Life, Travel, GRACE

Read two inspiration sharing from Daily Bread which I think both are very related. It tells about our sinful nature and how to resist from sinful urge. Phil 3:9 tells us that we are found in Him, not having our own righteousness, which is from the law, but which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith. When we receive Christ, we are set free from the penalty and the power of sin. We are able to say no and yes in our daily decision. We can say no to the desires of the flesh or "youthful lust" (2 Tim. 2:22). Hmm....what kind of "youthful lust"? Is it the lust that most of the youths experience? So when they grow older, the desire is not there? Maybe partly because most youths commit more wrong doings, at least that's what reported in the newspaper. So the heart of the youth is wild - need to be tamed :) We should flee from the "youthful lust" (figurative speaking) and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace. S...

A documentary about Afghan version of singing competition (a la American Idol). As reported, since 1979, the Afghan people have suffered foreign invasions, civil war and Taliban rule. During that time, music was considered disrespectful and sacrilegious by the ruling body (yup, Taliban). From 1996, it was a crime to dance, listen to music or even watch TV. In 2001, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan was formed. In 2004, the first elections were held. Restrictions on music and dancing were lifted. Afghan Star is the country's first televised talent competition. Its first inception was in 2005 and the show is still running as of this year. Despite continuing conflict, the TV station is searching the country for a new generation of music stars. Male contestants outnumbered female contestants. Yet, the people support their favourite stars regardless of ethnic. The documentary features four contestants journey throughout the competition - their glory, fame and persecution. One of...

Welcome to Denmark Pavilion. You have option to hire a bicycle and explore the pavilion or you can choose to walk. It said its city is the bicycle city - everybody moves around by bicycle. Don't know how true is this. The original little mermaid statue was relocated from Copenhagen to here. This could be the main attraction right after you entered from the main entrance. What would be Danish export to the world - none other than its famous Danish beer, Carlsberg. Well, no free beer here. Besides Carlsberg, Lego is shown here. I didn't know Lego is from Denmark. Do you? Overall, Denmark Pavilion did not offer much. Its selling point was the environmental conscious city - the bicycle city. At least it's no ordinary tourism exhibition.

I've heard people investing in gold lately. Particularly because gold price has risen sharply. This year alone it has risen 20% or more. I read an article and couldn't help to agree with the analysis about the weakness of gold investment. Here are the lists: 1. It produces no income. This should be a bad news for gold investor. Don't expect to receive dividend from buying/ investing gold. If you are lucky, you will get appreciation of the gold value. 2. It has witnessed a long periods of underperformance. History speaks it all. As quoted: after gold price reaching a record high of $850 per ounce in January 1980, gold prices fell over 40% in two months. It took gold 28 years to reclaim the $850 level. Will we see a repeat incident of gold's historical head fake? 3. It has high ownership cost. Unless you invest gold in paper form, you will certainly have to pay higher ownership cost for acquiring gold (physical gold -be it gold bar or jewelery etc). Transaction cost, comm...