (public study/work space, restroom), it wasn't any more than a failed imitation of a Cheers-type set-up. People hardly talked to strangers and the Starbucks workers worked random shifts and typically didn't stay long enough or work predictable hours to get to know regulars properly.<br /><br />Starbucks tried to position itself as a penny university coffeehouse by pumping music that sounded sophisticated and urban, hanging Starbucks-made art on the walls, splashing about some lines of poetry or prose about coffee or community. But it was not a place for talk, debate, interaction or exchange of ideas. Workers behind the counters were not allowed to deviate from the script without checking with their superiors. Political and religious leaflets were not allowed on the "community board".<br /><br />At the end of the day, it was the promise of a simulacra of belonging and the image of intellectual excitement of penny universities that attracted the new yuppies. Customers got the warm fuzzies watching other people relax in an illusion of community, without having to deal with the grittiness of real interaction.<br /><br /><b>Opportunities for affordable self-gifting</b><br />Schultz liked to describe his sugary treats as "affordable luxuries". Post-Oprah, the great enabler of "I'm worth it, I deserve respect/a treat/a break" latte buying, many people (especially women) have embraced a mindset of self-gifting - the idea of rewarding yourself or cheering yourself up with a purchase. Starbucks frequently used such language as well in promoting its icy cream-and-sugar laden drinks.<br /><br />It is a strange form of idolatry to think that retail therapy - buying to rub out negative feelings, improve your mood, reward yourself, assert control over your life - should work.<br /><br /><b>Veneer of discovery</b><br />Another way Starbucks appealed to the post-conspicuous consumption class was to promise to take them on new and different journeys with their next purchase, which these consumers ("everyday explorers") could then use as a kind of currency to make distinctions between themselves and the hoi polloi. In their circles, one got esteem and admiration points for venturing into an exotic locale or discovering a very super authentic Eskimo joint tucked away in a suburb ("hidden find"!).<br /><br />The Starbucks package tour consisted of single-origin beans and introducing new music and books to its customers, clothing itself in the aura of discovery and good feelings. Naturally, these were sanitised for the white middle-class. While the creative class talked alot about diversity, not many lived in integrated neighbourhoods nor were they interested in multiculturalism when it came to their food, drink, music or literature choices.<br /><br /><b>Badges of support for social justice, environmental protection, fair trade, world peace!</b><br />For the price of an overpriced drink, consumers could purchase the ability to sleep soundly, believing that through Starbucks, he was improving the lives of exploited farmers in underdeveloped countries (photos of cheerful farmers - check. authentically grainy corpumentary - check. even though the subjects never benefited from Starbucks), bringing water to remote villages, saving the planet (although the manufacture of Starbucks cups and their in-store water management wasted tons of resources every year), bringing fair trade to the world at large (a system that, despite its name, merely enforced the class divide), and global peace.<br /><br />Nothing new in the branded world of private remedies where the purchase of a red shirt at GAP would ease the AIDS crisis in Africa.<br /><br />Then what happened? The hypothesis is that Starbucks' star started its descent and lost its cultural cachet when it got too large to keep on its mask of authenticity.<br /><br />Yet, the turning of the tide away from global corporates towards mom-and-pop authenticity may not be much of a change. Interesting to observe how, not unlike the Starbucks that is now so vilified, the self-proclaimed independents offer salvation, personal enrichment, community and better living through design-conscious consumption.<br /><br />What tunes do the sirens of the zeitgeist sing? How are we being seduced?<br /><br />To continue from the other day's walkabout, start from <a href="http://www.cineleisure.com.sg/">Orchard Cineleisure</a>, a brilliant mall-below-cineplex cashcow for the Cathay group.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5881520254/" title="rockstar by Soon Lee by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5075/5881520254_6bc0d6e6a6_m.jpg" alt="rockstar by Soon Lee" height="159" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://rockstar-soonlee.blogspot.com/">rockstar</a> by <a href="http://ishopsoonlee.blogspot.com/">Soon Lee</a>'s self-conscious description: "we are an independent retailer based in Singapore, best known for being the first and only female casual footwear store in Asia. Other than our shoes, we're also well-loved for our books, bags and apparels". Original shop in Haji Lane - if one spawns branches, does one lose one's indie-ness?<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5880962443/" title="Bird & Co, Orchard Cineleisure by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6049/5880962443_3fcd63dcdb_m.jpg" alt="Bird & Co, Orchard Cineleisure" height="159" width="240" /></a><a href="http://booksactually.com/birdsandco/"><br />Birds & Co.</a>, the stationery arm of <a href="http://www.booksactually.com/">booksactually</a> that we visited the other day is "a papeterie and brocante in the heart of town where you can find our very own handmade notebooks, stationery and lovely vintage trinkets". The vintage indie subculture that's very <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lucys-Home-Girls-Raised-Wolves/dp/0307263983"><i>St. Lucy's School for Girls Raised By Wolves</i></a> vs the Monocle indie subculture of Soon Lee.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852967262/" title="*Scape by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5263/5852967262_7525612cb1_m.jpg" alt="*Scape" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />Next door is <a href="http://www.scape.com.sg/">*Scape</a>. Because the Strawberry Generation of Singapore is particularly whingey and slothful despite the badge of indie-ness, the Ministry of Community, Youth & Sports had to set up this space for them.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5880964573/" title="A Curious Teepee, *scape by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img style="width: 248px; height: 179px;" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5023/5880964573_156c47c20d_m.jpg" alt="A Curious Teepee, *scape" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852969948/" title="IMG_8333 by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5065/5852969948_c088518a56_m.jpg" alt="IMG_8333" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />Notable shops here are <a href="http://www.acuriousteepee.com/">A Curious Teepee</a> - by Tracy Phillips' <a href="http://www.presentpurpose.com/">Present Purpose</a>, <a href="http://www.takenouchiwebb.com/">Takenouchi Webb</a> and <a href="http://www.lobehold.com/">The Lo and Behold Group</a>. "Led by the desire to instill a sense of adventure and imagination within the community and a deeper appreciation for design, A Curious Teepee was born. Combining a lifestyle store, café/ bar and enriching programming as one entity, all products and in-store ideas are carefully curated for amusement, interaction and expression",<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852972108/" title="IMG_8334 by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2609/5852972108_5411f09898_m.jpg" alt="IMG_8334" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://fleshimp.com/">Flesh Imp</a> - "shaping the urban subculture since 2000. Both drawing from and giving back to this movement, Flesh Imp has set trends and seamlessly bridged the worlds of music, design, positive vibes to deliver beautiful clothing",<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852978960/" title="IMG_8336 by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2793/5852978960_bc6175fe0a_m.jpg" alt="IMG_8336" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.onceuponamilkshake.com/">once upon a milkshake</a> - "All over the world, storytellers and writers have articulated the words “once upon a time”, enticing listeners and readers of all ages through wonderful journeys and indescribable experiences. Correspondingly, we seek to achieve just that - to provide premium ice cream milkshakes and scoops that bring joy, fun and unutterable experiences that milkshake and ice cream devotees can take pleasure in. We strive to empower everyone to indulge and enjoy both our premium ice cream-blended milkshakes and ice cream at non-premium prices". Surely they had me at "empower".<br /><br />The other neighbour of Cineleisure Orchard is <a href="http://www.inhabit.com.sg/">Mandarin Gallery</a>. Tai-tai shops are joined here by highend streetwear, Japanese design and expensive lo-fi-ness - evidence that a generous slice of the monied class now take up subscriptions from Wallpaper and Monocle rather than Tatler? Other than <a href="http://www.7forallmankind.com/">7 for all mankind</a>, <a href="http://www.atomi-jp.com/">atomi</a>, <a href="http://blog.ambushstore.com/">ambush</a>, there's also<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852981388/" title="Inhabit the other store, Mandarin Gallery by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5142/5852981388_8ff22861ef_m.jpg" alt="Inhabit the other store, Mandarin Gallery" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.inhabit.com.sg/">Inhabit</a> curates unique "progressive" fashion pieces from around the world,<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852983466/" title="hansel, Mandarin Gallery by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2425/5852983466_f56f91e86c_m.jpg" alt="hansel, Mandarin Gallery" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.ilovehansel.com/">hansel</a>, which started as <s>a blogshop</s> an online boutique (named after designer <a href="http://thehanselblog.blogspot.com/">Jo Soh</a>'s jack russell that she rescued off the streets) selling womenswear that "blends a sense of quirky playfulness with understated minimalism [that] pulls together unexpected elements, creating highly-wearable pieces that suit spunky, confident women who can’t help standing out in a crowd. The label reflects her modern and unique take on retro-inspired styles, featuring her signature love for juxtaposing strong and subtle shades."<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852987342/" title="IMG_8339 by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5151/5852987342_6314592996_m.jpg" alt="IMG_8339" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.woodwould.net/">woodwould</a>, another branch "<a href="http://woodwould.wordpress.com/">redefining stationery</a>", "stocked with paper wonders and quirky finds from all over planet earth. a paper evangelist. a sanctuary for the obsessed".<br /><br />Move further down Orchard Road to <a href="http://www.ngeeanncity.com.sg/">Ngee Ann City</a>. The land on which *Scape, Orchard Cineleisure, Mandarin Hotel/Gallery and Ngee Ann City are cited used to be a Ngee Ann Kongsi burial ground. <a href="http://www.hungzai.com/ngee-ann-kongsi/">Wagging tongues</a> say that Chinese tomb shape of Ngee Ann City was meant to appease spirits made homeless by the redevelopment.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852994726/" title="Juchheim Baumkuchen, Ngee Ann City by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3055/5852994726_361dcc1b6d_m.jpg" alt="Juchheim Baumkuchen, Ngee Ann City" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852998400/" title="Juchheim Baumkuchen, Ngee Ann City by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2782/5852998400_53348436f5_m.jpg" alt="Juchheim Baumkuchen, Ngee Ann City" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />Buy some <a href="http://www.juchheim.co.jp/english/">Juchheim</a> baumkuchen (German confection x Japanese sensibility) for your mom then<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852448065/" title="IMG_8343 by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2762/5852448065_8eecd57f6d_m.jpg" alt="IMG_8343" height="240" width="180" /></a><br />stop off for a cup of hot chocolate at Pang Kok Keong's <a href="https://www.facebook.com/PiqueNique.sg">Pique Nique</a>. Legendary experience is "homemade" cloud-shaped marshmellow (though <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fortysixthatgrace/4268446495/">Nikole Herriott</a> got there first). Save dessert stomach space for later.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5881182815/" title="The Med, Orchard Central by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6003/5881182815_22e1c8bc3a_m.jpg" alt="The Med, Orchard Central" height="240" width="180" /></a><br />Take the MRT train from Orchard MRT to Somerset MRT and get thee to <a href="http://www.orchardcentral.com.sg/the-med">Basement 2 (The Med) of Orchard Central</a> where some small-scale disneyfication of the Mediterranean is going on.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5881193271/" title="Wall Mural outside Medzs, Orchard Central by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5231/5881193271_01786a8840_m.jpg" alt="Wall Mural outside Medzs, Orchard Central" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5894348776/" title="The Pather, Orchard Central by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5309/5894348776_6334978569_m.jpg" alt="The Pather, Orchard Central" height="177" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5881185207/" title="Lamp, Medzs, Orchard Central by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5072/5881185207_833083c434_m.jpg" alt="Lamp, Medzs, Orchard Central" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5894351276/" title="IMG_0068 by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5078/5894351276_0fcbb1c7ab_m.jpg" alt="IMG_0068" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5881188579/" title="France, Medzs by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5239/5881188579_5188d54c80_m.jpg" alt="France, Medzs" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5881191193/" title="Butter Truffle Chicken, Medzs, Orchard Central by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5228/5881191193_4e1256b588_m.jpg" alt="Butter Truffle Chicken, Medzs, Orchard Central" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5894353750/" title="Steak, Medzs, Orchard Central by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5313/5894353750_cca91274a8_m.jpg" alt="Steak, Medzs, Orchard Central" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5881765884/" title="Chacuterie, Medzs, Orchard Central by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6007/5881765884_52bfa8a096_m.jpg" alt="Chacuterie, Medzs, Orchard Central" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5881199931/" title="Turkish, Medzs, Orchard Central by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6012/5881199931_3631298999_m.jpg" alt="Turkish, Medzs, Orchard Central" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5881202229/" title="Turkish Delights, Medzs, Orchard Central by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6009/5881202229_75723d0739_m.jpg" alt="Turkish Delights, Medzs, Orchard Central" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5881757332/" title="5% Bar, Medzs, Orchard Central by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5040/5881757332_0dbf4397fa_m.jpg" alt="5% Bar, Medzs, Orchard Central" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5893792595/" title="King Goblin beer, Medzs, Orchard Central by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5238/5893792595_13fbc5b386_m.jpg" alt="King Goblin beer, Medzs, Orchard Central" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5881211249/" title="Patiesserie, Medzs, Orchard Central by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6038/5881211249_0207b288de_m.jpg" alt="Patiesserie, Medzs, Orchard Central" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5881206141/" title="Sugar Brioche, Medzs, Orchard Central by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5195/5881206141_8e199285e7_m.jpg" alt="Sugar Brioche, Medzs, Orchard Central" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5881770682/" title="Cakes, Medzs, Orchard Central by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6009/5881770682_715f0f4869_m.jpg" alt="Cakes, Medzs, Orchard Central" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5894356464/" title="Muffins and Bread and Butter Pudding, Medzs, Orchard Central by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6021/5894356464_b75c0fc823_m.jpg" alt="Muffins and Bread and Butter Pudding, Medzs, Orchard Central" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />Check out <a href="http://www.foodjunction.com/brands/restaurant/medzs/">Medzs</a> (yesyes), a <a href="http://marche.moevenpick.com/">Marché</a>-like food court designed by DP Architects offering "authentic yet affordable Mediterranean food right in the heart of Singapore" - charcuterie (chorizo, serrano ham, jamon), butter truffle roast chicken, duck confit, lobster thermidor, shish kebabs, paella etc...and rosti(?!). 1 for 1 for lovely range of beers and also on wines and champagne. :-) Usually, you wouldn't draw attention to the details that create the atmosphere, but then Food Junction isn't quite <a href="http://www.breadtalk.com/foodrepublic/">Bread Talk/Food Republic</a>.<br /><br />Board SBS bus 7 or 175 to Lavender MRT Station. Walk to Penhas Road.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852453327/" title="Citylights, Lavender by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2555/5852453327_137aabf5e8_m.jpg" alt="Citylights, Lavender" height="240" width="180" /></a><br />On the way, you will see another attempt at conservation - the incorporation of the frontage of a row of old townhouses into the <a href="http://www.citylights.com.sg/">Citylights</a> condominium development at Jellicoe Road.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5897233110/" title="Antoinette, Penhas Road by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5277/5897233110_7946774c4e_m.jpg" alt="Antoinette, Penhas Road" height="159" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5896687905/" title="Antoinette, Penhas Road by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5320/5896687905_d9417c6066_m.jpg" alt="Antoinette, Penhas Road" height="159" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852457387/" title="Antoinette at Antoinette, Penhas Road by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3059/5852457387_a8af4f5147_m.jpg" alt="Antoinette at Antoinette, Penhas Road" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852462317/" title="Antoinette, Penhas Road by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5160/5852462317_f730a34686_m.jpg" alt="Antoinette, Penhas Road" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5896636645/" title="Antoinette, Strawberry Shortcake. Antoinette, Penhas Road by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5116/5896636645_1ae6bcf20d_m.jpg" alt="Antoinette, Strawberry Shortcake. Antoinette, Penhas Road" height="159" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5897213696/" title="Strawberry Shortcake, Religuese of Caramel and Fleur de Sel, Mont Blanc. Antoinette, Penhas Road by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5279/5897213696_0840e2b675_m.jpg" alt="Strawberry Shortcake, Religuese of Caramel and Fleur de Sel, Mont Blanc. Antoinette, Penhas Road" height="159" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5897221298/" title="chocolates, Antoinette, Penhas Road by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5063/5897221298_9289311e3c_m.jpg" alt="chocolates, Antoinette, Penhas Road" height="159" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5896597845/" title="Chocolicieux and Pudding Maple, Antoinette, Penhas Road by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5240/5896597845_28ce96e16e_m.jpg" alt="Chocolicieux and Pudding Maple, Antoinette, Penhas Road" height="159" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5897304488/" title="Marshmellow Bears, Antoinette, Penhas Road by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6059/5897304488_d4971ba4e2_m.jpg" alt="Marshmellow Bears, Antoinette, Penhas Road" height="159" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5896749261/" title="Saint Honore L'amour, Antoinette, Penhas Road by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5303/5896749261_6ac09e425d_m.jpg" alt="Saint Honore L'amour, Antoinette, Penhas Road" height="159" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5897326732/" title="Religieuse of Caramel with Fleu de Sel by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6001/5897326732_4e7de10a1a_m.jpg" alt="Religieuse of Caramel with Fleu de Sel" height="159" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5896788483/" title="Violette, Antoinette, Penhas Road by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5308/5896788483_bf20d054fa_m.jpg" alt="Violette, Antoinette, Penhas Road" height="159" width="240" /></a><br />At 30 Penhas Road (chic points for popping up in an industrial area), enter Chef's Pang's <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Antoinette.sg">Antoinette</a>. French references = disneyfication or landscaping? Best candidates for tummy space are eponymous dessert (good with eponymous earl grey tea) and Religieuse of Caramel and Fleu de Sel. Withhold any curiosity you might have about the taste of violets because the raspberry marmalade in the Violette overwhelms everything except the hard cream.<br /><br />Now return to Lavender MRT and <a href="http://gothere.sg/maps#q:Penhas%20road%20to%20east%20coast%20road">board SBS Bus 12 to East Coast Road</a>. To be continued...<br /><br /><br /><br /></span></span></div>shadowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13822100633711347312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100929.post-2484702335746726022011-06-24T01:39:00.004+08:002011-06-29T01:23:00.395+08:00Everything But The Progress<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">While planning to take some wow-Singapore-is-Monocle's-15th-most-liveable-city out-of-towners around Singapore during the <a href="http://www.greatsingaporesale.com.sg/">Great Singapore Sale</a> (see <a href="http://foreignpolicydesign.com/">Foreign Policy Design Group</a>-curated <a href="https://www.facebook.com/GreatSingaporeStores">Great Singapore Stores</a>), was amused to notice how closely Singaporean society resembled the American counterpart studied (albeit rather anecdotally, but that is the way of sociologists) by Bryant Simon in <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Everything-but-Coffee-Learning-Starbucks/dp/0520261062">Everything But The Coffee:</a> <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=5ek0v2_F5j4C&dq=isbn:0520261062">Learning about America from Starbucks</a></i>. Which may be why we even make it onto Tyler Brûlé's <a href="http://www.monocle.com/">Monocle</a> list.<br /><br />It interests me both as a resident of this country and as someone who wants to speak truth to its people to know where the hearts and minds of this nation are headed. Bandying about terms like "post-modernism", "post-post-modernism", "liberalism" i find don't quite encapsulate ground-level observation.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5863918150/" title="Starbucks, Coronation Plaza by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3052/5863918150_a257e00026_m.jpg" alt="Starbucks, Coronation Plaza" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5863914440/" title="Everything But The Coffee, Starbucks, Frappuccino by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5118/5863914440_09633751d4_m.jpg" alt="Everything But The Coffee, Starbucks, Frappuccino" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />Amongst the hodge-podge of races and religions that is touted as multi-culturalism, Singapore has also embraced <a href="http://www.starbucks.com.sg/">Starbucks</a> the way America did in the Noughties. I call the approximately 70 outlets on the island as witnesses.<br /><br />Why the appeal of Starbucks? Because the zeitgeist would have us believe that what we consume has meaning for us and (or because) it tells others what to think about us. What are customers really buying when they grab a white cup with a round green logo? Simon's conclusion is that what Starbucks consciously sells and what their fans buy is/are one or more of the following:<br />- cheap shots of status<br />- reassuring predictability<br />- opportunities for self-gifting<br />- simulacra of community, belonging<br />- veneer of discovery<br />- currently fashionable badges of supporting social justice, environmental protection, fair trade, world peace!<br /><br />Perhaps this too is endemic in Mr. </span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Brûlé's world and the quirky but nebulous indie universe.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />Part 1 of the plan for entertaining the tourists. Along the way, we met friends who had just come from the <a href="http://pinkdotsg.blogspot.com/">Pink Dot</a> event at Hong Lim Speakers' Corner, grumbling that the organisers claimed 10,000 turned up when it seemed much less than that:<br /><br />Little India MRT<br />- Tekka Market - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tekka_Centre">history of name</a>, Chia's Vegetable Supply where proprietor Victor Chia plays jazz and sells vegetables to aunties and ang mohs alike as example of search for authenticity but familiarity, leaving vegetable stalls within surrounding shophouses to be frequented mostly by Indian and Chinese foreign workers<br />- <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Post-Museum/22019181475">Post Museum</a> + <a href="http://www.food03.sg/">Food #3</a> - "independent cultural and social space in Singapore, serving as an open platform for examining contemporary life, promoting the arts and connecting people"<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5881492580/" title="Punjabi suit shop, Niven Road by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6052/5881492580_ec69d957e2_m.jpg" alt="Punjabi suit shop, Niven Road" height="159" width="240" /></a><br />- Exit A: head towards Niven Road - refurbished shophouses here sell now for several million S$. What top dollar would you pay to live somewhere that looks historical (but is hopefully not haunted)? Spot Sikh ladies on the way out from the Sikh Gurdwara Khalsa Dharmak Sabha temple up the road stopping to shop for punjabi suits<br />- cross through Wilkie Edge past a Starbucks<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5881490748/" title="David Marshall Building, Selegie, Middle Road by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img style="width: 239px; height: 186px;" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5074/5881490748_e0cdcba5e5_m.jpg" alt="David Marshall Building, Selegie, Middle Road" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852885060/" title="David Elias Building by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"> <img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2773/5852885060_f9f499acaf_m.jpg" alt="David Elias Building" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852329719/" title="IMG_8221 by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2552/5852329719_d784a396d4_m.jpg" alt="IMG_8221" height="180" width="240" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852881840/" title="Le Cafe Confectionery by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"> <img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2746/5852881840_a81c4f64d9_m.jpg" alt="Le Cafe Confectionery" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />- the yellow neo-classical <a href="http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_274_2005-01-05.html">David Elias Building</a> at junction of Short Street and Middle Road houses <a href="http://www.lecafe.com.sg/">Le Cafe Confectionery</a> which is famous for its golf-ball pineapple tarts. Notice the prominent six-pointed Star of David. The Jewish community used to hang out around these parts.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852213947/" title="Macau Egg Tart, Selegie Soya Bean by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2579/5852213947_b115a0c36b_m.jpg" alt="Macau Egg Tart, Selegie Soya Bean" height="159" width="240" /> </a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5863358311/" title="Rochor Original Bean Curd, Dough Fritters by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img style="width: 240px; height: 165px;" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5103/5863358311_635376205f_m.jpg" alt="Rochor Original Bean Curd, Dough Fritters" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5863904862/" title="Rochor Original Bean Curd by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5199/5863904862_3cce3c50a5_m.jpg" alt="Rochor Original Bean Curd" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5863900528/" title="Rochor Original Bean Curd by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3119/5863900528_56a1418e28_m.jpg" alt="Rochor Original Bean Curd" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />- the very popular Rochor Original Beancurd and neighbouring Selegie Soya Bean are round the corner along Short Street. Like many other popular foodstalls in Singapore, there is a <a href="http://ieatishootipost.sg/2007/01/stall-next-to-rochor-beancurd-so-which.html">backstory</a> to competing neighbours. Stop for a drink and a nibble on fried dough fritters and Portuguese egg tarts<br />- along parallel Prinsep Street, the red brick <a href="http://www.pspc.org.sg/">Prinsep Street Presbyterian Church</a>, the oldest existing church<br />- further up Prinsep Street, <a href="http://www.lasalle.edu.sg/">LASALLE College of the Arts</a> designed by <a href="http://www.designsingapore.org/pda_public/gallery.aspx?sid=74">RSP Architects</a> to "emulate the porosity of the city streets permeating through the campus, and to provide many platforms for design interaction and inspiration. The campus green, city court and the four alleyways that weave into the campus give rise to opportunities for diverse art forms and cultural exchanges between the students and the public, and to enable public access and interaction with the students and the art they produce". We were stopped by security from taking wedding photos on its grounds.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852890544/" title="Noodles, Old Kim Guan, Sunshine Plaza by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3269/5852890544_7de95c22fe_m.jpg" alt="Noodles, Old Kim Guan, Sunshine Plaza" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852887802/" title="IMG_8223 by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3270/5852887802_3be5dca42d_m.jpg" alt="IMG_8223" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />- double back and cross Middle Road to Sunshine Plaza for dim sum at Victor's Kitchen, or slightly dear old school delights at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Old-Kim-Guan-Check-In-Page/200218806663843">Old Kim Guan</a> where the barbecued chicken wings and noodles taste like they used to decades ago.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5863450159/" title="Aroy Dee, Sunshine Plaza by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5111/5863450159_af340b54e6_m.jpg" alt="Aroy Dee, Sunshine Plaza" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />There's also the excellent Aroy-Dee Thai, decorated with portraits of the Thai royals<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852892698/" title="thirtysix by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2657/5852892698_58115ef498_m.jpg" alt="thirtysix" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />Pop by the Camera Hospital to pick up vintage cameras or manufactured vintage from <a href="http://www.thirtysix.com.sg/">thirtysix</a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852896202/" title="Space Furniture Singapore, Prinsep Link by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2740/5852896202_53ed4cfac6_m.jpg" alt="Space Furniture Singapore, Prinsep Link" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />- across Prinsep Link is <a href="http://www.spacefurniture.com.sg/">Space Furniture Singapore</a> newly housed by <a href="http://stqarender.asia1.com.sg/Life%2521/LifePeople/Story/STIStory_247362.html">Syddal Wee</a> in a renovated conservation building. Why are Singaporeans now willing to spend more than S$10k for a butt-holder?<br />- round the corner of the Elections Department and walk along another row of conserved shophouses - with facades masked by large signboards and garish neon lights<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852761066/" title="Chicken kebab, Sultan Kebab, Peace Centre by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5312/5852761066_7d13488c19_m.jpg" alt="Chicken kebab, Sultan Kebab, Peace Centre" height="159" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852764736/" title="Chicken kebab, Sultan Kebab, Peace Centre by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5304/5852764736_9ec00a1e7f_m.jpg" alt="Chicken kebab, Sultan Kebab, Peace Centre" height="159" width="240" /></a><br />- dash up the overhead bridge to PoMo and head to Peace Centre where you will find Sultan Kebab run by two Turks who make simple but decent kebabs. Nothing like the wonderful kebab vans in Oxford but what to do.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852758046/" title="IMG_2023 by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3207/5852758046_e880f2cd8b_m.jpg" alt="IMG_2023" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />- back along the bigger Prinsep Street is the <a href="http://www.sota.edu.sg/">School of the Arts</a> designed by <a href="http://www.woha-architects.com/">WOHA</a>, which also <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/sculpture-in-the-sky/story-e6frg8io-1226030228100">designed</a> two favourite MRT stations - Stadium and Bras Basah - an experience in themselves. Singapore's push towards design-consciousness - deliberate or merely another follow-the-West trend?<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852344751/" title="egg3, The Cathay by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2692/5852344751_24e954aacb_m.jpg" alt="egg3, The Cathay" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852347309/" title="Woodwould, The Cathay by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3028/5852347309_b25e7c7ea3_m.jpg" alt="Woodwould, The Cathay" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5880934341/" title="Forest + Trees, The Cathay by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6041/5880934341_82bd3f2c61_m.jpg" alt="Forest + Trees, The Cathay" height="159" width="240" /></a><br />- cross Zubin Said Road to <a href="http://www.thecathay.com.sg/">The Cathay</a>, once a grand old building, now literally a shell of its former self, an example of begrudging conservation. Inside, check out the history gallery for an idea of how it used to be. Indie-ness is represented by <a href="http://www.eggthree.com/">egg3</a> (near another Starbucks), <a href="https://www.facebook.com/welovewoodwould">Woodwould</a>, Forest + Trees<br /><br />- cross Orchard Road to <a href="http://www.orpc.org.sg/">Orchard Road Presbyterian Church</a>, walk past <a href="http://www.ymca.org.sg/">YMCA</a> (yes we have one of those too)<br />- explore the <a href="http://www.nationalmuseum.sg/">National Museum</a> whose <a href="http://www.designsingapore.org/pda_public/gallery.aspx?sid=73">delightful re-development</a> was drawn up by W Architects and CPG Architects<br />- cross Stamford Road to <a href="http://www.smu.edu.sg/">Singapore Management University</a>. Cox Architects and Planners and DEG Architects were in charge of the Administrative Building, and Edward Cullinan Architects and KNTA Architects designed the rest. Really quite lacklustre use of the former civic space.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852907046/" title="Maghain Aboth Synagogue by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3245/5852907046_1cdaf78906_m.jpg" alt="Maghain Aboth Synagogue" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />- cross Bras Basah Road to Waterloo Street. The oldest Jewish synagogue in southeast-asia, Maghain Aboth Synagogue, also sporting a prominent Star of David, is painted a beigey-yellow. Any attempts at close-up photography will be quickly resisted by very strict security guards<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852349715/" title="Campers' Corner, 51 Waterloo Street by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5232/5852349715_7bca7fdd79_m.jpg" alt="Campers' Corner, 51 Waterloo Street" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />- at 51 Waterloo Street, pick up travel necessities from <a href="http://www.camperscorner.com.sg/">Campers' Corner</a>, relocated here from the historic Stamford House now undergoing further redevelopment. Outdoor Research Seattle Sombreros now at half price.<br /><br />51 Waterloo Street (old annex to <a href="http://www.sppchurch.org.sg/">Church of St.s Peter and Paul</a> on parallel Queen's Street?) is also stuffed with <a href="http://www.theprivatemuseum.org/">The Private Museum</a> (set up by Daniel Teo for private collectors to showcase their hoards - example of public/governmental functions being increasingly taken over by privates?); <a href="http://www.yavuzfineart.com/">Yavuz Fine Art </a>for more contemporary stuff; <a href="http://www.finepalate.com.sg/">Fine Palate</a> - <a href="http://www.soshiok.com/critic/article/15205">Heather Barrie</a>'s gourmet catering kitchen and showroom. Few Singaporeans cook for crowds, most preferring to cater in food instead; "enrichment" classes for kids - drama, music, ballet etc<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5859920771/" title="Keepcup by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5187/5859920771_33139226cd_m.jpg" alt="Keepcup" height="159" width="240" /></a><br />- while it still exists, <a href="http://thebookofshadow.blogspot.com/2011/05/i-shall-wear-bottom-of-my-trousers.html">visit</a> pop-up coffee shop <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Steeping-Room/208635119156439">The Steeping Room</a>, purchase beans, implements, a earth-saving <a href="http://www.keepcup.com/">Keepcup</a> and coffee authenticity. I doubt the good folk at TSR would say no if you brought in some cake from <a href="http://roomfordessert.com.sg/">Room for Dessert</a>, also at 261 Waterloo Street<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5869346188/" title="Artichoke, Waterloo Street by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3253/5869346188_c063032c22_m.jpg" alt="Artichoke, Waterloo Street" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5869347846/" title="Artichoke, Waterloo Street by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3088/5869347846_b7e6e56cd4_m.jpg" alt="Artichoke, Waterloo Street" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5869349746/" title="Artichoke, Queen Street by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5079/5869349746_551a240240_m.jpg" alt="Artichoke, Queen Street" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5869351122/" title="Moorish Dips, Artichoke, Queen Street by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5305/5869351122_fe8af8c385_m.jpg" alt="Moorish Dips, Artichoke, Queen Street" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5869352710/" title="Beetroot Tzatziki, Artichoke, Queen Street by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5023/5869352710_c630ee1d79_m.jpg" alt="Beetroot Tzatziki, Artichoke, Queen Street" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />- where Waterloo Street meets Middle Road is <a href="http://www.sculpturesq.com.sg/">Sculpture Square</a> (redevelopment has obscured almost any indication that this used to be the Baba Methodist Church). Now the only thing of regular interest there is mediterranean at <a href="http://www.artichoke.com.sg/">Artichoke Cafe & Bar</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852353361/" title="Singapore Art Museum by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5307/5852353361_27637910e8_m.jpg" alt="Singapore Art Museum" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5881498290/" title="Singapore Art Museum by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img style="width: 248px; height: 178px;" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6016/5881498290_919360d073_m.jpg" alt="Singapore Art Museum" /></a><br />- back up Waterloo Street to the neo-classical <a href="http://www.singaporeartmuseum.sg/">Singapore Arts Museum</a> (the <a href="http://www.singaporeartmuseum.sg/museum/the_building.php">former site</a> of St. Joseph's Institution - one of the oldest Catholic boys' schools)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5881502618/" title="Walter and the Singapore Art Museum by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6054/5881502618_6376deee5e_m.jpg" alt="Walter and the Singapore Art Museum" height="159" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5880936879/" title="Walter, Singapore Art Museum by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5115/5880936879_9fff435440_m.jpg" alt="Walter, Singapore Art Museum" height="159" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5880935465/" title="Walter Merchandise, Singapore Art Museum by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5079/5880935465_360b1377c2_m.jpg" alt="Walter Merchandise, Singapore Art Museum" height="159" width="240" /></a><br />- debate existence of Walter as art, purchase Made for SAM <a href="http://www.singaporeartmuseum.sg/visitus/store.php">merchandise</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5869273742/" title="Trans-cool Tokyo exhibition, 8Q by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3149/5869273742_173e1c00bf_m.jpg" alt="Trans-cool Tokyo exhibition, 8Q" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5869276514/" title="Trans-cool Tokyo exhibition, 8Q by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3122/5869276514_ed8c2f2c1d_m.jpg" alt="Trans-cool Tokyo exhibition, 8Q" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />- on 8 Queen Street is 8Q, the extension of the Singapore Arts Museum. It is housed in the former primary school section of Catholic High School (another old boys' school)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5869279234/" title="Food for Thought, Queen Street by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5318/5869279234_b6e79928fb_m.jpg" alt="Food for Thought, Queen Street" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5868724505/" title="Chinese Chicken Caesar, Food for Thought, Queen Street by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6012/5868724505_be48eeef97_m.jpg" alt="Chinese Chicken Caesar, Food for Thought, Queen Street" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5869284892/" title="Chai Spice Brûlée Salmon, Food for Thought, Queen Street by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5155/5869284892_e6675b2cb8_m.jpg" alt="Chai Spice Brûlée Salmon, Food for Thought, Queen Street" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5868728359/" title="Really Good Steak with Blue Cheese Butter, Food for Thought, Queen Street by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5315/5868728359_fa64f37a1b_m.jpg" alt="Really Good Steak with Blue Cheese Butter, Food for Thought, Queen Street" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5868730983/" title="Peanut Butter & Jelly Pudding, Food for Thought, Queen Street by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3278/5868730983_69c9d26d04_m.jpg" alt="Peanut Butter & Jelly Pudding, Food for Thought, Queen Street" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5869292636/" title="Cappuccino, Food for Thought, Queen Street by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5238/5869292636_9b47126506_m.jpg" alt="Cappuccino, Food for Thought, Queen Street" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />- drop off at <a href="http://www.foodforthought.com.sg/">Food For Thought</a> along Queen Street for good food and social cause agenda<br />- across the road is the neo-gothic Church of Sts. Peter and Paul<br /><br />For a proper history of all these national monuments (Singaporeans love to categorise - the problem with lack of official status though, is that historical buildings get the wrecking ball in favour of spanking new buildings), join a <a href="http://www.pmb.sg/?page_id=1183">MONUMENTAL walking tour</a> by the <a href="http://www.pmb.sg/">Preservation of Monuments Board</a>.<br /><br />- further up Queen Street, cut through <a href="http://www.catholic.org.sg/sjc/">St Joseph's Catholic Church</a> and cross Victoria Street to the National Library Building designed by <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.arup.com/_assets/_download/download626.pdf">a consortium led by TR Hamzah & Yeang</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5881504864/" title="Swee Lee Company, Bras Basah by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5188/5881504864_f0bdcf6e3e_m.jpg" alt="Swee Lee Company, Bras Basah" height="159" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5881506190/" title="Cat Socrates, Bras Basah Complex by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5150/5881506190_31e8af1e28_m.jpg" alt="Cat Socrates, Bras Basah Complex" height="159" width="240" /> </a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5881500526/" title="Cat Sorcates, Bras Basah Complex by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6038/5881500526_9f45374acc_m.jpg" alt="Cat Sorcates, Bras Basah Complex" height="159" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5881499402/" title="Cat Socrates, Bras Basah Complex by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5061/5881499402_03e38f6545_m.jpg" alt="Cat Socrates, Bras Basah Complex" height="159" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852910300/" title="Cat Socrates, Bras Basah Complex by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5110/5852910300_dc66d17d71_m.jpg" alt="Cat Socrates, Bras Basah Complex" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />- across Bain Street is Bras Basah Complex, a place to buy used books and musical instruments. Representing indie folk (but from a slightly Taiwanese perspective) is <a href="http://www.catsocrates.com.sg/">Cat Socrates</a>. They now have a little sit-down area for tea.<br /><br />- cross North Bridge Road to Seah Street where there is the <a href="http://www.emint.com/">MINT Museum of Toys</a>,<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5880955393/" title="Actually, Seah Street by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6099/5880955393_fda78c13d5_m.jpg" alt="Actually, Seah Street" height="159" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5880956753/" title="Actually, Seah Street by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6001/5880956753_6ceb8efd4b_m.jpg" alt="Actually, Seah Street" height="159" width="240" /></a><br />industrial-chic <a href="http://www.actually.com.sg/">Actually...</a>,<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5881507504/" title="Supermama by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5070/5881507504_e8483186ff_m.jpg" alt="Supermama" height="159" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5881513624/" title="Supermama, Seah Street by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5312/5881513624_dcc14fe4fd_m.jpg" alt="Supermama, Seah Street" height="159" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5880949993/" title="Supermama by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6012/5880949993_9023bd4b26_m.jpg" alt="Supermama" height="240" width="159" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5880951919/" title="Supermama, Seah Street by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5144/5880951919_956c456fd2_m.jpg" alt="Supermama, Seah Street" height="240" width="159" /></a><br />and retro + minimalist = hip <a href="http://www.supermama.sg/">Supermama</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852913196/" title="Front Row and A.P.C., Raffles Hotel by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3077/5852913196_9d56e1b521_m.jpg" alt="Front Row and A.P.C., Raffles Hotel" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852360459/" title="Long Bar, Raffles Hotel by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2758/5852360459_f10fa81b84_m.jpg" alt="Long Bar, Raffles Hotel" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />- in neo-Renaissance <a href="http://www.raffles.com/">Raffles Hotel</a>, fash-hag A.P.C. and <a href="http://www.frontrowsingapore.com/">Front Row</a>. Do the touristy thing and order a Singapore Sling at the Long Bar :-(<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852917946/" title="Kate Spade, Raffles City by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5113/5852917946_6f11aaef99_m.jpg" alt="Kate Spade, Raffles City" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />- re-cross Bras Basah Road to <a href="http://www.rafflescity.com.sg/">Raffles City</a> mall to gape at some conspicuous consumption. The building is owned by a real estate trust - increasingly popular concept in derivative investment<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5863432083/" title="St Andrew's Cathedral by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5273/5863432083_5e15e88731_m.jpg" alt="St Andrew's Cathedral" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5863981124/" title="Singapore Flyer, Esplanade, Marina Bay Sands from The Padang by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5311/5863981124_cf7bf60c1a_m.jpg" alt="Singapore Flyer, Esplanade, Marina Bay Sands from The Padang" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />- exit from the opposite side to <a href="http://www.livingstreams.org.sg/sac/index.html">St. Andrew's Cathedral</a> with view of the iconic <a href="http://www.esplanade.com/">Esplanade</a> (<a href="http://www.singaporearchitect.com.sg/archive/issue214_02/feature.html">DP Architects</a>) and <a href="http://www.marinabaysands.com/">Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort</a> (<a href="http://www.archdaily.com/70186/marina-bay-sands-safdie-architects/">Moshe Safdie Architects</a>) and the <a href="http://www.singaporeflyer.com/">Singapore Flyer</a> (<a href="http://www.singaporeflyer.com/about-us/design-concepts/">Dr. Kisho Kurokawa of Japan and DP Architects</a>) in the distance. These make it easier to identify where your hairpins are in <a href="http://formula1-game.com/">Formula 1</a> game<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5868740617/" title="IMG_1770 by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5159/5868740617_c5ba81e311_m.jpg" alt="IMG_1770" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5868743327/" title="IMG_1792 by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3120/5868743327_babdbe7649_m.jpg" alt="IMG_1792" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />- head down Coleman Street past Peninsula Plaza (example of early 1980s architecture) where several Burmese shops and restaurants now nestle to cater to increasing number of workers from Myanmar. Say "mingalaba" at <a href="http://www.inlemyanmar.com.sg/">Inle Myanmar</a> (resto) or Loi Nine (hole-in-wall). Paan (betel nut) for trying.<br /><br />Vintage fashion at <a href="http://www.grannysdayout.com/">Granny's Day Out</a>, Peninsula Shopping Centre.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852864274/" title="IMG_1326 by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5272/5852864274_ebdf75bdbe_m.jpg" alt="IMG_1326" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852312941/" title="IMG_1330 by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5028/5852312941_a33d2f055a_m.jpg" alt="IMG_1330" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />- across Hill Street is <a href="http://armeniansinasia.org/">The Armenian Apostolic Church of St. Gregory the Illuminator</a>, the first Christian church to be built in Singapore<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5863996818/" title="Macbeth, Fort Canning by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5312/5863996818_12e1b5fab0_m.jpg" alt="Macbeth, Fort Canning" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5863999006/" title="Macbeth, Fort Canning by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3153/5863999006_cb62b8e4f9_m.jpg" alt="Macbeth, Fort Canning" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />- behind the church is Fort Canning. With so few mounds of height in this country, not surprising that loads of stuff happened here. Now, one slope is used mainly as a stage for music and theatre events<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852870414/" title="Central Fire Station, Hill Street by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2722/5852870414_218076c5a3_m.jpg" alt="Central Fire Station, Hill Street" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852872856/" title="Central Fire Station, Hill Street by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5077/5852872856_939c9e00ba_m.jpg" alt="Central Fire Station, Hill Street" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />- <a href="http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_857_2004-12-15.html">Central Fire Station</a>, across from the church, is Singapore's oldest surviving fire station. There are open house sessions on Saturday mornings.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852320901/" title="MICA Building (Old Hill Street Police Station) by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5270/5852320901_25aae747c0_m.jpg" alt="MICA Building (Old Hill Street Police Station)" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />- near the Singapore River, the old dame with rainbow eyeshadow is the <a href="http://app.mica.gov.sg/Default.aspx?tabid=64">MICA Building</a> (or the Old Hill Street Police Station)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852323221/" title="IMG_1349 by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5064/5852323221_7082305251_m.jpg" alt="IMG_1349" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />- back down High Street, you'll see the new <a href="http://www.supcourt.gov.sg/">Supreme Court</a> building (topped with what looks like a UFO) designed by <a href="http://www.fosterandpartners.com/Projects/1095/Default.aspx">Foster + Partners</a> just beside the classical old one<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852879432/" title="IMG_1351 by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3228/5852879432_b47908c385_m.jpg" alt="IMG_1351" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />- modernist? <a href="http://www.parliament.gov.sg/">Parliament House</a> was, well, designed by <a href="http://www.parliament.gov.sg/present-architecture-house">architects from the Public Works Department</a>...<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5863988206/" title="Part of Singapore skyline by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3213/5863988206_061c355cb3_m.jpg" alt="Part of Singapore skyline" height="240" width="180" /></a><br />- walk to the Singapore River, gawk at the skyline and wave to tourists on bumboats<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5863961386/" title="IMG_8365 by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5080/5863961386_7d3d62bce0_m.jpg" alt="IMG_8365" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5863964090/" title="Song Fa Bak Ku Teh by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3225/5863964090_44642b0315_m.jpg" alt="Song Fa Bak Ku Teh" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />- upstream, past Riverwalk, slurp up some pork rib soup at <a href="http://www.songfa.com.sg/">Song Fa Bak Ku Teh</a>: the old Chinatown "traditional" interior assumedly enhances authenticity of experience, then take a walk upstream to Clarke Quay, site of has-been nightlife. Further up is Liang Court, home of Japanese supermarket Meidiya and other Japanese stores to cater to the Japanese expat crowd. Even the advertisements are in Japanese.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5868736049/" title="Laurent Bernard Chocolatier, The Pier at Robertson Quay by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5268/5868736049_1443959044_m.jpg" alt="Laurent Bernard Chocolatier, The Pier at Robertson Quay" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5868738211/" title="IMG_2299 by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5239/5868738211_44ff414de8_m.jpg" alt="IMG_2299" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />- head up to Robertson Quay for the more generally expat - eg. chocolate at <a href="http://www.thechocolatefactoryonline.com/">Laurent Bernard</a>'s<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852920508/" title="Boomerang Bar, Robertson Quay by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5071/5852920508_01d9e659b8_m.jpg" alt="Boomerang Bar, Robertson Quay" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />and watch some rugby at <a href="http://boomarang.com.sg/">Boomerang Bistro & Bar</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852923256/" title="Kith Cafe, Watermark, Rodyk Street by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2648/5852923256_3a161ce989_m.jpg" alt="Kith Cafe, Watermark, Rodyk Street" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852371921/" title="Vanguard Designs, Watermark, Rodyk Street by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3035/5852371921_20d20bdfb0_m.jpg" alt="Vanguard Designs, Watermark, Rodyk Street" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />- further upstream, mark the cycles for rent at The Watermark @ Robertson Quay ("conserved" warehouses backed up to a modern condominium development). Grab a picnic basket from <a href="http://kith.com.sg/">Kith Cafe</a> and then cycle one of the <a href="http://www.vanguard-designs.com/">Vanguard Design</a> rentals along the river until it gets dark. This rehab workshop for classic old cycles is also only place i know where <a href="http://www.yakkay.com/">Yakkay helmets</a> and made-in-China <a href="http://www.brookssaddles.com/">Brooks saddles</a> can be had. Up-river, there are some next riverside eateries and whistle-wetters at Robertson Blue - Indian and Thai at <a href="http://www.bbbs.com.sg/">Bar Bar Black Sheep</a>, <a href="http://bythemerrymen.wordpress.com/">The Merry Men Kitchen + Bar</a>. You can also visit <a href="http://www.timothyoulton.com/">Timothy Oulton</a> if you want to finger some "eclectic elegance".<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852374215/" title="That which used to be known as The Warehouse Disco, Havelock Road by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3100/5852374215_f33db44a1a_m.jpg" alt="That which used to be known as The Warehouse Disco, Havelock Road" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852376553/" title="The Watermark @ Robertson Quay by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2782/5852376553_35502d55c0_m.jpg" alt="The Watermark @ Robertson Quay" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />- head over the Saiboo Street bridge towards the warehouses which were once home to the creatively-named Warehouse Disco, then get a bus from the opposite side of Havelock Road to Tiong Bahru estate, about 3 bus-stops away<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5797272498/" title="Rojak, Tiong Bahru Food Centre by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2739/5797272498_acf091475c_m.jpg" alt="Rojak, Tiong Bahru Food Centre" height="159" width="240" /></a><br />- chow down at the recently-constructed <a href="http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_1700_2010-08-11.html">Tiong Bahru</a> Market and Food Centre built with similar Bauhaus sensitivities as <a href="http://tiongbahru-heritageclub.blogspot.com/">surrounding</a> <a href="http://civiclifetiongbahru.com/">flats</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852381709/" title="The Big Bang hot dog, Forty Hands by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2646/5852381709_7152e06993_m.jpg" alt="The Big Bang hot dog, Forty Hands" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852379067/" title="Flat White, Forty Hands, Yong Siak Street, Tiong Bahru by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5316/5852379067_6733eae8ff_m.jpg" alt="Flat White, Forty Hands, Yong Siak Street, Tiong Bahru" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5852939330/" title="Double chocolate chip cookie, Forty Hands by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5195/5852939330_aa65d0fc81_m.jpg" alt="Double chocolate chip cookie, Forty Hands" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />- indie enclave at Yong Siak Street consists of <a href="http://www.40handscoffee.com/">Forty Hands</a>,<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5881517688/" title="Strangelets and BooksActually by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5308/5881517688_98381fb0fa_m.jpg" alt="Strangelets and BooksActually" height="159" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5880959043/" title="BooksActually, Yong Siak Street, Tiong Bahru by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5222/5880959043_304e2e23f1_m.jpg" alt="BooksActually, Yong Siak Street, Tiong Bahru" height="159" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5881526262/" title="BooksActually, Yong Siak Street, Tiong Bahru by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5187/5881526262_ac1d82fbae_m.jpg" alt="BooksActually, Yong Siak Street, Tiong Bahru" height="240" width="159" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.strangelets.sg/">Strangelets</a>, <a href="http://www.booksactually.com/">booksactually</a><br /><br />On to Part #2... Orchard Road to Joo Chiat/Katong and Part #3... Arab Street/Haji Lane<br /><br /></span></span></div>shadowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13822100633711347312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100929.post-61913681370193380842011-06-17T18:28:00.003+08:002011-06-27T01:25:51.137+08:00Angry Birds at Youth Camp<div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5820403318/" title="Angry Birds - Green Pigs by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2582/5820403318_72b5f617d3.jpg" alt="Angry Birds - Green Pigs" height="332" width="500" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Some days you think the sky is falling...<br /><br />and it's raining <a href="http://www.rovio.com/index.php?page=angry-birds">Angry Birds</a> tchotchke. At least one stall in every pasar malam and mall a gaudy display of soft toys, electric fans, bags, files, pens bearing the images of the rotund birds in primary colours.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5819726565/" title="Angry Bird Cake Toppers by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2601/5819726565_00838dca09.jpg" alt="Angry Bird Cake Toppers" height="332" width="500" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">We rode the wave with an Angry Birds-themed Revision Party just as the craze was cresting. In the playing-with-your-food department, a lazy google already turned up:<br /></span></span><ul><li><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">playable Angry Birds cakes - commercially from <a href="http://bake-a-log.blogspot.com/2011/05/playable-angry-birds-cake.html">Bake-A-Log</a> and <a href="http://acakelife.blogspot.com/2011/04/coles-angry-birds.html">A Cake Life LLC</a> and out of fatherly love from <a href="http://www.electricpig.co.uk/2011/02/21/bake-your-own-playable-angry-birds-cake">Electricpig</a> (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hwVRzaQNkA">Youtube</a>)</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Angry Birds <a href="http://artisancakecompany.com/2011/01/angry-birds-edible-toppers/">cake toppers</a> from Artisan Cake Company</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Angry Birds <a href="http://sweetdreams-bakery.blogspot.com/2011/05/angry-birds-birthday-cupcakes.html">cupcakes</a></span></span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Angry Birds <a href="http://blogs.babble.com/family-kitchen/2011/04/27/angry-birds-sandwiches-for-the-lunch-box/">sandwiches</a></span></span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Angry Birds <a href="http://blogs.babble.com/family-kitchen/2011/04/08/angry-birds-mini-pizzas/">pizza</a></span></span></li></ul><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">The choice to go with Angry Birds cake toppers (with Green Pigs in Kit-Kat structures - cos, well, "Take A Break") to cut through the monotony of study seemed a good one. The fondant excited the campers (several of whom confessed an Angry Birds obsession) and was certainly more appreciated than if the Rovio game had been <a href="http://pichaus.com/art-bit-angry-pixel-@fceb852446ff0102d805f7cce1803503/">made retro</a> <span style="font-style: italic;">a la</span> Penney Design.<br /><br />Being fairly contentless, save for a rather loose back story involving egg-stealing Green Pigs and kamikaze Angry Birds, the theme was open to having all sorts of stuff imposed on it without being untrue to author's intent. Stayed true to the original fonts though - <a href="http://www.dafont.com/font.php?file=feast_of_flesh_bb">Feast of the Flesh</a> by Blambot and <a href="http://www.dafont.com/onomatoshark.font">OnomatoShark!</a>. Passed on the lovely downloadable wallpaper from <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%20http://mobby.mobi/angry-birds-customization-set-wallpapersicons/">here</a>.<br /><br />The erstwhile Irate Aves did not quite follow the bird sounds of the game, claiming that their version was correct. For the record, the sounds on the iPhone game appear to be:<br />Red Bird: ahhh..heehee....haaaa<br />Yellow Bird: oi oi...weeeeeee<br />Black Bomber Bird: hahahahahaaaa.....weeee<br />White Bird that drops egg-bombs: paka! weeeeeee<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5839340875/" title="Angry Birds - Green Pig by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5193/5839340875_684fc79c90_m.jpg" alt="Angry Birds - Green Pig" height="159" width="240" /></a><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Nevertheless, the masks they made were excellent and the campers, politely bemused by the breakfast and supper entertainment which included Mr. Quadratic Equations Tan attempting to explain the formula for catapult launching, a Miss Universe Contestant attempting a Peas Treaty and a crusty old British general Mighty Eagle. (We also had the services of a crazy-good pianist who could play variations on Ari Pulkinnen's <a href="http://www.aripulkkinen.com/2011/03/14/making-of-angry-birds-music/">Angry Birds theme song</a> (and more besides) after just one listen.)<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5841254717/" title="Angry Birds - in real life by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3199/5841254717_c1c0b8182e.jpg" alt="Angry Birds - in real life" height="182" width="500" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">This cumulated in the Wide Game where campers had to help the Angry Birds get, well, <i>something</i> so The Mighty Eagle might save them from the porcine scourge. One camper with a "Latitia" accent threatened TME with no ice-cream if he didn't provide assistance, another used his vague knowledge of United Nations conventions to Promise the old bird an early extinction if help was not forthcoming. Hilarious. But it's very important to know what someone wants when trying to please (or threaten) him... The Man With The Tie and Yam Ah Mee hair read out the Golden Egg Awards pursuant to Section 49, Sub-section 7E, Paragraph (a) of the Piggymentary Eradication Act.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5819756393/" title="Angry Bird Cake Toppers - Long Beak Version by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2331/5819756393_7603a54970.jpg" alt="Angry Bird Cake Toppers - Long Beak Version" height="332" width="500" /></a></span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><i>Long Beak Species</i></span></span><br /></div><br />Happily, no one was too precious about non-essentials like the entertainment or the food (yummy as usual - babi assam, mustard chicken, pasta bake, apple crumble, banoffee pie etc), though these worked agreeably as white noise, so everyone could concentrate on what mattered - the gospel. Personally, this seemed the most unmuddied proclamation of the good news at camp in recent memory. Particularly enjoyed Stuart Morgan's exposition of the Book of Esther concerning God working even amongst the Jews of somewhat nebulous character, who had not bothered to obey the command to return to God's land. The Times of Quiet <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke%2022-24&version=ESV">Luke 22-24</a> (x Exodus 12 x Jeremiah 31 x Psalm 22) passages worked well with the <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2018-19&version=ESV">Luke 18-19</a> ones in the Main Talks. The forums about English comprehension and Bible-reading, and the recent devastating earthquake in Japan instigated quite a few good questions from thoughtful campers.<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">The scamper book club book, Greg Dutcher's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/You-Are-Treasure-That-Seek/dp/1572933097"><i>You are the treasure that I seek (but there's a lot of cool stuff out there Lord)</i></a> co-operated with the theme by featuring a golden egg (Golden Egg!!) on its cover. The juxtaposition between the eagerness of the first witnesses in proclaiming the risen Lord and the stubborn lusting after idols in our own lives was quite stark. As the senior campers went about their menial tasks, it became apparent from their attitude (and, if they were not given to much self-control, from what they said) that they would need to grapple with the practical concept of Christian service - that if upfront teaching and leadership roles or tasks that get them the attention of the campers or leaders are the only serving they are interested in, a good re-look at Jesus' own life is necessary. A problem of idolatry that we all face.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5820377354/" title="Angry Birds - Green Pigs by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/5820377354_449afcd9a8.jpg" alt="Angry Birds - Green Pigs" height="332" width="500" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />Happened upon other stuff on Jesus' death and resurrection:<br /><a href="http://www.st-helens.org.uk/resources/blog/permalink/2011-06/the-crucifixion-again">Notes on the crucifixion (Mark 14:26-72)</a> from St Helen's Bishopsgate RML Mark<br /><a href="http://www.sovereigngracemusic.org/">Sovereign Grace</a>'s new-ish album, <a href="http://sovereigngracemusic.bandcamp.com/album/risen"><i>Risen</i></a>, which celebrate the "realities, experienced and enjoyed by all who place their faith and hope in Jesus Christ". Especially fond of the Evanescence-ish "Risen", slightly Tori Amos-ish "We Will Rise" and "Behold Our God".<br /><br />If graffiti wasn't illegal in Singapore, we would do Angry Bird ones like <a href="http://oakoak.canalblog.com/archives/2011/04/18/20924742.html">this</a>!<br /><br /></span></span></div>shadowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13822100633711347312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100929.post-92054572131651174622011-06-04T12:36:00.007+08:002011-06-23T00:10:58.296+08:00God's Sovereignty, Man's Responsibility, Free Will and Durians<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5782884982/" title="Marmite Soldiers and Soft Boiled Egg by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3161/5782884982_e337fd04ee.jpg" alt="Marmite Soldiers and Soft Boiled Egg" height="332" width="500" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><i>"Our Mate"</i></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />The morning after being grilled along with some mystery meat at a Korean BBQ, was still considerably in awe of God.<br /><br />"If God knows everything that will happen, why didn't he just make everyone obey him?"<br /><br />That's exactly what we would do if we were the too-flawed-to-wield-so-much-power <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0315327/">Bruce Almighty</a>. But, as if as additional proof that God wasn't made up by any human being, that's precisely what God does not do:<br /></span></span><ul><li><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">he made the whole world, including human beings who were allowed to choose between trusting him completely and throwing their lot in with a sneaky snake ("You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." - Genesis 2:16-17);</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">knowing that Adam and Eve will head up a whole nasty race who will have nothing but hatred for him, God nevertheless lets them live and blesses their descendants;</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">knowing that mankind will harden their hearts, God nevertheless woos them with rescue-after-rescue, signs and wonders, faithfulness, prophet-after-prophet, warnings;</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">knowing that his own justice must be served and the guilty punished, God decided before the beginning of time that his Son would die to pay for our sins<br /></span></span></li></ul><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">He didn't have to do any of these things but he did.<br /><br />It's excellent to have questions about God's omniscience and human free will because this is precisely the sort of stuff you would come upon if you were paying attention to the Bible.<br /><br />Not convinced by arguments that God gave us so-called free will because he craved genuine love not robot love. No where does it say that God so loved the world he gave them democracy. The Scriptures just states both God's knowing-it-all and man's choice as facts and doesn't bother to explain it to plebs.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5794682283/" title="Jurong West, Mao Shan Wang Durians by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3510/5794682283_ecdb8f461f.jpg" alt="Jurong West, Mao Shan Wang Durians" height="375" width="500" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">In fact, the Bible doesn't just stop there. To show you who's boss, it goes one up and adds a durian to its juggling routine - predestination, that is, nothing happens without God's say-so (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+3&version=47">Colossians 3</a>:12, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ephesians%201&version=ESV">Ephesians 1</a>:4-10, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+8&version=ESV">Romans 8</a>:29-30, Romans 9. Have a listen to <a href="http://clown.ithil.org/%7Ebill/20110515AM.mp3">Jonathan Fletcher</a> and a stare at <a href="http://www.theologian.org.uk/doctrine/perserverance.html">Broughton Knox</a>). It's not an embarrassing boo-boo that needs to be kept under wraps made but a proud, loud and constant refrain throughout all those different books by different human authors, writing in vastly different ages and nations. For example,<br /></span></span><ul><li><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Exodus states baldly, in the matter of a certain king of Egypt, that the Pharaoh's heart was hardened (Exodus 7:13,14,22; 8:19; 9:7), the Pharaoh hardened his heart (Exodus 8:15,32; 9:34), the LORD hardened the Pharaoh's heart (Exodus 9:12), and God knew beforehand that this would happen (Exodus 9:35).</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">In case you were mistaken that Jesus sweet and mild didn't come in for such imperialistic predestination stuff, he was recorded as saying "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day." (John 6:44), "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you..." (John 15:16), and also "If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. (John 15:6)".</span></span></li></ul><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">The Bible is really quite adamant about God's sovereignty, omnipotence and total control over everything on one hand, and human ability to choose and bear responsibility for their choices on the other. It's the same as there being one God and the Trinity, and as Jesus being fully human and fully divine.<br /><br />A cop-out? Well, it's a bit silly for those who have trouble following <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133093/"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Matrix</span></a> <a href="http://www.thematrix101.com/">trilogy</a> or <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://inceptionmovie.warnerbros.com/">Incep</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inception">tion</a></span> which are but human constructs, or who can't keep a handle on simplistic political arguments that don't even take into account the system dynamics of <a href="http://simcitysocieties.ea.com/">SimCity</a>, to find this both-and aspect of God's world offensive. Why, even the brightest minds and hard-working generations have hardly scratched the surface in explaining the known universe (aka science), it's really not surprising that we can't understand this. (I like to harbour suspicions that it'll all be revealed as several strands of elegantly beautiful mathematical equations in the end - but that's hardly biblical.)<br /><br />Furthermore, the ultimate whys and wherefores are not quite our concern. What we can know is that we and our fathers before us have always been slacking off at work but drawing full salary and benefits. We don't know where the money comes from but we think it has always just been that way and we are fully entitled to it. We mess up the office, steal, murder, rape and do all sorts of crimes within his compound. Not only does the big boss not sack us like he should, he even bothers to bail us out of jail, and comes to our little cubicle to show us that he is the source of our funding, persuade us to acknowledge him as boss. We, of course, won't have any of it. But when the law catches up with our evil deeds, the boss sends his only son to take our punishment for us, and so grant us reprieve.<br /><br />If we were in the lethal injection chair or in the clutches of some other choice method of capital punishment, and seconds away from death, it would be a bit academic (and also illogical) to decline this last minute reprieve on the grounds that there were things we didn't understand about, oh, i don't know, maybe the boss's taste in wallpaper and if you really had the free will to choose whether to accept this salvation. Just grab the reprieve, say thank you and you will realise that all this is a comfort: a God worthy of worship must surely know all and be in control of all things and be ultimately beyond the minds of mankind.<br /><br />And it is for his glory isn't it because who would not say that that is one heck of an awesome God.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5811792997/" title="Super Kun Yu (Kunyit) Durian 坤玉榴梿 by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5079/5811792997_90081a84a9_m.jpg" alt="Super Kun Yu (Kunyit) Durian 坤玉榴梿" height="180" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />On constant repeat on all available audio devices:<br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6juePKlRKtI" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" width="560"></iframe><br /><a href="http://sovereigngracemusic.bandcamp.com/track/behold-our-god"><i>Behold Our God</i></a>, from the <a href="http://sovereigngracemusic.bandcamp.com/album/risen"><i>Risen</i></a> album by <a href="http://www.sovereigngracemusic.org/">Sovereign Grace Music</a><br />Who has held the oceans in His hands?<br />Who has numbered every grain of sand?<br />Kings and nations tremble at His voice<br />All creation rises to rejoice<br /><br />Chorus<br />Behold our God seated on His throne<br />Come, let us adore Him<br />Behold our King—nothing can compare<br />Come, let us adore Him<br /><br />Who has given counsel to the Lord?<br />Who can question any of His words?<br />Who can teach the One who knows all things?<br />Who can fathom all His wondrous deeds?<br /><br />Who has felt the nails upon His hands?<br />Bearing all the guilt of sinful man<br />God eternal, humbled to the grave<br />Jesus, Savior, risen now to reign<br /><br />Tag<br />You will reign forever<br />Let Your glory fill the earth<br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">from Risen, released 22 March 2011<br />Jonathan Baird, Meghan Baird, Ryan Baird, and Stephen Altrogge<br />© 2011 Sovereign Grace Worship (ASCAP)/Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI)</span><br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/j_t_87NyHx0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" width="560"></iframe><br /><i>Our God</i>, <a href="http://www.christomlin.com/">Chris Tomlin</a><br />Water You turned into wine<br />Open the eyes of the blind<br />There’s no one like You<br />None like You<br />Into the darkness You shine<br />Out of the ashes we rise<br />There’s no one like You<br />None like You<br /><br />CHORUS<br />Our God is greater, our God is stronger<br />God You are higher than any other<br />Our God is Healer, awesome in power<br />Our God, Our God…<br /><br />Into the darkness you shining<br />Out of the ashes we Rise<br />There’s no One like You<br />None like You.<br /><br />Our God is greater, our God is stronger<br />God You are higher than any other<br />Our God is Healer, awesome in power<br />Our God, Our God…<br />Our God is greater, our God is stronger<br />God You are higher than any other<br />Our God is Healer, awesome in power<br />Our God, Our God…<br /><br />BRIDGE<br />And if Our God is for us, then who could ever stop us<br />And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?<br />And if Our God is for us, then who could ever stop us<br />And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?<br />What can stand against?<br /><br />Our God is greater, our God is stronger<br />God You are higher than any other<br />Our God is Healer, awesome in power<br />Our God, Our God…<br />Our God is greater, our God is stronger<br />God You are higher than any other<br />Our God is Healer, awesome in power<br />Our God, Our God…<br /><br />And if Our God is for us, then who could ever stop us<br />And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?<br />And if Our God is for us, then who can ever stop us<br />And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?<br />Then what can stand against?<br />Then what can stand against?<br /><br />Our God is greater, our God is stronger<br />God You are higher than any other<br />Our God is Healer, awesome in power<br />Our God, Our God…<br />Our God is greater, our God is stronger<br />God You are higher than any other<br />Our God is Healer, awesome in power<br />Our God, Our God…<br /></span></span></div><i><i><br /></i></i>shadowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13822100633711347312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100929.post-90437214013310101132011-05-25T23:30:00.006+08:002011-05-26T03:03:30.303+08:00Saturday In Design Singapore x Olympus Trip 35<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5758587782/" title="Saturday Indesign Singapore: Warehouse 72-13 by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2174/5758587782_b1d00da172_m.jpg" alt="Saturday Indesign Singapore: Warehouse 72-13" height="159" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5758586192/" title="Saturday Indesign Singapore: Warehouse 72-13 by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2723/5758586192_619d73679d_m.jpg" alt="Saturday Indesign Singapore: Warehouse 72-13" height="159" width="240" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5758586998/" title="Saturday Indesign Singapore: Warehouse 72-13 by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2175/5758586998_42b9b64325_m.jpg" alt="Saturday Indesign Singapore: Warehouse 72-13" height="159" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5758041343/" title="Saturday Indesign Singapore: Warehouse 72-13 by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2628/5758041343_2be101cf5e_m.jpg" alt="Saturday Indesign Singapore: Warehouse 72-13" height="159" width="240" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5758039281/" title="National Museum of Singapore by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3117/5758039281_25cac84738_m.jpg" alt="National Museum of Singapore" height="159" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5758040383/" title="Saturday Indesign Singapore: XTRA by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3005/5758040383_7688070fac_m.jpg" alt="Saturday Indesign Singapore: XTRA" height="159" width="240" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5758590242/" title="Saturday In design Singapore: Vitra by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2034/5758590242_be6d2d04e1_m.jpg" width="159" height="240" alt="Saturday In design Singapore: Vitra"></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5758023179/" title="Saturday Indesign Singapore: Vitra by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5264/5758023179_f0c9a47f55_m.jpg" alt="Saturday Indesign Singapore: Vitra" height="240" width="159" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5758038421/" title="Saturday Indesign Singapore: Vitra by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3051/5758038421_f5d21d1554_m.jpg" alt="Saturday Indesign Singapore: Vitra" height="159" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5758581450/" title="Saturday Indesign Singapore: Coffee Dude by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5062/5758581450_446fbbab59_m.jpg" alt="Saturday Indesign Singapore: Coffee Dude" height="159" width="240" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5758020399/" title="HDB Flat Singapore by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2493/5758020399_5e030bc780_m.jpg" alt="HDB Flat Singapore" height="240" width="159" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5758564916/" title="Saturday Indesign Singapore: Bene + Waldmann Lighting by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5229/5758564916_abaf409c29_m.jpg" alt="Saturday Indesign Singapore: Bene + Waldmann Lighting" height="240" width="159" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5758562686/" title="Saturday Indesign Singapore: Bene + Waldmann Lighting by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2411/5758562686_1f7da98396_m.jpg" alt="Saturday Indesign Singapore: Bene + Waldmann Lighting" height="159" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5758018069/" title="Saturday Indesign Singapore: Bene + Waldmann Lighting by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2384/5758018069_ab17bbfa12_m.jpg" alt="Saturday Indesign Singapore: Bene + Waldmann Lighting" height="159" width="240" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5758570420/" title="Keong Siak Street Singapore with view of The Pinnacle at Duxton by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2339/5758570420_0934d718e4_m.jpg" alt="Keong Siak Street Singapore with view of The Pinnacle at Duxton" height="159" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5758572220/" title="Saturday Indesign Singapore: Pomelo by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3028/5758572220_1db245acd4_m.jpg" alt="Saturday Indesign Singapore: Pomelo" height="159" width="240" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5758030469/" title="Saturday Indesign Singapore: Pomelo by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5146/5758030469_1d29c9ce24_m.jpg" alt="Saturday Indesign Singapore: Pomelo" height="159" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5758029449/" title="Saturday Indesign Singapore: Pomelo by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5223/5758029449_a0ea7fa1ce_m.jpg" alt="Saturday Indesign Singapore: Pomelo" height="159" width="240" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5758027439/" title="Saturday Indesign Singapore: Pomelo by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2127/5758027439_65748054be_m.jpg" alt="Saturday Indesign Singapore: Pomelo" height="159" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5758031325/" title="Saturday Indesign Singapore: Pomelo by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3290/5758031325_52ec9eb337_m.jpg" alt="Saturday Indesign Singapore: Pomelo" height="159" width="240" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">A happy afternoon perusing wares at <a href="http://saturdayindesignsingapore.com/">Saturday In Design Singapore</a>, the first of what's slated to be an annual trade event for the design community. Quite a bit of the exhibits were not new, but it was fun to see them all at one shot, observe tropes and discuss the concept of cross-fertilisation of ideas in a "globalised world".<br /><br />Grateful that God has given us the ability to find beauty in inanimate manmade objects - the <a href="http://www.mattiazzi.eu/products/branca">Mattiazzi Branca</a>, especially (a <a href="http://vimeo.com/20684417">Vimeo</a> on its manufacture).<br /><br />Explained the cost of following Christ from Mark 8 and 10 during this week's <a href="http://www.christianityexplored.org/course">Christianity Explored course</a>. Good questions at the end - people not so concerned about the cost or about historicity, but about different ways of interpreting the Bible and hypocrisy of Christians.<br /><br />Was interesting to hear Dick Lucas (or was it Jonathan Fletcher?) observe, during a sermon on Isaiah, that the challenge to the preacher is always to convince non-believers that God is not for them, and to convince believers that God is for them. A soundbite that is as inaccurate/vague as some contemporary Christian music?<br /><br />Sometimes, maudlin CCM lyrics encapsulate the riches of a Puritan sermon. Case in point, "you're altogether lovely" from <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU0PHNJoMQw"><i>Here I Am To Worship</i></a>. Says my homeboy, John Flavel in <a href="http://www.ccel.org/ccel/flavel/lovely.txt"><i>Christ Altogether Lovely</i></a>:<br /><br />1. Is Jesus Christ altogether lovely? Then I beseech you set your souls upon this lovely Jesus. I am sure such an object as has been here represented, would compel love from the coldest breast and hardest heart. Away with those empty nothings, away with this vain deceitful world, which deserves not the thousandth part of the love you give it. Let all stand aside and give way to Christ. O if only you knew his worth and excellency, what he is in himself, what he has done for you, and deserved from you, you would need no arguments of mine to persuade you to love him!<br /><br />2. Esteem nothing lovely except as it is enjoyed in Christ, or used for the sake of Christ. Love nothing for itself, love nothing separate from Jesus Christ. In two things we all sin in love of created things. We sin in the excess of our affections, loving them above the proper value of mere created things. We also sin in the inordinacy of our affections, that is to say we give our love for created things a priority it should never have.<br /><br />3. Let us all be humbled for the corruption of our hearts that are so eager in their affections for vanities and trifles and so hard to be persuaded to the love of Christ, who is altogether lovely. O how many pour out streams of love and delight upon the vain and empty created thing; while no arguments can draw forth one drop of love from their stubborn and unbelieving hearts to Jesus Christ! I have read of one Joannes Mollius, who was observed to go often alone, and weep bitterly; and being pressed by a friend to know the cause of his troubles, said "O! it grieves me that I cannot bring this heart of mine to love Jesus Christ more fervently."<br /><br />4. Represent Christ to the world as he is, by your behaviour towards him. Is he altogether lovely? Let all the world see and know that he is so, by your delights in him and communion with him; zeal for him, and readiness to part with any other lovely thing upon his account. Proclaim his excellencies to the world, as the spouse did in these verses. Persuade them how much your beloved is better than any other beloved. Show his glorious excellencies as you speak of him; hold him forth to others, as he is in himself: altogether lovely. See that you "walk worthy of him unto all well pleasing," Col. 1:10. "Show forth the praises of Christ," 1 Pet. 2:19. Let not that "worthy name be blasphemed through you," James 2:7. He is glorious in himself, and he is sure to put glory upon you; take heed that you do not put shame and dishonours upon him; he has committed his honour to you, do not betray that trust.<br /><br />5. Never be ashamed to be counted as a Christian: he is altogether lovely; he can never be a shame to you; it will be your great sin to be ashamed of him. Some men glory in their shame; do not let yourself be ashamed of your glory. If you will be ashamed of Christ now, he will be ashamed of you when he shall appear in his own glory, and the glory of all his holy angels. Be ashamed of nothing but sin; and among other sins, be ashamed especially for this sin, that you have no more love for him who is altogether lovely.<br /><br />6. Be willing to leave every thing that is lovely upon earth, in order that you may be with the altogether lovely Lord Jesus Christ in heaven. Lift up your voices with the bride, Rev. 20:20 "Come Lord Jesus, come quickly." It is true, you must pass through the pangs of death into his intimacy and enjoyment; but surely it is worth suffering much more than that to be with this lovely Jesus. "The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and the patient waiting for Jesus Christ," 2 Thes.3:5.<br /><br />7. Let the loveliness of Christ draw all men to him. Is loveliness in the creature so attractive? And can the transcendent loveliness of Christ draw none? O the blindness of man! If you see no beauty in Christ that causes you to desire him, it is because the god of this world has blinded your minds.<br /><br />8. Strive to be Christ-like, if ever you would be lovely in the eyes of God and man. Certainly, my brethren, it is only the Spirit of Christ within you, and the beauty of Christ upon you, which can make you lovely persons. The more you resemble him in holiness, the more will you show of true excellence and loveliness; and the more frequent and spiritual your communication and communion with Christ is, the more of the beauty and loveliness of Christ will be stamped upon your spirits, changing you into the same image, from glory to glory. Amen.<br /><br /><br />Photos thanks to Olympus Trip 35 x Fujifilm 400 x baking in hot sun x Triple D Minilab at Burlington Square (via <a href="http://www.peek-ture.com/">Peek!</a>)<br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5758272755/" title="Olympus Trip 35 by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3626/5758272755_e9fbce4d26_m.jpg" alt="Olympus Trip 35" height="140" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /><br /></div></div>shadowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13822100633711347312noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100929.post-32132208756253700942011-05-16T00:42:00.002+08:002011-05-16T17:10:33.257+08:00I Shall Wear the Bottom of My Trousers Rolled<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5719295432/" title="A cup of Papua New Guinea Sigri Peaberry, The Steeping Room by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3362/5719295432_30e7ddddd3.jpg" alt="A cup of Papua New Guinea Sigri Peaberry, The Steeping Room" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5719295428/" title="The Steeping Room by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2757/5719295428_d659bb0042.jpg" alt="The Steeping Room" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Fun times at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Steeping-Room/208635119156439">The Steeping Room</a>, a pop-up shop with a lifespan of only 3 months, from the same folk who brought us <a href="http://www.papapalheta.com/">Papa Palheta</a> and <a href="http://www.loyselstoy.com/">Loysel's Toy</a>. Reminiscent of <a href="http://www.squaremileblog.com/">Square Mile Coffee Roasters</a>' <a href="http://www.squaremileblog.com/2010/05/18/the-penny-university/">Penny University</a>. Fantastic initiative and, to use politico-speak, where the ground is heading. (Or is the ground being led there?)<br /><br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" height="225" width="400"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=91f7f46fe3&photo_id=5631356303"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"> <param name="allhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifowFullScreen" value="true"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=91f7f46fe3&photo_id=5631356303" height="225" width="400"></embed></object><br />Like much art and theory, the methodology isn't new - the nonchalant Kenyan AA in a syphon has hung around <a href="http://http//www.theconnoisseurconcerto.com">The Coffee Connoiseur</a> for some time and the <a href="http://www.harioglass.com/coffee/kettle.html">Hario Buono Kettle</a>, <a href="http://www.harioglass.com/coffee/dripper.html">V60 drip filters</a> and <a href="http://www.harioglass.com/coffee/grinder.html">Skerton and Slim Mill grinders</a> have been offered by Japanese department stores for ages.<br /><br />But this is now gathering enough support (and coolness?) to be termed "a movement", with attendant evangelistic guerilla shop set up on the second floor of the 261 Waterloo Street HDB block, two floors down from <a href="http://www.farm.sg/">farm.sg</a> and a stone's throw from <a href="http://www.foodforthought.com.sg/">Food For Thought</a>, with wooden pallets as wall decor and Pyrex Iwaki beakers as beverage vessels.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5718678687/" title="Shelves of Exhibits/Wares, The Steeping Room by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3414/5718678687_f0498152b7.jpg" alt="Shelves of Exhibits/Wares, The Steeping Room" height="375" width="500" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Despite oozing such coolness that even ah-peks think I'm far less hip than them (plus the uncle from the "Famous Waterloo Street" chicken rice downstairs was so pained by my lousy Mandarin, he felt it necessary to hold up the queue to correct it), I've managed to acquire almost half the equipment on display during the continuing quest for the most decent cup of homebrew (<a href="http://thebookofshadow.blogspot.com/2011/03/flat-whites-and-some-caps-of-singapore.html">early</a> and <a href="http://thebookofshadow.blogspot.com/2011/03/ethiopian-palm-civet-cat-and-judge-walk.html">late March</a>, <a href="http://thebookofshadow.blogspot.com/2011/04/hario-v60-trials-and-stewardship-of.html">April</a>*).<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5718678681/" title="The Steeping Room by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3234/5718678681_8b7703cd93_m.jpg" alt="The Steeping Room" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5718678691/" title="Menu, The Steeping Room by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3503/5718678691_775b401760_m.jpg" alt="Menu, The Steeping Room" height="180" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">The current menu for May was interesting enough: Papua New Guinea Sigri Peaberry served in the <a href="http://www.harioglass.com/coffee/dripper.html">Hario V60</a> or <a href="http://www.harioglass.com/coffee/clothdrip.html">Hario Woodneck cloth drip</a>, Ibero El Salvador Pacamara in the <a href="http://aerobie.com/products/aeropress.htm">Aerobie Aeropress</a>, Ethiopia Yirgacheffe in the <a href="http://www.harioglass.com/coffee/syphon.html">Hario Syphon</a> and for The Steeping Series, the PNG Sigri Peaberry and Ethiopian Yirgacheffe paired with dark and milk <a href="http://www.e-royce.com/english/index.html">Royce</a> nama chocolates. Lovely. No espresso-based drinks or milk additives here - just coffee in its glory.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5718678695/" title="Leon Foo explaining coffee, The Steeping Room by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2735/5718678695_32213d5887_m.jpg" alt="Leon Foo explaining coffee, The Steeping Room" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5718678699/" title="The Steeping Room by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2212/5718678699_d101e4d55c_m.jpg" alt="The Steeping Room" height="180" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Still, the highlight of the visit was to be able to lean over and have a grand old yabber with the baristas about failed home experiments, 13g-14g for the <a href="http://aerobie.com/products/aeropress.htm">Aerobie Aeropress</a>) vs 23g (! aiyoh!), "circular pour with agitation", Geishas, etc without so much as a puzzled blink from across the counter.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5718678701/" title="The Bench at The Steeping Room by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2138/5718678701_7f612b79bd_m.jpg" alt="The Bench at The Steeping Room" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5719295424/" title="Papua New Guinea Sigri Peaberry, Hario Woodneck, The Steeping Room by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3615/5719295424_c4d7e752ca_m.jpg" alt="Papua New Guinea Sigri Peaberry, Hario Woodneck, The Steeping Room" height="180" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">It seemed to me, as we were debating the historicity of Jesus' resurrection at <a href="http://www.christianityexplored.org/">Christianity Explored </a>today, that there are great similarities between coffeegeekery and Christian evangelism - you've discovered something great and it's so marvellous that you want to share the good news with everyone! Yet, being obsessed about coffee makes one an interesting person but being passionate about the God who made this wonderful world makes you a scary fundamentalist; gabbing on about beans and showing people that "coffee can be sweet, floral, fruity and nutty" is very exciting but talking about Jesus who died in our place for the sins we committed and showing people the goodness of God's laws just results in complaints that we are infringing on the rights of others.<br /><br />Yet exploring the coffee bean is so much much less important than exploring the meaning to life, the reason we have been put on earth, who made the entire universe, who rules it, and where we will go when we die.<br /><br /><br />*<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5695303356/" title="Hasbean's Malawi Mzimba Geisha coffee in the Hario V60-02 for Election Day by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5146/5695303356_6c399ae480_m.jpg" alt="Hasbean's Malawi Mzimba Geisha coffee in the Hario V60-02 for Election Day" height="160" width="240" /></a><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">My most recent experiments involving Has Bean's <a href="http://www.hasbean.co.uk/products/Malawi-Mzimba-Geisha-2011.html">Malawi Mzimba Geisha 2011</a> + Hario V60 have been fantastic for the princely sum of £4.30. It's not <i>that</i> geisha from Hacienda La Esmerelda in Panama, but the fallout radius was still at least 10m from the epicenter of the mid-afternoon brew in the office pantry. Much less swooning with Has Bean's <a href="http://www.hasbean.co.uk/products/Malawi-Viphya-Geisha-2011.html">Malawi Viphya Geisha 2011</a> though.<br /><br />Here's Stephen Leighton's write-up:<br /><blockquote>Grown in the Viphya North Hills on the grassland plateau overlooking Lake Malawi, this micro lot is of the Geisha varietal. Geisha is an ancient and very rare coffee variety that has gained a lot of favour of late. The agronomic yield of Geisha is extremely low, which is why it is so difficult to find commercial plantations of this variety. One of the reasons for its new found popularity is an auction lot that fetched a huge premium. In fact it was the most expensive coffee ever, which in some areas led to a huge rush to rip out perfectly good plant stock and replace it with a varietal that tends only to work at a higher altitude and in perfect growing conditions.<br /><br />The good news about the Mzimba Geisha Micro Lot is that it has been growing in this location for a very long time at an altitude of 1600m above sea level upwards, and it's great tasting. This coffee is so similar to the Mssese I have tried to find out more about why it is so close and if it's a co op name change.<br /><br />In the cup expect the super creamy mouth-feel and clarity that you would expect from a great washed African coffee. This is then backed up by a delicious tropical fruit that zaps your mouth with pineapple, apricot and all sorts of summer fruits. Great mouth-feel.</blockquote></span></span></span></span></div>shadowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13822100633711347312noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100929.post-62018133556785375922011-05-11T13:14:00.003+08:002011-06-24T01:22:03.198+08:00May Day! May Day<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5703511625/" title="River, Pulau Besar by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3545/5703511625_b055318b58.jpg" alt="River, Pulau Besar" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5703511621/" title="Mirage Island Resort, Pulau Besar by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2731/5703511621_b9429f9314.jpg" alt="Mirage Island Resort, Pulau Besar" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">The destination for this year's May Day pilgrimage was Pulau Besar in Johor, another boat ride from Mersing jetty.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5703531795/" title="Monopoly Deal, Malaysian Immigration by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5102/5703531795_4043b271ac_m.jpg" alt="Monopoly Deal, Malaysian Immigration" height="180" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">We made full use of the 2-3 hour long queues at Malaysian immigration (they were testing out their new biometric thumbprint scanning systems) to hone our wheeling and dealing skills. Malaysian security spotted us and walkie-talkie-d for back-up, but their SOP didn't provide for action to be taken when faced with <a href="http://www.hasbro.com/monopoly/en_US/shop/details.cfm?guid=F3854DAA-728A-1014-B188-F10137905FA8&product_id=23453&src=endeca">Monopoly Deal</a>.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5703531801/" title="Mirage Island Resort office, Mersing by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2436/5703531801_f1af612cdb_m.jpg" alt="Mirage Island Resort office, Mersing" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5703531807/" title="On the Boat to Pulau Besar by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2194/5703531807_84c7fbae5d_m.jpg" alt="On the Boat to Pulau Besar" height="180" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">A roller coaster ride along windy roads to Mersing and a speedy boat ride later, we were at the bucolic island of Pulau Besar. In Malaysia, this meant charming wooden huts amidst coconut trees with creaky plywood boards so thin you could hear passing conversations while inside the hut and take full advantage of the resident rooster(s) for your morning alarm, and stained but clean sheets and comfortably soft mattresses at <a href="http://www.mirageislandresort.com/">Mirage Island Resort</a>,<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5703531827/" title="Hen and Chicks, Mirage Island Resort by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2400/5703531827_b41b89c4f7_m.jpg" alt="Hen and Chicks, Mirage Island Resort" height="180" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">hens and chicks just about everywhere - looking for food under the stilted huts, roosting in trees, clucking and cheeping under bushes...<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5704141062/" title="Hibiscus, D'Coconut Island Resort, Pulau Besar by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5221/5704141062_992ca44c36.jpg" alt="Hibiscus, D'Coconut Island Resort, Pulau Besar" height="375" width="500" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">attap huts, bats awake during the day and squabbling amongst coconut palms, hibiscus shrubs (at <a href="http://www.dcoconut.com/">D'Coconut Island Resort</a>), and<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5704141052/" title="Treehouse, Pulau Besar by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2462/5704141052_8b016b80ae_m.jpg" alt="Treehouse, Pulau Besar" height="180" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">a tree house replete with well-used hammocks and swings at <a href="http://www.aseaniapulaubesar.com/">Aseania Resort</a>.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5704140984/" title="Mirage Island Resort, Pulau Besar by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2538/5704140984_4830ee8da1_m.jpg" alt="Mirage Island Resort, Pulau Besar" height="180" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">The international flags at Mirage's Pirate Bar and lounging young Frenchmen who alternated between beach volleyball and chain-smoking and drinking beer while swimming in the sea, juxtaposed bucolic with backpacker's haven.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5703603629/" title="Ramly Burger, Mersing by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2198/5703603629_16170fc3ee_m.jpg" alt="Ramly Burger, Mersing" height="180" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Our bed and board for 3 days and 2 nights included two breakfasts, one lunch and two dinners. We needn't have packed Ramly burgers (beef, special, with cheese please) from Mersing jetty;<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5704140990/" title="Chicken chop, Mirage Island Resort, Pulau Besar by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2710/5704140990_e1ec85ffc5_m.jpg" alt="Chicken chop, Mirage Island Resort, Pulau Besar" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5704140992/" title="Barbecue dinner, Mirage Island Resort, Pulau Besar by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5150/5704140992_3a7eda2488_m.jpg" alt="Barbecue dinner, Mirage Island Resort, Pulau Besar" height="180" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5703511613/" title="Breakfast, Mirage Island Resort, Pulau Besar by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2720/5703511613_0c5dd2fa72_m.jpg" alt="Breakfast, Mirage Island Resort, Pulau Besar" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5703511619/" title="Lunch, Pulau Besar by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3572/5703511619_0930649c8d_m.jpg" alt="Lunch, Pulau Besar" height="180" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">the chicken chop at Mirage was fresh (of course) and the lamb at the barbecue was especially excellent; breakfast was decent (bread, toast, pancakes, scrambled egg, sausage on second day, nasi lemak on third day) and lunch was both delicious in a homecooked way and generous (of course, a morning of snorkelling and swimming, and beach frisbee and shell picking does give one a ferocious appetite).<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5703531809/" title=""The Gardener", Mirage Island Resort by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5145/5703531809_26235f175c_m.jpg" alt=""The Gardener", Mirage Island Resort" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5703531833/" title="Luggage Cart, Mirage Island Resort by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5187/5703531833_5f7e0ddc2b_m.jpg" alt="Luggage Cart, Mirage Island Resort" height="180" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Service was excellent and unstinting - food was served and plates were cleared in due course, slugs of alcohol were generous, bottled water was given freely, as was tutoring in the art of pool (or i suppose, not ripping the velvet off the pool table).<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5703603589/" title="Fishing off the jetty at Pulau Besar by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3632/5703603589_1cc79f557e_m.jpg" alt="Fishing off the jetty at Pulau Besar" height="240" width="180" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Fishing off the jetty was easy - the turquoise waters were dark with schools of fish. The issue was hooking the fish of one's choice rather than taking all eager comers.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5704141070/" title="Red kayak, Pulau Besar by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2457/5704141070_aef08a8aed_m.jpg" alt="Red kayak, Pulau Besar" height="180" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Bobbing about in a red kayak, chatting and drinking potent Long Island Teas was also an option,<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5703511629/" title="Pulau Besar by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2460/5703511629_8ce450c632_m.jpg" alt="Pulau Besar" height="180" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">as was just lazying about on deck chairs with suntan lotion and a good book.<br /><br />Sadly, the snorkelling was only so-so compared to Pulau Rawa, and past the mosque, to the left of Mirage Island Resort, sea urchins proliferated below fairly shallow waters and sandflies abounded above*.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5703603609/" title="Releasing laterns, Pulau Besar by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5067/5703603609_2e82a09211_m.jpg" alt="Releasing laterns, Pulau Besar" height="180" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">If we had been Malaysian, we would have come adequately prepared with paper lanterns to send off in the night wind.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5703603625/" title="Bang! by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3243/5703603625_280399b243_m.jpg" alt="Bang!" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5703603617/" title="Phase 10 by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3373/5703603617_ab6fa0cebc_m.jpg" alt="Phase 10" height="180" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">But we were not and made do with hilarious rounds of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase_10">Phase 10</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bang%21">Bang!</a>,<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5703511617/" title="Snacks brought to Pulau Besar by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3404/5703511617_9024de9d93_m.jpg" alt="Snacks brought to Pulau Besar" height="180" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">accompanied by all manner of snacks and news of the <a href="http://www.officialroyalwedding2011.org/">royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton</a>.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5704182924/" title="Micah on the Beach, Pulau Besar by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2602/5704182924_6abed97db8_m.jpg" alt="Micah on the Beach, Pulau Besar" height="240" width="180" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">I had a bit of a wrestle with <a href="http://www.esvbible.org/Micah+1/">Micah</a>, and as a consequence inadvertently brought back half the beach, wedged between Jonah and Nahum.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5703603581/" title="Fishing, Pulau Besar Jetty by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3186/5703603581_62426bce5a.jpg" alt="Fishing, Pulau Besar Jetty" height="375" width="500" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Haven't quite got mind round the book yet, but from the little gleaned so far, whadda chum.<br /><br />Micah was a contemporary of Hosea (Hosea 1:1) and Isaiah (Isaiah 1:1), roughly in 8th century B.C. He prophesised through the reigns of Judean kings Jotham (about 750–735 B.C.), Ahaz (about 735–715 B.C.) and Hezekiah (about 715–687 B.C.). Possibly spoke God's warnings to both Israel until they went into exile in Assyria, and to Judah. In <a href="http://www.esvbible.org/search/Jeremiah+26%3A18/">Jeremiah 26:18</a>, the elders of the land observe the influence of Micah's words on Hezekiah (cf Micah 3:12).<br /><br />Need quite a few more passes at the prophet, not sure if this book is a compilation of his preaching or a structured whole, but for now:<br /></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.esvbible.org/Micah+1/">Micah 1</a>:2-4 The LORD is coming in judgement.<br />Micah 1:5 God's people have sunk so low that it is as if even God's holy temple has become a high place for the worship of idols.<br />Micah 1:7 People's infidelity like that of a prostitute.<br />Micah 1:8-9 Yet God/the prophet mourns over coming judgement.<br />Micah 1:10-16 Wordplay pronounces imminent disaster on the whole land.<br /><br />Micah 2:1 The people are so evil, they are even plotting evilness in bed.<br />Micah 2:2 The powerful covet and seize their neighbour's inheritance (cf. Exodus 20:17).<br />Micah 2:3-5 Therefore the LORD will take away their inheritance.<br /><br />Micah 2:6-7 The people reject the prophetic warning, presuming on God's blessing without caring about God's word.<br /><br />Micah 2:8-9 They deny rest to others and make war with their neighbours.<br />Micah 2:10 Therefore the LORD will deny them rest.<br /><br />Micah 2:11 The people are happy to be led by false prophets.<br />Micah 2:12-13 The LORD/a king will lead the remnant (to battle?).<br /><br />Micah 3:1-3 Israel's leaders are so cruel to their own people, they are like cannibals.<br />Micah 3:4 Therefore, the LORD will not allow them any hope of repentance.<br /><br />Micah 3:5 The profit-driven pronouncements of self-seeking prophets lead the people astray.<br />Micah 3:6-7 Therefore, the LORD will blind them.<br />Micah 3:8 But Micah's warnings are divinely-powered and true.<br /><br />Micah 3:9-11 The leaders, priests and prophets are corrupt yet presume that God will not bring disaster on them.<br />Micah 3:12 Therefore, because of them, the LORD will bring disaster on Jerusalem.<br /><br />Micah 4:1-5 But in latter days, the LORD will establish his house in Jerusalem. And in contrast to the corruption that came before, it will be a place where God's law will be taught and there will be rest.<br />Micah 4:6-8 Hmmm, lame as image of God's people under his judgement? The LORD as shepherd gathers them.<br />Micah 4:9-5:1 First, exile to Babylon (apparently this wasn't even on their Ministry of Defence's scenario planning axis). This was God's punishment of his people, and not his lack of power over other nations. And this was so that God would then rescue his people and judge the other nations.<br /><br />Micah 5:2-6 The promised ruler/saviour shall come from Bethlehem Ephrathah, and shall be divine(?). He will be the shepherd and give them rest (all that God has promised so far in Micah). He will rule over all the earth (like God!).<br />-> no wonder Jesus chided the Jewish teachers in his day for not reading scripture!<br /><br />Micah 5:7-9 The people may be scattered amongst the nations (due to exile), but there they will destroy the nations.<br />Micah 5:10-15 At that time, the LORD will destroy their idol crutches.<br /><br />Micah 6 The people are on trial: the LORD reminds the people of his past faithfulness and their covenantal relationship. The people were told what was expected from them - not to earn God's favour but to respond to his grace by loving him and loving neighbour. But the evidence is brought to show that they violated the covenant. The sentence is pronounced.<br /><br />Micah 7:1-7 The current situation already shows signs that the sentence is in effect.<br />Micah 7:8-10 Yet Micah trusts that the LORD will rescue them in their repentance (which from Micah 5:10-15, the LORD himself will bring about?).<br />Micah 7:11-13 The remnant will come out of the nations to Jerusalem, which shall be the only place of safety on the earth.<br />Micah 7:14-20 Reprise of Moses & Miriam's Exodic Hit Song - reminder that God had the power and desire to rescue his people, looking forward to the new exodus<br /><br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5670023355/" title="In Your Bag: Pulau Besar Weekender Pack by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5023/5670023355_2b0aea41aa_m.jpg" alt="In Your Bag: Pulau Besar Weekender Pack" height="240" width="205" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />*these were particularly nasty despite incessant spraying with insect repellant (both DEET-laden and DEET-free). We washed and <a href="http://www.jnjaust.com.au/products/stingose/">Stingose</a>-d them then kept the bites sterile with large plasters from the Pirate Bar. Ultra-kiasu treatment back in Singapore consisted of:<br />- <a href="http://www.ranbaxy.com/products/products.aspx">Enhancin</a> (anti-biotic, co-amoxiclav 625mg)<br />- <a href="http://www.ascentpharma.asia/index.php?q=productlisting/5&page=3">Dhasolone</a> (steroid, prednisolone BP 5mg)<br />- <a href="http://www.xyzal.com/">Xyzal</a> (third-generation anti-histamine, levocetrizine dihydrochloride 5mg)<br />- <a href="http://sepharm.en.ecplaza.net/catalog.asp?CatalogID=3308">Gentriderm</a> cream (bactericidal, antifungal, antibiotic, corticosteroid)<br /><br /></span></span></div>shadowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13822100633711347312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100929.post-2115052561043492672011-05-06T02:03:00.011+08:002011-05-06T10:12:25.119+08:00Thoughts for Cooling-Off Day<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5690495333/" title="Post-Workers' Party Rally Jam in Serangoon by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5269/5690495333_7d8fc31370.jpg" alt="Post-Workers' Party Rally Jam in Serangoon" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">How lovely if the crowd that had filled the Serangoon Stadium to capacity had streamed out, not from a </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.wp.org.sg/">Workers' Party</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> rally, but from one of </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Graham">Billy Graham</a><span style="font-style: italic;">'s; if the clusters of people in fiery debates under trees and in the void decks of </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.hdb.gov.sg/">HDB</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> flats were arguing about things of eternal value.</span></span></span><br /></div><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><br />With everyone talking about the upcoming <a href="http://www.elections.gov.sg/">Singapore general elections</a> on 7 May 2011 - the most hotly contested elections in recent memory with 82 out of 87 parliamentary seats up for grabs, have been wondering how to vote:<br /><br />The Christian is to be concerned about heavenly things; but that is not to say that the Christian should not be bothered about the present. The Christian should be engaged in his/her community, but the Christian must not think that this world is all there is; for this world is passing away (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20corinthians%207&version=NIV">1 Corinthians 7</a>:29-31). While our vote matters, it matters only for a very short while. Yet, in this fleeting moment in the history of mankind, it is important to act in a way demonstrates God's design and God's priorities for this world.<br /><br />Therefore, perhaps:<br /></span><ul><li><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >we must not vote based on precedent - "I will always be a <a href="http://www.pap.org.sg/">PAP</a> supporter", "my family has always voted opposition"</span></li><li><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >we must not vote out of fear - even if we do not believe that <a href="http://www.elections.gov.sg/voters_ballotsecrecy.html">our ballot is secret and the serial numbers on voting slips are merely to prevent fraud</a></span></li><li><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >we must not vote based on favoritism - swayed solely by the candidate's race or religion or school affiliation (eg. not voting for Vivian Balakrishnan from PAP because he's an old <a href="http://www.acs.sch.edu.sg/">ACS</a> boy or because someone has seen him at a church service before)<br /></span></li><li><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >we must not vote out of sympathy for the underdog - such trend being part of the tyranny of modern culture<br /></span></li><li><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >we must not vote merely based on current sentiment or just to be contrarian</span></li><li><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >we must not vote for charm or stage presence or content-free rhetoric (from both the incumbent and the opposition) - this isn't Singapore Idol or a Miss Singapore pageant ("world peace!", "low taxes!", "cheap and plentiful transportation!")<br /></span></li></ul><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >Acting responsibly as a Christian might then mean:<br /></span><ul><li><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >voting for a candidate who, as far as we can tell, is competent to govern wisely</span></li><li><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >voting for a candidate who, as far as we can tell, is trustworthy</span></li><li><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >voting for a candidate who, as far as we can tell, has convictions in line with the Christian worldview - in terms of ethics and morals, in terms of freedom to advance the gospel for the salvation of others, in terms of care for the poor and weak, in terms of justice and mercy that favour neither the rich nor the poor<br /></span></li></ul><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >(Of course in the Singapore system, if one is in a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constituencies_of_Singapore#Group_representation_constituencies">GRC</a> ward, one might vote for the political party rather than an individual candidate.)<br /><br />The Bible tells us much about the human hearts of both the government and the governed. In <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=judges&version=NIV">Judges</a> and <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20kings%201&version=NIV">1 and 2 Kings</a>, we see how flawed leaders are, sinning even though they had the best intentions, with the worst ones leading the country in the way of their corruption. In <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=exodus%201&version=NIV">Exodus</a>, we see how even when led by God's specially-appointed leaders, the people grumbled and rebelled and found fault with God's own rescue and provision.<br /><br />We will not be governed perfectly nor will we be willing to be subject absolutely to such government until God himself rules over us plainly and directly and our sinful hearts have been changed. This will not happen until this earth passes away and God creates a new heavens and new earth where those who trust in him in this life will live with him eternally.<br /><br />Yet, we must not forget that God governs this present world too and puts in place rulers and authorities. Therefore, whatever the outcome of the elections, we are told:<br /><blockquote>Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.<br /><br />This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honour, then honour. (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+13&version=NIV">Romans 13</a>:1-7)</blockquote>and also<br /><blockquote>that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Saviour, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20timothy%202&version=NIV">1 Timothy 2</a>:1-3).</blockquote>Our vote is important but our submission and prayers, even more so. The latter demonstrate where our hearts truly lie.<br /><br /></span></div>shadowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13822100633711347312noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100929.post-26684246592948690122011-04-25T01:03:00.005+08:002011-04-27T00:25:46.723+08:00This Do In Remembrance of Me<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">One of the best things I learnt from the very well thought-out <a href="http://www.omf.org/">OMF</a> missionaries in Phnom Penh, <a href="http://www.omf.org/omf/cambodia">Cambodia</a>, is to consider the practical human aspect of evangelism: that is to say, when one does evangelism, one is also modelling to others how evangelism should take place. (That the gospel should be preached faithfully (with adequate helpings of judgement and hell) is a given.) Teaching English and conducting medical missions have been traditional ways of making inroads into certain societies. But missionaries began to realise that because of the pervasiveness of such methods, the locals let themselves become dependent on foreign missionaries, thinking that they could never reach their fellowmen for Christ because they knew neither English nor medicine.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5649545985/" title=""This Do In Remembrance of Me" by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5066/5649545985_62663d3d04.jpg" alt=""This Do In Remembrance of Me"" height="306" width="500" /></a><br /></div>We had great fun at the youth evangelistic Easter event generally attempting not to be the operative cause of guests meeting their Maker.<br /><br />The tweens were meant to play an active role not only in inviting friends to hear the good news that added a holiday to the Singapore calendar, but also provide the entertainment and help in ensuring the smooth running of the cafe-style space with root beer and lemonade on tap and made-to-order desserts.<br /><br />Had to figure out how to model the backstage element of this ministry - the food and drink for the cafe. While 3D <a href="http://www.wilton.com/">Wilton</a>-approved icing and fondant sculptures perched atop cupcakes and other confections would be delightful and attention-grabbing and would have made the recipients very happy, they might have been a great discouragement to teenagers thinking of organising their own event - if they didn't have baking skillz, decorating talent, maids or mothers who were willing to help, they might think that they would never be able to do this by themselves.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5647068974/" title="Nobody Loves Me, Everybody Hates Me, I'm Going to Eat Some Worms dessert cup by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5264/5647068974_f43f112653_m.jpg" alt="Nobody Loves Me, Everybody Hates Me, I'm Going to Eat Some Worms dessert cup" height="218" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Assembling dessert cups layered with store-bought stuff seemed an excellent way of demonstrating that even with zero culinary talent and a budget of S$50 for 55 mouths, budget-store and discount shopping would yield excellent results that made guests quite cheerful (and receptive).<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5657676807/" title="Dessert cup recipe diagrams by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5229/5657676807_cd07599156_m.jpg" alt="Dessert cup recipe diagrams" height="240" width="211" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Since several of the young people started working in fast food joints as soon as they turned 14 (<a href="http://www.playfirst.com/game/dinerdash">Diner Dash</a>, Sushi Chef or current time-management game to the more comfortably-off), they were able to settle into a routine quickly with minimal instruction.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5647523153/" title="Wonderful Tonight dessert cup by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5310/5647523153_d84c410d75_m.jpg" alt="Wonderful Tonight dessert cup" height="201" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Arguably, people who are adamant and urgent about gossiping the gospel to their neighbours will, naturally, be creative about their methods. But it would be right and proper not to discourage even in small ways, innit.<br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></span><br /><br /><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/h8Hgp150Eno" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" width="480"></iframe><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"> </span></span></div></div>shadowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13822100633711347312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100929.post-13289937104174835842011-04-13T18:44:00.001+08:002011-04-13T18:44:00.426+08:00The Pies of Pressing Petition<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5603096159/" title="Banana bottom of Banoffee PIe by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5190/5603096159_2088ce1497.jpg" alt="Banana bottom of Banoffee PIe" height="332" width="500" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Assembled a chocolate, banana, toffee pie for the first time last Saturday. Unfortunately, it was for a newcomers' dinner at which several people, for whom banoffee pies were sacred, would be present. Hadn't been too fond of the same confections they'd said they'd enjoyed on account of stupid taste buds that only understand things in layers - that is, layers of taste and texture. So didn't think they’d like the stuff and wasn't sure anyone would take well to bananas in their dessert. But it couldn’t be helped - I'd volunteered to bring something and hadn't remembered till the last hour, there were relevant items near their expiry that needed to be in tummies pronto, I was in the midst of preparing a bible study on <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=genesis%2032&version=ESV">Genesis 32</a> involving a motley collection of <a href="http://www.playmobil.com/">Playmobil</a> figurines pretending to be Jacob, camels and a heavenly wrestler… so needed something fast and easy.<br /><br />Also, was rather nervous using dairy products that were near expiry - didn't want to obviate anyone’s opportunity to come into a saving relationship with God or dissuade them for coming for the Sunday meeting or <a href="http://www.christianityexplored.org/">Christianity Explored</a> the next day.<br /><br />So there was a bit of triangulating between the necessity of bringing something (the worried host had said that there wouldn't be enough food), how loving it might be to neighbour to bring something that they might not enjoy, and how the remaining few hours to the dinner should be spent.<br /><br />In the end, the deed was done, tummies were filled, no food was wasted and no one was harmed (to my knowledge), but not before desperate petitions were sent heavenward that the dish not ruin the proposed welcome and fellowship.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5603100317/" title="Lush chocolate intrusion into Banoffee Pie by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4098/5603100317_1ff3559046.jpg" alt="Lush chocolate intrusion into Banoffee Pie" height="332" width="500" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Later that night, the mental filing cabinet popped open at the tab labelled:<br /><br />"prayer - empty parking lots"<br /><br />Was it God-honouring to pray about such trivial matters? Added <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%E2%80%9Dhttp://www.phillipjensen.com/articles/prayer-and-thanksgiving/%E2%80%9D">Phillip Jensen’s article</a> to that folder:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;">Praying In Crisis: Helpful Or Hypocritical?</span><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">Originally Published:<br />25th February 2011</span><br /><br />It is an old wartime saying that ‘there are no atheists in foxholes’. Leaving aside the silly arguments as to whether this is statistically true or an aphorism – is it a good thing? Will God be pleased to answer the prayers of those in danger? Is God honoured when we pray to him in times of trouble?<br /><br />Prayer is one of the most basic human responses to trouble. When the doctor’s diagnosis is really grim, it is only natural to seek divine help. When our children are in danger, who doesn’t utter a quick prayer for safety?<br /><br />But is prayer to be encouraged amongst people who ignore God except in times of crisis? Is God to be used as a 'phone-a-friend' when the going gets tough? Will God allow us to be his ‘fair weather friends’ – only calling upon him in times of difficulty?<br /><br />This summer we have seen some dreadful tragedies with floods and cyclones in the Eastern States of Australia, fires in the West, and earthquakes in Christchurch. In the face of these disasters people can do little else but pray for God’s mercy and rescue. Politicians and journalists, not given to religious references, start talking of praying for people when confronted with the horrors of these catastrophes. Only the most rigorous of atheists will talk of our concern for others without mentioning praying for them. But is it a good thing or hypocrisy?<br /><br />The trouble with unbelievers calling upon the name of the Lord in the face of disaster is that they lose their title deeds to the name “unbelievers”. They may still be doubters or superstitious or hypocrites, but they are no longer "unbelievers".<br /><br />Even more importantly, the trouble with unforgiven sinners praying to God is that it compromises his holiness. The Psalmist wrote "If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened." (Psalm 66:18). The book of Proverbs says: "If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.” (Proverbs 28:9). And Isaiah explained how sin had set a separation between God and Israel so that he, who is able to hear prayers and rescue, did not hear their prayers (Isaiah 59:1f). And James wrote of the adultery of people who in love with this world prayed to God "wrongly to spend it on your passions" (James 4:3f). It is as the apostle Paul says “whatever does not proceed from faith is sin" (Romans14:23).<br /><br />Here then is the problem: prayer is the articulation of faith. It is the expression of faith – putting trust into words. For in calling upon God in times of trouble we are saying that he cares and is willing and able to help. In other words, we express our belief that God is loving and powerful to save. Encouraging unforgiven sinners to pray in time of trouble may seem to compromise God’s holiness but not to encourage them to turn to God in prayer may be to deny his gracious compassion. Many of Jesus' miracles were performed in response to people asking for relief from their suffering, even though their faith was weak (Mark 9:24), their understanding limited (Mark 4:40) and their salvation not understood until after their healing (Mark 5:34, 10:51f, Luke 17:17f). In fact our English translators often have difficulty knowing whether to translate some passages as 'saved' or 'healed'.<br /><br />Certainly there may be things we need to fix in our relationship with God. There may be a lifetime of rebellion against him or ignoring him. There may be crimes that need to be dealt with, lifestyle that needs repentance, sins that need to be forgiven and restitution that needs to be made. But turning back to God does not always come in a neat package of sorting out ‘first things first’, because turning back to God is the first thing.<br /><br />Sometimes it is when we turn back to God that we become aware of the awfulness of our sin in the light of his burning holiness, and are moved by his gracious care to seek the forgiveness we need. It is entering the sanctuary that makes us aware of our unworthiness before God and of the judgement of God upon sinners (Psalm 73:17).<br /><br />Martin Luther and John Newtown were not the first, nor the last, unforgiven sinners to call out in prayer during the peril of a storm. And Luther did not even call out to God but to St Anna(!) - the non-Biblical legendary grandmother of Jesus whose cult he later attacked. But God used that moment of confused prayer to start him on the pathway of salvation.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">Copyright 2011 phillipjensen.com<br />Reproduced with permission from phillipjensen.com</span></blockquote>(<b>Desperate Chocolate Banana Toffee Pies</b><br /><br /><u>Base</u><br />- pound Digestives finely so the crumbs don't get stuck in people's loose dentures<br />- melt unsalted butter and brown<br />- mix in biscuit crumbs<br />- pat into base and sides of cake tin<br />- refrigerate<br /><br /><u>Bananas</u><br />- get a bunch of ripe bananas<br />- slice thinly<br />- lay onto biscuit base<br /><br /><u>Toffee</u><br />- pour contents of two tins of condensed milk (not evaporated milk) into glass container<br />- place glass container into a high-walled roasting dish and cover tightly with foil<br />- pour hot water into roasting dish around glass container<br />- place in oven and heat at 200 degrees celcius for 1 hour or until caramel-dom is achieved<br />- pour as much as possible onto banana layer<br /><br />Add another layer of bananas.<br /><br /><u>Chocolate</u><br />- obtain a 72% Valrhona chocolate block from wholesaler<br />- melt chocolate<br />- stir in double cream into melted chocolate<br />- pour onto banana layer<br /><br />Add another layer of bananas.<br />Add another layer of toffee/caramel.<br />Add another layer of bananas.<br />Press the whole lot down because you are running out of height space in cake tin.<br />Contemplate the meaning of life.<br /><br /><u>Cream</u><br />- whip together double cream and mascarpone and the contents of vanilla beans<br />- dump on top of last layer of bananas<br /><br />Refrigerate the lot.<br />Shave remains of aforementioned chocolate block.<br />Dump shavings on before serving.)<br /><br /></span></span></div>shadowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13822100633711347312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100929.post-15726072324032099752011-04-04T00:35:00.007+08:002011-04-09T16:41:31.241+08:00The Hario V60 Trials and Stewardship of Time<div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5576869575/" title="Oriole Coffee Roasters' Ethiopian Harrar + Hario V60 + Hario Buono drip kettle by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5133/5576869575_7672758832.jpg" alt="Oriole Coffee Roasters' Ethiopian Harrar + Hario V60 + Hario Buono drip kettle" height="332" width="500" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Assume only one brewing device: the single-cup <a href="http://www.harioglass.com/coffee/dripper.html">Hario V60 - 01</a>.<br />Assume a similar grind: dialing in at 3 notches from zero on the Hario Skerton.<br />Assume also a dose of 23g of the same beans (but no two beans are the same!).<br />Assume even a water temperature of 93 degrees celcius.<br /><br />There are still too many factors to vary in search of the perfect cup:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Brew Ratio</span><br />The market norm is said to be 60g coffee for 1l water. But everyone has their sure-hit ratio. Plus this is probably dependent also on actual grind size of beans, type and roast profile of beans, maybe even composition of water, etc etc<br />- <a href="http://www.stumptowncoffee.com/guides/5">Stumptown Coffee</a>: 23g with 11oz water for 8oz coffee<br />- <a href="http://counterculturecoffee.com/education/brewing-guide/pour-over-drip">Counter Culture</a>: 1.6 - 2g per 1oz water<br />- Brown Coffee Co: 18g; 11 fl oz of water at 204F to yield 10 fl oz (via <a href="http://bitterpress.com/2010/07/23/experiments-re-evaluating-the-hario-v60/">bitterpress</a>)<br />- <a href="http://blog.taylor-st.com/">Taylor St Baristas</a>: 23g with 320ml water<br />- Trevor Hyman (Bean Vagrant): 29g with 500g water<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Boiling the water</span><br />To boil water in the Hario Buono drip kettle or not?<br />Filter water or tap?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pre-wetting</span><br />To pre-wet or not? Theoretical grounds (haha) for pre-wetting include allowing the carbon dioxide trapped within the beans during roasting to be released, ensuring even extraction of the grounds<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Circular pour vs center pour</span><br />Raised (though not high and dry) most famously in Scott Rao's "Everything But Espressp". See <a href="http://worstofthewurst.wordpress.com/2011/03/10/some-thoughts-on-the-v60/">Matthew P Williams' post</a> for a re-think.<br /><br />You know that this is an all-important topic when <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JPff1UkxjI">Hitler gets emo about it</a>.<br /><br />To allow all the water to drip through or to stop near the end? If so, when to stop the flow?<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5577442150/" title="Oriole Coffee Roasters' Ethiopian Harrar + Hario V60 by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5182/5577442150_ce95819962_m.jpg" alt="Oriole Coffee Roasters' Ethiopian Harrar + Hario V60" height="159" width="240" /></a><br />Bean: Ethiopian Harrar, <a href="http://www.oriole.com.sg/">Oriole Coffee Roasters</a><br />Time from roast: 5 days<br />Grind: 2+ notches from zero on the Hario Skerton<br />Brew Ratio: 23g to 11 fluid oz<br />Water Temperature: 93 degrees celcius<br />Pre-wetting: yes (but didn't record how much water was used or whether allowed bloom to subside)<br />Pour: circular<br />Drip-through: yes, all the way to the last drop<br />Taste: floral but sour on finish when cold<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5581826089/" title="Oriole Coffee Roasters' Ethiopian Harrar + Hario V60 by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5102/5581826089_ac0f33e0e7_m.jpg" alt="Oriole Coffee Roasters' Ethiopian Harrar + Hario V60" height="159" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5582419802/" title="Oriole Coffee Roasters' Ethiopian Harrar by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5177/5582419802_de36b8c127_m.jpg" alt="Oriole Coffee Roasters' Ethiopian Harrar" height="159" width="240" /></a><br />Bean: Ethiopian Harrar, <a href="http://www.oriole.com.sg/">Oriole Coffee Roasters</a><br />Time from roast: 6 days<br />Grind: 3+ notches from zero on the Hario Skerton<br />Brew Ratio: 23g to 8 fluid oz<br />Water Temperature: 93 degrees celcius<br />Pre-wetting: yes (but didn't record how much water was used or whether allowed bloom to subside)<br />Pour: circular<br />Drip-through: no<br />Taste: floral, lovely even when cold but somewhat bitter when added to milk!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5585723476/" title="mojotogo by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5258/5585723476_93a9d343f3_m.jpg" alt="mojotogo" height="240" width="160" /></a><br />But such record-keeping is hardly accurate. What about the percentage of extraction and total dissolved solids via <a href="http://vstapps.com/">extractmojo or mojotogo</a> + refractometer? <a href="http://gizmodo.com/#%215642561/seeking-mojo-chasing-the-perfect-cup-of-coffee-through-science">Will these numbers necessarily give a good cup</a>?<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5576845551/" title="Drink Your Words coffee journal by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5025/5576845551_aa400ee70f_m.jpg" alt="Drink Your Words coffee journal" height="159" width="240" /></a><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">And since the smelevision and tastovision has yet to be invented, words are the only means of recording taste, perhaps via coffee journals like <a href="http://www.33coffees.com/">33 Coffees</a> or <a href="http://www.drinkyourwords.com/">drinkyourwords</a>.<br /><br />Still, exciting stuff!<br /></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">The attempt at keeping records of these little variables and examining how small things affect the end product, has made me curious about my stewardship of time. So i've had a go at listing the goings-on of the past week.<br /><br />On one hand, it is useful to keep close accounts of resources gifted to one by God (still alive = gift of time) so as to be considered about the spending of such resources, and additionally in my case, to ensure i stop double-booking the same time slots.<br /><br />However, there is the danger that is somewhat similar to the danger of census-taking (especially wrt the Old Testament), and also the danger of doing this all for the sake of ticking off the to-do list and being smug and self-congratulatory about all this activity (or v.v.).<br /><br />So, just a once-off snapshot for future reference (to satisfy own idle curiosity in future about how 2011 went by in a flash):<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5585242096/" title="Seafood Paella, My Spanish Place by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5053/5585242096_48b6200761_m.jpg" alt="Seafood Paella, My Spanish Place" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sunday</span><br />journey to church: stoned<br />morning: Sunday School on Genesis, breakfast, service<br />afternoon: lunch, 121 on John, wandered around Little India + salty fruit juice<br />evening: old friend's birthday dinner<br />journey home: slept<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5584656395/" title="German sausage and rosti, Marche by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5140/5584656395_e50962a53e_m.jpg" alt="German sausage and rosti, Marche" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5585245008/" title="Peanut ice-kachang, Tiong Bahru Food Centre by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5180/5585245008_0926474d16_m.jpg" alt="Peanut ice-kachang, Tiong Bahru Food Centre" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Monday </span><br />journey to work: slept<br />lunch: met ex-colleague to talk about surreal experience in Japan and meaninglessness of old life<br />dinner: 121 on Ezra and Nehemiah<br />journey home: slept<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tuesday</span><br />journey to work: caught up on emails<br />lunch: colleague and her "lousy life"<br />dinner: "One-to-one" training <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/One-Discipleship-Handbook-Rico-Tice/dp/1850784884">with Sophie Peace</a> (Sophie de Witt) and 3 others<br />journey home: discussed training for bible study leaders and how to encourage pastor<br />night: messed around with HTML for youth camp blog<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5584659003/" title="Flat White, Highlander Coffee by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5264/5584659003_d3f2d7f590_m.jpg" alt="Flat White, Highlander Coffee" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5585253648/" title="Flat White, Nutella Cupcake, Black Coffee at TripleOne Somerset by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5060/5585253648_20b2e9c21f_m.jpg" alt="Flat White, Nutella Cupcake, Black Coffee at TripleOne Somerset" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Wednesday </span><br />journey to work: caught up on SMSes, <a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article7124322.ece">Mark Ashton</a>'s "<a href="http://www.thegoodbook.co.uk/christian-youth-work">Christian Youth Work</a>"<br />lunch: Mark Ashton's "Christian Youth Work"<br />dinner: discussed local politics and how best to help work in Malaysian church<br />journey home: tried to sort out bible study group for SAHM<br />night: played around with <a href="http://www.khanacademy.org/">Khan Academy</a> stuff to see if pedagogy will be useful for teaching the Word, read Tim Hawkins' "<a href="http://www.thegoodbook.co.uk/disciples-who-will-last">Disciples Who Will Last</a>"<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Thursday </span><br />journey to work: read Judges 6-8<br />lunch: prepared bible study on Judges, laughed through <a href="http://www.woodlandpca.com/html/sermons.html">Dale Ralph Davis</a>' <a href="http://www.christianfocus.com/item/show/915/-">commentary on Judges 6 - 8</a><br />("Sunday School Hero" Gideon was a character right out of Monty Python - especially <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4SJ0xR2_bQ">Sir Robin the Chicken-hearted</a>, except funnier! But like the whittling down of the army to 300, this shows it is God who saves rather than the hunk.)<br />dinner: Tim Hawkins' "Disciples Who Will Last", bible study on Judges<br />journey home: slept<br />night: prepared Sunday School material<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Friday </span><br />journey to work: prepared material for meeting young adult<br />lunch: met young adult + friend to discuss priorities in Christian life<br />(Chuffed that they laid out their Bibles on the table in the expectation that we would be relying on God's word for answers, not on me!)<br />evening: worked late while listening to <a href="http://www.sonicflood.com/">Sonicflood</a> and <a href="http://www.st-helens.org.uk/resources/media-library/src/talk/51545/title/the-fearful-deliverer">Charlie Skrine on Judges 6 "Fearful Deliverer"</a> at <a href="http://www.st-helens.org.uk/">St. Helen's Bishopsgate</a><br />journey home: worked on getting three-stars for all levels on <a href="http://angrybirdsrio.org/">Angry Birds Rio</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5584823955/" title="Vietnamese by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5221/5584823955_ef813b7457_m.jpg" alt="Vietnamese" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5585412708/" title="Valrhona chocolate tart by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5270/5585412708_abdb22f447_m.jpg" alt="Valrhona chocolate tart" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Saturday </span><br />morning: baked tarts for meet-up<br />late morning and lunch: met-up with SAHM<br />journey to the East: re-read Exodus and Andrew Sach and Richard Alldritt's "<a href="http://www.ivpbooks.com/9781844744329">Dig Even Deeper</a>"<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5585487550/" title="Man possessed by Monkey God, Joo Chiat Road by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5142/5585487550_7b5cac5bae_m.jpg" alt="Man possessed by Monkey God, Joo Chiat Road" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5585723254/" title="Joo Chiat Road by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5255/5585723254_caf0ab6348_m.jpg" alt="Joo Chiat Road" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />afternoon: witnessed a man allegedly possessed by the spirit of the monkey god blessing the opening of a new shop, watched what we thought was a silat dance that later appeared to be a possession/exorcism thing? along Joo Chiat Road, pho at Long Phuong + discussion on spirits + study on Exodus (Fascinating details about the tabernacle - what references to the Garden of Eden!)<br />evening: a refreshing pint and chat with the bartend at The Cider Pit (by <a href="http://www.eastofavalonwines.com/">East of Avalon Wines</a>) - a yummy <a href="http://www.westons-cider.co.uk/">Westons</a> Vintage Organic Still Cider on draught (but it's flat, bitter and like chou dou fu, said the disbelieving bartender), groceries at <a href="http://www.parkwayparade.com.sg/">Parkway Parade</a><br />journey home: slept<br />night: cooked dinner for family, prepared Sunday School material<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5585725372/" title="Hong Kong Cafe + John 3 by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5059/5585725372_aabcdda7cc_m.jpg" alt="Hong Kong Cafe + John 3" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sunday</span><br />journey to church: prepared 121 on John 3<br />morning: Sunday School on Genesis (we had a good laugh at Laban's household gods which had been sat on by Rachel), breakfast, <a href="http://www.ceministries.org/">Christianity Explored course</a><br />lunch: de-briefing on women's ministry event, planning for next event<br />afternoon: 121 on John 3 + good long chat about sin in the Christian life<br />dinner: with family<br />night: spent quality time with <a href="http://www.taylorguitars.com/guitars/Baby-Taylor/BT1/">B. Taylor</a> and J.S. Bach + Violin Concerto to give vent to pent-up music, wrote this post<br /><br />Obviously more concerted effort needs to be made to make full use of time - need to carve out time for exercise before turning completely into a lard-ball and for keeping up with current affairs and to some extent, pop culture so my references aren't too obsolete to be of much use in explanations, but being aware of how time is spent is useful step in hopefully the right direction...<br /><br /></span></span></div>shadowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13822100633711347312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100929.post-43452950986564298342011-03-27T00:05:00.009+08:002011-05-10T17:39:54.088+08:00An Ethiopian, a Palm Civet Cat and a Judge Walk into a Brew Bar...<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">It is a funny feeling to come upon one's preferences quite suddenly, as if simultaneously running into an old friend around a street corner and identifying him for the first time.<br /><br />At first cupping, the Ethiopian Djimmah stood head and shoulders above a rather earthy Sumatran Madheling and dependable Brazilian Santos although the Japanese neighbour preferred the Sumatran.<br /><br />Then at <a href="http://www.tcworldcup.com/singapore/">Tea & Coffee World Cup Singapore 2011</a> (Singapore's Suntec Convention Centre), while others had photos taken with towering shiny <a href="http://www.probat.com/">Probat</a> roasters and coffee industry stars, I stood gobsmacked at this sight:<br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5550511722/" title="Starbucks, Tribute Blend + Hario Buono Drip Kettle + Melitta Filter Holder, Tea & Coffee World Cup Singapore 2011 by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5187/5550511722_d8af69b122.jpg" alt="Starbucks, Tribute Blend + Hario Buono Drip Kettle + Melitta Filter Holder, Tea & Coffee World Cup Singapore 2011" height="500" width="375" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">It shouldn't have come as too much of a surprise since Howard Schultz's re-education (or good marketing story) and the company's monopoly on Clover machines has already been widely <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_33/b4143028813542.htm">reported</a>. The Starbucks booth, fooling no one with their new nameless logos, was serving a mix of "aged Sumatran" and "sun-dried Ethiopian" in their 40th Anniversary <a href="http://www.starbucks.com/blog/tribute-days">Tribute</a> Blend - note ubiquitous (and very useful until someone manufactures something better) <a href="http://www.harioglass.com/coffee/kettle.html">Hario Buono drip kettle</a>, <a href="http://www.melitta.com/">Melitta</a> single-serve drip filter holders on a rack (the Marina Square branch was selling the filter holders for S$8.90). Somewhat fragrant, safe and clean, just not terribly attention-retaining.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5549931829/" title="La Marzocco Strada, Oriole Coffee Roasters, Tea & Coffee World Cup Singapore 2011 by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5135/5549931829_47c5dedbc6_m.jpg" alt="La Marzocco Strada, Oriole Coffee Roasters, Tea & Coffee World Cup Singapore 2011" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5550509100/" title="Flat White with Ethiopian Sidamo espresso base, Tea & Coffee World Cup Singapore 2011 by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5147/5550509100_f7b122e7e1_m.jpg" alt="Flat White with Ethiopian Sidamo espresso base, Tea & Coffee World Cup Singapore 2011" height="180" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">What left a very long and pleasant after-taste that compelled me to look for more of the same the next day, was the Ethiopian Sidamo offered by <a href="http://www.oriolecoffee.com/">Oriole Coffee</a> Roasters just across from the Starbucks booth.They'd put the beans in their spanking new <a href="http://www.lamarzocco.com/">La Marzocco</a> Strada (Singapore's first <a href="http://www.asiacuisine.com.sg/index.php?id=102&find=1311">say some</a>), despite crowd-opinion about putting Ethiopians only in filters and siphons, and what a good call - in an espresso, the florals and citrus were squeezed into a nice round body. The obvious sweetness of the coffee juice was different from the sweetness of steamed milk, so when paired with dairy, the drink teetered on the edge of too-much-of-two-good-things. Still, a lovely cup. There are no plans to serve the Sidamo on the machine at the Oriole Cafe & Bar for now...if only we had the taste/olfactory equivalent of a snapshot of this one-off.<br /><br />(We realised later that Romeo Alfen might have been practising for the finals of the Singapore National Barista Championships 2011. The next day, he based his routine on that very same single origin, 80% roasted to half-city on the Diedrich and the rest roasted full-city, rested for 10 days.)(Ryan Kieran Tan of Papa Palheta eventually swept the top prize for both the Greenfields Latte Art Challenge as well as the Singapore National Barista Championships.)<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5560945906/" title="Ethiopia Harrar, Oriole Coffee Roasters by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5068/5560945906_0b34fc3151_m.jpg" alt="Ethiopia Harrar, Oriole Coffee Roasters" height="159" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5560948098/" title="Ethiopia Harrar from Oriole Coffee Roasters + Hario V60 drip + Hario Buono drip kettle by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5025/5560948098_46bc5f4c5e_m.jpg" alt="Ethiopia Harrar from Oriole Coffee Roasters + Hario V60 drip + Hario Buono drip kettle" height="159" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5560374781/" title="Ethiopia Harrar from Oriole Coffee Roasters + Hario Skerton grinder + Hario V60 drip + Hario Buono drip kettle by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5091/5560374781_f3f7bda254.jpg" alt="Ethiopia Harrar from Oriole Coffee Roasters + Hario Skerton grinder + Hario V60 drip + Hario Buono drip kettle" height="332" width="500" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Since there weren't any packs of the Sidamo to be had from Oriole Coffee Roasters, settled for an Ethiopian Harrar instead from the Yirgacheffe (and?) Harrar region. It was a mixed heirloom varietal, dry-processed. Oriole's tasting notes enthused about floral notes and bergamot, blueberry flavours, smooth and clean acidity, balance of fruit notes and sweetness. Ethiopia heirloom varietals from the wild forests are said to resemble the typicas from Yemen which were brought to Indonesia and later Latin America. Stumptown Coffee Roasters <a href="http://www.stumptowncoffee.com/varietals/ethiopia-heirloom">say</a> that heirlooms produce some of the most coveted flavours in the world that, ranging from floral (jasmine in particular), to sweetly citric (distinct lemon), to chocolate, to Assam tea, and to wild berries. This bag from Oriole had a lovely floral aftertaste 5 days from roasting - coffee breath begone! and was exceptionally good with buttery Danish biscuits.<br /><br />Brew method: <a href="http://www.harioglass.com/coffee/dripper.html">Hario V60</a><br />Grind size: between 2-3 notches from zero on the Hario Skerton<br />Dose weight: 13g<br />Brew water temperature: 93 degrees celcius<br />Brew water weight: 161g<br />Time from roast: 5 days<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5558396941/" title="Papa Palheta Specialty Coffee, Hooper Road by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5266/5558396941_d6ab07732c_m.jpg" alt="Papa Palheta Specialty Coffee, Hooper Road" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5558398107/" title="Papa Palheta Specialty Coffee, Hooper Road by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5102/5558398107_4d7832d041_m.jpg" alt="Papa Palheta Specialty Coffee, Hooper Road" height="180" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5558980206/" title="Papa Palheta Specialty Coffee, Hooper Road by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5107/5558980206_2dcfaa8a54.jpg" alt="Papa Palheta Specialty Coffee, Hooper Road" height="375" width="500" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">The Ethiopian Yirgacheffe <a href="http://www.papapalheta.com/page/africa">from</a> <a href="http://www.papapalheta.com/">Papa Palheta</a>, wet processed, city to full-city roast, S$15.00 for 250g. Papa P's tasting notes described cane sugar sweetness with honey and floral flavours.<br /><br />Brew method: <a href="http://www.harioglass.com/coffee/dripper.html">Hario V60</a> drip filter pourover<br />Dose weight: 13g<br />Brew water weight: whatever it takes to fill the glass<br />Brew water temperature: 93 degrees celcius<br /><br />Yirgacheffe is grown around the town of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irgachefe"> Yirgacheffe</a> in the middle of Sidamo at around 1800-2000 meter altitude (on average). Yirgacheffe is wet processed and generally known for giving a clean cup with powerful floral and fruit notes. Some <a href="http://www.bestcafes.com.au/coffee-profile-ethiopian-yirgacheffe">have described</a> a good cup as "beginning with sublime aromas of sweet sugary honey and hints of cedar and raisin, it is then followed by a well balanced floral acidity in the cup. The flavours are very up front and straight away there is berry, citrus and soft cocoa with a subtle underlining of Mediterranean herbs. These flavours are on the bright side but they bring a well toned smoothness and medium body to the pallet, and as the cup cools the aromatic herbs come to the forefront."<br /><br />Ethiopia is known more generally for its famines and internal strife (and attendant distasteful jokes) than the quality of its coffee. But the internets point to Ethiopia as the birthplace of coffee, the Motherland of the Arabica Bean, the Motherlode of Black Gold. It is the currently the seventh largest <a href="http://www.rombouts.com/uk/univers/coffee-producing-countries/">producer</a> in the world, with tens of thousands of <s>farms</s> <i>gardens</i> in the regions of Harar, Sidamo, Yirgacheffe, Limmu and Djimmah. Several hundred thousands of heirloom varietals also grow indigenously and abundantly in the wild forests of the country. ("Wild forests" <a href="http://www.coffeehabitat.com/2011/02/ethiopia-wild-forest-coffee/">may not mean wild forests, really</a>.)<br /><br />Sadly, little can be known about this treasure trove of beans because of the centralisation of all coffee exports through the <a href="http://www.ecx.com.et/">Ethiopia Commodity Exchange</a> (ECX) in 2008. Lots are thrown together and thus anonymised upon arrival at the ECX so accurate information of the precise traceability of coffees is impossible to be had. The pooled beans would also obviously be rather hit-and-miss, the only identifier being the region and not a specific farm or altitude or varietal. Cupping then is very important to separate the wheat from the chaff. Cup quality from bags labelled, for example, "Yirgacheffe", might vary wildly.<br /><br />Last year however, the ECX set up the Ethiopian Direct Specialty Trade (DST) auction which allowed smaller lots to be auctioned off, erm, directly. Read Tim (Counter Culture)'s report <a href="http://counterculturecoffee.com/origins/57-trip-reports/275-back-from-the-road-addis-ababa-ethiopia-the-direct-specialty-trade-auction">here</a>, Stephen Vick's report <a href="http://hodikaribu.tumblr.com/post/436563303">here</a>, Max Nicholas-Fulmer's account <a href="http://www.royalcoffee.com/blog.asp?id=63">here</a>. Doesn't seem too different from <a href="http://www.bootcoffee.com/rockingthecradle.pdf">Willem Boot's</a> ECAFE Foundation from 2005, except that the government gets a cut - in 1998, all coffee had to be sold through a handful of government-sanctioned exporters. Later, at the end of decades of communist rule and civil strife, unions were organised by farmers and these by-passed the government system.<br /><br />Several American specialty coffee have managed to go to source for cupping and a look-around:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/counterculturecoffee/sets/72157625773428841/">Counter Culture</a><br /><a href="http://www.sweetmarias.com/coffee.africa.ethiopia.php">Sweet Maria</a><br /><a href="http://danielhumphries.typepad.com/coffee/2011/02/ethiopia-guide.html">Daniel</a> <a href="http://danielhumphries.typepad.com/coffee/ethiopia/">Humphries</a><br /><a href="http://www.stumptowncoffee.com/videos/9">Stumptown Coffee Roasters</a><br /><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-pohl/2011-ethiopia-coffee-trends_b_808852.html">David Pohl for Equator Coffees & Teas</a><br />Get me on the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/2010-Ethiopian-Cupping-Caravan/273343558648">Ethiopian Cupping Caravan</a> already.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5550510596/" title="God in a Cup by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5180/5550510596_c50bf7eaf3_m.jpg" alt="God in a Cup" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />But they could not bring the beans out with them. Ethiopian coffee is hard work not only because of the roadblock that is the ECX, but getting coffee physically out of the country is in itself an issue. Michaele Weismann's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/God-Cup-Obsessive-Perfect-Coffee/dp/0470173580"><i>God In A Cup</i></a> from 2008 reports of several roasters asking Menno Simons of <a href="http://www.trabocca.com/">Trabocca BV</a>, a sourcer of organic coffees in Africa, for their beans. The late shipments were not his fault - coffee export defaulting <a href="http://www.ethiopian-news.com/ethiopia-pm-says-will-probe-coffee-export-defaulting/">continued to be an issue in 2010</a>. And there was the <a href="http://www.ethiopianreview.com/content/31426">bizarre disappearance</a> <a href="http://www.capitalethiopia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11736:meles-blasts-coffee-exporters-&catid=12:local-news&Itemid=4">of 9 million kilogrammes of coffee</a> on route for export.<br /><br />Because we live at a time when it's not even politically-correct to speak of the white man's burden, though any discussion concerning a developing country's exports necessarily requires ethical-soothers for importers in developed countries - the campaigns behind headings like "<a href="http://www.oxfam.org.uk/applications/blogs/pressoffice/2010/09/30/how-can-ethiopias-coffee-farmers-get-more-from-your-3-latte/">How can Ethiopia's coffee farmers get more from your £2 latte?</a>" appeal to such tender social consciences. But the issue with this, as with all other foreign intervention, is whether such programmes really work. In Weismann's book, Peter Giuliano explained that when the coffee unions got coffees certified as organic and Fair Trade, big money started pouring in. But corruption and mismanagement was not far behind and farmers were not paid for their crop despite co-operatives being paid. Fair trade has also been <a href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/alexsingleton/4019311/The_poverty_of_Fairtrade_coffee/">accused</a> of forcing farmers into co-operatives, requiring them to borrow money to pay certification fees, and basically failing to understand cultural or country-specific realities. Hopefully, this will not be on the scale of the boo-boos of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Revolution">Green Revolution</a> which led to deforestation in Africa. The good thing about Fair Trade though is that they provide a safety net on falling prices.<br /><br />With Ethiopia, there is also the <a href="http://thenewblackmagazine.com/view.aspx?index=488">usual suspicion</a> of the activity of large multinationals, specifically, Starbucks opposing Ethiopia's attempt to trademark geographical indicators Sidamo and Harar. I'd like some further questions to be asked - why trademark rather than certificate of origin? Who exactly will be the trademark owner - Meles Zenawi? Does this mean that if farmers from Sidamo or Harar sell their crop directly to specialty coffee roasters, they cannot imprint the regional appellation without paying the trademark owner?<br /><br />Perhaps <a href="http://directtradecoffee.com/">direct trade</a>, a la <a href="http://www.intelligentsiacoffee.com/">Intelligentsia</a>, might be the way forward?<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5549930871/" title="JJ Royal Indonesian Coffee, Tea & Coffee World Cup Singapore 2011 by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5265/5549930871_95ece9eb0b_m.jpg" alt="JJ Royal Indonesian Coffee, Tea & Coffee World Cup Singapore 2011" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5549936565/" title="Coffee Alamid, Tea & Coffee World Cup Singapore 2011 by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5175/5549936565_322f718d6a_m.jpg" alt="Coffee Alamid, Tea & Coffee World Cup Singapore 2011" height="180" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">In the eyes of the, erm, tongue, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kopi_Luwak">civet cat poo coffees</a> have now been knocked down to second place by the Ethiopians. But I still sought them out. Previously, I'd gotten my fix of cà phê Chồn during regular visits to Ho Chi Minh City (where there were rumours that hydrogen chloride was used instead of the digestive tract of relatives of the mongoose). At Tea & Coffee World Cup Singapore 2011, <a href="http://www.jjroyalcoffee.com/">JJ Royal</a> offered brewed kopi luwak from flasks - a good way to showcase its unique flavour and didn't leave room for error for the in-house barista. <a href="http://www.arengga.com/">Bote Central</a>'s coffee alamid booth from Philippines pulled a rather harsh espresso on my turn so although the aroma of the bean was in present, the cup itself wasn't terribly pleasant which was a pity.<br /><br />All contemporary coffee conversations appear to revolve around the variables that make up a good cup (there are also conversations about post-postmodernism, critical theory and the objectivity of a quality brew). Other than the bean itself - its varietal, the region and altitude at which it was grown, the influence of the weather and soil on its growth etc, there's also how the bean is processed - the washing and drying and milling and storage,<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5549933297/" title="Probat, Tea & Coffee World Cup Singapore 2011 by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5188/5549933297_6322be8a0b_m.jpg" alt="Probat, Tea & Coffee World Cup Singapore 2011" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><i><a href="http://www.probat.com/">Probat</a> roasting workshop, because everyone's a micro-roaster</i></span><br />then the roasting - from light, cinnamon to full city to continental to, oops, charcoal,<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5550516660/" title="Cupping and Blending Workshop, Wolff Coffee Roasters, Tea & Coffee World Cup Singapore 2011 by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5180/5550516660_d37070da01_m.jpg" alt="Cupping and Blending Workshop, Wolff Coffee Roasters, Tea & Coffee World Cup Singapore 2011" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5549935575/" title="Cupping and Blending Workshop by Peter and Penny Wolff, Tea & Coffee World Cup Singapore 2011 by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5182/5549935575_6dff2f85dc_m.jpg" alt="Cupping and Blending Workshop by Peter and Penny Wolff, Tea & Coffee World Cup Singapore 2011" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Peter and Penny Wolff from <a href="http://www.wolffcoffeeroasters.com.au/">Wolff Coffee Roasters</a> conducting the blending workshop</span></span><br />then, if not serving single estate or single origin, there's the blending of the beans. (The green beans can also blended before roasting.)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5531621425/" title="Winter Espresso 2010/2011, Square Mile Coffee Roasters by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5300/5531621425_3832812f07_m.jpg" alt="Winter Espresso 2010/2011, Square Mile Coffee Roasters" height="159" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5531778339/" title="Hario Skerton 2-turns-from-zero Grind, Winter Espresso 2010/2011, Square Mile Coffee Roasters by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5019/5531778339_40ccec76c2_m.jpg" alt="Hario Skerton 2-turns-from-zero Grind, Winter Espresso 2010/2011, Square Mile Coffee Roasters" height="159" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5531658841/" title="Hario Skerton Grinder + Aeropress + Winter Espresso 2010/2011, Square Mile Coffee Roasters + Hario Buono Drip Kettle by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5019/5531658841_54a8287691.jpg" alt="Hario Skerton Grinder + Aeropress + Winter Espresso 2010/2011, Square Mile Coffee Roasters + Hario Buono Drip Kettle" height="332" width="500" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:78%;" ><a href="http://www.squaremilecoffee.com/">Square Mile Coffee Roasters</a>' Winter Espresso + Hario Skerton grinder + <a href="http://www.harioglass.com/coffee/kettle.html">Hario Buono drip kettle</a> + Aeropress</span><br />It was really interesting to taste how the Ethiopian Yirgacheffe (albeit an identifiable from the Hama Cooperative in Kocherie) hung out with the Monte Alegre from Sul de Minas Gerais in Brazil, the El Guabo from San Ignacio, Cajamarca, Peru and random micromill blend from Tarrazu, Costa Rica in <a href="http://www.squaremilecoffee.com/">Square Mile Coffee Roasters</a>' <a href="http://shop.squaremilecoffee.com/products/winter-espresso">Winter Espresso blend</a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5558976994/" title="Highlander Coffee by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5228/5558976994_9b9b45cc35_m.jpg" alt="Highlander Coffee" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5558394441/" title="Mypressi Twist + Highlander Coffee Supremo Blend by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5139/5558394441_5b091710cb_m.jpg" alt="Mypressi Twist + Highlander Coffee Supremo Blend" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.highlandercoffee.com/">Highlander Coffee</a>'s Supremo blend on the machine at 49 Kampong Bahru Road vs on the <a href="http://mypressi.com/">mypressi TWIST</a> at home</span></span><br />Served single origin or in a blend, the coffee must then be extracted by different methods (drip, siphon, Aeropress, espresso machine etc). The grind of the bean, the water temperature, the water to coffee ratio, extraction yield, total dissolved solids, <a href="http://lamarzoccousa.wordpress.com/2010/02/19/define-pressure-profiling/">pressure</a> profiling (for espresso) etc all contribute to the characteristics of the drink.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5561125814/" title="MoJotoGo - Coffee Lite by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5302/5561125814_1583087e97_m.jpg" alt="MoJotoGo - Coffee Lite" height="240" width="160" /></a><br />So of course there is an iPhone app for this - <a href="http://vstapps.com/mojotogo/">MoJotoGo</a> - even the Coffee Lite version has been useful.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5539989041/" title="Latte, Soho7 Cafe & Bistro, 36 Armenian Street by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5172/5539989041_0695321541_m.jpg" alt="Latte, Soho7 Cafe & Bistro, 36 Armenian Street" height="160" width="240" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:78%;" >Soho 7 Cafe & Bistro, 36 Armenian Street, along Loke Yew Street</span><br />Then, there is the skill of the barista, especially where coupling with dairy is involved. The same National Heritage blend, not more than three days old, also accompanied by the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5539975083/">Best Ever Burger</a> at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/SoHo7-Cafe-Bistro/150385488343491">SoHo7 Cafe & Bistro</a>,<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5539975083/" title="Best Ever Burger, Soho7 Cafe & Bistro, 36 Armenian Street by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5177/5539975083_48a23dfe98_m.jpg" alt="Best Ever Burger, Soho7 Cafe & Bistro, 36 Armenian Street" height="240" width="159" /></a><br />was delicious in a latte made by Swee Sim, a vast difference from the previous "flat white" by a different person.<br /><br />Great progress has been made in articulating what can be known about coffee, yet there there is still so much more to understand which <a href="http://www.nationalgeographic.com/coffee/">National Geographic</a> et al cannot hope to plumb the depths of (and it is merely one in millions of plants in the world). This is nothing compared to the wonder of God working in the Book of Judges, but without fair trade or direct trade considerations. Afterall, one would expect the God who made the coffea family, to do even more amazing things with his people.<br /><br />The details of his various rescues of the people of Israel are far more fascinating than the refractometer readings of a good cup of the mythical Hacienda La Esmeralda Special. So far, we've had Ehud the leftie with a two-edged dagger in the hideously fat Eglon's roof chamber, Shamgar with an ox-goad, and Jael the non-Israelite woman with a tent-peg in her own tent (read <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=judges%203-5&version=ESV">Judges 3 - 5</a> - absolutely riverting).<br /><br />People have tried to apply these accounts by saying that lack of gifting in some area should not dissuade one from serving in that area. This seems a nonsense since (1) elsewhere we are told that God gives us all unique ways of serving the body (so an eye should not wish to be a thumb when it is obviously an instrument of sight), and (2) this is really about the glory going to no one but God - whereas hunky heroes and the latest in iron chariot technology would induce little more than neighbour envy and self-improvement workshops, salvation via such random judges can mean that only God is at work. This looked forward to the day a son of a carpenter (though not fathered by him) would wrought a rescue to end all rescues with no other weapon but his own perfect obedience and his life blood.<br /><br />Will we trust and obey him? Or will we, like the stubborn Israelites call God's judgement upon ourselves?<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5536341322/" title="Winter Espresso 2010/2011, Square Mile Coffee Roasters and its friends by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5297/5536341322_ffbf4faa45_m.jpg" alt="Winter Espresso 2010/2011, Square Mile Coffee Roasters and its friends" height="159" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">(Another surprising discovery: whereas the previous assumption was that I was immune to the effects of caffeine, it appears now that coffee has a soporific effect. After ten espressos/espresso-based drinks, the struggle to keep awake is almost overwhelming. Apparently, this is common amongst ADD/ADHD folk and caffeine has in fact been <a href="http://www.add-adhd-treatments.com/Caffeine.html">recommended</a> by everyoneisanexpertontheinternet as an <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/coffee-may-help-adults-and-children-with-attention-deficit-and-hyperactivity-disorder-addadhd-55349742.html">alternative</a> to Ritalin. So much for the efficacy of that morning cup.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5561321332/" title="Angry Birds Seasons - St. Patrick's Day by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5186/5561321332_f18f1edaaa_m.jpg" alt="Angry Birds Seasons - St. Patrick's Day" height="160" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5561321580/" title="Angry Birds Seasons - St. Patrick's Day by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5270/5561321580_fe3fce6f03_m.jpg" alt="Angry Birds Seasons - St. Patrick's Day" height="160" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5560747137/" title="Angry Birds - Ham 'Em High by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5268/5560747137_8ac3b9a800_m.jpg" alt="Angry Birds - Ham 'Em High" height="160" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5561321820/" title="Angry Birds - Ham 'Em High by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5229/5561321820_468f5bffb9_m.jpg" alt="Angry Birds - Ham 'Em High" height="160" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5560747477/" title="Angry Birds Rio by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5137/5560747477_4605bc3532_m.jpg" alt="Angry Birds Rio" height="160" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5561322552/" title="Angry Birds Rio by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5258/5561322552_b0666d5b42_m.jpg" alt="Angry Birds Rio" height="160" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5561322814/" title="Angry Birds Rio by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5070/5561322814_1e6640112b_m.jpg" alt="Angry Birds Rio" height="160" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5560748257/" title="Angry Birds Rio by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5172/5560748257_b6c2507e25_m.jpg" alt="Angry Birds Rio" height="160" width="240" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Angry Birds - Seasons: St Patrick's Day, Ham 'Em High, Rio (love the programming of the monkeys)</span></span><br />Video/computer/iPhone games are supposed to have the same effect. Haha...wheeeeeeeeeee!)<br /><br /></span></span></div>shadowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13822100633711347312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100929.post-75059937404978902322011-03-13T22:00:00.010+08:002011-04-15T08:56:30.389+08:00The Flat Whites (and Some Caps) of Singapore and The Failed Humans of the World<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">On the way to lunch, the newly-minted owner of a <a href="http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/food-drink/the-cult-of-nespresso-1115935.html">naff</a> <a href="http://www.nespresso.com/">Nespresso</a> from Nestlé and I were drawn into a cafe by fresh coffee smells and a fire-engine red roaster in the window. A short discussion and rush of related questions commencing with "But why...?" led to the witch's cottage in the deep dark woods. And I forgot to leave a bread crumb trail.<br /><br />But for once, instead of being a fussy old drag unreasonably picky about perfectly decent chicken ("What do you mean it tastes like dead chicken? It's dead!") and clear sanitary water ("What do you mean it tastes like dead water? Water doesn't live!"), what has now been termed a "sensitive palate" (though one ought not be too optimistic since "tastes like the fag end of a wet bad cigarette" doesn't a coffee cognoscenti make) actually contributes to interesting conversation with neighbouring coffee enthusiasts.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5517733490/" title="Aerin's by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5179/5517733490_a902e2c934.jpg" alt="Aerin's" height="500" width="335" /></a></span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:78%;" ><span style="font-family:verdana;">Cappuccinos at <a href="http://www.aerins.com.sg/">Aerin's</a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">The modern coffee enthusiast neighbour seems to be all about coffee use that is open platform, lo-fi, <a href="http://coffeecommon.com/">Coffee Common</a> <a href="http://blog.ted.com/2011/03/03/enter-coffee-common/">at TED</a>, <a href="http://fearlessrevolution.com/blog/the-making-of-a-common-story.html">collaboration</a> <a href="http://fearlessrevolution.com/blog/introducing-common.html">not competition</a>, slow-food, <a href="http://www.imbibemagazine.com/Coffee-s-Third-Wave">third wave</a>, similar non-homogenuity, commodities de-commodified, artisanal <a href="http://www.beanscenemag.com.au/articles/view/thinking-like-a-champion">world barista championship wins</a>; he is origin and terroir-obsessed and geekily discerning. He supports sustainable direct trade, and is enthusiastic about traceable microlot coffee micro-roasted then precisely ground and exactingly brewed to individual order by a tattooed barista. Simple pleasures fetished into luxuries.<br /><br />(Coffee as traded commodity is <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/03/09/coffee-the-new-shaky-commodity">still very current</a>. And it still features in those macro-economics exam questions.<br /><br />And of course, allegations of climate change and global warming cannot be too far away: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/science/earth/10coffee.html">Columbia</a>, <a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2014412762_climatechange06.html">Costa Rica</a>)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5517142223/" title="Barracks, Dempsey by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5180/5517142223_59caee2be8_m.jpg" alt="Barracks, Dempsey" height="240" width="161" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Cappuccinos at Barracks Cafe, Dempsey House</span></span><br />The days of coffee as chair-and-wifi rental (and so imbibed with more than a few spoonfuls of sugar and cream to help the bad espresso-based bitterness go down) have been swept away, not by attention to consumption alone, but by the eye-widening focus on quality in the cup, specific origins, production methods, roasting and <a href="http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/coffee/machines/517202">preparation styles</a>.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5503110454/" title="Experimenting with old Papa Palheta's Terra Firma Blend Coffee via Hario V60 Pour-over, helped along by Hario Buono Drip Kettle by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5012/5503110454_4220239261.jpg" alt="Experimenting with old Papa Palheta's Terra Firma Blend Coffee via Hario V60 Pour-over, helped along by Hario Buono Drip Kettle" height="332" width="500" /></a></span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">The newest arrival to the party in Singapore appears to be the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/magazine/13Food-t-000.html">pour-over</a>. Previously as welcome as the comb-over, the pour-over has already done <a href="http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/22/ristretto-pour-over-coffee-drips-into-new-york/">a tour of New York</a>, with <a href="http://www.harioglass.com/">Hario</a> of Japan* supplying the gadgetry of choice to the design-conscious - lovely ribbed V60s (though some swear by the <a href="http://coava.myshopify.com/">Coava</a>'s <a href="http://www.baristaexchange.com/forum/topics/kone-kone-stainless-steel">stainless steel kone</a> used with a <a href="http://www.chemexcoffeemaker.com/">Chemex</a> as profiled in <a href="http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/cooking-discussion/coava-coffee-brewing-equipment-devin-helps-us-prepare-the-perfect-cup-138866">The Kitchn</a>), and delicate swan+beehive-like Buono drip kettles. George Howell Terroir Coffee Company has Hario dripper brewing instructions <a href="http://www.terroircoffee.com/Hariodripperbrewingnstructions.pdf">here</a>, <a href="http://barismo.com/blog/2009/11/how-to-v60-1-cup-9-ounce-method.html">as has Barismo</a> amongst others, or ask a coffee-loving Japanese friend (if you have none, take solace in <a href="http://www.yume2coffee.com/">yume2coffee</a>'s video <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2VfGoNXj_I">here</a> and Cafe Iko's video <a href="http://www.cafe-iko.net/05mov-04.htm">here</a>); Rob from Antwerp Barista shares Jaime van Schyndel's bloom diagram <a href="http://caffenation.blogspot.com/2010/06/hario-v60-bloom-diagram.html">here</a>; La Terza <a href="http://www.laterzacoffee.com/Hario%20v60%20Brew%20Calculator/Hario%20v60%20Brew%20Calculator.html">helps</a> with the mathematics of brew volume, coffee dosage, presaturation percentage and time.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5521929814/" title="Aerobie Aeropress + Hario Skerton grinder + Highlander Supremo Blend beans + Hario Buono drip kettle by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5297/5521929814_b42d908cc0.jpg" alt="Aerobie Aeropress + Hario Skerton grinder + Highlander Supremo Blend beans + Hario Buono drip kettle" height="332" width="500" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">The Hario entourage came to the party accompanied by the <a href="http://aerobie.com/products/aeropress.htm">Aeropress</a> (designed by the maker of my first frisbee, the <a href="http://aerobie.com/products/superdisc.htm">Aerobie® Superdisc™</a>, which was sadly cold-shouldered by real frisbee-playing friends), an undefinable device that produces a stronger cup that is just as clean as the pour-over. (Best used with <a href="http://coava.myshopify.com/collections/store/products/disk-coffee-filter">stainless steel Coava disk filters</a> say <a href="http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/coffee/machines/510319">some</a> forummers.) Something like my previous coffee + syringe + hot water experiments but obviously miles better. Aeropress World Championship recipes <a href="http://worldaeropresschampionship.wordpress.com/recipes/">here</a>; CoffeeGeek discussion on the device <a href="http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/coffee/machines/195166">here</a> and on the brewing parameters <a href="http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/coffee/machines/492792">here</a>.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/09/coffeecontrolchart.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 266px;" src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/09/coffeecontrolchart.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><i>chart from <a href="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/09/coffeecontrolchart.png">here</a></i></span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">To be really in on the <a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=science-in-the-neighborhood-how-to-2011-03-08">scientific</a> action, grind your home-roasted green beans with a Porlex stainless steel Japanese ceramic burr grinder (weighed out with a <a href="http://www.salterhousewares.com/">Salter scale)</a>, take the temperature of the liquids with a neat espresso/milk thermometer, <a href="http://coffeechemistry.com/index.php/vmchk/Lab-Equipment/Coffee-TDS-Meter.html">measure</a> total dissolved solids (TDS) and make notes about the <a href="http://coffeegeek.com/forums/coffee/machines/203992">brix readings</a> of your brew on your refractometer in a bid to find <a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2010/09/20/an-iphone-app-a-refractometer-an-objectively-perfect-cup-of-coffee/">that perfect cup</a>.<br /><br />Unscientifically, pour-overs (or trickle-downs) and the Aeropress are nice because the coffee has breathing space to display more of a profile than when it's squished up in an espresso shot.<br /><br />Espresso probably started proliferating in Singapore to accessorise the power-suit of the late 1980s but it was mostly bitter stuff, badly made. <a href="http://www.starbucks.com.sg/">Starbucks</a> (but <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/business/13coffee.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all">look</a> what Howard D Schultz is doing now) and <a href="http://www.coffeebean.com.sg/coffeebean/">The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf</a> et al brought ang moh kopi to the masses in the early noughties. The late noughties saw a few places up their game, though it was still mostly consumption-focused, eg. as part of the cafe menu at <a href="http://www.huggscoffee.com/">Huggs Coffee (with its </a><a href="http://www.pret.com/">Pret A Manger</a>-invoking star); with cakes and sandwiches for weekend shoppers at the popular Caffe Beviamo at Tanglin Mall; on the drinks list at <a href="http://boomarang.com.sg/">Boomerang</a> restaurant (<a href="http://www.lamarzocco.com/">La Marzocco</a> machine, beans roasted by <a href="http://www.dragoncoffee.com.au%20/">Dragon Coffee</a>) and at <a href="http://www.jules.com.sg/">Jules Cafe Bar</a> (Julian Nuttall, <a href="http://www.grinderscoffee.com.au/">Grinders</a> beans);<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5517837798/" title="Cappuccino, Room with a View by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5217/5517837798_e85ba2851b_m.jpg" alt="Cappuccino, Room with a View" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />with carrot cake at <a href="http://www.roomwithaview.sg/">Room With A View cafe</a>;<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5517783962/" title="shots cafe by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5094/5517783962_72ec494df5_m.jpg" alt="shots cafe" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />as double entrende at <a href="http://www.shots.com.sg/">shots. cafe</a> - also a photo studio;<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5494277883/" title="Flat White, Leo's Cafe and Bar by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5220/5494277883_3368f8ba57_m.jpg" alt="Flat White, Leo's Cafe and Bar" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />to accompany ICC World Cup Cricket watching at <a href="http://www.leos.com.sg/">Leo's Cafe and Bar</a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/4535401042/" title="Cappuccino, Kith Cafe by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2731/4535401042_4b658b5ee5_m.jpg" alt="Cappuccino, Kith Cafe" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />When space (in a crit theory sort of way) became important, <a href="http://www.kith.com.sg/">Kith</a> (Jane Hia, Ahmad Hiydayat, house blend of robusta and arabica beans from Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia and Sumatra)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5517786022/" title="Black Coffee Dessert Bar, Hitachi Tower by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5252/5517786022_02eb9c2cf4_m.jpg" alt="Black Coffee Dessert Bar, Hitachi Tower" height="240" width="180" /></a><br />and <a href="http://www.thisisblack.com.sg/">black coffee dessert bar</a> added a bit of theatre to coffee drinking: riverside view + <a href="http://www.architecturelist.com/2011/03/02/kith-cafe-singapore-by-hjgher/">hjgher interior</a> for Kith and retro-chic for black. Their brews taste fairly "Italian"(?) (though not like <a href="http://www.illy.com/">Illy</a> or <a href="http://www.segafredo.it/">Segafredo</a> <a href="http://www.cremahound.com/segafredo">Zanetti</a>).<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5517134571/" title="Segafredo, Chevron House by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5015/5517134571_6fe7d80b41_m.jpg" alt="Segafredo, Chevron House" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5151368915/" title="Flat White, The Plain, Craig Road by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1213/5151368915_e0141f7bb7_m.jpg" alt="Flat White, The Plain, Craig Road" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5490649342/" title="Flat White at The Plain by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5054/5490649342_3d7950b7c4_m.jpg" alt="Flat White at The Plain" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.theplain.com.sg/">The Plain</a>'s <a href="http://www.genovese.com.au/">Genovese</a> coffee, poached eggs and vegemite soldiers and waitresses in stripes and denim shorts referencing Melbourne cafes. The barista noticed I'd let my first cup go cold while engrossed in a (the) good book and replaced it without charge saying he just wanted his customers to enjoy themselves.<br /><br />Bankers and other business suits in the CBD with no time for atmosphere can get themselves served by folks serious about their joe at:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5489039547/" title="Flat White at Dimbulah, Chevron House by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5218/5489039547_dc2c5cb42b_m.jpg" alt="Flat White at Dimbulah, Chevron House" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.dimbulahcoffee.com/">Dimbulah</a> (Queensland beans apparently);<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5506594274/" title="Flat White, Joe & Dough, Suntec by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5018/5506594274_481c5d5e9f_m.jpg" alt="Flat White, Joe & Dough, Suntec" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.joeanddough.com/">Joe & Dough</a> (beans used up to 2 weeks from roasting, ground on demand);<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5517724090/" title="Viking Coffee by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5254/5517724090_2409ed11a0_m.jpg" alt="Viking Coffee" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.vikingcoffee.com.sg/">Viking Coffee</a> (Lynden Vikingur, La Cimbali, Meiji milk)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5488997095/" title=""Flat White" at Espressoul, EFG Building by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5257/5488997095_6fe132e6db_m.jpg" alt=""Flat White" at Espressoul, EFG Building" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />Elsewhere, <a href="http://blog.omy.sg/ezprezzo">Danny Pang</a> (only barista trainer in Singapore authorised by Specialty Coffee Association of Europe) aims to set high standards at <a href="http://www.espressoul.com/">Espressoul</a> with their house blend + a <a href="http://www.lapavoni.it/">La Pavoni</a>. (This "flat white" was by the sole barista at lunch-time on a weekday, who was stressed about refrigerator problems.)<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5149166970/" title="Jamaican Pork Sandwich + Flat White, Forty Hands by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4152/5149166970_e140fa745b_m.jpg" alt="Jamaican Pork Sandwich + Flat White, Forty Hands" height="240" width="180" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5146423392/" title="Flat White, Forty Hands by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1360/5146423392_6e60286cb1_m.jpg" alt="Flat White, Forty Hands" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5517839262/" title="Forty Hands - Flat White and Chocolate Tart by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5217/5517839262_5bc032b3f2_m.jpg" alt="Forty Hands - Flat White and Chocolate Tart" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />Majoring on sustainability, <a href="http://www.40handscoffee.com/">Forty Hands</a> (<a href="http://www.timeoutsingapore.com/aroundtown/feature/behind-the-bar-barista-harry-grover">Harry Grover</a> x Spa Esprit Group, <a href="http://www.synesso.com/">Synesso Cyncra</a>) say they ensure their beans come from skilled roasters who have established strong relationships with coffee growers and pay a fair price for their produce. And their coffees are still fairly yummy (though some customers have complained of harshness of roast).<br /><br />A little upstream from cafes, <a href="http://www.graffeocoffee.com/">Graffeo</a> has been roasting the beans served at places like <a href="http://www.canele.com.sg/">Canelé Pâtisserie</a> and it seems that <a href="http://www.tobysestate.com.au/">Toby's Estate</a> (currently served at <a href="http://www.1-caramel.com/">1 Caramel</a>) has engaged <a href="http://deaton.wordpress.com/2011/01/30/singapore/">Deaton Pigot</a> to set up a roastery in Singapore.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5519696226/" title="Cappuccino, Highlander Coffee by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5051/5519696226_7b3008fc83_m.jpg" alt="Cappuccino, Highlander Coffee" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5519114343/" title="Highlander Coffee by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5218/5519114343_d80c094fb7_m.jpg" alt="Highlander Coffee" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />If personal attention to the production line is key to the artisanal push, then unpretentious down-to-earth brothers Phil and Cedric Ho of <a href="http://www.highlandercoffee.com/">Highlander Coffee</a> are often cited as the early adopters of more holistic control over their cup - bringing in green beans, roasting on-site (even on demand), grinding on demand, brewing to perfection. They serve up the best cup of flat white I've had in Singapore thus far.<br /><br />(Unfortunately for the diversity of the local coffee scene, Anton Wismann's <a href="http://ieatishootipost.sg/2007/08/wiener-kaffeehaus-fancy-some-wild.html">Wiener Kaffeehaus Viennese Coffee House & Roastery</a> up the street from Highlander, along Neil Road didn't last past the late noughties. Nor did the siphon + Blue Mountain <a href="http://is.asia-city.com/restaurants/singapore-restaurant-reviews/kohi-ten">Kohi Ten</a> at Cuppage Terrace.)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5517245639/" title="IMG_1697 by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5094/5517245639_edf06b6ee3_m.jpg" alt="IMG_1697" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5517247117/" title="Citrus Sin, Oriole Cafe by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5295/5517247117_cc2fd67dd1_m.jpg" alt="Citrus Sin, Oriole Cafe" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.oriolecoffee.com/">Oriole Coffee</a> is known not just for sourcing sustainables, a 75% Colombia and 25% Guatamela house blend, roasting on a Diedrich called "Ella", grinding on demand, brewing on their 3 group La Marzocco etc, their baristas John Ryan Ting and Keith Loh are also known for winning the Singapore National Barista Championships. You can sample their competition cups - the Citrus Sin is especially nice, at the cafe.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5510376735/" title=""Abstract Art", Flat White, Cuppachoice by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5055/5510376735_65f103aff5_m.jpg" alt=""Abstract Art", Flat White, Cuppachoice" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5510971262/" title="Flat White, Cuppachoice by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5135/5510971262_ec323974be_m.jpg" alt="Flat White, Cuppachoice" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />Also placed in a past SNBC is <a href="http://iamabarista.blogspot.com/">Suhaimie Sukiman</a> from <a href="http://www.cuppachoice.com/">Cuppachoice</a> (<a href="http://www.hasgaranti.com.tr/">Has Garanti</a> roaster) - a company that also seeks to do a quality brew. (The art on these flat whites were not made by him but a young chap who confessed he was still learning the tricks. The first flat white on the left was the cold side of lukewarm and therefore not conducive for latte art, but he kindly made another.)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5517143967/" title="Papa Palheta by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5174/5517143967_ca19a944f7_m.jpg" alt="Papa Palheta" height="240" width="161" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.papapalheta.com/">Papa Palheta</a> (Leon Foo, <a href="http://dennistang.posterous.com/">Dennis Tang</a>, Diedrich, <a href="http://www.probat.com/">Probat</a>, Synesso Cyncra 3 group)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5494884908/" title="Flat White, Loysel's Toy by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5300/5494884908_c23570ec38_m.jpg" alt="Flat White, Loysel's Toy" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />and its retail outlet, <a href="http://www.loyselstoy.com/">Loysel's Toy</a> (interior by <a href="http://fuur.com/projects_individual.php?getProjectId=98&getProjectTypeId=31&year=2011">Fuur Associates</a>, lovely textured web design by <a href="http://foreignpolicydesign.com/v3/works/loysels-toy-web/">Foreign Policy Design Group</a>), not only brings raw sustainable personally-sourced coffee beans to the point of fulfilment, your vintage clothes and spectacles will also complement the space at <s>the tasting bar and</s> cafe. Terra Firma blend does well in milk.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5519706382/" title=""Flat White", Soho7 Cafe by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5054/5519706382_b4b478c57d_m.jpg" alt=""Flat White", Soho7 Cafe" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/SoHo7-Cafe-Bistro/150385488343491">Soho 7 Café & Bistro</a> (Swee Sim, <a href="http://www.hasgaranti.com.tr/">Hans Garanti</a> roaster, roasted beans not more than 3 days old) opened <a href="http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sub/whatsin/story/0,4574,430068,00.html">a month ago</a> - delicious burgers, current National Heritage blend of beans from Papua New Guinea, Tanzania, India, Brazil was better cold, definition of antipodean "Flat White" unusual, add to enjoyment with visit to <a href="http://www.peek-ture.com/">Peek!</a>, also at 36/38 Armenian Street.<br /><br />Some of these cafes also offer pour-overs, but no niche brewed coffee shops for the <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/45de8bc4-3970-11e0-97ca-00144feabdc0.html">filter trendies</a> yet and no visuals on a <a href="http://www.chemexcoffeemaker.com/">Chemex</a>, <a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2185655/">Clover</a> (<a href="http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1855948_1864255_1864273,00.html">only in</a> <a href="http://www.starbucks.com/coffee/learn/clover">Starbucks</a> i guess) or <a href="http://www.handybrew.com.tw/C-70888.html">Clever Coffee Dripper</a> (except on display at Highlander Coffee) either.<br /><br />Yes, it won't be long before cool kids clutching the "right" gear mushroom up in refurbished shophouses and abandoned warehouses, more for the excitement of owning and running a third wave java joint than loving the coffee.<br /><br />But hey, whatever, the more the merrier. Exciting times! Far more questions about the whys and whatfors than there are answers.<br /><br />What a great marvel this God-made world is, that we may never understand all there is about even one of millions of seeds on this earth. And even if we did manage to write a definitive encyclopaedia on all varietals of the beverage-friendly species of the coffea plant, we'd never pin down the perfect way of producing and making a drink from the beans to account for the postmodern array of opinions as to what constitutes "good coffee". We can't even <a href="http://www.dearcoffeeiloveyou.com/boycott-bold/">agree on the vocabulary</a> to describe taste sometimes.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5490648314/" title="Cappuccino, JAMS Cafe, Prologue Bookshop, ION Orchard by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5135/5490648314_db0a99bb8d_m.jpg" alt="Cappuccino, JAMS Cafe, Prologue Bookshop, ION Orchard" height="180" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:78%;" ><span style="font-family:verdana;">Cappuccino, JAMS Cafe, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/-prologue-Bookstore-Singapore/138264343666">{Prologue} Bookshop</a>, ION Orchard</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />God's direction for the world, thankfully, is far more clear-cut. Unfortunately, this clarity hasn't helped humans live their lives in the best way:<br />Pharaoh of Egypt saw that whatever Moses said God would do, he did: all your water will turn to blood? - it did and the people went thirsty and the fish died; frogs will swarm the land? they did; gnats will cover man and beast? they did...and on and on until the deaths of the firstborn of all living things in the land. It wasn't that Pharaoh didn't have enough evidence that God wouldn't do as he promised, and it wasn't that he didn't have half the brain to understand who was doing all this (he admitted as much to Moses when he asked him to relay the message to God that he was sorry not to believe him and to please take away the plagues). He just didn't want to believe that God was in charge of the world (including Egypt) and not him. (Details in <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=exodus%207-11&version=ESV">Exodus 7-11</a>.)<br /><br />God's own people, the descendants of Jacob/Israel, were no better. They'd seen the wonders that God had done in Egypt and how he fulfilled his promises of destruction if the Pharaoh did not obey him, yet, once he had brought them out of Egypt, they accused God of being untrustworthy and wanted to go back to slavery in Egypt. Talk about extreme thickness. (Details in <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=exodus%2015:22-17:7&version=ESV">Exodus 15:22-17:7</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=exodus%2032-33&version=ESV">32-33</a>.) Since they refused to go into the Promised Land flowing with milk and honey, they wandered the desert for forty years.<br /><br />And when their descendants finally entered the Promised Land, they refused to destroy all the inhabitants even though God had promised to give them victory as he had given them victory over all previous battles. So their enemies became a snare to the people of Israel and they were led to worshipping other gods, abandoning the God who had saved them from Egypt. And so God gave their enemies victory over them instead, as he had already said he would. (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=judges%201-2&version=NIV">Judges 1-2</a>. Listen to David Jackman give an introduction to Judges at St. Helen's Bishopsgate <a href="http://www.st-helens.org.uk/resources/media-library/src/talk/10098/title/judges-introduction">here</a>.)<br /><br />A few hundred years later, after the whole nation of Israel had been deported by the Babylonians and Assyrians, God had mercy on the Israelites and appointed Cyrus, king of Persia to allow them to return and rebuild the temple in their land. But still!, even the priests who were to mediate between people and God were unfaithful to God. (See <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezra+1&version=NIV">Ezra</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=nehemiah&version=NIV">Nehemiah</a>.)<br /><br />What impossibly stiff-necked people. Yet, we modern people are no better than any who have come before us. Our sophistication and progressiveness cannot mask the fact that we still worship false gods easily and naturally.<br /><br />What hope is there? Nothing that can be found inside ourselves so that we can by sheer discipline and willpower live rightly and worship the true God. Which is why Jesus is, literally, a Godsend. Only because he has paid the penalty for our refusal to acknowledge or obey God, and only because he has sent his Spirit to completely overhaul our minds and hearts, can we actually have a relationship with God, so that he will even hear our prayers.<br /><br />________________________________________________________<br /><br />*easily obtained in Singapore from Tangs Orchard, Takashimaya in Ngee Ann City, Isetan Scotts, BHG at Bugis.<br /><br />**<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5521926484/" title="Highlander's Supremo Blend beans ground by Hario Skerton grinder by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5300/5521926484_dbc507c876_m.jpg" alt="Highlander's Supremo Blend beans ground by Hario Skerton grinder" height="159" width="240" /></a><br />This grind causes overextraction of Highlander's <a href="http://highlandercoffee.com/index.php?product_id=49&page=shop.product_details&category_id=18&flypage=flypage-ask.tpl&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=54&vmcchk=1&Itemid=54">Supremo blend</a> beans in the Aeropress.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5521338681/" title="Highlander's Supremo Blend beans ground by Hario Skerton grinder by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5091/5521338681_2e479cd47b_m.jpg" alt="Highlander's Supremo Blend beans ground by Hario Skerton grinder" height="159" width="240" /></a><br />This grind is better - gives a cup with pleasant acidity and body. The tastebuds vote for this blend from an Aeropress or in a flat white than as an espresso, even though crowd wisdom has crowned single origins kings of the filter, french press and Aeropress.<br /><br />***<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5519238703/" title="Cupping coffee by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5059/5519238703_3ca219a9f1_m.jpg" alt="Cupping coffee" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />The coffee academies at these places will help you to talk single origins, terroir, varietals, blends, roasts, grinds, drips, until you're all jittery (or for some of us, reduced to a state of somnolence) from all that <a href="http://bootcoffee.com/Cupping_flavor.pdf">cupped</a> caffeine:<br /><a href="http://www.highlandercoffee.com/">Highlander Coffee</a><br /><a href="http://www.cuppachoice.com/">Cuppachoice</a><br /><a href="http://www.graffeocoffee.com/">Graffeo Coffee Roasting Co.</a><br /><a href="http://www.etrebon.com/">Être Bon</a> by Boncafe<br /><a href="http://www.baristo.com.sg/">Baristo</a><br /><br />(Note to self:when checking out fragrance during <a href="http://www.hasbean.co.uk/cupping/cupping.pdf">cupping</a>, try not to exhale too forcefully while the snorting snozzer is still in the bowl...)<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5517193909/" title="Cappuccino, Food For Thought by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5259/5517193909_dd4229a60b_m.jpg" alt="Cappuccino, Food For Thought" height="180" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><a href="http://www.foodforthought.com.sg/"><i>Food for Thought</i></a></span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div>shadowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13822100633711347312noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100929.post-82210652203343202832011-03-13T16:47:00.008+08:002011-03-14T09:28:47.689+08:00God and the Japan Tsunami of 2011<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5521664837/" title="#prayforjapan Twitter screenshot by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5138/5521664837_d356c91899.jpg" alt="#prayforjapan Twitter screenshot" height="480" width="320" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Elsewhere on the internet, someone expressed revulsion at another's status message calling on Japanese people to repent and be saved.<br /><br />Q: Is it as some claim that it was because of their great sinfulness that Sendai and whole towns in Miyagi and Iwate prefectures, Japan were wiped out? After all, that's what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah because of their sexual immorality and perversion (Genesis 19:1-29, Jude 1:7).<br /><br />A preposterous unbiblical claim. First, only God knows why he allowed a tsunami to hit them so hard or why the residents near Fukushima nuclear plant were exposed to radiation leaks and reactor core meltdowns. Second, Jesus said about the incidents of his day (Galileans whose blood were mixed with their own sacrifices, and the victims of a tower collapse in Siloam) that this did not mean that the deceased were worse sinners than others (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+13&version=NIV">Luke 13</a>:1-5a).<br /><br />They were not more guilty than others. Rather, Jesus said that all deserved the same fate (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+13&version=NIV">Luke 13</a>:5b-8)<br /><br />Q: Is this a sign that the world is going to end (in 2012)?<br />No one knows when the world will end, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+13&version=NIV">Mark 13</a>:32).<br /><br />But daily news of nation rising against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and famines and earthquakes in various places must remind us that the end will definitely come (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2024&version=ESV">Matthew 24</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+13&version=NIV">Mark 13</a>). Therefore, surviving a disaster or merely not being at any risk of being in one does not give us licence to merely sit around and be mesmerised by the horrific photos on our laptop or telly screens and congratulate ourselves on our good luck; God has granted us another day of life so that we have the opportunity to start believing in him.<br /><br />Q: Look at all the death and destruction, grief and pain. How can you say there is a God?<br />But why do you say all this is bad? Where do you find your reference of good and evil? Why do we, globally, historically, even have such categories?<br /><br />Surely human wisdom and experience percolated through the ages should have been desensitived us to all this pain and suffering. After all, that's part of life in this world, isn't it - everyone dies; stuff happens. Yet, we persist in considering all these things as calamities and insist on something more...perfect.<br /><br />This is because God has set eternity in the hearts of man (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ecclesiastes+3&version=ESV">Ecclesiastes 3</a>:11). There was a time when there was no suffering, when the forces "of nature" did not kill humans, but Adam and Even, representatives of the human race, rebelled against their Creator, fancying themselves to be God, and the world descended into chaos, rebelling against them as they rebelled against God. And here we are now. But this is not the end, because there will come a time when there will be no more mourning nor crying nor pain for those who repent of thinking themselves as God and who turn from making up the rules to their own lives to obeying him (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=revelation+21&version=ESV">Revelation 21</a>).<br /><br />Q: How can a good God have done all this? How can Jesus claim to love us if he allows all this to happen?<br /><br /><iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/7411192" frameborder="0" height="320" width="400"></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/7411192">How can God allow suffering and evil in the world?</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/apassionforlife">A Passion for Life</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</p>We <a href="http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/a-prayer-for-japan">pray</a> because God is the only person who truly loves mankind and who is really in control.<br /><br /></span></span></div>shadowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13822100633711347312noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100929.post-38865778075851857162011-03-08T02:07:00.005+08:002011-03-08T09:18:34.915+08:00The Heavens and The Earth, The Sea and The Dry Land<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5506699098/" title="Waters off Changi Sailing Club are really busy by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5016/5506699098_0784ce4d8a.jpg" alt="Waters off Changi Sailing Club are really busy" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">There is much to be said about the romance of cruising the high seas with wind harnessing sails, but when the cold beer runs out and the onshore barbecues are a-calling, an immediate return to land usually necessitates vigorous use of petrol-fuelled mechanical means. So it was only wise to top up RYA's <a href="http://www.rya.org.uk/coursestraining/courses/sailcruising/Pages/Competentcrew.aspx">competent crew certification</a> with a powered pleasure craft driving licence - necessary for driving powered vessels from jet-skis to mega-yachts registered as SZ or SZH within Singapore waters.<br /><br />Church-mates were greatly delighted by the news of the licence, especially since our church's constitution allows for the purchase of boats and ships. There were day-dreams of church services on barges, sailing and deep-sea fishing ministries and diving sessions off Pulau Hantu.<br /><br />"Yes," I said,"And I am even trained in retrieving people when they fall overboard."<br />"Good, good."<br />"When we train, we try to determine how much might be left of the fallen person when we finally retrieve him - if there is a hard knock at the bow, we've probably killed him but he'll be in one piece; if we let him get too far to the stern before going to neutral, he might have lost part of his limbs to the propeller."<br />"Oh, actually, if we fall overboard, don't worry about us - we'll swim to you."'<br />"But I passed the test!"<br />"Seriously, don't do anything, man."<br /><br />Anyway, while watching The Captain fix an outboard motor on one training boat which had conveniently spluttered its last just as smoke rose from one of the bilges of the other training boat, I realised that few things bring more joy that taking things apart and seeing how they work. Taking the Silly Black Car to the workshop and looking under its hood with John Tan, the long-suffering mechanic, has always been cause for excitement rather than frustration. Unlike others of the same ilk however, my interest has always been more rabid curiosity than useful practicality - in the toy box, together with the much thumbed <i>The Big Book of How Things Work</i>, there used to lie the carcass shells and innards of dozens of toys, alarm clocks and other household items that were taken apart and examined and once their workings were explored and more or less understood, abandoned for the next mystery.<br /><br />The great thing about God, of course, is that he is endlessly fascinating - so no one can never really tire of him (or his creation for that matter). Which is why reading the Bible, God's word to humans, is so utterly good fun. It's not just exciting on the level that the pointers on getting a PPCDL* might be - that is, only to the speck-like minority who are keen on pleasure boating in Singapore; neither is it a book merely for geeky classicists to obsess over regardless of authenticity of historicity; nor is it just for those insecure types whose fruitless quests for self-improvement serve to emphasise their abject loser-liness.<br /><br />First, it is a historical document corroborated beyond reasonable doubt by a variety of contemporaneous historical documents - therefore, it cannot be easily dismissed as one might Greek mythology. Second, it claims to be from the God of the whole world, even the God of those who worship other gods - there is no one He does not address. Third, even though it is the Creator's instruction manual to his creation how to make the best use of what he has created (which "experts" will never be able to deduce on their own), that is not the end-point. The historical record of God's dealings with mankind through hundreds of generations is most importantly about whom this God who made everything is, what he wants from all the people he created and about what he will do to the world and everybody in it in the future, <a href="http://www.matthiasmedia.com.au/2wtl/">depending on how they have related to Him</a>.<br /><br />One might have thought that such knowledge might be easily imparted in point form on a single A4 sheet. But on account of the mind-shattering complex bigness of God (which obviously the Bible cannot contain) and the stubborn stupidity of almost everyone who has ever lived, we not only need to read the Bible constantly to remind ourselves of its truths and each other to encourage us in the logical matter of living according to the truth, we need God's Spirit to first enable us to understand God's Word and the power to obey it.<br /><br />Reading through the failure of all those generations in <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=exodus%201&version=ESV">Exodus</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=judges%201&version=ESV">Judges</a> and <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20kings%20-%202%20kings&version=ESV">1 and 2 Kings</a> with various people in the last week is warning enough that the seemingly simple matter of trusting and depending on God to help us is the hardest work of all for us sinners!<br /><br />________________________________________________________<br /><br />*To obtain such a driving licence, one might:<br />Book a course with Captain Jon Lum (97111411, cptjon@singnet.com.sg) - he's a cheerful, chain-smoking, experienced PPCDL teacher who runs courses at Changi Sailing Club and Raffles Marina and has plenty of anecdotes to prevent dozing off during theory lessons. Otherwise, try <a href="http://www.safyc.org.sg/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=33&Itemid=91">SAF Yacht Club</a> or <a href="http://www.one15marina.com/one15cms/upload/05032010_021319_PPCDL%20%20KBS%20-%20Year%20Course%20Date%202010%20V1.pdf">One Degree 15 Marina</a> or other <a href="http://www.mpa.gov.sg/sites/pdf/powered_craft.pdf">recognised PPCDL centres</a>.<br /><br />Go to Singapore Polytechnic's Singapore Maritime Academy page <a href="http://www.sp.edu.sg/wps/portal/vp-spws/%21ut/p/c0/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os_hQD1NXIzdTEwN_UwsLA09_C28Ti5AwoxAXM_2CbEdFADpLypY%21/">to register</a> for powered pleasure craft driving licence theory and practical exams.<br /><br />You'll need to have taken a course at <a href="http://www.mpa.gov.sg/sites/pdf/powered_craft.pdf">a recognised PPCDL centre</a> and passed an eye examination <a href="http://www.sp.edu.sg/wps/portal/vp-spws/spws.cet.shortcourses.cselisting.csedetails/?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/wps/wcm/connect/Lib-SPWS/site-spwebsite/lifelong+learners/short+courses/powered+pleasure+craft+driving+licence+%28ppcdl+english+theory+test%29%28short+courses+-+powered+pleasure+craft+driving+licence+%28ppcdl+english+theory+test%29%29">before taking the theory test</a>.<br /><br />My perfect score on the theory test came thanks to the Singaporean method of ace-ing exams - the 10-year series - which is basically a compilation of past test questions. Most course instructors will give this out but if yours doesn't, "seahorse" from the fishingkaki forum has been kind enough to make available an Excel spreadsheet which can be downloaded <a href="http://www.fishingkaki.com/forum/download.php?id=122956&sid=9c789f34efae7350206d401094950e6d">here</a>. The <a href="http://changinautical.blogspot.com/">Changi Nautical blog</a> was also somewhat useful.<br /><br />The theory test is taken on rather old computers at Singapore Polytechnic, Dover Road, W215A (Workshop 2, Level 1, Room 5A) - the sort that has screens that one views through a plexiglass window set on the tabletop. Balvinder Kour from the PPCDL Test Centre will send you a "gentle reminder" of the items to bring and dress code (no singlets, shorts, slippers) shortly before the test.<br /><br />You'll need to pass your theory test (you'll need to get at least 26/30) before you can sit for your practical boat handling test. Ms Kour will again send you a list of items to bring and the dress code. <br /><br />It's always useful to go for a refresher on boat handling the week before or on the morning of the practical test (book the 11.30a.m. or 3.30p.m. test if you want to do this). The test site is at PolyMarina, 50 West Coast Ferry Road (at the fork in West Coast Ferry Road, turn right for the PolyMarina and left for the <a href="http://www.rsyc.org.sg/">Republic of Singapore Yacht Club</a>). Some students sign up for the course at RSYC for this reason but I met a testee who'd failed twice even though she'd trained in the same area; and a few of us passed on first try despite training at the far more crowded and choppy waters outside <a href="http://www.csc.org.sg/">Changi Sailing Club</a> and the lovely calm channel outside <a href="http://www.rafflesmarina.com.sg/">Raffles Marina</a>, so familiarity with the test site may not be a big factor. There are no snack shops at the venue so eat before you go (if you can stomach any food).<br /><br />Wait in a hut next to lines of colourful overall laundry. One of the testers will brief the group of testees on the sequence of the test. (Boating, said the briefing examiner, is not about memorising steps to take but about being cognisant of the prevailing weather, wind and tide and acting accordingly. So while your club may have taught you to count a certain number of seconds before doing this or that action, conditions at sea are so variable that you'll be able to drive safely only if you're thinking on your own two sea-worthy feet.)<br /><br />First, the processing - show your identity card (or passport if you are a foreign citizen) to the examiner and produce your theory test result slip, then write your details down at the top of the examiner's checklist. The group to be tested will then be divided amongst the three <a href="http://www.dynaglass.com.sg/">Dynaglass</a> test boats and their accompanying examiners, and will go off to the test in pairs, in two waves.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5506103747/" title="Launch site of PPCDL Boat Handling Test Boats by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5171/5506103747_3f5b5c00bf.jpg" alt="Launch site of PPCDL Boat Handling Test Boats" height="375" width="500" /></a><br />The underway check takes place down at the jetty. The test boats will slip off as soon as the candidates are done, in no particular sequence. If you are in the front most or middle boat, the danger of hitting a neighbouring boat (= immediate failure) is high so extra caution is necessary. The "unberthing" space is also tight due to the ramp on the starboard side of the test boats, so going astern all the way out is best. But watch out for the kayaks behind the jetty. The "no-wake" zone of 3 knots extends to the end of the pier but examiners will tell you to speed up. Take note of exiting boats on port and fishing sampans on starboard.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5506101395/" title="West Coast Park Jetty, looking out to RSYC berths by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5051/5506101395_bf2b2f7bab.jpg" alt="West Coast Park Jetty, looking out to RSYC berths" height="375" width="500" /></a><br />A site plan of RSYC's berths can be found <a href="http://www.rsyc.org.sg/images/marina_berths3.jpg">here</a>. The man overboard test will take place just past the last row of berths. It is important to maintain 360 degrees situational awareness and snap to neutral immediately upon hearing the tell-tale splash - my lookout shouted (and repeatedly insisted) that MOB was on port when the orange fluorescence of the MOB life-buoy was clearly visible on starboard (turning port when MOB is starboard = immediate failure). <br /><br />The berthing test will take place either at the outer part of the Row J along the megaberths just in front of the Shaws' <i>Seashaw</i>, on the exposed right side of Row J or in one of the stubby finger-piers in Row J. (My examiner told me to berth so that a particular cleat on the test boat was exactly aligned alongside a specific dock cleat on Row Juliet. Was happy to get this over with, spot on, on first try even while he was distracting me with questions about whether to pass a nearby red port hand buoy on port or starboard. He later admitted that he was deliberately trying to set up a bit of a challenge. :-))<br /><br />When both candidates are done, the examiner will take the helm and motor back for the oral theory test. Unless you're the first person to be examined, you can then mug up on buoyage systems, lighthouses, regulations for preventing collisions at sea, conduct of vessels in restricted visibility, lights and daymarks of vessels and the activities they are engaged in, sound and light signals especially in restricted visibility and the international code of signals while awaiting your turn. (Possibly because I cleared MOB drill and berthing on first go, had only three theory questions while some others were grilled for 20 - 30 minutes. One came out crying.)<br /><br />If the examiner then asks you to fill in a form headed "Application for Powered Pleasure Craft Driving Licence", and then takes your hand in his calloused one and pumps it vigorously, you've probably passed the handling test. <a href="http://www.mpa.gov.sg/sites/pdf/powered_craft.pdf">Apply for a powered pleasure craft driving licence</a>. It costs S$20 for applications by post and will last you till you're tossed into Davy Jones' Locker (or Singapore legislation changes).<br /><br /></span></span></div>shadowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13822100633711347312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100929.post-57627703092613261692011-02-20T23:23:00.006+08:002011-02-23T22:53:26.661+08:00Boating, Transversing Park Connectors and What We Talk About When We Talk About Prayer (Colossians 4:2-4)<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">A pant-astic Saturday is:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5461706348/" title="Raffles Marina Lighthouse by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5256/5461706348_cec1271dd6.jpg" alt="Raffles Marina Lighthouse" height="375" width="500" /></a><br />being out in the waters off <a href="http://www.rafflesmarina.com.sg/">Raffles Marina</a>, waving to coast guards and getting the power boat driving sorted (and also having the <a href="http://www.dynaglass.com.sg/dynaglassboats.html">Dynaglass</a> gorge out a bit of flesh from the shin),<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5461707660/" title="Poly Marina, from West Coast Park by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5139/5461707660_b5f22b2189_m.jpg" alt="Poly Marina, from West Coast Park" height="240" width="180" /></a><br />sitting on the breakers, chowing down a McDonald's Samurai burger meal while watching the test launches from the Singapore Poly Marina and commentating obnoxiously on the same (the obnoxiousness is intensified if one of you has a strong American drawl that carries across water),<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5458329249/" title="Flying Pigeon bicycle, Tong Ah & Co by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5173/5458329249_bbb28ef062_m.jpg" alt="Flying Pigeon bicycle, Tong Ah & Co" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />getting a <a href="http://www.flying-pigeon.cn/">Flying Pigeon</a> from the old <a href="http://www.tongah.com.sg/">Tong Ah & Co</a> bicycle shop,<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5458338373/" title="Crankarm divorces crankset by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5011/5458338373_77580e8b7f_m.jpg" alt="Crankarm divorces crankset" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5458947562/" title="Teck Bee Brothers, Syed Alwi Road by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5295/5458947562_2feba7934a_m.jpg" alt="Teck Bee Brothers, Syed Alwi Road" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />only to have the right crankarm shear off from the crankset about an hour later, being rescued by an uncle who laughed at the assumption of a return policy or warranty of any sort, nodded his tight perm, stroked his small moustache with uncle-bling-ladden hand, directed me to Teck Bee Brothers on Syed Alwi for a fix, took me along backroads of Jalan Besar and Lavender to Kallang River where he offered his number, expressed fear for my safety, then left to continue his attempt to clear his head from last night's binge-drinking,<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5458357085/" title="Park Connector Network by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5179/5458357085_e5660450d1_m.jpg" alt="Park Connector Network" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5458981378/" title="Flying Pigeon, Park Connector Network (PCN) by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5095/5458981378_7787a6658e_m.jpg" alt="Flying Pigeon, Park Connector Network (PCN)" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />riding the <a href="http://www.nparks.gov.sg/cms/index.php?option=com_visitorsguide&task=parkconnectors&id=22&Itemid=74">Kallang</a>, <a href="http://www.nparks.gov.sg/cms/index.php?option=com_visitorsguide&task=parkconnectors&id=21&Itemid=74">Ang Mo Kio</a> and <a href="http://www.nparks.gov.sg/cms/index.php?option=com_visitorsguide&task=parkconnectors&id=1&Itemid=74">Buangkok</a> Park Connectors till it was too dark to see anything. (National Parks' more useful maps from 2009 are here: <a href="http://www.nparks.gov.sg/imgs/parkconnectors/par-p_c-kall2.gif">Kallang Park Connector</a>, <a href="http://www.nparks.gov.sg/imgs/parkconnectors/par-p_c-amk.gif">Ang Mo Kio Park Connector</a>.)<br /><br />A few photos from the trip:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5458330255/" title="Flying Pigeon, Bridge linking Lavender Street to Kallang Bahru by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5011/5458330255_c31d583d9e_m.jpg" alt="Flying Pigeon, Bridge linking Lavender Street to Kallang Bahru" height="240" width="180" /></a><br />the bridge linking Lavender Street to Kampong Bugis across Sungei Rochor,<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5458939422/" title="Loysel's Toy by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5096/5458939422_3ac2d5eb9c_m.jpg" alt="Loysel's Toy" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5458940358/" title="Flat White, Loysel's Toy by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5099/5458940358_e7a27e9cb8_m.jpg" alt="Flat White, Loysel's Toy" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />pitstop at <a href="http://www.loyselstoy.com/">Loysel's Toy</a> at Kallang Bahru for flat white, croissant and water, where a light drizzle made some very nice strangers offer brollies to keep forever,<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5458335569/" title="Flying Pigeon, Kallang Riverside Park by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5259/5458335569_c40a1cc591_m.jpg" alt="Flying Pigeon, Kallang Riverside Park" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />through Kallang Riverside Park, past the huffing dragonboaters, to cross Sir Arthur's bridge to use the underpass on the other side,<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5458337161/" title="Disconnected part of Kallang Park Connector by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5300/5458337161_221e4dd25d_m.jpg" alt="Disconnected part of Kallang Park Connector" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />dismounted and pushed bike along the edge of Geylang Lorong 1 Bus Terminal towards Kallang MRT and connected to the disconnected Kallang Park Connector across Sims Avenue,<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5458341815/" title="Flying Pigeon, across the river from Chwee Kang Beo temple by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5252/5458341815_e122750d10_m.jpg" alt="Flying Pigeon, across the river from Chwee Kang Beo temple" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />swept past Chwee Kang Beo temple, crossed a bridge and paused to enjoy the view of the Singapore Flyer,<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5458952314/" title="Flying Pigeon, The Rivervista @ Kallang by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5260/5458952314_3a35145f2a_m.jpg" alt="Flying Pigeon, The Rivervista @ Kallang" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />marvelled at the loveliness of staying in a HDB flat at <a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=219359638205">The River Vista @ Kallang</a>,<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5458348939/" title="Overhead bridge across Bendemeer Road by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5011/5458348939_dc64185983_m.jpg" alt="Overhead bridge across Bendemeer Road" height="240" width="180" /></a><br />carried the 20kg dead weight of F Pigeon up the overhead bridge across the very busy Bendemeer Road,<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5458957168/" title="Untitled by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5134/5458957168_251fa1911c_m.jpg" alt="" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />National Aerated Water Co. Ltd. - Kickapoo in glass bottles no more,<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5458958334/" title="Untitled by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5020/5458958334_ecd6960464_m.jpg" alt="" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />on the opposite bank of the Kallang River from National Aerated Water Co. Ltd. building where people were chatting and fishing,<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5458352437/" title="Bridge near Moonstone Lane by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5099/5458352437_6daa63b12a_m.jpg" alt="Bridge near Moonstone Lane" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />crossed back over the Kallang River - this bridge had helpful grooves for bicycle wheels,<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5458354575/" title="Turn right at Moonstone Lane by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5137/5458354575_2ee32fa1a7_m.jpg" alt="Turn right at Moonstone Lane" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />turned right through a little grove and then left onto Moonstone Lane, headed uphill and turned right towards Topaz Road while being amused by the gemstone road names (in the vicinity, "Ruby Lane" and "Opal Crescent"),<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5458966964/" title="Crazy bridge over PIE to St. Andrew's by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5258/5458966964_81a4c83e93_m.jpg" alt="Crazy bridge over PIE to St. Andrew's" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />not so amused to be confronted with the mother of overhead bridges across the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) to <a href="http://www.saints.org.sg/index.php/component/eventlist/venueevents/1-st-andrews-village">St. Andrew's Village</a>, carted the 20kg dead weight across again, (at which point I wished I could, just like one toggles a weapon-change in RPGs, toggle my ride to the 10kg <a href="http://www.strida.com/">Strida</a>...)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5458967896/" title="Bicycle path next to St. Andrew's by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5217/5458967896_9298eb77de_m.jpg" alt="Bicycle path next to St. Andrew's" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5458362089/" title="St. Andrew's by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5292/5458362089_76e0e6c760_m.jpg" alt="St. Andrew's" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />pushed F Pigeon along a narrow path along the walls of the peach-pink <a href="http://www.anglican.org.sg/camp/index.html">Anglican Diocesan Centre</a>, across another bridge where the view of the St. Andrew's bridge was lovely,<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5458971398/" title="Underpass under the CTE by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5253/5458971398_39d2e2f40b_m.jpg" alt="Underpass under the CTE" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />from then it was smooth cycling along the feeder into Kallang River with the charmingly un-upgraded Potong Pasir to my right, until I had to dismount and push F. Pigeon through the underpass under the Central Expressway (CTE) or risk a S$1,000 fine,<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5458365701/" title="Bridge across Braddell Road by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5258/5458365701_64ebf8e09d_m.jpg" alt="Bridge across Braddell Road" height="240" width="180" /></a><br />past the SBS Transit headquarters and ComfortDelgro Engineering, we were confronted with yet another overhead bridge across Braddell Road, this one fortunately with bicycle wheel grooves for the Fat Princess,<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5458366397/" title="Flying Pigeon, Bishan MRT Depot by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5253/5458366397_e18a2a2ffe_m.jpg" alt="Flying Pigeon, Bishan MRT Depot" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5458974724/" title="Flying Pigeon, Warning Signs outside Bishan MRT Depot by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5294/5458974724_524fc904c9_m.jpg" alt="Flying Pigeon, Warning Signs outside Bishan MRT Depot" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />another smooth ride along Sungei Kallang SMRT Train Depot to the right, which seemed to promise that trespassers would be electrocuted then shot,<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5458976664/" title="Flying Pigeon, AMK Hub by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5176/5458976664_811dea4cef_m.jpg" alt="Flying Pigeon, AMK Hub" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />skirted the edge of Bishan next to the artificial river that was being constructed to run through Bishan Park and turned right to the Ang Mo Kio Park Connector to Ang Mo Kio Town Garden West and crossed the road, pushed bike through the extremely busy Ang Mo Kio central to AMK Hub,<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5458979596/" title="Flying Pigeon, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5 by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5053/5458979596_45e8594824_m.jpg" alt="Flying Pigeon, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5" height="240" width="180" /></a><br />moved up along Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8 under the MRT track and right onto Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5 to join the Buangkok? Park Connector towards Punggol Park, past Nanyang Polytechnic on the left, back under the CTE again, and Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park on the right.<br /><br />Then we headed for dinner and bed. Adventures of F. Pigeon to be continued another day.<br /><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/poEQpEtDc5s" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" width="480"></iframe><br />Just as references to rivers in Singapore's total defence classic <a href="http://www.thisishome.sg/"><i>This Is Home</i></a> would be taken by most residents as metaphor ("alas unexplored blue spaces" say the URA planners), so prayer might be taken by many Christians as imagery and ideal rather than daily reality.<br /><br />John Woodhouse's discerning application of Colossians 4 is well worth a think:<br /><iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/4723624?title=0&byline=0&potrait=0&color=ffffff" frameborder="0" height="230" width="400"></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/4723624">Moore College - John Woodhouse - Colossians 4:2-4</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/reasonforhope">Audio Advice</a></p><br />There are a small number of subjects that a preacher or Bible teacher can touch on, and be almost certain to stir the conscience of at least many of his Christian hearers. All but the most insensitive of us find certain topics awkward, threatening and guilt-arousing. This is partly because all of us have secrets. What we are, what we think, what we have done are things only partly known to those who know us, even those who know us well. How could it be otherwise? Among the hidden things abotu us there are things we really are glad are hidden (and we would like to remain hidden forever, even from ourselves, if that were possible). The word for how we feel about these things is "ashamed". When a preacher or Bible teacher starts to talk about one of these things, we cringe inside. Those of us whose consciences are sensitive can be troubled, not only about the matter of which we have been reminded, but by the very fact that it is secret: that our life is at this point a pretence. If you are a serious Christian person, you may be troubled, not only by your sense of guilt or shame, but also by your sense of hypocrisy. I am quite sure that most readers of this book know exactly what I am talking about.<br /><br />...Whenever I speak about prayer, I know that if my hearers are Christian, then their consciences will be easily provoked.<br /><br />...As the letter draws to a close, he speaks of prayer:<br /><blockquote>Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison - that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak (Colossians 4:24)</blockquote>All the evidence suggests that Paul was a remarkable pray-er. At the beginning of this letter he spoke naturally about "when we pray for you" (1:3), and it is clear that this was not an occasional thing: "from the day we heard [of your faith, love and hope in Christ Jesus], we have not ceased to pray for you" (1:9). When you consider that Paul said something quite similar in letters to Christians in Rome (Romans 1:9,10), Ephesus (Ephesians 1:16), Philippi (Philippians 1:3,9) and Thessalonica (1 Thessalonians 1:2), as well as in his letters to Timothy (2 Timothy 1:3) and Philemon (Philemon 4), we can see that praying is something he took very seriously indeed. It must have taken a considerable amount of his time.<br /><br />As this great man of prayer spoke of his own praying at the beginning of this letter, he now addresses his readers about their praying as the letter draws to a close.<br /><br />Reading Paul's words, it is difficult for our minds not to turn to our secret failures in praying - how inadequate we feel as pray-ers - how little time and effort we give to prayer - how easily it is the first thing dropped from our daily activities - and so we could go on. Many Christians feel ashamed, even guilty, about their prayerlessness.<br /><br />However, I want to suggest that God's Word does not work like that. Certainly here Paul is not playing on the sensitive consciences and guilt feelings of believers who do not pray as much or as diligently as they think they should.<br /><br />(Preachers and Bible teachers take note. It is easy to achieve certain responses through playing on tender emotions in the hearers. There are various techniques, that come with just a little experience in public speaking, to manipulate the feelings of listeners. This is a significant temptation to the preacher, for the Word of God does deal with many sensitive subjects. It is ever so easy to stir up memories you know many of your hearers have (because you have them too!), to touch raw nerves you know so well (because they are raw for you too!). But is this the work of the Spirit of God? Is this what God's Word in fact does with these sensitive subjects? I am not suggesting that the Word of God does not search consciences, nor that shame and guilt are things we should ignore, deny or run away from. The Spirit of God does stir our emotions and our consciences by his Word. I am simply saying that the preacher's task is to ensure that God's Word does God's work rather than manipulative speaking doing the preacher's work. Faithful exposition of the Word of God allows Scripture to set the agenda, and this take great care. As a general principle, we should understand that the Word of God has not done its work if the hearer is left simply feeling terrible, or just determined to try harder in the future.)<br /><br />The way in which Paul speaks to his readers about prayer is particularly striking.<br /><br /><b>A call to pray (Colossians 4:2)</b><br />The first thing we should notice is that 4:2 is certainly a call to pray - a serious call to pray. Indeed it is a call to follow the example of Paul himself, as we heard of his praying at the beginning of the letter.<br /><br />The power of this call to prayer, however, comes from its context in the letter as a whole, not just from the words here in 4:2, heard as an isolated rule or command. Like all that we have heard through chapter 3 of the letter, the call to pray comes as a part of an exposition of the life of faith in Christ Jesus. Paul's theme is:"As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving (2:6,7). That will mean praying.<br /><br />Why? The answer to the questions is: For the same reason that Paul himself had not ceased praying for the believers in Colossae from the day he heard about them (1:9). It is because something absolutely wonderful and extraordinary is going on. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the one through whom on and for whom all things have been made, and by his death on the cross God has reconciled all things to him (1:15-20). Through Christ, God is bringing the universe back together again: order out of chaos, peace out of hostility (2:15), reconciliation out of alienation (1:20). Christ among the nations is the hope of glory (1:27)!<br /><br />This is why Paul prayed, "asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God" (1:9,10). Paul prayed, not simply as a spiritual exercise or discipline, and certainly not in order to move an inactive God into action. Paul prayed because of the extraordinary work that God had done and that God was doing.<br /><br />Yet it is even more than that. The call to pray in 4:2 comes to us because through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, God is turning chaos to order, hostility to peace, alienation to reconciliation in our lives (1:21,22; 2:5). Praying is a characteristic of the reordered life. The new life in union with Christ in his death and resurrection has been the subject since 3:1. This life (see 3:12-17) is a stark contrast to the chaos (see 3:5-8). Prayer and peace with God go together. God's enemies do not pray. The reconciled pray; the alienated do not.<br /><br />In other words, if we have been listening to the teaching in this letter, we will not hear the call to pray in 4:2 as an obligation that condemns and threatens and rouses the sense of guilt but as a gospel invitation. Listen to the particular way in which the call is expressed.<br /><br /><b><i>"Continue steadfastly"</i></b><br />"Continue steadfastly in prayer", says the apostle. Other English translations have "Devote yourselves to prayer" (TNIV). Similar expressions are found a number of times in the New Testament. It is what the apostles did in Acts 6:4: they devoted themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word. The three thousand who received the word on the day of Pentecost devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers (Acts 2:42). Indeed it is what Jesus' disciples were doing immediately after his ascension as they waited in Jerusalem: they were devoting themselves to prayer (Acts 1:14).<br /><br />Paul certainly calls for a commitment to praying. There is also a sense of privilege. When you know and understand the grace of God in Jesus Christ, praying is what you do. When we are conscious of what God has done and is doing and will do, we will pray. This is precisely what we heard Paul doing at the beginning of the letter. "We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints...And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will..." (1:3,9). Now he invites his readers to do likewise: continue steadfastly in prayer. Devote yourselves to prayer.<br /><br /><b><i>"Being watchful"</i></b><br />What will enable us to heed this call? It requires being watchful in it. Being awake. Praying is not the sleepy activity we may sometimes imagine (and perhaps sometimes practise!). It requires alertness. Yet this is not simply a call not to drift off to sleep as we pray, as the disciples did in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:37). As on that occasion, praying requires being awake to what is really happening. Don't lose sight of the fact that you have been raised with Christ (3:1), that you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God (3:3). Keep awake to what is soon to happen. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory (3:4).<br /><br />This characteristic of the Christian life is worth emphasising. Jesus taught it:"Therefore stay awake - for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning - lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake" (Mark 13:35-37); "Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming" (Matthew 24:42); "Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation" (Matthew 26:41).<br /><br />This wakeful watchfulness is alertness to the realities to which "you have heard in... the gospel" (cf 1:5). It is keeping our eyes of faith open. It is having the work of God in Christ and in his gospel in our consciousness. When we see life and the world in this brilliant light, when we understand what is going on, then we can properly hear this call to pray.<br /><br /><b><i>With thanksgiving</i></b><br />The third element in the call to pray in 4:2 settles the fact that this call is not intended to be guilt-driven. On the contrary, we are to pray with thanksgiving. Being watchful is not a matter of being frightened, worried, or anxious. On the contrary, like the whole Christian life, praying is energised by thankfulness.<br /><br />This has been a repeated note through this letter, which has been described as "one of the most thankful documents in the New Testament". It began with Paul's own "We always thank God...since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus" (1:3,4). Then his prayer for the Colossian believers climaxed with the request that they would be "giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light" (1:12). Indeed the purpose of this letter includes that its readers will "abound in thanksgiving" (2:7). At one point in this letter, Paul simply and starkly says,"And be thankful" (3:15), and then speaks of the "thankfulness in your hearts to God" (3:16). Indeed the Christian life can be summed up as "whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him" (3:17).<br /><br />The words of 4:2 should move us to be serious about praying, but if we hear these words rightly we will be moved, not by guilt feelings, but by being "woken up" and by thankfulness.<br /><br /><br /><br /></span></span></div>shadowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13822100633711347312noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100929.post-64340530967428537982011-02-13T00:10:00.003+08:002011-03-08T09:13:46.929+08:00The Ghosts of Cows Past and The Omnivorousness of Faith<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5349664194/" title="Marbled Beef by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5284/5349664194_335f08834d.jpg" alt="Marbled Beef" height="332" width="500" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Each forkful of juicy fat <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steak">steak</a> managed somehow to acquire, between plate and masticating organ, a seasoning of lingering guilt; residue, no doubt, of years of vegetarianism that accompanied adherence to earlier beliefs.<br /><br />Those beliefs were born of a worldview that theorised that human history was circular, that one's spirituality and actions determined one's reincarnative vehicle. Depending on which text one looked at, non-violence towards animals, not taking the lives of other beings, and not making one's body as the graveyard of dead things would contribute mightily to being at least bipedal in the next life.<br /><br />While some arguments about reality are interesting and plausible (Colossians 2:4), such philosophies are ultimately deceitful because they do not reflect the actual state of things (Colossians 2:8). How lovely then, the amazing freedom that accompanies truth that is according to Christ - we can no longer be disqualified by our abject imperfection:<br /><blockquote>For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by cancelling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.<br /><br />Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.<br /><br />If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— "Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch" referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=colossians%202-3&version=ESV">Colossians 2</a>:9-23)</blockquote>Jesus is fully God - there isn't any extra bit of deity that isn't seen in Jesus. Jesus' death completely cancelled our record of sins - there isn't any remnant particularly stubborn trespass that he hasn't forgiven. Because Jesus is fully God, he has all authority and power over everything - there isn't any tricky insurgent who can give him the slip.<br /><br />Because we can only be saved from the consequences of all the wrongs we have done in our lives by trusting in Jesus, so all our well-intentioned attempts to be more spiritual via man-made laws and regulations will fail. There is no other way to be saved.<br /><br />So with deliberate consciousness, I can celebrate the cows (whether their carcasses were well or badly treated) I've had over the past year:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5344818516/" title="Wolfgang Puck's Cut, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5122/5344818516_3f03bc54bd_m.jpg" alt="Wolfgang Puck's Cut, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5344825530/" title="Wolfgang Puck's Cut, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5090/5344825530_82b5c8c3b9_m.jpg" alt="Wolfgang Puck's Cut, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5344221051/" title="Warm cheese puffs, Wolfgang Puck's Cut, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5008/5344221051_2f02f79101_m.jpg" alt="Warm cheese puffs, Wolfgang Puck's Cut, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5344839164/" title="Breads - Pretzel, Onion, Olive Focaccia. Wolfgang Puck's Cut, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5203/5344839164_a9981bea15_m.jpg" alt="Breads - Pretzel, Onion, Olive Focaccia. Wolfgang Puck's Cut, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5344853176/" title="Maple Glazed Pork Belly, Fuji Apple-Persimmon Salad, Spiced Almonds, Sesame–Orange Dressing. Wolfgang Puck's Cut, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5202/5344853176_ec0cf90f64_m.jpg" alt="Maple Glazed Pork Belly, Fuji Apple-Persimmon Salad, Spiced Almonds, Sesame–Orange Dressing. Wolfgang Puck's Cut, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5344249769/" title="Wild Field Mushrooms. Creamed Spinach with Fried Organic Egg. Wolfgang Puck's Cut, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5088/5344249769_bbc565accb_m.jpg" alt="Wild Field Mushrooms. Creamed Spinach with Fried Organic Egg. Wolfgang Puck's Cut, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5343705390/" title="American Wagyu / Angus “Kobe Style” Beef From Snake River Farms, Idaho. Wolfgang Puck's Cut, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5204/5343705390_5553575372_m.jpg" alt="American Wagyu / Angus “Kobe Style” Beef From Snake River Farms, Idaho. Wolfgang Puck's Cut, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5343124051/" title="Tasting of New York Sirloin, Wolfgang Puck's Cut, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5202/5343124051_8d178f612d_m.jpg" alt="Tasting of New York Sirloin, Wolfgang Puck's Cut, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5344264881/" title="Cinnamon donuts. Wolfgang Puck's Cut, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5127/5344264881_765e87900b_m.jpg" alt="Cinnamon donuts. Wolfgang Puck's Cut, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5344876028/" title="Chocolate souffle. Wolfgang Puck's Cut, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5205/5344876028_e01ce10fc3_m.jpg" alt="Chocolate souffle. Wolfgang Puck's Cut, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5344882668/" title="Wolfgang Puck's Cut, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5166/5344882668_e9a4d511cf_m.jpg" alt="Wolfgang Puck's Cut, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5344885160/" title="Wolfgang Puck's Cut, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5086/5344885160_101893ed3f_m.jpg" alt="Wolfgang Puck's Cut, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />The real stud by far - the complimentary warm cheese puffs, soft pretzel and onion and olive breads, maple-glazed pork belly appetiser, wild field mushrooms and creamed spinach with organic egg sides, cinnamon donut and chocolate souffle desserts at <a href="http://www.wolfgangpuck.com/restaurants/fine-dining/61447">Wolfgang Puck's <i>Cut</i></a> (Marina Bay Sands) had nothing on the superb "Kobe-style" wagyu beef from <a href="http://www.snakeriverfarms.com/">Snake River Farms</a> in Idaho. Even the Australian Angus 300+ days grain-fed and aged 45 days from Rangers Valley and the Japanese Wagyu from Saga Prefecture could not distract from the well-marbled yet un-pansy robust flavour "with long finish". Those Jap breeds were really enjoying themselves in America.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5393387764/" title="Truffled Mushroom Soup, The Prime Society, Dempsey by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5218/5393387764_ebb97638ed_m.jpg" alt="Truffled Mushroom Soup, The Prime Society, Dempsey" height="159" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5392796099/" title="Wagyu and Yuzu Carpaccio, The Prime Society, Dempsey by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5095/5392796099_18e1a18148_m.jpg" alt="Wagyu and Yuzu Carpaccio, The Prime Society, Dempsey" height="159" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5393407012/" title="Gunpowdered Beef, The Prime Society, Dempsey by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5051/5393407012_b0642a1d99_m.jpg" alt="Gunpowdered Beef, The Prime Society, Dempsey" height="159" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5392814579/" title="Berry Soil and Cream, The Prime Society, Dempsey by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5057/5392814579_3271f18d7b_m.jpg" alt="Berry Soil and Cream, The Prime Society, Dempsey" height="159" width="240" /></a><br />The excitement of ingesting gunpowder on steak at <a href="http://www.theprimesociety.com/">The Prime Society</a> was not repaid in taste. Dead cow was on the raw side of medium rare, tough to chew through and fairly bland. Perhaps Restaurant Week threw the kitchen off.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5349012463/" title="L'Entrecôte, Duxton Hill, Singapore by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5122/5349012463_ea03681682_m.jpg" alt="L'Entrecôte, Duxton Hill, Singapore" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5349626466/" title="Complimentary kir, L'Entrecôte, Duxton Hill, Singapore by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5247/5349626466_a300f20e47_m.jpg" alt="Complimentary kir, L'Entrecôte, Duxton Hill, Singapore" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5349020287/" title="Steak Frites, L'Entrecôte, Duxton Hill by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5169/5349020287_cc9f6b5778_m.jpg" alt="Steak Frites, L'Entrecôte, Duxton Hill" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5349636150/" title="Profiteroles, L'Entrecôte, Duxton Hill by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5168/5349636150_a785ecb1e9_m.jpg" alt="Profiteroles, L'Entrecôte, Duxton Hill" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.lentrecote.sg/">L'Entrecôte</a>, the one dish only French bistro, came highly recommended. S$29 got you a slim glass of kir royale, chewy baguette slices, walnut salad and steak frites served in halves - with the second half kept warm. The decor and proximity to the neighbouring conversation was charming enough but the medium rare steak though rightly red had a bit of a boiled flavour, the secret cream sauce seemed at odds with the meat, the "must have" lemon tart with strangely damp base might have benefited from tips from Dorie and Pierre, and the uninspired plate of profiteroles led to a thumbs-down vote. Sorry, unidentified cows, je ne sais pas!, perhaps we American kids can't appreciate the continental stuff (though we liked well enough a filet mignon in a French resto by the banks of the Mekong in Phnom Penh).<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5348985347/" title="Steak Frites, Le Bistrot, Singapore Indoor Stadium by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1426/5348985347_11b227131e_m.jpg" alt="Steak Frites, Le Bistrot, Singapore Indoor Stadium" height="159" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5348992259/" title="Steak Frites, Le Bistrot, Singapore Indoor Stadium by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5086/5348992259_6ef2153534_m.jpg" alt="Steak Frites, Le Bistrot, Singapore Indoor Stadium" height="159" width="240" /></a><br />The Australian cows fared slightly better at the French-inspired <a href="http://www.lebistrot.com.sg/%20">Le Bistrot</a>. Grass-fed tenderloin was rich and loaded with taste but the corn-fed black angus striploin was somewhat non-commital.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5348951899/" title="Pasture-fed cote de boeuff, 1kg. Graze, Rochester by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5250/5348951899_b06080ce01_m.jpg" alt="Pasture-fed cote de boeuff, 1kg. Graze, Rochester" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5348960789/" title="Dessert tasting platter, Graze, Rochester by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5204/5348960789_eea502a2a6_m.jpg" alt="Dessert tasting platter, Graze, Rochester" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />Just the sight of 1kg of Kiwi pasture-fed cote de boeuf in bone at <a href="http://www.graze.com.sg/">Graze</a>, Rochester, was enough to fire up the gastric juices. Quantity was the draw though the meat was adequately tasty. Dessert platter looked like someone's half-filled buffet tray, but nothing untoward (or outstanding) taste-wise.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5349061717/" title="Steak, Pepper Lunch by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5250/5349061717_2e9338a8ee_m.jpg" alt="Steak, Pepper Lunch" height="180" width="240" /></a><br />Ah, good old <a href="http://www.pepperlunch.com.sg/">Pepper Lunch</a> - that sizzling low-cost-outlay expense.<br /><br />However, not putting confidence in rules and regulations to attain godliness does not mean that we continue in our foul behaviour. Rather, instead of setting out to <i>achieve</i> a righteous Christian life,<br />(1) we are to look upwards and consider Christ's/our present status and the state of things - we have died with Christ and have been raised with Christ who is seated at the right hand of God, ruling all things. When he comes into the world again, he will be seen in all his glory that is presently hidden from general view, so also will our new life in him, now hidden, be wonderfully seen (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=colossians%202-3&version=ESV">Colossians 3</a>:1-4). Since such things are not currently in plain sight, we are to seek them - our minds must be informed by this reality that is not seen - knowing that rebellion against God and his design for the world (eg. sex, ability to communicate) has caused the wrath of God to come upon us (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=colossians%202-3&version=ESV">Colossians 3</a>:6), knowing that God has worked powerfully to save us and that we have indeed been saved, knowing that we have died to all rejection of God and his intention for the world etc...<br /><br />(2) whereas human laws and new year resolutions are weak things with no power to change us, the power of God has in fact transformed us so that we have put off the old self and put on the new self (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=colossians%202-3&version=ESV">Colossians 3</a>:9) - all we need to do is to keep on putting to death the old self and its practices and to keep being renewed in the knowledge of what God our creator has made the world to be (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=colossians%202-3&version=ESV">Colossians 3</a>:5-10).<br /><br />Assumedly, the only way of being renewed in such knowledge is to keep saturating our minds in the word of God, through daily bible reading, sermons, bible studies and generally making an effort to think about our visible lives in terms of that which is yet unseen.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5349651594/" title="Beef primal cuts by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5050/5349651594_a7fca6642a_m.jpg" alt="Beef primal cuts" height="159" width="240" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">"Top choice, Grade A meat" - Glenn Gulia in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wedding_Singer"><i>The Wedding Singer</i></a></span><br /><br />(3) and so the Bible's teaching on sex can never be out of fashion because it describes the way God has made this gift to men and women. The impurity or the spoiling of sex would lead to wrong lust, then to perverted sexual desire, then to uncontrolled desire for what, superficially, appears to be pleasures, but which were not designed as such. This erroneous self-indulgence is one way in which we worship ourselves (we think we can define what sexual behaviour works best for us) rather than God the Creator.<br /><br />(4) in the same way, setting our minds on things above also means understanding how God's gift to us of speech and ability to communicate is not to be abused. To quote John Woodhouse in his excellent commentary on Colossians, "speech is not for putting others down, nor for expressing your frustrations and annoyances, nor for lashing out, but for building others up, for expressing kindness, for turning attention away from yourself" (Colossians 3:7). In a world where half-truths and exaggeration are the norm in advertising and everyday communication, we are to be as disgusted by sins of the mouth as we are by sexual sins.<br /><br />(5) and if our minds are set on the things of Christ, then the constituents of the church are not to lie to one another (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=colossians%202-3&version=ESV">Colossians 3</a>:8-10) - we must not say that sexual immorality or malicious speech is alright. That would be a lie. We must not deny the coming wrath of God - that would be a lie. We must not teach that we need something more than the death of Christ to make us right with God - another lie. We must not distinguish some Christians as being more important than other Christians according to the world's standards (perhaps even that the church would be more blessed by having the services of an intelligent first-class honours president of an approved Christian Union rather than a chap who can't find his way through a maze puzzle) - that would be a lie. (Cf. "let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs... (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=colossians%202-3&version=ESV">Colossians 3</a>:16)).<br /><br />It is thus that we experience the power of the resurrection of Jesus in our lives.<br /><br /><br />++++++++++++++++++<br /><br />Interesting deceased bovine-related reading:<br /><a href="http://www.asiaone.com/Wine%252CDine+%2526+Unwind/Features/Topics/Story/A1Story20070915-25550.html">Know your Steak</a><br /><a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2152674/">Raising the Steaks</a><br />Steve Holzinger, <i><a href="http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/egg/eggslds/eggs007/eggs007.html">The Great American Steak</a></i><br />Mark Bittman, <a href="http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/04/why-i-love-skirt-steak/"><i>Why I Love Skirt Steak</i></a> and just about everything on the New York Times' <a href="http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/steak/">Diner's Journal blog</a><br />Mark Schatzker, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Steak-Search-Worlds-Tastiest-Piece/dp/0670021814"><i>Steak: Search for the World's Tastiest Piece</i></a><br /><br />John Woodhouse on Colossians at Moore College<br /><iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/3125855?title=0&byline=0&potrait=0&color=ffffff" width="400" height="225" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/3125855">Moore College - John Woodhouse - Colossians 3:5-11</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/reasonforhope">Audio Advice</a>.</p><br /><br /></span></span></div>shadowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13822100633711347312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100929.post-36803878476732245952011-02-05T04:03:00.005+08:002011-02-11T01:01:46.882+08:00Chinese Lunar New Year, Wholesale Food Shopping and The Great Mystery<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Another lunar new year, another repetition of things soon to be ossified and thus dignified as "tradition". Yet it would be a queer thing indeed if there were no observable change to the human beings participating in such traditions.<br /><br />Paul describes the normal Christian life similarly as one of continuous growth and progress. Just like a plant rooted in the soil (cf Colossians 2:7), we are to mature and bear fruit (cf Colossian 1:10). Progress to maturity isn't something just for the spiritually elite, the sort who get headhunted for full-time paid ministry; adding the extra inch to one's Christ-likeness every year is meant to be the usual progression of things for the well-loved Sunday school-teacher, the boring piano-player, the old pastor, the teenager in the pew with Issues, and the aunty who cleans up after morning tea. Any stuntedness would require a thorough check-up and immediate remedial measures.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5413608452/" title="Tangs Calendar 2011 by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5136/5413608452_a625cc2a04_m.jpg" alt="Tangs Calendar 2011" height="240" width="159" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5413003715/" title="The Vegetables are now friends with The Mastrad Mandolin by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5100/5413003715_3e2a060a62_m.jpg" alt="The Vegetables are now friends with The Mastrad Mandolin" height="240" width="159" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Just like the curious relatives who keep popping into the kitchen, asking "how did you get the cucumber slices so fine?" (the marvellous mandolin), "how did you make this/that dish?" (an amicable accident) and "how do you perform the Heimlich manoeuvre (j/k), so any one, who though once estranged has now been reconciled to God, would to be eager to learn how to hold on to and deepen that infinitely pricey relationship with God.<br /><br />How is the Christian to mature and fulfil his/her role as a believer and a human? The answer is, unsurprisingly yet strangely, forgettably - Jesus. For Jesus is everything - he is the full image of God, he created all things, he holds all things together, he has authority over everything, he leads in every way, he reconciles all things (Colossians 1:15-20). Therefore, it is in Christ and not a particular church, teacher, preacher or programme that we will grow.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5414341349/" title="Johnsonville Chorizo by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5137/5414341349_3e15c1958d_m.jpg" alt="Johnsonville Chorizo" height="159" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5414953146/" title="Innards of Johnsonville Chorizo by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4096/5414953146_dfdd08005e_m.jpg" alt="Innards of Johnsonville Chorizo" height="159" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><i>They who might have leapt out from one of those medical journals on our coffee table: before, and after lack of medical intervention.<br />Symptom of the diseased world after the Fall.</i></span></span></span></div><br />But this is mere stock Sunday school answer unless we know what this entails. Paul tells us that it is about:<br /></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">(1) being taught and warned about the truth of who Jesus is - how was God going to deal with a world so mired in sin, a creation so dismissive of its creator? How can a good God forgive wrongdoing without exacting punishment and yet still be just and righteous? How was the God of the ages who gave consistent promises to Abraham, Moses, David and the scattered people of Israel through hundreds of years going to fulfil his promises if his people were never really going to worship him as they should? What is God going to do about this world and where is it heading? A mystery. A mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed - Jesus Christ who disclosed fully the mind and purpose of God and through whom God reconciled all things to himself by Jesus' death on the cross, so that we who were once alienated from God and hostile in mind have now been reconciled to God, being presented holy and blameless and above reproach before him (Colossians 1:20-22).<br /><br />The proclamation of the mystery that is Christ is God's means of growing the church/Christian (Colossians 1:28). So it is important for a church to have teachers and preachers who make the word of God fully known (Colossians 1:26 - while Paul was on special commission from God to bring gospel to the Gentiles, this method of growth was modelled by, rather than exclusive to, Paul). Since no human mind can adequately conceive the full riches of Christ, teachers and preachers must then be faithful to God's word in Scripture. This means proper exposition of Bible passages. Waffley sermons based on broad concepts of Christian doctrine (good guidelines but ultimately just the theories of humans) applied to present day events will not contain enough nutrients to grow the plants so valuably saved by the blood of Christ.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5414878375/" title="Shabu-shabu at Home by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5212/5414878375_5a0c79fa50_m.jpg" alt="Shabu-shabu at Home" height="159" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5413530878/" title="Misomayo Hotate by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4096/5413530878_105fb5ab74_m.jpg" alt="Misomayo Hotate" height="159" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">(2) not just knowing the Bible better and being grounded in sound teaching but all this knowledge and understanding expressed in unity ("being knit together" like threads in a cloak) in love within the church (Colossians 2:2). Love and unity have always been popular themes in religion, politics, social interest groups, patriarchal/matriarchal families and your local football club. Babel (Genesis 11:1-9) demonstrates that there is nothing inherently good about love and togetherness. The social-being-ness of humans is God-designed - whereas sinners abuse community to amplify their rebellion against God, the church whose unity is based on truth of the gospel will reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of Christ, sinking deeper roots of certainty in the self-revelation of God (Colossians 2:2).<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5418369331/" title="Amplification - Green Tea and Azuki Pound Cake + Green Tea Gelato + Azuki by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5135/5418369331_90e3e6213c_m.jpg" alt="Amplification - Green Tea and Azuki Pound Cake + Green Tea Gelato + Azuki" height="159" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><i>Amplification of macha (green tea) and azuki (red beans)</i></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />Because this proper sort of love and unity must be based on truth, therefore unlike the flaccid niceness, positive reassurance and ego massages the world would associate with these terms, it is likely that true togetherness would not fail to entail warning (cf Colossians 1:28), admonishment and discipline. This sort of encouragement (and not better music or more responsive-type songs) would generate a more deeply felt and rich assurance of our knowledge of Jesus.<br /><br />Merely checking-in for a sing-a-long and a talk for an hour every Sunday will result in dwarfism and lack of a normal Christian life. It is only by working together and praying together, that God will grow us. Hence the importance of bible study groups and also one suspects, morning teas and other Sunday meals with the church family.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5416122495/" title="Shelves of Mushrooms! by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5020/5416122495_51d5539e69_m.jpg" alt="Shelves of Mushrooms!" height="180" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">(3) relying on Christ for energy to do point (1). The goal of maturity was not specific to first-century Christians in Colossae and Laodicea but to all Christians everywhere throughout the ages. So while Paul may have been given special stewardship as an apostle, there was nothing unique in the proclamation-of-Christ part of his ministry. Arguably, if we are all to reach maturity and this is to come by points (1) and (2), then while the aim of every Christian leader is to present everyone mature in Christ, it is likely that every-member ministry would also be on the menu, and so then quite consequentially the hard backbreaking toil of ministering to others (cf Colossians1:29-2:1). While we Singaporeans are used to working hard for our goals in school or at work, the energy to struggle in serving others can only come from Christ who is in us (Colossians 1:27) and not from our own strength.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5414310791/" title="Ingredients for Macaroni and Cheese for Forty by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4127/5414310791_85c402eb31_m.jpg" alt="Ingredients for Macaroni and Cheese for Forty" height="159" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5414311001/" title="Macaroni and Cheese for Morning Tea at Church by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5135/5414311001_e5db412167_m.jpg" alt="Macaroni and Cheese for Morning Tea at Church" height="159" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Had plenty of time to mull over this one while literally driving round half the island to wholesalers for almost a hundred kilograms of cheese, cream, mascarpone, meatballs, sausages, chicken, seafood, mmm streaky bacon, huge bottles of herbs and tins of spaghetti sauce and plum tomatoes. Since we were cooking for 80 one weekend and in the kitchen for the family reunion dinner and then for another 40 the following weekend, the savings from shopping at factory outlets far outweighed the cost of petrol.<br /><br />(Interesting how large sections of the general public took umbrage at the revelation, when it set up its retail arm, that <a href="http://www.kimjooguan.com/">Kim Joo Guan</a> was actually the wholesale supplier of bak kwa (sliced barbecued meat) to at least 5 retail brands including the popular <a href="http://www.limcheeguan.com.sg/">Lim Chee Guan</a>. Was amused to realise that popular suppliers are the reason food in Singapore tastes pretty much the same in coffeeshops, hawker stalls, food centres and even restaurants all over the island.)<br /><br />(Listing not an indication of merit nor willingness to entertain retail sales - some have already been chastised by AVA.)<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5415475588/" title="Fassler shopping basket of seafood, quarter-filled by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4147/5415475588_7d1e7e7613_m.jpg" alt="Fassler shopping basket of seafood, quarter-filled" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5415478002/" title="Shopping basket of chicken, sausages, cheese, cream, mascarpone, bacon, herbs, spaghetti sauce by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4119/5415478002_6d8f3b30e0_m.jpg" alt="Shopping basket of chicken, sausages, cheese, cream, mascarpone, bacon, herbs, spaghetti sauce" height="180" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><b>Woodlands Terrace</b><br />10 Woodlands Terrace - <a href="http://www.kspfood.blogspot.com/">KSP Food Suppliers</a> - wagyu, kurobuta, smoked duck<br />16 Woodlands Terrace - <a href="http://www.zacmeat.com.sg/">ZAC Meat and Poultry</a> - Halal sausages, cold cuts, hummus<br />26 Woodlands Terrace - <a href="http://www.melvados.com/">Melvados</a> - cakes, frozen food<br />42 Woodlands Terrace - <a href="http://www.thaising.com/">Thai Sing</a> - housebrand chinese and nonya sauces<br />46 Woodlands Terrace - <a href="http://www.fassler.sg/">Fassler Gourmet</a> - sashimi grade seafood. salmon, tuna, scallop, abalone<br />48 Woodlands Terrace - <a href="http://www.wanfon.com/">Wan Foong</a> - sausages, ham, pork knuckle<br />60 Woodlands Terrace - <a href="http://www.fragrance.com.sg/">Fragrance Foodstuff</a> - bak kwa<br /><br /><b>Woodlands Link</b><br />12 Woodlands Link - <a href="http://www.win-sin.com/">Win Sin</a> - bakery, pastry<br />23 Woodlands Link- <a href="http://www.bengawansolo.com.sg/">Bengawan Solo</a> - nonya kuehs<br /><br /><b>15 Woodlands Loop</b><br />Amongst a block of caterers (including <a href="http://ihostfood.com/">ihostfood</a> for confinement meals!) are the elves who ensure all your mass market meals have that comforting ubiquitous taste.<br />#01-01 - <a href="http://www.zingrill.com.sg/">Zingrill</a> - the guys who run Seoul Garden and Breeks!<br />#01-09 - <a href="http://www.kyo.com.sg/">Kyo Cake House</a><br />#02-17 - <a href="http://www.drinkeveryday.com/">Everyday Products</a> - juices, syrups and "cloudy agents"<br />#02-19 - <a href="http://www.harmonyfoods.com.sg/">Harmony Foods</a> - fruit products<br />#02-22 - <a href="http://www.delisnacks.com/">Delisnacks</a> - fried dough snacks to go with your soya bean drink.<br />#02-33 - <a href="http://www.tenderfresh.com.sg/">Tenderfresh</a> - chicken, chops and grills. Suppliers to the "Western Food" stalls in coffeeshops, hawker centres and food centres.<br />#02-37 - <a href="http://xishibakkwa.com/">Xi Shi Bak Kwa</a><br />#02-50 - <a href="http://soonhuat.com/">Soon Huat Marine Product Trading</a> - fish maw, mushrooms, sharks fin, pig tendon, sea cucumber, gingko nuts, you get the idea.<br />#03-03 - <a href="http://www.jncbakery.com/">J&C (Fong's) Food Industry</a> - Halal cakes, seasonal pastries.<br />#03-12 - <a href="http://www.bakersoven.com.sg/">Baker's Oven</a> - Halal pastries, cookies. Esp seasonal.<br />#03-53 - <a href="http://defubbqexpress.blogspot.com/">Defu Otah</a><br />#04-29 - <a href="http://www.choochiang.com.sg/">Choo Chiang</a> - chinese roast meats<br />#04-33 - <a href="http://www.ecreative.com.sg/">e-creative</a> - erm, creative cakes<br />#04-46 - Unity Foods (BBQ Delights)<br /><br /><b>Senoko</b><br />1B Senoko Crescent - <a href="http://www.seahsspices.com/">Seah's Spices</a><br />6 Senoko South Road - <a href="http://www.bch.com.sg/">Bee Ching Hiang</a> - bak kwa<br />24 Senoko Way - <a href="http://www.culina.com.sg/">Culina</a><br />36 Senoko Drive - <a href="http://www.indoguna.com/">Indoguna</a> / <a href="http://www.greengrocer.com.sg/">The Green Grocer</a><br /><br /><b>Tuas</b><br />24 Tuas Avenue 4 - <a href="http://www.frosts.com.sg/">Frosts Food and Beverage</a><br /><br /><b>Pandan Loop</b><br />208 Pandan Loop - <a href="http://www.boncafe.com/">Boncafe</a><br />255 Pandan Loop - <a href="http://www.taisun.com.sg/">Tai Sun Food Industries</a><br /><br /><b>Chin Bee</b><br />6 Chin Bee Crescent - <a href="http://www.bhfreshfood.com/">BH Fresh Food</a> / Best Food<br />8 Chin Bee Crescent - <a href="http://www.qbfood.com.sg/">QB Food</a><br />11 Chin Bee Crescent - <a href="http://www.rudis.com.sg/">Rudi's Fine Food</a><br />15 Chin Bee Crescent - <a href="http://santaboeki.com/">Santa Boeki</a> - sweets<br />33 Chin Bee Crescent - <a href="http://www.tonggarden.com.sg/">Tong Garden</a><br />11 Chin Bee Drive - <a href="http://www.anntat.com/">Ann Tat Frozen Food</a><br /><br /><b>Fishery Port Road</b><br />1 Fishery Port Road - <a href="http://www.benfoods.com/">Ben Foods</a><br />19 Fishery Port Road - <a href="http://www.songfish.com.sg/">Song Fish Dealer</a><br />Jurong Fishery Port - <a href="http://www.mycarforum.com/index.php?showtopic=2650189">fresh(er) fish and seafood</a><br /><br /><b>Pasir Panjang Wholesale Market</b><br />Blk 12, #01-587 - <a href="http://ckhvegetables.com/">Chan Kok Hon Vegetables</a><br />Blk 13, #01-600 - <a href="http://www.wholesalecentre.com.sg/">Yong Hup Heng</a><br />Blk 14, #01-23 - <a href="http://www.friendlyvegetarian.com.sg/">Friendly Vegetarian</a><br />Blk 14, #01-25 - <a href="http://www.zenxin.com.my/">Zenxin Agri-Organic Food</a><br />Blk 17, #01-11 - <a href="http://www.freshdirect.com.sg/">FRESHdirect</a><br />Blk 17 #01-108 - <a href="http://www.yewming.com.sg/">Yew Ming</a> - dried fruits, nuts, seafood<br /><br /><b>Henderson</b><br />Blk 217 Henderson Road, #01-08 Henderson Industrial Park - <a href="http://www.classicfinefoods.com/">Classic Fine Foods</a><br />Blk 219 Henderson Road, #01-03 Henderson Industrial Park - <a href="http://www.euraco.com.sg/">Euraco</a> - "purveyor of the world's finest food, beverages and pastries"<br /><br /><b>Ubi Ave 2</b><br />Blk 3020, #01-121 - <a href="http://www.d-pastry.com/">D’Pastry</a> - durian puffs, strudel, tiramisu<br />Blk 3020, #01-103 - Yap Chai Luck - roast meat<br /><br /><b>Bedok North Street 5</b><br />Blk 3015 - <a href="http://www.montreux.com.sg/">Montreaux Patisserie</a> - cakes, pastries<br />Blk 3017 - <a href="http://www.vismark.com.sg/">Vismark Food Industry</a> - Asian pastes and frozen dim sum<br /><br /><b>BBQ</b><br /><a href="http://www.ezb.com.sg/">ezb</a><br /><a href="http://www.cmyfood.com/">Chun Man Yuan</a> - satay, otah<br /><a href="http://www.bbqwholesale.com/">BBQ Wholesale</a><br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5413471444/" title="Nonya Deli mee siam, Bukit Timah Plaza by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5212/5413471444_25b7086a86.jpg" alt="Nonya Deli mee siam, Bukit Timah Plaza" height="375" width="500" /></a></span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><i>Pitstop at Nonya Deli, Bukit Timah Plaza to refuel and listen to David Jackman</i></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div>shadowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13822100633711347312noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100929.post-79872319354137789802011-01-19T02:38:00.007+08:002011-01-20T08:22:22.652+08:00The Destruction of Pompeii and the World<div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5363673417/" title="Pompeii: Life in a Roman Town 79CE by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5209/5363673417_40eb65f20e_m.jpg" alt="Pompeii: Life in a Roman Town 79CE" height="240" width="159" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5364288532/" title="Pompeii Victim Resin Body Casts by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5126/5364288532_92c73d5723_m.jpg" alt="Pompeii Victim Resin Body Casts" height="240" width="159" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Pompeii has always evoked the same slow-down-to-gawk-at-road-accident schadenfreude fascination humans have for horror shows, gory nature shows and salacious murders that sell tabloids; delight at evidence that the world out there is wild and dangerous elevates our relative circumstances.<br /><br />The remarkable thing about the <span style="font-style: italic;">Pompeii: Life in a Roman Town 79CE exhibition</span> at the <a href="http://www.nationalmuseum.sg">National Museum of Singapore</a> (free entry during its concluding weekend. go see!) was the evidence that these were people not quite different from us who live in "developed" countries or in cities. It would possibly be more of a culture shock to visit a current-day "lost" Amazon tribe than to do a homestay with Lucius Caecilius Iucundus.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5363702375/" title="Pompeii Roman Coins by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5201/5363702375_10da081491.jpg" alt="Pompeii Roman Coins" height="332" width="500" /></a></span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><i>"<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke%2020&version=ESV">Whose likeness and inscription does it have</a>?" (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke%2020&version=ESV">Luke 20</a>:19-26)</i></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Caecilius_Iucundus"><br />Lucius Caecilius Iucundus</a> was a banker who, basically, ran e-bay (before the "e"). He managed auctions by paying vendors immediately but allowed purchasers a time frame to pay, with interest. Proper accounts were kept of these transactions in legalese such as:<br /><blockquote>Umbricia Januaria declares that she has received from Lucius Caecilius Jucundus 11,039 sesterces, which sum came into the hands of Lucius Caecilius Jucundus by agreement as the proceeds of an auction sale for Umbricia Januaria, the commission due him having been deducted. Done at Pompeii, on the 12th of December, in the consulship of Lucius Duvius and Publius Clodius. (56AD)</blockquote>and authenticated by seals and signatures of witnesses.<br /><br />While he was situated in Pompeii, most of the bankers could be found 30 miles from Pompeii in Puteoli, which was a major shipping town. Three-hundred ton grain ships from Africa and Egypt docked here for transshipment of goods to Rome. One such precious cargo was a man known as Paul of Tarsus (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=acts%2028&version=ESV">Acts 28</a>:13).<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5364332990/" title="Pompeii Wall Garden Fresco, House of the Golden Bracelet by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5008/5364332990_8121362c8b.jpg" alt="Pompeii Wall Garden Fresco, House of the Golden Bracelet" height="332" width="500" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">But back to Pompeii. Pompeii was the place for the leisured classes to live well - it was blessed with delightful climate, fertile soil for the garden and was politically stable. There, bankers and other successful merchants (and those who made their fortune on fish sauce empires) put their wealth to work in large luxurious seaview properties. The garden took up at least one-fifth of total floor area and consisted of not just of a practical kitchen garden (<span style="font-style: italic;">hortus</span>) where fruits and vegetables were cultivated but elaborate peristyled affairs filled with life-like statues (even if some looked like Michael Jackson), water features, garden furniture, fine art tromp l'oeil wall frescos and even aviaries. (Sir) Roy Strong would have been in heaven there.<br /><br />The gardens were watered by fresh clean spring water from hills about 40km away, piped to Pompeii via aqueduct. Water pipes entered at the front door, fed mosaic fountains at the side of the <span style="font-style: italic;">impluvium</span> or in the peristyled garden for household needs and decoration, then flowed out into a drain on the road at the base of the kerbstones where it flushed the streets of rubbish before ending up in storm drains that carried it to the river.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5364340048/" title="Pompeii Wall Painting by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5008/5364340048_db702ee6da.jpg" alt="Pompeii Wall Painting" height="332" width="500" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Bedrooms were located at the sides of the central courtyard and were windowless. Beds were made of stone or wood with bronze or silver trimmings. There was a headboard and a mattress base made of wooden cross pieces and strips of cloth or leather. In these rooms, women rocked their babies in wooden cradles and went about their daily ritual of doing their hair in the current fashion (this changed constantly and was set by the celebrity of the day - a member of the emperor's family) and beautifying themselves with cosmetics (whitening paste of chalk or lead, rouge, lipstick, soot eyebrow darkeners) and jewellery of elegant design and workmanship.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5364423256/" title="Pompeii Portable Oven by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5165/5364423256_61158464c1.jpg" alt="Pompeii Portable Oven" height="332" width="500" /></a></span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><i>Portable oven</i></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />Lucius would have come home for main meals (<span style="font-style: italic;">cena</span>) in his dining room (<span style="font-style: italic;">triclinium</span>) and enjoyed at least three courses: an appetiser of eggs or oysters or other shellfish; a main course of fish, roasted pheasant, peacock, ostrich or pork and veggies cooked with olive oil, wine, vinegar, basil, majoram, coriander, mint or fish sauce (<span style="font-style: italic;">garum</span>); and a dessert of dried or fresh fruit topped with honey or baked custard, all washed down with Pompeiian wine from the lush volcanic soil of Mount Vesuvius.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5364429096/" title="Pompeii Thermopolium - Fast Food Snack Bar by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5128/5364429096_731532dc3c.jpg" alt="Pompeii Thermopolium - Fast Food Snack Bar" height="332" width="500" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">If he felt a bit peckish during the day, Lucius would have had a bite at one of several fast food snack bars, where cooked food was kept warm by constant heat. <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/lava-bread-anyone-pompeii-snack-bar-rises-from-the-ashes-after-2000-years-1924356.html">Thermopoliums</a> were as functionally-named as "cooked food stalls".<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5364320410/" title="Pompeii Gold Bracelet by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5205/5364320410_635a8318eb_m.jpg" alt="Pompeii Gold Bracelet" height="159" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5364325684/" title="Pompeii Gold Bracelet by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5243/5364325684_c9ea781ebb_m.jpg" alt="Pompeii Gold Bracelet" height="159" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><i>On the inside of this armband is inscribed 'DOMINUS ANCILLAE SUAE' ('From the master to his slave').</i></span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">For entertainment, there were plays and the deadly gladiatorial contests (complete with heart-throb celebrity gladiators) in a magnificent 5,000-seat theatre and a 20,000-capacity amphitheatre, and, if one was so inclined, prostitutes plying their trade at large elegant <a href="http://www.carnaval.com/italy/pompeii/">heated public baths</a> and brothels, though there were also one's slaves for the job.<br /><br />Young men were expected to apply themselves to their studies, which was exactly what <a href="http://www.livius.org/pi-pm/pliny/pliny_y.htm">Pliny the Younger</a> was doing across the Bay of Naples from Pompeii when Pliny the Elder, full of intellectual curiosity and some valour, set sail for Ground Zero after witnessing the eruption from afar. This is why the younger Pliny, his nephew, survived to provide <a href="http://faculty.cua.edu/pennington/pompeii/PlinyLetters.htm">this account</a> of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius on or about 24 August 79 AD to Tacitus. His concern for the objective accuracy of his report is fascinating.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5363696997/" title="Pompeii Wall Relief of Gods by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5009/5363696997_4b611cbb91.jpg" alt="Pompeii Wall Relief of Gods" height="332" width="500" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Pliny the Nephew eventually became a lawyer and then a governor, sending curt civil service memos but also <a href="http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2010/07/03/letters_pliny_the_younger">substantial letters</a> containing reports and advice on a religion that was allegedly disloyal to Rome:<br /><blockquote>They maintained ... that all that their guilt or error involved was that they were accustomed to assemble at dawn on a fixed day, to sing a hymn antiphonally to Christ as God, and to bind themselves by an oath, not for the commission of some crime, but to avoid acts of theft, brigandage, and adultery, not to break their word and not withhold money deposited with them when asked for it. When these rites were completed, it was their custom to depart, and then to assemble again to take food, which was however common and harmless...<br /><br />The infection of this superstition has extended not merely through the cities, but also through the villages and country areas, but it seems likely that it can be halted and corrected...<br /><br />Christians are not to be sought out. If brought before you and found guilty, they must be punished, but in such a way that a person who denies he is a Christian and demonstrates this by his action, that is, by worshiping our gods, may obtain pardon for repentance, even if his previous record is suspect. Documents published anonymously must play no role in any accusation, for they give the worst example, and are foreign to our age...</blockquote>I was encouraged in my Christian faith by the exhibition because I am reminded that my faith is based on fact. The ancients were no less intelligent nor sophisticated than we are now. They had the same concern for justice and governance and accuracy in financial and historical accounts. And so we do not need to discount Luke when he tells Theophilus at the beginning of Luke's Gospel:<br /><blockquote>Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke%201&version=ESV">Luke 1</a>:1-4).</blockquote>Being able to distinguish fact from myth, Luke records that Jesus was the son of God himself. He was born as a man so that he could preach the good news to his fellow men and then die for them. The good news was that though all men everywhere in the world were under God's wrath because they refused to worship him, Jesus' death on the cross would pay for their transgressions against God and they would live, if only they believed this. That God raised Jesus from the dead after three days was confirmation that Jesus' promise was trustworthy.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5364303632/" title="Pompeii Household Gods by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5206/5364303632_40ba1e8d5e.jpg" alt="Pompeii Household Gods" height="332" width="500" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Yet it seems we are no different from the poor Pompeians, who, though this same good news had come to Pompeii (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=acts%2028&version=ESV">Acts 28</a>:14), were found attempting to escape the superheated pyroclastic poisonous gases, incandescent pumice and rock rain and thick ash smoke clutching the things they held dear ("What would you save if a volcano had just erupted in your backyard and your house was burning?") - family wealth (thick gold bands, vast amounts of jewellery, sacks of coins), the keys to their houses (locked to prevent looting) and their gilded household gods;<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5364300480/" title="Pompeii Guard Dog Resin Cast by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5083/5364300480_81763fd87a.jpg" alt="Pompeii Guard Dog Resin Cast" height="332" width="500" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">leaving behind babies in their rocking cradles, children behind staircases, guard dogs and prisoners still chained to their posts. They died tragically, without certain hope.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5364294812/" title="Pompeii Victim Resin Body Casts by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5202/5364294812_9b422a046f.jpg" alt="Pompeii Victim Resin Body Casts" height="332" width="500" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">If this same God has long warned that there will come a day when the whole world will be destroyed in an event far worse than that experienced by Pompeii, surely our sense of self-preservation (and general humanity) should ensure that we do everything possible to save ourselves and our loved ones (and even that nasty neighbour) from the <a href="http://www.matthiasmedia.com.au/2wtl/2wtlonline.html">terrible day of judgment by clinging to the promises of Jesus</a>?<br /><br /><iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/7453081?byline=0&portrait=0%20%20" frameborder="0" height="497" width="621"></iframe><br /><br />(Having long wondered how Christians managed to gather to worship together in foreign cities where such meetings had to be clandestine, I assumed prior enquiries were made and letters of introduction given together with instructions for getting to the local church(es). However, <a href="http://benwitherington.blogspot.com/2008/12/graffiti-at-sbl.html">Ben Witherington III reports</a> that Roger Bagnall has suggested that amongst all sorts of political and gladiatorial advertisements, and profane and plain feckless graffiti on ruined Roman walls (see <a href="http://www.pompeiana.org/Resources/Ancient/Graffiti%20from%20Pompeii.htm">Pompeii graffiti</a>), there were also Christian notations suggesting to insiders that there were believers in the city who could be found.<br /><br />Never such amusement since sighting the <a href="http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/maeshowe/maeshrunes.htm">Viking runes at Maeshowe on Orkney</a>. Reading the Book of Acts and the New Testament letters are going to be so much more fun!)<br /><br />*************<br /><br />Pompeii: Life in A Roman Town 79CE<br />David Jones, <i>The Bankers of Puteoli: Finance Trade and Industry in the Roman World</i><br />Smithsonian Magazine, <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/pompeii.html"><i>Resurrecting Pompeii</i></a><br />Peter Connolly, <a href="http://books.google.com.sg/books?id=dAdHup5QHxgC"><i>Pompeii</i></a><br />Mary Beard, <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/non-fiction/article4782336.ece">Life of a Roman Town</a><br /><a href="http://class.lism.catholic.edu.au/ahist-dvd/ahist-hsc/Pompeii/site%20pages/1.%20home%20page.htm">Core Study: Cities of Vesuvius</a><br /><a href="http://madamepickwickartblog.com/pompeii-gods-indifferent-to-the-power-of-prayer/">Pompeii: Gods Indifferent to Power of Prayer</a><br /><br /></span></span></div>shadowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13822100633711347312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100929.post-22786465484298707532011-01-08T00:12:00.004+08:002011-01-08T09:37:59.612+08:00One More Time, With Contrition<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5313949277/" title="Black and Blue Teacups (I), Iskandar Jalil by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5008/5313949277_be53b487b5_m.jpg" alt="Black and Blue Teacups (I), Iskandar Jalil" height="160" width="240" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">We were enjoying the tactile pleasure of cold finger-tips running over, exploring a jagged geography of warmth (and a pedantic argument concerning the word "zeitgeist" and whether it can appropriately describe the crowd-effervescent-think, drunken auld lang synes and the last-365-days-or-so-in-subjective-summaries of the last day of an old year).<br /><br />Another new year countdown with fireworks, in different circumstances, amidst a different crowd.<br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5306699389/" title="Kushi Dango - Mochi on a Stick by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5005/5306699389_5111b45238_m.jpg" alt="Kushi Dango - Mochi on a Stick" height="159" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Life's trajectory seems less linear than we would like. "Higher and better!" we toast, but the decades smirk. Though achievable in assets and status, internally holistically spiritually we are but dogs returning to our vomit of half-hearted resolutions and failed intentions.<br /><br />For Christians, this circularity might perhaps occur with marginally decreasing radii, as we become alarmingly aware (from God's laws in Scripture) of the height of the Creator's perfect requirements, our tragic and desperate inadequacy and inability to really fulfil anything of it even if we wanted to, spiralling inward, but somehow never quite depending fully on, the absolute grace and mercy of God.<br /><br />And all this is stirred into the puerile mess that is the God's ordained community: the church that is led locally by sinful fallen leaders with their baggage and insecurities, who can easily be observed not to practise what they preach; the church whose congregation is led in songs meant to praise God by singers (whether of heavenly voice or unable to hold a tune) and musicians eager for their own glory; the church of hypocrites who operate under appropriately spiritual and evangelical cover - bible study leaders who see the watching of their flock as a barely bearable chore and leaders who harness the trust and dependence of their sheep to build edifices to their own egos surrounded by adoring fan-club empires, parents who proudly marvel at their children's growth yet never bother to plant seeds of eternal life and parents who worship their children in place of God and parents who get home in time from their extra-marital affairs to ensure they read the Bible and pray with their children every night, singles who use their idle time to scheme to end their God-given state by every possible means and singles who indulge in godless chatter and pointless "hobbies", believers whose false friendliness and rampant flattery and calculated concern for others betray the need to be valued by men not God, older folk who wield their age as an excuse to be curmudgeonly etc etc.<br /><br />And these by their sinfulness induce others to sin.<br /><br />Yet, it is for these that Jesus died. It is the community of these undependable self-indulgent laughable perverts and criminals that God has ordained to lead others to his kingdom.<br /><br />What a year 2010 has been - a grand clutter of failure - failure to love the unloveable as we should, to do what we know to be right, to love the Loveable, to be discerning about false teachers and wolves amongst the sheep; failure to be humble and not self-righteous in face of objective progress in godliness (thus negating such progress), in accurate assessment of the godlessness of others and when choosing to leave churches and bible study groups. The same as 2009 and 2008 and 2007 and...from the year of our birth. There is no fresh start <i>per se</i> in 2011 - only another year to add to the list of sins yet committed/re-committed, but perhaps hiding them with greater proficiency and intricate Christian spin that may fool all but God.<br /><br />Who are we, with boardwalk planks in our eyes, to pick the speck out of our brother's? Who are we to tell others to give their lives to God in radical obedience?<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5307283560/" title="Watermelon, Persimmon, Peach and Sakura Mochi by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5126/5307283560_c2001e6e75_m.jpg" alt="Watermelon, Persimmon, Peach and Sakura Mochi" height="159" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">As the sun ascends on 2011...well...nothing different happens. A fresh start happened the day we first knew God and a fresh start can happen Today - any day that we hear God's voice in Scripture and are convicted by the Spirit working on our conscience that our tiresome attempts to usurp the King should be punished by death, and with contrite hearts (probably not the sort that stands back and admires its own contrition and proceeds to announce it on Facebook and Twitter) rely more heavily and needily on the blood of Christ to <a href="http://www.spurgeongems.org/vols28-30/chs1685.pdf">blot out our sins so that God remembers them no more</a>.<br /><br />We are unworthy sinners. But Christ has disarmed Satan by nailing the record of our sin to the cross (Colossians 2:14-15) so that we may, in acknowledging our brokenness, truly serve him.<br /></div><br /></div></span></span></div>shadowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13822100633711347312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100929.post-64417846550092832142010-12-27T17:43:00.002+08:002010-12-27T21:06:51.453+08:00Bah, Humbug.<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5290721546/" title="Christmas Wedding Table Flower Arrangment by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5001/5290721546_1c3e683452.jpg" alt="Christmas Wedding Table Flower Arrangment" height="332" width="500" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Champagne and chardonnay - poured. Handel's Messiah - sung along to. Wonderful Christmas wedding table decor - adopted, beauty given more mileage. SMS-ed Christmas greeting spam - received. A few choice carols - butchered by increasingly groggy carollers. Turkeys from faraway lands - marinated, roasted, carved, eaten with gravy and stuffing and cranberry sauce. Friends (new and old) - hugged remotely. All manner of liquid concoctions - concocted and drunk to colourful simultaneous reviews. Gifts - exchanged, received, given. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Charlie_Brown_Christmas">A Charlie Brown Christmas</a> - junked for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MirrorMask">Mirror</a><a href="http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/mirrormask/">mask</a> because <a href="http://www.mckean-art.co.uk/">Dave McKean</a> = treat. Hot mincepies washed down with fruity TWG's <a href="http://www.twgtea.com/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/644">Miraculous Mandarin</a> tea - during <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWwVoCVCEZo">The Queen's Christmas Broadcast 2010</a>. <a href="http://mikeharvat.com/?p=372">Omaha Collective's EP</a> - grooved to. Cathartic jamming - greatly enjoyed. Morning-after turkey porridge - supped with joy.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5290012715/" title="TWG Miraculous Mandarin Tea by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5163/5290012715_7b411a7670_m.jpg" alt="TWG Miraculous Mandarin Tea" height="159" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">One is hardput to ignore the advent of Christmas: seasonal decor plastered around every mall, Orchard Road shopping belt lit by Christmas lights, carols playing in shops in late November, Christmas and Boxing Day sale adverts stare out of every newspaper and magazine and hurriedly-thrust flyer, fir-tree-scented IKEA is filled with shoppers gulping down Nygårda <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julmust">Julmust</a> (see Yuletide powers of said soda: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqJezh50zMA">here</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNFbPxSSkkY">here</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGMUPzZXlpA">here</a>), Starbucks cups are dotted with snowflakes...and the acapella carollers and the poinsettias! they are taking over the country!.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5292121785/" title="Starbucks Green Tea Frappuccino and Chocolate Cranberry Muffin by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5245/5292121785_871354e780_m.jpg" alt="Starbucks Green Tea Frappuccino and Chocolate Cranberry Muffin" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5292726168/" title="Champagne and chardonnay by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5130/5292726168_32fc4a60b2_m.jpg" alt="Champagne and chardonnay" height="180" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5294618999/" title="Pre-carolling Dinner Table Setting by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5283/5294618999_7247efc312_m.jpg" alt="Pre-carolling Dinner Table Setting" height="180" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5292124363/" title="Nygårda Julmust by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img style="width: 264px; height: 181px;" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5164/5292124363_66ba142ba1_m.jpg" alt="Nygårda Julmust" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Because Christmas is so big here, it poses a challenge to those who do not believe in reason for the season, much less celebrate the occasion of his birth. They want in on the festivities but don't want to acknowledge that there is anything worth rejoicing about.<br /><br />No one says "Oh, during Deepavali (or Hari Raya Haji) I just celebrate the spirit of family togetherness and gift-giving and love" because they acknowledge these as Hindu and Muslim festivals. Sure, secularists argue that Christmas has so commercialised that they can, with good conscience, enjoy it without its Jesus-trappings. But what of the ubiquitous nativity scenes? the content of Christmas carols? the moralistic mawkishness of Santa Claus?<br /><br />And about Mr. Claus: if Jesus were to give a Christmas Day message, it might be along the lines of "We are not amused...", but harsher and not something you would do a stand-up comedy about after. "He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake, he knows if you've been bad or good" is stalker scary, but without bite since most kids get presents from "Santa" anyway despite throwing a tantrum at the mall. Scarier than that, the snowy-bearded male bundled in a furry red suit with white trimmings is a dead-ringer for the dragon and beasts of Revelation - he claims to possess the attributes of God himself: omnipotence (all-seeing, all-knowing), omnipresence (especially in the early hours of Christmas Day whatever your time-zone and whether you've remembered to set the intruder alarm), being the arbiter of right and wrong (assumedly, to determine entitlement to pressies), and being acknowledged, almost to the exclusion of all others, as the giver of good gifts. (God knows exactly what you've been thinking and doing, God determines right and wrong because he made the world, and God knows that you've been very very evil with no hope of ever doing enough good to even outweigh your evil, God gives you the best gift of wiping your slate clean (IF you will accept it).)<br /><br />Some attempts at "reclaiming" Christmas have not gone much better either, eg. delightful Christian acapella CDs for the season marred by well-intentioned blasphemy. If any child of mine, of wide Puss-In-Boots eyes and cute little voice, ever said,"This Christmas, I want to give Jesus all my medicine so he can heal sick people" or "I want to give Jesus my remote-controlled helicopter so he can give toys to other children who don't have any", he'd be sent directly to his room with plain bread and water and a strict injunction to repent.<br /><br />Jesus is not your local charity - not the <a href="http://www.bbshare.sg/">Boys' Brigade Sharity Giftbox</a> asking for your unwanted toys for the less fortunate, Jesus is not the <a href="http://www.salvationarmy.org.sg/">Salvation Army</a> ringing handbells for your spare change; he is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords; he made this universe, so unsurprising he can heal with just a few words, and from a distance, and he can turn water into the wine that is out of this world. He does not need anyone's help.<br /><br />We're so self-centred that even though we've signed up with the anti-commercialisation and pro-real-meaning-of-Christmas lobbies, we still can't get over the fact that we are not quite the focus of his coming - his obedience to his Father and his Father's jealousy for his own name is the reason he came. We rejoice because we are the unworthy beneficiaries of this.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.thegoodbook.co.uk/productfiles/citw-Look%20Inside.pdf">Christmas is historical, joyful and essential</a>.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5295317879/" title="Christmas Wedding Table Flower Arrangement by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5125/5295317879_a6a60f65f2.jpg" alt="Christmas Wedding Table Flower Arrangement" height="332" width="500" /></a></span></span><br /></div></div>shadowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13822100633711347312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100929.post-29888323639961033092010-12-21T01:25:00.007+08:002011-01-17T09:09:37.327+08:00Youth Camp and Growing Pains<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5277152165/" title="Shabu-shabu at home by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5167/5277152165_d73d245db3.jpg" alt="Shabu-shabu at home" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">A whirlwind snowed-in-at-some-European-airport-type week at youth camp, bookended by fortifying good beef shabu-shabu and lovely handmade tofu, and photog duties at a fun wedding where the newly-weds were their own emcees and reviews from friends were warm and glowing. Camp recovery was also aided by champagne and chardonnay on one night on the occasion of Christmas and birthdays and retro sing-a-longs, and jugs of honey beers by a river on another on occasion of it being too early to go to bed when there were new friends to chat with.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5272246203/" title="Stewed Beef, Stewed Pork by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5206/5272246203_583b61c8ce_m.jpg" alt="Stewed Beef, Stewed Pork" height="159" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5272246825/" title="Fantastic Mustard Chicken by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5287/5272246825_2a1ccb5a3f_m.jpg" alt="Fantastic Mustard Chicken" height="159" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5272250875/" title="Nonya Food by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5008/5272250875_11c0d4854d_m.jpg" alt="Nonya Food" height="159" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5272863754/" title="The Most Delicious Babi Assam in the World by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5121/5272863754_21d37499ff_m.jpg" alt="The Most Delicious Babi Assam in the World" height="159" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Greatly glad for the opportunity to do some work at camp and be partnered and encouraged by the hard work of others - the without-fanfare kitchen slog that produced delicious pots of picky-camper-approved spag bog, curries, mustard chicken, babi assam..., the determination with which campers were served by leaders bearing food, water, good cheer.<br /><br />The holiday camp menu may have lacked the medieval culinary delights of roast swan and pig on spit, but the knights of 1395 were tearing up Project Run-Away with spaghetti pot helmets complete with the latest in wireless pink remote-controlled water guns, vital-parts-endangering bubble-wrap armour, insectile gold 4G antennae for communication with headquarters and Saturday Night Fever dance moves.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5272223163/" title="Jousting Tournament - Lances by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5086/5272223163_84ecfca917_m.jpg" alt="Jousting Tournament - Lances" height="159" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">During the day, even without skateboard steeds and horseys to pull them, knights made short work of each other at the jousting tournament with pool noodles chalked with plain flour. The presence of a style judge ensured there was neighing and grunting before the joust, with one horse deciding to buck and run away altogether.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5272842482/" title="Defend the Castle Against the Dastardly Dragons by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5162/5272842482_15c0bb2e63_m.jpg" alt="Defend the Castle Against the Dastardly Dragons" height="159" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Defending the Castle against the Dastardly Dragons was a tower defence game with flour and water catapults clearing their columns of the jumping fire-breathing overgrown lizards who sometimes managed to retrieve the medieval explosive devices and fling them back at the catapults. Loads of work to be done on gameplay but glad the boys were immensely happy to be throwing flour and water around.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5269228590/" title="Wide Game Cake Cards by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5281/5269228590_c24556e853_m.jpg" alt="Wide Game Cake Cards" height="159" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5269257146/" title="Wide Game Cake Defence Cards by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5127/5269257146_159e54d9b1_m.jpg" alt="Wide Game Cake Defence Cards" height="159" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5271272529/" title="Wide Game - Deadly Dulce de Luche Delight Card by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5047/5271272529_8b36d8fc4c_m.jpg" alt="Wide Game - Deadly Dulce de Luche Delight Card" height="159" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5272217175/" title="Wide Game - Innocent Looking Squire Cards by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5249/5272217175_fcf440c2af_m.jpg" alt="Wide Game - Innocent Looking Squire Cards" height="159" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5271293227/" title="Wide Game - Weapon Cards by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5126/5271293227_5c95932a48_m.jpg" alt="Wide Game - Weapon Cards" height="159" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5271922080/" title="Wide Game - Anti-Weapon Cards by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5089/5271922080_6d375b1a9c_m.jpg" alt="Wide Game - Anti-Weapon Cards" height="159" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5272808804/" title="Wide Game - Imbibe Cards by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5203/5272808804_16ee3b472e_m.jpg" alt="Wide Game - Imbibe Cards" height="160" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Later, the dragons decided they had enough of all that white powdery stuff and made off with a princess from each of the four kingdoms. Kingdoms were to retrieve their princesses by collecting power cards hidden in locations around Changi Point during the wide game. Since only one princess could be rescued, the kingdoms then fought each other by attacking with weapon cards or weighing down a gluttonous enemy princess with cake cards so she'd be too heavy to be saved. The smack talk was hilarious.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5272195357/" title="Wide Game - Grow Your Own Giant/ess Kit Card by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5282/5272195357_ed468dde99_m.jpg" alt="Wide Game - Grow Your Own Giant/ess Kit Card" height="160" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">One of the most powerful weapon cards was a Grow Your Own Giant kit which had to be used together with a Plain Water card. Before receiving a kit, Giant Protection Laws required kingdoms to demonstrate the ability to care for their giant by identifying flavours of jelly beans (a Giant's staple food). All teams managed the 70% pass rate but all failed to distract attacking enemy giants with the requested jelly bean flavour at the Final Battle.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5250880874/" title="Green Jelly Belly Beans by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5126/5250880874_088d304eee_m.jpg" alt="Green Jelly Belly Beans" height="159" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5250324489/" title="Red and Black Jelly Belly Beans by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5241/5250324489_5454ebc5b0_m.jpg" alt="Red and Black Jelly Belly Beans" height="159" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5250311219/" title="Orange and Yellow Jelly Belly Beans by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5046/5250311219_dbd6b26dea_m.jpg" alt="Orange and Yellow Jelly Belly Beans" height="159" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5250331753/" title="Pink and White Jelly Belly Beans by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5002/5250331753_fc82a9d9f8_m.jpg" alt="Pink and White Jelly Belly Beans" height="159" width="240" /></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">The next day, we held a jelly bean tasting session for the remaining half-kg of gunk made from artificial additives, chemicals, preservatives and flavours held together by a strong binding agent. (<a href="http://www.candyliciousshop.com/">Candylicious</a> at <a href="http://www.rwsentosa.com/">Resorts World Sentosa</a> supplied flavours not found in Cocoa Tree stores. Who can resist the ironic simulacra-referencing-simulacra of <a href="http://www.jellybelly.com/">Jelly Belly</a> jelly beans!)<br /><br />Pants and Lions around the Fairy Point Chalet were ace, though nothing more than a variation of hide-and-seek, and so brought to mind a chapter in C.S. Lewis' <i>The Screwtape Letters</i> that we were speeding through for book club, in which Lewis describes the sincere enjoyment of things as almost a matter of virtue/godliness. Lewis Carroll too, in his Easter Greeting in <i>Alice's Adventures in Wonderland</i>, praised the simple joyful reading of his literary nonsense which like the merry voices of children as they roll among the hay, as pleasing to God as "the grandest anthem that ever rolled up from the dim religious light of some solemn cathedral".<br /><br />The romantic childhood of happy innocence is neither corroborated by experience nor by Scripture: the selfishness of toddlers is apparent as soon as they are able to articulate their thoughts, though any damage to others is limited to the toddlers' inexperience in being cunningly charming and relative powerlessness; and Jesus' injunction in Matthew 18 to become like little children seems to have more to do with their utter dependence on others rather than their innocence.<br /><br />As we see repeat campers grow up and chaff at additional responsibilities and turn all emo about the lack of a boyfriend or girlfriend, we wish, not for them to return to a time when all they cared about was playing their favourite card games while drinking Ribena. We wish for them to grow to maturity, that is, to find true joy and satisfaction within an intimate relationship with God our Father and Jesus our Saviour and Brother and Judge and King.<br /><br />*********<br /><br />Thanks to a worldwide fascination with the Middle Ages, on-theme board games were easy to find:<br />- <a href="http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite.asp?eidm=137">The Hobbit</a><br />- <a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/823/lord-of-the-rings">Lord of the Rings</a> (Reiner Knizia's)<br />- <a href="http://www.catan.com/">Settlers of Catan</a><br />- <a href="http://www.faidutti.com/index.php?Module=mesjeux&id=328">Citadels</a><br />- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carcassonne_%28board_game%29">Carcasonne</a><br />- <a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/119/kingdoms">Kingdoms</a><br />- <a href="http://www.gamewright.com/gamewright/index.php?section=games&page=game&show=140">Sleeping Queens</a>? (requested by a camper for nostalgic reasons)<br />- <a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/9220/saboteur">Saboteur</a>?<br /><br />*********<br /><br />Naturally, we had an appropriate camp song ("<a href="http://www.gettymusic.com/ochurcharise.pdf">with warfare toms</a>") to go along:<br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ppcOA_HSs9U?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ppcOA_HSs9U?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br />(ignore the visuals)<br /><br /><b>O Church Arise</b><br /><br />O Church Arise and put your armour on<br />Hear the call of Christ our Captain<br />For now the weak can say that they are strong<br />In the strength that God has given<br />With shield of faith and belt of truth<br />We'll stand against the devil's lies<br />An army bold whose battle-cry is Love<br />Reaching out to those in darkness<br /><br />Our call to war to love the captive soul<br />But to rage against the captor<br />And with the sword that makes the wounded whole<br />We will fight with faith and valour<br />When faced with trials on every side<br />We know the outcome is secure<br />And Christ will have the prize for which He died<br />An inheritance of nations<br /><br />Come see the cross where love and mercy meet<br />As the Son of God is stricken<br />Then see His foes lie crushed beneath His feet<br />For the Conqueror has risen<br />And as the stone is rolled away<br />And Christ emerges from the grave<br />This victory march continues till the day<br />Every eye and heart shall see Him<br /><br />So Spirit come put strength in every stride<br />Give grace for every hurdle<br />That we may run with faith to win the prize<br />Of a servant good and faithful<br />As saints of old still line the way<br />Retelling triumphs of His grace<br />We hear their calls and hunger for the day<br />When with Christ we stand in glory<br /><br />by <a href="http://www.gettymusic.com/">Keith Getty</a> & <a href="http://www.stuarttownend.co.uk/">Stuart Townend</a> (a delightful pairing)<br />© 2005 Thankyou Music<br /><br /><br /></span></span></div>shadowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13822100633711347312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100929.post-50326805260925802302010-12-01T02:26:00.012+08:002010-12-04T00:44:45.692+08:00Games and Wide Game Preparations - Underway<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5228817005/" title="Wide Game Prep Table by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5001/5228817005_acb20d2f58.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="Wide Game Prep Table" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5229438890/" title="The Crusader and the Cherry Pie by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5089/5229438890_8f01696793_m.jpg" width="240" height="159" alt="The Crusader and the Cherry Pie" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/5221593298/" title="Jelly Bellies in a Jar by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4126/5221593298_92e7e5969c_m.jpg" alt="Jelly Bellies in a Jar" height="159" width="240" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">It's that time of the year again when philosophical questions about the pedagogical value of games arise amidst the increased pressure to complete preparations for the upcoming youth camp.<br /><br />For the <a href="http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Pensieve">Pensieve</a>, to be taken out and considered at a more opportune moment:<br />1. At the very least, games are required in any camp for the element of fun. This relaxes campers and ensures that they are not brainwashed or pressured into making any important decisions. The fun is multiplied, I think, by the whole atmosphere of the camp - hence the themed booklet and time-table, quirky morning announcements in costume, evening entertainment and the angle used in the exposition of the passage (within the bounds of the text itself of course). Reports are that the <a href="http://www.titustrust.org/">Titus Trust</a> camps do not go to such lengths to do the good work, however, to Jews...<br /><br />2. Games create opportunities for relationships to be built and also demonstrate character. The wide games, especially, are meant for chats about what has been taught and for questions from campers, if any. No pressure of course since the Spirit blows where he will, though we must be faithful in proclamation.<br /><br />3. Modern pedagogy recommends games as effective teaching tools. One notes, however, that God employs practices and ceremonies as mnemonics and Scripture (the word) as weapon. (Have been thinking for some years about the validity of board games as effective means to teach God's character and man's dire need for salvation but drawing board is still cluttered. How to demonstrate not just need for salvation but also grace freely given, faith not works, and need for perseverance concurrently? Love <a href="http://www.geero.net/bible-games.html">Andy Geers' brilliant idea</a> for Bible-teaching computer games. Enjoyed <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_Island_%28series%29">Monkey Island</a> very much for its humour. Reading through the Bible with two people now is fantastic not only for what we learn about God, but also the LOL yet all-too-understandable moments in the Old Testament, so that should translate easily... A biblically-accurate Old Testament adventure game would be utterly cool.)<br /><br />4. Since it makes an appearance only toward the end of camp, the wide game might be used as a revision of things learned - recall and reinforcement. Naturally, it'll always be about the need for/importance redemption rather than being huge (and useless) on morality. Would rather have this subtly in gameplay rather than crudely in clues (too ed psych!). However, difficulty lies in getting the exact facets from speakers beforehand.<br /><br />5. For future reference, previous themes, entertainment, games and wide games off the top of my head, alot of misses but a few near hits:<br /><b><a href="http://thebookofshadow.blogspot.com/2006/06/youth-camp.html">Revision Party 2006</a></b> (Singapore International Campus)<br />Theme: there wasn't a theme.<br /><br />Games: Debut of the flour and water game at the BBQ at the international hostel. But the mix of the heady aroma of meat roasting and groups of strangers ravenously attacking whatever came off the fire and the lack of tongues wasn't much use for the game.<br /><br />Wide Game: There wasn't a wide game. There was only one camper and he "forgot" to bring his revision. There were also four or five rather tired tween-companions.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/327798912/" title="A Peacock and Some Cake by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/135/327798912_dd4b1b8fa5_m.jpg" alt="A Peacock and Some Cake" height="240" width="211" /></a><br /><a href="http://thebookofshadow.blogspot.com/2006/12/youth-camp.html"><b>December Holiday Camp 2006</b></a> (Costa Sands Resort, Sentosa)<br />Theme: apparently it was pirates. We had pirate hats, a swashbuckle and a hook for announcements. Monty Python's Parrot Sketch in the heat and mozzies failed, mostly because we were both reading off the same script. Parrot (really a bobble-headed toucan) nodded through a talk perched on the speaker's Bible.<br /><br />Games: Debut of the Chair Game; Giants, Elves and Wizards; and Dan Young's Crocker.<br /><br />Wide Game: Amazing Race round Sentosa - luge rides, blue tongues from 7-eleven brainfreezes. Complaints that the clues were too intellectual, even though I'd thought it was already much simpler than the excellently fun <a href="http://thebookofshadow.blogspot.com/2007/04/casino-royale-game.html">Casino Royale Game</a>. Also, ability to identify GPS co-ordinates and GPS-enabled devices were not common amongst campers then, even amongst the Mainland Chinese PhDs.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/2148085201/" title="That Dit-Dit Finger Game by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2124/2148085201_1164ddd57d_m.jpg" alt="That Dit-Dit Finger Game" height="161" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://thebookofshadow.blogspot.com/2007/12/youth-camp-behind-barbed-wire.html"><b>December Holiday Camp 2007</b></a> (St. John's Island)<br />Theme: The barbed-wire fencing surrounding the campsite inspired the prison-freedom theme. We need to be freed from guilt, righteous judgement. Booklet had handcuff, barbed wire and birds (= freedom or lack thereof) motifs. Bird looked like it was flying through the pages. Songs = songs of freedom.<br /><br />Games: Chair Game; Crocker.<br /><br />Wide Game: C sent us on a photo and bible verse treasure hunt around the island. Mozzies galore.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/2579756956/" title="Wide Game: Making Ice-Cream in Ziploc Bags by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3019/2579756956_d9c2d25101_m.jpg" alt="Wide Game: Making Ice-Cream in Ziploc Bags" height="146" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://thebookofshadow.blogspot.com/2008/06/youth-camp-revision-party-2008-being.html"><b>Revision Party 2008</b></a> (Prince George's Park Residences, National University of Singapore)<br />Theme: Choose Your Own Adventure - ending in either eternal life or eternal death; choose wisdom or foolishness. Proverbs and 2 Corinthians. Booklet resembled retro cover page of a CYOA book and used a CYOA font which read "The Search for Wisdom: Choose from 2 possible endings".<br /><br />Games: G, S and Z's flingo bibs + scoopball scoops + old tennis balls mash-up in the basketball court.<br /><br />Wide Game: Aim was to show-up assumptions involved in living in this world, that we are choosing all the time - decisions are made minute by minute whether to follow erroneous assumptions:<br />1. No instructions were given that the Wide Game was at all competitive. Yet, the participants assumed it was, so much so that the leaders of each group refused to share their half of the ice-cream recipe: one group held the ingredients for making the ice-cream from scratch and the other held the instructions. One group ended up with salty ice-cream....*bleah*<br /><br />2. Instructions were to check with me before setting off. Some clues were deliberately vague. Yet, the participants assumed they knew where they were going so decided to start off before calling back, to save time and to ensure that the other teams didn't know their whereabouts. One group's assumption that they were headed in the right direction landed them on the wrong side of campus completely.<br /><br />The homemade ice-cream (the one that wouldn't make unsuspecting livers do overtime) was a great hit though. This might have had to do with the calvados in an old vanilla essence bottle.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/3089070371/" title="Pulau Ubin by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3247/3089070371_e2c1e1e86f_m.jpg" alt="Pulau Ubin" height="159" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://thebookofshadow.blogspot.com/2008/12/death-wedding-youth-camp-good-dinner.html"><b>December Holiday Camp 2008</b></a> (Fairy Point Chalet 7)<br />Theme: Beijing Olympics: "One World One Dream". Booklet cover was a tweak of Beijing Olympics logo - the stick man had his hands raised and was white against the background of a red splatter... Font looked like Chinese brush-strokes. Opening ceremony, closing ceremony and unpaid foreign talent. ;-)<br /><br />Games: Round-robin table tennis with plastic plates. Didn't get to implement other table tennis games, which then featured in the next year's December holiday camp. Observation-logic games.<br /><br />Wide Game: Around Changi Village and over to Pulau Ubin. Clues revolved around what had already been taught during camp: the Garden, the Fall etc. Prophet Notes, like Old Testament prophets, would pop up now and then to tell/remind participants that a great chasm had opened up between them and the Safe Haven (FPC7) and that they needed someone to save them. They were stopped at the gate to FPC7 for the Final Challenge, which involved St. Peter (yes, yes, dodgy...we needed someone!) asking them why they should be let in. This drew out the participants' old assumptions about how they could be saved/get to heaven, despite the talks thus far.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/3643744089/" title="Southern Ridges Wide Game by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3378/3643744089_d8403938c6_m.jpg" alt="Southern Ridges Wide Game" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://thebookofshadow.blogspot.com/2009/06/youth-camp-love-scandal.html"><b>Revision Party 2009</b></a> (NACLI)<br />Theme: Love Scandal (Ruth and idea of redemption). Booklet font was suitably lurid. Dried pasta given out for good behaviour etc could be used to redeem sweeties. Unsophis.<br /><br />Wide Game: From Kent Ridge Park to Mount Faber. Having recce-ed the route, thought this a very pleasant walk indeed but there were complaints of untoward physical exertion by the time they got to Hortpark. Again the clues were meant to reinforce what had been taught at camp. Very unsophis. Debut of hilarious homemade charade clues - unfortunately, they'd taken so long to get to Hortpark that we didn't have much time to do this. The charade cards have since been misplaced.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowlands/4184309371/" title="This is Spartaaa! by Shadow Traveller, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2634/4184309371_4f7495666d_m.jpg" alt="This is Spartaaa!" height="159" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="http://thebookofshadow.blogspot.com/2009/12/god-does-his-own-work-at-youth-camp.html"><b>December Holiday Camp 2009</b></a> (Fairy Point Chalet 7)<br />Theme: Movies. Finally got closer to what one would imagine a themed camp to be. Campers were to be woken up by a sqwaking rubber chicken (referencing Chicken Little). Had willing participants to do morning announcements in costume - we had a leviathan and pirate, and a geography teacher ("Where is this?") and Spartan ("This is Spartaaaa!"). Talks and the forum were based on certain movies and the booklet showed one scene and used the marketing font for the relevant movie (the credits were fun to do). Songs = soundtrack. Evening entertainment was quite a failure though due to the female scampers not wanting to embarrass themselves and the staid teachers being aghast at the star hair-sculpting with whipped cream (some of the campers liked it though and one started eating the whipped cream off his friend's head...) in preparation for The Golden Raspberries. The Mobile Movie Director Academy yielded one giggle-in-office-inducing short movie involving a fight between Stitch and The Chicken.<br /><br />Games: Along thematic lines as well - Balls of Flurry (pingpong dodge ball, pingpong air-hockey), Jerry Maguire (American football), Lords of the (Flying) Ring (frisbee), The Great Lebowski (bowling), Not Quite 2010 (flour and water game with blindfolds and obstacles to demonstrate that listening to the right voice is important).<br /><br />Wide Game: Hastily completely overhauled during the camp... Involved tim tam slams on Pulau Ubin and many incriminating photos with The Chicken. The Golden Raspberries award ceremony was really laugh out loud funny thanks to the MC.<br /><br /><b>Revision Party 2010</b> (Prince George's Park Residences)<br />Theme: Detectives (the importance of truth and evidence). Murder mystery in parts over several evenings, cumulating in the Wide Game. Ms. Poncey de la Woncey's birthday party on her private island ended with Ms. P in a pool of blood and no heartbeat. There were potatoes and an ugly red dress. Each character had an Obvious Characteristic and a Deep Dark Secret. The campers (detectives) were allowed to ask pertinent questions of the characters and examine the pocket contents of the characters to determine the killer. Ms. P had a death threat (a Shakespearean quotation) in her pocket. All suspects had some sort of white powder (sodium chloride, detergent, flour) on their hands or in their pockets. Ms. P's body disappears the next day...<br /><br />Wide Game: To find Ms. P's body and the killer! Each group was given a potato. Clue in (yes, *in*) potato sent groups to a uni sitting room where a book containing a play by Shakespeare lay amongst the newspapers. There was an email address on the page which contained the quotation in the death threat. Secret question to access mailbox was a math question. Mailbox contained co-ordinates and photo of a place in Labrador Park. At spot in Labrador, there were plans for a catapult to fling Ms. P's body into the sea. To calculate the distance of Ms. P's body from catapult, they had to solve a physics question...or so it seemed... The physics PhD later realised that there was no distance given between the counterweight and the fulcrum, thus making calculation of the answer impossible. Someone else noticed the more important calculation error in the diagram. :-) They found Ms. P's body covered with white powder. A simple positive result on an iodine test determined the identity of the powder and therefore the murderer. A talk was then given on importance of evidence to determine what really happened. If we do that before we decide whether a person is guilty or not, it would be of greater importance to examine the evidence for one's beliefs.<br /><br /></span></span></div>shadowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13822100633711347312noreply@blogger.com0