hendrikch.com - Hendrik Christian Blog on Daily Life

All good things somehow have to come to an end. After 19 years of Foxtrot dailies, here are the last comic strips of Foxtrot dailies, as Bill Amend decided that Foxtrot comic strip will go to a Sunday-only publication schedule. Adios Roger, Andy, Paige, Peter, Jason, Quincy, etc… We’ll miss you all from our daily life *srooottttt*






Thanks for all the wonderful comic strips over the years, it has been one of the few excellent comic strips available.

Read the official press release here.

One word, crazily jam-packed !!! I went to Plaza Singapura for lunch on Christmas day and was planning to follow it by watching The Nativity Story movie. Guess what, a movie that has the most relevance on Christmas day was not on show anymore on Christmas day, *haiz* So, I went to The Legend club house in Fort Canning Park to watch some choir caroling from some church. I went to Plaza Singapura shortly after that, then went to Royal Sporting House in Centerpoint to buy a new sport shoe. My current Nike running shoe has been one of many casualties thanks to the non-stop downpour over the last few days. Well, after over two years of using it, it has actually shown its aging over the past few weeks already. I guess it’s really a time to get a new shoe after all.

Out of Adidas, Reebok, and Nike brand I’ve tried lately, I felt Nike shoes were the best I’ve used so far, so I decided to go for another Nike shoe this time round. I was attracted to a white-colored cross-training shoe but I felt the shoe sole was too stiff for my liking. The price was $135 some more, so I diverted my choice to other shoes. Finally, I ended up with a Nike running shoe that felt perfect fit for my feet. It costed me $89.90. I’ve not had the chance to use it yet, and with the current rainy weather, it will be some time before I’m willing to wear it out hehe…

After I accomplished my mission hehe … (a new shoe was all I wanted to get this year), I walked to Esprit to accompany a friend who was looking for a winter clothes before moving to Australia soon. When all shopping are done, we all ended up in Food Republic in Wisma Atria. We scouted, waited, and finally we found few of the best seats in Food Republic where you can view performance on stage on Orchard Road from fourth floor without the need to jostle for views with hundreds of people below

In order to occupy those seats long enough to view the show, we went on a spree of meals, from long-queue Toast Box to long-queue Prawn Hokkien Noodle, hehe … Countless people were asking if we were done with our meals. “Of course not” Not that they needed our seats as there are many seats elsewhere, but our seats were one of the best to view the performance below Photos below are the testament to it

We left around 8.30 pm in order to avoid MRT jam when everyone’s leaving Orchard, to Marina Square for a few games of pools. Amazingly, City Link and Marina Square were so so empty haha … I guess probably, everyone were in Orchard area :p

Views from Food Republic down, it was quite empty around 5 pm, but was so crowded by 8 pm. Click the photo for larger version. As usual, all photos were taken using Sony Ericsson K800i

One fine day (read: today) I went into my office, as per normal, I launched Outlook 2007 and IE 7 to read my emails etc. I happily went to pantry to get my bottle of water filled up, walked back to my desk and saw nothing was loading on my laptop. I tried and tried to no avail. I asked around, by using some changes in the configuration, I managed to connect to get my emails. However, Internet to other overseas website, even google are virtually non-existent. So I prodded around to get more information, and the answer I got was: “Undersea cables were damaged due to earthquake in Taiwan” Ah well, it has been a day in office with almost zero Internet connection. Announcements from Starhub and Singnet, news from BBC, etc confirmed the answer I got, and some article mentioned it could be up to three weeks before the whole thing will be back to normal. Some people asked me, “How to work for three weeks without Google?” haha… fortunately, tonight, everything seems okay now, albeit slower.

On a separate note, I wished everyone in Taiwan best wishes, hopefully everyone are okay there.

Starhub Press Release: http://www.starhub.com.sg/newsroom/newsrm_item.asp?id=4217&category=Starhub%20News
BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6211451.stm

Someone special was having birthday on Christmas day. Everyone came to celebrate, every single person, young or old, men, ladies, girls, boys, adults, kids, everyone. They have prepared sumptuous dinner and tasty birthday cake more than enough for everyone. It was so special that His birthday was declared as a public holiday all around the world. Every cities, every countries celebrated His birthday, every roads are light up with lights, decorations, performance, drama, choir caroling, people are having joy. Coloured lights decorate many town centres and shops, along with shiny decorations, and artificial snow painted on shop windows. In streets and shops, ‘Christmas trees’ (real or plastic evergreen ‘conifer’ trees) will also be decorated with lights and Christmas ornaments.
They have even invited a big fat old clown with long white beard, wearing red outfits to enlighten the event. All are prepared, all are set, all are thought of, all …… except the birthday person Himself. No matter how grand a birthday party is, it is nothing if the person having birthday was not there Himself, right? So, where’s Jesus Christ on your Christmas this year?

Merry Christmas and here wishing you to find the true meaning of Christmas, that Jesus Christ, the only Son of God was sent into the world to save the world through Him, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life, and why? Because God so loved the world, you, me, and everybody. Have a blessed Christmas!!

Get plenty of rest. Get active. Hang out with friends and family.

That is the key, experts say, for beating stress. Because this time of year is a time of joy and celebration, but it can also be a time of tension. There’s almost always too much to do and not enough time to get it done. Here are 5 quick tips for managing holiday stress.

• Get plenty of sleep. Less sleep can lead to irritability and decreased ability to deal with added pressures at work and home.
• Make an effort to be more physically active. Physical activity is one of the best ways to make yourself feel better. Exercise stimulates the production of endorphins, mood-elevating chemicals produced by the body. Take a walk, go to the gym, or take on a project that calls for physical activity.
• If you’re buying gifts, set a realistic budget ahead of time and stick to it. Spending more than you can afford causes stress in the short term and during the next year as you struggle to pay off holiday bills.
• Be aware of the increased accessibility of sugar, caffeine and alcohol during the holidays and guard against overuse of these substances.
• Make connections. Good relationships with family, friends and coworkers are important. So view the holidays as a time to reconnect with people. Additionally, accepting help and support from those who care about you can help alleviate stress.

Best wishes for a happy and healthy holiday season.

Life is like a puzzle, with unsolved mysteries, with challenges and obstacles came one after another. Life may not be fair, but we must believe that how unfair our life may look like, God is good, and He know exactly what He is doing with our life. We simply need to trust and obey. I do admit, easier said than done.

When there is a will, there is a way, and sometimes when you really don’t know how, pray