Hiking on a Sunny Day = Cold & Sorethroat

Alright. Just a really quick one.

I went hiking up Mt. Faber with the 3NT kids on wednesday noon time (stupid right???), under the blazing sun and clear weather. I seriously did not think that I would had been so affected by the weather as the trail was mostly shaded by trees and plants. The hike took us up 70 metres above sea level. Another thing, it was my second time going up that way (the first time was with Baka Tori and Baka Neko last year in June), hence I was put in charge of this trip by my colleague. Anyway, I was so tired when we got back to the school that about an hour later, I was on my way home (I usually do not go home till about 6p.m.). Got home, rest a bit and then took a lovely cold shower. The next day, I was down with a cold. Awesome, eh? So, I am on anti-bio and lots of water since Thursday and thankfully, I am 80% cured of the sneezing, mucous and sore-throat. Yayy!!! I seriously need to be O.K by tomorrow as I will be getting the H1N1 vaccine jab, courtesy of MoE. Thanks, you people at the top!

To sleep!!!

I am terribly Lazy…

Right. I seriously want to blog but I am so darn lazy that I am not going to. I have so many things I want to rant, especially about the Cause that is happening across the Way. Sigh…

Off to sleep. Need to recoup my strength and sanity as I will be losing some tomorrow, no thanks to the Technical class. Blah. :p Oyasumi-nasai!

1st Jan. 2010 12:04a.m

Well, first and foremost, I wish all readers a Joyous and Successful New Year. May we, including yours truly, achieve what we did not achieve last year.

What do I hope to achieve this year. Hmmm…

Career-wise: Control and change the misbehaving ones. Get them onto the path they want to lead for the rest of their lives. Add value to their learning of Music. Basically, be the best that I can be of God’s calling.

Travel-wise: Travel further than Malaysia!!! I must go to Europe this year. December sounds like a good time. Imagine the cold and hopefully some snow… Lol!!! As for the June vacation, maybe Japan??? Korea? Maybe Hongkong??? I have to seriously think about that one.

Fashion: Get comfortable heels (this means more $$$ to be spent). Even though I love my ballerina flats, I have to have some more height as the children are mostly towering me! Damn. But of course, I am not going to get those horrible six inches type. Two inches at the most. I do not intend to break my bones while walking down the steps in those ‘killer heels’. I so need a haircut. Or shall I leave my hair long, again? Hmmm… Suggestions, people?

Professional development: Take up Japanese language. Do and pass ATCL (I so going to need help with this. Drats. :S) 

Spiritually: …(in conversation with the All Mighty Boss in the Sky)…

That is more or less what I want to say.

Happy New Year and all the best!!!

P.S: I realised that I am a woman of little words and I am growing older by anothe ryear.

31 Dec. 2009 11:59p.m

OK. I have less than ten minutes to say what I want to say of this year 2009 before it passes by and becomes ‘last year’.

What have I achieved this 2009, or rather, my highlights of this year…

- I became an official member of the edu Force in July. 

-  My first posting was in June (not able to get out of this till one and half years later).

- My first form class (little bunch of rascals they were).

- My first overseas school trip (yes, my own school life was rather pathetic) and finally, the major highlight,

- Passing my (confounded) driving test on the fourth try (sad but true) and I am now happy zipping around in my Dad’s little car, and of course, with him in the passenger’s seat. :p

Not so major highlights this year…

- I did a few trips out of Singapore but not anywhere further than Malaysia. Sad. Must definitely travel out next year.

- Full time music teacher in school. I was teaching 95% music and 5% relief.

- Fourth year blogging.

Nothing else to add. That more or less sums up my year.

‘Joy to the World’

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.~~~***~~~***~~~

Joy to the world, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

Many heartfelt thanks to relatives and friends for the wonderful presents I received this Christmas.

To my Mum; thanks for paying part of my new Ipod Nano 5G.

To my Godma; thanks for the Calvin Klein fabric bag, the pair of silver ear-danglies and beaded bracelet.

To my Kor; thanks for giving me a discount on my Ipod Nano.

To my Da-sao; thanks for the Laneige Facial set.

To my dear Baka Tori; thanks for the kimchi from Korea. I am not even half way through it. Lol!

To my dear Baka Neko; thanks for the 365 Days of Prayers for Teachers. Will make full use of it by saying the prayers there before each lesson I go to. Heh!

To my dear Evan-chan; thanks for the Tin-tin 3-in-1 Comics Vol. 1. All I left is vol. 6.

To my dear Manda; thanks for the artsy-fartsy insulated tumbler. I was actually getting myself one from Starbucks of something. Thanks for reading my mind. Lol!!! And also the kawaii 2010 organiser which is my second one. How how??? I think I will use both. Wahahahaha!

To my dear Jenn; thanks for the handmade personalised porcelain tea cup/small bowl. I shall use it to put my small change or sweets on my work desk.

To my dear Lisa; thanks for the mini bottle of European wine, which words on the bottle I can barely read since it is so small, and the purposely-made-to-be-slanted vodka glass from Estonia.

To my dear Wen; thanks for the limited edition Mickey Mouse Steamboat Willie snowglobes. I love snowglobes. Thank you!

To my dear ’Obaa-chan’; thanks for the Mickey Mouse glove-coin purse.

To my dear Sarah; thanks for the other ‘half’ of my reddish-pink rabbit handkerchief.

Thank you everyone for all the thoughfulness that went into getting my presents. Arigato-gozaimas’!!!   

Christmas – ‘Silent Night’

Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon Virgin Mother and Child
Holy Infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace

Silent night, holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight
Glories stream from heaven afar
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!
Christ, the Saviour is born
Christ, the Saviour is born

Silent night, holy night
Son of God, love’s pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth “

~~~***~~~***~~~

Jesus was born at night, on a night when there was no such thing as ‘light pollution’ – big bright lights everywhere. On a night where the only available inn was so crowded that the only place left was in the stables, with the animals. On such a night, the only sounds were from the animals, the only lights were from, most probably, the oil lamp in the stables and the stars shining in the sky. The night was silent. A peaceful silence on earth. And then a bright light shone on the shepherds watching their flock out on a plain, the angels came to announce to them the good news of Jesus’ birth. These shepherds were the first to hear the Good News, and they quickly picked themselves up and hurried to the stables to visit the Son of Man. Think about it: The shepherds were simple folk, probably too sleepy (at that time of the night) and naive to believe anything, lying on the grass on a not-that-faraway hill, watching over their sheep, or at least trying to. However, since their heads were in the right places, they knew that it was not a trick of the light or any kind of trick when the angels started singing Gloria In Excelsis Deo out of no where. And now I wonder, why did the angels not announce the Good News to the travellers in the inn, which the stables belonged to, as they were the nearest? God, instead, chose to tell the shepherds through His angels for they were, as I mentioned earlier, simple folk, and more than likely, God-fearing too. Whereas, the travellers in the inn were more intelligent, and maybe sceptical, and their hearts were closed off to news not beneficial to them. The most likely reason why God did not tell them about Jesus’ birth is that He did not want these well-heeled people to run off to the King Herod, telling him the exact location of the Messiah and getting money in return, hence risking the Holy Child’s life and also His first few days on earth.

If Jesus was to be born in this time and age, where would He be born, in which country and in what conditions? Would He still be born in the stables? Would a crazy king still be out to get Him? Hmmm… I wonder.

Christmas Eve & ‘Oh Holy Night’

O Holy Night

O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of our dear Saviour’s birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining.
Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, the night when Christ was born;
O night, O holy night, O night divine!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!

 

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
O’er the world a star is sweetly gleaming,
Now come the wisemen from out of the Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friends.
He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
 

Truly He taught us to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.
And in his name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
With all our hearts we praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,
His power and glory ever more proclaim!
His power and glory ever more proclaim!

~~~~~~***~~~~~***~~~~~***~~~~~~

This is but one of the many Christmas hymns/carols/song I like. It is so soulful and meaningful.

For each day of Christmas, starting from the Eve, I will (do my best) put up one song each day, with my reflection on it.

For ‘Oh Holy Night’, I chose this as each paragraph tells a message. The first is of the birth of Christ and how His coming brings Hope and Salvation to the world, for His birth in this world is the dawn of a new era. The second is of the Three Wisemen from the East, who traveled far bearing very rich presents, paying the Christ child homage. The last is of the Christ’s suffering and ultimate sacrifice for us as He loves us so much.

There are many who are feasting and merry-making just for the sake of the occasion, without giving much thought to the real reason of CHRISTMAS. God pitied us for we had been sinning and refused to be led into the Light for so long, and for that, He sent Christ to us to be our Hope and our Salvation. God Gave us Jesus to be our Light, to Save us and to Love us. That is why many people say that the Spirit of Christmas is Giving. And Jesus our Christ Gave to us All that He had, His knowledge, His wisdom, His energy, His tears and finaly, His Body and Blood as He was hung from the cross. CHRIST is our Most Adorable Saviour. CHRISTMAS. He saves. And so, as we go about with our feasting, may we remind ourselves of Christ’s giving nature and ask ourselves how we may emulate Him. Merry Christmas.

Psalms 34:1-22

I will always thank the Lord;

I will never stop praising him.

I will praise him for what he has done;

may all who are oppressed listen and be glad!

Proclaim with me the Lord’s greatness;

let us praise his name together!

I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me;

he freed me from all my fears.

The oppressed look to him and are glad;

they will never be disappointed.

The helpless call to him, and he answers;

he saves them from all their troubles.

His angel guards those who honour the Lord and rescues them from danger.

Find out for yourself how good the Lord is.

Happy are those who find safety with him.

Honour the Lord, all his peopls;

those who obey him have all they need.

Even lions go hungry for lack of food,

but those who obey the Lord lack nothing good.

Come, my young friends, and listen to me,

and I will teach you to honour the Lord.

Would you like to enjoy life?

Do you want long life and happiness?

Then keep from speaking eveil and from telling lies.

Turn away from evil and do good;

strive for peace with all your heart.

The Lord watches over the righteous and listens to their cries;

but he opposes those who do evil,

so that when they die, they are soon forgotten.

The righteous call to the Lord, and he listens;

he rescues them from all their troubles.

The Lord is near to those who are discouraged;

he saves those who have lost all hope.

The good man suffers many troubles,

but the Lord saves him from them all;

the Lord preserves him completely;

not one of this bones is broken.

Evil will kill the wicked;

those who hate the righteous will be punished.

The Lord will save his people;

those who go to him for protection will be spared.

~~~***I thank Him who is Great, for all He has done for me, especially on this sixteenth day of December, in our Lord’s year 2009. Alleluia. Praise and glory to Him. For ever and ever. Alleluia.***~~~

My Christmas List 2009

Well, my dear friends, here is my list. There is nothing much I really want this year.

 1. Book on the meaning of flowers

2. Ipod Nano 5G casing. Not too much of pink, orange, bright yellow or fluorescent green. Something to match my silver Ipod please.

3. Tintin 3-in-1 comic volumes #1 and/or 6 (from Popular books, about $20.oo++)

O.K. That is all I can think of. Seriously. My list for this year is so much shorter than last year’s right?

Observations Made During O-levels Exams

The O-level examinations were over for almost a month now and I am finally blogging about it. Hahahaha! Yes. I have been totally lazy. Right. I shall cut to the chase and tell you my thoughts on the time I was walking up and down the hall during the (students’) stressful period.

 1. It is awfully cold in the hall. Freezing!!!

2. Must wear comfy shoes. Lots of walking to be done

3. Students are horribly easily distracted by the invigilators walking around even though it is their exams

4. Girls should not wear colourful bra-straps especially when their uniform blouses are white and had gone through many washes

5. Girls should know how to sit properly. Sigh…

6. Students have no idea whatsoever that invigilators are also teachers and teachers have eyes grown on the back of their heads. Don’t think that we don’t know what you are up to.

7. Art is not a talent. It is the creativity of the mind. Any body can do it. You just have to focus and brainstorm on the topic given.

8. Chinese literature is not for the foolhardy. It is tough.

That is all I can recall of this year’s O-level examinations.