Recent happenings...

Yes I know I should be blogging about my Vietnam holiday...or finishing up my updates about Ophir..but, those posts will take sooo long.  I have to look through all 1200+ photos of the Vietnam trip before I can post photos!  So, wait lah hor, wait :)

Have decided to just do this shorter one first.. :)

Cadet Officer Course Graduation Parade

Attended the graduation parade of 4 of my cadets where they were promoted to full-fledged cadet liuetenants (CLTs) after their 3 weeks course in NCC HQ.

The colour party

Parade march-in

Inspection of parade by the guest of honour, Chief Commando Officer of SAF

The adournment of rank by the parents of the newly promoted cadet officers..

...can tell how proud the parents were of their children..

I was very proud of them too :)

Parade march past

Congrats to the 4 newly promoted CLTs!  We'll see you guys in Jan ;)

Dinner @ Little Part 1 Cafe

Love these pictures that I took while having dinner at this small, cosy lil' cafe tucked away at a small road along Upper Thomson.  It's a little cafe that serves western food..suitable for small gatherings of friends who just want a nice quiet place to hang out and chit chat.  Thankful for DSLRs, which can capture everything so nicely :P

I just realised that this whole series of pics make it look like I'm doing an advertisement for them.  Haha..but I don't mind, it's a really nice place.

Has a really nice feel to the whole place isn't it?  Nice, warm, cosy, fuzzy feeling.. :)

Strained Finger

It's a whoooole loooong story...but here's the gist of it....

So it all started with my finger being hit by a volleyball while I was playing beach volleyball about 2 months ago.  Since then, have been experiencing slight pain whenever weight was put on my last finger on my right hand.

When I went to Vietnam, I probably aggravated it a little due to the luggage carrying and all.

So a few days after I returned from Vietnam, I experienced pain while trying to clench my fist. 

Went over to the sinseh, and......oh I so shouldn't have!!

Friends have chided me for going to the sinseh because they said I went to one that wasn't tried and tested.  Well how was I to know??  I had gone to another branch of the same chain before, and it was fine.  After I went to get my hand treated by the sinseh, the level of pain shot up by at least FIVE times the original level!!  She rubbed and rubbed and rubbed like there was no tomorrow, REALLY.  After she rubbed once, she asked me how I felt, and I told her it was still painful, so she rubbed again...then repeated the same thing twice, with the 3rd time being the most violent.  And she ended off with this pressure thingy....seriously PAINFUL.

Took a pic while waiting for the sinseh to come back with all the koyoks..

So I went home, thinking, all should be well the next day.  But nooooo....throughout the day, the pain just got worse and worse....until at night, I had to take panadol to ease the pain before I could even get to sleep.  And I woke throughout the night coz the pain was too intense. 

The super ultra swollen finger the next day.

Met some of my old friends for lunch on Sunday, and one of my doctor friends suggested that I take an X-ray because it looked like a possible fracture due to the immobility of the finger and the ultra swelling.  So off I went to Mount Alvernia hospital.

Doctor concluded that there was no fracture from the X-ray taken *phew*, and that it was a bad strain (of course, coupled with my most violent sinseh who rubbed like there was no tomorrow).  So off I went, with painkillers and a bandage to splinter my last finger to the 4th one so I wouldn't twist it.

Can't believe how I survived 2 whole days with the intense pain.  eeks.  Don't ever want to go through that again...EVER...

ACJ Choir carolling

So as usual, I went down to support the ACJ choir during their carolling session.  This year, I zipped over to Keppel Towers to watch them, and I was pleasantly surprised to see R from my batch, conducting the choir for the first time during carolling.  She had been choir teacher for as long as I'd been teaching too, and it was nice to see her taking over the conducting baton this christmas :)

The all so familiar concert attire...

I get the same warm and fuzzy feeling every year when I listen to the choir carol.  I guess it's because I was once a part of this closely knitted group, and seeing them carol just reminds me of so so much that I hold dear to my heart. 

Encore song "Have a holly jolly christmas", where the choir sang without a conductor :)

Every year when I watch the choir carol I'd tell myself that I'd make time to join them next year.  It's been 6 years now...let's hope I'd really join them next year =)

Looking forward to next week, bringing my cadets for 2-star kayaking, lunch with friends on Tue, S1 registration on Wed followed by Christmas gathering at my plc, watching my friend perform on Thur, and a wedding to attend on Christmas day.  *phew* :)

If I don't post before Christmas, here's wishing everyone a very blessed and warm Christmas ;)

Highlights of Trip to Mount Ophir, 19-22 Nov 09 with CHS NCC(Land)

DAY 1
So the long-awaited Ophir trip was finally here :)
P and I had spent such a long long time planning it...what with disruptions like H1N1 and this and that and this and that...the trip finally came to pass.  YAY. :)  So we started our adventure on 19th Nov from school, and reached the Mount Ophir resort in time for our lunch.

Lotsa activities lined up for us after lunch!

At the foot of Gunung Ledang, more commonly known as Mount Ophir which stands at a height of 1276 m tall.

And finally I got to see the bunks that the cadets camp in when they camp at the resort the night before we climb Ophir.  I'd been to Ophir twice before this, but have never seen the "containers" that the kids slept in before.  Interesting :) and definitely a good and different experience from their normal camping in classrooms.

The bunks for the first night.

The first activity after we settled our lodging was flying fox in the jungle.

Learning how to wear a harnest.

 

While waiting to take flight!

People always look at me in disbelief when I tell them that I've never tried the Flying Fox prior to this.  REALLY.  For all the adventurous things that I've done, I just have not had the opportunity to do the flying fox..during camps that I attend with the kids, I usually would not want to do it either because I want the kids to have the opportunity to try it.  So, this was my first time doing it..and it was real fun!  :)

Next up was an activity called "Tippy Shuffle".  The objective of this activity was to rearrange all 28 people standing on the 3 planks according to a pre-stated category without falling off the plank.  For eg. in aphabetical order of everyone's names., according to day and month of birth....

It was a squeeze obviously..

..but a good time of bonding  :)

And then, we went on to an interesting and meaningful activity of wits, teamwork and strength - Poison River. The objective of the activity was to transport everyone from one side of the "river" safely over to the other side, without anyone falling in.  The catch is, you're only given 4 Planks & 2 ropes to travel on.

Planks can only be placed and balanced either in a parallel or perpendicular direction to each other onto little metal cubes on the floor, no diagonal planks allowed.

 Brainstorming...

Lotsa teamwork required..

The group who got "left behind" on a lone plank so that most of the group can cross to safety first, before they were eventually rescued =)

Last stage of the rescue!!

I think the kids took at least an hour and a half to get everyone across?  But it was very interesting to see how the group worked...and of course, the laughs along the way.

Debrief after 1 hr plus of being on the planks =)

We were eventually shown the "model answer" as to how to most efficiently control a plank when trying to move across...very useful knot-tying knowledge required..I should go and learn some of this rope tying too :)

One big plus point of the trip this time round is, our vendor doing a debrief and reflection for an activity at every appropriate point, to point out learning moments, as well as to draw out important lessons that could be learnt from the simple activity.  I think I too learnt a lot by just watching them and listening in during the debrief.

After dinner, the kids brought all their bags from their bunks to the resort to pack for the next day's climb.  I was quite disappointed to learn from the owner of the resort then that our climbing route was to be entirely changed from what we had previously climbed.  Initially, we were told that only half the route will be changed, due to previous accidents..but we were told the night before our climb, that the entire original route has been closed off because of the monsoon season.  We had told the kids so much about the old route...but oh well, I guess for the kiddos, their disappointment won't be as great because they have never been to the old route anyway.

Another slight disappointment for me was that, the kids won't be able to experience having to live on the mountain for 2 days beside a river..and to survive without proper bathing facilities nor toilet.  I'm not a sadist okay?  But I think there's so much to be gained (and much fun as well) from having to bathe in a river...pee and poop in the wild...carry their full packs up half the mountain (this time round because of the route, we had a vehicle transport our stuff/tents/stoves to the campsite direct), as well as carry their stoves and tents (which would be a good test of their endurance).....sleeping in old leaky tents....having to draw water from the river and putting a puritab (a water-purifying tablet that can be obtained from Watsons ;) ) inside to purify the water before we can drink it...the whole experience is just irreplaceable.  I remember how whenever I recall my experience of staying at Ophir, all other camping experiences just pale in comparison and seem to be a luxury :)

But I guess, at the end of the day, the experience was still a good one for the kids, just that, I felt there could've been even better.

First night: Preparations for the next day's climb...

Our day packs of rations and water that we'd be carrying during our ascent.

DAY 2: THE ACTUAL CLIMB

After our breakfast the next morning, we jumped onto the bus to the starting of our trail.

Getting ready to board the bus to take us to our trail.

At the foot of the mountain, all smiles and raring to go!

But before that, warm-ups to reduce our risk of getting cramped muscles during the climb....and....we're off!

Either I didn't train enough, or I'm just getting old.  I had actually trained more this time round, more intensively than the last time that I climbed, but this time, the climb just seemed more tiring that the previous one......I think I'm getting old...and I wonder how many more times I can climb Ophir with the cadets, should we continue to organise such expeditions for the unit. :/

Checkpoint 1

Checkpoint 2

Checkpoint 3

Some parts of the hike required the use of ropes to scale up surfaces.

Photo-taking opportunity at a nice open space, I simply love this photo :)

 

Super tiny little "river" stream-crossing.  Don't be mistaken, Ophir has many more exciting rivers, it's just that our route didn't cross any of those.

The final push before the summit, snakes-and-ladders..a part of the route which has many barren rock surfaces and steep steps, thus the need for the ropes and ladders to aid in the climbing.

At first, I thought that the kids won't be doing much rope pulling nor ladder climbing due to the change in route, but thankfully, there were still enough of the ropes and ladders for the kids to experience because of the bare rocks that we had to scale to reach the top :)

 

CHS NCC(Land) unit, at the summit of Mount Ophir, 1276 m above sea level.

(full grp picture with other photographer, akan datang ;) )

When we got to the top, it was actually cold!  There was a slight drizzle, and the wind made the summit really cold.  Quite an interesting experience this time round.  Even on our climb up, there were sporadic gusts of cool wind which helped to boost our morale and made climbing much more comfortable.  We were apparently really lucky, because it was the monsoon season..and while we were climbing, it was raining cats and dogs down at the resort!  But because we were above the clouds, all we felt was cool wind, and slight drizzle at the summit (coz we were standing amidst the cloud :) ) :)

Well, though it was drizzling and the wind made it doubly cold............................that didn't stop us from...............................

...proving to be the most garang unit by knocking it down together! :)

Haha...it was funny, but yet at the same time, a strong display of the unit's camaraderie and togetherness.  Loved the moment =)


More highlights to come I hope, since I seem to have this bad habit of always updating a trip only halfway.. :P

AKAN DATANG ;)

Decreasing Trend...

Was just taking a look at my previous posts all the way back from 2006..
and I realised that, there's a decreasing trend in the number of times I'm posting in the span of one year ever since I started blogging...

2006 - 64 posts
2007 - 50 posts
2008 - 22 posts
2009 - 13 till now


Hmm......
I don't feel as if I have lost an interest in  blogging..but somehow..seem to post much less as the years progress..

Just something I noticed :)

Chao anh! :)

Live update from Vietnam!

Just reached Hanoi today :)  Had spent the last 3 days in Ho Chi Minh City...have a bit of regret....I wish I had revised my Vietnamese before I left for Vietnam!! Shucks man.  Knowing that I could probably understand much better what the people here are saying, and be able to converse a little better really makes me a bit upset...sigh... I had previously taken 2 modules of Vietnamese when I was in the university.  Mearning, at a point of time in my life, I actually could converse in some basic spoken Vietnamese.  And to add salt to the wound, somehow the vietnamese people seem to THINK I am vietnamese, so they'll always choose to speak to me when they are trying to convey a message, of which I can only reply "Khong hieu" ("do not understand") to them...sigh..  Of course, given my elementary command of vietnamese even in the university, I probably wouldn't have understood much anyway.  But at least it beats looking and hearing words that I SEEM to know, but just can't recall most of the meaning of those words offhand =(

Oh well...

So anyway, one interesting fact about being in Vietnam is...........................






























...........crossing the road!!!
Hahaha.  Over here, you do not wait for the road to be clear of vehicles before crossing, because, basically......the road NEVER clears enough for you to walk across like in Singapore! :)  Haha....so, it's the survival of the fittest, whoever dares to venture onto the road, gets to cross it..coz the cars and millions of motorbikes will just swerve away from you and avoid you while you're crossing ;)  But I  must say, until now, I'm still a little afraid of being the "lead road crosser".. :P

Will update more about details of the trip along with photos... :)

Just one more interesting fact about this trip before I go to sleep and prepare for a fun 2D1N trip to Ha Long Bay....(yay kayaking!! :P) ... my current hotel in Hanoi, called Golden Sun Hotel has a private desktop in each room for the use by its occupants!! How cool is that?? :)
That's why I'm actually here typing a post...typing away on the personal desktop in the room..and it's FREE :) cool huh?


OK time to go, will update once more if time permits...if not, next post should spot millions of photos taken during this trip with my D60 ;)

Tata... ;)

Yes we've conquered

More to come soon... ;)

S4 Farewell & Last day of School

S4 Farewell Assembly

I actually still vividly remember last year's S4 Farewell Assembly, and how I spent days and days doing up the farewell video...and so soon, this year's Farewell Assembly has come and gone.

Certificate of Achievement of completing 4 years of Education in CH

Speeches made by representatives of the teachers and student body

Rendition of "You Raise Me Up"

Because my colleague, who is the form teacher of my Math class wasn't able to be around for the whole duration of the Farewell Assembly, I was asked to take over as form teacher for the day, a responsibility that I gladly agreed to undertake.

Me with my surrogate form class for the day :P

See the cheeky monkeys? All trying to be at the same height as me...haha..

But I must say, for all the cheeky-ness, this class has been a joy to teach.  Of course, with every class, there's bound to be moments where you'd feel like strangling them all, but I would say, this class, is truly made up of very genuine, and sweet people.  Has been a good 2 years with them..

To 4-2: Thanks for the "Candy Girl" song that you guys personalised and sang for the teachers at Pasir Ris.  Very ingenius! And very sweet too :)  Can see the very strong bonds that you guys have formed with one another...I think your class is one of the most united class in the level.  Remember to always fork out time to build on these friendships ya in the years to come ya?

All the best in your your O's and future endeavours..and thanks for the 2 good years :)

Last Day of School

Very soon, it was the last day of school for the year 2009, 30 Oct.  Have already been hearing my 2-1 class lament and lament about how this day is fast approaching since one week earlier, and in the blink of an eye, it was here.

It's quite evil of me some might say, but I actually feel happy that the class is lamenting about the last day of school coming..because, it goes to show that they really treasure these bonds that they have formed over the last 2 years, and the deep sense of camaraderie that they are reluctant to let go of.

So the time came for me to return their report books, and after settling all the administrative stuff, I decided to let the class have some time to say a few words to each other, something that I felt was important, precious to the class...to have an opportunity to express their thoughts, thanks, and recollections of their memories of being together over the last 2 years.

My 2 chairmen starting the ball rolling with their speeches..

Alas not many people responded to my call to say a few words...... :)

The ever-supportive-of-their-chairmen class encouraging the 2 guys as they said their piece :)

Such is the depth of their friendships..that tears actually welled up... and here's my class giving a toast, to give encouragement and cheer

A common recollection of their teachers together...

And this is my form class this year :)

My 2 whacky chairmen, who have been great help :)

To 2-1:  I've really enjoyed being your form teacher this year.  Thanks for being such a teachable class.  Your unity and class spirit really warms my heart, something that I sometimes find it lacking here.  Continue to encourage and push each other on to greater achievements even as you guys split classes, and all the best to you guys in upper sec.