No water?!?!

Yes. You read correctly, my house is out of water :S

I'm beginning to think that I've gone back in time to the era where water was not available through taps but have to be drawn from a common well in the centre of the village.

Apparently some pipe burst and it's raining down into my neighbour's house downstairs, so my water supply to my house has been SHUT OFF.

If you don't realise what that literally means...it means, having to get water from a hose outside of my house for simple things like washing my hands, brushing teeth, bathing, drinking, flushing toilet!!!!!!

OMG. How can this be happening. :(

I hope it gets fixed....FAST. pllllssssssssss....................

Oh wellz, have to live with it no matter what. Am just psychoing myself that I'm like camping...where in the good ol' days, we used pails and scoops to get our bath done..haha..

Anyway, I've decided to put up some pics that I've taken over the last 2 weeks with my hp, before I procrastinate so long that I decide to not put them up (like I've done many times in the past) :P

Korea

Just thought it's very interesting how they stick a bar of soap onto this metal rod at this particular toilet instead of having soap dispensers.. :P

We went for an early trek in Jeju....

...this is the view from halfway up the hill :)

They actually have a TEDDY BEAR MUSUEM

Does this look familiar? (*hint: Goong...)
Aaaawwwww..... :)
It was 0.4 degrees celcius the night we reached our ski resort! And if you read my previous posts, it started snowing that night :)

And this is the view from my window the next morning :):):)

Nice right??? The ski slopes are at the back...that's where we'd be skiing a while later...

After skiing...a cable car ride to the top of the mountain...

The view on the way up on one side....

And this is how thick the snow was at the mountain top!! Apparently it was at this mountain top that they filmed the popular Korean drama Winter Sonata by Baey Yong Jun.

Doesn't this feel like the path would lead you into another magical world? :)

In this theme park called Everland, they had this cool safari ride. RREALLY cool coz, some lions, tigers and bears are just sleeping or walking right beside the bus...so we get to see them SUPER close range :P

Displaying an action that was pre-taught in order to get a biscuit from the safari bus driver...

See how close they are to us???

Right in front of my face!!! :)

OK, getting bored of uploading photos. Shall do it some other time....tmw tmw...tmw.... :P

International citizen

Hello everyone....

I'm currently in....................HONG KONG :)
Haha....8 days in Korea zipped by me...reached Singapore at 2 am in the morning on 2 Dec..and then went to the airport again at 6.30am on 3 Dec to fly over to HK :P Heh...really makes me feel like an international citizen...hee.

Korea was.....well..pretty interesting :) I think the best part of it was...that we actually saw snow coming down from the sky! SO COOL. It started snowing the night before we reached the ski resort.....and then by the next morning when we woke up, EVERYTHING was white :) Woah...you must be there to experience it....it's just....so niiiiiice.....
Skiing was pretty fun! Heh, am proud to say that I didn't fall at all :P (also because the slope we were on wasn't THAT steep...keke)

Oh and and....we had a REEEEAALLY sumptous sashimi meal....my abalone sashimi was actually ALIVE when I ate it!!!!!!!! EEKS. Haha...at first I didn't realise it when I plucked it out of it's shell...and then it started squirming...ON MY SPOON. I almost jumped! Hahah...I thought that it was perhaps just uncurling because I scooped it out..and that it was already dead. BUT, it CONTINUED squirming. OMG lor. :P

The only disappointment I felt about the trip was that we didn't do any sight-seeing in Seoul itself. It was ALL shopping and duty-free blah blah. Ginseng shop.....cosmetics shop....this shop that shop..... hmph. I really really wanted to visit the palace that was there...but it wasn't in our itinerary :( Oh wellz...will talk more about the trip when I've got time to post photos ;)


Some interesting facts that I noticed about Korea....
1. All the people involved in the tourism industry speaks average to FANTASTIC mandarin. I'ts amazing how well they can speak mandarin...pei fu pei fu :)

2. Kimchii is included in EVERY single meal of the day. EVERY.

3. The Koreans are really proud of their country, and are pretty welcoming towards foreigners. We had people ask us where we were from, and then ended off with "welcome to korea :) "... shows how much they like to play host to us.

4. The country is not foreigner-friendly, in the sense that, most signages and instructions are TOTALLY in korean. It's almost impossible to do a free-and-easy trip there unless you've got a korean speaking friend amongst the group.

5. Koreans eat very simple meals. Mostly made up of vegetables..and at most ONE meat per meal. (apparently the meat is added in coz we're foreigners...the locals only eat meat once a week!)

6. Eerrrr...can't remember anymore....if I do I'll continue next time =)


Okie, enough updates, I'm gonna watch HK drama now :P
Looking forward to my dim sum over the next few days!! :)

Korea here I come!!

Heh....yes, I am now waiting at the boarding gate to take my flight to Korea!!

Woohhoooo...thus begins the first of my few trips this holidays :P
Going to be gone for 8 days, and back on 1st Dec...think it's so sneaky of tour companies to purposely schedule night flights for tour groups and count it as one day on the 8-day tour! HMPH. Waste my time.

Oh well....anyway, am super looking forward to the cold...think it's between 0 - 6 degrees? And and...the snow on the mountain!! =) Has been a really long time since I saw snow...in fact, I've only seen snow once :P Remember it very vividly.....it was when I was on this tiny plane flying to the Grand Canyon in the US...then it started snowing...and we could literally see the tops of the trees turning white gradually............. But seems the snow in Korea's gonna be real thick! Heh, looking forward to skiing... :)

Have so much to blog about actually...grad night....4-1 chalet...friends' wedding.......but, guess all that'll have to wait till I'm back :P Talking about 4-1, some of them wanted to come and send me off just now.......heh, so nice and sweet of them. Thanks for the thought guys, appreciate it :)

Alright, almost time to board! TATA!! :)

It's ending it's ending!

To my sec4 kiddos,

Hang in there it's ending!!

Just 3 (or for some, 4) more days and it'd be all oveR!!!! :)

Counting down to the the end of exams for my kids makes me think back to the times when I used to take these major exams. And I distinctly remember how I'd dish out my Christmas carols CDs amidst the examination stress, and listen to them while doing my revision....somehow, Christmas carols have a really soothing effect on me...and I'd always comfort myself to think that by the time Christmas was here, all these examinations that I was taking would be over.

Was over at Orchard to meet some old friends on Friday, and I noticed that Christmas decorations were already being slowly put up along Orchard Road and in the shops. Another year is soon coming to a close....I'd survived yet another year of work....my goodness, how time zips by these few years...

MacRitchie Board Walk + Tree Top Walk

Went to the MacRitchie board walk and tree top walk with my MGS friend on the Deepavali holiday recently. The thing was, I thought we were only going to like go for a morning walk around MacRitchie, because in her message, she said "MacRitchie walk tomorrow at 9am?". And only on the morning itself, 1 hr before I was due to meet her did I receive her sms to say "It's going to be a 4 hour 10km walk so come prepared with a small towel and water ok? :)" WAH. I almost fainted. Not because I was afraid of walking nor exercise, but because...well, you need some kinda mental preparation for 10km rite????

Anyway, I survived it :P

At the board walk...

Wang Lee Hom 'Music-man' concert

Yup, I went for yet another concert. Haha..that's what I always tell my friends, that majority of my money goes to either CDs, or concerts...not so much into clothes and shoes....quite atypical of gals? ;)

The super expensive electric guitar that was hanging in mid-air the whole time before the concert began. Apparently the guitar costs 20 000 Euros!

My concert buddies :P Can you see our excited and enthusiastic expressions?? Even Stephanie Sun and Kit Chan were in the front row!

Guess we weren't the only enthusiastic ones :P

The last time I watched a Lee Hom concert was I think...2 years ago? Was already quite impressed with him in the last concert, and he totally met my expectations, or even surpassed it, at this concert!

"Music-man" is the name of the concert, a superhero that he said he would want to be if he were a superhero like Batman, Superman, Spiderman....so for him, it's Music-man.

Super cool concept the Music-man...

Super cool entrance by Lee Hom!

See his breast-plate and all? All dressed up to be Music-man, superhero of the music world!

Think what made the concert extra enjoyable on top of his power vocals and multi-talented playing of instruments, were the addition of 3 BIG SCREENS on stage!! My goodness just look at the impact it has. Just makes one go WOOOOOAAAAAAAHHHHHHH.... :P

There were also like...a million different backgrounds that the concert had due to the big screens....super high-tech :)Well, what's a Lee Hom concert without him playing on the piano and wowing the audience with it....

I would give the "Music-man" concert, a rating of full 5-stars!
Superb voice, very very interesting re-arrangement of songs for the concert, very engaging stage, very good & apt plus short & sweet links between songs. And I think that it's very sweet of him to always mention and express his heartfelt thanks to his violin teacher-cum-mentor who resides in Singapore.



Super cute bunny!!!!

Heh, just thought I'd post a picture of this SUPER CUTE bunny that I saw in a pet shop at Leisure Park in Kallang before going for the Lee Hom concert. Don't you think it's so cute???? I think it's because of its droopy ears...makes one go "Aaawwwwwwww..." when they look at it :P

Okok, I better get back to writing my 2 million testimonials...otherwise I'll die a terrible deaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaath........ :P

But before I go, another picture of the nice nice sky :P

TATA!

'O's has started..

Looking at the title of this post, an unknowing reader may mistaken that I am currently in the midst of taking my 'O' level examinations.


Well......


It certainly does FEEL like it. In fact, I was just telling one of my boys that, I feel more stressed that they are taking O's now, than when I was taking my own O's when I was 16. Haiiiiii...the part and parcel of being a sec4 form teacher perhaps.

Well, in the midst of feeling stressed...it's good that there are friends to pull me out of school to keep me sane...

Autumn Kiss charity concert
Went for a charity concert last week at Mohamed Sultan Road...it's a charity concert in aid of Asissi Hospice, an organisation which cares for the terminally ill.
The very interesting part is, that the singer/organiser of the concert is the sister of 2 of my choral conductors.

My 2 conductors singing with her sister singing and playing on the piano..

Have never heard my conductors' sister sing before, though I've seen her a few times while I was a student in JC...so it was good to finally hear her voice for the first time. Being jazz-trained (as opposed to my 2 conductors who were more classically trained) she did sound quite different from her sisters.

Felt a sense of nostalgia and was also heartwarming to see the 3 sisters on stage singing together for one of the songs. Afterall, it's been a long time since I last heard my conductors sing.


Nice cosy little family-and-friends charity concert..

YC & S' wedding

Attended 2 of my church friends' wedding on Saturday....was glad that I was finally able to attend my church friends' wedding coz I had missed 2 other weddings before this...




Was nice....and sweet...had a chance to get to know some of my churchmates better during the dinner too..


Wish the couple all the best as they start a new phase of life together :)

Mama Mia!

Managed to finally catch Mama Mia in the cinema over the weekend. Was very interesting as I had caught the musical version of MamaMia! a couple of years ago with my family, and enjoyed it very much too.

A very sweet and simplistic show...but of course the best part of the movie was its music...ABBA's music. SUPER nostalgic to hear Abba's songs appear during the movie..song after song after song....it brings back all those old memories of me singing in the car when my dad was driving... Sorta made me a bit sad while I was in the midst of watching the comedy..I'm sure my dad would have loved to catch this movie too.... :\

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Seems this couple of years had seen me saying goodbye to more and more people who are closer to me...just last month, I had to say goodbye to my granny.. Even though I know it's actually better for her to go than to stay...still...it's sad to see them leave...

But well, life has to go on....

Been snapping pics of the clouds again recently...

........never fails to mesmerise me....

Managing Expectations..

Much time has elapsed since the last post (a testament to my workload).
I had unfinished posts in between, but never had time to finish nor post them....maybe I'll just post some of them at a later date when I'm much free-er.

Just feeling kinda blue...
I think......I must always remind myself to manage my expectations...many times I'd remind myself, that people are different..they react differently...they express themselves differently...
I told myself that, I should be contented/give myself a break...for the higher the expectations, the greater the disappointment.
But I guess I failed again...

I failed to manage my expectations...I failed to not compare....I failed to concentrate on expectations that have been met...failed to look at it from the brighter side.....failed to remember that efforts do not equal to rewards..

After so long....I wonder if I made any difference...because I really cannot tell.

A long overdue post...

Hmm, I just realised that I haven't posted in more than a month. Well that just goes to show how SUPERBLY busy I've been.
The post below this is actually something that I'd written (halfway) a week after CHMA...but never finished it...so here is a long overdue post...
________________________________________________
CHMA's over?? 27/7/08

CHMA's over.......

It is??

OMG. I can't believe it myself.

Hmm..shall reflect about it in a little more detail later in this post......

Choir J11 gathering
My choir batch took the opportunity after the big 20th anniversary celebration concert to have our own J11 batch gathering at one of our friend's place. (J11 simply coz it's the 11th year since we all entered JC together.. :)) It was just like the good old times...same house (we ALWAYS have gatherings at this friend's house :P), same people....feels so nice...

Everyone pretty much looked the same...this time round, one of our teachers joined us too. :)


Gary Chaw concert




He's unarguably one of the best vocals that I've ever heard 'live'. Fantastic control and use of voice....love it!

NCC 1-star kayaking course
Accompanied my cadets to their one-star kayaking course 2 weekends ago..it was at the Sarimbun Scouts camp. SUPER ulu and SUPER far away from civilisation.
So after the kids lugged their kayaks down to the waters, the instructors gave them a short lesson on how to carry out the T-rescue and off they went into the waters. Reminds me of my own one-star course that I took with my NCC boys 2 years ago at Changi Sea Sports Club...and I thought THAT was ulu......


But I guess being far from town has it's perks too...lets you bask in the quietness of the place and and the nice scenery of the waters and trees...



And last but not least.......
CHMA 2008
The week leading up to CHMA was one hectic and crazy week... Many little ends to tie up everyday.....all the administrative things to be handled for the Sec4 PTM on the day before CHMA.....tickets still still not at it's optimum....two late night rehearsals. Not to mention, having to teach and mark still coz afterall, I am still a teacher (though it felt as if I was a full time producer during the week). *faint*

Rehearsals were tiring...and sometimes frustrating, coz there's just so many people and things to coordinate and polish up. But really thankful for F's help in running the final 3 rehearsals with me...without which, I think I would have literally fainted.

The night before CHMA...
....final rehearsal and testing out of backdrop the day before CHMA..



VOILA! The beautiful backdrop is up by the time I reached school at 9am the next day!!
The ingenius stage design crew held up the design with fishing lines and pins :P I'm super amazed at how they managed it...well done guys ;)

Tidying up the hall and preparing the place for the night...
Was busy writing "thank you" cards for judges, guest performers.....


After one final tech-run and full dress rehearsal, it was about 2 more hours to the show.



Ran here and there, here and there, here and there, and then it was escorting the judges back to the hall to await the start of the show at around 7.30pm.
Ticket collection booth at the front of the hall.

At about 7.50pm, the audience screamed. The SHOW BEGAN. I was then outside stage left, arranging the awards table...haha...and giving some last minute instructions here and there. Ran inside the hall in time to catch the first item, Recnad, with their opening dance piece.

Throughout the show I was here and there, here and there, here and there...

And then the show was over.

It was a feeling of a mixture of relief and unbelief at the same time...we had successfully run one more year of the show. All the preparation from January to July...all culminated in the final night, which was over.

When I woke up on Sunday morning the day after....there was this strange feeling of.....lostness. Felt as if....I just woke up from some dream....and.....like as if I suddenly..was back to the real world.....like as if, there was a piece of me that had been taken away...

I guess that's what happens when you spend a two weeks on intensive preparations.......and as I went through the day...many thoughts ran through my head. Preparations from January...reviews...rehearsals...the night itself...and all the congratulatory messages that I received after the show.. It was heartwarming...and at the same time...saddening...but also felt relief, that we managed to put together the show once again.

And as I reflected through the day...I also felt very blessed, to have had such a great team of people to work with throughout the 6+ months of preparations.

This IMedia team is arguably the most experienced CHMA crew we've had...and I'm truly thankful for their expertise and enthusiasm.

To Melvin (and the stage crew): Thanks for the efficiency and never-say-die problem-solving mentality...CHMA wouldn't have run so smoothly without you guys..

To Joshua (and the Pubilicity crew): Thanks for all the beautiful posters and postcards! I'm always amazed at how you guys are able to do up the designs on the Mac. And of course, not forgetting all the effort in arranging the chairs and tying those ribbons on the programs.

To Michael (and the video crew): Thanks for the videos! For tirelessly taking footage of every single thing...for cracking your braincells to come up with ideas...for staying late to finish up always...thanks.

To Jit Hin (and the stage design crew): Thanks for the beautiful backdrop ;) For all the squeezing of braincells to come up with it...and for working so independently.. :)

To Ervin & Shanwei (and audio crew): Thanks, for braving through all the evil stares whenever the mikes or any sound went a bit wonky...for all your patience and adaptability during rehearsals...

Esp to Ervin: Thank you, for all your initiative, efficiency and strong leadership of the whole team. I know many times you already have the answer/solution when you ask me for an opinion, but yet you still chose to run the idea by me before executing the decision. Thanks, really appreciate it ;)

And of course, to my colleagues who have worked tirelessly together with me :)

Thanks for all the hard work guys!