Diatribe Of A Mad Bassist

Right.. first coolio-wannabe shot of me playing bass.. found this on the church website… haha.. taken when we were in KL..

Here is a vid of us playing Destiny in the J-impact camp.. see how jumpy the youths are..

WHOO! Finally back! It has been a real tiring week.. quite packed and not exactly a lot of time for much shopping so yeah didn’t buy much. But overall learnt a whole lot during this trip.. prayed a lot and really felt much closer to God as well. Most importantly, I felt that I’ve become bolder in my playing after working with Pst Kong so closely during this trip.

Leg 1 - KL

We departed for CHC KL on 2 May.. and we had a super happening bus! First time in my life I took a first class coach complete with personal screen, massage chair and a steward to serve you as well..

As you can see.. there was lots of empty space on the bus so yeah.. it was an enjoyable journey..

Personal screen…

We played in 3 sessions in all and the people were really stirred up.. the crowd was so loud during praise and worship..

Pst Kevin starting the meeting on our final day there..

Oh yes.. we went to eat the most happening Nasi Lemak at this restaurant called Sakura.. man.. the rice was like whoo!!!!!

The chicken was like the power dah!

After praise and worship on our 3rd session on Saturday evening.. we made a dash for KLIA to catch a flight back to Singapore to catch a flight to Fukuoka.. So that was like almost 12 hours of travelling and transit..

Leg 2 - Fukuoka and Kumamoto

We arrived in Fukuoka at about 8am in the morning.. and my dear Chikara was there along with other memebers from Fukuoka Harveset church to pick us up.

This Best Denki looked like one of those you see on the commercials when you watch Japan Hour..

The bridges and expressways are all happeningly green in colour..

Anyway after about 10 mins or so.. we arrived at Fukuoka Havest Church..

The church is on top of a hill.. it’s really like the city set on a hill… this is the view from the carpark..

We didn’t have to serve for the Sunday Service so while most of us rested from the long journey.. the singers were busy trying to memorise their lyrics in Japanese..

My first meal in Japan.. I swapped the Filet-O-Fish for a Teriyaki burger though..

We then took a 2hr bus ride to Kumamoto where they were having a youth camp called J-impact. On the way there we stopped by a rest stop.. nice place..

More than being the Land of the Rising Sun.. Japan is the land of vending machines.. there were so many that I’ve lost count..

We stayed at Hinokuni Heights where the camp was held..

It is some sort of a mountain resort thing.. the weather was super cool at night.. which was a great thing since it was humid and hot like nobody’s business in Singapore..

Shared a room there with Dave, Jessel and Sofyan.. and there were two sides to the room.. One was the “Japanese” side and the bed side of the room..

Anyway the room was typical Japanese style.. just check out the toilet and bathroom..

The toilet seat is heated and it has buttons to wash your butt after you finish your business.. happening…

Anyway.. Jessel and I slept on the Japanese side on Tatami mats.. so it was truly a Japanese experience for us..

We went to this gelato shop opposite the hotel and wow.. It was the start of the addicition to any food in Japan.. everything is so happeningly nice…

This is Lawson, one of the many convenience stores around which we went practically every night.. They have really nice food as well.. I bought a Katsu don one of the nights and it was like.. man.. Singapore Jap restaurants can close shop..

An ad outside a bank.. apparently you are a loser if you bank with them as the model depicted.. Jessel and I called this the Loser Bank.

The youths having a prayer meeting before our final session in Kumamoto.. They were really hungry for the word and I could see that the youths were really impacted by the series of messages that Pst Kong preached.. there were some new friends for the camp as well and many of them got saved as well. Praise God!

And of course there was a reunion with my SOT mates from Japan.. Taka, Chikara and Miho.. yeah.. Miho came to join us from Hokkaido.. she was basically the interpreter for the Singapore mission team when we went around talking to the Japanese people..

We then headed back to Fukuoka in another 2 hour plus journey.. And Jessel happeningly was having fun irritating me by shining light into my eyes when i was trying to sleep and with this shadow play..

We got to Fukuoka City and we were put up in Canal City Washington Hotel..

As I’ve said, there are vending machines everywhere and for everything.. this is an umbrella vending machine…

We had a bit of free time so we went to Tenjin for like 1 hour plus of shopping after checking into our hotel..

This is Tenjin Core which is one of their most happening shopping complex.. By the way.. Tenjin is something like our Orchard..

The people there are dressed like super outlandishly and have big hairdos.. think of a street full of Ayumis.. who is from Fukuoka anyway..

Had my first taste of the much hyped Mister Donut.. erm.. kinda too sweet for my liking..

Ok.. so the next day (I think it’s wednesday already.. kinda lost track of which day is it since the trip started) we started to minister in Fukuoka Harvest Church itself..

We had to take off our shoes there and wear the offical church issued slippers in the hall.. except that… they were abit.. erm… you see for yourself…

Enough said…

This is Pst Nishida, the senior pastor of the church and Chikara’s father.. he is one humble man and could see that he’s someone that’s really broken and open before God. Respect man..

Yes more food pics coming up…

We went to this place to eat Ramen for lunch..

We had the Gyoza and Chashu ramen set.. man.. now I finally understand what they mean when they say Singapore ramen cannot make it..

For dinner that night we went to this Yakiniku (BBQ Meat) restaurant for dinner.. nice..

We had pig’s tongue.. nice.. seriously.. it is..

And of course at night back at the hotel.. the famous Ichi-ran Ramen.. happening.. we had an individual booth each and really.. power stuff..

And as I just realised most of my other photos are more on food food and more food.. including a Mega Mac from Macdonald’s (4 beef patties..).. I shall end my post here.. you can see more pics on my facebook page..

Overall it was a great trip, more than the most happening food you can taste on earth.. I guess what I really took back with me was the experience on working closely to my Senior Pastor, how it was like to really go on an intensive mission trip with him and the closeness to God that I was during the trip. We had prayer meetings early in the morning before the morning sessions and sound checks. It really just shows that the entire trip really had to be ridden on prayer, otherwise it wouldn’t be half as successful.

Hopefully, more trips to come for me in the future..

Ok.. I’m off to KL.. will update with pics… pray for the team over there… basically will be there for one day before we fly back to catch a flight to Fukuoka… yeah…