Just being me.

imelda marcos wannabes

2007-12-28T23:10:00.000+08:00

I think if all the women could afford it, we would have become like the above-mentioned lady. And the shoe industry would boom even more than now. This season's shoes seem to fit the shape of my feet better. I seem to have a lot of luck this few days especially when shopping for shoes. I can finally fit into a pair of mondo shoes!! *bliss* I don't have to spend double or triple the price of mondo shoes on the more expensive brands liao!! You have to understand that my feet are not the slim and slender kind which can fit into charles and keith's slim cut designs or mondo's young and trendy designs. They are really broad at the front so I have to look for shoes which are well, broad at the front! Haha. Anyway, I'm really glad that I bought 2 shoes at a cost that is less than 1 pair of shoes in the past(say sole lover's or pazzion). So within the last few days, my cousin and I have contributed significantly to the already booming economy. 4 pairs of shoes in the span of 3 days between 2 people. Lol.

Choy is a very happy and contented girl ready to roll and rumble in the new year!

sibling blues

2007-12-27T19:27:00.000+08:00

I seriously don't know how to talk/converse/deal with my bro sometimes. He might be thinking I'm the worst person in the whole wide world. He has a way of making me look like the villain most of the time, he also has a way of making me feel guilty of committing like the worst 'sin' when I speak to him in a tone which he doesn't like. URGH. Someone teach me how to be a better person please? I don't want him to shout at me when he doesn't agree with what I say. What am I doing wrong? I just wish someone could tell me so I could stop this misery for both of us. Has our relationship deteriorated to such a low that it could never be the same again?

So, my 6 month 'honeymoon' is over! Bah. I have work/duties coming to me in waves. *shudders* Looks like I have to brave myself for heavy showers coming my way in 2008. I guess you can look at this in another way such that I should be glad my peers/colleagues think that I am capable so they task me with duties. Oh well.... I'm feeling like crap now. I want a happy drink now!

in a nutshell

2007-12-20T22:48:00.000+08:00

Well, it's nearing the end of 2007 and I thought it'll be good to have a blog post to round up my year. I was going to put up a short post regarding Miss Clarity Cafe and the whole experience of eating at the branch in Katong which is just beside TKGS. As we parked the car, I noticed that this was the closest I have been to TKGS in 6 years I think. Looking into the school compound, it brought back many memories, mostly fond. Those 4 years, you could say were the most exciting and enjoyable of my formal education years. So yep. Anyway, in short, the food was excellent, family enjoyed the food and we are sure to come back for more! Love it!

So since I've started reminiscing about the good old days at TKGS, I'll just look back at this year in brief(hopefully). :P

I was just talking to a friend on MSN and we were talking about how this year was a year of many firsts for both of us. For me especially, think that this year I was in a lot of situations which required me to be out of my comfort zone and also trying out new things which I haven't done previously. My friend says it's because I've started working formally so it's a natural progression so to speak. However, I beg to differ lah. I think we as human beings, we make conscious decisions everyday which will determine the path that we take. I believe that life is seldom about coincidents and accidents; instead its about making choices for the life you wanna lead. Conscious decisions... And I truly believe that I have grown as a person this year. The experiences I've had this year, have really moulded me into the person I am now. My cousin and good friend, H, commented that I have mellowed down, and I agreed with her. Its all about making a conscious effort lah. (:

So looking ahead to next year, probably the focus for me will be a more balanced life in terms of work and leisure. Have to focus a lot more on my job I guess, cos moulding the young is a serious job. And of course, have a bit more time for myself to keep fit especially.

Sigh, I think working really makes a person "older" in a sense. Greater maturity, more thought in actions etc.

So yup, well, this is as succinct as I can get. Haha.

vietnam!

2007-12-04T21:15:00.000+08:00

Heh I'm blogging via an internet cafe invietnam. cool right? anyways,i'm having a blast here with my colleagues. many thanks go to Marilyn for bringing us around on sunday. ate a variety of good food and went to many interesting places heh. last night we took a bus up to nha trang(where we are now) and visited the 4 islands surrounding it today. we had a crazy guide who can belly dance(literally) and also did many other fun stuff lah. basically i'm quite high from all the alcohol consumed today and i think i need to sleep soon. will updatewith photos once i get back to s'pore. hope everyone's good! :)

2007-12-01T00:05:00.000+08:00

yucks, i just realised how the soot from the BBQ smoke(charcoal) can make your hair dirty and sticky. had to shampoo my hair thoroughly to get it out. eeks. but it was fun....company was great, and learnt how to make well-cooked chicken wings. heh. but i'm stuffed and tired....and theres regatta tmr as well...then i need to like come home to start packing!!! time! i need more time...!!!

good service

2007-11-28T23:35:00.000+08:00

actually, thinking back on the shops i patronised today, i must say that all the shops i went to provided good service. like reasonably good and there's nothing for me to pick bones with. first off, That CD shop at raffles city SC. the sales woman who attended to me was nice and patient, was so enthusiastic to let me take a listen to the CDs which I was considering to purchase. I mean how many shops actually do this? thumbs up to the lady who served me. :)

next was this shop at The Central called Euraugo. we were outside Gobi's waiting for my bro when my mum saw this shop selling dresses with the sign "50 % off", so we decided to take a look. saw a dress which i liked, salesgirl came over to ask if she could help. so she helped me decide that the dress was a good choice for a wedding dinner etc, helped me find the right size then i found out also that the dress was not on discount, but was still reasonably priced at 92 bucks. so i was quite satisfied and bought it. mum was happy too. service was excellent, attentive but not too "sticky' and very helpful and friendly. next up was gobi's which sells macaroons....ooh they were heavenly. sales woman was very helpful and nice too.

last but not least was waraku. great food, great company, good service. :)

what more can i say?

of giving and being a "responsible" citizen

2007-11-28T22:27:00.000+08:00

if you have been reading the papers, you would have read about the recent spate of the busting of contraband cigarettes smuggling groups. well, even afthe recent newspaper article about the dealing of contraband cigarettes to underage girls in my area, it didn't stop! didn't deter them one bit... they have been at it all week in the mornings.... so i did the "right thing" this morning. They assured me they would have their colleagues look into it. my dad says he's skeptical about it....he doesn't think they'll do anything about it. anyway just doing my part lah. don't really care about the outcome...

anyways, it does feel good to give. i really should give more often than to receive.

so basically, it's bro's birthday today. he turns 17! heh. happy birthday bro! spent a lot of money today....i don't even wanna look at my atm receipts. scaryy.... yeah anyway, i'm one dress down, one more to look for. did i mention how difficult it is to find a nice simple dress that i like? i next have to find a nice simple WHITE dress for the daytime. or a nice WHITE top and a NICE skirt to match. SIGH.

am listening to westlife's latest cd now....it's quite nice... bought dad his fav Eagles...they released a new CD recently too. and last but not least, andrea bocelli's compilation of his best songs. all for 50 bucks. hai... i.need.to.stop.spending.frivolously.

bonus!

2007-11-27T19:02:00.000+08:00

haha it rocks to be a civil servant....2 months bonus plus a special growth bonus?! wooohoo! bring it on....i can go to vietnam with a peace of mind now haha.

the blaming game.

2007-11-18T22:39:00.000+08:00

i really don't know what's becoming of the society nowadays. moments earlier, an enraged father of a little girl of about 5 years old was berating and blaming the taxi driver for not looking out for his daughter who apparently dashed out from the pavement and onto the road. btw, the road is in the carpark so the taxi was moving rather slowly. (according to witnesses) i don't think the taxi driver could have possibly seen the girl running out onto the pavement as she was quite short and covered by the parked cars. if he was driving any faster probably the girl would have been seriously injured. moreover, her father was not with her at the time of the incident so you can see how all this is panning out... yes, perhaps the taxi driver could have been daydreaming or perhaps driving quite fast, but the fact remains that her father was not holding her hand. definitely it is not solely the driver's fault, the way i see it, both parties are to blame. many factors also come into play with it being dark and all...

anyway, ambulance has taken her to the hospital, police has arrived. sigh.

my bro, the serious coach

2007-11-18T20:33:00.000+08:00

too bad i don't have a photo of him coaching but yeah. i've never seen him so serious about something before...maybe its the coming of age or simply just because he's applying the theory that he learnt from his coaching modules. whatever it is, its nice to see him so enthusiastic about something for once. :) like he finally knows what he wants to do and be proactive about it.

anyway since I have time on my hands i'm gonna try upload some photos. see if blogger cooperates with me today.

Here they are.... :)

Class photo before daneamania

Girls looking pretty...

the cool-looking boys who can't shake for nuts

Nat(the chinese tr) and myself - ktv-ing

2 MT trs and 1 eng tr(me)

as you can see we are all happy people. trs also need to let their hair down and enjoy themselves once in a while. like going ktv-ing and blading....

insomnia

2007-11-16T03:38:00.000+08:00

bah. just got woke up in the midst of my dream/nightmare. can't get back to sleep. but now is the perfect time to blog, so i'm here! but i'm having a writer's block. sigh....

anyway, later's just prize-giving duties....stand there look pretty...actually not really, have to arrange the prizes on the table before giving them out. then its the weekend and party time!! roller-blading on sat morning bright and early! can't wait... ahahaha.

oh yeah i wanted to talk about the right brain vs left brain test of looking at the dancer and if you see her moving clockwise you are right-brain dominated but if you see her moving anticlockwise you supposedly use more of your left brain. i want to say that i have looked at it a few times and for the most part of it i have seen her moving clockwise. then i look at the descriptors for right brain dominance and i must say, some of the characteristics do not describe me at all. then when i look at the descriptors for the left brain, i figure it describes me better. so is the dancer test flawed?

dancamania!

2007-11-14T21:26:00.000+08:00

feel so proud of my pupils because they did their best and put up a great performance. well, although they did not win, in my heart they have won already. :)

anyway, wanted upload some photos but blogger refuses to cooperate. bleah.

pushing the blame

2007-11-13T19:27:00.000+08:00

i really can't stand this particular parent because this is not the first time she has came to me "urgently" due to her son throwing tantrums and being upset. gosh, some parents really think that we should accede to all their whines and whims... can't you deal with it and explain to your child how the marks are being calculated? Just because he is upset that he did not get band one then you come looking for me? Find somewhere else to push the blame to lah for heaven's sake. I'm not your "bouncing off" board lor. Eeks.

hello maid?

2007-11-12T20:09:00.000+08:00

i hate being treated like the maid of the house. enough said.

someone should invent some kind of device which can spout out detergent and scrub dishes without getting our hands dry and scaly. which is exactly what's happening to my hands. bah! don't even suggest the use of gloves because you can't feel whether the plates are clean when using gloves.

and have i mentioned that i hate kiasu parents? like turning up early, coming to class to get their report books...sms-ing me to find out which classes are cream classes??!! oh god. someone help me!! one week left! can you just spare me??

my bro is a one-eyed pirate. lol. serve him right for whatever caused it; may it be the computer games or his dirty hands or oogling at girls or whatever. haha.

update!

2007-11-10T21:58:00.000+08:00

Wow! I've neglected this blog for a total of 3 weeks. I think its the longest hiatus ever. Looks like there'll be more of me disappearing from this blog in time to come. I noticed a trend...if there are regular updates, it means either I have a lot of time or that I have things to b**** about. On the other hand, if there is a lack of updates, either I'm swamped with work or everything in my life has been going smoothly.

So how did I come to this conclusion? A friend commented that I have not blogged for a long time so I told her that I was busy and there was no need for me to blog. haha. Which was true because I was busy marking exam papers, going through revision for the exams and lots of other admin stuff. There wasn't much happening on the family front too so yup. Anyways, I'm quite thankful that the school year is coming to an end. Thankful that I survived with just a few scratches and bruises, nothing serious. Upon reflection, though it has been the toughest period(5 months) of my "teaching career", I think I'm better prepared for even greater challenges ahead. Put on more body armour, grow thicker skin and brace myself. Really, there's a lot to be learnt from these few months.

I believe that the obstacles were there for a reason, to remind me that teaching will not always be smooth sailing. There will be "tests" to test our strengths of character. to give us something to be busy about. Also, I believe that God is fair. He doesn't just test us, He also reassures us. Judging from what I saw today, I think I might have an easier time with this batch of pupils next year. Don't really want to jinx it by talking about it, but I'm having good vibes. *keeping my fingers and toes crossed*

so basically, life has consisted of bonding sessions with colleagues(karaoke) and even blading(akan datang). also dinners with family, watching tv shows, catching up with sleep.... watched rockapella with a colleague just last week. enjoyed it thoroughly! a very talented group. took my breath away. very obliging with encores. caught up with one of my sailing juniors over dinner this week. life's been great! can't wait for hols though. 2 weddings on my calendar, one overseas trip, one regatta.....blading sessions. Wow! *rubs hands in anticipation*

sense of accomplishment

2007-10-19T17:16:00.000+08:00

it has been a tiring week....no less. though we are "simply" marking scripts after scripts, our brain juices are used up pretty quickly because of the nature of marking. you have to make sure and be extra careful that correct marks are awarded, and to ensure fairness in your marking at all times. discernment and fairness being keywords here. but thankfully my ASM was no other than mr salim, my ex-teacher from cz....he's the cool jack. he's always cool as cucumber, never panics and definitely not a gan-cheong spider. really admire him for that. also, the markers at my table were all very easy to get along with, very fun and crazy bunch. nice to work with. there was never a dull moment. of course, needless to say, i was the youngest of the lot and they could so easily see through that. i mean is the word "young" written all over my face?? haha.... so yup. ASM gave us each a box of biscuits from cocoa trees, and the chief marker came to personally thank us for our hard work. that was quite unexpected cos my fellow markers said that it hasn't happened before. glad to know we are appreciated. :) nice to work under males....really. :P

the csm mentioned something about why the psle marking cannot be outsourced and i totally agree with him. i mean how on earth should marking be outsourced when it can be done by the teachers themselves? though it is time-consuming, but i think it's a necessary thing that comes with the job.

so yeah, i feel accomplished not only because of the 780 odd scripts i've marked, also because i assembled a shower curtain rod today. had to get the rod, curtain and curtain rings from ikea. altogether, they cost less than 20 bucks. i was quite impressed and proud of myself...haha. now i don't have to carry and move the bloody glass door from side to side everytime i wanna shower.

but this also means that school will resume in about 60 hours' time and it will be chiong all the way to the finish line. gotta write remarks for the class! eeks...

raring to go

2007-10-14T21:09:00.000+08:00

well, thank goodness this coming week is psle marking week. at least i can take a breather before the final sprint to the finish line with my kiddos. feeling much better now, all the emo-ness has passed...feeling smiley now. haha. so looking forward to outing tomorrow at ecp. cycling and the sun!! so fun!! :)

thanks to all concerned friends who were there to lend me a listening ear.

i'm melancholic

2007-10-07T13:23:00.000+08:00

yeah i think i'm beginning to be like james blunt whose songs are always about sad stuff. i find his son "tears and rain" pretty apt now.

i just read my cousin's blog and i think we're pretty much going through some tough stuff in our lives right now. i've cried buckets of tears and i don't know when its ever going to stop. like her, i feel like a failure. i'm like a pack of damaged goods. watched too much of grey's anatomy i guess. but yeah, i guess i have to ride it out and waith till i get out of this dark valley that i'm in.

why am i so screwed and emotional?

score time

2007-10-06T23:04:00.000+08:00

so i've just watched man utd beat wigan 4-0 and england beat aus 12-10 in rugby. i expected man utd to win, but didn't expect a big margin. but it was an impressive 2nd half play from them. :)

england vs aus...i must say i had already written england off judging from the way they played in the group matches. today i saw a lot of grit and consistent play from them. they put pressure on australia and must say that the wallabies' defence wasn't good. they made a lot of mistakes. niether was wilkinson with his penalty kicks. but still, kudos to england for displaying grit and determination to win this match. well done guys. :)

happy thoughts

2007-10-05T21:52:00.000+08:00

in a bid to neutralize the unhappy posts in this blog, i shall write about some happy stuff here. :)

like did you know my mum makes the most delicious mango sticky rice? with thai mangoes! no less. heehee. yummy!!

i love passionfruit milk tea. just had some just now to make myself happy. its friday after all.

bread pudding and carrot cake baked by my mum this week has to be the best so far. perfect for our taste buds.

although i have a kid who is spastic because he survived meningitis as a baby, he has the most genuinely happy smile i have seen in any child. he's the most cheerful, happy-go-lucky child. doesn't take much to make him laugh.

i'm blessed to have wonderful friends and colleagues....family who loves me.

what more could i ask for?

drowning on land

2007-10-05T21:16:00.000+08:00

i.need.to.breathe.

Just to remind everyone that this blog is an avenue for me to vent my frustrations and anger. That's because i can't seem to find anyone appropriate in my phonebook to whine and complain to. so just spare me.... i know you're all concerned but i really just need this outlet to vent.

i guess nobody can claim that he or she understands what i'm going through because you have not had those words said into your face. do you know how demoralising is that? so many things have happened in the span of 4 months (3 months of teaching) i think i can feel a whole book with it.

i've cried a bucket of tears....and just thinking about it just wants to make me tear up again. gosh. why am i such an emotional/sensitive person. argh..

why do i seem to attract the weirdest parents? the ones who are cowardly? i really don't get it. and i thought i had seen it all when i was in wsps.

but i'd like to think i have matured. at least i didn't retort/blast at the person who sent/wrote the horrible/hurtful sms. i waited 3 whole hours before i replied. and i had to swallow my pride while typing the apology. "they are our clients so we have to serve them. they are always right." i was glad i could laugh about it with my colleagues.. sort of eased my tension a little.

but this 3 months have really stretched me and tested the strength of my character to my limits. i'm beginning to think long and hard about this calling of mine. i guess i just have to constantly remind myself why i choose to teach in the first place.

doubts

2007-10-05T08:23:00.000+08:00

i've just been called unreasonable and almost incompetent.

i don't know what to do anymore.

i'm going bonkers.

2007-10-02T19:53:00.000+08:00

i've had it up to here man. need to learn to be more detached from my emotions.

rugby world cup

2007-09-29T17:55:00.000+08:00

i was surfing channels when i chanced upon the repeat telecast of the match between england and tonga and i was excited to watch england play. but sadly, i was disappointed by their play. i think they do not stand a chance against the all blacks and the wallabies. really disappointing. sigh. but johnny wilkinson is looking as suave as ever....heh. his blue eyes....!!!

6 more hours till my parents come home!!! miss them....

squeaky clean

2007-09-29T11:45:00.000+08:00

feeling good but tired. 2 1/2 hours of doing household chores is no joke man. but managed to do quite a lot of things like hanging up clothes(washed in the machine), cleaned the floor, changed bedsheets, ironed clothes....wanted to clean the dust off the furniture but no energy left. so maybe i'll go take a nap first then do it later. darn it looks so cloudy and i don't know if it's gonna rain. How??

'open house'

2007-09-24T21:00:00.000+08:00

Heh, no I'm not having a housewarming. Just that my parents are away in Thailand for the week so anyone who wants to hang out at my place is most welcome to. Haha.

Life's been ok I guess. The only thing that is keeping me busy now is the children's day dance performance. *gulps* we just need to perfect all the different segments of the dance together. Oh dear....what did we get ourselves into?

Sigh, its week 3 and there's like 5 more weeks to EOYs for the kiddos!!! Shucks...actually make that 4 teaching weeks left. sigh. only 3 more weeks to finish up syllabus... why does the time in term 4 pass so quickly?

Good luck to me. Really need it. lol.

i can't take this anymore

2007-09-23T12:10:00.000+08:00

i need some time away from you. can't stand the way you talk to me and treat me. so glad i have the next 5 days to myself without you to NAG at me all the time! give me a break lah. don't you ever get tired? well, i am tired of all this nonsense. go and enjoy yourself in thailand with dad and don't bother us and about us ok? can't believe you even took down his daily schedule?! are you gonna call him in the morning from thailand to wake him up for his lessons? gosh.

tired and bothered

2007-09-21T08:04:00.000+08:00

Warning: this is gonna be a ranting post about my bro so scoot off if you're not interested.

I've had enough already. He has been sleeping late the past few days so he has trouble waking up at 7 these few days. ARGH! His alarm is of no use cos he just switches it off. And I have to do the 'dirty job' of waking him up not once but 4 times at least!!!!! I don't get thanked for it. This morning was the last straw. Mum called to check if he was awake. I said yes because i didn't want her to go all naggy about it. Horror of horrors, she asked to speak to him. I said ok, proceeded to wake him up. I pushed, prodded, slapped him but still he didn't wake, so i told her he went back to sleep. And she says "Better wake him up ah! He got morning class ah!!!" WTH???!!!! I was so pissed off i said "i know lah" and hung up on her.

First of all, he's 17 this year!! Why should we bother to wake him up? Its his own responsibility to get his own ass off to school. Not rely on us!! He doesn't even make the effort to sleep early, its not as if he's staying up late to do his damn project!

Secondly, you as his mother will wake him up when you are at home.. Wake up to check if he has gotten out of bed. When you are at work, you also do the same thing. Just because you like doing it? because you dote on him just because he is a boy???!!!! Just go and educate him on the benefits of sleeping early lah. if he doesn't wake up then let him bear his own consequence! Idiot!

great movies

2007-09-15T00:35:00.000+08:00

Wow. I don't know what took me so long to watch this movie "Freedom Writers" but I finally did! Haha! Better late than never. I strongly recommend all teachers or people thinking of wanting to be a teacher to catch this movie. It really provoked me to think about my own teaching and learning.... this movie is really quite well done and very powerful. Anyway, it came out last year but I don't remember it being advertised on trailers or having much publicity.

Another fantastic movie is Ratatouille. I think the storyline is damn good lah. Disney has outdone itself again. :)

Ok, that's all I wanted to say. good night world.

150m dash to the bus stop

2007-09-11T19:51:00.000+08:00

I swear, running for the bus in a skirt and heels is not glam at all, ESPECIALLY in front of your pupils' parents! Oh Gosh. It has already happened twice! Gasp. Why can't it happen when I'm wearing flats?! Sigh. and 8 periods straight in a row with your form class is not fun at all... I hope my voice lasts till the end of the week. Or else, I'm dead. And did I mention about the neverending work? I'm think I'm already dead.

multiple choice

2007-09-08T18:37:00.000+08:00

so many things i wanna blog about all at once....
i had about 3 blog titles in my head...
1: a day in the life of a sailor
2. Quietly Hopeful
3. Patience and Straightforward-ness

let's see...i think i'll go in chronological order.
1&2. I think being a competitive national sailor is tough work man. Especially when its the peak season with competitions coming one after the other, trials taking place, you really have to be on your toes and be focused on what you wanna do. My bro only has one rest day tomorrow then its back to "work" next monday to friday at RM to take part in Keelboat selections cum training camp to see which 5 guys would best make up the keelboat team at the SEA games. So i'm quietly hopeful and excited for him. :) Jiayou! Hope I don't jinx it by blogging about it haha.

3. I realise that I do have a lot of shortcomings...and I think I need to make a conscious effort to change. Sigh...

Anyways, I almost felt seasick today. Couldn't take it sitting in a stationary boat bobbing up and down. Requested to go back to shore early. Was turned off by the oily and spicy malay food which they catered for us. So I basically had a lousy day out at sea today coupled with other members in the boat who were either too lazy or over enthusiastic. Argh!!!

Felt better once I got home though....had fantastic home cooked food(although left over from previous days) and I'm having some frog's saliva soup boiled with white fungus and wolfberry later. Yum Yum....

Getai later tonight...Its that time of the year again! I need earmuffs... I hope I can sleep with all the noise later. Need to brace myself for the din later.

Oh, I just watched a fanatstic match between my 2 fav women tennis players... Justine and Venus. Was rooting for Justine though...and she won!! Woohoos!! Go Justine! They played unbelievable tennis man, fantastic drop shots, both ran for the ball and retrieved it....simply marvelous.

Do all mothers favour their sons??

2007-09-06T19:33:00.000+08:00

my mum's being a total pain. really. assumes i am pissed off about washing dishes, then made a remark about how she does everything from washing to cooking and doesn't complain. urgh! firstly, you don't even know what bro just said. then you just butted in and made assumptions about what you just heard. just because my bro offered to help me wash the dishes is none of your damn business!!! totally pissifying. I mean the way she acts is so blatantly obvious that she is favouring my bro. "What do you want for breakfast tomorrow? "Drink this before you leave ah...."

HELP!!!!!

movie!

2007-09-03T23:56:00.000+08:00

What can I say? Its almost a given that when everyone is back here on their study break, we will go to the cinema to catch a movie. Its like a tradition of some sorts. Never fail to do that... I haven't watched a movie in ages. So, we watched No Reservations this evening... Not a bad movie. Acting was quite good but it was a little slow... Contained quite a number of laughable moments. :) But I still wanna catch Ratatouille!! And the bourne ultimatum....sigh. So many things to do, so little time.

On another note, I sort of experienced my first hangover this morning. I though I could sleep the headache off from last night, but I continued to experience it this morning in school. So I decided to take panadol after lunch and catch a nap before cleaning the floor.

nice cool weather is good for sleeping! :)

MBTI Type

2007-09-02T11:15:00.000+08:00

So I did this test because I was feeling bored... Heh. Actually 'cos I was curious since Jac did the test and I commented that my MBTI was quite similar to her.( I remember doing this test long time ago and I vaguely remember lah). So anyway, we are both similar in personalities. I am an ISFJ, she's an INTJ.

I'm lazy to type out in detail but yeah, it aptly describes my personality.

Anyways, Happy Birthday to ME!! All of 22 years of age. I feel old...

lucky me!

2007-09-01T00:40:00.000+08:00

First, just like to wish all teachers and fellow colleagues a very Happy Teachers' Day!! May we continue to be filled with the love and joy of teaching always. :)

Just came home from Tr's Day dinner at Pan PAc. Good food, poor service. Sigh. But we had good fun, emcees did a good job, enjoyed myself tremendously. Nearing the end of the dinner, was giving up all hope of winning a prize from the lucky draw cos i thought i'm a pretty luckless person(no.s 66, 68 and 69 had all gotten prizes and i was no. 67). So they were giving out a number of gift coupons donated by the SAC...and then, i heard my number! think i received one of the last 3 coupons i think. perhaps wearing my red blouse paid off after all. haha. :) i'm now high from all the chinese tea i drank. don't think i can sleep anytime soon.

Next up: Lunch with jac and tania! Yay!

manic weekend

2007-08-30T23:13:00.000+08:00

yea...its gonna be a crazy weekend which is gonna be preceded by a teachers day dinner at pan pac tomorrow evening. actually i think i'm just gonna stuff myself crazy with food and drinks this weekend... heh. first time in a long time my bday falls on a sunday and moreover, both "musketeers" are back from london and sydney so we have to seize rare opportunities like these.

so yeah, i survived 10 weeks of madness in the classroom... and there's another 10 more to come. time literally flew by just like that. wow. i actually have some thoughts on it but my eyelids are drooping...

will update if i have time. heh.

baby steps

2007-08-22T21:12:00.000+08:00

Yeah, I'm taking baby steps in all senses of the word. I can't be perfect, never will be. Just have to take feedback with pinch of salt, learn and move on. Can't please everyone too. Just glad it came to me first, before it gets out of my hands. Yup.

My mouth hurt so much just now that I spent eons chewing on the small pieces of food(which I cut up). Then I got so tired of the whole thing, I gave up after eating 80% of my food. Sigh. Just took my painkiller, feels so much better. Damn, I should have taken it earlier. Have to find soft foods for my mouth...

of human relationships and family dynamics

2007-08-19T21:23:00.000+08:00

i wish there was a manual on how to deal with human relationships, especially when it involves family members. So, as a result of my actions, I now have someone's voice in my head that is accusing my parents of not doing a good job in teaching me the right values. its spooky and horrifying how its gnawing on me, and i just can't shake this horrible feeling off. i can only hope to learn from this experience and make better choices next time.

i was a really clumsy girl today...knocked myself on parts of the boat at least 4 times, 1 on the face and the nose, 1 on my heel and 1 on my toe. Steps and railings on the boat caused my misery today. we had an eventful day out at sea today, braving the elements like the cold wind, constant rain and the choppy waves aboard lady o. and the best part is, i wasn't even sailing/racing. sigh... my poor fingers and feet were wrinkled... and i almost felt sea sick.

just one of those days where everything just seems to go against you.

walking on water

2007-08-18T12:40:00.000+08:00

I've done a lot of walking in the past 3 days...to school and back...to the MRT Station. Burnt calories in the process so its all good. Besides, the weather was cool and there was no heat to impede my walking speed haha.

Felt like a happy little girl yesterday while watching the fireworks celebrations at marina bay yesterday with my cousin. Very well choreographed with the music....and did I mention the many different types of fireworks? Ooohhh...so nice. :) But of course, there were so many people that it made entering and exiting the gallery very difficult and inconvenient. Throngs of people...and the only way of moving is to be pushed along by the crowd behind you. Urgh. Not a nice feeling at all.

retreived my wallet from school today, thank goodness it was open for mendaki lessons. phew.

hmm...i really hope the weather clears up tomorrow so that we can have a fantastic passage race.

gut feeling

2007-08-17T23:06:00.000+08:00

or a woman's sixth sense is most of the time very accurate. it proved to be true in this instance, when i walked out of school thinking very hard as to whether i had left anything behind. i racked my brains only to come up with nothing. just a few minutes ago, i realised what i had misplaced. darn it. i hope it was not stolen. sigh. blur me...i'm really getting old. i took like 10 hours to realise it.... shucks. crossing fingers and toes its still there...somewhere....

2007-08-16T22:21:00.000+08:00

ahh...the wonders of retail therapy.... as it lightens your pockets it brightens up your day. i wonder why....

latest CD in my collection is corrinne may's beautiful seed. i must say that its a really good album... as usual her lyrics are so meaningful. makes you think and reflect upon your life.... she's a really talented songwriter.

yay...gonna watch fireworks at marina bay tmr. hope we're not gonna be disappointed. :)

what colourful people i'm surrounded with

2007-08-13T15:37:00.000+08:00

yesterday was an interesting day to say the least. I mean, in terms of wind, we really couldn't ask for more. good winds maintained throughout the day gusting above 10 knots at some parts...perfect day for racing. as a result finishing was really stressful, had to teach/delegate jobs to helpful smu helpers who were new to race management and sailing. tough, but they caught on pretty quickly, by the end of 3 races, 2 girls were quite pro at it. :)

but, as we progressed into the evening, a storm brewed, winds were howling and the rain poured down mercilessly. What a way to end a perfect day of sailing conditions.

i had a heart-throbbing car ride back to the east in unc shaw her's car. he was a fast driver to say the least, and in those treacherous conditions of the roads, i had quite a horrifying experience. very scary stuff indeed.

the conversations we had at SB were very colourful too. had lots of laughter and i was doted upon by the uncles. haha...felt good to indulge in a couple of beers and wine once in a while. i think what took the cake was listening to uncle john attempting to speak cantonese and hokkien and his aussie accent. all in good fun i must say... i was really tickled.

good to listen to these kinds of coversations once in a while...widens your perspective about life and stuff.

next sun is another day of heartstopping action at tuas...i hope the wind holds and blows a little more.

national day from the s'pore river

2007-08-10T13:51:00.000+08:00

Throngs of people by the river bank..patiently waiting

A view of the "UFO" Supreme Court.

The colourful shophouses..
the other wws boat with the "dunk it" banner

the flypast!!

2007-08-07T22:00:00.000+08:00

life isn't all that bad...really. i mean yea i'm conking out at my cubicle on a monday afternoon so what? i think i just really need the long weekend just around the corner to replenish my energy for the rest of the term and the semester. thats the work side of things...

let's just say the leisure side of my life balances everything out. weekends i get to be out at sea where i'm with the elements and i feel comfortable doing what i do...enjoying it. when the keelboat regatta season is over in about 3 weeks' time, then will get to have the weekends off, have some time to myself, maybe visit wws more often...

i think i'm really blessed to have people who care about me...receive gifts out of the blue... heh. think i need to be a nicer and better person and be more acceptive of others' faults and to be less bitchy. haha. yea, u heard it! :)

oh yea, to my dear cousin...if you are reading this, i'm sorry you can't go....i'm sorry that you had to bear with all the "gloating"... but things will get better soon. just have to believe and have faith. i promise i'll treat you to a nice meal when all this madness is over. Deal? Will be patiently waiting for that date k?

yum yum

2007-07-28T21:13:00.000+08:00

i had good food for dinner two days in a row so i'm a happy girl. of course, not forgetting the company that i had yesterday and today.

felt so happy to be out at sea today. don't know why, i just love the sea. :) heh. but not a good day for racing though. weather was highly un-cooperative with us and neither was the PCG. but they left us after they were satisfied. had to put up with a certain person who gets on my nerves...another one is coming tmr. good luck to me.

i feel loved. also heard that my bro had some news to share about possibility of coaching... see how things go.

oh yeah, i have to blog about the metro sale in century square. there are damn good buys you can find there! i bought this cheongsam dress for 21 bucks! whoopee. also a good time to buy bedsheets if you need them.

today, i felt damn stress cos i was CFO. haha....the title did get to me a bit lah.... but i'll do better tmr, i promise. i also promise not to be such a gan-cheong spider. but i must say it was a big and nice comfy boat. microwave, tv, fridge etc. like wow. haha.

as you can see, this is a happy post. i dont know why i sound so happy though. heh.

2007-07-24T22:08:00.000+08:00

argh. my mum's being a total pain in the *** tonight. just pissed me off totally with her mutterings under her breath... bleah.

outing to macs

2007-07-24T19:35:00.000+08:00

so i brought the monkeys down to macs today.... really hope they learnt something there. while the trip went rather smoothly albeit the angry bus uncle and the rain, there was an eruption of anger from one of my boys. and i literally had to pull him back with the help of parents. i should have seen it coming. sigh. i really am at a loss as to how to deal with him. i have zilch ideas now. urgh. i really hate spoilt kids. makes things so difficult for the teacher, especially when parents are not on the same side as you.

well, i should thank my lucky stars that things did not turn out worse than what happened. :)

oh yeah, another thing worth mentioning, it was so not my day today! the soles of my shoes opened up while we were at macs! thanks to some kind parents and locality of macs, i managed to find a shoe shop and got a pair of shoes under 20 bucks. thank goodness. so malu!!

what an eventful day. haiz.

this is weird

2007-07-19T19:31:00.001+08:00

because i am actually looking forward to my dental appt tomorrow. haha... probably because i have stuck to my strict regimen for the past couple of months. i'm so proud of myself. *beams* let's see how it goes tomorrow... and its the weekend coming up! back to the sea which i've missed for like a month or so... can't wait!!

as you can tell, choy is a happy girl! :)

2007-07-17T22:28:00.000+08:00

had a freaking headache this whole evening. not a good sign at all. i don't wanna fall sick anytime soon. got too many things to do. so tomorrow is D-day...the day of reckoning.... not that my class is bad, just that they can't match up to the rest lah. just hope they do their best though...that's all i ask for.

oh yeah just blew 50 bucks on a red blouse....not really complaining though cos i do not even have one formal red blouse in my wardrobe...so yup. really nice one from mango. beggars can't be choosers. so i've been stocking up on staples for my wardrobe this past 2 weeks. sigh...

i almost forgot to add that i was freaking pissed at the frequency of bus no 28. its really bad....a 15 minute interval during peak hour. its horrendous!! 2 buses came in the span of 30 minutes. so is this why there was a price hike? to pay for poorer services? i really have a good mind to complain to SBS transit.

crossing my fingers and toes as i go to lala land to prepare for battle tomorrow.

2007-07-13T21:31:00.000+08:00

i just feel like totally nua-ing....no mood to do anything except lazing around. just feel so tired. sigh.

2007-07-11T07:26:00.000+08:00

i wanted to blog last night about how i am going to detest ironing... all because of the academic gown. urgh. there's just so many creases and pleats to iron out, its impossible to be crease free. so i spent a morning and an evening trying to do the best i can... i think can pass la. not perfect but it will have to do. my white blouse was being difficult also, had a hard time determining the amount of heat it should have. ironed it twice...sigh. my nightmare is finally over.

all the excitement caused me to toss and turn for more than an hour before i fell asleep. heh.

2007-07-09T21:41:00.000+08:00

i feel like some santa clause....but the only thing i'm giving away is my mobile number. sigh...what have i done? think i must have given my no to at least 4 parents today. aargh!! no more privacy.... i'm so dead.

and i have a new pupil joining us from today onwards. she's from myanmar. how cool is that? but haiz...i was just beginning to settle down with the class and i have an additional member. how nice. the only constant thing is change.

oh yea, went to hunt for a long sleeved white blouse today. found one quite to my liking. thankfully and without much fuss.

2007-07-08T23:08:00.000+08:00

what happens when 2 strong-headed stubborn people stand their own ground? either a war of words or silent protests with varied actions to irate the other party.

can't believe that guys at the age of 17 can be so immature at times. my goodness. that is one blinded and naive boy who makes himself sound like he's so damn great but in fact is a hypocrite. and a big one at that. just reading your blog posts just wanna make me puke.

a father's love

2007-07-07T23:13:00.000+08:00

was really touched just now when i saw venus' dad hugging marion bartoli's dad as she thanked him in her speech. both father and daughter really wear their hearts on their sleeves. but the fact that both fathers hugged was very significant because they were 2 very proud fathers. very special moment indeed. nearly cried. i could safely say that marion bartoli's dad was overwhelmed with emotions and pride for his daughter as it is her first appearance at a final of a grand slam.

:)

call me

2007-07-07T16:34:00.000+08:00

boo. i'm feeling the blues right now....can't shake it off. need company..

haha

2007-07-05T22:44:00.000+08:00

my mum's just doing her job. lol... just being her usual kaypoh self, asked a male nurse whether he was attached. then colleagues asked her "why so kaypoh? finding out if your daughter got chance is it?" omg...i got nowhere to hide my face liao. sigh.

she really does the darndest things sometimes. heh.

haven't been blogging this past week...been busy and my life's been pretty boring lah.

had 2 cups of tea today. what was i thinking?*knocks my head* cannot sleep till 12 already lor. die....need my beauty sleep badly. got so much things to do tmr. bleah.

2007-06-28T23:12:00.000+08:00

i don't seem to feel so tired today. but i wanna have enough sleep for tomorrow!! sigh. really don't know what's wrong with me. did so much work but still not yet sleepy. weird.

Oh yeah... its Friday in less than an hour!! woohoo. This week has flown by just like that. So quickly, week one is gone. but it really isn't that bad lah, getting into the hang of things... life's quite good and very manageable. hurhur.

ok, good night world. i'll go and try to have my beauty sleep now. :)

parenting 101

2007-06-28T23:02:00.000+08:00

First and foremost, you need to act like parents and not your child's friends. Next, set appropriate boundaries and be consistent, stick to the rules.

It seems so straightforward isn't it? But I think more and more younger parents today are finding hard to do. Teaching is a lot like parenting too. Well, I just watched Nanny 911 for the first time on TV just now, and I had a rude shock as to how violent the kids were and how indifferent the dad was. And mum is no better, acts like a friend to her daughter, and does not assert her authority. I was speechless, found myself shaking my head at the mum's actions when dealing with her daughter. So in this show, a nanny steps in and helps the family set things straight. Kudos to the nanny. Very patient and knows her stuff.

Anyway, watching this show really was an eye-opener. Its amazing how the kids were in control of the house/home and not the parents.

what a start to a new term

2007-06-27T22:41:00.000+08:00

hmm... i think some colleagues might have been scared off by my horrible face expression these past few days. lack of smile, furrowed brows etc. judging by the way caili described, i think it must have been pretty scary. oh well. if there's one thing i suck at, its hiding my emotions from my facial expression. haha.

stress really is a horrible thing. i swear i looked like crap (my complexion was awful) the last couple of days man. even though today has been a long day, i don't feel so overwhelmed. must be getting into the swing of things. heh. anyway, i was so stressed i even skipped my lunch the past 2 days. luckily things looked better today.

on another note, Alinghi won the 4th race! woohoo!! now the series is all tied at 2-2. Go Alinghi!!

i can see a rainbow

2007-06-23T21:44:00.000+08:00

i saw a perfect rainbow today! so happy. it was big and nice, pity didnt have a camera with us. sigh.

anger management

2007-06-22T20:55:00.000+08:00

i need to stop being so vulgar. i need to learn how to take deep breaths when i'm angered. i need to...

nobody's perfect, me included.

oh yeah, my bro's on a poster at nsc. i love the photo of him cos it was rather well taken photo. well, thanks to sentosa and their sponsorship that we get to see his photo on one of their banners with the tagline, "We're proud to hoist your dreams." thanks also to shufen for the fantastic shot of him at laser asia pac. :)

singapore is a really small island. what are the chances of your VP and an ssf manager being acquaintances/friends? haha...figure that one out. things are looking good...need to make it work though. a lot of things to be ironed out. *fingers crossed*

quote of the day: "i have since stopped drinking. perhaps coffee or tea instead." LOL. so funny... Who will believe you??!! i wonder....

DM

2007-06-20T22:03:00.000+08:00

Discipline master, Donut Man or Dive Master? Heh. Its a no-brainer if you know what I mean.

Today was a great day. No prior plans, everything was done on the spur of the moment, and paid off. Highlight of the day was the taxi uncle charging me more than 1 dollar less than the "normal" fare... he was really nice. I don't feel like elaborating but suffice to say, you don't really find many of this kind of cabbies nowadays. It was simply beyond his call of duty. Really had integrity. Also, impromptu outing with M. What a pleasant surprise how everything went smoothly.... including the fact that "people issues" today were probably non-existent. All the kinks in the schedule and manpower deployment was ironed out nicely. no hassle whatsoever. Think the stars must be in perfect alignment today. Haha.

Bonus of the day: My bro passed his ppcdl theory on his first attempt. Cool! Way to go! Its all in the family haha. We are a family of muggers lol.

2007-06-18T23:25:00.000+08:00

its funny how i was so sleepy in the car....but am all awake an hour later, after watching tv. weird.

monday blues?

2007-06-18T21:06:00.000+08:00

Not really.... I saw plenty of people in town today...ok more like the city area, more specifically, the City Hall vicinity. A variety of people were hanging out in City hall today...sailors, fellow NIE trainees...

Anyway, my bro was feeling crazy enough to queue up for the donuts at donut factory at raffles city. So he spent close to 3 hours waiting before we were nicely rewarded with 2 dozen delicious donuts(out of which half a dozen were for his friend). It was quite an experience in itself. And for someone like me who hasn't tasted krispy kremes, this was definitely a good substitute. Of course, people who have tasted krispy kremes are adamant that they are the best donuts. I am easily satisfied. :)

today was a really interesting day....for now, i shall keep the details to myself. haha...

to someone: i hope that you come to realise that you are now facing the consequences of your own actions. unless you change your lifestyle, your health will continue to deteriorate. so my little prayer for you is to take your health seriously and examine your current lifestyle. love, me.

air your grievances here

2007-06-12T21:04:00.001+08:00

sigh. today seemed to be a "air your grievances day". many people were complaining about things they were not happy about. human beings have a tendency to take things for granted. i think i should learn how to play "hard to get". i shouldn't be so easy going all the time. people always take advantage. tired of it already.

i'm sorry if this post sounds incoherent. i'm really tired.

dusty dusty

2007-06-11T22:58:00.000+08:00

Just cleaned the floor this evening. With all the upgrading works going on around the neighbourhood, it was little wonder that the floor was so dusty. Yucks. I'm bushed....

I thought I was working hard, the workers downstairs in the adjacent block are even working harder. They were laying the cement in the void deck since late afternoon to early evening. They are still at it now. Wow. No joke man.

Why is it so hard for human beings to dish out compliments? So much so that we don't even know how to react when we receive one...
I think all families are dysfunctional in one way or the other.

2007-06-10T22:05:00.000+08:00

crap. i closed the door on my left foot and my toe is hurting right now. almost took the nail off with it man.

time passes so quickly. i hate it. 2 weeks have just flown past and i only have 2 weeks of hols left. i really need to get started on work. sigh.

dad says he will treat me to a meal if federer wins. i highly doubt it by the looks of it cos he just lost the first set. boohoos. nadal is just wicked on clay. urgh.

2007-06-07T16:21:00.000+08:00

now that the local anesthesia has worn off, i can finally feel my lips. haha. but i'm in a little pain now...sigh.

hmm...i wonder how much profit can a dentist make....

on a side note, i'm so hooked onto fairy godmother tycoon. lol. tata.

false alarm

2007-06-01T14:38:00.001+08:00

and so i'm still in the same school, they just resent the posting letter with my correct ic no. on it. that's all. so dumb.

i feel...

2007-05-30T17:49:00.000+08:00

like i'm unwanted, being bounced around like a ball. why should i be made to pay for someone else's mistakes??!! especially the mistakes of my paymaster? and you only discover the mistake now.... and the office clerk tells me not to be shocked. but i was already shocked. like what the...

right now, all i can do is wait for the dreaded letter. dreaded because i have already more or less settled into the school and mentally prepared to start the new term teaching there. sigh. why must this happen to me? i should have sounded the alarm bells and followed my instincts when i noticed the i/c no. on the letter did not belong to me.

argh!!! incompetence. oversight. i have nothing else to say.

sustained effort

2007-05-28T21:40:00.000+08:00

so now i've started on a regime, let's see whether i can keep it up. *fingers crossed*

on another note, my bro's now on a pair of crutches cos he's trying to keep his weight off his right foot. and what's wrong with his right foot you might ask... to keep a long story short, friend pulled hose toward him, hose entangled with pile of trolleys, trolleys collapse onto bro's right foot, scrapping a big chunk of skin off his sole. OUCH! it was a pretty gross sight. so he's been in quite a lot of pain especially when he walks so decided to borrow a pair of crutches from the ER my mum works in. heh. advantages of being a nurse's son/daughter. was cool to see my mum at work, cleaning my bro's wound at the ER last night.

looks like he will not be able to sail for a couple of days till the "weeping" wound dries up. and not be able to play soccer at the cage tmr with the sailors. lol. serves him right. oops. :P

2007-05-26T19:25:00.000+08:00

I don't think I've slept so many hours in a day before. Last night knocked off at about 8.30 woke up about 6 am this morning. So that amounts to 9 hours of sleep. Then went to queue up to see the doc, came back at 9.30, took medicine and slept till about 12. Altogether, that's roughly 12 hours of sleep! Gasp! That's like 50% of the whole day. Oh well, was having quite a high fever when i visited the doc this morning lah so I guess all the sleep was essential for me to recuperate. I was really conked out this morning man. And today it was so hot, I don't know whether I was perspiring because of the heat or because I was "sweating the fever out".

In case any of you were wondering, I'm feeling much better already, thanks. :)

feeling bloody miserable

2007-05-25T18:12:00.000+08:00

because my nose is running and my throat is being irritated. argh. someone please just cut out my throat and stop my nose from running! of course, i have a sexy voice again. haha.

i just wanna lie in bed and sleep. boohoos.

it is foolish to fear what you cannot avoid

2007-05-24T17:17:00.000+08:00

this is so very true, in more ways than one. I have been a fool all these years to have been avoiding the dentist for so long. Anyway, today I finally went to have my teeth checked and boy, were they in bad shape. So now I'm paying(literally and non-literally) for my phobia. Its damn expensive lah. But no choice lor...damage done already, must deal with it. Bleah. Perhaps I should think of it in another light. That the amount I paid today spread throughout all the years, its really not a lot. Sigh. Must save money liao. Cannot continue spending like nobody's business. especially with GSS coming!!! Arghhh!

Went to the school to be introduced to my P2 class today. They are so adorable! Haha. As usual, information overload, cannot remember everything. Shucks. But the P was very nice, so was everyone else who remembered my face. Heh. They were all so eager to welcome me with open arms, especially the SCM. She's so nice!

new beginning, uncharted territories

2007-05-21T18:06:00.000+08:00

The title may not be the most apt for this post, but it was the most spontaneous. Anyway, the verdict is out. I will be given a P2 class to teach come July. And I will be meeting the teacher on Thursday. Apprehensive yet excited. Heh... I guess we teachers really have to be adaptable at all times. So far I've taught P3, P5 and now...P2. That's why they say teaching is never boring. :)

So today, I devoured three quarters of a book which I had started reading a few days ago. And by the end of the MRT ride home, I had finished reading the book. I was quite surprised at how quickly I read it.

So there is gonna be a new shopping mall in Tamp. No!!! The whole of Tamp central will be soooo terribly crowded once it opens. Argh.

On another note, I wanna go swimming!!!!

5 seconds of fame

2007-05-20T18:29:00.000+08:00

I think that i'm gonna be the new poster girl of litter picking. sigh. We spent the whole day at wws today filming and also some photo-taking by the ST for an article that's going to be published on 2nd june, Life section. The filming was done for a variety show which will be aired at a later date. I think the whole thing was quite dumb, really. The planting of litter all over the place for the sole purpose of filming and photo taking was quite ridiculous. Hah.

mini wine cellar

2007-05-17T22:39:00.000+08:00

My goodness... I think my home has just turned into a mini wine cellar. It all started with Mothers' Day celebrations and the stocking up of red wines from Carrefour. Then we received an invitation to the French Wine Fair which included wine tasting for invited guests or VIPs only. It was held tonight. And boy, did we get good buys. I have only one word to say. Wow! I just tasted a wine we bought from the fair, and I loved it! Choy is a contented girl today. But I seriously am going to avoid alcohol for the next week or so. My liver needs a break.

So anyway, while passing time, I made a stopover at Raffles City Shopping Centre to check out the Robinson's sale. Guess what? I bought a pair of shoes for work. How typical of me huh? Sigh. There goes my resolution to save. But I guess it is always a good investment to spend more on shoes which are comfortable and gives you the support your feet need. Especially cos my feet are broad at the front, so to find really comfortable shoes is like striking 4D. Hahah.

Busy weekend ahead. Bring it on! :)

2007-05-12T19:51:00.000+08:00

i don't know why, but it takes more to make me happy these days. i really do wonder why.

sometimes things just don't turn out the way you expect them to. But things always happen for a reason I guess. Never pin too much of your hopes on anything, lest you get too disappointed.

today has been an "unchained melody" day. Not really melody but bikes instead. One chain was broken, and the other chain came out of the groove. Wow.

so we have new electronics in our home. we're waiting for the availability of the newest member yet, a new dvd player.

i really am a sentimental person. and when i do get too sentimental, my heart always rules over my head. good or bad thing?

retail therapy

2007-05-04T18:32:00.000+08:00

Spent close to 300 bucks just this afternoon. But I'm feeling very pleased with myself nevertheless. :) Considering i got 2 pairs of specs and 2 pairs of working pants using that amount of money. And, one of the pair of glasses comes with transition lenses. I mean, how cool is that man? Ahahaha....

Ok, I don't know what else to blog about. Back to stoning.... Heh.

countdown

2007-04-28T17:58:00.000+08:00

and so...the countdown to the end of practicum has begun. 8 weeks have just flown past and there are 2 weeks left. enough said. :)

my saturdays in april have been rather productive. 2 were spent coaching the basic optis and the other 2 have been spent at WWS. I like to think that I lead a rather fulfilling life. Heh.

I have been putting off my blood donation for more than a month. If it wasn't being ill, it was having my period and fear of low iron level in my blood. But now its back on track and I'm eagerly looking forward to my next one in July. So after WWS this morning, I spent my afternoon at one of the CCs in Pasir Ris, giving the gift of life to someone in need. Very pleasant experience indeed.

Looking forward to the end of practicum so that we can all catch up on our social life (well at least for me lah).

and once again, the forbidden fruit presents itself in front of me. Why? Sigh... better not pin too much hopes on this one.

2007-04-23T16:54:00.000+08:00

I just read a friend's blog about her grandfather's passing...and it immediately brought tears to my eyes. Not only was it touching, it also reminded me of my very own Ah Kong, who is now in the care of a nursing home. It all started going downhill when he slipped and fell down during SARs period. Subsequently his muscles degenerated as he was too scared to walk. Bouts of Pneumonia plagued him and feeding tube was needed... bed sores developed from lying in the same position for too long. Even as he recovered, he never attempted to walk and was effectively immobile, so it did not make sense to bring him home.

Just a couple of weeks back, he fell at the nursing home and broke a bone near the hip socket. It caused excruciating pain to him and there was no choice but to operate on him and put screws in to fuse the bone together. Sigh. Reading my friend's blog reminded me of how fragile life really is. And no one knows when is his or her time to go... but one thing I know for sure, is that I'll have regrets if I do not treasure him now and spend time with him while he's still here.

2007-04-20T18:52:00.000+08:00

Miscarriages are really common. And its quite sobering. Lately, we have heard too many stories within one staffroom. I'm scared...but I guess I will be better prepared when the time comes. :)

Its Friday but I don't feel any happier. Don't ask why.

Just had dinner, Soba noodles made by mum! Simple but nice comfort food. Gonna have some icecream later. Ice cream to make me happy. :)

I just spent the whole afternoon going through math corrections with some pupils. Hope they learnt something. Everytime I spend time with them outside of class, I see a different side of them and I get to hear interesting things going round the class. Heh. They are really quite a funny bunch. Beginning to find them adorable. Note: SOME of them. Definitely not all. Heh.

How do you tell someone you like him?

lizard shit

2007-04-13T19:19:00.000+08:00

While cleaning the floor just now, I noticed that there was quite a large amount of lizard shit around the house. Gosh, didn't know the lizards were having a field day in our home. Must have been at least 2 of them residing in this house. Hmm... better not leave food lying around uncovered.

Anyway, its interesting how a meal with a fellow trainee/friend does wonders to an otherwise tired, depressed and stressed person. Bonding over food never fails to lift my spirits up. Not forgetting to mention that the food was fabulous too. Goreng pisang, rojak and otah-otah washed down with a mug of teh tarik. Life cannot get better than this man. Mama mia! Anyway, we had an interesting conversation. :) I think the caffeine gave me an added boost of energy. Haha. Felt so full of energy that I was inclined to start on my household chores immediately after I reached home. Heh.

Perspiring feels good. :)

i don't know why

2007-04-12T19:35:00.000+08:00

but i feel empty. like something has sapped the life and soul out of me. not a very nice feeling...

i don't know why i'm here. why do i even bother when this is what i get. sigh.

today there was a heavy downpour. i kinda like the rain though it inconveniences you.

totally random.

hmmm

2007-04-08T21:04:00.000+08:00

im falling sick for the second time in as little as a month and 1 week. with the same symptoms. what is happening?!

i know, its kind of a rhetorical question ahahaha. obviously its stress-related.

but anyways, i had a good break this few days, doing what i like to do, and also meeting up with people whom i had no time to meet. although the kids at basic course were sucking my blood dry, i had no complains cos i had the sun and the sea! and today i felt a sense of accomplishment cos i dropped 2 marks with anchors!! all by myself....also recovered the motorboat without any damage and help! so proud of myself. haha... and the service centre crew actually noticed i lost weight. lol. they are such nice men. complimented me on the seemingly increased strength in my arms too. lol im such a sucker for compliments huh? but seriously, think i've finally gotten the hang of a throttle-powered boat. :)

2007-04-06T21:25:00.000+08:00

Its the beginning of a long weekend....and I must say its a break that is more than welcome and very timely indeed. Badly need this to rejuvenate and be refreshed. What better way to start it than to spend last evening catching up with Jac, with a movie as usual and a quick grub after that. Was really surprised to see most places in town pulling down their shutters by 9.30 ish.... very odd. Nevertheless, we managed to eat at Mos which was still open at Taka.

Anyway, today was spent in City Hall area with my cousin. Was supposed to meet for lunch but had coffee instead. While waiting for her, I purchased a t-shirt. Bravo me. Heh, but I haven't bought anything for myself since CNY anyways.

Quote of the day: "Fang, why you always fall sick one ah? Better go sailing then won't fall sick so often."- None other than my dad. I don't know whether to laugh or to give a wry smile. He's so funny sometimes. Yea, I'm having the sniffles again. Barely one month from my last bout of throat infection. Also had a scratchy throat feeling yesterday morning. Sigh... We were talking about sailing at the dinner table....then brought up the topic of me going back to sail. The above quote was heard after dinner, when I was sitting on the sofa with a piece of tissue in my nose.

Sleep is hard to come by nowadays...and anyone that knows me well knows I need my 8 hours of sleep otherwise I'll be cranky.

Looking forward to tomorrow!

passion, drive and enthusiasm

2007-03-30T21:36:00.000+08:00

The main key words for the day. And I've heard it for the 2nd time this week. Makes me really think, do we really lack that? Or is it actually the system which does not allow us to show that? Not to mention, peristence, perspective and being proactive. What's up with all the 'P' words man. Argh. As I've mentioned to M, this is the first time in my whole teaching "career"(of 1 year and 3 months) that I've felt overwhelmed and feel like its just too much for me too handle.

Well, I don't know. I just have to ride it out and see how it goes. I'm beginning to regret my decision.

Chats with teachers revealed much about her. But there you have it, a school with teachers who are unhappy but afraid to speak up. I'm speechless.

This week has really been a horrible week, except for a silver lining yesterday, which got my self-esteem up to normal levels, but was totally pulled down again after what happened this morning. I'm actually looking forward to the end of this madness.

I don't particularly like having to live up to others' expectations of me just because I'm in this profession. Enough said.

Thought of the day: Are the youth of our society becoming less resilient?

the ironies of life

2007-03-28T19:10:00.000+08:00

1st case: Some sailors have potential to be better sailors, but can't come for extra training cos parents choose supplementary lesson over cca. However, some sailors who do not have potential to develop into better sailors, their parents choose cca over supplementary lesson. Argh! Why? I wish we could swop them around. :(

2nd case: Interesting one this. Sch A's P IMHO, is better than Sch B's P. But, Sch A has a higher turnover rate than Sch B. Moreover, Sch B is definitely more I find myself asking why.

staff room chatter

2007-03-23T19:40:00.000+08:00

Yeah. We're kind of enjoying our private space in the resource room for this week at least. It may be our 1st week and last week in this room I think. We were moved to this room because they installed new work tables for adjunct teachers in the staff room. We were settling in fine until we got news lately that we may be moving back to our corner in the staff room at the new tables. Most were reluctant to move. Upon further probing, I realised that there was a reason why we were to sit in the staff room instead of staying put at the Resource room. But yeah, our CTs and the SCM definitely knew our reasons for wanting to stay in the resource room. They did their own speculation and were really astute in their observations. Whoa. So yup.

Quote of the day: " You look the same. Of course I remember you, I can imagine you sitting in the classroom at the mention of your name." by Mr Tay, my dearest P4 Form teacher. He's such a nice man. So apparently, he did have very good impression of me. And according to him, I have not changed one bit. Haha. That's like 11- 12 years ago man! His memory is really good.

I hate the smell of paint. Urgh.

main dish and side dishes

2007-03-23T19:23:00.000+08:00

Sigh. Week 1 of term 2 has just flown by just like that. It has been quite a hectic first week but the workload does not show signs of abating just yet. The madness is just beginning. Yikes. Anyway, it seems like I'm the favourite trainee to call on for after-school activities especially on school trips. Twice in a week! It can't get any better than this. And a total of 6 relief periods to do. Argh. I still have much lesson planning to do leh. Spare me please. Boohoos.

And my Friday couldn't have started off on a worse note than this. I actually overslept! Not by a little, but a lot! I was lucky I wasn't even later than the time I woke up. Want to make a guess? *Drumrolls* 7.30am! Gosh. School had already started and I just woke up. I was practically in a state of shock when I looked at the clock. And I didn't even hear the alarm ring. Haiz. I guess I was really conked out cos I slept at 10.45 ish last night. Anyway, at 7.30am this morning, the house was in total silence, no signs of life, the rest of the family was still in dreamland. How nice. Its just one of those days ah. Thank goodness I didn't have any lessons the 1st 2 periods.

But my relief was short-lived cos as I walked into the school, I saw the P walk out of the office and was walking toward the restroom. Lo and behold, she turned around for a bit and saw a figure(me) walking to the porch. Bravo. Well done me. But she just turned right back and proceeded to the toilet. Me, I hid behind the pillar for a while. Hilarious.

I think I'm getting old. I seem to forget things easily and stuff I'm supposed to do like going for relief.

2007-03-16T18:06:00.000+08:00

i'm a happy girl today because there was no wind. yah just bummed around, and enjoyed the rest though it was a little boring. i'm a happy girl cos there's a new shower head!! Ooh...the water pressure's good and theres no more leaking.

young and restless

2007-03-12T21:59:00.000+08:00

I don't exactly have anything to blog about. But I ended up here. Don't know why....

2007-03-05T23:05:00.000+08:00

please remind me to keep my mouth shut at all times. lest i be misunderstood.

i always happen to say the wrong things at the wrong time. blah.

i have a "sexy" voice

2007-03-03T22:58:00.000+08:00

my throat is in pain. and i am losing my voice. i am practically croaking. sigh. i have only myself to blame really. all the finger food, fried food and "drinks" must have been the crucial blow to my throat. well done me.

on another note, man utd played like crap and won again. haha. 1-0 over liverpool, and it is an important win. if man utd win the premiership this season, this will be the match people will look back on as the turning point of the season. but the goal sums it all really. because man utd was given the very precious free kick and took that chance. that made the difference between the both teams and liverpool had so many chances but could not find the net. Yay. My dad won the bet and 5 jugs of beer. Hah.

crazy weather

2007-03-02T23:15:00.000+08:00

choy thinks she's falling sick. maybe there's a bug going around the staff room, or we're so stressed out my immunity is down, or the freaky weather is creating havoc. whatever it is, choy needs rest.

a few "pixels of fame"....

2007-03-02T15:26:00.000+08:00

The photo of my bro...looking cool. Heh.

The article that appeared in ST yesterday...

2007-03-01T19:32:00.000+08:00

Haha. A picture of my bro sailing the byte was seen on the Straits Times today. A photo of him on the byte which I believe was taken 2-3 years ago...heh. I couldn't believe my eyes, neither could he. Wonder where ST dug up the photo from. Lol. Its on the first page of Sports section. :)

pressure

2007-02-26T18:11:00.000+08:00

"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.

2007-02-25T14:59:00.000+08:00

Found above a toilet cubicle! Hilarious!

2007-02-25T14:49:00.000+08:00

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... :)