Life by design not default

Today pastor shared a message on "Life by design not default"

The key message to this is the Word of God has to be revelation to us as Christians. Reading the word should not just be a routine but we must expect God's word to transform us to become more of Him. Of course this cannot be achieve by human strength but by the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is our helper (John 14:26)
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

Secondly, relationship is more important than ministry... we must not just speak of love but be doers of his word and act on love.

James 1:22
But don't just listen to God's word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.

Third, our actions should be intentional and not reaction of our circumstances. Many times we react to the situation or circumstances that we face instead of intentionally making up our mind about the life God wants us to live. Remember that God is above all circumstances, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Psalms 46:10
He says, "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

I believe in waking up every morning with goals in mind. Without a plan, we will just be swept by the busyness of life and at the end of the day we don't know why we are doing what we are doing. It really isn't easy because this requires a lot of discipline and focus. It's so easy to be distracted today. What I usually do to keep focus is to write down my goals or plans for the day in a book and cross them out one by one as I accomplish what I set myself to do. If not, I will be lost and confused. It is the same for our Christian walk with God. I believe we need to be more focus on Christ and not get distracted by the world... 

We can be who we want to be if we set our mind to it and focus. Do not underestimate the power of the right thoughts. Sometimes we just want to blame our life on others and our circumstances, but instead of complaining, why not direct our energy into making it positive. The key is not to lose hope but hang on to the faith we have in Christ.

Happy Sunday folks :)

4D3N Kaoshiung Itinerary - Day 4

Okay, finally I have reached the final chapter of my sisters trip to Kaoshiung , Taiwan.

Early in the morning around 8am, sis and I packed our stuff and we headed to a famous breakfast place - 興隆居. We saw the very good reviews on Tripadvisor and decided that we must give this place a try and of course we weren't disappointed at all! This place is a self service, so if you don't know what to do, just observe the locals and go with the flow ;)

Location: No. 186號, Liuhe 2nd Rd, Qianjin District, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan 801
Directions: City Council MRT station Exit 1. Walk towards North East onto Ziqiang 1st Road, turn into Liuhe 2nd Road.

You can see the sign board of the humble shop.

Fresh fresh steaming buns in the morning!

The fried buns.. ranging from 12 NTD to 20 NTD! Cheap eats :)

We were small eaters so just got 1 vege bun & one meat bun, salty toufufah & egg pancakes. For drinks soybean milk!

Sis happy with her food!

The line of people waiting to pay

Compulsory wefie haha!

After filling our tummy with yummy breakfast, we headed to the famous Lotus Pond - 蓮池潭
Directions: R15 Ecological District (red line) and follow Exit 2. Take bus no. 35 or bus no.51

When we got off the MRT, we ask a nice Taiwanese lady which bus to take to the Pond and she just asked us to follow her because she is going that direction as well. I just can't emphasize how friendly Taiwanese people are.

Sign of the Shou Shan National Park

Lots of lotus plant but no flower T.T

Sis with her beer in hand haha

It was real good weather as well that day :)

Nearby the Lotus Pond there is also an old fort, a really great place to take pictures :)

After visiting the fort, we still had the energy to do a really short hike to see the Kaoshiung Scenery from the Shou San Nature Park Trail...

Can't really see the city view that much because of all the trees~

Finally it's time to go home! Went back to the hotel grab our stuff and off to the airport we go. By the way, if you are taking Airasia, you still have to go to the check in/bag drop counter even if you have printed your boarding ticket because somehow they will issue you another ticket with a barcode... so ya, sis and I went straight to the entrance and got directed to get our ticket, scare the life out of me because we were sort of running late!

Finally waiting for our flight back KL. Bye bye Kaoshiung! Until next time...

4D3N Kaoshiung Itinerary - Day 3

Ohayo minna-san,

Super late post of my 3rd day Kaoshiung trip. Was really busy with work last week as we had the CIMB Fiesta and I was on duty for 3 days. So ya, back to Day 3...

Well, you guys remember the taxi driver cum tour guide uncle? We booked him for a day trip to Kenting for 4000NTD. So basically he will bring us to all the tourist hot spot/ photo taking spots around Kenting which is at the southern tip of Taiwan. The journey to Kenting itself was 2 hours.

Our first stop was the Kenting Forest Recreation Area! We reached around 10.30am and tour guide uncle ask us to be back by 12pm... which was kind of a rush honestly. I recommend at least 2-3 hours at this location.

Kenting National Forest Recreation Area in Hengchun Town of Pingtung County is situated at the center of Hengchun Peninsula,the southernmost tip of Taiwan. The elevation is 300 meters above sea level and the area spans 150 hectares. Due to the tropical climate here, day-to-day temperature varies very minimally. The temperature during the hottest and coldest months is 27.8 ºC and 20.4 ºC, respectively. In winter, gusty wind sometimes blows across the mountain due to the northeast monsoon. Nevertheless, since most days throughout the year are sunny, Kenting is a wonderful place for playing in the water, snorkeling, and exploring the mountains.

At the entrance when we just arrived

It is as though we entered into some jungle...

There are many caves within the Forest Recreation Area but it was closed when we were there

View of the mountains and the sea from the viewing platform

Haha, emotionless jump shot!

Admission Time: 8:00~17:00 (Sep~Nov.06:00~17:00)
Ticket price: Monday - Fri (Adult - 100 NTD, Children - 75 NTD); weekends & public holidays (Adult - 150 NTD,children - 75 NTD)

For more info please click here.

For lunch we stopped by a 7-eleven and had a quick grab.

I had some sushi (39NTD) & Sis had cheese sausage rice (60NTD), we also ate skewers (10NTD each) 

The view right outside of 7-eleven... wish I could see this everyday

Spot the 7-E we had lunch in? Scooters are a common mode of transport around Taiwan, you can rent it in Kenting as well

Miss this view!

After lunch, tour guide brought us to Sha dao Beach.

Shadao features its seashell sand (seashell, coral, and forams) with a calcium carbonate percentage of 97.7%. If you are interested in the sand beach, you can visit the Shell Beach Exhibition Hall here. As one of Ecological Protection Areas, Shadao is the most beautiful sand beach in Kenting National Park.

The white sand is really unbelievable... because it is a protected area, people are not allowed to enter the beach... that's why it is still very well maintained.

The wind gets really strong in Kenting so our hair gets really messy haha! It's difficult to get a "good hair" shot.

Captivating scenery!

The pacific ocean

Strong wind messing our hair haha

Next stop, tour guide uncle brought us to Feng Chui Sha - 風吹砂. Literally translated into "Wind that blows the sand" Supposedly the strong wind from the Pacific Ocean blows the sand onto the side of the mountain and sometimes even up to cover the roads... pretty cool place with good view.

Next stop is a bridge in Kenting National Park, not too sure what the name is. Entrance ticket was not too expensive, just 10NTD per person. You just sort of stroll till the end of the bridge and make a U-turn. This was a shooting place for a movie apparently...

Next up in Kenting - Jia Le Shui

Jia Le Shui has many rock formation that is caused by the erosion from the strong waves and wind. You have to kind of use your imagination to see the rocks... I really like this place because you can see the Pacific Ocean "Tai Ping Yang" and just sort of unwind yourself from the hustle and bustle of the city.

Last stop of our Kenting Day Trip is the Eternal Flame "Chu Huo"

The ChuHuo Eternal Flame (恆春出火) just outside of Hengchun in the far south of Taiwan is definitely worth a stop. Natural gas seeps up from the earth and ignites on this otherwise dead area of rock and sand ground. There are several areas of fire to see and, on at busy times, there are vendors in the parking lot who will sell you popcorn to pop over the eternal flames.

Can you see the tiny flame behind us? The natural gas from deep beneath the earth keeps the flame alive.

After a tiring day trip in Kenting, we dozed off in the taxi on our 1 1/2 hours journey back Kaoshiung. Rested for a bit in the hotel and off we go for dinner!!

Nanhua Tourist Night Market near our hotel at Formosa Boulevard Station

The chicken mushroom rice is really good... 35NTD, I don't remember what the other one is though haha.

Think this is some sort of rice noodle... taste a lot like Vietnamese Pho

Yam-ish soup with little shrimps

I hope I'll be able complete blogging this trip by next week... no promises though XD until next time!