021012

by

four tee one

mmm.... feeling a little better today...

Woke up not feeling the best after a 10 hour sleep... But better than last night.. However, as the day progressed.. The dizziness, unsettling feeling in the stomach and the headaches came back..

My body was so weak due to a lack of food since last night (the last meal since 12pm today was 6pm the previous day) so I was trembling and walking a bit wobbly =X.

But lunch did help a bit. =X


So.... What happened yesterday?

EVERLAND RESORT!!!

We met up at 11am ish (which was a bit late) because some of us forgot our passports and cards that we didn't even need at the themepark..

I was being the usual Obed, making sure everything went according to plan... including tickets, group buying,  transport issues, which exit to get off at and what-not...
The problem with being the leader is that if something goes wrong (even if it's out of your control - i.e., due to others' mistakes), you get the blame for "poor organisation".
Yesterday wasn't any different... Because we were 1 hour late and some people had to wait longer at the station or what-not... I got blamed for "poor organisation" and that "next time, (I) should plan better".

And on top of that, me getting motion sick added to the inconvenience I caused...




On the train to Gangnam

The bus stop to catch the bus to Everland!

Nicole and Nichole, who stayed with me because the bus was full. The only supportive people that day.

Much quieter bus where we actually got seats (Others on the earlier bus had to stand)


Arrived!

Sooo many people...

Yeah..


Inside~ Halloween themed

I took the Chinese guide accidentally..

Better =]

Kool tree!

The culprit ride that got me sick.

The ship going backwards and the loss of focused vision made me sick.. It's when what you're looking at isn't in line with how fast you are going.. That's how you get motion sick.

Waiting in line..

About to board the ship.

On the ship... Even looking at the pictures makes me sick..

Korea's version of Wipeout

Chairlift!

My kind of rollercoaster =D. But Max height = 120cm.. aw =[

The scariest ride that day... I didn't go on it. Look at it.

Yeah... no.

FAIRY FLOSS.

My friends laughed at me because we Aussies call it Fairy Floss...

On the way to Horror Village... This line was for the scary rollercoaster (100min wait)

Yeah....

Wow.

Nichole and I weren't feeling well, so we snacked while the others went on the rollercoaster.

Creepy bird.

Zoo animals! a part of the park.

Something fox.

I swear they can fly with those ears.

PRAIRIE DOGS ROFL.

Big assss fish.

Big ass bird.

Polar bear.

Polar bear.

Polar bear.

Derp bear.

Siberian tiger =O.

MINE.

Jackass penguin. LOL seriously... Jackass penguin.




Big ass seal.

Eero's cute attempt.

PEDOBEAR MUFFLER.

Birds.

Birds. Couldn't talk. =[.

Derpface Alex.

Again.


Scary rollercoaster again.

And again... 

Dinner!

Yeah... the food here was standardised throughout the park and it wasn't what you'd call fresh... but it was okay. Food is food.

Sun setting... halloween theme about to shine.


BAM. Guys dressed in these costumes started coming out for pictures and a show.

This guy was VERY much in character (they all were).. Loved it. He kept hiding behind poles and scaring people who didn't see him.

The duchess ghost... Had a 'too cool for you' attitude which was awesome! Didn't want to be touched and did not want gangsigns... and didn't like pretty girls or guys.

Eero and a creepy ghost woman who literally popped out of nowhere.

The 9 tails ghost who stalked us into the arcade.

After this picture, I went to sit down alone in this horror village, whilst Nichole and Eero went to the haunted mansion (managed to get the last two tickets) and the others went to go on one last ride...

The haunted house that I didn't go into because the tickets were sold out.. People were screaming and you could hear it 100m away.. Some people actually ran out screaming and crying because it was so scary.

The tree from before!

The bus ride home... at this stage I was so sick that if I didn't close my eyes and slept, I would have vomited.... Any slight movement from the bus whilst attempting to adjust to the field of vision would have been vomit inducing..

I am really thankful for Nicole and Nichole who stayed with me and ditched group dinner just to make sure I got home okay... I didn't want to be a burden, but I've never been that sick in my life.. And they knew in the condition I was in, I could have potentially gotten hurt... Sudden fainting was also possible..

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
END EVERLAND EPISODE.


 Today was, as you can imagine, a quiet day...

 As I said in the beginning, I stayed indoors all day because I literally could not walk, talk and I had trouble eating because appetite wasn't really on my side..

 It wasn't until dinner when I gathered the courage to get out and see if fresh air and the horizon would calm my sickness...

 After dinner at the cafeteria, Julia and I went to E-mart to get some cereal and hoped that the walk would fix things..

 On the way to E-mart, we stopped by a Chemist to see what they had for motion sickness.. They gave me this small bottle (30mL) that motion-sickness prone Koreans drink before getting into a car for a road trip..
It was 400won (35 cents) and it worked like a charm. If it was labelled Magical Goblin Piss or something, I wouldn't be surprised because it was like magic. It had a ginger-y taste and a warm sensation, but within hours I felt better and better...

My new cereal =D. I finished the Corn Flight one LOL.. the name: Coco Ball

BINCH


The Magical Goblin Piss potion.

When I was sitting down, I heard a very loud scream.. A scream that was louder than the music and the chatter of the big crowd...

 A mother had lost her child. The look on her face and her trembling voice as she shouted "WHERE ARE YOU!?!? HONESTLY, WHERE DID YOU GO!?!?" was paralyzing. 
It's a helpless feeling when your tiny tiny child who probably just learnt how to walk 2 weeks ago goes missing in an ocean of people.. To make it worse, the lighting in this village was very dark and smoke/fog filled a considerable portion surrounding the area..

 And then it made me wonder...

 We are all somewhat like that child... In our curiosity, naivety and seeming rebellion we wander away... letting go of the safety of God's hand... Only to be surrounded by danger, darkness and no real guidance.

Just like that child, we don't really know what we are doing.. how much pain and sorrow we cause to the One who comes looking for us... When we hear His voice shouting "Where are you hiding?", we hide just like Adam and Eve did in the garden... Because we have rebelled..

 Just like that child, in reality, we are incapable of finding our way back because to be perfectly honest, no child would be mature and intellectual enough to find their way back to their home (If you got lost now, because we are adults, we are able to somehow seek shelter or contact our parents.. but if you were a child, you would simply cry and hope for the best). Just like that child, we would be helpless - only to be surrounded by death if no one came looking for us..

 But.. just like that mother, God indeed came looking for us... He initiated to come looking for us, even though He could have easily just left us to die. Why?
Because He loves us.
Just like the mother who loved that child so much, God cries out for us to come back.. Just like the shepherd in the Parable of the Lost Sheep goes looking for that one stray sheep, so too, does God the Father come looking for all His lost children whom He loves so dearly... Even if it costed His Son.

 In the end, that mother found her child.. And for the rest of the night, she did not let go of his hand.

 ^
Writing the above was painfully condemning... As a matter of fact, this blog entry was quite hard...



It wasn't because it was long... 
It wasn't because I am tired or sick...

It's because I didn't want to admit that tonight, I was very very very close to falling..


As I was about to begin this entry.. I took a nap... But as soon as I woke up, I felt a sudden rush to satisfy the desires of my eyes. There were things tonight that I shouldn't have seen... And now an immense regret has begun to burden my shoulders. I'm trying my hardest to dig the images out of my mind in hope that they would not develop into long-term memory that could prove to be a stumbling block in the future.
The good thing is that my mind was still only half-awake so the memories weren't vivid. But that still does not save the fact that I gave into what my eyes desired... A loss in the field of having discipline over my body.

I am so thankful however, that there was a point where I said 'enough'. The more my eyes indulged, the more my spirit was not at ease... And the more I scrolled through, the more guilt and shame built up. This spiritual warfare is real. My body wants one thing, yet my spirit wants the opposite. The whole fight lasted a minute or so but the temptation to re-enter the fight lingered on for another half hour.. 

I did not want to write this entry particularly because I knew I would be hiding something if I didn't mention the above.. And mentioning the above meant admitting the fact that I have fallen.

However, the flip-side occurred. 

In admitting my shortcoming, I have overcome my shame and faced God in repentance.. Although tonight I have experienced the real danger of too much time + internet freedom, I in turn have again realised my weakness and how real sexual temptation is for men. It is a real wake-up call and a topic I shouldn't take so lightly..

The fight for control over my eyes has always been a struggle in the past.. So I ask for your faithful prayers that I may have the boldness and courage to reject what they want... and to keep in mind at all times what God wants.

Thankful: God intervened when I was so helpless surrounded by the lies of this world.. God constantly teaching me things through my weak moments.. God taking away a significant portion of this motion sickness.. and God for being the loving Father that He is.

Prayerful: Tomorrow may see a full recovery and a new day to live out faithfully, holding onto the safety of God's hand. I pray that I may draw near to Him at all times.. 

Dangers: My body is winning this constant tug-of-war battle... Especially when my mind is so weak due to illness that it's been hard to even pray..