CNY-and-Bday celebrations

Argh!

Was at an all-time high last Sat when I went to recce the venue for my annual CNY-and-Bday celebrations.

Have been asking out all my friends for dinner and some form of celebration since my 21st birthday. I love to entertain and any excuse is a good one to get together people that you love and enjoy being with.

However, I realise that my friends are too diverse and varied, and the celebrations have always been very tiring. I have to juggle the different groups of people and entertain them. They dun seem to mix very well and stick to their own cliques.

Having gotten tired of burning myself out on my birthday, I stopped last year. And it was so dreary... Just another typical day. Remembered it was Contact Time some more... Had to stay late late in school and dun talk about having any Happy Birthday that day. Only a pitiful handful of my friends remembered it was my birthday...

So, I've decided to do something for my own birthday yet again this year. Anyway, as I was saying... Was very happy after recce-ing the venue I had in mind. Got place to nuah in the day, have decent dinner (with entertainment and possible fireworks) in the evening, and chill out at night. It's close to the sea, and access to the hotel room will not be screened by the hotel reception (so can sneak in as many friends as possible).

Then, sent out messages telling my friends to confirm the gathering and... So many people all busy with this and that...

Feeling slightly disappointed, I made arrangements to postpone the gathering by 2 weeks to the weekend after the CNY. Was feeling better since hopefully more people can attend, and it'd be on my lunar birthday...

THEN... Today got the letter that my Sec 3 Parents' Day is on the same day!!! Argh!!!

Sigh... Will have to start events in the afternoon instead of in the morning. Hope I can leave early enough on the day and not be all tired out by the end of the dialogue sesson.

Argh!!!

Photos of ITE Visit

Some photos from the ITE visit with my class on 24th and 25th Jan 2008.


Wenfa enjoying all the attention lavished upon him being the first volunteer to try the clean suit.


The boys in my group trying on the clean suit.


Wenfa and Kenny hamming it for the camera


Not sure who this is after everyone is wearing the clean room getup - anybody knows?


And this is me! Enjoying these fans which are supposed to blow away all dirt and foreign particles.

Week 5

Let's see...

Had a "Workshop on Blogging" yesterday. Thought it'd be about teaching us how to use blogs to engage our students... In the end, it was actually a lecture on the do's and don'ts when we teachers (as well as all other civil servants) blog.

This is the one that started it all, so for archival purposes:

~~~~~

Prime News

We are public servants - and we blog too
Lynn Lee
568 words
23 August 2006
Straits Times
(c) 2006 Singapore Press Holdings Limited

EVEN as Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong called on the Government to use new media to spread its message, a clutch of agencies and public servants are already busy blogging.

The public servants blog as private individuals. But they came together last October as an informal gathering of bloggers and net-savvy individuals interested in blogging, who work for the Government.

They call themselves the 'Gahmen Bloggers'.

What they have in common: A desire to explore whether their organisations could harness the popularity of blogs as an additional and 'friendlier' way of dealing with the public, said Health Promotion Board senior executive Vanessa Tan, 28.

In his National Day rally speech on Sunday, PM Lee said the Government would adapt to new media to get its message across, including using podcasts or videocasts and even humour.

Said Ms Tan: 'Previously, news would come through more formal channels, like press releases. For young people, a blog might be a better way to get their attention.'

She and fellow blogger Ivan Chew, 34, a National Library Board (NLB) manager, came up with the idea for the group and spread the word through their websites, and on Tomorrow.sg.

About 10 people turned up for the first 'Gahmen Bloggers Meetup' late last year at Toa Payoh Community library. The group's mailing list has now swelled to 21 people, including people who work in government-related organisations.

Members meet in small groups for coffee, but discussions usually take place in cyberspace.

These personal exchanges have helped some 'gahmen' agencies improve on its own ideas to reach out to the public.

Mr Walter Lim, 36, director of corporate communications and industry promotion at the National Heritage Board (NHB), said ideas he gained on sustaining a blog gave the NHB 'a leg up' when it launched in March its museum and heritage blog www.yesterday.sg .

'We realised we would need to ensure a pool of regular contributors to the blog, otherwise posts and discussions will just die down. Also, their comments should sound natural, not like they are part of a heritage campaign.'

Other agencies with official blogs include the NLB, which has four blogs with posts on book reviews and its programmes and the Community Development Youth and Sports Ministry, which runs www.youth.sg , a portal for youngsters.

These blogs are meant to boost the agencies' online presence, but what about their employees with personal blogs?

The 'Gahmen Bloggers Meetup' members steer clear from talking about what goes on in the office.

The reason: Civil servants are bound by the Official Secrets Act. There are no specific rules on blogging but the Public Service Division says that the code of conduct 'requires an officer to conduct himself in a manner which upholds the integrity of the public service and which instils public confidence in it.'

Ms Tan, for example, talks about gizmos, current affairs, restaurants and interesting websites on www.vantan.org , but makes no mention of where she works.

Similarly, other 'Gahmen bloggers' say they are civil servants but omit references to their agencies.

Mr Chew focuses on library matters at www.ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com .

But he has this disclaimer: 'Views expressed here are strictly my own and do not represent the official stand of my employer. But you know that already.'

~~~~~

Satisfied weekend

Good weekend. Not much work done, but there was a well balance of work time, me time, tuition time, leisure time, rest time.

Very important also, didn't spend much money. $12 yesterday for lunch, dinner and four hours of electricity, wireless and air-con.

Today, $15 for lunch, dinner, dessert and 2 hours of people time with Beng.

Only problem, decided to splurge on my birthday... It'd be my last 20-something birthday. And last year was such a pitiful affair when i decided to take a break and not organise anything. Right now, it's between 2 hours of dinner and ice-skating at Fuji Ice Palace. I'd prefer this but the place is booked for competitions the whole day. There's supposed to be a 2-hour gap in the evening. Hope the management will let me have the place and allow me to bring in food from outside for dinner.

Wanna look for me, I'd be here

Yup!

I just found a great place which serves food, has power supply at most of its tables and FREE wireless!

It is also fairly deserted of people so I won't feel bad about hogging its table and spending only a minimal amount on food and drinks. They have this $9.90 meal deals which come to about $12 with tax and service charge. But if I were to stay here for 3-4 hours having my meal and doing my work, I think that's more than a fair charge for food, endless water supply, electricity, wireless, comfortable working environment...

As it is, I came in here after my facial around 4 pm, had my lunch-cum-dinner, and am still here at 7 pm. What a great way to save money and be productive. However, I realise I am only productive for the first hour. After that, I start to surf, go online, blog, you get the idea...

Still, Yippee!

Where is this place you ask?

*grin* Come ask me lah!

oh, p.s., it's not Mac's.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Judgement

Judgement signifies the start of a new journey, guided by lessons learned in the past. It represents the culmination of your life's experiences and is about rebirth and resurrection. It is time to face demons from the past and make a fresh start using a clean slate. Make that final decision that will finally plunge you into a new situation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hope I guess it bodes well for my application for my Masters...

*fingers crossed*

My fave song from Beauty World

If there was another way,
I would not be here today.
I'd be back somewhere I belong,
somewhere in my past.
I should be the first to know
Where the road i'm taking goes.
If I fail then i suppose,
every road must be wrong.

Now i'm here,
Now that i've made it this far.
I must try to find out
what I'm all about
cos I lost all the answers long ago.
Felt I didn't need to know,
I didn't care.
Now I do.

Beauty World

Got 2 tix from Aida to watch Beauty World. She kept asking whether anybody wanted till i decided to help her out and take the tix off her hands. Fortunately, i had frens who were willing to accompany me for the show despite the last-minute notice.

There were also quite a large number who had no idea wat Beauty World was. *grin*

Anyway, the day started well enough. I had a great time with Robin the previous evening, although i did spend a little over budget on pizza at modesto's but the company was worth every cent.

Back to the day, I woke up earlier than i had to for tuition, made it just in time for the shuttle bus into the apartment estate, and had time to go to Sim Lim for my new HDD-cum-DIVX player. But too bad the stall where i buy my dvds from was closed - will have to go down again another time. Saved some money by only eating the fries of the mac's meal i bought. Kept the burger for another meal.

Then got home and took an hour's nap.

Mood took a nosedive just before i met Jonathon for the musical - explain another time...

Now, gotta go finish up preparing for my physics lessons tomorrow. Tata!

Hopes for 2008

It's been a good 12 days so far.

Number 1 - got the better 3n class for form class. Thought at first that i'd have problems with them but i think i prefer normal stream than express stream classes for form class. Yes, they're a headache when it comes to chasing paperwork and discipline cases, but they are so much more interesting characters.

My teaching classes have all been pretty enjoyable. I love my sec 1 class - they are so enthusiastic and CUTE! The sec 4 class seems to be coming to their senses and are doing their work. The sec 3 classes all also pretty on task and writing their notes and completing their worksheets. And, FINALLY, i only got 3 preparations for lesson planning. 2 for mathematics, but it's ok coz resources are easily available, and 1 for physics. Only problem i foresee is getting confused where i left off for each of my 4 sec 3 physics classes. It has only been 3 or 4 lessons and I'm starting to get them mixed up already...

Number 3 - not a sec 1 form teacher, so was not involved in the sec 1 camp. Otherwise, i would have had a problem being caroline's sister for her wedding. Other details in a later blog entry about her wedding?

Number 4 - trying very hard and being very successful to save money. If any of my close colleagues see this, i apologise that i haven't been joining them for lunches and dinners. Trying to save money by going home for my meals. Therefore, also means no more weekend shopping trips, going out for dinners, drinks, general socialising which require the spending of money on food, drinks and taxi fare.

Okies. Reach my train stop home liao. Will try to remember to continue to blog later when i get home.

Tata for now!