What's happening...

An atomic bomb has landed on me.
I'm officially called Super Sinseh from next week onwards.
My gosh. Will I be able to cope?
Let's hope I don't die by the end of term 2.



Haiz.













It's only the first week of school..but I already feel stressed. Seems like more and more stuff about me kids are suddenly popping up to my attention. Is it because they are stressed too?













The holidays last week passed real quick. Before I knew it, it was already over..I really didn't feel as if it had been a break. Perhaps just a break from the routine of reporting to school at 7.30am. The only good thing that came out of it was getting sleep. Well okay..and meeting up with some old friends.













Went to watch 2 movies with my friends over the hols....can't quite remember when was the last time I watched a movie before the March Hols.

http://www.movieposteraddict.com/

filmelitist.blogspot.com

Both were about mystical creatures...hmm....haha..both were okay shows. Though I thought that the ending of Spiderwick Chronicles was most....err.....sudden...and err...innovative?

More wedding invites have come my way...most from my cell group. Guess it's a good time for me to spend time with them..

Have finally decided to go for my church's confirmation class. Suppose He's calling me to serve in the Saturday evening service...

Dad's estate duty is still not settled. It's been like what, 8 MONTHS plus already???? What's wrong with the people handling the case, don't they know that it hurts those who have to go through this whole process!?!

What's more, Singapore has already phased out this whole estate duty nonsense since Feb this year. So why are we still having to do so many things to answer to the enquiries that they keep posing to us????

STOP IT ALREADY ALRIGHT.

Haiz.

OK, enough I guess.

Shall go back to my marking, and enjoy (I hope) my last weekend before I morph into Super Sinseh next Monday.

Tired

I'm tired.
Really am..
Beginning to question why I'm doing certain things..

2008 Happenings so far..

Newpaper collection CIP

My school's sec1s & 4s went out to do CIP together in mid-january..think it's a great opportunity for the sec4s to act as big brothers to lead the younger ones in the activity.

For me, I spent the whole morning tying up the newspapers into neat bundles...got a feel of what being a karang guni uncle is like. Tough work..almost got blisters from tying stacks and stacks of newspapers that the kids brought down from the residents. But it's great knowing that it's all done for charity.. =)

My kids transporting our newspapers and other collected items over to our collection point. Doesn't my class polo shirt just look fabulous?? :) Hiak hiak..

We had to wait a pretty long time before our collection trucks came to us..so in the meantime..my kids were entertaining themselves.... =.= Haha....sometimes I wonder how old they are..
Aah, my class after a hard day's work. Good to see that they're still all smiles ;)



Jay's concert


The first of many concerts that I'm attending this year, Jay Chou's! :)

My concert buddies, W and G :)
Just look at the number of people who went to the concert!!!
Opening number...super exaggerated costumes... :P

I think of all the different types of performances, I still like the accoustic version best...

Chinese New Year
This year, the students were allowed to wear their own festive clothes to school for the CNY celebrations.. Somehow they all look so much more grown-up & mature when wearing their home clothes :)
Had a lion troupe come in to do the traditional lion dance this year...and this lion even went up to the audience! Haha...thought it was so funny how it came all the way up to my colleagues... :P

Always great to have old boys visit us in school....

CNY in Hong Kong
Believe it or not, I was in HK over the CNY period. Just a super short 3.5 days stay.......no I wasn't running away from Singapore for fun...my mum's side of the family resides in HK that's why. And since my dad's not around, and my brother's in Aust, my mum decided that we should spend CNY in HK this year.

This is my super spread of food for reunion dinner.....ALL prepared by my granny!
My cousin whom I could pass off as my sis :P
And this is the mahjong gang on first day of CNY...

Was the coldest CNY I've ever been through, simply coz I used to spend all my CNYs in Singapore. It was a mere 8 degree on the evening that we reached HK...SUPER COLD! Seriously I thought I was gonna freeze to death...might also be due to the fact that my aunt's house did not have a heater...I could literally see the condensation coming out from my mouth when I breathed....

Mum and I brought yu sheng over from Singapore for them to try in Hong Kong. Everyone looked delighted.. :)

Well, the other thing that was different about this year's CNY was, other than the fact that we spent it with my mum's side of the relatives, is that it's the first time I was spending CNY with just my mum.

Lotsa mixed feelings while I was over in HK...on one hand, was relieved that I didn't have to entertain all the relatives at my house this year in the absence of my dad...but yet at the same time, a part of me wished that things were still the same as before..that we'd be all busy on the first day of CNY, and have all the relatives congregating at my place for their annual catch-up...

I guess, life goes on....but for total normality to resume? Only time will tell...and only God and time has that power to fully heal..

Just to keep the blog alive...

Hmm...haven't posted since 2 weeks ago. Just shows how much adjusting to I had to do since school reopened. But I must say I LOVE my timetable this year. Just 3 first period lessons as opposed to FIVE last year which was an absolute disaster in terms of stress management. And I have nice little breaks in between lessons for me to do last minute photocopying or tidying up of lesson notes before I head off to class. whooppeee... :)

Well, just decided to post some stuff that was meant to be posted after my HK trip, but I just didn't do it ....just so that my blog doesn't die on me :P
This is a SUPER DUPER MEGA ULTRA YUUUUMMMMMMMMYYYY dessert that I had in Hong Kong last December. It's coconut juice steamed sweetened egg with..err....something else which I do not know how to say in English :P
Yummmmmmyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy............... :) I love steamed egg dessert... :P
Heh, my brother enjoying his dessert... :)

And this is a countdown timer in one of the Hong Kong MRT stations that counts down to the Olympics that will take place in Beijing next year! Quite cool I must say....

One fine day I decided to pack one of my cupboards before school re-opened...

FINALLY decided that it's time for me to trash my university notes that I've kept over the last....erm...6 years?? Haha..the bane of being sentimental person again....taking up cupboard space for nothing..
This is one of my "helpsheets" from my uni days..heh. The concept of a helpsheet was so exciting when we were first introduced to it..because...when did students ever get allowed to bring notes into the examination hall to refer to during major exams??

Well, in uni you do ;) As you can see, the words on my helpsheet are all ant-sized....haha.. :)

And the following is proof that my friends weren't paying attention during lectures...coz they kept drawing on my notes! Haha..this is my friend Spidey J, who wrote on my notes...

"When you do your tutorial...............
think of Spidey J" hahhaa....crazy woman.....nothing to do...wrote every letter in a different colour somemore! Just goes to show how bored she was.....

Haha and I think I was the one who drew this during lectures....oops. Haha...negative demonstration..DON'T LEARN FROM ME :P
Heh, typical of a girl...I loved decorating my notes .....Gone are the days of handwritten notes.....kids nowadays don't know how fortunate they are to get PRINTED notes in class...so don't complain!
Look at my monster tutorial solutions! :) Think it's the chapter called Network Optimisation...

Woohoo! I scored an A1 in one of my tests.....

But look at what I didn't do??! I totally overlooked this 3 marks worth of True/False questions -.- Just simply DIDN'T DO. -.-"

Haha...those were the days of being a student...............

Now it's back to the present of being a TEACHER. Muahaha.

First week of school..

First "week" of school's over.....well, actually not quite a week...only 3 days in this short week of school. Quite a nice way to ease back into school with a short week...then next week is the start of the real battle, COUNTDOWN TO PRELIM 1.

Actually, even I can't quite believe that my kids are gonna be taking prelims in 25 days. Just feels a bit...err..fast..but oh well, what to do, it's the big O's for them this year.

Though I feel it's daunting to be taking sec3 and 4 at the same time..I'm somehow still feeling quite positive and happy about this year's deployment..at least for now..till work crushes me..haha. It'd always been my wish to be in the sec4 team, and it gives me great pride to finally be a part of it. I know tough and busy times lies ahead...but somehow, I have this feeling I'm going to be enjoying the process of bringing the sec4s through the Os. I hope my gut feel is right. =)

Due to banding, I'm currently only teaching 20 out of 31 of my form class kids. Personally I feel that it makes it a little difficult for me...coz I don't get to see the entire class as often anymore... kinda miss seeing everyone in class TOGETHER. A bit sad.... =/ But what to do? I guess it's all for the good of the kids..
Find myself missing my other math class that I used to teach last year too...but like I said, what to do? Sometimes, the choice is not mine...and no matter what, it's still all done for the good of the kids.
Haiz, the bane of being a sentimental person...

As for my sec3 class, can't tell much about them as yet, since I have yet to even see the full class because a lot of them are involved in the Sec1 orientation programme. But they seem like a nice bunch of kids..

I think I'm getting old...coz I'm suffering from a sneezy and leaky nose just from one day of lack of sleep.
So I shall do the right thing now, and go to sleep.

G'nite...

First week of school..

well, first "week" of school's over.....

Photo blog

Just another photo blogging post about the stuff I've been up to during this hols...

3-1 class chalet

Glad the fire was up and starting before I managed to locate the BBQ pit..for a moment I was wondering if I'll have to watch them start the fire and start eating at 10pm.... :P
Though I had to BBQ some of the food myself...was overall quite enjoyable spending time with the class...

See my nice class t-shirt?!??? =)

Love my obnoxious cat shirt that I bought from Thailand... :)

And the den of gamblers in the chalet..haha..the rest were all gaming..

Really hope the chalet served its purpose to bond the class closer together... =)

Funny newspaper cutting

Saw this stuck on my friend's room's door. Haha...apparently her father cut it out from the newspaper and stuck it on her door after he noticed that she was overworking herself..haha..

C & K's wedding
Yes another pair of friends got married to each other.

And this is the group of us who sang at their wedding..haha...
The reason why we're holding all those toy stuff in our hands while taking this pic is coz they were our props for one of the songs called "Going to the chapel"!!

Haha...coz one part of the lyrics goes..
Spring is here & the sky is blue
Birds all sing as if they knew..

So when these 2 particular lines popped up, we raised the props that we were hiding at the back of us at the respective key words like Spring (we raised the flowers), sky (we raised the back of the Doraemon, Doraemon coz my friend C is in love with Doraemon), birds (we raised the little bird toys)..HAHA..
Think the wedding couple was quite amused, but at the same time, very appreciative of our crazy efforts in trying to make their wedding more special...

Don't you think this tiny pair of platypuses are so cuuuute???!!?
Haha..couldn't resist taking pics of it...they were one of the props that we used...super cute..

And this is the whole jing gang of VCFers who turned up for the church wedding.. =)

Christmas carolling

This is the ACJC choir carolling at the Esplanade on 24th Dec. I never fail to watch them carol every year, ever since I stopped singing with the alumni in 2001. Had really wanted to join them for their carolling this year, but somehow the timing was just inconvenient. Guess I'll have to wait till next year.
Next year happens to be the 20th anniversary of the Choral Programme in AC....REALLY tempted to join them to sing for the 20th Anniversary concert in July next year. But I'm not sure if I can make the time commitment...haiz....

So much memories of my choir days.....







Well, Christmas has come and gone, and school's starting in like...4 days???
Oh my.....but I guess I've been thinking about school and the upcoming year's responsibilities and all so much...that I've become a little numb to school reopening.

Excited...but yet...worried...that's what I feel about the new year.....I really hope that I can cope..and cope well..

Greetings from Hong Kong!

Hey hey hey!



Greetings from Hong Kong :)



Nice, cool, air-con-like weather we're having here...only between 20-24 degrees. So no need to be dressed up like a polar bear...according to my mum, it used to be reeeeeeeeeeeal cold during December in Hong Kong..but now it's just getting warmer and warmer each year....

Will be returning tomorrow night...or should I say, Sat EARLY morning..
Not so many pictures to post at all....coz, I've been here a godzillion times...haha...

Well, time for breakfast...my yummy carrot cake!!

See you online in 2 days di ;)

Krabi

Hmm, by right, I ought to be doing my lesson plans now.....but...feel quite tired of doing it liao.
Sec 3 AND sec 4 classes...here I come..
Have not taught 2 levels simultaneously for some time now...feeling the pressure already..
*DEEP breath*

Have been trying to do as many lessons as I can over the past week or so....before I board yet another plane and fly off to Hong Kong next Mon! Goodness me...will be there for 5 days.
Not that I'm not looking forward to it, but the naggy feeling that school's gonna start soon keeps bugging me....and I'm sure I'm not the only one feeling it..haha..
This will be my 3rd consecutive year going back to Hong Kong during the December break...but this year, there's just be 3 of us, instead of 4.....


Oh well...as promised, more about Krabi and Bangkok coming up....

So this the beginning of the Krabi adventure...having to walk on soft easy-to-sink into sand to reach our longtail boats to get to Railay coz it was really low tide at that time of the day. Railay is one of the further away beaches that can only be reached by a boatride..

Was a bit disgusting actually...coz some parts of the sand was GREY in colour....and no I'm not about to guess why it's grey.....*eew*
Hahah...so these are my friends..all waddling through the water...eventually the water came up to above our knees...so my poor friends who were wearing jeans, all had their jeans half wet... :P

And the boat that we'd jump on!! =)

Finally on our way to Railay... :)

And this is Railay, doesn't look too impressive right now huh...coz it's low tide you see...and not much sun to show the colour of the water.....
My nice nice nice room :P Hee....this time round, my friends and I stayed at a place called Princess' resort. MUCH nicer than the previous time I was at Railay...heh..also coz all my friends didn't mind spending a little more to feel more pampered during our holiday. And to begin with, the rates are very reasonable...worked out to about $55 a night, and it's inclusive of breakfast every morning ;)
Heh, just playing with the macro function on my camera in my nice nice nice room... ;)
So this is what we were off to early next morning after breakfast....natural rockwall climbing!!
Heh, was a pretty fun experience...also coz I have climbed a few times in the Sports rockwalls in Singapore before, so I've at least got the basic techniques...
Pictures during the climb are pretty unglam, so here's one after I've reached the top and am on my way down..haha. My belayer was quite a funny guy...was talking and joking with me non-stop as I was climbing, and he even said "Go go go! If you reach the top I"ll buy you beer tonight!" Haha..funny guy....

A few of us, all smiles after our climbs.. :)

After climbing the whole morning, we decided to do some cave exploration! Haha..our belayer kindly led us up into the cave....
....through a little tunnel....











...and VOILA.. The beatiful view from being halfway up the cave =) This is also the view that we are able to see on our way down from the climb when we're dangling in mid-air ;)

Look at the super clear waters!

And this is my funny belayer, he's got like a super toned body lah!! Scary man... Can't remember why we were laughing so happily...must be something mad my friend said..

Heh on our way back from our climbing and caving, I spotted 2 flies mating! Keke...couldn't resist using the macro function on the camera to catch them :P
So after a late lunch, we went kayaking...see that kayak in the midst of the reflection of the sunset? That's my friends' kayak!! =)
And this is mine ;) Can you see the ridiculously large life-jackets that we're wearing??? It's so huge that if I buckled it and put it on properly, it'd go all the way up to my ears! Had to like talk to my friend through the shoulder hole...how silly is that..haiz..
And, the thing that I love....sunset by the waters....
Haha can't help but think that I kinda spoilt the picture by being in it.... :P But just couldn't resist taking super a lot of pics of the sunset...
That weekend that we were at Krabi, happened to coincide with the Loy Krathong Festival. It's a festival where the thai people honour and I think apologise to a particular river that they make use of in their daily lives. Krathong is this little lantern-looking thing that the people release into the waters....it comes in many shapes and sizes....
So this is our Krathong.. haha, the most simple kind of it. Just a coconut shell plus a candle and simple accessories on it..
Other than honouring the river with their krathongs, people will also cut off a little of their nail or hair and place it into their krathongs, in the hope that the krathong will take away their bad luck or any bad things that are happening in their lives in the coming year..

But I don't believe in that, so I didn't try to pluck a strand of my hair to place into the krathong...my friends did though. :) so all I did was float the krathong for the experience of it..
And these are our krathongs! I think basically Loy Krathong means to let go of the krathong, or to float the krathong..
I think I put my camera on night mode or something...so the picture turned out like that..which I think is pretty cool actually :P

And that marks the end of my 2nd day in Krabi.....

Talk more about the trip another time, if I remember... :)