Ayam Penyet

I have never written a blog entry on food before. This can't be true. Though I may be giving the impression that I seldom eat (i.e. fasting all the time) the truth is that I do enjoy eating. Not as much as my wife though. And look at our sizes. It's so unfair, isn't? :)

You may have heard about "Ayam Penyet", an Indonesian Franchise restaurant whose popularity in Singapore is growing by the day. I cannot really explain very much about the food except that "Ayam Penyet" means "Smashed Chicken". Actually, the chicken looks okay thus I am not sure why they call it smashed. But the most important thing is that it tastes yummy. :)

Besides chicken there are many other things that you can eat in restaurant such as gad0-gado (mixed vegetables with peanut sauce), empal (beef) penyet, ikan (fish) penyet, udang (prawn) penyet, avocado juice, etc, etc.

Now, I am not trying to be bias here. It's not because I am (was) an Indonesian that I am promoting the food. I have brought many kinds of people to try out the food. Indonesians, Singaporeans, Malaysians, Africans, Europeans, they have tried and LIKED the food. :) It seems that this is one type of Indonesian food that really has an international appeal.

Now, I must warn you that there are many imitations out there. Quite a number of stores out there are also selling ayam penyet but they are not the original one. This is understandable. People always like to make imitations of branded stuff. :)

If you would like to try out the food in "Ayam Penyet" restaurants you can find the restaurants in the following locations: Lucky Plaza (1st & 4th levels), Joo Chiat Road (near church office), Novena Square and Marina Square (in the food court). If you do not reside in Singapore you may want to consider bringing this franchise into your country. And please remember me when you are making a lot of profit from it. :)

In case you are wondering whether I am rewarded or paid by "Ayam Penyet" to do this promotion, the answer is "not a single cent". :( But if you keep mentioning my name whenever you go to the restaurants they may reward me one day. :)

Happy trying and eating everyone! :)

Note: the picture above is taken from the following link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/taking5/494739777/

Heart Attack

I was doing some work at home this afternoon. At the same time I was following a tennis match between Roger Federer (no 1) and Janko Tipsarevic (no 49).

Federer wasn't playing his usual best. He made many unforced errors. Janko, on the other hand, was playing very confidently. As a result it was a thrilling 5 sets lasting almost 4 1/2 hours.

The fifth set was especially gripping. It was a very very close match. Federer was playing a catch up throughout the fifth set. As I am Federer's fan this resulted me in having some HEART ATTACK following the progress of the match. Believe it or not I took the trouble to pray for Federer. :)

I must take my hat off to Federer. He was very strong mentally. The pressure of the possibility of losing the match so early in the tournament he won several times before must have been great on him. (Last year he didn't even drop a set in the same tournament) But he kept at it. He didn't give up. He kept pressing on despite of not playing his best. At the end the breakthrough came and he won the match.

One lesson I learnt from Federer is the importance of mental strength. At times the difference between a champion and an average player is not necessarily skill but mental strength.

Similarly, as Christ followers we do need to develop mental toughness. Our foundation of the Word must be strong. Our character must be maturing. Our mind must be filled with hope and faifh-filled thoughts. After all, we are playing against a very competitive competitor everyday of our life. And at times, that mental toughness is difference between winning and losing.

Strategies for Physical Energy Management

Lean Choo and I are currently in KL attending a conference with some others. We arrived in KL on Monday around noon time and will be leaving for Singapore on Thursday evening. The conference has been good thus far. However, I do not intend to blog about the conference at this point time.

Rather, I want to blog about some strategies for physical energy management taken from the Power of Full Engagement book (by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz).

1. Go to bed early and wake up early

2. Go to sleep and wake up consistently at the same times

3. Eat five to six small meals daily

4. Eat breakfast everyday

5. Eat a balanced, healthy diet

6. Minimize simple sugars

7. Drink 48 to 64 ounces of water daily

8. Take breaks every ninety minutes during work

9. Get some physical activity daily

10. Do at least two cardiovascular interval workouts and two strength training workouts a week

The above will be great reminders and pointers to me even as I am in the midst of changing my lifestyle. Eating differently and exercising regularly are the way to go for me. :)

why I blog

I can feel it. I am slowly losing my momentum and desire to blog. This entry is stop and reverse that negative momentum. :)

I believe that when we are losing our momentum in doing something right/good it is helpful to remind ourselves why we do the thing in the first place. When we are connected to the "why" we would have greater motivation to press on.

Why do I blog?

1. Relevance

My team and I are pioneering young adults ministry in Hope Singapore. Many young adults blog. This is a lifestyle for many of them. As such, blogging helps me to be more relevant to the young adults world. I mustn't forget that I am a young adult as well. :)

2. It helps me

Blogging helps me. You see, though I do journal I journal occasionally. Blogging helps me to journal more regularly. Though I cannot write as freely in my blog as compared to when I write in my private journal (as it would be irresponsible for me to do so) at least I am jotting down some key happennings that are happenning in my life through blogging. Somebody once said something like "the weakest ink is stronger than our memory".

3. It helps me to connect to people

I am living amidst a fast moving urban world of Singapore. Usually, I am busy. And I seem to get busier each year. Sometimes I couldn't find as much time as I want to, to connect to different individuals. Blogging helps me to connect to people in some way even when I am unable to spend time with them directly.

Three reasons why I blog. The reasons may look simple but they are powerful in motivating me to continue on blogging.

One simple action point for me. I will attempt to blog twice per week. I will do it every Monday and Thursday mornings before I take care of my e-mails.

May God help me in this wonderful cause of blogging!

what I really want to remember about 2007

Today is the third day of a new year. What do I really want to remember about last year? Well, certainly there are many things I really want to remember about. I have learned that even bad things and imperfections bring about very precious life lessons. Nevertheless, let me just try to list down some things.

1. The opportunity to catch up and minister together with my old friend, Peter Truong. It was so encouraging to see how God working in his life, from glory unto glory.

2. Hope Manila Annual Camp. It was my first time to speak and minister in a camp setting. It was a very valuable experience. I could see very clearly how God would help you when you are willing to step out by faith.

3. My 2nd Thai Camp. I was truly ministered by the worship sessions. It was great to be able to shed tears in the presence of God after some time without it.

4. My 2nd trip to Nairobi, Kenya. It was good to be back to Kenya. It was good catching up with Lisa and Li Chuang. It was good getting to know Esther there. It was good touching and stroking a Cheetah. :)

5. 3 YA Events (Unplugged, Olympia Ultimatum, 13). It was great seeing many young adults utilising their God-given talents to make a difference in the lives of their counterparts who were far away from God. Indeed, some of them have been brought near to God through the contributions of these events.

6. The Australia trip (Brisbane, Melbourne, Gold Coast) It was really a fruitful trip for Lean Choo and I. I learnt the importance of proactively building relationships. It takes some willingness to step beyond our comfort zones. But once you do it, it really blesses your soul and the Kingdom. We had a great family time with my two siblings and their families in Melboure as well.

7. The blossoming of JEDI group and ministry. It was really a joy seeing the ministry blossoming before my very eyes. I was humbled and encouraged to see how hard some of them work for the Kingdom. I was thrilled to see the newer ones rising up to the occassions.

8. MNC (Malaysia National Convention) in Kuching. It was an eye opener. The missions spirit was very much alive in Hope Malaysia.

9. We broke YA200 goal once during Christmas by a big margin. There is a precious story who belongs to a very precious person behind every single number. Over 200 precious stories about over 200 precious persons. We also treasured the 6 souls who crossed or recrossed the line of faith through the christmas services. Thank you Jesus. I am really thankful for the many people who gave their best to share the love of God during the christmas outreach season last year. Their labours shall never be in vain in the sight of God.

10. Attended a great Christmas Eve Party (The "C" Party). It was a costume party. I came as a cockroach man and ended receiving an award for the most creative costume of the night. :) That was a miracle given my arts & craft skills. But that's not the most important thing. One of the highlights of the night for me was to listen to the testimony of a new brother in Christ who just responded to Jesus some weeks earlier. He really shared from his heart and how he really moved our hearts by his sincere sharing. This reminds me about why am I giving my life for the cause of the Kingdom. It is about life transformation, one life at a time.

Of course, there are many more things that I can write down. But let me just say that year 2007 has been a wonderful year of happennings. It was not without its challenges though. Some of them were really tough. But through it all I prevailed because His grace was sufficient for me. And for that, "Thank you, Lord".

Merry Christmas!

We just want to take this time to wish family members, relatives and friends, in Singapore and overseas, "Merry Christmas!"

Thank you for being part of our lives in your unique and special way.

May God continue to watch over you and fulfill His wondrous plan in your life!

Have a blessed christmas everyone!

With much love,

Michael & Lean Choo

A fisherman story

The following story is a powerful reminder of the importance of faith in our personal life and ministry.

A gentleman is observing a fisherman fishing on a particular lake one afternoon. This gentleman notices that whenever the fisherman catches a small fish he would keep the fish. But whenever he catches a large fish he would throw the fish back into the lake. This keeps happenning throughout the afternoon.

Unable to hold his curiousity any longer this gentleman approaches the fisherman and asks him a question, “Excuse me sir, I have been observing you fishing all afternoon. I noticed that you kept all the small fish and threw back all the big fish. May I know the reason for you doing so?”

“It’s actually very simple”, the fisherman replies. “You see, I only have a small frying pan at home.”

The story is hillarious but to the point. Isn't true that many times the size of our faith limits the kind of blessing and breakthrough we can receive from God?

The fisherman can just get a bigger frying pan instead of doing the unbelievable act of throwing back all the big fish. And similarly, instead of limiting what God can do by the size of our faith we should enlarge our faith so that we can receive all that God wants to give unto us.

This christmas harvest period, I pray that each one of us will enlarge our faith so that we can receive all that God wants to bless our outreach efforts with. After all, the Bible says that the harvest is plentiful.

my hopes and dreams for christmas

In life, it is important to have some hopes and dreams. For one, hope and dream are an indicator whether faith is operating in our hearts and lives.

Without hope and dream life would only be a motion instead of a delightful anticipation of better things.

I do have some hopes and dreams for this christmas.

* I hope that each person in AG4 district will truly cherish the true meaning of christmas. May each person be awed by the reason behind the season in a fresh way this christmas.

* I hope that each person in AG4 district will approach christmas outreach with a winning mentality and a faith-filled attitude (not a defeated one) this christmas.

* I hope that each person in AG4 district will do christmas outreach with dependency on God and not on mere human strength alone this christmas. (one evidence of this dependency is praying and fasting)

* I hope that each care group in AG4 district will be blessed with at least one stable new brother/sister in Christ this christmas.

These are my hopes and dreams for christmas.

What is yours?

Enriching Moments in East Malaysia

I just came back from Malaysia National Convention 2007 in Kuching. It was my first time stepping into East Malaysia and joining the convention. I thank God for some enrinching moments in the last few days.

Here are some of those moments:

* The churches in Malaysia have grown from strength to strength. They have now planted a seed community in every state in Malaysia. They have also recently made great progress in the international missions by planting churches in different parts of the world. The emphasis on missions was very strong throughout the convention.

* The wonderful interaction and fellowship time with the Malaysian pastors and co-ordinators through the different meal times. It was great to get to know Ps Dennis and Sister Hai Eng better in this MNC. I am touched by their great humility and servanthood attitude. It was great to be able to ask some specific questions to Ps Simon about his life and ministry experiences during some meal times as well.

* There were around 20 people from our Mandarin group attending the convention. In this convention I was able to get to know some of them better. It was good to be able to catch up a little bit with Jia Huey and Nigel, ex-my care group members when they were still in the Adults group some years ago. It's good to see them doing well in the Mandarin group.

* The opportunity to participate in the convention by teaching a workshop and sharing a testimony within Ps Jeff's teaching. It was a broadening experience for me. I am glad that they laughed at my jokes. :)

* Spending some quality time with Ps Jeff & Claudia. Ps Jeff didn't have to ask me to come along with him. He didn't have to make the various arrangements to enable me do something in the convention and that I would be taken care of while I was there. He didn't have to. But I am thankful to be part of a church and a family of churches that truly believe in the value of discipleship and covenant relationship. We don't just go to church but we do life together. Ps Jeff, if you are reading this, thanks very much for the constant love and impartation. What I have received I will pass on to others. :)

Back from MNC, it is time to rejoin my team to do our best for Jesus this Christmas!

"Jesus, please be with us once again, in an even greater way than last year. Without You we can do nothing. With You we can overcome and prevail through it all. Amen!"

Love Africa

I am at Changi Airport right now. I am waiting for my parents' flight to arrive from Melbourne. Earlier in the evening I joined the Love Africa meeting. Love Africa is a church level project anchored by AG4 district to gather like-minded people across the church, those who have the heart for the continent of Africa one way or another. Eugene Phang is the man behind this project.

It is great to see people from different groups in our church coming together to do something for people thousands of miles away from us. Indeed missions is done together. When each one of us does our part the combined effort can really go a distance.

Three weeks ago just before we went to Phuket we stopped by in Bangkok to meet Esther. I shared about Esther before. I met Esther in Nairobi, Kenya some time ago. In Bangkok, Esther fetched us from the airport and brought us to visit her company. She is the no 2 person in her company. She is doing business so that she will be able to support the work of missions in Kenya. This is the role that she believes God wants her to play in missions.

Indeed, there are many ways we can do missions. When the heart is willing many things can be a possibility. After all it is always about extraordinary people being used by an extraordinary God.

Tonight (technically last night) I am blessed by the sight of many young adults wanting to take part in the work of missions. I am also blessed by Esther's life, a Thai young adult who is obedient to the call of God in her life to play her part in missions for Africa.

Below are some of the photos I took in Esther's company:

Some Photos from Phuket

Around three weeks ago some of us were in Phuket attending a conference. We had a good time catching up with some old friends and making some new friends as well. In this conference, we heard many powerful testimonies. I thank God that as a movement we are indeed progressing in fulfilling the Great Commission. Missions work is now in being done in places I previously thought as incredibly difficult.

We also had some time doing some sightseeing. The places we visited were quite interesting. Phuket is a popular tourism place in Thailand.

Just recently, I managed to download the photos of this trip from my humble but useful Samsung phone. We also received some photos from another fellow goer.

Here are some of the photos:

Starting a Momentum for Exercise

Recently, I discovered that my stamina had been dropping. I would fall asleep easily when I was in bus or train. I would feel like sleeping earlier than usual as well. I believe that a lack of exercise was a contributing factor to this happenning.

In the last few months I hardly had a chance to exercise. I tried to play tennis regularly on Saturday mornings but my schedule on Saturdays had changed quite a lot this year. There were different things that were happenning on Saturdays including district/sub-district activities, weddings, travelling, Tertiary Service and Indonesian Service. Somehow, it is quite seldom now for me to have a Saturday where I don't have to do something major (to me).

Havings said that, at the end of the day, I cannot use that as an excuse. It is up to me to make time to do things that are important.

I realised that the busier you are the more stamina you need to sustain you. As such exercise is not an option but a must.

Today, I picked up my shoes and went to a nearby gym. I ran on a treadmill for around 20 mins plus. The gym only allowed people to run 20 mins each time due to the limited number of treadmills. I ran for around 2.5km in 20 mins. I am not sure if that is an average or below than average performance. But that's not very important. The most important thing is that I did it.

I did sense the difference even only after one run. I felt stronger physically, meaning fitter in my stamina. I felt that I could think and focus more clearly as well. I hope that I can really sustain this momentum for exercise.

As we are a tripartite being (spirit, soul & body) each part of our being interrelates with one another. If one part is down the other two parts will be affected as well. As such it is important for us to care for each part of our being so that we can remain a fully productive individual.

May God help me in this endeavour of taking care of my body!

Photos of 13

Here are some photos of 13 courtesy of Raymond.

Once again, I want to really thank Sam, Jingqi, Amy, Wynnie and those who are involved in the 13 production to make it into a reality. I want to thank those who invited their friends and family members to join the event. Thus far I know of two friends who came to 13 and recently came to know God.

Indeed, people really matter to God. This is the reason behind 13 and other Young Adults events we did this year. As we do our part God will surely do His part.

Back from Phuket and Going to Port Dickson

Lean Choo and I spent almost the entire of last week in Bangkok and Phuket. We attended a conference in Phuket. We were blessed much by the fellowship, teachings, testimonies and etc. We came back to Singapore on Saturday night.

We are now about to leave to Port Dickson for the staff retreat.

I will write more once I come back from Port Dickson on Wednesday.

Our Recent Trip to Australia (Part 4)

This is the final part, part 4.

As mentioned in part 3, we spent quite a lot time with my siblings and their family members. My brother (Anthony), his wife (CE), and their son (Noah) are settling down in Melbourne. My sister (Melia), her husband (Daniel) and their son (Titus) are in Melbourne for one year.

It was really good to spend time and catch up with them again. In Melbourne, we stayed with Daniel and Melia. Anthony and CE just stayed nearby. As such it was easy for them to spend time with one another.

We arrived on Friday. On Friday night we had a family dinner in a family restaurant called Sofia. The serving for their food is incredibly huge. Six of us couldn't finish the food serving for 2. After dinner, we went to Anthony & CE's house for further time of fellowship.

It was also really good to see how Titus and Noah had grown. Titus (1 1/2 years old) are now able to talk. He kept saying words like "car" and "bye bye". Noah (1 year old) was beginning to learn to walk. Some of their photos are below. (Titus on the left and Noah on the right)

The next day, Saturday, was a big day. It was Noah's 1st Birthday Celebration. Wow, we went to Melbourne at the right time. It was a very good party. The food was great. The games were fun. The fellowship was good. There were around 40-50 people in the party. Anthony & CE and some others really put in a lot of efforts to make the party into a success.

On Sunday night, we went to eat in a Vietnamese restaurant before we headed to the South Bank, a nice spot along the Yarra River. We watched the fire work that happened once per hour. It was pretty impressive though it could be scarry for kids as well. Titus was visibly scared by the fire.

On Monday, we went to have a good yum cha. Both Lean Choo and I agreed that the yum cha in Australia was generally better than what we had in Singapore. For one, I found the food to be less oily. But Daniel and Melia told us that there were good yum cha places in Singapore as well. (we just did not know it. :)) We did some other things after the yum cha before heading to the airport.

We had a very good family time in Melbourne. We enjoyed spending time with them. We appreciate them taking care of us really well. Daniel and Anthony actually took leave just to spend time with us. We also enjoyed playing with Titus and Noah. We believe that Titus and Noah enjoyed playing with us too. :)

I saw how each one of us had grown as a person. No, none of us is perfect. But it is clear to me that increased maturity help family members to get along with one another better. Differences in personality, opinion and etc will always be there. But maturity helps us to appreciate those differences instead of using it to attack one another. :)

Titus and Noah are the newest addition to our family. Their presence brings much joy and laughter. They add a new dimension to our family life. Often, they are the stars of the family. Without them realising they are actually unifying the older family members around them.

Very quickly, our recent trip to Australia came to an end. We thank God that it was a very fruitful trip. The three objectives that we had for the trip was more than met except on the annual retreat part which was a little bit short. But it was well compensated with the great time we had with our both spiritual and natural families.

We came back to Singapore feeling thankful and grateful for all that God had allowed us to experience in our recent trip to Australia. Australia will always have a special place in our hearts for many reasons. We hope to be back there again in a not too distant future.

Our Recent Trip to Australia (Part 3)

We flew from Gold Coast to Melbourne. Daniel (my brother in law), Melia (my sister) and Titus (my nephew) picked us up in the airport. In Melbourne, we spent a lot of time with them as well as with Anthony (my brother), CE (my sister in law) and Noah (my second nephew). I will share more about our time with them in part 4.

In Melbourne, we also spent some time with some brothers and sisters in Hope Melbourne (Waverley & City Centres). I accepted Christ into my life on 29 July 1994 in a care group meeting of Hope Melbourne, Waverley Centre. I left Melbourne to Singapore in June 1998.

We visited Waverley Centre Sunday service. It was great to be able to come back for a visit after 9 years. I have many wonderful memories of my time with the Waverley centre. It was a place where I knew God and grew spiritually. It was a place where I learnt what it meant to really serve God fully. It was a place where I captured God's vision for the world. It was a place where I witnessed great life examples, transformation of lives, the visitations of God, etc.

Back to the visit. The video clip we brought was shown in the service. After service, we spent some time with some brothers and sisters who would be going back to Singapore in the near future. It is nice to get to know them. We hope to be able to know them better, perhaps when they are back in Singapore for holiday. Below are some pictures we took with them.

From Waverley Centre we went to another part of Melbourne to meet some brothers and sisters from the City Centre. It brought back some memories to me as well. One, my younger brother, Anthony accepted Christ in the City Centre. Two, I met Ferry again. Ferry and I met and in the Waverley Centre. However, he later on went to join the City Centre. Three, I used to join City Centre's services occassionally in the past to do skits for their Indonesian Services.

Back to the visit. We went to someone's house and had a great time of fellowship and sharing with Ferry and company. The group was a very joyful group. We laughed a lot during our time together. We showed them the video clip there as well. Below is a picture we took with them.

The next day was Monday. We were leaving Melbourne on Monday evening. On Monday morning, Ferry came a long way from where he lived to the place where we stayed in Melbourne to spend some time together. We had a breakfast and some quality time together in a nearby Milkbar. Ferry's photo is below. Ferry is actually Jorry's elder brother. (Jorry is a key leader in our Indonesian group in Singapore). Can you the resemblace? :)

Both Lean Choo and I really enjoyed getting to know some brothers and sisters in the both centres in Melbourne. I had a good time catching up with some old friends as well. I am really thankful for the big family that God has given me. Wherever I go, in many parts of the world, I can meet people who love God and desire to fulfil His vision for the world. This is indeed is a privilege and joy that God has given me. Thank you, Jesus!

Our Recent Trip to Australia (Part 2)

This is part 2.

We moved from Brisbane to Gold Coast on Sunday night. We spent the next few days in Gold Coast doing our annual retreat.

Effectively, we only had four days for this retreat. We spent some time playing, planning and praying.

We actually stayed in the same apartment as we did in 2004 when we went to Australia to attend my brother's wedding. What a loyal customer. :)

This was my second trip to Gold Coast. I think it was Lean Choo's third trip. This time I decided to visit one of the worlds as I thought it would be quite strange to go to Gold Coast twice without visiting any of the world at all. :)

Some of our Gold Coast photos are below. Enjoy! :)

The apartment from a distance

The living room with a model from Singapore

This model loves kitchen

The view from the balcony

The Famous Surfers Paradise

I was posing

The Movie World

The Police Academy Stunt Show

Do you like Shrek?

Shrek 4D show was quite cool

That wasn't me

I look thin here

Lean Choo loves flowers

Who poses more convincingly?

A rare couple photo

The painting was large

I am thin in comparison to...

I guess I really like to pose