Journal of James's Journey with Jesus

Random Facts About The Inner James Most People Never Knew

My personality type is INFP. I am an introvert who makes friends only in my sphere of immediate contact or when necessary. Being shy, that meant that I only tried to know the people in my primary, secondary and tertiary school classes or my co-curricular activities. People tend to think of me as an extrovert but I usually only make friends with those who come up to me and break the ice first.

I am easily stressed and nervous. This negative quality of mine has been amplified and made clear to me ever since I've been in the army. I attribute the cause of this to me being a rather spoilt kid, a fact which I've only recently realised. I've grown up always having a maid around, as we employed them to take care of my grandma.

I have very little confidence and am quite dependent on people. As you can probably tell by now, I am a pessimist who tends to look at my own faults rather than virtues, if there were any. Though I have tried eating some humble pie, I am primarily a proud and stubborn individual.

I am an implosive and extreme person. I am usually cheerful and happy-go-lucky and tend to not get angry over small matters but if you push the envelope too far and too long, I could overreact. A friend could become an overnight foe, without any forseeable chance of reconciliation. I've always had some hooligan streak in me but it only shows when I'm super pissed off.

I find that I am rather intelligent and can learn things quickly but am unable to channel this attribute to any meaningful output(Basically, I've got almost nothing to show for it). I am enthusiastic about new things which seem fun or a novelty.

However, I'm not passionate as I do not have what it takes to sustain the fire. I'm inconsistent, laid-back and give up too easily when it comes to tough things or times. That's why I hate puzzle and strategy games. I am super lazy.

I am deeply impulsive and do everything based on my feelings. Doing things on the spur of the moment give me a high unlike any other activity. I especially like to buy things on impulse. Discipline and delayed gratification are qualities foreign to me.

I'm pretty easy-going and fun-loving. I would do anything for fun, even if it is embarrassing and especially if someone dared me to do it. I have always assumed the role of class clown. I remember cross dressing during racial harmony day and taking off my shirt during school assembly in secondary school.

In many ways, I'm still a child inside and I'm not ashamed of it. I never wanted to grow up into a complicated adult or pose as a sophisticate. Maturity should never come at the expense of losing our zest for life.

I am girlish but straight. If I didn't like girls, I would have definitely thought I was gay. I have no idea why but it seemed like my sister and I swapped our souls in the ovarian room or something.

But a psychologist once told me that boys are born with more of the mom's genes and the girls are born with more of the dad's genes. I tend to be more gentle, refined and weak while my sister has the I-Can-Do-Everything genes from my dad.

For one, I like female fashion. It's just more colourful, stylish and well-thought than male fashion. Male fashion is so restricted, uncreative and boring. Female fashion is less rigid, accentuates the curves and have more variety. To confess, I've bought a few pieces of female apparel or stuff that appear unisexual.

I love staying at home, especially after serving in the army. There's just this amazing peace, rest and quiet that you cannot get out in the bustling urban towns of Singapore. I never knew I loved the peace and pristine till I moved to Kranji.

At night, there was no light pollution and it was really dark and comfortable to sleep. You could skate freely in the hilly breeze and just be yourself wearing sweat pants and shirts you should have thrown away a century ago. I can write songs, play the guitar or keyboard, blog, watch music videos or youtube and do whatever else I want.

I love the colours red and green. Red because it's the colour of blood, representing life and passion. Green just grew on me because of the uniform I don so regularly. I am literally so comfortable in these colours I can wear red from top to toe.

I love biographies. Just going through someone else's life makes me feel like I have lived through my entire life already. It assures me that everything's gonna be alright even though I may be worried and fearful of the future or being inadequate. I also feel like I'm the person's family or close friend, feeling what they were feeling as we walked hand in hand past the milestones of their life.

It is all so inspiring as these people never knew they were going to be great figures of history. They were just being themselves and the right opportunities propelled them to the stage and amplified their character and personality that have been a mix of nature and nurture; of their family background and circumstances.

I was very impressed by Ghandi's biography. I also love movie bios of musicians like Johnny Cash in Walk the Line and Ray Charles. Other inspiring stories include Dr. Hunter of the Gesundheit Institue in Patch Adams and Erin Brokovich. Some of these people taught me life lessons through their stories when I least expected it.


I'm a real fussy eater. I hate most dairy products(except yoghurt and ice-cream) and vanilla ice cream. I am disgusted by the taste and texture of vegetables and animal fat. I abhor fish's fishiness and pork's porkiness. What's worse is that I have high metabolism, giving rise to my stick-thin figure. My dad told me he could break my arm in half without breaking a sweat.

I have town syndrome. I feel tired whenever I go to town. I don't even exactly know where town is so I get a little confused when people say they went to town yesterday. Where the heck exactly is town?

I have to ask my mom or people on the street how to get to places in town. I asked her how to get to the Heeren at least three times. I've been to each individual shopping center in town less than ten times in my life, except Marina Square because that's where my polytechnic project groupmates had our meetings at.

I like using scrap paper, with one side already used. I feel it's a waste to use any other kind of paper because I know I am never gonna use the other side. Also, I know what I write on paper may just be a flawed draft so I'll rather use scrap paper first. So I usually don't use brand new paper unless it's for something urgent or life threatening.

I am physically active. I love to run competitively. Court sports like beach volleyball, basketball and badminton are my favourite sports and I've always wanted to try sepak takraw. It's just hard to find friends in my social circle who play it(you know what I mean).

I like sports but not exercises. Sports are exercises with a fun-filled goal to it. That's the reason why I don't like to work out at gyms. The notion of sculpting a nice body has never motivated me to work out.

I really dig female groups and solo singers. I love their high-pitched and angelic voices that never fail to lift my spirits up. Males sound too gruffy and the rocker attitude just seems too posy for my taste. My favourite bands are the Corrs and the Cranberries.

The Corrs are so versatile at sounding either happy or lonely. I love that lonely aspect and the emotional drive it puts you into. The Cranberries sing in a fashion that's very liberating and not at all self-conscious.

I am not ashamed to say that I love Bubbles from the Powerpuff Girls. She's just so cute and girly. I once seriously considered tattooing Bubbles on my upper right arm. And my ultimate fantasy is to have a PPG-themed Mini Cooper. I won't feel the slightest embarrassment at all driving that lovely car.

I love being alone sometimes, whether it's watching movies, shopping or even just chilling out. It helps you appreciate whatever you're doing more and you're free to do whatever you want. I sometimes think aloud and talk to myself, even in public.

I like to take public transport as I like to observe people and have time to think. It makes me feel connected to the heartbeat of ordinary Singaporeans trying to survive in the rat race, and see a lunatic or two. The experience brings you back to reality; to the fact that life isn't pretty.

Driving just doesn't make practical sense to me, at least in Singapore where you'll never be late when you take a bus or a train. Your expenses are cut hugely and you have a chauffeur.

I loved to sing English songs when I was young but I totally lost confidence after my Adam's apple grew. It was only in church that I regained that passion and confidence. How I wish I had taken vocal lessons earlier. I still hope to be an accomplished singer one day. I'm very attached to pop music.

I'm really timid. I'm afraid of needles, dentists and any other sources of pain. The moments before injections are always filled with fear-induced breathing in and out exercises. Flying insects are real scary as their 3-dimensional flight patterns mean they are unpredictable and can hit you anywhere at any time.

The love of my life is the beauty of words. In them, I define myself and free myself beyond all restraints of reality. I can be wise, artistic and funny. I love making puns and jokes. I love writing articles about God and issues pertaining to Christianity because the subject matter is so inspiring.

My dream Eve? After going through a polytechnic course, I realised that I preferred Junior College girls as they appear to be less complicated and posy. I also dig Saint Nicholas Girls for their cute personality. I know some people describe them as posy, bimbotic and even the forbidden B word but you know what they say about love and attraction.

After watching Moonlight Resonance, which is this amazing Hong Kong TV Drama, I am immediately attracted to girls who speak Cantonese. It's been tried and tested. I don't even need to know what they're saying. I could probably just look into their dreamy eyes all day as they belt out Cantonese like poetry.

Prior to this show, I have always looked down on anything to do with China or Chinese culture and language. But now, I listen with wide-eyed amazement whenever anyone speaks Cantonese. It's really amusing how I can look past any shortcomings of anyone who speaks Cantonese, even if their weaknesses are really big, obvious and glaring me in the eye.

Anyway, I prefer women, not tai tai wannabes, who have gone through tough times and are virtuous. Excuse me for making the sweeping statement(I just might be wrong) that many Singaporean girls nowadays are materialistic, shallow and physically unfit.

It's just that I'm rather athlethic and I can't picture myself having picnics at Sentosa with a woman who does not play, want to play or learn to play beach volleyball for the rest of our sad, non-sweaty and underactive lives.

I like women who are brave enough to wear their scars on their hearts like a medal they've earned from surviving all those heartbreaks and difficulties of the growing up years. Someone, who like me, will treasure family enough that they don't go into silly family disputes.