Easter Weekend 点点滴滴

It is the Easter weekend, and I watched service online. Once again, am so reminded of the power of the cross. Every year, the service and the drama production drive home the point that He loves us so much, and went to the cross for all of us, that salvation cannot be earned, that He has paid it all off, that all I have to do is receive and believe. Still, being a believer is not so easy... because just like any other normal human being, we have thoughts - thoughts that doubt and cripple. Daily, I remind myself of His grace and love, that this same power that raised Christ from the dead lives in me. :)

Yesterday we had a very full lunch with Wilson (thank you for the super lunch treat), and then watched Harlem Globetrotters. Wilson offered perspectives of leadership and organisational growth, and spoke of his experience after leaving the Air Force and going into the commercial world. Time flew by. We lunched for almost 4 hours... and he spoke of how the best thing in his life was his close relationship with his daughter. What a beautiful blessing. Father-child relationship. He reiterated so many times, that what is the point if he makes millions but his daughter does not know him? I think about my own dad too. I think about the notion of the "missing" dad in many modern societies. So what if one wins the whole world and loses his closest relationships?


Well, we watched Harlem Globetrotters based on Ernest's recommendation. They are an exhibition basketball team and combine their basketball skills with entertainment, and with unorthodox basketball stunts and choreographed moves. I read somewhere that there have very stringent selection processes to get drafted into this team. Well, back to the work me. Skills are valuable. You can't really displace such technical skills even with automation and robots. Everyone still loves a good game. So, Harlem GT, WWE - these exhibitionist sports players do make a living out of their love for the game and their skills. Of course, they are also a minority, and they are supported by a whole wonderful team behind them - the choreographers, the story writers, the logistics personnel, the branding team, their merchandise, etc, etc, etc. And also, their legions of fans... The kids drowned us all out. Every time there is a dunk, a mid-court shot, they screamed and cheered.

For Steve, I think it was a cool night out for him, an experience to have a good laugh. He is more a soccer and tennis fan, and wrestling too.  For me, I remember why I used to love basketball so much last time. The team work, the dribbles, the drills, the steals, the tactics, the roughness and the shoves, the "swoosh" when the ball slices through the net, the 3-points, the "切”... I remember the pain of training, the adrenaline of competition, the exuberance of winning, the crush of defeat.

Warm-up in action, and that guy climbed unto the hoop and board... then slipped himself through that rim. :-0



Hee hee... while waiting to meet Ernest and his friend.

And Easter weekend comprises some tennis too. :-D
Now, a group of 6 of us play (Singaporeans, 1 Malaysian and 1 Vietnamese). The folks are very nice people and so we play and then eat together frequently. The weather is getting warmer and I relish this super good weather now before it becomes sweltering and blisteringly hot.

Taken this morning... wahahaha.. Steve took some slow-mo videos of me playing. I need to improve more.

And oh, every month, there are also lots of events happening in Abu Dhabi, and this season saw the Mother of All Nation @ Corniche and a fun fair food truck event just at Zayed Sports City where we live. We headed to the fun fair one evening... and it was like a pasar malam of sorts, just that it was way too quiet and non-crowded. This was quite unusual to us because the first thing that came to mind was... how to survive and how do these businesses make money? There's no crowd at all. But perhaps these events operate on a different model, just to bring some cheer and joy to the people who would visit, even if they were just a few.


We spent some good time with Sim and Graham too. They are some of the first few friends we grew closer to in church, and we just chatted away. Tomorrow, the church is holding a sunrise service here at 6am, to celebrate the risen savior.


Time really flies, and very soon, I will be back in Singapore, and this time, it will be for the longest period since I moved over here. One more week here in AD.
I am gonna miss my darling Kenji very much. I secretly brought him to the playground 2 nights ago as I found out he loves the swing a while back... Perched on me, precariously, like he is gonna fall off any time soon.

💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗 💗💗💗💗💗 💗💗💗💗💗 💗