Hey Jude! Hey Jesus!

I am very much disturbed, namely, confused by the explanation in regards to prosperity. The world often says, men have infinite capabilities, as long as we work hard, set good goals, follow them step by step and not give up, we sure will prosper. In other words, we will obtain what we want. We can gain fame, become wealthy and enjoy more things life offers. People might create some mottos like, "Believe in yourself, never give up and success is yours". In reality, is that true? Do we actually reap more if we sow harder? Clearly, the world doesn't offer a satisfying answer in regards to living a real prosperous life. First question I would like to ask is, does being famous and wealthy mean prosperous? Secondly, what does prosperity mean? Now in some churches, they preach prosperity gospel, and I just feel some of the teaching has a tendency towards self help steps. Every time I hear it, I wonder if that is what God offers. Eg. "Have faith in God, yearn for more, then ...

Since coming to Japan, I have met many Americans, but have only met one Australian. Hence have been hearing a lot more American accents than the Aussie accent. Just now I was listening to a sermon from Hillsong, and while listening to it, not only the message was great, but the Australian accent made me felt excited! The Australian English was very pleasing to my heart~ I love American accent, but Australian accent makes me think of Australia! It feels homey and makes my heart glad to hear. Wow, I didn't realise that I am already missing Australia until I hear the Australian speaking to me~~ This is rather funny. Logically, this shouldn't be the time to miss Australia but to enjoy every excitement that is in Japan. However, I think I am feeling a bit "home sick" already^^ Thanks to my trip to Japan. Until I came to Japan, I didn't know how much I love Australia. Japan is also fabulous! It's the country I have been longing to come, and now I am so thankful for ...

We went to a place called Odaiba on Thursday. Since Uni is starting next Monday, we thought we should make the most out of our time here, hence planned a trip to the famous shopping heaven, (and a romantic place for couples at night).....Approximately 1 hour from our dormitory. My friend and I now have gained confidence in our direction after 10 days in Japan, and more praise to our acheivement in getting there without getting lost!! If you are good at directions, you probably have to imagine how meaningful it is to be able to get to a place without getting lost for direction blinds. Monorail station! The name of the monorail is Lily seagull, beautiful isn't it? The monorail track. The interior of the monorail. There weren't many people because it was a public holiday morning and the rain was pouring. Still I was very excited to be on the monorail, though my whole body was totally damped by the rain, including socks and shoes....... The weather in Japan has been strange th...

We had lunch at a ramen shop near our university before attending the ceremony. It's roast pork ramen with bamboo strips and pickled vegetables in super flavoured pork stock. What was the taste? It was yummy but too be honest, the soup was salty. It cost around 9.5 aussie dollars, and the great thing was to be able to ask for double sized noodle with no cost. Did I use my poor Japanese to order? No. Interestingly, there was a lunch ticket vending machine at the door for customers to order before seating. What you do is putting money into the machine and select the food you want, instantly a food ticket will be printed out. There was a special buttom to press at any time without putting any money to print off upsize noodle tickets. This is the famous Okuma Garden Hall at Waseda University. The opening ceremony was held here. Excited and looking happy to attend the ceremony! However, I was not supposed to dress like a tourist but was expected to wear formal clothes. Luckily you cann...

This Monday, our small group leader invited us to an outreach event organised by church. It's a street outreach band, playing and singing Christian music in the street of Shibuya, known as one of the busiest areas in Tokyo. Apparently they go there every Monday and Thursday nights to sing and reach out to people who may be interested. Getting ready to sing Her voice is really beautiful It's such a great thing for them to do. However, it was the first time for me to do something like this, and I don't think I did a good job. All I did that night was standing at one spot stiffly and clapping none stop, because I wasn't brave enough to go around to approach people. Having said that, I am glad I participated in the event. It was a good way for me to build up my confidence and finding my own way to tell the gospel to the people in the streets, although I totally failed at the first trial. I think it is great to be able to do it with other young people who are also passiona...

I went to church today, and the name of the church is Jesus lifehouse. It's a Japanese and English bilingual church situated not too far from the heart of Tokyo. Thanks to Shermayne's friend- Kat, that I am able to find a church immediately after my arrival in Japan. Moreover, the church is not too far from my dormitory either, it only takes about half an hour to get there by train. In Japan, this is considered quite close. There are four services surprsingly, people get to choose the best time that suits them. The one I went was the 1pm service as was suggested by Kat. This is a pretty good time for me as well. The hall was smaller than I expected, but when I got there, the service had already started and was already filled with people. The music was quite loud though, people were singing, clapping and dancing around. Jesus lifehouse is probably a smaller version of Planetshakers in Melbourne, coincidentally that the English pastor is an Australian, too. Apparently he is from ...

I feel like I have become a walking warrior after coming to Japan. In Japan, walking is so important to get around places. These few days, my dorm mate and I have walked more than we imagined, thanks to our "gifts" in directions. The worst trip was the one to our ward office to apply for our alien registration card. It took almost 45 minutes to get there. However, the trip was suppose to take only 25 minutes, so basically we spent half of the time getting lost. Thanks to our fabulous sense of directions, we have walked a lot these few days. Almost equivalent to a month of walking distance when I was in Australia. This is Shibuya, a big shopping district for youngsters. The area is filled with restaurants, department stores and clothes shops. Both of our eyes are puffy due to too much walking under the hot sun. At Shibuya station Before we took this photo, we were asked by a Japanese television station if they could film us. However I told her we are foreigners that our Japa...

Hello my dear friends, Omata sei shimashita! Thank you for waiting. I have finally updated~~ This is a phrase Japanese use very often, especially in the hospitality industry. One thing I find funny about this phrase is that, whether or not the shop assitants have kept you waiting, they say it anyway. Well, I just want to say that it feels great to see smiles on the shop assitants' faces and seeing them willing to help at any time. It's something that people in my country really need to learn. Maybe not to the Japanese standard, but at least not to shout at customers. Thank you also for visiting this blog. From now on, I will be posting my photos and stories to share with you while I am in Japan. The start already has been adventurous, I am sure from now on, the stories may be more and more exciting. So please come often to keep track of my fun journey. Please do leave a comment when you can, or a :) smile, anything you leave keeps me writing. First of all, congratulations to m...

I used to be a person who liked to take control of everything in my life. I always tried my best and expected the result to turn out the way I wanted. When things did not turn out as well as I expected, I could get very very disappointed and blamed myself really harshly. I was very strict to myself and put a lot of pressure on myself. Failure to me was basically unacceptable and something that was hard to take in. At one point, it became so serious that I totally lost my confidence and self-esteem. I tried to push myself, however, no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't reach the point I wanted. I became so disappointed about myself and began to question my value and ability. During the time, I gave myself even greater pressure to reform. I thought I could change everything, I thought I could get back to the standard I was at, but things did not turn out that way. The reason was because my heart was sick and I could not concentrate on the things I was doing. I gave myself so mu...

I want to tell you something very important. Do not cease to pray, because God always hears our prayers and He will answer them with His most perfect way! Trusting that God will hear and will respond is crucial, too. Do not ever give up if nothing happens. It takes time but when time comes, nothing can stop God from working through anything. God heard my prayer. What is it? Dad has decided to get baptised!!!! It's such a miracle and even now I still can't believe it. God has slowly changed Him even before he comes to Him. I have seen so much change in Dad. Without God's power working in his heart, these change would not have happened. I praise God for His faithful love and His great promises. God has changed my family, and it is not the same anymore.