CNY is finally here..

Before anyone points their finger at me and shouts "moneyface!!!!", please do not be mistaken. I'm not hyper happy that CNY is here because I'm going to be getting my yearly ang baos, but more relieved at the fact that I'm going to be able to get sufficient sleep and rest over the next 3-4 days..... :)

Has been an interesting week..so decided to update today since it's the beginning of a loong weekend! yayyy..

Sec 3 Learning Journey: Sculpture's Walk along Singapore River
So Wed (which was also friendship/valentine's day) was CHS' Learning Journey Day. Those who've been reading from here long enough would have read the post last year about the Sec2 battlefield tour that I attended last year for my class' Learning Journey. This year, along with my form class, we went on the Sculpture Walk inside the financial hub and along the Singapore River.
Actually, comparing last year's and this year's journey, think the Battlefield Tour was more interesting in terms of theme covered..was more impactful I felt.

Nevertheless, I think the sculpture walk was not bad too. If not for the learning journey, I perhaps would not even notice that those sculptures that we visited were actually there. Learnt a little about how to appreciate a sculpture, the different types of sculptures, the materials they are made of, their significance & meaning, etc.

Some pics from the Learning Journey....

At our first sculpture..

Our 2nd sculpture...I think called "Progress & Advancement"

A 'low-relief' part of "Progress & Advancement"

My form class in action!

Does this look like a combination of many boats combined into one sculpture? :)
Listening intently to our guide...
Funky project Stamp..a competition where winning entries get painted onto mailboxes all over the island.
After visiting the sculpture called "Bird"..
As you can see, this is my class' favourite sculpture.. :S
Told you it's their favourite sculpture...... :P
"Ku Cin Ta Cats"..apparently one got "adopted" home by a passerby who loved it too much..
And this is all of us, back in CHS :)

Should have been a really lovely day out with my class...if not for the fact that I was actually very ill. This current bout of flu that I've been having since last Fri is seriously a strong strain. I think I've never had more intense muscleaches from a flu, ever. I suppose I could have actually taken an MC and not gone on the learning journey....it's just that, I really treasure opportunities like that for class bonding..when the class is not in their usual classroom surroundings, when things are more relaxed and more conducive for interaction, where we can have casual chats.

Think I would have been much more chatty and interactive had I not been suffering from the bad muscleaches, sore throat and fatigue......
Thanks to my accompanying colleague and my 2 able chairmen, the whole learning journey carried on smoothly without much glitches, even though I was functioning at only about 40%. THANKS :)

South-Zone Volleyball Finals TODAY
Went down to Yio Chu Kang sports hall to support the CHS volleyball team in the volleyball finals today after our CNY celebrations in school.
Was an exciting 3 sets that we watched...we won the first, lost the second, and finally won the third! Woohoo!!
I LOVE watching matches and cheering for the kids..it's great feeling to give support to our own players, especially since I teach some of them ;) I just wish there were more of us there to give stronger support..think it makes a difference to the cheers to have more people there.
Nevertheless, we have won today!
Hopefully there'll be fuller and stronger support at the nationals :)

How to apply eye cream?

I am currently typing this post with one eye closed. 0.o
That's coz I have a slight eye infection... and please can someone tell me how to easily apply EYE CREAM into the eye?! Arrghhh..like how in the world to put eye cream into the underside of my upper eyelid?? The cream just keeps sticking to my eyelashes and all......and gravity pulls the small little tube of cream down everytime i squeeze out that 1 cm to put under my eyelid =((

And woohoo, i'm down with flu AGAIN. AGAIN!?!? I thought I was fit as fiddle, then suddenly I started sneezing and coughing on Thursday night. Seriously couldn't figure out how come I suddenly got the flu again since I have been resting enough as the common test has taken away quite a few math periods. THEN, I realised. I got the flu from a neighbouring colleague who's pretty sick -.- Fang guo wo baaaaaaaa..................

Thankfully I finished marking the common test scripts yesterday..stayed in school till I finished. Yay.
Most did pretty well....BUT, there are still failures. At least one from each of my 2 classes. =( Shall have to drill drill drill drill driiiilllll them.....

Went over to Bishan Park just now after church service...heard that the scouts are having their annual competition there. So went to kaypoh..nice structure that they had built, looks super sturdy. Hope CHS Scouts wins =)

Oh yes, Catholic High has done SUPERBLY well in the O's last year! Kudos to the sec4s 2006 batch...think the EMaths distinction rate (note: not % passes, it's % DISTINCTION) was 98.2% and the overall aggregate score is 9.6!! :) Do I hear a half day coming our way? please? :P

OKie, enough of one-eyed typing. Tired already.

Term 1, Week 6 already

Woah, should I be happy or should I be shocked..that 5 weeks of school has passed us by already. Next week is common test week, I sure hope my kids are ready for it. I foresee mass remedials this coming week.

Missed an old friends' dinner yesterday night..haha..because of my sony ericsson phone. When I used to use a nokia phone, I would be able to tell the time that a msg was sent to me, even if I switch off my phone at night. Now with my sony ericsson, if I switch off my phone at night, and someone sends me a msg laaaate at night, when I get the msg the next morning, it would register it as being sent to me at the time that I switched my phone back on. So here I was today, thinking that I had a dinner with my friends tonight (Sat), when they already HAD the dinner last night. Oh well..

Recently read this off Trisha's blog (http://trisha-reloaded.blogspot.com/), and I think it kinda describes how I feel too...... :)

Love/Hate relationship

I have a love/hate relationship with school. I mean, on 2 Jan, I was ready to slash my wrist at the thought of going back to the grindstone. The break was over, I couldn't imagine facing those students, the endless marking, meetings and those noisy juvenile Sec 1 kids.

3 Jan came. The bewildered-looking Sec 1 students amused me considerably. And my seniors, those whom I was in charge of, and who had been undergoing training since Nov 2006 to run the Orientation Program, I don't know how to express my gratitude to them. They were an awkward, diffident and lackadaisical lot when I first met them in Nov. But in the first 3 days of school, they miraculously rose to the occasion, took charge of things and had the Sec 1's eating out of their hands. It was a marvelous sight to behold and I want so much to give each one of them a big hug and say how proud I am of them!

Then I realised the transformation occurred in me too. I had met all my classes, and now I'm all ready to go. Yes, the madness will be there and I'll soon be bitching about the stupid admin work, the mountains of essays that gather under my desk and the students who terrorised me, but somehow, when I step into the class, I'm a different being. I have discovered that with each new year of teaching, I'm more confident, more certain of why I'm doing this and how I can do this better. The students are my fuel and my sustenance and it's a glorious feeling to be in the midst of so much youthful energy.

If I am not a teacher, then 3 Jan would come and go, hardly making a ripple in my working life. But now, I am in one of those few professions in which a new year literally means a new beginning, new class, new timetable, new challenges. So, in a weird, inexplicable and even perverse kind of way, I'll say "Hooray for the start of another new school year!"

Be Still My Soul

Sang this song in church today.....brought tears to my eyes..
I guess after so long..I still need to learn how to be still.

Be Still My Soul
Be still my soul, be still my soul.
Cease from the labour and the toil.
Refreshing spring of peace awaits,
to troubled minds and hearts that ache.

Be still my soul
God knows your way
And He will guide
for His name's sake
Plunge in the rivers of His grace
Rest in the arms of His embrace

Be still my soul, be still my soul
Though battles round you rage and roar
One thing you need and nothing more
To hear the whisper of my Lord

"Be still my child,
I know your way.
And I will guide
for My name's sake.
Plunge in the rivers of My grace
Rest in the arms of My embrace.

Almost succumbed to sleep, and wanted to go for Sunday morning service instead of today's Sat evening service...but I'm so glad that I didn't.
The message at service today was exactly what I needed to hear...on Psalm 121.
Still have got loads to do, as per before the church service....but at least I don't feel the weight of a heavy stone on my heart anymore..

If..

If muscleaches are a sign of getting sick.......then.................................................................































































I AM GETTING SICK.

Tired

I suppose a lot of people will box me when they hear me say this...but...I think I am getting old. Haha...I suppose a lot of people think that I'm 18...but I'M NOT. Though I do look like it.. =P

Well, back to why I think I'm getting old.
I used to be able to stay up late for consecutive days, and still function at 100% when I'm in school. Never used to develop dark eye rings nor eye bags even with a severe lack of sleep..but that's all in the past.

Adjusting back to the routine of school has been pretty difficult over the past week. Somehow, my body seems to think that I'm not getting enough sleep. Or perhaps, it's because I've been having disturbed sleep...so not much rest at night.

Some evidences of tiredness....
In class yesterday:

"17 - 9 = 6" (Huh?)
"(3x + 3)^2 = 3x^2 - 18x + 9" (Huh??)
"4 X 8 = 48" (HUH???)

Yup...I think I must have shocked my class yesterday...they all had this puzzled look on their faces as they watched me write the above during class...
Gosh I can hardly stop yawning...rainy days and gloomy skies don't help either..

Changes...

For a person who doesn't really like changes, first 2 days of school has left me thinking and reminiscing quite a bit...my once all-so-familar-with students, are now all in different classes....

Wondering how all the JC guys are doing too...

New year, new challenges.

I've got a new form class, that's 3-1.
Interestingly, I've never taught ANY of them mathematics before, though I taught 3 whole classes of Sec2 Math last year. There's even a pretty large group that I have never even taught before.. (not even music....altog I taught 8 out of 10 classes last year, be it math or music). So, will be a whole new time of getting to know people and working out the team dynamics.

The other class that I'm taking is 3-11. Bubbly class that I've taught music to before...but due to the fact that I only met them I think, less than 10 times for lessons last year (due to a whole variety of reasons), 3-11 can also be considered a pretty new class to me. A little worrying, because the sports seasons are all going to be starting soon. Remedials, here I come.

4 music classes, but this time a little different. Art and Music will operate like Home Econs and D & T, half classes each time. Woohoo, gonna be a fun year. I can just foresee increased efficiency and learning speed in Music class. :P

Tomorrow, 5 periods.
Now, SLEEP.

School reopening

So quickly, school is reopening.

The past few days has been a bit of a rush...hadn't even had time to sit down and just slowly reflect and think about new year resolutions. Perhaps over the course of the rest of this week, I shall do just that.

New year, many new challenges at work. New commitees, new responsibilities, new form class, new colleagues..

All the best to my colleagues who have ventured out into other pastures :)
And to those of us who begin our year in CHS, yeah man let's go!!

HK Pics

On one of the famous streets in Macau at night..a nice shopping area according to our tour guide... Really love the lights and ambience of christmas..

My favourite cousin!! Lotsa people seem to think that she really looks like me..I suppose I could pass her off as my sister ;)

And this is ALMOST the whole jing gang of relatives in HK..with one family missing..we had just had a most yummy dim sum brunch..

This is a bowl of snake soup...quite yummy I must say.. :)

Had steamboat lunch on Christmas eve at my aunt's place...steamboat feels good in cool weather..unlike us in singapore, who have steamboats in air-conditioned restuarants..

On night of Christmas eve, some of the roads were cordoned off, and so here we are, walking in the middle of the road that was JUST cordoned off when we reached there. Haha, was an interesting experience..one moment we were walking on the pavement, and the next moment, we were told we can just walk right down the ROAD itself.. ;)
The signature signboards of the Hong Kong streets.

HK Trip Pics II - Day Trip to Macau

So we took a day trip to Macau...

Looks liks a castle at the back? If I'm not wrong it contains an amusement park inside amongst other things.. Surrounding it are many hotels and casinos...

The 10th tallest viewing gallery...err..in the world? I can't really recall the names nor details of much things in Macau because I was pretty ill that day..

Us in the viewing tower...

The view from the tower..

This is a part of the GLASS floor of the tower!! Not for the faint-hearted definitely. You can literally stand on top of it & look all the way down 58 stories. Looks scary doesn't it..
Probably the most famous site in Macau. Seriously can't remember the name..but it's what's left of a church that was burnt down, and has since become a place of interest.
A lovely view of the sunset in Macau from the top of a museum that we visited.
I really love the whole ambience and feeling of sunset......

HK Pics I

This is the famous Tsing Ma bridge that we were travelling on coming from the airport..

A scenic viewpoint that my parents discovered on their last trip to Hong Kong..

We had seafood at night. Very interesting place..we need to purchase our own raw materials and then look for a restuarant to cook it. Place is called Sai Kung...
One of the places to purchase fresh seafood is right off a boat!
Close up shot of the seafood in the boat...
We only bought 2 octopuses from the boat lady..the rest of our seafood was bought from a nearby wet market. This is my brother and I posing for a shot as my mum and uncle continue with their seafood shopping :)
These are octopuses from one of the stalls selling seafood..I tend to think they look kinda zoned out and funny..hehe..they were swimming reeeeeal slooooooow.... :P
Front view of one of the shops selling seafood..

Back in Singapore already..

Tried posting a short post in Hong Kong but seems like my auntie's computer just didn't want to load up the Blogger page. Haha..so..oh well..
Would love to post up pics of HK and the yummy food, but they aren't in the computer yet. So watch out for a photo post coming soon.
I just realised I haven't posted the Last Episode of "Mount Ophir Trip" up yet..oops.. :P

Anyway, was a nice trip to Hong Kong..met up with all my aunties, uncles and my 8 cousins... and of course, got to eat loads of yummy food!!! The weather was nice and cool...not cold...but cool. The temperature everyday was about 15-20 degrees celsius. So all we needed was a long-sleeved shirt and a jacket. I wore the thickest jacket among my family..because I'm actually pretty afraid of the cold I realised.

The only dampening thing about the trip was an immensely inflamed throat. Got it before the trip, and went there armed with anti-biotics ...which didn't work. Haiz...no idea why. So I just had a super inflamed throat the whole time...swallowing saliva felt as if I had swallowed a piece of razor blade....*ouch* At one point the thought of just spitting out the saliva instead of swallowing it came across my mind.........it was that bad. But I figured that'd be too gross, and of course troublesome.

Had lunch with L today at J8..was a nice simple lunch at Crystal Jade..& received my 1st (& probably only :P) Christmas present. Was a very sweet gesture which I didn't expect...so lunch was my treat :)
People may find it odd, but I really rarely receive, nor give for that matter, presents during Christmas. Hmm..I also don't know why. Was just never a habit I suppose. I mean, I give birthday presents to friends all the time, but Christmas presents, quite rarely. Of course, omitting the gift exchanges during big gatherings lah ;)

So yup, this Christmas, was a nice one. Spent half of it in Hong Kong, and flew back on Christmas night, with enough time for me to send my Christmas sms' out before the clock struck 12....

Going to Hong Kong!

Am currently in Changi Airport waiting to board my plane. Till I get there, tata!!

Hate List!

There are currently 2 things at the top of my hate list:

1. Incessant, crazily erratic and murderous downpour of rain
2. Mad and suffering-from-amnesia cockroach which seems to think that my toilet is its home!!!

*AITUFDFLVKXERFLSDKNFKDSJFIGREA*..........................

Mt. Ophir Trip 13-16 Nov 06 (Episode 3)

As seen from Episode 2, we DID manage to make it to the peak of Ophir, thank God! Would have been such a waste and a big disappointment to the boys if we didn't make it to the top due to bad weather. But, afraid that the weather will suddenly take a turn for the worse, our instructions to the boys was to QUICKLY take the pic and vamoose in 3 minutes!! (the other instruction was to dive to the ground in the event that they felt their hairs stand due to and impending lightning strike..hehe.) In the end we stayed for I think less than 10 minutes..but definitely more than 3 minutes ;)

So this is P and I, obviously happy that we're up at the summit too ;)



















And this is me!!
Check out the sports walking stick in my right hand! :)












On the pic on the left below, is the view from the top of that steep wall I was talking about in Episode 2. P and most of the boys went down the same way they came up the steep wall. As for me, I didn't manage to convince myself that I wouldn't slip on my way down..so I went down by an alternative route (pic on the right) that's beside this rock wall surface, less steep but with the same kinda ropes and lack of safety precautions. So a few of the boys and I went down by the alternative route.




















I don't usually believe in psychoing myself into doing things, but as I made my way down the 2 rock surfaces, I was literally psychoing myself.. "I can do it..I can do it...I can do it..." I found myself repeating to myself. I suppose the slip on the wall the year before really left an imprint in my memory..........but in the end, I made it :) So that was personal goal no. 2 accomplished ;)

One thing about this trip that the previous one didn't have, was bees and leeches. I guess the leeches were around because of the wet weather. But this time round, we met many many bees along the way. And they were larger than the usual ones...commando bees man. Somehow they like to buzz around people..and seriously, I was a little freaked out by them, because of the buzzing sound. Cannot stand buzzing sounds around my ears!! Think 3 of our boys actually got stung....thankfully none developed allergic reactions.

2nd night at the campsite was much better, the weather really held up the entire day, and so during dinner, we all could stand/sit outside the tents to enjoy each others' company. After dinner majority of the cadets retired to their tents. P and I sat outside in the cool weather to chit chat....was really nice and relaxing to be away from busy Singapore and sitting in the middle of the forest in the cool of the night and chatting..

Till the last episode of Mt. Ophir.....tata....... :)

Mt. Ophir Trip 13-16 Nov 06 (Episode 2)

The first evening at Ophir was really pretty cold..at one point, I could see the condensation coming out of my mouth when I was speaking! Almost felt like I was in Genting..hehe. Still remember when I was eating my cup noodle, I purposely stood real close to the stove so that my legs could feel warmer..almost everyone were wearing sweaters.
A pity it was still drizzling at night, so we couldn't have any night activity nor just simply sit outside the tent to chit chat. All of us were back in our tents at 8+pm. But perhaps everyone was excited, or maybe the floor was simply too damp/flooded to sleep peacefully..lotsa cadets were up and talking and laughing into the wee hours of the night....which I seriously think was a bit inconsiderate to be laughing and playing at 2+am in the morning.

So oh well, next morning came and we trekked to the summit. Must really thank R for giving me that sports walking stick. It was REALLY a very great help in the climbing, because it was extra support...as if I had 3 legs for climbing instead of 2 :) So it eased the pressure on my legs quite a bit. Think my 3 weeks of running did help too..didn't feel as jialat as the last time I climbed.

The next personal challenge for me on the trip was, climbing up that steep rock surface with the ropes. I slipped the last time I climbed, because my gloves weren't suitable for climbing, and so I grazed my elbow pretty badly on the rock surface. So that was a psychological hurdle that I had to climb too.




















(On left) This is the wall and ropes that leads to the even steeper wall and ropes in the picture on the right. Bear in mind that, there are no safety precautions whatsoever..no harnesses nothing. So if you really slip and fall off the wall, then it's GERANIMOH.....
Well, I'm proud to say I managed to scale both walls! Haha..though when I was climbing the 2nd surface, I was really quite scared because I was worried about my arm strength. It was afterall quite vertical and not a short distance upwards. But anyhow, I managed it ;)




























This is all of us at checkpoint 7, the one just before the summit. It was also here that our guides told us of the possibility of not being able to reach the summit because of the ominous clouds that were floating in our direction. 4 years ago, someone actually got struck by lightning at the summit because of bad weather, so P and I couldn't take our chances. And so we rested and waited to see if the weather would clear...................















































........................................................and it did :)

Mt. Ophir Trip 13-16 Nov 06 (Episode 1)

Finally I feel like I want to post about Ophir. Exactly one month ago, P and I brought 27 CHS NCC(Land) cadets on our Mt. Ophir expedition.

It was the 2nd time I was going to Gunung Ledang, having gone there a year ago with NCC HQ. But I was still kinda looking forward to going this time, because I was much fitter and we were bringing our own people on this one. Having trained up my stamina for 3 weeks before the 13th finally came, I was eager, but yet at the same time, felt a little anxious when the day finally came.
This time round, I also packed smarter, and brought a lighter bag than the previous trip (or did it seem lighter coz I was fitter..haha..), and so I am determined to make it to CP4 (checkpoint 4) carrying my own bag, and without external help..this was one of my personal goals this time round, coz the last time I went, the guide insisted on taking my bag for me..I must have really looked like I was about to roll down the mountain with my bag the last time round. =/

It was a short bus ride to Ophir, compared to the whole day of travelling when we went for the Perak expedition.





We had lunch at the resort at the bottom of the mountain, packed our rations for the next 2 days, and we were off for the climb.









First so-called obstacle was that loooong flight of steps up..I think it's 500+ steps...survived!











Taking a breather after the 500+ steps up...

















After a short rest, still all smiles :)










The climb up to CP4 was better than I expected, didn't feel as tired as I thought I'd feel. Halfway through it started to rain..so the soil became muddy. Was thinking of taking out my poncho...but aiyah, so ley che. And anyway, most of the bag and my shirt was wet already. So I decided to do without the poncho. For the first time I felt that my efforts to waterproof my stuff in my bag was worth it..haha..I could be rest assured that even without the poncho, all my belongings would be absolutely dry. So we all pushed on despite the rain..crossing logs and rivers once in a while..



The 1st river we had to cross..the guy in the poncho was one of our 3 guides who brought us up..
I think that white blob in the middle of the picture could be a raindrop ;)










Crossing one last river brought us to CP4! Felt happy and proud of myself..and of course, for everybody else ;)
Because of the rain, the floor was damp. All the insides of the tents were wet too =/ But I guess a wet tent is better than none. For some obscure reason, I just didn't take any pictures of the campsite AGAIN. I remember I did the same mistake on my last trip, only like quickly snapping a few pictures on the day we were leaving...haiz. I think due to the rain, I didn't want to climb in and out of the tent when I was wet and dirty so I just dumped my belongings (along with the camera) into the tent. Subsequently, I also just simply forgot about it. But oh wellz, this is what our campsite looks like, picture from my previous trip.














This time round, I had one tent to myself! Haha..that was nice. But the floor was completely wet still...AND, my tent was set up on superbly undulating and sloping ground. So there were puddles of water collecting within the tent, coz of the uneven surfaces..THANKFULLY P brought a whole lot of trashbags..so I managed to line the portion of the tent that I laid my sleeping bag on with trashbags so that I could sleep on a dry surface at least.
Took a super cold bath in the river, with fishes nibbling at my knee..haha...

OK, end of episode 1.
Shall continue another time soon.. :)