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Community Service - a 2-edged sword?

Editorial Cartoon - March 3, 2008 | The Onion

Authorised to blog while on course

On a course for Creativity through Technology. Starting part was pretty good on creativity and instructor shows what he did with his various classes. He even brought a bunch of daisies for every participant of the workshop which we can bring back home (upload the photo later...)

Then, he started on blogging, photobucket, slide.com, etc... Okies. He's lost me. Been there, done that.

But, the instructor did spark some thoughts in me on how to improve on my lessons and incorporating more creativity. A funny thing is, he talks quite a lot and very fast too. He also keeps on stressing on reflections, but not very structured reflections. Good also lah, allow people to reflect at free will. Sometimes, I feel I guide my students too much...

人善被人欺

Do the kind get bullied?

I believe I have been very patient with my students this year. Is that why they believe they can take advantage of that to bully me? Did they take for granted that what I believed was respect to them as meekness and docility?

An incident happened in school yesterday, along with other unpleasantries associated with my class. Frankly, I don't want to talk about it. It'd just spoil another day of my life. One spoilt day, along with all the others in this year, is more than enough.

Anyway, happened to watch a little bit of a couple of TV dramas last night. Coincidentally, they all showed some sort of bullying or people getting their way by shouting and being assertive. How to be assertive without screaming your head off? When the people on the receiving end disregard the stern warning given without increasing the decibel level in which it is given? (i.e. how to make people listen without shouting at them when simple slow instruction is disregarded?)

It's like the recent article on the judges shouting at the juvenile deliquents passing through their courts. Someone commented that they ought not to shout at them, talk logic with them. Excuse me, but their logic is obviously different from the typical teenager. Otherwise, they wouldn't land themselves in court, would they? Their logic is "no punishment, continue lor". And when they get punish, "huh? What did I do wrong? Why you punish me? I'm always right, ok! What's wrong with YOU?".

Dinner @ Casa d'Jiasong

Sorry it took me a month to do this. Put up the photos ages ago on my Facebook so didn't bother to do anything else. Got a call from Jiasong asking about the photos of our spa get-away (Oct 2007) and decided I should put up a video of the photos for people who dun Facebook...

So, here it is. Enjoy!

Yummy yummy

I'm never having steak outside liao.

Just prepared and cooked my first steak ever. Yummy yummy! And it was so easy!

Got a pretty decent 250 g 1/2-inch thick slice of sirloin steak from Carrefour on Saturday after remedial at school. Marinated it with a lil bit of salt and plenty of chopped garlic and freshly ground black pepper. The latter result in the black bits you see below. But they dun taste burnt at all - very nice and sweet.

Left it the fridge overnight and cooked it using a frying pan at high heat for dinner. 2 minutes on each side. Yummy! And it only cost me $5.

4/4 Day

To commemorate my class 4/4 '95... What happened today?

• Netscape Communications founded as Mosaic Communications in 1994.


• Hey! I was there!


• Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated by James Earl Ray at a motel in Memphis, Tennessee in 1968.


• I really enjoyed his "I have a dream" speech. In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline.


• Professor C.G. King of the University of Pittsburgh isolated vitamin C after five years of research in 1932.


• Take some vitamin C today and feel better fast! Suck a lemon!


• Susanna M. Salter became the first woman mayor in the U.S in 1887. She received $1 for her year as mayor.


• Guess that $1 was worth a lot of money way back then...


• City of Los Angeles incorporated in 1850.


• How can a city be incorporated?


• April 4 is the 94th day of the year (95th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 271 days remaining until the end of the year.


• What?! So many more days to Christmas still?

Horoscope for today

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

Despite your recent difficulties, things will smooth themselves out little by little thanks to a more lenient astral climate. Above all, don't get discouraged; continue fighting for yourself. You'll be carried away by feelings of generosity and magnanimity, and you won't hesitate to show them. An astral benevolence could principally manifest itself in the realm of love; it will satisfy everyone who's looking for a soul mate, just where and when one's hoping for it.

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

Teen Sex - Too much, too young

This is from a documentary series released in mid-2007 on itv2 in the UK about why the number of sexually active children in Britain today is growing, including the dramatic story of a girl who became a mum when she was just 13.


Part 1





Part 2





Part 3

So, it's been 5 years already...

张国荣 Leslie Cheung Kwok-Wing (September 12, 1956 – April 1, 2003)

I still remember, 5 years back, thought it was some April Fool's joke when I first heard the news on radio. Then, seeing the news broadcast on TV, I realised he really committed suicide. Oh my, I was really sad... Such a great singer and actor.

Looking through his career history, I never realised he actually came out with his first album and first film even before I was borned. Wow!

Here's a tribute to all his songs and films, many of which have given me much happy times and accompanied me during the unhappy ones.

Discography

• I Like Dreamin' (白版碟) 1977


• Day Dreamin' 1977


• 情人箭 ('Lover's Arrow') 1979


• 風繼續吹 ('The Wind Blows On') 1983


• 一片痴 ('Craziness') 1983


• 張國榮 Leslie (Monica) 1984


• 夏日精選 - 全賴有你 (Summer Best Collection - All Because of You) 1985


• 為你鍾情 ('For Your Love Only') 1985


• 張國榮(迷惑我) Leslie Cheung (Allure me) 1986


• Stand Up 1986


• 張國榮 (當年情) ('The Past Love') 1986


• 愛慕 (國語) ('Admire') 1987


• Summer Romance'87 1987


• Hot Summer 1988


• Virgin Snow 1988


• Leslie '89 張國榮 (側面) ('Side Face' or 'Profile') 1989


• Salute'89 1989


• Final Encounter 1989


• Dreaming 1990


• 寵愛 (Beloved) 1995


• 紅 (Red) 1996


• FROM NOW ON (single) 1996


• Printemps 1998


• 這些年來 (EP) ('All These Years') 1998


• 陪你倒數 (Count Down With You) 1999


• Big Heat (大熱) 2000


• Leslie Untitled (EP) 2000


• Leslie Forever 2001


• Crossover 2002


• 一切隨風 ('Everything Follows the Wind') 2003

Filmography

• 紅樓春上春 (Erotic Dreams of the Red Chamber) 1978


• 狗咬狗骨 (Dog eats Dog) 1978


• 失業生 (On Trial) 1980


• The Drummer 1980


• 喝采 (Encore) 1980


• 沖激２１ (Energetic 21) 1982


• 求愛反斗星 (Crazy Romance) 1982


• 檸檬可樂 (Teenage Dreamers) 1982


• 烈火青春 (Nomad) 1982


• 鼓手 (The Drummer) 1983


• 楊過與小龍女 (Little Dragon maid) 1983


• 第一次 (First time) 1983


• 聖誕快樂 (Merry Christmas) 1984


• 三文治 (Double Decker) 1984


• 緣份 (Behind the Yellow Line) 1984


• 龍鳳智多星 (Intellectual Trio) 1984


• 為你鐘情 (For Your Heart Only) 1985


• 偶然 (Last Song in Paris) 1986, 1982?


• 英雄本色 (A Better Tomorrow) 1986


• 胭脂扣 (Rouge) 1987


• 英雄本色 II (A Better Tomorrow II) 1987


• 倩女幽魂 (A Chinese Ghost Story) 1987


• 殺之戀 (Fatal love) 1988


• 新最佳拍檔 (Aces Go Places V: The Terracotta Hit) 1989


• 倩女幽魂 II：人間道 (A Chinese Ghost Story Part II) 1990


• 縱橫四海 (Once a Thief) 1991


• 阿飛正傳 (Days of Being Wild) 1991


• 豪門夜宴 (Party of a Wealthy Family aka. The Banquet) 1991 - Himself


• 藍江傳之反飛組風云 (Nam Kong Legend: Anti-Punk Squad) 1992


• 家有喜事 (All's Well, Ends Well) 1992


• 霸王別姬 (Farewell My Concubine) 1993


• 射雕英雄傳之東成西就 (The Eagle Shooting Heroes: Dong Cheng Xi Jiu) 1993


• 花田喜事 (All's Well, Ends Well Too) 1993


• 白髮魔女傳 (The Bride with White Hair) 1993


• 白髮魔女傳 II (The Bride with White Hair 2) 1993


• 東邪西毒 (Ashes of Time) 1994


• 錦繡前程 (Long and Winding Road) 1994


• 記得……香蕉成熟時 II：初戀情人 (Over the Rainbow Under the Skirt) 1994


• 金枝玉葉 (He's a Woman, She's a Man) 1994


• 大富之家 (It's a Wonderful Life) 1994


• 夜半歌聲 (The Phantom Lover) 1995


• 金玉滿堂 also known as: 滿漢全席 (The Chinese Feast) 1995


• 風月 (Temptress Moon) 1996


• Yang Yin: Gender in Chinese Cinema 1996


• 色情男女 (Viva Erotica) 1996


• 新上海灘 (Shanghai Grand) 1996


• 金枝玉葉 II (Who's the Man, Who's the Woman) 1996


• 大三元 (Tristar) 1996


• 97家有喜事 (All's Well, Ends Well 1997) 1997


• 春光乍泄 (Happy Together) 1997


• 九星報喜 (Ninth Happiness) 1998


• 紅色戀人 (A Time to Remember) 1998


• 安娜瑪德蓮娜 (Anna Magdalena) 1998


• 星月童話 (Moonlight Express) 1999


• 流星語 (The Kid) 1999


• 槍王 (Double Tap) 2000


• 戀戰沖繩 (Okinawa Rendez-vous) 2000


• 煙飛煙滅 (From Ashes to Ashes) 2000


• 異度空間 (Inner Senses) 2002

Discography and filmography thanks to Wikipedia.

What a terrible week...

Monday - Cheering Competition

Things went well enough. Class did their cheer. Not too bad. At least everyone got up onto the stage. 5 students went AWOL in class during their first period. Gave them punishment to clean up the stage. One refused to and I had to spend time at the end of the day to "talk" with him. Seriously. You know you're in the wrong. Just do the punishment. Since when is a punishment enjoyable and chosen by the wrong-doer? After the "talk", no time left, had to go for the level meeting. Lasted all the way till the evening. Got a lift from Mr Ho to IMM and bought some bread rolls for dinner before taking the free shuttle bus home. However, was caught in the dreadfully heavy downpour on the walk home.

Tuesday - Fever and sore throat

Prob caught cold from the rain. Alternated feeling very cold and very hot. Argh! Lied in bed the whole day. No energy to do anything but sleep, sleep, sleep... Met up with Jon to discuss CPF Investment. Prepared enough work for 4N to last the term. Yeah! Accomplished at least 1 thing.

Wednesday - Went back to school

My time-table sucks today. 6 full periods back to back. Had to change my medical appointment when I realised I had remedial session this afternoon. Sneezing whole day and was feeling sick again but made myself stick it out. Went for dinner with Alps and got home feeling sicker than ever... Got home, continued sneezing, fell asleep at like 9 pm...

Thursday - I hate being sick!

Whole upper body stiff and aching from muscle flu. Nose very painful from sneezing and "tissue burn". No energy but sleep, sleep, sleep. Again. And no appetite but plain porridge. Told myself to prepare work but end up not doing anything...

Friday - Have to get back to school

Missed many lessons this week from the 2 days of MC. Can't miss another day. Have to stick it out. Sigh... Checked my email and found that I wasn't successful in my application to Imperial. Feeling dreadful now. Sick, tired and disappointed. This is the worst week ever! Still have to last all the way with CCA later. Think I'd try to finish my marking later. Hope I can catch a lift with someone after my CCA. Otherwise, I think I'd grab a cab ride back home.

Rule 1

Bought a number of Richard Templar's Rules books but haven't had the time to read them. Decided i better put my mind to at least one of them when i came across the books during my room spring-cleaning last Saturday.

So here's Rule 1 of being a Rules Player. Keep quiet. For those who know me, it'd be a darn difficult rule for me to follow through. But I'm trying... Ok?

I tend to wanna shout things out loud. As much to hear myself convince myself, and to get the recognition from myself (yes, and others).

So, it's no easy feat to have to keep reminding myself to just get on with it, do things quietly and to go about my daily life happily and smugly without telling anyone anything...

Also, it makes me wonder - the people who listen to me, how many of them are truly interested? Or are they just being polite, while hoping to go about their business soon without any further involvement or commitment on their part?

Are you someone who really wants to know? Or someone who can't wait for me to keep quiet?

Touching show

Was surprisingly touched by the last episode of this Channel 8 drama just now. Hardly watched the local channels after I got cable, let alone local dramas. However, was suddenly very engaged by this rather cliched storyline while I was surfing (laptop and computer are in the living room)...

Thomas Ong, Cavin Soh, Aileen Tan and Michelle Chong star in this short drama on two brothers managing their specialty restaurant Our Rice House and the customers they meet. The whole show comprises of 8 episodes based on different stories in each episode.

Da Fan (Thomas Ong) owns a restaurant called Our Rice Shop, a special restaurant that serves dishes made with rice and up to 500 plates of rice dishes can be served every day. Da Fan's specialty is Egg Fried Rice, a dish that has won many awards at the World Food Award since early 90s. However, he has stopped cooking for years and no one knows the reason behind it.





Tonight's the last episode and reveals the reason behind Da Fan's change. Apparently, his girlfriend - Shiyun - disappeared 7 years ago. 7 years later today, he comes across a lady who looks exactly like his girlfriend. However, she is married with a daughter and is called Emily, not Shiyun. In addition, she is an American-Chinese. So, can there be 2 people on earth who looks so alike? Well, I did mention that the storyline is cliched, didn't I?

Yup. Emily (Shiyun) got into an accident 7 years ago and lost all her memory. Her doctor fell in love with her and told her that he was her boyfriend. Not long after her recovery, they got married.

What was very touching was how the husband asked Da Fan to let Emily (Shiyun) live her new life happily without knowing her past and the latter agreed. Then, the husband made some excuse to allow Da Fan have dinner alone with Emily and her daughter. During the last 5 minutes of the show, Da Fan realised that the young girl is actually his daughter, coz she's 7 years old!

Finally knowing the truth, he was able to get out of his depression and prepare for a change in his life. Hence, the show comes to an end. Probably to await the 2nd season...

Anyway, it was quite a touching show. How many of us have found love, loved, lost love, found love again? As we get older, do we let slip too many opportunities (love or otherwise) because we truly think everybody else will be better off or are we really too scared to try? Would we hold on to this opportunity and try everything to keep it? Would we be able to let go of the past and jump into an unknown? Or are we afraid to take the leap?

Term 2 Week 1 Day 2

All's well that ends well.

Had a good day yesterday. Tiring. But it ended well with me falling asleep on the floor after watching House...

Oh yes, killed a cockroach (3rd one this month) while I was having my dinner and it completely spoilt my appetite. Think the rainy weather is just flushing out all the creepy-crawlies. Killed the last 2 while I was in the TOILET! Thankfully, I kept my calm both times and trapped the cockroaches into the toilet bowl and flushed them away! *evil laugh*

2nd day in school today. I hate the first few days of the school week - they are very packed days.

Guardian angel

Term 2 starting in less than an hour. Guardian angel, please look after me and my classes...

May we be wise and think before we speak. May we be kind and be more considerate of others. May we grow both mentally and spiritually to be better persons.

Thank you guardian angel, i know it's a lot to ask, but at least give us the strength to do the above... Do, not try.

See my eyebags

Not bad for such an old bird with only 2 hours' sleep.

Went out with my colleagues last night to celebrate Reena's birthday - she's so young!

Sigh... Time sure passes real quick. Early yesterday morning, bumped into Yap on our way to work. We live 2 blocks apart but has only seen each other around our area twice. His daughter is already 15 months old!

Anyway, back to Reena's birthday celebration, i had a really great time! Will talk more later.

Now, have to get back to the iScience workshop that i've brought my InfoComm kids to.

Thanks for dinner, Sinyuan

Going to sleep liao. Still have a full day ahead tmr. Prob still have to wake up early despite it being the holidays. Was looking forward to recharging myself this week but guess not. Lots to do.

But before i go to sleep, let me thank Sinyuan for the wonderful company and dinner. Think i talked too much again. Do remind me not to talk on Wednesday. If that is even possible. *grin*

Anyway, despite my complaints that the week ahead will still be very busy, I'm very glad i've got at least two dinners with friends planned, an afternoon out with my mum, and a health screening for my mum (finally!). I've been worried about my mum's health ever since her mum passed away from breast cancer and one of her sisters got nose cancer. Now, another of her sisters found something wrong with her blood. So, I'm just glad i finally got her to agree to go for a health screening session with me.

Hairdresser me!

*grin* Yup! I just cut my own hair.

Ok, so it was only my fringe. But it was all of 2 inches long cut off, all by myself, staring hard into the mirror.

I think i've never looked at my face as intently as the last 15 minutes. Well, not sure how long i took. But i dun think it was too long...

So, there, the next time you see me, do tell me if it's passable or i should let a proper hairdresser do some damage control?

It's the March holidays!

Yippee!

It's finally the March holidays!

A few things I'm quite happy about.

Would like to thank a few students for being very helpful.

(1) Ranjit for clearing the mess at the newspapers and stacking all the newspapers up very neatly. Thank you. The area is now very much cleaner and neater.

(2) Amy for putting all the files into the boxes and taping and labelling all the boxes. However, I'm not sure if you were using your Chinese remedial time to do all these work. It's not appropriate to find excuses to skip your academic work which is way far more important than these tasks, which should be done outside of curriculum time. You are only putting yourself at a disadvantage when you do not allow yourself to do your academic work properly.

(3) The boys in my class who helped to take down all the papers and posters extremely quickly. I just made a short trip 2 doors away to the staff room and viola! All the paper decorations were taken down!

(4) Chellam for being a very responsible and dutiful Mathematics rep for her class. Papers are always collected and kept in her own plastic file before handing up to me, she's always so apologetic when a few of her classmates failed to submit their work on time. And I give so much work to this class I'm quite sorry for her at times to have to collect everything. But it does make my work so much easier and I have such a great time teaching this class.

(5) Leonard Dunn and his 2 classmates for helping me carry all the laptops up to the Art Room yesterday evening. I had to carry 3 laptops, several hard-disks, a bulky tripod stand and other pheripherals up to the Art Room yesterday evening and I was just wondering how I can carry everything up in a single trip when the boys turned up to see Ms Tan. Unluckily for them, I roped them in to help me carry the stuff up. Luckily for me, they helped me willingly.

(6) My faithful 4N1 students - Jialing and Judith - who come every Sat for their Mathematics remedial lessons. Despite the rain and cold last week, they still turned up. No worries, you should get your distinctions in Mathematics in the coming 'N'-levels. Now, I'm more worried about your other subjects. No use scoring well in Mathematics when you're not going to do well in other subjects, say English.

(7) The few students who would smile when they see me and give me a cheerful greeting "Hi, Ms Low!". It's really nice to be fondly thought of instead of being sneered at and given disdainful looks, which is what we teachers get on a regular basis. It's nice to be appreciated for our work in making sure your work gets done, you learn what's required to pass, if not to do well, in your national exams, to care that you pass, if not to do well, in your national exams, to know that you are learning to be a better person, to care that you grow to be a better person... When our efforts are rebuffed or even disregarded as rubbish, I hope you realise that we are only humans too and we also get hurt by your words and actions.

Back to a more cheerful note, I am looking forward to the March holidays! Even though I still have to go back to school on Monday (Number Properties Workshop and work review), Wednesday (Mathematics remedial) and Thursday (CCA excursion). Trying very hard not to go back to school on Tuesday and Friday but I may go back after all. Need to transfer all my stuff from the temporary staff room into the newly done-up one. Looks like it's got plenty of space for me to put all my books and papers. Just need to throw all the other rubbish stuff away... And I've still got LOTS of rubbish stuff at my table, below my table, on my table...

Oh yes, I do hope for more helpful students who will willingly help us transfer our stuff to the new staff room next week. So if you turn out to be one of those students, thank you in advance! *grin*

Cold, tired and sleepy

When is the bus coming? Still have a lot of work to do...

Have to collate the term 1 marks for the various classes, prepare follow-up worksheets for the LMS session, reply slips for my Sec 1 remedial session during the hols, new seating arrangement for the class, holiday assignment, ...

Hm... Can only recall these for the moment.

Yeh, my bus is here!

Term 1 Week 10

"determination to succeed has taken over fear of failure"

This shall be my motto for the next 2 weeks. Shall hang in there and resist sending in the King's application in the hope that I get a favourable reply from IC.

I'm sooooooooooooooo TIRED!!!

Already very tired after the Sec 3 Adventure Camp. Hadn't had time to recuperate.

Then Friday night went out. Slept late and then had to wake up early to go for remedial with my 4N students. It was raining so heavily - perfect weather for sleeping in... But sigh... For my students!!!

Then, it was time to give tuition to my neighbour coz I missed a session due to the Adventure Camp.

After that, was supposed to rush down to Jiasong's place for gathering but thankfully, she asked me not to go down so early - they were still cleaning up their place and getting the food ready.

Wanted to take a short nap but ended up having a quick chat with my mum about my overseas studies options. From the way our conversation was going, my mum was trying to tell me "You have made your decision already but you are just trying to get other people to tell you what you want to do..."

Love talking to my mum. Hm... Love talking. Period.

Think I was like talking too much after I got to Jiasong's place. Back in the habit of talking about myself for too long. Too much. Too often. Must remind myself to refrain. I keep talking about my Master's until I think I also sian already. I've told enough people already. I've made my application. Should stop talking about it until I get my positive reply! So, this will be the final mention of my Master's application! Ok? OK!

P.S. The photo at the top of this entry nice? Didn't know my camera has a panaromic function. Took this from Jiasong's balcony at the gathering. Beautiful right? Would have been even prettier if the sky wasn't as overcast.

Giving thanks for having great colleagues

I'm feeling much better today. Thank you.

Many thanks to @ngel & BL for coming by and giving me your words of encouragement. They (both the 2 gals & their big hearts) are much appreciated and I hope they know that I'm always nearby if they need any help.

Had a wonderful evening out with my colleagues to celebrate @ngel's coming birthday. Some of them insisted on paying me back for their dinner when I invited them out to celebrate my birthday so I actually didn't have to pay for dinner and drinks. I would have insisted on not having them pay but I realised that it makes everyone much happier to let them get their way. Coming from a poor background, I sometimes insist on my own financial independence too much. I remember how Z used to scold me for paying for our meals out, movies, etc until he felt very put off. I guess I'm finally starting to feel confident enough to let people pay for me when they want to. After all, like we all say, we wouldn't suggest/insist on it if we didn't want to. *smile*

On the other hand, sorry, guys, I'm also learning very well to let you pay whenever we go out. However, I hope you don't just take note of the times you had to pay. I also pay for enough dinners and movies. Besides, I think I make for pretty good company, good enough to let you pay for my share. *grin*

Right now, feeling pretty good because of the happy gathering last night. Plus, my 4N1 gals turned up for their Maths remedial yet again despite the heavy rain. Cleared up the paperwork that's been lying around on my table. Got a stack of marking in my bag but decided I can leave that for later. Gonna take a spot of leisure to update my blog after being disconnected from the Internet those 3 days I was with my class during their Sec 3 Adventure Camp. It was surprisingly quite a painful experience to let go of the laptop and its connectivity with the rest of the world. It also brought to mind a very interesting thought - the world really does go round despite what I did or did not do. I am that insignificant in the whole scheme of work so why should I be bothered about small and insignificant things that are beyond my control? Life has a way of turning out the way it wants to.

The screw up with missing a kid during the camp, I guess it'd be a mark-down on my part. But hey, a lesson learnt is a lesson gained. I just have to make sure I don't repeat the same mistake again. Just when I thought my paperwork and admin was ok, it really wasn't that ok. Realised that I should never get complacent and satisfied with things as they are. There are always areas of improvement and things to look out for.

Encountered a number of hiccups in my application to IC but the professors there are so NICE! Submitted my application on the due date, but realised I forgot to attach my aptitude assignment. Emailed the head of the course and was so afraid that the 3 day camp will make me miss their reply. Then my hard work for the application would have been in vain. But I was in time! Because they gave me a 1-week extension for my submission! Wow! Then, oops, another hiccup. You see, the assignment had part (1) and part (2) and I thought it was a 2-choose-1 type of assignment. The email from the head of the course was quite cute - he informed me that I only submitted half the assignment, and apparently it was a very common mistake. However, I had only a day to make the deadline. And thankfully, despite my tiredness from the camp and catching up with my work, I managed to make it in time again!

So, all's left now is to wait 2 weeks. 2 more weeks before I embark on my 2nd application to King's. Have to clear out from the staff room soon. Will write more in my next blog on my conflicting thoughts on the 2 courses at IC and King's.

Meanwhile, cheers! Have a great weekend ahead!

Screw Up

Darn! I was feeling all happy about the Sec 3 Adventure Camp. Nothing major happened. Enough small incidents. Minor ones which turned out alright in the end.

But darn it! Just realised that I missed out 1 kid during the mess of transferring the kids from the school to the campsite. Got over-reliant on the integrity of my students and got screwed by that trust. 1 kid went off by himself, I assumed he was exempted from the camp and was too engrossed in other admin matters like calling up the absentees, checking the students' bags, passing the confiscated items to the HOD...

Fine. I SCREWED UP. Trusted the students too much. Why do some thing always happen like that just when I give them some leeway? Why do they always have to make me force them to take 2 steps back after I let them go ahead by 1 step?

And it's always only 1 student who makes the whole thing so depressing. 1 student has to the one holding up the edusave fund forms collection, 1 student has to be the one who consistently refuses to bring the money for the special events, 1 student has to be the one who always loses the form for signing... And when they lose the forms, they don't tell me. Wait until I scold them for losing the form, then scold me back because it's not their fault they cannot submit the form when they have lost the form! For goodness sake, you are all of 15 years old! I am not your mother! Definitely not to 40 15-years-old! And if you can't even remember to do small things which is your basic responsibility, don't scold me for nagging you!

Why do I have to the one to be scolded by both you and the teachers overseeing me? Who do I scold? My parents? For bringing me up well enough to be a teacher. Myself? For being trusting, for giving people their 2nd chance, 3rd chance, n-th chance. All for what? A miserable paycheck, 12 hours of constant exercise, no work-life balance and a tight work schedule that allows me to be scolded by so many people on a daily basis?!?!

So yeah, perhaps, I did not screw up. I'm the screw up. For choosing this job.

For obvious reasons, this is not a good day today. So, don't get in my path today. Better not tomorrow either. Cause tomorrow's the day when the finger-pointing and fault-finding starts. Maybe it'd even provide me with a good reason for me to quit. Let me throw in the towel and not feel guilty about it.

Happy happy happy

Very happy to have had lunch with an old friend i haven't seen in a number of years.

She's one of the most capable persons that i know. And definitely very hard to catch up with. She hardly replies to my sms, and emails are usually one-liners. Over the last few years, i thought we had lost touch for good.

So, it was very nice to know that i can talk to her like old times. True, i think i talked a bit too much. But i think she's ok with it. *smile*

I'd love to see her again soon, and let her have her turn to talk about herself. Her service-learning work (didn't know you were doing this too!), her playing golf, what she's gonna do at insead (did i mention how capable she is), ...

So, if you see this, Xin'ai, know that I'm thankful for u taking the time to come out to meet me for lunch, thanks a lot for lunch, and thanks a lot for not changing, for still being very much yourself.

Doodle 4 Google Contest

These drawings on Google's home page are so clever! Apparently, Google's home page will display a different drawing whenever a significant holiday or event is commemorated. Must visit the website more...

Too bad only kids in the U.S have the opportunity to try their hand at incorporating a clever design into the Google logo. The resulting winning doodle will be displayed on Google's home page in May and there are also some exciting prizes. Regardless, you can find out more about the artist behind the famed doodles using the above link.

Cool website

Found this cool website - Comiqs - to create your own comic strip using your own photos and pics.

It is both a web-based comic creator tool and an online publishing platform. It's free and really easy to use too.

So, go on and try it out - with a little creativity and more than a little wit, you can transform your most cherished and most memorable photographs into something fun.

Here's my first try...

Don't think about it. Just do it.

Famous words from Adrian, one of the Adrian and Collin duo from the Amazing Race Asia 2.

Yeah! We won! Singapore won! The various groups from TARA have more or less become representatives of the different countries they come from. Both times, the Singapore teams have been pretty dull - no swearing, no drama, no heated argument and in-bickering. Hence, the amount of air time the Singapore teams have gotten on TARA both times is kinda little.

And wow! Each time, the Adrian and Collin just manages to sneak in and not fall behind. Sometimes, because of the little air time they get, I always thought they have an easy time of it. Which is, of course, not the case.

Anyway, to get to the point, since i'm very tired and it's WAY past my bed-time. I'm very glad I stayed up to watch the finale of TARA 2. Like Marc said, the name of the show is really apt. Nobody knows what will happen. Watching the marathon during the CNY break, I always felt that the Marc and Rovilson duo have been very lucky. They hardly had to waste much time on several trial-and-error road-blocks and challenges and just zoomed past everyone to lead the pack. However, when it came down to it in the end, it was the last time to arrive who took away the US$100 000 prize. All because of Adrian's general knowledge of flags. Of course, he had to remember all the different countries they had visited during TARA and that was no small feat. I would have failed the challenge abysmally.

So, nobody would really know who's the ultimate winner. In life, in work, in any area at all? As long as you're leading the life you want, the life that makes you happy, that allows you to eat well in the day, sleep well at night, who's to say you're not the ultimate winner?

And to be able to have the chance to do whatever i want, whenever i want. With the freedom that i have. Really, I have to count my blessings and be happy with me. And I needed this reminder. I have been in a slump since the CNY break.

Before the CNY break, I was on a high after seeing the place i booked for my bday celebrations. Was disappointed when most of my friends couldn't make it and I had to change the date of the gathering. Got more disappointed when I spent a very "lonely" birthday at home, surfing, isolated... Yeah, I had a good rest but I'm someone who needed to be surrounded by people... Then, was feeling pretty good because i churned out a LOT of worksheets and handouts for my teaching these couple weeks. But in all, a cloud is still hanging over my head over the poor response of my bday celebrations. Yeah, it can't be helped... Feburary is a busy month for all Chinese. And it's not as if you're some big shot. Hey, who on earth organizes his/her own bday bash anyway... *grin*

But seeing Adrian and Collin win the race in their own quiet, unassuming and patient strength, my heart has been strengthened for another leg of my race.

So, thank you, Adrian and Collin. And I'm sure i'm not the only one inspired by your graceful win. I hope there'd be more teams like you in the upcoming TARA 3! Cheers!

Angry at students

Am i too lenient? I'm so angry at 2 of my students.

One of them were supposed to see me at the staff room to cut her nails. She still owe me several hours of dc for long nails. I told her to get her nails cut and i'd call off the last few hours. Great! Give her chance but she still no show...

Another one. I was already angry with him for blatantly lying to me that he has to serve school dc instead of reporting to me for my dc - also for long nails. Similarly, i was going to let him off after another session but what a disappointment when i went to the dc room and he wasn't there. Ok. Gave him another chance today. Asked him to help me carry my stuff to staff room and reminded him not to run off. He did. Another time.

I really dun wan to scream at my students. It's such a shrewish thing to do. And i hate being so disappointed. My mood gets affected and i get angry at everyone else around me. Do they really wan me to not care?

Philips Internet/DECT phone VOIP3211S/90

Not sure if the Skype-enabled phones I mentioned earlier are available in the Singapore market, but know for sure this one is - the Philips Internet/DECT phone VOIP3211S/90.

So, in case any of my frens are still looking for a present for me, here's a prime choice. *grin*

P.S. I Love You

P.S. I Love You!

Must-watch movie!

Will elaborate in another entry.

For now, back to work!

Atonement

Just caught Atonement today with Sinyuan. It's supposed to be an epic movie of love, war and family betrayal based on a novel by Ian McEwan.

In the beginning, it was kinda difficult to understand the movie with its non-linear timeline (the movie jumps back and forth in time). Furthermore, the movie would give different perspectives of events from various characters! However, it is exactly these points which also makes this movie special and unique.

As usual, I think I am driven to read the book, for I believe (and I hope) there is much character depth that a book can write about which a film can simply not explain. For example, I am enjoying His Dark Materials (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass) so much more than the movie.

Atonement was pretty slow and draggy at times. The characters (other than Robbie) were not really developed and did not engage me as much as I was hoping to. I would love to see more about Briony who was trying to make amends for giving wrongful evidence causing Robbie to be imprisoned. Keira Knightley was passable as the beautiful rich gal who gave up her family for love, but the sense of family betrayal was just not there.

For all that, I did enjoy the ending. I had expected the male lead to die, but there was a nice twist to the story, which (finally) justifies the movie's title.

At other times, the movie also got me thinking about how small assumptions on our parts and the things we say and do can have great repercussions on self and others. Who do we betray in our actions and words? Who have been able to stand by their love and trust them steadfastly? And of course, in the war, every emotion is amplified and sensitized. The soldiers trusting in being able to retreat back to safety and home and family, helping each other and looking out for each other. The nurses taking care of the wounded, dealing with death and staying impersonal - last names only.

Update to Birthday Wishlist

Hihi!

Just downloaded Skype after fren strongly recommend it. Especially after finding out that brother will be going to Australia and Sweden for training later in the year.

Think my family will want a cheap (better if free) way to keep in touch with both of us. A little scary that both my brother and myself will be away... But can't be helped. I've already started on my plans to study overseas and dun wanna shelf it away any longer. Brother's training also cannot be postponed. He's so LUCKY!!!

So, here's an updated birthday wishlist if any of my friends wanna get me a present but haven't yet...

Phones to make Skype calls


1. Philips 841 Cordless Phone (Able to make and receive both Skype and landline calls, without needing a PC)
   
2. Philips 321 (Cordless handset combining Skype calls and landline calls in a single handset, but need to connect to PC for Skype calls)
   
3. Philips 080 USB Phone (Portable USB phone for Skype calls)
   
4. Aztech V500DS PC-Free Skype phone (Able to make and receive both Skype and landline calls, without needing a PC)
   
   Accessories for laptop/computer to make Skype calls
   
   
5. Any webcam (with or without headset)
   
6. Any Stereo PC headset
   

If only he had made his plans known earlier, I could have asked my friends to get me the Skype-enabled equipment earlier. Now, I dunno if my friends are getting me the less useful stuff.

Day 1 of the Year of the Rat

It has been a good day. As I mentioned, cleaned up the living room of my rubbish. Have to get started on my room in a while...

Stayed at home coz mum was working. So, it was mainly waiting at home for the relatives to come over. Good thing I decided not to have my friends over to celebrate after all. My place can seriously hold no more than 6 visitors at any one time.

Some relatives came over today. First, it was a family of 7. Ok... Took out all the chairs we had, place was packed. Then, another family came by. 5 more people. Darn. Had to utilise our computer work chairs, some foot stools, etc... Don't kids nowadays realise that the floor is meant to be sat on?

Almost went into teacher mode and wanted to scold some kids who came in, plonked themselves down on the couch and proceeded to play games on their handphones... Hello? It's the CNY! You're supposed to be visiting, pretending to pay attention to your elders, smile, make small talk and then get your dues - the all-important ang bao. Unless you're really into all the visiting stuff. Like me...

A little sad no more visiting for me... Not very close to the distant relatives. Staying with my grand-dad, so relatives are supposed to come over. And the CNY mood just doesn't seem the same. And not sure if I'm supposed to still be collecting ang baos... I guess as long as I'm a "youth". Which means I still have 6 more years of ang baos to collect.

It was a good feeling, though, to be able to give my parents and grand-dad ang baos. Pretty substantial ones too. I do miss my grand-ma. She passed away some 2 years back...

Anyway, had a good day today. Accomplished several things.

• Clean up living room
  
• Decorate living room
  
• Facial
  
• Knit several inches more of my scarf
  
• Sleep, rest
  
• Watch TV
  
• Entertain relatives
  
• Read more of 'The Subtle Knife'
  
• Check email
  
• Update blog
  
• Bluetooth photos from handphone into laptop
  

Time to get back to work later...

Birthday Presents

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Many thanks to my friends for their presents...


Robin gave this to me couple of days ago. I don't usually put anything to my handphone, worried that any accessories might fall off or scratch my phone.

But I quite like this one. It's now hanging at the end of my red phone - matches the red phone at the end of the accessory! Cute cute! Thank you thank you!



Another peculiar gift. This one's from Joshua. Was pleasantly surprised when he gave this to me yesterday, coz he had already given me a treat last Sunday.

Anyway, it's peculiar for another reason. See, I don't usually put on make-up. I hate putting on powder - the only powder I put on is talcum powder and the blusher. I can never get powder evenly on both sides of my face. Always wondering if one side is darker than the other, too much compared to the other, etc...

But well, it's always good to have something new to try, I guess. So, thank you thank you again.



Last gift in the Year of the Pig, something from my own wishlist. A new watch! Yippee!

But can't wear it yet. It's got 4 metal clasps too many. I have small hands, attached to skinny wrists.

Not sure who's sharing in the gift as yet. Hope to get a full account of the names from @ngel so I can thank them. But Noel came over to my place to pass it to me yesterday afternoon. So, whoever's got a share in the gift, thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!

Happy happy happy lunar new year and happier still birthday to me!

Happy Lunar New Year to everyone!

Hihihihihihihi!

Happy (power of n) Lunar New Year to everyone!

I had a very good start to the Year of the Rat! I slept it asleep. *grin*

For as long as I can remember, I always stay up till the wee hours of the New Year for the tradition of giving my elders blessings and good wishes. However, I was really tired last night. I went to sleep very early, around 10 pm, I think. Woke up real early though, around 3 am. And within 3 hours, I cleared up all my rubbish in the living room! It's very presentable now!

Helped my mum a bit with her preparations for the new year - cooking our Day 1 vegetarian meals, cleaning up the kitchenware, putting up the CNY decorations around the house, chatting with her, being a good daughter... *smile*

Year of the Rat

Ok. Need to hurry up and finish my applications over the CNY weekend.

Right after the weekend, i have common tests coming in for marking and of course, preparation for my cny-bday party! *grin*

And, i really need to tell myself to give up finding a boyfriend. Ok. There. I've gotten it out in the open. No more hiding and telling myself that the guy is somewhere out there. I'm very independent and self-sufficient. Always have been. And always will be. In fact, i've been told several times - that's wat scares the guys off. So, fine for me, too bad for the guys. They are the ones losing out. *smile*

The Sunday Times CNY Special today mentioned that of all the animal zodiacs, those born in the year of the goat - ok, go on and calculate my possible age - will potentially face the greatest failure in romance in 2008. We're to be careful of bad relationships and think thrice before getting involved at all. So, all the more incentive for me to focus and concentrate on getting my Master's!

Birthday Wishlist

Actually, I dun need any birthday presents. Just wanna meet up with my friends and have a good time together. The memories would be the best present...

But since my friends are asking... Here's my wishlist...

1. A watch (which I think Noel is getting)
   
2. A pair of sun-glasses (the ones I have always get spoiled quickly, perhaps because they usually cost $10)
   
3. A well-tailored jacket (preferably one which makes me look slimmer)
   
4. A well-tailored pair of pants (the ones I made in Bangkok really sucked)
   
5. A digital sound recorder (for recording my possible post-grad lessons)
   
6. Kinokuniya vouchers so I can buy my magazines and design-related books
   
7. Facial wash for oily/combination skin (preferably L'Occitane or Biotherm or Fancl, NO Clinique)
   
8. A big but fashionable bag in which to fit my laptop and organizer and pda phone and etc etc...
   
9. Last but not least, swimming lessons? So that I can finally enjoy my water sports without the constant fear that I may drown...
   

Guess that's it for now. Like another friend said, nothing else that I would like and is AFFORDABLE enough as presents. *grin*

No MC

Didn't take MC today...

Have to review test with one class, and give test to another class.

My students are new to journalling for Maths and Science, so need to be around to give them more guidance.

Oh dear!

I'm now down with fever too. In spite of me drowning myself with water for the past 48 hours... Darn! Hope this doesn't mean that my weekend will be gone just like dat! I still have an awful lot of spring-cleaning to do... Mom was just nagging me this morning about the awful mess in my room and the living room.

It's not as if I love to live among the mess in my room. I also wish that I was less of a pack-rat and just get rid of EVERYTHING!

When it rains, it pours. It just isn't my day today.

First, was sick yesterday. So, I went to bed early without preparing for my lessons. Without finishing my marking which was to be given back to my students this morning.

Woke up at 5 am on autopilot. Decided I better finish my marking or dunno what to do during 2 periods. Yeh! I finished in time to change for school. Was going to take cab to school when 106 came by. Ok. Save money. Take bus. Thought I was so lucky to get bus just when I reach the bus-stop.

However, decided to continue doing up the weekend assignment for my students and took out my laptop. Finished the assignment just when the bus reached my stop and I MISSED the stop after taking a moment to keep the laptop in my bag. Argh! Next stop turned out to be all the way to the interchange.

"Thankfully", 173 was just leaving the interchange and I decided it'd be faster to take bus than to walk to school with my heavy bags. And what else is new? Just when you are rushing, the bus driver decides to stop at every stop even though no passenger rang the bell to get off and nobody at the bus-stop flag down the bus! And every traffic light would turn red just as the bus arrives at the traffic light!

Reached school just as the bell rang for assembly and sigh... P and VP were there... The one day I was late for school, the one day P and VP decide to lie in wait for the latecomers. I was wearing my slippers, so couldn't go over to the hall directly. My class is generally alright in the hall so I decided I could take the risk and go to the staff room to change into shoes.

Next, 2.5 hours of teaching later, got news that my class got reprimanded coz some boys were loitering outside the class. Argh! Every 2 weeks, my class would get in some trouble. First, it was classroom cleanliness. Ok. That got cleared up. In fact, I'm quite proud of my class. Although I know they still eat and drink in class, they are throwing the rubbish away into the green public dustbin some distance away from the class. However, I wonder if I should be more strict and tell them off for eating and drinking in class?

Ok. Got to go for meeting.

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!

Release of N-level results

Yippee! My 4 NT class did pretty well for their N-level Science paper. Got a 82% pass rate against the national pass rate of 71%.

There were some pleasant surprises. I admit i have pretty high expectations of all my students which is why my pass rates for tests and exams are usually quite lousy. But in the end, if my high expectations help them to do well, yippee!

Of course, not many of my students, or myself sometimes, can agree with this mentality. Many a time, i would ask myself: "is it worth all the aggravation? Work myself so hard and give my students so much pressure. Will they really strive to do well, or just give up, as it is so difficult to do well in my class?"

More to come... Must get back now to my OSL presentation. Tata!

My last indulgence

Yup. I can't put it off anymore. If i really wanna go overseas for my Masters, it's now or never. I can't imagine having the energy or motivation to study when I'm over 30...

Met up with Xinyan and Wensi last night. Xinyan's in her final year at UK and Wensi is changing job to work at AStar.

As mentioned in my previous blog, met up with Singyuan last week to watch movie. She's also applying to study for her Masters. And Robin was, last that i know, studying for his GMat to apply for MBA.

Anyway, the only thing stopping me is money. But after saving for the last couple years, i think it's now or never. But, will really need to tighten my purse strings to fulfill the financial needs. It's easier to get into UK uni and our education syllabus is still based on the UK system. But, the pound is so expensive...

Fun-filled day

What a day!

Got up early this morning to go out with my mum. Went shopping at Wheelock Place and Isetan Scotts. Had vegetarian food at LingZhi with my parents. Bought the Tong Luk First card for my mum so that she can go makan with my aunts and uncles next time.

Then, more shopping at Tangs, Paragon... Meanwhile, trying to coordinate meeting Singyuan to watch Golden Compass in the afternoon. And guess what, Jonathan messaged me to watch Lust Caustion in the evening. Perfect timing, coz my mum wanna go home by 4 pm, and Golden Compass was at 4+ show. And Singyuan wanna go home for dinner after movie, giving me just ample time to make my way down to meet Jonathan for dinner before Lust Caution at 8+ show. Happy!

Did a lot of window shopping today. Had a few things in mind to buy but didn't. Maybe I'd go town again tmr. What things?

(1) Thomas Sabo bracelet + charms. How? Should I buy?



It's expensive, more than 10 times the price of the cheapo chrome ones I bought from Bugis, etc... But the quality is also more than 10 times better. It's sterling silver, and probably comes with cleaning service. The packaging also definitely much better...








(2) Muji inserts for my organizer.

Got a free organizer from buying my Kerastase shampoo and hair care products. Yup. I have an organizer in my PDA phone. But somehow, I think something physical is still better. Just hope I will keep updating it as required... Therefore, gonna change the weekly inserts which are given in the organizer to the daily ones I saw in the Muji store.

Anyway, before you know it, it was time to make my way down to Cathay Orchard to grab the tickets for the 4+ movie. Along the way, passed by a Citibank branch and decided to get the Tangs card and Clear card. Luckily for me, there were still pretty good seats available when I reach the cinema at 3+.

Then, it was off to Plaza Singapura. Unfortunately, or maybe it was ok, the GV shows at both Plaza Singapura and Marina were SOLD OUT! Quickly called Jonathan to see if he could grab tickets from the only other cinema showing Lust Caution in the evening - Balestier.

Met Singyuan and went off to watch movie. Very interesting movie. Loads of questions in my mind. Gonna grab the book and read on.

Sorry. Gotta take a break for now. Sleepy liao. Nite nite.

Long time no see

Hihi, it's been a long time since my last blog entry.

Lots of things happened. Most significant being my leading a 36-strong team to Cambodia for our school's yearly Overseas Service-Learning Project.

Very sad i had to miss one of my junior's wedding coz of the trip. Went for my school's prom for the graduating students. Coincidentally, it was at the same hotel as my own Sec 4 prom. Needless to say, it brought back many memories of my own prom. It wasn't THAT long ago... *grin*

Been back a week. The weather is utterly depressing. Rain, rain, rain. Please go away...

I had made up my mind and all prepared to go running like every other day. But the rain makes it so easy to postpone everytime... The 4 kg i lost during my OSL trip isn't gonna stay away for long...

Just had fake eyelashes put in this morning. Trying them out to decide if i wanna get lash extensions done. Then met a friend for lunch before meeting the gals for Caroline's bridemaids' dress-fitting. Mine's a halter. Cleavage shrunk coz lost weight, but nothing else seem to have shrunk... Sigh...

Sure putting the weight back very quickly coz of all the snacking i've been doing while I'm home. So, very sad... Will someone please go to the gym with me?