Owner: tenforty URL:http://tenforty.blogspot.com Join Date: Fri, 08 Jun 2007 11:03:41 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: travel tales in the Far East; Cambodia, China, the Philippines, Singapore; photo blog; inspirational poems and quotes. Site statistics:Click here
Updates 30 July 2007-07-29 23:16:00 Hi, did you enjoy the pics so far? I have a thousand more photos plus several video clips, but those you'll have to wait till I get home if you want a glimpse of them. Viv has gone to attend another class at the camp, and I am taking some time to write a bit, cos we have been so busy in the last few days. Maybe this will be my last update till I get home. Well, we'll see.I'm a bit disappointed that not many of you visited the blog after the 17th, cos as soon as I reached the camp and has int access, I checked the statistics, and... sniff, sniff, only a handful subscribed or were frequent visitors. Squeezing out blog updates on my little hp while jiggling up and down in the bus wasn't fun, you know!!!!!! We've had too much fun so far, and this is just a brief of what has happened...Today is Monday, and our American friends and Ranie left for the airport early this morning, leaving the rest of us behind. This morning, Viv and I decided to pay a little visit to a nearby place to see
A Sure Retreat 2007-08-02 05:10:00 From every stormy wind that blows, From every swelling tide of woes, There is a calm, a sure retreat: 'Tis found beneath the mercy seat. -- Hugh Stowell ___________________________Sent by Deb via the free Email Scheduler service.Register now at http://www.emailschedule.com
The Persecuted Church Part 4 2007-08-05 07:58:00 Christian Evangelism Banned? When clearing my hundreds of emails this weekend, I was terribly surprised to see a report about this country from the most recent Voice of the Martyrs newsletter. Do keep the work and our workers in prayer."On July 10, the Ministry of Cults and Religions distributed a directive banning Christian groups from door-to-door evangelism on the grounds that it "disrupts society." The directive also said distribution of religious literature should be confined to church buildings, which can only be built with government approval. Government officials said the ruling was aimed at reducing Christian evangelism thoughout the country. Pray that Christians there will remain steadfast in their faith despite government opposition. Pray the testimony of believers will draw non-believers to Christ. Joshua 1:9, Isaiah 54:14 - VOM 25 July" Read more:Church
, Persecuted
Midpoint 2007-08-04 08:32:00 25 July Wednesday 1245pm - I am writing this in very cramped conditions in the coach as we travel on the highway to the city of everlasting spring. We had a simple lunch of buns and biscuits on the bus, and we are mid-way through our trip - having completed eight days (since Tuesday 17 July) and we have eight days more to go until we fly home on 2 August. There had been so much we have seen, and done, and experienced, that I hardly know where to begin.We spent three days in Beijing just being tourists - visiting places of interests, and we walked and walked for hours each day. Our friends from the States needed more time than we did to adjust to the different time zones, but the rest of us had no problems. I determined before the trip that I was not going to be shopping much in Beijing, because the prices probably do not agree with me, and Vivien agreed as well. We went to the Forbidden City, the Square, the Great Wall, the Temple of Heaven and took a hutong tour.19th July - Vivien and
Sunset 2007-08-06 11:05:00 The day is done,The sun has set,Yet light still tints the sky;My heart stands stillIn reverence,For God is passing by.-- Ruth Alla Wager Read more:Sunset
Getting Around: Camels In The Desert 2007-08-05 11:09:00 I think I've heard enough camel jokes in the past few days to last me a lifetime. Since some of you are so interested in those creatures, I guess I am now a bit of an expert and can write a whole article about them, huh?I don't know about the others in our tour group, but Ranie and I had never been in the desert before, since there were none in the Philippines or Singapore.Exploring the desert resort on foot.After arriving at this resort about two hours from Baotou (inner Mongolia) we were kicking the sand and remarking that desert sand looked just like beach sand, when we noticed two queues not far away. One was for "One-hour camel ride", and the other queue was for "Half-hour camel ride". I distinctly remember saying something like "not interested in either of them!" and "why isn't there a five-minute camel ride? Half-hour is still too long!" I saw a fake camel, and asked Vivien to take a pic of me on it cos I'd like to show people back home that I rode one. Hehe! Little did I r Read more:Camels
, Desert
Destination Cambodia 2007-08-10 11:43:00 A couple of weeks ago, a team of five visited our missionaries in Koh Kong, Cambodia
. I was not with them cos I was in Beijing en route to inner Mongolia on that very same day (Friday 20th July). Daph, one of the team members, shares many blessings plus more than 80 wonderful photos of the four-day trip in her blog, and here are the two links to it.Destination
CambodiaDestination Cambodia continuedDo visit and be challenged!
Beijing Intro, First Day And Night 2007-08-08 10:10:00 When Vivien and I arrived in the early morning of 17th July (around 7am), we settled down at the airport's KFC for a very long, leisurely breakfast and waited for our tour manager, VG, to show up. It was a smoggy morning, and these few shots I took from the airport bus were not terribly clear because of the Beijing
smog.17th July early morning - KFC at the airportSmoggy view of Tian'anmen Square from the airport shuttle busSmoggy view of the National Grand Theatre fromthe airport shuttle busVG is not an experienced tour manager; this was likely his first (and maybe last?) tour, and we had to keep our eyes peeled for him because he had very poor eyesight and we thought he probably could not see us. In fact, during our tour of Beijing and inner Mongolia, he was often found trailing behind the group instead of taking the lead up in front, and very often too, we found him peering closely at his mobile phone. And he could not see road signs. Strange tour guide, huh?? If we had been a grou Read more:First
, Night
, First Day
IM Intro, First Day And Night 2007-08-11 11:05:00 After three whole days of shopping and touring in Beijing, we were ready for the real stuff, i.e. the real reason why we were all on this trip. However, when we flew to Inner Mongolia on Friday, only one person out of the dozen of us had any idea what to do and where to go to find our elusive brothers and sisters. That one person was VG. He informed us that there would be someone waiting for Read more:First
, Night
, First Day
Lamb Of God 2007-08-16 08:34:00 I lay my sins on Jesus,the spotless Lamb of God;He bears them all and frees us,from the accursed load.I bring my guilt to Jesus,to wash my crimson stains,White in His blood most precious,till not a spot remains.-- Horatius Bonar
A Soul Saved 2007-08-14 08:42:00 When we arrived in Baotou City, the largest city of inner Mongolia by air on Friday, the tour bus was waiting for us, and very soon, we were in it, heading for our hotel.Our tour guide, a sweet-looking young lady, introduced herself as J to all of us. She told us that she "is a new guide, please forgive any mistakes" and then she sat down abruptly. Vivien and I were sitting in the two seats right behind the driver, and I noticed for the first time that there was another man seated next to the driver, a tall fellow who gave instructions to J. Apparently he was her guide, teaching her the ropes. I also noted J looking at a slip of paper in her hands, and made out some English words. Apparently she was trying to memorise some facts and figures about the city which she was to tell us, the tourists, about.Some Baotou City scenesFamilies out to play in the square after dinnerIf we had been real tourists, coming to inner Mongolia looking for tourist attractions and lots of regurgitated facts
The Temple Of Heaven 2007-08-20 11:05:00 Someone asked me did we see the Tian Tan i.e. the Temple
of Heaven
. Yes, sure we did, on our second day in Beijing, and here are over 30 pics. I didn't enjoy that tour very much, though.First, it was a terrible blazing hot afternoon - must be 40 degrees or something, and Uncle Robert laughed at me and said I had turned as red as a boiled crab. Hah, that fellow's always looking for food/thinking about food. We had actually been told the previous day (which was foggy) that it would rain, and so I shot off messages to the home brethren to 'pray for no rain'. Didn't realise all your prayers were so 'powderful'!Secondly, Vivien and I, if you had read the previous post, had been wandering like two lost sheep the whole morning, looking for the Forbidden City, and then looking for a cab, and I would rather preferred a sit-down tour than to walk again in one of the biggest parks in Beijing.And thirdly, I had seen the Tian Tan before, three years ago on my first visit to Beijing with PP a
Getting Around: Taxis In Beijing 2007-08-18 11:05:00 Vivien and I were very lost. We had walked for about twenty minutes from our hotel to the Forbidden City, but there was no Forbidden City to be seen, and we stood at the street corner, wondering where it was. A lady came up to us. One of the things she was carrying was a big bag of peanuts, and I thought she was going to try to sell us some. Instead, when she opened her mouth, it was to ask us for directions to... I think... the subway. We looked at each other... eh, can't you see we're lost tourists but no, the peanut lady looked at us earnestly for answers. And so, in our broken Chinese, we managed to point out the way, because about five minutes earlier, I had my pic taken outside the entrance into the Beijing
subway.Outside the Beijing subwaySomewhere in Beijing... looking for the Palace Museumaka the Forbidden CityOpposite Tiananmen... how do we get to the other side??Using the underpassWe finally got directions ourselves to the Forbidden City, and to cut a long story short, whe
In Our Own Backyard 2007-08-25 04:45:00 I have been writing about 1) flying thousands of miles to this country and that country 2) meeting believers and non-believers 3) counting 10/40 nations and 4) spending too much money on travel and shopping. Who is aware that we have a United Nations, many souls from 10/40 countries, in our own backyard in Singapore, with many, many of our dear friends joyfully serving in this wonderful ministry! Have you visited the Street Evangelism blog recently? Here's a free advert for Ian, Malt and company!Some brief extracts from the latest Street E report..."It was a United Nations evening for Ian, Catherine and Teresa...they spoke to a Bangladeshi man... Next, they were led to a Thai gentleman. Despite the language barrier, the Gospel was simply presented using an evenge-cube. Teresa and Catherine had the blessing of reaching out to a Chinese-speaking countryman. He shared with them he's been receiving tracts from different people last week and yesterday... Rogan and Malcolm handed out tract
Messengers Of Christ 2007-08-23 08:15:00 Ye messengers of Christ
,His sov'reign voice obey;Arise and follow where He leads,And peace attend your way.The Master Whom ye serve,Will needful strength bestow;Depending on His promised aid,With sacred courage go.Mountains shall sink to plains,And hell in vain oppose;The cause is God's and must prevail,In spite of all His foes.Go, spread a Savior's Name,And tell His matchless grace,To the most guilty and depravedOf Adam's num'rous race.-- Unknown Read more:Messengers
A Blessed Sunday 2007-08-29 08:40:00 Continuing our travels in inner Mongolia with more than 40 photos of Baotou and Hohhot... on Saturday evening, after our wanderings in the desert and our date with Genghis Khan, we returned to Baotou and had dinner with some local siblings. Joining us were a couple of families and we had a good time of sharing and fellowshipping. A 14-year-old girl sat next to me and I made her speak English (good for her to practise English and for me to hide my bad Chinese) and she told me it was her grandmother who first brought her to church, and she got saved and was baptised at the age of five.Next day, after another good breakfast provided by the hotel, we headed for the little conference room we rented for our service. The chairs were not arranged like what we're used to i.e. like a classroom - instead, there was a big conference table in the middle and we all sat around it, and the 'chairman' i.e. PP sat at one end while the song leader, Joe (appointed because apparently he was the least ' Read more:Blessed
, Sunday
PicK Of The Day: An Accident Waiting To Happen 2007-09-21 22:06:00 Hohhot City Inner Mongolia China. Here's a photo Vivien took of one of our bus drivers as he drove us through the city. You can click here to read and see more photos of our bus journey through inner Mongolia. While we all had to look out for VG (our tour manager who had bad eye-sight) in case he fell into any potholes while walking, our driver also had to look out for such things! An opened manhole in the middle of the road?? What's next! I wonder if there's anyone down there... Read more:Waiting
Hutong Tour Part 2 2007-09-18 18:01:00 We continue from part one with the hutong tour in the second ring of the city. After visiting that very nice couple who lives in a beautiful home with their brand-new flat-screen TV and other 21st century comforts, we returned to our rickshaw. It was almost 2pm, we still hadn't had lunch, but the tour was not yet over. We tipped Mr Baldy, our rickshaw driver, and the tour guide took us to the Drum Tower.We were just in time to catch a performance of drums at the very top of the tour. Nearly had a heart attack climbing the steep steps up to the tower! Here's a little video clip of the drum performance.(Above) The stairs to the top of the drum tower(Below) Giant drums!Tourists with their camerasThere were a few ancient clocks on display, such as the waterclock, and we also viewed a broken drum which was one ofthe originals.Opposite the Drum Tower is the Bell TowerViews of the city from the Drum TowerRoofs of the hutong houses. The houses don't look very nice from the outside,but guess
PicK Of The Day: Baklang Island Koh Kong Cambodia 2007-09-16 07:03:00 Baklang island, Koh Kong Cambodia
. Evening view from the jetty after a trip to Baklang island in a little motor-boat. Only ten-minute ride, but very hair-raising and not comfortable at all! A better way to travel to Baklang island is via the new bridge they had built recently. Which means no more flying dangerously across the deep blue sea, but also no more rare, beautiful scenes like these. Which do you prefer? Read more:Island
Hutong Tour Part 1 2007-09-15 08:24:00 Vivien arranged for a hutong tour with the tour guide on the return trip from the Great Wall. As for the others in our group, PP told them that the bus would drop them off at Wangfujing shopping street so that they could find their own lunch and get more shopping done.We got off in the second ring of the city, and met our hutong tour guide at Macdonalds. We did expect to have to walk down the narrow alleys, and the rickshaw ride was a pleasant surprise.If Vivien and I had decided to explore a hutong on our own without booking a tour, we would probably 1) have to walk a great deal 2) get lost in the narrow, winding lanes and 3) not find out very much about the history of the place. Moreover, looking for a real, 800-year-old Beijing hutong was not an easy thing as these places were fast disappearing. Cramped, unhygenic, fire hazards... most unsuitable with the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the horizon.Rickshaws in a row, waiting for touristsA hutongNew door, about 60 years old?Old door, about
On The Road 2007-09-13 09:11:00 The hot springs hotel was our last stop in a civilised city. Because after that we left the city far, far behind and headed for the Mongolian grasslands, and we were supposed to spend two nights in a traditional yurt, just like the normadic Mongols. However, that yurt had no water and electricity and couldn't take in guests, and so we finally had only one night there. God is so good!We checked out of the hot springs hotel in the late morning on Monday, hopped onto our faithful bus and stayed in it for the next seven to eight hours. We did not stop for lunch, although there were a couple of rest stops to visit holes in the ground. I mean, literally, real holes. The Filipino, Ranie, was shocked as well, but I told her to go ahead and I will jaga.. I mean stand guard outside. What to do... have to go what!!!!Since we did not stop for lunch, VG, our tour manager and Uncle R bought sandwiches for us to eat on the way. Our two bus drivers received their share as well, but we heard later tha
Somewhere In Inner Mongolia 2007-09-29 07:06:00 From hereon I'm going to be vague about where we went and the people we met, in order that our work in this region may continue and grow without hindrance. If you hadn't realised it yet, the purpose of our trip wasn't to climb great walls or indulge in too much shopping and eating; it just happened that those were 'safe' subjects to write and show plenty of pics about.We embarked on a seven-hour journey to a little town in the middle of nowhere.We did not even stop for lunch and munched on sandwiches we had bought from a local deli (which our drivers found inedible). At about three in the afternoon, we finally reached our destination; which was DL's hometown.DL, as mentioned previously, was a local Mongolian and university student who joined us as our tour guide, and she's also a wonderful soul winner. She had not been home in nearly a year and was naturally extremely excited to see her parents again.We were privileged to be welcomed warmly into a real Mongolian household,front Read more:Somewhere
Imprisoned, Banished, Persecuted. 2007-09-27 07:42:00 Religious freedom, defined as "...the notion that people of religion can freely partake of the practices of their religion without opposition." Many of you who are reading this now live in countries where freedom of religion is a given. Our governments guarantee us freedom of belief, freedom of worship, and freedom to witness and evangelise. We take it for granted.Do we know that more than half of the world's population live in the 10/40 window, in atheistic Communist states and in the Islamic Middle East where there is absolutely no freedom of religion? A testimony from a believer in this country (circled in above map) gave the account of 65-year-old man who was imprisoned and forced to leave his own home and village. What did he do wrong? What was his crime? Well, he was given a tract to read. It spoke of receiving the gift of eternal life when believing in Jesus Christ. He testified - "...the thought would not leave me, I felt it deeply as I was growing older, When I die, will ther Read more:Imprisoned
, Persecuted
Shopping And Eating In Beijing 2007-09-25 18:20:00 A leisurely evening stroll in Tiananmen Square became a shopping spree for many in our group.It was our last day in Beijing
. We went out before dinner to see the sights, and the touts swooped upon the Americans in our group like vultures after a fresh kill! Hah, Vivien and I had been in Tiananmen Square a few times (looking for taxis, looking for the Forbidden City etc) and never encountered a single tout. I didn't know such a species exist! This time, walking with Mark and Joe and John and Dan, the vendors made me feel like I'm a poor cousin from some insignificant village down south as they ignored me totally (Ahem, don't you know my bag's full of RMB?), and went after the big, tall, well fed Americans! And our friends fell for it, poor things! Someone (was it Mark?) ended up with Mao's red book (cheap, is it?), and another (John or Dan or both) purchased a stack of a dozen Olympic 2008 caps. And then the Tiananmen police van appeared and chased the touts all over the place. Ooh Read more:Shopping
In the Grasslands Briefly 2007-10-03 22:54:00 While we were feasting upon an endless line-up of dishes at dinner, VG, our tour manager, disappeared and did not join us. Some of us wondered if the poor fellow had lost his way, until Uncle R told us he had gone scrambling to find alternative accomodation for us for the night. Eh... what alternative accomodation?? According to the itinerary, after dinner, we were to hop into our bus for an hour's journey to the remote grasslands, where we would check into our traditional yurt hotel for two nights. However, Uncle gave us the bad news, that the yurt hotel suddenly had no electricity and no water and could not take in guests. We were in a very small town, unlike Baotou or Hohhot where good-classed hotels could be easily found. Where... oh where did VG go?? One of the enterprising American pastors suggested... well, we could sleep in the bus. Couldn't we?When VG appeared later and while gobbling down the left-overs, he told us the good news, that he had found "alternative accomodation"
Koh Kong 2007-10-03 07:04:00 I know, I know, I wasn't done writing about one country and here am I hop-skipping to a different land, but Koh Kong's where I'm going to next week... 11th to 14th Oct to be exact, and I'm reviewing some old photos.Koh Kong is the name of a province as well as the town located in the south-south-western part of Cambodia. My first visit - about seven months ago to visit our missionaries - I went everywhere with big eyes, taking as many photos as possible. My second visit - coming up next week to ensure that our missionaries are still behaving - what sort of new sights will I see this time?This little town changes so quickly, will I still see the bridge (linking Cambodia to Thailand) from my hotel room balcony, or will there be new buildings coming up in that green space?Will there still be barefoot, shirtless but perfectly happy kids laughing in front of their zinc-roofed houses on stilts, or will these be replaced by brick houses and long-faced kids bogged down by too much homework
PicK Of The Day: At The Forest Camp Advance 2007-09-30 07:53:00 The Forest
Camp, Tanjay City Negros Oriental Philippines. I think something's not quite right with that sign. Hmm. Anyway, this photo was taken at The Forest Camp Advance
, where all the SMC (Student Movement for Christ) workers had gathered for a few days with our pastors. The organizers of the camp decided it wouldn't do to call it a "retreat", because SMC workers should not retreat and do nothing, and so what's the opposite of retreating? Advance lah, of course! Here are four of my favourite people in the Philippines: (from left to right) Joy, Jonna Fe, Jonah and Allan. Together, they have advanced and witnessed to thousands of souls in Negros Oriental and continue to do so daily. Even though it was August (supposed to be hot in the tropics!) during the camp, it drizzled constantly and was freezing cold. We found out later that there was a typhoon somewhere else. Lesson: don't complain about the rain and the cold; thank God we weren't anywhere near that typhoon!
Back From Trip 2007-10-15 00:22:00 There were no updates during the last four days because I was away on a trip to Koh Kong, Cambodia. I hope all my readers haven’t abandoned me? (sob, sob only 23 subscribers left, how come?!) Anyway, it looks like I’ll not be going anywhere else for the rest of this year, and I came back from this latest trip will plenty of photos, so that will keep me busy for a while. Stay tuned, and oh yes, Mr Fish from Koh Kong says "Hi!" to everyone.We ate him. He was delicious, and so were all the other seafood we had on the dining table each day.
Lake 2007-10-09 21:03:00 Somewhere in inner Mongolia. In this landlocked autonomous region in north China, all they have is grass. So I think they get pretty excited when they find a big blue fresh-water lake in the midst of the grasslands, and some decent trees. The tour guide from the traditional yurt hotel said she would like to take us to see a forest. We went... um, ah, really, a forest? And thought, what's so interesting about that, but being nice people and also having nothing else to do that afternoon, we said okay, we'll go! We travelled over rough roads and some dirt tracks for at least three hours through the grasslands, bumping up and down in the bus (quite uncomfortable after a heavy lunch) to this place. The lake was beautiful. There was a family (or two) having a picnic, and this little boy went fishing with his two uncles. And it was good to see some trees. You forget what they look like after a while.
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