Day 8 - Day 10 - Marketplace~

18-20 Jul - Here's me dealing with my clients before coming back to Singapore. ;)

18th Jul - Inside Taiwan High-Speed Rail. :)

18th Jul - At client's place in Hsinchu.

18th Jul - At Hsinchu THSR station. Waiting to go back Taipei.

19th Jul - Lunch at MOS Burger.
Special Japanese Chocolate Ice-cream.
Yum.

19th Jul - At client's place in Tainan.

Noticed the red spots on the train's nose tip?
The high-speed train knocks many birds flying in its path everyday
esp. in the Southern Taiwan - leaving the blood stains.

19th Jul - 阿公阿婆面 - A nice warm bowl of noodles I had for dinner
before I fly back on 20th. Very Q :)

19th Jul - The food outlet where I had dinner!

Day 7 - Eric Alone!

17th July - Daphne and Grace have left for Singapore this morning. It was earlier than expected because their original intent was to stay till 18th. Full flight.. so no choice I guess.

So I'm left alone to rest in my hotel room. I decided to head to the Starbucks Coffee downstairs to continue my email clearing and get some preparation done for my official business trip which starts tomorrow!

NTD 300 (SGD 15) for 6 hrs Internet time.
Use as and when you like.

Strange insect on the glass panel of Starbucks.

Dinner time! I decided to walk to Nanjing East Rd to explore the other eateries (other than the McDonalds' which we frequent. Found! Hainanese Chicken Rice - Taiwanese style definitely. No cucumber but small beancurds, egg, vege. and pickles with some special Thai chilli sauce. Instead of the yellow ginger - they've got the green ginger! haha.. Tastes good. Only SGD 3.50. Complete meal with soup and hygienic utensils - Taiwan is very good in this. No worries of dirty utensils as all chopsticks and spoons are disposable!

I'm really fortunate! Second last customer! They closed at 8 PM!

The Taiwanese Hainanese Chicken Rice.

Completed 7-11 Hello Kitty card. But could not exchange
the free Hello Kitty figurine because I chose to bring this
back to hotel to take a photo of it - missing
the last day of promotion unknowingly! BEST!

After dinner, I took the MRT to Taipei Main Station - where the connecting Taiwan High Speed Rail station is. Went there to purchase the tickets to Hsinchu for tomorrow. Just in case the tickets are sold out! haha.. The Taiwan High Speed Rail is a new bullet-train system that travels 300 km/hr. You will reach the southern most part of Taiwan in 90 mins flat instead of the conventional 5-6 hrs railway train ride!

When it started in January this year, the crowd was crazy. I actually missed the opportunity to take it because it was completely sold out. Fixed time slots, fixed seating arrangement. So better be safe this time.

Day 6 - Sightseeing

16 July - Today we decided to visit some of the famous landmarks of Taipei, Taiwan. Afterall, they are what differentiates!

Before that, we took our brunch at the IKEA food cafe! It is actually just beside our hotel. (heh.. that's why hotel proximity to food and other facilities is very important!) Most of IKEA's food are similar except maybe what's in this picture.

Fried pork cutlet with melting cheese in it.
(Comes complete with rice and sauce!)
To the left: Rolled Salmon!

MRT in Taipei is very convenient - much like Singapore. We reached Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall easily - by alighting at the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall Station! How easy is that!?

Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall! (With Taipei 101 as backdrop)

Dr. Sun Yat-sen is the founding father of modern China i.e. Republic of China. He played an instrumental role in the eventual overthrow of the Qing Dynasty in 1911. He was the first provisional president when the Republic of China (ROC) was founded in 1912. He later co-founded the Kuomintang (KMT) where he served as its first leader. Sun was a uniting figure in post-imperial China, and remains unique among 20th century Chinese politicians - being widely revered in both mainland China and in Taiwan even today

1866 - Year when Dr. Sun Yat-sen was born.

Did you know Dr. Sun is a Christian? He was water-baptised at age 18!

Dr. Sun's Water Baptism Cert!

Admiring the huge painting that depicts Sun and his
followers - the history-makers.

Next we went to the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall! Chiang Kai-shek was the Chinese military and political leader who assumed the leadership of the Kuomintang (KMT) after the death of Sun Yat-sen in 1925. He led the national government of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 to 1975. When KMT was weakened and fell in mainland China, Chiang moved his government to Taipei, Taiwan, where he formally resumed his duties as president on March 1, 1950. Chiang was reelected by the National Assembly to be the President of the ROC on May 20, 1954 and again in 1960, 1966, and 1972.

The main entrance to the memorial hall!

The National Concert Hall on left upon entry.
The National Theatre is a similar looking building on the right.
Pity it's under renovation.

The National Concert Hall!

The Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall + big parade square!
Pity it's under renovation too! We could not enter!

Another look at the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall!

Parting shot for Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall!

Next - we walked a little to reach the Presidential Building! It's like the Istana of Singapore. Except without a park. It's supposed to be open for visit for tourists. But we were passed opening hours by the time we reached. So too bad. Next time then shake Ah-Bian's hands. haha..

On way to Presidential Building,
we passed by the Ministry of Transportation.

The Presidential Building!

Under able to resist the temptation of shopping, we hopped over to Ximending yet again! It's just another short walk from the Presidential Building. Had our fabulous dinner at Tamagoya and shopped to our eyes' and hearts' content. (For the girls especially.)

Eric found the best signboard along Ximending.

That concludes Day 6!

Day 5 - Post Emerge

People queuing to enter the school hall for service.

15 July, 10 AM - Post Emerge we visited New Life Church for their Sunday service today. A church with a humble membership of 200 in year 2000. Today, they are a thriving 1400 strong church.

This church has outgrown its premises - it holds its service at a primary school 复兴国小 air-conditioned hall next to its building.

Eric and Grace in the school hall.

Pastor Kong shared the message on "Being approved by God".

This is definitely a church that has a can-do attitude. Rev. Abraham Ku, the senior pastor, is really admirable. He has proven that age does not restrict the change of mindset - as long as one is willing.

Poh and the CHC worship team led the Praise and Worship. Shortly after, some Taiwanese youths came up for a quick sharing session of how Emerge has benefitted them. They were representatives of the 200 participanting churches - each from different churches and parts of Taiwan.

Among them was a guy who was deeply moved by what Ps. Kong shared in Emerge. He shared about his desire to excel in studies - amidst the challenge of mastering 繁体字 as he was from Mainland China. Everyone clapped and cheered him on. It was really touching to see how these youths have new zeal of strength - definitely worth all the hard work.

Eric in front of New Life Church entrance!

Eric and Grace with the 'signature' New Life church wall!

Ps. Kong went on to share the message of "Being Approved by God". Comparing between the two Bible characters of Peter and Judas - we learnt why God approved and accepted Peter while not Judas since both have be betrayed Christ.

While both have the anointing of God upon their lives, it is important to note that it does not necessarily equate to the approval of God. What matters really is our brokeness and relationship with Christ. God is looking for people whose hearts are open to correction, willing to bend and listen to the Holy Spirit's prompting and guidance.

After the service ended, we visited the premises of New Life Church. It is very new age and high tech! It's a pity the place is too small for their church now. Well .. it's a 'good' problem. In fact, they are in the midst of their own 'Arise and Build' program - to build a better and better place for God's people!

After the church visit, Eric and Grace visited Taipei 101. Having been here previously, the mission today was to get to the observatory floor at 89th level, as well as the 91st level outdoor observatory! The view is definitely awesome! At a price of 17 SGD, it's definitely worth a visit. Afterall, it's the world's tallest building for now.

The world's fastest elevators serve the guests. Traveling at 1010 m/min, we reach the 89th level at 35 secs flat. No pressure torture at both ascend and descend! The lights in the lifts dims during motion - complete with glowing 'constellation' lights from the ceiling. Magical feeling.

There is a huge structure supported in the middle of the building at 89th level. It weighs 660 tons. A crucial counter-balance mechanism to help Taipei 101 withstand adverse wind conditions that can sway the building. It's called the 'damper'. Creative Taiwanese came up with a mascot called the 'Damper Baby' and a catchy song. Just look at the soft toy Grace holding in the gift shop photo. :)

Eric and Grace with Damper Baby!

The real Damper. It has a mission that is more crucial than just being cute.

View from the 91st storey outdoor observatory.

After the great view, we headed to the Taipei 101 basement food court for a well-deserved lunch break! One would think that the food in Taipei 101 will be very expensive. Not so. One meal cost average SGD 5 - 7 with epic portions. Food tastes delicious too!

Next, we took the MRT to Ximending - the popular fashion street for some good shopping!

That's all for Day 5!

In case you are wondering, all the photos uploaded thus far are from Eric's N95 phone camera. Daphne and Grace took a whole lot of photos. Will definitely update with more photos soon!

Day 4 - Finale!

Quiet morning - no morning session on Day 4!

This is the TV production control room, temporarily set up,
this is where the director calls the shots!

Grace with her new sneakers! SGD 20 only.
Good quality stuff.

Getting ready - 1 1/2 hour before final session!

14 May - There was no morning session today - but many sporting activities were being held. Taiwanese churches competed in sports like Track & Field, Table-Tennis, Basketball etc.

The Singapore mission team also competed with the Taiwanese team in basketball and soccer competitions. Though we were trashed in the basketball match (not sure the final score now), we won the soccer match with a nice score of 4:1. :)

Long queues once again. 2 -3 hrs before 6 pm. :)

Full attendance even at the last session. Praise God!

The night session began at 6 pm sharp to a full attendance.

Results of the competitions like Cheerleading, X-Box NBA Basketball challenge, Bible Verse Recital Challenge etc were announced. The winning youths were awarded with fabulous prizes such as SGD 300-500 SOGO vouchers, PSPs and even IBM Thinkpad laptop computers!

Jay Chou.

Jay with best friend Liu Geng Hong - sharing his life testimony,
encouraging the youths.

Jay Chou 周杰伦 came to sing for us and shared his life testimony of how having a dream and perseverance in life is important. Jay accepted Christ just 6 months ago! The crowd was greatly encouraged by his sincerity!

Next, Ps. Kong anchored the entire Emerge Taiwan youth conference with the message of "Blowing the Trumpet of God". Like what was preached in Singapore, he demonstrated how God continuously raised up youths to do His work - right of time from Moses to Jesus Christ to the Apostles, to the great Christian leaders such as John Wesley, evangelists like Billy Graham and finally how the Trumpet of God has now been passed to the Taiwanese youths (and the youths of this time and age)!!!

He also reminded the youths to stay commited in their present churches and to always learn the importance of submission to the discipleship of their pastors and leaders - even if they may not be as 'cool' as the youths hope they will be - because God honours those who obey their leaders.

Truly, we must not take for granted the Kairos moment which God has mandated us. Taiwanese youths were greatly challenged to ultimately bring the Gospel to the rest of the world - especially North East Asia.

The dazzling Finale was amazing - most importantly, there was a breakthough in the atmosphere as the church praised God through the songs like "Breakaway" etc. No longer in the realm of being conservative, the youths stepped out - raising their voices, waving their hands in hunger and thirst for more of God in their personal lives.

Truly, Emerge Taiwan 2007 has really been a life-changing experience for many youths in Taiwan. A spiritual re-fuelling station - many visions and dreams were birthed and given the boldness of God to pursue and press on!

The event has generated so much publicity that we were on the front page of three newspapers (including Apple Daily - one of Taiwan most read papers). The National TV even wanted to come and film us - but it was too last minute - so we requested them to come next year instead. All in all.. Glory to God!

***

TV ministry with Pastor Aries after the Finale!
Pastor personally came to say thanks for the hardwork! heh.

Eric with Kelly 陈凯利 - a New Life church TV ministry member.
He guide her to operate Cam 6 for a day - then she kept coming back to
learn more stuff! Very enthusiastic. Very S.H.E. Haha...
She is a full time S.O.T. (School of Theology) student in Taiwan.
S.O.T. first established in Taiwan this year!

TV ministry people with F.I.R :)

Eric with Suci - he directed most of the night sessions.
Steady guy.

Eric with Chin Kiat - a humble guy who has slogged with Ps. Kong
in the previous round- Taiwan mission.

This is the Taipei Arena aka 台北小巨蛋.
(diagonally opp. our hotel actually!)
We are aiming to hold the Emerge Taiwan 2009 here!