Student Life Annual Dinner 06

Finally the Student Life's annual dinner is here and everyone gets to meet up for one of the last few times before the year ends. It was a semi-formal theme so all the ladies brought out their well preserved lustrous dresses, sparkled and made themselves look glamorous overall while the guys wore their neatly pressed shirts accompanied with equally neatly pressed pants and perhaps applied some hair products, followed by a clean shaven face. Bit boring on the guy's side.


Of course this event wouldn't be called a dinner without food. I decided to invade the kitchen with some quick artistic food photography before getting kicked out by Ken because it was busy and congested.

Mmm...your mouth watering yet?

Yeah, you better wipe that drool off your face before it trickles down onto your keyboard hehe. The night was pretty much chatting to everyone and catching up with each other, talking about each other's summer plans and how much study they've done (or not done). As they say, "Its too late to start studying once the Jacaranda tree has bloomed". There was also a period where people shared in front of everyone what they've seen God done with Student Life this year or how their lives have been influenced by their involvement with Student Life.

There was also a 'graduation' of Student Lifers who have served in this ministry on campus and have come to end of their degrees where they will be pursuing their careers outside of university. Some of them are international students where they're here on exchange and will be going back to their home countries.

During the period where people went up to share with everyone about the year, a girl in a top dress with jeans and boots decided to go up. She called and motioned for a few girls to come up and join her while her voice broke down in a teary voice. She gave her testimony on how she got to know about Student Life during o-week, thinking that this society was all about university partying life and that she'd be able to get drunk and party with the people in Student Life. However, to her dismay, she found out that it was a Christian society on campus that envisions for every student on campus to be connected with someone who truly follows Jesus Christ. The few girls who went up with her maintained contact with her throughout the year and did a Christianity Explained (CE) course with her. Although there was no immediate response that she wanted to follow Jesus, the girls continued to befriend her and show her love. She shared this with us all with her teary voice and said how she was so amazed to see a bunch of students and missionaries loving each other and loving God as a family and that she wanted to be a part of the family. That night, Mel (I think that's her name) decided to join the family of Christ and wanted to be a Christian.

"A new command I give to you: Love one another. As I have loved you,
so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples,
if you love one another." - John 13:34-35

Wow, what an amazing night that was! Definitely no one expected for someone to make that decision on a night like that. Boy am I reminded on how God is limitless. As the night approached the end, we all gathered and mingled with one another, taking photos and sipping coffee and tea.

Tom, Daisuke (Japanese on holidays) and myself.

Myself and Joshua (missionary on campus going back to the States to study post grad law).

Andrew (another missionary on campus) and myself (just posing I guess, haha).

Daisuke, myself and Jun (another Japanese student).

Myself, Jun, Andy and Jian.

Some of the guys doing a FHM (For Her Magazine) shot. Yes, we are posers haha.

The girls of Student Life.

The guys of Student Life.

The guys doing a "Moose" pose. If you don't get, don't worry...Beyond Melbourne 05 inside joke.

$200 Mystery

Yeah I know its been a long time since I've made a post but I've been so bloody busy with uni work its not funny. Many happy and unhappy events have occurred in the past couple of months which I'd love to blog but unfortunately time is constantly against me nowadays. However, I really do need to share with you all about what happened to me today which is pretty exciting.

I received a post parcel pickup docket a few days ago, informing me to go to my nearest post office to pickup a parcel because I was not at home when the delivery was made. So made my way to the nearest post office today after class to find out why on earth am I receiving a parcel? I wasn't expecting any delivery since I didn't buy anything off eBay or anywhere else. I exchanged my docket for my delivery item with the post office man, and turns out that it wasn't a parcel after all. There on the counter lies a red and white registered post envelope addressed to my name. Confused as I was, I opened the envelope to find two items with my name on it.

First item was a check for $200. What the heck!?! I certainly wasn't expecting that. Thought it'd be a bill. Seems like bills are all I get in my mail. Second item was a hand written letter.

It appears some anonymous couple in Queensland found out about my recent financial situation and decided to bless me with a $200 check. Holy moly!!! How'd they know about this? I won't go through the details of the letter as I've included them in the images above. But man, this totally stunned me as I've always thought things like these only happen to other people when they give their testimony's of God's grace in their lives and not myself. I guess this is another testimony I can add to God's graciousness in my life and how I am constantly reminded of Matthew 6:25-34.

You Are

When the grass withers and the flowers fall,
And the wind blows and the whirlwind sweeps away,
My glory's all gone, gone with your breath,
You are the one I fear.

Surely I am like a drop in a bucket,
Nothing more than dust on scales,
Lift up my eyes, who made the skies?
You are the one I revere.

Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told?
You sit above all, above the earth and all enthroned,
To whom shall I compare to you?
You are my only hope.

When I'm tired and weak and out of breath,
It is you that I shall find new strength,
And I will soar, high like the eagles,
You are the one I trust.

You are the everlasting one,
The creator of all the earth,
Incomparable strength and with great power,
And I will soar with you.


-Danny

Post-Exam Euphoria

Man, its been more than 1 month since my last post. This is due to major difficulties that happened to drop into my life for the past 4 weeks and having no internet at home during that period as well. Anyways, I'll update more about that once I get internet on Tuesday! (yeah! :D)

Although my exam was only worth 10%, I managed to grab hold of last year's midterm exam and studied it carefully an hour before the exam. And guess what? It was exactly the same one! Hurrah! Guess I killed this one! :D

My new apartment

I've recently moved out to my new place in Redfern. Tony calls our place the 'Playa Pad'. This is the view of the ever busy Cleveland street outside my room window.

My recently furnished room. As you can see, there isn't a lot of head room from my bed to the ceiling. Can't sit down on my bed with my back straight without hitting the wall. The first night I slept there, I woke up smacking my head on the ceiling. I've gotten accustomed to it now after 3 weeks.

The upper level bathroom is just ridiculously massive. I think I only use half of the space. Could probably have a dance party going on in the bathrooms.

Now going downstairs. Our entrance where a fooze table greets its guests, inviting them to a game of football with the twisting and flicking of wrists.

The living area and to the right (chopped off) is our kitchen area with another bathroom.

Lastly I'll finish off with our beloved bar fridge and our liquor shelf. Try to spot Mr. Daniels!

$7000 prayer

So I went back to my parent's place to have dinner with the family for my brother's farewell as he's going to China for 6 months. Saw an envelope addressed to 'Danny Ng', with red, blue and white borders. Opened it and out came two sheets of paper. First one informed me that my scholarship application for the academic year 2005 had been granted. Second one was a check for US$7000.

Sweet! Another prayer answered. Thank you God. :)

23 years and two crabs later...

Seems like all I do these days is attend birthday parties. There appears to be seasons where trains of birthdays come steaming through, pulling along with it empty carriages waiting to be filled up by presents. My wallet never seemed emptier these days. Parents stop mating at the same time please! Well last Tuesday was Tony's (my housemate) 23rd birthday and he decided to celebrate quietly by shouting us dinner at Harry's Chilli Crab (Singaporean place) with the household and his woman. As you can see from the picture above, Tony has recently acquired the love for the taste of Tiger beer. "Smooooooth..." he says.

That's Lian Shi (my other housemate), Tony and myself.

The household and Anna (left).

Thought we'd do some poses with the crabs before we devoured them completely beyond recognition. Pretty massive crabs if you ask me.

After a massive dinner with chilli crab, black pepper crab, sambal chicken, pipi's and fried rice, we headed back home to have some black forest cake which is Tony's favourite. Pretty funny how Lian Shi managed to get him the cake and Anna somehow couldn't get a blackforest cake as it was sold out where she bought it.

Before going out to Tony's dinner, was playing soccer for 1.5 hours and then went to uni pub for some drinks with friends. This week seems like a week full of alcomohol. Went whiskey tasting the next day.

Jameson, Jameson 12 years, Glenlivet 12 years, Chivas Regal 12 years, Wild Turkey and Wild Turkey Rare Breed. After whiskey tasting, ended up in a pub with friends at Capitol Square for the next 3.5 hours. $5 pints for James Squire Golden ale! I really should give my kidney a rest the next couple of weeks.

In Your Name

It was that time,
When I went mine mine mine,
Unsatisfied,
without you in my whole life,

Now looking back,
At all the silly things that I regret,
Now you're with me,
Show me the way, let your will be done,

It's your love that satisfies,
No other, that makes me smile,
Compel us, with the love of Christ,
In your name, in your name, in your name.

I stand here before you,
Obedience is your delight,
In your name I will,
Tell everyone what you've done in my life.


-Danny

Bavarian Birthday

Went to the Bavarian Cafè on York street last Saturday to celebrate Darran's 21st. As I walked in to the rather posh tavern, I soon realised they served German beer! Straight away I headed for my 500mL glass of German draught. I had no idea what they were called as I could hardly even pronounce their beer selections. Was also great to see the RF (Radio Frequency) crew that survived Godfrey Lucas again last semester! Oh what grand memories I have of our so called 3 hour labs which we ended up spending 6 hours or so every Thursday. Most of the time it was filled with mischief and socialising rather than doing work while Lauren did all the work, making sure all the lab results were attained accurately and doing her research into the theory. Thanks a bunch Lauren, you pulled us through!



Was also great to see Lauren's sister, Rachael, all the way from California. Over the last semester, Lauren had been updating Richie and myself on how hot her sister was and that all of her friends say to her, "So what's up with your sister, Lauren?". Was kind of hilarious meeting Rachael for the first time, as it seems that I've known her for a long time already through Lauren's stories.

Hours passed as we recalled funny stories from last semester and caught up with each other over what we all did during our holidays. The German draught tasted divine each time I held it up 45 degrees over my mouth. I think Darran would've been close to being pretty drunk by now.

As the night beckoned and the Bavarian closing up, we headed to Oxford street to shake our bon-bons. As we were driving there, there was a drunk girl in a blue dress with her right boobs hanging out, crossing the road with the aid of her friends. I guess her friends were also too drunk to notice her mishap. Funny how Lauren's analytical eye spotted it first and was more excited than anyone else when she gestured to us what had happened. She even insisted that I take a picture! I didn't though. The dance floor wasn't too great where we were at. Darran just kept on drinking and we managed to meet up with Isabelle and Andrew. Too bad Andrew was driving, else he would've had a scotch and coke in his hands.

Lauren, Rachael, Richie and myself decided to leave the scene and venture elsewhere to find a nice place to boogie. Since we were in Oxford street, we were right in the heart of Sodom & Gomorrah. Richie and myself avoided gay bars/clubs, although the flamboyant venues seemed pumping with long queues. If we did end up in one, Lauren and Rachael would've had to "cock-block" for us all night long.

We finally ended up in Brooklyn Hotel on George street after deciding on Richie's recommendation. By that time, the German draughts were wearing off and I had to get a couple of bourbons in me to get the grooves going. Music was better there and the floor was packed with perspiration! Went straight to the heart of the floor and started strutting our moves to the beat. You wouldn't think we were nerdy engineers then, hehe. Lauren and Rachael made us Rich and I look good as there were quite a few random guys on the floor trying to dance with them. Couple of hours later, it was nearly 4am and was time to hit the sack.

Had a fantastic Saturday night with engineering mates and wish we could do it again! Next day my entire body was sore and tired. Guess I really need to exercise more. Just thought I'd end this post with a picture which I think why Darran chose the Bavarian Cafè to have his 21st.

MYC 2006

So its been 3 weeks or so since mid year conference and man have I enjoyed every moment of it. Surrounded by flatlands, sheeps and cows grazing blithely on the green pastures, and the Albury breeze that gently rustles the trees as though greeting whoever that passes it, somehow reminding you what the beauty of nature is really like as though an extinct attribute within the streets of the city district. Being in Albury for a week made you forget about your routine life laden with anxiety and busyness, and spend time with God's artistic creation called 'Mother Nature'.

It was great to see old faces again from last year's conference and to see the familiar surroundings of Lakehume Resort, recalling memories of laughter and joy. The 8 hour bus ride must have given me NBS (Numb Bum Syndrome) but that didn't stop me from heading straight to the tennis courts to have a few hits. Would have been my first hit in 6 months or so.

This year's MYC was full of new faces and definitely was bigger than last year's. Students from Sydney University doubled from 18 to 36 and there were a lot of new Victorian faces as well, or perhaps I've forgotten them from last year. ::shrugs::


Free times were filled with mainly soccer as most people had the world cup fever and wanted to strut out their newly acquired soccer skills. The game of 'Taboo' was also rekindled as fellow Taboo fans gathered to outdo the opposing team in a heated battle of careful word assembling and guess work. As the battle got more intense, more cries of excitement could be heard followed by the blessings of holy water (ie. saliva) by Rachel upon me. I guess no one told me to wear weather protective gear during the game. Hehe, was kind of funny though :)

Besides playing games, was also cool being able to catch up with friends and have a little chit chat.

Once again John North's talks was very inspiring and uplifting as his talks went straight for my heart like an arrow to a bullseye. Romans 1:14-19 was pretty much what he talked about. Things I learnt from his talks:

1. Obligation - "I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish." vs 14
   
   God has given us the ministry of reconciliation and also are ambassadors of Christ. To experience Christ's love in our lives and not share it with others would be outright selfish. (2 Corinthians 5:14-20)
   
   
2. Eagerness - "That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome." vs 15
   
   To have experienced God in our lives, why wouldn't we be eager to let people know about it and to give them this wonderful opportunity to know God?
   
   
3. Not Ashamed - "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile." vs 16
   
   Imagine if you knew of a shopping sale of 99.9% off everything. Would you be ashamed to let your friends know about it? How about if you knew what type of questions were going to be in your exam because your lecturer told you so? Would you be shy to let people know about it? Well this is God we're talking about here, the one who created everything. We should be excited to present the gospel (good news) to others. Our roles as Christians isn't to convert people but to share the good news. God does the converting (John 16:8). The message of the gospel has the power to change people's heart and it is for everyone.
   
   
4. God's righteousness revealed - "For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."" vs 17
   
   We should live our lives with the righteousness of God through our faith so that the righteousness of God may be revealed to others.
   
   
5. God's wrath revealed - "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them." vs 18-19
   
   Sometimes do you wonder why the lives of people around you are depressing and spiraling downwards? It could be the result of sin as people decide to reject God and as a result, God gave them over to immorality, degrading passions and depraved minds which leads to a corrupt world. All the more reason why people need God and be reconciled to the creator.

People will not change if they are satisfied where they're are. Am I satisfied where I'm at?


-Danny