pressure
"Don't let me and the school down ah." Wah lao...how like that? Starting to feel stressed already. Call it lucky or unlucky, i've been given the best class of P5. Both practicum also give me best class! Ahhhh.... help! But I'll get through it...hopefully. :) Talked to ex-teachers and all... we talked as if we were old friends. Haha. It feels weird to be teaching in the primary school that you attended. Talking to one retired now adjunct teacher really made my eyes open about how education is so different from 10 to 15 years ago. Deep stuff.
On another note, budget, budget and more budget please. Its the same situation for most schools that have sailing. Lack of budget. The costs are so high, Ps want to see results before giving more budget....money is never enough for sailing, they have to understand that sailing is an inherently costly sport. just compare the cost of one boat fully rigged and a lifejacket to a hockey stick. You just can't put them on the same scale. Now, we have 6 green elephants(more like green boats) waiting to be refurbished with money that will drop from the sky. The way I see it, there's no way we can get the boats refurbished. Sigh. I think there should be some form of subsidy that schools can apply for. haha.
Found above a toilet cubicle! Hilarious!
Grandpa and family at the nursing home, visiting him during CNY 2007.
Grandpa caught in the act of pouring beer into his cup!! His favourite beverage but its contraband. Cos he has diabetes. Since its CNY, we let him drink a little.
Just some photos to brighten up my blog... :)
champions are made of stuff like these
man utd played like crap but yet they won 2-1. that's why they are at the top of the table. but i had faith that they would close out the game in the last few minutes.
last night i cracked and peeled a whole lot of ginko nuts. i almost went mad but i quite enjoyed it. yay! today we're gonna have dessert!!
i had a fitful sleep last night although i was quite tired.
masala mel
All wanting to get a picture of the fish head curry. Main "star" of the evening. Heh.
Look at the fish head curry! Yummy!
It was a nice way to end a short 6 weeks at NIE....Good food, great company, what more could we ask for? I do hope each of us will take time out for ourselves and for our friends even though we know it will be hectic days ahead.
Sitting here waiting for my hair to dry, nursing the pain from my blisters... I'm becoming all sentimental... heh. Tired but still don't feel like sleeping. Must be the adrenaline.
Right then, have a great weekend ahead friends! I know I will... :)
post CNY and pre-practicum
Haha, what's up with the "pre" and "post" you say? I think I'vs had an overdose of lesson planning... but anyway, Happy CNY to all! Albeit a bit late...but it doesn't matter cos CNY lasts for 15 days! Yep.
I think I sound a bit high but who cares. Heh. That's because the madness is over, now bring on the 10 weeks of teaching practice! As usual, CNY was spent eating, eating and more eating. Non-stop eating. Its also the time of the year where my dad whips up marvellous dishes which he only has time to do during CNY. Man...the food was all very rich and filling. His pig-intestine's soup as usual was kick-ass. Darn good I must say. Sorry there are no photos to make you drool over.
So today I went for pre-practicum briefing at CZ...all the boring but essential stuff to take note of. But I felt so out of place at the meeting because I didn't know most of the people there....Oh wells. But, I was not entirely disappointed, because I met my ex teacher and had a good chit-chat with her and another soon-to-be-retired teacher. They all made me feel so at home!! Ahhh... but its a pity some of the other teachers have left or retired. Oh well, better late than never i suppose. So I think I am looking forward to teaching in my alma mater.... :)
Now, let me enjoy these 2 days before the madness starts again... this time not as bad cos I have kids to deal with!
shoe hunting
Aargh!! I saw 2 pairs of shoes at Isetan today that I really like!! But, they were not in the size that I wanted. Boohoos. So the disappointed but resourceful me went online to look for the contact number of the flagship Tracce store at Suntec to check if they have my size. But since I didn't get the model number, I had to describe the shoes to the poor sales boy... Heh. He managed to understand which shoes I was referring to but I still didn't get the shoes in the particular colour that I wanted. But there was my size for another colour which I did not see at Tampines....so I'm going down to Suntec tomorrow and hope I do like the colour cos the shoe is so comfortable!!*fingers crossed* Sigh. I have not gone to such trouble for a shoe before. Can't believe myself. But anyways, I bought myself 2 bedsheet sets in lovely pink and purple! So sweet.... its actually meant for girls cos its under the Friven girls' range....but heck! Its so sweet.... I couldn't resist not buying. Haha.
It's a wonder how a clean fan makes for much better airflow in the room! Heh... yesterday, dad fixed all the lights in the house as well. Now, we have a really
bright and
well-lit house at night! The things that CNY makes us do.... amazes me. Haha. Mum finally cleared the mess(pile of paper and CDs) on the coffee table as well as dining table. Cool. Now, all someone has to do is to offer to clean the windows.
Happy Valentine's Day people.
efficiency
i'm speechless. government services are really quite inefficient. i have no idea why. i have gone and came back and they only send me the letter now, saying that i will have full-pay unrecorded leave. how nice. i was beginning to think they forgot about me. totally.
caught in between.
I hate the feeling of being caught in between. neither did i bargain for things to turn out this way....and the feeling of guilt is always there. family issues are always a tad too sticky for my liking. Argh. there are no immediate solutions to it and i can only foressee that the problem will just spiral into....whatever.(can't find an appropriate term)
today, it just occurred to me that i'm really getting old. couldn't even recall where I kept my laptop and i went around like a mad woman panicking and trying to find my laptop. it suddenly hit me that i actually kept it in a safe place where i almost forgot. sigh. in the chaos that i created, i made others worry as well. sorry!
i'm really tired, that's why its a fragmented and crappy post. but gotta do some work before i zzzzz...
the air-conditioned nation
A few days ago, Khoo Swee Chiow wrote a letter into the Straits Times Forum saying that we Singaporeans are a "soft" lot....that we can't take hardships. And he sorts of blame it on the government if I'm not wrong. I can see where he's coming from although I don't agree with him totally.
The town council is buliding a linkway between my block and the other block which is connected to the bus stop. How cool is that? After this, I won't have to bring an umbrella whenever I go out. Simply because, everywhere I go is sheltered. Oh wells.
Wow. I just caught The Dance Floor on tv just now....and boy, I was blown away! The ballroom dance couple just blew my socks off with their performance! And they are only 17 and 18!! Talk about young talent! There were about 3 or 4 other groups which were fantastic too. Good stuff, I must say.
On another note, my eye is acting up again. Stubborn eye.
turtles and tortoises!
We visited the turtle and tortoise museum this afternoon, and I was pleasantly surprised. First of all, I have not heard of it before at all... And I never knew that turtles and tortoises could be such interesting creatures! We also saw for ourselves how passionate Uncle Tan was of his turtles and tortoises. He was such a nice and sweet man! Though it is a little out of the way, you must pay a visit to this little-known but quaint place tucked inside Chinese Garden. There, you'll be amazed by the sheer number of turtle and tortoise species and artifacts of the same kind. He collects them from all over the world and has been doing so for about 40 years or so. He also holds the Guiness World Record for most number of turtle/tortoise species and artifacts. Also, the only living 2 headed and 6-legged turtle resides there. Cool isn't it? Go check out
their website if you wanna know more! I urge you to pay them a visit too!
fragility of life
Once again, I was reminded of how fragile life is. Within the span of less than 2 months, 2 people whom I knew passed away. Yesterday, a sailor's parent died while sailing on a byte to look at his son compete. The New Paper seemed to imply that it was the club's duty to keep an eye on everyone. But I beg to differ. Oh well, I won't elaborate any further. It is sad.
Yesterday, I drove the rubber dinghy back to NSC from CSC. What an experience. My arm was numb and shivering when I climbed out of the boat. My legs were sore from sitting in the same position for 1 hour plus. But the ride was really exhilarating to say the least. Do not be fooled. It is not as easy as it sounds. People say, oh its just driving the powerboat what. But there's the waves to contend with as you control the throttle. No joke man. I'm now aching all over.
entertain me please!
Argh. I'm stuck at home as I have to avoid people. And at home, people are avoiding me too. Haha. No one's coming home for dinner, mum's at work. Boohoos. I'm lonely!! I have been reading, but I can't possibly read forever! So I caught up on my sleep cos I didn't have a good sleep last night. Woke up a few times, the eye was bothering me. Sigh. It's better now, but the other eye is infected too. But it's not as bad as my left eye.
I realised that tv rays and computer rays really harm your eyes. I thought to myself, how bad could tv rays be, so I continued watching tv last night. Boy, was I wrong. My eyes felt so tired I had to close them, so I turned in early and TRIED to sleep. But I tossed and turned, irritated by my stupid eye. So the tv was one reason I could not sleep last night. But there's Prison break finale tonight and there's no way I'm gonna miss it. So, I'm gonna be stubborn and see how long my eyes will last before surrendering.
