Tuesday, May 31, 2005
I'm finally back home! Monday I was in school for AVC camp, and had to stay overnight with them. Actually it turned out to be a really good thing, because my colleague had booked a slot for printing June Common Test and couldn't make it, so I inherited it. I settled my share of the work yesterday in one shot, so that I'd be careless at the end of this holiday, and the first week of school next term. Worthwhile investment, I must say.
They had a barbecue in the evening. I was quite disappointed in one thing though: all the while I was there at the start, they didn't serve me some of the food. They just went in and grabbed as much food as each one can. Now, it's not that I think very highly of my role in the club, but it's more like when I was a student, if a teacher was around at the barbecue, or some guest, it seems like perfect courtesy to serve them first, or at least serve them something. I think it's a problem with this whole generation - highly egocentric. Eventually, I just went off to have dinner at a coffee shop opposite school, and then came back after that. I went to play soccer (actually it looked more like a penalty shootout) with them for a while, which isn't an easy task wearing jeans and leather shoes. The really shiok thing was that I managed to free up the theatrette to sleep over in, so while they were settling their stuff, I was rewatching GTO on the smartboard, which has a screen bigger than a high-end plasma TV. I went off to sleep when the exco folks took over to watch Shutter, the fairly recent horror film.
I woke up early (surprisingly by myself, without an alarm) to go for breakfast, and conduct SPA skill A for the students. I thought I'd be alone, but in the end, 3 colleagues came down to assist, so it wasn't as boring as I anticipated. Else it would be quite hard to stay awake on 4 hours of sleep (on the floor). Finally finished my tutorial with my students today after make-up sessions, so that's a big load off my mind. I went out with a colleague to Tampines to shop after that, and horrors of horrors, I met a big bunch of my sports class students there in Tampines Mall, while I was with my female colleague Tun Leng! Every single one of them walked past me and gave me a knowing/winking/wah-she's-your-gf/wah-she's-your-target look. What's worse is that when I was on the train with her, I bumped into another student from that class! Wah kau, I will have no end of this when school reopens. Jump into yellow river also cannot wash clean ah!
We went down to our Science department barbecue (argh, another bbq!) after that. I had the honour of starting the fire again. Today's charcoal was weird though - cylinders with hollows running through them. Firestarters didn't light very well either. It was one kind of an uphill task getting the fire started. By the end of it, I was drenched in perspiration all through. My colleagues thought I was the one being barbecued because my skin was very red at the end of it. Other than that, the whole affair was fun, full of inside jokes and all. My mind was elsewhere though, preoccupied by something else altogether the whole afternoon.
Sigh. Over the moon, and then suddenly down to earth again.
They had a barbecue in the evening. I was quite disappointed in one thing though: all the while I was there at the start, they didn't serve me some of the food. They just went in and grabbed as much food as each one can. Now, it's not that I think very highly of my role in the club, but it's more like when I was a student, if a teacher was around at the barbecue, or some guest, it seems like perfect courtesy to serve them first, or at least serve them something. I think it's a problem with this whole generation - highly egocentric. Eventually, I just went off to have dinner at a coffee shop opposite school, and then came back after that. I went to play soccer (actually it looked more like a penalty shootout) with them for a while, which isn't an easy task wearing jeans and leather shoes. The really shiok thing was that I managed to free up the theatrette to sleep over in, so while they were settling their stuff, I was rewatching GTO on the smartboard, which has a screen bigger than a high-end plasma TV. I went off to sleep when the exco folks took over to watch Shutter, the fairly recent horror film.
I woke up early (surprisingly by myself, without an alarm) to go for breakfast, and conduct SPA skill A for the students. I thought I'd be alone, but in the end, 3 colleagues came down to assist, so it wasn't as boring as I anticipated. Else it would be quite hard to stay awake on 4 hours of sleep (on the floor). Finally finished my tutorial with my students today after make-up sessions, so that's a big load off my mind. I went out with a colleague to Tampines to shop after that, and horrors of horrors, I met a big bunch of my sports class students there in Tampines Mall, while I was with my female colleague Tun Leng! Every single one of them walked past me and gave me a knowing/winking/wah-she's-your-gf/wah-she's-your-target look. What's worse is that when I was on the train with her, I bumped into another student from that class! Wah kau, I will have no end of this when school reopens. Jump into yellow river also cannot wash clean ah!
We went down to our Science department barbecue (argh, another bbq!) after that. I had the honour of starting the fire again. Today's charcoal was weird though - cylinders with hollows running through them. Firestarters didn't light very well either. It was one kind of an uphill task getting the fire started. By the end of it, I was drenched in perspiration all through. My colleagues thought I was the one being barbecued because my skin was very red at the end of it. Other than that, the whole affair was fun, full of inside jokes and all. My mind was elsewhere though, preoccupied by something else altogether the whole afternoon.
Sigh. Over the moon, and then suddenly down to earth again.
Sunday, May 29, 2005
Today we celebrated blood brudder Yuren's birthday. In true blood-brudder absent-mindedness, no one remembered to get the present. And in blood-brudder fashion, we settled for giving an angpow as the present. I think we are really past the age of going to shop for a present for the birthday boy. We are also past the age of going with the birthday boy to shop for his present. Now is the age of here-is-the-money-go-spend-it-however-you-like. Admittedly, we are plain lazy, but it's also partly because we have decided that we will not give each other useless or decorative stuff on birthdays. Anyway, this will remain our strange tradition; we are just waiting to up the birthday premium of presents though, since we are all working adults now.
We watched some movie VCDs, before heading out to Crystal Jade Kitchen at Bugis. Yes, it was my suggestion, for lack of ideas. The next closest contender would be Sakura restaurant in Tampines SAFRA, but proximity won the battle. Actually, I was pretty satisfied with my freedom in being single and available all these months until today, where the blood brudders turned up in full force, and I realized that now I'm the only guy who doesn't have a girlfriend. Now I know how Yuren felt a couple of years ago. It's not a horrible feeling, of course, until someone offers to matchmake...
It is interesting though that my ex messaged me just now whether it's now ok to be friends again. We had decided to take time off, distance ourselves, and move on cleanly before starting to talk again. We pegged it at roughly 6 months back in Dec last year, so I suppose this is about the time. We caught up a lot about things that have gone on in our lives since our breakup, and it feels liberating to be able to talk again. I suppose the clear sign of us having moved on is the fact that we were having a candid discussion about our interests in other people. I think at this point in time, we genuinely hope that each other finds someone special, and that's really an ideal way to have parted.
I finally got the camera cable from Yuren, and the China pics are in my computer now. Unfortunately, there are so many I don't think I'll upload it on the blog. Since I'm having holidays now, I think I shall create a new website to be my travel photolog. I shall not be too ambitious though, since I expect that I won't be travelling that much anyway...heh...
We watched some movie VCDs, before heading out to Crystal Jade Kitchen at Bugis. Yes, it was my suggestion, for lack of ideas. The next closest contender would be Sakura restaurant in Tampines SAFRA, but proximity won the battle. Actually, I was pretty satisfied with my freedom in being single and available all these months until today, where the blood brudders turned up in full force, and I realized that now I'm the only guy who doesn't have a girlfriend. Now I know how Yuren felt a couple of years ago. It's not a horrible feeling, of course, until someone offers to matchmake...
It is interesting though that my ex messaged me just now whether it's now ok to be friends again. We had decided to take time off, distance ourselves, and move on cleanly before starting to talk again. We pegged it at roughly 6 months back in Dec last year, so I suppose this is about the time. We caught up a lot about things that have gone on in our lives since our breakup, and it feels liberating to be able to talk again. I suppose the clear sign of us having moved on is the fact that we were having a candid discussion about our interests in other people. I think at this point in time, we genuinely hope that each other finds someone special, and that's really an ideal way to have parted.
I finally got the camera cable from Yuren, and the China pics are in my computer now. Unfortunately, there are so many I don't think I'll upload it on the blog. Since I'm having holidays now, I think I shall create a new website to be my travel photolog. I shall not be too ambitious though, since I expect that I won't be travelling that much anyway...heh...
I went back to school to help out a little for the IP open house today (Sat). One colleague's grandma passed away, so cannot be around. The turnout was somewhat less than I expected, but then again, the hordes usually come in only at the college open house. Quite a boring morning, I think.
We finally had cell group, after so long of individual disappearances. I spent a lot of time guiding my boys to write their testimonies. I hope they learn from it. I've been away for only 2 weeks from church, but already it feels like a long, long time. It's great to be back, really.
After service, some of us went down to meet Steph...a belated celebration of her birthday at Paulaner Brahaus at Millenium Walk. Nice place, nice atmosphere. Live band there was not bad, but very loud. A bit hard to talk in there. We ended up playing Uno most of the time actually. I almost wanted to walk home, but the bus came anyway, and probably the last bus already, considering it was past midnight.
I'm sleepy...but why am I still watching TV?
We finally had cell group, after so long of individual disappearances. I spent a lot of time guiding my boys to write their testimonies. I hope they learn from it. I've been away for only 2 weeks from church, but already it feels like a long, long time. It's great to be back, really.
After service, some of us went down to meet Steph...a belated celebration of her birthday at Paulaner Brahaus at Millenium Walk. Nice place, nice atmosphere. Live band there was not bad, but very loud. A bit hard to talk in there. We ended up playing Uno most of the time actually. I almost wanted to walk home, but the bus came anyway, and probably the last bus already, considering it was past midnight.
I'm sleepy...but why am I still watching TV?
Friday, May 27, 2005
Last day of the course. Today's lecturer is rather engaging, except that his sentences are punctuated very frequently with 'itself'. He showed us many newspaper cuttings, articles, etc, and told many stories related to the food we eat and the biochemistry topics he was teaching. But I've heard the same stories narrated by some of my colleagues who attended some of his other courses, and it seems that he recycles all of his funny stories. I sure hope I will not attend another of his courses...
A friend from the same NIE batch gave me a ride to Tiong Bahru MRT. It somehow feels strange, because this guy is driven (pun not intended) by money, and he was talking about how cheap his Alfa Romeo is (at $130k). I thought I might feel envious, but I didn't. Sure it's a fancy car, and the engine sounds terrific, but I can't bring myself to slave away most of my time just to acquire more money. There are things I want to buy, of course, but I am comfortably living within my means. If I get more money, I'll just spend more, or buy more expensive (i.e. branded) stuff, and it just goes one big round. The bible puts it quite clearly: one can either be a slave to God or a slave to money. A man cannot have two masters. I have always found it fascinating that the statement doesn't go as 'one can either be a slave to God or a slave to the devil/satan/evil'. Looking purely at the english structure, the latter statement makes more meaningful a contrast, doesn't it? Apparently, even back in those days 2000 years back, money has a more powerful grip on the loyalties of people than anything else the devil can throw at us.
I can only hope I don't get sucked into all that consumerism and materialism as my pay slowly rises.
A friend from the same NIE batch gave me a ride to Tiong Bahru MRT. It somehow feels strange, because this guy is driven (pun not intended) by money, and he was talking about how cheap his Alfa Romeo is (at $130k). I thought I might feel envious, but I didn't. Sure it's a fancy car, and the engine sounds terrific, but I can't bring myself to slave away most of my time just to acquire more money. There are things I want to buy, of course, but I am comfortably living within my means. If I get more money, I'll just spend more, or buy more expensive (i.e. branded) stuff, and it just goes one big round. The bible puts it quite clearly: one can either be a slave to God or a slave to money. A man cannot have two masters. I have always found it fascinating that the statement doesn't go as 'one can either be a slave to God or a slave to the devil/satan/evil'. Looking purely at the english structure, the latter statement makes more meaningful a contrast, doesn't it? Apparently, even back in those days 2000 years back, money has a more powerful grip on the loyalties of people than anything else the devil can throw at us.
I can only hope I don't get sucked into all that consumerism and materialism as my pay slowly rises.
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Today is the second day of the course. We have finally touched on genetics today. I think the lecturer got distracted, sidetracking to history of biotechnology for one and a half hours. Interesting, I actually know the stuff she was talking about! I think I've read up waaay beyond what I needed to last time. Added to the fact that I covered one (miserable) module of biochemistry in NUS, I found today's lesson a breeze to follow.
My Level Head and I kinda played punk after that. We told the lecturer we won't attend the afternoon practical session because we wanted to support TJC badminton teams in today's finals. And so off we went. We detoured to Turf City for lunch at the spur of the moment. I must say, I haven't been to the place before, but frankly I wonder how it's surviving. There's no walk-in human traffic, and the place is like a ghost town in the day.
We came in late, and the score was 1-1 for both the boys' and girls' teams. We watched the school lead 2-1 in both, then in the next doubles, we saw RJC equalize. Then came the crucial last match in the best of 5. The boys' side started first, and I knew we were dead meat. Our guy was devastatingly outmatched. We were pinning our hopes on our female player, who I heard played in SEA games. We thought we could surely clinch that game, but it turns out that she was outmatched too. Wonder who the opponent from RJC was...some Olympic player? Hahaha...So we were second for both. Still, the TJC spirit from the crowd was commendable. I dunno whether to applaud them or laugh at them, but they were going "hip hip hooray!" for every team that went up to receive a prize. Ultimate show of sportsmanship there? Hmm...
I headed down to Orchard to meet an ex-colleague for dinner. It's been quite a while since I met her, which also meant that my beloved GTO series has been away for equally long. We chatted from about 6.15 to 11 pm, talking about teaching largely. She has since left the profession and is trying out new things. Somehow I still think she will return to teaching, even though she does not sound like it. Looks like lending her GTO has not moved her yet. Heh...
My Level Head and I kinda played punk after that. We told the lecturer we won't attend the afternoon practical session because we wanted to support TJC badminton teams in today's finals. And so off we went. We detoured to Turf City for lunch at the spur of the moment. I must say, I haven't been to the place before, but frankly I wonder how it's surviving. There's no walk-in human traffic, and the place is like a ghost town in the day.
We came in late, and the score was 1-1 for both the boys' and girls' teams. We watched the school lead 2-1 in both, then in the next doubles, we saw RJC equalize. Then came the crucial last match in the best of 5. The boys' side started first, and I knew we were dead meat. Our guy was devastatingly outmatched. We were pinning our hopes on our female player, who I heard played in SEA games. We thought we could surely clinch that game, but it turns out that she was outmatched too. Wonder who the opponent from RJC was...some Olympic player? Hahaha...So we were second for both. Still, the TJC spirit from the crowd was commendable. I dunno whether to applaud them or laugh at them, but they were going "hip hip hooray!" for every team that went up to receive a prize. Ultimate show of sportsmanship there? Hmm...
I headed down to Orchard to meet an ex-colleague for dinner. It's been quite a while since I met her, which also meant that my beloved GTO series has been away for equally long. We chatted from about 6.15 to 11 pm, talking about teaching largely. She has since left the profession and is trying out new things. Somehow I still think she will return to teaching, even though she does not sound like it. Looks like lending her GTO has not moved her yet. Heh...
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
I was on a biochemistry course today. It's been a long time since I sat down as a student instead of a teacher. It's refreshing, for a change. Except that the lecturer was rather boring. The content was certainly interesting, so I guess it's just the way she talked. She said she speaks fast because when she speaks slow, she makes many more mistakes. The problem is that she speaks fast for some moments, then lapses into silence for a few seconds. This goes on too often, and it becomes dreadfully silent most of the time. How would you like to drive a car that starts and stops every few seconds? No momentum. Teabreak provided was good though. Nice food to refuel! After the food though, it was an uphill battle with the zzz-monster, to which I did not succumb...but frankly I don't know how much of the course I absorbed at that time.
I had lunch with some of my NIE batch friends. One good thing about attending courses as a teacher: there's a very high likelihood you will meet friends there, so you are never lonely. Of course, I did go with my Level Head, so that wasn't a problem, but it's still nice to catch up incidentally once in a while on courses. I couldn't really finish lunch though, probably because of eating too much at the teabreak. I didn't really like the SP canteen food though; maybe I should just go for the MacDonald's there instead.
There was a practical session in the afternoon. It had to do with saliva, and after losing a scissors-paper-stone gruelling deathmatch, I ended up the poor sod who needs to provide saliva sample. Quite a disgusting process there. I refused to chew on the cotton salivette provided, and drooled my way out of it. Haha...better skip the stupid details. Anyway, it's been very long since I've touched lab equipment, as in doing the experiment itself. One coursemate commented while washing the apparatus that she feels like a student, cleaning up before the practical ends, and being eager to leave. I replied that in order to feel like a student, she should break some glassware. More realistic. Bwahaha.
I went for a jog right after reaching home. I haven't jogged for about two weeks already, since the China trip week. Last week was due to rain and long days (of admin!). The legs feel incredibly heavy after a hiatus of a couple of weeks...therefore I must maintain the regime!
I had lunch with some of my NIE batch friends. One good thing about attending courses as a teacher: there's a very high likelihood you will meet friends there, so you are never lonely. Of course, I did go with my Level Head, so that wasn't a problem, but it's still nice to catch up incidentally once in a while on courses. I couldn't really finish lunch though, probably because of eating too much at the teabreak. I didn't really like the SP canteen food though; maybe I should just go for the MacDonald's there instead.
There was a practical session in the afternoon. It had to do with saliva, and after losing a scissors-paper-stone gruelling deathmatch, I ended up the poor sod who needs to provide saliva sample. Quite a disgusting process there. I refused to chew on the cotton salivette provided, and drooled my way out of it. Haha...better skip the stupid details. Anyway, it's been very long since I've touched lab equipment, as in doing the experiment itself. One coursemate commented while washing the apparatus that she feels like a student, cleaning up before the practical ends, and being eager to leave. I replied that in order to feel like a student, she should break some glassware. More realistic. Bwahaha.
I went for a jog right after reaching home. I haven't jogged for about two weeks already, since the China trip week. Last week was due to rain and long days (of admin!). The legs feel incredibly heavy after a hiatus of a couple of weeks...therefore I must maintain the regime!
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Today is yet another day of running around. After a long weekend, and considering that the next 3 days I'll be away on course, today is a ton of administrative work again.
I spent the first 3 hours of my day securing computer PC purchases from GeBiz, which is a government system. I have to do an evaluation of everything available, and justify the choice. Goodness, there are so many pages of quotations to search through! 3 hours! There were many more admin things to finish...and I really hate doing admin work. Bleah.
I made a screwup today. Originally I wanted to do a makeup lesson today for two of my classes, but I did not check the list of available venues properly. There was actually no room available big enough to hold two classes, but I booked one by mistake. So I had two classes stranded outside the Theatrette for some time, and I had to cancel the makeup because of this. So too bad for them, and me, they have to do the makeup lesson in the coming June holidays.
So exciting! 16 new teachers joining the school! I'm no longer among the newest teachers now. I'm almost a year old in the school...bwahahaha. An interesting thing to note is that there are 10 guys and 6 gals. Apparently MOE is trying very hard to balance the male to female ratio over the years by recruiting more guys. Even so, the chemistry department has 2 gals and 1 guy added to it. Looks like physics department is still overwhelming male, and chemistry department is still overwhelming female.
I spent the first 3 hours of my day securing computer PC purchases from GeBiz, which is a government system. I have to do an evaluation of everything available, and justify the choice. Goodness, there are so many pages of quotations to search through! 3 hours! There were many more admin things to finish...and I really hate doing admin work. Bleah.
I made a screwup today. Originally I wanted to do a makeup lesson today for two of my classes, but I did not check the list of available venues properly. There was actually no room available big enough to hold two classes, but I booked one by mistake. So I had two classes stranded outside the Theatrette for some time, and I had to cancel the makeup because of this. So too bad for them, and me, they have to do the makeup lesson in the coming June holidays.
So exciting! 16 new teachers joining the school! I'm no longer among the newest teachers now. I'm almost a year old in the school...bwahahaha. An interesting thing to note is that there are 10 guys and 6 gals. Apparently MOE is trying very hard to balance the male to female ratio over the years by recruiting more guys. Even so, the chemistry department has 2 gals and 1 guy added to it. Looks like physics department is still overwhelming male, and chemistry department is still overwhelming female.
Monday, May 23, 2005
Sentosa outing with my boys today! Right now my complexion looks like a well-cooked lobster. The sun, for the good part of the early afternoon, is blazing. Then it threatened to rain with a light drizzle, and after I commanded the rain to go (or so I believe), the rain left us, and the clouds remained to give some shade.
We had a lot of fun. Almost all of them came, save for one boy. But the beach was soooooo crowded it was unbelievable. It was difficult just to find a patch of sand big enough for us to play anything. It was made worse because there seemed to be some orientation sort of thing going on there, taking up a big space. I think the next time I'll bring them to East Coast beach instead. There's waaay too many girls in bikinis there, particularly because it's a public holiday, and it's too distracting. At least, I must buy sunblock next time when I hit the beach for a tan. I want brown, not red skin. Argh.
We had a lot of fun. Almost all of them came, save for one boy. But the beach was soooooo crowded it was unbelievable. It was difficult just to find a patch of sand big enough for us to play anything. It was made worse because there seemed to be some orientation sort of thing going on there, taking up a big space. I think the next time I'll bring them to East Coast beach instead. There's waaay too many girls in bikinis there, particularly because it's a public holiday, and it's too distracting. At least, I must buy sunblock next time when I hit the beach for a tan. I want brown, not red skin. Argh.
I finally caught Star Wars on Sunday afternoon! I'm glad that there was nobody clapping or cheering before or after the show, as I heard some friends comment about how it was when they caught the movie. A Star Wars fanatic colleague said it was the best of the 6 movies, but I think it is lacking as compared to episodes 4 to 6. But it surpasses episodes 1 and 2 by a long mile...at least they reduced Ja Ja Binks to a moment in the film. At least this episode seems like there is a congruent plot running through the movie rather than a piecemeal string of events hastily put together, i.e. episode 2. All in all, a nice conclusion to George Lucas' visionary twin trilogies.
Shop with Huijun after the movie I did. 2 pairs of boardshorts I bought! Vain I must be. Bought boardshorts for Batam I have. Hmm...Uncomfortable speaking like Yoda I am. Anyway, I can wear them later! I'm bringing my boys to Sentosa...again. Not that I wanted to actually, but they came together and talked about it, and then asked me to bring them there. Ah well, at least they showed initiative. My cousin Kaixin and her boyfriend came down to join us for dinner later in the evening, and we went to Crystal Jade Kitchen, but they didn't have roasted pork anymore...sigh. The two of them were showing us photos of their Taiwan trip. Many photos. Sigh. Why did my blood brudder forget to pass me the cable for his camera that he lent me? I have to wait till the coming Sun to get it from him I think.
We went to play pool after that. We covered quite a lot of distance walking to and fro. At first I booked a table at two places, but the waiting list is quite long, so I suggested checking out Pool Junction, which was further down, and they had a new pub outlet next door with more pool tables. When we went there, the waiting list was like double the length. But I left my name there anyway. We returned to one of the earlier places to wait. Turns out that the place we waited at was the slowest to move, and every other place had a freed-up table earlier. I haven't played pool for a month I think. Good thing I still retained some standard.
Sigh. I miss the pool kakis from my cell group. They'd better return from China faster! Haha...
Shop with Huijun after the movie I did. 2 pairs of boardshorts I bought! Vain I must be. Bought boardshorts for Batam I have. Hmm...Uncomfortable speaking like Yoda I am. Anyway, I can wear them later! I'm bringing my boys to Sentosa...again. Not that I wanted to actually, but they came together and talked about it, and then asked me to bring them there. Ah well, at least they showed initiative. My cousin Kaixin and her boyfriend came down to join us for dinner later in the evening, and we went to Crystal Jade Kitchen, but they didn't have roasted pork anymore...sigh. The two of them were showing us photos of their Taiwan trip. Many photos. Sigh. Why did my blood brudder forget to pass me the cable for his camera that he lent me? I have to wait till the coming Sun to get it from him I think.
We went to play pool after that. We covered quite a lot of distance walking to and fro. At first I booked a table at two places, but the waiting list is quite long, so I suggested checking out Pool Junction, which was further down, and they had a new pub outlet next door with more pool tables. When we went there, the waiting list was like double the length. But I left my name there anyway. We returned to one of the earlier places to wait. Turns out that the place we waited at was the slowest to move, and every other place had a freed-up table earlier. I haven't played pool for a month I think. Good thing I still retained some standard.
Sigh. I miss the pool kakis from my cell group. They'd better return from China faster! Haha...
Saturday, May 21, 2005
Today is college day! So I'm back in school on a Saturday. On my way to school, there was this man talking on the handphone, who stepped right in front of the bus without even looking at the traffic. I must say the bus driver had excellent reflexes and swerved the bus away, else that man would be instant roadkill. The danger of getting carried away in conversation on a handphone...
The whole event went on smoothly, thank goodness. There was a goof-up elsewhere though, which I haven't gotten to the bottom of. The prize presentation took seemingly eons to finish, but the performance after that was superb. The first performance was the brass ensemble, which was not bad, but somehow a little muffled sounding today. This was followed by the Modern Dance team, who had recently won SYF Gold with honours. The dance they put up was spectacular, although the older teachers did remark about the dresses flaring up too much when they twirled, "revealing too much", even though the dancers wore tights beneath. The concluding act was by the guitar ensemble, which performed a piece of music originally designed for chinese orchestra. I'm surprised that guitar sounds could actually mimick chinese instruments that well. Refreshingly original, I must say. I can see why this is a good year for TJC in terms of sports and performing groups.
The refreshments thereafter was excellent, and we had our fill before rushing down to Merchant Court hotel for a colleague's wedding reception. The ballroom is nice, and the best thing was that there was a live jazz band there, which made the whole atmosphere exceptionally romantic. The food there was great, especially this durian dessert that tastes like liquified durian flesh. Hmmm...I also realized through the hard way that wine and durian don't go well together. It's a lethal combination of heatiness for the throat for me. I saw some old friends at the wedding. After all, the bride (my colleague) is a JC friend of mine. It's interesting that 9 years since we left college, we're back together in the same school teaching, and she got married. The passage of time could not be more greatly emphasized. In any case, I feel so happy for her.
I went shopping with some colleagues after the reception. Today's a nice day, in the sense that I was surrounded by women! Haha...I realized that I was the only guy at the table in the reception. We had a nice time talking, though one by one, most of the colleagues left. Eventually it was down to three of us. Interestingly enough, my army friend Yichuan rang me up to ask me where I was. Apparently, he was alone in Suntec, looking for company, and he called me. He thought I would be at the latest Magic prerelease, but he was wrong about that. He was right about calling me though, because I really was in Suntec. Later on, after he, and another friend who joined us momentarily, left, my colleagues commented some funny things about them. I'm still at a loss whether to let them know.
All in all, a day well-spent; it is a luxury to be in the company of (many) attractive ladies.
The whole event went on smoothly, thank goodness. There was a goof-up elsewhere though, which I haven't gotten to the bottom of. The prize presentation took seemingly eons to finish, but the performance after that was superb. The first performance was the brass ensemble, which was not bad, but somehow a little muffled sounding today. This was followed by the Modern Dance team, who had recently won SYF Gold with honours. The dance they put up was spectacular, although the older teachers did remark about the dresses flaring up too much when they twirled, "revealing too much", even though the dancers wore tights beneath. The concluding act was by the guitar ensemble, which performed a piece of music originally designed for chinese orchestra. I'm surprised that guitar sounds could actually mimick chinese instruments that well. Refreshingly original, I must say. I can see why this is a good year for TJC in terms of sports and performing groups.
The refreshments thereafter was excellent, and we had our fill before rushing down to Merchant Court hotel for a colleague's wedding reception. The ballroom is nice, and the best thing was that there was a live jazz band there, which made the whole atmosphere exceptionally romantic. The food there was great, especially this durian dessert that tastes like liquified durian flesh. Hmmm...I also realized through the hard way that wine and durian don't go well together. It's a lethal combination of heatiness for the throat for me. I saw some old friends at the wedding. After all, the bride (my colleague) is a JC friend of mine. It's interesting that 9 years since we left college, we're back together in the same school teaching, and she got married. The passage of time could not be more greatly emphasized. In any case, I feel so happy for her.
I went shopping with some colleagues after the reception. Today's a nice day, in the sense that I was surrounded by women! Haha...I realized that I was the only guy at the table in the reception. We had a nice time talking, though one by one, most of the colleagues left. Eventually it was down to three of us. Interestingly enough, my army friend Yichuan rang me up to ask me where I was. Apparently, he was alone in Suntec, looking for company, and he called me. He thought I would be at the latest Magic prerelease, but he was wrong about that. He was right about calling me though, because I really was in Suntec. Later on, after he, and another friend who joined us momentarily, left, my colleagues commented some funny things about them. I'm still at a loss whether to let them know.
All in all, a day well-spent; it is a luxury to be in the company of (many) attractive ladies.
Friday, May 20, 2005
TJC Basketball boys team won the A division competition! The last time that happened was exactly 2 decades ago!
It's the first time in fifteen years the school qualified for finals, and it became a school event. Buses were hired to send supporters there to Toa Payoh Sports Hall after lessons end. Many teachers went down to support the team too. One of the star players happen to be my student from the sports class, so all the more reason I was there.
I squeezed onto a bench amongst the students to watch the match, and it was exciting. At first our team was leading by a big margin, and by the end of the half, the score was a marginal 33-30. Our lead of 3 points were soon broken by a fierce offence from Hwa Chong, and throughout the rest of the match, the two teams took turns to lead. The critical time was when there was only 3 minutes left on the clock. At that point in time, Hwa Chong led, 65 to 62. At that make-or-break moment, suddenly the TJC team rose to the challenge and played superbly in those precious minutes. They didn't allow the opponent to break through, and succeeded in the counter-attacks. By the end of the match, it was 72-65!
I'm not a fan of basketball, but it sure is exciting to watch when you feel like you have something at stake here. The most interesting aspect is the nostalgia of standing there amongst the students. The last time I was in a setting like that was 9 years ago, and supporting another match. Might be volleyball, for all I can remember. I watched the councillors and house comm members lead the crowd, with the help of enthusiastic friends I suspect, and it was reminiscent of those couple of years I was in the house comm (then, department comm), doing the same things. Without realizing it, I found myself doing some of the traditional TJC cheers...haha I guess old habits die hard.
Ah, but the spirit was strong in the hall. I thought our students are generally bochup and all, but today, they were cheering almost nonstop throughout the whole match, even the break-time. Of course, some still did not get involved, but as far as I can see, most of the ones who are there were cheering their heart and lungs out. So for that, I'm as proud of them as I'm proud of the basketball team, and especially my student in there. It felt good when I heard a Hwa Chong kid comment that 'TJC cheered damn loud lor'. I didn't realize I still have remnant loyalty that was ingrained since my department comm days; I thought I wouldn't care as much now that I'm a teacher and no longer a student, but I guess I'm wrong.
The next big thing: next Fri, badminton finals for both girls and boys. I must go support that one. Two of my sports class students will be playing. Imagine how spectacular it would be to win both! This seems to be quite a good year for TJC. I foresee half-days or full-days coming up, maybe next term, in celebration...
It's the first time in fifteen years the school qualified for finals, and it became a school event. Buses were hired to send supporters there to Toa Payoh Sports Hall after lessons end. Many teachers went down to support the team too. One of the star players happen to be my student from the sports class, so all the more reason I was there.
I squeezed onto a bench amongst the students to watch the match, and it was exciting. At first our team was leading by a big margin, and by the end of the half, the score was a marginal 33-30. Our lead of 3 points were soon broken by a fierce offence from Hwa Chong, and throughout the rest of the match, the two teams took turns to lead. The critical time was when there was only 3 minutes left on the clock. At that point in time, Hwa Chong led, 65 to 62. At that make-or-break moment, suddenly the TJC team rose to the challenge and played superbly in those precious minutes. They didn't allow the opponent to break through, and succeeded in the counter-attacks. By the end of the match, it was 72-65!
I'm not a fan of basketball, but it sure is exciting to watch when you feel like you have something at stake here. The most interesting aspect is the nostalgia of standing there amongst the students. The last time I was in a setting like that was 9 years ago, and supporting another match. Might be volleyball, for all I can remember. I watched the councillors and house comm members lead the crowd, with the help of enthusiastic friends I suspect, and it was reminiscent of those couple of years I was in the house comm (then, department comm), doing the same things. Without realizing it, I found myself doing some of the traditional TJC cheers...haha I guess old habits die hard.
Ah, but the spirit was strong in the hall. I thought our students are generally bochup and all, but today, they were cheering almost nonstop throughout the whole match, even the break-time. Of course, some still did not get involved, but as far as I can see, most of the ones who are there were cheering their heart and lungs out. So for that, I'm as proud of them as I'm proud of the basketball team, and especially my student in there. It felt good when I heard a Hwa Chong kid comment that 'TJC cheered damn loud lor'. I didn't realize I still have remnant loyalty that was ingrained since my department comm days; I thought I wouldn't care as much now that I'm a teacher and no longer a student, but I guess I'm wrong.
The next big thing: next Fri, badminton finals for both girls and boys. I must go support that one. Two of my sports class students will be playing. Imagine how spectacular it would be to win both! This seems to be quite a good year for TJC. I foresee half-days or full-days coming up, maybe next term, in celebration...
Thursday, May 19, 2005
It's shups!' birthday today! I just came back from a little outing with her and the gang. One nostalgic element about that group of friends is the sheer extent of indecision when it comes to choosing things to do/places to go/where to eat, and etc. Time can just pass by so fast while someone waits for another to make a suggestion or a decision. It's a rarity that in a big group, no one is domineering enough to get his or her way, but then again, it seems to be more of a refusal to commit to a choice. I took a photo of the birthday girl with my 6230, and she looks so good in it, but alas, one of my boys abducted my bluetooth adapter again, so I can't upload it. Darn.
Today I finally found time in school to linger and chitchat. It's been a while since I am free from work on my hands...and feet...and everywhere. After school I went down to another agency to book tickets for Batam. The agency near my house finally called me today, but in any case, the price is still higher than this new one. One colleague accompanied me there, and we had a nice, long chat on the way there. She shared about many things, including her consideration of quitting when her bond is over. I find it sad whenever I hear a fellow teacher start to cave in because of the system nowadays, especially with the implementation of SPA, or because of burning out. She complained about many things, but eventually, I shrunk it down to one crucial element: lack of recreation.
I think she's burning out because she doesn't take time off to enjoy life a bit. As I told one friend before, I take fun very seriously. I think the constant stress and anxiety has built up to the extent that she can't bring herself to relax. If she takes time off to play, she feels guilty. The sad thing is I doubt she's among the minority. I know too many people who have said too similar a thing. I told her that if she continues to work like this, her mind will be constantly wound like a tight spring, and eventually she will have no life outside of work, and at some point, life and work will lose meaning. It is a scary thing if you wake up one day and suddenly find everything meaningless. It's about balance, really. Too much play is bad, just as much as too much work is. I have thus decided that I shall take it upon myself to cure her with my special 'recreation therapy'. I shall rope her into the colleague-karaoke-gang. Movies and shopping too, maybe.
Actually, down to the crunch, it's the administrative tasks and all that marking that drive teachers up the wall. And the problem has been there for eons. Nothing some serious fun can't solve for me though. Keke...
Today I finally found time in school to linger and chitchat. It's been a while since I am free from work on my hands...and feet...and everywhere. After school I went down to another agency to book tickets for Batam. The agency near my house finally called me today, but in any case, the price is still higher than this new one. One colleague accompanied me there, and we had a nice, long chat on the way there. She shared about many things, including her consideration of quitting when her bond is over. I find it sad whenever I hear a fellow teacher start to cave in because of the system nowadays, especially with the implementation of SPA, or because of burning out. She complained about many things, but eventually, I shrunk it down to one crucial element: lack of recreation.
I think she's burning out because she doesn't take time off to enjoy life a bit. As I told one friend before, I take fun very seriously. I think the constant stress and anxiety has built up to the extent that she can't bring herself to relax. If she takes time off to play, she feels guilty. The sad thing is I doubt she's among the minority. I know too many people who have said too similar a thing. I told her that if she continues to work like this, her mind will be constantly wound like a tight spring, and eventually she will have no life outside of work, and at some point, life and work will lose meaning. It is a scary thing if you wake up one day and suddenly find everything meaningless. It's about balance, really. Too much play is bad, just as much as too much work is. I have thus decided that I shall take it upon myself to cure her with my special 'recreation therapy'. I shall rope her into the colleague-karaoke-gang. Movies and shopping too, maybe.
Actually, down to the crunch, it's the administrative tasks and all that marking that drive teachers up the wall. And the problem has been there for eons. Nothing some serious fun can't solve for me though. Keke...
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
I'm still buried in work up to today. Being away for 3 days really have consequences in retrospect. At least I cleared my SPA marking as of yesterday, and the main thing that irks me, as usual, is the remnant administrative tasks. May to Jun would be a joyous 2 months...there are many birthdays and weddings of important friends coming up! Plus that short Batam trip coming up, it will be...eh...a tightening of the belt. Haha...money no enough! I think I have to dig into my pathetic savings liao.
Frankly, this Batam trip with my colleagues is soooooo difficult to put together. Come to think of it, I didn't come up with the idea, but somehow my volunteering to check out the prices resulted in my taking over the coordination of the whole thing. At first it was supposed to be Cameron Highlands, so I went down to get brochures. After much discussion it was supposed to be settled. Then one colleague said she didn't want to go Cameron Highlands, because she has been there before, and she didn't want to take the coach up to there at night, because it's dangerous, and the coach may fall off the mountain road, or hit a landslide. -__-
So we had another round of discussions and settled on Batam, because it's cheap. Good thing no one was worried that the ferry trip there may hit a tsunami. I went down another time to get brochures, and we settled on Harris Resort finally. Then there was a problem with the dates we set. Suddenly one colleague realized that there's a school camp she has to attend, and it clashes with the dates. So we changed the days. Suddenly a colleague invited us to his wedding, and for a moment, it looked like we have to rearrange the dates again, but in the end, it looks like we can just make it back in time to rest before heading for the wedding.
Trying to book the thing turned out to be a huge bother too. The agency which had the cheapest rates couldn't find the Jun rates for me. The lady I spoke to promised to call them up to check today, but there was no answer. I think I will probably go to another agency that a colleague recommended. I have had enough of inefficiency. The funniest thing was that on Mon, I smsed those colleagues who are going for the trip to check their passport expiry date, and this guy told me on Tue that he changed his phone number, so he didn't get the sms. I told him to sms me yesternight after he gave me his new number, and he didn't. I called him, and got a 'The number you just called is not in use'. Wah biang eh, the guy can't even remember his own number? I tried one permutation and smsed him to test if that was the correct number, but there was no response. In the end, turned out that he fell asleep after he hit home and woke up in the middle of the night.
Today, that colleague who is having a camp that clashes with the original dates said that her camp ends one day earlier than expected, and asked whether we should shift it a day up. I think I overreacted in saying a big 'NO!' At this point, I just want to book the darn thing and get it settled. It's slowly fraying my nerves. I predict I will explode if any one of them tells me that something crops up and they can't make it.
Frankly, this Batam trip with my colleagues is soooooo difficult to put together. Come to think of it, I didn't come up with the idea, but somehow my volunteering to check out the prices resulted in my taking over the coordination of the whole thing. At first it was supposed to be Cameron Highlands, so I went down to get brochures. After much discussion it was supposed to be settled. Then one colleague said she didn't want to go Cameron Highlands, because she has been there before, and she didn't want to take the coach up to there at night, because it's dangerous, and the coach may fall off the mountain road, or hit a landslide. -__-
So we had another round of discussions and settled on Batam, because it's cheap. Good thing no one was worried that the ferry trip there may hit a tsunami. I went down another time to get brochures, and we settled on Harris Resort finally. Then there was a problem with the dates we set. Suddenly one colleague realized that there's a school camp she has to attend, and it clashes with the dates. So we changed the days. Suddenly a colleague invited us to his wedding, and for a moment, it looked like we have to rearrange the dates again, but in the end, it looks like we can just make it back in time to rest before heading for the wedding.
Trying to book the thing turned out to be a huge bother too. The agency which had the cheapest rates couldn't find the Jun rates for me. The lady I spoke to promised to call them up to check today, but there was no answer. I think I will probably go to another agency that a colleague recommended. I have had enough of inefficiency. The funniest thing was that on Mon, I smsed those colleagues who are going for the trip to check their passport expiry date, and this guy told me on Tue that he changed his phone number, so he didn't get the sms. I told him to sms me yesternight after he gave me his new number, and he didn't. I called him, and got a 'The number you just called is not in use'. Wah biang eh, the guy can't even remember his own number? I tried one permutation and smsed him to test if that was the correct number, but there was no response. In the end, turned out that he fell asleep after he hit home and woke up in the middle of the night.
Today, that colleague who is having a camp that clashes with the original dates said that her camp ends one day earlier than expected, and asked whether we should shift it a day up. I think I overreacted in saying a big 'NO!' At this point, I just want to book the darn thing and get it settled. It's slowly fraying my nerves. I predict I will explode if any one of them tells me that something crops up and they can't make it.
Monday, May 16, 2005
I survived today! On one and a half hour of sleep, I think I functioned pretty well still, considering the ton of things I had to do. Worse still, I had my day extended for invigilation of year 1 SPA practical. The sad thing is that I have to re-mark all my SPA scripts which I have finished last week. It happens way too often for my taste. Argh.
In retrospect, I realized I love the window seat in a plane. I really enjoy seeing the plane take off from the ground, and seeing the ground slowly disappear. It's a beautiful sight, especially at night. Yesterday's flight I saw this long lit expressway that snaked across the land like a giant serpent. The lights of a city as seen from above are amazing. The funny thing is, most of the time, from the air, a city lit at night just looks like a giant circuit board with all the regular, symmetrical lines of lights and all.
In retrospect, I realized I love the window seat in a plane. I really enjoy seeing the plane take off from the ground, and seeing the ground slowly disappear. It's a beautiful sight, especially at night. Yesterday's flight I saw this long lit expressway that snaked across the land like a giant serpent. The lights of a city as seen from above are amazing. The funny thing is, most of the time, from the air, a city lit at night just looks like a giant circuit board with all the regular, symmetrical lines of lights and all.
I'm home at last! So many things to blog about...I think I shall start with why I'm blogging at 3 am in the morning right now and then backtrack...
There was a silly flight delay in Beijing Airport. The plane was supposed to leave at 4 pm, and reach Singapore at 10 pm, which gives me some room for unpacking and rest for tomorrow (I mean, today). I was waiting all the way till slightly before 4 pm to board the plane, which was the sign of things to come. The plane finally taxied its way to the runaway by about 4.30 pm, and sat there till 5 pm, whereupon the pilot announced there was some technical fault, which required the plane to return to the hangar for inspection. Ah great. And the plane couldn't move, because of high plane traffic! So we were stuck there on the runway for a while, before going back to the hangar. By that time it was nearly 6 pm, and the pilot announced that the fault will require 2.5 hours to fix. My jaw dropped. By estimation, I'll touchdown in Singapore at only 2.30 am in the morning! Argh! The worse thing is I can't request for half day off or anything like that, because my colleague and I extended our stay, so this delay is, in a way, our own fault.
The worse thing was that my inflight LCD display was spoilt, and kept blinking every 2 seconds. So there I was, stuck in a 3 hour delay at the airport, waiting for a 6 hour flight, and I can't watch a single movie.
Ah well, at least I'm home safe and sound. Better than discovering the fault mid-flight, I guess.
Backtrack to Fri, where my last post ended. The conference ended at lunchtime actually, and my colleague and I rushed down to the train station to catch an express train to Beijing. That was fun, because we went around the place on our own a lot. It wouldn't be as possible if I was, say, in Japan or Korea where I don't understand a single word there. The good thing about the hotel we booked online was that it was right next to Beijing train station.
The main thing I can say about my whole China trip is that the expenditure can be summarized into three broad categories: food, cab fare and DVDs. The power of the Singapore currency is really visible here. Basically from Fri to Sun, we ate like kings. Ok, that was an exaggeration, but we over-order everytime, eat till we were bloated, and it doesn't cost us more than about S$10. The only meal we regretted was at Great Wall, where we were swindled by the waitress who didn't tell us the portion of the dish she suggested, nor the price, and ended up we paid more for that crummy meal (beef noodles = noodles + 2 small pieces of beef, and 1 chicken dish which was huge, but largely potato and peppers) than any other meal we had, except the last one, which I'll mention later...
Cab fare was dirt cheap. On average, each ride costs about 2 to 4 SGD. The only thing was that we took quite a lot of cab rides. We did walk where possible, and the locals' idea of near, in which we walked to WangFuJing was like walking from Bugis Junction to Takashimaya. The only blessing was that the weather was so cool I don't perspire, so walking was pleasant.
DVDs! Bwahahaha...my colleague and I bought a lot. Almost all are original, but the price there in Yuan is about the same price in SGD if we bought them in Singapore, i.e. about 1/5 the price. Of course, if we went for the pirated ones, then it would be closer to about 1/10 to 1/12 the price, but we wanted quality...keke. I bought mostly anime, which I was pleasantly surprised to find there.
Anyway, we reached our hotel about 3 pm in the afternoon. Originally we wanted to go to Great Wall or Imperial (or is it Forbidden?)City (Gu Gong), but it was too late, so we went shopping instead. We went down to DongDan, which had shopping centres like Paragon, i.e. super high class and expensive, but the one good thing was that it had a music store which stocked up lots of DVDs and anime! We headed to WangFuJing, which is the main shopping area that tourists will head for. There are many shops with cheap wares, and generally fun to check out. Interestingly, Baleno is huge there. Practically everywhere, just like Giordano here. Beijing also had more eye candy than Tianjin, naturally, but I'm just talking about pretty faces here. Although the dressing is quite modern, overall, they dress conservatively, relative to Singapore, which is largely (I suspect) due to the cold weather.
Saturday morning, we rose early to rush down to Great Wall. We wanted to hail a cab there originally, and then came the most persistent saleswoman I have ever met. This middle-aged lady saw us, and recommended a coach ride straight to Great Wall, which comes in a package that throws in lunch and tours around the Great Wall. It really was a good package, except that my colleague and I didn't intend to tour around Great Wall all that much. He has gone there a couple of times already, and was going for my sake, more or less, so I just wanted to go and take a look, then go check out Gu Gong. We turned her down politely, and she couldn't believe we turned down such a good deal. She trailed us back and forth for the next 15 to 20 min, telling us how good a deal she is offering, and sounded angry that we are rejecting the offer. At one point, she had her colleagues trailing us too and bombarding us with the same things she was saying. This was the epitome of hard sell. We crossed one major road, and thought we shook her off, but as we were boarding a cab, she sprang out of nowhere and advised us not to take it. My colleague muttered something along the line of not minding paying through the nose to get to the Great Wall just to escape her. Fortunately we met an elderly cab driver who told us a cheaper way to get there by public transport. So that saved us 80 SGD of cab fare (yikes!).
Great wall was impressive, but that was about it. The cab driver warned us there was nothing much there, and it was true. But still, for a person like me who hardly travels, it was important for me to visit it. The sight of it was impressive. Just the thought of the blood, sweat and tears of hundreds and thousands of men who built it, and the sight of the grandeur was good enough for me. It was helluva climb though. I shudder to think of how the soldiers then ran up and down the place in their armour and all.
After that we rushed down to Gu Gong. Of all the best timings in the world, many parts of the palace was under renovation. Argh. Why does it have to happen to me? I wanted to take soooo many pictures. The size of it was monstrous. I think the Istana is heavily dwarfed in comparison. Minute would be a better word. I don't think I can describe how magnificent it was in words. I'm a sucker for architecture, so even though the palace looks rather rundown and overran by tourists, the whole place still appealed to me. I'm so glad I got a free trip to China! Bwahaha. (I blew my budget because of DVDs though...keke)
We took a public bus (so fun!) to XiDan, which is another shopping district, to have a look. That place is more pasar malam type, and unfortunately, most of the things sold there would be for ladies. I think the gals would possibly spend even more if they came to China...The highlight meal of the whole trip would be Sunday's lunch, where my colleague brought me to this place called Quan Ju De. It's supposed to be very famous (and therefore very expensive) for the Peking duck. And it was gooooooood. The crispiness of the skin was undescribable. But it was very sinful, oil and fat and all. Very much worth the money, I must say. Hmmm...I'm giving them free publicity.
Oh man. It's now 4 am in the morning. I'll post some pictures another time when I sort them out. Good thing I have experience sleeping at this kind of wee hours. I think I can survive tomorrow.
There was a silly flight delay in Beijing Airport. The plane was supposed to leave at 4 pm, and reach Singapore at 10 pm, which gives me some room for unpacking and rest for tomorrow (I mean, today). I was waiting all the way till slightly before 4 pm to board the plane, which was the sign of things to come. The plane finally taxied its way to the runaway by about 4.30 pm, and sat there till 5 pm, whereupon the pilot announced there was some technical fault, which required the plane to return to the hangar for inspection. Ah great. And the plane couldn't move, because of high plane traffic! So we were stuck there on the runway for a while, before going back to the hangar. By that time it was nearly 6 pm, and the pilot announced that the fault will require 2.5 hours to fix. My jaw dropped. By estimation, I'll touchdown in Singapore at only 2.30 am in the morning! Argh! The worse thing is I can't request for half day off or anything like that, because my colleague and I extended our stay, so this delay is, in a way, our own fault.
The worse thing was that my inflight LCD display was spoilt, and kept blinking every 2 seconds. So there I was, stuck in a 3 hour delay at the airport, waiting for a 6 hour flight, and I can't watch a single movie.
Ah well, at least I'm home safe and sound. Better than discovering the fault mid-flight, I guess.
Backtrack to Fri, where my last post ended. The conference ended at lunchtime actually, and my colleague and I rushed down to the train station to catch an express train to Beijing. That was fun, because we went around the place on our own a lot. It wouldn't be as possible if I was, say, in Japan or Korea where I don't understand a single word there. The good thing about the hotel we booked online was that it was right next to Beijing train station.
The main thing I can say about my whole China trip is that the expenditure can be summarized into three broad categories: food, cab fare and DVDs. The power of the Singapore currency is really visible here. Basically from Fri to Sun, we ate like kings. Ok, that was an exaggeration, but we over-order everytime, eat till we were bloated, and it doesn't cost us more than about S$10. The only meal we regretted was at Great Wall, where we were swindled by the waitress who didn't tell us the portion of the dish she suggested, nor the price, and ended up we paid more for that crummy meal (beef noodles = noodles + 2 small pieces of beef, and 1 chicken dish which was huge, but largely potato and peppers) than any other meal we had, except the last one, which I'll mention later...
Cab fare was dirt cheap. On average, each ride costs about 2 to 4 SGD. The only thing was that we took quite a lot of cab rides. We did walk where possible, and the locals' idea of near, in which we walked to WangFuJing was like walking from Bugis Junction to Takashimaya. The only blessing was that the weather was so cool I don't perspire, so walking was pleasant.
DVDs! Bwahahaha...my colleague and I bought a lot. Almost all are original, but the price there in Yuan is about the same price in SGD if we bought them in Singapore, i.e. about 1/5 the price. Of course, if we went for the pirated ones, then it would be closer to about 1/10 to 1/12 the price, but we wanted quality...keke. I bought mostly anime, which I was pleasantly surprised to find there.
Anyway, we reached our hotel about 3 pm in the afternoon. Originally we wanted to go to Great Wall or Imperial (or is it Forbidden?)City (Gu Gong), but it was too late, so we went shopping instead. We went down to DongDan, which had shopping centres like Paragon, i.e. super high class and expensive, but the one good thing was that it had a music store which stocked up lots of DVDs and anime! We headed to WangFuJing, which is the main shopping area that tourists will head for. There are many shops with cheap wares, and generally fun to check out. Interestingly, Baleno is huge there. Practically everywhere, just like Giordano here. Beijing also had more eye candy than Tianjin, naturally, but I'm just talking about pretty faces here. Although the dressing is quite modern, overall, they dress conservatively, relative to Singapore, which is largely (I suspect) due to the cold weather.
Saturday morning, we rose early to rush down to Great Wall. We wanted to hail a cab there originally, and then came the most persistent saleswoman I have ever met. This middle-aged lady saw us, and recommended a coach ride straight to Great Wall, which comes in a package that throws in lunch and tours around the Great Wall. It really was a good package, except that my colleague and I didn't intend to tour around Great Wall all that much. He has gone there a couple of times already, and was going for my sake, more or less, so I just wanted to go and take a look, then go check out Gu Gong. We turned her down politely, and she couldn't believe we turned down such a good deal. She trailed us back and forth for the next 15 to 20 min, telling us how good a deal she is offering, and sounded angry that we are rejecting the offer. At one point, she had her colleagues trailing us too and bombarding us with the same things she was saying. This was the epitome of hard sell. We crossed one major road, and thought we shook her off, but as we were boarding a cab, she sprang out of nowhere and advised us not to take it. My colleague muttered something along the line of not minding paying through the nose to get to the Great Wall just to escape her. Fortunately we met an elderly cab driver who told us a cheaper way to get there by public transport. So that saved us 80 SGD of cab fare (yikes!).
Great wall was impressive, but that was about it. The cab driver warned us there was nothing much there, and it was true. But still, for a person like me who hardly travels, it was important for me to visit it. The sight of it was impressive. Just the thought of the blood, sweat and tears of hundreds and thousands of men who built it, and the sight of the grandeur was good enough for me. It was helluva climb though. I shudder to think of how the soldiers then ran up and down the place in their armour and all.
After that we rushed down to Gu Gong. Of all the best timings in the world, many parts of the palace was under renovation. Argh. Why does it have to happen to me? I wanted to take soooo many pictures. The size of it was monstrous. I think the Istana is heavily dwarfed in comparison. Minute would be a better word. I don't think I can describe how magnificent it was in words. I'm a sucker for architecture, so even though the palace looks rather rundown and overran by tourists, the whole place still appealed to me. I'm so glad I got a free trip to China! Bwahaha. (I blew my budget because of DVDs though...keke)
We took a public bus (so fun!) to XiDan, which is another shopping district, to have a look. That place is more pasar malam type, and unfortunately, most of the things sold there would be for ladies. I think the gals would possibly spend even more if they came to China...The highlight meal of the whole trip would be Sunday's lunch, where my colleague brought me to this place called Quan Ju De. It's supposed to be very famous (and therefore very expensive) for the Peking duck. And it was gooooooood. The crispiness of the skin was undescribable. But it was very sinful, oil and fat and all. Very much worth the money, I must say. Hmmm...I'm giving them free publicity.
Oh man. It's now 4 am in the morning. I'll post some pictures another time when I sort them out. Good thing I have experience sleeping at this kind of wee hours. I think I can survive tomorrow.
Friday, May 13, 2005
This is the second day of the conference. We went for one psychology session, which functions pretty much like the civics lesson we have in TJC. The only major difference between the school here in China and TJC (and likely many other schools) is the spontaneity of the students. Their responses are good, fast and clear, in general, unlike our stone-like students who barely react to anything, nor answer questions well. I mean, I haven't seen students volunteer to answer for a long, long time like what I see here.
Another thing that I feel every time I venture overseas is that I really do appreciate the traffic system in Singapore. No doubt I remember complaining occasionally about drivers and all, but overseas, it's a really different experience altogether. Crossing the road is really, really dangerous. The zebra crossing is there for drivers to honk at you. They don't stop for you, nor do they slow down for you. It's a risk you have to take on your own. It's an exciting experience every time you try to cross the road, even at the traffic lights. I think I've been pampered by the Singapore roads too much.
An interesting sight is the sheer number of cyclists on the road. Especially those who wear suits and cycle. Too bad I couldn't capture the sight on camera...
Another thing that I feel every time I venture overseas is that I really do appreciate the traffic system in Singapore. No doubt I remember complaining occasionally about drivers and all, but overseas, it's a really different experience altogether. Crossing the road is really, really dangerous. The zebra crossing is there for drivers to honk at you. They don't stop for you, nor do they slow down for you. It's a risk you have to take on your own. It's an exciting experience every time you try to cross the road, even at the traffic lights. I think I've been pampered by the Singapore roads too much.
An interesting sight is the sheer number of cyclists on the road. Especially those who wear suits and cycle. Too bad I couldn't capture the sight on camera...
Thursday, May 12, 2005
Today is the start of the official conference. In the morning, an ex-principal of the school gave a presentation of his 50 years of teaching experience, anchored by psychological studies. What impressed me was how their teaching direction focuses on student development. I think what TJC does have is similar, but somehow something is still lacking. As of now, my thoughts haven't actually crystallized, but the conference has set me in thought, which means it isn't a wasted trip at least.
My colleague and I snuck out out after the first session, on official business to deliver a gift to another school (Yao Hua), which our school also have ties with. All I can conclude about schools in China - the campuses are huge. As far as Singapore is concerned, TJC has one of the largest school campuses already. I think the schools here are at least twice as big. And the architecture is generally classic, beautiful to behold. We snuck out to wander around a bit, checked out two shopping malls, which are either pretty expensive (i.e. similar prices to home) or have very little to boast of. We gave up after a while, settled on a food court to get lunch and headed back to the hotel for a brief siesta. We went to KFC to get a snack...I bought a Portugese egg tart, and my colleague, a pork chop burger. How cool is that? You can't get that in Singapore for sure. Ok ok, I'm consoling myself for not getting local food for lunch.
Right now as I am typing, it's the second session of the day, which is a tour of classes held. Very interesting. I attended a chemistry practical session, and wandered around for quick looks. The most fascinating event was a debate on whether to excavate Qin emperor's tomb. Fascinating because the concluding speaker spoke with such emotion and passion. I am in a physics sharing session (the only science available), and they are demonstrating online resources, which is why I can blog...keke...I feel like a delinquent inattentive student right now, frankly.
I am enjoying myself here, but I miss home. Other than Singapore's weather, that is.
My colleague and I snuck out out after the first session, on official business to deliver a gift to another school (Yao Hua), which our school also have ties with. All I can conclude about schools in China - the campuses are huge. As far as Singapore is concerned, TJC has one of the largest school campuses already. I think the schools here are at least twice as big. And the architecture is generally classic, beautiful to behold. We snuck out to wander around a bit, checked out two shopping malls, which are either pretty expensive (i.e. similar prices to home) or have very little to boast of. We gave up after a while, settled on a food court to get lunch and headed back to the hotel for a brief siesta. We went to KFC to get a snack...I bought a Portugese egg tart, and my colleague, a pork chop burger. How cool is that? You can't get that in Singapore for sure. Ok ok, I'm consoling myself for not getting local food for lunch.
Right now as I am typing, it's the second session of the day, which is a tour of classes held. Very interesting. I attended a chemistry practical session, and wandered around for quick looks. The most fascinating event was a debate on whether to excavate Qin emperor's tomb. Fascinating because the concluding speaker spoke with such emotion and passion. I am in a physics sharing session (the only science available), and they are demonstrating online resources, which is why I can blog...keke...I feel like a delinquent inattentive student right now, frankly.
I am enjoying myself here, but I miss home. Other than Singapore's weather, that is.
I finally found a terminal that can access the internet! For all who are concerned, I'm safely in Tianjin right now. It was a 6 hour flight into Beijing at 1 am in the morning. I still don't like SQ food, no matter how highly rated it might be. I reached Beijing's airport at 7 plus in the morning, caught a bus to Tianjin at around 9 in the morning, and made it to Tianjin Experimental High School (not sure if this is the exact English translation of the name) by cab. We were warmly received, and they are a really friendly people.
I absolutely love the weather! It was supposed to be about 10 degrees celsius, but it wasn't that cold in the afternoon. You can feel the sun's heat on your skin, but the wind is chilling. So all in all, it was cool. But my hands were freezing most of the time once the wind blows. The first day was just a matter of being hosted, and settling in. The interesting thing is that there were 4 Korean delegates along with us, and only 1 translator. The poor translator wasn't particularly skilled in Chinese either, and had a tough, tough time.
The hotel they got us was actually 3 star, but it was good enough for me. In the evening, they had a little feast for us. The food was excellent, in my opinion, but my colleague doesn't share my opinion...the interesting thing is that the school's canteen caters to the needs of all the students like a boarding school. There's 1 menu for all, and the chefs are of high standards. Restaurant standard for that dinner. Anyway they served us 'white wine' which was 40% alcohol content! I was basically drinking shots all the way. Actually they were offering toasts to the Korean Vice Principal next to me, but the Korean guy out of politeness toasts me as well, so I became collateral damage.
We had an organized tour (sort of) to Wen Hua Jie (cultural street). Interesting architecture there, but I forgot to bring my camera out! Argh. I managed to snap some pictures with my trusty 6230 again, but won't be able to post them yet. Anyway, the items sold there are largely uninteresting, with many cultural items. I was sooo tempted to buy some steel swords back. Some friends may have heard me mention my interest in weapons for display. Unfortunately, to own something like this in Singapore, I would need a license, so buying a weapon back is tantamount to being arrested at the airport. What I did buy were stone seals. I've always liked stone seals, especially those with delicate carvings, but those sold in Singapore are beastly expensive! I had one engraved with my surname, and bought a pair without engravings...maybe can save one seal in the pair for my next girlfriend, whoever she might be. Kekeke...
Will update more once I get the chance...I'm having fun!
I absolutely love the weather! It was supposed to be about 10 degrees celsius, but it wasn't that cold in the afternoon. You can feel the sun's heat on your skin, but the wind is chilling. So all in all, it was cool. But my hands were freezing most of the time once the wind blows. The first day was just a matter of being hosted, and settling in. The interesting thing is that there were 4 Korean delegates along with us, and only 1 translator. The poor translator wasn't particularly skilled in Chinese either, and had a tough, tough time.
The hotel they got us was actually 3 star, but it was good enough for me. In the evening, they had a little feast for us. The food was excellent, in my opinion, but my colleague doesn't share my opinion...the interesting thing is that the school's canteen caters to the needs of all the students like a boarding school. There's 1 menu for all, and the chefs are of high standards. Restaurant standard for that dinner. Anyway they served us 'white wine' which was 40% alcohol content! I was basically drinking shots all the way. Actually they were offering toasts to the Korean Vice Principal next to me, but the Korean guy out of politeness toasts me as well, so I became collateral damage.
We had an organized tour (sort of) to Wen Hua Jie (cultural street). Interesting architecture there, but I forgot to bring my camera out! Argh. I managed to snap some pictures with my trusty 6230 again, but won't be able to post them yet. Anyway, the items sold there are largely uninteresting, with many cultural items. I was sooo tempted to buy some steel swords back. Some friends may have heard me mention my interest in weapons for display. Unfortunately, to own something like this in Singapore, I would need a license, so buying a weapon back is tantamount to being arrested at the airport. What I did buy were stone seals. I've always liked stone seals, especially those with delicate carvings, but those sold in Singapore are beastly expensive! I had one engraved with my surname, and bought a pair without engravings...maybe can save one seal in the pair for my next girlfriend, whoever she might be. Kekeke...
Will update more once I get the chance...I'm having fun!
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
I've been running around like a madman the whole of these two days. Going to China is good and all, but the administrative things I have to do urgently directly or indirectly because of this trip amount to waaay too many. It is the unsettled feeling that I cannot stand - as if I've left something important unfinished. Maybe I have, but at this point, it's too late!
I was having diarrhoea since yesterday up to this morning. Not a good sign at all. Now, I'm feeling a bit better, but I'd better take care not to eat roadside food there for the next couple of days. My stomach is probably still recovering. Now what did I eat that was unclean? Can't be Crystal Jade right? Or maybe I simply overate. Heh...
Actually it's kinda stressful to go on a trip in the middle of term. The students know about it, and my classes closer to me strongly hinted that I should bring back something for them. I would feel bad if I didn't bring back anything for my chemistry department colleagues too, so suddenly, I feel like I have to buy gifts for the sake of pleasing people for political reasons, in the sense that if I were to buy gifts for one class, I have to buy for all; similarly, if I buy for one colleague, I should buy for all. Somehow, it dulls the whole point somewhat for me...
I was having diarrhoea since yesterday up to this morning. Not a good sign at all. Now, I'm feeling a bit better, but I'd better take care not to eat roadside food there for the next couple of days. My stomach is probably still recovering. Now what did I eat that was unclean? Can't be Crystal Jade right? Or maybe I simply overate. Heh...
Actually it's kinda stressful to go on a trip in the middle of term. The students know about it, and my classes closer to me strongly hinted that I should bring back something for them. I would feel bad if I didn't bring back anything for my chemistry department colleagues too, so suddenly, I feel like I have to buy gifts for the sake of pleasing people for political reasons, in the sense that if I were to buy gifts for one class, I have to buy for all; similarly, if I buy for one colleague, I should buy for all. Somehow, it dulls the whole point somewhat for me...
Monday, May 09, 2005
I've finished packing my suitcase at last. Actually it's not really my suitcase. It belongs to this Indian ex-colleague of mine. We used to work together during my industrial attachment in Aspentech, and he's an Indian national. He had two suitcases, and on returning, he left one in my place, saying he'll come back to get it the next time he comes to Singapore. A few months later, he told me to throw away the stuff in the suitcase, and I can keep it. So I now have a pretty good Santa Barbara suitcase to use. It took a while to get rid of the smell though...
I feel unsettled. There's so many administrative things, among others, I had to finish up before leaving. The only fortunate thing is I've finally finished marking the 7 classes of SPA scripts today. Sure, there are some revisions to the marking, but I'm sure I can touch up in a day or two. The trip is a welcome break, but it surely comes at a horrible time. It's the busiest time of this term in the last 3 weeks. What will happen to my classes in the 3 days I'm not around? Although it's just 3 days, but everything is already behind time as it is. Sigh.
I'll be setting off tomorrow night at around 11 pm. Flight is on Wed 1 am. Yay! Holiday! Well, sort of a holiday. Hahaha...at least we finally managed to book a hotel room in Beijing, so no need to sleep in the streets liao. I wonder if I'll be able to blog from China?
I feel unsettled. There's so many administrative things, among others, I had to finish up before leaving. The only fortunate thing is I've finally finished marking the 7 classes of SPA scripts today. Sure, there are some revisions to the marking, but I'm sure I can touch up in a day or two. The trip is a welcome break, but it surely comes at a horrible time. It's the busiest time of this term in the last 3 weeks. What will happen to my classes in the 3 days I'm not around? Although it's just 3 days, but everything is already behind time as it is. Sigh.
I'll be setting off tomorrow night at around 11 pm. Flight is on Wed 1 am. Yay! Holiday! Well, sort of a holiday. Hahaha...at least we finally managed to book a hotel room in Beijing, so no need to sleep in the streets liao. I wonder if I'll be able to blog from China?
I was momentarily bored, so I tried this personality test...haha...
ESFJ-The Provider
You scored 72% I to E, 52% N to S, 33% F to T, and 36% J to P!
Providers, a subgroup of the Guardians, take it upon themselves to arrange for the health and welfare of those in their care, as well as being quite sociable. Wherever they go, Providers take up the role of social contributor, happily giving their time and energy to make sure that the needs of others are met, that traditions are supported and developed, and that social functions are a success. Providers are extremely sensitive to the feelings of others, which makes them perhaps the most sympathetic of all the types, but which also leaves them rather self-conscious, that is, highly sensitive to what others think of them. Because of this Providers can be crushed by personal criticism, and will work most effectively when given ample appreciation both for themselves personally and for the service they give to others. This is not to say that Providers are afraid to express their own emotional reactions. They are quick to like and dislike, and don't mind saying so, tending to put on a pedestal whatever or whoever they admire, and to come down hard on those people and issues they don't care for. You share your type with 10% of the population.
As a romantic partner, you work hard to nuture and protect your relationships. You go to great lengths to maintain harmony and are motivated to resolve conflicts. You have a very clear idea of what is important to you and do best when your partner shares those same values. You want your partner to be loving, commited, and willing to support your frequently overwelming feelings and reactions. You feel most appreciated when your partner is kind, considerate, and helpful, and compliments you often on your hard work in their behalf.
Your group summary: Guardians (SJ)
Your Type Summary: ESFJ
How you compared to other people your age and gender:
Take the test!
ESFJ-The Provider
You scored 72% I to E, 52% N to S, 33% F to T, and 36% J to P!
Providers, a subgroup of the Guardians, take it upon themselves to arrange for the health and welfare of those in their care, as well as being quite sociable. Wherever they go, Providers take up the role of social contributor, happily giving their time and energy to make sure that the needs of others are met, that traditions are supported and developed, and that social functions are a success. Providers are extremely sensitive to the feelings of others, which makes them perhaps the most sympathetic of all the types, but which also leaves them rather self-conscious, that is, highly sensitive to what others think of them. Because of this Providers can be crushed by personal criticism, and will work most effectively when given ample appreciation both for themselves personally and for the service they give to others. This is not to say that Providers are afraid to express their own emotional reactions. They are quick to like and dislike, and don't mind saying so, tending to put on a pedestal whatever or whoever they admire, and to come down hard on those people and issues they don't care for. You share your type with 10% of the population.
As a romantic partner, you work hard to nuture and protect your relationships. You go to great lengths to maintain harmony and are motivated to resolve conflicts. You have a very clear idea of what is important to you and do best when your partner shares those same values. You want your partner to be loving, commited, and willing to support your frequently overwelming feelings and reactions. You feel most appreciated when your partner is kind, considerate, and helpful, and compliments you often on your hard work in their behalf.
Your group summary: Guardians (SJ)
Your Type Summary: ESFJ
How you compared to other people your age and gender:
You scored higher than 82% on I to E
You scored higher than 75% on N to S
You scored higher than 27% on F to T
You scored higher than 22% on J to P
Take the test!
Sunday, May 08, 2005
I'm broke. I'm overspending on too many things. Last month's financial management was screwed up, because I had money loaned out to my AVC exco (for t-shirts), and my mum, and I couldn't estimate how much I had left properly. Haha, now I run into a deficit for next month. Looks like I'd better stay home more up till mid-June. Worse still, May holds a few important birthdays, and a couple of weddings, so I think I will have to eat grass one of these days.
I'm quite proud of my boys. It's in the midst of exams, and 5 out of 6 of them still come for cell group and service. Hehe, guess they inherited faithfulness from their cell leader...Apparently the disciplining last week had some effect; they were well-behaved during service. Cell group with them was quite fun. At some point, I was using exercise to punish the distracted ones, and they actually enjoyed it. I guess boys will be boys at that age. Yes, a bit of Coach Carter tactics being employed here.
It's mothers' day today! I brought my mum out to Crystal Jade Kitchen, which is not the first time I'm bringing my mum there. Today we went to the one at Bugis Junction, which is an outlet we haven't gone to before I guess. I am still looking for somewhere which serves good chinese food as an alternative, but I haven't found somewhere good enough to replace Crystal Jade. Ding Tai Feng wasn't bad, but I didn't like it as much. Lao Beijing was good too, but still I prefer Crystal Jade. Nothing beats the porridge and roasted meats. There is this teahouse at China Square which serves really good food, but two people eating ala carte buffet is not that worth it, in the sense that the portions, no matter how small they serve it, will still be big for two, and so we can't sample a lot more dishes. Of course, a nice solution to that is to have more people eating (i.e. get a girlfriend, as my mum hints today), but that solution seems waaay too difficult right now to implement.
I finished marking SPA as planned! I just received my personality profile report (the big5 thingy) on last Wed. Some points are quite valid, for e.g. I can be very focused and disciplined when the occasion calls for it (although my profile naturally tends towards recreation over work). See? I can put aside recreation to finish marking disgusting practical exam scripts. Frankly, although the report is quite accurate (I agree with about 95% of the analysis), I feel that it's rather pointless. Although it's free and paid by the school (I hope!), I think it's still largely telling me things that I already know about myself. I mean, I'm someone who often does psychoanalysis on myself (and others)...while I may not be a trained psychologist, I think I can figure myself out rather well, with the exception of my emotions, which I'm still grappling with. I'm still wondering what I'm supposed to do with that thick almost-a-hundred-page thesis of a report...
I'm quite proud of my boys. It's in the midst of exams, and 5 out of 6 of them still come for cell group and service. Hehe, guess they inherited faithfulness from their cell leader...Apparently the disciplining last week had some effect; they were well-behaved during service. Cell group with them was quite fun. At some point, I was using exercise to punish the distracted ones, and they actually enjoyed it. I guess boys will be boys at that age. Yes, a bit of Coach Carter tactics being employed here.
It's mothers' day today! I brought my mum out to Crystal Jade Kitchen, which is not the first time I'm bringing my mum there. Today we went to the one at Bugis Junction, which is an outlet we haven't gone to before I guess. I am still looking for somewhere which serves good chinese food as an alternative, but I haven't found somewhere good enough to replace Crystal Jade. Ding Tai Feng wasn't bad, but I didn't like it as much. Lao Beijing was good too, but still I prefer Crystal Jade. Nothing beats the porridge and roasted meats. There is this teahouse at China Square which serves really good food, but two people eating ala carte buffet is not that worth it, in the sense that the portions, no matter how small they serve it, will still be big for two, and so we can't sample a lot more dishes. Of course, a nice solution to that is to have more people eating (i.e. get a girlfriend, as my mum hints today), but that solution seems waaay too difficult right now to implement.
I finished marking SPA as planned! I just received my personality profile report (the big5 thingy) on last Wed. Some points are quite valid, for e.g. I can be very focused and disciplined when the occasion calls for it (although my profile naturally tends towards recreation over work). See? I can put aside recreation to finish marking disgusting practical exam scripts. Frankly, although the report is quite accurate (I agree with about 95% of the analysis), I feel that it's rather pointless. Although it's free and paid by the school (I hope!), I think it's still largely telling me things that I already know about myself. I mean, I'm someone who often does psychoanalysis on myself (and others)...while I may not be a trained psychologist, I think I can figure myself out rather well, with the exception of my emotions, which I'm still grappling with. I'm still wondering what I'm supposed to do with that thick almost-a-hundred-page thesis of a report...
Friday, May 06, 2005
I finally finished my latest artwork. It's taken from the poster of the movie 'Closer'. It took me quite a long while to actually finish it, because the faces take up most of the paper. The irritating thing was that somehow during the lamination, two black specks came in out of nowhere, and are now permanently encased as Jude Law's extra moles. In order to fit in the latest addition to my mini-gallery, the cupboard went through some reshuffling...a couple of pics included below...
A few of us celebrated Lisa's (our colleague) birthday. It took me a enormous amount of time to persuade her, and even then, it wasn't me who succeeded in getting her to agree to come out for dinner. We had a cake for her in the staff lounge, and in the evening, we went to the Fish & Co near Park Mall for dinner. It was quite fun to celebrate a birthday there. The waitress came over, passed Lisa a sparkler (those fireworks thingie that produces a lot of sparks), got her to stand on a chair (Lisa mistook it for our idea, but it was strictly from Fish & Co), and wave the sparkler while we sang her a birthday song. It was quite a comical sight, frankly...I'll post some of the quirky pictures once I get hold of them.
It has finally begun. SPA Skill A scripts are ready to be marked. I am aiming to mark most over the weekend, and whatever remaining scripts on Mon, just so that I can leave for China in peace. There's still test scripts coming in to be marked next Tue. I have managed to keep bringing-work-home at bay for quite a while, but due to the pressing circumstances, I have to bury myself in marking at home instead.
Holidays are coming soon. I will press on for the light at the end of the tunnel!
A few of us celebrated Lisa's (our colleague) birthday. It took me a enormous amount of time to persuade her, and even then, it wasn't me who succeeded in getting her to agree to come out for dinner. We had a cake for her in the staff lounge, and in the evening, we went to the Fish & Co near Park Mall for dinner. It was quite fun to celebrate a birthday there. The waitress came over, passed Lisa a sparkler (those fireworks thingie that produces a lot of sparks), got her to stand on a chair (Lisa mistook it for our idea, but it was strictly from Fish & Co), and wave the sparkler while we sang her a birthday song. It was quite a comical sight, frankly...I'll post some of the quirky pictures once I get hold of them.
It has finally begun. SPA Skill A scripts are ready to be marked. I am aiming to mark most over the weekend, and whatever remaining scripts on Mon, just so that I can leave for China in peace. There's still test scripts coming in to be marked next Tue. I have managed to keep bringing-work-home at bay for quite a while, but due to the pressing circumstances, I have to bury myself in marking at home instead.
Holidays are coming soon. I will press on for the light at the end of the tunnel!
Thursday, May 05, 2005
I survived today! On 1.5 hours of sleep, I actually managed to teach reasonably well. I say reasonably because my brain freezes a little from time to time, unable to churn out certain words I want to say. Such is the effect of severe lack of sleep...
I foresee being buried under SPA scripts in coming weeks. We can only discuss and start marking tomorrow, and the deadline is about 2 weeks later. And I'll be in China soon, sapping up about 5 days of that 2 weeks. 7 or 8 classes, in 9 days optimistically. Yikes.
I foresee being buried under SPA scripts in coming weeks. We can only discuss and start marking tomorrow, and the deadline is about 2 weeks later. And I'll be in China soon, sapping up about 5 days of that 2 weeks. 7 or 8 classes, in 9 days optimistically. Yikes.
Today is a day of last minute surprises.
I received many last minute requests for my AVC to attend to, some of which are given to me today, for today. I hope other teachers realize that my students are first and foremost students, then AVC members. I think a reminder email is in order. My network 144 meeting was cancelled last minute, and so my evening was free. Meiqi happened to be online (she was the one who informed me of the cancellation), and suggested catching Kingdom of Heaven today. Although last minute, we tried booking tickets at GV Plaza online. The traffic was so heavy that no transaction could pass, and at one point I think the whole server for GV Plaza crashed - it completely disappeared off the cinema listings on GV website! Me, being the patient man I was, kept refreshing the screen from time to time, and after about half an hour, I got in, and secured good tickets. Bwahaha.
Kingdom of Heaven is a good show. Gory though, with lots of blood splashing around like water, but understandably so, since there are many battles involved. I had always been curious about certain aspects of history, and the crusades was one of them. I remember doing some research about it long time back, but I think I forgot most of the facts. So I went to do some research online, and found some interesting things. As far as I can tell, Kingdom of Heaven retells a certain moment of the crusades rather accurately, save for the romantic parts. Other than that, it preserved most of what is true in history. The more I read up though, the more I saw how that period of time has left an indelible stain on church history. I'd always thought the atrocities of the crusades involve the massacre of the muslims...I found out that the Christians (or Catholics?) massacred hundreds and thousands of Jews who refused to be baptized. Anyway, back to the show, Orlando Bloom has beefed up significantly for this movie. I guess he is pretty much deadset in this kind of movies. Doesn't matter to me; I've always been interested in movies set in medieval times or fantasy setting, especially war films, and even more so, siege scenes. I guess this movie catered those pretty well.
After that I was supposed to meet up with FiOne, my cell member from a cell long time ago, and her friend (now my acquaintance) Owen, to go to Zouk. Originally, it was supposed to be the three of us. I asked Steph, who agreed to come, and she pulled Weiling along. I asked Meiqi after the movie to join me, and she came. Then when we reached Zouk, two of Steph's friends came by as well. So it turned out to be a pretty big group in the end. Frankly I think I've outgrown Zouk. Or at least, Mambo night. It is certainly nostalgic, reminiscent of my NUS days when I clubbed more heavily, but I didn't enjoy myself as much as I thought I would. I was somewhat afraid of temptation, but when I was there, I found that I wasn't ogling at the scantily clad women. I'm not pretending to be spiritual, but it felt meaningless. At that point in time on the dance floor, suddenly Ecclesiastes' "Everything is meaningless!" flashed through my mind a gazillion times. I'm not saying I won't ever go clubbing again, but it no longer has any pull on me as it had when I was in NUS.
The whole night would have been quite enjoyable still had we not bumped into FiOne's hall friends. However, the term 'friends' would give them a human quality; a pack of hungry wolves would be more appropriate (I shall explain why later). Pardon the language, but I've not seen horny bastards like these for a long, long time. A brief description of the main cast of tonight:
Wolf1: a short bespectacled fellow wearing a striped shirt
Wolf2: a rather good-looking fellow wearing a white polo tee
Wolf3: a very tall and big sized quiet bespectacled fellow, wearing a white shirt
WolfAccomplice: a tall fellow wearing a khaki top, with pock-marked face
Our group hit the dance floor, and happened to bump into wolf pack. Wolf 1 immediately broke into the circle, and started chatting up Weiling nonstop. Wolf3 crept up close behind Weiling and danced vigorously, knocking into her many times. I think it was an elder-brotherly instinct that arose in me, and I was irked. I gradually interposed myself between the two wolves, and Weiling and Steph. The rest of the wolf pack meanwhile have penetrated our circle, and I could not see FiOne and the rest anymore. We had no choice, and no space, so we went one big round around the main Zouk hall, and eventually hid out at Velvet for a while, waiting for the rest to rejoin us.
After some rest, we went back to the hall again. Unfortunately, FiOne ended up once again in the vicinity of the wolf pack. Now, it was apparent to me that Wolf2 was very interested in FiOne, trying to hit on her. His hands were going around too, but at least he had the propriety (if that is still relevant) to only try to put his arm around her shoulder or touch her hands. Wolf1, who by this time pissed me off, came by to do the same nearly, but at one point, his hand was going for her midriff. Instinctively my arm came up against his chest, and shoved him off. I was that close to punching his face. (At that point in time, I realized that this would be a recurring problem as long as I go clubbing with gal friends.) Throughout the whole time up to the point we left, Wolf3 again stuck right behind her, and being the tall guy he was, was looking down at her, and one need not guess the exact position of the anatomy he was looking down upon. Wolf2 was trying very, very hard. I was trying even harder to block him off. Poor Owen was having so much fun he didn't realize that the wolf pack welcoming him like a long lost friend was only to pull him further away from FiOne. WolfAccomplice came by, and whispered in my ear sarcastically, "You doing a very good job." Since their intent was obvious, so was my intent to protect. At one point in time, they finally functioned like a wolf pack.
A few of them, led by WolfAccomplice, put their arms on each other's shoulders, and just happened to slip, knocking into me. Too bad for them I was ready, and kept my balance. Wolf2 still tried to penetrate but was blocked. He was trying to glare at me, but throughout the whole night I chose not to make any eye contact with any of these vermin. Seeing the difficulty, at some point he diverted his attention to some other girls (oh how I loathe good-looking guys who know they are good-looking). In the end, I heard him mutter something about 'last resort' and WolfAccomplice came by, jostled me aside to some extent, and Wolf2 went right by me to FiOne's side. Wolf3 inched in, and tried chatting her up too. One me cannot block a whole pack. Owen was a few steps away, dancing wildly, lost in the music. I was disgusted with them. I was guessing that Wolf2 was asking FiOne if I'm interested in her or whether I'm her boyfriend or somewhere along that line, because I heard FiOne protest about something I couldn't hear. Indeed, I wonder why I'm so protective over my female friends, especially in such places. Suddenly I feel somewhat blessed that I'm the only child and don't have any sisters. I think I would freak out if they go clubbing.
Horny bastards. Yes, I am pissed, because they ruined my clubbing experience, which was already near the end of its shelf life. Oh great. 3 more hours to start of school, and I'm still here blogging my frustrations.
I received many last minute requests for my AVC to attend to, some of which are given to me today, for today. I hope other teachers realize that my students are first and foremost students, then AVC members. I think a reminder email is in order. My network 144 meeting was cancelled last minute, and so my evening was free. Meiqi happened to be online (she was the one who informed me of the cancellation), and suggested catching Kingdom of Heaven today. Although last minute, we tried booking tickets at GV Plaza online. The traffic was so heavy that no transaction could pass, and at one point I think the whole server for GV Plaza crashed - it completely disappeared off the cinema listings on GV website! Me, being the patient man I was, kept refreshing the screen from time to time, and after about half an hour, I got in, and secured good tickets. Bwahaha.
Kingdom of Heaven is a good show. Gory though, with lots of blood splashing around like water, but understandably so, since there are many battles involved. I had always been curious about certain aspects of history, and the crusades was one of them. I remember doing some research about it long time back, but I think I forgot most of the facts. So I went to do some research online, and found some interesting things. As far as I can tell, Kingdom of Heaven retells a certain moment of the crusades rather accurately, save for the romantic parts. Other than that, it preserved most of what is true in history. The more I read up though, the more I saw how that period of time has left an indelible stain on church history. I'd always thought the atrocities of the crusades involve the massacre of the muslims...I found out that the Christians (or Catholics?) massacred hundreds and thousands of Jews who refused to be baptized. Anyway, back to the show, Orlando Bloom has beefed up significantly for this movie. I guess he is pretty much deadset in this kind of movies. Doesn't matter to me; I've always been interested in movies set in medieval times or fantasy setting, especially war films, and even more so, siege scenes. I guess this movie catered those pretty well.
After that I was supposed to meet up with FiOne, my cell member from a cell long time ago, and her friend (now my acquaintance) Owen, to go to Zouk. Originally, it was supposed to be the three of us. I asked Steph, who agreed to come, and she pulled Weiling along. I asked Meiqi after the movie to join me, and she came. Then when we reached Zouk, two of Steph's friends came by as well. So it turned out to be a pretty big group in the end. Frankly I think I've outgrown Zouk. Or at least, Mambo night. It is certainly nostalgic, reminiscent of my NUS days when I clubbed more heavily, but I didn't enjoy myself as much as I thought I would. I was somewhat afraid of temptation, but when I was there, I found that I wasn't ogling at the scantily clad women. I'm not pretending to be spiritual, but it felt meaningless. At that point in time on the dance floor, suddenly Ecclesiastes' "Everything is meaningless!" flashed through my mind a gazillion times. I'm not saying I won't ever go clubbing again, but it no longer has any pull on me as it had when I was in NUS.
The whole night would have been quite enjoyable still had we not bumped into FiOne's hall friends. However, the term 'friends' would give them a human quality; a pack of hungry wolves would be more appropriate (I shall explain why later). Pardon the language, but I've not seen horny bastards like these for a long, long time. A brief description of the main cast of tonight:
Wolf1: a short bespectacled fellow wearing a striped shirt
Wolf2: a rather good-looking fellow wearing a white polo tee
Wolf3: a very tall and big sized quiet bespectacled fellow, wearing a white shirt
WolfAccomplice: a tall fellow wearing a khaki top, with pock-marked face
Our group hit the dance floor, and happened to bump into wolf pack. Wolf 1 immediately broke into the circle, and started chatting up Weiling nonstop. Wolf3 crept up close behind Weiling and danced vigorously, knocking into her many times. I think it was an elder-brotherly instinct that arose in me, and I was irked. I gradually interposed myself between the two wolves, and Weiling and Steph. The rest of the wolf pack meanwhile have penetrated our circle, and I could not see FiOne and the rest anymore. We had no choice, and no space, so we went one big round around the main Zouk hall, and eventually hid out at Velvet for a while, waiting for the rest to rejoin us.
After some rest, we went back to the hall again. Unfortunately, FiOne ended up once again in the vicinity of the wolf pack. Now, it was apparent to me that Wolf2 was very interested in FiOne, trying to hit on her. His hands were going around too, but at least he had the propriety (if that is still relevant) to only try to put his arm around her shoulder or touch her hands. Wolf1, who by this time pissed me off, came by to do the same nearly, but at one point, his hand was going for her midriff. Instinctively my arm came up against his chest, and shoved him off. I was that close to punching his face. (At that point in time, I realized that this would be a recurring problem as long as I go clubbing with gal friends.) Throughout the whole time up to the point we left, Wolf3 again stuck right behind her, and being the tall guy he was, was looking down at her, and one need not guess the exact position of the anatomy he was looking down upon. Wolf2 was trying very, very hard. I was trying even harder to block him off. Poor Owen was having so much fun he didn't realize that the wolf pack welcoming him like a long lost friend was only to pull him further away from FiOne. WolfAccomplice came by, and whispered in my ear sarcastically, "You doing a very good job." Since their intent was obvious, so was my intent to protect. At one point in time, they finally functioned like a wolf pack.
A few of them, led by WolfAccomplice, put their arms on each other's shoulders, and just happened to slip, knocking into me. Too bad for them I was ready, and kept my balance. Wolf2 still tried to penetrate but was blocked. He was trying to glare at me, but throughout the whole night I chose not to make any eye contact with any of these vermin. Seeing the difficulty, at some point he diverted his attention to some other girls (oh how I loathe good-looking guys who know they are good-looking). In the end, I heard him mutter something about 'last resort' and WolfAccomplice came by, jostled me aside to some extent, and Wolf2 went right by me to FiOne's side. Wolf3 inched in, and tried chatting her up too. One me cannot block a whole pack. Owen was a few steps away, dancing wildly, lost in the music. I was disgusted with them. I was guessing that Wolf2 was asking FiOne if I'm interested in her or whether I'm her boyfriend or somewhere along that line, because I heard FiOne protest about something I couldn't hear. Indeed, I wonder why I'm so protective over my female friends, especially in such places. Suddenly I feel somewhat blessed that I'm the only child and don't have any sisters. I think I would freak out if they go clubbing.
Horny bastards. Yes, I am pissed, because they ruined my clubbing experience, which was already near the end of its shelf life. Oh great. 3 more hours to start of school, and I'm still here blogging my frustrations.
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
I was working out a schedule for the rest of this term, and found that despite being quite fast with my tutorials, it looked like I can't finish the syllabus in time for 2 of my classes! My students in the lab could visibly see me getting stressed. Actually things wouldn't be so bad, but because of the stoopid SPA system, we have to submit all the results by Jun, so all the practicals must be rushed out by the end of this term. Frustrating. I'll be buried in SPA marking in the next 2 to 3 weeks. Worse still, I'll be away in China next week for 5 days. This will really put my efficiency to the test. Let's see if I can churn out a mini-miracle in marking this week.
I'm going Zouk tomorrow with some friends! Probably hitting Velvet to see what it's like, although many told me it's boring. It's been a while since I clubbed, but it wouldn't be the first time I go clubbing on a schoolday. Let's see if I can still be wide awake for Thu's lessons. Bwahaha. Think I'll be rushing down from Ps Yeang Cherng's 144 meeting though, which means most likely I'll be heading home very late. Guess I'll be aiming to sleep at 4, and wake up at 6...
The dumb thing is, I just struck my little toe against the leg of my chair. I think the whole toenail cracked midway. I feel a throbbing pain...it'd better heal by tomorrow. I want to club in peace. Hmmm...forgot to take a picture of my unwrapped plush doggie now taking up space on my armchair...
I'm going Zouk tomorrow with some friends! Probably hitting Velvet to see what it's like, although many told me it's boring. It's been a while since I clubbed, but it wouldn't be the first time I go clubbing on a schoolday. Let's see if I can still be wide awake for Thu's lessons. Bwahaha. Think I'll be rushing down from Ps Yeang Cherng's 144 meeting though, which means most likely I'll be heading home very late. Guess I'll be aiming to sleep at 4, and wake up at 6...
The dumb thing is, I just struck my little toe against the leg of my chair. I think the whole toenail cracked midway. I feel a throbbing pain...it'd better heal by tomorrow. I want to club in peace. Hmmm...forgot to take a picture of my unwrapped plush doggie now taking up space on my armchair...
Monday, May 02, 2005
I went down to Choa Chu Kang to meet my cousins Huijun and Kaixin. I had lunch with Huijun at Suki Sushi. This is not the first time I ate there, but this time round, I had the buffet. Sakae Sushi happens to be the place I visit more often, so it will bear the brunt of comparison. I think the sushi and sashimi are of comparable standards, but one thing great about Suki Sushi's buffet...it includes the yellow plates, which is for premium items, much like Sakae's red plates. I lost track of how much sashimi I ate, but suffice it to say I deemed that I have made the price I paid quite worthwhile in retrospect.
I bought myself a soft toy! It's a plush grey dog. Now, when I'm in the staff room, I like to go visit my colleagues to chit chat, and I always abduct their soft toys to hug (sign of lack of affection?) or play with (sign of incomplete childhood?). Self-psychoanalysis sounds funny doesn't it? Anyway, I decided it's about time I find myself a plush toy for my office. It should be huggable, and not too cute until it looks like it ought to belong to a woman. So, a grey dog it was. A dog's a man's best friend ain't it? Bwahaha...
I bought 2 sets of bedsheets too! Haha...surprising hor. I just happened to chance upon a sale with my cousins, and they were checking it out, so I joined in. I think it's about time I bought some things for the house which normally fall within my mum's jurisdiction. Small progress in ownership perhaps. Also that my mum buys some bedsheets which are of materials that trap heat and make the bed very hot for me. Maybe I'll buy some sofa covers next...bwahaha...
I bought myself a soft toy! It's a plush grey dog. Now, when I'm in the staff room, I like to go visit my colleagues to chit chat, and I always abduct their soft toys to hug (sign of lack of affection?) or play with (sign of incomplete childhood?). Self-psychoanalysis sounds funny doesn't it? Anyway, I decided it's about time I find myself a plush toy for my office. It should be huggable, and not too cute until it looks like it ought to belong to a woman. So, a grey dog it was. A dog's a man's best friend ain't it? Bwahaha...
I bought 2 sets of bedsheets too! Haha...surprising hor. I just happened to chance upon a sale with my cousins, and they were checking it out, so I joined in. I think it's about time I bought some things for the house which normally fall within my mum's jurisdiction. Small progress in ownership perhaps. Also that my mum buys some bedsheets which are of materials that trap heat and make the bed very hot for me. Maybe I'll buy some sofa covers next...bwahaha...
Sunday, May 01, 2005
I didn't end up jogging. Woke up to a blazing sun yet again, and I still can't bring myself to go sweat it out in that kind of heat. At least now I understand why people would opt for a treadmill rather than going out running as they should; a treadmill can be placed in an air-conditioned room. But I did go for the soccer game. I didn't want the sun, so I told God to give me some clouds. I didn't expect Him to make the whole sky overcast though. I was telling my church friend that it will not rain, because I will demand (like a spoilt brat) that the clouds pass us by.
It did drizzle a few drops, but otherwise, the sky was dark and the air was cool. No blazing sun, nor rain for the 2+ hours we played. How cool is that? Once our game ended, and I was making my way out of Anglican Hostel, it started to rain. Bwahaha. God is nice.
Anyway, I really suck at soccer. Now I have the stamina to run up and down fast, but I'm bad at dribbling...heck, I'm bad at controlling the ball in any way. I guess I will play from time to time for the sake of the exercise, but I doubt I will try to get good at it. No ball sense maybe. I'll stick to pool for higher aspirations.
It did drizzle a few drops, but otherwise, the sky was dark and the air was cool. No blazing sun, nor rain for the 2+ hours we played. How cool is that? Once our game ended, and I was making my way out of Anglican Hostel, it started to rain. Bwahaha. God is nice.
Anyway, I really suck at soccer. Now I have the stamina to run up and down fast, but I'm bad at dribbling...heck, I'm bad at controlling the ball in any way. I guess I will play from time to time for the sake of the exercise, but I doubt I will try to get good at it. No ball sense maybe. I'll stick to pool for higher aspirations.
My right calf just cramped on me in the middle of my phone conversation with Shups. Now I'm limping around the house for no good reason. I hope there's no remnant pain by tomorrow...I will go for a jog, and in the afternoon play soccer with some of my G12 brothers and the SM3 students at Anglican Hostel.
I disciplined my boys at service today. They were making so much noise, playing with their handphones, and talking away non-stop until a couple of guys sitting in the row in front of us turned around to shush them. And that didn't stop them either. I was so upset with them that I stood up in the middle of the sermon (fortunately we happened to sit in the last possible row, and upstairs) and whispered loudly to them to quit talking and focus on the sermon. It felt like the teacher-part of me reacted mainly actually, and I stood there for a good minute or two until they were dead silent before I sat down. After the service ended, I gathered them and lectured them extensively on my expectations of them, and how they should try to learn something from the service rather than be distracted and play all the time. But every time I disciplined them I would have this irrational thought of 'would they still come next week?' because I think the current generation is not at all resilient, and cannot accept being faulted.
After service, my G12 group and a couple of my boys took cabs down to Anchorpoint for dinner. Chris was asking me what happened during service, and I asked one boy to tell Chris. He said, "Actually I also dunno why you scold us." My jaw dropped. My heart sank. Kau, I scolded them for nothing ah? And the worse thing is that if they didn't even realize what they did wrong (which I explicitly spelt out some more!), then they would most probably be resentful or definitely won't be working on improving. There are dark moments I really feel like throwing in the towel. I still wonder from time to time if I have the capacity to raise these kids spiritually. Some moments I can identify with Coach Carter in the movie: looking at a ragtag bunch of boys without discipline, and aspiring to turn them into champions. There's still such a long way to go...
I disciplined my boys at service today. They were making so much noise, playing with their handphones, and talking away non-stop until a couple of guys sitting in the row in front of us turned around to shush them. And that didn't stop them either. I was so upset with them that I stood up in the middle of the sermon (fortunately we happened to sit in the last possible row, and upstairs) and whispered loudly to them to quit talking and focus on the sermon. It felt like the teacher-part of me reacted mainly actually, and I stood there for a good minute or two until they were dead silent before I sat down. After the service ended, I gathered them and lectured them extensively on my expectations of them, and how they should try to learn something from the service rather than be distracted and play all the time. But every time I disciplined them I would have this irrational thought of 'would they still come next week?' because I think the current generation is not at all resilient, and cannot accept being faulted.
After service, my G12 group and a couple of my boys took cabs down to Anchorpoint for dinner. Chris was asking me what happened during service, and I asked one boy to tell Chris. He said, "Actually I also dunno why you scold us." My jaw dropped. My heart sank. Kau, I scolded them for nothing ah? And the worse thing is that if they didn't even realize what they did wrong (which I explicitly spelt out some more!), then they would most probably be resentful or definitely won't be working on improving. There are dark moments I really feel like throwing in the towel. I still wonder from time to time if I have the capacity to raise these kids spiritually. Some moments I can identify with Coach Carter in the movie: looking at a ragtag bunch of boys without discipline, and aspiring to turn them into champions. There's still such a long way to go...