isn't he cute?

the 2 male leads from my favourite TV show

Apologies

Wow... it's July already.

Sorry for being so lacking in updating my blog. So much has happened in the past 2 months.

Went to JB for a cycling trip. Real cool. Or rather, real hot. Cycled for 2 whole days and got really dark for my efforts. Amazing though, my muscles did not scream much after the trip. *grin*

Classes did very badly for the mid-year exam but they realised that they need to put in more effort. So something good did come out as a result.

Totally changed my teaching method. Students so far are pretty receptive. Will be giving them tests next week to see if the method gives me the results my HOD would want.

Went to Hong Kong (again), Shen Zhen and Macau for a couple of days during the June hols. Shopped until it was way beyond my budget. Got the entrepreneurial spirit running through me. Wanna go Shen Zhen again to bring in cheap supplies of accessories to sell back here. We'll know in a few months whether I carry it out.

Attended talk at Singapore Teachers' Union about a Masters Program on Educational Policy. Was really interested in going for it but now kinda got talked out of it by some friends.

Will be real busy busy in the coming weeks - CIP, common tests, course and workshops, SAIL, work review, some Green Project, oh yes, SEM, and the in-house school conference, oh yeah, still got Bridge Building Competition, Science Carnival, wow... never realise how much work I have to do till I list it all out. Die........

oh my, how time flies

yup. it's been almost a month since i last updated my blog. so sad...

let's see. there was a dinner with about 10 of my JC classmates. met up with may for a very belated birthday dinner. met up with grace & wensi for dinner & tea. congrats to grace for making us aunties. but prayers with her that she will not suffer morning sickness for much longer. (ps. thou my mum say can last until 4-5 months more) time to get started on yet another cross-stitch...

finally got started on an evercise routine. found out how accessible sentosa is from my place. got the membership (only 15 bucks for a year) - went on Sat & Mon morn. Hope i will get the energy to go again coming Sat morn. Almost got burnt out in the sun the 2 mornings. That reminds me, better go buy sunblock.

also finally got the chance to do some shopping. spent just over a hundred bucks on short shorts & skirts from OP. Mum's sure gonna 'tsk, tsk' at me some more. about my scandalous shorts.

of course, Mid-Year Exams started. Finished my papers. Now just doing revision and waiting for the onslaught of piles of marking. which is why i've actually got time to get a sun-tan, go shopping, meet up with people... Just 2 more weeks to get my socialising before the work comes back on.

Blogs for my students

Yeh! Finally got the blogs for my students up and running. Will have to really put in some effort to keep them updated every week or so. My Sec 1 students were especially enthusiastic about the website. They wanted to know if there would be announcements on the website, etc.

But dun wan any students without Internet access to be at a disadvantage, so will only use the website as a supplementary aid to my teaching. Use it to reinforce learning points, refer to other websites, etc.

Will inform my Sec 3 students about their respective blogs next Monday. Hope they are just as appreciative of all my work...

Think on the bright side of things

Break-ups are hard to do but think about it... The one on the receiving end should be happy! Why? you ask.

Coz the other person is losing someone who loves him/her very much. But you're only losing someone who doesn't love you anymore.

So, think on the bright side. Do you still want someone around when he/she doesn't love you anymore? Get lost!

Week 2

Nothing much happened the first few days of the week.

Was supposed to finish setting the mid-year papers but where got time...

Thankfully, HODs haven't asked me about the papers so I think I still have a little time more. *grin* But then again, maybe that's why my Performance Bonus is so little. Only 0.6 of a month's worth.

Thursday was interesting with the finding out how the Internet has helped some of my students vent their frustrations. Found 2 of my students' blogs. Read about their view points of how their lessons and school days were like. Very 'interesting'. Felt somewhat like a voyeur though...

Friday was made exciting when some of my students came rushing to look for me. "EMERGENCY!!! URGENT!!! Ms Low, help!" Apparently, one of my students refused to sit for his Mother Tongue Oral Exam and his classmates have tried for a long time to persuade him to at least try. Was pleasantly surprised by their loyalty.

In the end, managed to 'catch' the student and walk him to the hall to at least attempt the Oral Exam. *phew* Had no idea what I was trying to do actually, so quite thankful that he was willing to go for the exam without a show of violence. Talk about on-the-job training...

Got about a month's time before the mid-year exams, so will be staying at home this weekend to try to make some inroads in my marking. Oh yeah, still got 2 more Science and Physics papers to set.

Have had much temptation to go out but thankfully, the rain is helping me stay in. Heavenly intervention... *grin*

Eye Opener

Got a shocking surprise today... Not very pleasant...

Was going to go home early coz I only caught like 9 hours of sleep over the past 4 days. Surprisingly, I'm still surviving. Note 'surviving'.

As I was saying, was going to go home early but somehow lacked the motivation to go home when it started raining and some students came to find me coz they were bored.

Yup, I'm officially their part-time entertainer too. Instructor, Personal Assistant, Coach, Secretary, Nanny, Security Officer, Supplier of All Answers, my job scope seems endless and is still expanding... *sigh*

Anyway, yes, as I was still saying, some students came by to say 'bye' and ended up showing a few of the teachers who were still hanging around (pple like me with no life) these mortifying Friendster entries about my school and a fellow colleague.

Talk about high-tech hate mail, man.

Got a lil paranoid whether there was anything about me but think I haven't been that mean a teacher as yet... I hope...

Cannot take it already

Okies, going to sleep liao.

Almost falling dead down. Crying buckets over my fatigue right now actually. I'm serious.

Ok, to bed, to bed. Wouldn't want to drop my laptop and spoil it.

Sweet ending to my Good Friday

Sweet ending to my Good Friday

Häagen-Dazs fondue is fantastic!

Had a lot of fun dipping bits of fruits and cubes of Häagen-Dazs ice-cream in the chocolate fondue. The chunks of ice cream are deeply frozen so that they won't melt in the hot chocolate. The chocolate in turn will harden and form a layer around the ice cream, making it the ultimate Häagen-Dazs experience. And the chocolate is much better than that from Coffee Club. It's slightly sweet and much smoother in texture. Belgian chocolate leh!

One thing to watch out for though... Do take the pot of chocolate off the holder and tea light when you wanna take a break or the chocolate will 'burn' and become bitter.

Of course, the company really helped me enjoy the experience more, right? Thanks, Johnny, for the fondue and the company!

Would like to try the chocolate fondue from The Chocolate Bar next. They have a choice of white chocolate, dark chocolate and milk chocolate. In addition, would like to try their suckao, a unique invention by Max Brenner. You combine chocolate chips and milk in a potppouri-like aparatus, warmed by a tea-light candle. When the chocolate chips and milk are well combined, you sip the mixture through a metal straw. It sounds wonderful, doesn't it! Last but not least, must try their Mexican chocolate with chili flakes.

First Week of Term 2

First Week of Term 2

Oh my, wat a tiring week.

But all my fault lah. Didn't do any work during the one-week hols, so kinda had difficulty catching up with preparing my lessons and all the admin.

And having extra-curricular stuff everyday didn't help. Monday was a tedious and long Contact Time, Tuesday was Maths Proficiency Test, Wednesday was a SAIL course and Thursday Maths Sharing Session.

Thankfully, Linda came to the rescue with an invite to a party that night. Was dreadfully tired (only 3-4 hours sleep per night the past week) but hey, I've had no life since I started teaching...

Rushed home after my Maths Sharing (work will always be there, no use worrying about it over the weekend *grin*) and took an hour nap. Couldn't make it in time to get lift from Linda by the time I bathed and changed, so took a cab down to Havelock Road where the party was.

Liked the warm-up music (R&B) but place was empty!

As the night progressed, music was ok, but crowd just wasn't really grooving... Started sms-ing friends A & B to meet for supper. Then got introduced to pretty cute guy Ernest and started chatting. Crowd still wasn't grooving by 1, so asked E if he wanted supper too.

Drove over to MS for bak kut teh and hey, night just got interesting! Just as we reached MS and made a U-turn, we got in the way of an oncoming police car. Ernest got pulled over and I was reprimanded for not bringing out my IC. oops... The one time I didn't bring my IC...

Keeping my fingers crossed that Ernest won't get charged or booked...

Not a good start to a Good Friday after all...

Lovers in Paris

Lovers in Paris

Okies, finally finished Lovers in Paris in time. Last day of holidays ahead.

Sigh... I really love this kdrama. It's funny and really sweet.

And of course, it helps that Park Shin Yang is so cute!!!

More Shopping

More Shopping

This time, went shopping on my own.

Finished this Katherine Perez workshop nominated by my principal and decided to go over to Suntec and check out the Natas Travel Fair.

Realised need to pay to enter the fair and so only took watever brochures were being distributed before going off. Browsed through a oily and smelly Food and Beverage Fair downstairs and witnessed some drama (adults fighting over some seats - a chair was almost thrown). Bought several packs and bowls of the new Koka No-MSG Instant Noodles.

So many warehouse sales (Hush Puppies, Shoe Box, Sports Wear, etc) were held at the Suntec showrooms. But thankfully, didn't find anything to my fancy.

Did, however, buy 2 tops from U2 coz of 30% discount with my UOB card. Then fell in love with a dress when walking to MRT along Citylink Mall. Wouldn't have bought the U2 tops if I knew I was going to buy the dress... But the dress is real pretty. Couldn't stop smiling after I put on the dress. So, no choice. Have to buy lor... Difficult to imagine a dress can make me smile so much but it's true. Silly me eh?

Shopping with my Mum

Shopping with my Mum

Went shopping with my mum today.

First to Chinatown to get some work pants tailored. Then to scout for some holiday packages. Mum really wans to go Shanghai but quite costly coz I can only go during the June holidays.

Have gone for holidays with my brother in Dec 2003 (Europe), then my dad in Dec 2004 (Hong Kong). Can't say they were great. But well, I would say they are once in a lifetime experiences. The guys in my family aren't very decisive and really knows how to make me vomit blood. Would really love to go travelling with my mum and see how we interact.

Last but not least, took the NE MRT to Dhoby Ghaut. Spent a fortune first at the basement Casio counter then at M&S. Mum really knows how to shop now. Bought her a new S$60 Casio watch and then a S$90 shirt. S$90 shirt!!! I shudder to think... But well, I did tell my mum to enjoy life now that we can afford it. *grin*

Catching up with lost friends

Boy, is it proving hard to catch up with my JC classmates.

Everybody's busy with their work and lives, I guess...

Hoping to organise something for pple to meet up and catch up. But well, despite the ease of communications with email, etc, or perhaps because of that, it seems harder for pple to meet up in person.

Instead of slow-mail and birthday cards, we now make do with a quick email, sms and e-cards... What a no-brainer!

So, ps, Class of S02C from 1997, type in your email address on the left & join in the Yahoo Group I created just for us!!!

('',)

Happy Belated Birthday Wishes for a Dear Friend

Sorry I'm 2 weeks late, but still, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Here's a little something for you in addition to the present, hot tea and bottled tea.

At times our own light goes out
But it is rekindled by a spark
From another person.

Each of us has cause to think
With deep gratitude of those
Who have lighted the flame within us.

So I'd like to thank you, Varian,
For always being there
To rekindle my light.

You're much appreciated.

Destiny Quote

Do not worry about the future for it is not yet home.
Live each day in the present and make it beautiful.

And yet... What is to live? If I slept the whole day, did I live? Did I make my day beautiful? What is there to life other than to eat, sleep and eat some more? Guess it sounds exactly like the life of a pig or some other domestic animal?

But hey, what are we but 'civilised' animals right? We slog away each day just to 'live' our days in peace of mind that we have a roof over our heads, food to put on our plates and a bed to lie in when the sun sets...

Photos from New Year's Eve

Photos from New Year's Eve



I am so sorry the photos have taken so long to be uploaded...



Yeah, I know... Work can only be an excuse for so long. But well, it's true! There's always something happening each week. Fighting, caning, constant mischief, my students are starting to really irk their teachers...







Anyway, since the photos are finally out, enjoy!










But pity, the annual NYE dinner is down to only us 3 gals. And Marilyn was all dressed up! She's the one in the lovely pink top. Linda's in the black tube top and me's in my brand new HK-bought (thus ultra thick) white long-sleeved top.

My E-Teaching Portal

Getting started on my E-Teaching Portal

Ok. Here's my E-Teaching Portal.

Hm... Wonder if all this work will be for nothing. Well, not exactly nothing. HOD might probably be impressed and expect more from me. Level head will probably give me more work. Subject head will also give me more work. Fellow colleagues might also ask me to help them out...

Sigh. Guess better keep it on the low and slow then... Should remember me name more. *grin* My name is slow, after all. So that should be my motto. Life should be nice and slowly done.

Week 9 and counting

Week 9 and counting

Yeh! It's week 9! Just one more week of school before the March holidays.

Not that it'd be any real holidays. Loads of work still, but at least no need to see my students every day.

The past 2 months have been real hectic - instead of (everyday 1 minor tiff, every 3 days 1 major tiff), it has been ‘everyday minor incident, every 3 days major incident’. Like I was telling a colleague, have to put out bush fires every day. *sigh*