Sunday, April 29, 2007
Sat 28 Apr
Today was Temasek Academy Open House! I went there early in the morning because I had to 'fix' the Powerpoint slides the principal would be using. I managed to change all the slides's layout, edited the pictures used, animated all the slides and points, all in 45 minutes. I even managed to squeeze in some marking before the official start of the open house. My corp comms head and I were pitching something to the leadership, and hopefully they will be convinced enough to pump in money to change some facilities and decor. I have a funny feeling that I accidentally got involved in yet another big thing. Hmmm...
I went home, and accompanied my mum to my second aunt's place. My youngest and eldest uncles also went there, and there was a little family gathering. I was dead bored for a while as I was the only young (relatively) one there, so I amused myself with some handphone games, and watched TV, till my cousin and his family came by. I think his baby girl will grow to be a giant. My cousin himself is tall and big-sized, and his wife is 1.70+ m tall.
The HDB's letter of appointment finally came. Thankfully, as the (inefficient) guy handling my case pointed out, after I sent in the Housing Loan Eligibility form, it is left to the finance department to approve it. Considering the speed at which the loan is cleared, I am now convinced that it is just that one person who is inefficient. I don't see how he is appointed Customer Service Manager, but that's beside the point. I'm getting the keys on 7 May! Woohoo! I'll get to see my bank account totally wiped out from the renovation. How wonderful.
Sun 29 Apr
I went to church and had cell group as usual. My fiancee went back home to clear some work, and I was on the way out of Expo when I chanced to see that there was a lifestyle exhibition at Hall 6. Perfect timing. There were booths by bedding, furniture, and other companies, but more importantly, there were interior design firms situated there too. After scouring the place, I found one that seemed reputable enough, and had a preliminary discussion with one of the designers. I think I won't hunt for too many more if this one's good enough. I'll go check out the wonderful resource called the World Wide Web for information about the company. I'm practising what I teach in the integrated programme about resourcefulness and independent learning by searching the internet. Heh.
Today was Temasek Academy Open House! I went there early in the morning because I had to 'fix' the Powerpoint slides the principal would be using. I managed to change all the slides's layout, edited the pictures used, animated all the slides and points, all in 45 minutes. I even managed to squeeze in some marking before the official start of the open house. My corp comms head and I were pitching something to the leadership, and hopefully they will be convinced enough to pump in money to change some facilities and decor. I have a funny feeling that I accidentally got involved in yet another big thing. Hmmm...
I went home, and accompanied my mum to my second aunt's place. My youngest and eldest uncles also went there, and there was a little family gathering. I was dead bored for a while as I was the only young (relatively) one there, so I amused myself with some handphone games, and watched TV, till my cousin and his family came by. I think his baby girl will grow to be a giant. My cousin himself is tall and big-sized, and his wife is 1.70+ m tall.
The HDB's letter of appointment finally came. Thankfully, as the (inefficient) guy handling my case pointed out, after I sent in the Housing Loan Eligibility form, it is left to the finance department to approve it. Considering the speed at which the loan is cleared, I am now convinced that it is just that one person who is inefficient. I don't see how he is appointed Customer Service Manager, but that's beside the point. I'm getting the keys on 7 May! Woohoo! I'll get to see my bank account totally wiped out from the renovation. How wonderful.
Sun 29 Apr
I went to church and had cell group as usual. My fiancee went back home to clear some work, and I was on the way out of Expo when I chanced to see that there was a lifestyle exhibition at Hall 6. Perfect timing. There were booths by bedding, furniture, and other companies, but more importantly, there were interior design firms situated there too. After scouring the place, I found one that seemed reputable enough, and had a preliminary discussion with one of the designers. I think I won't hunt for too many more if this one's good enough. I'll go check out the wonderful resource called the World Wide Web for information about the company. I'm practising what I teach in the integrated programme about resourcefulness and independent learning by searching the internet. Heh.
Friday, April 27, 2007
I think the spoof pic on my blog right now exactly describes how I feel today. I had to relieve a colleague's practical class for first two periods because he was away serving the country. That practical dragged on for a while past the two periods because of some incidents that happened during the lesson. By right, I was supposed to have chemistry lecture, but I thought I would skip it for the fact that I had things on all the way till 3 pm with no break inbetween and I need to get an early lunch. My corporate communications head dropped by and shot me a last minute arrow. Apparently she saw the slides for tomorrow's Temasek Academy Open House, and thought they needed drastic improvement. So I rushed out something for her and left myself with 12 minutes to go to the canteen and buy lunch, and eat it. After the meal, I went to meet a vendor with the rest of the IT Committee to check out some new technology, and that took all the way till my remedial session, which was followed by a double period of lesson, and I had to meet a colleague right after that to discuss some logistics issue, and on returning, spent some time troubleshooting my subject head's laptop problem. So from 7.45 am to 3.05 pm, I had 12 min of break. Great day isn't it?
Did I mention that I'm overworked?
Strange as it sounds, I'm not actually complaining, because I do enjoy being kept busy and all, as long as it is fruitful and useful activity.
After school, I went to Pizza Hut at Bedok to eat with my fiancee. On the way back, we decided to pop by Intra Design, an interior design firm, since it was along the way. The guy there who attended to us was very warm and friendly, confident and knowledgable. More importantly, he had an eye for detail (which I missed), and makes suggestions based on what we need. In contrast now, I think the previous designer came up with something more to suit his fancy and style than what we had in mind. Suddenly there is a twist of circumstance, especially now that I searched the internet (thank God for technology!) and discovered that Intra Design has been around for a long time, with excellent reputation, and the previous firm is quite new. All of a sudden, the former seems to be way more credible. Now I will wait for the quotation to come before I can do a proper comparison. Let's see if I can settle this renovation thing swiftly as well. In any case, the major bottleneck is the HDB right now. I think the officer for my application really cannot make it in terms of efficiency. I realize now that, like my fiancee, I have a low threshold of tolerance for inefficient people. Perhaps that is why I strive for excellence and efficiency, else I wouldn't be able to stand myself. Heh.
Did I mention that I'm overworked?
Strange as it sounds, I'm not actually complaining, because I do enjoy being kept busy and all, as long as it is fruitful and useful activity.
After school, I went to Pizza Hut at Bedok to eat with my fiancee. On the way back, we decided to pop by Intra Design, an interior design firm, since it was along the way. The guy there who attended to us was very warm and friendly, confident and knowledgable. More importantly, he had an eye for detail (which I missed), and makes suggestions based on what we need. In contrast now, I think the previous designer came up with something more to suit his fancy and style than what we had in mind. Suddenly there is a twist of circumstance, especially now that I searched the internet (thank God for technology!) and discovered that Intra Design has been around for a long time, with excellent reputation, and the previous firm is quite new. All of a sudden, the former seems to be way more credible. Now I will wait for the quotation to come before I can do a proper comparison. Let's see if I can settle this renovation thing swiftly as well. In any case, the major bottleneck is the HDB right now. I think the officer for my application really cannot make it in terms of efficiency. I realize now that, like my fiancee, I have a low threshold of tolerance for inefficient people. Perhaps that is why I strive for excellence and efficiency, else I wouldn't be able to stand myself. Heh.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Tue 24 Apr
Today was a short day in school relatively. I headed down to Di Gio Bridal with my fiancee, and a colleague SX who was extremely enthusiastic about the gown-choosing process. She actually brought a camera along, which we overlooked. The best thing was that she happened to drive that day. I must say, the whole thing took about three and a half hours, and I think my fiancee is ultra efficient already. We had to select the actual day gown, evening gown, and three more sets for the photoshoot in June. I have friends and colleagues who took several days to select one or two pieces. My fiancee picked all that she needed in that three and a half hours. Of course, it helped that the lady attending to us narrowed down the selection for us. It also helped that I picked a couple of the pieces for my fiancee, who, interestingly enough, had very similar taste. She had a few pieces to choose from, but eventually the wedding gown she chose was the one I chose, and the evening gown was the one I picked out for her to try. I think the fact that I can analyze colours against complexion, design and cutting makes me transcend the average guy already. We headed down to Citilink and had dinner at Sakae Sushi, and ended the long and tiring day.
Wed 25 Apr
The day turned out to be packed with work again, and it was quite a mad rush from first period all the way till lunch time. I then headed down to Civil Service College off Buona Vista with my colleague for a talk on Intellectual Property. We were trying to hunt down this stall which my colleague said had nice fish soup, and I mixed it up with another coffee shop from her description. But we happened to bump into an ex-colleague who had moved over to MOE HQ last year, and I also bumped into a church friend there. At the talk, I also bumped into a NIE friend. The talk turned out to be a crash course of legal stuff concerning infringement of copyrights, and I can see why so many teachers turned up for the course. Not for the free food at tea break apparently; because of the nature of our work, many things we do seem to border on infringement, and needs clarification. I think I learnt quite a fair bit of things, especially the one clause that states that copying something for the purpose of examination and assessment is perfectly fine. I went to the talk only to ask one question at the Q & A session, which was regarding how to go about protecting my card game. Heh.
I headed down to Katong to meet my fiancee. We were going to meet the interior designer we spoke to last week, and get a quotation to mull over. After considering all that we want, and some things that the designer suggested, the cost of renovation alone, not counting appliances and all, racked up to $45000. It doesn't help that my maisonette is, well, big compared to a usual HDB unit. Now I regret not having taken the teaching scholarship coming out of JC. I think I'm a fairly thrifty person. At least I do not spend unnecessarily, and save a good deal of my monthly pay, and most of my bonuses. Even then, my savings don't come close to that whopping figure, which implies a renovation loan from the bank if we go for this designer. It's a tough call because of the cost, but from what I've asked around and found out, actually, the prices he quoted are not higher than usual. The more important thing is that his designs are contemporary, which is what I'm looking for, clean-cut and elegant. I was telling my fiancee that if anything, I may just work with this guy for the sake that he won an award before, but not for the sake that he is an award winner, and more for the fact that because he takes pride in his work and is concerned about reputation, he should end up ensuring a good job is done.
Ouch. I'm just about to clear the last vestige of my study loan, and am about to enter into a brand new debt. How wonderful. It's times like this I wish I never need to grow up. The financial responsibilities are scarily huge. Especially since I'm not born with a silver spoon in my mouth.
Thu 26 Apr
Today is a long day as usual for Thu. It doesn't help that I have to rush some marking inbetween lessons, and that at the end of the day, I still have to stay another two periods for a make-up practical. I did manage to finish quite a bit of work though. Two of my colleagues who I share cab with in the morning coming to school were commenting about the fact that the sudden downpour in the morning forced us to have to turn into the school, which added about $1.50 to the cost of the cab fare, and I told them quite honestly that after yesterday, seeing the figure of $45000 looming in my head, cab costs look so paltry in comparison that it no longer bothers me whether on the days I'm supposed to pay for the cab fare, I end up paying more than the usual.
I headed over to my fiancee's place to help her proof-read her assignment for the masters' course, and that ended yet another busy day. I'm really looking forward to the one-month holidays right now, which is unprecendented. I must watch Spiderman 3 soon. I haven't watched a good movie - no, I actually haven't watched any movie - for a long time already. Anyway, I'm tired of the Protege spoof picture, so here's a sort-of preview/early release of Spiderman 3 spoof. Venom looks awesome by the way.
Today was a short day in school relatively. I headed down to Di Gio Bridal with my fiancee, and a colleague SX who was extremely enthusiastic about the gown-choosing process. She actually brought a camera along, which we overlooked. The best thing was that she happened to drive that day. I must say, the whole thing took about three and a half hours, and I think my fiancee is ultra efficient already. We had to select the actual day gown, evening gown, and three more sets for the photoshoot in June. I have friends and colleagues who took several days to select one or two pieces. My fiancee picked all that she needed in that three and a half hours. Of course, it helped that the lady attending to us narrowed down the selection for us. It also helped that I picked a couple of the pieces for my fiancee, who, interestingly enough, had very similar taste. She had a few pieces to choose from, but eventually the wedding gown she chose was the one I chose, and the evening gown was the one I picked out for her to try. I think the fact that I can analyze colours against complexion, design and cutting makes me transcend the average guy already. We headed down to Citilink and had dinner at Sakae Sushi, and ended the long and tiring day.
Wed 25 Apr
The day turned out to be packed with work again, and it was quite a mad rush from first period all the way till lunch time. I then headed down to Civil Service College off Buona Vista with my colleague for a talk on Intellectual Property. We were trying to hunt down this stall which my colleague said had nice fish soup, and I mixed it up with another coffee shop from her description. But we happened to bump into an ex-colleague who had moved over to MOE HQ last year, and I also bumped into a church friend there. At the talk, I also bumped into a NIE friend. The talk turned out to be a crash course of legal stuff concerning infringement of copyrights, and I can see why so many teachers turned up for the course. Not for the free food at tea break apparently; because of the nature of our work, many things we do seem to border on infringement, and needs clarification. I think I learnt quite a fair bit of things, especially the one clause that states that copying something for the purpose of examination and assessment is perfectly fine. I went to the talk only to ask one question at the Q & A session, which was regarding how to go about protecting my card game. Heh.
I headed down to Katong to meet my fiancee. We were going to meet the interior designer we spoke to last week, and get a quotation to mull over. After considering all that we want, and some things that the designer suggested, the cost of renovation alone, not counting appliances and all, racked up to $45000. It doesn't help that my maisonette is, well, big compared to a usual HDB unit. Now I regret not having taken the teaching scholarship coming out of JC. I think I'm a fairly thrifty person. At least I do not spend unnecessarily, and save a good deal of my monthly pay, and most of my bonuses. Even then, my savings don't come close to that whopping figure, which implies a renovation loan from the bank if we go for this designer. It's a tough call because of the cost, but from what I've asked around and found out, actually, the prices he quoted are not higher than usual. The more important thing is that his designs are contemporary, which is what I'm looking for, clean-cut and elegant. I was telling my fiancee that if anything, I may just work with this guy for the sake that he won an award before, but not for the sake that he is an award winner, and more for the fact that because he takes pride in his work and is concerned about reputation, he should end up ensuring a good job is done.
Ouch. I'm just about to clear the last vestige of my study loan, and am about to enter into a brand new debt. How wonderful. It's times like this I wish I never need to grow up. The financial responsibilities are scarily huge. Especially since I'm not born with a silver spoon in my mouth.
Thu 26 Apr
Today is a long day as usual for Thu. It doesn't help that I have to rush some marking inbetween lessons, and that at the end of the day, I still have to stay another two periods for a make-up practical. I did manage to finish quite a bit of work though. Two of my colleagues who I share cab with in the morning coming to school were commenting about the fact that the sudden downpour in the morning forced us to have to turn into the school, which added about $1.50 to the cost of the cab fare, and I told them quite honestly that after yesterday, seeing the figure of $45000 looming in my head, cab costs look so paltry in comparison that it no longer bothers me whether on the days I'm supposed to pay for the cab fare, I end up paying more than the usual.
I headed over to my fiancee's place to help her proof-read her assignment for the masters' course, and that ended yet another busy day. I'm really looking forward to the one-month holidays right now, which is unprecendented. I must watch Spiderman 3 soon. I haven't watched a good movie - no, I actually haven't watched any movie - for a long time already. Anyway, I'm tired of the Protege spoof picture, so here's a sort-of preview/early release of Spiderman 3 spoof. Venom looks awesome by the way.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
I've been reading and hearing a lot of talk about the recent Virginia shootings. People were going on and on about how things would have been different if Cho Seung-Hui was shown more care and concern, more love, and etc. Or how little was done when he was surfaced to have psychiatric problems that allowed his violent tendencies to arise. Frankly, I think it is besides the point.
Something similar happened in Columbine long ago, and people were attributing the fault of the massacre to violent video games or societal factors that made the killers violent. Now the naysayers are screaming lack of love. Well, to me, I see it as a natural consequence of the United States' pursuit of personal liberty and freedom. You legalize guns, and you get killers. Simple cause and effect. True, if a person is mind-bent on murder and massacre, he could well pick up a kitchen chopper and hack the students to death. However, the crucial differences are there: a person with a sharp weapon is still easier to overpower than a person with a gun, and a bullet is probably more lethal at close range even if the wielder of the gun is no hitman or was well-trained.
Of course, the ideal is to love your neighbour as yourself, and with that kind of environment, maybe people like Cho would not have committed the same crime. But we all know that we live in a fallen world, and people are not half as kind, loving, accepting, racial-tolerating as we wish they would be. There will always be xenophobes and racists around. There are also always psychotic people around, whether or not they came from traumatic childhoods, or played too many violent video games. Legalization of guns is just putting a weapon in the hands of those who shouldn't have it.
Something similar happened in Columbine long ago, and people were attributing the fault of the massacre to violent video games or societal factors that made the killers violent. Now the naysayers are screaming lack of love. Well, to me, I see it as a natural consequence of the United States' pursuit of personal liberty and freedom. You legalize guns, and you get killers. Simple cause and effect. True, if a person is mind-bent on murder and massacre, he could well pick up a kitchen chopper and hack the students to death. However, the crucial differences are there: a person with a sharp weapon is still easier to overpower than a person with a gun, and a bullet is probably more lethal at close range even if the wielder of the gun is no hitman or was well-trained.
Of course, the ideal is to love your neighbour as yourself, and with that kind of environment, maybe people like Cho would not have committed the same crime. But we all know that we live in a fallen world, and people are not half as kind, loving, accepting, racial-tolerating as we wish they would be. There will always be xenophobes and racists around. There are also always psychotic people around, whether or not they came from traumatic childhoods, or played too many violent video games. Legalization of guns is just putting a weapon in the hands of those who shouldn't have it.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Sun 22 Apr
I went down earlier to church to meet one of my boys who had something to share with me. I think the boys under me are getting hit with raging hormones one by one. It's that time and age anyway. After service, we celebrated the birthday of Adrian, one of my boys, in hall 9 with a cake, and headed off to Simei where I treated my boys, and my fiancee brought her two girls along as well. I asked her to bring her girls along anyway so that there is some interaction between the two cells. I think in the long run, it would be best to have them cooperate, since the two groups are only one year apart in age, and we can help each other consolidate new people of either gender.
I finished watching an interesting anime series The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. It's quite a mouthful to pronounce, but it is extremely entertaining. The series is quirky, but considering all the comedy anime series I've watched so far, this one has superb, humourous narration. It is about a schoolgirl Haruhi Suzumiya who seems like an oddball because all she wants is to meet aliens, time travellers, and ESPers. The protagonist, Kyon, is somehow drawn to her at the start, and managed to build a friendship, and got roped in to start the SOS brigade, which Haruhi set up in order to seek out out-of-the-world phenomenon. Unknown to her, the three other members she roped in turned out to be an alien, a time traveller, and an ESPer. As the series developed, the three tried to explain to Kyon that Haruhi had supernatural powers that she was not aware of, and she had probably shaped the world unconsciously. In her desire to see aliens, time travellers, and ESPers, the three of them had appeared. According to the ESPer, his organization believes that she essentially is a god, and has the power to reshape the world should she grow tired of it. All three believe that Kyon is chosen, and has the power to prevent the world from obliteration, and although there was nothing overt, the whole thing is a subtle love story.
It is amusing and entertaining, and has a quirky plot, but I think the underlying moral-of-the-story comes in one episode when Haruhi describes why she seeks out the supernatural, and explains that she finds no purpose in such a boring, routine life, and how insignificant her existence is. Considering how the current youths in Japan are reported to be aimless and finding life meaningless, this genuinely reflects the despair of that generation.
Now on to the next anime, Shakugan No Shana, which revolves around the supernatural, apparently based on some mythological Japanese (maybe Asian?) belief about the soul being a flame encased in the human body.
Mon 23 Apr
For the first time in three weeks, I managed to have breakfast in the morning in school for half an hour. So far, I had so much work to do I'd simply forgo it. Actually before I go to school, I do grab a small bite, but it's really small; I have negligible appetite in the early morning when I wake up. Maybe it's because of my late nights and few hours of sleep. Anyway, I managed to complete two tasks thrusted to me on Friday, and I think the designs look pretty good considering the deadline given me.
I stayed home to rest after school today. I wanted to jog because this is the only day I would be home early enough this week, but the rain got the better of my plans. My mum just asked me whether I enjoy teaching and if it is tough. Now that I think back about it, I feel that I enjoy it so much that I can't imagine for the life of me why I didn't choose teaching right from the start. And take the teaching scholarship I rejected, which would make me, oh, maybe $50k richer right now. Even when I stepped into teaching, never did I expect that I would be able to put all my skills and talents to such apt use. My fast reading and ability to pick out details (a.k.a. my photohunt playing precision) helps me mark at monstrous speed. My design background now is put into excellent use now that I've also joined the corporate communications team. My IT skills and knowledge, and my former Audio-Visual background (in JC) are utilized in managing the AV club and my role in IT Committee. My many interests and hobbies which are more or less what the youths enjoy (such as what I'm doing now - blogging, anime, and gaming) help me better relate to my students. My idea generation is put into concrete use now that I have school and colleague support. All these and more make me think that maybe God really fashioned me for this profession right from the start of my life, because I can't imagine being able to deploy all my strengths in one profession in any other profession. It is such a blessing to have heard God call me into education. His thoughts and ways are indeed much higher than mine, and I defer to His infinite wisdom. I do hope though that He tells me quickly what I should aspire towards in this profession, since there are a few paths to walk.
I went down earlier to church to meet one of my boys who had something to share with me. I think the boys under me are getting hit with raging hormones one by one. It's that time and age anyway. After service, we celebrated the birthday of Adrian, one of my boys, in hall 9 with a cake, and headed off to Simei where I treated my boys, and my fiancee brought her two girls along as well. I asked her to bring her girls along anyway so that there is some interaction between the two cells. I think in the long run, it would be best to have them cooperate, since the two groups are only one year apart in age, and we can help each other consolidate new people of either gender.
I finished watching an interesting anime series The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. It's quite a mouthful to pronounce, but it is extremely entertaining. The series is quirky, but considering all the comedy anime series I've watched so far, this one has superb, humourous narration. It is about a schoolgirl Haruhi Suzumiya who seems like an oddball because all she wants is to meet aliens, time travellers, and ESPers. The protagonist, Kyon, is somehow drawn to her at the start, and managed to build a friendship, and got roped in to start the SOS brigade, which Haruhi set up in order to seek out out-of-the-world phenomenon. Unknown to her, the three other members she roped in turned out to be an alien, a time traveller, and an ESPer. As the series developed, the three tried to explain to Kyon that Haruhi had supernatural powers that she was not aware of, and she had probably shaped the world unconsciously. In her desire to see aliens, time travellers, and ESPers, the three of them had appeared. According to the ESPer, his organization believes that she essentially is a god, and has the power to reshape the world should she grow tired of it. All three believe that Kyon is chosen, and has the power to prevent the world from obliteration, and although there was nothing overt, the whole thing is a subtle love story.
It is amusing and entertaining, and has a quirky plot, but I think the underlying moral-of-the-story comes in one episode when Haruhi describes why she seeks out the supernatural, and explains that she finds no purpose in such a boring, routine life, and how insignificant her existence is. Considering how the current youths in Japan are reported to be aimless and finding life meaningless, this genuinely reflects the despair of that generation.
Now on to the next anime, Shakugan No Shana, which revolves around the supernatural, apparently based on some mythological Japanese (maybe Asian?) belief about the soul being a flame encased in the human body.
Mon 23 Apr
For the first time in three weeks, I managed to have breakfast in the morning in school for half an hour. So far, I had so much work to do I'd simply forgo it. Actually before I go to school, I do grab a small bite, but it's really small; I have negligible appetite in the early morning when I wake up. Maybe it's because of my late nights and few hours of sleep. Anyway, I managed to complete two tasks thrusted to me on Friday, and I think the designs look pretty good considering the deadline given me.
I stayed home to rest after school today. I wanted to jog because this is the only day I would be home early enough this week, but the rain got the better of my plans. My mum just asked me whether I enjoy teaching and if it is tough. Now that I think back about it, I feel that I enjoy it so much that I can't imagine for the life of me why I didn't choose teaching right from the start. And take the teaching scholarship I rejected, which would make me, oh, maybe $50k richer right now. Even when I stepped into teaching, never did I expect that I would be able to put all my skills and talents to such apt use. My fast reading and ability to pick out details (a.k.a. my photohunt playing precision) helps me mark at monstrous speed. My design background now is put into excellent use now that I've also joined the corporate communications team. My IT skills and knowledge, and my former Audio-Visual background (in JC) are utilized in managing the AV club and my role in IT Committee. My many interests and hobbies which are more or less what the youths enjoy (such as what I'm doing now - blogging, anime, and gaming) help me better relate to my students. My idea generation is put into concrete use now that I have school and colleague support. All these and more make me think that maybe God really fashioned me for this profession right from the start of my life, because I can't imagine being able to deploy all my strengths in one profession in any other profession. It is such a blessing to have heard God call me into education. His thoughts and ways are indeed much higher than mine, and I defer to His infinite wisdom. I do hope though that He tells me quickly what I should aspire towards in this profession, since there are a few paths to walk.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Fri 20 Apr
Today was a mad rush in the day time, packed with a scolding for one class, followed by an Action Research workshop. I am currently working on an Action Research project anyway with my card game, so I was hoping that this workshop would provide some insights, or something new. Unfortunately, everything that was covered in the brief 2-hour session I had already learnt in my masters' course, which had even greater detail. It was painful to sit through, honestly.
Dinner was provided because there was a parent-tutor dialogue in the evening. Unfortunately, the dinner looked quite unappetizing, and a bunch of us opted to head down to Bedok central to have a nice meal, and carry some equipment the department ordered along the way. On schedule, I was supposed to have one student's parents meet me, and therefore I brought my laptop to do some work. In the end, six unscheduled meetings took place, and I was occupied almost throughout. I didn't mind, of course, since I always enjoy meeting parents and noting how the children take after them and all. Besides, the parents I was interacting with were all nice and warm people, who just want to know how their children were faring. I squeezed out enough time to finish what I aimed to do, and in the meantime, was 'shot' two more arrows to complete a couple of things by Monday. Ouch.
Sat 21 Apr
I woke up early to go for Future Sight prerelease tournament. The cards I got today were not very valuable, but they formed a lean and mean deck. I went undefeated for three rounds before I got to the final round where I faced a veteran. I think he was shocked that I defeated him in the first match since I was probably a new face to him and his gang of friends, and in the second match, I lost fair and square. In the third concluding match, I made one careless play, and he exploited it in a very ungracious manner, and consequently, I lost that match. I was upset with my own careless play, and I took it as experience, but I was quite upset at how unsportsman-like my opponent was. In that match I had a good lead, and would have been safely on my way to victory, and I think he probably felt sufficiently threatened to let me make that mistake without reminder, and subsequently insist on the heavier penalty even though it could have easily gone either way. Still, winning three rounds is still a good score, and I earned myself more than ten bucks worth of booster packs beyond what I paid for already.
I had lunch with my colleague, who had joined me since the last prerelease tournament, and my student from my civics class, who had been regularly attending prerelease events before I even did. It was a relaxing day, and a good break from all the busyness. Ah well, I'll be looking forward to the next event four months down the road.
Today was a mad rush in the day time, packed with a scolding for one class, followed by an Action Research workshop. I am currently working on an Action Research project anyway with my card game, so I was hoping that this workshop would provide some insights, or something new. Unfortunately, everything that was covered in the brief 2-hour session I had already learnt in my masters' course, which had even greater detail. It was painful to sit through, honestly.
Dinner was provided because there was a parent-tutor dialogue in the evening. Unfortunately, the dinner looked quite unappetizing, and a bunch of us opted to head down to Bedok central to have a nice meal, and carry some equipment the department ordered along the way. On schedule, I was supposed to have one student's parents meet me, and therefore I brought my laptop to do some work. In the end, six unscheduled meetings took place, and I was occupied almost throughout. I didn't mind, of course, since I always enjoy meeting parents and noting how the children take after them and all. Besides, the parents I was interacting with were all nice and warm people, who just want to know how their children were faring. I squeezed out enough time to finish what I aimed to do, and in the meantime, was 'shot' two more arrows to complete a couple of things by Monday. Ouch.
Sat 21 Apr
I woke up early to go for Future Sight prerelease tournament. The cards I got today were not very valuable, but they formed a lean and mean deck. I went undefeated for three rounds before I got to the final round where I faced a veteran. I think he was shocked that I defeated him in the first match since I was probably a new face to him and his gang of friends, and in the second match, I lost fair and square. In the third concluding match, I made one careless play, and he exploited it in a very ungracious manner, and consequently, I lost that match. I was upset with my own careless play, and I took it as experience, but I was quite upset at how unsportsman-like my opponent was. In that match I had a good lead, and would have been safely on my way to victory, and I think he probably felt sufficiently threatened to let me make that mistake without reminder, and subsequently insist on the heavier penalty even though it could have easily gone either way. Still, winning three rounds is still a good score, and I earned myself more than ten bucks worth of booster packs beyond what I paid for already.
I had lunch with my colleague, who had joined me since the last prerelease tournament, and my student from my civics class, who had been regularly attending prerelease events before I even did. It was a relaxing day, and a good break from all the busyness. Ah well, I'll be looking forward to the next event four months down the road.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Mon 16 Apr
It was another packed day. Interestingly enough, my class was quite eager to do the organic chemistry practical, in contrast to a colleague who complained that her class hated the thing. My class actually stayed beyond the bell to finish what they started, even though I told them that it was alright to just stop there. I went to my fiancee's place to help her finish her assignment for our masters' course by teaching her how to write references and all. I found a bit of breathing space from work, and I think I have been so busy lately that I feel like something is amiss or that I may have forgotten something to not be so devastatingly busy the whole time.
Tue 17 Apr
Today I managed to leave relatively early. My fiancee and I went down to check out an interior design firm that we chanced upon during a bridal show because I was quite impressed with the designs that were showcased. The talk went pretty well, and I think the man is quite a sincere fellow. In any case, I'll wait till he comes back with a quotation for what I want to do with the house, and see what else he designs and proposes.
Wed 18 Apr
The day went by very quickly, including a talk on sexuality during which my students crapped a whole lot. There was a staff sharing, followed by a meeting, and I rushed home for dinner before heading out for cell group. I took home marking to do because it is needed for the first period the next day. I think I take so much personal pride in completing my work rapidly that these days, when I bring basic work (like marking) home to finish, I feel like I have underachieved somewhere. I'm usually not the sort who will desperately look forward to the long holidays, but this term I feel sufficiently stretched to long for a decent break.
Not that the break will be that much of a break, with the photoshoot, wedding preparations, and renovations. Hmm.
Thu 19 Apr
Today is just a typical long day, but with a moment of breathing space as some deadlines were not so urgent. Because of the promotion ceremony in the afternoon, I had to wear a long-sleeved shirt to school. It was so darn hot, and I had a lab session to make things worse. In order to rush down to Suntec after class, I had to bring my belongings along to class so that I can immediately leave, hail a cab, and make it there on time.
When I got there, I realized there were so many latecomers that I could have actually taken a bus or train and still be in time for the ceremony. No matter eventually, because I used the wait time before the start of the ceremony to mark the mock SPA scripts I just collected before I rushed down, and actually finished in time. That speaks of two things: either I am a very fast marker, or there was a huge lag time before the ceremony. Thereafter, it was a matter of clapping and waiting for my turn to go up to collect a certificate that could have been sent by email. I recognize the fact that the ministry wants to recognize those it promotes, but honestly, I think to most people, the pay increment matters more, and also, the students come first. The primary complaint I hear is that some classes had to be foregone to attend the ceremony.
After the ceremony, I hung around to wait for my fiancee, and we went around window shopping idly a while, and had dinner at Ding Tai Fung. I hadn't been out shopping for a long time already.
It was another packed day. Interestingly enough, my class was quite eager to do the organic chemistry practical, in contrast to a colleague who complained that her class hated the thing. My class actually stayed beyond the bell to finish what they started, even though I told them that it was alright to just stop there. I went to my fiancee's place to help her finish her assignment for our masters' course by teaching her how to write references and all. I found a bit of breathing space from work, and I think I have been so busy lately that I feel like something is amiss or that I may have forgotten something to not be so devastatingly busy the whole time.
Tue 17 Apr
Today I managed to leave relatively early. My fiancee and I went down to check out an interior design firm that we chanced upon during a bridal show because I was quite impressed with the designs that were showcased. The talk went pretty well, and I think the man is quite a sincere fellow. In any case, I'll wait till he comes back with a quotation for what I want to do with the house, and see what else he designs and proposes.
Wed 18 Apr
The day went by very quickly, including a talk on sexuality during which my students crapped a whole lot. There was a staff sharing, followed by a meeting, and I rushed home for dinner before heading out for cell group. I took home marking to do because it is needed for the first period the next day. I think I take so much personal pride in completing my work rapidly that these days, when I bring basic work (like marking) home to finish, I feel like I have underachieved somewhere. I'm usually not the sort who will desperately look forward to the long holidays, but this term I feel sufficiently stretched to long for a decent break.
Not that the break will be that much of a break, with the photoshoot, wedding preparations, and renovations. Hmm.
Thu 19 Apr
Today is just a typical long day, but with a moment of breathing space as some deadlines were not so urgent. Because of the promotion ceremony in the afternoon, I had to wear a long-sleeved shirt to school. It was so darn hot, and I had a lab session to make things worse. In order to rush down to Suntec after class, I had to bring my belongings along to class so that I can immediately leave, hail a cab, and make it there on time.
When I got there, I realized there were so many latecomers that I could have actually taken a bus or train and still be in time for the ceremony. No matter eventually, because I used the wait time before the start of the ceremony to mark the mock SPA scripts I just collected before I rushed down, and actually finished in time. That speaks of two things: either I am a very fast marker, or there was a huge lag time before the ceremony. Thereafter, it was a matter of clapping and waiting for my turn to go up to collect a certificate that could have been sent by email. I recognize the fact that the ministry wants to recognize those it promotes, but honestly, I think to most people, the pay increment matters more, and also, the students come first. The primary complaint I hear is that some classes had to be foregone to attend the ceremony.
After the ceremony, I hung around to wait for my fiancee, and we went around window shopping idly a while, and had dinner at Ding Tai Fung. I hadn't been out shopping for a long time already.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Fri 13 Apr
It was another long day today, with an added SPA co-assessing, Project Work results distribution, and more administrative tasks that just popped up. I took a cab down to Meridien Junior College with my fiancee for the masters' tutorial, and it was our turn to present today. I think I prepared too much content, not expecting the reduction of time per person to drop to 12 min (last week's unchecked presenters hit 20 min on average, exceeding the stipulated 15 min), and according to my fiancee, I actually spoke relatively slowly. That was a surprise to me, considering that I have always thought I speak quite fast in tutorials and lectures. I hope the fact that I still had remaining slides didn't impact my presentation grade. Hmm.
Anyway, I think the person from HDB handling my flat application is extremely inefficient. Originally, when I first applied, I only included my name and my mum's name, because at that time, I hadn't officially cleared my marriage preparation course. When my pastor gave the 'all clear', I wrote in to request that my fiancee's name be added to the flat application, and included all the necessary documents, also checking if a new Housing Loan Eligibility form (a new pain-in-the-neck extra procedure and paperwork just introduced this year) should be sent to me. There was complete mail silence for three weeks before a letter was sent to me indicating that my fiancee's name is listed as applicant now. A few days later, a letter was sent again, saying that they had received my letter, and had added my fiancee, and a new HLE form was included.
The new HLE form was exactly the same as the old one. Without my fiancee's name.
I called in to check with the guy handling my application if I was supposed to fill in this form that was missing my fiancee's name, and straightaway he said, "Oh, I'll send you a new one." Come on, you took like twenty four days to process one little application and still sent me the wrong form? That was on 6 Apr, two Fridays ago. Now, considering that it was late in the evening, and the guy may be knocking off, it is reasonable to assume that he would shelve it to Monday to send out the new form, which is merely a computer printout of information already in their database. Even if I gave him some leeway for busyness, I think maybe he would delay to Tuesday to do it. Since the mail service in Singapore is quite efficient, pegged at the next working day, I figured I should see the mail on Wednesday reasonably. Or maybe Thursday.
The bloody letter still has not come in.
Now I know why they say that the keys would come only after about three months of the application. Because they take so darn long to settle anything. I regret not watching Just Follow Law. I think the theme of the movie about bureaucracy would resound in me right now.
Sat 14 Apr
I headed out in the afternoon to Bukit Merah for a Tea with Senior Pastor. In today's session, Senior Pastor wanted to meet the educators, so there I was. What he shared was something that I was aware of, and believed in, but not as fully engaged in as I could be. In any case, his words inspired me somewhat. I think honestly the highlight must had been the reception itself, because the tea break food was superb. I think I stuffed myself. Heh.
My fiancee wanted a foot reflexology massage, and brought me along, so I went for the first foot massage of my life. The two guys massaging our feet were from China, and were pretty chatty, so we had a good conversation in the span of that one hour. I must say, it did hurt at first, but it got increasingly better. I think this kind of skill must be pretty good to have. I think if the Teacher Work Attachment that is offered is an attachment at a foot reflexology centre, I wouldn't mind signing up to pick up some skills to relieve my fiancee's frequent foot pain. It sure beats doing odd jobs for some MNCs and GLCs.
Sun 15 Apr
I overslept today. I was supposed to meet one of my boys earlier before service, but my mum misheard the timing I told her to wake me, so she woke me up at 12 instead of 10, and I was supposed to meet my boy at 12.45 pm. I took 10 min to eat lunch, and left the house in another 10 min after washing up and getting dressed, and rushed down to Expo. I was dead tired after working all the way till almost 3 am (and then watching an episode of anime to relax...heh) to set a question for the June Common Test. I think the integrated question that I set is truly integrated compared to the sample ones I see from Cambridge, and although it looks intimidating, it is actually not difficult. Now that's the product of inspiration, else I wouldn't be driven to complete it in one sitting.
I think I'm beginning to see a greater degree of openness and sharing among my boys in cell group. It's a very slight progress, but it's definitely still progress. For that, I'm thankful; I'm not thankful for what they shared about though, which can be a bit discomforting. Strangely enough, although it seems logical to assume that boys of that age should clique together easily, it doesn't really happen. At least, not among my boys in the measure that I'm hoping to see.
It was another long day today, with an added SPA co-assessing, Project Work results distribution, and more administrative tasks that just popped up. I took a cab down to Meridien Junior College with my fiancee for the masters' tutorial, and it was our turn to present today. I think I prepared too much content, not expecting the reduction of time per person to drop to 12 min (last week's unchecked presenters hit 20 min on average, exceeding the stipulated 15 min), and according to my fiancee, I actually spoke relatively slowly. That was a surprise to me, considering that I have always thought I speak quite fast in tutorials and lectures. I hope the fact that I still had remaining slides didn't impact my presentation grade. Hmm.
Anyway, I think the person from HDB handling my flat application is extremely inefficient. Originally, when I first applied, I only included my name and my mum's name, because at that time, I hadn't officially cleared my marriage preparation course. When my pastor gave the 'all clear', I wrote in to request that my fiancee's name be added to the flat application, and included all the necessary documents, also checking if a new Housing Loan Eligibility form (a new pain-in-the-neck extra procedure and paperwork just introduced this year) should be sent to me. There was complete mail silence for three weeks before a letter was sent to me indicating that my fiancee's name is listed as applicant now. A few days later, a letter was sent again, saying that they had received my letter, and had added my fiancee, and a new HLE form was included.
The new HLE form was exactly the same as the old one. Without my fiancee's name.
I called in to check with the guy handling my application if I was supposed to fill in this form that was missing my fiancee's name, and straightaway he said, "Oh, I'll send you a new one." Come on, you took like twenty four days to process one little application and still sent me the wrong form? That was on 6 Apr, two Fridays ago. Now, considering that it was late in the evening, and the guy may be knocking off, it is reasonable to assume that he would shelve it to Monday to send out the new form, which is merely a computer printout of information already in their database. Even if I gave him some leeway for busyness, I think maybe he would delay to Tuesday to do it. Since the mail service in Singapore is quite efficient, pegged at the next working day, I figured I should see the mail on Wednesday reasonably. Or maybe Thursday.
The bloody letter still has not come in.
Now I know why they say that the keys would come only after about three months of the application. Because they take so darn long to settle anything. I regret not watching Just Follow Law. I think the theme of the movie about bureaucracy would resound in me right now.
Sat 14 Apr
I headed out in the afternoon to Bukit Merah for a Tea with Senior Pastor. In today's session, Senior Pastor wanted to meet the educators, so there I was. What he shared was something that I was aware of, and believed in, but not as fully engaged in as I could be. In any case, his words inspired me somewhat. I think honestly the highlight must had been the reception itself, because the tea break food was superb. I think I stuffed myself. Heh.
My fiancee wanted a foot reflexology massage, and brought me along, so I went for the first foot massage of my life. The two guys massaging our feet were from China, and were pretty chatty, so we had a good conversation in the span of that one hour. I must say, it did hurt at first, but it got increasingly better. I think this kind of skill must be pretty good to have. I think if the Teacher Work Attachment that is offered is an attachment at a foot reflexology centre, I wouldn't mind signing up to pick up some skills to relieve my fiancee's frequent foot pain. It sure beats doing odd jobs for some MNCs and GLCs.
Sun 15 Apr
I overslept today. I was supposed to meet one of my boys earlier before service, but my mum misheard the timing I told her to wake me, so she woke me up at 12 instead of 10, and I was supposed to meet my boy at 12.45 pm. I took 10 min to eat lunch, and left the house in another 10 min after washing up and getting dressed, and rushed down to Expo. I was dead tired after working all the way till almost 3 am (and then watching an episode of anime to relax...heh) to set a question for the June Common Test. I think the integrated question that I set is truly integrated compared to the sample ones I see from Cambridge, and although it looks intimidating, it is actually not difficult. Now that's the product of inspiration, else I wouldn't be driven to complete it in one sitting.
I think I'm beginning to see a greater degree of openness and sharing among my boys in cell group. It's a very slight progress, but it's definitely still progress. For that, I'm thankful; I'm not thankful for what they shared about though, which can be a bit discomforting. Strangely enough, although it seems logical to assume that boys of that age should clique together easily, it doesn't really happen. At least, not among my boys in the measure that I'm hoping to see.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Tue 10 Apr
Today was my short day, so after working almost non-stop till my last lesson, I quickly evacuated the place with my fiancee. I went to her place and took a nap, and in one sitting, completed the presentation powerpoint slides needed for this coming Friday's presentation, which weighs a whopping 40% of my final grade for this module. I think I see another aspect of my efficiency, as pointed out by my fiancee - when I work, I can really be absolutely focused and single-minded on the task. I won't fidget, take breaks, get distracted, walk around, need music, and etc. I just sit there, and get it finished as quickly as humanly possible while maintaining high standards. I think God probably cut back on my physical appearance so that He can give me a huge boost in my brain.
Wed 11 Apr
It turned out to be another busy day, and I had to run some administrative errands among other things. For the last few weeks, I have been working non-stop since I step into the school, taking only 30-min lunch breaks. It doesn't help that there is an onslaught of marking recently, just because they happened to come at the same time.
I stayed back in school to await a vendor to arrive, and he turned up one hour late, which was a total waste of my time. Apparently, things really got moving. My vice-principal was highly supportive of my card game, and we are now trying to get an outside vendor to help us produce the card sets. That also means more work for me to do actually, since I will be taking care of the design work as well. In any case, the school is willing to pump in money to get it started, and will reclaim the funds as we slowly sell off the card sets. If all goes really well, then the vendor may get the rights from us, and market it externally. I may actually end up getting some spare cash from royalties, although half of it will go to the school. But it's now only in the phase of preliminary discussions, so I'm not going to be too optimistic yet.
In any case, I think I see tremendous blessing from the Lord in the area of work. I just received a promotion, which is two years after my first promotion. The first promotion is a standard one after one year of teaching for guys, but the second one depends on performance, and I think two years is the earliest it can come already. The promotion and small pay rise may be good, but to me, the more important thing is the recognition of my contributions. The little projects I have been starting have all taken off pretty well, especially this card game. Since the inception of the idea, I have seen God blessing it. Things just happen to fall into place. Important opportunities and information just fall into my lap right when I need it. It's just perfectly smooth sailing. On hindsight, I think the blessing of getting my flat in that Walk In Selection was exceptional as well, particularly because I had not expected the recent promotion, and the government's decision to increase civil servant pay, both factors contributing to the fact that my fiancee's and my combined salary may actually exceed the salary cap to take a HDB housing loan. A bank loan would be much more expensive. Of course, there's also the fact that it was the last Walk In Selection, since HDB changed it all to balloting after some major hoohah about how information leaked out for that Walk In Selection I went to. Thank you, God.
Thu 12 Apr
I think the obviousness of my being overworked has reached the point that some colleagues commented about it to me. One was remarking that she cannot imagine how it would be if she is doing what I am doing. Another colleague was sighing on my behalf when she realized I kenna another arrow in the morning out of nowhere. I think right now, figuratively I should look like Jet Li in the ending scene of Hero. If you have watched the movie, you should know what I'm talking about. In fact, I think I'm doing so much more than I ought to be doing that the new ideas I have about making some e-learning package, a couple of new games, and etc I decided to shelve them till the following years. It's actually not because I cannot manage, but I think it would be scary if I over-extend myself, and am expected to surpass this year's accomplishments in the following years.
So after a gruelling day, I decided to reward myself, and go play pool with J. On the bus to Bugis, I actually bumped into Collin on the bus, so I got him to join us impromptu, for a while. Today, I think my accuracy wasn't that bad, but after I won the first three games, I lost all the way. And it was unbelievable losses. I scratched the white ball almost every round for many games near the end and gave the game away. Two rounds I accidentally got the black ball in prematurely. If I believed in luck, I would say that this was incredibly bad luck. The oppressive feeling of misfortune is strikingly similar to that of last week's mahjong game. Hmm.
Today was my short day, so after working almost non-stop till my last lesson, I quickly evacuated the place with my fiancee. I went to her place and took a nap, and in one sitting, completed the presentation powerpoint slides needed for this coming Friday's presentation, which weighs a whopping 40% of my final grade for this module. I think I see another aspect of my efficiency, as pointed out by my fiancee - when I work, I can really be absolutely focused and single-minded on the task. I won't fidget, take breaks, get distracted, walk around, need music, and etc. I just sit there, and get it finished as quickly as humanly possible while maintaining high standards. I think God probably cut back on my physical appearance so that He can give me a huge boost in my brain.
Wed 11 Apr
It turned out to be another busy day, and I had to run some administrative errands among other things. For the last few weeks, I have been working non-stop since I step into the school, taking only 30-min lunch breaks. It doesn't help that there is an onslaught of marking recently, just because they happened to come at the same time.
I stayed back in school to await a vendor to arrive, and he turned up one hour late, which was a total waste of my time. Apparently, things really got moving. My vice-principal was highly supportive of my card game, and we are now trying to get an outside vendor to help us produce the card sets. That also means more work for me to do actually, since I will be taking care of the design work as well. In any case, the school is willing to pump in money to get it started, and will reclaim the funds as we slowly sell off the card sets. If all goes really well, then the vendor may get the rights from us, and market it externally. I may actually end up getting some spare cash from royalties, although half of it will go to the school. But it's now only in the phase of preliminary discussions, so I'm not going to be too optimistic yet.
In any case, I think I see tremendous blessing from the Lord in the area of work. I just received a promotion, which is two years after my first promotion. The first promotion is a standard one after one year of teaching for guys, but the second one depends on performance, and I think two years is the earliest it can come already. The promotion and small pay rise may be good, but to me, the more important thing is the recognition of my contributions. The little projects I have been starting have all taken off pretty well, especially this card game. Since the inception of the idea, I have seen God blessing it. Things just happen to fall into place. Important opportunities and information just fall into my lap right when I need it. It's just perfectly smooth sailing. On hindsight, I think the blessing of getting my flat in that Walk In Selection was exceptional as well, particularly because I had not expected the recent promotion, and the government's decision to increase civil servant pay, both factors contributing to the fact that my fiancee's and my combined salary may actually exceed the salary cap to take a HDB housing loan. A bank loan would be much more expensive. Of course, there's also the fact that it was the last Walk In Selection, since HDB changed it all to balloting after some major hoohah about how information leaked out for that Walk In Selection I went to. Thank you, God.
Thu 12 Apr
I think the obviousness of my being overworked has reached the point that some colleagues commented about it to me. One was remarking that she cannot imagine how it would be if she is doing what I am doing. Another colleague was sighing on my behalf when she realized I kenna another arrow in the morning out of nowhere. I think right now, figuratively I should look like Jet Li in the ending scene of Hero. If you have watched the movie, you should know what I'm talking about. In fact, I think I'm doing so much more than I ought to be doing that the new ideas I have about making some e-learning package, a couple of new games, and etc I decided to shelve them till the following years. It's actually not because I cannot manage, but I think it would be scary if I over-extend myself, and am expected to surpass this year's accomplishments in the following years.
So after a gruelling day, I decided to reward myself, and go play pool with J. On the bus to Bugis, I actually bumped into Collin on the bus, so I got him to join us impromptu, for a while. Today, I think my accuracy wasn't that bad, but after I won the first three games, I lost all the way. And it was unbelievable losses. I scratched the white ball almost every round for many games near the end and gave the game away. Two rounds I accidentally got the black ball in prematurely. If I believed in luck, I would say that this was incredibly bad luck. The oppressive feeling of misfortune is strikingly similar to that of last week's mahjong game. Hmm.
Monday, April 09, 2007
Sun 8 Apr
It's Easter Sunday! My mum finally agreed to go to church service, because it's miracle healing service today. I think that's an excellent idea, especially for the older folks, so it's an ideal premise to invite parents. My mum went, and I brought her to the front to receive healing. Unfortunately, she misunderstood that she had to become a Christian first before she can receive healing, so she resisted. I didn't realize that part, and was so disappointed that we ended up having an argument about it. We resolved the miscommunication soon after though, and I told her now that it's cleared up, she'd better attend the next one. Wasted.
Mon 9 Apr
Hmm...just when I thought I've cleared the major stuff, somehow things keep popping up to sap away my time here and there. I need to gain some additional headway to free myself from bringing work home to do.
I just finished watching Read or Die TV. It is a really unique anime, in which the main characters are paper masters, and can control paper to become weapons, familiars, shields and other tools. The most interesting premise is that the main characters are all bibliomaniacs, and reads a whole monstrous lot of books. At the end of the anime, reading books actually became crucial to the central plot, and the background evil plot revolved around books as well, in which a great person the British Library is trying to resurrect had his personality and genetic code imprinted onto seven books for hiding. The concept behind it is peculiar but refreshing as well, as the main 'villain' was plotting world peace and unification through the reconstruction of knowledge. His plan involved the subversion of existing knowledge, and the global controlled dissemination of information through books and other literary sources to 'reprogram' human minds. Not the most sound of plots, but the idea is novel to me at least. Now I'm moving on to The Melancholy of Haruki Suzumiya, which is a whacky comedy, despite the word 'melancholy' in the title.
It's Easter Sunday! My mum finally agreed to go to church service, because it's miracle healing service today. I think that's an excellent idea, especially for the older folks, so it's an ideal premise to invite parents. My mum went, and I brought her to the front to receive healing. Unfortunately, she misunderstood that she had to become a Christian first before she can receive healing, so she resisted. I didn't realize that part, and was so disappointed that we ended up having an argument about it. We resolved the miscommunication soon after though, and I told her now that it's cleared up, she'd better attend the next one. Wasted.
Mon 9 Apr
Hmm...just when I thought I've cleared the major stuff, somehow things keep popping up to sap away my time here and there. I need to gain some additional headway to free myself from bringing work home to do.
I just finished watching Read or Die TV. It is a really unique anime, in which the main characters are paper masters, and can control paper to become weapons, familiars, shields and other tools. The most interesting premise is that the main characters are all bibliomaniacs, and reads a whole monstrous lot of books. At the end of the anime, reading books actually became crucial to the central plot, and the background evil plot revolved around books as well, in which a great person the British Library is trying to resurrect had his personality and genetic code imprinted onto seven books for hiding. The concept behind it is peculiar but refreshing as well, as the main 'villain' was plotting world peace and unification through the reconstruction of knowledge. His plan involved the subversion of existing knowledge, and the global controlled dissemination of information through books and other literary sources to 'reprogram' human minds. Not the most sound of plots, but the idea is novel to me at least. Now I'm moving on to The Melancholy of Haruki Suzumiya, which is a whacky comedy, despite the word 'melancholy' in the title.
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Thu 5 Apr
Another hectic day went by, packed with lessons. What was worse was that I squeezed in some SPA marking, and was extremely frustrated with the scripts from one class, which presented a large assortment of errors, many of which I have not seen before in previous batches. The people in the office were all shocked by my several outbursts of fury, and many could empathize.
I can't wait for the SPA review to be complete.
Fri 6 Apr
Yes, it's Good Friday! Most people would just see this as another long weekend, but it's of great significance to us Christians. I met G12 brother Collin and J around noon, and Collin's colleague who joined us for mahjong. It was another session reminiscent of the time I lost badly at my friend Sharon's place, where somehow things just go horribly wrong, and I just couldn't win much. We then headed over to Eric's place to watch One Night with the King, a movie based on the book of Esther in the bible. Somehow it was released in U.S. cinemas, and even came out on DVD, but just didn't hit local shores. The movie itself was quite slow though, with a over-romanticising of the relationship between Esther and the king. For dramatic reasons, an additional villain was added to the plot as well, and all in all, though the movie was not boring, it was not as engaging as it could have been, and Collin's colleague, the only prebeliever visitor of the day, was dozing off half the time.
I was expecting my cell leader to share something about Good Friday, or discuss the movie, since there was, after all, a visitor, but somehow, the opportunity came and went, and we all went off after that. I suppose we all have our distractions and detractions. Mine may be anime; for most guys, I suppose, ESPN is the chief culprit.
Sat 7 Apr
I stayed home to rest, using my sore throat and cough as a reason to convince myself not to torture myself this weekend with work. I entertained myself with anime and Xbox 360 until my fiancee came over for dinner. Later in the evening, we headed downstairs for supper. We had the famous char kway teow with the ikan bilis, and noted that a stall/shop's helper/boss' attitude is inversely proportional to the exposure to media the stall/shop has. So the more newspaper cuttings or cuisine show endorsement a stall has, the more likely you are to meet bad attitude. The most drastic change I've seen is eBlackboard near my school, where I visited twice. Once before the stall went on TV, and the other time, after, and the difference is remarkable. Fame is a poison indeed.
On our way out to get dessert, I noticed a new stall from my peripheral vision. It was an oddity in the middle of a hawker centre because the interior of the stall was did up nicely with woodwork, looking spick and span in the midst of the usual hawker stalls. It sold Belgian chocolate, ice cream and waffles, and we gave it a shot. The waffle we tried was absolutely delicious! It was crispy on the outside, and soft, warm and fluffy on the inside. The banana gelato ice cream we tried was good too. Both for only $3.60. The name of the stall is The Sweet Stone Parad'Ice, and they have only set up shop for just over three weeks. They also have a chocolate fondue (in a claypot, quizzically enough) for $7.80, which I will try the next chance I have, and see if it's as good. I also realized that many, many of the stalls in the hawker centre have appeared on newspapers and TV programmes before. I think I eat out too little these days. Haha...
Another hectic day went by, packed with lessons. What was worse was that I squeezed in some SPA marking, and was extremely frustrated with the scripts from one class, which presented a large assortment of errors, many of which I have not seen before in previous batches. The people in the office were all shocked by my several outbursts of fury, and many could empathize.
I can't wait for the SPA review to be complete.
Fri 6 Apr
Yes, it's Good Friday! Most people would just see this as another long weekend, but it's of great significance to us Christians. I met G12 brother Collin and J around noon, and Collin's colleague who joined us for mahjong. It was another session reminiscent of the time I lost badly at my friend Sharon's place, where somehow things just go horribly wrong, and I just couldn't win much. We then headed over to Eric's place to watch One Night with the King, a movie based on the book of Esther in the bible. Somehow it was released in U.S. cinemas, and even came out on DVD, but just didn't hit local shores. The movie itself was quite slow though, with a over-romanticising of the relationship between Esther and the king. For dramatic reasons, an additional villain was added to the plot as well, and all in all, though the movie was not boring, it was not as engaging as it could have been, and Collin's colleague, the only prebeliever visitor of the day, was dozing off half the time.
I was expecting my cell leader to share something about Good Friday, or discuss the movie, since there was, after all, a visitor, but somehow, the opportunity came and went, and we all went off after that. I suppose we all have our distractions and detractions. Mine may be anime; for most guys, I suppose, ESPN is the chief culprit.
Sat 7 Apr
I stayed home to rest, using my sore throat and cough as a reason to convince myself not to torture myself this weekend with work. I entertained myself with anime and Xbox 360 until my fiancee came over for dinner. Later in the evening, we headed downstairs for supper. We had the famous char kway teow with the ikan bilis, and noted that a stall/shop's helper/boss' attitude is inversely proportional to the exposure to media the stall/shop has. So the more newspaper cuttings or cuisine show endorsement a stall has, the more likely you are to meet bad attitude. The most drastic change I've seen is eBlackboard near my school, where I visited twice. Once before the stall went on TV, and the other time, after, and the difference is remarkable. Fame is a poison indeed.
On our way out to get dessert, I noticed a new stall from my peripheral vision. It was an oddity in the middle of a hawker centre because the interior of the stall was did up nicely with woodwork, looking spick and span in the midst of the usual hawker stalls. It sold Belgian chocolate, ice cream and waffles, and we gave it a shot. The waffle we tried was absolutely delicious! It was crispy on the outside, and soft, warm and fluffy on the inside. The banana gelato ice cream we tried was good too. Both for only $3.60. The name of the stall is The Sweet Stone Parad'Ice, and they have only set up shop for just over three weeks. They also have a chocolate fondue (in a claypot, quizzically enough) for $7.80, which I will try the next chance I have, and see if it's as good. I also realized that many, many of the stalls in the hawker centre have appeared on newspapers and TV programmes before. I think I eat out too little these days. Haha...
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Mon 2 Apr
Today was another long day at school, but the good thing is that I managed to clear enough work to rot away the evening and night watching anime and playing Marvel Ultimate Alliance. I know I'm behind time since the game is not exactly a new release, but I usually don't play my Xbox 360 till the major holidays. I wanted to jog originally, but it was so blazingly hot and ridiculously humid I couldn't bring myself to torture myself. The exercise itself is no longer a torture, now that I jog more regularly, but the weather these days is.
Tue 3 Apr
It is yet again the day that looks decent on my timetable, but with a meeting here and there, I'm left with only a short respite for (a very early) lunch. My first practical session with my TA3 students was like a chaotic whirlwind, but I think they did pretty well considering that it is kind of their first time doing a serious experiment. After school, I went home for dinner. I saw that the weather was not so sunny, and even had a tiny drizzle, and quickly went for a jog before dinner. In the end the drizzle fizzled away, and the sun came back.
I set off for the Youthnet leaders' meeting after dinner. It was an interesting time of sharing by Ps Eugene and Ps Julie. There were also many selected testimonies that were really encouraging, and I think Ps Julie is really eloquent and calm on stage. We ended the night by celebrating Ps Yeang Cherng's birthday (and his wife's) with a small birthday cake, and fortunately for all of them, I always keep a couple of lighters in my bag precisely for lighting birthday candles! Haha...because you can never find one when you need one, so I figured it's better to just to keep one handy.
Wed 4 Apr
Today was another series of errands and meetings. To top off my busy madness, during lunch, I had a run-in with a student I used to teach. I think students these days really have less etiquette. This student was queueing behind my fiancee and me, and proceeded to ask the student at the front of the queue to help him buy drinks. I turned to him and said, "Wah, you dare to cut queue in front of teachers?"
His reply was, "I am not cutting queue. I am just passing money to my friend to let her buy more."
That, frankly, pissed me off. A simple 'sorry' would have sufficed to resolve the incident. His reply told me a couple of things about him. The first being that he was unapologetic, i.e. he probably didn't even see anything wrong about cutting queue, despite doing it in front of teachers and that being pointed out. The second speaks of the attitude he has, as well as the respect he has for authority. He went on to add, "You should be glad I don't treat you like a teacher, else you will feel so isolated." I reported him to the discipline master soon after. A smart-aleck attitude like that means certain doom in the army and workplace, so he had better learn his lesson swiftly.
I had a really long chemistry department meeting, followed by the first AVC meeting, and then a meeting with my masters' course supervisor. Since I was done with my assignments, that turned out to be brief, especially when he basically gave approval for what I have done. Yeah~
Today was another long day at school, but the good thing is that I managed to clear enough work to rot away the evening and night watching anime and playing Marvel Ultimate Alliance. I know I'm behind time since the game is not exactly a new release, but I usually don't play my Xbox 360 till the major holidays. I wanted to jog originally, but it was so blazingly hot and ridiculously humid I couldn't bring myself to torture myself. The exercise itself is no longer a torture, now that I jog more regularly, but the weather these days is.
Tue 3 Apr
It is yet again the day that looks decent on my timetable, but with a meeting here and there, I'm left with only a short respite for (a very early) lunch. My first practical session with my TA3 students was like a chaotic whirlwind, but I think they did pretty well considering that it is kind of their first time doing a serious experiment. After school, I went home for dinner. I saw that the weather was not so sunny, and even had a tiny drizzle, and quickly went for a jog before dinner. In the end the drizzle fizzled away, and the sun came back.
I set off for the Youthnet leaders' meeting after dinner. It was an interesting time of sharing by Ps Eugene and Ps Julie. There were also many selected testimonies that were really encouraging, and I think Ps Julie is really eloquent and calm on stage. We ended the night by celebrating Ps Yeang Cherng's birthday (and his wife's) with a small birthday cake, and fortunately for all of them, I always keep a couple of lighters in my bag precisely for lighting birthday candles! Haha...because you can never find one when you need one, so I figured it's better to just to keep one handy.
Wed 4 Apr
Today was another series of errands and meetings. To top off my busy madness, during lunch, I had a run-in with a student I used to teach. I think students these days really have less etiquette. This student was queueing behind my fiancee and me, and proceeded to ask the student at the front of the queue to help him buy drinks. I turned to him and said, "Wah, you dare to cut queue in front of teachers?"
His reply was, "I am not cutting queue. I am just passing money to my friend to let her buy more."
That, frankly, pissed me off. A simple 'sorry' would have sufficed to resolve the incident. His reply told me a couple of things about him. The first being that he was unapologetic, i.e. he probably didn't even see anything wrong about cutting queue, despite doing it in front of teachers and that being pointed out. The second speaks of the attitude he has, as well as the respect he has for authority. He went on to add, "You should be glad I don't treat you like a teacher, else you will feel so isolated." I reported him to the discipline master soon after. A smart-aleck attitude like that means certain doom in the army and workplace, so he had better learn his lesson swiftly.
I had a really long chemistry department meeting, followed by the first AVC meeting, and then a meeting with my masters' course supervisor. Since I was done with my assignments, that turned out to be brief, especially when he basically gave approval for what I have done. Yeah~
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Sat 31 Mar
I woke up fairly early (for a Saturday) to go to Bright Hill (光明山) with my mum, my second aunt and uncle. It's that time of the year to go visit graves and urns. This year, my mum insisted on my being there, because she was going to 'report' to my dad that I am going to get married and all. Frankly, the longer I am a Christian, the more I dislike these traditions. Sometimes I wonder if during this Qing Ming season we release more pollutants into the air than an Indonesian forest fire. My mum was searching for an empty slot near my dad's urn so that her own remains can be placed there next time when she passes on. How much more morbid can a person get? Choosing a spot for your grave/urn? There were so many reserved slots in the whole columbarium I couldn't believe it. I find it alarming that so many people are less concerned about where their souls are heading than where their ashes will be housed.
I think the columbarium itself has become a property market. Not only has the 'real estate' prices gone up over the years, now there's a landed property available. Originally at the first and second floors, the urns are housed normally. The front row is worth $2000 a slot, and the ones behind it are worth $500, and probably less going towards the back since most of the urn will be blocked by the ones before it. Now at the fifth floor, there is an air-conditioned section with nice big individual spaces for each urn. I guess this is the condominium for the dead, while downstairs are the HDB units. The ones near the centre where there are statues of deities are the prime landed property, denoted by a silver tag, and that costs $15000 a slot. The ones surrounding the statues are denoted by a gold tag, and reserved for monastery use. Talk about prime land.
We had lunch together, and we went to visit my eldest uncle, who is recovering amazingly well despite his triple bypass. He is really a strong man, kudos to him. After hanging around a while at my second aunt's place, my mum and I went home to rest. She was going to one relative's buffet party, and I was headed for Bugis where there was some bridal fair.
It was a fruitful trip! We managed to secure nice looking wedding favours, a cute ang pow box, and invitation cards for the dinner, and also the caterer. I never imagined how expensive a church wedding turns out to be, with many hidden costs that I didn't anticipate originally. From my estimations, a church wedding at least costs $17 per head, counting food, decor, venue, and etc. After hearing some 'horror' stories from my aunt about how people she know turn up at church weddings bearing only a well-wishing card, I now understand why friends who had church weddings before would say that most probably losses are incurred there. Getting married is beastly expensive, and the cost seems like such a necessity. Everyone is happy I suppose - the ones getting married, their relatives and friends, and all hired vendors, jewellers, caterers, and etc. Marriage is a boost to the economy for sure.
Sun 1 Apr
I went for church service as usual, and bumped into a friend who gave me some sound advice about renovations. I was supposed to have a cell movie outing with my boys after service, but because of some bad miscommunication, it almost fell through. Somehow through some last minute changes and surprises, I ended up watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with my boys, my fiancee, her two girls under her, and two boys who her girls brought to service last Sunday. Since my original plan was to invite the two boys to join us for the movie outing initially, after going one big round, the objective was fulfilled.
I must say, TMNT was better than expected. The turtles' personalities were captured pretty well, although in the movie, they look more lean-mean-fighting-machines than cute in the cartoons. April looks too sleek and Lara-Croft-ish than the original big-haired ugly-yellow-clothes-wearing woman in the cartoon. Splinter is a tad too oriental, and dishes out too few words of wisdom in my opinion. There is actually a plot, simple and computer-game-ish as it may seem, which turned out to be pretty engaging still. It is certainly nostalgic, but I think the effect is diminished because of the modern 3D animation which seemed divorced from the original (poor quality in comparison to modern technology) animation. There is an interesting brotherhood theme throughout between the turtles, and a contrast in the villains' relationships. I would say TMNT, for a movie based on a cartoon, seems like it's meant more for adults than for children.
I woke up fairly early (for a Saturday) to go to Bright Hill (光明山) with my mum, my second aunt and uncle. It's that time of the year to go visit graves and urns. This year, my mum insisted on my being there, because she was going to 'report' to my dad that I am going to get married and all. Frankly, the longer I am a Christian, the more I dislike these traditions. Sometimes I wonder if during this Qing Ming season we release more pollutants into the air than an Indonesian forest fire. My mum was searching for an empty slot near my dad's urn so that her own remains can be placed there next time when she passes on. How much more morbid can a person get? Choosing a spot for your grave/urn? There were so many reserved slots in the whole columbarium I couldn't believe it. I find it alarming that so many people are less concerned about where their souls are heading than where their ashes will be housed.
I think the columbarium itself has become a property market. Not only has the 'real estate' prices gone up over the years, now there's a landed property available. Originally at the first and second floors, the urns are housed normally. The front row is worth $2000 a slot, and the ones behind it are worth $500, and probably less going towards the back since most of the urn will be blocked by the ones before it. Now at the fifth floor, there is an air-conditioned section with nice big individual spaces for each urn. I guess this is the condominium for the dead, while downstairs are the HDB units. The ones near the centre where there are statues of deities are the prime landed property, denoted by a silver tag, and that costs $15000 a slot. The ones surrounding the statues are denoted by a gold tag, and reserved for monastery use. Talk about prime land.
We had lunch together, and we went to visit my eldest uncle, who is recovering amazingly well despite his triple bypass. He is really a strong man, kudos to him. After hanging around a while at my second aunt's place, my mum and I went home to rest. She was going to one relative's buffet party, and I was headed for Bugis where there was some bridal fair.
It was a fruitful trip! We managed to secure nice looking wedding favours, a cute ang pow box, and invitation cards for the dinner, and also the caterer. I never imagined how expensive a church wedding turns out to be, with many hidden costs that I didn't anticipate originally. From my estimations, a church wedding at least costs $17 per head, counting food, decor, venue, and etc. After hearing some 'horror' stories from my aunt about how people she know turn up at church weddings bearing only a well-wishing card, I now understand why friends who had church weddings before would say that most probably losses are incurred there. Getting married is beastly expensive, and the cost seems like such a necessity. Everyone is happy I suppose - the ones getting married, their relatives and friends, and all hired vendors, jewellers, caterers, and etc. Marriage is a boost to the economy for sure.
Sun 1 Apr
I went for church service as usual, and bumped into a friend who gave me some sound advice about renovations. I was supposed to have a cell movie outing with my boys after service, but because of some bad miscommunication, it almost fell through. Somehow through some last minute changes and surprises, I ended up watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with my boys, my fiancee, her two girls under her, and two boys who her girls brought to service last Sunday. Since my original plan was to invite the two boys to join us for the movie outing initially, after going one big round, the objective was fulfilled.
I must say, TMNT was better than expected. The turtles' personalities were captured pretty well, although in the movie, they look more lean-mean-fighting-machines than cute in the cartoons. April looks too sleek and Lara-Croft-ish than the original big-haired ugly-yellow-clothes-wearing woman in the cartoon. Splinter is a tad too oriental, and dishes out too few words of wisdom in my opinion. There is actually a plot, simple and computer-game-ish as it may seem, which turned out to be pretty engaging still. It is certainly nostalgic, but I think the effect is diminished because of the modern 3D animation which seemed divorced from the original (poor quality in comparison to modern technology) animation. There is an interesting brotherhood theme throughout between the turtles, and a contrast in the villains' relationships. I would say TMNT, for a movie based on a cartoon, seems like it's meant more for adults than for children.