for the first time in dunno how many years, I'VE FALLEN SICK. wheee thanks to ong yi zha. now i've lost my voice, i have an inflamed throat, running nose and slight fever. i dunno whether to rejoice or to be sad. for once in my 4 years in the band i've come home early for once when there's a band practice going on. haha. show's how committed i have been! hahaha.

yesterday's jamming session was one hell of a time. kudos to miguel for his drum beats, tim soo and denise for the guitar playing. it was a REMARKABLE first practice. on 24th of july we're so gonna rock it for the sec 3s. haha. oh well don't wanna say much more. just wanna thank god for all that he's done for me. i hope i get well soon): haha yup. cya god bless.

P.S. anyone want the songs for 24th july P&W can ask me send.

I just bet that sometimes you wish that you were old enough to have your own bank account. You probably say to yourself: "I would go there and draw money and get everything I want."

Well! I have news for you! You do have a bank account. You have had it for as many years as you have lived. But you have probably forgotten your code for the cash machine. You have an account with the DBJC bank.

The DBJC bank is a bank with a difference. The more you draw from your account, the more there is for you to draw. There are no daily limits on how much you can take out. There is only one snag: what you draw today you must spend today!

The other odd thing is what the Bank looks like inside. Since you have forgotten your bank code for the cash machine, go inside. You will find three cashier windows. The one window has the name 'Yesterday'; the window in the middle is called 'Today'; and the one on the right has a name plaque above it but it is blank. That's OK, because you can easily guess that if the other two are called 'Yesterday' and 'Today', the third one is probably called 'Tomorrow'.

Something else is odd, though. The 'Yesterday' window is boarded up with strong wood and nails, and what would be the 'Tomorrow' window was never cut open: it is still bricked up as part of the wall, as though no-one ever meant to actually open a window there. Only the 'Today' window is open. Go in and look around. Look at the far corner. Can you see an old man sitting in the shadows? Go and ask him about the windows. He is waving at you. Go now!

The old man tells you: "This is the Divine Bank of Jesus Christ. God created it when he created Man so that Man could come and draw graces from Heaven whenever he wanted. Each person has an account. The nice thing for young people like you is that you do not need your parents' permission to have an account because God opened one for you anyway.

But this bank only works for today. Yesterday, as you can see by the window, is gone. You cannot draw any graces for yesterday, and all the graces that were there for yesterday that you didn't use, have gone. And tomorrow does not exist. Who knows if there will be a tomorrow, or if there will be a tomorrow for every Bank client? So the Bank operates only for Today. Even the computers are designed that way. If you try to access 'Yesterday' they just shut down, and if you enter 'Tomorrow' it says, 'Location unknown'."

The old man goes on: "Right now your bank account is nearly empty, because this Bank works the opposite from the banks of men. Here the less you draw, the less you have, and the more you take out, the more your bank balance grows. You have only a small starting amount, because you had forgotten about your bank account. But if you draw that today and use it all up, your balance will double. Remember though that you have to spend what you draw on the same day. You cannot save it for another time."

Then the old man gets up and gently pushes you towards the 'Today' window. He says: "Go now. Go and draw your graces. When you have spent them, come again. I hope to see you here very often".

But you are not ready to let him go. You say: "I am afraid to draw those graces because I don't know what to do with them. I can't save them up and I don't want to waste them. It is better for them to stay where they are."

The old man looks at you: "If they stay there, they are wasted anyway. But don't worry. God will show you today how to use those graces so that your bank balance can grow and grow. You must just take the first step and draw what is there."

You are still nervous: "My friends say that nothing is for free. How do I pay God back for the graces He gives me today?"

The old man puts his hand on your shoulder: "Graces are gifts from God, but He does want you to use them. Two things will help you. I am sure that you have heard the words 'Prayer' and 'Sacrifice'. Those are the currencies of this Bank. Now 'Prayer' is quite easy when you get to know God. He just wants a couple of chats with you each day. Even though He knows everything, He still likes to spend some time with you and for you to tell Him about the fun and the problems you had today. Don't be fooled: even though He is Great and Almighty, He fusses over you all the time, like over a favourite child. So pray by talking to God.

Now the word 'Sacrifice' has sort of received bad press. People don't like to hear it, and they certainly don't like to think about doing it. They think that it is a bit like someone asking you to go and climb the highest mountain on your own, without food or equipment and skip all your favourite TV shows.

Pity, though! It is really nothing like that. If you look in those books that they have at your school, the ones they call 'Dictionaries', they will soon set you straight on 'Sacrifice'. They will explain to you that the word 'Sacrifice' simply means 'to make holy'. That means that anything you do that is not bad you can turn into a sacrifice simply by telling God: 'I am doing this for You'. Easy, you see!"

"Now the trick of using up those graces of yours is simply to do things that cost you a little, and them offer them to God as sacrifices; the more the thing asks of you, the more graces it is worth. Even things that you have to do, like chores and homework, can be offered as sacrifices. There is only one rule: sacrifices can't be made with a miserable heart. So be happy and don't go around keeping busy all day and forgetting to 'make those things holy' - just offer them to God.

If by the end of today you think you have still not used up all those graces, try to spend some more time with God before you go to bed, asking Him to sort out some problems your family or friends may have, or even some sad things that you may have seen on TV. And by the way, God really enjoys a 'Thank You' sometimes. Also, like all of us, He really likes good news and happy endings, especially when it has happened to you. Remember that He really likes you. So give him some good news and a smile and don't forget to thank Him for those graces."

Enjoy banking with the DBJC bank.

i realised its damn fun to play the keyboard for praise and worship! better than singing! haha. today i played for the first time, didn't do quite well. had been practising alot, well at least more than usual. haha. it's different when you play alone and when you play with people singing alongg. cos like when you screw up the chords or something you can't immdietely pick up. haha. oh well. i liked today's songs! but i wish we had a rock band): miguel the drummer, justin sim rhythm guitar, soo lead, me the vocalist! haha. dream dream dreammmm...

new core team selected! i got voted for music, something which i had expected to be voted for if i were to be in the core team. hmm i'm not sure what to feel now actually. on one hand i feel happy that i got this post, on the other hand i have to fear inside of me. i don't know what to expect in the future, just hope that God leads me along the way, in whatever i do(: the core team is seriously female dominated, tim swee and I are so gonna die. haha. but i'm sure we will still work very well with each other, can't imagine us quarelling over stuff. haha. anyway congrats to all!

i have this inkling that father ho thinks i'm a flirt. he's always asking me where are my darlings. argh. we need to wear name tags! in case he starts calling me clarence or joan as mirabel again. haha. had fun in macs talking bout adult stuff. though we're still not so qualified in terms of age yet. haha. but yea it was kinda funny, but on the other hand we were speaking so loud i think everyone in mcdonalds could hear all the sick stuff we were talking bout. sjc ppl, hai. hahaha. *bangs my head against the wall* wheeee k i'm off for some abs training now. cya ppl ard. haha. HAPPY YOUTH DAY!!!!

while some of my poor friends from log had O level chinese oral today, i went for my VJC audition! spent the entire day in school doing useless stuff, first it was painting tiles? then next went to play soccer supposedly with teachers but ended up playing against some university people, or cat high alumni. the rest of the time was spent either sleeping, talking or slacking. i'm totally shocked by some of classmates! today was supposed to be a day of celebration, but when we have free time what do they do? MUG. MUG AND MUG. can't stand it, my damn class is full of muggers. anyway at 12.30 just left school with eugene, ambrose and mark for vjc, my father being the chauffeur! my tuba couldnt fit into the boot! so in the end only half of it entered, the other half was sticking out, being held on by some rubber band. damn scary la! the whole trip my father was like driving damn slow. if my tuba dropped out, i'd pity the car behind. haha.

the VJC band room is in the canteen! at the side, with a rather small door. haha. god they have mattresses inside for their members to sleep and slack. pro. yea anyway bout 10 ppl went for the audition, majority being dunman high people (bleahx. haha.) there were sngs people, tkgs, bukit panjang, scgs.yup. plus cat high! anyway i was shocked when i saw the dunman high principal tuba player there. my goodness the last time we had exchange with them, i witnessed his HARDCORE side. his fingers were going like bulubulubulubulu while playing the mahler symphony. haha well i thought i kinda screwed up my solo audition, played my scale wrongly. to my amazement. and my tone went bad all of a sudden. left the room while sticking out part of my tongue, thought i heard the teacher in charge giggle when i did that. haha

anyway later me and the dunman high guy went back to play the sight reading piece. the audition guy was like saying, "who first?" then while i was hesitating he volunteered. so off he went. and after he played my mouth was like *drops jaws* (but of course i didn't do that, just my expression at that time. haha) i was like, how come his sight reading so bad?? so my turn. and i did it almost perfectly. *stands up proudly* haha. oh well. i thought i thrashed him, at least in sight reading. thought his tone was better than mine. but i could have done better! ayee just pray that the dumb and grumpy looking, chinese speaking VJC conductor does pass my audition. *heaves a huge sigh of relief*

my conductor is seriously getting more demanding, bitchy, irritating day by day. today 4 of us went late for band, and when we were not here i heard she was damn pissed with us? she was like asking yizha where the senior leaders? then he said go audition. then she said, "you let them go for audition ah! you the teacher in charge ah!" blah somethin like that. say we never tell her when we TOLD HER IN THE MORNING. then in the morning she was like already fking kaobei, don't let us go, for no particular reason. "tell them you have band practice!" screw her man. i seldom say these kinda things. but i'm damn pissed with her right now.

on the lighter note CHMA was damn good! ronin came, and they were damn zai. the lead singer is an albino! and he's like totally crazy, as if he's on ecstasy when he's singing. haha. devil's consignment won the rock band, not ecnerret. woo. what a suprise. haha. they played sweet child. aiyah dun wish to elaborate more. there was lucky draw! 2 ppl won ipod shufflers. another one WON AN IPOD MINI!!! then everyone started saying, "f*** you la!" even the girls started. so i unwittingly joined in. hahaha. :x i was damn hyper la, kept screaming at the performers, the mc. like some crazy idiot. haha.many things happened. i'll speak bout it some other time.

michelle is making me very kan cheong bout rj! she said caijing told her everyone including people from performing arts have been called. HOW CAN? I DIDN'T GET CALLED. neither did raphael, krispy, rice, mark, ambrose. HOW CAN. i don't believe. i'm gonna continue waiting. *crosses my fingers* anyway asked my senior in rj band to help me check already. pls oh pls gimme a call soon. ahhhhhh help.

tmr morning school at 7.45! reallly dun feel like going. another day of band. i'm not gonna get the chance to study if this carries on. ARGH. need to start MUGGING. haha bye peeps.

for the first time in dunno how many years, I'VE FALLEN SICK. wheee thanks to ong yi zha. now i've lost my voice, i have an inflamed throat, running nose and slight fever. i dunno whether to rejoice or to be sad. for once in my 4 years in the band i've come home early for once when there's a band practice going on. haha. show's how committed i have been! hahaha.

yesterday's jamming session was one hell of a time. kudos to miguel for his drum beats, tim soo and denise for the guitar playing. it was a REMARKABLE first practice. on 24th of july we're so gonna rock it for the sec 3s. haha. oh well don't wanna say much more. just wanna thank god for all that he's done for me. i hope i get well soon): haha yup. cya god bless.

P.S. anyone want the songs for 24th july P&W can ask me send.

I just bet that sometimes you wish that you were old enough to have your own bank account. You probably say to yourself: "I would go there and draw money and get everything I want."

Well! I have news for you! You do have a bank account. You have had it for as many years as you have lived. But you have probably forgotten your code for the cash machine. You have an account with the DBJC bank.

The DBJC bank is a bank with a difference. The more you draw from your account, the more there is for you to draw. There are no daily limits on how much you can take out. There is only one snag: what you draw today you must spend today!

The other odd thing is what the Bank looks like inside. Since you have forgotten your bank code for the cash machine, go inside. You will find three cashier windows. The one window has the name 'Yesterday'; the window in the middle is called 'Today'; and the one on the right has a name plaque above it but it is blank. That's OK, because you can easily guess that if the other two are called 'Yesterday' and 'Today', the third one is probably called 'Tomorrow'.

Something else is odd, though. The 'Yesterday' window is boarded up with strong wood and nails, and what would be the 'Tomorrow' window was never cut open: it is still bricked up as part of the wall, as though no-one ever meant to actually open a window there. Only the 'Today' window is open. Go in and look around. Look at the far corner. Can you see an old man sitting in the shadows? Go and ask him about the windows. He is waving at you. Go now!

The old man tells you: "This is the Divine Bank of Jesus Christ. God created it when he created Man so that Man could come and draw graces from Heaven whenever he wanted. Each person has an account. The nice thing for young people like you is that you do not need your parents' permission to have an account because God opened one for you anyway.

But this bank only works for today. Yesterday, as you can see by the window, is gone. You cannot draw any graces for yesterday, and all the graces that were there for yesterday that you didn't use, have gone. And tomorrow does not exist. Who knows if there will be a tomorrow, or if there will be a tomorrow for every Bank client? So the Bank operates only for Today. Even the computers are designed that way. If you try to access 'Yesterday' they just shut down, and if you enter 'Tomorrow' it says, 'Location unknown'."

The old man goes on: "Right now your bank account is nearly empty, because this Bank works the opposite from the banks of men. Here the less you draw, the less you have, and the more you take out, the more your bank balance grows. You have only a small starting amount, because you had forgotten about your bank account. But if you draw that today and use it all up, your balance will double. Remember though that you have to spend what you draw on the same day. You cannot save it for another time."

Then the old man gets up and gently pushes you towards the 'Today' window. He says: "Go now. Go and draw your graces. When you have spent them, come again. I hope to see you here very often".

But you are not ready to let him go. You say: "I am afraid to draw those graces because I don't know what to do with them. I can't save them up and I don't want to waste them. It is better for them to stay where they are."

The old man looks at you: "If they stay there, they are wasted anyway. But don't worry. God will show you today how to use those graces so that your bank balance can grow and grow. You must just take the first step and draw what is there."

You are still nervous: "My friends say that nothing is for free. How do I pay God back for the graces He gives me today?"

The old man puts his hand on your shoulder: "Graces are gifts from God, but He does want you to use them. Two things will help you. I am sure that you have heard the words 'Prayer' and 'Sacrifice'. Those are the currencies of this Bank. Now 'Prayer' is quite easy when you get to know God. He just wants a couple of chats with you each day. Even though He knows everything, He still likes to spend some time with you and for you to tell Him about the fun and the problems you had today. Don't be fooled: even though He is Great and Almighty, He fusses over you all the time, like over a favourite child. So pray by talking to God.

Now the word 'Sacrifice' has sort of received bad press. People don't like to hear it, and they certainly don't like to think about doing it. They think that it is a bit like someone asking you to go and climb the highest mountain on your own, without food or equipment and skip all your favourite TV shows.

Pity, though! It is really nothing like that. If you look in those books that they have at your school, the ones they call 'Dictionaries', they will soon set you straight on 'Sacrifice'. They will explain to you that the word 'Sacrifice' simply means 'to make holy'. That means that anything you do that is not bad you can turn into a sacrifice simply by telling God: 'I am doing this for You'. Easy, you see!"

"Now the trick of using up those graces of yours is simply to do things that cost you a little, and them offer them to God as sacrifices; the more the thing asks of you, the more graces it is worth. Even things that you have to do, like chores and homework, can be offered as sacrifices. There is only one rule: sacrifices can't be made with a miserable heart. So be happy and don't go around keeping busy all day and forgetting to 'make those things holy' - just offer them to God.

If by the end of today you think you have still not used up all those graces, try to spend some more time with God before you go to bed, asking Him to sort out some problems your family or friends may have, or even some sad things that you may have seen on TV. And by the way, God really enjoys a 'Thank You' sometimes. Also, like all of us, He really likes good news and happy endings, especially when it has happened to you. Remember that He really likes you. So give him some good news and a smile and don't forget to thank Him for those graces."

Enjoy banking with the DBJC bank.

i realised its damn fun to play the keyboard for praise and worship! better than singing! haha. today i played for the first time, didn't do quite well. had been practising alot, well at least more than usual. haha. it's different when you play alone and when you play with people singing alongg. cos like when you screw up the chords or something you can't immdietely pick up. haha. oh well. i liked today's songs! but i wish we had a rock band): miguel the drummer, justin sim rhythm guitar, soo lead, me the vocalist! haha. dream dream dreammmm...

new core team selected! i got voted for music, something which i had expected to be voted for if i were to be in the core team. hmm i'm not sure what to feel now actually. on one hand i feel happy that i got this post, on the other hand i have to fear inside of me. i don't know what to expect in the future, just hope that God leads me along the way, in whatever i do(: the core team is seriously female dominated, tim swee and I are so gonna die. haha. but i'm sure we will still work very well with each other, can't imagine us quarelling over stuff. haha. anyway congrats to all!

i have this inkling that father ho thinks i'm a flirt. he's always asking me where are my darlings. argh. we need to wear name tags! in case he starts calling me clarence or joan as mirabel again. haha. had fun in macs talking bout adult stuff. though we're still not so qualified in terms of age yet. haha. but yea it was kinda funny, but on the other hand we were speaking so loud i think everyone in mcdonalds could hear all the sick stuff we were talking bout. sjc ppl, hai. hahaha. *bangs my head against the wall* wheeee k i'm off for some abs training now. cya ppl ard. haha. HAPPY YOUTH DAY!!!!

while some of my poor friends from log had O level chinese oral today, i went for my VJC audition! spent the entire day in school doing useless stuff, first it was painting tiles? then next went to play soccer supposedly with teachers but ended up playing against some university people, or cat high alumni. the rest of the time was spent either sleeping, talking or slacking. i'm totally shocked by some of classmates! today was supposed to be a day of celebration, but when we have free time what do they do? MUG. MUG AND MUG. can't stand it, my damn class is full of muggers. anyway at 12.30 just left school with eugene, ambrose and mark for vjc, my father being the chauffeur! my tuba couldnt fit into the boot! so in the end only half of it entered, the other half was sticking out, being held on by some rubber band. damn scary la! the whole trip my father was like driving damn slow. if my tuba dropped out, i'd pity the car behind. haha.

the VJC band room is in the canteen! at the side, with a rather small door. haha. god they have mattresses inside for their members to sleep and slack. pro. yea anyway bout 10 ppl went for the audition, majority being dunman high people (bleahx. haha.) there were sngs people, tkgs, bukit panjang, scgs.yup. plus cat high! anyway i was shocked when i saw the dunman high principal tuba player there. my goodness the last time we had exchange with them, i witnessed his HARDCORE side. his fingers were going like bulubulubulubulu while playing the mahler symphony. haha well i thought i kinda screwed up my solo audition, played my scale wrongly. to my amazement. and my tone went bad all of a sudden. left the room while sticking out part of my tongue, thought i heard the teacher in charge giggle when i did that. haha

anyway later me and the dunman high guy went back to play the sight reading piece. the audition guy was like saying, "who first?" then while i was hesitating he volunteered. so off he went. and after he played my mouth was like *drops jaws* (but of course i didn't do that, just my expression at that time. haha) i was like, how come his sight reading so bad?? so my turn. and i did it almost perfectly. *stands up proudly* haha. oh well. i thought i thrashed him, at least in sight reading. thought his tone was better than mine. but i could have done better! ayee just pray that the dumb and grumpy looking, chinese speaking VJC conductor does pass my audition. *heaves a huge sigh of relief*

my conductor is seriously getting more demanding, bitchy, irritating day by day. today 4 of us went late for band, and when we were not here i heard she was damn pissed with us? she was like asking yizha where the senior leaders? then he said go audition. then she said, "you let them go for audition ah! you the teacher in charge ah!" blah somethin like that. say we never tell her when we TOLD HER IN THE MORNING. then in the morning she was like already fking kaobei, don't let us go, for no particular reason. "tell them you have band practice!" screw her man. i seldom say these kinda things. but i'm damn pissed with her right now.

on the lighter note CHMA was damn good! ronin came, and they were damn zai. the lead singer is an albino! and he's like totally crazy, as if he's on ecstasy when he's singing. haha. devil's consignment won the rock band, not ecnerret. woo. what a suprise. haha. they played sweet child. aiyah dun wish to elaborate more. there was lucky draw! 2 ppl won ipod shufflers. another one WON AN IPOD MINI!!! then everyone started saying, "f*** you la!" even the girls started. so i unwittingly joined in. hahaha. :x i was damn hyper la, kept screaming at the performers, the mc. like some crazy idiot. haha.many things happened. i'll speak bout it some other time.

michelle is making me very kan cheong bout rj! she said caijing told her everyone including people from performing arts have been called. HOW CAN? I DIDN'T GET CALLED. neither did raphael, krispy, rice, mark, ambrose. HOW CAN. i don't believe. i'm gonna continue waiting. *crosses my fingers* anyway asked my senior in rj band to help me check already. pls oh pls gimme a call soon. ahhhhhh help.

tmr morning school at 7.45! reallly dun feel like going. another day of band. i'm not gonna get the chance to study if this carries on. ARGH. need to start MUGGING. haha bye peeps.