The best sushi I've ever had

Picture 81722, originally uploaded by John Foong.

I'm usually not a huge fan of sushi. apart from the high carb nature of it (yes, I'm definitely a protein guy), I never really saw much appeal ...

... and I guess I still don't. But this great place in Menlo Park, Kaigetsu, was just amazing. The sushi tasted great - they had warm sushi, cold sushi, umm ... yeah, lots!

Boy, am I hungry again.

A GREAT weekend in the snow!

Picture 81583, originally uploaded by John Foong.

So, at this camp, I had the priviliege of giving a few talks and bible studies: one on guidance, one on the book of John, and one on "introduction to business cases" for this group of leaders.

We had a great time! Apart from some great sessions (Chad Johnson, the chaplain to the Arizona Cardinals Football team, was the other speaker), we had lots of fun - heaps of junk food - and - the best bit - they had this greated heated pool and outfoor hot tub which was a FANTASTIC way to spend Saturday night under the stars in the snow!

This included the best game of "Marco Polo" I've ever played ... whoever thought that walking around in a pool shouting "polo!" would be so much fun! (It wasn't as much fun having to say "marco" ... oh well ...!)

I had a real blessed time and it was so good to see a great stock of leaders in Calgary.

The Canadian Rockies ...

Picture 81547, originally uploaded by John Foong.

... are beautiful.

For this 2-day retreat, we had the privilege of staying in Canmore/Banff, about an hour or so away from Calgary, and home to these huge, gorgeous mountains (which form part of the Rockies - which is this endless mountain range from northern Canada to Chile ... longer (but not taller) than the Himalayas). Whoa.

There were about 50 of us, all staying at these cute little chalets, surrounded by mountains. And to make things even better, the weather was a "balmy" 5-10 degrees Celcius (significantly warmer than the -15 that had been forecast?!!!) ...

Leading a case study at the Centre Street Church

Picture 81523 - leading case study at center street church, originally uploaded by John Foong.

Part of this leadership training program I was helping with involves a 3 hour meeting every month with 50 leaders in each program. This is now being rolled out in two churches in Calgary - Centre Street Church (one of the largest churches in Calgary - it's huge!) and Rock Pointe Church.

In the 3 hour meeting, 45 minutes is dedicated to looking at a Business School case study - the idea being that there are some (not all!) principles from business and entrepreneurship that are helpful for thinking about growing a church or ministry. I was here to lead one, on a maker of board games (quite a lot of parallels!).

It was great fun! I really enjoyed leading the case study (I kind of felt like a professor, yet ... cooler!) :) ... and I think they got a lot out of it! Well, that's what they said ... :)

Welcome to Calgary!

Picture 81474, originally uploaded by John Foong.

So I'm here for the weekend in beautiful Calgary to give a whole lot of leadership talks as part of "The Joshua Project" - to lead 50 young leaders in a Business Case Study, and then relate it to ministry ... and then to give some bible teachings with another group of 50 leaders-in-training at a 2 day retreat in Canmore/Banff (about an hour ish out of Calgary, in the Rockies).

So, given that all the action was happening Friday night/Saturday/Sunday, I flew up on the Thursday so I could have Friday to sightsee, with my friend Darren, who I met in the O.C. ...

... we had an awesome time. Firstly, we ate steak (the famous Alberta Beef), then shopped for souvenirs for a bit, then went up Calgary Tower and got a great view of the snowy city, then went ice skating on this frozen lake near Darren's house (pictured), where we(tried to) rollerskate and play ice hockey.

Um, I didn't get very far - but luckily for me, photos can be deceiving! :)

Ouch!

Picture 81469 - d'oh, originally uploaded by John Foong.

Not ice skating for 8 years then having your friend give you an "encouraging push" - it actually wasn't too bad, until I realised I didn't know how to stop, an reached a menacing 5 k.p.h. - leading me to panic, and then "take a dive" ...

Ah, it's all fun (in retrospect) :)