Looooooooooong weekend!

Really looked forward to the National Day weekend break...2 4-day weeks at a go...great time to rest...catch up with friends...catch up with marking (?!?)....and catch up with everything else.

Figured that I better have a short update before I get whizzed off to the land of Prelim3 and common tests marking.

Flowers galore

Recently, my mum's been buying flowers home every week....love the sight of flowers in the house..just makes everything a little more cheerful and bright.

Humongous lilies that my mum bought from the market...

As usual..love macro shots of these pretty little things...

National Day Celebrations @CH

Given the voilatile situation of the H1N1 scare, for a long while all the Uniformed Group (UG) ICs were under the impression that we weren't gonna celebrate national day with a parade this year. But then, as with the voilatile nature of what can be done and can't be done due to this flu outbreak, the most recent we heard was that we're going ahead with the parade! Haha..so everyone came together to put together a simple parade, with only the Guard of Honour contingent doing a march-in instead of all the different UGs doing a grand march-in. Well, a smart move in my opinion, because I think to put together a decent full parade with a 'live' band playing, it'd definitely take more than 2-3 practices.

My Land contingent receiving feedback & pointers during one of the pracs..

Discussion of all those little little things to be ironed out from what was being observed of the contingent...

Love this shot of the march past... =)

...and this one too :)

NDP@CH: The actual NDP

This year's Guard of Honour, the NPCC Contingent.

*Beams with pride*

Flag party marching in with the Singapore flag as well as the CH flag. The actual march past.

So, in line with not having the school congregate for too long due to H1N1, this year's celebrations after the NDP, was inter-class games.

My S2s were involved in the Frisbee games.

2-1 in action!

2-1 cheering from the sidelines!

Could hear my class cheering for their classmates who were playing..... Finally! Cheers that are self-initiated......really warms my heart =)

Apparently my class was touted as one of the hot favourites to reach the finals, but for whatever reason, they didn't. Oh well...I guess we can never predict what happens..as long as everyone had fun =)

Over at the S3s side, it was the favourite game of the century, SOCCER.

Could see the boys were totally enjoying themselves...even the teachers formed a team to pit their skills against the boys! Was really fun watching my colleagues play... :)

So after celebrations in school, I headed over to Sentosa for some beach volleyball & frisbee. So fun!! Even though now, I've got this swollen bump on my right arm....just can't get the swell to go down...think the ball landed one too many times on just one arm.. *ouch* Hope it goes away soon...

Ended off the day with a nice cosy dinner beside Palawan beach at Sentosa. Ate at this place called Coastes. Nice :)

The nice ambience of Coastes...

S & S' Wedding

I think I can become a professional wedding singer already. This year, I've already sung at 2 weddings...and one more is coming up in Sept! :S It's actually not the singing that's tiring..it's the COORDINATING of the group that's tiring since my friends are now mostly married, some with kids..and all working...

The wedding singers during one of our weekend pracs....

See what I had to resort to to entice the singers to come for prac?? :P

And so we practice for about 1.5 mths, and the wedding was last Saturday.

The gal singers with the bride...

The lovely emcees...my long time friends, E and G.

The anxious groom.....he actually sang the song for the bride's march-in!!! The first of its kind.... :)

Another long time friend C, who's anxiously waiting for the pastor to say the word "exchange rings" so that he can run up to stage and pass the wedding couple the rings in his hands. Hahah...he was so anxious... :P

Think as time goes along, this sentence that my friend once mentioned becomes more and more true...."These days, we either meet up at weddings...or funerals..." How true....and sad as well...coz it means that friends do not have the time to meet up just for a simple meal, but have to wait till big organised events like weddings, or unfortunate events like funerals to meet up with one another. But am glad that over the weekend, it was a wedding and not the latter =)

National Day at East Coast Park

To top it off, my Sunday evening was spent at East Coast with Z and walking Z's dog! Boi (the doggie's name) is just soooooooooooooooo cute! Everyone who walks past can't help but comment on how small, or how adorable he is.

But seriously, I thought half of Singapore was in East Coast..I have never seen soooooo many people at East Coast all at the same time as on Sunday. Nevertheless, there was nice cool breeze...and we managed to catch the big Singapore Flag that came from the National Day Parade fly pass us....

Really love being by the sea...hearing the waves..seeing the sun set.....

So that concludes me National Day weekend :)

4 more weeks to Sept break!

H1N1 H1N1 H1N1 !?

H1N1 seems to be the buzz word for the whole of Term 3...ever since the school term started...everything that we do had to be revolved around the "measures for compliance" passed down from the ministry, some of which I don't quite understand even..
"This can, that cannot.....that can, this cannot...."
Sigh.
CHMA 2009 has been officially cancelled....what can I say...
First it was mass uncertainty.....then it was possible postponement....and finally, sudden cancellation. I had big dreams for this year's CHMA...but oh well...
Though I can try to understand the decision to cancel it..but I guess that doesn't do much to lift the disappointment...for the crew..for the finalists..for the guest bands..the emcees..
But I suppose, I'm slowly coming to terms with it.... hope the journey for everyone involved has been a fun and enriching one.

Besides that, Term 3 has been a MAD term with 2000 000 things to mark. Every week I mark an average of about 140 marks worth of Sec 4 tests....I think I'm about to go crazy from it soon. Somemore, this 2 weeks..I think the average number of marks shot up to 230 marks coz the common tests for the Sec1s-3s are approaching, and I gave them tests too! Sometimes I wonder why I do such things to torture myself..

On a lighter note, have signed up for Kickboxing sessions to try to slow down my rate of turning into an all-work-but-no-play-dull-Jane. Has been pretty fun so far...

And with the slow relaxing of the "measures for compliance" from Ministry, hopefully the end of year Ophir trip that P and I are hoping to plan for my CCA would be able to follow through. Always feel there's so much to gain from going through an expedition together...for the boys, and for the teachers too. So pleeassseee laaaaaah....don't tell me H1N1 last minute we can't go ah....

衷心祝福你

One of the best things about my new DSLR is being able to capture moments like these.....

Have attended countless weddings over the last 5 years...but I think there's none that touched my heart like the one that I attended 2 weeks ago....the wedding of my close secondary school friend.

As we went through the day...from the morning, the fetching of the bride and the 挡门 process.. to the church wedding...to the wedding dinner the next day.. Just couldn't help but smile to myself every time I saw the happy couple appear, knowing that they've gone through their fair share of ups and downs over the last few years.

To S: 真的很为你高兴。衷心祝福你。

Blue

Just feeling kinda blue..

Seems to happen to me once in a while...where all of a sudden, i'd just rather be alone than with a whole bunch of friends... when it takes 3 times the usual effort to say a joke to my mum.. when I have a sudden urge to be beside the calm waters at MacRitchie watching the sun set..... and brain's just filled with random pockets of flashbacks about events, some recent, some a long time ago.... happy memories suddenly surfaces and makes me smile...and frustrating ones just makes brings me down more....

Why are there so many things that require my attention all at the same time..

Recent events have gotten me thinking..if I have really fitted in and am playing my role well. On one hand, I do really want to get involved, and on the other hand, I know I still am inadequate.
Frustrating..

Inevitable change is looming, and all I can say is, it depresses me. My pillars of strength are going to disappear.....will I still be able to stand without them?

Many are asking me to move on, but are the pastures really greener on the other side? Yes I am tough, and have survived for so long...but the step seems a little too huge...

It's Fathers' Day today......
happy father's day daddy...we miss you..

Yesss! Another long weekend following one last week....wooohoooooo... :)

Seriously in need of this one, am about to become a full-fledged panda soon..really looking forward to the June break (note, it's still a BREAK, and not a holiday, since there's SOOOOOooooooo much work to be done :P).

________________________________________________
And that is an extract of my blog post, in the first week of May. Many a times I had wanted to blog, but then, somehow, by the time I got the photos up, and some words flowing, I'd be called off to do something else, or I'd be tired already. So, what else can I say, but that I'M SO GLAD THAT THE JUNE BREAK IS FINALLY HERE. sooooooooooooooo many things to say about the past few weeks, but...some I can't even remember already because it's been so long. So, well, whatever that I can remember :)

Burst shots

Just very recently, I discovered that my sony ericsson phone has the ability to take multiple shots at a go! Haha, so I put it to good use while I was supporting some of the competitions that the school took part in.

The boys in pink 'B' division Wushu team competing in the group display finals.

The Dance rehearsal just before our Dance group left for their SYF, in which they were awarded a Gold with Honours for their splendid performance!

Am glad I managed to set aside time for match support this year. Felt like I missed out a lot on supporting my batch of kids last year because I was spending so much time trying to adjust to S4 teaching and being S4 FT. So, made it a conscious effort this year to set aside time to go and watch my boys in action.

CHMA 2009

Yes, it's here.Almost. Mark the date, it's 25th July ;)

Lotsa CHMA action going on now, we've started our solo studio recordings since this week, and have 3 more to go in the coming week. Photoshoot in the studio on Tuesday, done by a professional photography company! Wooohoooo!

Keep your eyes on the CHMA blog for more of the action! http://chmusicawards.blogspot.com/

SLB Investiture '09

The theme for this year's invest, SOAR.

Student Leadership Boards' EXCO (2008-2009) standing together as an EXCO for the last time before handing over to the new batch.

Another year has passed, another batch of leaders take up their roles, another CHS investiture. I love the way the invest. is carried out, with the symbolic handing over of the blazers to the new batch...the handing over of responsibilities to the younger ones, and with it, also the many affirmations of support, mentorship, and friendship.

For me, as I look back and see the amazing growth and change of the SLB over the last few years, really can't help but applaud the kind of devotion and heart put into the developing and moulding of the leaders. I'm sure those in the SLB can attest to the sweat, toil and tears in the process. Well, whoever said Leadership was a bed of roses? But it's through the process of toiling and sweating, that we learn the best lessons.

Kudos to the batch of leaders who have stepped down, and thank you for your willingness to serve the school as a leader.The new leaders taking the Leaders' Oath.

All the best to the new batch ;)

NCC POP

It's that time of the year again, the promotion of the Part Ds to rank of "Senior", and the new leaders rising to their ranks.

It almost seemed like only yesterday when the Part Cs 08 took over the leadership, and in a blink of an eye, they are handing over the leadership over to the new batch of 09.

The handing over of the ASM position.

The handing over of the CSM position.

The outgoing Part Ds, shouting one last cheer together.

Official GRADUATION :)
The officers and the Part Ds.

See what graduation does to them? :)

Can literally sense the burden of leadership being lifted off some of them straight after POP..haha.. just observing them having arms around each other..and lauging heartily and the endless tau poks, makes me see the deep camaraderie and friendships that they've built with each other over the last 4 years together.

Thanks Part Ds, and especially Keefe and Desheng, for your perseverance and determination in leading the unit. We'll miss you guys.

And to end off....as usual..... :)

Just thankful for a long weekend to rest..

So here's a simple photo update.

Met up with my guys from 4-1 last year during the March break....do miss seeing them around in school..

Taught guitar to P1-P6 kids in church during the March break too....and there's only one conclusion, I'm NEVER gonna ever change to become a Pri school teacher...NEVER....

Teaching primary kiddos is seriously a different ball game altogether! What you see in this pic is, on the 3rd of 3 days of workshops...don't even remind me about the 1st day....was .....SCARY...

Just look at the huge rainbow!!!!!!!!!! Couldn't resist whipping out my phone to snap a picture of it.. Don't worry, I kept my eyes on the road and just snapped...lucky shot :)

Went to support my Volleyball team's match to fight for Nationals 3rd/4th placing.....always makes it more exciting to watch when my own students from class are playing, allows me to see a different side of them than what I see in class. Always gives me a huge sense of pride to see them excelling in other things other than in class. :)

Oh and we got 3rd placing :)

And as usual, to end off, the beauty of the clouds in the sky....

...never fails to capture my gaze...

R.I.P

While driving today I heard over the radio that a Singaporean doctor was found dead in Melbourne...and I was like "hmm...oh dear.." and carried on with the rest of my day's activities.

It was not until 9+pm in the evening when I was about to pay for my petrol at SPC, that the photo of the doctor on the front page of a chinese newspaper caught my eye.
It was my friend from JC.

For a moment I was in denial, as I couldn't confirm if it was my friend coz I didn't know his chinese name. But the more I stared at the photos, the more I felt my heart shiver. So I bought the newspapers and headed home. And when I got home, my Straits Times confirmed it, with his name printed in English, and a large picture.

How can this be? That someone I knew from JC, whom I used to speak with, who used to be so light-hearted, friendly, confident, suddenly be found to have passed on in a foreign place, and reason unknown?
It all seems so unreal, and yet, when I stare hard at his picture in the newspapers........ I know it's true......
I can't imagine his family.....the pain of facing a sudden death...it's coming back to me....

Heart-wrenched..............shocked..............saddened.............


R.I.P Allan...