In the Between...

Time seems to be standing still for me this moment. I have finished my required studies and main exams for my course, save one. This one is coming up in 10 days time, but it may as well be a year from now with all this waiting! :-)

Yet, I am grateful for this intermission for it is allowing me to prepare myself sufficiently for that moment as I revise through those required topics and doing up the schemas for them. This will help a lot later when I finally know which topic to present for that day and do not need to hunt and run all over the place to search for the details and answers.

In the interim, I have put up a minor widget that sits unobtrusively by the right sidebar which, when clicked, will randomly direct me to any of my past posts or blog entries. It has been coming a little addictive, since then, to click on it and read what past entries I had done and compare that to where I am now. Some made me laugh, some made me cringe with embarassment, a few others brought a tear to my eye, but all a telling journey that carry with it a sense of growth and transformation of sorts.

Now that I am finishing another chapter of life's journey, what the next one will hold is anybody's guess....

(pic: East Coast Park benches, Nov 19, 2006)

Interim Time: Bags All Packed!

This is it! Now my bags are all truly ready and packed! Soon I will be in the airport and off I go to Rome...

I had to celebrate the farewell mass for Holy Family this morning and the response and farewell wishes after that was totally overwhelming! I had not much success with the buffet lunch by the carpark after that as I was thoroughly busy with shaking hands and receiving gifts and best wishes from the parishioners of all walks of life. There were also many, many photograph takings and when all this was over, I was already feeling half dead and numb to the world around me!

So, another chapter closes and a new one unfolds before me. I leave by Qatar Airways to Rome at 7.10 am, from Terminal One. Till the next entry from Rome, wishing you all peace and joy and abundant God's blessings!

Interim Time: YC

The Youth Council (YC) members got together and gave me a farewell dinner over at June's Restaurant (Seafood) this evening. This place is along the Tg Katong Road before the Queen of Peace parish.

It was an enjoyable affair for the food was good and the company pleasant and engaging enough. The youths and young adults that formed the YC had been with me the past 4 years and we saw some interesting times together.

They are a strong and committed people that continue, in their own quiet way, to give opportunities for the youth scene in Holy Family to grow and find its appropriate contribution to the community there.

One member gave me something that came from his father's storeroom which contains many knick knacks. It came from the Phillipines - a GIANT SIZE rosary! Another bought a small little fan that has lights which play on your eyes that can be rather hypnotic if you stare at it too long! :-D

All in all, a good night out after all that running and prepping about. Thank you, guys! I needed that break. Keep the good work going and the YC flag flying! :-D

Interim Time: Melancholic

It's very quiet around here in this Seminary, especially during their mid-term break...

I feel a little lonely sometimes with the lack of noise, people and the sights that I would be usually accustomed to when I was serving at the parish of Holy Family. Sometimes it can be rather unnerving to note that I am the only person moving about in the block with no one to care about me making any noise or movement. :-P

Anyway, it is the last days of my stay here in the Seminary and in Singapore, before I fly off to the other part of the world for my studies. Since staying here a while, I have been moving up and down, in and out of the Seminary to run some errands in relation to my preparation for studies. All this is really be a tiring affair.

There have been friends who have been generous to give me some help in alleviating my transport woes in bridging the gap between Ponggol and where I need to go. To them I am utterly grateful. Nonetheless, this whole affair of waiting and doing all this nitty-gritty items can be quite a chore and somewhat 'miserable'.

The thought of leaving family and friends, places and homes so familiar to me and to have to go off to a foreign place is all so frightening... I am still a little numb by all this. The thought of leaving hasn't hit me yet and am sure I would only react accordingly when I am there!

I guess the situation here now is what we would call 'melancholic'. I am getting all kinds of feelings that somewhat overwhelm me with many different flavours: excited, happy, sad, frightened, uncertain, ambivalent, anticipation.... I don't know what to feel anymore! :-P

Saying goodbyes also doesn't help and I have gone through a few leading to this week. Today was one with my aunt and uncle whom I had lunch with this afternoon. I spend some time there with their household members and I was a little sad because there is a strong chance that I may not be able to see my uncle again when I return as he is suffering from an incurable illness. There are also other people from the parish, who are in the same position, that I know and talked to who I may not be able to do so in two years time.

To leave in this state can be quite traumatic, to say the least.

Life carries on. I am not being stoical here, just practicing being a realist. This entry won't be the last one from Singapore before I leave. There will be another and there, I hope to close an era in this virtual log properly before I open a new entry from Rome. Till then, hold them tears first! :-D

Interim Time: Seminary, Ponggol

The stars over here at the Seminary are more pronounced!

I am now staying here while waiting for my departure on the 25th June. While here, I am enjoying the solitude and peace which I have not experience since, oh, the day I left this place for the parish some 4 years ago. :-D

I finally could take a dip in the pool whose water was clear and lukewarm after the day's heat was over with it. The weather was overcast and looked liked it was going to have a storm. I can see the clouds rolling in and the thunderheads were clearly making its presence felt. As I lay in the pool soaking in the coolness and quiet around me (nobody's around as it is the term break here, except perhaps the seminary staff and the formators), I could, for the first time in a long time ever, feel the sense of total relaxation creep all over me as I savour the total peacefulness around me. Heavenly!

Oh, I am able to do up this entry because they have a room with Internet access. This is a far cry from when I first came in here and the only computer then was a Intel 2 machine and only for word processing purposes! :-D

Anyway, I have already unpacked and put all my stuff into the room allocated for them during the 2-year absence from here. Most of what I have to do now is just to slowly enjoy the last remaining days here without having to worry about any church responsibilities or people to deal with. :-) I do have a few last loose ends to do, though, and then I am on my way!

Meanwhile, I shall enjoy some well earned R&R! ;-)

(map from sg.pagenation.com)

Interim Time: Last Night

This is the last night here which I am writing this. Tomorrow I take the 11 a.m. bus back to Singapore and continue the rest of my story there... :-P

It has been a rather pleasant and peaceful timeout here with the family and the naughty nephews. It would be about two years later when I shall see them again, God willing! The thought of leaving again in this short time that I am here, after my exodus from the Holy Family, Katong parish is like a replay and though understandable, always not without its tinge of sadness and feeling of uncertainty.

Well, this is another chapter ending with a new one to look out for! It's all quiet now and everyone is winding down for the night. Tomorrow, another day beckons. I hope the bus that I am on will get me back in one piece! :-D

Interim Time: KL Jam!

I never knew, well I do know, but never to underestimate to this extend, just how fortunate we all really are with regards to the efficiency that is of Singapore and the way things can really get done there without loss of any comfort or inconvenience.

I spent slightly more than 2 hours trying to get my return bus ticket bought today and spent those hours maneuvering through the legendary KL traffic jams, uncooperating taxis, huge crowds, jam packed commuter trains and inter-city buses. It was utter madness! This is the same city that promotes shopping and niceties which supposedy accompany any visitor to town. Well, this is one town you better avoid on any day! :-P Did get my ticket in the end, but dread the return trip there later on Wednesday when I have to drop there again to board the bus at Pudu...

The most irritating part of it all was that after making that trip all the way there, my dad had to suggest that perhaps we could go to PJ instead to get another bus ticket as it may be a lot easier to head there and avoid this jam to board the bus instead... *shake head* *deep, deep breath* *1, 2, 3, ...*

Anyway, after the day's fiasco, the rain brought much needed coolness to the day and soothe tempers somewhat. The nephews have thankfully gone back and left the apartment in a relatively calmer disposition! :-D It also rained just about the time when I was watching my old favourite "Twister" on the DVD. That made the atmosphere all the more intense and almost 'in-the-face' when the movie played out its storm factor!

Now, all is calm and the neighbourhood is settling down for the night as it prepares for another day.Tomorrow is back to school for the children here. I shall have to face my last few weeks in Singapore tying up whatever loose ends that need attention too. It's going to be a hectic week ahead... :-P

(a view of the n'hood below from my brother's bedroom of the apartment)

Interim Time: Holy Family, Kajang

I concelebrated with Fr Julian (celebrant) along with 4 other priests: Frs Michael Teng and Valentine Gompok who are from the Capuchins, Fr William Michael and Fr George Harrison. Fr Julian was the parish priest of the parish of Holy Family (Kajang). He shall be leaving soon for his studies in Rome and he will be succeeded by current assistant Fr William who will take over the parish priest responsibilities. Fr George Harrison will be the new assistant.

Yesterday was the farewell mass and dinner organised by the parish community. Mass was the usual affair with some obligatory best wishes, speech and a slide show. The dinner was quite a long drawn affair with too-long a speech from various leaders of the community, along with the heavy background noise of the crowd talking among themselves. By the time I got home with my family it was just after 10.00 pm and all feeling very tired, sweaty and sleepy. :-P

Meeting up with the priests there was a pleasant affair, since the last time we met together was at our Young Priests' Gathering in Sabah some months ago. Now, two of us will be heading for studies which none of us will know how it will go. So, for now we all acknowledge our respective roads we travel on and pray that all will go well.

Interim Time: Kajang

It's been three days here in Taman Kajang Central. The apartment is a walkup with 4 floors. Since arriving here, I have been:

a. Eating, eating, eating! All my favourite and other familiar/well known foods have been presented for my consumption - pongteh, thunder tea (lei char), steamboat. It's as if I won't be having these kinds of cuisine when I go to Rome and now would be the best time to savour all these before I forget how they smell and look like! ;-)

b. Resting and sleeping! I don't get much of these when I was in the parish. So, now I ain't complaining about the abundance of them, at least for now...

c. Playing with my nephews. There are 4 of them and all equally fiesty and full of energy that apparently is gotten from sapping some from their uncle, i.e. yours truly!

I have yet to tuck in the roti canai and teh tarik from the coffeeshop downstairs. Then, there is still this nagging thought at the back of my mind telling me of some little tying up of things to do when I get back to Singapore and before I fly off to Rome. :-P

(ps - my naughty nephew is disturbing me now, so I have to end here.. :-D)