Siaobai

Review of PASSCHENDAELE

2009-05-10T07:44:00.000-07:00

Today I did nothing really special but I finally got down to watching PASSCHENDALE. I borrowed it from a friend so I had to finish watching it somehow. It is a good show for those who understand history and people, not for dumb people without emotions and going for a quick thrill. This show basically revolves around Michael Dunne and Canadians who served the the First World War.

This show shows its abhorence for war and how naive some young men were. But I guess this story focuses more on love and how the war veteran Michael Dunne manages to throw aside all prejudices and continue to love the lady (Sarah Mann) who is of German descent but has become a Canadian. Of course there's an antagonist in the form of a British who became a Canadian major who was extremely prejudiced. He made life difficult for The Sarah and Michael, and even helped to authorise David Mann (Sarah's younger brother) to go out to fight at the front. This is the very naive boy I am talking about. Anyway he's not supposed to go as he is medically unfit with asthma. Sarah misunderstood Michael and thought he helped to authorise the recruitment of her younger brother to the front for the Canadian Corp.

To cut the long story short, this naive boy David Mann whisks himself to the front, causes the sister's lover to go along to watch over him, and eventually the sister herself - a military nurse ends up over there too. What I cannot understand is the stupid boy charges himself into the trenchline of the enemy and forces Michael to save him. Michale dies in the process but manages to bring David back to his sister. A tragic ending for a love story... but I guess the show wants to remember the Canadians who did contribute to the war (in both wars in fact) but had been forgotten. Perhaps it also reminds us not to be prejudiced towards the innocent who are already citizens of allied nations but happened to be ethnically tied to the nations that started the war.

A moving story for those who have a heart and understands humanities.

12 more days to go~~~ Acquired new toys..

2009-05-08T17:56:00.000-07:00

Just managed to increase my toy collection by finishing on the fixing and assembling plus painting of the 94 TK Tank that was part of the Japanese invasion force that came to Malaya and Singapore in the Battle for Malaya and Singapore. Now I have an additional model to show for lessons. Also found 2 different sizes small violins that serve as great ornaments and I put one on my dearie's doll to actually find that the sizes fit. Lastly the US Marines which I bought at a very big discount (original price of one figure could allow me to purchase all 3 shown here!) to be included in my blog. OK nothing much to update now. Still having bits and pieces of nightmare over the car accident but I should be getting better...

Day 11 without her...

2009-05-02T06:16:00.001-07:00

A most terrible thing happened today... whie going to work with Gavin it rained. So I did slow down my car at the very juncture when the accident happened. I was going at 80km/h ~ not fast already loh...

Then the car in front braked, and did a sudden swerve into my lane!!! What the hell! The car in front was so close that I did not have the chance to go forward to the left (which Mark taught me to) so I braked and the car skidded. I only remembered vaguely not to fight the skidding and just go along with it so I let the car glide itself onto the road shoulder. 3 lanes my car moved and luckily no car came along to hit us!!! The SOB who cut into our lane just went off without a care of whether Gavin and I was alive or hurt! WTH! A kind Samaritarian - an young Indian chap stopped his motorbike to see whether we were ok (at least there are still kind souls around).

Somehow I did not feel very bitter, just fed up with that driver and I thought I handled everything well... I felt sorry for almost putting Gavin's life in jeopardy, I mean like its not my fault but I still feel guilty lah... Anyway everyone was glad we were ok and it was the car that in a way protected us. LUCKY I did not drive fast. FUCK these thoughtless assholes on the road. And the asshole who threw the thrash bag onto the road and make this guy or woman cut into my lane!

Think the last thing I have to think of is to thank God, he must've been watching out for both of us because no car followed up. Damn heng lah! Thank you God for watching over both of us!

Day 10 without darling: National Museum, Gathering at my House - Labour Day

2009-05-01T07:48:00.000-07:00

Today went with my family to National Museum to watch teh Kangxi Exhibition. At the entrance to the National Museum kenna stopped from entering and had to take body temperature first. Super sien. Only later then did I realise that the swine flu situation had worsened. However we finally managed to enter the whole place and did a lot of visiting around. It was a nice trip with my family even though it was tiring. Finally we had to rush off as I need to be home to let my students come into my house to have the gathering at my house.

I quickly got back home to have a few of them already waiting downstairs. Finally let them in and they started getting everybody here and prepared. It was a tiring and hot and warm time but I got to watch 'Wolverine' and "Role Model' with the kids before we took a few pictures and said our goodbyes. The food was overwhelming again and I think 2 days of unhealthy food is really terrible to my stomach and body. :OP

Day 7

2009-04-29T05:57:00.000-07:00

Day 7 with someone being not around.

Today my workplace decided to break a Guiness World Record by having the 'Bangla Dance' and somehow our level meeting was cancelled so we could support this event. It was hot and really heaty but kinda fun. I had done some event with over half of my class who was also there to support the event. These guys are so wild. I think only I can put up with them to a large extent....

Cambodia - Reflections

2008-12-15T21:40:00.000-08:00

First of all, the experience was not far off compared to Vietnam Ho Chi Minh City, however the remarkable difference was in the temples which the local Cambodians, who called themselves Khmers were proud of. The only other country that can claim heritage of having built such temples - called Wats would be Thailand - which inevitably lead to the recent border dispute.

Siemreap was the area for the visiting of all the Wats. The greatest of all the Wats would be Angkor Wat - making all other Wats dwarf in comparison to its immense size. The time I spent at Angkor Wat was perhaps 3 times more than any other Wats I visited. The most disappointing moment was when I reached the 2nd last tier of the temple only to find the highest point is under renovation.... a project that will drag into year 2009. Angkor Wat was build by Suryavarman II (refer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suryavarman_II)
The other Wats also had their own distinct features and showed a splendour in their days of glory. Most well remembered (I really meant well remembered caused its either a lot of walking or a lot of climbing) would be the
Phimeanakas (Khmer: ប្រាសាទភិមានអាកាស, Prasat Phimean Akas, 'celestial temple') or Vimeanakas - the place where the then king had to spend a night on top of the temple with a Naga (snake or reptilian) girl every night. Otherwise either the kingdom would fall or he would die. (refer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phimeanakas) One must remember that such myths or folklores are severely exaggerated at times.
Since King Jayavarman VII (7) was someone that was prominent enough to be found in the history textbooks I read before, it was no wonder he was a traditional hero to local people. He was the one who brought the Khmer Empire to the peak of its power (according to both local and foreign sources). Angkor Thom - which was preceded by high walls guarded by statues of guards - was said to be his playground (refer to http://i-gotta-go.blogspot.com/2008/11/angkor-thom-king-jayavarman-viis.html) . He also build Ta Prohm in honor of his mother and Preah Khan in honor of his father. I had the fortune to visit all three and take pictures of them.

Enough of Wats, I visited so many I lost count of them... as well as most of their names. Most of the Wats are undergoing reconstruction - or I should say projects that aim to strengthen the structures without too many changes as much as possible. The life of the boat people (which I visited on the 3rd day) was both interesting but also a reflection of living standards of most Cambodians. The Tonle Sap Lake was so massive that I felt like I was at sea!

Phnom Penh turned out the be the least interesting place of all. Even the museum itself felt stifling. The Killing Fields and the School (known as S21) where many were tortured and killed for crimes they never committed is worth one look (I really meant ONE) as you can read up the rest of the story yourself. I missed the video at the school which airs at 10am and 3pm but I don't really felt I've missed much as I've bought a related video years back by myself. Despite knowing what had happened, it was still chilling and eerie to be there particularly when it was close to evening.

Another great place was the beaches of Sihanouk Ville. Just imagine you are visiting Phuket in its early stages before more tourists and human activities corrupted the place. I was literally looking at fishes on the beach and crabs running across my feet! Its a great place to nua.

If you're going Cambodia.. brings lots of US dollars... these people do not seem to holdtheir own money in high regard. Their money is better used as small change - e.g. USD 0.25,0.5 & 0.75.

Backtracking to Saturday 15th

2008-11-16T15:48:00.000-08:00

Went out for a celebration with the ex-JW kids - Kah Han and Andy's birthday. They've changed slightly over these few months. A pity Tinglei didn't join them. It was one outing that- for the first time I did not see her join them. The highlight of the whole gathering ... to me before I lef

t... was Mardiyah spoiling her slipper in the middle of Orchard Road of all places .... :oP

Da Jie's Baby Full Month + Visit to Kranji War Memorial

2008-11-16T07:13:00.000-08:00

The two greatest event so far was Da Jie's son reaching his full month, unknowingly she had named her son Keith, so together with her husband Charles, she owns a Charles & a Keith! I also brought Renee along for the gathering and... hee.. kinda happy that she came along. David Lim was there with his whole family. So was David Liew Sandra, Kathleen, Zuomin, Stacey and baby Anastasia. Alice left earlier for a briefing of her trip to France, and Christine and Hilda were involved in the same briefing so they did not turn up for this event.

Visited the Kranji War Memorial the very next day.. which is today. Feeling of sadness came over me as I read the details of those who've passed on and who they were. So many of them were younger than me and did not get to live even past 30. There were Gurkhas, Indians, British, Europeans, Chinese.... and there were even tombstones that remembered soldiers without names! Serious! They came from all walks of life and were servicing in the medical corps, navy, air force, Fusilers, Artillery, Riflemen, Volunteer Corps... just name it.

The place also included the relatives of the deceased and also the resting place for two of Singapore's ex-Presidents. Yusof Ishak and Benjamin Sheares. Makes me wonder where is President Ong's?

New Camera + School Annual Dinner

2008-11-12T02:47:00.000-08:00

I bought a new camera!
Been wanting to buy a model of camera that can react fast with clear sharp pictures. I decided not to wait anymore and just do what I want. The older camera wasn't so bad.... but after my student from the first school lost my rechargeable batteries, I found it takes up a lot of electricity. It also reacts slowly after each shot. I cannot do candid shots I want with it. So finally I hope this Canon G-10 would be great! :O)

I put it to work almost immediately and could tell the difference between the effects of a better camera!
The camera went into action on Tuesday night yesterday for my school's Annual Dinner. Grand Shanghai at Corpthorne was great looking and the atmosphere was pretty good. The quality of the food is great too but the only problem was the qunatities were so little we barely could fill our stomach. Here are some shots... and may a better year come, not before I enjoy the holidays!!

The table we sat at...

The high quality food.... and little quantity...

Free songs performance... and some really good colleagues..

And so ends our Annual dinner... and I was tempted to go home and eat some more....

The past 2 months

2008-10-26T06:23:00.000-07:00

A lot of things happened here and there. I did not have photos to remember all. Let me try and remember.... Gathering of many of us at Da jie's place. But found out I have to miss the Friday gathering as I have to go Thailand. Went Thailand amidst the fears of riots in Bangkok. But nothing was touched. I saw no rioters and came back heavily loaded with lots of shopping stuff!! heeeee

I found out Cheryl has settled down with her honey across the street near BLSS!!! Haha so near me! Met up with David Liew and the ladies Amy Angela Cheryl and Joey to catch up at Holland V before exams came.

PE - Presiding examiner for Year 2 level..... super shag... was waking up at 4am plus every morning. Haha my good sister Alice had to suffer waking up early too for nearly 2 weeks!!!

Jeffrey Sim got married and I was a brother from dawn to dark... it was super tiring.... Oh, one of the pictures is of his room that has a see through glass panel!

James got married too. I just had to turn up and go home. But next day was work so it was quite tiring lah....

Da jie gave birth to Keith. Now officially she has a Charles and Keith in her family!!! David Lim visited us and his baby girl is soooooooooo cute!!!! We chilled out at Ice Cold Beer Bar later on. Was scolded by Hilda for not updating her about my life! So sorry. Cuz my friends all have their own probs and I dint wan them to be piled with more of it. Oh! This is David's baby girl!

2 of my colleagues have left NPCC.... and I have to do more things now!! :OP sigh....

End of the school term for my kids... miss them haha especially my form class 2.08. A most jovial class I'd ever had.

Saw my class for next year. They don't seem as fun as the class I had this year.... hmmmmm

Geez now that I list out what I've gone through it does not seem like a lot of events after all... or is it?

Never to be

2008-09-21T06:50:00.000-07:00

Today is a day for me to remember. The possibility of going with someone ended rather abruptly. But I'll like to thank her for the time spent. I choose to remember the happier times and overlook the black spots on the black paper.

I've learnt quite a lot from her but I don't know about her part. Henderson Waves was a nice place to visit for a short walk. It'll be a place I remember forever I guess.

Spending Time at interesting places

2008-08-19T03:07:00.000-07:00

Been visiting areas outside of my zone of familiarity for the past few weekends. Learning and processing all these new places. But I am afraid I caused a fair bit of frustrations to someone in the process. I believe I'll actually introduce her to my zone of familiarity so that I'll not make her 'pek chek'. At least if I lose my way here I'll likely know my way out.

Here's the place where she introduced me to go. I must say I like the environment and the food, its called Stiff Chilli. However I did get itchy in my mouth, and I attributed it to one of the spices there which caused it.

Another place I'll like to introduce would be Qun Zhong Eating House, known as 京华小吃。Unfortunatel I did not take any pictures there. Its nearer to walk there from Outram MRT station than from Tanjong Pagar MRT station. I remembered it'll be adjacent to the road that leads straight in from Outram MRT (hint: its the only exit from underpass that is across the road) and look for Neil Road. Food's not bad but its so popular and good a lot of people frequent that place, even Japanese! Its normal to share a table with others. No booking is allowed. Parking is available but follow the rules and do not try to con the carpark attendant as I saw him constantly on the move. :O)

Last weekend & this

2008-08-02T09:40:00.000-07:00

Last weekend CIP was conducted in the morning with my form class....... so tired.... had to make sure those fellows really did some rubbish picking and we really had a lot to pick at the beach. The rest of the park was quite clean at Labrador Park itself. I attempted to climb the 'forbidden place' by myself and did get there but not without scratches and a few slips and falls.. -__-

That very night was another almost all-nighter at the same spot. The museum was opened for the public and I visited for freeeeeeeeee!!! Heeheehee. Who doesn't like free stuff? Call me 'cheapskate'? Hey FYI to anyone museums in other countries are free to public ok. The most interesting things that night were the lightning changes to the museum and the big 'sculpture' showing off his penis to the public. We are supposed to view it as a form of art. I have NO DOUBT everyone was looking at it from that artistic point of view... yeah right.

This weekend? No photos for now but I will upload them another time maybe. The FOA at ACS(I). I've attended 2 so far and am going for the 3rd one tomorrow. Must say that this school's standard is quite impressive after what I've encountered in the other 2 schools I've taught. Even amongst schools there's a difference in standard. Guess inequality happens everywhere. But I did enjoy the choir, dance and band so far. Let's hope Philharmonic is as great tomorrow...

2008-07-19T21:15:00.000-07:00

s betThis week that's just passed's been pretty jam packed and busy as well as fulfilling towards the end. I was up until 2am plus this morning, and for someone who usually can force himself to stay awake for most things I was gone in less than 30 seconds when I hit the bed.

The first event of the week, not Sunday but Monday - was CIP (Community Involvement Programme) for the kids at HWA (Home for the Handicapped Welfare Association). They had a tour of the place and except for Ben Yeo and gang whom I had to constantly keep under close survelliance, the class was generally well-behaved (phew~ thank goodness). They were helping to unpack goody bags and folding letters, putting these into envelopes and pasting addresses on envelopes... I took a few pictures and videos before I joined in the fray. Actually it was quite fun, coming to think of it, but we got literally tired towards 5pm.... +__-

Next thing - on Tuesday was the field trip to Labrador Park - the Secret Tunnels of Labrador. With the low turnout for number of students, from 40 to 20 due to the many events in school such as Festival of Arts and Sports competitions, I was worried the whole thing had flopped. But I'd have to say, thanks to the uncle who was our guide along the trip, things turned out to be much better than expected. It was a blessing that the number or students was only 20, because each tunnel section could squeeze in just that number of people, not including Gavin and myself. I guess the most interesting aspect was when the uncle let us grope in the dark when he switched off all the lights for about less than a minute.

Friday - CCA day, I was suddenly requested to help out with bringing students to an excursion to the Supreme Court, old and new. It was ok after we managed to clear the security, whereby I had to quickly deposit my swiss knife with the counter and all contents on myself.... rather hurriedly. The portraits and introduction to our legal system's beginnings and pioneers were so-so. The more interesting event was when we got to visit the old Supreme court (which would be closed forever soon) and went through the places they go through before they reach the court of appeal. We also got to visit the Chief Justice's office (the first few, not the current one). The whole sequel was enriching but due to the fact that we were told we could not upload photos I will only put those that the public can already see from outside the building.

Saturday night till Sunday morning - there was a Dance in the Sky and Fire Dance event at the front of National Museum and the Campus of SMU (Singapore Management University). From what a local 'over-enthusiast' beside me said, and I overheard, Saturday was much better with fewer people. It was great to hear soundtracks I so love as they play out or dance to the tunes - that was for the Sky Dance. The Fire dance was more jam packed and I felt they wasted a lot of water trying to show pictures on droplets of water they were spraying over a raised platform. However I have to credit the 'fire-dancers' who had to dance with the heat all around them, dealing with the props and sweating it out. And so ends the event of the day... except I was blamed for not bringing my extra 1 GB SD card as my friend ran out of memory space on the camera... sorrie lah.... :oP

2008-06-29T07:37:00.000-07:00

Toy Convention for the 3 days was really interesting and even though the scale of it is not large I enjoyed it! I was there for the first and last day and grabbed toys of the shelves at a really cheaper price. I also grabbed Mahou Sensei Negima (if that was how its spelt) 2 characters along with Onegai Twins and a set of GundamSeed Destiny toys. I also grabbed a evil GRIFFON robot from the series Patlabor at half the cheapest price I could find on the market!

Of course I must thank you (not mentioning your name cuz u probably dun wan me to! :oP) for getting me free tickets on Friday. On the whole it was an enriching new experience. The cosplay in Singapore may not be as significant as those overseas but nevertheless it has caught on some fervour here. The Toy Convention for 2008 ended today. But on the whole it was OK.... not say very poorly organised. I also got to see some famous personalities that Singaporeans are so 'sua-gu' and unaware of. Top creators for their toys or art.

I hope they'll have another Toy Convention next year!

The rest of the Holidays

2008-06-26T23:44:00.000-07:00

The rest of the holidays was filled up with more memorable events like one visit by my ex students who visited me on the Monday right after Father's Day. My 3 Godaughters... I've reason to suspect one of them masterminded a surprise visit to my house. As usual they filled up the whole house and must've caused some distress to my tenants... :oP

The next big event right before the end of my holidays was going with my family to Bali for a trip for 4 days. It was family bonding time to me and in the midst of the holiday, I switched on my hp to find out that 'Da Jie' (Serene Wong) had just lost her mother. Guessed it made me want to cherish mother so much I quickly tried to find her. We all wish our parents will stay around forever...

Anyway the trip to Bali was refreshing and I loved during the explorations on my own. To be pampered by tour agency was a luxury compared to having a backpacking free and easy trip. But I will still attempt the trip I wish to make to Cambodia and North Vietnam at the end of the year.

Oh ya, not forgetting the Festival of Arts closing ceremony. I had to rush back and just managed to get a seat with... let's not mention who cuz that person may not give me permission to mention names. The seat was on the grass anyway, the closing ceremony was so-so. It wasn't very SPECTACULAR but it was ok. Except for a great ball of fire that really 'wowed' the crowd for a while. There were a few very irritating kids behind us who kept talking non-stop until I started imitating them. Haha. And with the end of the closing ceremony for FOA in Singapore at Bedok Reservoir...School, that means work, started the next day... :o(

These 2 days?

2008-06-06T21:41:00.000-07:00

The Lord of the Rings Symphony: Six Movements for Orchestra, Chorus and SoloistsSingapore Festival Orchestra Chorus of the Slovene National Theatres Maribor and Ljubljana Singapore Lyric Opera Children’s Choir...

A Friday night at Esplanade watching the LOTR concert was really satisfying, gratifying and touching. I think I loved LOTR not because of the movie but because of the music that was put together with the movie. To hear it in front of me in the form of a live concert is the best thing that has happened so far. Of course the price of the tickets would be expensive to many, but hell I don't care because its time to spend money on myself instead of on someone else which I've been doing for the past few years. Embarrassing maybe, but I was moved close to tears as I picture the music and the movie moving together, however the last four 'Moments' on The Two Towers and Return of the King was a bit faster and 'shortcut' in feeling. Nevertheless I give praise to the orchestra which was almost two-thirds Asian and one-third Caucasian. Hard to believe but there was some humour among all this 'seriousness' when the two little girls who sat near the conductor did not know how to carry themeselves (such as bowing, thanking the audience) and the conductor was just shaking his head with a smile and instructing them what to do.

To reach home late and wake up the next day in this nice cool rainy weather was an added bonus. I decided to watch 'The Holiday' since I've kept it aside for so long. Its been a long time since I watch such shows. The perception of love has not changed much. Compared to SATC, The Holiday sounds like a fairy tale but I believe in the goodness of it. SATC is just more realistic in their outlook at life. Its great to see Cameron Diaz and Jude Law, my two favourite

personalities starr in this show as lovers. Ironing clothes while watching a movie like this with a cool breeze and rain outside never felt so good. Watching the movie also helped me released more of myself and forget about someone more as time goes by. I feel a sense of calm over me and felt I had to keep this here. (But along the way I also noticed my English is deteriorating, but who cares, many have blogs typed in an English language in a more terrible state). I know I could have stopped and checked and correct some mistakes but there is just too many other more important things to do! I want to do WHATEVER MAKES ME HAPPY.

Holiday? Hmmm maybe not

2008-05-28T23:18:00.000-07:00

Right after Parent Teacher's meeting, the next day I was engaged in doing CCA over at Pulau Ubin over the weekend. That one's ok. What I did not expect was to have my Saturday burnt as well in an army mobilisation OVER NIGHT! I mean which unit mobilises overnight? One of its kind.

Pics of some scenes from NPCC Kg Bahru site. A view of the sea and Sky.

Anyway I managed to clear most of the hecitc work this week liao. Sigh, two weekends gone. I must use the rest of it nicely to plan for my end of year trip also. Pretty cashless too cause my sister accidentally ram my car backwards, and Dad and Mum just loaned money to buy a new car. So low now... Haha but not serious enuff. Still ok. The car still looks ok.... from the front.

Just sent it for repair today.. Hope to get it back asap!

Past 2 days

2008-05-21T06:49:00.000-07:00

Brought students on Learning Journey into Chinatown. Although the trail was almost the same, it was different with your own form class and my kids were a whole lot of fun, though some of them really needed me to stop them from misbehaving. The hot weather burnt out most of us. It was tiring more because the weather was too warm. Anyway I got to buy my favourite food from the famous egg tart shop and also visit Maxwell market to eat some food. Joshua didn't like the food there that much, maybe he had too much of food there before. But the trip was enjoyable because of the people you go with! Not forgetting some of the funny antics of my students James and Jay hahahaha!

Today, a lesson on patience, the sound system was poor and we could not really hear the speeches being made for the drama. The hardest and trying part was to try and keep the students awake and listen. Tired....

OK, a few hours later is the MAN U and CHELSEA match. Got to go!

Just the past 2 days

2008-05-18T19:28:00.000-07:00

Above pictures taken at Suntec Carshow.

Think I did quite a bit of reflection for the past few days. Realise that playing games is really addictive to me in my case. Although my control is better now its not enough in my opinion. Anyway watching 'What Happened in Vegas' is really great - never had a hilarious and touching romantic comedy like that for a long time. Its been years but Cameron Diaz's still hot! Also really observed the fountain at Suntec at night, never took the trouble to as I never thought much of Singapore... :oP but it turned out to be quite nice. A pity I didn't record down the video probably.

This morning's run was great, there was still a slight pain in the knee but its not as jarring as before. The best was when I listened to the soundtrack from Deep Blue Sea (special soundtrack) and watched the clouds above me drifting by. The feeling was exhilarating, that was what I thought to myself as I lay on the bench after some 'crunches' exercise. A pity that Gavin was not in the mood to eat breakfast as he probably played games till 4am this morning. Anyway the following is a picture of the sky.

Ok the gathering at Weiping's hse has just been pushed back to 1pm. I'm going off...

Visit to Sentosa_Special move to UNDERWATERWORLD

2008-05-05T22:25:00.000-07:00

I've not been to Underwater world like in almost a decade? It was impressive enough to me still. I still remember the last Sea Aquarium or something like that which I visited when I was 6 or 7. So its still fascinating to me to see all these sea animals. I like watching documentaries and the effect of this place didn't make it seem like the animals were in captivity. Really nice. I don't recall seeing the type of crabs last time which I saw in this visit. Cute and also impressive. I like the ones that look like the prehistoric sea animal(top in very dark water).

Its almost two months

2008-04-24T06:29:00.000-07:00

Life has been a hell busy so far. But it has become normalised for me. Made friends with quite a few new colleagues and always looking forward to eating out with Gavin, Alice and an occassional friend. Think I should invite Mark along more often.

Oh, CNY ended with a last gathering with Ms Chew, actually shouldn't call her that anymore cuz she's married with two sons. She still looks like our ODAC JJC Ms Chew from 10 years ago leh!! Wah she really can preserve her looks, her husband toO! It's nice to see Jingting Yanbin Xiuping Max and many others with their husband and erm... come to think of it, the guys all go no partner one wo. Haha. Jinting's daughter behaves just like her whereas Xiuping's kids are lively as well. BUt Ms Chew's sons are really very tall. The boy in blue in the picture is only 4 years old! Sigh... can't believe the children nowadays are fed so well...

Anyways, glad that now most of my JWSS kids have picked themselves up and are doing OK at polytechnic. But only recently, after meeting up with some of them including my 2 godaughters then I found out that my most darling Godaughter TL has moved out of home. Hmm hope she can cope with outside life with a friend. Then again her survival skills have always been quite strong.

Its soon to be exam time again. But as long as I create my lessons ahead of time I should be doing fine. But hor, the more I create ahead of time the more I find I have to do... Sigh... will it ever end? Think because of my own standard I refuse to recycle most lessons fully unless there is almost nothing to add. Okie got another video to edit again! Must update this soon. Hopefully the next time I do I should have already contacted Thilo and ask him about education in Germany. Sigh, its a tough decision now with a lot of things to consider...

4th Day of CNY

2008-02-16T18:53:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah,

I'm backdating again... well it was so hectic for this two weeks, in fact right now I'm trying to get this done quickly before my 5th and last batch (more like a pair for the last one) of students visit me as part of CNY. Think Kumar and Peiqi should be here anytime soon.

Well backdating to the 10th of February, the first group that visited me was the BPGH group. This bunch, though still rather rowdy in their teens, do have a heart of gold. I just hope they'll grow up to be good people. It does not matter to me if they're very successful or not. This society needs solid hardworking men and women, not an elitist based society that can only dictate and can't do all the work. Thanks Kelly for doing the organising, and I really didn't want to play blackjack and mahjong one but since u all suggest and want me to participate... hee. But I appreciate all of you for turning up! Cheers and please do your work as you're told to in school ok?

The 2nd group was My Godaughters' group. This group was much larger and those who really came have a lot of heart. They were my 1st batch and those in my form class, well I've always consider them some sort of children of my own to protect and care for. As I told them the care given will only be for this group and it'd never be the same for the other groups I've ever taught. My dear JWSS batch of students 2004 to 2007. I wish you all the best for your future endeavours ok? No matter what happens stay strong and funky!

CNY So far

2008-02-09T07:23:00.000-08:00

So far Chinese New Year has been fun and I'm like soooooo busy. Today, wow for the 1st time I'm updating my blog on time and not backdating!

Today Shermaine and gang came early in the morning followed by Wei Jin and gang in the afternoon. All of them wan me to be 'Jin Kheh'. I only did so for the 2nd group. Sigh, feel very bad leh like setting bad example to them. 9am start liao, so tired, kenna woken up by Shermaine's msg then had to get ready. slept at 2am this morning as I was testing out Halo 3 and The Last Odessy at ah BEng's house on his X-Box. Yawn yawn.

Then Mum say must reach Auntie Nancy's house early for her party. Sigh so we go SOOOO early that everyone else was so late! Finally bought 'JUST FOLLOW LAW' cuz I can't seem to find anyone to lend me the VCD. Turned out to be quite funny and nice. Maybe I'll just play it when the BPGH kids come tomorrow to visit. And that is .....before my Godaughters' group comes too. Die lah, dunno if enuff red packet!

Thats all for today. It seems little but I think I'm exhausted...

Afterthought for January

2008-01-28T05:13:00.000-08:00

Year 2008 January was much better to me..

I remember really hugging my mum as I handed her an Hong bao for her birthday.... ironically she gave one back to me in the same month. You see.... we are both January babies. But after what has happened, somehow my bond with my parents never felt stronger, now its definitely much stronger! I guess young people like us tend to forget about our parents and only 'run back crying' when we come across difficulties outside of our life. I'm actually quite glad that I was the one betrayed in the relationship so I do not have qualms about anything. I'm still trying to be wiser and less kind-hearted cuz I know it just doesn't pay to be a nicez guy all the time.

Had to bring students of ACS (I) overseas for our Overseas Education Programme. Have to admit we got closer in bond but I did warn the kids never to overstep the line. But lower secondary kids have always been adorable and once you've taught them at that level they just get acquainted with you easily when the proceed on to upper secondary. Anyway for our time spent at OEP the school granted us a day off on Friday -18th Jan which was my birthday! haha! That day went for 'tui na' to deal with the problem with my injured ankle and toes and blood that could've clot was extracted out - not very painful. Alice went along to see to her problems too and after that treated me to lunch as form of my birthday treat.

So the next touching thing that happened was my JWSS kids who booked a chalet for their last gathering before obtaining their O level results and also inviting me to celebrate my birthday. It was a Rasa Sentosa so it was easy for me to pop out of there to Vivo City to celebrate my birthday there with the Bukit Panjang gang before I went back to the chalet. Got a heart attack - dint happen to me just a statement - when my dearest Godaughter Tinglei had an asthma attack. Wilson carried her from the beach while I carried her the rest of the way up and got help. So fearful something would happen to her but it was ok so far. Then again left at 5am to prepare for Dedication day of all ACS schools.

Snapshots of me and JWSS kids who've graduated this year since at Rasa Sentosa.
Kuofeng caught in the act.
Mardiyah - probably she took this herself
Amanda. so xian su.
I was watching Coffee Prince with Andy.
Mard with Yanting. Mard can u explain y u r everywhere?
2 of my darling god daughters who were at the chalet

Photo I missed out 1 Wilson!

Dedication Day with a number of ex-colleauges (Susan was there but I only said hi to her, a pity Yappy Yap has left) in the AC family. Hilda and Zuomin treated me to ice cream for my birthday. After that it was back home repack and back to Rasa sentosa for the last time. Watched the rest of the 'Coffee Prince' discs there and slept around the place cuz there were too many kids around. Finally all had food at the nearby hawker centre opposite Harbour Front and went home.

The next big thing was the kids' results and I was glad that the group closest to me made it. Cept Mardiyah has a small problem with Maths D and she plans to retake it next year loh. Overall my prayers were answered and all my Godaugthers made it! Even the most worrisome girl of mine Tinglei! Thank goodness. Now I just want to wait for the next batch who are currently Sec 5 and 4 to finish with this school and I'll not go JWSS to see anybody again... maybe except for Aziz and gang if they are still around.

Finally Gavin gave me a treat along with Alice at Concourse, quite sad to hear that place will close down soon but most of the shops are shifting to somewhere else and its not much diff. Well think thats about all that happened this month and shall sign off now. I do hope to get use to the busy start of school and start exercising again!

Finishing up

2008-01-27T05:25:00.000-08:00

Think I've been too busy and dragged for too long,

The last day in Vietnam Ho Chi Minh city area again was our visit to the Cao Dai Temple, Chu Chi Tunnels and some handicraft factory. Although we went on two different buses, we still ran into our German friends at the handicraft factory.

Below are some pictures of the handicraft factory, its suppose to be our 1st stop. But it feels almost like those places we visit in Thailand, just that they have a unique way of putting these pieces of art together using shells and eggshells. Really beautiful.

Cao Dai Temple:

We visit this place almost close to noon under the really blazing hot sun. The Cao Dai religion is a mixture of Catholic, Taoist and Buddhist religion which is too complicated for me to understand. Most of the believers are in white and the seniors seem to be in red, yellow and blue. We were there to witness a ceremony which after some time I got a bit 'sian' with it and just went off to find their toilet which is located far away.

I really liked teh Chu Chi Tunnels most, being the history teacher that I am. I went through the already lengthened tunnel in terms of its width and height and it feels so cramped still! It was originally 0.8 by 1.2, they've actually increased it to 1.2 by 1.6metres and still it feels so cramped. I knocked my head once only but think the girls got their head knocked more than once. Maybe except for Hilda cuz she's so small in stature. We did a 'Blare Witch Project' of our own as we huffed and puffed. Halfway through Alice lost sight of the people in front and she got quite scared. So fortunately I had my torch and I just passed it up to the front. After leaving the tunnels with a few photos taken, we went to their shop by the live firing range and I ate another ice cream. So cheap! Then I took pictures of the Ang-Mohs there firing the weapons. I was quite impressed with the Russian AK 47 Assault rifle as it was actually shorter than I thought!!

That night I went around the places I visited the previous night and started buying. I bought lots of Tee shirts and 4 Vietnamnese helmets and went around, running into the girls and our German friends ( oh ya I separated from them to do my own shopping).

13th morning our very last day was spent at the Museum.We paid a small fee and entered and I must say I was quite disappointed with what I saw. There weren't many things to look at except for some display and stuff related to Vietnam's way of life and the war. I came back to Singapore to realise that I missed out on the War Crimes Museum. I think the next time I go back to Vietnam I must visit that place.

Ok very rushed but I think I cannot be too detailed because I need to include other things about my life too especially since the month of January was special for me.

Vietnam 11th

2007-12-20T22:18:00.000-08:00

Day Four

Back to HCM city – a shorter trip and more shopping! / Booking of Cu Chi Tunnels and visit to Cao Dai Temple

The 2nd night in Dalat after our morning trip was spent eating dinner with our German friends.

We did discover that its too cold to stay outside for too long in this mountainous area - on our first night. So we learn our lesson and did not stay out too late the 2nd night. However we did discover to our shock and amusment that the hotel we stayed in pulls down the shutters after 11pm! It seemed a norm for some hotels in Vietnam, so its best to check out with the hotel workers whether they have some form of 'curfew' for their tourists!

Our breakfast on our last day at Dalat was a restaurant with a breathtaking view of the little town. As you can see in the pictures.

Our trip back allowed us to stop by a place for rest - this place must be a factory where intermediate production of tea leaves and coffee is carried out. I notice some of the ladies were hired to do processing or 'sorting' of leaves of some sort. Another amusing thing was the lady boss of the place who started grabbing a few of the guys including me! She wanted to take photographs of one of her girls serving us coffee as a form of advertisement. So we were all treated to coffee with pictures of us being served by this lady in blue ( who's definitely dolled up for the occassion)

We were quite happy with the same company that booked the Dalat trip for us. So we went back to the same agency and booked our Cu Chi Tunnels and visit to Cao Dai Temple. If I remember clearly its 'Star Travel' and one of the workers is actually a Chinese Vietnamnese. They were helpful and friendly. Even though the trip downhill back to the city was less than 7 hours this time, it was still quite late when we reached Ho Chi Minh City. Therefore we went for our own shopping. As for me, I decided to separte from my female companions as they have different tastes and pace of shopping. I walked around and took pictures of the Reunification palace and Church of Notre Dame and I think I took a picture of their historical post office or something like that.

However we met up later at a famous Ngor Restaurant to eat our dinner. Now for the guys, I think this is something prevalent in many countries when men walk alone or in pairs. Some ladies will ask if you want a trip with them and say hello to you. Beware, for unless you are interested, most of these ladies are prostitutes. I guess its a small issue but it gets slightly irritating when pimps and these hookers keep asking you non-stop. There are many beggars in the streets too. If you must give one of them something, make sure other beggars are not around, or else you'll find yourself surrounded.

Anyway here's Ngor Restaurant, my friend found it on the internet - this information is not even inside Lonely Planet.

It was one of the few times I actually ate so full after I became more health conscious. But the food there is close enought to be Vietnamese and yet safe enought for consumption. Think of Food Republic - and its slightly like that here except that there're waiters to cater to your orders and get the food from the individual stalls for you. Get the picture?

I'm too ill to describe the other days. Having a running nose. Think I have to do it on a day by day basis to complete my description of the trip to Vietnam.

South Vietnam (8th-10th)

2007-12-15T01:28:00.000-08:00

This part of my blog is more like a personal recount but it can also serve as a example for any would be backpackers to Ho Chi Minh. I must confess that our trip was short as we were restricted by certain circumstances. It carters more for Singaporeans as being one myself, I’ll think in terms of one and ‘in Singapore dollars’.

Certain things to look out for when you go to Ho Chi Minh city.

- Budget hotels are in abundance.

We arrived at a peak season and still we could find a hotel for us to bunk in. The payment is normally in US dollars (information in available on the internet). You DO NOT really need to book those online hotels for fear that you may not be able to find a room. Most of them provide towels, hot water and breakfast (usually just a mini French loaf with either cheese or jam and butter).
- The traffic is horrendous!

I was told its like Taiwan and you have to walk slowly across. In some of the more busy parts of the city. There’s ‘some’ order of traffic lights and the numerous scooters and few cars will stop (although some of them will try to beat the traffic). It is noticeable that the ‘fliter’ rule does not apply to stopping of traffic. For example, if the ‘scootist’ wishes to turn left at a cross junction, he or she can proceed on. Note that all crossing points are marked out like zebra crossings here. If there is no traffic light, you look at the direction the cars are coming from and walk really slowly and try to cross OK? A tour guide told us an average of 4 people die a day in Ho Chi Minh City due to traffic accidents. Don’t be the first Singaporean tourist! The cars and scooters will avoid you rather smoothly. The closest I came to an accident was being hit on my right hand by the side mirror of a lady ‘scootist’.

- Food by the streets

is generally not done in a healthy manner. My friend who dared to try didn’t have anything happening to him. But you never know what can happen. Do go to the restaurants, the food is really much much cheaper even if you eat at their restaurants. I’ll be mentioning some names that have been recommended by either Lonely Planet or we’ve tried it on our own.

- Money

can be less than 500 Singapore dollars if you do not intend to spend a lot but eat a lot. My companions did not spend more than that even though they shopped a lot. It seems that their government is encouraging the use of their own currency, call ‘dong.’ Their denomination is almost as confusing as Indonesian currency. To save yourself trouble, its about S$1 = VND10,000 (Vietnamese Dong). Meals that are related to pork are relatively cheap in Vietnam!
- Useful words (some words I picked up and thought may be helpful)
o Me – noodle
o Xinzao – hello
o Gai Com – chicken rice
o Omlette – French loaf + eggs (yes that’s what happened)
o Bai miu tien – how much
o Cheaper – just say the same word ‘cheaper’, most of the Vietnamese people dealing with
tourists should know by now.
o NE Sinh – Toilet
o Nguoi Sanh – An Food
o Hop Ngum –Drink
o Ga Num – Thank you
o Nam - Water
o Canh – Soup
o Heo – Pork
o Rau Cai – Vegetables
o Ca – Fish
o Tom – Shrimps
o Muc – Squid
o Com – Rice
o Com Jin Ting Rau – Fried Rice with Egg and Veggie

P.S. There is a fake Hard Rock Cafe in the city, also there're fake cabs and another group of my friends told me that they got onto such one. It cost them $18 singapore dollars for a 5 minute trip, even though the 'taxi' had a meter! Check with the locals because like Singapore, there is a fixed licensing plate for taxis.

Day One

Ho Chi Minh Here we come! /Going to District One/Hotel and booking of Dalat Trip/Checking out the city streets

Horrendous is the term I'll use about the traffic in Ho Chi Minh City itself. We've been forewarned but still, the real thing is the killer. Here are some pictures of what we encountered amidst the 'honkin' and 'hooting'. Btw, do not be fed up with most of their 'honking', they're trying to tell you they're approaching or overtaking you. Its their way of life there, not that they're trying to pick up a fight.

The area most backpackers go to is known as District One. Ho Chi Minh is divided into a number of districts. These budget backpacker hotels are relatively cheap if you're sharing with 2 or more other friends to a room. Prices are usually around $USD6. Along these streets, other than the hotels, there're shops and pubs and places for eating too. One word of advice though, do avoid the street food if you do not want to spoil your holiday. I think I have a strong stomach but I'm not about to spoil my holiday like that. There's a shop that's like the 7-11 of Singapore. The large mineral water bottles are priced at VND5000 and the small bottle is around VND3000. That's like S$0.50 and S$0.30. So just drink your fill!

There are numerous shops around Ho Chi Minh City. Along the way people will be peddling their wares to you just like in Thailand, India, China and Indonesia. I did not find any of these worth buying except the copied Lonely Planet books. They literally 'pirated' these books and frankly speaking, the quality ain't too bad!

Day Two

Leaving for Dalat (feels like Malaysia)/Reaching the cool and affluent mountain town of Dalat/ Hotel and Recky

The ultimate highlight of our trip was to leave Ho Chi Minh City to Dalat. The trip was more than 7 hours long and if you've taken a trip to Malaysia from Singapore by bus, you'll understand how things are run. We did not dare to drink a lot and had only 2 stops. One stop was for us to visit the restroom and a small mini-mart while the other stop was for lunch. Almost very much like the way we travel to Malaysia. Take note, if they placed slippers in front of the toilet, you're expected to take off your shoes and wear their slippers to go in!

When we reached Dalat, I could tell the people there looked more affluent and later one of our guides confirmed that Dalat was almost untouched by the wars except for it peripheries. The Americans had recruited a number of fighters from the minority tribes and this had caused some enimity to exist. I do not know how much of it has diminished but I guess it has somewhat diminished because its more than 3 decades since Vietnam was united and the war ended.

Yeap, there was a little mininature Effiel Tower in the town of Dalat. Guess they modelled some things from the French after they managed to claim their independence from them. What we like about the place was it is so cooling. I'd forgotten the fact that high mountains are cold... duh. Luckily we have our jackets with us, I even took the excuse to buy a pair of NIKE woolen gloves (since when did NIKE produce gloves not for sports?). For course these ain't real. Other than the nice cool weather up there we also liked the children we saw. Sooooooo cute!!!!

The next day we started off the trip with visiting the miniority village. Our package consists of visiting a minority village, some of their plantations, flower, tea and coffee, a silkworm farm and a place called Funny House. You'll know why its called that later.

The scenery of Dalat is relatively nice, as these few pictures suggests. However I felt that the viewing of the minority village did not amount to much as there was no contact with any of the minorities there. Most of what we know is through the mouth of the guide and he seemed rather reluctant to talk about the Vietnam war for most of the trip. However, maybe because its his job he still fed us a lot of information about what happened after North and South Vietnam were united.

The pictures above belong to the flower plantations we went to and the last picture on the right is that of a green tea leaves plantation. I was a bit disappointed in that the visit to the tea and coffee plantations was more on the surface kind of thing. We only stopped for a while, looked at the plantations and took pictures. Only the visit to the flower plantation was a bit more meaningful.

I've noticed by now I did not do a proper chrnology of how the events of that day were spelt out. But all of them took place on the same day. I only remembered that one of these waterfalls we visited is called the Elephant waterfall. We visited two in total and both were relatively nice scenic places. It alsot took the heat off us as these areas are much more cooling. Getting the pictures at Elephant Waterfall was more challenging though. It involved a bit of climbing and isn't so tough for the more adventurous.

The Silkworm Factory (will find pictures to add later)

I do not remember if we went there after lunch. But the last two events here if my memory does not fail me should be the visit ot the Silkworm Factory and the Funny House. The Silkworm factory had a smell of vegetables, probably because of the content that was fed to the silkworms. Of course most of us know that silkworms are killed in their cocoon stage by boiling so that the layer protecting them can be obtained in one piece, which will become our silk. What I did not know was that the silk is taken from the silkworms in very tiny little strands and these are not visible readily. To put it simply they start off as 'spiderlike' threads and then they get spun into bigger and bigger threads before they're used to make clothes. Many silkworms have to die for a piece of clothing.

The FuNnY HoUsE

The Funny House is the brainchild of a lady (I'll edit and put in the name if I remember) who studied architecture in Moscow. She's the daughter of a war hero who happens to be the 3rd President of Vietnam. Her 'houses' are a concoction of buildings based on different themes - some look like hauted houses. Some look like that of an animal kingdom. Yet another looked like a bamboo plantation. We were told that one can actually live there just like its a hotel room. However the prices are pretty steep. I forgot how much it is though.

Anyway, what's missing here is our visit to the temples and the viewing of the statues. We visited two in total. One of them has a very meaningful history. Out of respect for Buddhists, no pictures were taken at these places, as much as I would like to share this experience. (Ok, as I re-edited this part I found some photos my friend took of the temples from the outside... so here they are!)

And so ends our Tour of some of the areas around Dalat. Its much bigger than that of course, but we were pressed for time. I'll pretty tired doing these few days. Think I'll finish up the other days another time.

Teck Siong and Michelle's Wedding

2007-11-26T08:23:00.000-08:00

On 24th November: Finally the two are getting married. They have my blessings and its so great to see 2 persons so compatible getting together. Here are some pictures of their wedding. Due to my limited space in my handphone I could only take a few photos.

Teck Siong was still funny and just being himself throughout the wedding, Michelle got a little emo but that was understandable. All in all it was a great gathering for all of us!

Sentosa Gathering with BPGHS

2007-11-21T05:04:00.000-08:00

My BPGHS kids were sweet too in a way. They organised a gathering at Sentosa without bringing most of the proper things and stuff. But on the whole it was fun. Some of they didn't think to bring towels and extra clothings so some last minute shopping was done. Sigh, not to mention that towels needed to be shared and clothes need to be lent! Luckily I arrived with two soccer balls, cards, food and drinks. Otherwise I think they'll not have as much fun siah!

But I appreciate the time spent together and there was a lot of catching up. Thank you guys and gals!

Back from Reservist and My Sweet Kids

2007-11-20T05:12:00.000-08:00

It was a long time since I've blogged. Since the tough going in my NS Unit my spine has experienced problems and I've downgraded my status from PES A to PES C. However I still went for my reservist and contributed in terms of logistics and administration, and it wasn't anywhere less 'siong'. However, it made me 're-appreciate' being outside of army and having my civilian life. Luckily this time the camp was relatively near, it was just 10 minutes' drive from my house! Private Fadli had it even better, he lives right across the road, facing the camp!

After my reservist, and because I'd missed the chalet (13,14 &15 Nov) that the JWSS kids have booked, it seemed my God daughters initiated a steamboat dinner at my house to 'make up' for it (17th November - the day my reservist ends). I had made a video for them and I guess it really touched them and myself too. Many of them have kinda graduated this year and it'll not be easy for them to meet up again when their tertiary education starts. Here is the video itself.

http://www.youtube.com/v/2B1mbRlokmM

It was really sweet of them. At this stage and point of time, these students of mine are most dedicated, sincere and genuinely honest. I must say one of the intangible aspects of teaching is reflected here. Even though some people may think the line is not drawn properly or some 'idiot' and asshole will say its not professional, I think teachers should be people-orientated and not the other way. Anyway, it was really fun that night and thank goodness my tenants are not around so we all had a great time. The following are some pictures of our fun. The girls did most of the cooking and the guys who helped are those who had F & N training. They kinda introduced me to PSP and I was hooked onto it for a substantial period of time, thus incurring the wrath of my most little 'Godaughter' Tinglei who really got very fierce with me. Oh, we finally have a 'Quan Jia Fu' with me and my 3 Godaughters inside. Haha.

So far life's been like that

2007-11-01T07:17:00.000-07:00

Haven't been blogging for a long time. But so far life has been OK. Been going for Chiropractic to 'repair' or rather put my spine back into a correct shape. It has made me feel better and energetic. Also I've manage to get a downgrade! Will be in reservist starting tomorrow and will downgrade. Ya I managed to get a permanent downgrade, with a solid letter from my chiropractioner! Not Chao geng of course, I've faithfully turned up for my reservist until they severely demoralised me and many of my comrades last year with their Exercise Wallaby. And its not even considered an exercise that we have cleared. In fact I dunno if I am wrong, but we were 'volunteered!' My God, I will never forget those days of outfield 5 days 4 nights without proper food, water and we marched 3 nights out of that! I believe my health is more important now...

Here's a blogger prayer for a friend who just finished his/her interview at my school today. I hope he/she can come inside my school and get a job there. I believe that alone will solve many of his/her worries, stress and problems.

One sad thing is I dun think I can turn up for the chalet of my kids who are taking their O levels and graduating this year. Such a sad thing. Sigh. I really want to spend some time with them and see the already grown up them@! Hope the video I make can bring back good memories for them! THat's all... Sigh... Reservist liao...Sianz

What happened for 1 week Sept Holidays till Wednesday

2007-09-13T06:57:00.000-07:00

From the start of the holidays, I actually went back to school with Gavin to prepare lessons for the upcoming term. Did a lot of things actually. By being at school, I found myself more disciplined in doing my work when I went back to school. However, I only went back for 3 days.

During this week I actually went to have an X-ray on my spine because I had to determine whether I need Chiropractic treatment, a process whereby they literally make use of a special machine to 'crack' and adjust your bones back into a proper place. So far it has been determined that my spine IS crooked and needs treatment. Heehee I hope after the treatment my spine will be in a better position and my tummy will be smaller.

Did a lot of counselling this week to a number of people about relationships and dealing with loss. I decide that since I've gained a very sorrowful experience I should teach others how to live with it and get over it, not mourn and sink deeper into it.

Other things I did during the holidays was to eat food cooked by Guohong - who was a relief teacher and therefore my colleague for a short period of time. All of us who went had a great feast at his house.. even though I had a stomach upset later on. But I attribute it to my gluttony. How can I blame it on his food?

The next guy who cooked for me was Charn Koon, ex colleague from JWSS. Almost all of us have left JWSS by now except for Mr Pang, Roy and Alice. The two kids of Charn Koon was so cute! I had to say I really favour the younger son course he is really more obedient and lovely. The sweetest parting gift was his hug and kisses he gave most of us before we went off.

Went to town twice this holiday week and went out.... to a lot of places lah. Dwell into my hobby and made a full Russian Tank squad to be mounted on the Russian Tank T-34. I also made the prize for top history student for end of year. Feel a great sense of achievement both in work and play man! Really happy to enjoy myself this holiday. But I must keep preparing stuff for my students... Cannot stop or else there'll never be enough! Mock Exam, revision, quiz..... Ok GTG and do work now to torture my students! HAHAHAHAHAHA....

Oh before I go - must post the pictures of David Liew and Sherine's production - their daughter! So cute. The visit on Wednesday - only a few of us went but it was jovial enough, for a while we were distracted by the news on tremors but then the focus still went onto the baby. :o)

Visiting Faris

2007-09-04T08:03:00.000-07:00

Went out with buddy Alice today and got my X-Ray done, my things bought not exactly from Concourse but somewhere near there. Got a lot of interesting stuff --- authentic and interesting haha. Then our last stop was to visit Faris and find out how he's doing at Lau Pa Sat. Quite sad to see his fingers had become coarse and swollen from all the work of washing and helping to run the place. He seemed tired but was treated well - afterall its a family business. His uncle and grandfather was there to help him out too. But think he really misses Alice a lot more, afterall she taught him longer and scolded him more... haha. She almost let it all out at the sight of his swollen fingers but I guess Faris believes it has to be part of his growing up.

Dun worry Alice, Faris will be treated well in life. I believe so.

Suddenly have the urge to include this video I took at Heeren when I went out with my army buddy Cheong Pinpin. It was a wonderful sight within a shopping centre. Guess it must've been a great tourist attraction too.

Teacher's Day

2007-09-03T09:03:00.000-07:00

Teacher's Day celebration actually lasted for 2 days for me. On Thursday some of the ACS boys had already given me Teachers' Day gift. So sweet of them, imagine these rowdy or very fit guys actually doing something for you. Some of them actually made cookies! Have yet to taste them yet cuz Gavin took them home by mistake so will do so tomorrow.

On Friday we had a grand celebration. Frankly being the first time celebrating Teachers' Day in ACS (I) felt so glamourous. There's really a red carpet in front after all teachers walked in, lead by the senior admin. It was spontaneous and really felt like a school with a climate of enthusiasm.

However, I still missed my ex students and they actually organised a steamboat outing on Friday itself! Alice and Zuomin were there too! It was really fun and jovial moment for me. They're all so grown up now... Sigh and I am no longer young anymore.

On Saturday, I went out with my parents and their friends who came down from Malaysia. One of whom knew me since I was a child. I ferried them around CCK area and we went to Farmart and visit many different farms and saw things none of the kids of the urban areas thought Singapore would have if they hadn't visit these places at all. After that, in the eventing I went to play pool with Jo, Rudi and Huiyin from BPGHS. Called Katherine and Guohong down too. After that I sent them home and we had supper. What a whole 2 days. Sunday I just let myself rest. But its such fun to be totally engaged and busy.

Well, that was the 30th-2nd of September! Haha.

Today? Nothing much - just that I went back to work with Gavin and managed to do quite a fair bit of work. Didn't even do video editing at all! Then we had great food at Tiong Bahru later on, where Gav took us both to where his childhood eating places were. Great food siah! Shiok man.
Ok GTG sleep already. Maybe more blogging next time.

Dinner at Marina with JWSS ex-students (10th Aug)

2007-08-11T20:30:00.000-07:00

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Damn, brought my camera there and then it says low batt. Anyway it was sheer sin to indulge in so much food and I felt that all my efforts to cut down on my intake was wasted. But oh well it was fun to join them and heartwarming to see them all grown up. Do hope that Zuomin can join next time so I won't be the only teacher around. Oh but coincidentally we ran into a bunch of JWSS seniors, think they were the very first batch (Tan Chuan's batch) eating at the very same place. After that was arcade and LAN gaming and I went straight home, forgoing a date cuz it was really late. Guess probably will go on a date the next day (which I did). Well the long weekend is coming to an end!!!! ARGH!!!

Late posting for 28th July

2007-08-01T05:35:00.000-07:00

This day I went back to visit my former students and the few friends I made at Bukit Panjang Government High. I must admit I miss the students whom I built a rapport with within 6 months and they really brigthened up to me when I went to watch their drama at UCC (University Culural Centre).

I took as many pictures as I could with 2 of my former class/schoomates of JJC and my students. And also watched the performance they put up for their Chinese drama called 'A Huangmei-style Opera: Romance of the Cyprinus Carpio', where many of the students I taught formerly took part.

The only thing I guessed I was peeved about was when some students and I went to the former 'Fong Seng' to eat our orders came half an hour late! By then which the students actually have to rush back to UCC and I had to drive 2 trips to send them there otherwise they will be late - they're student helpers. Sigh... (will be uploading photos at another time)

Israel - Birth of a Nation thru Photos

2007-08-01T04:15:00.000-07:00

Went with sis on a Saturday on the 21st of July to see an exhibition by a famous photographer - a war photographer who took pictures during the time of conflict Israel had with her neighbouring Arab countries. What suprised me was the photographer himself was there. The most interesting aspect of the whole thing was to watch him (back in 1998) search for the very people he took pictures of years ago. It was both a touching and sad story he told us. And like him, I hope for peace in Israel and was really sad with Rabin's death. Can't say I might emphatise with the Jews of Israel but the Chinese did not fair well in the early decades of the 20th century too. The only difference is we had a country while the Israelis had to (re)carve it out themselves.

1st: An Israel mother and her 2 children's house was destroyed in an attack, if I remember correctly it was the Lebanons. 2nd: An Israeli female fighter chooses to take on the job of caring for the wounded. 3rd: A paper with a song of peace that Rabin sang and put in his pocket and was smeared with his blood when he got assassinated by the radical young Jew.

4th: 3 paratroophers watched in awe when they took over the last standing wall in Jerusalem (yes somehow I can't remember its name) 5th: The people of Israel celebrates on an armoured vehicle as it parades through the streets 6th: A poor girl looks forlorn after Israel troops destroy her home for housing arms fo the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organisation).

Events for the Past Week 25-29th

2007-07-01T06:48:00.000-07:00

This past few days have been a week of reminscine and memories. Now I am moving on to another new place and new environment. It was kind of hard to leave of cuz, but I think I have to move on for my own life. I'll miss the students whom I've created a bond for the past few months.

27th: The very first English class I taught at JWSS - 1T1 - all of them have grown up. It was so much fun meeting them after all these years. Kinda feel bad I threw tables and chairs and scolded them when I was younger. I must've been so hot headed then. We still laughed and had fun, of cuz lah, only teachers they like get called down. Stacey and Roland also came with Jadeyn and Anastasia. Its both weird and heartwarming to talk to these big kids now. Rox, thanks for inviting me down, but dint get to see Firdaus and Xiang En.

For the BPGHians I'm leaving, I have to admit I do miss them and feel bad about it at the same time. Even though the time with them was shorter than that at JWSS, the bond wasn't any weaker with some of them. 3B was one of the more friendly and high EQ class I've taught. Some other kids from 3P3 and 3P2, 3L1 and 3M1 I've also made friends with somehow. Yeah I know, I'm supposed to be their teacher. But that's my character, I'm a teacher but I am a friendly person. What to do? To the BPGHians I've known and taught for a short time, you rock! Stay great and enjoy your school life ok?

Past few days

2007-06-21T07:12:00.000-07:00

Been too busy to look at my blog or do any updating, not that there's much to update. But some small things that make me happy is my 3 god-daugthers msging me Happy Fathers' Day and receiving gifts from them. From Vera it came in the form of a card, I suspect Fanny will be giving me something tomorrow but she just don't wanna say anything.

Finally I went to visit VIVIO city and take a look at how it looks like. Its kinda interesting especially with its unique idea of a playground and park at the highest level. Since Mum had been there we went straight up to the highest storey to get food there. Its not cheap of course but at least we got to eat and enjoy ourselves. Haven't been out with Dad and Mum for a very long time, kinda like it actually. To think I abhor going out with them when I was a teenager! :oP

Today went back to BPGH to do duty for NPCC, to see the trees being cut down because, apparently, last week a tree fell down on one of the containers (the one for Digital Media Club) during a rainy day. So after some assessment they had to cut down many trees. Poor trees! The squirrels would probably disappear from the carpark and the carpark is going to be super hot!

Now I just wanna sit back and wait for the new semester to start. Looking to establish myself and get use to things and on to a less stress job.

Sister's Island 2 Day 1 Night

2007-06-16T22:32:00.000-07:00

<-- Sisters' Island from a distance.

Finally the much awaited Sisters' Island trip was made. We went to the island on the left instead of the right (you see there are 2 isles). We went there amidst the rain, which subsided and got bigger and HEAVIER throughout our camp overnight there. However, it was quite an enjoyable trip. I managed to force myself not to think about work and just relax and eat.

Aside from the few of us who taught at BPGH, Yuxian and Arden invited 3 of their friends too. There were Hairi, Jack and Mark. Finding a place to have our things to put and possible BBQ pit was quite a chore. We weren't the only 'island goers' as it turned out. Getting snubbed by a rude boy from Boy's Brigade of (at this crucial juncture I just could not rememer the name of the school) was one of the uneventful things. Apart from that Jack and Yuxian got bitten by hornets when they went exploring up the hill of this island. The hornets' nest were on the ground. They also saw a tombstone on their way up there. Kat fell, etc.

Fadzly, Kat and I went over to a breakwater that was right smack in the middle between the lagoon in front of us and the sea. It was so shallow we could walk over. However there were many stones and I cut myself slightly but did not bleed. Unfortunately my camera ran out of batteries at this point and Jiahui did not manage to take pictures of us.

There was a nice Malay family and after they caught one huge Geroupa <-- is that how its name is spelt, we made friends already, like what Fadz said. It was really heavy and it took Arden a lot of effort to hold it up high.

Making food at night was much better. Apart from the ants getting to us (our BBQ pit had a bunch of rotting leaves behind it), making... or rather heating up our hot dogs and crab meat and nuggets was great. We had so much to eat we even forgot about our marshmellows.

That very night was a great historical event. Why? Finally, Yuxian's team - played the game pictionary and won. Before this, anyone in Yuxian's team just cannot win a game of pictionary. He broke the curse!

We managed to 'survive' the rainy night and the next morning the whole lagoon was practically dried out. We managed to explore around a bit to find crabs but only found a few sea anemone around.

Ford Factory Recky

2007-06-15T08:45:00.000-07:00

Japanese Sword - probably from a surrendered Japanese Officer.

Today, as part of my upcoming job at ACS, I went on a field trip recky with Gavin and his mentor Greg. It was a nice place, to people who like history like me of course. Half wished the toys they were selling is not in 'half-pieces'. To give you an idea of what I am talking about - that means the toy hand grenade is half the shape - like half an apple. They fear people buying these items and using these to threaten people in public I guess.

Head of a poor P.O.W. being cut off by a Japanese Officer as other Japanese watched.

Ford Factory during World War Two, now converted into a museum for the younger generation (hopefully these efforts will pay off) is a good ground to teach history during the Japanese invasion and occupation. However the documentary has - to me, personally I feel there is some propaganda motive behind it... but for its for positive results.

I still learnt a few new things from this visit. Its really like some philosopher's saying:"The more you know the more you know you don't know". Guess if I tell students that most of them would throw away their books and tumble their chairs and say might as well don't learn.

Anyway Gavin got so tired from the whole expedition (I was tired too, but he really looked like he was shagged - by who I won't wanna know), so after some work at school we just scooted home. That very night I still troubled him to lend me his sleeping bag as I prepare for Sister's Island camp this coming weekend.

Starting life all over again

2007-06-12T07:22:00.000-07:00

Just felt like starting the blog today. To me its starting my life all over again and I never felt so free. I will not revolve my life around one person to that extent ever again because in the end the person I hurt most was me and my own family. I now know my parents love me a lot and I will always have them to fall back on. Not that I've lost confidence in the opposite sex totally, but I am still open to making friends, just that I will not be ready for anything more for now..... maybe.

Now more concerned about the people I care for like my 'God-daughters', how they are doing, etc. And how some of my ex-colleagues are doing in that old problematic school. May God bless all these wonderful people all around me and give them joy.