Russty Delights!

Clear skies, en route to welcome duty at church on bus 155, 7.30 am.

Thank You, God, for helping me to rise and shine way earlier, like 5+ a.m., despite not having set my alarm, being so tired from yesterday and reaching home at 12 a.m., and using a portable charger that was not at full capacity (my phone was at 20% when I woke up with YouTube playing in the background). I would probably be late for school by now. Teach me Your ways not to slumber, and devote my firstfruits of waking up into Your hands. May You use me as Your faithful servant to welcome the congregation into Your house. Now I spend time recounting my blessings from Saturday, 12 Sep 2026.

12/9/2026

Woke up to my alarm, and when I left the house, I checked and learned that Bengawan Solo @ Collyer Quay only opens on weekdays!! Ended up detouring to Changi Airport. On the train from Expo to the airport, I closed my eyes and prayed to Abba Father, as I sensed everything around me fading out—just me and God alone in our secret place. Granted, it may have been due to sleepiness too, but I felt a supernatural sense of being away from the world for that short time. Eventually, I reached the airport and learned that Lapis Sagu is only available from the afternoon, so I settled for Kueh Lapis instead. I counted the slices of the displayed product, and then, while waiting for the bus to Khatib, I realised the Kueh Lapis might have been unsliced. I asked ChatGPT first (which confirmed my fear) before tearing the packaging to see for myself. Immediately asked for a plastic knife and thanked Vic and Charlotte for responding so swiftly!

En route to Bird’s Paradise (BP) by bus, I continued to just pray and talk to God, and I was praying for the ominous-looking clouds and seemingly impending rain to just dissipate away, that His glory and light may shine in, and I asked the Lord, “If according to Your will, will You let Your children take in and enjoy the sight of birds and creation of Yours?” as I am reminded of Matthew 7:11 “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” 

As I prayed, the Lord impressed a familiar passage on my mind, with details I may have overlooked, bringing them back to mind. In Gen 6:19-20, the Lord spoke to Noah, “And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. ²⁰ Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive.” Wow, birds! Deep within myself, I held my faith and confidence that the Lord has heard our prayers, that His grace and mercy for His children will prevail in the form of good weather today. (Shared this part with Hongfei and a few others later on in the day).

I alighted from the M2 bus at 9.50 am and reached the entrance around 10 am — not long later, I saw Jolene + Yeen Seen come with the rest and helped Jolene redeem her birthday pin + 1-for-1 tix! Thank God for helping Vicha and Yara navigate their way smoothly to take the M2 bus, but quite funny —> they were running a tad late and met Mii + Charlotte otw. Returned Vicha’s missed call, and Vicha said they met a girl otw (we still couldn’t tell who it was, as IIRC Yeen Seen also headed somewhere), and then when I called Yara, Yara mentioned it was Mii hahahah.

We went in around 10:20 a.m.-ish. I was already asking ChatGPT to help replan the route since we were most likely missing the 10.30 am show, until Charlotte pointed out in chat, and indeed there seemed to be a typo in one of the show timings on the official website, with the app reflecting an 11.30 am start time rather than 10.30 am. PTL!! Re-routed to take the shuttle to Central Plaza, followed by Songs of the Forest, Amazonian Jewels, and Crimson Wetlands, before reaching in time for the Amphitheatre. ChatGPT graphic was decently useful. Friends clearly loved the Crimson Wetlands, especially the flamingos. So much so that we had to rush for the 11.30 am show, and the next show started at 12.30 pm; since the Crimson Wetlands were right beside the Amphitheatre, we decided to go back afterwards. The shows were fascinating, as I saw how well-trained the birds were.

My biggest takeaways, however, weren’t necessarily about appreciating the beauty of the sights and sounds we were taking in, but about the interactions with people.

I always love seeing families and friends gather at tourist attractions (fun fact: I bought a GBTB annual pass for only $30 student price), and sometimes I enjoy them more than the scenery itself.  (I really appreciate going into different environments outside the normal concrete buildings a typical SGean tends to be surrounded by, even if I don’t think I can appreciate the intricacies of art and birds.) This tendency to enjoy the sights of loved ones gathering together so much probably has to do with my upbringing and my desire to have my own family and community (a gift? calling? but definitely something God has placed in me through my experiences), while also helping me learn to open up and feel more comfortable around people during the times I want to isolate. Over the past two months, I also grew more sensitive to the Holy Spirit and tried to make as much room for Him to work. As everyone was wandering around the Crimson Wetlands, I was standing near the exit/mass-gathering area where we just took a group photo together, waiting for all amigos/‘sheeps’ to return before making our way to the Amphitheatre (which I later scouted to take less than 5 mins to walk to from where we were). I was just taking in the sight of the flamingos when I saw this family wanted to take a family photo together but (I forgot why) was struggling, perhaps just coz they didn’t have anyone to take a group pic for them. I offered my help, and this convo was what I overheard from the family, which simply melts my heart:

Child: “(Who is that person?) Is that your colleague?”

Mum: “No, but it is a very nice gorgor that offered to help out!”

I was so taken aback when I heard it! Maybe it’s just me, but I find it incredibly rare for strangers in Singapore to give such kind praise, or perhaps I have stereotyped most strangers/parents (esp. non-believers, unfortunately) as more negative, possibly bc of what I’ve been through. I would feel like a typical SGean response would be, “Dk leh/No leh, I have not even seen him before/I don’t even know him”. I wouldn’t expect most people to give praise, especially when the question didn’t ask for it. The way the mum said it felt so genuine, and my instinct was that’s how I want to raise my future children: to learn how to express genuine appreciation to people we have benefited from.

Seeing the joys of fellow classmates also is one of the greatest joys a servant can ever receive. I’ve never been to Bird’s Paradise before, but I’m merely an avid solo traveller who is decent enough with directions, and it is a true blessing to be able to guide the rest of us and navigate our way so that we all can enjoy ourselves, especially our international students! I loved it when I saw everyone just enjoying nature and the sights, and so carefree, because I, who was also enjoying myself with the sights too to begin with, am blessed to be able to bless them; enjoying researching, coming up with plans and asking ChatGPT for outputs that I could send into the group chat (GC). (The last time I did this de facto tour-guide thing was probably back in 2023 in the Netherlands, when I led a few bridge friends sightseeing after we bombed out of the qualifying stage in an international competition). As much as everyone joked and gave genuine compliments about being a shepherd, as a CGL-in-training for church, I got to see the blessings that come with a shepherd’s heart. I thank my classmates for being so good at listening to my voice (aka instructions on WA) ^^ 

(all 16 of us!)

Also loved seeing friends enjoying the Kueh Lapis! My least preferred love language to give & receive is gifts (I am pretty sure last time I did a test abt love language on the receiving end, I got a flat 0 in the area of receiving gifts).

(March 9, 2023. 0% for receiving gifts.)

Food might be the easiest thing to give because it is less likely to go wrong? Anyway, I think it started off as a thought of buying some food for everyone, and as I was thinking about what to buy, I was trying to think of what SG foods our international classmates might not have tried yet, and I just recalled things that I ate when I was younger, and I immediately craved Lapis Sagu and Agar-Agar.

We then made our way to Jolene’s house for lunch and eventually dinner. Coffee-tasting, sharings + wisdom, Birds of Paradise ice cream, pizza, pasta, meatballs, chicken wings, looking&playing with Alfie + Tubby, playing resistance and Cockroach Poker, so blessed!!

Ah, and yes, thanks to Jolene’s indirect reminder, we managed to book a 13-seater Grab en route from Bird’s Paradise to her house. Uncle Ham, the driver, showed a lot of grace—I suspect he was already in our area when he accepted the trip and arrived in 2 minutes. He, however, was really calm and alright with us being a tad late, and as I dwelled on it, I felt a stirring to offer him a prayer, because that is one of the bare minimum we could offer him as a Christian, for the amount of grace he extended to us. And so, with my heart palpitating because I don’t recall this being something that I had ever done before, I typed in our GC not to rush off to disembark the vehicle because I wanted to pray for him, and I had my Grab screen on my phone as I started sitting upright anxiously. I vaguely recalled saying upon arrival, “谢谢你, uncle! Uncle Ham, (not sure if I recall this part correctly)你能给我们一分钟吗？ 因为我们都是基督徒/相信耶稣，我们想祝福你，想要为你做一个很快的祷告，可以吗？“

To Uncle Ham’s credit, he rejected super-duper nicely! He said that because he was a Buddhist, he would like to reject the offer. Of course, we bid him farewell and thanked him nonetheless, and deep down, as someone who has always been fearful of rejection, there was a sense of letdown/disappointment. But as I sat on it further, I became more at peace. More at peace with the fact that his response could have been way worse, more at peace with the fact that I chose to obey the stirring in the heart, when obedience is what He delights in. Hopefully a seed was planted, and I can continue to keep him in prayer. (Shoutout to classmates for being so encouraging during this part!) My hope is also not to lose the gift of bilingualism and to grow more proficient in praying in Chinese. Pretty sure this was the prayer I was rehearsing in my mind: “慈悲恩主，我们感谢 Uncle Ham 给予我们的耐心和包容。求祢保守他，眷顾他，让他驾车时专注，给予他平安，驾车安全。我们奉主耶稣的名祷告，阿门！ (Merciful Lord, we thank Uncle Ham for the patience and mercy he has granted us. We pray you will take care of him; help him focus as he drives, that you may give him peace and keep him safe. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!”

(Editor’s note — finished this journal entry after service at 1.05 pm; found one of our church office rooms to type this out. Just fearful I will forget and miss all the memories, despite being really good at memory already, I would think.)

(Editor’s note #2 — Thanks, Eunice, for today’s worship set that tended to me, and also BDS for your prayer and constant encouragement! I really felt His love as we called out to make room for Him and have more of Him and less of us mid-prayer.

And also recalled that I shared to Jolene about the phrase “彬彬文文“ and I realised that it is a hodgepodge of 文质彬彬，斯斯文文，and 彬彬有礼. LOL)