Ramblings & Recent Wanderings

Day 1 as a full-fledged t*acher was a pure headache. God only knew how much of venom was in me when I had to deal with those little worms. Infact, thanks to the time-tabling, I had most of the N(A) and N(T) that day. Why must it be like that??? Aargh!!! God must have a plan for me and a lesson for me to learn. And yes, I will learn it well. Gambatte!

Day 2, which is today, was slightly better as I met the E classes. I do hope that they will be a massive joy to teach as their behaviours told me that they were the serious kind, unlike some the monkeys that I saw yesterday. Unfortunately, one E class struck me as quite quiet. Looks like I got to do more for them to be less life-less.

Well, I headed to the west this mid morn to collect certain important things from N*E before heading over to N*FA with Jwen and girls to get the choral score from Dr. GTC before walking across the road to our favourite noodles place. Oh help… I so miss Campus 3!!! I hope to have back in my life a bit more of music making that will be taking place every sunday late afternoon until the 25th of August, 2009, Tuesday. And so… Advertisment time!!!

Zechariah Music presents…
Leong Yoon Pin – A Choral Odyssey
25th August 2009 @ Esplanade Concert Hall
Tickets (excluding Sistic charges): $15, $20, $30
All secondary schools, JCs, ITEs and CI are eligible for the TOTE Board Arts Grant for Schools
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~***~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please support! Bring your students! Bring your parents! Bring your girlfriends and/or boyfriends!! Come one come all!!!

Warning: This advertising is done for free and by the freewill of the author.

Watched Finished At 3.35a.m.

The ridiculousness and insentivity of war.

‘Welcome to Dongmakgol’

Hello! Missed me? :D

Hello!

I have been home since saturday. Had a really interesting and educational trip of Malaysia, traveled from the east coast to almost the west, and totally enjoyed the delicious weather/climate up in the Cameron Highlands. Lovely! Even went to the Boh tea plantations. However, due to transport constraints, Dad and I skipped Taiping and came straight home from Ipoh after 5 days.

My bahasa malay was totally …(fill in the blanks)… Lol! The most extreme I did was at McD’s where I ordered 2 Sundaes, “Dua Sundae. Chocolate satu,  strawberry satu.” That’s it. WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. And damn, I am quite proud of it. WAHHHHHHHAHAHAHAAAAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am right now loading the photos I took there onto my FB account. Hope to get it done soon.

=========***=========

CCAs are cancelled this week all thanks to the H1N1 but I must say that it is a blessing in disguise as I got an extra day to rest at home. Went back to school yesterday and today for staff meeting/seminar where we were informed about the H1N1 operating procedures to be carried out on monday when the new term begins, and we also discussed Restorative Process, a discipline tool that the school is using, and how useful it is and its many other uses, which is a new concept to me as I only know about the other discipline process called Responsible Thinking Process. What I found similar between these two processes is that they, the processess, enable the wrong-doer to think through things by a set of questions and arrive at a conclusion/rational “punishment” that he/she is able to carry out. Infact, many of the staff shared that the wrong-doers more often than not will carry out their self-prescribed punishment when they know that they had done the same thing wrong as the first time. For example, a boy who was always late for school was told to answer the questions. When he came to the last question, he answered that he would run around the field 10 times if he was late again. Another school day came and the Discipline Master was rounding the late-comers up when he noticed that the boy who was late again was not in that group. He asked the boy’s friend where he was, and his friend answered that he was already running around the field. So you see, there is hope. These children just need to slow down and examine their actions and once they realised their wrongs, they will do something to make it right. There is hope! Even played 2 interesting games; “Blow Wind Blow” when we were in our little group circles, and “Landmine” where I was only an ‘observer a.k.a noise maker’ to the ‘blind’ and the ‘guide’. It was really fun playing and watching my team navigate through the ‘landmine’ while trying to distract the opposing team. Lol!

Right. I am so drifting off. Got to go back to school tomorrow afternoon to accompany some students to the Asian Youth Games Opening Preview. Sounds exciting.

On Vacation

Right. I will be away from Singapore from today 6p.m. till some time next week. Will most likely be back by next tuesday as I am down for Band duty next wednesday. Must recharge my batteries before battling those little imps when school starts again. Not that I have not been recharging my batteries over the past few weeks. Tee hee… 

Details of my trip is something like this… 1. Travel by train to Kota Baru, Kelantan at 6p.m. from Tanjong Pagar Railway Station (first time on the Malaysian train!!!). 2. Stay and roam about Kota Baru and Kelantan for maybe 2-3 days. 3. Travel to Cameron Highlands via Ipoh. 4. Stay and roam about Cameron Highlands for maybe a day. 5. Travel to Taiping via Ipoh. 6. Stay and roam about Taiping for maybe a day. 7. Travel back to Ipoh. Stay and roam about  Ipoh for maybe a day. 8. Come home to Singapore from Ipoh by train.

Sounds exciting? Hahaha! It will be a so-called ‘father-daughther bonding’ trip. Just pray that the claws will not come out but I am positively sure the hackles will be raised more often than not during this week-long trip. The last time Dad and I took a trip together was way back in 2001 when we spent 3 weeks in New Zealand. So long ago… I MISS NEW ZEALAND!!! I WANT TO GO THERE AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, basically, please pray that nothing bad will happen to us both during this journey as we will be quite near the restive South Thailand and that EVERYTHING is alright back home in Singapore. And as usual, if there is anything important to tell me, please leave a message with my mother at my house number or else SMS me but do not expect a reply. It is one way only.

Right then. I better go check if there is anything else to bring along.

Will be back next week with lots of photos.  Till then, Happy Summer Vacation!!! 

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

“Dear St. Christopher, patron saint of all travelers, please pray for me and all others making journeys to foreign lands that, with the Lord’s protection, we will be safe from harm and evil. Please also pray for us that the we will learn from the new lessons our Good Lord will teach us and that He will also enlighten our clouded minds during these journeys. Amen.”

Recent Activities

Just a quick update of my recent wanderings.

Yesterday, Baka Neko and I arranged to meet at the music shop, Gramacy, at Tanjong Katong Road where we bought, what else!, music books before heading down to the Asian Civilisation Museum  at Empress Place for the Kangxi Exhibition being held there. We had a fun, educational and meaningful trip where we also discovered new feelings of our own selves while viewing the ancient relics and scrolls of the Qing dynasty emperor. A few of the paintings on show were really awesome as they were not only long scrolls of over 10metres but also the artists of those did a really fine job at depicting the emperor and his entourage among the people with such fine brush strokes. We were also bowled over by the typed-block printing done for the books and the calculators that were found in the emperor’s library. We somehow felt …(fill in the blanks)… after seeing all those tools. (Right, Neko???) The exhibition is now on till the 28th of June so you better catch it quick.

After our visit to the museum, we took a stroll past the Padang and via Citylink Mall to Suntec City. Six at Citylink Mall is having a sale where I bought 2 fashion rings and a pair of pearl studs, all for $18, $6 each item. Baka Neko was feeling hungry and so, after going round in circles deciding on what to chomp on at the basement, we finally settled on Just Acia a.k.a Just Noodles where we had a really fulfilling and not too expensive meal. Actually, we only went round once. Lol! After that, we just walked around Suntec City, did some window shopping before going home with a new PC Game each from Popular bookstore which is now having a 50% off selected game titles. Lol!!!

Surprisingly, we left for home at about 9.30p.m. which is considered earlier than our usual time. We usually start going home after an evening out at about 10-10.30p.m.

`~~~~~`###`~~~~~`###`~~~~~`

Went to school for Band s0-called supervision this morning. Instead, was taught how to deal and do stock-checking by the Band teacher I/C . I tell you, despite it being many hours since I finished my part of the stock-checking, I still shudder at the thought of what I saw. Tubas totally knocked and dented, with green corrosion stains, the shine is definitely no longer there, and for those that are not in use, cobwebs in the bell. :S Major shudder. Have to thank God that there were no cockroaches or rats running out of those tubas. The woodwind instruments looked heavenly as compared with the brass and percussion, especially with the brass. I asked a student whether they had ever cleaned their brass instruments and the reply was that they only polished. Right. -.- Sigh. It will be a few years more before they can get better looking instruements to replace their scrap-metal. Sad. The percussions were in a mess. In fact, the smaller percussions were haphazardly kept in a worn out cardboard box which bottom was giving way. The xylophones and marching bells were totally no longer silver in colour. They were moltted with green spots. I can imagine the number of Brasso needed to clean those off the keys. Sigh. Oh well. People will argue that it is not the looks that are important but the quality of the music they play and I am not going to dispute that. I am saying that it will take some years to achieve a more professional look.

Henderson Waves Hike

The three of us took a hike up the Marang Trail to the Henderson Waves and I tell you that before we got to our destination, I melted. Aargh! The heat and humidity was unbearable. Not only that, we were going against gravity; going up and up and up till about seven kilometres above sea level. There were so many steps up on that trail. Tiring. We took about forty minutes to get up there by the long way which started at the carpark opposite Vivocity, and about a quarter of that time to get down. Thanks to Baka Neko, we went down another way and ended up at Telok Blangah Way which was definitely and entirely different from where we started off. Anyway, no harm was done, we took the public bus back to Vivocity. The view up on the bridge was not exactly breathtaking, it was rather … normal. The scenery could had been better if it was either much higher up or the trees’ tops were trimed. Basically, not very much of the southern islands and the straits could be seen. It was the exhausting journey there that was, well, more interesting. We breathed in the fresh air from the surrounding trees, infact, we lavished in it for our tired muscles. We had constant doubts about the way we were going and that certainly kept us in suspense. We saw new sights along the way including swimming pools which we desired to plunge into due to our hot walk. After getting to the top, we rested for a long while and cam-whored there on the bridge (we did the Shi Lian Pai or Ten Faces Poses). Lol!

Baka Neko tried to kidnap a little kid by being very sweet and friendly. She nearly succeeded in her evil plan but thanks to the foresight of the kid’s dad, she was stopped when the dad carried his little precious away from her malicious claws. Too bad, Baka Neko. Too bad. Muahahahahah!!! By the time we got down to the ground, the sun was already down and the lights were on, it was already half past seven and I was so tired and thirsty while the other two were more hungry. Hungry??? We went back to Vivocity and had dinner at Terra Cafe where I gave myself a well deserved treat of a refreshing glass of Lemonade. It was sour but, Oh! It was heavenly cold and just what I wanted. We had our meal and a bit of shopping and presto! It was time to go home. Yawn…

Night is when the F1 wannabe racers come out in the pretext of serving the community by being in the public transport line. I got home in half an hour even though I transferred to another bus one-third of the way home. Whatever it was, I got home early. So here I am, sitting at the computer typing and uploading the photos of today. What tomorrow has instore for me, that I do not know. All I know is that in the next half hour, i will be hitting the sack.

A few photos here. The rest can be found on my Facebook.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dedication

Another post dedicated to Baka Neko for the same reason as the last time; “ur blog is sooooooooooo DEAD!”

Nothing much really. It is just that it is now the June holidays, I have been to the new school and have been posted to their marching Band. Cute little children. Did not get what I wanted last week when the results were out and so, was definitely a bit sad. To say that I was not sad is a huge lie. So, I have decided to give my “all” for the next two years, at least, and then I will fly south!!!

Will be heading out to the Henderson Waves with those two tomorrow evening. Some how, I am thankful that God sent those two to me and made my life more colourful or else I would had barely made it through those four years. Thanks, girls for all your extremely stupid but funny antics. I shall bestow on you both the titles of Honorary Clowns that are specially reserved for those truly talented clowns in my circus. You do not need to thank me. I know you must be over the moon and crying for joy. Lol!!! Love you both. Muacks! :*

Right. Back to watching Trick. I highly recommend this.