There was a father who had two sons. But both the sons were estranged in the family in their own ways. The elder son never did love the father, though he did all that the father told him – he did it all for the sake of pure duty. All the while he looked forward to the end of it all, thinking that but doing his due diligence he shall eventually inherit everything that was in the house. He had always looked with contempt at his younger brother — who was complacent and never did bothered to work his due, depending solely upon his father’s riches living from day to day, never ever gave a thought about plans for the future. Comparatively, the elder son was obedient and did all he could to support his father’s farming business.

But even with the apparent obedience of the elder son, he was one without love, showing concern neither for his father nor his younger brother; he always felt that the younger was a good-for-nothing in the family while being constantly doted upon by an overprotective father. However, the elder son felt that all this doesn’t matter for at the end of the day, he would inherit all that his father has.

As for the younger son, he hated his father for being a constant thorn in his flesh. His father was always nagging at him and prevented him from living the life he had wanted. He often felt so “breathless” from being constrained and bounded by the rules of his father. To him, his father was an authoritarian who had always wanted things done his own way. He felt the life he had lived was that of his father’s and not a life of his own. He also hated his elder brother who was that goody-two shoes who did whatever the father instructed him to do – he always felt that his elder brother was one without a soul of his own. One day, the younger son thought, “I shall take my deserved share of the inheritance and leave for a far off land away from my manipulative father and mindless brother.”

Before long, the younger brother requested his due from his father so that he could go to a faraway country to live the life of true freedom, a life that had always wanted, only achievable by leaving his father’s house. Even though the father was devastated, the elder son was secretly elated; for with his younger brother gone, he had become the only son in the house. The father had no one else to depend upon but him, surely his days of becoming the master of the house was near and the father would surely appreciate him more now with his useless brother gone. However, he soon took a setback, when he saw that his father went out daily in the morning out of the house, walked to the highest point where they had lived, always looking afar with a sorrowful face. He was indignant every time his father did this, for he couldn’t understand why his father was doing all this. Wasn’t he a hundred times better than his younger brother, why was his father wasting his effort to even try to hold on to any hope of his return. He continued to work hard even with his brother gone but he would sometimes envy his younger brother thinking whether he should have done the same, wondering if he would have lived a better away from the father. When he started to understand that all the father has would eventually be his, he was happy within himself for remaining in the house.

It had been almost five years and any thoughts about his younger brother was completely out of his mind, when the worst day of his life arrived; while he was still working out in the fields, a servant informed him of his younger brother returned. He was even told to get himself prepared for a feast for his younger brother. He was infuriated, now when he thought that his brother was finally gone, he had suddenly returned; the last thing that he would expected his father to do was to throw a feast for him instead of punishing him for the evil deeds that he had done. He was so angry that he refused to budge and stayed out in the fields even when the servants persuaded him to join in the celebration. Eventually the father came and pleaded with him to join in the feast, but he was so enraged, he rebuked his father saying, “Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!” The father knew that the brother had never loved his younger brother and could never appreciate what he was actually doing, so he told him, “My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found”

A. T. Pierson, D.D.

Many-a-times it is good to go back to the basics to be sure of what we know.

Bought a new book the Westminster Larger Catechism. Wanted to get the Shorter Catechism but the one sold at SKS was not the one I was looking.

This is a Q&A books that covers most of the fundemental questions and teachings about Christianity, the book also give loads of bible quotes and explanations to defend its arguments. I belive this Q&A style do help us to remember the doctrines better. Although the book is not exhaustive,  I think it will definately help get us those bible quotes handy when we need to get references and quick answers to those questions which we can just blurt off but may find ourselves having some difficulty expressing it or finding the bible references.

Hope to be able to spent some time to really go through it.
For those new to the faith I really recommend The Westminster Shorter Catechism.

Very Late update but here goes

That’s all folks.

Went for buffet dinner with my colleagues.
Variety was ok but the seafood was not too fresh but for $26+ can’t ask for too much some more paid by the company.

Got warned by the chef for taking to many pics. But I’m giving free advert here oh well…

Fried Stuff

Seafood in ice not too fresh didn’t take the shell fish just a few prawns

More seafood

California roll

More California rolls

nigri sushi

Cold dish

Pasta and clam sticks

Sashimi and yes the prawn is raw (Looks to menacing to try)

More sashimi

Lots of deserts but not nice very hard

The pudding was not bad since it was readymade

Some fruits at the bottom

Ice cream with lots of flavours.

Grilled food

Remarks: I won’t go to sakura again on my own since there are many much better buffets. Maybe the other chains are better

Sakura International Buffet Restaurant
Jurong West Sports & Recreation Centre
20 Jurong West St 93 #02-06/07, Singapore 648965
Tel: 6899 8197
Website: http://www.sukigroup.com.sg/website/sakura.htm

The shiny bin just gives a bit more motivation to clear my rubbish. Check out the website, there’s a lot of nice stuff to brighten up the house.

http://www.simplehuman.com/index1.html

It’s not too crowded with lots of open area, a great place for picnics and families to spend there time lazing around.

Look at all the clouds, so beautiful.

The garden, I should have taken better pictures but here’s what I have

All our barang barang (Stuff)

Not forgetting the food!!!

Singapore Botanic Gardens
1 Cluny Road
Singapore 259569
http://www.sbg.org.sg/

The table top

Vegetable sticks and 4 kinds of butter for bread(free flow). There are chili, pepper, normal and another kind of butter which I can’t remember

There are 3 kinds of bread, the above has raisin while the one below is plain bread but very crispy

A small menu given to us to keep us aware of the various dishes

AMUSES BOUCHE assorted nibble platter to whet the appetite
The cup on the right is soup, crab/prawn cake in the middle and some diced seafood on the left with a piece of bacon.

HOMARD AUX NOIX DE MACADAM macadamia nut crusted lobster millefeuille with tartare of tomato confit, yuzu lemon and momotaro scented couscous salad, wild herbs and zucchini gratin
Strong nutty macadamia taste with generous portions of lobster. Momotaro tomatoes are supposely sweeter than the average tomato.

JAMBON D’ESPAGNE EN TAPAS spanish ham with musk melon marshmallow, fleur de sel crusted japanese tomato, smoked mozzarella, crispy pickled garlic, stuffed baby squid and goat cheese bruschetta
The orangy sponge on the right is the marshmallow and the white triangle is cheese and the ring is stuffed squid and ham

VICHYSSOISE AUX OURSINS roasted organic cauliflower vichyssoise with steamed sea urchin chawanmushi, oscetra caviar, herb infused toast and milk emulsion
Sea urchin with something like cheese infusion below and a nice tasting “soup-like” drink can’t remember the name but texture was very smooth.

ROUGETS A LA FONDUE DE TOMATE
homemade cherry tomato tart tatin with grilled red mullet fillet, warm salad of pickled summer vegetables and coriander scented olive oil dressing
The fish goes well with the olive oil but not a fan of the complimenting vegetables

FOIE GRAS AUX POULPES PRESSES pressed foie gras terrine and octopus salad with homemade lemon oil, poilane bread tuile and organic leaves
This is one of my favourite, the foie gras terrine goes well with the free flow bread and I wonder how they made the thin layer of octopus at the bottom remarkable.

FOIE GRAS CLASSIQUE classic pan-fried foie gras with caramelised green apples and old port sauce
Ok this photo looks terrible because I ate up most of the foie gras before I realise I forgotten to take the photo, this is a signature dish of Saint Pierre, the apples however were a bit too sour for my taste buds

Pineapple Sorbet
No fanciful name for this but it’s light and refreshing after the appetizers

SAUMON ECOSSAIS pompadour potato crusted wild scottish salmon with yuzu leaf scented onion udon, homemade lobstertaragon tortellini and basil oil poached cherry tomato bourgogne rouge cuvee gerard 2003 nicolas potel
Someone else took this dish but I got a taste of it, I still prefer salmon to be done sashimi style, abit too cooked for me, the tortellini was slighly hard too

POULET DE BRESSE RATATOUILLE roasted french patte jaune chicken with papilotte of organic summer
vegetable ratatouille, duck essence infused corn chips, lemon and rosemary infused dressing
This dish I think tastes better than the salmon, the chicken was cooked to the right consistency, not too hard or too soggy, the corn chips was interesting, the ratatouille was an acquired taste, not terrible but was just weird for me.

Lemon slices for our cold water

|
CITRUS pink grapefruit segments with orange and kalamansi infused with earl grey tea and lemon sorbet
Another refreshing dessert, lots of work must have been done to remove the segments so nicely with out the skin

GATEAU AU CHOCOLAT homemade flourless belgian chocolate cake with passion fruit ice-cream,
confit of orange zest and raspberry coulis
This was the last dish and was really very very very full, enjoyed the crunchy bits of sugar under the ice-cream

Ended off with fruit tea to complete the expereince. Very aromatic and I was very full and satisfied

Remark: Please go on an empty stomach when ordering the degustation menu or you may not be able to finish the food.

Saint Pierre The Restaurant
3 Magazine Road, #01-01 Central Mall
Singapore 059570 
Tel: 65 – 6438 0887
Fax: 65 – 6438 4887
Website: http://www.saintpierre.com.sg

Fish and Chips

Salad that comes with it

Ice Cream Cake

Block 325 Clementi Ave 5 (Kopitiam)
#01-129
Singapore 120325
Phone / Fax: 67741225
Everyday 11:30 am till 10:00 pm (last orders)
http://botakjones.com/

A fren recommended me a site with free discount coupons for makan places in Singapore.
Check it out here