Touched from the Past

It never ceases to amaze me about how events in your life, sometimes do not appear as mere coincidences. Rather everything does happen for a reason.

Something special happened yesterday. Someone left a comment on my post "Holy Darkness" which was posted in 2007. Follow the link to see the comment left for that post. I am glad my decision to share this particular piece of music has just made a slight difference to the people who have heard it on my blog.

I only pray that what I do, may continue to positively influence or affect the people around me. I pray. Pray with me.

Taken the Plunge

I must be crazy.

But then again, I know I always have been... but my blog title says otherwise.

Its official. I will be attempting 84 km at the Adidas Sundown Marathon 2010 scheduled for 29 May 2010.

Will I succeed. I do not know but I will sure try to ensure I do not fail at this task. Check out details at the site below.

www.sundownmarathon.com

Now... should I run for a cause...

Test blog entry

From the iPhone app


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

All Saints Mass 2009

There was a line in mass that struck me yesterday. It got me thinking for a while. It goes roughly like this,

" The first, early Christians had to give up their lives for the faith. For us, in this day and age where we do not have to die,the best thing we can do is LIVE the faith! "

Two different times. Our situations are so different. Out forefathers had to endure persecution and risk of death, and indeed they paid the price for the faith with their lives. They did!

Yet for us, in our cushy world where we are not persecuted and enjoy the freedom to practise our faith, we often fail to live up to the example set for us by our early fathers. We had not been asked to die. We are best able to minister to others by simply living our lives according to the faith, as revealed by God.

So as we celebrate the All Saints' and All Souls', may the lives of those who have come and gone before us, inspire and remind us of the lives we are called to lead. May we ask the Saints above to pray for us and likewise pray for those souls who have gone before us.

Test

Warmest Regards
Adrian Tan

Sent from my iPhone

Little Red Dot

Singapore was once called a little red dot.

I hereby present THE little red dot. Try it. Its irritatingly addictive!



Put The Big Red Button on your site

O God, You Search Me - Psalm 139

Another beautiful song


O God, you search me and you know me
All my thoughts lie open to your gaze
When I walk or lie down you are before me
Ever the maker and keeper of my days

you know my resting and my rising
You discern my purpose from afar
And with love everlasting you besiege me
In every moment of life or death you are

Before a word is on my tongue, Lord
YOu have known its meaning through and through
You are with me beyond my understanding
God of my present, my past and future too

Although your Spirit is upon me
Still I search for shelter from you light
There is nowhere on earth I can escape you
Even the darkness is radiant in your sight

For you created me and shaped me
Gave me life within my mother's womb
For the wonder of who I am I praise you
Safe in your hands all creation is made new

Open My Eyes

OPEN MY EYES
(Jesse Manibusan)

Open my eyes, Lord. Help me to see your face.
Open my eyes, Lord. Help me to see.

Open my ears, Lord. Help me to hear your voice.
Open my ears, Lord. Help me to hear.

Open my heart, Lord. Help me to love like you.
Open my heart, Lord. Help me to love.

I live within you. Deep in your heart, O Love.
I live within you. Rest now in me



Here is another version by Vanessa Morissey


Very simple song...but a wonderful prayer to do. Let us start today.

Mouth Brooders

I have read about it. I have dreamt about it. Now I am living the dream.

I have a tank with at least 7 female cichlids with either eggs or emerging fry in their mouths.

To an unfamiliar eye, one will not be able to tell if a female is hiding a surprise in their oral cavity, however, once you know where to look, it is actually surprisingly easy to spot

Now I can't wait for the fry to emerge.

Cichlid Heaven!

My fish tank is alive once again.

After a period of recovery from a not so successful planted tank, I had enough of an empty fish tank in the middle of my living room. And after the fiasco of having plants in my tank, I have gone back to the first fish I kept when I started the hobby.

The decision to go back to keeping cichlids was quite simple.

Firstly, they are one of the most colourful species of freshwater fish you will be able to find, rivaling the colour of a marine tank.

Secondly, keeping them entails creating specialised water and tank conditions that will allow the fish to thrive. The tank I did up, recreates the rocky waters of Lake Malawi in the african rift valley. Hard, alkaline water with a rocky habitat are what these fish call home.

Thirdly, these fish really have got character. Fierce, independant and displaying behaviour beyond any other species of fish this size.

The list goes on...

Words don't mean much so take a look





More pictures at my Cichlid Photos

If you want a guided tour to the biotope of Lake Malawi in a living room, give me a buzz and drop by.

Litany of Saints

I have been looking for this for such a long time.

It is a beautiful rendition of the Litany of Saints. This solemn prayer and invocation brings to mind the multitude of holy people that have come and gone before us. They show us a way to our God and that a life of holiness is not unachievable.

And as we recall each and everyone of these men and women of God, we pray that they will help us in our own pilgrimage.

Listen to the Litany of Saints and tell me what you think.

Elijah's Baptism

Welcome to the family!

Elijah Michael Tan has been officially baptised into the Christian family today at the Church of the Holy Cross, among the company of family, friends and all who are dear.

That makes us a whole catholic family, does it?

Photos of the event will follow, so look out here for a record of this wonderful event!

Stokke Xplory

Our Stokke is here!!!

And though it has a funny look, it sure is fun to use.









Read more about the details here

Our package finally arrived from the US after some fiasco with delivery over in the US. We liked the fact that it has an adjustable height allowing a young child to have a ride height that is above the level of an adults knees. This is after observing our niece having to endure the view of the table bottom during family dinners.

In addition, it has rave reviews from celebrity users. See their reviews

So if you see a red stokke pram. honk and wave

First Trip to the Zoo

We had to go out for some fresh air and sunshine. It was also an opportunity to test out our new pram which came over the weekend. And so we thought the area outside the zoo and night safari would have been a nice place to walk.

So Elijah has already been to the zoo and the tender age of 12 days :). And in anticipation of future trips to the zoo, we excitedly got ourselves signed up as Friends of the Zoo. This will allow us unlimited access to the zoo itself and other discounts e.g carpark, F&B ... The cost of it was SGD 150 but with a 10% discount with the ikea friends card. Since an adult admission to the zoo is about 16 bucks, 5 trips to the zoo for fran, myself and rlijah would more than make up for the membership to the zoo.

This will require a little re-think about the way we plan zoo trips. No more of those entire day, see the whole zoo type of trips. Rather, we should plan short, a couple of hours type trips to see specific exhibits or shows.

This was really quite a fun day.

(will follow with photos)

Did You Know?

Did you know that...


Shit from a one week old baby can: Fly through the air, more than 30cm, in stream and really soil you... if you are not careful.

That is exactly what happened during yesterday's diaper change and it had to happen past midnight. Not exactly a bargain just before going to bed.

One really had to see the humour in the situation and it still brings a smile to my face even when I think about it now.

his nails are SHARP!

Do not let anyone tell you that a baby's nails are not sharp. Apart from inflicting little scratches on their faces, these claws can actually cause quite a little bit of pain.

But I guess I deserved it for tricking the little one with my non-existent breast... Ouch, when he reached out and dug in with his claws. :0

The Many Faces of Elijah

Its amazing how many faces one baby can have. Its his 6th day of life and the little one already has a myriad of expressions on his little face.

It really is amazing and how wondrous a miracle life can be. We can already see subtle differences in his behaviour, expressions and development from day to day.

Enjoy his little faces..

Baby Elijah is here

Things have really been hectic and surreal since Monday, but the good news is...

ELIJAH is HERE!

The little one was born on 12 Feb 08 past midnight, weighing in at 3455 gms. Fran had to undergo a C section after a prolonged period of labour but thank God that both mummy and baby are safe and healthy.

I will be following up with photos here...so hold on tight

Update:
Follow the link here for photos!

Elijah Michael Tan

We have settled on a name, after mulling about it for a long time. The name is important and it gives meaning to what we hope for him as he grows up in our family, under our guidance.

So if you think Elijah is quite uncommon and why this name? Elijah was a prophet of God, set in the old Testament. Characteristically; bold, direct and obedient to God, he went about challenging the authority of the kind and the worship of false gods.

The painting below highlights some of the scenes from the story of Elijah including the call of fire from the sky to light the offering on the altar, the raising of the dead son of the widow of Zarephath, and his rising to heaven in a fiery chariot.

St. Michael, Mont St Michel

Photo by Adrian. f4, 1/10 ISO 1600

And then Michael? Michael is going to be his baptism name. We were very taken with the image of Michael the archangel during our pilgrimage to Mont St Michel. Michael, one of the archangel means "who is like God" is also traditionally depicted as a warrior with a foot over a defeated serpent. We hope these bring meaning to how we hope to bring up our little boy... an obedient servant of God and a defender of the faith.

Last Weekend as 2

It just struck me as we entered the weekend, that this is the last weekend that Fran and I were to spend as a couple.

Wait...let me correct that statement. It is the last weekend that Fran and I were to spend together as a 2 member family. Baby Elijah is due on the 8th and if all goes well, the next weekend will see 3 members in our family.

Well, I say this not because it is a problem and I made the correction of the first statement, as Fran and I can and will continue to make time to spend together as a couple despite the arrival of the child.

However, the permanent change lies with the fact that when I refer to our family... there will be an additional member. :)