Remembering Osaka! the BEST trip in my life ever!!

dear Lord,

the past few days has been totally terrific! i really enjoyed myself so much, i've never had so much fun since i can't remember! probably at my birthday chalet the weekend before was fun, but Osaka was amazing! haha! thank You for this great trip!!

before i forget anything i'm going to record everything down on this blog, and i know You were there with me every single minute of the trip! my left hand's healing, the rain stopping, the prayer meetings, etc.. it felt so good.

Day 1: the long flight to Osaka

the moment we began our trip, Mr satan was doing his job to give us trouble! the airline pple didn't allow us to bring in our drums cos the packaging was too huge! (malaysian airlines.. duh) so we had to unpack everything n pack it into smaller boxes! within one hour! there were about 12 toms, 40+ bins, 3 UDMs n other miscellaneous items, n we had to unpack n pack them all. it took 3 hours to pack the pervious day, it was really a miracle that we managed to pack them in an hour at the airport! of cos, we also have to thank our other strikeforce members who came to send us off, it was really so sweet of them to prepare cookies for us, n help out in the packing! Lord, these pple are really so dedicated, they're not even going n yet they come down to help in the physical work n just to take photos n send us off! i was really so touched by them, young as they may be.

so thus began our long journey to KL n then to Osaka. i was seated with jennifer to KL, but with so huei to osaka. it was really fun, playing games n evreything! n the plane food was surprisingly quite good, smoked salmon n stuff, quite nice. but couldn't really sleep on the plane, every few minutes got turbulance.. but somehow still had energy for sat!

day 2: rainy weather, bad pratice sessions.. but Great Shopping!!

the moment we reached osaka it was like everyone seemed so tired n zoned out, yet excited at coming to a new place. i remember cameras flashing at vending machines n signboards! they sell cigarettes out of vending machines! n the telephones have 3D pictues on them when u use them! it was so amazing to us "swa-ku" singaporeans! hahaha..

we rushed to our hotal carrying the loads of drums n stuff n barely had time to settle down before we moved out for lunch n then to our performance place. arthur chunhui shirly yongqiang n me went to some place for katsudon = pork cutlet. the place was nice n cosy, the food was great n surprisingly not too ex!

when we went to our holding area, our practices were really bad, esp the cymbals. we couldn't get the timing correct n i thought bro boon was really angry with us.. thank God the rain cancelled the performance! although i think many pple were disappointed, i was thanking God in my heart, cos i knew we were not ready to perform! maybe it was the weather or coming to a new place, or complacency, but a lot of pple weren't giving their best, forgetting sequences, getting timing wrong, etc... so thank You for raining down n cancelling the first day's performances! it was a blessing in disguise really..

at night had dinner with soo huei chunhui rallen yongqiang arthur ian daryl at some restaurant.. wasn't nice at all, n the waitress couldn't understand our orders. but after that, we went shopping n i bought lots of snacks n jap food! it was really fun, going out with the guys n really enjoying ourselves.

that night, arthur n i prayed together, for good weather n better attitudes from the strikeforce, for health n blessings, for a great performance n endurance n energy for sunday... n our prayers were truly answered!

day 3: Midosuji Parade... n the korean girls!

can't remember much for the parade, only that once again, everything was rushed n chaotic, maybe partly cos i didn't wear my glasses for that day! all i remember is that we marched from 2.30 pm till 6 in the evening! the japanese pple were all very supportive n cheered us on all the way, even when at certain parts we were really tired n really playing rubbish! (hahaha)

all i remember is my top bin falling off halfway, n luke shouting for help cos his left arm cramped.. thank God for sister angela n jass n bro erwin who helped us carry stuff n gave us water parade at every break that we had! although we were only 26 pple, i think we made a lot more noise n impact than other bands there! our Hot Summer when marching under the bridge was really stunningly loud! thank You for the supernatural strength, i wasn't tired at all even after the whole marching! i enjoyed myself so much, it seemed like a walk in the park! true, we all got cuts n bruises n some pple fell down, some even bled on their instruments.. all for God! i remeber back at the hotel, seeing the cuts n wounds on jennifer n arthur n the other pple, yet nobody complained, all had smiles on their faces, i knew You were with all of us all the time!

then at the end of the parade, we performed at some shopping center basement, it was good! the energy level of everyone was still peaking n going strong! though we didn't play evreything correctly n some mess-ups ruined the otherwise powerful performance, i felt we all did the best we could, n the japanese were impressed!

later we went to this very british looking building, i think its their parliament house, for a dinner with all the other international guests. we made a big impact there again, by clapping n cheering for singapore the loudest! hahaha! plus our traditional yumseng, n queuing up in the wrong direction for the buffet! it was really funny n amusing, but i think the funniest was the korean girls surrouding arthur! its so funny i can't even put it into words, the girl's boldness n "act cute"ness! luke also had this super funny n akward look on his face when a koren girl gave him a gift! hahaha!

i think we passed by the osaka white castle on the way too.. couldn't really see it though without my glasses! what a waste..!

at night it was arthur's turn to lead the prayer meeting.. we prayed shortly before reading Bible.. it was a great day n the next day would only get better!

day 4: Marching Band.. the day of Miracles!

like the title says, this day the Lord really worked miracle for us! we gathering early in the morning to prepare our drums n stuff, we were probably one of the earliest if not the earliest group there that morning!

we had lunch n took pictures with the Golden Bears marching band from Japan, n i must say they are the cutest n noisiest bunch of girls i have ever seen! haha! exchanged gifts n they prepared postcards for us! it was so sweet n friendly of them! singaporeans have much to learn from the japanese in terms of attitudes n manners!

during lunch it began to drizzle n it got heavier n heavier.. so jennifer told us to pray for the rain to stop n that we did! while working on the bins, everyone was praying in tongues n focusing on the work, not playing n laughing as usual, n God brought a miracle for us! it stopped raining for about 10 minutes during out performance! n when we came back to the holding area, it began to pour heavily on the other performers! wow it was really amazing. after the performance we took more than 2 hours to pack up everything, n ended everything around 5 in the afternoon.

evening was spent shopping! yeah! had dinner together in a very nice place with a very weird male toilet! shopped till about 10 pm i think... great day!

day 5: Universal Studios n the most fun i had in my life!!

we wasted the morning at some kyoto mountain n temple area, which i didn't really like, but the afternoon was super duper fun! soohuei andy titus dashun luke tom the camera man n me went running from ride to ride, n luke had this super funny n embarrassing incident! haha! we sat 4 rides, the spiderman ride was super cool n scary! it felt like we were all kids again!

then at night another miracle, this time daryl finding his lost wallet within half an hour at a japanese police station! we were happily shopping after a great meal of ramen with david yilin charlene luke n some others, then decided to sit on this huge 26 storey ferris wheel which gave us a totally amazing night landscape view of osaka! but after that daryl realised he lost his wallet n we all searched around for half an hour, but sadly found nothing. who knew, when we prayed for him, he decided to go to the police station n viola!! a japanese couple was just returning his wallet n IC! daryl was super relieved! thank You for coming through for him!

we stayed up that night till about 3 am, having supper at yoshinoya. had a little talk with ian n jennifer n bro boon, although was quite confrontational, we enjoyed the talk n i really hope ian understands that i'm not out to sabo him, but i did what i had to do becos i love him as a bro n want to see him mature n rise up more in strikeforce.. plus i believe the dream that You gave me the night before was really a warning. the dream of ian quarelling with someone.

day 6: trip back to singapore.. sad to leave japan!

yup. we were all so sad to leave japan, but most of all that the trip had to end! we all really grew so close n loved each other so much more during the trip! (some a little too much.. ral-ling became a secret joke.. =P) but all good things have to come to an end.. this is simply to prepare the way for You to enter japan one day in full force n power!