amo, ergo sum
Apr 29, 02:24 PM by Jimmy Sie
I’ve decided to change my blog site title to “amo, ergo sum”; means “I love, therefore I am”. Now it’s an very interesting subject, love, that is, isn’t it? One that has caused so much joy and suffering, depends on which side you’re in and which spectacles you’re looking at it with.
Well I’m no expert nor consider myself a great warrior of love. Though I’ve been a casualty of it for many times. Yet I believe it is the greatest thing that one should experience, behold, embrace and hold in possession for as long as one live. I’m not only talking about romantic love between men and women, but love for all mandkind.
To love is no easy task, it’s not a walk in the garden to many people. Perhaps I should remind all readers here, that “to love” is different from “to feel in love” or “to be in love”. This is the goal that I desire, to be able to love, despite all the hardships and pain it may bring; to be able to love still, even in the most difficult circumstances. It’s a learning journey for me, one that has been filled with much joy, as much as with tears, and it likewise it will always be.
I’m grateful though that I have a wonderful Master that I can follow as the perfect example. He’s none other than Jesus, my God and my saviour. In this journey to eternity, I hope I can learn as much as I can to follow His example, and most of all to love more, not with self-indulgence but to be able to fully experience all of it. The joy, the bliss, as well as the pain of sacrifice, the hurt of loving in a loveless world.
I love, therefore I am
I want to be able to say to myself
That at the end of this journey
At the door of eternity
That I have loved
Crazily, with all my heart
with all my soul and mind
That I have tasted
the feeling of rapture,
the bliss that it brings
And have embraced
the anguish, the sorrow
of loving someone whole-heartedly
For in this fleeting life
it is love that is worth pursuing
worth sacrificing
till victory is in my hand
at the end of my path
when i can enjoy the fruit of it
love in eternity . . .
I want to die while I'm still alive
Apr 19, 11:31 AM by Jimmy Sie
Reading a book by Paulo Coelho – “Like the Flowing River” is really a great investment of my time. It’s the kind of book that’ll make you think about your life, but at the same time it also entertains you with the stories.
I haven’t finished the book yet, just started two days ago. This week I’ve began to read more books and try to fulfill my reading commitment with another book that I’ve promised to finish reading despite some difficulties I have. The problem is that the other book, titled “城裡的月光”, – yes! you guessed it right – is in Chinese. Nevertheless I’ve determined to finish reading it.
Sitting here in one of my favorite Starbuck outlet, I’ve just finished a bit of the few things I’ve planned to do. Continue my programming on one of the projects I’m working for my client, read a bit of Coelho’s book, and soon I will continue my reading on the Chinese book.
Writing this blog entry however, was not planned. After reading the chapter titled “My Funeral” of Coelho’s book, somehow I feel the urge to write. And there’s one very interesting sentence that I like. It’s the sentence that the writer would want to be written of him after he die. “He died while he was still alive”. What an inspiring phrase. As I think about it, I would want to die while I’m still alive, too. What a waste of time and what a great pity if I have stopped living long before I die.
I will just hope and pray that I’ll remember to live each and every day of my life living out the purpose of my existence as destined and planned by my Creator.
Chang Jiang (長江 or 长江)
Sep 2, 03:15 PM by Jimmy Sie
whenever you come to wuhan, a visit to the mighty chang jiang river (長江, means “long river”) is really a must. not that you will see something that is really fantastic or very rare, but i feel that chang jiang river (also called yang tze river) is the main part of the city that shouldn’t be missed.
the river, which is the longest in asia and third longest in the world, divides the city in two parts, hankou and hanyang on the western side, and wuchang on the eastern side.
the above is a picture of changjiang river in the morning, facing the north eastern direction. in the distance you can see the second bridge. in the morning, you can see many people exercise along the bank of the river. most of them are older people. some of them will fly the kites, fishing, jogging, practise taichi or other forms of physical exercise. i even saw a group of people who swam in the river (see the video).
there are three bridges crossing chang jiang river in wuhan, but i only managed to go to two of them, the first bridge and the second bridge.
this is the picture of taken from the first bridge facing hankou.
the tower seen in the photo is wuhan tv tower that is in hanyang.
i took this picture on my way back from the yellow crane tower in wuchang. i walked on the pedestrian path on the bridge. below is another picture taken facing the other direction.
the second bridge crosses the river at the place where the river is wider, i only pass by the bridge in a taxi ride from wuchang back to hankou, but below is a photo i took when i walked along the river in the morning.
along the river there are pubs and night clubs and at night, there are many youngsters go there. many are couples and so some small children will try to sell flowers to them. if you go there as a couple, please try to be careful as some of the children will try forcefully to sell the flowers to you. some will even cling on your body.
china trip photos - wuhan
Aug 24, 12:49 PM by Jimmy Sie
it’s been more than two months since i came back from my trip to china, and only now i’ve got the chance to post some of the photos that i took during the trip.
i hope to share my experience through these photos and perhaps they can be of some use to anyone who wants to find more information about china. i went to three cities during my trip last may: guangzhou, wuhan and xi’an. on this entry, i post some photos in wuhan.
my trip started in guangzhou where my flight from singapore landed and then i took the train to wuhan. the train journey took one night. on the left is a picture of the inside of the train.
taking train in china can be quite enjoyable, provided you don’t carry so many things and not in a rush. it’s cheap too. the problem is that you have to queue for quite a long time some times to get a ticket. but if you have time you can buy your ticket few days before your journey. for long journey it’s best to buy the soft sleeper ticket. unfortunately i couldn’t get the soft sleeper ticket that time, so i settle for a hard sleeper, and my sleeper was the top. ticket price was 223rmb. ok, not bad. my compartment mates were two guys and three girls.
below is a picture of me sitting by the window as the train leaves guangzhou. the train left guangzhou at 4:32pm and reach hankou station in wuhan at about 6 am the next morning, making the total journey of 13.5 hours.
outside the hankou train station, there were so many taxi drivers offerring their services and also people selling the city map. since it was quite early in the morning i decided to walk to my hotel. on the way leaving the train station, some people secretly offered me to buy handphones, which made me suspicious that the phone is either stolen or fake – not that i have intention or were attracted to buy one anyway. along the streets to my hotel i saw many stalls selling many different kind of snacks and noodle for breakfast. i was hungry so i tried some cake (i don’t know what the name is) and the local specialty “re gan mian”.
here is a photo of the hotel i stayed in wuhan: hong kong & macao centre business hotel. it’s a 5 star apartment hotel located on the pedestrian road jiang han lu.
the hotel location is quite good as it’s right at the centre of the shopping malls. it’s near to the chang jiang river too. it takes about 15 minutes walk from the hotel to the river. well, the hotel is not that fantastic despite it’s 5 star rating. but for the price i paid, i thought it was a good deal. the staffs are friendly too, even though most of them can’t speak english well. in fact i only found one who can communicate well in english with me.
on the next article, i will write about some of the places that i’ve visited in wuhan.
trust and obey
Aug 14, 01:55 PM by Jimmy Sie
i still remember my principal from my junior and senior high school said these two words during some of his sermons. these two powerful words that are so much easier to say than doing them. through morning sermon’s in my church, i was again reminded of the importance of trust and obedience.
in the search of meaning and purpose in life, i believe that if we can do these two things, we can become so much more successful in our life. who should we trust and obey? there’s only one answer to that, and that is God. well, some people, indeed many people, nowadays would rather trust themselves than to trust anyone else. i say, it is no wonder that people are behaving this way. it’s so much easier to believe and rely on what we can see and feel ourselves than to hope and trust in something that we don’t see. and that’s the test of trust and obedience. when faced with problem or choices that will determine my future, it is so much easier to rely on the facts that my mind alone can comprehend and predict. but i’m grateful that i have the inner voices that will remind me of true and good principles that i must stand by.
so what now? i know i will at times forget to trust and obey, but i believe that God will preserve me as to bring me back to the right track. and meanwhile, on the way to eternity, i’ll just have to keep learning to trust and obey.
Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet.
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way.
What He says we will do, where He sends we will go;
Never fear, only trust and obey.