Archive for February, 2008
4 Feb 2008 a good friend
February 4th, 2008 by Doris
Jessie and Monica are both away this week so I get to have the office all by myself 
. James came to visit me during lunch time and we had a good chat. We chatted about many things… may be I shouldn’t tell what we talked about… haha… haha. But one thing to say is it is not easy to meet a good friend in your life so it is important to appreciate the friendship and keep it going. James and I have known each other for about 10 years and he has always been a good friend to me. He is also my squash partner for many years. I am looking forward to play squash again after a long break.
4 Feb 2008 – About the worship training yesterday
February 4th, 2008 by Leo
We had a worship training at church yesterday. Basically the workshop was watching a few video clips by Paul Baloche (writer of the song “Above All”). Two of them was about how to play in a band by playing less – and the main theme was that the guitar, bass and keyboard should not play at the same frequency range. When the drum is added, then the guitar / keyboard should play less rhythmic styles and let the drum does its job etc. The other one was about Performance Vs Worship Leading. They are similar in a way, but the most important part is your heart. And it is something that we as worship leaders should always go back and review. We thought it was a good clip to watch.
After watching the videos, Chris asked us to go on stage and try playing a few songs. And the others (who were watching whilst somebody was playing) would try to identify the problems, try to give comments etc. Li pointed out something that both Doris and I agreed on. In fact, it was something that I emphasized over all the years that I have been leading worship. The worship leader should not sing harmony, as he/she should concentrate on leading the congregation, and the congregation pays attention to him/her whilst worshiping, following his/her lead.
From the past training and experience, we learnt that:
1. The support singers are there to support the worship leader, but it is truly the worship leader is the only one leading, and the congregation follows the worship leader.
2. Typically in a worship environment, the mic volume of the worship leader would be tuned a bit louder than the support vocalists so that the worship leader’s voice can stand out. Again, the congregation would follow the worship leader more.
3. You may argue that “the congregation already know the song”. Can you guarantee 100% of the congregation would know? What if there was a new comer? What if there was someone going to church the first time? What if someone was a new believer?
If singing harmony is what you like to do, do so when you are a support singer. When you are leading worship, you are leading. Sing the melody so that everyone can follow. Improvisation isn’t going to do good either. The band looks at the worship leader. If the worship leader wanted to sing improvisation and didn’t lead in, then the band would feel lost and the congregation would also feel lost. Sometimes, doing nothing is a great achievement.
Another important lesson for everyone who want to serve is listen to the others. It is crucial to take other advices and suggestions positively. We are serving as a body, there is noone who is more important to the other. It is no good to be self centre and act on your own. Often, when we put the focus on God and be humble, we will feel the peacefulness and happiness in our heart and see the great influences on others.
Honeymoon & Anniversary Trip – 3rd stop – Venice, Italy
February 3rd, 2008 by Leo
Venice has always been a place that I admired since I was young. At the very beginning, I admired the place because “it is a city that use boats instead of cars! There is no road, only rivers!” It was called “The City of Water”.
Matthew D. warned me that luggages with wheels doesn’t quite work in Venice as there are so many bridges that carrying luggages up and down is essential. However, Doris booked a hotel that is so closed to the station. We only had to cross one bridge.
As imagined, the city is full of boats. They use boats instead of buses. The public boats actually run around the city and departs the terminals quite frequently, but we always found that it is always packed.
We are lucky that when we arrived at Venice, the rain has completely stopped. We had a nice 4-day trip here with minimal of rain. We managed to get some nice photos here.
We spent one day in Mirano Island. The island was famous with glassware but due to the import of cheap Chinese glass, the industry in the island was shrinking. There were a lot of glassware / decoration that I liked, including a lamp that is completely made of stained glass, imitating the sunset / sunrise. It is not expensive but we just have no idea how to carry it with us for the rest of the trip (including going through Tokyo).
I really like Venice as it is such a beautiful place, especially the scenery. And because there is practically no cars, there is minimum of air pollution as well.
Italy is famous for Gelato, and we had a lot in Venice as well. They are cheap (Euro $1 / cone) but they are so nice.
We had such a relaxing trip in Venice. There is no rush in doing anything. And as we have stopped ourselves in using the computers / internet, there is no email to check and hence, nothing to worry about at all :p
And of course we spent our anniversary in Venice. We had a wonderful meal in a higher-class restaurant and the 3-course meal was so stunning.
This stop was such a romantic stop that we will never forget.
2 Feb 2008
February 2nd, 2008 by Doris
Katherine arrived at 12:50 noon today. We arrived at the airport around 1:30pm but Katherine was not out yet because the they are inspecting her dry mushroom hehe. On our way home, it was fun to hear about her trips and what she has got. When we got back to North Shore, lolly was so excited to see Kat and was jumping around haha… The new acoustic guitar (Yamaha APX 700) is very nice and thanks to Vivian and Leo’s uncle, she got a very good deal. Then, Kat was showing us all the stuff she bought from Japan and HK (of course she couldn’t bring all the stuff back, so have to wait for brother to bring them back in March 
). Leo was so excited as Kat got him the music books, album by Hacken Lee, snacks and a BATMAN folder (BATMAN is one of his favorite comics character ) Christina also bought him a polo shirt the other day while she was shopping. How lucky he is to have 3 wonderful sisters through me..haha
Honeymoon & Anniversary Trip – 2nd stop – Milan, Italy
February 2nd, 2008 by Doris
On 21 Nov 2007, we departed from Osaka Kansai and after a long flight, we finally landed at Milan Malpensa, our first stop in Italy! Unfortunately, it was raining and dark. For safety reason, we decided to take a taxi to our hotel and that was the most expensive taxi we ever taken which costed 90 Euro! In Milan, we visited the duomo, Castello sforzesco, and couple other Museums. Leo specially enjoyed admiring the works by Leonardo da Vinci displayed in many museums. However, it was disappointing that we couldn’t see the painting of The Last Supper as turned out that we needed to book a month in advance!
Milan was ok, would be better if it wasn’t raining. One thing that we sure enjoyed very much was the food! Yummy pasta and pizza!