Tip 122: Midweek spiritual nourishment

I look back and recall,
My 5 month stay at Canary Wharf, London,
Memories I cherish were not the modern buildings standing tall,
But from a barge, a peaceful refuge, a drinking well,
Every midweek I could return.













Canary Wharf, London is a pleasant place to be working at, with large open spaces, serene waterways and state of the art intelligent buildings. Yet, if I have not discovered St. Peter's Barge, a floating church that aims to serve the office workers nearby, I would not have taken the time to take lunch time strolls to appreciate the beauty of this place. I thank God for providing the vision in 2003 to the church leadership to purchase a Dutch freight barge so that it could be at a near location for city workers to go to. The church has since grown in numbers and now holds 3 midweek sessions and 2 Sunday services. The idea that it is merely a boat, made me doubt that it would hold enough people, have an efficient program and be a pleasant experience, but as I step in for the first time, instantly I felt at ease with the beauty of its interior and the comfort the heating facilities and its furniture provided for an encounter with God. Its a reminder of how 5 loaves and 2 fishes is enough to feed 5000 people. The needs in this life can be met by the most simple solutions that need not require too much worry, but only trust in God.













These days, most office workers are stuck in their office with little time to catch the sunlight. When they do, it is to rush to grab a meal, to meet someone during lunch time or to accomplish an errand in the space of a short time. Some even have their meals in front of their computers everyday. I discovered that a 3o minute midweek service is a good refuge from such a meaningless routine as we constantly need to challenge ourselves to pause and reflect on our work and our purpose. Its hard when you are on a conveyor belt of appointments or string of tasks to be completed. Yet, a 30 minute break to walk away, listen to the Word of God, reflect and pray may bring us closer to the simple solution of meeting the urgent demands of our work. It has for me, as God uses the midweek service at the Barge to challenge me, of how I need to be more kind to my colleagues, of how I can always depend on Him even in the nitty gritty details of my work. Its a refreshing reminder that God is in the midst of my work and when I return to my desk at my office, I have received a new perspective to carry on. Its even more effective than a cell group meeting that you attend after work which probably meets family needs more than work needs, since our mind may easily forget the lessons the day before. Yet, reading the bible in the middle of the day can steer us in the right direction, and so would a morning devotion for many.













When I go for a midweek service, I would bring a sandwich along or buy one at the Barge. Its however not a staple lunch time food for many Asian countries unlike in the Western world. The eating habits in Asia have gotten more demanding that it maybe difficult to forego a proper meal at a restaurant during lunch. There also seem to be more errands to run in Asia compared to Europe. I do hope that I would find and fit in a midweek session when I am in Hong Kong. A thought came to mind that I can find a quiet spot to just pray and read the bible, though that seems harder to do than listen to a message from the bible given by a pastor. Yet, there is a great need to pause, reflect and seek after God who alone can meet our needs.













Do you join a midweek Christian service? Where is it, how is it organized and how has it benefited you? Do share and encourage everyone.

Check out another blog I write: http://lifenewcreation.blogspot.sg to find about building taking charge of your health and pursuing longer life span.












(Photos do not show Canary Wharf, but photos of Oxford, Castle Mill stream, church of St Mary Magdalen, Martyr's Memorial).

Tip 121: Best deals from online travel booking

Would you want to pay 10 times the amount when you can always get a cheap ticket by knowing the right methods? Read on. Online travel bookings are used extensively in many places nowadays such as in England. It does not only cover flight tickets, but also train, bus and car rentals. In Japan on the other hand, most train and bus tickets are either booked at the station or at a travel agency. There are no discounts for booking them during non-peak periods, since it is always busy throughout the year and competitors in the transport business do not aggressively cannibalise each other’s business. This is different in England. There are various independent travel websites that offer online booking facilities and partner with travel and train companies to offer different competitive travel packages. Through research on the internet, I have found a few helpful tips to get the cheapest tickets even if you are booking the travel just a few days before your journey. Book early, split your tickets and book at the right sites.

Getting cheaper fares does involve a little patience and a little more time. But, I do not see the rationale for paying 10 times the amount without following these principles unless it’s a very urgent and unavoidable trip. Booking early can be risky as we may or may not have to cancel the trip later. Yet, sometimes even booking earlier just 5 days before the trip can make a lot of difference in cost. While I have been travelling more frequently lately, I only travel when it is not too expensive since I regard it as non essential expense. As far as possible, I try to use free travel milleage or book in advanced so I enjoy the cheapest or at least relatively cheap fares. My Eurostar return ticket from London to Paris was the cheapest fare ever at only £59 per person, while my train ticket to Oxford from Paddington, London was just £10 per person. Sometimes, it involves a little more attention to detail by checking the schedule meticulously, checking the difference between single journey trips and return journey tickets. An online booking system has many inbuilt system rules on peak periods, but when combining a return trip, the cost may vary and it is not necessarily cheaper to buy 2 tickets instead of 1. By splitting the tickets to buy separate single trip tickets or even splitting the tickets in between the journey to commute between less popular stations while still commuting on the same train route can save quite a lot of cost. Being new to a new country, many tourists also do not know which websites belong to the travel provider such as the train company itself and which websites are merely online booking sites that earn a commission for selling tickets online. Through a little effort to find this information on the internet and compare the fees of each site, one may save a few extra fees. Sometimes, other websites may offer better search features to identify the cheapest fare which then allow booking the right tickets at the original train company website. Seem very tedious, yet saving 10 times the cost can be very handy in these recessionary times.

Do you feel good saving money? Sad to say, with so much trade going on, saving money can be another means to boost your self esteem.

(Photos show cherry blossom at the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Oxford, England.)

Tip 120: Persevering through the 15th hour

I received a message from a reader of this blog whom I know, which gave me inspiration to share a precious journey of my life, one of difficulty and triumph through the guiding hand of God.














“Hi Philip,How are you and your family doing? Your baby is so cute! Are you still in London or have you moved to HK? I just wanted to drop you a note to let you know your Blog always inspires me and refreshes my perspective. It has been a very crazy and hectic 6 months, including relocation. I have been here in X city officially relocated. Felt vey homesick probably because I joined a department going through turbulent times and i have been just working 15hours a day. I think God sent me to your blog cause I recalled reading your blog once and I could "see" God's presence in your writings. I am also looking forward to Haruka learning Cantonese. Language is really essential and a beautiful means to communicate. Continue to be a great dad! :)”














15 hour work days are never easy. The question is whether one should persevere or retreat. I would draw lessons from my life, Jesus and even John Nash that persevering with a guiding hand can be very fulfilling despite the initial pain through the difficult moments. More often than not, such persevering endeavours may be necessary for us and if we see it in this perspective, we may even be thankful of the current recession.














Before my current job that has given me the opportunities to post beautiful photos of Hong Kong, Macau and England, I took up a new responsibility in a Japanese insurance firm. I was elated at first at the opportunity to delve into the minds of Japanese and be immersed in Japanese work culture. Before that, I was only working in foreign multinational companies with offices in Japan and being a foreigner, prevented me from the necessity to participate fully in the Japanese culture.














Yet, in that Japanese company and being the only two foreigners out of the whole company, there was pressure to conform fully to all standards of the company even if my Japanese language skills will never be on par with the rest. I was thus pressured to take a professional Japanese life insurance exam and when I saw the sample exam papers I had to study in 3 weeks after work hours, I could only read less than 1% of it. I begin to question the very reason I was in this company, yet deep inside me, God encouraged me that it was Him who placed me there.

So after finishing work around 8-10pm each night, I got the help of Tomomi to put a hiragana over each kanji on the sample exam paper so I could type it as a softcopy document to translate it using online tools. Then, I memorized all the sample answers and tried to understand the logic of all the answers. The passing mark was 70% and since most who take the exam in the whole of Japan were either Japanese or those who could read the exam paper, the passing rate was close to 100%. I prayed for a miracle in my final week of study. It was just too overwhelming for me. This stress not only affected me, but also my wife. God began to sharpen my senses as I study and I began to understand the reasons for each answer and to only study the important areas as I looked through past year exam papers. The result was a stunning 73% passing mark (even when I guessed my way through many questions)! My Japanese language skills and knowledge of Japanese life insurance increased exponentially after that.














Yet, how do we know the difference between persevering and killing ourselves in the process. I saw that recurring issue in John Nash’s live as portrayed by the movie A Beautiful Mind. Persevering could mean fighting delusions without the help of psychotic medicine, overcoming fears of rejection and failure, bearing with a husband who could harm you, persisting to do good deeds in the midst of evil and danger or even merely to tell ourselves we can write a good blog by trying to be as accurate as possible and be humble to correct ourselves when we are wrong. Most of the time, we need someone’s guiding hands and support, like Jesus who was hoping to rely on his disciples’ company to pray with him in his final hour. Yet, when all seems gloomy, when even the people we love seem to have little hope in us, God loves us. Persevere and leave your life unto the hands of your Creator. The answer may even appear as God may take that “cup” of trial and difficulty away from you if you cannot bear it and if it was not appropriate for you to take it in the first place. Yet, persevere and pray. I was touched by how John Nash could never see the day when his colleagues who were saner than him, honoured him for his contributions. Yet, most of them saw the fight of perseverance he fought. Today, I have told the story of one such fight of perseverance which is precious to me as a miracle in my life. One day, you may tell the same story and may you disciple others and not give up doing so. It gives me as much joy reflecting on my life and thanking God for it, as it would have benefited any of my readers and I wish the same for you.














"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." James 1:2-5















Please do persevere in reading and leaving more comments and make this dead blog alive.















(Photos show Oxford city a labour of love featuring Christ Church, University College, Alice in Wonderland shop, Magdalen College and Botanic Gardens and a garden inside one of the many colleges.)

Tip 119: Encouraging an enquiring mind

I read an article from FTfm (Financial Times weekly review of the fund management industry), “The truth in scandalous City Stories” by Jonathan Davis. I liked his insight when he said, “Some things remain constant. The requirements for successful investment, as opposed to winning the game of short-term performance, remain much the same: an enquiring mind, an ability to think for oneself, an understanding of the meaning of fiduciary responsibility and a degree of humility in the face of the market’s unchanging capacity to surprise.” I will be blogging on each of them in different posts, and would start by enquiring how an enquiring mind develops? I thought about Haruka’s development and recalled the questions Haruka first understood. It was where Mama? (as she look around when I asked her.) Using body language, I would point around to indicate location and finally point to Tomomi. While Haruka has not mastered all the question forms, I think they are internalized in the following order of complexity in understanding: Who, Where, What, How, Which, When, Why. Often times, a baby would have enquired the concept of some of these questions, but it is much harder for us adults to communicate these questions to the baby without a common language that both could understand. Even body language is a skill that the baby is learning as he/she observes human communication. Patience is thus necessary as daddy and mummy spend time to understand the mind of the baby and what the baby is enquiring about. Then, daddy and mummy could demonstrate that they are also enquiring the same questions. Through body language, these questions are articulated and introduced. There is thus a role for daddy to be encouraging such enquiring through actively participating in communication with the baby. This humble communication forms building blocks that shape the enquiring mind till it advances further through a university education where the child learns different philosophies, laws of different subjects and ways to solve different real life problems.





























I cherish the moments spent with Haruka when I look into her eyes and point at different objects and persons and taught her the concept of Who, Where and What. Initially for instance, Haruka would call Tomomi papa or me, mama as they understand the concept of parents being 1 person. With a lot of eye contact, body language and a smile, Haruka understands the differences very quickly. I tell as well as ask Haruka interesting objects that we see once I know she understands the word What. The word “How” is a little more difficult to teach, though Haruka through playing, learns how to unscrew a bottle cap, open boxes, turn on the TV and DVD. I have been starting to teach her the concept of Which recently. I said, “ice cream yes? mama yes?” (as mama walks away from the ice cream stall and I pointed at mama if we should follow her). Haruka nods ice cream yes, shakes her head for mama no. A lady can finally decide in 2 seconds! That’s papa’s girl. I have been wondering recently whether babies enquire the Why question at what age. “Rerum Cognoscere Causas”. That means to know the causes of things, the moto of London School of Economics (LSE). I was applying to study at LSE 6 years ago before I got another scholarship to do my MBA. The cornerstone of the advancement of knowledge is this, and it will be interesting to know how we can instill habits and a sense of curiosity in our kids. Do we as parents experiment with our babies, what it means to trap a fly in a cup, blow a balloon till it bursts and laughs at it. Does all this play expose our children to more occurences so that one day, they would wonder why these things happen the way they are. Should we wait till they go to a science class? I think it starts now and by mere eye contact and an interest to spend time with your baby, you can do wonders to his/her mind.















(If you like the above photo behind the ornamental gate, you would like this and this as you move your mouse around the virtual tour).














Anyone taught a baby under 2 years old the Why question? If not, when did your child first asked Why?

(Photos show bird's eye view of Oxford taken from the Carfax Tower which requires a walk along a 99 step spiral, hence I went up alone. See if you can spot Haruka and Tomomi in any of the photos. Also, All Soul's college and Radcliffe Camera along Catte Street encapsulating the wabi-sabi aesthetic/feeling of a revered English heritage.)

Tip 118: Early exposure to story telling

The baby first gathers interest in familiar and friendly characters as his/her ears listens attentively and eyes and head move around to satisfy the craving to understand and interact with the environment. In the process, the baby interprets meaning and develops a sense of satisfaction, of humour, of learning, of loneliness, of pain and of fear. This happens as early as 3 months, or possibly earlier in a baby’s growth and development of his/her mental and emotional faculty. The baby remembers and begins to try to articulate his/her learning, his/her sense of humour to others who are there to listen. When Haruka was 3 months old, she was spending 2 weeks in her grandmother’s home in Okinawa where they had a pet cat. I would go to the beach every day, yet during the evening, I would be a little bored and find amusement in chasing the cat around for being naughty to wreck the furniture in the home. I was roaring like a lion loudly and interestingly Haruka either saw me doing that or heard me. One day, when she was maybe 5-6 months old, she started to make roaring noises for no particular reason when I was talking to her. We later showed her a lion’s photo, documentaries of lions roaring on the TV and took her to the zoo and she finally had her full understanding of a lion’s roar. After 1 year old, whenever we took her anyway, she would point at a lion on a poster, billboard or on top of a statue and roar. Deep inside, Haruka feels happy that we know she is trying to communicate with us that she knows what a lion is. She begins to observe the different features of lions in different drawings, cartoons and photos and her learning of a lion gives her fulfilment. This develops further into how a lion chases a deer, how humans (or even monkeys) dance to music and the understanding of different story lines. When that happens, I take the opportunity to introduce new vocabularies to Haruka and act out the same actions myself to demonstrate how a particular action is performed with different facial expressions to accompany it. At this time, regular story telling either by me or by teachers has exponential benefits to Haruka’s learning. Story telling is a foundation to getting interested in learning and the sooner we understand our baby’s readiness and expose them to it, the sooner they would engage the world intensively with enthusiasm.












I think through articulation where in my solitude, I like to be singing a song, hum a tune or vocalize my thoughts. I spend a lot of time talking to Haruka especially during our walks. The key difference when you do not own a car, is that you spend more time carrying your baby. It can be a little strain on the backs, but it’s a much better option than leaving your child on a stroller or be absorbed with the radio channels and keeping silent or agitated by traffic while spending time with family. As Haruka’s walking speed is slow now and as we tend to be walking quite long distances during the weekends, carrying is a more feasible option, plus it allows me to be at the same level as Haruka where her head is just beneath mine. This allows for a lot of communication where I can point to her the different animals in our walking path and even tell short stories about them. It need not be a long story with a good plot, but just a simple one that contains motive and at least 1 character. For instance, I could say, “Oh look at the squirrel. (points to the squirrel). It is looking for oishi (delicious) food.” Sometimes, I will add, “today the squirrel is happy playing. Are you also happy today?” We may underestimate these simple conversations, but they actually act as a mini story and exposure to them gets the children ready for more elaborate stories. In fact, these real stories happen to be more interesting than reading a book to your child especially when your child does not read yet. Also, Tomomi takes Haruka to a weekly free playgroup in Canary Wharf library where they have story telling in the morning. Some shopping complexes also organize story telling sessions with professionally drawn large storyboards and cartoons that are presented with lots of enthusiasm and charisma. We may think that a baby under 1 or 2 years old does not have a long attention span or even the ability to understand the stories, but early exposure can do wonders we do not know. Like a farmer who never knows if the seed sowed would reap a bountiful harvest, such that I never knew Haruka would mimic my roar after more than 1 month hearing it and remembering it. As daddies, we just faithfully do our best and give our children the exposure and as many opportunities available at an early stage, and let our children grow and develop at their own pace.












Do you do story telling with your children? Do share.

Check out another blog I write: http://lifenewcreation.blogspot.sg/2013/05/how-resveratrol-and-red-wine-activate.html to find about a new opportunity to do business anywhere besides building your family's health and wellbeing.

(Photos show Leadenhall market during Christmas and buildings along Fleet Street, London).

Tip 117: Appreciating the beauty of wabi-sabi 侘寂

The Japanese phrase, Wabi-sabi (侘寂) is slowly gaining prominence as a buzzword to the Western world as countless books are being written about this elusive concept. This Japanese world view can mean many things to many people and has its roots in the Buddhist concept of transience, impermanence and nothingness which I do not subscribe to. Yet, there are lessons a daddy can learn from this concept and that's appreciating beauty in what is simple, imperfect, natural and modest. I will not confuse my readers by trying to define wabi-sabi as even the Buddhist monks in Japan would tell you that finding a definition for it defeats the purpose of understanding wabi-sabi. But, I will just share examples of Japanese culture and relate it to my daily parenting lifestyle of a daddy. In an age where modernity is taking centre stage, segmenting nature into a far away serene garden or even to some, a plane trip away to some ideal paradise haven, we are losing the eye for nature and simplicity in our everyday life. It is no doubt that the younger generation are growing up with little to be thankful for, than to quickly indulge themselves with more pleasures, experiences and things, being in constant competition with others and telling themselves that they are always inadequate. God in His Wisdom created the simple pleasures of rain and sunshine, rustling wind and cool breeze, fresh dew and rough pebbles, bright sunflowers or modest lilies. Jesus said, “Why do you worry about clothes? Consider the lilies in the field and how they grow. They don’t work or spin yarn, but I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was clothed like one of them". Can the modern daddy tell this to their children while the kids are fully engaged in their playstation game? Or while daddy and family are absorbed in the fantasy of Disneyland? Should we deny these things? Not necessarily. Yet, daddy needs to constantly encourage the appreciation of the simpler things in life that can be even more beautiful, through regular strolls in nature, keeping some manual traditional ways in the home and even having the habit of repairing items instead of throwing them away with little regard.

The Japanese tea ceremony encapsulates much of the feeling of wabi sabi even along the winding stony path leading towards the ceremony. Its when we take more time to reach a destination that we prepare our hearts and value not only the beauty outside, but the beauty within - the preciousness of our soul. With the advent of bullet trains, motorised highways, we often lack the determination to take the simple paths on our foot. I learnt the simplicity of walking from my dad who did not have a car because of poverty, but I later realized there is much gain to going places on foot. Besides free exercise for health and for elimination of carbon for the good of the environment, my weekend outings take on a slower pace to build patience and even offer many new sights along the way. I am glad that both me and my wife have built quite good stamina for walking too. Besides walking, there are other repetitive tasks that can offer therapeutic values to the soul such as cooking, sewing, knitting, sweeping, gardening, calligraphy, painting, pottery making and many others. These repetitive tasks actually seek to improvise practice such that unnecessary actions are eliminated down to the bare necessary strokes that define the task. It thus helps to remove the distractions in our life to focus on the essentials. While its hard to avoid using electronic appliances, my wife uses a traditional rice pot instead of an instant rice cooker. Many of these subtle imperfect items do play a role in adding beauty to the home the wabi-sabi way of bringing oneself to nature and of the need to reflect. The bowls we use for instance can be of simple clay and even a wooden chopstick without paint can enhance such feelings. In the Road Home (movie directed by Zhang Yimou 1999), a broken bowl was pieced together by careful nailing and the finest cloth woven with care and love. Even if daddy has no time to be repairing some of the items at home since it can easily be bought anew at the supermarket, letting an old man fix his shoe can tell a story to the kids that an item was made with care, ought to be valued and repaired with care whenever possible. We need a level of faithfulness and content even with things and these sentiments began to stay steadfast when we deal with the many different people in our lives. Not an easy task for the daddy of the 21st century in a capitalistic consumer market and a changing technological landscape. But, we can certainly do our bit as its the effort that counts. Never easy to achieve such contentment, as gone are the days of lifetime employment, of staying together with village friends all your life. But, daddy do need to have an eye for simplicity as well as abundance like Paul. Paul said, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learnt the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want” (Philippians 4: 12) And he continued, "I can do everything through him who gives me strength." Contentment can come from God. We can find contentment in any and every situation when we believe that God is enough for us. True contentment has nothing to do with circumstances whether in pain or in health, married or unmarried, but in trusting God that He meets our imperfection. While the Japanese worldview glorifies the path of impermanence and nothingness when imperfection is understood, Christians glorifies the personal True God who communes with us in our need for Him. Both demands the need to appreciate the beauty in imperfection and to respect and give thanks of all circumstances. The Japanese tries to live the equation of success that lies on the foundation of respect and persistency in constant improvement (kaizen), with a sense of surrender and belief that the karma of life will take care of everything. Christians have a far more superior hope that God the Creator of the Universe is sovereign and full surrender to Him will see the imperfection used by God, to bring out the best in us. Both worldviews requires us to regularly stop from the hustle and bustle of modern living, to reflect and be a daddy who cares deep within.

Do you have any tips to share on meditations and removing distractions from your life?

(Photos show the Paddington bear at Piccadily Circus and London churches and buildings that may resemble the wabi-sabi aesthetic: St Michael Cornhill, St Helens Bishopsgate, Bishopsgate street).