Day 6-9: Say Good-bye to Hollywood...

edit: photos now added :)


(This post doesn't yet have photos...I forgot to upload the pics to my comp and I can't be bothered to get it out of the overhead luggage compartment...hehe)

Yes, I'm in a plane once more as I type this. I didn't have the time the last few days because of the convention, so I'm compressing it all into this one post.

On Day 6, I got to meet up with Dennis Kim again. Some of you may remember him as the pastor who came to speak for the PG1 & PG2 retreats this year.




We went to a local steakhouse and had a beautiful cut of meat cooked just right - not so rare that it's still dripping, but not too done so that the meat is a pale pink. Succulent and tasty! And the clam chowder we had as an entree was really good too!




Just as an aside, in America, they call the "main" an "entree". And the "entree" is called an "appetiser". Actually...it's appetizer with a "z"... :P

It was good to catch up with Pastor Dennis and hear about what he's been up to and where God is leading him in ministry.

Another random thing about USA...I don't think I want to live there.

Why?

Nothing bad, really. Most of you know I LOVE sports. Here in the States, there isn't a day that goes by when there's some form of sport that's on. With the start of the NBA season, I've had access to 4 games of basketball a night no TV, plus some repeats of NFL (Americna football) and also NHL (ice hockey).

If I lived here, I'd never get anything done because I'd be watching sports on TV all the time!



And so with Day 7, the NYWC 2006 began. The seminars were excellent! I got a lot out of them...deeply challenging and convicting. You got to choose out of a heap, so there's always something you can learn from.

But one thing I found disconcerting was the level of preparedness of many of the "youth pastors" who turned up. I'm not necessarily saying that strong academic foundations is vital for everyone, but there is still a need for some basics. A lot of the "youth pastors" were barely out of high school, and their grasp of Scripture and views of ministry were very uninformed to say the least. Very much a case of the "blind leading the blind".

Having passion is vital, and I don't deny that. But you also need training. It's not an either/or situation...you need both!

And some even revelled and gloried in their ignorance. One guy who'd been in youth ministry for ages boasted to me, "I've never been to Bible college or anything like that. I don't need it. What's systematic theology going to do for my youth?"

A great deal, was my answer.

But I did get to meet some wonderful people and learned a great deal. My eyes were opened to new things, and was encouraged greatly by God during my time there.




And so, I'm here on the plane...about an hour out from Incheon airport. I'm sure the next week is going to be a complete culture shock - from the laid-back, deliberately-trying-to-be-cool attitude of thousands of youth pastors, to a conference for and with several hundred Korean Senior Pastors who for the most part will be very conservative... Definitely going to be interesting!





Just as an aside...Korean Air recently updated their uniforms for flight attendants. To be honest, it's weird!




I'm all for avant garde fashion and cutting edge design...but these uniforms just make the flight attendants look like cosmetic counter girls in a department store...hehe

Day 5: Trick or Treat!

I had no idea Halloween was such a huge deal in America. Sure you know kids go around in costumes at night "trick or treat"-ing. But right from the morning, I saw fully grown adults walking around in various costumes! It was just too weird for me!

After I woke up, I went out for a bit of a walk. About a block away from my hotel, there's a strawberry patch and a small produce stall. It's really unusual because right in the middle of all this development, they have this farm!




Apparently, the owners of this block of land never bothered selling up. Great thinking because I cannot even begin to imagine how expensive this huge block of land right next to Disneyland would be now!!




Anyways, in the stall, they were selling bananas for 59c a pound - about $1 a kilo! With the price of bananas so steep in Australia, it's been a while since I've had some. So I couldn't resist! I bought a bit over a kilo's worth and ate one on the way back to my room. Yummy!




An odd thing happened on my way back though. A guy that looked like he was suffering from extreme effects of drug withdrawal ran up to me and said, "Excuse me sir. Could you spare 50c so I can buy some food?"

Since I had a bag full of bananas, I offered him some instead of the money. He refused and ran off.



I got back to my room and hung around for a while, waiting for Pastor Steve Choi to come pick me up. He was coming with a few EM-ers and we were going to go have lunch together.

They took me to this really nice place called Cheesecake Factory. It's a really nice restaurant chain.






We ordered 4 dishes which we were all going to share.

They were huge servings, and very nice! :)










We were so full after the meal that we had to walk it off. So we went around the mall and took some pics. :)







Afterwards, I got dropped back at my hotel. It was still mid afternoon, so I got on the bus and went sightseeing...here are some photos. :)




BTW, I stumbled across this emergency scene...I asked one of the security guards nearby and he said an old lady had been mugged. Not sure why the firetruck was there but...

Day 4: Full!

After crashing out so early yesterday, I was bound to wake up equally early this morning...


3:24AM!


So I got up, and went online to chat with Sunny back home.


Anyways, it got to 5:26 and I was starving. So I went next door to the 24hr diner, Denny's and ordered what's called a French Slam - scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, and french toast. At 5:30 in the morning, it was a truly delicious breakfast! :)











So I hung around in my room until 7AM when I went out to get the paper from the concierge and to have the continental breakfast that was included with my room. Yeah, I'd already eaten, but I didn't want to waste the included fringe benefits of my room! :P



So after having my 2nd breakfast (all before 8AM), I went back to my room and got ready to go out.

Today was the day where I'd go explore the area by myself. Anaheim is where Disneyland is located, so there are plenty of little things for tourists to do. And they provide a shuttle service that goes to all the major attractions in the area.

So I got myself a day pass for these buses ($3) to travel around the area.




Unfortunately, I just missed the buss I wanted to get, so I went across the road to an IHOP (International House of Pancakes) to kill an hour. I ordered the smallest meal, which was a short stack of regular pancakes. So, I ate my THIRD breakfast, all before 10AM! Man, was I full!!!!










So what did I get up to today? After the eating my way through the morning, I went to a place called The Block at Orange and did a bit of shopping.











The mall is pretty large, so after walking around for a day, I got back to my hotel and took the rest of the evening off. :)